The First Request
“… There’s nothing to do.”
“… You can say that again.”
“Ahm, hahaha…”
After class, I and the other members of the Acts of Kindness Club gathered in our club room. In spite of our diligence, it seemed there wasn’t much for us to do. Recent preparations for the Culture Festival kept us busy, but today we had been told to devote some time to our club activities instead. Unfortunately, the Acts of Kindness Club had yet to receive any requests.
To distract myself from my boredom, I fed Rele the snacks we bought using our club budget. Just because Rele was a heal slime didn’t mean that she could only eat herbs. She had taken a fancy to sweets and was happily munching on the biscuit I set before her.
“Maybe we should play a game?”
“Mei, you’re just way too good at board games and card games, so no!”
When I glanced over in Mei’s direction, I saw that she too had decided to feed her Laire. It seemed that Laire noticed my gaze and momentarily stopped munching to hide in Mei’s shadow. Really now, she truly was quite the timid little one.
“… Simone, you’re just too easy to read.”
“E-Even then you’re just way too good at them!”
About a month had passed since we enrolled. Without any requests to take on, any time we had for our Acts of Kindness Club was essentially free time. Needless to say, over the past month we had played tons of card games, poker, blackjack, etcetera. Of course board games like chess and othello, and the list goes on. As Simone suggested, Mei had proven she was leagues ahead of us no matter what game we played. By the way, our next best gamer here after Mei was, surprisingly―though saying that it was surprising may be rude―Lily-sama. Simone and I shared a fierce rivalry trying to avoid being last place.
“Besides! I’ve got something I need to do.”
“And what is that?”
“I’m drawing a poster.”
“… The ones for the Culture Festival?”
“N-No… I asked Simone-chan to draw us a poster for our club.”
Simone gave an emphasized nod to confirm before she continued,
“The only reason we haven’t gotten any requests for help even when everyone’s so busy preparing for the Culture Festival must be that we haven’t marketed ourselves enough! This morning I got permission to use the school’s billboards and put something simple up… But if we’re going to do this, I want to put up a proper poster!”
“””Simone(-chan) you’re awesome!!”””
“N-No, I haven’t done anything special… I’m a part of this club too, you know. And really, I should be apologizing for being so slow at it. Sorry, Lily. I’ll try and hurry.”
“””Such modesty!!”””
“W-What’s up with all of you today…”
Simone truly was such a nice girl. That said, however,
“Hey… Maybe we should consider searching for the people who may need our help?”
“… I’m starting to come around on that.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Uhm, erhm…”
I understood and respected Lily-sama’s perspective. She saw hardship as an opportunity for the one facing it to grow, placing value on that individual’s initiative to seek help should they need it. But at the same time, if things remained as they were, our Acts of Kindness Club would just become the Waste of Time Club.
―Just as that thought crossed my mind, the sound of a reserved knock echoed from the room’s door.
“Y-Yes?”
“Hello. Is this the Acts of Kindness Club?”
When we turned to face the door, we saw two female students peeking through the door.
◆◇◆◇◆
“My name is Lydie Gracq and this is Louise Moderne.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“P-, Pleased to meet you as well. I’m the c-club president, Lily Lilium.”
I quietly watched as the three exchanged their greetings. Lydie was tall and had rather prominent facial features. At least as far as I saw, she gave off the impression of being androgynous. Louise’s features on the other hand were very prominently feminine. The way she carried herself was dignified. So much so, that even if she claimed to be a noblewoman or royalty of a foreign nation, I wouldn’t bat an eye. Of course Lily-sama, who received our guests, was beautiful in her own right. However, Lily-sama generally gave off the vibe of an adorable critter. While that often invited the affection of those around her, she did seem to be a little out of place standing next to these two.
“We’re part of the drama club. We’re planning to put on a play for the upcoming Culture Festival, and we’d like to ask the Acts of Kindness Club for help to make it a success.”
“The drama club… I see, that explains it.”
Both Lydie and Louise had very good posture, which was rare. On top of that, the way the two carried themselves was full of intentionality. At first, I thought the two of them may have been disciplined in the martial arts, but even then that didn’t explain the intentionality in the way they communicated and gestured. When I heard they were actors, everything seemed to click.
“S-So you’re from the drama club… U-Uhm, s-so what is it that you’d like us to help with?”
“Despite the fact that the Culture Festival is not even a week away, two of our members have fallen ill. While neither of them were cast as a major role, we can’t exactly do without them either. That’s why we’d like to ask if you might have people that could take their place.”
To put it simply, they were asking if we had people who could perform on stage.
“S-So you need substitute actors… Uhm… L-Lily thought that we may be able to provide help if it was for creating props or backdrops… But performing might be…”
“Would that be asking too much?”
“U-Uhm… Just a moment please… D-Does anyone here have acting experience?”
Lydie looked straight into Lily-sama’s eyes. Perhaps having already exhausted their other options, it was clear they were depending on us. With a troubled expression, Lily-sama turned to us.
“I don’t have any experience.”
“… Neither does Mei.”
“Same here.”
“Y-Yeah, Lily thought so…”
For better or for worse, drama was more so something that royalty and the high class of old participated in. Of course the performers were often recruited from the citizenry, but having the opportunity to see a play was rare enough, let alone having acted in one.
