NOTICE: If you haven't checked the last few chapters lately (as in yesterday), please check now and you will see that some changes have been made.
Hey, everyone! I feel so ashamed of myself, because the last update to this fanfic was in July! J-U-L-Y! It's been 7 months since then! Oh, God! I feel so guilty! So I have decided to make a deadline for myself: every Saturday or Sunday. Since July, lots of people have been leaving reviews that say how much they like this fanfic, so I decided to start updating again! Well, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I present Chapter 4: The Rival.
Two days after discovering that Sonoko had an extra set, Kazuha accepted the fact that there was no choice but to be Juliet in the play. Although she'd never admit it, Kazuha was very happy that she'd get to kiss Heiji.
After school, Heiji and Kazuha would go to the auditorium to rehearse. The pattern would always be the same: they'd go over lines with Sonoko, they'd practice with and without scripts, Sonoko would criticize them, and then everybody else. When both were walking through the door, neither expected that day to be any different—and how wrong they were.
"WHAT?" both of them heard Sonoko scream. Her shout echoed throughout the auditorium. "W-what do you mean you want to—"
"You know what I said," they heard a girl say. Her voice sounded very mature, almost like a woman in her early twenties.
As they both got closer, they noticed more and more details of the girl. She had long, wavy black hair that was tied in a high ponytail, yet the hair reached to her mid-back. She had a curvy body, which was no wonder the reason why all the boys on the production team were gazing at her with wide mouths and perhaps perverted thoughts.
"What's wrong, Sonoko?" Kazuha asked, stopping before her and the raven-haired girl.
The girl turned her head and frowned at Kazuha with her red eyes. "And who is this?" she said, scrunching her nose.
"I'm Toyama Kazuha," Kazuha greeted politely with a bow.
The woman eyed Kazuha up and down, then looked at Heiji. "Ah, you must be Hattori Heiji, the famous high school detective. It's very nice to meet you." The woman smiled at him.
Oblivious to the woman ignoring Kazuha, Heiji grinned cockily. "Ha-ha! Why thank you, miss! It's nice to know someone respects me for being a detective! Unlike someone else . . ." Heiji turned his head and frowned at Kazuha.
Kazuha stuck her tongue out at him with a vein popping out of her forehead.
"Oh, but of course I should! I have heard so much about you, Heiji! Come, why don't we talk about more?" she asked, gesturing him to come with her.
"Ah, wait! Exactly who are you and what are you doing here?!" Kazuha demanded.
The woman laughed at Kazuha. "Hahaha! I'm glad you finally asked. My name is Nagasaki Kamiko!"
"And what's your business here?" Kazuha asked.
Kamiko shot a grin at her. "I, Nagasaki Kamiko, want to be Juliet!"
Heiji and Kazuha both paused, then blinked. Once, then twice. "So that means . . ." Kazuha began.
"That you want to . . ." Heiji continued.
"That I want to be your girlfriend!" Kamiko finished.
The duo both paused and looked at her, utterly shocked. Kazuha shock faded away first.
"You . . . How dare you! How dare you come in saying you want to be Juliet! Well, let me tell you something, the class chose me to be Juliet, and you can't replace me just like that!"
Kazuha . . . Heiji looked at Kazuha, shocked, never having seen her this fired up before. Sure she'd chased off fan girls who were more clingy to Heiji compared to his other fans, but he had never seen her this protective of him.
However, unlike those girls, who would run away crying from Kazuha after destroying their ear drums, Kamiko smiled at Kazuha with an evil spark in her eye. "Yes . . . that is true. However, since the class chose you to be Juliet, why don't we have a re-vote and have a little competition to see who should be Juliet?"
"What are you saying?" Kazuha asked, glaring at her.
"I'm saying this: I challenge you to a battle! A competition, to be more precise," she explained.
"What's the catch?" Kazuha asked.
"What are you talking about? There is no catch. It's just this: if I win, I'll be Juliet and Heiji will become my boyfriend, and if you win you can continue to be Juliet."
Kazuha hesitantly looked at Kamiko, and was about to say something, but held back those words. "Fine, then." Kazuha extended her right hand. "It's a deal, then."
Kamiko smirked at Kazuha, then extended her right hand as well and placed her hand in Kazuha's. "Deal."
They both shook and released the other's hand.
"So . . ." Heiji began hesitantly, cautious that they'd explode at him, "what is the competition?"
"Glad you asked, Heiji-kun!" Kamiko chirped at Heiji.
Heiji and kun? She doesn't even know me that well! Heiji looked at her dumbfounded.
"Well," Kamiko continued, "the first will be a fashion contest! Here we'll have to make our own outfits, and showcase them on a catwalk!"
"Catwalk? Why not the stage? It's perfectly fine for showcasing," Kazuha said.
"Make your own outfits? But isn't that a bit too advance for Kazuha?" Sonoko asked worryingly.
"No, no, it's all right, Sonoko," Kazuha reassured. "When my mom was still around, she taught me how to sew. Ever since then, I've been practicing, so I guess I can make some decent clothes."
"All right, then," Sonoko said uncertainly. "But what kind of clothes?"
"First, casual attire—like jeans, t-shirts, and the like. Next is semi-formal clothing. Last but not least, formal attire: this definitely has to be dresses and heels. The next clothing item does not have to be handmade, but can be bought: a kimono. Seems simple, right?"
Everyone looked at her flabbergasted, all believing that it is way too much. "O-oi . . . will you be all right?" Heiji asked Kazuha with concern.
Kazuha was touched by his concern, and said, "Of course I will, ahou! Who do you think I am? It seems simple enough."
"All right, then . . ." Heiji said, withdrawing.
"The class will decide who the winner will be, got it?" Kamiko said.
Kazuha nodded, and Kamiko began to walk toward the exit. "We will have our contest next week. Be ready," Kamiko warned, and, right before she walked out the door, she looked back at Heiji and winked. All the boys, thinking that she was winking at him, fell backward with bloody noses and fainted from joy except Heiji, who frowned at the closed door.
Still concerned, he asked, "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
Kazuha looked at the closed door. "Yeah . . . I will be," she said. Yet, on the inside, she was scared. Scared that she would fail and that Kamiko will be Heiji's girlfriend and get to be Juliet in the play. But she what she was most worried about was that she wasn't going to get to kiss Heiji.
Dun, dun, DUNN! What will happen next? Who knows? So stay tuned for more! And, as I said earlier, I will publish the next chapter NEXT Saturday or Sunday (meaning not the 23rd or 24th). Well, hope you guys liked the fourth chapter to "Romeo and Juliet of Osaka"! Ja ne!
