On Saturday and Sunday, Dubian Che dedicated his time to studying the script.

To concentrate, he left his Shinano Town apartment and didn't head to the distractingly bustling Shinbashi but instead found a quiet café.

Performing a drama at the Cultural Festival doesn't need to be so strenuous.

Just pick up a famous piece, like the classic "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Little Prince."

Or take the stories of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, tweak a bit here, trim a bit there, sprinkle some rose petals, and for high schoolers, that's a great show.

But the ones who were performing a play were the trio from the Human Observation Department.

Even if Dubian Che went on stage swinging a stick, "Hey!" "Ha!" and then finished, probably someone would say, 'Wow! That was amazing!'

As for whether the play is good or not, those who come to watch probably wouldn't care.

But Dubian Che wasn't just trying to meet the school's requirement for "each club must present an activity during the Cultural Festival"; he had a wish he wanted to fulfill:

Kiyono Lin and Jiutiao Meijie reconciling.

"The End of the World and the Cold Fairyland?" On Monday's club activity hour, Kiyono Lin flipped through the script Dubian Che had written word by word.

The handwriting was neat, almost mistaken for print at first glance.

"Just to clarify, this has absolutely nothing to do with Haruki Murakami's book of the same name," Dubian Che declared seriously, "just like many songs are titled 'Sakura' but the lyrics and melodies are completely different; or like 'YUKI' which can be written as 'Yumi, Yumi, Yuyami, Yumi... Hiroshi, Hiromi,' and so on, with over 250 variations."

Kiyono Lin ignored Dubian Che's continuous explanations and kept looking through the script on her own.

"Meiji, this is the first draft of the script, so it's bound to change, that's why it's not printed," Dubian Che explained to Jiutiao Meijie, who was rare in reading a book.

"Just give me the final version. Oh, and my part doesn't have to have a lot of lines, but it must stand out, otherwise, this missy won't be performing," she said.

"Of course, you are the lead actress who starred in the Oscar-winning film '400 Kilometers from Iwate Prefecture to Tokyo,' last year's Oscars Best Actress, the Berlin International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement…"

"Could you please be quiet, Dubian Che?" Kiyono Lin looked up and gave Dubian Che a cold glare.

"Sure thing, last year's Oscars Best Director."

Kiyono Lin sighed deeply, rubbing her temples as if with a headache, filled with helplessness.

Dubian Che quieted down, and the only sounds left in the activity room were pages being flipped.

When the clock made its distinctive ticking sound, Kiyono Lin banged the script on the zelkova wood table twice, making it instantly neat and tidy.

"How is it?" Dubian Che closed the book he had been reading for a while.

Kiyono Lin placed the script on the table, cradling her elbow with her left hand and the index finger of her right hand under her dainty cherry blossom-colored lips, showing a pondering expression.

"A girl in search of the end of the world, a girl from the fairy realm, it's quite interesting," she said.

"Is it approved?"

"For the time being, let's keep it that way," Kiyono Lin lowered her hand and picked up the script again, flipping through it swiftly, "A script is just a script after all; only by actually performing can we know what fits and what doesn't."

"It's like drawing. The draft looks good, but when you actually start drawing, you still need to keep adjusting? Especially when dealing with clients who are constantly making requests, the artist must…"

"Let's save this topic for when I have time."

"Sure, I'll note it down in your schedule."

"With the script confirmed, next up is role assignment and other details like costumes, props, lighting effects."

"For the roles, the girl searching for the end of the world should be played by the Oscar-winning actress; and to act opposite her, I think only Kiyono herself would suffice."

"Which of the remaining four characters do you plan to play?" Kiyono Lin asked Dubian Che.

"Isn't there just one male character? The Devil."

"You have experience with cross-dressing," Kiyono Lin commented before continuing, "Who should we get for the other three roles?"

"Mayi senpai, Mr. Xiaoquan, the last one doesn't matter, Ichiki Aoi or Yuzao Haomei; anyone will do."

"See how many are interested and then have them audition."

High school students auditioning for a Cultural Festival play?

Only Kiyono Lin would dare to think of such a thing.

"Let's tentatively decide the role assignments like this," Kiyono Lin continued instructing, "Props and costumes can be handled with help from the art club and the handicraft club."

"Director," Dubian Che raised his hand.

Kiyono Lin slightly lifted her perfectly curved chin to signal him to speak.

"The empire's territory currently only includes the Wind Instrument Club; the art club and the handicraft club have not yet been conquered."

"Let's try talking to them, if it doesn't work, we'll do it ourselves." Kiyono Lin was completely unperturbed and didn't consider the task of designing and making props and costumes a big deal.

"I don't need them for my costume," declared the dexterous handiwork expert and cleanliness-princess, Jiutiao Meijie.

Kiyono Lin and Dubian Che set out to find the art club and the handicraft club.

The art club used the regular art classroom on the second floor.

Dubian Che had once imitated Picasso here, creating a highly personal style of ape-man which received the highest mark in history - a B.

Even now, a B remained his personal best.

Luckily, Jiutiao Meijie's talent in drawing was high; their future children wouldn't have to lag at the starting line.

Before entering the art classroom, they heard raucous discussions and smelled the scent of paint.

But as soon as the two of them stepped into the art room, the noise immediately ceased.

In this silence, the prime culprit, Kiyono Lin, spoke with the voice of a heavenly maiden, "Excuse me, who is the Minister of the art club?"

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