Chapter 10: Perverted by the Sentimental, Part 2
Two Hours Later…
Clear, wipe, restock. It's so simple. Like a menu you follow. So simple. Keiko realized.
She held up one of the dirty glasses on the table and looked at her reflection in it. She lifted up her bangs and looked at herself; there was a small scar developing on her forehead. Why does it seem like I'm not the person in the glass? I'm not my reflection. Is anyone the person they see in the mirror? She wondered.
Joseph, the some-what overweight, fourty-eight year old club owner, walked up behind her. He put grimy hand on Keiko's shoulder, which she quickly brushed off.
Don't touch me. She thought. No one should touch me.
"Hey kiddo, what's up? You look a little out of it." He told her in a husky voice.
She turned to look at him. "I'm fine considering I have barely slept in a week." She told him, on the verge of losing her temper.
He ignored her attitude; he was used to her losing control at him. "Well, ya look good if that counts for anything!" He told her with a smile.
Don't hit on me old man. She thought.
Keiko sighed. "Did you need me for something, Joe?"
He coughed. "Uh, yeah…Shiro's on the phone." He gestured towards the bar.
She cocked an eye brow. "What does he want? I'm going to see him later."
Joseph shook his head. "He said he needed to talk to you like right now."
She went back to wiping the table. "Take a message…I'm not in the mood for his antics."
"I tried, he was adamant about talking to you."
She looked at the bar. This could be serious. She realized.
Joseph noticed her seriousness. "I'll be in the back, kiddo."
She walked over to the wooden bar. "Okay Joe." She told him, picking up the receiver. "Shiro?'
"Took you long enough!" He answered, too loudly for her sake.
"You're too damn loud on the phone, Shiro, tone it down."
She heard him relax. "Sorry, it's just this is important."
"What is it?
"I finished that section of your footprint. " He told her, evenly.
"Yeah, so?"
"There's a gene in here that is showing up in the Kirihara database."
Keiko sighed. She wished he would just spit out whatever was bothering him. "Yeah Shiro, my mother's code is listed in the database."
"That's not the name the file listed under. But I do have interesting info on your mother. But I'll save that for later."
She was losing patience. "Shiro, if there's nothing major, why didn't you…"
He interrupted her. "Do you know why the later alterations where made to your code?"
"No." He had her worried now.
"Work with me here. Anyone who at any point in time has interacted with the KG has their code listed and available, right? They just have to decode it from the rest of the crap intersected with it to scramble the information."
She sighed. "Yes."
"Well, you bear in the area I just finished something called the X3 gene. And like all genes, it can be turned on or off."
The science lesson was killing her mood. "Damnit Shiro, just say it."
"Your X3 gene has been altered to be turned 'off.' The note next to it says 'altered by KG to achieve desired effect, results pending'."
She took a step back from the bar, pulling the phone cord. "Shiro….I don't care…what is it that you want to tell me?"
"I'm getting to that!" He yelled.
"Well, hurry up! Or Joe's going to get mad at me for being lazy!"
"Okay! This gene was altered to cause a reaction with other people with the same type of alteration. It works on a 'lock-and-key' system."
"Uh…" Was all she could reply.
He simply continued. "When I asked the system for other compatible people, it gave me 'Tokigawa, K' and 'Vincent, R'. The only other thing I can tell is that Kyosuke's gene is listed as 'on' and Vincent's is 'off.' I don't have all of this completely worked out, but I'll see how fast I can work. I'll bring whatever I can get down to the club tonight."
She took the phone down from her ear and stared at it.
"Keiko? Keiko, talk to me." He asked.
"I'm not related to them." She told him flatly.
"You're not, but there's a worse rationale at work here. And that's that you were made to be in this situation. Perhaps even made for them."
She tried to remain calm, but her hand shook. "Why both?"
She could hear him typing in the background. "They both possess the gene, must have been passed on."
"That man…he's the man that…" She stuttered.
"I know, doll, I know. Go and work though, I'll see you later." He told her quietly.
