Cinderella on the Stake's Stage

[nebulancer]

Hokuto: Club President, do you have a moment? I have something to discuss.

Wataru: Oh my? How rare for you to have business with me, Hokuto-kun!

No need for restraint, this Hibiki Wataru shall fulfill anything you desire, to the greatest extent as surely as possible! Ahahahaha☆

Hokuto: Why're you coming on so forcefully. Calm down. The heat is unbearable, so don't cling onto me.

Wataru: It shall be summer soon, after all~. I had only thought that, if you had not been sweating properly, regulation of your body's temperature would fail and your brain would boil, you see?

Hokuto: Your concern is unneeded. Unlike you, Club President, I can't consciously let flow and stop my sweat. If it's hot, sweat will come out on its own.

Wataru: Giving up when "I don't know what the next training menu will end up as, so I can't do it~" is negligence. You must aim for greater heights, Hokuto-kun.

Hokuto: I know even without you telling me. I'm just not aiming to become some surprising human like Club President.

Wataru: Who here is a surprising human... Although it is a perfectly befitting phrase! Amazing☆

Fufufu. Leaving that aside, what was that you wanted to discuss?

Hokuto: Aah... Club President, don't you think it's about time you gave him a break?

Wataru: About what? Though I may have some inkling of what so, if you do not say as such, I would not know the specifics at all?

Hokuto: I'm talking about Tomoya. Club President, you're using those doves to monitor him, right? I'm getting worried, seeing them stuck to him day and night.

Somehow, it looks like they're following him into even the toilets and the bath. It's as if he can't calm down having you watch him constantly during those private times.

Because his privacy's being violated, Tomoya seems to have gotten some kind of neurosis... Club President, you're the one who should order them to quit monitoring him.

Wataru: Nn? Indeed, for a time, I had small surveillance cameras attached to the doves' legs to watch Tomoya-kun...

It had grown rather tedious, however, so I called it off a long while ago.

We must have those who act become used to being watched... I simply played around in order to have him understand such basics of basics.

It was not as if I had wanted to peep in on that one's daily life.

Hokuto: Huh? You've said something weird. Tomoya's saying, even now, there's a dove always following him.

Wataru: Could it possibly a persecution complex? For Tomoya-kun to have truly developed neurosis would be...

I must reflect on this. I am quite troubled that I had not known the extent of this.

Hokuto: That's right. You better reflect, Club President.

But it really is weird... In the pictures I got of Tomoya suffering, the dove you prepared in your sleight of hand tricks was there.

Because they don't inhabit this area, because they're a special variety of dove... I knew just by looking.

Wataru: Hm~mm, whatever could this mean?

What a mystery! Aah, there is some Amazing still remaining within this world...☆

Tomoya: C-Cl-Cl-Cl-Club President~...!

Hokuto: ...You surprised me. Speak of the devil. What's wrong, Tomoya?

Tomoya: Ah, Hokuto-senpai! Hello, you look cool today too...☆

Hokuto: ? Thanks.

Wataru: Tomoya-kun, Tomoya-kun, what you're holding there must be one of my doves, correct? It seems completely exhausted, however; what happened... with this one?

Tomoya: That's what I came here to ask you!

I was so worried, going: "There aren't any dove wings flapping today~, maybe it's finally stopped chasing me around?"

Something made me feel uneasy, so I looked around somewhere close to me... This one was collapsed on the roadside corner.

It'd be really bad if it were hit by a bicycle or something, so I picked it up and came here for the time being.

W-what could've happened? It's one of the doves you keep, right? So do something, Masked Weirdo...!

Wataru: Fufufu. In contrast to the dove which had been chasing you around, making you uneasy, showing kindness as always truly is one of Tomoya-kun's good points.

Let me see it. Aah, this truly is my dove... Its whereabouts had been unknown for quite a while: this one is named Jeanne D'arc.

Hokuto: What's with that grandiose name.

Wataru: For it likes perching on crosses... Oh dear me, there are wounds all over its body. I wonder what had happened, could it have possibly even attacked by a wild cat?

Tomoya: M-medical care and stuff works, right? I'll go get the first-aid kit from the infirmary!

Wataru: Aah, it is unnecessary for such things to be on hand.

While doing plays, abrasions and all shall constantly be made, after all. It is permanent here~, an emergency set♪

Now the, please don't struggle, Jeanne D'arc... I shall patch you up in a jiffy~♪

...Yes. There we go, with that. Fortunately, those were not deep wounds, so its life should surely not be in danger.

Tomoya: I-is that so. I'm so glad~...♪

Wataru: Indeed. However, I was worried from its weakness, for it had rarely eaten. We shall make a bed for it to rest in.

Tomoya: Ah, I'll help you with that.

It's kinda weird to say, but I wonder if maybe being around it all the while made my concern come right out... When I saw it had fallen down, I got really worried.

It's weird, right? Because it's a dove that was making me feel uneasy the whole time.

Wataru: Certainly not. To have a sense of intimacy with those whom you have been close to for a while is a normal human's mentality.

You two as well must have surely grown, bit by bit, to have cared for me, who has always been by your sides?

Tomoya: No, actually, you're so incomprehensible that, whether or not I knew you, I'd feel immediately that I'd have to reject you.

Hokuto: I understand, Tomoya.

Wataru: What horrible juniors you are... Your club president is sorrowful, sob sob.

Anyways, allow me to cure Jeanne D'arc in my home. For a moment, it will be necessary to prepare this and that.

Tomoya: Huh, so it's kinda like it's bad to keep it in the Theater Club's club room?

Wataru: It would not be a bad thing; moreover, it seems Eichi has granted me authorization to keep living animals within the club room.

However. I have found wounds on Jeanne D'arc that have not only been scratch marks from a wild cat, but also other doves that should have been its comrades.

It must be being bullied, this one.

This time, it was saved, as Tomoya-kun noticed it quickly.

Who knows if, next time, it will be able to hang onto its life. As such, it was needed that it be isolated in a safe place.

Tomoya: Eh, bullied...? How horrible, even though this guy didn't do anything bad.

Wataru: Fufufu. Weak ones and "those who stick out" shall be pecked: birds are those which frequently see this, as a normal way of life.

That kind of young one would be called a textbook Cinderella.

In a fairy-tale world, Cinderella is saved by her prince.

Though in reality, even if someone were to have the reason "The Prince selected me and saved me," they would possibly be persecuted.

Saying, "It's not fair if it's only you. It's patronage. I'm envious," and the sort...

Please remember that, Tomoya-kun.

You are liked by animals, are you not... Because of fans' "envy," there will indeed be someone you shall make unhappy for those you cherish.

Please take this as a lesson, that you work hard to not allow this tragedy to repeat itself.

At the very least, do so until you may grow to become a Prince that can save all Cinderellas.


*Background on the story's title: Cinderella and Jeanne D'arc (or Joan of Arc) are major roles in this story. Cinderella was raised from rags to riches when she met her fairy godmother and married a prince, who fell in love with her. Jeanne D'arc was a French soldier who, upon receiving visions from an archangel, set out to free France from English rule. She was burned at the stake after being captured on a crusade. The placement of these two women, one with a happy ending and one without, symbolizes various things, possibly the happiness that Wataru wants to give to Hokuto and Tomoya.