aTitle: Appreciating Things of Beauty [Chapter Six
Author: Endless-Kaoru
Pairing: None yet.
Rating: Overall: PG-13. This Chapter: G.

Warnings: A long chapter. There's kissing, and light flirting, but that's it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wallflower characters. None. Not even a single one. I don't own Drop Dead, Juliet either.
Summary: Finally! The production of Drop Dead, Juliet!

Note: Lines in the script are like "[this." Just in case you thought Kyohei often spoke in Shakespearean.

Chapter Six: Drop Dead, Juliet!

The parts for the class play – Drop Dead, Juliet! – were to be announced that day. Students chattered excitedly about who could be playing what part until, finally, Isa Kikyo stepped forward to write the parts on the board, announcing them as she went.

"…Juliet: Shuiro Aya. Lady Capulet..."

Girls were giggling, and Kyohei jokingly congratulated Aya.

"…Lord Capulet: Morii Ranmaru…."

Aya leaned back, laughing, "All right, Dad. Let's do a good job!"

"Mercutio: Toyama Yuki. Romeo: Takano Kyohei. Shakespeare: Oda Takenaga…"

Yuki whined, "Why am I a girl…?"

"Hey, don't sweat it! I'm the leading female role!" Aya grinned at him, and he laughed; the girls who voted Aya in still thought she was a guy! Aya laughed and pulled a face, "And Kyohei is my Romeo. At least you won't have to kiss anyone!"

"Are there any objections?" Kikyo asked, finished with announcing the parts. When there were none, she handed out scripts.

Takenaga glanced over his lines and cleared his throat, "[What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?"

Aya, standing off the side of the living room/rehearsal stage, recited, "[Yeah. You're young, hot, and rich—what have you got to be depressed about?" she almost laughed, but managed to keep herself under control.

Kyohei sighed, "[Not having that which, having, makes them short." He blinked, stared at his line, and turned to Aya. She shrugged, mouthing 'I dunno.'

Takenaga – Shakespeare – asked, "[In love?"

"[Out of her favor where I am in love." He looked to Aya again and pulled a face, "You have the easy lines."

"Shush up." She stuck out her tongue, then followed her script, going to Takenaga and pulling him away, "[Wait a minute, we don't meet for another four scenes."

Kyohei turned to their 'audience,' Ranmaru and Yuki, "[Alas that love whose view is muffled still should without eyes see pathways to his will."

Takenaga turned to Aya, "[Right now he's in love with the fair Rosaline."

"[Rosaline?"

"[Your cousin."

Aya looked shocked, "[What?! She's got a moustache you could strain soup with!"

Kyohei sighed.

Takenaga continued his part, "[Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind—"

"[And therefore is wing-ed Cupid painted blind, yeah, I've heard it. He never said anything about Rosaline." She cut him off.

"[He forgets her as soon as he sees you."

"[Just like that? In love one minute, out the next?"

Kyohei continued his lonely acting, "[O she is rich in beauty!"

Takenaga glanced over at him, "[That's Romeo."

Aya acted annoyed, "[What a weenie! So how do I know he's really in love with me? What if it's just another passing fancy?"

"[It probably is."

"[What?!"

"[Come on, you're thirteen, he's sixteen, you'll get over it."

"[No I won't!"

"[That's what they all think. I could do you a nice shipwreck. You'd wash ashore, disguise yourself as a boy—" he chuckled privately, "[—spend your days thinking your brother's drowned—"

Aya marched over to Kyohei, and smiling seductively, batting her eyelashes, she purred, "[Hi there."

Kyohei looked startled, blushing, "Geez, Aya, you could recruit and army to rub your feet with that look! When did you become such a girl?"

She cleared her throat, then resumed the former expression, again purring, "[Hi there, Romeo. You're supposed to ignore me now."

He laughed, then got back in character. Sighing, he barely noticed her, "[Hi."

"[There's a party at the Capulet's tonight."

"[That's nice."

"[Everyone's invited except our mortal enemies. I pray come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry."

He sighed again, and she returned to Takenaga, urgent, "[Do something!"

Takenaga called to Romeo, "[At this same ancient feast of Capulet's sups the fair Rosaline, whom thou so loves." Kyohei perked up, turning to look as Takenaga finished, "[Go thither."

