Next day.
Outside the theatre club building, Senkai stood against a pillar waiting, Not texting or pacing out, but just waiting. When she saw him, she slowed down. "You' left early," Reze said. "And "You did not," he replied back.
A pause.
The Wind brushed between them.
"Than why are you waiting here?" she asked.
He said. "I just thought we should have a dinner, and properly this time. Her eyes narrowed a slightly, he continued, without arguing? And without pretending."
She studied him carefully, "You're persistent, You know." he said. "No," than, calmly. "I'm intentional, I believe."
A Silence whispered through...
"What are thinking now?" she asked. "Nothing," He shook his head and that disarmed her more than anything he said. "Nothing," she said. "I'm not offering to Change you or something." He said.
"Then what are you offering?" He looked at her — not at her lips, not at her body — not at her temple where he usually look at when he wants to avoid her words. But directly look into her eyes. "Maybe a Time."
She didn't respond immediately.
He continued. "You don't want something half." Cuz I don't either. So let's not define it yet." He said. "Than what if I run?" she asked. "I'll still walk." He said. "And if I push you away?"
Than, I'll decide." Her jaw tightened slightly. "You talk like you've already decided on something."
He smiled faintly. "I did, but I'm not sure."
Another silence reached them, but this one wasn't sharp, It was uncertain. "Why?" she asked quietly. "Why me?" He thought, carefully before answering her. Hm.. "Cuz you challenge me, he said, and sure not in the ways you might think."
She waited. "You challenge my patience. He said, My ego. My assumptions. You don't let me be lazy with my feelings." Her breath shifted. "And that's love to you?" she asked softly. "I don't know, he admitted. But I know one thing that I'm willing to stay even when it's inconvenient."
Her heartbeat betrayed her then — just slightly. "Inconvenient?" she echoed. "Yes. Likeing and Loving someone who's still learning how to walk, and trust is inconvenient."
That hit deeper than the accusation ever could. She looked away. Than admitted quietly. "I don't know how to stay." And there it was, real her not a performance, not her trying to control the pace, but just hers pure honesty.
He stepped closer — not touching her yet. "Then learn," he said. "With you?" she asked. "Yes, learn how to walk besides me." A long pause. Her pride battled something softer. "You're naïve," she whispered. "Probably." He said. "And what if I hurt you?"
He held her gaze. "Then at least I know it was real." That frightened her. Not because he might break. But because he wasn't afraid to, Love. To do the impossible for her, and the impossible for her was giving up the control, letting someone have the right to look into her.
For him, the impossible was loving without any certainty.
The city hummed around them, Finally, she exhaled, "Dinner right," she said.
A small word. "I'm not going to do that. I don't have dinner with the people's who try to build something like love and feelings for me." Her words it wasn't casual, it wasn't a joke. But It was a beginning of her starting to create a wall.
He didn't flinch at the rejection. Didn't look much disappointed either. He simply nodded.
And she walked past him — by side — with a unspoken space and a distance longer than before.
———
"Somewhere across campus..."
Yui watched from a distance, Her expression was unreadable, somewhere concern being still there. But there was something else too, maybe a resignation.
Because once Senkai decided something — He would see it through, Even if love meant doing the impossible for him, And somewhere, quietly...
While leaving...
Reze wondered for the first time... "What if the impossible... Was letting herself be loved?"
———
The college Festival Day... Came quicker than expected. The campus looked nothing like itself...
"At the court yard of the college."
The lanterns hung between the buildings. Stalls lined the courtyard. Music from the cultural club clashed with the dance team's speakers.
Students in costumes ran across pathways like the entire college had become a living stage.
kai, He came running to the takoyaki stall before going for the last rehearsal of the Soran dance (Japanese floak dance): Masamune, he stood there making the takoyaki in at the stall. "What are you doing here?"
Masamune looked up from the grill. "Ah... Kai it's you damn man, that bastard shikamaru said, that I come back in a while take over for me, and he hasn't returned from an hour, what did he find some pokemon, (girl) out there or something. "Maybe the pokemon he found might be the SSS grade." Kai replied.
"Help me out man,Masamune said. It has gotten too busy now." Kai he leaned over the side of the stall. "Where's senkai? He asked. Isn't he here to help you out. Than he rememberd "Oh he might be busy with the club activities like me." Club activities? Masamune asked?" Which club."