The phone clicked off, and he hung up. She stared at the phone for a moment, and then hung it up.
Joseph returned to the barroom. "So, everything's good?" He asked with a smile.
She stared at him for a moment. Act normal. Pretend like nothing's wrong or he'll ask questions. She realized.
Keiko showed him a faux smile, and returned to the table to continue cleaning. Pretend like everything's normal. Everything's normal. I'll all be normal. We'll all be normal…one day… Her mind stuttered.
*
Nine Hours Later…
"Shiro!" Keiko yelled across the now crowed bar.
He waved and pointed at the bar. She caught up with him there.
"Do you have anything new?" She asked immediately.
He shook his head. "Nothing direct, but it seems my theory was correct."
Her heart sagged. "I was altered for him, wasn't I?"
He nodded slightly. "But hey, look on the bright side, you're still fertile!" He opened the manila folder he was carrying and showed her the top sheet.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Uh…okay…but that info isn't a big help right now."
He whacked her over the head with the folder.
"Hey!" She rubbed the crown of her head.
"You're missing it. But you're still young. And I think that's gonna be a big deal eventually, or they wouldn't have put so much effort into trying to make that NOT happen." He told her with a wink.
"I'm confused. Why…" Her mind shut down for a moment.
I'm…I'm supposed to be a…a sexual distraction… She realized.
"I've been playing their game, Shiro! I am…I look like a member of the KG group!" She yelled at him suddenly.
He seemed taken aback. "No hon, you beat their game. Trust me, their failure to sterilize you with end up biting them in the ass."
"But I mean…isn't' he…like…dead?" She asked in confusion.
He winked again. "You wanna find out?"
She took the folder from him and slapped him with it. "Pervert!"
He simply laughed at her. "Go change and get on stage, doll. Or you ain't getting paid, 'member?"
She sighed comically. "Man, I hate being the grown-up. Now order or get the hell out of my way, Uncle."
He winked at her once again, and left her standing at the bar.
I'm taking this rather well, considering. She realized leaving the floor to change. No. It just hasn't hit home yet.
*
Thirty Minutes Later…
"Where are you going? Where do you go?"*
Shiro shook his head. "She's not herself tonight. She doesn't hide it well."
Komugi sulked. "Why did I have to come with you? I wanted to stay home with Kyosuke."
He looked at her. "That's the whole reason you're here."
"Why didn't he want to come, anyway?" She asked, curiously.
"I have no idea. I asked, but he said he wanted to stay home and rest." He told her with a shrug.
"Where are you going? Where do you go?"*
"But I bought this new dress just to go out tonight with him! What a waste." She sighed.
"You really shouldn't plan on getting between them. It might even be dangerous." He told her sternly.
Komugi shot him a look of confusion. "Dangerous, how?"
"They are driven by different forces then us. Something more primordial, perhaps." He told her.
"Are you looking for answers for questions under the stars?"*
Komugi shifted uneasily in her seat. "That's weird."
Shiro handed her the manila folder. "Yes, it is. Very strange, indeed."
She flipped open the folder and read the top sheet. "I see…" She told him sadly.
Shiro shrugged. "I'm not saying you can't give it a shot, but I think genetics has you beat."
"But they…seem so…" She muttered.
"I know. But it's just formalities, really. Their emotions are in the way." He told her, removing a cigarette from his breast pocket and lighting it.
"I am no Superman, I have no answers for you, I am no hero, aw that's for sure, but I do know one thing - where you are, is where I belong."*
Komugi closed the file and set it aside. "She seems so tired."
"She is." Shiro agreed. "But her soul is what is tired, her body is fine."
She stared for a moment. "They aren't like us, are they?"
"No." Shiro told her.
What am I even doing here? These…people…don't need me…" She thought.
Shiro pattered her on the head, suddenly. "Relax. If you worry too much, you'll turn into them. They both worry too much. They could take a lesson or two from you."
