Ep. XIX: If all else fails
1954 Words
The Lady and The Genius
(Battle of Campus Elites)
Ep. XIX: If all else fails
Seiko's POV
[Old Mansion]
"Moving on, we have a problem." Lily started off," According to Chiyo, Uno told her that he found out that I'm your dad's illegitimate child. That I'm your stepsister."
"Urgh, that i***t!" I blurted out.
Seiichi can't stop laughing.
"He wants Chiyo to be his bridge to your cousin Sirida-chan." She added. "Your friend is just like Hachiban, very annoying."
"A nosy neighbor," Seiichi said as he tried to hold himself from laughing.
"Isn't Uehara his girlfriend?" she asked.
"In his dreams! Ara will never go out with him with that kind of immaturity," Seiichi answered.
"Anyway, what are we going to do about it? Is it ok that we'll let him keep that thought?" she asked again.
"Letting him think that you are daddy's daughter is as dangerous as letting him know that you are the Duchess of Cambridge. It'll damage you either way." Seiichi said, "Like both of you and me."
"That's true." I agreed.
Lily Anne turned silent like she was thinking it thoroughly. I pat her head, "Don't overthink. You might overheat and stop working."
She responded by slapping my hand off her head, "Can you shut up? Annoying."
"By the way, love birds, I only came here to check up on you. It looks like you're getting along well. Mom will be so happy to have a grandchild soon." Seiichi jests. It really makes me want to punch him.
"Can you just go home, huh?" I reprimanded him.
He laughed at me. "Fine. Alright, I better keep going too. See you, Ariel!" then he leaves us like that.
I'm still trying to get used to the feeling that I no longer go to the same house that Seiichi does. My life moves too advanced. I wish I could pause it for a bit. Because even though I can handle it, I'm still a kid inside, and I want to have a deep understanding of what the other feels like, Lily Anne.
Speaking of which, from what it seems, Lily Anne is a good kid who does chores. She helps the keepers to do cleanings, cooking, and wash dirty clothes. And honestly, her cooking and how she calls me for dinner. I wonder how we will be like if we do not have a big responsibility in society. She must be doing the same but, how am I if that's the situation? Not all things can be explained by science, and these things I ask myself are one of them. This is awkward and an exciting brand-new environment for me.
"Um, Hachiban…" she calls me again.
"What?"
"We will have long practice for our project tomorrow, right?" she asks me like a kid asking their parents for permission to go on a sleepover.
"Then?'
"I'm making bento for us since it's going to be a very long day. Would you like one?"
I almost miss chewing my food and swallowing it right away, "People will see it. Give mine to Seiichan, and I'll take it from him so it won't be obvious."
"Ok." She answered.
"And why are you doing all those kinds of stuff? You're not a maid," I told her straightforward.
"I know, I'm a duchess. And at the same time, I'm a homemaker. My momma told me to be a good wife even though I didn't want to. It's her request, so you don't have a choice."
Homemaker.
That makes me smile peculiarly. I do not want to show it, but I got some chills on that.
"Thanks to Duchess Marian, I'm having good meals." I jested on her.
"And Uhm, may I ask a favor?" she ignored my joke, "I want to practice my lines since we are going to be best friends in that show. Can you practice with me?"
I set my back on the chair.
"I don't want to. Ask another favor." I told her.
"But that's the thing I need, Hachiban." She contested.
We were both silent for a minute.
"Fine. If you don't want to, I will just do it myself." Her tone descends.
Later, when we go to our room, I memorize my lines while sitting by the window. Lily Anne is repeating the same way she did it last night. Seems like she loves this kind of activity that I hate. We do not have any common interest so far, and I don't know how we will last this way.
She paused and looked at me. She must've noticed that I was looking.
"I'm only checking if you're doing it correctly," I told her in response to her killer stare.
"Whatever." She responded and kept on.
Since I won the paper, scissor, and stone game, she has to sleep on the couch again. Her gesture makes it easy for me to speculate how to beat her on this game. We can't go on like this, I have to come up with another idea, so neither of us has to be sleeping on that sofa.
•••>>>OYurime's POV
[Hachiban University]
I feel fainting during line rehearsals, and now I'm in a fluffy fish costume for my role. I'm seated inside the giant fish costume where I can't move my feet, and I have to stay like this for an hour. The outfit is attached to a harness and rope, so we will look like swimming. It hits differently when Hachiban recites his lines as a sixteen-year-old mermaid deeply in love with a human. It's so funny.
