"Beautiful Disaster"
Chapter 4
And if I try to save him...
My whole world could cave in…
It just ain't right…
Just ain't right…
She woke up the next morning feeling somewhat tired, but she forced herself out of bed, knowing that Shizuru would be leaving for work in no time. Keiko grabbed the package off her desk and went to her closet. She put on a robe, since she wasn't planning on leaving the house today, and went downstairs.
Shizuru had made cinnamon rolls and was now munching on one on the couch, her legs crossed fashionably. She had the newspaper laid out in front of her and was reading it contently. Keiko went over to the kitchen counter and got herself her own cinnamon roll and sat down beside her, reading over her shoulder about some American celebrity and their crumbling marriage.
"Shizuru?" Keiko asked, taking the letter out of the package again to show her. There was no audible reply.
Keiko nudged her shoulder and Shizuru jumped, looking over. "What?"
She flashed the paper in front of her and Shizuru snatched it, reading over it like a madwoman. She finally hugged Keiko, yelling, "You got in! You got in!" She stopped when Keiko pointed to Kazuma's door, which was opening slowly to reveal Kazuma with bedhead and a serious morning temper.
"Holy crap, Shizuru, there are some people who like to sleep!" Kazuma slammed his door and sauntered over to the counter for his breakfast, sitting across from his sister.
"How can you sleep on a day like this? Keiko got in to this place- and can pay! Oh, dammit, if it weren't a Wednesday…" Shizuru sighed longingly and looked up to the ceiling, going into such a dreamlike state that she chewed her next bite with her mouth slightly open.
"No, Shizuru, you have to work. And once you do go on those crazy escapades to get Keiko ready, I won't be following you. And I'm not filling out the papers either." Kazuma said, looking away from the scene in disgust.
"Well, of course you'll come with us! Are you crazy, Kazuma? We need someone to carry our bags!" Shizuru exclaimed, now chewing with her mouth closed. "And I have to fill out the papers this time…hey, that was once!"
Kazuma groaned. "Fine…"
Shizuru smirked and stood up, ripping her calendar off the wall and bringing it down to Keiko, who smiled at their sibling quarrel. "Well, let's see…this Sunday, we can pick your classes and check out the campus life," She pointed at the coming Sunday's square on the calendar, and then on the next Sundays, "The Sunday after that we can fill out the payment papers, the Sunday after that we can buy your uniforms and your new wardrobe-"
"New wardrobe?" Keiko asked, seeming irate about the idea, "Is something wrong with my current wardrobe?"
Shizuru laughed. "I can't change your taste, but I can at least get you some new clothes. And we have to give those rich kids a run for their money."
Keiko heaved a long sigh, but let Shizuru continue.
"The next Sunday, we'll spend the whole day getting you a lovely kimono-"
"It doesn't take a whole day to buy a kimono!" Keiko and Kazuma yelled in unison.
Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Keiko, you're a high school girl now- I think I need to teach you some lessons in womanhood. Lesson number fifteen: It takes as long as it takes to find a suitable outfit for a formal event."
"But something that takes that long to buy must have a big price tag on it!" Keiko protested.
"Lesson number two: Men are from Mars, women are from Visa. It's on me,"
She frowned at Shizuru's statement, but waved her arm in a signal to continue.
"And the next Sunday, we'll get your hair done,"
Keiko's eyes lit up with fear. "You're going to change my hairstyle?" She couldn't remember a time in her life when she hadn't had those familiar farmer-girl pigtails. There had to be some sort of law against changing it now.
Shizuru smirked again. "I've been dying to for years. Might I give you lesson number thirty?"
"No…I guess I can trust you,"
"The Sunday after that, we'll buy furniture for your dorm, and the last Sunday of them all…we'll get your nails done. And Kyoko will give you a little kit and teach you how to use it so you can do your own nails." Shizuru had apparently finished her list, and beamed with pride. Despite this, there was an awkward silence for a few minutes.
"But, Shizuru…I don't care about my nails. Or having new clothes." Keiko protested again, quietly.
Shizuru's head fell, and she looked rather disheartened. "Well…it would mean a lot to me. You know I didn't have dolls when I was little, and Kazuma here decided to be XY instead of XX…if you know what I mean..."
Keiko gave a small sigh. "Okay. I suppose I could. But you do know that if this is the Wednesday of the second week of June, then all this business will be finished by the first week of August…"
"And, school starts the second week of August." Shizuru finished, pointing at her calendar. "So it all works out perfectly." She put her calendar down and began to fish through Keiko's package, randomly pulling up her black purse. Shizuru paused, looking at certain things, and would then look for some other document. Keiko fancied her enthusiasm, even though she knew it was because Shizuru had always used Keiko as her life-size doll. She could see it in stores now: Boarding School Keiko- with her new friend, Boarding School Yumi! Keiko smiled at the thought.
