Into The School Play! Shiori The Writing Hero?

At school, the group hangs out in class. Shiori reads as the others chat. Hisana pouts a bit at her desk.

Alice "What's wrong Hisana?"

Hisana "Valentine's Day is over and I didn't give a single cute boy chocolate or cookies or anything…"

Alice "You could give me some candy."

She says with a slightly nervous smile.

Lucy "You're just saying that because you want more sweets."

Alice turns around sharply and blushes in embarrassment.

Alice "N-no! That's totally not true!"

Chizuru "It's okay. Sweets are super yummy!"

She says while licking her lips. Hisana turns her head and looks away from them. She looks at Kitaro, Ryuji and Touma all sitting around each other. She stares directly at Kitaro for a second before her face lights up.

Hisana "Hey, wait a minute! Kitaro is a cute boy!"

She digs in her bag for a moment as Kitaro speaks.

Kitaro "I told you, you'd forget."

She looks at him and pouts some more before pulling out her bag of cookies she made. They are dark and poorly shaped.

Hisana "Here, I made these for you."

She lifts them toward him. He stops playing his game on his phone and looks at her.

Kitaro "You sure these weren't for someone else?"

She thinks for a moment before smiling.

Hisana "Nope! Just for you!"

Kitaro stares for a second before sighing and taking the bag. He places it down on his desk and stares at it for a moment before unwrapping it and pulling out a cookie. He stares at the cookie and gets a look of slight disgust.

Kitaro "I'm not entirely sure these are even edible."

Hisana gets a saddened look and looks away.

Hisana "Oh… Sorry, you don't have to eat them…"

He then pops the cookie into his mouth and quickly chomps it up before devouring the other three cookies in the bag. Hikigaya and Haru look surprised.

Haru "Woah! He ate them all!"

Kitaro coughs for a second as he struggles to get them down but swallows and sticks his tongue out making a 'bleh' sound. Hisana goes from sad to happy instantly.

Hisana "I knew you'd love them! You always love my cooking since you always eat it all so fast!"

Kitaro "Yeah, whatever. You're buying me a juice later."

Hisana "Okay!"

Ms. Samuel then walks through the door with a box of papers in her arms. She sets them down on her podium with an exhale and sweating a bit.

Samuel "Okay everyone, let's get this show on the road, shall we? First thing on the list is excusing the students who were signed to not participate in this curriculum."

A handful of students get up with their belongings and hand Ms. Samuel their papers.

Samuel "Remember, those of you excused will be spending this time with Mr. Gates in class 2-4."

As those students leave, the class population is dropped to 15. Samuel looks at the class and sighs.

Samuel "That's a bit smaller than I thought it'd be… Oh well, we'll have to make due. Onto the next step! We must now decide on what our play will be. The theater department gave us a list of a few different plays we could do."

She digs through her box and pulls out four different booklets of different plays.

Samuel "They have most of the props, costumes and set pieces for these. So, which one should we do? Deep Stone Love, A Galaxy Is Never Too Far, Monster Heart, or One Cold Night?"

The class all get looks of disgust and unamusement as they stare at the cheezy art of the covers and titles.

Hikigaya "They're all… love stories?"

Lucy "We can't do one about pirates? Or maybe a bunch of students trying to assassinate their teacher?"

Samuel "Watch it with that last one."

She points her finger at Lucy who smirks as Ryuji low fives her.

Samuel "And no. I already asked. The department said we can only do one of these four. We are allowed to add our own spin to it but for the sake of time and budget, we must use these for the most part."

She looks kind of disappointed too. The class sighs and talks amongst themselves.

Kitaro "They're all so cheezy."

Student "There's not one with more action in it?"

Alice "I'd prefer Monster Heart. I liked that one."

The class looks at her as she gets embarrassed and slightly covers her face.

Alice "Not that… I've ever seen it before until just now…"

Sugawara "I think One Cold Night looks the easiest."

Chizuru "I agree."

Hisana "But the monster in Monster Heart looks so handsome."

Lucy "Well we have to pick one. It's not like we could combine the two."

Hikigaya then gets an idea.

Hikigaya "Maybe we can. Someone here has to be good enough at writing to do that."

He turns and looks at Shiori who is completely absorbed into her book, not even realizing the current situation she's in. She looks up when she notices everyone staring at her.

Shiori "What?"

Hikigaya "Write us a mix of these two stories."