Kai said. "You don't know he has joined the P&M Theater and the flim club." His hand stooped at the grill. "What did you say P&M, Theater and flim club, the same one where are all the most gorgeous and beautiful girls of the campus are?" "Hm.. Kai noded. The same one." He said.
"Betrayal Masamune said. Bastard didn't even invited me to join in together, we would have joined in together like a pack and would have hunt the targets (Girls) together." Kai he looked at him in disbelief of maybe this is why he didn't invited him. As his eyes went over freshly made packed order of someone's takoyaki he picked it up than left...
From the behind, Masamune shouted. "Hey you are not helping me out." He waves his hand leaving and shouted back. "Keep it up... And I'll have a rehearsal to attend. Than i'll have to perform at the stage right after the theater clubs time up."
"Ah... I should have join some club too damn it. Masamune said. They are enjoying their time, while here I'm busy making Takoyaki. I should finish fast too so I've could go see the performances of them least..."
———
"Inside the auditorium—Everything was controlled, Focused and rushed."
Pinned to the center of the backstage board in deep Red lettering: "Oath of the crimson blood."
Directed by: Amano Reze.
Lead Cast:
Senkai Yoshimura
Senna Yukohama
Ron Tanahashi
Yui Yuigahama
———
"At the Backstage..."
Reze stood in black slacks and a fitted blazer, headset resting lightly around her neck a comnication mic attached to her collar of the shirt. Clipboard in hand. Calm, Sharp, and Unreadable. "Light cue three must fade slower," she instructed the tech team.
"Ron, please don't rush the second oath line."
"Senna, hold eye contact two seconds more longer before you turn." Her voice never rose.
It didn't need to.
Everyone listened, Even the seniors, Especially him Senkai. He adjusted his costume—dark warriors coat, sleeves slightly rolled. His role wasn't flashy, but It was restrained. Intense. And Built upon silence and the explosive honesty.
Senna, was playing a noblewoman bound by the Crimson Oath, stood beside him in the layered maroon fabric. Elegant. Poised. Ron stretched his shoulders, muttering his lines under his breath.
Yui she stood a little apart, Her role was crucial—the childhood friend of the male lead. And the silent witness. The one who loved him but was never chosen by him, Irony wasn't lost on her.
"Places," Reze said quietly. We will begin in a min: The curtain's rose: Act I unfolded with the precision.
Ron's commanding presence balanced mine quiet intensity. Senna carried grace effortlessly. Yui's subtle reactions filled the emotional gaps no one noticed consciously—but everyone felt. From the director's seat in the shadows, Reze, she watched like a hawk.
With the no favoritism. "No softness. But Just the assessment."
Until The Act II begin: The oath of the crimson blood...
Stage dimmed into a deep crimson glow. He stepped forward, voice steady but layered. "I once swore covered in the crimsonblood not for the kingdom… but for you."
The audience went still.
Senna's her expression faltered—perfectly timed. But than like she was not there but stood in front of me was the character of the script, Miyazono kaori. "And if that oath demands your life?" she asked. "Then it can take it," he replied. But it will never take away my choice."
Applause tried to break out. It didn't dare too, because the tension was too thick in the air.
Lights off for a moment...
———
Then came the Yui's scene. She stood up and stepped between them — than her character's confession. "I have stood beside you since we were children's," she said, voice trembling in a way that didn't feel rehearsed. "And yet… you look at her the way, I have always looked at you."
There it was.
A line written for a fiction, But maybe while saying it something inside Yui cracked open as she spoke it. Because standing under those lights—
Watching Senkai look at Senna. "No, at Reze with unwavering devotion that for her she'd believe that she didn't deserved—
Her chest hurt.
Not because of Reze.
Not because of the script.
But because somewhere between the rehearsals and late evening practices— She had realized that she had fallen for him maybe long ago...
Maybe back at the highschool. "I should have realized back than, when I used to saw him with Yukinoshita, spending time with her, sitting alone in the clubroom just to keep her a company, "Not loudly. "Not dramatically. But just Quietly."
The way he lent her the notes without being asked, the way he used to noticed when she skipped breakfast, the way he never made her feel invisible. "I used to feel a tighting inside my heart back than too... but I never understood back than, cuz yukino was my friend too. I didn't thought much, I just thought I'm jealous as a another friend of there that they left me alone."
