The Improv Contest

Takahashi sighed as he sat at his desk in the teachers' office. Ueda glanced at him with a curious expression on her face.

“That was a pretty hefty sigh. Did something happen?”

“You could say that.”

“I heard either your or Kondo-sensei's class is going to perform their play on the big stage Sunday. Have you not decided who'll take the slot?”

“Nope,” Takahashi sighed again. “Kondo-sensei wants to do an improv contest today to decide, but I'm still a little reluctant. I'd rather use the time for rehearsal, you know?”

“Now now, Takahashi-sensei,” Kondo remarked as he walked into the office. “You're not getting out of the contest like that.”

“Kondo-sensei. I thought you were getting ready for the contest.”

“I am. Ueda-sensei, do you have some time?”

“Yes, I do,” Ueda replied. “Did you need me for something?”

“I need one more teacher to be the judge for the competition between my class and Takahashi's class. Do you mind?”

“Not at all!” Ueda answered brightly. “This'll be fun. I'd love to see the students perform a little skit before their plays on the weekend.”

“Aren't you cutting it a little close?” Takahashi asked brusquely. “Today is the last rehearsal for my class before the festival begins, you know.”

“No need to be so uptight, Takahashi-sensei. The improv contest won't take very long, I promise.”

“And the theme? The students will have a hard time figuring out what to perform if they don't have a theme.”

“Relax. I have everything under control. Make sure to bring your students to the auditorium after school, Sensei.” Kondo smiled as he left the office.

Takahashi sighed his deepest sigh so far. Ueda gave him a sympathetic smile and gave him a light back rub. “Come on. Lunchtime's almost over. Time to get back to class.”

The two of them got up and headed off to their next class. As they did, their topic ultimately turned back to the subject of the contest.

“I was surprised to see Kitamura-san so insistent on having the competition,” Ueda remarked.

“You know about that?”

“Well, she was shouting in the hallway. It was pretty surprising. Kitamura-san is usually so insistent about following the rules, so it was quite the sight.”

“That's right. She really wanted Izumi to be part of the competition too. Said that if she won, he'd have to do whatever she said.”

“Really? What do you think she wants?”

“It's because I don't know that I'm worried,” Takahashi said with a voice full of exhaustion. “She was trash-talking Izumi's script the other day... You don't think she'll demand that our play be canceled, do you?”

“There's no way!” Ueda replied, albeit with a hint of uncertainty. “I'm sure it's nothing too big. Kitamura-san is a good girl. She wouldn't demand anything that would cause trouble for others.”

Takahashi was still a little uncertain, but what she said made sense. Kitamura had always been a pretty upright girl with morals, so she probably wouldn't ask for something so petty. But it was that reputation that was worrying him. Why would such a girl that cared so much for the rules be doing something like this?

Takahashi recalled the complicated history between Izumi and Kitamura. It was pretty clear that was the motivation behind her strange behavior. But what did it mean? Takahashi couldn't think of anything that Kitamura would want from Izumi.

In the meantime, Izumi was sitting in the classroom waiting for class to start. As he absentmindedly looked outside the window, Izumi felt a pencil gently poke him from behind. He turned around to see Fukuda with a worried look on her face.

“Are you thinking about the improv contest?” Fukuda asked. “This probably matters more to you than the others, right?”

“Who knows?” Izumi replied ambiguously. After all, even he had no idea what Kitamura was trying to do. Still, there wasn't much he could do even if he did. He didn't really know much about improv, so the best that he could do was wing it. The reward of the big stage didn't really appeal to him, though he couldn't deny that the prestige of seeing a play he had written performed for as many people as possible was exciting. What mattered to him more was the promise that Kitamura demanded of him.

“Fukuda, are you okay with improv?”

“Yes. I've done a little at my volunteer job.”

“I see. I'll have you be a part of the team, then.”

“You need to get five students for the contest, right? Will you be able to find enough people?”

“With you and me, we only need three. If we base the plot around the two of us and give bit roles to the rest, we should be able to pull it off fairly painlessly.”

