Here goes nothing...
Italics - /word(s)/
~~
"...Paul..."
My eyes were shut tight and there was no way in /hell/ they were opening. What in the world was that godawful noise? Not the voice...
"Paul..."
I rolled over, and pulled a pillow over my head. Shut up, I thought to the noise and the voice. Let me sleep. Wait, sleep? Oh, forget it...
"/Paul/!"
My eyes snapped open in indignation when something fluffy crashed down on my head. I sat up. Whoever did that...
"Get up and go to work, Paul...and /turn off/ the alarm..."
I blinked in shock. Whaa...? The person in bed with me rolled over and wiggled deeper into the covers. Wait a minute... "Who are you?" I demanded coldly. "And where am I?"
I remembered...my sister was killed by that purple haired brat and he'd gone after me after that...and I'd died too. I jumped out of the bed and glared down at the human, expecting an answer.
She merely rolled over a bit, stared at me with glazed, stupid eyes and rolled back over with the statement, "Go to work."
I was Jinzouningen Juunanagou. For one, my name wasn't Paul. Secondly, I didn't work. Ever. Thirdly, what was going on? Was it a dream? I'd never had one. For that matter I'd never felt as tired as I did...but this was definitely a dream. No, nightmare. I was tired. I'd never felt tired. "Who are you?" I demanded again.
The person in bed rolled over, this time she looked irritated. "Your freaking roommate, that's who. Now get going or you're going to be late. I told you not to stay up and watch that stupid marathon..."
"Why aren't /you/ getting up?" I demanded. There was no chance in seven levels of hell I was going to 'work.'
"Saturdays and Tuesdays are my days off," the figure mumbled and dissapeared again except for a flurry of dark blonde hair sticking up past the cover.
"Answer my question," I growled dangerously. The person fidgeted in bed. "Who are you, where am I, and how the /hell/ did I get here!!"
"Gah.../Paul/..."
"And my name is not 'Paul!'" I snarled in disgust. "It's /Jinzouningen Juunanagou/!"
The figure sat up and flicked the flurry of hair back. "Look, Paul, I don't know /what/ they showed you on that freaking marathon last night, but you are not an android. Trust me. You haven't been drinking my sake, have you?"
"/No/," I shot back. "I expect an answer, human."
"/Human/?" the figure said. "That's a first. Fine. I'll answer your damn questions if it'll get you to go get ready for work. Who are you. Paul Everett. Who am I? Your very sleepy friggin' roommate, Tori Friedman. How did you get here? Well I /assume/ you drove home last night. Now get your ass ready to work and cut the role-playing crap."
"I'm not role--"
She threw another pillow at me. Strangely enough I couldn't see it coming and it hit me squarely between the eyes. More surprising was that it knocked me backwards. That was it. I raised my hand, pointed my finger, issued the command in my brain and...nothing.
What?
I tried again, same result. "Paul, I don't hear the door opening," Tori said, her face buried in a pillow.
What on Kami's green earth was going on here? I looked at my hand...it looked okay. Maybe that purple haired bastard had done something to me when he'd killed me. Or didn't kill me. Funny, as I remember it my body more or less disintegrated.
"I'm not going to work," I said petulantly. I didn't like work. More than that I wanted to figure out what was going on before I did anything.
"Oh /yes you are/," Tori said, and lifted her head. She had a positively dangerous expression on her face. I, of course, was not fazed. I stood there with an expression that read very clearly, 'make me.' "Paul you've had too many sick days when you haven't even been sick, we're two hundred dollars behind on the rent and /my/ check won't cover it! We're only still here because I made friends with the landlady! /Get your ass in gear/!!"
I had had enough of arguing with an idiot and so I left the room. I slammed the door shut behind me, half intending on ripping it from the hinges. My ki ability wasn't working properly and apparently my strength was out on vacation as well because all that happened was a very loud bang and some things near the door shook a bit.
I was twice as pissed, now. I had no /idea/ what was going on, I was in a strange place, with a human, with a human name, and my hair was short.
Wait. Rewind. My hair...?
I reached up and felt for my hair. It was short. I had never been particularly vain about my hair, but along with everything else, it was enough to drive me insane. "Where is the bathroom?" I demanded, slamming the door back open. Tori turned around, she was out of bed and had a robe half on.
"What is your problem, slamming the door like that?!" she hissed, forgetting to tie the sash and walking towards me with a look that could kill.
"Shut up and tell me where the bathroom is!" I demanded.
"PAU--"
My hand shot out and wrapped around her neck. She looked shocked, strangled, and she wriggled. "I'm going to ask you this one more time, where is the bathroom?" I asked in a deadly calm voice.
