Showgirl 1
The day went by as it normally did for Arata. He went through his classes as if there was nothing special occurring today. This seemed to be how any day for him went whenever something came up that would ruin it. Then again, aren't things always normal right before they stop being so?
That was how he felt during their second break and he went for a walk around the school to stretch out his legs. This was how he came across the things that were going to lead him on another adventure.
"What's this?" He asked out loud as the boy peered over the builtin board. There were the usual things relating to clubs and events coming up. Such as the graduation of the third years that was going to be happening in the coming weeks. However, what grabbed his eye had to be the poster that showed Ichiri standing in the middle of it. She was dressed like a magician with the top hat and wand to go along with it.
The boy sighed as he pulled out one of the tabs. This was just another one of that girl's crazy schemes to try and get his attention. Well, it worked seeing as he ended up heading to the location to go look for her. Unsurprisingly, this girl just had to set this up at the library.
"Arata." She was happy to see him enter the room as she seemed to be getting herself ready to show off. "It looks like you couldn't resist my alluring performance." This girl really hadn't changed at all since the first time he met her backstage.
"I'm here to tell you this is silly." He responded. "I get why you're doing it, but it's not going to work on me."
"Ahaha, but I'm totally not doing it for you." She replied. He had a hard time believing that. Both from her tone, and what else could this possibly be for?
"She's not lying." Hifumi backed her up as she popped her head from one of the aisles. "This is an event that the library committee is doing to bring in some students." As it would turn out, the performance was not dissimilar to what he pulled with one of the popular books at the time. This time, they were doing a story about an amazing magician that was always able to find herself in danger, only to find a way to cheat death.
"Makes sense to me." Coming from the librarian girl, he was more willing to believe her. Though why she allowed this was beyond him. "But this still looks like a way for her to stroke her ego."
"Heh, guilty as charged." Ichiri was so shameless, that she didn't mind the moniker thrown her way. "After all, I am a girl with many talents."
"And a girl with even more words to say about it." Hifumie spoke under her breath. "Anyway, most of the stuff should be set up by now."
"Well, this could be a little fun." Arata resigned himself to sticking around. The boy was already here, and it would be nice to support a friend. So that was what he chose to do, and it'd be a choice that he would quickly regret.
"You know, since you're already here." Before he could find a spot to sit at with the crowd, Ichiri was already pulling on his sleeve. She had with her the outfit that the girl planned on wearing during the performance. Though in her other hand, she also had something else just for him. "A magician always needs an assistant."
"You didn't have anyone else you could ask?" He replied. She had a suit made for a man for an assistant to wear. Given that the only other members of the library committee happened to be girls, then she must've been planning on him showing up here. "Fine, I'll help out." Still, the boy couldn't just not extend his help to them. After all, this was for a good cause anyway.
So the pair got themselves dressed, with what he assumed would've been some privacy in the bathrooms. However, she was adamant about dragging him into the closet attached to the library, where there would be no privacy from the other while they changed.
"This is fine." She spoke in a slightly embarrassed over the situation she created for them. "You've already seen my embarrassing underwear, so it's okay." It was clear that she only wanted him to see it again because in this girl's mind. That would be a way to get him to like her more.
"Well, we don't have to look at each other while we're changing." He pointed out. Arata would've loved to just not have to change here, but it was too late to back out now. "Plus, you're going to be wearing pants, so you can just slip them under your skirt." The boy pointed out a method where no embarrassing bits would have to be shown.
"You're right." She responded in a disappointed tone. This practically confirmed his suspicions that she was only doing this so he'd actually see her nearly nude. "Okay, let's get done quick so we don't keep the crowd waiting."
"I can do that." He was a fast changer, and the boy really didn't care for her being able to see his underwear while they changed in the dim tiny room. While he kept up his end of the bargain of not looking at her, there was no way to be certain that she didn't grab a sneak peek at him. This was a girl who had a crush on him, surely she wanted some eye candy at some point.
Also, what were these outfits? They barely fit him as is since they were made for a man, and Arata was already on the short side. She was pretty small, even considering her age, so he was surprised she was able to put on what was clearly made for boys like him.
Finally, after that awkward bit, the pair were able to leave and get in front of the crowd. He was never one to get in front of people to talk, but Arata wasn't a shy person by any stretch of the imagination. Though the real person who took the show by the horns was Ichiri. She lived for moments like these as she yelled out to address the crowd. This had to be the only time Hifumi didn't tell someone to quiet down in the library.
"Welcome folks, today we've got a wonderful show for you today." It seemed that her advertising worked wonders since the library was packed with plenty of students across the age groups. "Now, sit back and watch us shine."
Arata didn't have high hopes for this show, despite taking part in it. If anything, the fact that he was a part of it made him lose more hope. This boy hadn't spent a single second practicing with her, and now he was expected to entertain the masses? Well, all he had to do was follow her lead, since he was only an assistant.
That being said, having a leader who had little experience in magic also made him lose faith in making it through in one piece. Especially when she started bring out some tools and telling him to get into some boxes. Still, the boy had to keep a calm mind and keep his wits about him to stay safe as she stuck pointy things into those boxes.
There were thankfully some safety measures courtesy of Hifumi and Yurime. The swords weren't going to make swiss cheese of him as he was able to tuck himself down under the box. Then, when she went to saw him in half, there were fake legs for him to use to give the illusion of there being two parts of him.
The performance they were giving off to the crowd was working. People seemed to be entertained as they gave their applause after each trick. Arata was surprised that she was able to pull off some of the stunts they had done so far together. Even he surprised himself given that the boy had zero practice going into this. Finally, there was one final trick for them to pull off live in front of the audience.
"And… Poof!" Ichiri dropped down the cape she held up that hid him away for their last magic trick. It was the classic, make him disappear that really just had him sneak underneath the table set up to shield his body from prying eyes. Of course, to the crowd, it seemed that he really did disappear as there was now no one other than her on stage.
They erupted into applause as Ichiri ate it all up. It really was something to stroke her own ego as she gave an arrogant bow to the people before her. "Thank you all for coming on down. I hope you all enjoyed the show." With that, it was time to wrap things up and put an end to the show.
However, it wasn't the end of everything she was going to show the crowd. Though this time, it was the one thing Ichiri didn't want a single person to see. As she turned around to walk up, the girl ended up tripping onto the curtain she dropped down for her last trick.
Now falling down, while embarrassing on its own, wasn't that bad. It was also mixed in with her pants, which were too big for the small girl, to slip down. This ended up revealing her butt to the whole crowd, made worse considering the cute little bear face that peeked out in all its glory.
The people gasped as they saw what unfolded before them. The momentary shock then gave way to them noticing what she was wearing underneath her cool suit, and some began to laugh and take pictures.
"Huh?" She was too shocked from tripping to notice until the flashes of phone cameras began to flicker into her sight. Ichiri turned her head to then realize that her embarrassing secret was being broadcast to the world, as she quickly stood up and brought her pants back up.
The girl was absolutely humiliated with what had just happened. This was downright the worst thing to happen to her as she rushed off crying.