𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 || 𝕂𝕪𝕠 𝕊𝕠𝕙𝕞𝕒

Bullies Don't Lose!

Class 2-D just happened to win the draw for the school festival. That meant they were one of the classes putting on a play. As far as acting experience went, Hiyori had zero to none. But her plan from the beginning was to try and make up for it with determination and effort.

...She just had to see how far that would get her.

The votes for the main roles had been cast. Their play had already been chosen; in just over a month, the whole school would get to watch their performance of none other than Cinderella. Knowing their class, it was bound to be nothing short of...unique. That was obvious enough even without knowing who was cast in what role.

They were waiting for the vice representative to finish tallying the votes. Sitting in a chair she pulled up beside Uo's desk, Hiyori gave up on trying to hold back her yawn. Braiding half of her hair, Hana leaned forward to glance down at her face.

"I noticed you've been yawning quite frequently, Hiyori. Are you getting enough sleep?"

Hiyori glanced back at her. "Hm?"

Tohru tilted her head in concern. "I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but you do seem more and more tired, lately..."

"Ah..." She rubbed her eyes. "I guess I have had a few restless nights. I'm okay, though." She glanced at Uo. "But...are you okay, Uo-chan?"

Uo's blond hair was tied in cute pigtails, courtesy of Hana. But her arms were crossed and she had a scowl on her face. She clearly wasn't happy at all.

Tohru smiled weakly. "Uh, I guess Cinderella wasn't your first choice, huh...?"

"The votes have been cast and our fates are sealed." Hana pointed out. "There's nothing to be done about it, Arisa."

Uo groaned. "But still! This is lame; I was hoping for a historical play! Mito Komon was on the list -- that would've been way cooler! I wanted to be the one to whip out the seal box!"

"Oh, you mean Suke, right?"

"Seriously -- Cinderella?! It's not like we're in elementary school, people! Come on!"

Hana blinked at her. "Did you want to reveal the seal box that badly...?"

"I'm sure it won't be too bad..." Hiyori laughed awkwardly. "We get to find out who's playing what role. That should be exciting, right?"

Uo just grumbled. "Mm...But I think we all know that the prince will be playing "The Prince"."

"Actually, I'm not so sure. Yuki said he doesn't plan to accept any bigger roles because he's got so much going on."

"Guess being the president's a pretty tough gig, huh?"

Speaking of Yuki, he arrived just then. He rushed into the class to join the vice representative's side. "Sorry, I'm late."

She smiled at him. "Glad you could make it. I was just tallying up the votes now."

"There he is!" Kinoshita, Iwata, and Chie rushed up to Yuki with pink cheeks.

"Hey, Yuki! Obviously, you would've been everyone's first choice to play The Prince!" Kinoshita beamed hopefully. "It's such a shame you turned it down -- are you sure you won't change your mind..?"

"Sorry, I really am too busy. Student council is enough to deal with on top of everything else." He smiled. "And, besides, I don't think I'm actually the best person for the role."

All three of them turned white. Their disagreement was obvious, but they seemed to refrain from saying anything.

As they returned to their seats, Yuki took the cast list from the vice representative. "Alright, now to announce the cast."