"[How will I get in? I'm a Montague!"

Aya reached for the Lone Ranger mask that she'd stashed in her collar, as the stage script had said to do. She paused, blinked, and peered down the front of her shirt.

Kyohei cracked up, "Lose something?"

She frowned, tilted her head, and finally grinned at him, "[Wear this mask, my Romeo. But, oh my… it seems to have slipped. Would you mind coming to get it?"

He laughed harder, and Takenaga glanced at the script, "That's not in here…"

"True, but ad-libbing is funny." She shrugged, reaching up her shirt to fish out the mask. Clearing her throat, she held it out to Kyohei, returning to their rehearsing, "Wear this."

Kyohei, attempting to keep his laughter in check, cried, "[This is tiny! There's no way! I'm gonna get caught!"

Aya matter-of-factly responded, "[It's a well known Shakespearean tradition that someone wearing the same clothes and hairstyle will instantly become unrecognizable by wearing a tiny mask."

Kyohei looked at the mask, "[Really?"

Aya nodded sagely, "[Sad but true." She waved her dagger prop – courtesy Sunako -- at Takenaga, turning to him, "[You have to get him to my party."

He stepped aside, and Takenaga went to Kyohei, indicating her, "[It seems she hangs upon the cheek of the night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear."

Kyohei inspected Aya a moment, then dismissively replied, "[Not really my type."

The three paused, glancing over the lines for the next part.

Aya tilted her head, "I've got this part down… let's skip ahead to the party. That's mostly you and Yuki."

Kyohei looked over the party, whistling, "Wow, Yuki. You've got a pretty good chunk of speech… about pancakes. What the…?"

"I know… I hope I can remember it all." Yuki flipped to the beginning of the party, then approached Takenaga and Kyohei, "Okay, I'm ready."

"No you're not… aren't you supposed to have a mask?" Takenaga adjusted his own.

Kyohei snickered, "Maybe you have to go dig it out of Lady Juliet's blouse. I wonder what else he lost down there?"

"Be quiet, you!" she snapped, waving her prop dagger threateningly, "Or I'll trade this in for a real kitchen knife."

"I don't have a mask. I left it at school. Does it matter?" Yuki ignored them.

"No, I guess not." Takenaga shrugged, "Are you ready, Kyohei?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, "[An we mean well in going to the masque, but 'tis no wit to go. I dreamt a dream tonight."

"[And so did I." Yuki declared.

"[Well, what was yours?"

Yuki faked discomfort, glancing to Takenaga, "[I don't usually do this part. I'm a serving maid at the party."

"[So do those lines." Takenaga prompted.

Yuki smiled brightly, "[More ale, sirrah?" Kyohei and Takenaga stared expectantly at him. Finally, Yuki said, "[That's it."

Kyohei pretended to look annoyed, "[Look, if there's nothing you have to tell me, I think I'm going to go see if Rosaline wants to have coffee—"

Aya yelled from her spot on the couch, "[I don't hear lines!"

Kyohei glanced in her direction, "[Who's that shrew?"

"[I heard that!" Aya scolded, stalking on to the stage, brandishing an axe with the dagger stuck in her belt, "[Guess what I found on the props table?" she grinned, then turned to Yuki, "[Come on, tell him your dream. You have dreams, right? Say whatever you want, this part never makes sense anyway."

"[It's poetry!" Takenaga protested.

"[Fine. Make some of it rhyme. Hey, Rosaline!" she shouldered the axe and strutted offstage, whistling the theme of 'Mission Impossible.'

"[I dreamt a dream tonight." Kyohei started again.

"[And so did I."

"[And what was yours?"

Voice getting spookier, Yuki recited the lines, "[That Queen Mab came me by. She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes in shape no bigger than an agate stone. In the International Pancake House we sat, but it wasn't th'Pancake House, you know what dreams are like, and then she said, Mercutio why dost thou waste thy time with Romeo? When thous couldst be abroad with me a-leap tickling a parson's nose as he lies asleep. And then I realiz'd I wore but drawers. Having no wit to put my clothes upon, all look'd at me from o'er their plates and laughed. And then my elbow knock'd upon the syrup, and there was blueberry syrup all over the table, and the waitress came over, but it wasn't the waitress, it was Sir Francis Drake, dressed as a waitress—"

"[Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace. Thou talk'st of nothing." Kyohei waved him off.

