"Beautiful Disaster"

Chapter 9

And if I could hold on…

Through the tears and the laughter…

Would it be beautiful…

Or just a beautiful disaster…?

Swoosh!

It was happening again. Keiko should have known; after all, it happened every night. The first few nights, it had been voices, and now it was different every night. Some nights, she heard voices, and other nights she just heard noises. Strange noises.

Keiko buried her head under her pillow and tried to think of something else. Camptown ladies sing this song, doo-daah, doo-daah…

Not working. Outside her window, Keiko heard a soft clink! Clink! Clink! It was beginning to become less frightening and more annoying.

Botan stirred in the bed next to her. She'd been moving around all night and Keiko was beginning to worry if something was going wrong. Once again, Keiko tried to think of something else.

What could she promise the student body? The question had pounded in her head for some time. While she had promises on her posters, they were vague and few. Keiko couldn't commit to a number of things she could think of simply because she was a student. On the bright side, those stupid noises seem to have gone away, she thought.

Swoosh! Munch! Munch!

Keiko groaned into her pillow and banged her fists onto the mattress. And suddenly, a thought came to her…what did normal schools have that Yamajiro didn't have? Surely, there had to be some sort of tradition students took for granted that wasn't available at this place. That was it! She could do it! Promising herself to find out just what the school didn't have tomorrow, Keiko tossed happily in her bed. So much for being unable to sleep! She was reveling in her amazing idea! There were no noises, no roommates stirring, no nothing. She knew what she was doing!

After this short celebration, Keiko laid her head back down to sleep, falling asleep in a short time. In response, a clink! was heard outside, and then total silence.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

It so happened for Keiko that the next day of the week was indeed not Saturday, but Friday, five days after the Pencil Wars. Things had been going relatively well between them all since then and Keiko believed their five-person bond strengthened with each passing day.

But the Pencil Wars were over, and Keiko had to sit through six hours of school. As she always did, Keiko paid attention, but the plan buzzed in her head every second. Every time the teacher stopped, she was thinking of her speech, staring into cyberspace, and possibly grinning.

Looking back on her day, Keiko laughed a little at the thought of her staring into thin air with a goofy grin. She wondered if that was the reason that she'd felt a stare burning through the side of her cheek in study hall. Hmm. Probably Yusuke.

Keiko reached the library and turned the knob on the door, but it remained closed. Groaning, she knocked on the door, one hand on her hip. "Hello?" she asked. "Is anyone there?" No one came. She sighed and tried knocking again. "Hello?"

"I'm here, I'm here," said a young, male voice, opening the large door for Keiko. "I didn't realize that the doors were locked. You'll have to forgive me," He sounded only slightly honest to her, and she immediately realized why: He looked almost fresh out of college, with eyes a blue-green hue straight from an artist's pallet and tousled black hair. He seemed uncomfortable as she looked upon him, so Keiko began to study her hand as she entered the spacious library. "Can I help you with anything?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm wondering if you have any yearbooks here, or basically material on the school over the years," Keiko answered. "I'm preparing for a student council speech."

The man reached out an arm to his right, looking at her for a reaction. Keiko gave a slight nod and he put his arm down, walking in that direction. She followed closely behind him until he stopped at a lower shelf.

"Yamajiro…" He said, almost in a trance, as he slid his left hand over the books, "Nineteen-fifty to the present." The young librarian pulled some books halfway out to show Keiko. "Yearbooks…annual reports for the mailing list…and other resources that aren't affiliated with the school. You couldn't ask for much else." He began to walk away, leaving her to her studies.

Keiko opened the very first yearbook, going to the activities section. She found clubs for the major subjects and the foreign languages spread out over a few pages. Keiko looked at the pictures closely, discovering that there was not a single girl among the clubs. Of course, she reminded herself, that was almost fifty years ago.

On the next page was a picture of many boys in matching outfits with a poster above them reading, "The Yamajiro Fraternity". There were a few photographs of various meetings next to it. Turning the page, Keiko found the student council, the foreign culture club, and something called the HELP club, all without females. She kept turning pages until the activity section was over, then closing the yearbook entirely. Keiko picked up last year's copy next.

This copy held the same clubs, plus a sorority, politics club, vegetarian club, and a movie club, which Keiko still found to be not very much, but she couldn't think of anything else to have clubs about. She put the open yearbook on the table, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. There was something missing, but…what? Athletics?...There wasn't any of that, either, but it wasn't like Yamajiro would have any schools in the area to compete with.

