Acting is a art, art of the perfect lying. And she knew it better than anyone else.
Back at the Cafe.
Reze didn't confront her.
She never did things that directly. Instead, she walked past Nana as if nothing had happened, "don't stay too late," she said calmly, picking up the file she'd "forgotten. "You'll need your energy."
Nana looked up, smiling politely. "Of course, Reze thanks." Their eyes met, Polite, Sharp, Measured, Two blades testing edge against each other.
Then she left.
———
The rehearsal hall.
Rehearsals began three days later, and it went worse than anyone had expected, "From the top," Nana called again, Senkai he stood at the center stage. Dozens of eyes onto him, Stage lights glaring down like the interrogation lamps. His throat felt dry, "I was never meant to—His voice cracked.
A few whispers echoed in the auditorium, Heat rushed to his face, He tried again, But this time the line came out flat. Mechanical, empty just like back than, Nana tapped her pen, Projection, Senkai and breathe she said."
He nodded stiffly, But the more he tried, the more aware he had became of every shifting seat, every stare, every silent judgment hanging in the air. By the time Nana finally called break let's take a break than try again she said.
The relief felt like a oxygen to me.
He stepped off the stage quickly, jaw tight. "Hey, Senna said gently, it's just the nerves. You'll get used to it." Thanks, he replied. not meeting her eyes.
From the aisle, Reze watched him.
Not the performance.
But Him.
The way his shoulders stiffened under attention, way his hands got clenched when the room got too quiet. When the crowd focused, he shrank.
"Interesting," she mumbled to herself.
She approached him during the break, holding two bottles of the water, "You're terrible", she said plainly, handing him one over.
He looked at her with a deadpan look. "Thanks."
"You're not bad at emotion she said. I acted with you once so I know that, But you're bad at being watched." He didn't deny it, and the Silence confirmed it enough. She leaned against the wall beside him. "You lock yourself up as the moment and the spotlight hits you."
He exhaled slowly. "I just don't like crowds. "And the crowds don't like you either, she replied coolly, Right" But, than with a pause she said. "They can smell the fear around you know."
And that kinda annoyed him. "Then just replace me if they want." She tilted her head. "Running already?" huh? He clicked his tongue.
She straightened. "Fine, than I'll teach you." He blinked then looked up at her, "What? "Acting, Control, the Presence." She looked at him sideways and said, But "If only you want." fast quickley he said. "Do it, I mean, I do want it, if you may please senpai."
That made her smile. Than in her thought, Hooked. "Meet me tonight," she said. "Eight."
"But Where?" He asked. But she didn't answer him directly, Instead "You'll see."...
And Her intentions weren't that simple. It wasn't just about helping him. Cuz If he improved—If he commanded the stage— Nana's carefully planned narrative would shift.
The spotlight would bend, and Reze she had always known how to bend the light.
———
Streets: Outside of the College.
After the rehearsal.
He was walking home than sudden He thought. "All though I messed up fully in the acting, Reze, She did said we can meet up, More often... Hm... What did she meant by that. It would be okay to call her in the future right?"
"Huh." He narrow his eyes a bit enough to confirm. Isn't that's Senna, what is she holding was that, she eating a ice cream? "Hey are you going home?" He questioned her. "Before she said anything?" He continued, don't get me wrong, I wasn't following you or anything.
We just ran into each other by the coincidence!
"Sure..." Than a awkward silence for a moment than she said. "Erm... I'm sorry about before, I guess I was just a little bit sensitive earlier. I'm sor, sorry."
He looked at her in a anew when for what? Than He remembered the welcome party. "Ah... Than He thought, "it seems like she is trying to draw a line between us or what. It's alright we all were drunk anyway that night," he replied to her.
"She says well... okay than I'll be leaving for the home than. "Ah, yes sure... He said. Get home safely." He looked at her from the behind disappearing into the crowd.
"So much ice cream for the desert he muttered. But why do I keep seeing her alone all the time, even though I am the one who's a introvert. She keeps a distance from everybody in the club too doesn't she?"
Hanabi, She pop's out of nowhere, and say's "Senna you are talking about?" "You scared the shit out of me! He jumped back. "Eh? Did I really surprised you?" Than He asked. "Where are you going? senpai. "Me I'm just going on a great adventure to buy the chocolate milk... "Wait, hey did you forget my name that you are calling me senpai?"
