A quick note:
The Shakespearean language referenced in this coming chapter is entirely made up and intended to be terrible, due to the fact that a collection of college students are screaming it at each other while attempting to play capture the flag. With... people. So try not to hate too much, if at all possible. Also, I will do my best to keep my characters true to themselves, but I am placing them in a non-canon world with the intention of seeing how they would react in those situations, so please excuse any artistic liberties I may ultimately end up taking. For those who have decided to stick around to read another chapter, thank you very much. I'm more than pleased my writing is interesting enough to want to come back to again, and I hope it will continue to be so in the future. Please feel free to review if you have any questions, constructive criticism, or ideas for upcoming chapters/what you would like to see, and I would be thrilled to keep them in consideration.
Greatest Regards,
Sardonyx Rosetta
Chapter Two: Red Flag
"Run, Kaoru!" Sano screamed in my ear, pushing me back behind him in an attempt to ward off any potential attackers.
"I wouldst prefer it if thy lord Sano would thusly refer to me as Mistress Kaoru!" I panted, hands heavy on my knees.
"Thine olde English is terrible," he hissed, pronouncing the "olde" as "old-ee" in a fruitless attempt to stay in character.
"Shut thine lips," I snapped, diving into an empty classroom. "Go forth and conquer, I shall hide myself within these glorious cupboards." I motioned to the art cabinets.
"Okay, now you're just making up fancy words," Sano scoffed as I climbed into my hiding spot, bringing a rolled up poster in with me to use as a weapon in a dire emergency.
"Lord Sano! Thou must not break thy character!"
"Whatever-eth." He rolled his eyes and took off, careful not to blow my cover.
Shouts of "Where lies thy flag?!" and "Thou art OUT, brethren!" filled the halls, and I felt sorry for the teachers still working after most of the day's classes had finished. I kept myself as quiet as possible, sitting in the dark as I listened to terribly-phrased Shakespearean English float through the corridors. I was safe for now, I was pretty sure. They all thought I was running around like a chicken missing its head in an attempt to evade the Montagues. It was ridiculous, really, hiding like this, because it wasn't even plausible to think that someone could manhandle me back to their side. I was a strong young woman with a well-developed history in martial arts and Kendo, and they would only get their asses kicked. In fact, I might just-
The door to my hiding place flew open with a flourish, and a large grin met my terrified expression.
Enishi.
I let loose a blood-curdling scream and smacked him in the face with my poster, making him wince in both surprise and pain. I took the opportunity to dart past him and towards the doorway at top speed as cries of "Wherefore art thou, Kaoru?" and "LADY KAORU, WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" echoed in my ears.
To my surprise, a warm, strong arm caught me around the waist before I could escape, and I dropped my only weapon in an act of pure stupidity. "One moment, Lady Kaoru. Why does thy face look so pale? Is thy disposition concerned?" Before I could answer any of his ridiculous questions, I was hauled over Enishi's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Let me go, idiot!" I cried, wriggling incessantly as he held me fast. Despite my considerable physical abilities, it was hard to overcome the fact that Enishi was a lot larger and stronger than me.
"Not on thy life." He laughed then, quickening his pace and jogging to the exit of the art and history building.
"Kaoru!" Megumi cried in horror, hands over her mouth in terror.
"Don't just stand there, you ninny! Do something!" I screeched, struggling as I was hauled past another classroom. Mr. Saito looked up from his desk, sighed, and went back to work, rather unfazed at the sight of one of his top students being hauled through the corridor against her will.
We were closing in on the dividing line, mere seconds from victory, when Sano came barreling towards us with Aoshi on his heels. Eyes full of determination, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "LET HER GO, YOU CANKER-BLOSSOM!"
"Canker-blossom?" Megumi questioned.
"Fly, good Romeo, fly, fly, fly!" Katamari swooned, fanning himself with his hand as he watched Enishi's progress with fluttery eyelids that rivaled a moth's frantic flapping.
"Idiot. Wrong play." Hiko rolled his eyes from his seat right along the dividing line.
"That's from Macbeth, dumbass!" Yumi smacked Katamari upside the head, pulling up her low-cut tank top with her other hand just far enough to prevent her chest from spilling out – but still leaving a considerable amount of cleavage on display for the boys who still hadn't grown out of their high school mentalities.
"Sano!" I cried, hitting my arms against Enishi's back like a deranged two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum. I was satisfied to feel him wince under my clenched fists, but mostly just furious. How dare he assault me so casually! I could comprehend the fact that he wanted to win, but this was ridiculous. With one last terrifying battle cry, Sano dived for Enishi, arms outstretched like a desperate lion scrabbling for its prey.
I was airborne in a split second, still clutched to Enishi's unyielding torso. He had jumped at the last second, it seemed, barely evading Sano's vice-like grip before springing over to Montague territory. I cursed internally before the two of us slammed into the hard tiled floor – Enishi on top of me.
