Chapter 26

Scene 26 is the fifth chapter included in Volume 5 of Urakata!!

Summary
The Drama Club of Kobuto Academy for Girls asks Soh to participate in their play. They also ask the Art Squad for help with the set design. Ryuuji takes charge of advising the girls of the drama club while Ranmaru still struggles with catching up to Ryuuji's level.

Plot
Ranmaru thought that he had become used to being an outcast and always by himself but he still doesn't like it after all. Ranmaru feels discouraged after seeing (his self-proclaimed rival) Ryuuji's impressive wristwatch that he crafted himself. Ranmaru also still feels jealous at seeing Ruka and Ryuuji together and thinks about how uncomfortable he has become with sticking to the background.

Meanwhile, the girls of the drama club in Kobuto Academy for Girls are asking Soh to help them by participating in their last play. They also end up pressuring her into asking her friends in the Art Squad for help with the stage design. Izumi spots the troubled Soh and takes her to the Art Squad only to be promptly rejected by Ryuuji. He ends up yelling at Soh for letting the girls drag her into something she didn't exactly agree to but Ranmaru stands up to Ryuuji for her, saying that it's not always easy for people to refuse. Ryuuji apologizes and Ranmaru worries about how his feelings have been affecting his behaviour.

The Art Squad visits the high school the next day just to check out the situation. The members hesitate when they see how inexperienced and clueless the drama club is about set design, but Ryuuji says that they will take the job which shocks everyone. They are shocked again when he says that they will only advise them and that they will have to do all the actual work themselves. Ryuuji puts the Drama Club to work, immediately laying down the fundamentals that they need to know about stage design.

Back in the Kobora residence, Ranmaru is inspired by Soh's resolve to help the drama club despite her lack of confidence in herself and decides that he wants to help the drama club too. He sketches out an idea for a stage design for the club.

The girls of the drama club still don't seem to have learned as they show complicated designs to Ryuuji. Ranmaru shows the design he sketched to Maasa and Ruka, but he is unable to show it to Ryuuji, as Ryuuji already works on a design of his own. He produces a minimalist abstract design, meant to let the actors' abilities shine. The girls fawn over it as Ranmaru struggles with feelings of inferiority and being unable to even compare to Ryuuji.

Characters

 * Ranmaru Kurisu
 * Ryuuji Gouda
 * Izumi Samura
 * Ruka Enjoji
 * Maasa Rokubu
 * Tomu Tenba