Shizuka's gaze fell on the two people arguing on stage, recalling Tsuna's words from a few days ago: "It… it seems there's only one role, the King."
"Will he appear later?"
"It seems not; he only appears for the first few minutes." Shizuka shook her head.
As Princess Takagi's figure disappeared into the backstage wing, two deep red velvet curtains slowly closed towards the center of the stage.
Shizuka and Uzaki Tsuki chatted about other topics, just waiting for the curtains to reopen.
"Phew… I don't have any more scenes later." Tsuna exhaled, casually taking the water cup Shouko handed him and gulping it down.
Then he turned sideways, with a sense of relief from having completed a task, and asked Ajitani, "I'll go change out of this costume first, and then come back later, okay?"
Before Ajitani could speak, Nanase-sensei walked up from behind and waved to her. She looked at their faces for a moment, nodded, and then quickly walked towards the stage with the venue setup team.
"No need to rush to change. Just sit and rest for a bit." Nanase-sensei turned to Tsuna and Shouko, her gaze lingering on them briefly, and explained with a gentle smile, "We'll take a group photo after the show ends, and after the School Festival is over, we'll need to restore the auditorium to its original state. We don't want everyone looking glum."
Tsuna nodded. Seeing this, Nanase-sensei said nothing more and walked towards the stage.
"Tsuna, how do you feel looking at so many people down there from the stage? Are you nervous?" Shouko gently held his hand, sat down in the backstage rest area, and asked softly.
"Not nervous," Tsuna said in a relaxed tone, leaning back naturally into the chair. "It's just like rehearsing normally."
After speaking, he looked up and met Shouko's gaze. Her slightly pursed lips and unconsciously intertwined fingers all revealed her nervousness.
However, most people backstage were in a similar state to Shouko; it was their first time performing an opera, so being nervous was very normal.
"Relax a bit," Tsuna said softly, then subtly tilted his chin towards a spot not far away. "Look, Takagi-san doesn't have to go on stage yet, so it's a good time for you to go ask her for tips."
Not far ahead, Takagi-san was surrounded by two or three staff members. She tilted her face slightly, letting the makeup brush lightly sweep across her cheeks.
"Go," seeing her still hesitating, Tsuna continued to persuade, "If you're still nervous when you come back, I'll teach you a way to not be nervous on stage."
"Mm…" Shouko nodded gently, stood up, and walked in small steps towards Takagi-san.
Not long after Shouko stood up and left, the empty chair next to him creaked, and a dark figure suddenly darted to where Shouko had just been sitting.
"You, Prince Boar, are…?" Tsuna didn't even need to turn his head; a flash of pink entered his peripheral vision.
"…"
When Shouko walked over and sat beside Takagi-san, and the two began to whisper, Nishikata beside him still said nothing. Only then did Tsuna turn his head in confusion to look at him.
"What are you doing…?"
"Miyamura… I'm nervous too…"
"Then die."
"…"
Nishikata pouted. Not getting the response he wanted, a clear, unmistakable eye-roll, almost accompanied by a scoff, was unceremoniously thrown his way.
Seeing that Tsuna had completely failed to receive the signal and had started to immerse himself in the faint light of his phone, he was too lazy to say anything more. He sullenly picked up his own phone and swiped furiously, as if venting his frustration.
The two of them occupied a corner, with only the screen's glow, the surrounding noise, subtle clicking sounds, and a silent sigh filling the air.
"If you want to go find Takagi-san, why don't you just go directly?"
Tsuna immediately blacked out his phone, looking at him speechlessly. "Do I have to play along with this?"
"This… this time it's different, okay?"
"For example?"
"No boys have gone to talk to Takagi-san yet. If I suddenly go over, won't everyone suspect I like her?"
"…"
The speechless Tsuna was very speechless, but it was also very consistent with contemporary pure-hearted high school boys.
After waiting for a while, Nishikata saw him staring ahead, not speaking for a long time, and nudged him with his shoulder. "Miyamura, why aren't you saying anything?"
"…"
Tsuna still didn't speak. After a while, a familiar figure passed by in front, and he called out to the person. "Tanaka."
"Hmm?" The boy playing the White Rabbit stopped, looked back at Tsuna in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Tsuna didn't hesitate and asked directly, "Do you know which girl Nishikata likes in our class…?"
"Eh… wait!" Nishikata almost shrieked, springing up from his seat, his whole body frantically lunging towards Tsuna, trying to cover his mouth!
Tsuna seemed to have anticipated it, sidestepped to dodge, and continued to ask: "...likes in our class?"
His attempt to stop him was fruitless, and Nishikata collapsed back onto the chair like a deflated balloon, his chest still aching from the missed lunge and a more intense feeling of shame.
He gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles gradually turning white, frantically self-hypnotizing:
'Calm down… absolutely calm down! I only told this to Tsuna, that bastard! No one else! It's impossible to be exposed!
If he dares to say it, I… I'll deny it to the end… No, no, it's best if an earthquake happens right now to interrupt this topic!'
His peripheral vision kept sweeping towards Takagi-san, who was chatting with Shouko not far ahead. Seeing that she hadn't noticed him at all, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the boy called Tanaka blinked a few times in confusion, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Tsuna's seemingly suppressed smile and Nishikata's face, stiff as a brick.
He had no idea what was going on with these two.
Tanaka scratched his naturally curly hair, his voice a bit simple and honest. "Doesn't Nishikata like Takagi-san? I think everyone in the class knows, right?"
After speaking, he was called away by his waiting companions not far away. Before leaving, he seemed to hear the sound of a stone slab cracking.
"See, Nishikata, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. If you go talk to Takagi-san, no one will say anything about you." Tsuna poked the petrified Nishikata.
"…"
"What did you say?"
Tsuna saw him muttering softly, completely inaudible, and leaned in closer to hear clearly.
"The whole class… the whole class… the whole class knows…"
"…"
"It's fine, Takagi-san definitely doesn't know yet."
"Oh, right!"
Nishikata instantly reacted, his eyes brightening, and the sparkle in them returned. "If Takagi-san knew, she definitely wouldn't be teasing me every day like this!"
"…"
Tsuna looked at the re-energized Nishikata speechlessly.
Sometimes, he couldn't help but admire Nishikata's ability to imagine and self-hypnotize.
"Am I right, Miyamura!"
"Yes, yes, yes, absolutely right, it must be just as you think."
"Exactly!"