“You're taking this pretty seriously.”

“Might as well.” He didn't know what Kitamura would ask of him, but if it was going to be something inconvenient, he'd rather save himself the trouble.

“Feel free to add me as well,” Nagasaki interjected. “Anything to make sure we get that big stage slot.”

“No thanks, Izumi answered wryly. “You barely make it through your lines as it is. Improv would not end well for you.”

*****

The end of the school day came quickly, and Takahashi ordered his students out to the auditorium in order to take part in the improv contest. Izumi headed to the restroom beforehand, and was currently heading back to the auditorium on his own. As he strolled through the halls of the school, he crossed paths with Kitamura once again. He reflexively grimaced. He had been bumping into her far too often lately.

“You!” Kitamura pointed her finger at Izumi again. “Everyone's waiting for you in the auditorium! What have you been doing?”

“I just went to the restroom,” Izumi said exhaustedly. She didn't used to be like this before. Did something happen in the time he hadn't seen her?

They walked in silence back to the auditorium. Izumi was doing his best to try not to do anything draw Kitamura's ire, but it was her who ultimately broke the silence.

“Say... Do you remember that one moment in middle school?”

All of a sudden, the fierce and furious Kitamura from only a few moments ago was replaced with a quiet and demure girl. Izumi awkwardly scratched his head as he struggled to come up with a response.

“Sorry,” he finally replied. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

In an instant, Kitamura's awkward expression was replaced by one of irritated anger. “I see. Never mind, then.”

Kitamura's pace sped up as she slowly pulled away from Izumi. When she was a fair distance ahead of him, she spun around and confronted him face to face.

“What is it?” Izumi asked cautiously. He really couldn't predict what Kitamura was going to say.

“I said that if I won, I'd get to demand something from you.”

“Yes. I remember.”

“Well, I'm gonna tell you now what I want. If I win the contest today... then you'll apologize to me in front of the entire school!”

Before Izumi could utter a response, Kitamura turned back around and stormed off in the direction of the auditorium. Izumi scratched his head as he pondered Kitamura's words. An apology? He supposed that he had a lot to apologize for, but... why did she go to all this length just for that? Maybe it was too embarrassing to ask for one directly. But wouldn't it be even more embarrassing to do it this way?

Oh well. Izumi had no time to sit around and guess at Kitamura's motives. He picked up the pace and eventually arrived at the auditorium, where his and Kondo-sensei's class had already gathered.

“Izumi-kun, over here!” Takahashi called out as he waved him over. “We've been waiting on you to finally get here!”

“Are we all settled?” Kondo asked as he stood on top of the stage. “Then let's get started. Everyone's already decided on who's going to be performing, correct?”

“That's right,” Takahashi replied.

“Very well. Then I shall reveal the prompt for the contest.” Kondo cleared his throat slowly for effect. “The theme is... a heartfelt reconciliation scene.”

“Huh?” An audible wave of confusion passed through the students. Izumi took a glance at Kitamura. It looked like she was just as surprised at the prompt's reveal as everyone else was.

“Improv is pretty difficult to do for the first time, so both teams have two minutes to discuss and assign roles, but no more. Be sure to make it count.”

Kondo then clapped his hands to signal the start of the two minutes. The students Izumi had asked to participate in the contest quickly gathered around him to discuss his plan for the play. Along with Fukuda and Yada, Oda and Ooe were also a part of the group.

“Alright, let's not complicate things. The story will be about two estranged friends who meet again after an absence, but it turns sour when some kids make fun of one of them. We'll play it safe and have me and Fukuda play the two friends. The rest of you will play the mean kids that cause a rift in our friendship. That'll be fine, right?”

“Sure,” Yada piped up. “I don't mind.”

“Great. We can't discuss any plot points, so you'll all just have to follow my cue, understand?”

Kondo clapped his hands once again to signal the end of the two minutes. “Okay! Let's go ahead and begin! Who would like to go first?”

