Inside the gymnasium.
Of course, it's impossible to give all the space to Kurosawa Hoshino and the others for rehearsals—they only occupied half the space. The other half, of course, was used by the karate club. Tsukamoto Kazumi also had time today, supervising the practice of her juniors while occasionally glancing toward Kurosawa and the others.
Seeing that Kurosawa and Ran could rest, she ignored everyone else and walked over directly.
"Junior, Ran," Tsukamoto greeted.
"Senpai," Kurosawa and Ran responded.
Tsukamoto watched Sonoko directing the others in rehearsal and asked softly, "Are you putting on a stage play for the school festival?"
"Yes." Kurosawa smiled. "Although the school isn't planning to open the gymnasium, it's no big deal for Sonoko."
"Indeed, Sonoko is a young lady." Tsukamoto joked. She knew Sonoko's status, so she wasn't surprised at all.
"By the way, can I see your script? Don't worry, I'll just read it myself, right in front of you. I won't show it to anyone else, and I won't tell anyone."
"Senpai, of course we trust you." Ran handed over the script. "However, it's not finalized yet—Sonoko still needs to revise it."
"It's okay. I'll just look at the general plot." Tsukamoto lowered her head and began to read carefully.
Sonoko supervised for a while, then stopped, curiously leaning closer to hear Tsukamoto's evaluation after reading it.
Ten minutes later, Tsukamoto closed the notebook, glanced at Kurosawa and Ran, then asked Sonoko, "Sonoko, you two are so bold! You even have a kissing scene."
Sonoko smiled smugly. "Hehe, shocked, aren't you?"
"I just want to know—did you two really kiss, or was it just a camera trick or something?"
Sonoko drew out her words, then laughed. "That's up to Ran and Hoshino. I won't interfere. Whether it's a camera trick or a real kiss, I can accept it."
"Sonoko, don't talk nonsense." Ran said irritably. "It's just a performance. How could they actually kiss?"
"I have a suggestion." A voice came from afar.
Kurosawa and the others looked over and saw that Araide Tomoaki, with a gentle smile, was walking toward them. "I've been watching your rehearsals from the doorway. I didn't want to come in and disturb you, but I thought of something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Kurosawa asked, confused about what Vermouth was up to.
"It's about substitutes, of course. I think we should add another male and female lead pair. That way, if anything happens to any of you on the day of the school festival, someone can fill in." Araide finished speaking, smiling at the group, waiting for their reply.
Kurosawa glanced at Araide (Vermouth) and muttered to herself, Could it be that Vermouth knows there's a kissing scene with Ran, so she wants to kiss Ran?
"That does seem to make sense." Sonoko nodded, then looked troubled. "But it seems like there's no other couple in our class who can play the male and female leads."
"Sonoko-san, what about me? I'll be the substitute male lead." Araide recommended himself.
Kurosawa immediately became wary, thinking suspiciously, This woman—is she planning to make me disappear for a day on the day of the school festival and take my place?
Sonoko hesitated. "Dr. Araide, this is our class's performance. It doesn't seem appropriate for you to be the substitute male lead."
Ran and Tsukamoto nodded.
Kurosawa chimed in, "Sonoko's right, Dr. Araide. You're not in our class, so you're definitely not suitable."
Araide chuckled. "But I'm not from any other class either. I'm the school doctor—I don't belong to any class. So I seem quite suitable as a substitute."
Tsukamoto's eyes lit up, and she also recommended herself. "In that case, I'm actually suitable as a substitute for the female lead. After all, we're in our final year of high school and have to take the college entrance exam, so we don't need to participate in the school festival activities. We have plenty of time."
Sonoko and Ran looked at them strangely, not understanding why they were so concerned about their class's stage play.
Kurosawa refused outright, giving them no chance. "Senpai, Dr. Araide, there's really no need to trouble you. We'll handle it ourselves."
"Alright." Tsukamoto smiled. "I was just saying. If there really isn't anyone in your class suitable to be the female lead's replacement, you can consider me. I also want to try a stage play. I've never acted in one before, and I really want to experience it."
"Actually, I have the same idea," Araide said.
Seeing how decisive Kurosawa was, Sonoko naturally wouldn't agree. She gave the two of them an apologetic look. "Senpai, Dr. Araide, for now, I'll only consider my classmates. Thank you for your kindness."
"Alright then. I won't disturb your rehearsal any longer." Araide's eyes, hidden behind his glasses, subtly glanced at Kurosawa, then at Ran, before turning and slowly leaving.
Seeing that Araide had left, Tsukamoto smiled and said, "Sonoko, Dr. Araide is gone. Can you agree to my request now?"
"Senpai, do you really want to be my substitute?" Ran asked uncertainly. "Maybe you won't even get a chance to go on stage."
"It's okay. I'm just acting for fun. It would be best if you could perform on stage. I'm just a safety net to make sure nothing goes wrong." Tsukamoto answered quite casually, her tone revealing no other meaning.
Sonoko nodded. "Of course, no problem. Cough cough—Senpai, if Dr. Araide finds out you're the substitute later, please don't say we agreed after he left."
"Don't worry. I'm not stupid. Of course I know that."
Kurosawa shook her head with amusement. It seemed she had overthought things. Actually, she didn't need to refuse—Sonoko would probably have refused Araide on her own initiative. As for Tsukamoto's question, of course they were friends. She just couldn't agree to Tsukamoto's request without refusing Araide's because Araide was there.
"Junior," Tsukamoto suddenly changed the subject. "You've been targeting Dr. Araide. Do you dislike him?"
"I wanted to ask that too."
"Me too." Sonoko and Ran chimed in.
"Am I targeting him that obviously?" Kurosawa looked at the three of them.
The three girls nodded in unison.
Kurosawa said, half-jokingly, "Actually, it's not really targeting him. It's just that being a detective for so long has made me a bit paranoid. I always suspect he wants to be my substitute—that he's planning to make sure I can't perform on the day of the show so he can fill in."
Ran and the others suddenly understood and burst into laughter.