The Other Me
Chapter Seven: Beauty Runs Only Skin Deep
By: Sci-Fi Raptor
Disclaimer: See Chapter Four
Rated R for content and language…
You can learn more about the Bugatti Veyron from their site or from howstuffworks com
Sorry for the not-as-long chapter, but it was getting too big, so I broke it into two… And I seem to just be free writing, so it's not as intense as the previous one…
I'm actually three chapters up :) , but I realized ppl were getting very ooc (Keitaro dun count though), so I have to give those unreleased chapters crazy overhauls to make up for not fixing them sooner… so, sorryabout the inevitable delay…
One last thing; I have no idea why I'm doing the song thing before every chapter now. So don't ask. Period. Now stop wasting your time reading this and move on already! (I know you people worship my stories like religious texts, but damn… :P )
(-O-)
Crawling in my skin
Consuming all I feel
Fear is how I fall
Confusing what is real
There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
Consuming/confusing
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending
Controlling/I can't seem
To find myself again
My walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before
So insecure
-Linkin Park (Crawling)
(O)
Though the attack had already been dealt for quite some time now, Xiao-Mei stood as still as a statue the whole time. She looked down at her sword and her opponent.
Keitaro slowly got up, as if he had just woken up from a long nap. He walked up to her and soaked in the sight, suddenly able to see in the dark like a night owl. Xiao-Mei was clutching tightly onto her sword, which was impaled through her own abdomen.
"H-how did this happen? How could I have lost!" she finally said in utter disbelief. How did he make me stab myself? Keitaro slowly went up to her and put his hands over hers, noting how smooth her skin was. He then thrust forward, causing the sword to go all the way through. Xiao-Mei bent forward from the thrust and started coughing out blood. The drops of dark red fluid fell with a pitter-patter, enlarging the already growing pool of blood that came from her sword wound.
Her legs became jelly and she was about to fall, but Keitaro caught her and held her up. He put his hands where the sword had entered and exited from and closed his eyes. Xiao-Mei felt a sudden calmness setting over her as her pain ebbed away. When she was conscious again, she found that Keitaro was standing in front of her, smiling. The look on his face was ghastly, though, for there was still a dagger in his left eye, while the other one was unnaturally dilated.
"Tell this to your masters," he said in a voice dripping with hatred. "If they ever attack me anywhere near Hinata-sou, the Yakuza will be no more…"
"Why should I do this?!" she spat back defiantly. Before she finished blinking, Keitaro was in front of her again, hand holding the sword that was sheathed within her innards.
"Because, at any point of my choosing," he said, twisting the sword a bit and causing her indescribable pain. "I can undo what I have done to let you pass on my little message… Is that clear, woman?"
"Y-yes," she stuttered, wanting the pain to go away. She hadn't realized that he somehow managed to heal her injury with the sword still in her body. He let go and stood next to her for a few moments, drinking in her beautiful face. He lifted his good hand up and caressed her face. For some reason, the soft white light of the moon made him seem pale and even more ghastly, enhanced by the fact that there was still a dagger in his left eye.
"You know, you have such a lovely face," he said, a bit of mischief edging on his voice. "I want it!" he said, an evil glint in his eye. He held her up in the air by he throat with his good hand, while the other, somehow miraculously healed, grabbed the dagger from his eye and held it against her skin.
He started cutting her face off.
A bloody scream echoed through the night, making grown men to pee their pants and little children run screaming to their mothers.
(O)
Shinobu was starting to get worried. No one had seen Keitaro since they had come back from their… date. ITS NOT A DATE! she scolded herself. She asked around the house to see if anyone had seen him, but all the answers she received were nugatory, except for Motoko's, who replied cryptically, "Probably burning in the pits of hell…" with a straight face.
Throughout her questioning she found out that Naru, Sarah and Mitsumi were to leave the next day for their respective families, since it was summer already and they really missed them. (Naru learned the importance of family when she studied there the day before the test…) Motoko said she'd also leave for a kendo club retreat, since she felt that "the girls were no longer in any more imminent danger." When Kitsune got wind of Motoko's leaving, she grabbed a backpack she had in her closet and said "good luck with Su," as she hightailed it out of Hinata-sou. She barely heard her say that she was "gonna write poems and junk to get to know herself and find her motives for being so sexy…"
This left her where she started and all she did was worry. I hope he's alright… Aaauuu… last time he was gone so long, he came back with a cast and then he was mad at everyone and Aaauuu…
"Gack!" someone blurted. Shinobu looked under her and saw Su sprawled over the ground, nose bleeding and eyes swirling.
