tln : because i love you guys, i will make the drama scene uncut. here’s your food dear my beloved readers.

Haneda Michi, a classmate of Natsume Kotoha, wandered around the cultural festival with two classmates. She remembered that Kotoha had mentioned helping out with the drama club.

‘Come watch if you can. The script is truly amazing.’

She recalled those words. Although her relationship with Kotoha was limited to occasional conversations due to their close seating, she was always struck by how Kotoha was always reading.

So, Michi was a bit intrigued by a play that Kotoha spoke so highly of. Plus, the idea of watching a play in an air-conditioned room sounded appealing after wandering in the heat. So,

“Hey, want to go watch the drama club’s play?”

She suggested to her two friends.

“Oh yeah, our school’s drama club is strong. I’m okay with going.”

Strong? It’s not a sports club, Michi thought, amused.

“I’m not really into plays,” said the other friend.

“Come on, it’s just for a bit. We’re tired of walking anyway, and if we get bored, we can just slip out quietly.”

“Fair enough.”

Was it really okay? Leaving in the middle of a play seemed like poor manners, but since it was a cultural festival, it might be acceptable… maybe.

When they reached the gym, it was almost full. As they looked for seats where they could sit together,

“Oh,”

Michi caught a glimpse of Kotoha being led backstage by a male student. Judging by the color of his tie, he was a third-year. Kotoha looked both happy and embarrassed. From afar, it might have been her imagination.

Hmm, Michi found it unexpected. Kotoha was cheerful and sociable, yet she seemed to avoid getting deeply involved with others. Michi had the impression that Kotoha avoided becoming too close to anyone. At least in their class, she didn’t have any particularly close friends.

“They don’t look like a couple though.”

“Michi, what are you doing? Come on, hurry up or it’ll start.”

When she noticed, her two friends had already moved further away, waving for her to join them. Michi tucked away what she saw in her mind and quickly moved to join them.

A few minutes after they took their seats, the play began.

The lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone on the stage.

***

“The next scheduled death is Shirakawa Hiyori. A high school girl, huh? So young.”

Murmurs a young man dressed in black, who is soon revealed to be a shinigami named Ren. The job of a shinigami is to visit humans and animals nearing their death and smoothly guide their souls to the underworld. On the orders of his senior shinigami, Ren disguises himself as a high school student and visits Shirakawa Hiyori, who suffers from a disease causing her blood vessels to become fragile and is expected to die in a month, to peacefully escort her soul to the underworld.

“You’re a shinigami, aren’t you?”

However, Hiyori catches him sending the soul of a cat that died in the street to the underworld. This violates the rule that living humans must not know a shinigami’s identity.

“Are you here to take me? I see, it’s almost time. Okay, I won’t tell anyone. Not even the other shinigami. But I have one request.”

Aware of her illness, Hiyori seems to accept her impending death. With a mischievous, yet earnest expression, she makes a request.

“Let me help you with your work.”

Caught off-guard, Ren can’t refuse and reluctantly lets her help.

The two visit people nearing death, guiding their souls to the underworld. While Ren tries to handle it matter-of-factly, Hiyori delves deeply into their lives. She talks to them openly, laughs and cries with them, and tries to connect not just with their regrets but with their lives.

“Because everything lived up until now is packed into death.”

When Ren asks why she goes to such lengths, Hiyori responds. Ren realizes that smoothly sending souls doesn’t mean avoiding all commotion.

***

(Amazing…)

During a break in the play, Michi sighed in relief.

Glancing at her friends, she saw them intently watching the stage. The stage lights reflected tears in their eyes. Other audience members were similarly engrossed.

The acting, stage setting, sound, and lighting were all remarkably well-done for a high school play. But,

(The script is truly amazing.)

Michi loved novels, manga, and movies, but if the story was weak, the piece would feel inferior, losing her interest. But this play was different. She realized half the performance had already passed without her noticing. She was that immersed.

This story had intensity. No, that might not be the right word.

The conversations, monologues, and actions of Ren, worn down by guiding many souls, and Hiyori, who tenderly and desperately connected with others as she faced her own death, as well as the souls they saved—the entire narrative—was sometimes as gentle and warming as spring sunshine, and sometimes as deeply settling as snow.