But unlike that time. She had told herself this time, she was just protecting him from Reze.
That she didn't trust Reze's sharp edges. Didn't want him getting hurt, But as she delivered her final line— "If loving you means standing aside… then I will bleed silently." She had realized the truth, she wasn't worried about him getting hurt. But she was afraid, that He wouldn't choose her.
The applause that followed that scene shook the auditorium. And than the Yui bowed— Smiling, Perfectly. No one saw the jealousy tightening behind it.
From the director's row—
She had saw everything, shift in the Yui's voice. The micro-hesitation before her last step. Her women six sense had told her ages ago that she liked him. And the way Senkai, He instinctively glanced toward Yui after the scene had ended — concerned.
"Interesting, she leaned back slightly in her seat. Very interesting," She said. "So, It wasn't just her acting anymore seems like. But him too."
———
"The Final Act:
The duel settled down with defeat of the Shougen. And the sacrifice of the many lives. The oath was fulfilled. Senkai dropped to one knee under a red lighting, delivering his final vow. "In front of the crimsonmoon once I swore. And till the end covered in a crimsonblood I've remain. But maybe for a little while for sure her love had filled me with the colors of this world."
A Blackout.
The auditorium remained Silenced.
Then— A loudest applause of the entire festival. A standing ovation. Whistles and the cheers followed through. The faculty members nodding approvingly.
And the Backstage exploded into a noise. "We did it!" Ron shouted. Senna she'd hugged Yui tightly. Mami screamed from the wings. And he just stood there, slightly stunned, and then—
Reze looked from behind first and thought. "Maybe I should start rehearsals for the apologie that I owe to the Senna."
Than she approached. Not smiling widely, but her eyes had held something warmer than a approval. "Good performance," she said simply. To the everyone. "And Senna. Meet me later after you are done celebrating at the rooftop."
Mami looked at Reze. "What?" She shoke her head "Nothing." Than Reze, her gaze lingered on Senkai for half a second longer.
Then it shifted back to Professional, normal her the untouchable one. And Yui watched that glance. And for the first time—
She didn't feel threatened by Reze's sharpness. Instead She felt threatened by the way Senkai looked back at her. Soft. Steady. Chosen. And jealousy, quiet but undeniable, settled into her chest. "Not dramatic or explosive but Just real."
The festival lights glowed outside the auditorium windows.
Applause still echoed faintly in the hallway.
The Oath of the crimson blood had been a perfect performance. But offstage—
The real drama had just begun...
———
"After the play..."
The curtain had just fallen.
Backstage Corridor — Minutes After the Performance...
The noise of celebration slowly faded into something distant. Laughter and the footsteps, applause's echoing down the hallways. But in the far corridor behind the auditorium—
It was quiet, maybe too quiet, Reze walked alone. Her heels clicked against the polished floor, steady, unhurried. The headset was now gone. Microphone too. It was Just her—without the title, without the control, for once.
"Director." The voice stopped her.
She didn't turn immediately. But she already knew who's behind her. "Kazama," she said calmly. He stepped out from the shadow near the emergency exit, Hands in pockets. A lazy smile—but his eyes weren't.
"Not tonight, she said. " It was a Hell of a performance, he said. You always did liked controlling people from the shadows."
She turned then, fully facing him. "If you came to compliment me, you're wasting your time over here." He chuckled. "Still sharp." A pause. Then his tone shifted. "Fine, let's skip it. Than."
The air changed. Subtly, but unmistakably chill.
"You've been avoiding me," He said. "I've been busy," She replied back. "No," He said, stepping closer. "You've been choosing to stay away."
A pin drop, silence in the corridor.
Reze didn't step back, didn't flinch. "Say what you came to say." His smile thinned. "You don't get to walk away like nothing happened." Her gaze didn't waver, "but I already did."
That hit him. "Not loudly, but directly. His jaw tightened. "You think being the president, joining the theater club, playing director, acting like you're above everything—changes what you owe?"
"I don't owe you anything." she said!
This time—
Silence snapped. Kazama, He grabbed her wrist, fast and sudden. "Not enough to hurt—
But enough to put control. Reze's expression didn't break. But something colder surfaced in her eyes. "Let go," she said quietly. "Not until you listen to me," he replied, Than his voice low now. "You don't get to decide when things end."
