Episode 4: “So, my stepsister hit a wall…”

The day after the “Nyama Mugi Incident” began with a thirty-minute morning run—though calling it jogging would be more accurate.

After school, I joined the drama club for vocal exercises and line readings. Nishiyama had thrust upon me something called “Majima-senpai’s To-Do List ♥,” and while Akira and the others practiced, I helped Ito prepare props in a corner, watching the rehearsal unfold from the sidelines.

“L-last night, I had a dream. A dream about stars… It was… A star flying through a pitch-black sky. S-since this morning, I’ve been thinking about that shooting star…”

Akira’s reading still came in halting bursts, but Takamura, playing Romeo’s friend Mercutio, responded with a low, masculine voice that rang clear and full of expression: “—What, stars? What about them?”

According to Ito, the drama club hadn’t performed anything in recent memory, but they’d been doing read-throughs for the past six months. The other members, aside from the seemingly unflappable Nishiyama, were surprisingly capable.

“Mer-Mercutio, I think a person’s life is… like the line segment drawn by a shooting star in the night sky… A straight line with a beginning and an end—”

The difference between Akira and the others was painfully obvious. Every time she stumbled through her lines, tension shot through me for reasons I couldn’t quite name. Beside her, Hinata’s face grew taut with shared anxiety. I found myself silently cheering Akira on, willing her to push through, but my distraction made it impossible to focus on my own tasks.

That’s how practice went that day—we just read through the script once and wrapped up.

Back home, Akira dove into vocal muscle training, then spent every moment until bedtime memorizing lines with me—it had become our exhausting new routine. Completely drained, she began nodding off midway through reading the script, and before I knew it, she was fast asleep on my bed.

I gently pulled the blanket over her, then settled at my desk to read through the script myself. If I was going to help her, I figured I should at least memorize Akira’s lines.

—Man, there are a lot of lines…

The sheer volume of text surprised me all over again. According to Ito, she’d already cut and edited extensively to make it more manageable.

—Hang in there, Akira.

I softly stroked her sleeping head, then wrapped myself in a blanket on the floor and drifted off.

After two days of this whirlwind routine, Akira seemed to be finding her rhythm. The morning jog wasn’t quite running yet, but she moved faster than that first day. During drama club practice, she threw herself wholeheartedly into vocalizing.

Ito, who was helping with costume preparation beside me, suddenly spoke up. “Akira-chan’s voice is coming out much better compared to the first day, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. She’s been practicing vocals at home too.”

“Do you always help her with practice, Majima-senpai?”

“Pretty much. But she’s struggling to memorize the lines, and I’m kind of at a loss for what to do.” I said it half-jokingly, but Ito bowed her head apologetically.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing, Ito?”

“I tried to make the lines easier to remember, but…”

“Oh no, that’s really helping. You’ve done amazing work with the script.” After I praised her efforts enthusiastically, Ito looked embarrassed but pleased.

“If she blanks on a line during the performance, tell her it’s fine to ad-lib.”

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes. Acting is a living thing—it’s more important to keep the flow going than to stop completely.”

“Well, as an amateur, I think ad-libbing would be way harder…”

First, she needed to get the script solidly memorized. But there was something else bothering me.

“The reason she can’t memorize the lines isn’t just the volume. There’s something else…”

“Something else? Besides the sheer amount?”

“Yeah, but I can’t figure out what it is…”

Even accounting for my brotherly bias, Akira was putting in tremendous effort. She stayed up late trying to memorize lines and hadn’t touched her beloved manga or games at all. Plus, I’d heard from Miyuki-san that Akira earned good grades at school, so her inability to memorize the lines was genuinely puzzling.

What am I supposed to do about this? Well, there’s still time, so no need to panic yet.

“By the way, Ito, don’t you need to join the practice?”

“Not right now. I’m purely backstage, and since I’m narrating, I can read from the script during the performance.”

“Got it. That makes sense.”

“Yes. Oh, senpai, sorry—could you open that cardboard box over there?”

“Sure thing.”

