Episode 10: “So, the climax turned out to be something insane… (Kanon Festival Day 2 – Latter Part)”

With preparations for the second act complete, I waited in the wing opposite from where Hinata-chan and the others had gathered.

The curtain rose once more.

Perhaps because I felt such relief that Hinata-chan had come, I’d regained my rhythm. We managed to start the second act in good spirits. However—

“Akira, why are you still here…?”

After Romeo’s entrance scene ended, I came offstage to the wing where Hinata-chan should have been, only to turn pale at what I found. Normally, she should be center stage right now, in the scene where Juliet drinks the potion to enter her feigned death. Yet here was Akira, still in the wing. Moreover, she wasn’t wearing the dress—instead, she was back in the Romeo costume she was originally supposed to wear.

“Wait, that outfit—did you forget about your next scene?!”

“Sorry, Aniki. It’s not that I forgot the scene—I forgot my lines.”

“What?! Even so, what are you planning to do from here?!”

“It’s fine. Hinata-chan’s stepping in, so—”

The stage spotlight flicked on, illuminating the bed in the center. Sitting there was Hinata-chan, now clad in the dress that Akira had been wearing moments before. She held the vial of feigned death potion in her hand, gazing at it with a pained expression. Before I could even process my surprise, Hinata-chan’s performance began—

“You’re so beautiful, yet such a terrifying demon. Tell me, will it really work? If you don’t have the effect I need, I’ll be forced to marry Paris tomorrow morning…”

I’d been worried, but Hinata-chan’s acting was as excellent as always. Since she was sitting, there wasn’t much movement required, though I was still concerned about her injured foot.

“Akira, is Hinata-chan really okay?”

“Yeah. She said since it’s a scene without much movement, her foot won’t be a problem.”

“But…”

“It’s okay. If anything happens, Ueda-senpai and I are on standby.”

“Huh?”

From behind the curtain, Kousei poked his head out, wearing that prince costume from yesterday’s cross-dressing contest.

“Kousei, you…”

“Jeez, what a pain in the ass…”

Kousei raked a hand through his blond hair with obvious irritation.

“Hinata insisted on performing, so they suddenly switched roles…”

“Why are you dressed like that too?”

“If something happens to Hinata, that runt over there and I are supposed to go help.”

Kousei pointed at Akira with his usual unamused expression.

“R-runt?! Don’t call me that!”

“Akira, shh! Keep your voice down…!”

I hurriedly glanced toward the audience, but no attention was directed our way. And for good reason—

“Ah, I’m so scared. What should I do? Romeo, thinking only of you… Only of you, I’ll pray to the Lord. Lord, please don’t abandon me. Romeo, give me courage!”

The audience was completely captivated by Hinata-chan’s performance. As expected of her—even though the Juliet role had suddenly changed in the second act, the audience held their breath, watching her every move.

(Really, that’s how it is… I love acting so much—)

…I see. On the way home the day she came to our place, Hinata-chan had said she really wanted to do theater. Akira probably considerately handed over the role, and Kousei was here because he was worried about Hinata-chan…

As we approached the scene where she would drink the poison, Nishiyama and the others waiting in the opposite wing started moving.

“Let me get this straight—what exactly happened?”

“We just passed the Juliet role to Hinata-chan. Ueda-senpai and I are shifting to support her.”

“So Akira, you’re not going on after this?”

“Nope. I’ll leave the Romeo role to you from here, Aniki.”

“Leave it to me… But you’re dressed like that, so the Romeo role is—”

“No. I promised Hinata-chan—if anything happens, we’ll definitely go support her.”

“I see… Ah, um… Then what’s with Kousei’s outfit?”

“Even if we go to help Hinata-chan, being in uniform would ruin the immersion, right? It’s so we can ad-lib and continue seamlessly.”

“I was against Hinata performing, and I hate this outfit too…”

Kousei raked his head again with a heavy sigh.

“Got it. So Hinata-chan and I will handle the rest?”

“Yeah. Take care of Hinata-chan, Aniki.”

“Ryouta, if anything happens, look over here and signal us.”

“O-okay…”

That said, I was thrown off by the sudden role switch. Before I could fully process it, it was time for my entrance.

