Losing Motivation

The school festival was nearing every single day as Takahashi's class continued to rehearse the play they planned to put on. At this point, the performance had started to shape up fairly well, and the actors were able to perform consistently both in and out of costume. The set pieces had also come a long way, and the students had become used to putting the set together in a quick and timely manner. Everything was going well.

Okay, not everything. The students were clearly starting to lose steam, and it was obvious. The motivation that the students had built up at the beginning of all this had started to wind down, and it was starting to affect their morale. They were still diligently working on the play, but it was clear that their spirits had dampened quite a bit.

“Can I get everyone's attention?” Takahashi called out as his students were preparing for another rehearsal. “I've decided that we'll slow down on the rehearsals a bit.”

That got the attention of the students pretty easily. “Are you sure, Sensei?” Izumi asked. “The festival is coming up pretty soon.”

“Yeah, it's fine. You guys have been doing pretty well, and I want you to rest up for a bit. Even if we only have three rehearsals a week, we should be fine.”

“Three rehearsals a week is still a lot,” complained one of the students. “Can't we cut it down to two?”

“The festival is less than two weeks away,” Takahashi explained. “With this schedule, we have maybe four or five more chances to practice until the real deal. We should still try to practice as much as we can. After all, there's no harm in refining your performances, right?”

The students grumbled, but no one raised a word of complaint. Takahashi glanced at Yada, who was staring out of the window, not paying too much attention to the conversation at hand. Out of all of the students, she was who he was the most worried about. Yada, like the other students, had been pretty gung-ho about this play at the beginning. However, she had always been a capricious sort, and she was the one student who was most likely to lose interest first. He could even see it in her performance, which had started to become a bit routine, though it hadn't degraded to the point of monotone.

That was worrying for Takahashi, especially since Yada's role was pretty large. If she suddenly declared that she was no longer willing to play her role, it would be impossible to recover from. Of course, he didn't think Yada would actually do that, especially after having spent all that time rehearsing as it is, but he still would rather she show some more motivation towards the play.

Takahashi eventually dismissed his students, who were more than happy to head home without having to do a rehearsal. As the students picked up their things and left the classroom, Takahashi called out to Yada as she headed out of the doorway.

“Yada-san?”

“Yes?” She looked back, confused.

Takahashi scratched his head awkwardly. “No, never mind. Have a good day, Yada-san.”

Yada nodded, still a bit confused as to why she was called. “See you tomorrow, Sensei.”

Takahashi sighed as he sat back in his seat. He'd had a lot of jobs over the years, but teaching was almost certainly one of the hardest jobs he'd ever done.

*****

One train stop out from the school was a rather upscale shopping district that stretched out for several blocks. The district was stuffed full of trendy, popular shops and restaurants, and while it wasn't as big as Shibuya or Harajuku, it was still a place that many young high school students enjoyed visiting.

This was where Yada liked to hang out at after school, with a group of four other girls she had met a couple years back. They all went to different schools, but they bonded together because of their shared passion in gyaru fashion. Every week, the girls would come to this shopping district and chat about their lives while shopping, and today was no different.

“Ugh! Someone bought the bag I saw last week!” groaned Yuko, a tanned girl who worked part-time as a model.

“That's why I told you to hide it,” said Miki as she applied lip gloss to her heavily made up-face. “Playing dirty every now and then wouldn't kill you.”

“Chi-chan, did you see that hot guy taking selfies by the ice cream place?” asked Hikari, a girl with giant twintails. 'Chi-chan' was how Yada's friends referred to her.

“Yeah, I did,” Yada replied as she took a sip of her milk tea. “Wasn't he cute?”

“Not as cute as Takeru...” Mari suddenly burst out, laying down on the table as tears ran down her face.

“Careful, Mari-chan,” Hikari cooed softly as she handed Mari a handkerchief. “You're gonna ruin your make-up.”

“I just can't believe he broke up with me,” Mari sobbed as she took the handkerchief and wiped her tears. “And over text! I'm so mad!”

“Forget about that guy,” Yuko suggested. “I always thought he was garbage anyway.”

“That's mean, Yuko! I thought he was my soulmate!”

“Cheer up, Mari-chan!” Miki chimed in. “I've got the perfect thing to take your mind off of him!”

“What do you mean?”

“You know that super-rich boys' school up north?”

