Puddles of filthy water checkered the pier as if mocking the new arrivals with an unseemly sight. He appeared almost oblivious to the dirty looks he was receiving from bystanders as he trudged right through the water, spraying it all over the ragged coats of the ladies and the polished leather shoes of the men. But, the sun was at the edge of the horizon and painted the sky in a warm orange blanket, dusted with traces of gold. The rough storm from earlier lightened just in time for the boat's arrival, and it seemed as though the clouds parted just for the weary passengers.

He was jarred out of his brooding state when he saw her in that perfect picture of serenity, and all thoughts of the war between the Montague family and Capulet family disappeared without a trace. Of course, it wasn't an anarchy, but he was willing to bet his pile of severed skulls that the prince didn't know half of the daily occurrences in the town. Just kidding, he wasn't that sadistic.

But, like any reasonably normal male, his emerald eyes were drawn to the muddy jem. She was a young maiden with golden hair hastily pulled black and hazel eyes dimmed from the long journey. Unlike the ladies around her, however, she didn't exude a sense of self-importance and arrogance; contrary she was just the maiden of any fairytale before the title of princess fixed her up.

As she languidly pulled her luggage along with her, he noticed that her eyes were blind to the sight in front of her; that is, her mind seemed to be somewhere faraway. If not for his keen eyes which noted that her body swayed too heavily, he wouldn't have made his next three strides, he crossed the pier, making sure the bump aside the dirty-lookers, and caught her before she slipped on a faulty board and nearly collapsed, and her surprise momentarily brought her mind back to reality.

He noted her widened eyes and pink cheeks, and he immediately let her stand.

"My apologies," he muttered lowly, though he certainly wasn't sorry at all.

A pregnant pause followed before she stammered, "N-Not at all. Thank you for the save." She graced him with a faint smile.

"Anytime." He found himself grinning for the first time he'd been assigned his mission. Inwardly, he berated himself for being distracted. His purpose was to scout out the lady of the Capulets and eliminate her-not to dwindle amongst the city goers and socialize. He grimaced at the thought of the word, and his mood soured.

"Is there something wrong?" She peered at him curiously, tiredness seemingly disappeared.

"No. Nothing," he said brusquely, straightening his back. "Well, I must be off. Good day, my lady."

He strode away instantly, black cloak fluttering in the slight breeze. But, he couldn't shake off the image of the maiden with the hazel eyes, looking and smiling at him as if he weren't a killer damned to hell.

Oh, and he managed to pilfer a lovely bracelet off the pompous lady in the fur coat. It would be a lovely day for dog.

XXX

"Are you sure you want to eat that?"

He rolled his eyes at the owner. "Honestly Philip, just hand it over." He opened out his hand and made an impatient gesture, drawing his cloak closer towards him as he slumped on the stool. From the behind, he surmised he looked like an overgrown bat, but he would be a charming overgrown bat.

"Geez," he replied in mock surrender, sliding over a plate of cubes. "I will never understand the obsession you have with these.

"What are you talking about?" the assassin remarked, affronted. "Pig blood is delicious! In fact, I hear that the Chinese are quite obsessed with them."

"Yes, and the Chinese also break the toes and feet of young girls to keep them from growing too big."

Wolfing down the bloody delicacy, he slammed his fist on the wooden table and perked his head up with eyes as wide as saucers. Too accustomed to the assassin's erratic behavior, the owner continued to polish the drinking glasses. "Did you forget to kill someone again?"

The assassin shifted his flat, unamused gaze on the owner who, having dealt with numerous unpleasant customers, stared right back without falter. Of course, the very useful skill wasn't granted to him inherently. He sharpened his gaze over the years-especially since that one incident involving the drunken man, pig blood cubes, and explosive diarrhea.

"You know that doesn't work on me," he remarked dully.

"That doesn't stop me from trying," breathed the assassin seriously, crossing his arms over his chest. "They say to follow your dreams."

"And your dream is to follow every political figure and kill him?"

"Yes, preferably by burning a hole in their skull with my eyes."

In resignation, the owner flicked the assassin on the forehead, throwing him out of the stupid battle. "Hey!" cried the assassin indignation, clutching his forehead. "Who knows where your fingers have been! Also, gimme a crust of bread, will ya?" Immediately after, his gloved hand shut up to intercept a fresh crust of bread, steam dancing above it.

"Hot, hot, hot," he chanted reproachfully, tossing it back and forth between his hands.

"You asked for a good piece after last time," shrugged the owner nonchalantly.

A whistle sounded, and a black ball of fur bounded toward the assassin. He offered it to the shaggy dog with an affectionate coo before turning back towards the owner. "I said it would be a good day for Dog," he explained in self-satisfaction.

"And to this day, you still call him Dog. Do you call people humans?" The owner shook his head.

"In fact, I do," he responded with a befuddled frown. He proceeded to mimic himself. "'Where did you go with those documents, human?'"

"And was that a good day for geese?"

"Goose," he corrected. "I only ate one."

"Oh my god."

"Oh my Allah," he corrected, knowing the man wasn't Christian. "Or, oh my Buddha if you're into that. You know there's this one religion that's deathly afraid of dogs? They have this peculiar circle symbol."

"Get out."

XXX

The moment when the line break isn't in the tool bar. Oh, whale! This was a short story I wrote during my English class's analysis on Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Naturally, I don't own either Romeo and Juliet or Death Note, but it's always fun to think "What if?" I hope you enjoyed!