| Act IV,
Scene 1
"You want to do this when?!" Jewish Friar Aohiki said. Jin sweatdropped. "On Thursday. Lord Capulet wants the wedding soon, and I ain’t complaining." He smirked hornily. "But what about Keikou? Doesn’t she have a say?" Jin shrugged. "Well, she’s been crying over Plush’s death so I ‘aven’t gotten a chance to flirt with ‘er, but we think a marriage ta someone as wonderful as me’ll cheer her up." He then nodded. "So now ya know the reason." "You just can’t rush into things like this, though. I don’t see why it can’t be postponed. Oh, here comes Keikou now." Jin saw Keikou enter the temple and bounded over to her. "Good to see ya, m’lady and wife!" He wiggled his ears. "That may be, sir," Keikou said coldly, "when I may be your wife." Jin laughed playfully. "That ‘maybe’ must be, love, on Thursday." "What must be shall be." Keikou continued, glaring at him. "Chya. No kidding." Cut in Aohiki. Jin ignored her as he continued. "Did ya come to confess ta Friar Aohiki?" he asked, wiggling his ears. "To answer that, I must confess to you." Keikou replied with cold eyes. He winked at her. "Well don’t deny to her that ya love me!" "I will confess to you that I love her." Jin smirked again. "So will you, I’m sure, that ya love me." "If I do so," Keikou looked at him blankly, "it will be more value being spoken behind your back, rather than to your face." Jin stopped his smirking and looked at her, placing one hand on her cheek. "Poor soul, yer face is abused with tears…" he murmured. Keikou shook his hand off. "My face was bad enough before tears ruined it." "Ya hurt your face more than the tears with that statement…" he said, caringly putting his arms around her. Keikou didn’t try to pull out of his grasp this time, but she didn’t lean against him either. "That is no slander, sir, which is truth, and what I spoke, I spoke to my face." Jin stroked her hair gently. "Your face is mine, and you’ve hurt it." he whispered caringly. "It may be so, for it is not my own." She looked at Friar Aohiki. "Can I speak to you now, or shall I come later?" "I’m so busy, but I shall make room for you. Jin, do you mind if we have some alone time?" "Well, Kami-sama forbid I should disturb you two!" he said sarcastically. He then turned to Keikou, grinning again. "Keikou, early on Thursday I’ll wake ya with m’ears wigglin’ with excitement." He grinned happily. "Till then, this kiss’ll have ta hold ya." He kissed her for a few seconds, and then bounced out of the temple happily. Keikou waited until he had left, then she dropped to her knees and wiped her mouth off. Fresh tears started to flow from her eyes. "Oh, shut the door, and when you have, come weep with me, past hop, past care, past help…" Keikou murmured as she put her face in her hands and cried. "I’m sorry, Keikou. But not even money can buy this problem away. You are to marry Jin on Thursday." Keikou lifted p her head and looked at friar Aohiki with her tear-streamed face. "Don’t tell me that unless you can tell me how to prevent it! And if you cannot help me," she reached to her belt and pulled out her dagger. "then this knife shall finish it off." Aohiki gave her a sad look. "My heart and Touya’s were joined, and I will never be with anyone else, so please, if you have no advice, I would rather die than marry Jin." "Stop, Keikou! I want to see you live. It is braver to live and marry Jin, then to take your own life." Keikou glared at her. "Braver? To live and be miserable, rather than die and be happy?" "Look! If you wish to be alive and happy, Jewish Friar Aohiki’s get the cure to all your problems!" "I will do anything if it will keep me from marrying Jin!" Keikou cried desperately. Aohiki’s voice dropped into a sly whisper. "Here’s the plan. Go home and accept Jin’s proposal. Wednesday night- tomorrow night, make sure you are utterly alone in your room. Only then, chug all of this down." She pulled a small glass vial out of her robes and showed it to Keikou. "It works immediately; in every single one of your veins, the potion will spill, turning them to ice. Your face will become ashen, your breath will shorten, and the look of cold death will be upon your whole. However, in two days, you shall awaken from a peaceful sleep. In the vault of your passed kin, Touya and I shall wait for your eyes to flutter open." "Give it to me!" Keikou yelled as she reached for the vial of potion Aohiki was holding. Aohiki handed it to her. "Now," she hissed, "Be gone. Be courageous, and everything will fall into place. I will send someone to deliver a message to your husband." "Thank you, dear Aohiki." Keikou mumbled as she quickly ran out of the temple. |