I opened the box labeled “Costumes ④” as requested. Inside were costumes that appeared to be for this “Romeo and Juliet” production. Ito carefully lifted them all out and spread them across the desk, but once she’d finished, she muttered, “What should we do…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I heard they’d performed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ before, but apparently a guy played Romeo back then…”

“So there’s no costume that fits Akira?”

“The others might be problematic too…”

We proceeded to open every box labeled “Costumes XX,” but amid the mothball scent and musty smell, nothing usable emerged. In the end, we couldn’t find a Romeo outfit suitable for Akira.

“What should we do? We might need to prepare new costumes…”

“Can’t you just buy some?”

“Buying new would strain our budget… We have to start on set construction tomorrow, and paint is surprisingly expensive…”

“What about asking the handicrafts club? They could alter the men’s costumes, right?”

“Oh, that’s a brilliant idea! As expected from Majima-senpai!”

It wasn’t particularly ingenious, but being praised felt nice nonetheless. Ito immediately left the room to negotiate with the handicrafts club, and shortly after, Akira and Hinata approached me.

“Good work. Taking a break?”

“Yes. Oh, Ryouta-senpai, what were you discussing so seriously with Ito-san earlier?”

“The costume situation.”

“Costumes?”

“We were checking what everyone will wear, but we’re worried about sizing. Ito-san just went to see if the handicrafts club can help us out.”

The three of us chatted about what the costumes might look like until break time ended. A bit later, Ito returned looking triumphant.

“Majima-senpai, we did it!”

“So they’ll help with the costumes?”

“Yes! Consulting the handicrafts club was absolutely the right move!”

“That’s fantastic news.”

But Ito’s expression turned slightly awkward.

“There’s just one condition, though…”

“A condition?”

Ito’s face went bright red as she clammed up. When I pressed her for details, she mumbled something about “helping the handicrafts club” and refused to elaborate further.

Well, at least the costume crisis seemed solvable, which was a relief. When Ito reported back to Nishiyama, it was decided that everyone would head to the handicrafts club immediately.

“Majima-senpai, we’re heading to the handicrafts club now~” Nishiyama announced with a smile.

“Got it. I’ll work through this ‘To-Do List ♥’ in the meantime,” I replied, dripping with sarcasm.

Nishiyama moved closer and whispered with a chuckle, “I’m leaving Amane here, but don’t make any moves on her, okay?”

“I won’t…”

“But Amane’s weak to pushy types, so if you went aggressive, you might actually win her over…”

“I said I won’t…”

“Well, I figured as much. After all, Majima-senpai is…” She trailed off meaningfully.

“Huh? I’m what?”

“Oh, nothing! Off we go!” Nishiyama laughed as she led Akira and the others out of the room, leaving only Ito and me in the clubroom.

Being alone together felt incredibly awkward, partly due to Nishiyama’s pointed comments.

“Um, Ito-san, I’ll work on preparing the props.”

“Understood.”

Ito smiled brightly and began neatly folding the unused costumes left behind by the others, placing them back in their boxes. I stole glances at her while starting on the props.

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

Friday night marked our fourth day of practice. We were doing our usual line work, but a serious problem had emerged.

“There—you messed up again.”

“Ugh, I know! But I just…”

“Want to try once more?”

“Yeah, please.”

Akira could manage the first act up to the middle, albeit haltingly, but then she hit an insurmountable wall. She simply couldn’t memorize the lines from the midpoint onward.

The past three days of drama club practice had relied heavily on scripts, but starting next week, they planned to rehearse with minimal dependence on them. This meant Akira needed to memorize a substantial portion over the Friday-to-Sunday weekend.

On top of that, her delivery still sounded like flat reading rather than acting. Based on my online research about performance techniques, I’d been coaching her on line memorization and adding emotional depth, but progress was frustratingly slow.

“Akira, you skipped a line this time…”

“Ugh, why does this keep happening…”

“You’ve got most of it down, right? It’s just practice now. You’ll nail the lines as you go, so let’s try again.”

“Yeah, sorry, Aniki… Making you go through this over and over…”

As you can see, things weren’t going well.

