"Beautiful Disaster"

Chapter 3

Oh and I don't know…

I don't know what he's after…

But he's so beautiful…

Such a beautiful disaster…

"Keiko?"

In her dream, Keiko saw a long, dark road with lightning overhead, that, for some odd reason, she was walking on. She could hear a slithery voice tell her not to look back, and a shadowy figure with long hair was on the other side.

"Keiko?"

Hearing her name, Keiko looked back…and saw a curving rainbow road with flying white unicorns and twinkling stars. Gambling houses were floating on either side of the road, and beings with bright hair flew about the scene.

"Keiko? It's noon."

"What?" Keiko yelled, jerking awake to gaze upon a fully dressed Kazuma, carrying volume thirteen of Ranma ½. Keiko tried to remember just what her dream was, but couldn't, much to her despair.

Kazuma scratched his head. "Shizuru's at work. She said to let you sleep until noon."

"Okay." Keiko rolled off her bed and onto the floor, getting up and tossing her blanket back on the bed. She lazily opened up her closet, taking out a pair of whitewashed capris, a bright pink shirt, and a whitewashed jean jacket when she saw the cloudy day. Looking back, Kazuma had not left the room.

He blushed when she stared at him. "I-I'm sorry. I'll go. But after you have some brunch Shizuru wanted me to take you Sarayashiki to get the application for Yamajiro. Are you up to it?" He asked, opening the door to leave.

"Um…yes, of course! No problem." Keiko answered, and Kazuma went back downstairs, closing the door. She dressed herself quickly, taking about five minutes to put on some makeup and put her chocolate-brown hair in the familiar pigtails. Keiko had put her makeup table right by the window so she could see out to Tokyo, and she found herself mesmerized after she was done makeup-applying. Never in her life had Keiko been able to appreciate the large city for being so pretty…in an urban sort of way.

Feeling the sharp emptiness in her stomach, Keiko was able to tear herself away and head downstairs, where Kazuma was reading his graphic novel on the couch. Five warm pancakes lay on the counter of the kitchen, along with butter, syrup, and, strangely enough, blue sprinkles. Keiko smiled, taking the syrup and three pancakes with her to the couch.

As Keiko ate, she looked at Kazuma a few times, studying him. She noticed he was letting out stifled laughs from time to time, as though he didn't want to laugh about whatever was so funny. She looked down at his empty plate, seeing the leftover blue sprinkles scattered around.

"Kazuma, you should really try to cheer up," Keiko said, taking a bite and staring at his seemingly stressed face. "We should go out for ice cream after we get the Yamajiro papers. I'll pay."

"Whatever," He replied, not looking up from Ranma ½. Keiko knew he didn't pass up an opportunity for free food. "But I'm not 'unhappy', okay? I don't even know where you're getting that."

Keiko gave him a disappointed look and went upstairs to get her wallet. Coming back to the living room, she finished her meal alongside him in silence.

After ten minutes, Kazuma put down his graphic novel and stood up, stretching his arms out. Keiko looked up at him, and he pointed at the door. Pigtails flying, Keiko stood up next to him and they left the little building that was their home.

As she crossed the street with Kazuma, Keiko suddenly remembered what her dream had been. While remembering each small detail, she begged to ask why she never had dreams that were sane.

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Kazuma walked up to the door of Sarayashiki Junior High School and pulled on the metal handle, getting no response. He jerked even harder two more times before flapping his hands about to relieve the pain and admitting defeat. After this procedure, he banged on the door, screaming, "Is anyone in there?" as loud as a foghorn. Keiko covered her petite ears with her pigtails to block out the sound, wincing.

After a few seconds, a grey-clad janitor opened the door and pointed them in with his broom. Kazuma and Keiko entered, looking around at what was a Christmas tree without the decorations. Every teacher in the hallway they had entered in had taken their posters and excellent student works off the walls, putting them in the trash can or for safekeeping. Janitors and teachers were scampering around to make the school appear untouched. Keiko hated seeing the building like this- the hallways seemed lonely to her.

They made a right turn into a new hallway, and found a less "cleaned" hallway. Keiko saw the familiar sign for Ms. Yoshida's room and opened the door, leaving Kazuma in the hall. To Keiko's surprise, Ms. Yoshida's room wasn't much of a mess- she knew from previous years that the dean's job was to rotate the files, throwing out the eighth grade files, and doing the same on her computer. In addition, Ms. Yoshida, who was rotating files, had a few posters on her walls.

