Once again, Sahana decided to hang out with Toyomi, leaving Masami and Kunie alone. The abandoned girls found solidarity in a shared mission to find a new place to eat. They searched heaven and hell to find the perfect spot, eventually settling on a tree with wide roots.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be. Surprisingly enough, roots aren’t exactly comfortable, and the dirt on the ground did little to ease Masami’s mind.
After a few minutes of shifting butts, the pair stood up and wordlessly shuffled back into the school building. Masami surveyed the school evacuation plan and noticed the Home Ec room. At long last, they had found their sanctuary!
Masami made sure to finish chewing before asking Kunie a question. ‘Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why is someone like you in the theatre club? Your… aesthetic gives me... track and field vibes.’
Kunie chuckled. ‘Just say I’m a tomboy.’ Masami bowed her head in apology. ‘It’s all right. I’ve always loved the theatre, even when I was a little kid. It felt like a place I could be myself. Ironic, huh? Playing characters makes me feel like the real me. One time I saw a Kabuki play and was amazed that there was a male actor playing a female role. If someone like him could do that, I could do anything, really.’
‘Wow, that’s really-’
‘Don’t say deep. I don’t really care about that nowadays. Now I just like playing characters like I’m a kid playing house. Though I will say that Sahana understood my old motivation.’
Dooru snatched Kunie’s paintbrush from her. ‘This set needs a delicate touch,’ she said as she painted a thin stroke of orange on the sunset-adorned timber.
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Kunie looked at the ground. ‘Why do we have to paint the set, anyway?’ She grumbled. ‘Can’t we get the art club to do this?’
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The teacher turned his head, paintbrush in hand, and answered. ‘It’s a good idea to gain an understanding of all departments in charge of putting on a play. It gives you an appreciation of every role’s hard work.’
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Toyomi nodded in agreement. ‘And this is nice. It gets the creative juices flowing, doesn’t it?’ He painted a ripple of sunlight with one big stroke. Dooru had to stop for a moment to bask in his glory.
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He looked at his watch and said a quick goodbye before heading out the door. Dooru sighed, absentmindedly drawing rays of sunshine where there should not be any.
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‘Isn’t he dreamy?’ she whispered.
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Sahana blushed, missing a nail with her hammer. ‘Well, he is a nice person.’
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Kunie offered to give Sahana’s job a try and Sahana handed her the hammer. Dooru snickered when Kunie managed to hit the nail with ease.
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‘So, what do you think about him?’ A shrug from Kunie. ‘Seriously? Who wouldn’t like him? Unless…’ Dooru scanned the girl up and down. ‘Oh. I see. Now I get it. It’s obvious why you joined the theatre club. You thought you would get girls that way, didn’t you?’
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Kunie tightened her grip on her hammer and yet Dooru continued. ‘Shame Toyomi is playing the prince, or you might have succeeded. With that hair and your acting skills, you could have been a charming leading man. But I guess that would have required all of us to be big lesbians, wouldn’t it? How sad for you-’
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Place your bets. Did the teacher tell her off or did Kunie smack her with a hammer?
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Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Do you have your answer?
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Bzzzz! You’re wrong if you chose either answer because the first to respond was none other than Sahana.
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‘Just because she has short hair doesn't make her a lesbian. Kunie is a wonderful person and I don't think she deserves you being so mean to her!’
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Dooru stepped back and looked around her like she had a harsh spotlight put on her. ‘I… wasn’t trying to be mean.’ She whipped back towards the set and resumed painting it.
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Sahana kneeled down next to Kunie with eyes that warmed Kunie’s soul. The short-haired girl gave her thanks via a smile.
Realisation dawned on Masami’s face. ‘So that’s why Dooru is always calling you a prince. I’m surprised Sahana’s words didn’t get her to stop picking on you, though.’
‘Yeah, it’s weird, but at least I know I’ve got Sahana on my side no matter what,’ Kunie said with a smile that quickly plummeted. ‘It would be nice if people stopped making assumptions about me, thinking I’m a lesbian.’
She paused for a moment, biting her lip. ‘I’m glad that Sahana defended me but sometimes people’s words do kind of get to me. There are times when I wonder if I should grow my hair out and wear lipgloss or something. I only wear makeup for theatre, so I kinda wonder if I would look like a clown if I tried to wear it regularly.’
Kunie’s expression punctured Masami’s heart, spilling out an idea. Masami stood up and headed to the pantry. ‘What are you doing?’ Kunie asked with one eyebrow up and her mouth curved into a smile. Masami didn’t answer her, focusing on pulling out ingredients.
‘Turn around or close your eyes. I have a surprise.’
Kunie followed both orders. She could hear the chopping and crushing of food. She could vaguely smell sushi and some other unidentified food.
After ten minutes, she asked, ‘Is it ready? I’m pretty sure lunchtime is almost over.’
Masami slammed a plate on the bench and turned Kunie around. ‘Enjoy, if you can.’
Sushi with chocolate. Sushi with chocolate. Sushi with chocolate.
Now that she was closer to the meal, she could smell it. Not wanting to pinch her nose, she scrunched it and held her breath.
She picked up the chopsticks and put the sushi in her mouth. The raw tuna underbelly and sour vinegared rice clashed with the richness and sweetness of the chocolate. As soon as it touched her tongue, Kunie had to spit it out. She looked at Masami with apologetic eyes but spoke her mind.
‘This is terrible,’ she said with a laugh.
Masami sighed in relief before joining in the laughter.
Despite succeeding at her initial mission, she mentally filed the meal under ‘failure’. She had a feeling she would continue to do this with multiple subsequent meals until she found one that Kunie genuinely enjoyed.
For now, she watched Kunie smile as she stabbed the sushi with her chopsticks like doing so would kill the horrid flavour.
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