She didn't answer. Instead she clawed at my fingers. She wrapped a hand around one of my fingers, which was a surprise enough, but when she twisted it viciously enough to bring me to my knees, I was utterly shocked. "Look here, Paul, that's going TOO FAR!" Tori snarled. "I will argue, but don't you DARE touch me."
"Yo--"
She jerked it painfully and I bit back a sudden yelp. What was wrong with me? A human (a rather skinny human at that) managing to down me...
"Now, I want you to get up, shape up, and go to work, okay!"
She was almost in tears now.
/Tears/?
"Paul, we're about to lose this apartment and you go and pull a fucking stunt like this!" she snarled, and gave me an extra painful twist for good measure. "Get ready, and go to work!"
I was furious, but I wasn't stupid.
"When I let you up, I /will/ DECK you if you try any of this android bullshit anymore, got it?" Tori said.
I hesitated before I nodded.
"Good..."
And she released my finger. I stood up slowly. Tori stepped backwards, and crossed her arms.
I looked down at my hand. It hurt like a mother. "Let me see it," Tori snapped and grabbed my hand. She looked at it and dropped it. "I ain't gonna say sorry," she warned. "You shouldn't have grabbed me like that."
I yanked my hand away. "Don't touch me."
She frowned. "/Fine/. Once you're ready there'll be breakfast. Hurry."
She walked into the kitchen and I watched her go. She reached down and glanced over her shoulder. "Move it, Paul."
I decided not to press the issue that Paul wasn't my name. I took a deep breath. Both of us were angry, it was tangible in the air. And a pillow wasn't what she had in her hand now. "Where is a mirror."
"In the bathroom," she replied.
As if I should know where that is. "And where is that?"
She stopped what she was doing and made a visible effort not to explode. "In...the bedroom," she said quietly.
I turned around, and walked back in the bedroom. Slung over a chair was a yellow polo shirt that didn't look like it belonged to the human bitch. I picked it up. It /appeared/ to be my size...underneath the shirt was a neatly folded pair of khaki pants. I wasn't particularly fond of them, but something weird was going on and I figured it would be a good idea if I went along with this shit for a while.
The bathroom door was open and I walked in. I stepped closer to the mirror. I didn't look like myself. Well, I did, I still had my black hair and pale blue eyes, but my face seemed rounder and my eyes seemed wider. I realized with shock that, for the first time, I could see my expression on my face and in my eyes. You just didn't get that under normal circumstances.
Tori was putting plates on a crappy little foldup table when I came back out. I realized with something near shock that I was /hungry/. Something else I had never experienced before and I decided it was a very uncomfortable thing.
"Aren't you /done/ yet?" I demanded automatically. I almost regretted it when she looked up at me, eyes flashing. /Almost/. As in, I didn't, really. I just glared back at her.
"Chill out, Paul," she snapped. "Sit down."
I sat down at a chair. I didn't care if it was hers.
Tori brought something over, I leaned over and looked into it. It was a pan of oatmeal, which smelled heavily sugared. I frowned at it. This was it? I mean, there was half a glass of orange juice for both of us, but that was it. "Where's the rest of it?"
She looked up. She looked confused for a moment. "...There is no more," she replied.
I suddenly realized how thin this body was, as was hers. "Why isn't there?" I demanded.
Tori sighed and wiggled on her seat. She rubbed her temple. "Damnit, Paul...no role-playing shit for five minutes, okay? Can you give me that?"
I took the pan from her and poured sugary oatmeal into my bowl. It kind of flopped down.
We ate in silence even though I was itching to demand answers. I was still very disoriented. "Do I have a twin?" I asked suddenly.
She stopped eating immediately, and looked up at me as if shocked. "How the hell would /I/ know?"
I didn't answer. If Juuhachi were in this ridiculous situation too, I wouldn't know where to find her.
"You've never told me a damn thing about you," Tori said and continued eating, although it was faster now.
"Do I know anything about you?" I asked.
She thought for a moment. "No. To each his own."
That made no sense to me until I realized both Tori and 'myself' were young. Tori didn't look a day past eighteen, if that. My own self looked the same age as I was when I was myself, which I supposed was eighteen. I was sure that for humans that was usually too young to be out on your own and yet both Tori and Paul were doing just that.
"Are your parents dead?" I asked bluntly.
She froze. She looked up at me. "Are yours?" she shot back coldly.
"Did the /androids/ kill them?" I asked tauntingly, an unconscious smirk creeping up on my face. I was oblivious to the rising rage in Tori's eyes.
"They kill a lot of people."
