Mimicking Love [Clannad]

Chapter 1

  "Hm...? You want us to join your play?" Kyou Fujibayashi said, astonished. The only actress they've had in the drama club at Hikarizaka High School was Nagisa Furukawa. Nagisa nodded.

"Hai! The play is West Side Story and..." Nagisa closed her eyes. "I...I would love for all of you to be in the play with me before we leave this year!" There was a short silence between the six members of the drama club.

"West Side Story?" Kotomi Ichinose muttered. "An American musical inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet..." Everyone looked at Kotomi in surprise.

"You've heard of it before?!" Nagisa exclaimed. Kotomi nodded.

"I read about it in a book before..."

"If I recall correctly, um, Romeo and Juliet is that play where two people fell in love from rivalry families, right?" Ryou Fujibayashi, Kyou's twin sister, asked. Nagisa nodded.

"Ah! Really?!" Youhei Sunohara exclaimed. "I hope I can be Nagisa's lover in the play," he whispered to Tomoya. "I'll join the play, Nagisa!"

"Ah! Really?!" Youhei nodded and Nagisa smiled. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" She looked at the others. "So, what about you guys. I can't perform this with only one other person. I need all of you!" Kotomi stood up.

"It's a musical, right?" Nagisa nodded. "Can I play my violin?"

"NO!" Everyone but Nagisa cried out. She nodded.

"Of course, Kotomi! I'm sure your violin will make the performance perfect!"

"Are you so sure about that?" Youhei muttered. Kyou punched him out of his seat.

"I'm sure that's a wonderful idea! Right, Ryou? Tomoya?" Ryou and Tomoya quickly nodded. Kotomi stared at her with a blank expression. "Are you a bully?"

"No. In fact, I really want to hear your violin performance so I'll join the play! But I'm not sure when Ryou and I can go to practice since we have the student council meetings." Nagisa smiled.

"I'm sure we can fit practice into everyone's schedules! We can even come during lunch to practice!" Nagisa turned to Tomoya. "What about you, Tomoya-kun? You'll be in it, right?" All eyes turned to the senior as he stared blankly at the group.

"I...sure. I'll..." Nagisa walked over to her friend.
"Tomoya-kun. You've helped me a lot this year so it's okay if you don't join. I might just ask Otoosan to help me..." She turned away from him and began to walk back to her seat when Tomoya stopped her. "Tomoya-kun?"

"I'll...I'll join..." Nagisa smiled.

"Really?!" Tomoya nodded. The jubilant girl hugged him, with tears of joy in her eyes.

"Hey! She didn't give me a hug when I volunteered!" Youhei shouted. Kyou held her fist towards him. "Ah! I-I was just kidding! It doesn't matter!"

Soon, Nagisa let go and bowed to everyone in the room. "Thank you all so much!"

"Hey, Nagisa."

"...?"

"Don't expect me to be a good actor," Tomoya told her.

"It's not about being good, Tomoya-kun! It's about having fun!" She walked over to a small box and began to open it.

"Huh? What's in there?" Kyou asked. She walked over to the box and pulled out a book. "West Side Story? You already got the books?!" Nagisa nodded and began to hand a book to everyone in the room.

"Yup! We're auditoning now!"

"Now!? I didn't even have time to prepare!"

"You'll do fine, Kyou! I promise! You can audition last if you want."