She knocked his hand away. "Eww! Don't touch me like that. I'm not a dog you can pet!" She told him gruffly, straightening her shiny pink pigtails.
"I am no Superman, I have no answers for you, I am no hero, aw that's for sure, but I do know one thing - where you are, is where I want to be."*
Shiro noticed Keiko put a hand to her head. "What's a matter, doll?" He whispered to himself.
"Huh?" asked Komugi.
Keiko swayed on stage, and nearly fell.
Shiro rushed to the stage and helped her sit up.
"Shiro…?" She asked him.
"What happened, doll?" He asked, helping her stand.
Komugi and Joseph joined them, amongst boos from the rowdy crowd.
"I…I saw something…"
"What?!? What did you see?" Shiro asked, shaking her slightly.
"I…" Was all she muttered before passing out on Shiro's shoulder.
Joseph handed Komugi his car keys as Shiro picked Keiko up and cradled her. "Take my car; you won't have to walk then."
"Thanks man, I owe you one." Shiro told him, starting to walk out.
"No man, if you don't take care of her, you're going to owe me one." He replied with a small smile, pointing them to the exit.
I'm going to owe a lot more than a new barmaid to Joe if this is serious. Shiro realized putting Keiko in the backseat of Joe's car.
Komugi handed him the keys and looked at him for a moment. "Is this serious?"
Shiro shook his head. "I don't think so. But if it's what I think it is, it's going to be a pain in the ass, very shortly."
Shiro sat in the front seat and started the car. Komugi sat in the passengers' seat and slammed the door shut. The noise seemed to bring Keiko around.
He turned around and looked at her. "You up already?"
She sat up in her seat. "Yes." She told them, rubbing her head. "I wasn't out long was I?"
"Only a few minutes." Komugi told her.
Keiko's attitude was serious. "We need to go home. There's something we need to discuss."
Shiro pulled the car out of 'park' and they started the short drive home. "Okay."
"And Komugi…?"
She looked back at Keiko. "Yeah?"
"Do you have some of the gauze left?"
Komugi blinked. "Um, yeah. Why?"
"He's going to need it. They aren't large wounds, but deep this time. He could get an infection from these ones."
Komugi looked at Shiro. "Is this what you said was going to be 'a pain in the ass?'"
Shiro shook his head. "No. It's worse than that. Better, yet worse." He told them, pulling into the parking space in front of their apartment building.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* "Where Are You Going?" from The Dave Mathews' Band
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 11: This is Not a Game
"I can see what you see, but is it worth it to me…?"*
The group had re-gathered at Shiro's apartment, but the air in the place was anything but comfortable now. They sat around the kitchen table, attempting to deal with what Keiko had to tell them.
Shiro lit a cigarette. "You didn't answer my question."
"I can't tell you why I passed out." Keiko replied with a sigh.
He puffed. "Yes you can."
How do you tell someone that you can feel their pain? She wondered. How do you tell someone that every time someone decides to put a hole in them that you can tell twenty miles away?
Komugi was waving a hand in front of Keiko's face. "Hello? Anyone home?"
She blinked. "Uh…"
Shiro put his cigarette in the table ashtray, and then turned to Kyosuke. "You've been awfully quiet."
"You're not going." Kyosuke told Keiko, stone-faced.
"I can do whatever I want!" She retorted.
"I don't want you mixed up in this. Stop acting like this is some game." Kyosuke told her standing.
She was hurt. "It's not a game. I know it's not."
Shiro looked from one to the other. "Uh…why don't you fill the rest of us in? You know, the ones who can't read each other's minds."
Kyosuke scowled at him. "I am not reading her mind. It's her..." He gestured towards Keiko. "She crawls inside your mind and just…stays there…like a disease."
She stood up from the table in anger. "Jerk! How can you say crap like that?!"
Shiro looked at him. "Hey, lighten up, man."
Keiko turned away from them. Leave me alone. You have no right to put me down. She thought.
Komugi rubbed her face with her hands. "I'm so confused. What's wrong with you two?"