She tried to remember all the activities she had done in middle school, but just as she called on her memory, it faded. She suddenly thought of the blue-eyed boy and his shy, nervous, "Yukimura-san?"…"Yukimura-san?". There was something there, her mind knew it, but she couldn't put the name to it. Her mind was beating around the bush, thinking of nervous boys, nervous girls, drama, dresses, puppy love…music…dances. Keiko had found a missing piece. There was…a name, for high school dances, that was right, but what were the names? Home-something and Rom…no, not Rom, Keiko thought, laughing at herself, Prom. That was in spring, wasn't it? But the fall one, home-something…oh, yes, that's homecoming, she remembered. She had always dreamed of homecoming as a child, fondly looking at her mother's homecoming queen crown. When she thought about it, what kind of school didn't have homecoming?

Well, this one wasn't going to be dance-less for long, Keiko decided, writing that in her planner. She put the two yearbooks back and found the annual report that led into this year, pulling it out. The average straight-A student would have skimmed through it with much boredom, but Keiko was never average. She found the section on students and their diversity, soaking it up.

"According to student council polls, ninety-nine percent of the student body is Japanese."

Of course, Keiko thought. Who else would come here?

"One percent of the body is a combined mix of exchange students and immigrants to Japan from a number of Asian countries."

They must feel left out, she mused, jotting down a note about that.

"Due to dormitory space and fairness, the number of male and female students is exactly half and half. In the section of religion, eighty percent call themselves strictly Buddhist, fifteen percent admit to melding religions together, which is what most Japanese tend to do unconsciously, and five percent responded with the 'other' choice. A curious statistic is that three percent of that five percent said that their religion was 'Jedi'. The Board is currently discussing adding this choice to the selection."

Keiko laughed loudly, covering her mouth. It sounded like something Yusuke or Kazuma or even Shizuru would do. She wrote that down verbatim, considering using the quotation in her speech. Perhaps a new club was in order.

Keiko found that the rest of the information in the student section was about financial topics and other adult issues, so she put the report back, finding a little bit of information.

The last group of books that the librarian had suggested for her was just to the right of the annual reports. Keiko thought she had a good idea of what she could say to the students, so she skimmed, seeing one title that sparked her interest.

She pulled the book down and opened it. "'Rumors and Mysteries of Yamajiro Academy'…" Keiko whispered to herself, looking at the contents for old mysteries that were now almost tradition. She didn't find any and Keiko began to wonder if this was just a strict, educational place. Keiko found herself, despite her strong disbelief in anything supernatural, looking up odd noises in the index, and she went to the first page…

"At any school, there are bound to be rumors concerning the supernatural…"

Get to the good stuff, Keiko thought, beginning to skim. A word poked out of a later paragraph, which she started to read.

"…Many students believe and have believed that Yamajiro and the surrounding area is inhabited by a number of demons. According to several 'demon experts' among students and alumni, a demon's two favorite places in the Human World are mountains and large, densely populated cities. Over time many students have complained about noises and voices after the curfew hours, and superstitious people blame these cases on otherworldly creatures. Many of these complaints were female students that said people were talking outside their windows about 'kidnapping a human wench'. There have also been alleged sightings of sparring monsters on the tennis courts…most people say that pranksters are to blame for the demonic rumors, but believers argue that Yamajiro is most likely a popular demon 'hangout' or near a portal…"

Keiko was never one for superstition and she wasn't about to let a bunch of stupid noises and an article change her mind. She began to laugh at the story, seeing as it was written just like a cliché tabloid. Something in the back of her head longed to believe in the story, but Keiko was too smart to lean on superstition because she herself couldn't explain a situation. She put the book back on the shelf where it had been, putting her notebook back in her briefcase.

Keiko stood up, walking back to the door. "Thank you," she said to the young librarian, who looked up and waved. Keiko then opened the door and walked out.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"I hope you haven't been doing anything stupid, Keiko," Shizuru greeted via telephone wires. Keiko could hear her playing with the cord and Kazuma munching on a snack. "Oh, whoops! I'm so used to saying that about Kazuma that I accidentally said it about you." She snickered, Kazuma groaning loudly. "Keiko…doing something dumb…what an oxymoron,"

"That's a pretty big word for you, Shizuru," Keiko heard Kazuma say, resulting in a punch in the chest. Keiko assumed that Kazuma was now trying to punch her back, which he was, and Shizuru once again knocked him to the ground. He ruled almost most of the city as a middle-schooler, thought Keiko, and his older sister can still hit him hard.

"Hey, Keiko!" Shizuru hollered into the phone, "Didn't you call to talk to me?"

Keiko blushed. "Oh, sorry, I was just so caught up in listening to the two of you that I forgot about it."

