"Beautiful Disaster"
Chapter 10
(Oooh, the big chapter 1-0! Hopefully I can write number 11 this time.)
Oh and I don't know…
I don't know what he's after…
But he's so beautiful…
Such a beautiful disaster…
"Class president…" Keiko whispered to herself, her heart thumping at light speed, "What?" She said, a little louder.
Yusuke had caught up to her at this point, standing behind her. "What's up?"
"There's no name," she said, confused, "In fact, there aren't enough names down for student council. I don't know what's going on!" Keiko began to fan herself, looking as though she could burst into tears any minute.
"Calm down, see that star thingy?" Yusuke pointed to a small dot on the poster next to "Student Council" and "Class President".
"An asterisk, Yusuke?"
He grumbled. "Doesn't it mean something?"
Keiko nodded and looked at the bottom of the poster. "There it is…" She began to read aloud.
"The votes were taken in all fifth hour classes, but one class' votes went missing. Some of the races were so lopsided that these final votes were irrelevant, but a few more positions on the student council and the outcome of the president race require these final votes. The voting for Sasaki's fifth hour literature course will be redone on Thursday during that hour." Keiko and Yusuke exchanged looks, looking back at the poster. "That means the voting was today."
Yusuke began to walk away from the poster. "How can you lose votes? More importantly, why am I even taking interest in this?"
"It is Sasaki-sensei, she's not the brightest woman," said Keiko, following him. Yusuke banged his head against the wall. "Why'd you do that?" she asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," He started rubbing his head from the pain.
"What is it?"
"Nothing,"
"We really are untrusting, aren't we?" She asked, expecting he'd say something thought-provoking.
"Yup," He answered, laughing. And Keiko had expected him to be intellectual…why? She started to laugh at herself, despite the predicament that she was in.
There was an awkward silence after they laughed, still standing in the hallway. Keiko looked around her for a moment, then looked at Yusuke, who had reverted back to his hand-in-pockets scowl. Keiko made a sign to him with a move of her neck and they kept walking, finally making it to her dormitory. She began to open the door to her room, but he didn't say any sort of goodbye. She waited a few more minutes and then took things into her own hands. "I suppose I'll see you…tomorrow? Hm?" she said.
His eyes widened and he looked at her as though she had just awoken him from a trance. He lifted one hand up, apparently for a wave, swiftly turned around, and walked off.
Keiko went inside her room to discover that no one was there. Botan was sometimes gone, but Yukina almost always was in her room, studying. Keiko sighed and sat down to do her history work, her mind swimming in worries of the vote count now that Yusuke was gone. She tried to tell her brain to stop, but that seemed to make the worries double until she shrieked, "Stop!" while covering her ears. Keiko heard the door open just as she said it.
Botan and Yukina stood in the doorway after her scream. Botan was so surprised that she'd let go of the door, which promptly hit her in the side. "Do you want…us to stop, Keiko-san?" Yukina asked.
"Oh…no! No…I was just…yelling…at myself, um…"
"Did you lose the election?" asked Botan.
"I very well could have, but they don't know yet,"
Botan and Yukina began to get situated in the dorm. "How can they not know?" Botan asked again.
"They said they lost a class' votes," Keiko answered. "So I have to wait until tomorrow."
"Well that's a horrible thing to do," said Botan. "Haven't you already waited enough?"
Keiko wasn't feeling up to talking now. "Yeah…it's kind of hectic."
Her two roommates seemed to get the message and found other activities. Keiko began to look at her history work again, still worrying silently in her mind.
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She didn't know if it was a dream or if it was really happening. Of course, there was no way it could be happening because of the school's curfew: No one was to talk, and they were surely to get in large trouble if they did.
But something in her brain told Keiko that the black she saw before her was not dreamland, but her room. She refused to believe that: It was impossible.
So Keiko came to the conclusion when she was sitting at breakfast that it had all been a dream. And an odd dream it was…
"Hello?" A young girl's voice rang out. There was no reply. "Hello?" she asked again. Still no answer. "Please, I know you're out there, somewhere, even you wouldn't violate the rules. Please tell me where you are!"
Keiko couldn't hear a thing, but it was obvious that the girl could. "There you are!" She yelled in excitement. "I've been looking for you all day!"
Now Keiko heard another voice, a stern, male one. "I don't want to talk to you right now."
She couldn't see anything, but the girl seemed dumbfounded. "You don't? Why not?"
"Do I ever want to talk to you?" said the male.
"Sometimes I thought you did-"
"Well, I don't, so make your happy little story quick,"
The girl sighed. "I was talking with someone today, and you know what they said?" The boy didn't say "What?", so she went on. "They said that the air in these mountains can sometimes have healing effects. And I immediately started to think of you! To tell the truth, I've been thinking about you a lot lately, maybe-"
"All right, I listened to your happy story of the day. Now leave."
"What?" The girl said.
"Leave."
"But-"
That was where the dream ended, she told herself, biting a piece of bacon. It almost sounded like a conversation between her and Yusuke- almost. She thought with a shiver that maybe this was where her life was headed. A most unpleasant thought, Keiko knew, and she found herself toying with her food.