“It’s not that difficult of a role. Even without experience, if you put in the effort over the next week to practice, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it fine.”
“We’re making adjustments to the script to simplify things as well. Please, it would mean so much to us.”
“Mm, well… Uhm, could you give us a little time to talk about it first?”
“… Alright.”
Just as Lydie was about the leave the room, as though she just remembered, she turned around to say,
“I should mention, but the roles we need to fill are for lovers with… troubling circumstances.”
She paused to give a playful wink before continuing,
“Well then, we’ll hope for a favorable answer.”
With that, the two of them finally stepped away.
“W-Well, uhm… I’d like to discuss their request, what do you think we should―”
“We’re accepting it of course.”
“J-Just like that!?”
I interrupted Lily-sama as she tried to start our discussion. Lily-sama’s surprise was evident.
“This is such an interesting opportunity! There’s no way that I, of all people, would let this chance slip by. I believe that it’s perfect to be the Acts of Kindness Club’s first request.”
“D-Do you really…? L-Lily feels that it’s a, uhm, rather difficult request…”
“… Lily-sama, you don’t get it.”
“Wha?”
“Alea doesn’t really mean any of that, Lily. Her true intentions are so glaringly obvious, even I know what she’s after.”
“W-What!?”
Mei shrugged while Simone gave a look of exasperation. Oh my, was I really so obvious? It appears that Lily-sama was the only one who hadn’t noticed.
“W-What do you mean?”
“… What role did they want substitutes for again?”
“E-Erhm… they said they needed lovers.”
“And? What motives do you think Alea might have for jumping on that?”
“???”
“Lily-sama, the substitutes would need to act as lovers!”
“Oh… Ohhh… So that’s what it was!?”
Directly hearing my enthusiasm for the role we were asked to take on, it appears Lily-sama finally got it.
“While I’m disappointed we wouldn’t be in the spotlight, this would give me a legitimate reason to act as your lover!”
“N-No… N-N-No way…! L-Lily couldn’t possibly perform…!”
In spite of my enthusiasm, Lily-sama was clearly against the idea.
“It’ll be fine! Just like Lydie said, our roles won’t be that difficult.”
“T-That’s not the problem here! L-Lily just isn’t suited for this kind of thing! In the first place, L-Lily gets butterflies just being around other people…!”
“The only way to overcome that is by getting used to it, Lily-sama! Wouldn’t it be problematic when you return to your post at the Spirit Church if you had difficulty delivering sermons? So…”
“S-So…?”
“We’ll treat you with Exposure Therapy.”
“N. O. W. A. Y.”
Lily-sama was tearing up.
“Are you really so against the idea of acting as lovers? That does hurt me a little…”
“T-That’s not it! T-There’s… Just some t-things that Lily can do, and things that Lily can’t do!”
“… Lily-sama, weren’t you the one who said hardship is a chance for growth?”
“Mei, come on, take it easy on her.”
“Waaah…”
Mei’s calm retort was what opened the floodgates.
“Well, I suppose we’ve teased Lily-sama more than enough.”
“… Suppose so.”
“Wha, I thought you two were being serious.”
“W-Wait, just what do you mean by that!?”
When I forcibly put an end to my silliness, Mei readily nodded along, Simone seemed surprised, and Lily-sama was very clearly lost.
“Lily-sama, of course I would like to take the role as your lover, but I have no intention of forcing it on you. It’s a request after all.”
“… It may come as a surprise, but Alea’s pretty grounded when it comes to stuff like that.”
“I’m sure you were like, 70% serious.”
“90%, really.”
“Ah, I see…”
Like I had just said, if possible, I would’ve liked for things to play out that way.
“How about you Simone, any interest?”
“I’m gonna pass on this one, I don’t think I could memorize the script.”
“Lily-sama has also already refused so… I suppose Mei and I would be a safe bet.”
“… Mei doesn’t mind. Alea would be Mei’s wife. Fufufu…”
When Mei nodded, I felt that she seemed rather happy. Hm, why would that be?
“T-Then we’re okay accepting their request…?”
“Yes, let’s accept. Looks like it’s our chance for the Acts of Kindness Club to get rolling.”
“T-Thank you for accepting, Alea-chan, Mei-chan!”
“Hey, wait a sec, even if not as a performer, I plan to help out too, you know?”
“Of course, thanks to you too, Simone-chan!”
Wasn’t there a saying about a crying crow or something like that…? Lily-sama’s face now had a broad smile, like a flower in sunlight.
“Alright then, Lily will hurry to give Lydie-san our answer!”
“Wait just a moment, Lily-sama, let’s all go together.”
“… We should get the script, and ask if they need help with anything else too.”
“Yeah, that’s true, it might save us some time down the line.”
“T-That’s true, alright, let’s go then!”
With that, the Acts of Kindness Club accepted its first request―to provide substitute actors for the drama club’s upcoming play.
Translator Note: I appreciate that in her own way Alea recognizes and respects Lily’s boundaries and says she won’t force her. I think it’d be awesome for Lily to participate in the play, but stage fright is a scary thing…
< Previous – Turn Around and Face Me – Next >
If you have the means and are feeling generous, please consider supporting me at my Ko-fi.
sephalliblog 