I'm Done

Everyone knew their roles. Arata didn't like it, but these were the cards that he was now dealt with. Telling Erina about all this wasn't something that he was looking forward to. Since she was going to find out anyway, might as well tell her now.

"What? You really mean that?" She asked, once he explained the situation.

"Yeah, it turns out that those two will be playing a couple together. Well at least for the final act of the story." He considered it a little funny how it worked for those characters. That Helena reminded him of many of the girls in this harem. Trying to follow that Demetrius guy. That must've meant that him and the other supporters were practically the gods.

"Hmm… That's going to be a problem." She was thinking in her head about the ways that it could work. "Oh no, what if they fall in love from this?"

"Why would that happen?"

"Yeah, I'm sure the person that owes their existence to a play doesn't know why." She replied in a sarcastic tone.

"That wasn't the only thing in my parent's story." He argued. "Still I figured that you wanted to actually play the part, not just be some understudy."

"As if you needed to say that." She was expecting him to already have a plan for this, since he was aware of this situation before anyone else.

"Well, we could try convincing the director to put you in instead." He offered. That girl was odd to him, but she was trying to create a good production. Perhaps showing off some talent might get her change to her mind.

"Don't worry, I'll dazzle her with my amazing acting skills." Erina bragged, and so they went back to the stage. The place was a mess, especially compared to when Arata was there, just about an hour ago.

"That's just not going to work." Ichiri was muttering to herself, throwing crumbled pieces of notes behind her back. Poorly missing the trash can she placed.

"Um, director?" He poked her on the back, scaring her, and causing her to fall from her chair.

"Hey, don't just sneak up on people like that."

"You're one to talk." He countered, remembering the fright she gave him just earlier. She picked herself up and cleaned the dust off from her skirt.

"I see my understudies want to ask me something." She commented, noticing Erina's presence. "Let me guess, you both want to actually take the parts." She was half right with that statement. Was he really that predictable?

"I'm fine with being an understudy." He corrected her.

"But, could I possibly take the part of Helena?" Erina asked.

"Ha, you really think that someone like me could make a mistake with casting?" This arrogant girl laughed in their faces. "Trust me, I'm sure that she'd make a better Helena than you."

"What? I'm much more talented than her." Erina was insulted by this girl. "Plus, I've got more stage presence. "

"Then show me."

"Show you what?"

"Go ahead, act and show me that you're better." Ichiri crossed her arms, waiting for the audition.

"Kind of putting me on the spot…" Erina gathered the confidence that she needed. "But I'll show you!"

Arata wasn't really confident with this plan anymore. After all, what exactly were her acting abilities? Apparently her knowledge of Shakespeare was pretty low considering what she went with.

"O Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo. Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou will not, be but swear my love. And I'll no longer be a Montague."

"You really just chose that line." Ichiri was unimpressed. "You didn't even do it right!" He may not be an expert on the man's works or acting for that matter. Though even he was sure that she bungled that pretty poorly. She kicked them out after the pitiful performance. Walking away, Erina was frustrated.

"I can't believe that she doesn't think I'm a good actress." She lamented.

"That's your problem?" He responded. "You won't even be an understudy with skills like that."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" She whimpered. It was going to be hard seeing those two playing lovers on stage.

Arata wasn't sure what other plans he could pull out. This director was pretty strict as it would seem, despite her youth. On his own now, he knew that she'd be expecting something soon. Especially with everything coming up in just over a week.

"Kashimura?" While he was sitting on a bench just by the school's entrance, he heard a voice call out to him. "Is that you?" He looked up to see it was Akiba.

"Oh hello…" He greeted her. At least they were on speaking terms it seemed. "What are you still doing here at school?"

"Oh nothing…" He took note of her tell tale sign of dishonesty. "I was just taking a look at the part I got in the play." She whipped out her script.

"Right, I hear you got the part of Helena." He commented.

"Yes, and Yogi's going to play her lover." On the inside, she was happy. Yet also very scared about this.

"I'm sure that's going to be fun for you." He continued their conversation. Then he realized something about her. She was supposed to be the shy girl, right? Just because she might harbor some hate for others, doesn't mean that her core personality was that way.

"It's pretty nice, isn't it?"

"But, are you up for it?" He asked her.

"Wh-what do you mean?" She looked at him nervously.

"I mean." He took a sly tone towards her. "You know, everyone's going to be watching." He explained.

"Of course I know that…" She quietly responded. "It's for the school. This is our second year festival project." He was getting her right where he wanted. This was more of a spontaneous plan, but getting her to quit. That might give Erina a chance.

"It's a very important project at that." He continued, not letting go of the pressure he had. "It's be a shame if one of our lead actors were to mess it all up." He came up with multiple ways she could ruin the production. Forgetting her lines, ruining her costume, breaking some props.