"Keiko-san?" Yukina asked. "Is everything okay?"
Keiko blushed and forced a forkful of scrambled eggs down her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm all right," Keiko said, eating some more eggs. She tried not to think of anything unhappy in the meantime.
Yes…this was going to be a long year. One long, odd year.
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The bell rang over the PA and the students in Keiko's world history class began running out like hungry wolves. Keiko collapsed on her desk, groaning. The day had gone slow and drained of excitement.
She knew the winners of the election were probably posted around the school by now, and she was both excited and nervous. One second she decided she would not look and the next second she couldn't wait to look. Of course, she'd have to find out sometime, but what if…what if she just didn't?
Keiko sighed and slowly got up from her desk. She picked up her books and sauntered out of the classroom, looking around for Yusuke. Sure enough, he was leaning against the wall. "What took you so long?" he asked.
"I'm tired," Keiko answered. "Ready for Sunday,"
"You do know they put up the results, don't you?"
"Yeah, let's go che-"
Yusuke grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back so forcefully that Keiko ended up slamming into him. He seemed unfazed. "What was that for?" Keiko screamed.
"I ripped a poster off the wall."
"I don't know whether that's chivalrous or violating school policy," said Keiko, noticing the poster in his other hand.
"Neither: It was a way to vent."
"How do I know there's another part to the story?"
He gave his usual cocky smile. "I needed to destroy something to get some anger out, and of course there would be some backlash from students…"
Keiko shook her head and took the poster from him. "All elected members report to Abe-sensei's room immediately after reading this poster…" She took a deep breath and began to read. "Treasurer, no…secretary…"
CLASS PRESIDENT: YUKIMURA KEIKO
Keiko felt like doing cartwheels, backflips, jumping around in circles, but she felt a larger impulse to give someone a gigantic hug, and, unfortunately, the nearest person was Yusuke. He looked completely violated, but Keiko couldn't care at all. "Goodbye, Yusuke!" She yelled as she skipped down the hallway.
Oh, the boredom was worth it. The long, unbearable wait was worth it for this moment. Keiko had succeeded in the thing in the world that gave her the most pleasure. She could hear all the congrats she'd get from adults and students, she could hear the salon exploding with cheers and combs thrown in the air. Keiko was president of a boarding school- imagine that!
In her excitement, she almost skipped right into the door of Abe-sensei's room. Stopping herself, she opened the door to find that she was rather early. There was one other student already there. Keiko sat by her. They each congratulated each other and by that time two more students came in, and of course they had to be congratulated as well, and then a few more and the chain started over again. In a short while, the whole council was present.
Abe-sensei stood up. "I think the president should speak first,"
Keiko nodded and began to speak from her seat. She concealed her complete happiness and went into serious mode. "Okay…from my speech, you know that my first little 'fundraising' projects are for more soda in the café and for a homecoming dance. To go into detail on the soda part, I think we should poll the student body on their favorite soda and then write letters to the most popular companies to see if we can get some soda. I think as long as we promise to advertise, we'll get some.
"As for homecoming, we need to contact the other three student councils to see if they will pitch in for the dance. After that, all the classes could go into town and fundraise separately: For instance, the seniors could have a car wash, the juniors could sell food there, the sophomores could sell food there, and maybe we could sell food somewhere else. And back at school, we could put little boxes to donate for homecoming around the school…Man, my head's just exploding with new ideas…my friend back home runs a hair and nail salon and they could have a little box too…and of course if you guys come up with any ideas…"
"I have a question," said one of the girls."
"Yes?"
"What will the theme be?"
"I think we should let the seniors decide: After all, this is their last year.
"Okay." Keiko tried to remember where she was. "Oh, yeah, we'll also need to find a date that cooperates with the school and with us. Since it's the beginning of September now, I think we should have it the first or second week of October. Then, like you asked, we'll pick the theme, buy decorations, have voting for the court, and voila! A homecoming dance."
The student council was still extremely quiet, so she went on. "Let's get cracking!"
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Keiko was staggering into her dormitory and when she finally got in, she collapsed on the floor. No more talking about fundraisers for the rest of the night, she thought, getting back up.
"Cards?" Yukina asked.
"No," Keiko panted, getting on her bed. "I'll just lie here,"
"Did you lose?" said Botan, shuffling the deck.
She smiled slightly at this. "Quite the contrary."
Impulsively Botan dropped the deck on her bed and went over to give Keiko one of the biggest hugs women can give. Yukina stood behind her, her face caught between a happy smile and a wince at what seemed like unbearable pain. Keiko was uncomfortable, but she accepted the pain as an odd expression of happiness. Botan let go after a few moments, hopping up and down with excitement. "So, when's homecoming?"
"We have to find a date that cooperates with the school and us," Keiko answered.
"Well, if you need me to do any fundraising, I'll do it!" Botan had stopped hopping and raised her hand up to show her promise to volunteer.
"Me too," Yukina said softly.
"Um…okay, I'll tell the council," Keiko replied. There went her plan to not talk about fundraisers. "Right now, I just want to rest until dinnertime."