"I know it, I know!—it's #hanamota haneda San, "And fucking who the hell is that? She said. "My name is not haneda, it is Hanabi you fool! Ha–na–bi the fireworks, that's me she sigh... Than in low voice she muttered to herself, "Nobody cares for me". she sobs...
Than she looked at him, "are you interested in Senna?" No, He said quick with not expression, well... "I just thought it would be nice to be a friends with her, since we are the same age?"
"Wow... You are the first guy who just wants to be friends with her in the whole freshman year do you know that?" "Why only me." Cuz others just wish to date her simply because of her pretty face or beauty or something, I mean she is the most beautiful girl of our current first year after all" And about that.. Maybe it would be better for you not to get close with Senna for the time being..."
"Heck He said, but is it okay for you speak like that about your Junior's?" "No, no I didn't mean it like that! she shouted in her defense!
"I am disappointed in you miss fireworks. "No hold on, hold on she said, I don't know if should I tell you... But Ah... Well it should be alright, I think. He cut her, "In that case don't tell me..."
But She still continued. Nana senpai, is the one who brought you into the club so I don't think it matters? "Well, Senna is upset with the Reze senpai how do I say this... I think something happened between them, but I don't know what."
"Hey don't you think you are making up stuff a bit too much? You are not drunk in the morning aren't you."
"Ah.. It's true!! Darn it, Looking at your silly face. It makes me want to punch you in that face..!, "Ah... I don't care anymore it's your problem if you've believe it or not I'm leaving...
"Be careful on you way, See ya later Hanabi senpai—"
———
Just call me by my first name she said, "We are not that apart in age, while leaving".
That's right. She paused for moment and than turned around and said. I heard Mami had a bad opinion of you, but Reze senpai forced her to let you in? I was a bit surprised to hear that. Cuz she doesn't usually do that, she just rejects the Applitanint's she don't like.
It that why Mami senpai hates me?" I don't think it's like that she said." Anyway bye.. She waved her hand while leaving.
Hm... "I wonder why is Senna Mad at the Reze though?"
———
Tokyo: Shibuya...
8:07 PM.
Senkai He stood outside a building at the downtown, neon lights flickering above the streets.
He looked up at the sign, Carpe deim, A bar. Sigh.. Than he gone inside, Music thumped faintly through the walls.
His eyebrows furrowed for a second, she can't be serious. As if summoned by a doubt, Reze stepped out from inside, "Not in her usual composed campus attire. Tonight she wore a black slip dress, Simple and Sharp her Hairs down. "You're late," she said.
"It's a bar. " He said. "Yes."she said. Than He continued. "I thought you said acting lessons."
"Hm.. She nodded "I did." she replied. Than grabbed his wrist lightly and pulled him toward the street before he could protest more. "Don't worry.... "
She says walking in front of him, than turned around and started walking backwards. "I teach you acting, I'll teach you everything you don't know of, and the things you don't know how to do. I'll teach you everything."
He into her eyes for a moment like. He got pulled by a magnet. She took him out, led him the way through the alley way she grabbed his wrist lightly, as they were walking, he questioned where are we going? Trust me I told you didn't I that I will teach you things you didn't know of.
"Than leave my wrist at least, it feels weird to get pulled around like this." She turned around, left his wrist, "Guess you are right, It's feels like I am guiding you into something I shouldn't." Than instead she locked her arms with his, this is better I guess, let's go—
He's ears red, as her body pushed against him, "Hey this is more uncomfortable, He thought. But somewhere it felt nice, walking like this her arm locked with his, it felt like a couples walking side by side.
A moment where it felt like a noisy Tokyo disappeared, it was just her and me.
———
Club: Aurora.
Until I reached the real noise, the sound of a damn music was so loud I felt like my ear drums wouldn't survive. I had my hands on my ears
She was giveing back nods, enjoying the music. Moving in the rhythm of the music, eyes closed,
She laughed when she saw him covering his ears, leaning close so her lips brushed his cheek. "You'll get used to it, she said, her voice somehow clear despite the chaos."
She tugged him forward again—not by the wrist this time, but by the confidence in her steps—and soon the bass wasn't just noise, it was a pulse, thudding through his chest. Lights spilled across the room in waves of color, faces blurred into motion, and Tokyo shibuya returned as something alive and electric.
She pulled him onto the edge of the crowd, than placed his hands on her waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Feel it," she said, resting her forehead against his. He hesitated, stiff at first, but she moved slowly, guiding him, her body syncing with his until his awkwardness melted into laughter.