"Kaolla! What are you doing down there?!" Shinobu squeaked, tightening her skirt around her legs.
"Banana… panties…" she drooled.
(O)
(Back to Keitaro)
He held the cold, petite patch of skin in his hands, its owner long since gone. It had thickened a bit and, for some reason, hardened until it was of the quality of tire rubber. This would look good on Shinobu, the three-time ronin thought, imagining her using it as a mask. But then, it would probably look good on anyone…
As he made his trek back to the Hinata-sou, he reached into his pocket for another fag. He lit it up, doing his best to savor it since he had finally exhausted his stores, and took a long deep drag. The drug took immediate effect and his step became a bit more relaxed.
God these are good… he thought. He continued walking on, as if nothing had just happened. As if the hide he had accidentally dropped had never been in his possession.
Thud! Silence. Crickets chirped. Thud, thud-thud! More silence.
"ARGH!" screamed someone in the darkness. Keitaro was suddenly surrounded by smoke and he had the slightest sensation that maybe he was being attacked. When the smoke cleared, he could see something hanging over his face. He took the unknown article off and saw that it was a large boot. When did a large boot decide to take a ride on my head? He wondered. Oh well, it seems like good company… he put the boot back on his head and walked along as if nothing had just happened.
"YOU FREAKING MORON!!!" that same someone screamed. He looked back and saw a silhouette of someone behind him. No longer possessing the vision of a night owl, all Keitaro could make out was that the person was male and he was holding onto something. "ARE YOU FUCKING STONED OR SOMETHING?"
"Stoned?" Keitaro asked, confused. He felt something in his mouth and took it out with his hand. It was a spent fag. "I guess I am!" he laughed, hand on the back of his head. For some reason, his left eye itched, so he balled a fist to soothe the sensation. Subsequently, he felt a yawn coming and used the same hand to cover his mouth. "Wow, I'm tired… what time is it?"
"Oh my God, this fucking jerk off!" the person said again and raised the something. Thudathudathudathudathud! Keitaro's face was now covered with BB pellets.
"AH!" Keitaro shouted and clutched his face, the major effects of the drug dispelled. He then picked his nose and flicked a slimy pellet back at the offender. "Watch where you're pointing that! You could take an eye out!"
"Finally!" he said, ranting, stomping his way to the ronin. "I've been gunning you for the longest time and you didn't even notice till now!" Then something clicked in his head. "Hey, I know that scream! You're that weirdo Asian that gets sent flying every weekday morning, aren't you? How come you haven't been flying recently? It's so much more convenient to wake up to your blood curling screams than my alarm clock. I've been late to classes recently thanks to you!"
"Well, I got tired of it all…" he said, nonchalantly. "Oh yeah, how rude of me, my name's Keitaro Urishima. Nice to meet you!" he said, extending his hand for a shake.
The other person sweat dropped. I just insulted him after filling his face with freaking BB pellets! Is this guy for real? He looked to see Keitaro's face and saw him flashing a smile. His drop grew as he hunched forward. He's just really stoned… "Yurislovak Ivanovich Kerensky…" he said, meeting Keitaro's energetic hand with a tired one. I should just take him home to keep him from hurting himself, he thought after seeing him burp and laugh. I mean, he did wake me up on the dot all these months…
When Keitaro woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar room. His hand unconsciously went to his left eye, but there was nothing unusual about it. The room was strangely decorated. The table next to the chair he was sitting in was covered with those hollow Russian dolls that go into each other. The whole room seemed to follow their theme. The chair he was sitting on was really a gigantic version of one of them and the bed across from him sported sheets and pillowcases with pictures of various dolls. The walls were covered with wallpaper of similar designs. The computer table on the other side of the bed sported a doll shaped lamp and the computer's screen saver showed the dolls coming out of each other and then going back in. Before Keitaro could ask the obvious question, a voice asked, "So, how do you like my room?"
"Its weird…" Keitaro said offhand, even though he couldn't see the speaker. "But it is interesting," he added in after thought.
"Ha! That's a first. No one I've ever kidnapped ever said that!"
"That's nice…" Keitaro said looking over the strange wares again. "So, where are you?" Keitaro asked when he smelled something acrid in the air.
"Here," Yurislovak answered.
"Where's here?" Keitaro asked, not seeing him.
"Here dammit!" Yurislovak said again and stood up. He had been kneeling on the ground on the other side of the bed, where Keitaro couldn't see.
"Oh!" Keitaro said and walked up to him. He seemed to be working on something, but then he stood up, beaming.