Yuki looked offended, "[Hey, I listen to your dreams."

Takenaga stepped in, "[Supper is done and we shall come too late."

Kyohei replied, "[I don't wanna go."

Takenaga sighed, "[All right, I'll bring it to you." Takenaga waved his pen, and – in the script – the party began. Kyohei and Aya's eyes met, and they began to cross the 'stage' towards each other.

Ranmaru, kicking back on the couch, reached over and hit 'play' on the CD player Aya had set out earlier. "Lolllipop (Candyman)" by Aqua filled the room, and Kyohei jerked his head around to stare.

"That's your romantic, Barry White-type music?!" he yelled at her.

Aya laughed, "It's not what's being used for the play!"

He shook his head, and recited his lines, "[Excuse me, miss, have you seen Rosaline? Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright."

Aya looked stunned, "[What?!" Kyohei turned away, and Aya grabbed Takenaga, "[He's supposed to fall in love with me!"

Takenaga replied, "[Don't you think love at first sight is a little contrived?"

Aya strode over to Kyohei. He looked up, hopeful, "[Did you find Rosaline?"

Aya rolled her eyes, "[She couldn't come. She's entering a convent tonight. In Sicily."

Kyohei leaned in, grinning, "You're pretty good at playing the scorned lover, aren't you? Admit it: you're really a girly-girl deep down inside, aren't you? You secretly like makeup and dresses and kissing boys, don't you?"

"I'm allergic to most makeup. Dresses are pointless, and kissing boys…" she paused, smirking, "No thanks."

"How are dresses pointless?" he countered.

"If dresses served an actual purpose, men would wear them. But they don't. Dresses are kinda like that foot-binding tradition they had in China: they serve no purpose except for appearances." Smiling, she leaned toward him, "The day I put on a dress will be the same day all four of you put on dresses… and wear them in public."

"You know, you'll have to wear a dress for the play. You are Juliet, and women didn't wear pants then."

There was a moment of silence, followed by Aya's shout, "Shit!"

"Hello? We were rehearsing!" Yuki tried unsuccessfully to draw them back to the task at hand.

The audience was quiet as Aya – as Juliet – awoke from her slumber, peered around, and finally spoke, "[Where is my Romeo?" She looked down to Romeo!Kyohei, laying on the floor, and knelt beside him. Plucking a small bottle from his fingers, she examined it, "[Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end." She leaned in and kissed him, stealthily slipping her tongue between the boy's lips. Kyohei jumped, an eye flickering open to stare at her.

Offstage, Lord Capulet – Ranmaru -- spoke his lines, "[Lead, boy. Which way?"

The girls in the audience were giggling now, and Kyohei flushed. Aya moved as if it hadn't happened, "[Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief." she pulled the dagger from his belt and knelt upright, "[Oh happy dagger. This is thy sheath." She rose the dagger, then stopped and set it down. Pausing to take a deep breath, she again rose the dagger, stopped, and set it down.

If the audience hadn't been confused when Romeo and Juliet started off with Romeo dead, then they were confused now. A murmur went through the room.

The Nurse peered from behind the curtain, whispering, "['There rust and let me die!'"

Aya rose the dagger high, then stabbed it into the platform she knelt on, "[I don't think so!"

The Capulets, Montagues, the Prince (Yuki), and the Nurse peered in from the curtains, looking confused and asking what was going on.

"[No. No. No!" Aya shook her head, stubborn.

The others muttered to each other.

Yuki stepped out, hurrying center and blocking Aya, "[A glooming peace this morning with it brings—"

Aya stepped out from behind him, "[Stop!"

Yuki stopped, looking confused. The others step from the wings, looking about, uncertain.

Finally, Takenaga – Shakespeare – pushes through, carrying a script and quill, "[Sorry, what? Why have we stopped?"

Aya turned to him, "[This is a love story."

Takenaga looked pleased, "[The greatest love story of all time."

Aya crossed her arms and looked dubious, "[So why do I have to kill myself every night?"

"[It's a tragic love story."