Come to think of it, Ito had said something before—theater is a living thing. If it’s about to stop, better to ad-lib and keep it flowing… There’s a term for things going according to plan, but this time, nothing had gone as planned from the start. It would be great if we could just finish without any more issues…

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

The graveyard, the crypt. There was a bed in the center of the stage, illuminated by the spotlight, where Hinata-chan lay quietly as Juliet. By this point, I was pretty tense. I’d seen Hinata-chan in her dress from a distance, and as expected, she was just incredibly beautiful.

With Hinata-chan, who makes me so flustered just by being close, now I had to touch her. And then, pretend to… kiss her. Just thinking about it made my heart race wildly, and cold sweat trickled down my back.

“Ju… Juliet?!”

My agitation came through in my voice.

This is bad—this isn’t the time to be shocked. As I approached Hinata-chan, her beauty became even more striking. Her perfectly arranged features, her smooth white skin gleaming under the spotlight. A sigh of admiration escaped me involuntarily, but I continued.

“Juliet, you said we’d be together forever. Your body that was so warm is now so cold…”

When I touched Hinata-chan’s cheek, she twitched slightly, and I became even more flustered. In this part, Juliet had almost no movement. After I mistakenly drank the poison, Juliet would get up from the bed, draw Romeo’s dagger from his side, and take her own life—with just those actions, even in her current state, Hinata-chan should manage.

Anyway, we were on stage; I had to get through this somehow—

“We haven’t done anything wrong, so why is everything going so badly?”

No, something was off. What was this uneasy feeling? Unlike before, it felt distant somehow, and the lines didn’t feel like my own.

“Juliet, in a world without feuds, let’s be happy from now on. We’ll live together forever and ever—”

Ah, that’s it. Because it wasn’t the partner I’d sworn love to until just now… It wasn’t Akira; it was Hinata-chan, so that’s why these lines felt off to me. Because of the mid-performance role switch, I must not be fully immersed in the character.

“I’m coming to you now. Ah, Juliet, you’re still faintly warm—”

I touched her cheek again, then placed my hand on Juliet’s shoulder. Again, Hinata-chan twitched in a way only I could notice.

Is it really okay to kiss Hinata-chan like this, instead of Akira?

No, it’s acting. This is just acting; it’s nothing. I just need to pretend to kiss and smoothly wrap it up.

“This is our last kiss. Good night, Juliet—”

I leaned in closer to Hinata-chan—but stopped midway. Her shoulders were trembling. Her expression was stiff, brows furrowed, and somehow I got the feeling I shouldn’t get any closer. At that moment, I realized I’d completely dropped out of character.

“Senpai, hurry, or…”

“Ah…”

Hinata-chan urged me in a whisper, but I was totally frozen and couldn’t move.

“Sorry, Hinata-chan…”

“Just… kiss, and it’s over…”

But Hinata-chan’s eyes weren’t asking for that. It was as if she were staring at me with complex eyes, as if her mind were saying one thing but her heart was denying it. I caught my breath. Hinata-chan seemed to have dropped out of character too, just like me.

Maybe she was still bothered by the accident, or because she’d taken over the Juliet role midway, she couldn’t fully get into it. Or perhaps, because I was the one playing Romeo?

Because it had dragged on so long, murmurs started rising from the audience.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“It’s acting, so…”

No. After four years together, all I could sense from Hinata-chan’s expression and words was something off. Affirmation, hesitation, rejection—those emotions all mixed together came through. Right now, neither of us was fully in character. In this state, with our resolves not set, forcing it just because it was acting felt wrong somehow.

What should I do? I was completely frozen. Hinata-chan couldn’t do anything either, just staring into my eyes. Even so, I stayed frozen, and time just kept passing. This was bad—at this rate, it would all fall apart. What should I do? What should I… I was panicking when—

(What are you misunderstandingggggg────────────!)

Suddenly, Akira’s voice blasted at full volume from the speakers, echoing throughout the gym. In an instant, everything went silent. Hinata-chan and I snapped to attention, looking toward the wing where Akira was. Then, Akira slowly, boldly, walked toward us, carrying two swords in her hands. The audience murmured again.

What’s going on here?

“Romeo, that girl is a fake Juliet!”

“Huh?!”

…Ad-lib? Did Akira come to help…?