“You mean the one across town? What about it?”

“My sister is going out with a boy who goes to school there, and apparently some of them are planning a mixer. She said to invite some friends, so let's all go!”

“OMG,” Hikari blurted out in surprise. “Going to mixer with a bunch of rich boys? Count me in!”

“Yeah!” Miki pumped her fist into the air. “You're coming too, right Chi-chan?”

“Well, when is it?”

“Tomorrow! We'll have to leave right after school to make it on time, though.”

Yada was about to answer when she suddenly remembered that a rehearsal with her class was planned for tomorrow. If she did the rehearsal, there was no way she could make it to the mixer in time.

What did that matter to her, though? She had already rehearsed the play repeatedly for over a week, to the point where even Takahashi had to admit that her performance was fairly impressive. So what if she missed a rehearsal one time? She had already put a lot of effort into making sure her performance was on the level, and no one could complain if she wanted to take a break every once in a while.

“Sure,” Yada finally answered. “I'll definitely go.”

“Great!” Miki clapped her hands together. “Don't flake out on me, okay?”

“I miss Takeru so much!” Mari suddenly bawled out.

“Don't cry, Mari-chan,” Yuko said soothingly. “You're gonna find a guy much richer than Takeru tomorrow, I promise.”

*****

Takahashi's class gathered together once again to rehearse, but the absence of a particularly important character was markedly noted. Takahashi tapped his foot irritably as he glanced down the hallway for a sign of Yada, but she was nowhere to be found. As his irritation began to rise, Fukuda ran up to him from down the hall.

“I took a look in the restrooms, but she's not in any of them. Sensei, I don't think she's at school anymore.”

Takahashi sighed and looked at some of the students who usually sat next to Yada. “Did Yada-san say anything about an emergency or anything like that?”

“Not to me,” remarked one of the students. The other students' answers were about the same.

Takahashi groaned as he turned back to the rest of the class, who were waiting to start the rehearsal. “Okay, it looks like Yada-san isn't coming to rehearsal today. We'll just have to rehearse the parts that don't involve Zaleera today.”

The students looked around awkwardly, as if they weren't sure what to do.

“Is something wrong?” Takahashi asked.

“Well, is it even worth doing the rehearsal at this point?” asked one of the students playing a villager. “I mean, Yada-san isn't even here.”

“Yeah, shouldn't we just call it quits for today and try to make up for it next time?”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Takahashi shot back. “Yada's role is important, but her scenes only make up about a fourth of the whole play. We can still rehearse a good amount of the performance even without her!”

The students still seemed a bit reluctant, but they proceeded to start the rehearsal. Takahashi sighed as he sat back down in his seat. Yada had skipped rehearsal one time and the students were already starting to lose motivation. This was not what he needed right now, especially with the school festival getting closer every day.

As the rehearsal continued, Takahashi's mind continued to wander back to Yada. He had hoped that despite her whimsical nature, Yada was motivated enough to stick with the play until the festival. Her strong performance during the acting contest and her dedication during rehearsals had suggested that was the case. However, maybe he was wrong to assume that.

Yada's absence was not just inconvenient because of her role in the story. It was clear that the other students' motivation was tied in part to Yada's participation. Though she rarely ever fulfilled her role as a class representative, Yada was rather well-liked by her classmates, and her participation in the play obviously spurred them to approach the play with the same energy. If she started skipping rehearsals, would the students be able to maintain that same drive?

As soon as rehearsal finished up, Takahashi let his students out earlier than usual. The students seemed glad to leave early, but Takahashi was only wracked with worry. He needed to make sure Yada understood how important it was that she come to the rehearsals. But would she listen to him? She never had before.

“Takahashi-sensei?”

Takahashi looked up to see a concerned Fukuda standing in front of him. “Did you need something, Fukuda-san?”

“No. I was just thinking you might be troubled about something.”

“You could tell?”

“I think even a child could tell with the face you were making.”

Takahashi frowned. Was he really making such a strange expression?

“It's about Yada-san, isn't it?”

“It's that obvious, huh?”

“Could you leave her to me, Sensei?”

“Really?” Takahashi was surprised to see Fukuda take the initiative like this. “Why is that?”

“To be honest, Sensei, I'm fairly certain that if you try to speak to her, you'll only make things worse.”

