My Story of Falling for the Class President

Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Actress Rena Kashii

Rehearsals for the cultural festival event "Sleeping Beauty" have begun.

Honestly, the chaos of preparing for the cultural festival is tough. Normally, the two class representatives handle it, but since they're playing the lead roles, they have no time at all.

For handling issues, consultations, and troubles, Koishi from the cultural festival committee is just noisy and can't give directions, so in between, Sotomachi and Kashii listen to reports and give instructions.

During the cultural festival period, there's a lot of work for class representatives, including submissions and festival-related matters.

I took care of everything except the things that absolutely needed to be done by Kashii-san.

Even submitting things to the teacher, I'd say Kashii-san asked me to bring them, and I'd submit them myself.

It's unlike Kashii-san, but even with a pile of work, she doesn't ease up on play rehearsals.

Is she okay? I'm worried about how immersed she is.

Her eyes are different, so serious that I can't say anything.

But seeing the girl I like in a love story with another guy really hits me in the chest.

'Sotomachi-kun, Ise-san, and...!'

Apparently, they're gathering the main cast of "Sleeping Beauty" to eat lunch together starting today to share mutual understanding and interpretations (?).

The introvert team's exhibit this year has a theme about the changes around the school, using old photos and interviews with local elderly people to write articles and display them on huge paper in the class hallway.

Well, this is tedious work that can only be done bit by bit, and since the amount doable in a day is limited, when hands are free, we help make props and backgrounds for the play.

In between, when Kashii-san passed by alone, I tried to ask her about the progress of class representative work and things only she would know...

'Tachibana-kun? Sorry, I'm busy right now. I'll look over the class rep tasks when I get home, so just handle what you can for now!'

That's what she said.

Just as Obata-san said, it feels like she's a different person.

No, I was keeping my distance from Kashii-san until recently, so it's like our positions are reversed. Was this how Kashii-san felt back then?

I just handle what I can, fulfilling my role as the days go by.

November arrives, and finally, it's the day before.

Kashii-san's demands are strict, but because of that, the performance is said to be quite polished and well-received.

And the rehearsal using the assigned gymnasium stage was held with no outsiders allowed.

For us backstage crew, it's the first time seeing the play in full.

I wait for it to start, feeling a bit nervous.

Since it's a rehearsal just like the real thing, they're apparently using the actual costumes and props.

I only know the summary of "Sleeping Beauty."

A princess is born to the king and queen, and various people (?) are invited to the celebration, where three good fairies come and grant the princess 'beauty' and 'singing talent.'

Then a wicked witch (Ise-san) appears.

She's dressed in black with unnecessarily intimidating sleeves and heavy makeup.

(This is totally a witch! That's the vibe.)

Angered at not being invited to this celebration, the witch gives a curse as a 'gift,' saying, 'By your 16th birthday, you will prick your finger on a spinning wheel's needle and die.'

The king is troubled, but the last of the fairies, unable to break the curse,

rewrites it to, 'By your 16th birthday, you will fall asleep from a spinning wheel's needle, and awaken with a kiss from your destined partner.'

After this, the king burns and disposes of all spinning wheels in the kingdom. Fearing the witch, he entrusts the princess to the three fairies to be raised in the forest.

A few days before turning 16, the princess (Kashii-san), singing and picking strawberries in the forest, is approached by a prince (who hides his identity at this point) (Sotomachi).

At first, the princess is wary of the stranger, but they quickly become drawn to each other.

And that night, they promise to meet again.

(I've never seen a real princess, but she must be like Kashii-san.

Kashii-san's flushed face, intense gaze, so incredibly cute... but that's directed at the prince (Sotomachi).)

My chest aches; even if it's just a play, it's painful to see the girl I like thinking of someone else.

You can tell just by watching that Aurora Princess loves the prince.

I hear a voice beside me.

'The princess is super cute, and that gaze! Sotomachi-kun must be totally smitten, right? Huh?'

'But isn't all of that acting? Though there've always been rumors.'

'Kashii-san denies it, but Sotomachi-kun dodges the topic, doesn't he?'

'With that intense gaze, it'd be weirder if the other person felt nothing, right?'

'Beautiful people and handsome guys are just on another level, huh.'

(Yeah, I guess that's true.)

Back home, the princess tells the fairies she met a man in the forest and promised to meet him at night.

The fairies tell her that her true name is Aurora Princess, and when she turns 16, she'll return to the castle and is set to marry Prince Phillip from the neighboring kingdom.

Not knowing that the man she met during the day is Prince Phillip, the princess breaks down crying, thinking she'll never see him again.

From there, as you know, the witch schemes to make the princess prick her finger on the spinning wheel's needle, she falls asleep, and the fairies cast a spell to make the entire kingdom sleep so the people won't grieve.

Receiving a revelation from the fairies, Prince Phillip breaks through the witch's interference (Kan-kun and the macho team), defeats the witch (Ise-san), and reaches the sleeping princess,

When Prince Phillip kisses Aurora Princess, the curse and spell are lifted, and everyone awakens,

and the entire kingdom celebrates their marriage.

The end.

(The kiss scene isn't real, but my chest still aches.)

Of course, the kiss is just pretend,

but Kashii-san said the kiss scene could be a bit more daring.

She apparently said that, but due to the pleas of other co-stars and Kashii-san's fans, it was decided to keep the current distance for the pretend kiss.

(Maybe Kashii-san really does like Sotomachi. But I guess that's unavoidable.

Even from a guy's perspective, Sotomachi is accomplished in both academics and sports, and he's handsome. Though I don't like him.)

If Kashii-san is happy, that's enough for me. I tell myself that.

The rehearsal for the cultural festival event ended successfully.

During the two-day cultural festival starting the next day, the play was a huge success, winning two crowns for the event and the choir contest.

Without a doubt, the MVP was Kashii-san, the center of the class, the heroine of the event, and the accompanist for the choir.

'We did it!!'

We in second-year Class 1 dominated the cultural festival, just like we did at the sports festival.

———————

Around that time, in Class 2-3, there was a musical centered on Obata-san...

Aoi, who's tall and looks pretty handsome when quiet, was her co-star.

Aoi 'Ah, my queen!'

Obata '...'

(That's creepy.)

In the role of a knight who serves the queen and would risk his life for her, Aoi thought, this! This is the character I'll go with! But as soon as the play ended, Obata-san immediately shut it down.

Aoi 'Why, my queen?'

Obata 'Just stop.'

(Are there unexpectedly a lot of people with an actress temperament?)