"Finally! Now I can intercept people's phone calls!" he said, holding a circuit with a tin can hanging off of it. Strewn over the floor was a soldering kit and circuit components. "Hey, you must be bored, lets go play some video games!" he said, throwing the contraption to his bed and dragging the just recently conscious ronin with him.
His entertainment system is so awesome! Keitaro thought when they arrived. His choice of vocabulary was very conservative for what he saw. The entertainment system was situated in a room with a large white wall that was lit by a projector that most people didn't even know about. Hooked up to the projector was a sound system that encompassed the whole room (complete with sub-woofers), a gigantic tower that was lit up with internal fans and neon tubes, most modern consoles, a wicked DVD player and an antenna.
"You don't get cable?" Keitaro asked, dumbfounded how he could have all that but not cable.
"I don't want it. All that stuff just makes you dumb and keeps you from doing more important things like sniping people with BB guns."
"Ah," Keitaro simply answered. He took a seat in the couch that his new acquaintance pointed to. "So, what are we gonna do now?"
"I'm gonna kick your ass in Need for Speed Underground!" he answered, jumping into the couch next to him. He threw a controller at him just as the lights faded away. The bare wall was suddenly illuminated and the pre-game stuff happened. At the settings menu, he chose a customized car of his own, while Keitaro was forced to take a stock car. Before he knew what was going on, the race was already counting down to the start.
"Hey, I don't even know how to use controls!" Keitaro said in dismay.
"Don't worry, I'll still have fun," Yurislovak said, completely engrossed with the game now. He and the computer opponents burned out at the last seconds while Keitaro desperately tried to figure out how to use the controls. The race started and the three more experienced players darted forward. Keitaro, however, ended up going backwards.
Dope! The next few hours kept on going on like that until Keitaro finally understood the controls and got used to the car. However, he knew he was at a really big disadvantage since the other three player's cars seemed to go so much faster than his. He asked his new friend about that and he admitted that the stock cars weren't stoked up like the customs were. He restarted the settings and gave Keitaro a car with fair tuning.
The race started again and Keitaro was finally getting the hang of things. He had been watching Yurislovak's hands when he was doing stunts and he managed to copy them. In no time, Keitaro was peeling out, drifting and turning on his front two wheels.
"Wow, Keitaro, you've improved so much over so little time!" he said in surprise. "You're a natural at this!" Before Keitaro could reply though, the race started on a new map, one that Keitaro had never played against him before. "Now lets see you win against me now!" Yurislovak had been a sore loser from the last round, since Keitaro actually came in first, and figured that he would not lose if they played on a map that only he had ever raced. He was surprised, however, that Keitaro managed to keep up with him the whole time. He was happy that he won, but he didn't have the incredible lead he expected. The two played video games till sunrise, like little kids during the summer and got to know each other a bit more.
A little after sunrise, Keitaro and Yurislovak were spent and were almost asleep. Before they went unconscious, Keitaro blurted out a question that had been on the back of his mind the whole night. "Your parents must be really rich for you to be able to afford all of this!"
Yurislovak took a while before answering. "My dad's just a cop. All of this came from my mom before the Yakuza stole her from me," he said, delving deeper into his past then he'd ever done with a stranger, or anyone else in fact. He went to sleep, reliving those troubled times. Fortunately for him, though Keitaro was already out like a light before he had finished.
Later that evening, after the two had groggily gotten up and played more videogames, Yurislovak said he wanted to show something to Keitaro before he had to go home.
"So, what's this super-cool thing?" he asked, wondering what the mystery was about.
"You'll see," Yurislovak said knowingly. They had to go outside to see this thing and it was the first time Keitaro got to see Yurislovak's house… consciously. It alone blew him away. Though the property size was roughly half of the Hinata-sou, the building itself was almost double the mansion. Not to mention that it was fairly new and modernized.
"And here it is," Yurislovak said, opening one of the three independent doors of his three car garage. After seeing how impressive his house was, Keitaro waited in agonizing anticipation for Yurislovak's 'super-cool thing.' And what Keitaro saw woke up his until-now dormant 'little friend.' He stared at it while Yurislovak beamed at his prized possession.