Kitamura's hand shot up instantly. “Sensei! We'd like to go first!”

Kondo nodded and got down from the stage. Kitamura and four of her classmates headed up to the stage and quickly began preparing for their performance. Except for Kitamura, the students seemed to be fairly nervous and unprepared.

Kitamura eventually walked up to the front of the group to begin their performance. She put on a sorrowful expression and dramatically placed a palm against her face. “Oh, how miserable I am! Not a single day passes that I do not heave a heavy sigh!”

Izumi winced a bit as he watched Kitamura's performance. Clearly, Kitamura was a fan of the melodramatic.

Two of Kitamura's classmates hurried up and stood beside her. “What's the matter?” asked one of the classmates. “You seem so upset.”

“Yesterday was a very important day for me,” Kitamura explained. “A piano recital in the biggest theater in the city. My father said he would attend, but he canceled last minute!”

“B-but your father is very busy, right?” the other classmate chimed in awkwardly. “He's a very big earner for that company he works for!”

“What's the point of earning so much money when he's never home?” Kitamura asked with an exaggeratedly sorrowful tone. “The apartment I return home to is merely a dark and solitary abode!”

“That's a bit much, isn't it?” Takahashi observed wryly. “Basically, she's lonely.”

“I guess she wants to sell the emotional side of the performance,” Fukuda remarked. “I can understand the reasoning behind it even if it's a bit much.”

The performance continued. The two classmates rotated out and the scene supposedly changed to the home of Kitamura's character. Kitamura sat on the floor as if she were sitting at a table and sighed to herself.

“Another dinner by myself... My father has been coming home late recently. I almost never see him.”

She mimes drinking tea for a moment before a male student mimed a knock at the door. Kitamura got up and answered it quickly.

“What's the matter, Uncle?”

“It's your father. He's fallen ill and is at the hospital right now!”

“What? I'll go see him right now!”

“Okay, I'll take you there!”

The scene changed once again to the hospital.

“Do improv skits usually have so many scene changes?” Fukuda asked curiously.

“Beats me,” Izumi remarked dryly.

The last student laid on the ground as Kitamura and the other student burst into the hospital room.

“Father!”

“My little girl,” the student gasped as he pretended to be ill. “Quick, come here.”

“What is it, father?”

“I need to give you this.” The student mimed handing something over to Kitamura.

“This... This is what I wanted for my birthday!” Kitamura exclaimed, conveniently leaving out exactly what the gift was.

“I know I missed it, along with your recital the other day. I was working around the clock just so I could get this for you.”

“Oh, father! I never needed this from you! I just wanted to spend time with you, even if it meant we were a little less well off!”

“I'm sorry! I promise I'll take some time off, and we can spend some time together soon!”

The two students embraced passionately among wails as the performance supposedly ended. The audience all clapped for the performers, but from their faces it was easy to tell that nobody knew what to think about the whole skit.

“Well, that was quite attention-grabbing,” Takahashi remarked wryly. “It makes me want to see what their play is like.”

“It was a little too fast, wasn't it?” Izumi asked. “There wasn't much pacing to the plot. It kind of hurts the overall emotional impact.”

“Improv is hard, you know?” Fukuda remarked. “I think they did fairly well for what it was worth.”

“Alright, if Takahashi-sensei's class is ready, they can send their team up and start their performance as soon as they can,” Kondo announced. Izumi and his assembled team climbed up to the stage as Kitamura's team walked off.

Izumi stood on the stage next to Fukuda with the rest of his team, who were watching him anxiously to see how he was going to start the skit. As his mind raced to come up with a good opening, Izumi noticed the audience impatiently waiting for his skit to start.

Unable to delay things any longer, Izumi began to walk across the stage, motioning discreetly for Fukuda to follow him. The two of them walked slowly across the stage as Izumi began to speak.

“Thanks for waiting for me after school. Sorry I haven't been talking to you lately.”

“It's okay. We haven't seen each other in a while, after all.”

“Nah, it's my bad. We're childhood friends. We should be talking more.”

