The moment those words were spoken into the world, the air shifted. Even backstage, it felt like someone had flipped a switch, lightning in the walls, static in the air. Arisa stepped forward in a pair of heels far too tall for this dusty little theatre, but of course, she made them work like they were part of her DNA. Her hair was perfectly styled, a few curls bouncing like they had their own confidence. Her crimson, fiery hair styled back in a ponytail, with a pink clip, a glimmer in her lips like she’d prepped for the red carpet. But to me… Something was off.

  She was smiling, winking even.

  But it didn’t reach her eyes.

  The crowd stirred as she stepped out with me onto the stage, her hips swaying in that signature Arisa swagger, and from the corner of my eye, I caught a few boys elbowing each other like they were watching a model, not an audition.

  I stood beside her, holding the script.

  Arisa didn’t even look at it.

  She didn’t need to.

  She was going off-script, and that terrified me.

  “Ready?” I whispered.

  She smirked and flicked her eyes toward me. “Always, Maid-chan.”

  The crowd laughed a little, mostly our classmates who knew the nickname, which I was still unsure how they even found out. My eyes wandered out into the crowd, and I could see the teacher arching an eyebrow, bemused, not annoyed.

  Scene: The Princess confronts the Prince after years apart. Confession. Connection. The Kiss.

  'I swear, kiss this, kiss that, kiss her, kiss this bloody donkey next.'

  But despite my complaining to myself, the scene began, and Arisa turned toward me, all at once soft. Voice low.

  “You returned… After all this time.” Her tone? Butter-smooth. But I could feel her hand shake slightly against mine.

  “You waited,” I answered, keeping my voice calm, even though my heart felt like a bongo drum under attack.

  “Of course I waited.” She stepped closer. “I cursed you for it. I hated the waiting. But I still… Hoped.”

  The crowd leaned in.

  I heard someone whisper, “Whoa.”

  Then silence.

  Arisa’s expression faltered, just for a split second. I saw it. Her bottom lip quivered like she might break character. But she didn’t. She swallowed it. Swallowed her nerves whole and kept her eyes on mine. “But if you leave again,” she said, barely above a whisper, “I’ll kill you.” A few students laughed, but the teacher clapped once and nodded in response. They knew ad-lib when they heard it.

  She stepped even closer, her face inches from mine now.

  My cue was next.

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  The kiss.

  I think the teachers are perverts... Like, why only practise this one and only scene?

  I think I have to call the police. It was meant to be just a lean-in. Not real. No lips touching. Just dramatised closeness.

  But…

  Just as I leaned forward.

  CLANG!

  Someone dropped a metal bottle backstage. A loud metal sound echoed through the hall. Arisa jumped slightly, just enough that instead of her lips stopping just short of mine…

  Her cheek brushed mine. Her lips grazed the edge of my face.

  I froze.

  She froze.

  "Oh my god, did she just…" I thought to myself as I processed the situation.

  Someone in the crowd gasped.

  There was a long, tense beat.

  Then Arisa snapped back, turned on her heel, and faced the audience like nothing had happened.

  “Your Highness,” she said, bowing perfectly.

  "Wow, what a save." I thought as my face lingered on her back.

  The lights dimmed, and the scene ended.

  Backstage again.

  I exhaled like I hadn’t breathed in ten minutes. Shiori, standing off to the side, nodded once and said aloud, “Not bad. Overacted in the beginning… But her confidence was real.” But I wasn’t looking at Shiori, to be honest, her words went in one ear and out the next. My eyes were locked onto Arisa, who was now biting the tip of her thumbnail and pretending not to look at me while subtly checking to see if anyone had noticed the kiss.

  Which they had.

  Everyone had.

  But she still smirked and said with her usual smugness:

  “Well~ I guess I do make a good princess after all.”

  But her ears were red.

  And her hands were shaking.

  "You're not fooling anyone," Shiori muttered under her breath.

  A rare Arisa blushing moment, thought I'd never say that.

  I sighed, just trying to move on, after all, we still had Shiori left, which hopefully could cause the crowd to forget that minor slip of the lip, but well, you’d think I'd get a break right? You know, considering I was like the star man Mr Souta Kannazuki... Wrong, because apparently, backstage isn’t for resting, you’d think that. Especially after that, Arisa slip up. But not this time, it seems like the universe would rather perish than allow little old me a break. Making my way to sit on my oh so amazing plastic chair that I swear the very bottom of humans get, was something I was never expecting.

  A letter.

  My heart skipped a beat as I made my way over to the chair, occasionally making sure to check over my shoulder just in case one of the girls was playing some prank on me. But to my surprise, they were all in their zones.

  "Either there are just all good actors, or this is going to be much worse than I thought," I muttered, unfolding the paper. The paper had no name, just folded, crisp, as if it belonged there. My stomach did this horrible flip thing as I slowly opened it, and once I read the contents of this paper, I felt the horrible feeling of danger looming over me.

  "Don’t take her from me."

  That was it.

  No hi or like yo Souta, please leave me one of the girls, none of that.

  No signature.

  Just that.

  Five words.

  Five words that clung to the inside of my skull like ice.

  Take who?

  What does this mean?

  Is this a joke? A threat?

  Is this about Nao? Reina? Arisa...?

  I shoved the letter into my pocket like it burned to touch. There wasn't enough time for me to think about this, at least right now. But either way, thanks to that, now my hands were shaking. The concentration I had built up was shattered into a million different pieces, the lines I worked so hard to memorise, YEET out the way for this jackass of a letter. Like damn, that son of a bitch could have found a better time to do this, not when my pride was on the line.

  And then, almost like kicking a guy when he's already down.

  “Next up, Shiori and Souta!”

  Of course...

  Save the best till last, I guess

  Taking another deep inhale, I stepped out with Shiori beside me. She looked composed. Regal. Her posture screamed elegance, chin up, back straight, not a flicker of doubt in her eyes. Meanwhile, I was holding my script like a drowning man holds driftwood. The same lights that shone with Arisa, Nao and Reina now hit me like a freight train. The crowd blurred into darkness beyond the edge of the stage.

  Except for one thing.

  Him.

  That guy, the one I couldn't see the face of. Watching. Still. And though I couldn't see his eyes, I could just tell her wasn't blinking.

  “Don’t take her from me.”

  Was it him?

  Was this about Shiori?

  What if?

  “...Souta,” Shiori whispered through her smile, keeping her face forward, “you need to breathe.”

  "Oh, sorry…" I muttered, not realising I was staring off into the distance. "I guess all this is putting some wear on me." I continued, letting out a little chuckle. But deep down inside, that damn letter had rocked me, as if Mike Tyson hit me with an upper cut and then said "I LOVE HER" Like bitch who?!. Thankfully, though, Shirori's voice shook me back to Earth. But after finally coming back down to earth, I blinked. My hands were clenched so tight my knuckles were white.

  "Cmon, Souta, get your shit together," I murmured to myself. There was no way I could ruin this now. Not for the sisters. Not for Shirori.

  Thank you for reading.