𝟶𝟹𝟽: 𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐!(🎃) 🎀

"Wait, why am I dressed as a clown?" I look at the mirror in shock, noticing Ena wheezing. I'm going to kill her.

"The characters are like, in a circus remember? Well then, let's do our best!" Saki hums, putting on her hat. I'm pretty sure that she's matching with Tenma.

"Reminder-- you're a background character. If you forget what you're doing, just follow what Saki does.. I don't think your role isn't that important." Nene shrugs as Emu fixes her outfit.

"What do you mean you think..?" I ask. She's one of the main characters.

"Okay, Shinonome! Let's go over it one more time!" Saki pulls my hand into an open space, and Ichika gets the script.

The things I do for love.

°•°•°

"I appreciate you helping us, Shinonome. I wonder what changed your mind. Don't worry, you look amazing." Kamishiro smirks, clearly getting a kick out of my humiliation.

"Shut up." I snarl, walking past him.

I look around for Ena and Mizuki, but don't see them anymore. Did they run off because they forgot something? This always happens...

A few minutes pass by and everyone is told to get together, including the clown squad. Quite literally... Wait, does that mean I'm part of them now..?!

They're all just going over the lines, but then way Tenma and Kamishiro are still sitting near each other is interesting to me. Of course, they're not facing each other.

It's only a few minutes before they get on stage now. I just follow Saki around because I have no idea when the hell we do. I had a month to prepare, what was I doing?!

I was staring at pictures of Toya and talking about him at our meetings. That's what I was doing.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Out of nowhere I hear a loud noise behind me, and turn around to see Kamishiro and a stage crew member on the ground with a box of props.

"I-I'm so sorry, Kamishiro--!" The lady apologizes, panicking.

"Were you hurt?"

"N-No, but--"

"Rui! Are you okay?" Tenma shoves his papers in my hands rushes over to him to help him up. Seriously? Still, he looks really worried.

"Yeah. Thanks." Kamishiro answers almost instantly, quickly moving away and speaks to the staff member. That was harsh.

"Damn, what did you even do?" I grin and hand him his papers. Tenma just sighs deeply before snatching them back.

"Save it..." He says, dejected.

°•°•°

"What's wrong? Why are you acting so weird? It's this way!" Saki smiles. When was she able to act so creepy..?

".. I have a bad feeling about this. Come!" Kamishiro steps back as Saki gets closer to him. What are we doing..?

"We can't leave without the book! And my little sister came all the way here just to show us... We were selected for this expedition for a reason! They believed in us--"

"They can lose all faith in me if they want, I could care less because I want you to be safe! That's what I care most about! And I know for a fact that is not your sister, so let's go!" Kamishiro grabs his hand, and takes him off stage.

I don't really get the plot. Is this a romance, or..?

That was the end of this act, but Tenma is so dazed it's hilarious.

"We should go back now. There's no point in chasing them now if they've already escaped." Nene comes on stage, face palming. We walk back to her, and just stand there. That's pretty much what we do for a whole minute.

"Aw, man! Those two are no fun. We got his sister and friend just for them to leave... How did they know?" Emu whines, dragging herself over to us.

"They're puppets, I don't think that works as well as a spell does. Of course they would slip up..." Nene answers, wiping Saki's head as if brushing off dust and shrugging.

I'm so bored.

"That's probably why we need to get them and hold them captive."

I remember when Toya did a play with us. He's not even a girl but fuck, he was so beautiful. A little too beautiful.

"Let's not waste time. We should track them down and get the job done as soon as possible before the boss gets angry with us."

I bought about five pictures from An. I wanted to buy them all, but she wouldn't let me. I'm still tracking down everyone who has a printed picture of Toya.

"You're right. Follow me, subjects!"

And he almost kissed me that day. I was literally freaking out when Mizuki said I had a lipstick stain on my lips. Damn them for lying...

"Akito!" Saki whispers, grabbing my arm and pulling me off stage.

"Oh, s-sorry." I apologize, snapping out of it. The stage crew fixes the background and props as the audience whispers among themselves.

"What's wrong? Listen, whatever it is, forget it right now. Remember what we're trying to do." Ena grabs my shoulder, pointing to Kamishiro and Tenma as Mizuki fixes my costume. The audience looked really focused.

"Technically we're not supposed to be within six feet of them, but do it anyways so big brother thinks he needs to get closer to Rui-kun! And if that doesn't work, we have multiple plans." Saki reminds me, which I nod. Seems easy enough.

They leave me alone to talk to the stage crew, and I sit on a random box. This sucks. How can they even be fighting when he literally vanished and it's most likely it was against his own will.

"You okay?" Some girl asks. Oh, it's Saki's girlfriend. She hands me a water then sits next to me.

"Kinda." I reply.

