“I would complain more about how you got us stuck in this situation, but I’m sure you’re just as upset as me.” Ishi spoke after they exited off the stage. According to the people running the show, they promised the pair that they’d be free by the end of the day. Whether that would be because the key was found, or something else they weren’t specific on. Hopefully it’d be of the former because the latter sounded kind of scary.

“Now this day’s totally lame thanks to this.” She whined as they reentered the school. The only positive about this whole ordeal was that the pair was already heading towards the same destination. That being the auditorium where the play would be held, plus after that the talent show would be created for everyone to see the students perform their own singing voices.

For now, it was a stage production to tell the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet. Which proved to be quite popular with the other students as well as the parents of those participating in the play. So the place was packed and a lot of the seats were already taken.

Wait a second, parents? Koto was in the play, but there was no way his family could be attending this to watch. Well, not his parents at least, but they would want to see it anyway, wouldn’t they? Then that must mean that…

“Ishi, it’s nice to see you here to support your cousin.” Unfortunately for him, he had to run into his own parents here. His mother greeted him while his dad was setting up the camera so that they could record the entire show. “And you brought such a cute date too.”

“It’s not a date.” He responded by picking up the hands they had cuffed together. “Long story.”

“Well, it’s still nice to meet you.” His mom smiled like this was no big deal. “You’re… Shugimoto’s daughter, right? What was your name again?”

“Uh, just call me Ryugi.” She quickly told her. “Really, that’s what everyone calls me.”

“Ah, well Ryugi. You two should sit with us.” There was no room for them to do so, but that wasn’t the reason why Ishi wanted to decline the offer.

“No, we’ll just go sit by ourselves.” He answered, pulling the girl along with him.

“What’s wrong?” Ryugi teased as they gained distance away from his parents. “Scared they’ll embarrass you?”

“More like they’ll be so annoying during the entire show.” He answered. They were certainly going to be blooming with pride every time Koto appeared on stage. Since he was one of the main leads, that was going to be rather often. “Trust me, you’ll like it better without them.”

“Oh well, fine.” She sighed.

“I’m surprised at how easily you’re giving up these days.” He commented as they sat themselves down at a decent location near the front. “You used to fight me tooth and nail so you wouldn’t have to do as I say.”

“You’re not really much of a liar.” She replied. “And I know now that you would never try to wreak things. Even if you did hate them.” They fell silent as the room around them darkened. “And I wanted to say… I’m real sorry for calling you a thief back then.” The true reason for her inserting herself into his day was revealed. The girl simply wanted to find the words to apologize properly for a mistake she committed.

“Kind of wish you said that before we got handcuffed together.” He responded by practically ignoring her words. “And I thought you already apologized back then when we found out the truth.” She had actually done so after Rinse spoke up, which was part of her problem.

“I only did it because I was listening to what Hattori had to say.” She admitted. “I wasn’t actually being honest about it.” After the incident, she thought about it some more and realized that she was being petty to him. “I accused you because I was still upset about what you said about my singing voice.”

“So it was revenge then.”

“It was, and it was also wrong of me.”

“Okay.” He accepted her apology once more. “I don’t hold a grudge anyway, so it’s not like I was still mad at you for that.” His standoffish attitude towards the gal was due to disliking her personality. She was what he would call… Fake. Though he did feel that some grains of her true self came out to him from time to time.

Now the show was ready to begin. The story began off as normal to anyone who was aware of the classic Shakespearean tale. Our cast was introduced, but there was surprise for Ryugi when she saw who was playing Romeo.

“Huh? Isn’t that your cousin?” She asked him. It wasn’t that he was on stage that surprised her. Rather, it was the fact that he wasn’t wearing a dress to pretend to be the fair lady of Juliet. “As Romeo?”

“I gave the production crew a piece of my mind about it.” That was the reason for Ishi not being in the classroom when they suspected him of stealing the money. He had headed down to the auditorium and scolded the director for placing his cousin in that position. It annoyed him that they were so careless about other people’s feelings. That also included the girl that Koto was cast opposite of. Did they not ever consider the fact that she might want to not play as a boy just because of her looks?

Sure, she was taller and bigger than most of the students. And sure, Koto looked like a young girl. That didn’t mean they wanted to play a role solely for that reason. The pair had their own feelings on the matter, and it was clear to Ishi that the girl wanted to shine on stage as a beautiful maiden. The same went for his cousin, who wanted to show off how cool he could truly be.

“I can’t believe you cared that much about it.” She stared at him dumbfounded, not paying attention to the show in front of them.

“Well, Koto is family.” He responded. “I want him to be able to stand up for himself, but sometimes that boy gets in his own way.”

“I’m sure he’ll be okay.” She giggled. “He looks so cute with that girl next to him. It kind of reminds me of our first year play.”

“I don’t remember a thing about it.” He replied, which irritated her. “I know I was in it, but I don’t recall what I did or who I was with.”

“Idiot.” She muttered. “You had to take over for the main role halfway through you moron.” It was insane for her to think that he up and forgot about such an important event in his life. “I was playing the character that married him in the end.”

“None of that rings a bell.” The only reason he even took the role on such short notice was because the boy was the only one willing to forsake his pride and read directly from the script while on stage. His acting and wooden and terrible, which disappointed a lot in the crowd but at least they were able to see the story all the way through.

“I can’t believe the nerve of you.” She crossed her arms, but forgot that they were still handcuffed, so she ended up pulling his hand onto her soft, squishy breasts. “Ah, you pervert!” Quickly she realized the error and tossed his arm away from her.

“That’s your own fault.” He replied, unfazed with what happened. She really couldn’t understand the guy. If he didn’t care about this, and she knew that he wasn’t in boys, then what was up with him.

That’s also not to mention that he seemed to have garnered the attention of Rinse. Ryugi was a girl, and she can tell when other girls have certain thoughts and feelings in their heads. What was so special about Ishi that he got an idol to notice him? This thought really upset her. He was crass, rude, mean, and a ton of other inappropriate words that would get her into trouble if she said them out loud. Was it really just the luck of living next door to an idol that gave him this opportunity, which was wasted on a boy like him.

“You need the restroom?” He asked as intermission began.

“I’ve been holding it in because I’m not exactly in a position to use it right now.” She spoke through her teeth frustrated about their circumstances.

“Then let’s go.” He got up and was prepared to take them to the bathrooms. Ishi was human like everyone else, so he needed to relieve himself as well.

“W-w-what?” She was stunned as he pulled her along in the crowd. “Did you forget we can’t get separated?”

“I’m not shy about my bathroom needs.” He told her, nor was he worried about her taking a peek. “And I’m not interested in you enough to want to do something so perverted like look when you’re doing your business.”

“Fine.” She relented, it was starting to get a little bad for her. “But you better not dare to listen to me or you’re not walking out of the restroom alive.”

“Great.” He said, then took her towards the boy’s room. She contested, obviously embarrassed about the thought of being in the wrong restroom. “We’ll get in less trouble if we’re caught like this.” Was his only reasoning.

And so they took care of themselves in the privacy of the boys bathroom on the second floor. They clearly didn’t want to be seen like this since that would get them into some trouble with parents and staff. Things went by smoothly and soon enough they had finished and began to leave the room.

“I swear, I never want to do that again.” She lamented as they walked down.

“Do what again?” Unfortunately, they were caught. And of all people to see them like this, it just had to be Rinse and Youna.