"Places everyone!" Mikagami Tokiya yelled through his Mega Phone, which he had successfully obtained from a cheap shop nearby called 'Barney's Trinkets…& Other Crud Like That'. They had a budget to follow, after all…

Seeing that he was largely being ignored by the cast, excluding a certain youko that was there for no apparent reason other than to be cute, Mikagami tried again, "Take your positions everyone!!" At Mikagami's command, no one took their positions, instead preferring to concentrate on a battle occurring between Recca and Kurei.

Recca, with a smug glint in his dark blue eyes, eyed his opponent for a minute, then said, "Kurei……Got any fives?"

Kurei characteristically remained stonily cold, muttering only, "Go fish." The silence that followed was unnerving, with only a slight murmur escaping here and there. Not one word was uttered as the tension grew thicker and thicker with each passing minute…

CLANG!!

At the sudden interruption, everyone turned around startled, shocked, but mostly annoyed that someone had oh-so-stupidly interrupted a serious battle between the two Flame Casters. Mikagami stood behind them, holding a pair of cymbals in his hands. No, he didn't have a death wish, though from the look that Kurei gave him it looked as if he would most certainly get it anyway, but *someone* had to get this fic going!

"I don't think you heard me too clearly the last time…" Mikagami said sarcastically, "So I'll just scream it out for you." Bringing the Mega-Mega Phone -which had originally belonged to the author of this fanfic, but obviously not anymore, and although how he had gotten it from said author *without* sustaining severe bodily injuries shall not be disclosed, it certainly had to do with several Mikagami plushies…and an anvil- to his lips, he hollered, "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE JOINED FROM THE HIP UPWARDS TO THE GUY STANDING BESIDE YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, THEN DAMMIT, TAKE YOUR POSITIONS RIGHT *NOW*!!!"

*That* certainly got their attention, and everyone started taking their positions. Domon, however, was subtly trying to get closer to Fuuko in hopes of being joined with her, body and soul. That, however, earned him a kick in the face from Fuuko herself, and Domon was sent to the clinic -which happened to be the janitor's closet since the original clinic was blown up earlier by Recca in an effort to test his fireworks indoors- to recuperate. "All right. Cue Yanagi's scene…" Mikagami had to all but croak that out, since his earlier holler had almost totally obliterate his vocal chords, and he wasn't too happy about it.

A shrill scream rang throughout the main hall, then silence. As everyone wondered what happened (okay, so only a handful of them wondered what happened, and the rest couldn't have cared less. There's absolutely zero point in telling who, though. It's not like anybody really cares who cared or not anyway…) Recca, who unfortunately went half-way deaf from standing too close to Yanagi's dressing room when she screamed in hopes of getting a 'glimpse' of her, said in a wobbly voice, "Maa….Hime..has…stage-fright…." Then he systematically collapsed as well, into the happy land of singing purple dinosaurs and flying pink elephants.

Mikagami was silent, several sweatdrops forming on his brow. Then he stalked off into a nearby room, coming out minutes later with a tray loaded with mountains of bottles of….aspirin. *Lots* of aspirins. Uncapping a bottle, Mikagami counted the number of tablets it would take to suppress the throbbing headache that threatened to pummel his head into oblivion (which would be around ten tablets), nodded to himself, and popped fifteen of 'em critters into his mouth. <Better safe than sorry…> *pop!* …Ahhh……Much better. Setting himself down onto the chair labeled 'Director', because he was the Director, he said, "…Fine. Since our two leading actors are out cold in la-la land….we'll skip that scene and move on to the dress-making part." A quick glance around the room… "WHERE are the mice and birds?!!"

Five seconds later, Koganei Kaoru was seen being carried out forcefully by Daikoku, accompanied by Kondo and Ganko, all three dressed up as mice, complete with ears and tails. Kaoru and Ganko looked positively gloomy, whilst Kondo was busy demanding why *he* wasn't acting the part of the prince. "All right, let's get this part over with!" Mikagami ordered. As Kaoru and the other two started their singing, everyone else got out their earmuffs. Mikagami had to admit, being a director had its perks (he was happy enough that he didn't need to act), but it looked as if even directors would have to suffer through some horrible moments as well. He winced as Kondo hit a really high note, thus making his voice sound worse than nails on a blackboard. It penetrated even the thick walls of his earmuffs!