"What are you saying…"

"You might even trip and expose your-"

"Stop it!" She yelled, he sealed his lips. Partially glad that she kept him from finishing that last sentence. He was regretting even starting that one. "I-I know what you're trying to do."

"Huh?"

"I know that you're trying to scare me. So that I'll quit and Erina can take over." She knew all of the casting. Even the fact that those two were understudies. "I'd rather have you take Yogi's spot then have her take mine."

"Really?" Ichiri would heavily disagree with that possibility.

"Yes. If she's playing that role. Then I'd have to watch him make all those romantic gestures." She was raising her voice again. "Even if it's just for the show… I don't think I can even stand the thought of it, let alone see it."

"Fine. I guess you caught me." He gave up, believing that this was over. "I'll stop."

"You know" She wasn't finished yet. "I can't believe you still think that you can help that girl." That side of hers, it was coming out again. The Mr. Hyde to her Dr. Jekyll.

"Come on, it's more complicated than that."

"We all know about what she's doing to you. That dirt she has on you." Akiba's voice, it was getting more emotional.

"Yeah… That's seems like a good reason, right?" He was unsure what she was getting at. This wasn't new information to him. "I'm not going to pretend that she's not using me here." Nor was he going to pretend that he was happy about this situation.

"You sure don't act like that's the only thing pushing you." She accused him. "That dance, the hospital. Are those things that people being blackmailed do?" He couldn't understand what she meant. "Or what about when you got her to help during our vacation? You can act like you just wanted help, but did it have to be her?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"You could've. No, you probably should've gotten someone like me or Misei. That would've really helped her, but no. You took a chance that she wouldn't expose you for something stupid like that." These words she was saying. They hit him deep.

"I just…" He was speechless. What she was saying was making him powerless.

"You can't admit it, but you really care about that girl." That couldn't be true, was it? "Some girl that once she's done with you, she'll throw you away like trash. I bet she doesn't even consider your feelings."

His feelings? Something about that felt familiar. Then it hit him, how he even learned about this side of Akiba. When he was trying to pair her with Akaki. He was doing it, for both Erina and Ayami. The idea disgusted him, to put his sister's needs along some blackmailer. How disrespectful.

Had he really stooped to so low? That he cared more about his reputation than his own family. Or was it because of everyone else? People like Hine, or Misao, pushing him to be more friendly with the others. That was never something he wanted, nor needed.

"If you have nothing else to say. Then I guess I should be going home now." Akiba finished. She walked passed him as if nothing happened. Arata couldn't even say anything to disagree with her. Because that would be denying the truth.

He stood there alone, with nothing but the thoughts to himself. Everything he had been in, everything he had been put through. It was because of her.

"Arata?" Another voice broke him from his trance. "What are you still doing here?" It was Erina, she had just finished another attempt to convince Ichiri to cast her instead.

"Oh I was just talking with Shinshiro." He responded plainly.

"Really. I bet you were trying to get her to quit, right?" She smiled gleefully at him. Apparently even their minds thought alike these days. "How'd that go?"

"It didn't work."

"That's too bad, maybe if I was here…" She thought that she could've made the difference. "Oh well. Come on, if we're both here. I guess we can both walk home together."

"Why?"

"W-why?" The look on his face. She felt that something was off here. "I mean, come on. You don't want to walk home with me? It's getting dark, so it'll be like back at the hospital." Something about that moment really pissed him off. What she said then, that he cared about her.

"If that's what you want." He just had to ask. "Then, do you care about me?"

"What?" She was taken aback from that question. It felt like she was being accused of something. "Of course, I care about you… I'm mean, we're friends, right?"

"Friends?" He clenched his fists. "Friends! How dare you sully a word like that?!"

"A-arata, what's wrong?" She was concerned about this behavior. "You're scaring me…"

"Do friends blackmail each other?" He ignored her words. "Do they force them to fear for their life, just for their own selfish desires!" His rage, his fury. Nothing was holding him back anymore. "Have you ever once considered my feelings on any matter?"

"Of course I have-"

"You liar, you've never cared about me." Her heart sank, these words that were coming out of his mouth. This was not a side she had ever seen from him. "I may be the guy that doesn't care for friends. But at least I know what a good friend looks like, and you're far from that." He turned around, beginning to walk away from her.

"Wait!"

"Don't bother stopping me." He said, not turning to face her. He continued his pace towards home. "I don't care anymore, tell the whole school tomorrow. Make my life a living hell." He paused at the school gates, with one final thing to say. "I'm done. I'm done with all this."

She stood there in silence as he left. Tears flowed down her cheeks, staining her blouse. Erina, couldn't believe what he just said. She couldn't form the words, but she wanted to tell him. That those words, what he said, were no longer true.