"Do you need something, Miss Yukimura?" she asked, turning her attention to Keiko. "My greatest sympathies to your losses,"

Keiko put her right hand on the desk, drumming with her fingers. "I was wondering if you had the application materials for Yamajiro Boarding Academy."

"Took my advice, ne?" Ms. Yoshida said, thrilled with Keiko's decision. She fiddled around in her desk drawers for a few moments, coming back up with a manila folder. She blew on it, making a huge cloud of dust. "Fill out the papers and take the test, and then mail it to the address at the bottom of the last test page. They'll get it back to you in at least a week, at most three weeks." Keiko nodded and took the folder, heading out of the small room. "Take care now!"

Kazuma had leaned against the wall, sinking his elbows into it and looking up at the ceiling. Keiko walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder with the folder, and he stood back up on his own. "Can I see it?" he asked.

"Sure," Keiko handed him the folder and he opened it up, flipping through the papers and mumbling to himself as they went back to the exit. He looked at the test until they got back to the door where they had entered, and then gave the folder back to Keiko.

She led him down a few blocks west of the house to a little gelato stand that was connected to a prestigious Italian restaurant. Kazuma stared at the ice cream for a while, mesmerized by its unique appearance, and then ordered the stand's most bizarre flavors rolled into one.

Keiko laughed, having ordered a simply chocolate-covered cherry flavor, and paid for it.

They sat in petite black chairs at a little black table to finish the gelato and stare at the other shoppers and cars. Keiko ate, trying to think of something to start a conversation.

She was fruitless. "So, you really want to go to that all-boy school?"

He dug into his cup and got another spoonful. "Yeah, I guess so. But I'm going to take the Kaibara test for backup. I was going to try Meiou until I found out about the uniforms."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. "What? Are they bad?"

He let Keiko see a slight smile. "The girls wear short red skirts with black socks, and the boys…they wear 'magenta', which is basically pink."

Keiko almost choked on a bite because of Kazuma's never-ending quest to be the manliest man in Tokyo. "Pink isn't your color, Kazuma?"

"I've seen the kids who wear the Meiou uniforms," Kazuma replied, with stifled laughter. "They look like the biggest pansies on the face of the Earth. And Meiou cracks down hard on you if you don't wear them, so that omits my blue jumpsuit."

Keiko nodded. "But is a uniform really that big of a deal?"

Kazuma didn't respond, leaving Keiko to remember that his pride was the most important thing in his life. There was a long silence, and in this time, they finished their gelato.

After throwing away her cup, Keiko looked over to Kazuma as she picked up the folder. "Did that make you feel any better?"

He smiled at her, somewhat graciously. "I don't know why, but I think it did,"

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"Mendel's experiment on pea plants helped him to get his nickname in the science world, the…"

Keiko banged her pencil on her desk in frustration. She knew this one! Mendel was called the "father" of a branch of science, which was somehow lost in Keiko's mind. Mendel, Mendel, Mendel…usually, when Keiko heard a scientist's name, she thought immediately of his branch. All she could draw up for Mendel was "pea plant experiment", and "beginning of school year".

Breathing slowly, Keiko calmed herself down ever-so-slightly. Using another idea to jog her memory, Keiko wondered if the pea plant part had anything to do with the area of science. Pea plants…botany…Mendel…no, that didn't seem right. Biology…no, Mendel wasn't a biologist. Damn it! She needed to remember this!

Pea plants…peas…food…health? No, health isn't an area of science, you dolt! Keiko screamed in her head. What did he study?

And suddenly, her mind decided to stop tantalizing her, and the answer was dropped in front of her eyes immediately. She wrote it down, repeating it to herself.

Genetics. Gregor Mendel was the Father of Genetics.

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Keiko stood on wobbly legs at the front of the line, her knee-length black dress swaying from the various fans around the room. Her hair was down for this event: Keiko couldn't remember the last time she didn't wear her pigtails, and people commented about it as they hugged her or shook her hand, some with tears streaming down their faces. The whole scene in the stuffy room made Keiko more unhappy than she had ever been: The constant memories of her parents' lives from the pictures on the walls, the thought of their ashes lying in the ground of the cemetery (The cremators couldn't wait), and the others, over a hundred others, just like her, teary-eyed and black clad in the hot, hot room.

Keiko couldn't stand it.

"My greatest sympathies, Yukimura-san," greeted another stranger to Keiko as she shook her hand. "For the rest of my life I'll long for the taste of their diner cuisine,"

Keiko nodded, letting the now meaningless words, "And so will I," spill out of her mouth.