"Shizuru, if you haven't noticed, your shop is supposed to open in five minutes," Kazuma said quietly, with stifled laughter.
His sister looked at the wall clock; a circular black clock with a neon red light wrapped around it, and ran for the door. "Well, um, have fun today! Get some sleep! Bye!"
Kazuma shook his head and turned on the television, looking for an action movie. Keiko finished her cinnamon roll and decided that she did, indeed, need a nap. Pulling a nearby blanket over her, she fell asleep to the sound of an unknown Bruce Lee flick and Kazuma's gaping mouth.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
"So…here's the right paper!"
Shizuru, with glee, pulled out from the package a paper with Keiko's class choices. "It has five marked for you- I think that's based off of your intelligence. So…you have the highest biology class, the highest world history class, and an advanced literature class…wow, Keiko! You got put in a sophomore class for math!"
Keiko raised a brow. She sat to Shizuru's right on the couch. "How so, Shizuru?"
Shizuru toyed with a nearby strand of hair. "Don't ask me: All it says is 'Geometry 2', and on the little key, '2' means a sophomore class."
Keiko nodded. "So, are all those the classes I'm forced to have?"
"No. You're also taking an English class."
"High or low?"
"All levels."
"Mmm Hmm." Keiko tugged slightly on the right side of the paper, now looking at her electives. "How many electives can I have?"
"One if you value free time, two if you like work."
"Well, let's see what they have," Keiko looked all over the paper at the electives, which she found to be some of the craziest classes around. Ballroom dancing and glassblowing were two of the wackiest, while ancient history and extended science courses were somewhat normal. Keiko couldn't see anything she liked.
"Did you see the foreign languages, Keiko?" Shizuru asked, pointing to a giant stack of additional languages. "How about Spanish? I hear that one's easy."
Keiko sighed. "Nothing seems really intriguing, or that it would be mandatory for the job I want. I'll just have a study hall."
She wondered immediately if that was a good choice.
"Okay, let's get out this little thing about campus life…" Shizuru pulled out a series of papers stapled together and began reading. "They've already decided your dorm for you! That's cheap…but at least they aren't co-ed. Boys and girls are on completely different sides of the building. My college was co-ed…"
"So, do they have a picture of my dorm?" Keiko asked.
Shizuru flipped through the papers. "Actually, they do!" She showed it to Keiko, who nodded. "I like it. The walls are red, and the carpet's black. I wonder if the interior designer's single…"
"If it's going to look like that, I'll be homesick in seconds," Keiko said, nervousness in her voice.
"No you won't! I think you'll be fine. So, based on that, how do you want to decorate your room?"
"Uhh…how about ancient Japanese?"
"Sure." Shizuru flipped through the other pages, reading each one. "Says that there's no gym class, but you can walk in to recreation classes throughout the day. That's pretty fair."
"Really? I think I'll be too stunned to go to those."
"That's why they invented radios- dance anywhere, anytime."
"I suppose." Keiko said, looking at the clock. "Does it say anything about my dorm mates?"
Shizuru shook her head. "No names yet, apparently. But it says you'll have two."
There was a silence as Shizuru finished reading the last page of the packet. "That was pretty uninformative. Don't bother reading it."
Keiko just nodded. "What's for lunch?"
"Eh, I don't know. How about a salad?"
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Can I please be left at home? Please? I'll do anything Shizuru. Anything!" Kazuma wasn't quite on his hands and knees, but was pleading with his sister eagerly so not to go shopping with Shizuru and Keiko. "I know what you do to me when you go shopping. Please!"
"Geez, the way you're talking, I make you try on bras when we go shopping. Get in the car." Shizuru rolled her eyes and pointed to her red Taurus.
"You did make me try on bras!" He protested, waving his arms.
"Yes, I did, when I was twelve. How many years has it been? Just get in the car. Keiko's waiting."
He groaned and got in the back seat with Keiko, who looked out the window vacantly.
"According to this little paper, there's a shop in Tokyo for uniforms pretty close to here. After that, we head to the teenage thrift store where Kyoko's daughter works, and then to the downtown mall."
"Why are we going to the thrift store?" Keiko questioned, her words slow in suspicion.
"Drop off all your old clothes…well, except for the underwear, bras, and sleepwear, and get cash for them." Shizuru replied. "And then we use that cash to get you a whole new wardrobe for boarding school."
The image of "Boarding School Keiko" came into her head again.
In about five minutes, Shizuru parallel-parked beside AAA High School Uniforms and then got out of the car, Keiko and Kazuma following close behind. A worker opened the door for them, the ding of a bell echoing throughout the shop.
Keiko had never seen so many diverse school uniforms in her life, and she would have wandered around in amazement if it wasn't her that she was shopping for.
"Can I help you?" The worker, a short and squeaky-voiced college girl, asked Shizuru.
"My friend here is going to Yamajiro. We hear you've got the uniforms," Shizuru pointed to Keiko. The worker nodded.