Keiko flopped back in her chair. "I'm tired. Maybe that's it."
Shiro picked up his cigarette. "Go to bed, doll. You look like you need it."
Keiko looked at Shiro, and then shut her eyes. "I know, you guys just leave me here to sleep…go way…" She waved condescendingly at him.
Shiro gestured to Komugi and she jumped up from the table.
She grabbed Keiko by the arm and started dragging her off to her bed room. "But I dun wanna go to sleep now. There are things to be done."
Komugi shoved her in her room, and Keiko landed on the bedroom floor from the push. She slammed the door shut.
"Yes there is! She announced, turning back round and returning to the kitchen.
Shiro eyed her, but said nothing.
"So where are we going?" She asked excitedly.
Kyosuke eyed her. "You're not going either."
Her heart sank. "What? Oh come on…I even fixed up your wounds for you."
"And I thank you for that. But this is something I can handle this one on my own." He told her frankly.
"Aww…"
Kyosuke put a hand to his chest. Where's my crucifix?
Shiro smirked. "It's on Keiko's dresser, 'member? You took it off when you showered and left it there so it didn't get wet. Or at least that's what you told me."
"No I didn't. I left it in the bathroom. I must have forgotten to put it back on. You must have moved it."
Shiro flashed him a grin. "Whoops, silly me. I guess I thought it would get lost."
Bastard. He did that on purpose. Kyosuke realized.
"What, afraid you can't go five minutes without insulting her?" Asked Komugi sitting back down, her attitude sullen.
He scowled at her and knocked on the bedroom door.
No answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Kyosuke tried to handle and the door opened slightly.
He looked in, and she threw a shoe at the door. It banged against it and fell to the floor.
"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?" He blurted out. He let go of the handle and door fell open. She was standing in the middle of the room in her underwear, looking in the dresser mirror.
She turned around and pointed at him. "You! You're what's wrong with me! And what is this? Couldn't go more than five minutes without insulting me, huh? You must get off on that or something!" She shouted in response.
He stepped in the room and shut the door behind himself. "It's not like that." He told her leaning against the door.
"So, what? You want to watch me change? Has Shiro been giving you 'pervert lessons' or something?"
"It's not like that."
She removed her bra and crawled into bed. "I don't have the patience for this. Get what you came for and go. I don't need some pervert slinking around behind me that insults me to my face."
Kyosuke's eyes burned. There's no way around this. He realized.
He walked up to the dresser and picked up his cross. "It's not like that."
She sniffed. "Yeah right. That's a nice excuse."
"You shouldn't be involved in this. That's what it is. I don't want you to be involved in this. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"You don't have to protect me."
He sighed. "Yes I do. You don't belong there."
She rolled over and faced the wall. "I already am involved though. I fight the battle everyday. I've fought this battle since before you were born. My mother is a monster and my father abandoned me. I've been raped, stabbed, beaten down, and lost." She paused. "And the battle belongs to whoever wants it or is forced to want it." She paused again. "Want. Desire is a bizarre thing."
"Yes it is." He added, looking at the crucifix in his hand. "But why do you want it?" He asked sharply.
She sighed. "Because my identity has been forged in the battle, it is the way I identify myself. Unlike you, I never got to be normal. I never got to have a childhood and grow up, safe and secure from the hate of battle. I have no identity outside of battle. I am nothing to the world that had rejected me. Society has scorned me, and the world has thrust me outside of the real world. Even God has rejected me, I couldn't even have reprieve in death; forced to go back into the world, even more dejected."
She's as messed up as I am. He realized. I guess I didn't grasp that before.
"I used to say I would trade everything I had to be normal, but now I know I can never make that deal. Despite whatever I am, I am here to exist as this. Whatever monster I am, was pulled out of the earth to exist in this time and space."
He looked at her. "You think you're a monster…"
She rolled on her back and pulled the blankets up. "Don't you think the same thing when you look in the mirror?"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes."
