SQS Romeoness SS - 7/4/2023

[nebulancer]

🌹A story of meeting you again🌹

 

Tokyo, 2023. Early summer.

 

In the back alleys of a street a good distance away from the hubbub of the big city, that shop existed.

 

Beautifully-shaped but time-worn furniture, lamps, picture frames, birdcages, and many books with various letters dancing across the spines.

It seemed as if it were a book dealing in antiques.

Perhaps it was due to the mud wall-styled walls and its effect. Past the windows, slightly clouded over... One could see that there were all sorts of various knickknacks lined up, even when passing by, and it produced a unique atmosphere.

 

A nameless guest stepped into the shop during a rather unusual time, when the blazing summer sun was at its peak, glittering in the sky.

 

The young man, with a personality that changed to benefit the situation, worked as an apprentice of a certain cameraman. He collected small props for photoshoots.

 

And (s)he, a curious person who always sought out a thrill, worked in a promotional company. That one had an interest in the shop itself.

 

Like they were fellow companions, the two of them turned the doorknob.

 

clang.

 

And yet again, clang.

 

The cowbell that was attached to the door rang out refreshingly for two people’s worth.

 

“Like, what do you even mean, ‘Anything’s fine, just get me something that’ll be picturesque’...? Jeez.”

The apprentice cameraman grumbled about his instructor’s vague instruction as he walked throughout the shop.

 

The shop interior, despite seeming small at first, was bigger than he’d imagined.

Its confined layout and the foreign items scattered around made the place seem as if it were a movie set.

The dust sparkled with the summer sunlight that streamed through the window. One would think that even the dust looked picturesque.

 

He felt as if he could find something good.

 

With a hunch like that making his heart thrum with excitement, he picked up several items, put them back, and repeated the activity.

A dated small plate.

A picture made of porcelain.

A heavy metal key.

All of those could be usable... and with his sights set on various items, the young man’s feet naturally walked deeper and deeper into the shop.

And his eyes settled on a book lying in a corner, which seemed as if it were covered with an extra level of dust compared to the other products around it.

 

“ROMEO”

 

For some reason, that title drew the young man’s heart towards it.

 

“......Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, maybe?”

 

The young man naturally reached out towards it.

That book fit in his hands with an unexpectedly great weight and thickness.

 

The title’s letters and a single rose was embossed on the front cover of the truly ancient-looking leather front cover.

With his other hand, he traced the faint unevenness.

There, another faint level of dust had been piled up.

How long had this book gone untouched, lingering in this place?

 

——At that moment.

 

The other guest who had arrived at the shop at nearly the same time was standing in one of the aisles, one shelf off from the location the young man was standing.

 

Eyes sparkling at all the unfamiliar products, that person’s legs kept moving forward and forward like that of an explorer’s.

They stopped at a desk with beautiful oak wood grains.

However, their gaze was not stolen away by the desk itself, but rather, the flower vase... no, the single rose that was sitting in the flower vase.

 

It wasn’t in the wrong location. Yet it felt out of place.

 

The glass vase had an incredibly simple shape. The single rose inside it sparkled with the light coming from the spaces in between the ventilation duct, sparkling as if it were made of magic.

The presence of the rose filled with vitality, lined up next to the time-worn antique products, was impactful.

 

“I wonder... if this is also one of the items they’re selling?”

 

(S)he naturally reached out towards it.

 

The young man took the book into his hand.

 

At the moment (s)he picked up the rose.

 

As if led to each other, the two’s gazes settled on one another through the gaps in the bookshelves.

 

“———!”

 

The two of them instinctively stopped breathing.

 

Without even exchanging a word, feeling out each others’ presences, they realized that there was something wavering within their hearts.

As if something had crept in from another world.

As if a mysterious power was spilling out of that book and out of that flower.

 

They remembered that the other was “Romeo” and “Juliet.”

After that moment, the nameless young man’s self had turned into Romeo, and the nameless person’s self had turned into Juliet.

 

Though feeling bewildered by this strange incident, they felt as if a brand new story had begun between the two of them.

Flames that blazed even hotter than the summer sunlight wrapped the two of them, and deep inside their hearts, an emotion resembling a melody intersected.

 

They both went around the bookshelf separating them, seeing eye-to-eye. Locking gazes.

There was no obstacle blocking them off anymore.

 

The hand they wanted to reach out back then.

 

The words they wanted to say back then.

 

They reached out, their fingertips touching.

This was no illusory dream world. A real warmth was right there.

 

(Aah......)

 

I wanted to meet you.

I’d always wanted to meet you.

Their tears spilled over.

 

“”Um, excuse me...!””

 

＊＊＊

 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be wearing Romeo and Juliet-styled fantasy fits in the freaking summer... God, it’s so hot~!”

 

“The pictures themselves will be displayed in winter, after all. (wry laugh) Let’s hang in there, Ichiru.”

 

“Fufufu~. Bring on the thick and rich costumes! Romeo and Juliet is basically our standard at this point! Like a forte, if you will? Right, Dai?”

“Uh, I don’t think you should call it a forte...?”

“Wha... I don’t look good in a dress?”

“You do. ...Don’t give me that. What kinda nonsense are you making me say?”

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry. Thanks, Dai. You look cool, too!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

 

“Still, I’m happy that they specifically nominated us for this offer. It pumps me up. I’m so motivated!”

“Yeah, okay. Save that motivation for when you’re standing in front of the camera.”

 

“......I understand why Rikka-san and Dai-san have been chosen, but... it’s quite unexpected that we’re also a part of it.”

“True that!”

“You think so?”

“I guess so.”

“No... Ever since that incident, I’ve personally thought that you guys had a deep connection with Romeo and Juliet too.”

“That incident?”

 

“...Oh, that cursed book! I remember it every time Golden Week comes around!!”

“What was it again, out-of-season influenza? (wry laugh)”

“A huge journey through the illusory dream world. Plus, we got to take a week off of break!”

“All sorts of things about that were incredible. Do Gravi and Procella go through that stuff all the time?”

“I don’t think we should touch on that topic.”

“But y’know~. That sorta thing was a secret among our group. Nothing to do with the offer, right?”

“Well... yeah...”

 

knock knock.

 

“Sera-san, Murase-san. Kuga Issei-san, Kuga Ichiru-san. We will be in your care for today!”

“I’m the cameraman’s assistant, ___.”

“I am the organizer of this promotion, ___! Everyone...”

 

“We’ve met again!”

 

ーFinー