“That hurts, but I can't deny your reasoning.” Yada already had a long track record of not listening to him after all. “But how are you going to convince her?”

“Leave it to me,” Fukuda simply remarked as she turned to leave. “I've got a bit more delicacy than you do.”

*****

The next day, Takahashi caught sight of Yada as she came into class for the morning. She came in casually, as if she hadn't just skipped out on rehearsal the day before. She walked by his desk and flashed Takahashi a cheeky smile before heading to her seat. It was clear that she didn't feel any shame about skipping at all.

Takahashi glanced at Fukuda, who was already sitting in her seat. He had no idea what she was planning, but he hoped she knew what she was doing.

Fukuda made her move during lunchtime. Since she usually ate lunch by herself, it was already a strange sight to see her in the classroom. She walked up to Yada as she was eating with some of her classmates, which was an even more surprising sight.

“What's up?” Yada asked somewhat apprehensively.

“Can I speak with you? Alone?”

Yada nodded, and the two left the classroom to speak in the hallway. “What is it?” Yada asked tersely. “This is about skipping rehearsal, isn't it?”

“Sensei was worried. After all, there's only a few more rehearsals before the school festival begins.”

“So what? One rehearsal isn't such a big deal, is it? We've already done so much to prepare for the play as it is, you know. Besides, it's so boring to keep doing the same thing over and over again.”

“Boring?”

“Don't say it like you don't know what I'm talking about. Playing an evil sorceress was fun for a while, but I'm so over it.”

“So you're saying that you didn't go to the rehearsal because it wasn't going to be fun?”

“Guess I am. Having fun is more important to me right now, you know? More than school, anyway.”

“Well, what's stopping you from having fun with the play?”

“Huh? Sorry, but I'm not an acting freak like you. That's not really my kind of fun.”

“Well, why don't you show me?”

“What?”

“Show me what you find fun.” Fukuda repeated.

Yada's expression clearly showed her abject confusion. “Uh, sorry, but why do I have to do that all of a sudden?”

“It's not so strange, is it? Don't you spend time with your classmates outside school?”

“Er, not exactly,” Yada replied as she played with her hair. “I have a lot of friends at this school, but we don't really hang out like that.”

“Then it'll be a new experience, right?”

Yada sighed. “Fine. I guess I can humor you. But only for today, got that?”

“That's fine.”

“Also, you can't come looking like that.”

“You want me to go home and change?”

“That's not what I mean,” Yada said as she shook her head. “Just leave it to me.”

*****

Some time after school, Yada's friends met up in the shopping district as they always did.

“Where's Chi-chan?” Miki asked as she sipped at her oolong tea.

“She said she'd be a little late,” Yuko replied. “More importantly, Miki, you owe us.”

“I do? What for?”

“For that mixer yesterday! Every guy there was, like, a super-uggo! Mari-chan nearly broke into tears on the spot!”

“Aw, it's not like I knew! Anyway, Mari-chan's all over it, right?”

The two of them glanced at Mari, who was angrily eating karaage all by herself. “Damn that Takeru! I can't believe he dumped me for a girl who's not even cuter than me!”

“Let's leave her alone for the time being,” Hikari suggested. “Oh, it's Chi-chan! Chi-chan, over here!”

The others turned to greet Yada and were surprised to see her with a girl they didn't know. Her black hair was tied into two poofy twintails, and her normally done-up blazer was wrapped around her waist, giving her school uniform a more casual look. Her face was done up in make-up, and her nails were painted with a guady blue gloss.

Fukuda leaned in towards Yada and whispered so only she could hear. “Was all this really necessary?”

“You fit in now, at least. If we walked around with you the way you normally are, you'd stick out like a sore thumb.”

Yada turned and waved to her friends. “Hey, everyone. Let me introduce you to one of my classmates from school!”

The girls got up and grouped up with Yada and Fukuda. “This is Shizuku-chan from my class,” Yada explained. “She wanted to hang out today, so I thought we'd all go shopping together!”

“Shizu-chan!” Miki called out cheerfully. “Is it okay if I call you Shizu-chan?”

Fukuda nodded hesitantly. Yada eyed her suspiciously as her friends introduced themselves. She wasn't sure what Fukuda was trying to do by tagging along with her and her friends, but from what she could tell, they were like oil and water. She honestly doubted Fukuda could really stand hanging around here for the whole afternoon.