Izumi winced. He hadn't planned on adding that element into the story, but it just came out in the moment. He glanced at Fukuda, but she showed no sign of being surprised on put off by the sudden mention. She was a professional even if she'd never acted in a real play.

Izumi turned to the other students and gave them a look telling them to join the scene. The group looked a little awkward, but Oda seemed to understand what Izumi wanted them to do. The three of them moved to the side and made to call out Izumi from the side.

“Hey, bro!” Oda called out to Izumi. “Wait up!”

Oda and the others met up with Fukuda and Izumi, and he made a big deal of Fukuda's presence. “Hm? Who's this girl?”

“Hmmmm?” Yada tilted her head teasingly, having seemingly understood first what kind of role Izumi wanted them to play. “Don't tell me she's your girlfriend?”

“N-no!” Izumi stammered out. “Don't be ridiculous!”

“Yeah, you'd never go out with such a lame girl, right?” Yada jeered in an exaggerated manner. Izumi was thankful she'd figured out what she was supposed to be doing, but he felt like she was enjoying this moment a little too much.

“Are you going home already?” Ooe asked, playing an airheaded high school girl. “If you've got free time, you should hang out with us.”

“Yeah, come out to Shibuya,” Oda declared, putting on a more stuck-up persona to match Yada's performance. “We'll go out to all the hip new dance clubs and live it up.”

A little overdone, but he did what he needed to do. Izumi turned to Fukuda and acted if he was torn between the two options. “Er... I mean...”

“It's fine,” Fukuda blurted out. “You don't have to walk home with me.”

Fukuda suddenly dashed away from the group, tears in her eyes. It was a great performance, but Izumi worried that it was a little overdone. After all, it was just supposed to be a quick improv skit. Was it okay to give it that much of an emotional push?

As Izumi followed Oda's group out of the scene, he took a glance at the audience and noticed that they didn't seem all that invested in the story. Well, it's not as if they were enthralled by Kitamura's skit, but the over-the-top acting certainly grabbed their attention. Fukuda's acting was stellar, but she hadn't really had a chance to show it off yet. With the rest of the team having pretty average acting skills, their skit had yet to really stand out in comparison.

But there was no time to worry about that. The skit needed to continue, and it was time to set up for the reconciliation. He raced through his mind as he tried to think of a way to start the scene. As he worried, he suddenly noticed Fukuda starting to walk towards the group. In a hurry, he subtly motioned to the others to start walking towards Fukuda so that they would bump into each other.

“Oh, sorry,” Oda said casually. Fukuda didn't reply, and simply hastened her pace and passed the group.

“What a wet blanket,” Yada said with a scowl. She really was great at playing a villain.

Izumi put on a regretful expression and chased after Fukuda. “Wait!”

Fukuda stopped for a moment to allow Izumi to catch up, but then suddenly started to leave again.

“Hold on!” Izumi called out, grabbing her hand. “Please, listen to what I have to say!”

He was a little surprised. He hadn't expected her to start moving again. He reached out in panic, but it probably did a lot to enhance the scene. He let go of her hand as he tried to find the words he was looking for.

Uh-oh. Izumi's mind was completely blank. He had no idea what to say to Fukuda in this kind of situation. He could tell that a strong emotional speech would really punctuate the scene, but he couldn't gather up the words to convey the right feelings.

What should he say to a friend he wanted to make amends with? Somehow, he had ironically found himself in the same situation he had kept avoiding all this time. Not just with Kitamura, but Fukuda as well. After all, the two of them used to be friends as well.

When did that stop? Izumi finally remembered. It was some time after Fukuda's mother had died, and she had been absent from school for a week. The first day she had come back, she seemed gloomy, and Izumi wanted to cheer her up. As they were talking, her father had come to pick her up.

Izumi noticed that instead of being happy to see her father, Fukuda seemed scared instead. She became quiet and didn't even say goodbye to him. Izumi, worried, tried to ask her father what was going on. He could remember his answer as well as the cold eyes he had used to look at him.

