Work Text:
[A music room, the dead of night. NATSUMI leans ‘gainst a wall in wait.]
NATSUMI
O treach'rous moon, that thou wouldst shut thine eye!
Become as dark as all the wicked schemes
That lovers, oth'wise star-crossed, dared to dream.
No moon, nor god, nor audience may pry -
Save one vexatious girl with rumored tact -
Lest well-laid plans succumb to faithless fact.
Rotate thy spotlight gaze beyond this lair.
This night, ‘tis light that most invites despair.
[The room is lit as SATO enters. NATSUMI cries in alarm.]
SATO
Crow, hush! ‘Tis not the hour to cough thy song.
NATSUMI
Rhinoceros! Within a coffin, thy
Stampeding would yet have me. Douse the light.
[SATO complies. The room is only moonlit now.]
SATO
Forgive me. I, too, tiptoe on the edge,
and teeter twixt great hubris and foreboding.
NATSUMI
To not forgive thy nerves would damn me, too.
This hour's for fear, and not for noise. We two
Must be as mice and not attract a cat.
Now pray tell, Sato, didst thou bring a cheat?
SATO
The SHSL Pharmacologist
Did yield to ungentle persuasion. Here.
Thy medicine, prescribed for feigning death.
[SATO presents a bottle.]
NATSUMI
God's blood. That life and death could be distilled
To an apothecary's potable.
SATO
Just life, not death, if measured properly.
Five milliliters bring three days of sleep.
Our ally Mahiru and I will to
Our hometown spirit thee. When wakest thou,
We'll plot anew.
NATSUMI
And Koizumi's aware?
SATO
Of course. I prithee, why the sour face?
Thou knowst her well by now.
NATSUMI
I know her ill.
In choler and in color, she's a tiger.
SATO
I concur, but never a more faithful
Friend could one conscript for such a task.
Once I this scene of murder fabricate,
She’ll back my hoax and frame that image well.
Withal, ‘tis late to doubt her loyalties.
NATSUMI
Then I shall trust her, too. [Aside] For lack of choice.
SATO
Your kin's the beast that stalks my waking dreams.
Should vengeful Fuyuhiko scry our plot -
NATSUMI
That leashéd dog? Nay, not a dog at all.
He lacks the bloodhound's nose, the pit bull's bite.
At worst, a rude chihuahua he evokes.
Protect thy heels to neutralize his threat.
SATO
He'll miss thee.
NATSUMI
He may.
SATO
Shalt thou miss him, too?
NATSUMI
Perchance. And Peko, too. Speak not of them,
Nor all the Kuzuryu clan. Though kin
We be, their kind I never could become.
My elder brother and the kendoka
Were hewn for bloody leadership, not I.
Let them adopt my grim inheritance,
The gift my mantled toughness earned, my lies.
Natsumi, soon, shall live. But first, she dies.
SATO
[Aside] Her graveness chills me. I must quash her fears.
[To Natsumi] They say a single kiss may be a bat
That strikes a thousand spheres beyond the wall.
NATSUMI
This “they” seems a uniquely cunning soul.
Or didst my lover's pronouns shift o'ernight?
SATO
Thou knowst my cunning kisses’ power. Shift
Thy skirt for me, pronounce me “lover” more.
NATSUMI
‘Tis not the hour for adolescent trysts.
And ‘sides, thy tongue doth always bid mine sing.
SATO
At least ‘tis not my pride that present aches.
NATSUMI
Imagine how I’ll greet thee when I wake.
SATO
‘Tis time, then? Take this juice in hand and drink.
I’ll hold you so you do not fall, but sink.
[NATSUMI plucks the vial’s cap, but stays her hand.]
NATSUMI
But what of Sato? Willst thou scorn all future
Joy for life uneasy, like a stray?
SATO
A life without you is a life astray.
From joy, all other paths would lead away.
NATSUMI
To think that many think us enemies.
SATO
A necessary evil for our plot.
NATSUMI
A plot that nervous chatter still defers.
For now, we end. Just three days more and we’ll
Have all our lives to jabber, joke, and waste.
The bliss we've shared thus far is but a taste.
SATO
One kiss?
NATSUMI
For luck?
SATO
Excuses do you need?
Then I’ll supply. One kiss for luck …
[They kiss.]
SATO
And one for death …
NATSUMI
I thinketh not!
SATO
I prithee, let me finish with my play.
One kiss for death …
[SATO pulls NATSUMI in for a kiss.]
SATO
And one for lives renewed.
NATSUMI
Thou bloody imp. Come pry it from my lips.
[They kiss deeply.]
NATSUMI
My killer, I have kissed. Farewell, my heart.
Someday, I’ll scream the story of our love.
SATO
‘Twill be no story, but a truth set free.
[NATSUMI imbibes a few drops of juice. She sinks into slumber as SATO caresses her. SATO uncaps a separate vial of genuine blood and pours it onto NATSUMI’s scalp.]
SATO
The beast within me panics at this sight:
My lover’s breast unmoving in the light.
A parting kiss I must hold back by force.
The poison on thy lips may slow my course.
I yearn to stay, but our conspiracy
Demands more work from Mahiru and me.
We'll reunite. I leave thy side for now.
Rest well, my love. Relaxed your troubled brow.
Dream not of factors lurking b'yond our scope.
When all is gone, there always must be hope.
[Exit SATO.]