"We do, don't we?" I taunted cold-heartedly.
Suddenly Tori leapt from her chair and at me. I was stunned and my head snapped backwards when she rammed her fist into my jaw. I went over with a spectacular fall, and the oatmeal flew everywhere.
"Don't even JOKE about that, Paul!" she screamed so loudly I could have sworn my ears rung. I looked up at her, I could feel blood pouring out of my nose and maybe my lip. How DARE that insolent little fuck...!!
"I aught to fucking kill you--" I started, but Tori interrupted me.
"You try that, you're going down with me," she snarled coldly.
It was the first time a human expression of pure fury ever stunned me in my tracks. I thought I should try a much easier tactic...easier, at least, on my face. My pride, however, was going to be permanently beaten. "I'm...sorry," I muttered.
"Sorry?" she repeated stonily. "Sorry isn't going to cut it Paul. Go. to. work."
I sat up and leaned forward. My yellow polo shirt was covered in blood and I could feel it sticking to my chest. I almost felt faint. It was still pouring out.
"Wash yourself up and get the clean one from the dryer," she said and turned back to the table. "Well, /go/!"
I wasn't sure if it was safe to tell her I didn't /know/ where I was supposed to work.
~~
Well, there's chapter 1. Tell me what you think, please don't tell me it sucks. Do you have any idea how crushing that is to a person? If you do, make it 'constructive criticism.' Man, is that quite the oxymoron or what? Please tell me if 17 is OOC, I never feel like I can get anybody in character. Its so terrible.
I know the situation is kind of vague, but I promise you it WILL BECOME CLEARER! This is only the first chapter! ^^ I have no idea where I came up with this fic, and it's completely unexplained yet, but that will be fixed if you give me the chance...it has to do with a *gasp* (can't tell ya) in later chapters...
I'd like at least 5 reviews...please? I'm not going to give you an ultimatum, but it would be nice to hear from you!! RR!
ps. - the idea for 17's hair being cut off came from a really REALLY good fanart of Juu-sama with a short haircut...it's the one on graphing paper and he looks kinda like he's modeling? If I feel like it I might just go get the URL...
Over and out, from Zithy & co...(co meaning the lazy fat cat lying on my bed at this very moment)
Oh, and I promise I haven't given up on my other story...it's just I've got writers block up the wazoo and I'm trying to break the dam...but I can't do it!
Italics - /word(s)/
~~
"...Paul..."
My eyes were shut tight and there was no way in /hell/ they were opening. What in the world was that godawful noise? Not the voice...
"Paul..."
I rolled over, and pulled a pillow over my head. Shut up, I thought to the noise and the voice. Let me sleep. Wait, sleep? Oh, forget it...
"/Paul/!"
My eyes snapped open in indignation when something fluffy crashed down on my head. I sat up. Whoever did that...
"Get up and go to work, Paul...and /turn off/ the alarm..."
I blinked in shock. Whaa...? The person in bed with me rolled over and wiggled deeper into the covers. Wait a minute... "Who are you?" I demanded coldly. "And where am I?"
I remembered...my sister was killed by that purple haired brat and he'd gone after me after that...and I'd died too. I jumped out of the bed and glared down at the human, expecting an answer.
She merely rolled over a bit, stared at me with glazed, stupid eyes and rolled back over with the statement, "Go to work."
I was Jinzouningen Juunanagou. For one, my name wasn't Paul. Secondly, I didn't work. Ever. Thirdly, what was going on? Was it a dream? I'd never had one. For that matter I'd never felt as tired as I did...but this was definitely a dream. No, nightmare. I was tired. I'd never felt tired. "Who are you?" I demanded again.
The person in bed rolled over, this time she looked irritated. "Your freaking roommate, that's who. Now get going or you're going to be late. I told you not to stay up and watch that stupid marathon..."
"Why aren't /you/ getting up?" I demanded. There was no chance in seven levels of hell I was going to 'work.'
"Saturdays and Tuesdays are my days off," the figure mumbled and dissapeared again except for a flurry of dark blonde hair sticking up past the cover.
"Answer my question," I growled dangerously. The person fidgeted in bed. "Who are you, where am I, and how the /hell/ did I get here!!"
"Gah.../Paul/..."
"And my name is not 'Paul!'" I snarled in disgust. "It's /Jinzouningen Juunanagou/!"
The figure sat up and flicked the flurry of hair back. "Look, Paul, I don't know /what/ they showed you on that freaking marathon last night, but you are not an android. Trust me. You haven't been drinking my sake, have you?"
"/No/," I shot back. "I expect an answer, human."