"And you don't get to decide for me either." She said. And for a second—
It looked like he might tighten his grip, Push her further. Assert domanice, and control. The only way he knew. And the only way Prethetic man's knew of. But then—
"Hey!" A voice, calm yet dangerous cutting through everything.
Both of them turned.
Senkai stood at the end of the corridor. He didn't looked rushed, Nor panicked. He was Just there, watching. His gaze moved from Kazama's hand onto Reze's wrist—
Than back to Kazama's eyes. "Let her go," he said. With no raised voice or anger in his eyes. What stood there was Just certainty.
Kazama scoffed lightly. "This doesn't concern you." He stepped closer. "It does now." she didn't say anything, didn't ask for help. But she also—
Didn't pull her hand away, didn't stop him.
Kazama noticed it and that irritated him more than anything. "…You," he muttered, looking at him up and down. "So, You're the one, Senkai Yoshimura, I was right. It's not lemon senpai this time. But you, Huh."
"The one?" He asked. Kazama continued. "So, you are the reason she's not looking at me I was damn right." He didn't react to his words. But his eyes only went to the grip, still being there, still being wrong. "I said," Senkai repeated, "let her go."
Kazama's smile returned—but it wasn't amused anymore. "And what if I don't?"
A beat. He glared at him, maybe too dangerous.
He stopped a few steps away from them now. Close enough. "Simple, then I'll make you." He said. That… pissed Kazama off. His grip tightened and in that exact moment—
Senkai moved. "Not aggressively. "Not wildly. But just enough and precise. His hand caught Kazama's wrist, twisting it just enough to break the hold without escalating into a fight. He was controlled, his every movement was deliberate.
Kazama's hand slipped free from Hers.
A sharp breath left the air.
She stepped back—Not far, But with an enough distant. Enough to no longer be held.
Kazama looked at his wrist, then back at Him. Something dangerous flickered in his eyes. "You think this is over?" he said quietly.
Senkai didn't answer immediately. He just stepped slightly forward— Positioning himself between both of them. Not being protective in a loud way. But him Just… being there, present. Her heart betrayed her a bit.
"I think you're done here." Senkai said.
A long silence stretched in the corridor heavy and unresolved.
Kazama exhaled through his nose, then laughed once—low, humorless. "…Fine." He stepped back and adjusted his sleeve. But his eyes lingered on Reze.
"Hide all you want," he said. "You're still the same reze, back than just it was lemon and now him. You really have quiet a way with the man's like they get hypnotize by your beauty and charm. You always make mans fight for you."
She didn't respond. Didn't react. And somehow—That bothered him more. He looked at Him one last time. Then turned— And walked away.
The sound of his footsteps faded down the corridor. Leaving behind—
A Silence, real silence this time.
———
"For a moment—"
Neither of them spoke. Reze looked at her wrist. Faint red marks. Nothing serious. But visible.
Senkai noticed. His expression didn't change much. But something in his eyes did. "Are you okay?" he asked. Simple. Direct.
She let out a quiet breath. "I didn't need saving." He said, "I know." That made her look up. Senkai wasn't arguing, wasn't claiming anything. But Just stating it. "I didn't do it because you needed it," he added. "Then why?" she asked.
A pause.
Then— "Maybe because I wanted to." He said.
And that—That disarmed her again. Just like before. He never tried to assest control over her never had many expectation, didn't used favors as a debt. But it was Just his choice to save her.
Reze looked at him for a long second. Trying to find the angle. His intentions. And the hidden motive behind all the things he does. But there wasn't a single one. And that—was the most dangerous thing about him.
"…You're troublesome," she said quietly. "Probably." He said still looking over her faint red arm.
A faint echo of earlier.
The corner of her lips almost moved—Almost. But then faded away quick, she was back to her usual guarded self. "If you were this guarded with him this wouldn't have happened."
"It's not your matter who I'm in guard with is it. Her voice was cold. "You are right." he said.
Another silence filled the corridor. But it was different from before, maybe a bit more uncertain.
They had talked after a quiet a while... Since He was busy with the exams and the rehearsals. And worst of all even if they did, but it had to be in this way... Cold and Quiet.
———
To be continue...
———