"I figured you did. Perhaps we all do, though. But who are the real monsters? Are we? The ones who robbed us of ourselves? Or the ones who keep us locked down in our chains, forcing us to fight a battle we can never truly win?
I have found some reprieve in this new life though, where I am seen as a real person, and not as some undead, mutant, freak. I am not contained buy society's rules, and I can be myself more than others can. I have the power to choose, and the power to change things. You should be happy, you have a much better idea of the real world, and you could go virtually undetected in society, despite what you are."
He sat on the edge of the bed. "How can you talk so candidly about what you…what we…are?"
She tried to smile. "I suppose I have already gone through your emotions. I have already considered myself in that way, and I have grown past it. I'm sure you will too. You may lose some of your identity in the process, but you will grow past the pain."
He sighed. "You make it sound simple."
Keiko sat up in the bed and pulled her knees to her chest, covering herself. "It's not. You're lying to yourself if you think that suddenly the whole world's going to care and that you'll sudden be the person you could be. You can't. But you're lucky, I had only Shiro. You've got a lot more support than I did. And they…they'll make sure you make it…"
Kyosuke simply looked at her. "I don't…understand something…"
She crawled back down in to her bed. "What?"
"Why do you want to help? Why do you want to be involved in this?"
"I already told you, I have the power to change things, so I get involved willingly."
He shook his head. "That's why you get involved for society's sake. Why did you…why do you insist on being involved in my battle? Why do you want to battle my demons?"
She smiled. "Why do you insist on stopping me?"
He stood and walked over to her. "You didn't answer my question." He told her quietly.
"Because I was made for that battle. I exist to take part in the battle."
Confusion flashed across his face. "Ah..."
"Now answer my question." She told him, eyeing him intensely.
He stood silent.
She patted to the edge of the bed near her. "Sit."
He sat, but refused to answer.
"I'm not going to be able to support you unless you say it." She told him, sitting up in the bed again.
She already knows. He realized. Then why all of this? Why tell me all of this? Why make me feel like this?
She took the cross from his hand and fastened it around his neck, allowing it to fall into place. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Tell me."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"I don't know." He told her, rubbing his eyes with his hand.
"Good. I'm glad you can't yet." She told him. "I just had to be sure."
He looked back at her. "I don't understand."
She curled back into the bed sheets. "Because we aren't there yet. You'll have the words when it's time."
He stood and looked down at her somewhat sadly. "I wish I had those words now. It would make things simpler."
"I know, but it takes time. You have to be willing to grow to find those words too, though."
Kyosuke walked over to the door, took the handle, and started to close it behind himself.
"Kyo?"
"What?"
"Did you find what you came in looking for?" She asked him, half-asleep already.
"Yes." He told her, shutting the door.
Now I just have to find myself. He realized, sadly. And the words…
Four Hours Later…
"This is the map of the campus." Shiro announced, tossing a folded piece of paper onto the table.
"Got it." Komugi picked it up and unfolded it. She skimmed it and refolded it.
"These are you new ID cards. You'll need them to access the school's computer and phone system." The cards landed where the map had been.
Komugi reached for them, but Keiko beat her to them. She looked at them and tossed them back on the table. "We don't need these."
Shiro was irritated. "I take it you don't plan on contacting for help then."
She shook her head. "Phone taps, Shiro. If I need help, I will contact you via other means."
His eyes went from her to Kyosuke, who had come up behind her. "Alright, doll. You're taking quite a risk with this though."
"I realize that."
He handed her a third card. "Use this to purchase your uniforms. There's enough cash for both fuku and supplies for three days. So that's all of the time you've got."
She looked over the card. "All right."
"Make this simple. Find the girl and get out. We'll be on stand-by."
"Nothing is ever simple, Shiro. 'Especially not that simple."
He sighed. "I know. I know."
Komugi nudged Keiko and handed her a small black backpack. She adjusted the straps and checked the fit. She leaned back and stuck the bank card in a mesh pocket on the side.