"Ah, yes! Yes! Right this way, miss," She replied, pointing to the back of the store. Keiko followed shyly.
The worker held up a uniform for Keiko to see, correctly assuming Keiko had not seen the uniform. Keiko didn't mind it: It was a white blouse with elbow-length sleeves and a powder blue knee-length skirt. The worker held up the socks and shoes next, the socks being the same color as the skirt and the shoes a white version of her middle school shoes.
"What size are you?" The worker asked.
Keiko gave a look at the uniform she had held up, which was identified by the hanger as a large. "Small."
She was given a small and directed to the dressing room. She changed, and came out to look in the larger mirror. Keiko didn't like the way she looked in it: it was an awfully juvenile look.
Shizuru and Kazuma came over to see the uniform. "I wouldn't worry about it," She said, "With the hairdo you're getting, you'll look fine. Promise,"
Keiko gave a passive nod and went back in the dressing room to take it off. Once she put every piece outside the door, she could hear Shizuru taking it up to the counter. And now that Shizuru had mentioned her new hairdo, she began worrying about it again.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Keiko followed Shizuru into the hair salon, toying with her wet pigtails and savoring the last few moments she'd have them. Shizuru had commented previously that she acted like she was going to the guillotine, but Keiko was just a little scared. She didn't even know what she looked like without pigtails, or the current hair length she had.
Shizuru swung the door open with glee. "Today's the day, girls!"
The customers looked at Shizuru oddly, but all of the workers jumped up and down excitedly. "Oh, don't worry Keiko; we picked out a great hairstyle!" One of the hairstylists, Akasuki, yelled to Keiko.
"Yeah, we even took your head and put cutouts of hairstyles on it!" A manicurist, Hisa, informed her, waving up a small paper that was most likely Keiko's head with her hairstyle on it. Kyoko, next to Hisa, giggled excitedly. Keiko only wished she could see the picture.
Shizuru led Keiko to her personal desk and had her sit down. "I washed your hair at home so we could get straight to business here. Now, I need Murasaki."
Murasaki, a rather quiet but artsy stylist, came over to Shizuru with a piece of a purple bandanna with strips of masking tape on either side. She put the bandanna over Keiko's eyes, pressing the tape onto her face, and left to style her customer.
Shizuru took the scrunchies out of Keiko's wet hair and got to work. For what seemed like hours, Keiko heard and felt combing and snipping, and the excited squeals and yells from the other stylists as they looked over from their work for a few seconds to watch. Keiko suddenly heard the snipping stop, and a hair dryer began to blow warm air onto her tresses. Soon, that stopped, as well as all the other workers.
Footsteps came over to Shizuru's desk, and Keiko assumed it was Murasaki. She felt the first piece of tape rip off her face, then the second, and then Keiko could see again. Shizuru was behind her, one hand on her hip with a pleased smirk on her face.
Keiko found that Shizuru was right- she was far better looking than before. The lowest part of her hair was shoulder-length, and the rest went up like stairs until it got to her bangs. The style made her hair seem more present, and she realized she looked ten times as mature. She gave a small smile and the entire salon clapped and cheered.
Hisa ran over to Keiko, her bobbed orange hair flying. She shoved the cut-and-paste picture on to the desk. "See, Keiko? That's what we thought it would look like. But it looks so much better! Shizuru's a genius, ne, Keiko?"
Shizuru set down her scissors on her desk, making a loud bang. "And that's how you do it,"
End Chapter 4
Note 1: I don't own Bruce Lee, or anything I've mentioned that isn't mine in this chapter.
Note 2: Oh, the drama of Keiko getting her hair cut! Yah, if this chapter seems corny, just know it was funny to me. Sort of. And while I was googling Keiko to find out how to describe her cute hairdo, I found the most adorable picture of her like she looks at the end of the series and Yusuke dressed in a ramen shop uniform! I died of the cuteness. And then I cried because the link was broken.
Note 3: If you reviewed chapter two, would you mind reviewing some more of the chapters you read? Or, once again, the favorite system? Just so I know you're still interested. I'm also sorry about the slower than usual update. Blame homecoming and a bad case of laziness.
Tsukigana: Note in this chapter that Keiko has two roommates! And Hiei will be in here, yes, there'll actually be a Hiei/Keiko friendship thinger going on. Although I doubt Hiei would admit to being anyone's friend…
Shigi: Thank you!
What A Scene: Acck, ping pong is boring. Now we're playing paddleball- color me thrilled. How do you like the chapters?
Bradybunch4529: He's such a sweetie. I love the scene where Yukina heals him after the quarterfinals. And thanks again for the sweet compliments!
TheBigW: Damn straight he's better than anyone! (Cookies for being a fan!) My friends and family are still appalled when I say I don't like Roddick.
Until my next update…I have to read Lord of the Flies. Boring, boring book.