“It has nothing to do with you. You are merely an outsider.”

He closed the door and drove off. After that, Fukuda was always taken home after school immediately, and she stopped talking to him in class. At first, Izumi was mad at her for ignoring him. But soon he realized that it was her father's fault that she stopped talking to him. By the time he realized this, however, it was too late. They were in middle school by that point, and they did not go to the same school anymore.

He wondered if he had set this situation up subconsciously. He had always wanted to apologize to Fukuda for not understanding the situation, and in truth, he wanted to apologize to Kitamura as well. Of course, he never did, and he could only blame his own awkwardness and pride for it.

“I'm sorry.”

Suddenly, Izumi felt as if the words he couldn't find were flowing from his mouth. It was as if a dam deep inside of him had finally given way, letting his true feelings burst out.

“It was my fault. I hurt your feelings, but I pretended not to see it. That wasn't fair. You and I are friends, no matter what anyone says!”

A wave of embarrassment started to build up from within Izumi, but he ignored it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that his sudden outburst seemed to resonate with the crowd quite a bit. As for Fukuda, she seemed a bit shocked, but she quickly recovered before the pause got to unnatural.

“Really? You're not just saying that cause you feel bad?”

“No.” Izumi was resolute. “I'd be happy if you felt the same way.”

“Of course. I'm happy to be friends with you.”

The two of them stood awkwardly together for a bit before Yada suddenly burst onto the scene. “Okay! That's the end of our skit!”

The audience, still not certain if the performance was over, started to applaud as Izumi and Fukuda broke out of their act and bowed. Kondo walked up to the stage again, still clapping as Izumi and his team moved aside.

“Okay, that's both performances over and done with!” Kondo declared out loud. Now, if we could have our three judges come up to the stage along with the two teams!”

The three teachers that came to serve as judges climbed up to the stage along with Kitamura's team. They stood in the center of the stage in a row as Kondo approached each of them.

“Otogi-sensei, who will you vote for?”

The math teacher Otogi scratched his chin before answering. “Kitamura-san's group, I suppose.”

Kondo nodded and moved on to Ueda. “Ueda-sensei?”

“I'll vote for Izumi-kun's team.”

Kondo nodded again. “Looks like your vote will break the tie, Miura-sensei. Who are you voting for?”

The science teacher Miura folded his arms, intentionally feeding into the suspense being built by Kondo. After a short pause he finally answered. “Izumi-kun's team!”

Takahashi's class erupted into applause as the results were announced. Kondo's class seemed a little bummed about losing, but ultimately accepted their loss with grace. Izumi, however, was not celebrating. Instead, he walked over to Kitamura's team, who were still somewhat stunned over their loss.

“W-What is it?” Kitamura asked defensively, pretending not to be shaken by the loss. “Did you come to gloat in my face?”

“Not really,” Izumi replied. “I just remembered that we had a little bet of our own. We agreed that the winner would get to ask for anything they wanted from the loser.”

“Hmph. You're going to ask for your prize already?”

“Kitamura. Please let me apologize to you for what happened back in middle school.”

The auditorium suddenly fell silent as everyone's attention turned to Izumi and Kitamura, who was stunned into silence by his words.

“Even though I knew you hated solving problems with violence, I still used it to get rid of those delinquents. Because of that, I caused you trouble. I know you hate me now, but if you could forgive me for this one thing, I would be grateful.”

Izumi punctuated his apology with a deep bow. Silence filled the room as everyone watched to see what would happen next. Izumi couldn't see Kitamura's face, but he expected her to be full of anger. He waited for a while before finally lifting his head up.

To his surprise, Kitamura was in tears. Her face was angry, like he expected, but it seemed less like she was enraged and more like she was doing her best to keep herself from blowing up.

“That's not it!” Kitamura shouted. “That's not what I wanted you to apologize for!”

She tried to wipe her tears away, and one of her classmates handed her a handkerchief to use. She continued to speak through her tears and sobs.

