Chapter 134: Chapter 133 - The Most Incorrect Snow White

It was the time of final scenes of the play.

After several weeks of rehearsals.

Arguments.

Crying fits.

One costume-related tragedy.

And approximately six hundred disasters.

The play finally reached its ending.

At least theoretically.

The backstage area was quiet.

Surprisingly quiet.

Unusually quiet.

The cast waited.

For the final entrances.

While the audience behind the curtain was completely absorbed.

They were laughing.

The jokes worked.

The comedy was successful.

The script worked.

Against any logic.

Any chances.

Any sense.

And then...

It was time for...

One final scene.

It was a kiss.

It was the end.

It was awakening.

Kuro lay down on the stage.

He was completely still.

As a corpse.

By this point, Kuro lay down on the stage about fifteen times already.

He was surprisingly good at it.

"Places."

The stage manager whispered.

Everyone responded.

The lights dimmed.

The music played.

The final act began.

Snow White Kuro was lying on the stage on a decorative platform.

With hands crossed.

Eyes shut.

Body absolutely still.

Everyone was watching him attentively.

And unexpectedly.

Suddenly the atmosphere became emotional.

Well, at least.

Kuro himself thought it was rather emotional.

The scenery was beautiful.

The lighting was superb.

The music fit perfectly.

At least until the Witch showed up.

Akari entered the stage.

Delivered her first line perfectly.

Then delivered another line.

That wasn’t in the script.

"Rika, look at her."

"She’s improvising again." Rika whispered.

The audience laughed louder.

Akari pointed dramatically to an unconscious Snow White.

"And behold."

"You’ve got what you deserved!

Because of your bad life choices!"

Again the audience laughed.

Kuro didn’t move.

Because he tried not to laugh out loud.

Akari continued.

"If he invested in my business."

She made a dramatic gesture with her hand.

"None of this would’ve happened!"

Again the audience laughed.

But it was clear Akari decided to stay.

The script clearly stated that after delivering lines.

Witch exits.

Akari ignored it.

She stood in the middle of the stage.

Smiling to the crowd.

Backstage.

Rika was hurriedly writing something in her notebook.

"What can I do?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Minami whispered to Mina.

"Shouldn’t we stop her?"

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Because it’s funny."

Fair enough.

Unfortunately.

The scene can only be continued if the Witch disappears.

Aoi suddenly entered from the right side of the stage.

The audience applauded.

Prince Aoi had gained surprising popularity during the rehearsal.

She was walking confidently.

Speaking perfectly.

Without any mistakes.

Honestly.

She looked like Prince Aoi more than other princes.

Again the audience applauded.

Several students shouted in excitement.

Aoi didn’t even look at them.

As always.

She suddenly stopped.

She noticed something unusual.

Akari still hadn’t left the stage.

"I thought..."

She looked around.

Witch leaves the stage...

Witch is still here.

Silence...

Then Aoi looked at Akari.

Akari looked at her.

Both stood still.

The audience sensed something unusual.

Which only added to the humor of the situation.

Then Aoi calmly said.

"Weren’t you supposed to go away?"

The audience laughed.

Again a line that wasn’t in the script.

"Well..."

"Not really."

Akari calmly said.

Again everyone laughed.

At this point.

The script was long gone.

The play had been taken completely out of control.

In the backstage area.

Minami put her head in her hands.

"We’re doomed."

"Absolutely not."

Rika was smiling broadly.

"That’s amazing."

"I think not."

"Obviously yes."

The debate continued quietly.

Meanwhile.

The disaster approached.

Prince Aoi decided it was time to finish the play.

She slowly walked toward an unconscious Snow White.

Everything was going according to the script.

Almost.

Akari suddenly moved.

It couldn’t be any worse choice.

The historical choice.

She made a theatrical spin.

Trying to leave the stage.

Her cape got entangled with a stage decoration.

Time slowed.

Akari knew what happened.

Aoi knew what happened.

Everyone knew.

But nobody could change anything.

The cape pulled.

Akari lost her balance.

Law of gravity activated.

Physics took over.

And the disaster officially begun.

"AH—"

Akari fell forward.

Right toward Aoi.

Aoi tried to turn.

Too late.

Collision.

The audience gasped.

Aoi lost her balance.

She fell down.

Everything that had been carefully rehearsed crashed.

The positions changed.

The blocking went out the window.

The scenery.

Out.

The music cues.

Gone.

Everything was gone.

Reality itself.

Questionable.

Aoi stumbled backwards.

Akari fell forward.

Then came silence.

Absolute silence.

Silence spread in the auditorium.

Because thanks to unbelievable luck.

Physics.

And Akari.

Lips of Witch Akari met lips of Prince Aoi.

Silence.

Complete silence.

Everybody held their breath.

Absolutely everybody.

Even the music operator forgot his lines.

Nobody knew what to say after that.

Aoi didn’t move.

Akari didn’t move.

The world stopped.

While in the middle of this...

Kuro lay on the stage.

As a corpse.

Completely unconscious.

And completely irrelevant to the ending.

He had just been removed from his own ending.

Which described this play perfectly.

Three seconds passed.

Four.

Five.

The audience suddenly burst into thunderous laughter.

Unusual laughter.

Laughing that makes your stomach hurt.

They were leaning forwards.

Falling backwards into their chairs.

Hiding their faces.

Crying.

Teachers were laughing.

Students were laughing.

Parents were laughing.