He forgot to think. He forgot to worry. All he knew was the warmth of her, the way her fingers tightened in his sleeve whenever the beat dropped. At one point, she leaned back into him, trusting, her head resting briefly against his shoulder. The closeness sent a quiet thrill through him, and almost without realizing it, his arms settled more firmly around her.
She smiled at that, eyes still closed, moving with the music as if the world had narrowed to the space between them. Every beat drew them closer, every breath shared, until the noise softened into something distant and harmless.
She turned in his arms then, slow & unhurried, her hands sliding up to his chest. "You're doing fine," she said, lips close enough that he could feel the words more than He hear them. He laughed softly, shaking his head, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he followed her rhythm, their movements were no longer guided but mutual, natural.
When the song ended, they stayed like that for a moment longer than necessary, reluctant to break the spell. Around them people's cheered them on them, as the "DJ, changed the music as they both woke up to world around them. but for him, it felt like the night had paused just for them. And in that pause, he realized this wasn't just his first time in a club—
It was the first time he felt completely, effortlessly present with someone else.
"See she said. You are in a crowd being watched, in attention, she put her hands at his shoulders again, she continued, because of a beauty like me." And when you can confidently stand here beside me, i'll believe you can confidently, act in front of the any audience too. Than her voice low, Just cut some slack, lay back sometimes...
Let your emotions do the job. Just remember a similar scene, a similar moment, of your life, that's same as the script, same as the Movie.
"So narcissistic, just like someone I know." She raised an eye brow, "someone you know?" Just a guy from childhood He said.
A total opposite, If I was the one to disappear into the background, he was the one who had the spotlight followed him around where ever He goes, and him I believe he was the perfect actor. He had shown me that how people can be controllive, manipulative, the worst of thier side.
"Just what kind of a friend he is?" She asked. While walking throughwards the drink counter.
Hm... Someone harsh, maybe too direct, but not entirely bad He said, walking besides her.
He leaned against the counter opposite looking at the crowd, "He is cold, but somewhere warm, he doesn't sugarcoat his word's, doesn't try to blend in, but one thing is same between us that I believe is we don't bend to the world we create and live in our own."
She ordered her drink a vodka, than looked at him tilting her face from the besides him, "Hm.. I believe the best actor is a liar. "A liar? He said glanceing at her. That's something new?"
"The liar is the perfect actor, he who doesn't show his emotions. Can simantasionusly act for a life." The bartender put's the drink onto the counter as she picked it up, while taking a sip, she enjoyed the burning sensation of the drink than, Her voice slow. "He who is a fool, is the one perfect actor."
Than she leaned beside him, they'll looked at the people's dancing, enjoying, partying. "Ever heard the saying, he who is the fool live happily, but the one who knows too much is never happy. Her Voice gentle, But is sad.
———
There it is again the monochromatic gray her, he thought, The perfect liar I've wonder inside who she'll meant by, But I knew she was just talking about herself. "Hmm... That's true. We know too much so we constantly worry about the future, opinions of people around us, and things we have done in the past."
"So tell me something Reze?" Does your past haunts you?" She give a smail smile, why do you think it haunts? "Too me my past is like a damn unfinished romantic movie. The first movie i've directed, and i'm still is directing... answer
She swirled the last of her vodka, watching the ice melt as if it held the answer. "The first movie I ever directed," she repeated softly, "and I didn't know how to end it."
The bass from the dance floor pulsed through the counter, vibrating faintly against their elbows. Neon light slid across her face in streaks of blue and red—two different versions of her one fighting for dominance, and control. The confident president, the girl who spoke like as if she owned the world. And the other one, that completely felt gray, lonely, more honest, not the perfect actress, nor a perfect liar. But emotional, ten times more imitate. Just the girl, who is the part of her own life's Movie.
"And what about the male lead?" He asked quietly. "Did he not follow the script?" A faint smile curved her lips. "Worse, He improvised."
"That bad?" he said, "That dangerous."
She didn't look at him when she said it. "He lemon kanawa, was the kind of actor who never broke the character. Even when the scene was over." Her fingers tapped the glass once. "You know those people who smile perfectly, say's the right things, stand in the right light? Everyone thinks they're honest because they look honest."
Her eyes flicked to him. "But they're just better at lying." He swallowed. Something about the way she said it felt personal. Not theoretical. Not dramatic. "So what happened?" He asked.
She turned to face him fully now, stepping a little closer—not flirtatious this time, but deliberate.
"I learned." she said.
"Learned what?" he asked?
