Backstage Prince

Backstage Prince (極付 楽屋裏王子 Kiwametsuke - Gakuya Ura Ōji) is a manga by Kanoko Sakurakoji. Was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Betsucomi in 2004 and 2005 and collected in two bound volumes. It is licensed in North America by Viz Media, which serialized it in Shojo Beat magazine from October 2006 to March 2007.

Plot
Akari is an average high school girl who fails to see why the other girls in her school are so interested in Ryusei, a young talented kabuki actor also attending their school. Akari happens to run into Ryusei at school and accidentally ends up bruising Ryusei in the stomach with her bookbag. By chance, Akari ends up following a cat all the way to a kabuki theatre and runs into Ryusei once again.

To make up for her mistake, she volunteers to become Ryusei's assistant until he is healed. The reclusive and socially inept Ryusei accepts only because she gets along with his pet cat, the very one she followed all the way to the theatre. When Ryusei is finally better, Akari realizes she has fallen in love with him and Ryusei has also come to reciprocate.

However, their relationship is put to the test by Ryusei's profession and popularity and those who disapprove of their relationship, especially Ryusei's strict father and Naoki, another kabuki actor who loves Akari.