First and foremost, Akira’s motivation was plummeting. She acted tough but lacked confidence, so repeated failures made her wilt like a flower in drought. Until now, her sense of responsibility for choosing this path herself had barely sustained her, but today that burden seemed to weigh heavily on her shoulders.

“Actually… there, I met a beautiful person. She agreed right away when I asked her to dance. Her face was hidden by a mask… hidden but… um…”

“A wonderful woman with an enchanting, beautiful voice.”

“Ugh! I know the line, but…”

“It’s pretty long, so that’s understandable. Hey Akira, that’s amazing—you memorized all the way up to here!”

When I praised her with exaggerated enthusiasm, Akira looked at me suspiciously.

“R-really…?”

“Absolutely. We have the whole weekend ahead of us, so there’s no need to rush. Let’s take it slow and steady.” I encouraged her gently.

But how could she memorize more efficiently? And how could we make her delivery sound more like actual acting? If we didn’t solve these two fundamental issues over the weekend, her motivation might crash even further.

I couldn’t let Hinata or the drama club members worry about this. As her brother, I had to do everything within my power to help Akira succeed.

The problem was, I lacked confidence too. No matter how much I researched online techniques and shared them with her, my complete lack of acting experience made everything feel unreliable and makeshift.

If only I had some actual experience…

“What’s wrong, Aniki?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“How I can do more to help you.”

“Come on, you’ve already done so much. You don’t have to—”

“No, not nearly enough. As your brother, I want you to shine brightest on that stage.”

“Aniki…”

Akira leaned close and gently rested her head against my chest. Along with the weight of her head came the sweet scent drifting from her hair.

“Why are you so kind, Aniki? I’m the one who decided to do this, so you don’t need to help or worry about me…”

Then I want to ask the same thing. Why does Akira see straight through to my heart so easily?

“I want to help. Let me worry about you—at least that much. I’m your Aniki.”

From this angle, I couldn’t see Akira’s face, but I could somehow imagine her expression perfectly.

“If you weren’t my Aniki, would you still worry about me…?”

“Who knows…”

I placed my hand on her head and gently stroked her hair. Honestly, I’d probably want to do something for Akira even if she wasn’t my stepsister, but that was far too embarrassing to admit aloud.

“Hey, Aniki?”

“What?”

“Why are you my Aniki?”

She was probably riffing on one of Juliet’s famous lines.

“Because I asked you to call me that.” I dodged the question on purpose, and Akira let out a soft laugh.

“That’s not what I mean… Idiot…”

Akira wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight.

I needed to step up more. I wanted to be someone she could truly rely on, someone dependable and… Wait.

“That’s it! There’s that option!”

“Huh? What suddenly?”

I grabbed the surprised Akira by the shoulders and pulled her back to look at her face.

“There’s someone who knows everything about acting!”

“Um, you don’t mean…”

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

“So that’s where I come in?”

Saturday morning found Akira and me meeting her biological father, Himeno Takeru-san, at a cafe. Takeru-san was an actor who’d appeared in several dramas, though unfortunately, I’d never seen any of his work or even heard his name before this.

Recently, he’d finally landed some supporting roles in television dramas, and according to Akira, he was keeping busy. It was just a minor drama on cable TV, but appearing on television was impressive nonetheless.

“Man, I was shocked when you called yesterday. Akira is taking the lead role in the cultural festival, huh?” Takeru-san spoke happily, then grew serious and pointed his index finger straight up in a dramatic gesture.

“Listen, Akira, the essence of acting is—”

“I don’t need the philosophical stuff. Just teach me how to memorize lines.”

“R-right…”

He must have been about to deliver some profound wisdom. Takeru-san deflated pitifully.

“And I keep sounding flat when I read… What should I do about that, Dad?”

Takeru-san crossed his arms and tilted his head thoughtfully.

“What do you think? Have you considered why you can’t memorize the lines?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking you.”

“Fair point…”

It was blunt, but if that’s how their father-daughter dynamic worked, it was fine by me. Watching this tough-looking dad get bossed around by his beautiful daughter was entertaining—like something out of a drama itself.