My eyes met Kousei’s, who was further back in the wing. Kousei raked his blond hair with his usual exasperated look—but in the next instant, his expression changed completely. Gone was the usual lazy look; instead, it was tense and serious. And then—

“She’s my woman!”

Incredibly, Kousei jumped onto the stage.

“Sorry, pretty boy. Seems like you’re mistaken—that one’s my woman.”

Kousei pointed at Hinata-chan.

“Huh?!”

I exclaimed in surprise, and at the same time, Hinata-chan sat up in shock.

“Wh-why are you here?!”

Hinata’s face looked like it was about to burst into flames.

Yeah, that would surprise anyone… Kousei, who never showed interest in girls and whose catchphrases were “tiring” and “bothersome,” had not only suddenly appeared on stage but also casually spouted a cheesy line… And to his own little sister, no less.

“Why, you ask? Isn’t it obvious—”

Ignoring the bewildered Hinata and me, Kousei looked down at the audience from the stage and struck a pose.

“I’m here to kidnap you!”

Immediately, screams of “Kyaaah—!” erupted from all over the gym… Um, why?

Kousei rushed right over to Hinata, and before I could even react in my confusion, he scooped her up in a princess carry. Hinata stared up at Kousei with her face flushed bright red. Like a docile kitten, she showed no sign of resisting.

“So, Romeo, I’m taking this one with me—”

“H-Hey, wait a second! Who are you?!”

“Who knows. Besides, you’ve got Juliet, right?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t think you can have both of them. See ya—”

With that, Kousei dashed offstage with Hinata in his arms, looking absolutely dashing. Left behind were me, staring blankly at Kousei’s back with a dumb look on my face, and Akira, frozen with swords in both hands…

When our eyes met, Akira whispered, “Just go with it.”

“Romeo!”

“Ah, um… Juliet? Y-You’re alive…?”

“How awful! Mistaking me for some other girl!”

“Ah, um, th-there’s a reason for this!”

“Forgetting the face of the one you swore your love to!”

“Hey… Let’s calm down for a second! Let’s talk this out rationally!”

Laughter erupted from the audience seats. My utterly pathetic acting (?) must have hit the mark.

“No excuses! How dare you scorn me like that! You cheater!”

“I didn’t mean it like—”

As I started to say that, Akira tossed one of the swords my way. I caught it in a panic, still clueless about what was happening when—

“It’s a duel from here on out!”

With that, Akira raised her sword high.

“Why?!”

This sudden battle twist. The entire gym buzzed along with my shout.

“W-Wait! Okay, it was my fault! Let’s talk it out! Come on?!”

But faster than I could say it, Akira swung her sword at me. I barely blocked it with my sword just in time. We ended up in a blade lock, and Akira flashed me a smile only I could see, then whispered.

(…Help’s here, Aniki)

(…Isn’t this just making things worse for me?)

(…Just keep going like this)

(…Keep going? How?!)

(…You get it, right, Aniki? Remember us like always—)

Then Akira pushed me back with force. I staggered back two, three steps, and in the next instant, Akira’s face was fully in battle mode.

Us like always, huh…

I calmed down a bit and tried to recall. Come to think of it, we’d never actually fought. At home, we just lazed around reading manga or playing games, and as for sword fights… Sword fights? Sword fights?!

It’s Ensamu 2?!

When I made a face like I’d just realized, Akira nodded firmly. I see, so from here, we just show the audience our usual selves, fighting in the game, but for real.

Once my head finally sorted it out, I lowered my sword loosely.

“I love you, so why has it come to this?!”

“I’m testing your love! If you want to hold onto your love for me, there’s only one way!”

Akira raised her sword high and grinned.

“I won’t marry anyone weaker than me. If you want me, defeat me!”

The audience buzzed even more. Probably almost no one knew that was Nakazawa Koto’s signature line. Throwing in a line like that here—that was Akira for you.

I gave up on everything and readied my sword.

“Fine, then I’ll defeat you!”

We hadn’t practiced any stage combat at all, but we posed with our swords like we’d seen somewhere. Yeah, Akira seemed to be mimicking Nakazawa Koto’s stance. In that case, I’d go with Hijikata Toshizo—though the setting didn’t match at all between late Edo Japan and 14th-century Italy… Whoa!

“Take this!”

“What the!”