One good thing *did* come out, though. The screech had managed, somehow, to awaken the unconscious Recca and, well…that *could* be considered good news…If it wasn't for the fact that a nearby anvil accidentally came crashing down from a railing high above (*please* don't ask me what it was doing there…) and landed right on the younger Flame Caster. This did not however, draw anybody's attention other than the reader's, for everyone else was positively teary-eyed from all the screechi-er, singing. As the song ended, and the dress shred to pieces, the 'mice' not being trained tailors, Mikagami pondered how much it would cost to get a tape recorder instead.

Yanagi came out right after that, obviously brought out from la-la land by the singing, and Saicho, being the all-around nice guy he was and the only one who probably *cared* what happened, asked, "What happened?"

Yanagi answered, "I caught Fujimaru trying to get a sneak peek into my dressing room, and so I bopped him on the head with a piece of furniture…which just happened to be my dressing table. At the same time though, a spare piece of wood had managed to 'accidentally' hit Recca-kun, who just 'happened' to be nearby and…" Saicho nodded and left the minute he heard Fujimaru's name. No point listening to something that Fujimaru was in, and that left Yanagi talking to Genjuro, who was nearby and had no choice but to listen since the author had already posted a 'no violence' rule on the fanfic.

Throughout that whole rant, the other members of the cast had already settled down for a game of poker. As soon as the rant was done, they got back to their positions and Mikagami shouted through his Mega Phone (the author had already taken back the Mega-Mega Phone), "Now that Yanagi's out…FUUKO!!!!!!!"

"Hey! You don't have to shout!" Fuuko cried out from her place beside him. Mikagami grinned and said, in a not-so-loud holler as Fuuko had taken out her Fuujin-chan when she saw his grin, "Time for narration."

Fuuko whined, "Why the *heck* couldn't I have gotten a *better* part?" "Don't tell me *you* want to be the ugly step-sister?! But then again, considering the way you look…" Fuuko whacked him upside the head and growled, "NO!" "Hey!" Mikagami yelled, looking up at nowhere, "I thought there was a 'no violence' rule on this fic!"

From nowhere a Chibi Tweety came, which was what the author used as her form of communication, and said, "You deserved it." C.T. stuck its tongue out, and left, and everyone else wondered what the heck that was for. Then Mikagami asked, this time directing his question to Fuuko, "What? *You* want to be Recca's future girlfriend?!" The tomboy *gets pummeled by said tomboy* I mean, FUUKO, mused, "Hmmm….Good point."

"OI! What's so wrong about being my girlfriend?!" Recca, who regained consciousness earlier but was not mentioned due to the author's laziness to write that part, asked. Yanagi smiled sweetly/glared at him (is that even possible?), and subtly dropped an anvil (many anvils on a Cinderella set here…) on his foot. "ITAI!!!" the Flame Caster cried out, and was promptly ignored by Mikagami and Fuuko, who were busy arguing over her part (which 'her'? You figure it out… *gets whacked by Mikagami*); and Yanagi, who was busy talking to Raiha who had *originally* came over to beat Mikagami to pulp for not casting him and Fuuko in the two main parts, but unfortunately his march was interrupted by said Yanagi…and the author has gone to stare at the FY wall scroll in her room in an effort to sooth her headache at trying to fit everything into one long sentence.

Everyone restarted their poker games, and the chibi voice that lived in the author's head decided to continue the fic. Sneaking away from Fuuko who was blushing like a strawberry (or any other red-colored fruit that exists in their world) when she saw Raiha, Mikagami took out his beloved Mega Phone, "Fine! We'll forget about the narration and do the last part…" Then he pikued as he looked around, sweatdropped and called for the first unlucky person he spotted, "Saicho! Go get Kurei, now!"

Saicho paled, muttered something about having a date with Misora, and scampered off quickly (and cutely ^^). Mikagami sweatdropped, then turned to Recca, "Hey, he's your brother. Go get him." Recca turned whiter than sheet, and silently prayed for an escape route like the one Saicho got. Unfortunately, the author (who had returned by now and kicked the chibi voice out of the way) was getting tired of stalling the inevitable and forced Recca to go anyway.