Kyosuke put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around.
"If I ask you again not to go, not to fight my battle, would you reconsider?"
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "No. Never."
He jumped slightly, and started to blush. He closed his eyes and looked away from her.
Keiko backed away, grabbed Komugi by the arm, and started to drag her to the front door. She put up a considerable fight, being rather annoyed over what she had just witnessed. Keiko opened the door and thrust her into the hallway. She stepped in the hall and grabbed the door.
"We'll be in touch!" She told them with a wink, and shut the door behind her.
"Aww!" Crooned Shiro. "How cute." He sighed. "Unfortunately, that's going to drive Komugi crazy, and then she's going to drive me crazy. Which is going to make for one hell-of-an ordeal when we actually try living here."
"Poor you." Kyosuke told him with a slight smile.
Shiro threw his hands up and walked away. "Really, Poor me! Why can't you two just be normal and go…just go do it…"
"Because…then all of this would be for nothing." He told him, leaving the apartment quietly.
Confusion hit Shiro, left once again alone and befuddled. "But…why?" He sighed. "Why can't you two just be happy? It would make life a hell of a lot easier for me."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* "Sick and Tired" by Default
Chapter 12: Remembering God and Readin' Too Much
"I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out…and I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead…"*
The Following Day…
Keiko simply hated waiting in line.
Wait…wait… wait… Keiko thought. I hate waiting in line.
Komugi nudged her. "What's your problem?"
Keiko half-turned around and looked at her. "I have a lot of trouble standing in line. I don't like waiting."
She frowned. "I already figured that out."
Keiko scowled at her and straightened her uniform's skirt "What's that s'posed to mean?"
Komugi looked away. "Forget it."
Keiko turned back around. "I don't get it." She said aloud, with confusion.
Two Hours Later…
What the heck is Komugi's problem? She's acting like a little kid. Keiko wondered. Oh yeah, she is a kid…
She had refused to sit anywhere near Keiko in the school's lecture halls, and had not spoken to her at lunch so far. Keiko could deal with the fact that she was mad at her, but it was becoming a nuisance in that nothing had gotten done. They had yet to find their target, and there was talk about the girls that had gone missing previously.
Keiko pushed the food on her plate around with her fork. Reminds me of hospital food. She realized. It has the same inedible quality.
Komugi appeared across the table holding her tray. She sat down without asking Keiko, and began to eat quietly.
Keiko looked up at her. "I thought you weren't planning on associating with me here? Or is it just pettiness."
She swallowed and looked at her hard. "I'm still annoyed. But I had to sit over there. I've got the info on our target."
Keiko leaned back in her chair and stretched. "Why don't you just tell him and get it over with?"
Komugi dropped her fork in mid-bite, letting it clang onto her tray. "What?"
"Oh come on. I'm a little slow, not stupid. I know how you feel about him. Just go get it over with."
Komugi seemed disappointed. "I should have known you knew. I suppose my fit when we left the apartment was kinda revealing."
"Only revealing as these damn uniforms." Keiko told her, smoothing out her shift. "Sheesh, I wouldn't let my kids dress in there little skirts."
Komugi pointed at her, laughing. "That's because you're way too old to wear it! It's an old man's fantasy!"
Keiko threw a dinner roll at her, laughing. "Shut up! That is just sick!" She calmed down. "But you're avoiding the subject. If you don't tell him, he's never going to know."
She scowled. "It's hard. And hasn't he like…figured it out yet…"
"I know. But he's a guy, and he's clueless. You'll practically have to wave your…hands…in front of his face to get the point across."
She giggled, and then sighed. "I get it."
Keiko wanted to redirect the conversation. She wasn't exactly thrilled having to tell Komugi to go throw herself at Kyosuke to make herself feel better. "So, who is it? Who is the Flicker?"
Komugi had gone back to eating. "It's funny, but I think at one point there was more than one here."
Keiko blinked. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yes, there's a lot of talk about two other girls from this school that suddenly went missing."