I groaned, a sharp pain spreading through my arm. "Get off me, you asshole," I growled, shoving him off me with the hand that wasn't pinned by his weight. He just smirked at me and rolled to the side, allowing his cheerful teammates to pull him to his feet and into their frenzied cluster of celebratory dancing and cries of victory.
"Oh Kaoru," Megumi sighed, looking down at me. "You just had to go and get yourself kidnapped, didn't you?"
"Some help you were," I snapped, sitting up as I rubbed my upper arm. It hurt like hell, and I shot a glare at the perpetrator of my injury. He just ignored me like the douchebag that he was, and I felt even more terrible. "Besides, its hard to fight off an attacker if he nabs you from behind and throws you over his shoulder." My attempt to push the blame for the Capulet's failure onto Enishi felt far-fetched and pathetic, and I refused to look up at the rest of my team.
"Hey, asshole!" Sano shouted across the hallway, and my head shot up. He was addressing Enishi, of all people, and I couldn't help but tense. Sano was, once again, overreacting. "The least you could do is help the girl you body-slammed into the ground up off the floor!"
"Save it, rooster-head," Shishio growled, dark eyes piercing beneath a fringe of black-brown bangs. "She's still alive. She can get up by herself, and if she isn't strong enough, she deserves to sit there like the weakling she is."
"What kind of attitude is that?!" Katsu cried, taking a step forward. "It's common courtesy, for God's sake!" Tae nodded from behind him, eyes filled with fire.
Enishi was watching now, the slightest of smirks spreading across his face. The whole situation just served to amuse him, and I felt my own incessant glare boring into his cold, emotionless eyes. What made him think he was so much better than me, anyways?
"You're just jealous because you guys lost," Yumi simpered, leaning back into her bad boy face-sucking partner with a satisfied smirk.
"Enishi kidnapped her!" Megumi protested, helping me to my feet with strong and determined arms. She kept her hand on my shoulder, fingers tensed against the soft flesh.
"Megumi's right," Soijiro laughed hesitantly, scratching his head. "That wasn't the nicest way of doing things."
"That was the point! Not our fault she's weak," Cho called back, taunting us.
Anji stepped forward hesitantly. "Guys, I don't think we need to-"
"I'm not weak!" I growled, cutting Anji off as my hands clenched into fists.
"Well if that's so unfair, why didn't you just grab me while I was standing four fucking feet from the dividing line!" Yumi snapped.
"Because Shishio was puppy-guarding you the whole time!" Tae shouted, uncharacteristically furious.
"That's no excuse!" Katamari huffed. "Just drop it, okay?! You guys lost, so suck it up and accept your defeat!"
Sano was so seethingly angry that his face was a brilliant shade of crimson. "YOU-"
"WHO'S ANGRY RIGHT NOW?!" Hiko bellowed, and everyone froze. It was so quiet in the courtyard that a feather hitting the ground would have sounded like an earthquake in comparison to the silence in which we currently stood. It was quite obvious that in our arguing frenzy we had all forgotten about our director's obvious presence, and he now stood glaring at us with his large hands centered on his hips. "Well?! Who's angry?!" he shouted.
Slowly, Megumi raised her hand. I followed, and then Yumi, Katamari, Sano, Shishio, Tai... The process continued until everyone excluding Aoshi, Anji, and Enishi had their hands raised high in the air. We looked at each other, uncertainty in our expressions.
"Good," Hiko grinned, relaxing his threatening pose with exaggerated enthusiasm.
The entire cast of this year's spring play stood dumbfounded in the grass, jaws somewhere around our ankles.
"...Good?" Aoshi finally muttered, breaking the silence that had held us prisoner.
"Good," Hiko repeated, brown eyes shining with mischief. "How much anger do you guys think the Montagues and the Capulets had towards one another back in ancient Vienna?"
There was yet another significant lapse of conversation as Hiko's words sunk in."God, you're a genius," Cho breathed at last.
"I know," Hiko smirked, turning around and strutting back towards the theater. "Although I'm rather surprised none of you could figure out that was my objective from the start. Idiots. I want everyone onstage in five minutes, scripts in hand and ready to start from the top of the show!"
"Still," I mumbled under my breath, following the stream of dazed actors down the hallway as I rubbed my sore arm, "a real Romeo would have at least apologized."
"What was that, Kaoru?" Megumi asked, still looking a little out of it.
"Oh, uh, nothing," I chuckled nervously, shoving her gently towards Sano. "Go hang on your boyfriend, why don't you? He could use the attention." She just giggled and sauntered off, latching onto Sano's arm like a bloodthirsty piranha in the Amazon.
"Sorry," a cautious voice whispered in my ear, and I jumped. My head whipped to the side, and I caught Enishi's mildly amused, slightly apologetic expression just before he slipped off to talk with Soijiro. It was more than five minutes before I found myself back on stage, still in a mild state of shock and wondering why such piercing blue eyes were ingrained in my head for hours to come.
