Book One: The Straw That Broke The Pervert's Back
Chapter Seven: The Test
By: Sci-Fi Raptor
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Challenge:
Serphina asked me to write a sub-story about what would have happened if the girls would have pulled there plan off and got him into the virtual machine. Can you picture the reaction Keitaro would have after seeing their memories?
Thoughts? I'll leave it to the readers. Time is becoming an expensive commodity now, and I'll think about doing it if people really want it, since I think it's an interesting idea. But I'll warn you, I ain't no good with no fluffs…
I don't know if I'm following the Manga of the Anime/OVA at this point. Its probably a merge between them, but I don't remember which one has Mutsumi trip and remember who Naru is the day of the test.
(-O-)
At the test site, Mutsumi parted ways with the other two of the group, each wishing the other good luck. Naru and Keitaro made their way to their room and sat next to each other. The test started and the two went to work.
Naru scanned the test, like anyone would, and started on her first question. 2A plus 2B equals three and A plus 5B equals 7. What is the solution set? Naru thought about the simple question, but she couldn't focus. For some reason, she had gone completely blank. She tried to do the next question in hopes that she'd remember, but everything looked like hieroglyphics. She went into full-blown panic mode. Her vision got blurry as sweat precipitated into her eyes, causing them to burn. The test suddenly became intimidating and she was paralyzed with fear. She felt something on her hand and found that it was Keitaro's own. He was giving her an encouraging smile and his confident air tore down her wall of fear. The two worked confidently to the test's denouement.
(O)
Three hours later, the two stretched. They had submitted their tests and were getting ready to leave.
"So, Naru, how do you think you did?" Keitaro asked.
"I did really well," she said confidently. She remembered how she had deformed in the beginning and blushed. "Thanks for helping me helping me out in the beginning…" she added curtly.
"Heh, don't worry about it," he said, waving a hand dismissively.
"So… how did you do?" she asked.
"I think I did all right. I had a little trouble with the first section, but the rest I covered recently, so they weren't that hard," he said as they left the testing room.
On their way out, they bumped into… a pair of dorks!
"Keitaro!" they shouted, and ran up to him. They wore signs saying 'Good luck next year' and 'Fifth time's the charm.'
"Um… who are you guys again?" Keitaro asked, hand on the back of his head.
"How could you forget us, your best friends!" they said, tears streaking down anime style.
"I think I know you two, but what's your names again?"
"Haitani!" one said, "Shirai!" the other followed, both with anime-style agitation.
"Oh yeah!" Keitaro said.
"Um…" Naru said impatiently. "I'll go meet up with Mutsumi… you have fun in the dork convention," Naru said, causing the two newcomers to go gray in despair.
"Actually, you and Mutsumi should just go on ahead without me. I'll probably take a while," Keitaro said as she left.
"Okay," she answered and left the trio to do whatever perverted stuff they usually did. She walked for a few minutes and found Mutsumi sitting on a bench near her testing room. "Hi, Mutsumi-chan, how'd it go?" she asked.
"I think I did well, how about you?"
"Same here. I had a little trouble in the beginning, but-" she cut herself off when she was about to say something self-incriminating (under Hinata-sou law).
"But what?" the older woman inquired, her head titled to the side questioningly. "Did you start panicing but Kei-kun calmed you down?"
"No!" Naru said automatically, but realized that she had hit the nail on the head. She was about to express her shock, but Mutsumi cut her off.
"I guess my lady's intuition is getting a bit rusty," she said disappointed. "Where is Kei-kun, by the way?"
"He wanted to hang out with his loser friends…" she sighed. She had wanted to hang out with him, if you know what she means.
"Darn," she Mutsumi said, snapping her fingers. "I wanted to say this when both of you were here, but I can't hold it in any longer!"
"What's that?"
"Well, while I was talking to Tama-chan and Liddo-kun, I remembered something from our childhood."
"Really? What did you remember?" Naru asked, not appreciating the scope of what Mutsumi was saying. Te two started walking as Mutsumi explained what really happened when they were kids, and how the promise Keitaro had made was between Keitaro and Naru, not Mutsumi.
Naru stopped walking. Turned to look at her and wasn't sure what kind of expression her face held, though her eye was twitching a bit. Her face held a small timid smile that morphed to a full-fledged grin, and then she started laughing.
"Naru-chan?" Mutsumi asked worriedly, bringing her back to planet earth.
"Hehe… sorry about that Mutsumi," she said with a bright smile on her face. "Let's go."
(O)
As the two finished scaling the steps that led to the Hinata-sou, they found the gang waiting by the entrance. Su held a sign saying, "Better luck next year." Kitsune finally took notice, smack her outside the head and scolded her. Su turned the sign around and it said, "Congratulations on making it in!" but upside-down. When they reached the girls, they all congratulated them for their achievements.
