"Beautiful Disaster"
Chapter 5
Oh and I don't know…
I don't know what he's after…
But he's so beautiful…
Such a beautiful disaster…
"This truck is dirty," Keiko complained, toying with a nasty wad of pink bubble gum on her seat. "How much money did you have to pay to rent this piece of junk?"
Shizuru kept her eyes on the road, but responded. "It's not that bad, Keiko. The only reason you're noticing it is because you're nervous about your new school." She grinded her teeth as she pulled hard on the wheel to make a turn in the tattered, red truck. Kazuma, who was sleeping, almost fell on Keiko, but came up again when the turn was complete. She almost smiled, seeing gum from the seat stuck in his hair that he worked so hard to keep tidy.
"And this road's making me nervous," Keiko continued, to no one in particular as she stared out the window. "How many times have you driven in the mountains, Shizuru?"
"I passed my driver's ed class with flying colors." Shizuru said, lifting her chin in pride.
"That wasn't my question,"
"It doesn't matter if I haven't driven on a-"
"You haven't?" Keiko shrieked, just as they rounded another sharp corner on the edge of the mountain. "Why didn't you just get a taxi…"
"Eh, we'll be fine, don't worry about it. It's easy."
Keiko looked through the back window to make sure her things were still there- primarily her brand new furniture. Satisfied, she stared at the back of Shizuru's seat again, bored out of her mind. It was no use complaining with Shizuru anymore, and she'd listened to so much music her ears were practically bleeding.
She thought about reading, but Keiko knew the only reading material in the car was Kazuma's Shounen Jump, which Keiko had tried to read once and hated it. Keiko opened up her bag and fumbled with her things, looking for something remotely interesting to do.
She found another letter from Yamajiro she hadn't had time to read, and opened it. It was her schedule…and her roommates.
Keiko looked at her schedule first.
7:00 Wake-up Call (Anyone waking up earlier than this may not leave their rooms)
Seven o'clock? Keiko mused. That was lenient.
7:45 Breakfast (Attended in uniforms or sleepwear)
This is late as well, she thought. What was she to do for all this time?
8:30 First Period- Biology WATANABE Floor 1 Room 6
9:30 Second Period- Literature SASAKI Floor 1 Room 11
10:30 Third Period- Geometry ABE Floor 2 Room 3
11:30 Fourth Period- Study Hall ITO Floor 4 Room 7
12:30 Lunch (Attended in uniforms on weekdays, normal clothing on weekends)
She frowned when she read this. A 12:30 lunch? That was certainly a late lunch, and Keiko was bound to get hungry before then. Maybe snacks were allowed in Study Hall…
1:00 Fifth Period- English MARUYAMA Floor 2 Room 9
2:00 Sixth Period- World History OSHIRO Floor 4 Room 5
6:30 Dinner (Attended in uniforms, sleepwear, or normal clothing)
10:30 Curfew (Unless in study room)
Looking over it again, Keiko found she didn't really have any problems with her schedule. Not that she could- she didn't know what the classes were like, nor her teachers. It seemed like she'd have a feasible schedule as far as going around the school was concerned.
She flipped over that page and found her roommates' names printed in capital letters.
KIKUCHI BOTAN Year: 1
MURAKAMI YUKINA Year: 2
Pretty names, Keiko thought, hoping she wouldn't shudder at thinking such a thought in the future. She was glad to have another first year in the dorm with her: Maybe they could do some studying together.
She felt eyes staring at her back and looked up, seeing an awakened Kazuma looking over her shoulder. He was muttering something to himself, which told Keiko he was at the top of the paper, reading about discipline in the dormitories.
"Murakami and Kikuchi, eh? And only a first year? You would think…" He said, trailing off.
"What? Please continue, Kazuma," Keiko asked.
"It's nothing," He answered, scratching his head sleepily. "I was just musing about a memory as I read and my thoughts got mixed up. Nothing important."