The line was held up while one of Keiko's former teachers from Sarayashiki gazed at the family portraits, so she looked to see just how long the line was. Keiko had stopped crying just a few minutes ago, and she wasn't sure how long she could go without bursting into tears again. Thankfully, there were about twenty more people, and the doors were closing, indicating that no more people would be allowed in.

"Yukimura-san, you were such a good student in my math class. I hope that you can make it through this and become something great. You didn't deserve to become an orphan, Yukimura-san," Her seventh grade math teacher said, hugging her. The mention of her orphanhood threatened to make her cry, but she just barely held back her tears. The embrace ended, and the lady went out through the double doors.

She met nineteen more people in the same fashion, some she didn't even know, and a select few, such as Principal Takenaka, who knew her well and cried upon seeing her. When the remaining visitors had left, Shizuru and Kazuma, both in formal black attire, began to take the pictures off the easel-like display boards and put them in a simple red box.

Keiko looked around the empty room and emotionally collapsed. She fell into Shizuru's embrace, bawling like a newborn now that no one was watching. Over her friend's shoulder, she saw Kazuma, his eyes watery, but then he looked to the floor.

She stayed like this for what seemed for hours, but, as the clock told her, was really just seven minutes. Shizuru finally let her go.

"Let's go home now, okay? This funeral home is only going to make you feel worse. I got some pizza, too- I know it's your favorite. And lots of ice cream."

Keiko blew her nose with her handkerchief and nodded. "Thank you."

"Mmm hmm. It's no problem." She replied, patting Keiko's back and leading her out to the car.

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Keiko walked lazily back to her makeup table as she combed her wet hair. Her legs were extremely tired, although getting hugged and cried on hadn't required much walking. Finished with her combing, she tossed her blue comb, with minimal effort, on the makeup table.

Caught up with preparing for the visitation, Keiko hadn't been able to check her mail, which Shizuru had conveniently placed on her desk for the past week. Keiko picked up the small pile, opening three fewer sympathy cards than the day before. Most of today's cards were from out-of-town friends of her parents.

However, underneath these papers was a bulky, white package that caught Keiko's attention. She looked at the return address, which was "Yamajiro Boarding Academy" in large blue print. Filled with hope, she opened the package to first pull out a simple letter.

Miss Yukimura Keiko,

YamajiroBoardingAcademy is proud to tell you that you have been accepted for this year's incoming class! This means that your admittance test results were among the top twenty to ten percent, depending on the number of applications.

Enclosed with this acceptance letter are the necessary papers for paying for your tuition, choosing your classes, and some extra information about campus life. We congratulate you on your acceptance and hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Yoshi Abe

Academy President

Keiko gave a weary smile, setting the paper down on her desk and staggering into bed. She'd tell Shizuru in the morning.

End Chapter 3

Note 1: Kaibara High School is a shout out to Fruits Basket, another one of my favorite mangas.

Note 2: I don't own Fruits Basket or Ranma ½, but I do love them to pieces! If you haven't read Ranma, please do. It's ten times better than stupid InuYasha, which I also don't own.

Note 3: Thanks to all the people who reviewed and put this story on their story alert! I'm very grateful for your attention and I hope that you'll give me another review or at least put another hit on the hit counter. It's official now: Keiko will be at school by chapter 5.

Note 4: I'm continuing review replies, because I haven't got in trouble yet, and it's not an official rule. In fact, review replies are allowed. Besides, I love you guys too much! You deserve to be talked to.

Fallen Seraphim Azarael: Oh, isn't that mystery fun? And you get a million virtual hugs and cookies for being a fellow Federer fan! (I'm dancing with you! Woot!) Admit it, other reviewers: You love him too!

What a Scene: Playing ping pong in P.E. is punishment enough…

Tsukigana: Trust me, I can't wait either. These chapters are truly boring to write.

Bradybunch4529: A new level? Wow, that makes me feel really good. I never thought I had really good character skills…but I think I just killed the slow building, sorry. But then again…I'm not sure I did that, considering how this plot is going…

Mama Moose: Money and candy…vital parts of my life.

Moonlight Fenix: Really? I'm the first? I feel so honored! Thanks for adding me to all those things, I really appreciate it.

Shigi: You reviewed again! Yes! I always worry about losing my wonderful anonymous reviewers. And I'll give you plenty of Yusuke, I promise!

Min: Botan will be here before Yusuke: Right now, I'm predicting chapter five, which is also when Yukina will come in. Thanks for the compliment on my plot! I didn't think it was that good just going into it, but it'll get much better than this!

Until my next update, a question: Will I ever go a chapter without talking about tennis?...That's a tough one for me, too.