"Um… you guys do know there's another day of testing, right?" Naru said, paying particular attention to Kitsune who most likely coordinated this and was presently staring back at her dumbly. She then reverted back to her slit eyed self and said, "Then well have that party to keep you three motivated!" She opened a bottle of sake that she had been hiding behind her and took a drink.
"Speaking of which, where is that letch?" Motoko asked.
"He's coming a bit later," she explained as everyone filed into a festivly decorated Hinata-sou.
"He's probably hanging back to scope out some prospects…" Kitsune said with insinuating gesticulation.
"I don't care!" Naru replied hotly to the attack, though he body language said otherwise.
The party started off with Kitsune pushing Naru closer and closer to the edge, while everyone else sang karaoke, danced and had a generally fun time.
It was getting late, and Keitaro was getting late. Naru was feeling very anxious, though she did her best to hide it. Unfortunately, the anxiety expressed itself by causing her to become irritable, something that the sake didn't help temper.
The party was finally winding down, since everyone but Naru, and the minors were was drunk. Kitsune had managed to get Motoko to dance with her, something she was very resistant to. Kitsune pulled off some moves on the inexperienced young lady, and tricked her into sharing a passionate kiss. When Motoko realized what she was doing, she pulled back and stood paralyzed, face burning hot.
"What's going in on here?" someone asked. Naru looked to see who the newcomer was and found that it was Keitaro.
"These losers thought that the test lasted for a day," Naru said, walking up to him. "And what took you so long?" she said with a suspicious look. Keitaro suddenly looked like a preteen caught sneaking back home after curfew.
"I was out with friends," he said, his hand on the back of his head.
"Really?" Naru asked, not sounding convinced. He was a horrible liar and she knew something was up.
"Yeah…" Keitaro insisted.
"Whatever," not really caring. He didn't look like he'd been chasing skirt, since he didn't have any slap marks over his face. "We should be going to sleep now anyways. We still have the second half of the test tomorrow."
"Yeah," he agreed and the two went off to go to sleep. Mutsumi had already gone to bed before them, citing something about Liddo-kun.
Naru looked on in wonder as Keitaro scarfed his food. He was eating so fast, he was tied with Su…
"Um… Sempai?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeph?" Keitaro spat, and quickly went back to eating.
"Why are you eating so quickly?"
"Ith cuth yo footh ith vephy philiphouth anth I thithn'th eath thinner lasth nithe," he explained and went back to eating.
"Okay…" she said, not really understanding what he said. Su won by less than a second. She jumped at him and gave him a congratulatory kick in the head, saying, "Better luck next time." Everyone else sweat dropped.
The three ronins set off for the train station, and they only had to catch Mutsumi once!
While they were waiting for the train, Naru nudged Keitaro to the side, so that she could tell him something.
"Yes, Naru?" he questioned when they were out of earshot from Mutsumi.
"I just wanted to tell you…" she said. What Mutsumi had told her played in her mind again, causing her to blush. "I'll wait a year if you don't make it…" she finally said. Then to cover herself, she added, "Since we both promised to get in together and all…"
"Sure Naru," Keitaro said, his hand behind his head, an uncertain look on his face. The train arrived.
(O)
It was finally over! Naru stretched a little bit before she collected her things and left the testing room. Mutsumi was in the room next to hers, so she waited for her to come out. She had been waiting for a few minutes and it seemed that everyone had left the room. She went in to see what was keeping her up and sweat dropped when she found her sprawled over her desk, seemingly asleep, but no doubt fainted. After a few pokes, prods and shakes, Mutsumi woke up, energetic as usual and followed Naru out of the room.
"So, Mutsumi, how did you do?" Naru asked as they headed for the last of their crew's testing room.
"I think I passed, how about you?"
"Same here," Naru answered. They made idle chitchat that most girls do (whatever vile thing that is) and arrived at Keitaro's room. He wasn't waiting outside like they expected him to, so they went into his room too see what was up. They scanned the room and saw a paper on one of the desks. They walked up to it and found Keitaro's bag by the desk's chair, his sticker book sticking out.
"I wonder why Kei-kun left without his sticker book?" wondered Mutsumi. Naru moved to read the letter, but when she did, her face got angry and she threw the paper onto the floor and punched a nearby desk into splinters. Mutsumi went to retrieve the letter and read it, saying, "Ara, Ara," when she finished.
Camera moves over her shoulder so you can read what it says
"I'm sorry that I didn't wait for you two. Please don't look for me," the letter said, still unsigned.
(-O-)
And I thought I'd finish this by this chapter… I've been working on this story for a while now and it seemed convenient to stop here and make a cliffhanger… I know what you think is going to happen. You can keep on thinking it too, I don't mind : )
Note: The Other Me's chapter order is screwy, but its how I plan on leaving it. Though the last chapter updated was chapter 7 according to ff net, it was really chapter ten in the story.
And remember, click the 'Go' button. (Flames are understandable, especially if critical)
Cheers! : )