Shizuru prodded her. "Well, go on. I haven't talked to you since last Wednesday: Tell me all the new dirt about Urameshi."

"Shizuru!"

"Just kidding. Go ahead, Keiko."

"Things have been going nicely here," Keiko began. "My roommates, plus Yusuke and the Shuuichi Minamino I told you about formed sort of a five-way friendship, which is always good. My campaign for class president seems to be doing well: I've had a lot of people compliment my posters. Aside from that, nothing's really happened, but I wanted to ask you something."

She knew Shizuru would become rather curious. Keiko could see her lighting a cigarette in her living room and smirking. "What do you need?" She asked.

"I wanted to know if there was any advice that you could give me regarding my student council speech," said Keiko. "It's on Monday."

"You know that I'm one of the worst people to ask about this," Shizuru replied.

"No, you're not,"

"All I can say is try to appeal to your audience. If they don't think that you're like them, they won't vote for you. There's that, and…speak clearly. Don't stammer. Of course, that's a given, isn't it?"

"But how do I tell them that I'm like them? What if I'm not even like them, Shizuru?" Keiko asked, beginning to hyperventilate.

"Tell them things that make them happy. Didn't you research that?"

"Yes, but what if the facts aren't true? This is a whole different class than that poll, and the guidelines, for some stupid reason, won't allow the candidates to poll the current class. I mean, I know some of the stuff that my classmates have talked about, and I know what I like, but is that enough? I bet there's some popular hotshot, or someone who's everyone's friend that'll win, and-"

"Keiko, you're a smart girl. People want to be led by someone who's intelligent, regardless of how nice they are. You can do it."

Keiko sighed. "Well, Shizuru…I hope you're right."

"What are you talking about? I'm always right, Keiko." Shizuru replied, laughing. Keiko cracked a small smile.

"'Night, Shizuru,"

"'Night, Keiko,"

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"And I will add more soda machines to the school, especially in places away from the dining hall, and I will add food machines in the living areas, and I will…"

This candidate for president made Keiko want to scream. The boy had been making countless wonderful, out-of-this-world promises that there was no way he could ever dream of keeping. On top of that, he didn't have any grammar whatsoever. Uggh.

It was only making her nervousness worse. She wondered if people would feel about her as they did about him, only for the opposite reasons. That Keiko Yukimura, I can't even listen to a word she says, she's so over-intelligent…

Stop it! She screamed inside her head. Stop worrying about it, you're going to make yourself sick! But she couldn't stop. She was Keiko Yukimura, not Shizuru Kuwabara or Yusuke Urameshi, and Keiko Yukimura worried. Boy, did she worry.

She scanned the auditorium for her friends, thinking she might find some security in them. Keiko saw blue hair and knew immediately that it was Botan. Seated to her left was Yukina, and to her right Kurama and Yusuke. The first three were all focused on the speech, but Yusuke appeared to be toying with something sticky on the empty seat next to him. She smiled. It brought back memories of her very first speech.

Suddenly, the room was filled with applause. Keiko snapped out of her trance, realizing that the boy was done with his speech. Also clapping, the freshman dean walked up to the podium. Taking a heavy breath, Keiko clenched her fist holding her speech.

"Our next candidate is…Keiko Yukimura."

For reasons Keiko couldn't explain, she felt her eyes go directly towards Yusuke. He was looking up now, straight at her as she stood up. Keiko swore she was shaking as she walked up to the podium, flattening out her speech on it. Her breaths became quicker and she felt as though she was running a race. She looked at her friends again. All were looking straight at her. She could almost see Shizuru smoking a cigarette behind. Kazuma was making fun of Yusuke, as she thought he would if they ever met. Keiko closed her eyes briefly and began.

"As she said, I'm Keiko Yukimura. I'm from Tokyo, Japan-" People cheered for a short time. Keiko was confused, but she continued. "…And I'm running for class president,"

She paused, taking a big breath. The room was silent. "As for the duties that I am expected to carry out, do not doubt that I will do them. I was the class president at Sarayashiki Junior High for the three years I spent there and I know that my classmates liked me. I know this…because I've been asked on several dates. The president of the class before mine was not so lucky: I heard she had a campaign against the eating of candy during lunchtime." Keiko stopped for laughter. There was stifled laughter, but she also heard whispers of "She is pretty hot." and for the sake of the campaign, Keiko would take it.

"And as for changes I would like to make, I have few, but I think you guys might like them. It's been brought to my attention that there are no sodas in the café. Have you noticed that? I know that my roommates and I have most certainly noticed this. I believe that with minimal work, we can have sodas in the café. I'll even take a poll on whether to get Coke or Pepsi products."