"Hmm." Keiko put the papers back in the envelope and looked out the window for the first time in about fifteen minutes. She realized, as she saw a small town, that Yamajiro Boarding Academy was getting closer. "How much longer, Shizuru?"
"We're driving through the town of Kyuujou right now, and Yamajiro is just outside the town of Kanameishi, so…I'd say, half an hour."
Keiko felt butterflies in her stomach. Now that she was so close, even if Shizuru and Kazuma were all she had, she didn't want to go anymore. What if her roommates didn't like her? Or her teachers? All sorts of things could go wrong, and Keiko would have no one. No parents, no Shizuru. The very thought filled her with fear.
"I can feel your tension in the air, Keiko," Shizuru warned, "Lighten up,"
Keiko scratched her chin and muttered something to herself, which Shizuru saw through one of the mirrors in the truck. "Stop that! I'm a psychic, Keiko, and I can prove it."
"Chinny," Keiko grunted.
"Aww, cheer up, please, Keiko?...Kazuma, give her the food."
"Do I have-"
"Yes."
Kazuma dug into his bag and pulled out two Hershey's bars, which he handed to Keiko. Her eyes widened, and she took the two bars, savoring them so that they lasted half an hour.
Just as she ate the last section, Shizuru was driving around the parking lot of the Academy, looking for a spot. Keiko looked back and found herself staring at a huge, white stone building that looked like a Japanese castle…well, except for the stone part. The roofs were blue, and the building, Keiko guessed, probably looked like a cross from the sky. In the middle, her chart had said, were the dining hall, classrooms, and the dorms of the teachers, and on her nearest side, the boy's dormitories and courtyards. The girl's dormitories and courtyards were on the right side, and the school shops required a trip to Kanameishi.
Kazuma's mouth dropped to the floor as he looked at the complex. "Holy-y-y-y…shit."
Shizuru smiled as she parked the truck in a spot conveniently located right by the Academy. "Big, isn't it? That's where Keiko'll be staying to the right." She pointed to the girl's dormitories.
"And...what about the guys?" He asked.
"What, you think Keiko's going to get molested? They're on the completely other side of the building. I swear, Kazuma…you're a real doofus."
"Shut up, Shizuru!" Kazuma yelled, unfastening his seatbelt and almost lunging at the front seat where his sister sat. Only a sliver of self-control- and past incidents- kept him in his place.
"I'm really going to miss the two of you fighting," Keiko said quietly, and they suddenly stopped, lost in thought about how someone could miss hearing them fight. She smiled simply, and walked out of the truck with her bag.
They followed, and Shizuru took Keiko's bag full of clothes and bedding. Kazuma called a few janitors over, who were apparently waiting to assist new students, and they began carrying Keiko's dresser and jewelry table up to her dormitory.
"Well…" Shizuru began, "Shall we follow them?"
Keiko sighed and nodded. "I suppose."
They walked through the gigantic, double doors of the Academy and over to the stairs that led to the second floor of the ladies' dormitories. Keiko's room faced the fields around the school, and seemed like a long walk as they toted her heavy bags.
Keiko's eyes scanned the dormitory as she walked around in it. The other two girls had already been here, and their things were set up. In the area belonging to the girl of the middle bed was a pink makeup table, across the room from her bed, with photos across the mirror of smiling girls donning beautiful kimonos. Three lovely written hiragana symbols on paper sheets spelled "Botan" across the top, indicating its owner. On Botan's bed were pink sheets with a blue-haired doll in a pink kimono tucked in for bed.
The last bed Keiko assumed belonged to Murasaki Yukina. Her sheets were powder blue, as well as her simple dresser, on the same wall as Botan's. She kept a single photograph on her dresser, which Keiko wasn't paying enough attention to realize some familiar faces smiling back at her.
"Not to interrupt you or anything, Keiko, but where do you want your furniture?" Kazuma asked to break the silence.
Keiko jumped. "Oh! My makeup table can go on the same wall as those other dressers, and my dresser can go next to my closet."
Kazuma and the remaining janitor put her furniture in place, carefully. The janitor, after saluting Keiko, left the room.