“Hey, Shizu-chan, are you okay?” Hikari asked suddenly. “You haven't said anything yet.”

Yada glanced at Fukuda's face. This was probably the best moment for her to excuse herself before things got awkward. She hoped she'd get the hint instead of trying to drag things out.

However, what happened next put her off guard. Fukuda suddenly flashed the brightest smile she could, tilted her head cutely, and stuck her tongue out. “Oh, sorry! I was just soooo nervous to meet Chi-chan's friends for the first time!”

Yada was stunned. It was like Fukuda had completely transformed into a different person. She suddenly seemed incredibly comfortable in her roughly assembled getup, and she was swaying back in forth in a cutesy way as if that had always been part of her personality.

“Chi-chan said she'd show me around to her favorite places,” Fukuda explained as she continued to give off an airy, carefree demeanor. “I'm new around here, so it's soo nice of her.”

“Is that so?” Yuko remarked slyly. “Then we should let Chi-chan decide where we should go today.”

She glanced at Yada, who tried to act casually. “Is that fine?” she asked awkwardly.

“Sure!” Miki chimed in. “We didn't really have anything in mind.”

“Alright then.” Yada thought to herself for a bit. This might be a good chance to really let loose once in a while. If Fukuda wanted to know how she had fun, then Yada was simply going to have to show her. “Okay, let's go get some crepes then!”

The girls headed off for the district's crepe stall, which stood in the district's main square. After enjoying their crepes, they then headed to the local arcade to take pictures at the photo booth and enjoy a few rounds of bowling. All throughout, Fukuda meshed naturally with Yada's friends, to the point that it seemed like she had always been part of the group. As she observed her, Yada realized that Fukuda was mirroring actions and phrases that she had seen Yada and her friends use, and that she was cobbling together her gyaru persona from all of their mannerisms.

It was a little unnerving. Yada had already seen how good Fukuda was at acting, but this was beyond that. It was like she had become an entirely different person. In the back of her mind, she felt like Takahashi's desire to nominate Fukuda for the lead role without a vote might have been warranted after all.

The girls finished the day with a karaoke session. Everyone sang, even Fukuda, to Yada's complete astonishment. As the day came to a close, the girls separated with a big farewell.

“Bye, Chi-chan! Come play with us again, Shizu-chan!”

“Bye, everybody! It was nice to meet you!” Fukuda shouted back.

Once the others were gone, Yada and Fukuda walked to the station together.

“How was today?” Yada asked curiously. “Wasn't hanging out like this more fun than doing rehearsals back to back?”

“Hmm,” Fukuda hummed to herself. “I'll say that I liked doing things I didn't normally do.”

Fukuda took out her phone and gestured towards Yada. “Shall we exchange numbers?”

“What? Why?”

“We're friends, aren't we, Chi-chan?”

“Don't call me that,” Yada sighed. “Well, all right.”

The two of them exchanged numbers as they walked into the station. They spoke a little bit until their station arrived. As they stepped off of the train, Fukuda spoke up once more.

“Do you have time tomorrow, Yada-san?”

“I suppose. It is the weekend, after all.”

“Let's hang out. Just the two of us this time.”

“Hang out?” Yada was confused.

“You showed me what you found fun. Now I want to show you what I think is fun.”

“...Alright. Just tell me when you want to meet up.”

Fukuda waved goodbye as Yada walked away. She had no idea what Fukuda was trying to get at here, but it really didn't matter one way or another. She'd just go with the flow as long as she felt like it.

*****

Yada stood dumbstruck at the scene before her. When Fukuda said she was going to show her what she thought was fun, Yada assumed she was going to take her to a play or something like that. Instead, she was at an elementary school, where a bunch of kids were jumping around dressed in handmade costumes.

“Thanks for coming,” Fukuda said as she greeted Yada with a wave. She was dressed in rather dowdy clothes with an apron on top, a complete 180 from the outfit she was sporting yesterday.

“What is this?” Yada asking as she glanced around the auditiorium.

“It's a recital,” Fukuda explained. “The kids have been practicing a little routine that they're planning on showing off to their parents.”

“So it's some kind of acting class?”

“Kind of?” Fukuda tilted her head in confusion. “It's not really anything all that serious. They're just doing this for fun.”