Recca, mumbling something about favoritism and the lack on his part, shuffled slowly to Kurei's dressing room…and found that he wasn't there. Recca beamed -now he wouldn't have to tell Kurei *that* piece of news!- but sweatdropped when he saw the multiple arrow-like beacons/signs saying stuff like 'Kurei this way!' or 'Meet Kurei here!'. Looking up, he asked, "I'm never gonna survive telling him this. You know that, don't you?" C.T. reappeared and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Recca looked…less than reassured (and he had good reason to…he was talking to a toy, for goodness' sake!). Following the signs, he knocked on the door…which happened to be the janitor's closet. This one, however, was the janitor's *other* closet since the first one was already taken up by Domon (who the author has yet to give any lines to…).

After ten minutes, Recca came out dragging Kurei by his robe. A not-so-close study would show that he had several burnt marks on his skin (Recca's skin, *not* the guy in the dress). The author was contemplating on making Kurei's robe 'accidentally' slip off around this time as a tribute to all the female fans, but a GLARE from the terrifying Caster of the Flame Flamingo (followed by several long drooling sessions at the very thought of it from Neon, Kurenai and the author herself ((who out-drooled the others by a long shot))) made her decide that it wasn't too good an idea.

"AHEM!" Koganei 'ahem-ed' loudly, pulling at Mikagami's…pants…and giving the author several pointed glares.

By the time the author finished explaining that she would *try* to finish this fic as soon as possible so that Koganei may start on his…activities…with Mikagami, with said Mikagami sweatdropping in the background, Recca (with help from no one since no one was stupid enough to actually *force* Kurei to do something) managed to get his brother on the stage. With a silent vow to make the author's life a miserable hell-on-earth after the fic, Recca left.

Mikagami, who had finally stopped sweatdropping long enough to move several feet away from the stage, said through his…well, you should know by now, so I won't say it, "Okay, places for the last scene for today…" Everyone involved in the last scene for the day slooooowly got on the stage and in place, while the others who *didn't* have anything to do with the scene moved several hundred feet away from the stage and started building a protective wall across the room. Before continuing, Mikagami looked up and asked, "Why can't *I* hide behind the wall too?!"

The author, who was sick of the Chibi Tweety and had promptly destroyed it a few seconds ago, sent instead a Chibi Sylvester in its place, which said, "No. You're the Director, so you've gotta stay with the scene 'till the very end." And then the Chibi Sylvester walked away, and again got promptly destroyed by the author because she never really liked Looney Tunes anyway. Mikagami groaned, muttered, "I *knew* there was a catch when she made me Director…" and shouted through his Mega Phone, which was the only thing between him and the growingly-furious Kurei, "Okay, Kurei…Say your line…"

Kurei snarled at him, and Recca gleefully shouted, from behind the wall of course, "Hey, that's *not* your line!" He got pummeled by Mikagami for that remark, and the gloomy Director said, "Kurei…Please…" <…don't kill me later…>

Sighing, Kurei mumbled, "…………"

Again Recca gleefully shouted, this time he said, "What did you say?"

And again he got pummeled by Mikagami. Yanagi and anyone else on stage sweatdropped as Kurei silently contemplated whether blowing the whole room up was worth it (and it would be, since that would undoubtedly stop him from saying his line) then decided that it wasn't worth it, since it would kill him too. And he couldn't die without at *least* killing the author first.

So, in a quiet voice, he said, "………Bippety boppity boo………"

There was silence…Then, in spite of himself, Mikagami started snickering. He was gradually followed by the rest of the cast, and Kurei decided he had had enough and promptly blew the room up. Unfortunately (for him, that is) the author had rented a fire-ice-water-wind-earth-music-bomb-everything-proof room and the only aftereffect of the blast was several crispy characters from a certain anime/manga series.

The author, unable to continue since she had fallen off from her chair laughing like a maniac, decided to end the fic now in order to spare herself from dying from lack of oxygen.

~The End~

Fuuko: And…just what was this whole fic about?

Mikagami: Excuse me? Since when did *she* ever write anything useful that actually had any point in being written in the first place?!

