Kono Monogatari O Kimi Ni Sasagu - Volume 1 Chapter 2.14

The hall fell silent, not even a single clap.

Yuto, watching the play from the side of the stage, felt a cold sweat running down his back.

But soon, the sound of clapping, like raindrops, began to spread from the audience.

The small claps quickly grew louder, turning into a thunderous applause that filled the hall.

When he felt a tug on his sleeve and looked next to him, he saw Kotoha with a triumphant smile.

She seemed to be saying something, but the deafening applause drowned her out.

“I can’t hear you! What are you saying!?”

“I asked if you can hear this applause!”

“Of course, I can hear it!”

Yuto almost stumbled. However, he understood what she meant.

Kotoha’s eyes were wide open and sparkling. She seemed genuinely happy.

Yuto was happy too, but more than that, he felt a strong sense of relief.

The endless applause was a call for a curtain call.

The actors stepped out from the side of the stage to the front of the curtain.

Each time they stepped out, cheers erupted from the audience.

“This is the first time it’s been this exciting.”

Watanabe, who hadn’t been on stage, patted Yuto on the shoulder.

“In the three years I’ve been in this club… no, perhaps since its founding.”

Watanabe then peered into the audience. Maybe he was thinking about the upcoming competition.

Suddenly, he turned to Yuto.

“What are you doing? You should get on stage as the scriptwriter.”

“E-eh!?”

Despite providing the script, he was still an outsider. It felt weird for someone who wasn’t an actor to go on stage. As he hesitated—

“Hurry up and go.”

Watanabe pushed him, and Yuto stumbled out to the front of the stage.

In front of him was a crowd of standing, applauding spectators.

Some were looking at him curiously, noticing he wasn’t an actor.

Yuto, bewildered, looked back at the stage wings. Watanabe, Kotoha, and the backstage crew were grinning at him.

“You’re the hero of this play. You’re not an actor, but give a proper greeting!”

“Senpai, go show them what you’ve got!”

I’m not good at this, Yuto thought, sighing. But now that he was out there, he couldn’t just retreat.

“Show them what…?”

Yuto walked to the front of the curtain and stood at the end of the line of actors.

But Ren’s actor, Togawa, and Hiyori’s actor, Hikawa, took his hand and led him to the center. Yuto resigned himself to the situation.

“This is Hiiragi Yuto, a third-year student who wrote today’s play, ‘Shinigami ni Taisetsu na Koto.'”

The announcement caused a stir among the audience.

Most of them had assumed the play was an adaptation of an existing work. Learning that it was an original script written by a high school student shocked them.

Yuto, feeling detached, bowed. He glanced at the audience and saw a woman leaning against the back wall of the gym. Though it was dark and far, her sophisticated, adult aura, unsuitable for a cultural festival, and her slender silhouette were familiar. It was Editor Inamura.

Did she come all the way from Tokyo? That’s a three-hour trip one way.

“Its really heavy…”

Yuto chuckled, then bowed deeply again.

***

Kotoha greeted Yuto as he returned from the stage.

“Good job.”

She said with a mischievous smile.

“The applause hasn’t stopped yet.”

Watching the hall from the stage wings, Kotoha’s eyes sparkled with joy.

Her genuine happiness made Yuto smile too.

Despite everything, he felt glad he had taken on the scriptwriting.

“So, where are we going?”

“Going? Where to…?”

Yuto was puzzled. He thought Kotoha, being sociable, would share the joy with the club members and help with cleaning up the stage. Yuto, having contributed nothing to the preparations while hiding in the bathroom, planned to help with the cleanup at least.

Kotoha exchanged a glance with Watanabe, who nodded understandingly.

“We’ll handle the cleanup. We’ll send the details of the after-party later. You two can go.”

Before Yuto could question this, a few drama club members ran up to Watanabe.

“President, look! Our play is trending on social media! Everyone who watched it is praising it!”

“We’ve got interview requests from the newspaper and TV!”

“People leaving the hall are all talking about the play. Some were so moved they couldn’t lift their heads.”

“It was a huge success!”

The excited members overwhelmed Watanabe. Yuto listened in surprise, realizing the play’s unexpected success.

At this moment, Kotoha bowed slightly to Watanabe and the members, saying, “Please take care of the rest.”

“Let’s go, Senpai.”

Kotoha led Yuto from the backstage to the side of the audience. They walked past the still-excited crowd.

“Hey…”

Yuto tried to ask where they were going, but the noise was too loud for a proper conversation, so he followed her lead.

They reached the control room at the back of the hall.

“What are we doing here—”

Before Yuto could finish, Kotoha opened the door.

Yuto froze at what he saw inside.

“We have a special guest today.”

Kotoha’s words barely registered.

Inside the room sat a girl in a wheelchair.

Yuto couldn’t believe his eyes. But there was no mistaking her.

“Haruka…”

He forced out the name from his dry throat, calling his sister’s name.

“Nii-san…”

Haruka’s voice was faint and trembling.

Silence filled the room.

The distant noise from the hall sounded like the quiet rumble of waves, echoing in the control room.

Before he could wonder why Haruka was here, the guilt he had harbored for the past three years resurfaced vividly with the memories of that time.

Haruka looked more mature than he remembered. Her pale, lifeless face seemed to have regained some vitality, or maybe it was just his wishful thinking.