He says as he lifts up both the booklets. She gets a slightly irritated look.

Shiori "Why do I have to do it?"

Hikigaya "Because, these guys want a bit of both and you're the only one with the writing skills to make that come true."

Lucy "That's what you get for not paying attention."

Haru "Snooze you lose!"

He says as she exhales in frustration.

Shiori "Fine, whatever. The quicker we get this whole assignment done, the faster I can get back to my actual story."

Chizuru "Alright! Shiori to the rescue!"

Student "Can she actually write that well? I didn't know."

Studnet "Sounds pretty cool, right?"

Shiori perks up a bit when she hears the other students talking positively about her. She blushes a bit as they stare with smile and amazement.

Student "She's gonna make this play rock!"

Student "I'm actually kinda looking forward to this now."

Hikigaya "Feels good, right?"

She looks at Hikigaya who was staring at her blushing. She gets embarrassed and looks back at her book.

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

He smiles at her.

Hikigaya "I guess people aren't always as mean as they seem."

She slowly looks back at him as he gives her a slight smile before looking away. She smiles softly and looks at the others getting excited.

Shiori "I guess they aren't."

Samuel "Great. Now that's settled, let's get this script handled so we can move on to practice. Shiori, would you come up here for me?"

She motions for her to come up to the podium. Shiori looks confused for a moment but does as she is asked.

Samuel "She may be doing most of the writing but that doesn't mean we can't help her out with ideas. Pass out the copies for Monster Heart and One Cold Night and get to reading. Shiori, once you have a good grasp on what you're working with, put that big brain of yours to work and start writing, got it?"

She gives Shiori a confident, proud look as Shiori gives a determined look back.

Shiori "Right!"

The class begins brainstorming ideas as a few days go by. Shiori works diligently as her classmates help her come up with a short script for the play. On the fourth day, she finishes up the script and hands it to Ms. Samuel for review. She watches anxiously as Samuel reads through it. The class sits in anticipation for Samuel's response. She blockets the last page of the papers and looks up at Shiori.

Samuel "I don't know about you, but I'd definitely spend seven bucks to see this performed by a bunch of highschoolers."

She says with a smile. The class cheers as Shiori sighs with relief.

Chizuru "Yay! Shiori did it!"

Student "If you used my suggestions, it'll definitely be great!"

Haru "My parts are gonna be the best!"

Student "In your dreams, Haru."

Haru "What'd you say, Airi?"

He turns angrily to the girl.

Airi "I'm just saying my parts are definitely better than yours."

She says smugly. Haru growls at her as another student intervenes.

Daiki "Alright you two, chill out. We're supposed to be a team here."

Samuel "Daiki is right. Regardless of what parts were put in or not, we all will have to work together to make this script come to life. And with the help of the production department, I think we have what it takes to do just that."

She says with a smile. The class all begins to light up.

Samuel "Thanks to Shiori's thorough blocking of the play, we have a clear idea of what to do but we still need to cast and actually perform these actions. So, why don't we go down to the theater and move onto the next stage."

She says, leaning into her pun. None of the students laugh as she sweats.

Samuel "Yeah, well I thought it was funny… *sigh* Come on."

The student excitedly head out of the classroom and down the hall, to the theater. As they walk, Shiori and Hikigaya are talking when the third other student who actually stayed to help, Kuzan, steps next to Shiori.

Kuzan "Hey Shiori, I just wanted to say, that was really cool what you did for us. All that hard work over the last few days. I really appreciate it."

He says with seductive eyes and a flirtatious tone. Shiori looks confused but appreciates the thanks.

Shiori "Uh… Thanks. I'm glad I could help."

He gives her a smirk as Chizuru comes up and starts pushing him ahead.

Chizuru "Get lost Kuzan, she's taken."

Kuzan "Aw, what? Really?"

Hikigaya notices her words and gets an upset look as she turns and winks at Shiori. Shiori rolls her eyes in response knowing she's poking fun about Hikigaya.

Shiori "What was all that about?"

Hikigaya "No idea. Maybe you should ask your boyfriend or whatever."

He says with little attitude but obviously slightly upset. She looks at him confused.

Shiori "What are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend."

He looks at her confused as well.

Hikigaya "But didn't Chizuru just say..?"

Shiori "She's just being Chizuru. You know how she likes to get involved in other people's business."

He blushes in embarrassment a bit.

Hikigaya "Oh yeah haha… That's true. Sorry about that."