Even the stage crew was laughing.

Everybody was laughing.

Backstage.

Mina fell into her chair.

Laughing so hard that she was crying.

Really crying.

She couldn’t stop.

Every time she saw what was happening on the stage.

She just couldn’t help laughing.

"That wasn’t supposed to happen!"

And it only added to the hilarity.

Meanwhile.

Rika reached enlightenment.

Her notebook accidentally fell from her hands.

She looked at the stage.

For once.

Really speechless.

Then she dramatically pointed at the stage.

"THAT’S BETTER THAN MY PLAY!"

And everybody laughed.

Minami gave up.

The situation was hopeless.

There wasn’t any way to make it better.

To fix it.

To explain it.

The only thing left was acceptance.

On stage.

Aoi managed to finally take step backwards.

Fully absorbing the information.

Her usual calm demeanor disappeared.

A historical moment.

Meanwhile.

Akari’s brain was running out of energy.

It entered the state of blue screen.

Critical error.

System failure.

Complete malfunction.

For the first time in history.

Akari remained absolutely silent.

The audience noticed it.

And they laughed even louder.

Finally.

Kuro opened one eye.

Just a little bit.

He could see what’s going on.

Silence.

He quickly shut it again.

He didn’t want anything to do with this.

Absolutely anything.

The curtains operator took a decision.

The best decision ever.

Merciful decision.

Curtains dropped.

Instantly.

The audience burst into thunderous applause.

Cheering.

Laughing.

Whistling.

Probably the loudest reaction since the play had begun.

And backstage.

Everyone froze.

Stunned.

Confused.

Still trying to accept the recent events.

The greatest disaster of a school drama history had happened.

But it somehow.

Became the biggest success of the show.

As soon as the curtain fell, there was pure chaos backstage.

---

Absolutely noiseful chaos.

The kind that future historians will analyze.

---

There was total silence.

Nobody said a word.

Nobody moved a muscle.

Nobody blinked an eye.

All that remained was the cast looking at Akari and Aoi.

---

Akari was standing there stiff as a rock.

Well.

Almost as stiff.

---

Right next to her stood Aoi.

As motionless as Akari.

Just much more composed.

---

Time went by.

At first just a few seconds.

Then ten.

Twenty.

---

And then Mina laughed again.

---

This time was the trigger.

---

Backstage burst into chaos.

---

Students tumbled onto their seats.

Stage crew leaned against the walls.

Some actors could hardly stand straight.

---

Seven Adventurers were laughing so hard they started to cry actual tears.

---

"We did it!"

They shouted.

---

"We did it!"

One screamed.

---

"We never could’ve imagined something like that!"

Another joined in the yelling.

---

Rika objected.

---

"I could’ve done better,"

---

"Nope."

"And you’re right,"

---

There were limits to even her powers.

So it appeared.

---

At the same time, Akari got unstuck.

---

Slowly.

VERY slowly.

---

Her face turned red.

Became even redder.

Then it turned somehow even redder.

---

Vapor was coming out of her hair.

---

"That..."

She pointed at nobody in particular.

---

"That is not my fault." Silence.

---

Nobody believed her.

---

Not one soul.

---

Not even the prop she stumbled over.

---

But there was too much evidence. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

---

Aoi took off her glasses and polished them.

The typical signal of trying to restore order to the scene.

---

"This is a misunderstanding,"

---

The phrase sounded quite sensible.

Quite logical.

---

Unluckily.

Only embarrassed Akari further.

---

"YES, I KNOW IT’S A MISTAKE!"

---

About half of the backstage burst into laughter again.

---

Kuro meanwhile stood up from the platform on which he spent the last twenty minutes.

---

He felt pain.

In his back.

Dignity.

In everything.

---

"Nobody even remembered Snow White."

Still ignored.

---

It’s true.

His performance had been hijacked by the Witch.

Once again.

---

Looking at Rika, Kuro said: "You did this?"

"I most certainly didn’t."

---

"I see your expression clearly, what are you up to?"

"That’s completely irrelevant,"

---

Of course, she was up to something.

Rika opened her notebook and started writing furiously.

"Manga inspiration, guys."

Several people groaned.

---

From outside came continuous applause.

---

This meant that it was a great performance.

A great success.

Principal enjoyed the performance.

Teachers discussed it already.

Kids exchanged videos and pictures.

---

An unexpected end to the play became legendary overnight.

---

Suddenly, one student rushed into backstage holding a phone.

"Friends!"

---

Everybody turned their attention to him.

---

"They posted it on our school social media already," Silence.

---

"Oh no," whispered Akari.

---

Showing the screen to the others, he revealed the photo.

---

It was a perfect picture.

Perfect timing.

Right when disaster happened.

---

Right when history was written.

The caption said: "The Most Unexpected Drama Ending Ever".

The backstage was once again overwhelmed by chaos.

Even Aoi looked away from it.

Literally, in other words, panicked.

Akari looked ready to dissolve somewhere.

As for Kuro...

Well.

He just looked at the photo.

Then at the cast.

Then at the platform.

---

Sighing, he realized:

The play was finished successfully.

This show will never be forgotten.

Unfortunately.

Not anytime soon...

---

As the performance continued outside and backstage laughed and shouted,

It became crystal clear what the real results were of today’s drama.

They planned on performing Snow White.

And instead of that...

Created a legendary performance.

And tomorrow...

The whole school would know about it.