“For fun?” Yada repeated. She wouldn't have considered taking part in something like this fun.

Suddenly, a little girl in a green dress burst out of nowhere and rushed towards Fukuda. “Shizu-neechan!”

“Momiji-chan!” Fukuda bent down to speak to the little girl that approached her. “Is that your costume for your performance?”

“Yep!” Momiji spun around to show off the dress she was wearing. “I'm playing a princess!”

“That's great!” Fukuda suddenly glanced around the room warily. “Momiji-chan, your uncle didn't come to see you perform, did he?”

“No. He had to go to a... work meeting.”

Fukuda breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Good luck, Momiji-chan!”

Momiji ran back to the other children as one of the teachers announced the beginning of the performances. Fukuda and Yada sat down in some of the provided seats as the first performance of the day was about to begin.

The performances themselves were nothing special. They were rather short, and they were clumsily performed. They were kids, after all. They did their best, but even the best performers there stumbled over their lines or forgot their cues. Still, all of them seemed to be having lots of fun.

After an hour of performances, the children came up to the stage for one more round of applause. They bowed to the crowd as the audience of parents and friends clapped for them. Yada clapped as well. She didn't particularly love their performances, but she could definitely see how hard they worked to perfect them.

Once Fukuda gave her congratulations and farewells to the other children, the two of them left the elementary school and headed to a nearby family restaurant to eat a late lunch. As they sat down, Fukuda decided to speak up.

“So? What did you think about the recital?”

“What I thought?” Yada thought to herself for a bit. “I guess they weren't bad considering they were children. I don't want to be too harsh, but it was pretty clear they made mistakes.”

“Well... I was hoping to hear if you enjoyed it or not.”

Yada's brow furrowed as she tried to come up with an answer. “I don't know. It's just not really my thing, you know? We can't all like the same thing.”

Fukuda sighed. “You're right. Still, I wanted to try and show you a little bit of what I like about acting. I hoped that it'd give you a little more motivation for the play.”

Yada folded her arms together and sighed. “I don't think that's the issue. I can understand why you find it fun, I just... can't seem get into it when we do rehearsal.”

“Hmm...” Fukuda pondered for a moment. “Are you unsatisfied with your role?”

“Yeah, honestly. I'm just playing your basic evil sorceress. Like, I don't want to talk bad about Izumi, but a lot of his characters are pretty cliché.”

“I can't argue with that perspective,” Fukuda said with a laugh. “You know what you should do?”

“What?”

“If the role is too boring for you, turn it into an interesting one.”

“Turn it into an interesting one?" Yada hadn't thought of that.

“It happens pretty often, right? Actors giving an established role a new spin that suits them better. You could do the same thing.”

“I don't know... the school festival's coming up. I don't think everyone else will appreciate the switch up.”

“You don't have to change the lines or adjust the plot. There are other ways to change up a character.”

“Really? How?”

“I'll show you,” Fukuda replied. “It'll be our little secret.”

*****

When the next rehearsal came around, everyone was surprised. Not only had Yada showed up for the rehearsal early, she was even raring to go.

“What did you do to her?” Takahashi asked Fukuda worriedly, but she simply smiled.

“Just watch, Sensei.”

So he did. The rehearsal went off without a hitch, and was going perfectly fine. Then it was time for Yada to make her entrance.

“Well then, if it isn't the little princess!” Yada cackled with glee. “Off to Maltimus, are you? Not if I have anything to do with it!”

Takahashi was stunned. The performance just now was a complete 180 from how Yada usually performed the role. Up until now, Yada was merely acting the role out as a rather basic evil villain, but now she was playing it quite differently.

“It's like she's a flirty, peppy, high school girl!” Izumi declared as he watched her performance. “It's a little unconventional, but I sort of like it!”

“Really?” Takahashi was surprised. Izumi was a lot more adaptable than expected. He thought he'd push back a little more, especially with the school festival only a few days away.

Takahashi turned his attention back to the rehearsal. Yada's performance as Zaleera was now entirely different. However, it had a lot more spirit and gusto than it usually did. Perhaps Yada was having more fun performing the role this way than she did before, and if that was the case, he could hardly put her out by insisting she stop. He glanced at Fukuda and gave her a thumbs up. She'd really grown over the past few weeks, and the thought filled him with pride.