"Ariel, I don't think this will be a good idea…." I said for my first line. The scene is, there's a shark that is coming to get us. Watanabe takes this to another level by adding a harness to 'swim' up in the air. We are hung above the floor, and as Ms. Horida approves Watanabe's request to get people that will help us to be pulled up for the bottom of the ocean scenarios.
"We'll be very quick, Flounder," Hachiban said as he picked up the fork and tobacco, which was referred to in the movie as the dinglehopper and a trumpet.
The fake shark came to us and chased after us. We have to swing back and forth in the air with the help of those pushing and pulling the ropes. I feel like vomiting with all the twists and turns. Since I'm like a mascot, I can't move my feet or hands, and I'm sweating to death.
The stage is well thought of, which is very creative of Watanabe. The cost of all these designs and props is more than my allowance. This is the most expensive school production I have ever been in! As we land the floor safely-- thankfully, the next act is up. The rehearsal will be until the next 2 hours. Today's my most prolonged stay in this school.
After the last act, which is very funny, because Ariel and Eric will get married, it is hilarious. I can barely breathe in laughter when Yoshida and Hachiban do their scene. They don't need to kiss, of course, or there will be friends over for the three of them. We took our break. Since we need to do a dry later since the stage play will be tomorrow.
I sought after Seiichan to give the bento I made.
"Hey," I whispered to Seiichan, "Can you give the other one to your brother? He asked me to give it to you, and he'll get it from you after." I told him to hand over the two-bento box, a blue one that says Cambridge and the green ones saying Kensington.
"Can I have whichever?" Seiichan asked.
"Yeah," I responded.
"Thanks." He then takes a seat nearby me.
In a minute, Hachiban came to take his bento and went to his peers. He looks funny as he slaps Yoshida's hand when trying to take one of the onigiris from his bento.
"How lucky can Seikun be? He got a cute wife that cooks for him." Seiichan threw a pun. "Our mom never cooked for us. I mean, she sometimes bakes when she feels like it but, that's once in a blue moon." He continued.
"Oh? Really. Well, I'm glad that he likes my cooking because you guys must be accustomed to a real chef's cooking. Also, Chiyo and her dad cook better than I do." I told him before taking another bite.
"Wow… what is she? Some sort of god? I mean, Hanazaki drives better than I do. She also speaks other foreign languages, and she's a quick-witted girl too. And the fact that she cooks is just amazing for me. Like, a girl like her exists is too good to be true." Seiichan said.
"She's also courageous and adaptive. She can pass as a spy. I wish I was just like her." I added.
"No. You're fine as you are. You don't have to be someone else or be like anyone… urgh. Too cheesy. Eww." He jested and chuckled.
I laughed with him, then shook it off.
"Hey, Seiichan, Yurime!" Sirida-chan is with my cousin. She told me she couldn't accompany me because there was something that she was going to do. Maybe this is what she has to do- being the third-wheel for Yoshida and Sirida.
"Hi!" Chiyo smiles at me with a hint of guilt in it.
"Speaking of, we appreciate your support, you two. Looks like Senorita Sirida found a new friend here." Seiichan told his cousin.
"Yeah. We're in the same class, and Chiyo-sama is the best class president!" this pretty is funny like her cousins.
"You can just call me Chiyo." She shies away.
~ "Hey, everyone! Final dry run, the break is over. Standby for your turn!" Watanabe calls on.
"That's for us," Seiichan stands up, "See ya!"
I waved goodbye to both of them too. Once I reached backstage, I put on my fish costume again. It feels like a sauna inside. I think I'm going to lose weight if we have to do this longer. The big guys reattached my costume with me inside the harness and hung me up in the air.
We have to repeat the scene where the shark is coming to get us. While they swing me back and forth and pull the ropes up and down, I can hear weird something squeak. I'm not sure how high I am right now, but then I felt that the costume I was in was going down faster, and the people were screaming. I don't know what to do. Then I thought that I had already hit the floor as I had almost come out off of it.
"Lily Anne!" I heard someone shouts.
I suddenly felt a bit of back pain due to the impact. Then the half of the costume was removed by the read-headed Hachiban. He looked so worried and helped me get up. I tried to stand up, my legs were numb, and I needed time for the blood to circulate accordingly again.
"Can't you stand up?" he asked.
"Why are you mad?" I asked him back.
"You need to be checked by the doctor! Your father will kill me for letting you ride that fish." He whispered. Then he pulled me up again and carried me.
My eyeballs are going to drop in the ground with what he is doing, "Put me down, idi0t, the whole class can see us!"
He didn't stop and continued to carry me, and it is embarrassing because people can't believe their eyes either. I just want to vanish in the air.
[To Be Continued]
- Writer
