Chapter 74: Toujo's Climax

The Crown Prince reaches the podium. The crowd is silent.

Fuji and Lady Mariko are standing behind him, to the left. Perfect statues.

"Thank you all for joining us... " the Crown Prince's voice booms over the speakers.

"NOW!" Hiroto yells.

He rips off his fedora and sunglasses.

"OH MY GOD!" he screams at the top of his lungs. "IT'S ME!"

The press pen freezes. They turn.

A reporter gasps. "That's... HIROTO SUZUME!"

Like a magnet, every camera swings away from the Prince and points directly at Hiroto.

"Hiroto-san! What are you doing here?"

"I AM HERE TO SUPPORT TRUE LOVE!" Hiroto weeps, tears flying dramatically. "I AM FILMING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A HEART... A HEART THAT IS TRAPPED!"

The Crown Prince stops speaking. He is glaring. Security is moving toward Hiroto.

Fuji... Fuji's head snaps up. He is no longer looking at the crowd. He is staring right at Hiroto. He knows.

"This is not enough of a distraction!" Rika whispers, panicked.

"I know!" Daiki hisses. He is holding the camera steady on Fuji's face.

"Toujo," I say. "Phase Two."

"I AM THE DISTRACTION!" Toujo roars.

He ducks under the press rope.

"Toujo, NO!" Rika screams.

He runs.

He is not fast. He is not graceful. He is a flailing, chaotic idiot.

"SECURITY! STOP HIM!" a guard yells.

But the guards are all running toward Hiroto. They are confused.

Toujo dodges one. He spins around another.

He is running... right at the main platform.

He is not going to make it.

He is.

He leaps.

He scrambles. He crashes. He rolls.

And he lands. Face down. At the feet of the Crown Prince.

The music stops. The crowd gasps. The world... ends.

Toujo scrambles to his feet.

He is standing on the Imperial Platform. Next to the Royal Family.

His shirt is untucked. His hair is a mess.

He looks at the Crown Prince. He looks at Fuji.

Fuji is staring. His mask is cracked. He looks... horrified and amazed.

Toujo clears his throat. He grabs the Crown Prince's microphone.

"HELLO, JAPAN!" Toujo screams. His voice echoes over the entire park.

"I... AM TOUJO SHOJI!"

The Crown Prince is purple. "SEIZE HIM!"

"AND I AM HERE," Toujo continues, dodging a guard, "TO OFFICIALLY CHALLENGE HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS, PRINCE KENJI..."

He pulls a small Bluetooth speaker from his pocket.

"...TO A DANCE OFF!"

He slams the button.

A ridiculous, high-energy, J-pop idol song blares out.

And Toujo Shoji... my idiot, stupid, wonderful childhood friend...

Starts dancing.

Horribly.

He is flossing. He is doing the running man. He is doing... the worm. On the Imperial Platform.

The press is going insane. The flashes are a strobe light.

The guards are paralyzed. They do not know what to do.

"THIS IS FOR AOI!" he shouts, spinning on his back.

This is it.

This is his climax.

This is the greatest distraction in human history.