"/Human/?" the figure said. "That's a first. Fine. I'll answer your damn questions if it'll get you to go get ready for work. Who are you. Paul Everett. Who am I? Your very sleepy friggin' roommate, Tori Friedman. How did you get here? Well I /assume/ you drove home last night. Now get your ass ready to work and cut the role-playing crap."
"I'm not role--"
She threw another pillow at me. Strangely enough I couldn't see it coming and it hit me squarely between the eyes. More surprising was that it knocked me backwards. That was it. I raised my hand, pointed my finger, issued the command in my brain and...nothing.
What?
I tried again, same result. "Paul, I don't hear the door opening," Tori said, her face buried in a pillow.
What on Kami's green earth was going on here? I looked at my hand...it looked okay. Maybe that purple haired bastard had done something to me when he'd killed me. Or didn't kill me. Funny, as I remember it my body more or less disintegrated.
"I'm not going to work," I said petulantly. I didn't like work. More than that I wanted to figure out what was going on before I did anything.
"Oh /yes you are/," Tori said, and lifted her head. She had a positively dangerous expression on her face. I, of course, was not fazed. I stood there with an expression that read very clearly, 'make me.' "Paul you've had too many sick days when you haven't even been sick, we're two hundred dollars behind on the rent and /my/ check won't cover it! We're only still here because I made friends with the landlady! /Get your ass in gear/!!"
I had had enough of arguing with an idiot and so I left the room. I slammed the door shut behind me, half intending on ripping it from the hinges. My ki ability wasn't working properly and apparently my strength was out on vacation as well because all that happened was a very loud bang and some things near the door shook a bit.
I was twice as pissed, now. I had no /idea/ what was going on, I was in a strange place, with a human, with a human name, and my hair was short.
Wait. Rewind. My hair...?
I reached up and felt for my hair. It was short. I had never been particularly vain about my hair, but along with everything else, it was enough to drive me insane. "Where is the bathroom?" I demanded, slamming the door back open. Tori turned around, she was out of bed and had a robe half on.
"What is your problem, slamming the door like that?!" she hissed, forgetting to tie the sash and walking towards me with a look that could kill.
"Shut up and tell me where the bathroom is!" I demanded.
"PAU--"
My hand shot out and wrapped around her neck. She looked shocked, strangled, and she wriggled. "I'm going to ask you this one more time, where is the bathroom?" I asked in a deadly calm voice.
She didn't answer. Instead she clawed at my fingers. She wrapped a hand around one of my fingers, which was a surprise enough, but when she twisted it viciously enough to bring me to my knees, I was utterly shocked. "Look here, Paul, that's going TOO FAR!" Tori snarled. "I will argue, but don't you DARE touch me."
"Yo--"
She jerked it painfully and I bit back a sudden yelp. What was wrong with me? A human (a rather skinny human at that) managing to down me...
"Now, I want you to get up, shape up, and go to work, okay!"
She was almost in tears now.
/Tears/?
"Paul, we're about to lose this apartment and you go and pull a fucking stunt like this!" she snarled, and gave me an extra painful twist for good measure. "Get ready, and go to work!"
I was furious, but I wasn't stupid.
"When I let you up, I /will/ DECK you if you try any of this android bullshit anymore, got it?" Tori said.
I hesitated before I nodded.
"Good..."
And she released my finger. I stood up slowly. Tori stepped backwards, and crossed her arms.
I looked down at my hand. It hurt like a mother. "Let me see it," Tori snapped and grabbed my hand. She looked at it and dropped it. "I ain't gonna say sorry," she warned. "You shouldn't have grabbed me like that."
I yanked my hand away. "Don't touch me."
She frowned. "/Fine/. Once you're ready there'll be breakfast. Hurry."
She walked into the kitchen and I watched her go. She reached down and glanced over her shoulder. "Move it, Paul."
I decided not to press the issue that Paul wasn't my name. I took a deep breath. Both of us were angry, it was tangible in the air. And a pillow wasn't what she had in her hand now. "Where is a mirror."
"In the bathroom," she replied.
As if I should know where that is. "And where is that?"
She stopped what she was doing and made a visible effort not to explode. "In...the bedroom," she said quietly.
I turned around, and walked back in the bedroom. Slung over a chair was a yellow polo shirt that didn't look like it belonged to the human bitch. I picked it up. It /appeared/ to be my size...underneath the shirt was a neatly folded pair of khaki pants. I wasn't particularly fond of them, but something weird was going on and I figured it would be a good idea if I went along with this shit for a while.