"That if I didn't want to be controlled in a someone else's story, I've had to write my own." than her voice, slow and low but very sweet in a way, "that's why I learned how to be like this, how to lie perfectly, a pause for moment than she takes a sip of vodka than continues, I've prefer control over being controlled, I made confidence my mask, playfullness my weapon and now people think I'm reliable. When in reality, I'm just tired..."
"Tired of acting, tired of the stage, tired of the people's, And now I just prefer to direct from behind the stage as the director."
"And are you happy?" He asked before he could stop himself. For a moment, her expression faltered. Just slightly. "Happiness, she said, almost amused. Is for people who don't see the whole script." He frowned. "You keep saying that, Like knowing reality, things is a curse."
"It is," she replied calmly. "When you see people clearly—their fears, their weaknesses, their damn intentions—you stop believing in a pretty lies. You stop believing in romance. In the innocence." Her gaze softened unexpectedly. "But sometimes," she added, "you meet someone who doesn't know how to lie yet."
His chest tightened. "You mean me?"
She didn't answer directly. Instead, she reached up and adjusted his collar, fingers brushing him lightly against his neck. It wasn't seductive, but It was… instructive. "On stage," she said, voice low but steady, "you overthink. You worry about how you look. How you sound. What they think."
Her hand dropped back to her side."But just now," she continued, nodding toward the dance floor, "you weren't thinking. You weren't performing. You were just feeling it remember."
He remembered. The warmth. The rhythm. Her weight leaning back into him without hesitation.
"That," she said softly, "is the presence." than He looked at her more carefully now. "You brought me here to embarrass me did you." I brought you here," she corrected, "to overwhelm you."
He blinked.
"When you stand under the stage lights, your body panics because you are not used to gazes your mind it just automatically thinks you're being judged." She point her finger gestured to the club around them. "But here? Everyone is being watched. Everybody is loud. No one cares about each other."
She stepped closer again, but this time there was a firmness in her posture. "If you can stand in chaos, you can stand anywhere in the world."
The song ended. Applause rose. Another beat dropped.
He studied her face—the composure, the intelligence, and the strange sadness behind it.
"You're not just teaching me acting, he said, slowly are you?" "No." she said.
Then what are you teaching me?"
"She hesitated for a while than, "Maybe how to survive," she answered. The words of her hung between them. He didn't joke this time, didn't deflect it. "And what do you get out of it?" he asked. Her lips curved again—but it wasn't playful. "A better co-star I guess."
He exhaled lightly. "So this is still about Nana that two faced Red kitsune."
A flash in her eyes. "How did you get to know about Nana?" Did you really think I can't caught, that much about Nana, She bring me into this club with some intentions I've always knew that. "She got me in through special exams after all at last people's do nothing without the reason," But I didn't care for it before whatever she was planning, cuz He looked at her for a second than rememberd his intentions, how he had chased after her for the revenge of that note back than forget it he said.
"Seems like you knew about it too, but I heard from hanabi, that you still let me join the club despite knowing that, approved of me why?" Everything is about the stage," she replied.
And for a second, he felt it—the edge beneath her calm. The rivalry, the strategy, the quiet war between her and Nana that no one else had fully saw yet.
He sighed... "Why you women's are always like this? Aren't you friends just what did she hold against you?"
A revenge she said.
A revenge? He said. "Just what did you've done? I mean if it isn't that bad you should apologize, and try to makeup. I don't have much friends so I'll believe you should cherish them." I hooked up the man, she used to like." Huh... Than it isn't negotiateable I see... he said.
"And what if I mess up again on the stage?" She stepped back, creating just enough distance to look at him properly. "Then we try again what else, she said simply.
"No manipulation?, No dramatic lessons?" he asked. She tilted her head. "I'm not the villain in your story, Senkai." but He wasn't sure about that. Music swelled again, louder this time. The crowd pressed closer around them. Neon lights fractured across the room like broken glass.
She held out her hand let's have another dance.
"One more song." He looked at it, Then at her. For the first time tonight, he noticed something subtle—she wasn't just confident.
She was watching him. Carefully. Like usually he does. As if she was testing whether I would step forward on my own or not.
Slowly, I'll took her hand.
And this time, she didn't pull him.
They walked back into the crowd side by side.
And somewhere between the noise and the lights, between dance, performance and truth—
The line between the acting and reality began to blur. And the name has finally came out, Lemon kannawa for him to be aware of. If he really is planning to get her.
———
To be continue...