"Look, I don't really.. know you two, but you seemed really into each other. It's not my place to say this, but.. do your best." She sighs, staring at the ground. I stare at her for a moment and laugh.

"What do you mean 'not your place'?Even if you weren't close to Saki, you definitely meant something to Toya. In fact, he'd probably be so happy you're talking to me right now. He was the type to want to be friends with anyone that was kind." I roll my eyes, looking at her. She looks back, embarrassed.

".. Sure. Anyway, my name's Shiho if you didn't remember. Shiho Hinomori."

Hinomori..? I feel like I remember that from somewhere.

"Nice to meet you. You already know me, obviously."

"No kidding. Rumors from Kamiyama High even go around my school. You're like, terrifying to everyone." Shiho scoffs, shaking my hand.

"Seriously? Don't you go to an all girls school?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah. I was only here to support Saki, but.. y'know, you looked lost in thought for like, the thirtieth time today. Anyway, good luck." She hops off, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Thanks." I smile, she nods and walks away. She's alright. I think it was.. Honami who is still terrified of me.

I seriously need to apologize, Toya wasn't happy with what I did that day...

°•°•°

"Get closer!" Saki hisses, and I take another step towards Tenma. She's so lucky Emu is incredibly loud with her lines, she's barely even whispering.

"Closer!!"

"Okay, shut it! If you want to get all up on their faces then be my guest!" I snap, glaring at her. She rolls her eyes and gets way past the limit. Tenma looks confused and the audience gasps, but he backs away and bumps into Kamishiro.

Kamishiro turns around, wondering why they're standing so close.

"Sorry--" Tenma apologizes, moving away but Kamishiro grabs his shoulder and keeps him close.

"It's alright... Just tell the two of them to pay attention when we get off stage. And be careful.." He mumbles back as Tenma's face turns bright red. I'm going to bully him for this.

Saki turns to me and winks. But they're still so awkward, how is this any different from before?

"Don't look at me like that, at least I did something!" Saki grabs my hand, yanking me off stage again.

"Seriously, stop that!" I snap, and Ena fixes my outfit. That's the last time we're up there, anyway. We failed.

After the play is done we come back on, bow as the audience claps and then allow them to exit first before going backstage. Ena yanks my hair, and before I grab her, Saki gets in front of me. Holy sh-- Why the fuck is her face like that?

"We've got another job."

Huh? Oh- Oh yeah.

"I'm assuming we're going to force them into the haunted house?" I ask, and she nods in response. Mizuki looks over at Emu, who gives them a thumbs up.

"Tsukasa, Rui, come with me and Nene-chan to get some treats! I know a good stand!" Emu clings onto Tenma's arm, and Rui gives a sour look. Emu, you idiot-! Whatever, they'll be fine.

She literally drags them away from the stage, and Ena quickly puts the finishing touches on their make-up, but I just stare at her.

"Stop looking at me, you can take it off. Just let me get a picture before you do." She rolls her eyes, gesturing for me to go away.

So that means I'm not taking it off 'til she's free, alright.

°•°•°

"E-Emu, I think we passed them-- are you sure we're going the right way..?" Tenma's says as he stares down at her, shaking.

"Nope!" She hums, stopping in front of the haunted house and pushing him inside as he screams. I cover my mouth, trying not to laugh since we're hiding.

"Hm, this seems interesting. Perhaps we can find the stand later, do you want to give it a go, you two?" Kamishiro asks Nene and Emu, who look unsure but nod.

"You're not even going to ask me?!" Tenma gasps, gripping onto the frame at the entrance. Kamishiro scowls at him, which shuts him up. He looks pissed.

"Alright, let's go." He lowers his head and walks inside, which is understandable because Kamishiro's face was so terrifying it even gave me chills.

They walk past Saki and I, and she signals me to follow them. We do that, along the way a few workers pop out to scare or chase them, they all keep screaming except for Kamishiro.

"Okay, the door is open. I'll shut it when they're in." An says, pointing into an empty room ahead. We're behind a bunch of props and see them getting closer.

"I'll go tell them!" Saki squeals, walking away.

"Emu? Nene?!" Tenma wheezes, visibly shaking. If I tapped him right now he'd probably pass out.. hm.

"Wait, wait, wait, what're you--" He shouts as Saki comes closer to them slowly, backing them up into the room. Again, he lets out one last scream before An cuts him off by slamming the door in their faces.

"I'm hungry. Let's check on them in thirty minutes, 'kay?" Saki yawns, walking ahead. An and I look at each other for a second, shrugging before following her. I wonder where Emu and Nene went, though.

"Oh yeah, we have a costume for you. Let's go see how it is on you!" An grins. I know that fucking smile.

>++++<

Creator's note: I may be a day early but I am only just a frail Victorian child whom shall pass on to my next life. (I'm sick BUT IM BETTER ISH) posting rn cuz ill defo forget tmr.