Inside his garage was the just recently introduced Bugatti Veyron, the only civilian super car (that I know of) with 1001 hp…
(O)
Needless to say, Keitaro didn't go home that day. After seeing the metallic beauty, there was no way he could resist a 'quick ride' through the countryside. They ended up going from one end of Japan to the other and back. Naturally, Keitaro wasn't allowed to drive, but he didn't mind; just being in the car was mesmerizing. Not only was it a crazy fast car that not even the cops could catch up to (they had a few run ins with the law for speeding, though they were too quick to get ticketed), it was also a luxury car that had a kick-ass sound system and satellite TV. Keitaro watched them being chased on the news while the cops were on their tail… They had stayed up all night for this little road trip and they had finally come back to their hometown. They finally pulled over in front of Hinanta-sou and Keitaro got off.
"You sure you don't wanna stay over?" Keitaro asked one last time.
"And leave my baby to the elements?" Yuri said with zealous overprotection.
"No way in Hell!" they both said simultaneously and laughed. "I'll come over tomorrow then?" Keitaro asked. Yurislovak was insistent on a rematch, writing off Keitaro's winning streak at the end of the night as beginner's luck.
"Hellz yeah!" he said. Keitaro closed the door carefully and waved goodbye. Revving his engine loudly, Yurislovak pulled away, tires screeching off of the asphalt. Keitaro started the long trek up to the Inn. On the way, Haruka called to him as he passed by the teashop.
"Keitaro, come over here. Sit, we need to talk," she said, referring to the external tea-drinking location she was sitting on just outside her shop. It was basically a small table with an umbrella on top surrounded by a few chairs.
Oh boy… Keitaro thought. He had seen this talk coming, but it didn't mean he looked forward to it.
"I know, I know aunt Haruka (smack)… Haruka-san. I should stop being so mean to the girls and go back to my normal self…" he said, sitting next to her.
"Actually, I just wanted to know where you've been the last two days. The girls have been worried sick about you," she said, really just referring to Shinobu, since Su counts as a monkey.
"Really?" Keitaro said, his old energy back, but then he regressed. "Whatever, they don't really care what happens to me. I've learned that all they want from me is to use me, either to abuse my responsibilities as a manager, or to use me as a rag doll," he said, still referring to Naru and Motoko.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, I really do. But I'm really interested about what you've been up to lately," she said, taking a sip of her tea. Keitaro put his hand to the back of his head.
"I was just over at my friend's house, playing videogames," he chuckled. "Nothing serious.
"So I'm guessing that that was your friend that just dropped you off?" Keitaro nodded. "He seems to have a unique car there. Are you sure you were only playing videogames?" she said, motioning with her head for him to look at the table.
He looked down and saw a newspaper. Smack dab on the front page was a picture of Yurislovak and him being chased by a mob of police cars. His mouth gaped wide open.
"Awawaaa…" he mouth spoke, making unintelligible noises. Oh shit…
"You're lucky that only a small newspaper like this decided to cover the story," she said. "You and your friend might wanna lay low for a while." With that, she stood up and went back into the shop. Before she went in, though she said, "It's alright to have fun once in a while, but be careful about what games you play."
Keitaro sat out there, not exactly sure what to make of her advice.
As Haruka watched Keitaro continue up, she realized that she should have been less cryptic with her warning. But seriously, those new Pokemon games are really, really stupid…
(O)
Keitaro slipped in quietly, hoping that none of the girls would notice him and leave him be. As he walked past the dining room, he heard a cute girls voice saying, "Stop staring at that Su!" Suddenly curious, he decided to see what was going on. He walked into the kitchen just as Shinobu said, "Fine! If you wont stop looking at it, I'll just give it to you!"
When he walked in, he saw Shinobu taking off her panties while a drooling Su stood next to her in anticipation, her head going down with the said article.
"AH! SEMPAI! DON'T LOOK!" Shinobu said.
"Heya Keitaro! Let's play!" Su said, jumping and magically landing into Keitaro's arms bridal style.
Awkward! Keitaro thought, turning around quickly and walking away.
"Ah! Sempai! It wasn't what you think it was!" Shinobu said, running to him to explain the situation. Her face was flustered even though she was decent again.
"Whatareweplaying? Whatareweplaying?…" Su chanted all the while.
"Give me a second," Keitaro said, wanting to deal with Su first. He set her down on her feet and whispered something in her ear. Su, suddenly dressed in a GI outfit, saluted him and said, "Yes Sir! Commander Pervert, Sir!" and marched away with purpose in her step.
"What did you tell her to do?" Shinobu asked.