Takeru-san pondered with a long “Hmm~” before speaking.

“Well, to really inhabit a role, don’t just chase after the words—put your heart into reading them. Once emotion rides along with the lines, they’ll naturally sink into your memory.”

“Put my heart into it? How exactly?”

“Romeo falls for Juliet, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“So, Akira, try reading the script while imagining someone you’re interested in.”

“Eh!?”

Seeing Akira flush crimson, Takeru-san glanced at my face and grinned knowingly. I couldn’t help but turn red myself.

Just how much did Takeru-san suspect? Was he testing the waters, or did he actually know something?

While maintaining my guard against this heartily laughing Takeru-san, I took a sip of my iced coffee, cloyingly sweetened with gum syrup.

“It’s just an example, you know. But if you inject some genuine emotion into it, it won’t sound like monotonous reading anymore.”

“Th-then even I feel like I could manage that somehow. Anything else?”

“It’s about getting the lines—or rather, the entire story—firmly lodged in your head. Just chasing Romeo’s lines alone won’t cut it. If anything, read through all the other characters’ lines thoroughly too. That way, you’ll grasp the atmosphere of the entire production.”

“I see… not just the lines, but the whole story…”

Takeru-san’s eyes suddenly gleamed with sharp interest.

“By the way, Akira, you wouldn’t happen to be interested in someone right now, would you?”

“—!?”

“Gehogaho!”

Akira turned even redder than before, and I nearly sprayed my iced coffee everywhere.

“N-no such person exists!”

“Hmm… Is that so~?”

Akira was visibly shaken, and sitting right next to her, the situation was growing incredibly awkward for me too.

“Well, whoever the guy turns out to be, as long as he’s someone you chose and not some complete loser, I’ll support you. Introduce him to me sometime?”

“I-I’m telling you, there isn’t anyone! I-I’m going to the bathroom!”

With that declaration, Akira fled in a panic.

“Jeez, she’s still as stubbornly dishonest as ever.”

“Ahahaha… Please don’t tease Akira too much.”

“More importantly, Majima, aren’t you spoiling her way too much?”

Come to think of it, Kousei had also mentioned I was overprotective. Did I really appear to be pampering Akira that much to everyone around me?

“Well, not that I’m one to talk—” Takeru-san brought his coffee to his lips and made a bitter face.

“That aside, for her to rely on me, huh.”

“Well, yeah. We figured asking a professional who was close by would be our best bet.”

“You were being considerate, weren’t you? Getting me and Akira to meet up like this.”

“No, not at all… When Akira thought about someone she could rely on for this, Takeru-san was the only person who came to mind.”

Half the reason for seeking his help was exactly that, but the other half was indeed as Takeru-san suspected—I thought it would be beneficial if the two of them could meet and talk normally.

Ever since the day I’d grabbed him by the collar, Akira hadn’t seen Takeru-san face-to-face. It seemed they exchanged messages on their phones occasionally, but I figured it would still be better if they could have proper conversations in person. That’s why I’d encouraged Akira to contact him about meeting up.

“But Akira is doing theater, huh… How did that come about?”

“She told me about you, Takeru-san. How were you shy around people during your student days…”

“She told you about that?”

“Yeah. She said she wants to overcome her shyness the same way you did, Takeru-san.”

“I see… Well, if that’s what she wants, then she should definitely go for it…”

“Are you worried after all?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Me too. That’s exactly why I asked for your help, Takeru-san.”

At that, Takeru-san’s expression grew apologetic.

“Sorry for all the trouble. Including that incident from before, I’ve been nothing but a burden…”

“No, you entrusted Akira to me, but I’m doing this because I want to—I don’t consider it trouble at all.”

Takeru-san stared at me with a serious expression.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Hey, Majima. Let me ask you something: are you interested in Akira?”

“…!? What are you saying all of a sudden? Of course I care about Akira—as family!”

“You’re so uptight… You’ve never had a girlfriend, have you?”

“Th-that’s none of your business!”

“If you want, I could take you to a place with big sisters?”