The bathroom door was open and I walked in. I stepped closer to the mirror. I didn't look like myself. Well, I did, I still had my black hair and pale blue eyes, but my face seemed rounder and my eyes seemed wider. I realized with shock that, for the first time, I could see my expression on my face and in my eyes. You just didn't get that under normal circumstances.
Tori was putting plates on a crappy little foldup table when I came back out. I realized with something near shock that I was /hungry/. Something else I had never experienced before and I decided it was a very uncomfortable thing.
"Aren't you /done/ yet?" I demanded automatically. I almost regretted it when she looked up at me, eyes flashing. /Almost/. As in, I didn't, really. I just glared back at her.
"Chill out, Paul," she snapped. "Sit down."
I sat down at a chair. I didn't care if it was hers.
Tori brought something over, I leaned over and looked into it. It was a pan of oatmeal, which smelled heavily sugared. I frowned at it. This was it? I mean, there was half a glass of orange juice for both of us, but that was it. "Where's the rest of it?"
She looked up. She looked confused for a moment. "...There is no more," she replied.
I suddenly realized how thin this body was, as was hers. "Why isn't there?" I demanded.
Tori sighed and wiggled on her seat. She rubbed her temple. "Damnit, Paul...no role-playing shit for five minutes, okay? Can you give me that?"
I took the pan from her and poured sugary oatmeal into my bowl. It kind of flopped down.
We ate in silence even though I was itching to demand answers. I was still very disoriented. "Do I have a twin?" I asked suddenly.
She stopped eating immediately, and looked up at me as if shocked. "How the hell would /I/ know?"
I didn't answer. If Juuhachi were in this ridiculous situation too, I wouldn't know where to find her.
"You've never told me a damn thing about you," Tori said and continued eating, although it was faster now.
"Do I know anything about you?" I asked.
She thought for a moment. "No. To each his own."
That made no sense to me until I realized both Tori and 'myself' were young. Tori didn't look a day past eighteen, if that. My own self looked the same age as I was when I was myself, which I supposed was eighteen. I was sure that for humans that was usually too young to be out on your own and yet both Tori and Paul were doing just that.
"Are your parents dead?" I asked bluntly.
She froze. She looked up at me. "Are yours?" she shot back coldly.
"Did the /androids/ kill them?" I asked tauntingly, an unconscious smirk creeping up on my face. I was oblivious to the rising rage in Tori's eyes.
"They kill a lot of people."
"We do, don't we?" I taunted cold-heartedly.
Suddenly Tori leapt from her chair and at me. I was stunned and my head snapped backwards when she rammed her fist into my jaw. I went over with a spectacular fall, and the oatmeal flew everywhere.
"Don't even JOKE about that, Paul!" she screamed so loudly I could have sworn my ears rung. I looked up at her, I could feel blood pouring out of my nose and maybe my lip. How DARE that insolent little fuck...!!
"I aught to fucking kill you--" I started, but Tori interrupted me.
"You try that, you're going down with me," she snarled coldly.
It was the first time a human expression of pure fury ever stunned me in my tracks. I thought I should try a much easier tactic...easier, at least, on my face. My pride, however, was going to be permanently beaten. "I'm...sorry," I muttered.
"Sorry?" she repeated stonily. "Sorry isn't going to cut it Paul. Go. to. work."
I sat up and leaned forward. My yellow polo shirt was covered in blood and I could feel it sticking to my chest. I almost felt faint. It was still pouring out.
"Wash yourself up and get the clean one from the dryer," she said and turned back to the table. "Well, /go/!"
I wasn't sure if it was safe to tell her I didn't /know/ where I was supposed to work.
~~
Well, there's chapter 1. Tell me what you think, please don't tell me it sucks. Do you have any idea how crushing that is to a person? If you do, make it 'constructive criticism.' Man, is that quite the oxymoron or what? Please tell me if 17 is OOC, I never feel like I can get anybody in character. Its so terrible.
I know the situation is kind of vague, but I promise you it WILL BECOME CLEARER! This is only the first chapter! ^^ I have no idea where I came up with this fic, and it's completely unexplained yet, but that will be fixed if you give me the chance...it has to do with a *gasp* (can't tell ya) in later chapters...
I'd like at least 5 reviews...please? I'm not going to give you an ultimatum, but it would be nice to hear from you!! RR!
ps. - the idea for 17's hair being cut off came from a really REALLY good fanart of Juu-sama with a short haircut...it's the one on graphing paper and he looks kinda like he's modeling? If I feel like it I might just go get the URL...
Over and out, from Zithy & co...(co meaning the lazy fat cat lying on my bed at this very moment)
Oh, and I promise I haven't given up on my other story...it's just I've got writers block up the wazoo and I'm trying to break the dam...but I can't do it!