"I asked for a favor," he said simply. "I hope it keeps her busy for some time, but knowing her, she'll build something weird and get the job done quickly, but somehow end up blowing me up!" he said, laughing; Shinobu didn't notice the bitterness in the laugh. The two shared the laugh and then stood there silent. Shinobu suddenly turned red when she remembered why she as there in the first place. She explained to Keitaro how Su had a sudden fixation over her banana panties and kept on lifting her skirt to drool at it. Keitaro took this in stride and replied that everyone was bound to end up in weird situations like that. Shinobu was surprised that he didn't dribble blood from his nose at the mention of looking at panties, especially between two girls.
"Well then, I'll go back to the dishes," she said.
"If you don't mind, I'll help you," Keitaro said and started walking to the kitchen without waiting for an answer.
"Really, its alright…" Shinobu said meekly, though she really did want him to help. They went to the kitchen and stood side by side. Unconsciously, Shinobu shifted closer and closer to him. Their hands touched a few times, causing Shinobu to blush, while Keitaro just smiled at her.
Sempai seems so normal today… Shinobu suddenly remembered. I wish we could be alone like this more often… she continued and her mind suddenly generated scenarios that would result after said hypothetical situations. Shinobu blushed deeper.
I feel like I'm forgetting something… Keitaro thought after a while. Wasn't I supposed to give Shinobu something? He tried remembering what happened the night before. All he could remember were shadows and blurry images. A mask! Something in his head shouted. That stupid bitch's face! It shouted again. Face? He asked himself. Suddenly he felt pain all over his left arm and a sharp pain in his left eye. Keitaro's legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground, tightly clutching his left arm with his right and straining his eyes.
Shinobu heard his scream before she heard him fall. "Sempai!" she screamed fearfully. "Sempai, what's wrong!" she cried, trying to be heard over his voice.
(O)
Omake (I think…): Negima
Dedicated to sub
"Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei!" Asuna said, running into the said teacher's office. He was just about to leave and the young woman caught him just in time.
"I said I was sorry! Please don't do this!" the younger kid pleaded, trying to catch up.
"Negi has a secret!" she said, stumbling into his room, all of her close disheveled.
"Ano?" he said, looking up at the surprise visitor. "What secret?"
"Takahata-sensei, Negi is a wizard!" she blurted, just as Negi stumbled into the office.
"No!" Negi said, his secret now exposed.
"Is that so?" Takahata questioned, taking it all in stride. Asuna nodded her head with a serious expression on her face. "Looks like the secrets out, isn't it Negi-kun?" Takahata said to the younger craftsman, completely ignoring his secret admirer.
"Wait! You knew about this?!" Asuna said, thinking she was the only person that knew Negi's secret.
"Please don't tell the council!" Negi pleaded. "It would make my sisters so sad if I lose my license!"
"Don't sweat it, Negi-kun. We can't have you lose your license just yet. We'll just erase the girl's memory," he said calmly.
"W-w-wait! You're a wizard too!" Asuna yelped in surprise.
"Guilty…" he said, looking down. "Lets get started then!" he said, and blew something into Negi's nose so he would sneeze and cause Asuna to become naked.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Asuna exclaimed as the spell was cast. She was out like a light and he would deal with her later.
"Thankyou so much, Takahata-sensei, but don't you think it was a bit harsh?"
"Nah, the bitch deserved it," he replied, scowling.
"Oookay…" he said, then added, "What did you mean by 'you can't have me lose your license just yet'?"
"Actually I said we," he corrected and me and Eva-san need you alive until we could get rid of her, but now that she's out of the way…"
Eva-san jumped off of his back, revealing herself. Sounding like count dracla, she said, "I want to drink your blood!" She was holding her arms up for effect, shaking her fingers, but she just looked cute instead of intimidating.
"Ahh!" Negi yelped and fainted. Eva jumped or his throat and drained him until he shriveled up like a sun-dried tomato. He glowed and turned back to her adult, full demon form.
"He tastes almost as good as you do," Eva said, licking the blood from her lips.
"Are we still on for dinner then, master?"
"Of course, slave," she said and bit him. Then they went to a restaurant where they had dinner.
(Back at school) A single shriek could be heard echoing through the empty hallways: "KYAAA! I'm in the nuuude!!"
(-O-)
Heh… that didn't turn out like I first imagined it, I but wanted to get that out of my system…
Yurislovak is actually based on a mix of these crazy Russian kids I know. The last name Kerensky is also based on the guy that killed off the monarchs in Russia just before Communism started. (I don't remember exactly how, but I think he and his crew 'did' the royal family and then the communists 'did' him. Isnt life so cheesy sometimes…) get back to me if I really screwed this over though
Chicks rule! (Especially deep fried!!!)
And remember, click the 'Go' button. (Flames are still understandable)
Cheers! : )