As I swept aside Akira’s slash, I felt the corners of my mouth turning up.

You’ve really changed, Akira… She looked so alive and happy on stage, just like she was at home. Energetic like a little brother, but cute like a little sister—and she was showing all of that in front of everyone. The old Akira, who was so wrapped up in her own issues, coming out here to help me and Hinata—that made me really happy.

Thinking that, this ridiculous sword fight, and everything up to now, somehow felt refreshingly funny. It was just plain fun. Right now, on this stage, I was honestly enjoying myself. Thanks to Akira—

“Yah!”

“Sei!”

Akira unleashed a desperate flurry of strikes. But—

“Too naive!”

“Tch…”

I was one step ahead, thanks to my experience playing solo sword fight pretend as a kid. Seeing she was at a disadvantage, worry showed on Akira’s face. Come to think of it, in Ensamu 2, she gave up when she couldn’t win…

But now—I can beat Akira! I held my sword at mid-level, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. This was Ensamu 2’s Hijikata Toshizo’s ultimate move—

“Take this! Secret Sword—”

I snapped my eyes open… but—

“Got you!”

The sword in my hand got knocked away and flew through the air.

“Eeeeh?!”

That’s dirty?! Interrupting an ultimate move mid-way was cheating, like I always said!

“How’s that? It’s my win!”

At least let your Aniki have the glory this time~…

“Damn… It’s my loss…”

I wasn’t convinced, but I played along. I closed my eyes in resignation—but no matter how long I waited, the finishing blow didn’t come. Wondering what was up, I peeked through slit eyes, and Akira dropped her sword to the floor with a clatter.

“I won’t take your life! Instead, you’ll grant me one wish, anything I say!”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll take you! No, make me your bride!”

“Wha…? Eee?!”

The whole gym erupted in buzz, drowning out my scream right away.

Well, anyway…

This was us, like always. This wasn’t improv—probably an exchange only we siblings would get. Akira was just straightforwardly throwing her feelings at me, pure and devoted, right here in the center of the stage.

Stunned, I stared at Akira, and she turned to me with a “tehe” and stuck out her tongue.

Jeez, what a stepsister she was…

I walked over to Akira and put a hand on her shoulder. Past exasperation, now it somehow felt fun instead.

“Then won’t you run away with me like this? Let’s flee to some faraway town and be together!”

Words I’d never say normally—Akira had cleverly set up a situation where I had no choice. If that’s how it was, I had to ride it out.

“…?! I’m so happy! You’ll love me from now on too, right, Romeo!”

“Of course, Juliet! I love you!”

We hugged each other tightly. Then Ito wrapped it up nicely with narration—

“And so the two were united, and when they eloped, both families reflected and put an end to their long feud. …And after that, the two lived happily ever after.”

The curtain fell, end credits. Thunderous applause and cheers erupted. Then curtain call… We barely had time to bask in the afterglow before rushing into cleanup.

…And in the end—

““We overdid it…””

…Yeah, it turned out like this.

Akira and I slumped our shoulders heavily behind the gym. What a reversal. We’d taken that crucial scene that was supposed to end badly and forcefully flipped it into a happy ending with mystery comedy, mystery action, and mystery love & peace.

…No way, seriously. Even if we got carried away in the moment, that was too much. For now, to the great Shakespeare-sensei—we are truly sorry…

After Akira and I stared at the ground behind the gym for a while—

“Ah! There you two are!”

Hinata, still in her Juliet outfit, came over on crutches. She must have been looking all over for us.

“H-Hinata-chan… Sorry, I—”

“I’m so sorry, both of you!”

Hinata suddenly bowed her head, leaving Akira and me flustered.

“I’m sorry, Ryouta-senpai! Not only did I suddenly switch roles, but I confused you right there…”

“Ah, no… You were perfect, Hinata-chan! It’s my fault for… You know, freezing up midway.”

“Sorry to you too, Akira! Even though you let me have the role…”

“I-I’m sorry for suddenly calling you a fake! I was trying to help somehow, and it just…”

“No, thanks to that improv, we managed to finish properly…”

Improv? Improv, huh… I felt like something didn’t add up, but—

“That was some amazing improv! You two were in perfect sync, it felt so real and natural!”

““Fugu…!””