Keiko mussed over the food on the plate. "How strange."
"The girl we're looking for is named Sayaka Tachibana. I think she's the quiet girl in our Calculus class."
"Heh, which one? Practically everyone here is like that. No one ever talks." Keiko told her, surveying the cafeteria. "It's like they're all stoned or something."
"And you know about being stoned, how?" Komugi asked
Keiko threw her other dinner roll at her. "Oh shut up."
She giggled and brushed it onto the floor.
Keiko looked at Komugi's empty plate. "Man, how can you eat this crap? It tastes like cardboard."
They stood up from the table and prepared to leave. It was a good five minute walk to their fifth class, and they had only a few minutes to spare.
Komugi picked up her bag. "I dunno. Must be the mutant in me that likes it."
Keiko turned around and picked up her bag. When she looked back at Komugi, she noticed she was trying to stifle a laugh. They walked to the cafe's doors and Keiko finally asked.
"What's so damn funny?"
She finally let the laugh out. "I said that to Shiro and he had quite a response for it."
"What?"
"I said 'it must be the mutant in me' and he says 'sheesh, what's 'suke got that I ain't got?'"
It took a moment to register with Keiko, but when it did, it hit hard. "That's sick! God, he's such a perv!" She shouted. Several girls turned to stare.
Komugi started laughing at her. Keiko started to walk away slowly, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Oh man." Keiko said, shaking her head. "I don't know what's worse; his joke, or the fact that he's not even close to the truth."
Komugi stopped laughing at looked at her.
"Let's go. We're already late as it is." She told Komugi quietly.
They walked to class in silence.
One hour later…
Must stay awake…must stay awake… Keiko's mind muttered.
The teacher babbled on…
Keiko's mind was fuzzy, and much of what she said made no sense. She stared at the textbook's bizarre words and pictures. They were pictures of a world she had never known. I have no real education. Maybe I shouldn't be here, I totally stick out. She realized.
She could hear a faint melody being sung, somewhere, by someone.
The words suck. Her mind realized. But why do I care?
Her mind was starting to shut down.
The words are stupid. Stop singing, moron.
"Stop it…" She muttered aloud.
Komugi had decided to sit next to her in this hour. She nudged her. "Hey, wake up. You're going to end up in detention if you don't."
Keiko put her hands to her head. "It's too late."
"Too late for what?"
She shook her head. "They know we're here. We've been targeted."
"Both?" Komugi asked quietly.
"I know someone from the Hospital is nearby. I can't tell about the Kirihara." She felt nauseous. "Ugh, make the singing stop."
Komugi looked at her with concern. "I don't hear anything."
The teacher called out their names, and they stood. Keiko legs were wobbly, and she collapsed on to the floor, banging her head on the desk.
"Keiko!" was the last thing she heard.
Keiko passed out.
Keiko was startled into consciousness. Or something like it.
The world simply wasn't right. It was like looking at an alien world on a video screen. Except with the 'color' turned all of the way up, and the 'contrast' all of the way down.
There's nothing here. Just colors. She realized.
Or did she…
Nothing but colors. Everything is shapeless. Everything? There is nothing here! Her mind babbled.
The melody from earlier floated through the scene. Strange bubbled floated about, and colors swirled in the air.
"I've seen this before. It's like dreaming, but not really." She whispered.
The scene suddenly shifted, and she was at the church she had fought the T-Doll at. The gaiety of the past scene wasn't here. It was real. Or something like it.
What? What is this? She wondered.
Shiro walked pasted her and into the church.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Keiko lapsed into confusion. "Shiro?!"
He ignored her, so she followed him inside.
A woman screamed, and small clanging was heard.
Shiro was picking up the woman from the floor. She was bleeding, and seemed weak in the knees.
Keiko's mind flashed back to the obituary. It's Mio. She realized.
It was like watching a play. Or something like it.
"Oh god, no. I can't watch this. But…" Something stuck Keiko.
Shiro was involved in this. But why…what did he know? Her mind wondered.
