On a quiet street corner in the city of Verona, Italy, long ago, there used to sit a man. He was poor and old, although his looks did little to betray these facts - his face was young, his clothes majestic (if not a bit worn), his ever-present smile confident.
The man was a storyteller. The children of Verona, nearly every day, would find their way to his corner, sit around his feet despite the dust-coated ground, and wait patiently for him to begin a tale. The moment he began, his deep voice commanded the attention of everyone around him, and children and passersby alike would stop to listen, some dropping money into his bowl, others merely listening attentively. His words rose and fell, sped and slowed, with a rolling rhythm that that almost suggested these stories to be songs - songs that he knew all too well. He told tales of adventure, romance - and tragedy.
The children's favorite story happened to be the old man's favorite as well. This one seemed different from all the others, somehow. When the storyteller told it, he acquired a vastly different air, a sad one, a wise one. He seemed to withdraw, to reach inside himself to capture the essence of it, and sometimes it was as though he knew this one better than the others - it was more real.
Most of the children had listened to it so many times that they knew the beginning word for word, and they would recite it along with him, matching the crescendos and diminuendos of his tone:
"Two households, both alike in dignity..."
When Arthur Kirkland had run for student council president, this hadn't quite been what he'd had in mind.
He wasn't complaining, of course; he had run, after all, and he'd known all along the job wouldn't be a mere walk in the park. But as he leaned back in his uncomfortable plastic chair and glanced surreptitiously out the window, taunting sun low in the clear blue sky, he had to wonder if it was all worth giving up all of his Friday afternoons for his entire senior year.
Best years of your life, my ass, he thought begrudgingly, checking his watch. 4:52. He scowled.
"Arthur? Are you listening?" The vice president's words snapped Arthur out of his trance, and he sat up, clearing his throat.
"Of course I am, Yao," Arthur said irritably. "You just finished describing the schedule for the school festival next month."
Yao raised an eyebrow at him but nodded. "Yes, and I was just saying that the drama club still hasn't submitted an application for their performance."
Arthur's scowl deepened. "Those idiots? I'd be surprised if they remembered to put their shoes on over their socks in the morning."
Yao grimaced in agreement, but before he could say anything, the 5:00 bell rang, signalling the end of all after school activities. Arthur closed his folder quickly, trying not to look too relieved, but already itching to be out of this stuffy room.
The rest of the student council stood and milled about, slowly filing out of the doors. Arthur stood as well and stretched as Yao said, "Well, if they don't turn in an application, they can't have a part in the festival. We need a schedule to book the auditorium."
Arthur sighed. "I'll talk to them. Don't worry about it." He zipped his bag shut, slung it over his shoulder, and made his way out of the room and into the hallway, eager to get out into the fresh air, but knowing all the same that the coming hours would not be easy ones.
He had a moron to deal with.
"Mattie!" Alfred Jones sprang into the school library, door slamming open behind him, and scanned the banks of computers near the entrance. He sighted his target on the other side of the room, spouted a quick apology to the disgruntled librarian, and half-ran to the stool at his brother's side, where the student in question was in a staring match with a game of Minesweeper. "Matt! I got the greatest idea -"
Matthew shushed him, holding up a finger but not looking up from his game. He glared intensely at the screen for a few more seconds before making a decision and clicking.
A mine blew and a screen popped up, reading "Sorry, you lost this game. Better luck next time!" Matt scowled and closed the window in frustration.
"Shouldn't you be working or something?" Alfred asked, smirking.
"Shouldn't you be minding your own business or something?" Matt sighed and turned in his stool to face Al, legs swinging. The two were fraternal twins, although anyone who didn't know better would assume they were identical. "What's your great idea? If it's another one of your camping trips, I don't want anything to do with it; we nearly got arrested last time-"
Alfred groaned. "Are you gonna hold that over my head forever? That was one time.No, it has to do with drama club."
Matt's face brightened. "Yeah? Did you finally decide on a play for next month?" Al nodded, beaming. Matt raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Well?"
Alfred cleared his throat and put on his acting face. "'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...'"
Matt's jaw dropped. "Romeo and Juliet?"
Al's face fell. "Well, yeah! It's Shakespeare! It's classic!"
"But it's so... girly."
It was Alfred's turn to look stunned. "Girly? Are you kidding? There's lots of blood! Nearly everyone dies!"
Matt looked unsure. "We only have a month to learn the lines, though. Do you really think we can learn Shakespeare that quickly?"
"If we practice, we can! Three or four rehearsals a week and we're golden!"
Matt hesitated. "Well, say we do that one. Who'd play Romeo?" Alfred's beam returned full blast. Matt rolled his eyes. "Did I even need to ask?" he muttered.
"Aww, come on, Mattie! It's our senior year. Shouldn't we put on at least one really great show before we're gone?"
Matthew sighed. He'd never been good at winning against his brother. "Fine. We'll do your dumb play. But I get to be Benvolio. He doesn't die, right?"
Alfred grinned giddily and hugged Matt, who stiffened instantly. "Awesome! Thanks, Matt! Rehearsal tomorrow after school!" He rushed into the shelves, presumably to look for a copy of Romeo & Juliet, and Matt rolled his eyes and returned to his game of Minesweeper.
AN: Hello and welcome to my very first Hetalia fanfic! This is by far the biggest endeavor in fanfiction I've ever undertaken, so I hope you guys can stick with me, ahaha.
So the premise of this story is rather confusing, I guess, so here's the more in-depth summary I promised in the actual summary. Hopefully this one makes more sense:
This story is two AU's in one. The first, a school AU: Arthur Kirkland is student council president, and Alfred Jones is drama club president. The two clubs hate each other, but Arthur gets pulled into the drama club's production of Romeo & Juliet.
Then there's an actual Romeo & Juliet AU: Alfred and Arthur are from feuding families, and, well, the rest is history.
The two will be in alternating chapters. I hope that makes more sense! If not, ask me, and I'll clear up any confusion!
A few things:
I know this chapter is really short, but that's because it's the prologue, so hopefully the coming chapters will be much longer than this. :) And also, it may be a while before I get the next chapter up. I wanted to upload the prologue as more of a teaser than anything, to see if anyone actually ends up reading it, and also because I still need to get a few casting things sorted out. Plus I just really really wanted to upload it. xD And I think that's all I have to say, so... tell me what you think, if you want? :)