"Hey, Shizuru, can I go see…" Kazuma made a strange motion with his hand and Shizuru nodded. Her younger brother proceeded to leave the room, just as the janitor did.
Shizuru smirked at Keiko. "Ready?"
Keiko nodded. "Yeah."
Keiko's white, wooden makeup table became adorned with her various hair and makeup products, and over the mirror Shizuru placed a miniature roof taken from a model of the Himeji Castle. Atop her matching dresser she put the photographs she had salvaged from her home and her little geisha doll, standing on a bridge also taken from the castle model. Her new boom box lay next to her bed.
After this was finished, Keiko relocated her clothes into her closet and her dresser, while Shizuru put dark blue sheets on her bed. After all this was finished, they stood back and stared at the room, which with its varying colors looked like a scoop of Neapolitan ice cream.
There was a long silence as they realized that the time was drawing nearer for Shizuru to go back home with Kazuma, and Keiko would be left here, by herself until her roommates returned. Keiko wondered again if Shizuru was confident in her guardian abilities, as she sometimes thought for minutes before she said something insightful to Keiko.
"Well…if you need anything, just call. Actually, I wouldn't mind you calling just for the hell of it, but I suppose you'll be having too much fun with school to call. And if you want to complain, just tell me, and I'll put Kazuma on the line, and…what else will you need? If you want anything from home, just call, and I can probably get some nail colors off of Kyoko, and…oh! I have to sign you in, don't I? Umm-"
Keiko had never seen Shizuru so…panicked. Was that the word? She couldn't put a word on her emotion, but it was very un-Shizuru.
"I'm sorry Keiko…I just got used to you always being around, and…you know how that is," Was she about to cry? Keiko did not want to see her cry, especially over her.
She walked over to Shizuru and hugged her, which she wasn't sure she would like, but it was the only thing she could think of. "You should go sign me in…it's almost 6:00."
She nodded solemnly as she headed for the door. "All right…but you'll call, won't you?"
"Of course!"
She heard a half-sob, half-spoken word, "Bye Keiko!" as Shizuru left, and it saddened her even more when she found herself alone in her room.
It didn't last long, however, as the door flew open and two ecstatic girls came in. One was medium-sized, in a pretty pink kimono with long, flowing sleeves and blue hair in a high ponytail, her purple- wait a minute, Keiko thought, purple? And blue hair?- eyes twinkling with happiness. Keiko realized that she was a life-size version of the doll tucked in to Botan's bed.
The girl next to her was considerably shorter, dressed in a blue and white kimono that Keiko fancied especially. Her sea-green locks were tied with a red barrette that matched the color of her eyes perfectly.
Man, did Keiko feel like a plain Jane.
"So, Yukina-san," Said the tall, blue-haired girl, "I suppose this is our last musketeer! I'm Kikuchi Botan- I have the bed in the middle, if you haven't noticed by my little twin,"
"I'm Murakami Yukina," Yukina trembled over her surname and gave a small, timid bow to Keiko, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Botan squealed. "Isn't she cute? I've only known her for about an hour, but she's so respectful to everyone…so, what's your name?"
Keiko blushed and took a hand to her chin. "Yukimura…Keiko."
"Keiko-san? Pretty name, if I say so myself! So, do you have a kimono?" Botan asked, still carrying that catlike smile on her face.
"Well, yes, but why?" Keiko said. Just after finishing, she wondered if the kimono-clad girls in the photographs had anything to do with the query.
"Oh. It is rude of me, isn't it? I…I don't know, I guess I like to see people in kimonos. It makes me feel more at home. And I'm sure you look dashing in yours!" The seemingly permanent smile of Botan's was gone for about two seconds, but it was soon back as she finished her monologue. Keiko went to her closet and retrieved her scarlet red kimono its hanger and changed behind her screen, coming out so Botan and Yukina could see. The tiny golden flowers on the fabric shone under the light, as well as the metallic gold obi.
"You certainly give me a run for my money," Botan said, with a laugh.