Fuuko: Hmm…I see your point.

Domon: HEY! I didn't even get more than a paragraph's mention in this entire fic!

Koganei: Lucky you.

Neon & Kurenai: Lucky *us* *start drooling again*

Kurei: *sweatdrop…and inches over to Raiha*

Raiha: *_*

Recca: Well, *I* got pummeled over and over again for nothing!!

Kurei: I liked those parts best.

Recca: But even *Hime* dropped an anvil on me!!

Saicho: Which reminds me, what in the world were *anvils* doing on a Cinderella set?

Mikagami: Like I said. She never writes anything useful.

Yanagi: I was Cinderella…How come I never got kissed by Recca?

Ganko: Because they never kissed in the story.

Recca: Then why the heck did she cast *us* in the leading roles?!!

Saicho: Must be from the lack of couples the series has.

Domon: Well, there's still me and Fuuko…

Fuuko: *uppercuts him* Baka! For the last time, we're *not* a couple!

Raiha: Yeah!

Kurei: *glare*

Raiha: Oops…

Domon: *goes flying up, up and awayyyyy*

Mikagami: A 6 pointer.

Recca: Nah. I give a 6.5

Fujimaru: Go, Fuuko, go!

Fuuko: *punts Fujimaru too*

Saicho: Why'd you do that?

Fuuko: Because he's a creep.

Recca: But he didn't *do* anything to you.

Fuuko: So? He's still a creep.

Yanagi: Yeah!

Lynn-chan: Enough!!!!!! *shuts curtain*

~REAL The End~

'Important' Notes:

1) Saicho really did have a date with Misora, only that he was late because of the play and was in the end punished by said Misora ^^ HOWEVER, since the author thinks that Saicho is such a sweetheart to *everyone* (excluding Fujimaru a.k.a. O Perverted One…but then again, no one's a sweetheart to him, so…) he deserved a break and so he gets to take Misora (the lucky gal!) out to the amusement park *after* he finished scrubbing the floors for a whole week ^.^

2) Mikagami landed in the hospital after being blasted by Kurei, got plenty of get-well-soon fanmail from his many fans (most of them happening to be girls…), and everyone chipped in to pay his hospital fee as thanks to him for casting Kurei in the part of the fairy godmother (y'see, because of his line as the fairy godmother, Kurei-kun got mad and blasted everyone ((including himself)) into crispy FoR charas ((Mikagami getting hit the worst)) thus landing everyone in the hospital ((the Director in ICU)), and because of *that* the play couldn't be held, and so they were thankful)

BTW, did I mention that it wasn't Mikagami who did the casting, but meeeee?? ^o^ Of course, the others didn't know that, and thought that it was Mi-chan… MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

3) I hold absolutely *no* grudge against Koganei's singing ^^;; I've never heard him sing before actually, and included that part solely because I thought it'd be too serious if I made him sing *beautifully* Oh yeah, and I made him one of the mice cos I saw a piccy of him in a cat suit, and thought that a mouse suit would be just as good ^_^

4) I also hold *no* grudge against Recca-chan. I was in a rut when I started this fic, and decided to pound on him a little to let off steam. Then I realized just how fun it was and decided to pound on him some more ^^

5) Mikagami *did* finish all those aspirins he brought out (most of them taken in a large gulp during the last scene with Kurei). The author was just too lazy to say when and where and all that stuff, and decided not to say anything about it at all…until now, that is.

6) The store 'Barney's Trinkets…& Other Crud Like That' was created by me, the author, and therefore belongs to me. Anyone who wants to use it, feel free to do so cos I doubt that anyone would actually have the right mind to use something as dumb-sounding as that.

7) The characters of Flame of Recca and the concept of Cinderella are properties of their respective owners (FoR to Nobuyuki Anzai, and Cinderella to I-don't-know-who). The concept of using the FoR charas in a Cinderella-ish fic was created by me, Lynn-chan. This means that the fic itself belongs to me.

8) I have no more notes to put down and if you're still reading this then it would mean that you're really, really bored…or just like reading stuff like this.

Arigatou for reading the fic (even as far as this), and C&C are always welcomed!!

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The End!

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