“I didn't know anything about what happened. And you wouldn't say a word. You just acted like you didn't know me and left me behind. How do you think that made me feel?!”

Izumi was stunned. The reason he never spoke to Kitamura was because he had assumed that she would have been disappointed in him and hated him after what he had done. No, that wasn't the truth. He was scared to hear that she hated him, so he ran away before even finding out if that was the truth. And because he ran away, Kitamura had been in pain all this time. No wonder she was so angry with him.

“I'm sorry,” Izumi repeated. “I should have explained myself. There's no excuse. You have every right to be angry with me.”

“No,” Kitamura stammered between sobs. “That's not it, either. What I really wanted to say was... What I wanted you to hear was...”

Kitamura couldn't respond, as she fell to the ground and her tears began to overwhelm her. But Izumi sort of knew what she wanted to say. As he bent down to help Kitamura up, she finished her sentence with a silent whisper.

“Thank you.”

*****

“Well, there was a little unexpected drama at the end, but I think this contest was fairly successful, don't you think?” Kondo laughed as he spoke with Takahashi after the auditorium had cleared out.

“I guess so,” Takahashi replied doubtfully. “Are you sure about letting us have the slot on the big stage?”

“You already won, so what's the point about asking now? You don't want your students' hard work to go to waste, do you?” Kondo patted Takahashi on the shoulder. “You've got some pretty talented students. I'm sure everyone will love the play.”

Takahashi watched Kondo as he walked away, then turned to make sure his students had all left the auditorium. He noticed Fukuda still staring at the auditorium stage and called out to her. “What's the matter, Fukuda-san?”

Fukuda snapped out of her reverie and ran over to Takahashi. “I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“It's no problem.” Takahashi glanced back at the empty stage himself. “What did you think about what just happened?”

“You mean between Izumi-kun and Kitamura-san? I don't know their history too well, but it looked like they made up. Isn't that good?”

“Of course,” Takahashi replied. “But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was talking about what happened during your skit.”

“Our skit?” Fukuda quickly understood which moment Takahashi was talking about. “What about it?”

“Well, I don't know anything about the past between you two, but... I could tell that he was being heartfelt.”

Fukuda was quiet. Takahashi suddenly raised his hands in a reassuring manner. “Oh, but I'm not trying to pry or anything.”

“It would be nice if that was actually true.”

“You sure know how to cut deep,” Takahashi sighed. “Fine, never mind! Let's go back to the classroom already. It's our last rehearsal before the real deal!”

Fukuda giggled as she followed Takahashi out of the auditorium.

*****

Back in the classroom, the students put the set together as quickly as they could in preparation for the final rehearsal. As the students ran to and fro trying to put the stage and costumes together, Takahashi approached Izumi to see how he was doing.

“I'm fine,” Izumi insisted. “In fact, I'm doing better than ever.”

“Yeah?” Takahashi was surprised. He assumed Izumi would be tired out after having to do that contest.

“Absolutely!” Izumi pumped his arms in a show of being energetic. “I feel like a load has been taken off my back.”

“Well, that's good,” Takahashi said hesitantly. “No reason we shouldn't go into the last rehearsal with some energy.”

“Sensei, I remembered what made me want to start writing.”

“Yeah? What was it?”

“Writing allowed me to express the feelings and thoughts I couldn't in real life,” Izumi explained. “When I couldn't say something out loud, I wrote about it instead.”

“I see. So you could say this play is the same as shouting out those feelings to the world.”

“Well, that's a little too dramatic for me,” Izumi said doubtfully. “But I don't think that's a bad interpretation.”

Takahashi and Izumi turned their attention to the rehearsal, which had begun in earnest.

“Sensei,” Izumi said under his breath. “I'm going to blow the audience away on the big stage – even if I'm not the one standing on it.”

“That's good,” Takahashi said with a grin. “That's the kind of spirit you should have!”

The two of them turned back to the play again. In a matter of days, the school festival would begin. All of their hard work was about to come to fruition.