"It fits on you nicely, Keiko-san," said Yukina.
Keiko twirled for a moment, finding she indeed did think herself pretty in the kimono. But, girls will be girls, and girls always fish. "Are you sure?"
Botan smiled. "Of course!...Oh dear-"
"Attention students. Dinner will be starting in five minutes in the dining hall, on the second floor of the building's core. Dinner in five minutes." The intercom blared the message in the halls, as well as in the girls' room.
"I suppose we should go," Keiko mused to herself, walking towards the door. "Yukina, if you're a second year, do you know what the food is like?"
She shook her head. "I'm sure it can't be bad,"
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Keiko found after just a few hours of knowing Botan and Yukina that she knew everything about them, and they seemed so close. Botan was rather outgoing and wasn't afraid to talk about anything anytime, especially at the dinner table, and she liked things both old and new. Yukina was soft-spoken, but kind and untouched by any of the world's evils, so it seemed, and appreciated anything she was given. Keiko liked them already, and knew she'd be fine in her dorm.
"I think that guy across the table was staring at you, Keiko," hollered Botan from the bathroom. "He seemed pretty interested in your bust."
Keiko stepped out from behind her screen and began to unmake her bed. "And I thought smart people came to boarding schools."
Botan, her hair flowing down to her waist, came out of the bathroom. "Of course smart people come to boarding schools! But those are the girls. They boys paid their way in,"
"Attention students, it is 10:30. Please return to your rooms and keep quiet if you are staying awake." As another message came via intercom, Keiko wondered if it would be the cornerstone of her new life.
"Goodnight, Keiko-san, Botan-san," Yukina said sleepily, and then closing her eyes to rest.
"Sweet dreams, Yukina-san," Botan and Keiko answered in unison.
Although she shut her eyes, Keiko found she couldn't sleep. She swore…no, she knew there were people talking outside her window. She heard voices, raspy voices, talking in whispers she could hardly decipher. She picked out from the various monologues "she", "girl", "jewels", and "money", but every other word was gibberish.
And then, suddenly, she heard a strange noise, like the noise heard when a racquet swung through the air with great speed, and the voices were silent. Keiko then heard things being picked up, and after that…nothing. Nothing at all.
Keiko was frightened, but sleep overtook her too quickly after that for her fear to grow larger.
End Chapter 5
EDIT: Fixed certain sentences and dialogues to correctly portray Botan. I wanted to show that she was unexposed to human life, but I failed to realize I was butchering her character/taking it too far. And, being a Botan fan, I had to fix it when I got a review telling me about it. So…with the edit, I hope Botan's in character now.
Note 1: Sorry about the slow update- this time, blame a project. Rest assured that I will not pull an update-once-a-month routine on you guys like I did in my last two projects. That I promise.
Note 2: Go Cardinals! If you aren't on the Cardinal bandwagon, get on, people!
Note 3: And so…the real story begins. Why is Botan obsessed with kimonos? What did Kuwabara want to see? And who's outside Keiko's window? I think it's obvious, but hey…I tried.
Tsukigana: Hiei's so much fun that way, with his stubbornness. I like stubborn guys- I have a common trait with them!
Spede: I like the "Cheers!" at the end of your reviews. The reason Yusuke is at Yamajiro is…a huge spoiler. All in good time (And your fave Keiko hairdo is her current one!). And I just love the Kuwabara siblings, so I'm glad to hear I'm doing a good job!
What a Scene: And now…ultimate Frisbee. It makes me too sweaty, but it's fun. The big meeting is next chapter!
TheBigW: Gotta love RZ for her roles in Chicago and Down With Love, though. Pass/Fail? Not sure about that one, and about the uniform…I wore a uniform for camp, and I…bended the rules about it, but it still didn't satisfy me, so no.
Shigi: I know how you feel.
Bradybunch4529: Screaming into the night? Wow. Oh, and as I said earlier, next chapter's the big meeting!
Until my next update…I didn't talk about tennis! Oh dear- someone, strike up a tennis-related conversation!