“Huh!? Why would it come to that!?”

“You’re having trouble handling Akira, right? It’s written all over your face.”

I wanted to retort by asking what kind of face that was supposed to be, but was I really that transparent?

“Well, when a guy and girl around the same age live together, that kind of thing can happen, but you’re just too rigid. You’re not used to dealing with women.”

“No, like I said, as her brother—”

“That’s exactly why I said I’d take you to a place with big sisters—”

“Hey you two, what were you talking about~?”

“Geh…”

“Akira…”

Akira had returned at some point without us noticing.

“Dad, what’s this about big sisters? Aniki, are you interested in that kind of thing?”

“No no no! Takeru-san just suddenly brought it up—”

“Hey Majima! I was suggesting it for your sake—!”

“Aniki and Dad are both idiots!”

After that, it took considerable time to soothe the sulking Akira. I felt the same way, but it was an incident that made me think Takeru-san should also work on learning how to handle a daughter that age.

On our way out, Takeru-san suddenly said “Oh right” as if remembering something, and pulled a DVD from the second bag he was carrying.

“I’m not sure if it’ll help, but this is from when I performed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on stage years ago.”

“Can we borrow it?”

“You can have it. I’ve got the master copy.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Takeru-san smiled warmly at Akira.

“It’s the Kanon Festival, right? Depending on my schedule, I’m planning to attend, so do your best out there.”

“Yeah!”

“Good, that’s a nice, strong response.”

With that, Takeru-san extended his hand toward me.

“Majima, I’m counting on you to take care of Akira.”

“Yes!”

Takeru-san’s hand was rough and gnarled like a tree branch—hard and warm. That hand gripped mine firmly, and I gripped back with equal strength, intending it as a promise to keep my word.

＊　　　　　　＊　　　　　　＊

That night, we decided to watch the DVD we’d received from Takeru-san right away, just the two of us. Neither my room nor Akira’s had a television, and downstairs in the living room, Dad and Miyuki-san were around, which felt awkward somehow.

So I borrowed the laptop that Dad barely used at home, and we decided to watch it together in my room.

“Here, Aniki—earphones.”

Akira had one side of the split earphones in her ear and handed me the other. When the DVD started playing, Akira grew slightly excited.

“Ah, there’s Dad.”

“Takeru-san looks so young~”

The opening credits showed the filming date as fifteen years ago—apparently taken a year after Akira was born. He was so slim that for a moment, he was barely recognizable. His features were gallant, but the rugged image he carried now was somehow subdued.

“Dad looks sharper than he does now, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Once Takeru-san began acting, I followed his movements with rapt attention. Whether he stood at center stage or at the edges, Takeru-san was constantly performing in harmony with everything happening around him.

At the level of a school cultural festival, standing quietly in a corner of the stage might suffice. But professionals were different. Even during scenes without dialogue, they were constantly acting through expressions and body language alone.

Unexpectedly, watching the video moved me deeply. This emotion might be unique to someone who’d dabbled in theater, rather than just casually watching and feeling entertained.

Akira seemed to experience something similar, because when it ended, she released a long, contemplative sigh: “Haa~”

“As expected from a professional…”

“Yeah.”

“Dad mentioned this before—actors and performers are different; he insists he’s a performer.”

“Oh? What’s the distinction?”

“Actors adapt the role to fit themselves. Performers adapt themselves to fit the role.”

I pondered the meaning of those words, having never known such a distinction existed. But it seemed Akira had already found her answer.

“I actually wanted to play Juliet. That’s why I think I couldn’t empathize with Romeo’s feelings.”

“I see. You couldn’t fully become the character…”

“But now it’s okay. Somehow, I got a hint from Dad’s advice.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Then it sounds like you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. And I think I understand why Dad is so particular about being a performer.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“It’s really simple. I think he finds acting genuinely fun.”

“Yeah, I think so too. Since we’re doing this anyway, we should enjoy it more.”

“Yeah!”

I thought it was good that I’d arranged for them to meet after all.

As if something possessing her had fallen away, Akira’s expression remained bright afterward.