She reached out to help up Mio as well, and found her hand go straight though her.
"Heh. Heh. Heh. This is some sort of joke." She said aloud with a stutter. "I can't interfere. It's a re-telling, this isn't happening now. But then…"
Shiro had pushed Mio to her feet and put the dagger back into her hand. He directed he towards the front of the church, and took off running out the back.
"Shiro, you ass!" Keiko shouted at him. "How could you just leave!?"
Keiko walked to the back of the church and found a frightened Kyosuke hiding in a corner. She knelt down beside him, but he didn't respond to her. It was him, yet it wasn't. It wasn't the man she knew; he seemed no more than a child. She touched his shoulder, but it was the same as with Mio, her hand simply went through him.
Mio was standing over them suddenly.
"Mother…I…" He stammered.
She grabbed his throat and started to choke him. He held on to her hands, but he couldn't push her back.
Keiko backed out of the area. I can't do anything. I finally know what it is to be helpless. She realized.
Mio released him and he stood, visibly shaken. He made it up the two steps to the alter area and collapsed. She was over him in an instant, and forced him onto his back. She held onto his neck again, to keep him from squirming.
"Mo…ther…" Was all he could mange to get out.
Mio jammed the dagger into the upper right side of his chest and raked it across, slicing his heart in half. He stopped moving instantly.
She backed away. "Kyo..suke…I'm…sorry." She mumbled, and then collapsed nearby.
Keiko stood numb, watching blood run down the steps and puddle on the floor.
But… She thought.
Keiko watched herself run into the church.
But…? She wondered. I don't remember being here. I would remember something so vile.
Shiro followed her in, carrying his steel bat.
She came to a stop, and Shiro came up behind her.
"What is this? Who did this…?" Was all Keiko managed to express before Shiro brought the bat down upon her head, hard. She collapsed onto the floor.
He knocked me out. I don't remember any of this. She realized. That night was missing from my memory.
Shiro grabbed her by the neck of her kimono and dragged her outside. "Can't let you get blamed for this, now can we?" Keiko heard him say.
Keiko was having trouble holding herself composed. "Make it stop. Why isn't this over yet? I've seen what happened, it can be over now. I know now."
"Keiko!" A woman shouted.
Huh? Is that my name? Is that what they call me? Her mind wondered. So many lies all of sudden. Maybe everything is a lie. Maybe this is all real, or maybe it's not. Maybe we're all immortals and death doesn't exist.
"Keiko!"
Monsters don't have real names…Neither do gods. She realized.
"Kei-!"
The scene disappeared and took part of Keiko's soul with it.
Komugi was looking over her.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"How long was I out?"
Keiko surveyed the room. She had been taken to the school's clinic.
"A good ten minutes at least. Is it like last time?"
Keiko shook her head, and her vision spun for a moment. "No. Someone caused this. It was unnatural."
"Unnatural…" Komugi repeated.
"Yeah." Keiko stood up and stretched. "Ugh…like a nasty trip, man."
To her shock, Shiro entered the clinic. "We've got to go. Now. The Hospital is on the move in the area, we have to find Sayaka."
Keiko flashed back to the dreams and was enraged.
She reached back, then up, and planted a fist in Shiro's jaw, sending him reeling into the doorframe, and then onto the floor in a heap.
"You bastard…how dare you…" She told him, with all of the bite of a snake.
Keiko stepped over him and out of the clinic.
Komugi looked at him, stone-faced. "Truth hurts, don't it?" She told him, following Keiko out.
"How do you…know…" He muttered. "She was out cold."
Komugi turned around and looked back at him. "She talks in her sleep. Loudly, I might add. I hope he doesn't mind."
Shiro stood, rubbing his jaw still. He was slightly disoriented from the blow. "Who?"
"God. Who do you think I meant?" She told him, walking away.
Shiro was stunned. "Bloody hell, no…can't be…"
He took off running after Komugi.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*"Burnout" by Green Day