She paused again. Botan and Yukina were beaming at her, remembering that that was their idea. "It has also been brought to my attention that there are few clubs in the Academy for non-academic purposes. I'm sure we're all dedicated students, but we are teenagers that have other interests. If I'm elected, I promise to help and back all student groups who wish to get a new club started. Just think of the possibilities for a moment. I know that some of you aren't Japanese and you probably feel lonely sometimes. Why don't you start a club to celebrate your diversity? Last year, three percent of the student population said that their religion was 'Jedi'. How about a 'Star Wars' club for all of you to converse? It's nice to be around people just like you, isn't it?"

Keiko stopped, this time so that the students would soak in her point. She took in deep breaths, looking once more at her companions. Her roommates were still wearing huge grins, Kurama, as always, looked inquisitive, and Yusuke was staring straight into her body. She found herself starting to drift into thought, and to stop that from happening, started on her final point.

"There is…one last thing that I hope as president to change about this school. You see, my classmates, as a small child, I dreamed of being just like my mother. She had all these beautiful dresses, lovely black hair, and big blue eyes. She was a jewel and always had been.

"Now, my mother is dead, and I'm standing in this school, here before you. As I grew older, I no longer wanted to be like her, but I know there are many who still have this dream. My mother…was the homecoming queen." She stopped once more. "There is no homecoming or prom at Yamajiro. There never has been. With a little bit of work, we could change that. I know the other classes would surely help our cause, and even if we can't be on the court this year, we'll be recognized as the ones who came up with the idea. We'll become legends at this school for starting the tradition, and I bet when we're juniors, there won't be one senior on the courts. When we're seniors, there won't be any juniors. They'll speak our names in awe and thankfulness, years from now, when this tradition is old and taken for granted…just like it is everywhere else.

"Vote for me…and I promise you all of this. Thank you."

The students applauded and Keiko grinned, truly grinned, as she walked away from the podium, crumpling up her speech. She didn't know if she had convinced them…but she had done her best speech yet.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Three days later, Keiko was walking back to her dormitory with Yusuke. She wasn't quite sure why he had wanted to be around her in the first place, as he wasn't talking and she herself was lost in thought. Since last Wednesday, he'd been waiting outside her World History room every day, sometimes not even saying anything. It was awkward, to say the least, and especially awkward today.

"Are you forced into this?" Keiko finally said.

"Forced into what?" He asked.

"Walking me back to my dorm," She answered, "You've never seemed rather happy in doing it,"

He didn't respond and Keiko took this as that he didn't want to tell her why. She supposed you couldn't trust everything with someone else, but now they were back at square one, silence.

They walked by one of her campaign posters and Keiko stared at it for a few moments, finding something to say. "Yusuke?"

"What?"

"Did you vote for me?"

He became entranced with the wall to his right. "I said I would, didn't I?"

Keiko thought that the promise he'd made wasn't sincere, and that it was an unpremeditated statement, but she supposed she was wrong. She really didn't know what to say. "Well…thank you, Yusuke."

It was silent again: Keiko couldn't seem to keep a conversation alive. She'd felt like she had become closer to him in the past week and a half, but this must mean that she was wrong.

Keiko looked over at Yusuke, who seemed to be thinking deeply. She was almost startled when he started talking. "How did your mom die?" He asked.

Keiko's eyes widened. She hadn't felt good about saying that in her speech. She didn't think she was ready to tell anyone else about it, but none of her friends had remembered up to this point. She really didn't want to talk about it. "It's…I…You see…I don't really think I can talk about that right now."

He looked at her now, very curiously into the side of her face. Keiko figured that he was probably going through the bloodiest ways of dying, thinking of a woman dead by that method, and then seeing Keiko standing there, crying. A little off, but Keiko was sick of getting sympathy for the two losses.

Keiko saw a big blue sign on the wall in the distance, right by the door to the ladies' dorms. Her heart pounded, punching a hole in her body. She took off towards the sign, Yusuke staring at her as though she was a clown walking down a dark alley. "What was that for?" He yelled.

She looked back at him for a moment. "The votes are in!"

Keiko went down the list: Student council, secretary, treasurer, class president. She closed her eyes for a few seconds.

Then, she read.

End Chapter 9

Katie's Note: This has to be short and sweet, because I have to go to school. I wasn't totally happy with this chapter- I even took out a few scenes- but I think it's all right.

Late update will be made up for: I'm starting immediately on the next chapter. Please review!

Until my next update…Federer's winning Australian…yay!