Akira and I looked at each other and blushed.

“N-No… that was just us messing around too much…”

“Yeah, yeah… We’re not usually like that, really…”

“Eh? Is that so?”

Hinata-chan looked at us suspiciously.

“A-Anyway, where’s Kousei?”

“If you’re asking about Onii-chan, he ran off to the bathroom.”

“Ran off?”

“It seems like he got some fans. Right after that, he was surrounded by girls…”

“Tch… That damn handsome bastard!”

Stealing all the popularity just by appearing on stage for a bit—left me with no standing at all. …Well, whatever.

“That aside, Hinata-chan, are you glad Kousei got to be on stage… or something?”

“That was way too cheesy. It honestly made me cringe—”

Even as she said that, Hinata-chan wore an expression like she didn’t entirely mind, and she suddenly looked up at the sky.

“But if he went on stage for my sake, then I’m a little happy about it.”

“I see. That’s good, then.”

“Yes!”

With a refreshed smile as clear as this bright sky, Hinata-chan beamed, and Akira and I exchanged glances before laughing.

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

While Akira and Hinata-chan went to change, I returned to the clubroom and kept apologizing profusely to Nishiyama and the others who were back there. About how we’d totally wrecked the stage at the very end—I properly explained that I’d frozen up midway, and emphasized that Akira, Hinata-chan, and Kousei weren’t at fault.

But surprisingly, no one was angry; in fact, they all smiled and said, “It was the best!” Even Ito seemed unusually excited and bubbly.

“I actually love that kind of chaotic twist!”

“R-Really? That’s good then… By the way, Ito-san, that final narration—was that Nishiyama’s direction?”

“It was Akira-chan. She said, ‘Happy endings are the only way to win!’”

To come up with that narration on the spot like that—classic Ito.

Everyone was all smiles like that, but Nishiyama alone seemed a bit stunned.

“You told us not to do anything too extreme, but what was that hugging scene at the end?”

“Ah, no, that was just the flow of things…”

“Could it be that you really like Akira-chan?”

“N-No… That was only possible because Akira is my stepsister!”

“Only because she’s your stepsister? I see, I see~…”

Nishiyama grinned slyly.

“As expected from the out-of-this-world siscon Aniki~”

“Yeah, yeah, so it’s not like that… Wait, out-of-this-world siscon?!”

When I looked at Ito’s face, she quickly hid behind the script and wouldn’t meet my eyes. The other club members started smirking too. Nishiyama continued without a care.

“Senpai, you’re just like the rumors say. Well, we’ve seen you two being all lovey-dovey in the clubroom multiple times, so we figured it wasn’t just rumors—it had to be true~”

Apparently, the rumor about me was that I’m a siscon… Huh?

“Hold on a second! I haven’t been lovey-dovey or anything, and I’m not a siscon!”

“That’s what all siscons say! You’re super famous for it among the first-years!”

“I said I’m not a siscon! Akira only became my stepsister recently…”

“…So that means you just like her as a girl, right?”

As I turned bright red and tried to argue back, Ito, who was even redder than me, muttered softly.

“Stepsister… under the same roof… from morning till night… Hawawawawa!”

Ito, what are you imagining right now…? The other club members went “Kyaa!” and blushed too.

While I was left speechless, Nishiyama chuckled.

“But thanks to you, we had the best play ever. Thank you, Majima-senpai.”

Nishiyama bowed her head. Ito and the other members followed suit.

“Ah, no… I didn’t do anything…”

“With this, even if the club disappears, I have no regrets. I made some really great memories myself. —Oh, what about the club entry form?”

“Ah, no, you can keep it as is…”

“I see… So, senpai, you’ll keep participating in activities?”

“Yeah…”

Hearing my exchange with Nishiyama, Ito looked like she’d realized something.

“Kazusa-chan, that conversation just now…”

“Sorry, Amane. There’s something I’ve been keeping from everyone. I’ll talk about it after this.”

“O-Okay…”

“Senpai, you don’t have to join. I’m just going to tell everyone about that.”

With that, Nishiyama wore a slightly sad expression. I just said “Got it” and left the clubroom.

Even if Nishiyama was gone, there were five members,  including me. The club’s survival was a concern, but for Ito and the others’ sake, I decided to stay in the club as is.