No, this stage wasn’t just raw intensity.

It had a depth that evoked the sense of seasons and times of day. And the script supported all of this.

(Is there an original novel or manga?)

But Michi had never heard of a title called “Shinigami ni Taisetsu na Koto” (Things Important to a Shinigami).

(Could it be an original?)

Suddenly, the image of Kotoha and the third-year boy from earlier popped into her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. There’s no way a high school student could write such a script. If anyone could, it would probably be—

***

The story reached its climax.

Moved by Hiyori’s way of connecting with people, Ren began to understand and incorporate their lives and feelings into his work, becoming more thorough. At the same time, he grew fond of Hiyori, becoming aware of his desire to see her live longer.

A month passed, but Ren couldn’t bring himself to let Hiyori die. A fellow shinigami, noticing the delay, confronted them, heightening the tension.

“Breaking the rules for a girl like this and disturbing the order. If one soul is missing, another life that should have been born will not. You know that, don’t you? It’s not too late. If you can’t do it, I’ll guide her soul.”

In a panic, Ren fled with Hiyori.

During their escape, they were pursued by shinigami from the underworld and eventually cornered.

“Hey, Ren. I was scared of dying. I didn’t want to die. So, when I found out you were a shinigami, I thought if I got close to you, you wouldn’t kill me.”

Ren was shocked by Hiyori’s confession. She had seemed to accept her death, but in reality, she had been terrified. Her deep involvement with the dying was a reflection of her fear.

Ren decided to fight the shinigami to protect Hiyori. It was a hopeless battle.

***

Leaning against the wall at the back of the gym, Inamura watched the play, sighing like the other audience members.

(It’s beyond my expectations. It’s incredible.)

It was worth the sleepless night and taking the first train from Tokyo to Gifu.

(It’s truly a Fuyutsuki Haruhiko story.)

The way it absorbed viewers into its world, making a fantasy feel real, filled with emotion and well-drawn characters. Likely written to suit the actors, it showcased the unique strengths of a play. But reading it would have been just as breathtaking, making one forget to breathe.

(He may not be fully recovered, but he has a good editor.)

She felt some resentment that she wasn’t the editor, but more than that, she was genuinely happy, as a fan, to experience another of Fuyutsuki Haruhiko’s stories.

Inamura looked around the gym.

It was no longer just a gym; it felt like a single narrative world involving the audience. The boundary between reality and story had blurred, and the audience felt Ren and Hiyori’s emotions firsthand. Some bit their lips in anger, while others shivered in fear.

If she weren’t an editor, Inamura would have been one of them.

(Now, how will the story conclude?)

***

“But I’m not scared anymore. I’ve met many people and seen many deaths.”

And, Hiyori continued,

“Everyone was so peaceful and happy at the end because of you, Ren.”

So, she wasn’t scared anymore, Hiyori said.

“That’s because you were there, Hiyori. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to you, I—”

He wanted to say he had changed. But Hiyori shook her head.

“You were kind from the start. You could have ignored my requests. I just gave you a chance to be yourself. So, my last request to you, who is so kind—”

Hiyori smiled. Ren held his breath.

“I want you, Ren. To send me off. Not some shinigami who doesn’t know me, but you.”

Ren looked at Hiyori for a moment, then answered in a trembling voice.

“…Alright.”

Ren finally decided to guide Hiyori’s soul to the underworld.

As Ren placed his hand on Hiyori’s forehead, she lost all strength and collapsed. Ren caught her and sank to his knees as well.

Her lifeless face was peaceful.

“I’ll come see you someday. When your soul is reborn, I promise. Even if you don’t remember.”

Ren whispered, and he thought he heard a faint “Yes…”

Thus, the story ended.

Ren was about to be severely punished, but the souls he had sent with Hiyori were all exceptionally healthy, and he received only a light warning. Ren became renowned among the shinigami for his skill.

Years later, Ren saved a high school girl who resembled Hiyori from being hit by a car. They exchanged a few words and started walking again, but the girl turned back, looking curiously at Ren, as the curtain fell.

tln : the story kinda similar to one jp ln i have read. i wonder which ones. hmm