"[I'll tell you what's tragic – this is my favorite dress. And I've had to sew it up the front four hundred times, after soaking it in cold water to get the stains out. Not to mention the searing pain in my abdomen every night. Do you know how excruciatingly horrible it is to stab yourself in the stomach?" the other characters mutter supportively, and she continued, "[And what kind of lame-o plot twist is me waking up three seconds after he dies?"

Kyohei tried to shush her, rolling onto his side to tug urgently on her dress.

"[Don't you 'shh' me, Mr. Love at First Sight!"

Lady Montague came fully onto the stage, followed by the other Montagues, "[She's got a point, there. It is a little contrived."

Takenaga looked irritated, "[You know, you could be replaced with another Nurse."

"[I was just saying."

Aya burst in again, "[The messenger gets delayed my foot!"

Friar Lawrence and Friar John entered. Lawrence reasoned, "[That part is a little far-fetched. If I needed a man to go with me, why would I enter the plague-stricken house?"

Takenaga waved him off, "[Fine, fine, I'll give that bit to Friar John. He's the stupid one."

Friar John cried out, "[Hey!"

The Capulets came on stage.

"[Love stories don't end with funerals, they end with weddings! And people live happily ever after!"

Everyone else chorused an agreement.

Takenaga frowned, "[Excuse me, I am the greatest playwright in history and I know what I'm doing!"

"[You can't be that good if everyone can do your plays for free. It's the same thing every night! Wake up, fall in love, get married, kill myself. Wake up, fall in love, get married, kill myself. I am not doing this anymore."

"[You can't quit!"

"[Did I say quit? Did anyone say quit? I'm not quitting. I just want a better story. More love. Less death." She held out her hands.

Takenaga looked about, then handed over the script and pen.

Aya stared confusedly at the script, flipped it over, stared a little longer, then flipped it over again. Finally, she set it down on the platform, held the pen clenched in her fist, and tried to write on the paper.

Takenaga cleared his throat, "[Most Elizabethan women didn't read or write."

"[I get invitations!" she shot back defensively.

"[They're announced."

She looked around. A male Montague snickered. She looked like she might cry. Suddenly, she whipped around with the dagger in hand and advanced on Takenaga. The other characters huddled together.

"[I'm sure we can just figure out a better story if we just have a little goodwill, hmmm? Good will?" she threatened him with the dagger, then smiled sweetly, "[Thank you for writing in a dagger. I'm sure it's going to come in handy."

Takenaga put his hands up, "[Goodwill. Yes. Um. Perhaps you'd like to be in another play? The Taming of the Shrew ends with a wedding, and I'm thinking of putting in a sister…"

"[I've seen what happens to Kate in Act 3."

"[Most people find it funny."

"[Kate doesn't."

"[It's sometimes hard for the characters themselves to appreciate the overall effect…"

"[You think Hermia likes being abandoned in the woods by her boyfriend every Midsummer night?"

Takenaga began to look weary, "[It ends with a wedding. It ends with three weddings."

Aya stomped her foot, "[After being dragged through mud!"

Lady Capulet joined them, "[And that Tempest is so wet. Miranda's never going to shake that head cold."

"[It's a classic." Takenaga clarified.

"[More like a class-suck if you ask me. Suicide, wife-beating, horrible relationships—what have you got against women, anyway? How come there's not more of us here?"

Takenaga drew himself up, "[The Elizabethan acting company—"

Lady Montague stepped forward, "[You can't tell me some pre-pubescent boy knows more about being a woman than I do."

All the women began to move out of their huddles, agreeing.

Kyohei, still seated on the floor, rose his hand, "[What's pre-pubescent?"

"[Quiet down this minute all of you!" Takenaga snapped.

"[You can't make us!" the nurse yelled.

"[Oh yes I can! I don't have to write this play, you know! I have a great idea for an existential meditation set in Denmark."

Lady Montague rolled her eyes, "[Yeah, that'll pack 'em in."

Takenaga began to look desperate, "[You can't do this! You're—you're fictitious."

Aya grinned slyly, "[You're dead. We're even."

"[How come you remember the ending, anyway? Usually everyone just goes back to the green room and gets ready to start over!"

"[Four hundred years and it starts to sink in, Willy." Aya flipped her hair over her shoulder, "[If you don't write us a better story—without me dying—then I'm going to show up in every play you write. That girl you're thinking of?"

