16. Romeo & Juliet, Akazawa/Mizuki

The sad thing was that he had absolutely no idea how he'd gotten roped into this.

"Mizuki, it doesn't fit, how many times are you going to make me repeat that?!"

"Nonsense." Mizuki stuck his head through the curtain, eyeing Akazawa up and down. "...Oh. Hmm. Well, it's just a little tight, nothing that can't be fixed-"

"I can't get the zipper up at all," Akazawa interrupted, turning around and holding up his hair so that he could get a good look at his back in the full-length mirror. He frowned. "And why the hell am I the one wearing this anyway? You're obviously- Er." He cut himself off abruptly when Mizuki gave him a look.

"Obviously what, Akazawa-buchou?" Mizuki twirled a lock of hair, watching him expectantly.

Akazawa floundered. "Obviously...well." He lifted his chin a bit. "You're prettier."

"Nfu." Mizuki closed his eyes, chuckling. "I'm aware of my devastatingly gorgeous good looks, yes, but what you failed to point out is that I'm also much more manly than you and therefore would never be caught wearing..." He opened his eyes again, tilting his head to the side a bit. "That," he finished.

"...Mizuki," Akazawa said flatly. "We pulled this from your closet, it just hasn't been altered enough-"

"Enough babbling!" Mizuki cut in abruptly, spinning around with a flourish. "I'll get Shinya to find some safety pins or something, and then Atsushi needs to braid your hair still." He looked over his shoulder at the other boy. "Stop dawdling, would you? We don't have all day!"

"Mizuki," Akazawa said again.

Mizuki paused, giving him an exasperated look. "What is it now, Akazawa?"

Akazawa fluffed the many layers of the skirt he was wearing, frowning. "I still say you look better in purple."

"Clearly," Mizuki said with a roll of his eyes. "That was never a question. But you're Juliet, not me, and Romeo wouldn't dare wear a dress. Now hurry up, the school festival will be over by the time you're finished if you keep moving at a snail's pace. Snap, snap!"

"I hate whoever decided we should put on a play," Akazawa grumbled.

"That would be Nomura."

Oh. Well that didn't help; everyone already hated him anyway. "I hate whoever assigned the parts," he amended.

Mizuki smirked. "That was Kaneda, but he drew the names out of a hat."

The entire world was against him today. Akazawa sighed, and began fighting with the zipper of his dress again. "Where are you going?" he asked when Mizuki began to walk off.

"Nfu, you're not the only one who needs to be in costume. Romeo must go get for his debut appearance, too!" Mizuki said, winking. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Yuuta so he can help me get into my tights."

FIN