Takenaga looked startled, "[Ophelia?"

Aya called backstage, "[Come here, Ophelia!" A dazed looking girl with flowers in her hair stepped out. Aya narrowed her eyes at Takenaga, "[Nunnery's slang for brothel."

Ophelia burst into tears and ran out.

Takenaga looked like he might run after her, "[You can't do that!"

"[Oh yes I can. You think of us and we're there. You think we don't talk to each other when you're not around? You think we don't compare plots? I'm not just words on a page, this is my life."

"[I'll write you out!"

"[Maybe that works on messengers, servants, and spear-carriers, but you can't forget a major character and you know it. We just stick in your head until you have to get us out. If you ever want to write another play again, it's time for another draft."

Takenaga sighed, "[Well… what did you have in mind?"

"[First." Aya held up her index finger, "[More girls."

"[No!"

"[Desdemona!" a worried woman stepped from behind the curtain. Aya smiled at her, "[Start hand-washing your handkerchiefs or someone's going to steal one and use it to set you up."

"[What?" she asked.

"[Just trust me."

Desdemona nodded and left.

Takenaga watched her go, panicking, "[Stop doing that!"

'Juliet' turned and threatened 'Shakespeare' with her dagger, "[I will personally tell every single character what you're going to do to them. I will make a guest appearance in every play you ever write. I will haunt your dreams until you cannot write another word."

"[Fine. Fine. Fine! Do your own story and see what happens."

"[Friar Lawrence! You're Sister Lawrence now."

Friar Lawrence whipped off her monk robe to reveal a nun's habit.

"[Prince, you're a Princess."

The Prince took off her cape and tied it around her waist like a skirt.

"[Anyone who hasn't come on yet, you're a girl, OK? All right, everyone, we're going back to the beginning!"

Everyone hurried off stage, adjusting costumes and mumbling their lines.

"[Act one, scene one, get out here!"

Takenaga spoke up, "[It's Gregory and Sampson. Come on, boys!" at Aya's raised eyebrow, he amended, "[Girls. I'll… re-name them later. Right."

'Juliet' and 'Shakespeare' stood aside as Sampson and Gregory entered from one side, and Abram and some other Montagues from the other. They looked to Takenaga, who shrugged, then they looked to Juliet.

"[What goes here? I'm not on 'til scene three." She offered helplessly.

"[Oh, it's such a bad script, I'd be embarrassed to say…"

"[Titania!"

"[Fight! They fight!" Takenaga scrambled to answer.

Aya turned to the actors, "[Do some fighting stuff, all right?"

They took up manly positions, and Sampson began, "[Draw thy tool—here comes the house of Montagues."

"[Haha, you said 'tool.'" Gregory giggled.

Sampson seemingly ignored her, "[Quarrel, I will back thee."

"[Let us take the law of our sides: let them begin."

"[I will bite my thumb at them." Sampson bit her thumb at Abram.

The Montagues muttered angrily.

"[Do you bite your thumb at us, lady?" Abram scoffed.

"[I do bite my thumb, ma'am." Sampson replied.

Abram drew herself up, "[Do you bite your thumb at us? Are you bitin' your thumb at us? Are you bitin' your thumb at us? I don't see anybody else here, you must be bitin' your thumb at us! I got a thumb for you right here, and some elbow, too!" She bit her thumb, then flapped her elbow at Sampson. The Montagues gave each other high-fives.

"[Oh yeah?" Sampson bit her thumb, flapped her elbow, and wiggled her hand on her head making a 'weeweeweewee' sound.

Abram bit her thumb, then did a round of the chicken dance.

Sampson and Gregory glanced at each other, then quickly executed a round of the Macarena.

A Montague said to Abram, "[We just got served by the Capulets!"

"[All right, Capulets! Dance-off!" Abram shouted. Loud music started playing, and the three tried to out dance each other.

"[This is awful!" 'Juliet' shouted over the music.

Takenaga flourished his pen, and the music got softer, "[Yes, isn't it?"

"[Can't you just give me a chance? Give me one chance to change my story. Help me. Please. You're the one who knows how to do this."

Takenaga surveyed the dance-off, then sighed, "[All right, I'll help." Aya hugged him, and he jumped, "[Watch the dagger!"

"[Make them stop. Please."