"All right," said Botan, grabbing Yukina's arm. "If you need us, we'll be at the café,"
Keiko smiled at them as they left, laying in tranquility. She decided that when she had all of her energy, that she would call Shizuru. For now, she could do nothing but rest.
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"Yeah, this is Shizuru Kuwabara. I've obviously got better things to do than answer my phone right now, so leave a message and I'll get back when I don't."
Keiko groaned. Where could Shizuru possibly be?
She called again, frustrated.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
"Yeah, this is-" Click. She's always at home at this hour!
Okay, try again, Keiko thought, calming herself down. 652…
Wait a minute: That's Shizuru's cell phone! Keiko mentally slapped herself, calling the home line.
Beep…
Be- "Hello?" said Kazuma, totally unenthusiastic.
"Is Shizuru there?"
"Oh, hey, Keiko," he answered. "Yeah, she's here. Let me get her." On the other end, Kazuma yelled his sister's name several times. Keiko heard her voice a little later, annoyed and faint.
"Keiko?" said Shizuru. "Got some new gossip?"
"No, the final voting results came in today,"
"Really?" Shizuru was suddenly a lot more interested. "Did you win? Did you?"
Keiko smiled to herself again, knowing what was soon to come. "Yes," she answered.
"I knew you could do it, Keiko! Hey, Kazuma, Keiko won the election!" There was a muffled "Congrats". "So, what now?"
"I'm going to try to organize a homecoming dance,"
"They don't already have one?" Shizuru asked, surprised.
"No," said Keiko, "I was wondering if you could collect money at your salon, like in a little UNICEF box or something,"
"Keiko, I'll put one out, and you can't forget all of my friends. Should we label it the autism association or something?"
"No way, Shizuru! Just put 'Help a School Have Its First Homecoming'." Don't mention what school if you can help it." Keiko knew if people saw the name of a boarding school, they would most likely not be obliged.
"Don't worry- this thing will be so widespread that it'll be Tokyo's newest trend," Shizuru paused for a moment. "So, what's new with Yusuke?"
Keiko blushed. "Shizuru, don't you have anything else to think about?"
"Tell you the truth…no. No one else in my life is about to get a smokin' hot date for Yamajiro's first homecoming."
"No I'm-Put Kazuma on the line."
Shizuru sighed. "Well, it can't be helped that you haven't started liking boys yet." She heard Shizuru put the phone down and yell for Kazuma, who came trotting down the stairs.
"You need something, Keiko?" Kazuma asked after he had picked up the phone.
"Has Shizuru always been this guy-crazy?"
"It's only 'cause she cares…her own lovelife went down the drain, so she likes to get involved in other peoples' lovelives." Kazuma seemed more philosophical than usual.
"Oh, that one guy?" Keiko asked, remembering faintly Shizuru's story about the rich man.
"Yeah, him," Kazuma was lost in thought for a few minutes. "Anything else?"
"How's school?"
"People always ask me about you," said Kazuma, "They ask 'Where's Keiko?' and I tell them, and they always seem sort of disappointed."
"Of course, it should be noted that you go to an all-boys school."
Kazuma laughed about something. "And when I tell them that you're coming home for Christmas, they get really excited. We might have a lot of people hanging around us come winter."
Keiko shook her head. "Some things can't be helped."
There was a long pause after this, which Kazuma finally ended. "I've been meaning to ask…how are your roommates?"
"Just fine. They're my good friends."
"No, I meant how they were feeling," Kazuma told her.
"Oh! Yukina's always very cheery…" She heard Kazuma give a dreamy sigh,"…and Botan can get a little stressed at times, but otherwise she's just as bubbly."
"Thanks, Keiko."
"You don't have to thank me, Kazuma." Keiko colored again.
"Of course I do. Just keep it up- You have no idea how great of a deed you're doing."
Keiko sighed. What was she, the one to tell all of your creepy thoughts? First the voices, then Kurama, then Yukina, and now Kazuma? Keiko didn't want to be unpleasant, however, so she politely said, "Kazuma, I should go."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye." She hung up her phone and sighed, falling on her bed. Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Was this what happened when you went to high school? She knew about hormones and discovering yourself, but did everyone go through this creepy stage as well?
Keiko groaned and flipped her boombox on, deciding to concentrate on the good things and maybe dance a little.
She was class president, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.
End Chapter 10
Katie's Note: In my opinion, this isn't a really good chapter. The only thing I really wanted to happen was that Keiko won the election, she told everyone, and the "dream", so that's why it's shorter than the other ones. I apologize.
THANK YOU ALL for the amazing reviews for chapter 9! I had thirteen reviews for that chapter, which made me one of the happiest people in the world! If I got that for every chapter…whoa! I would probably die of a happy heart. Wouldn't that be great?
Also, a thanks to a lilmatchgirl and Turning Memories Into Wings for putting me in their C2s! I finally got in the Yusuke/Keiko C2…I'm so happy! Also, a thanks to any new people who put this story on their alert or favorites. I can't tell who the new people are, but thanks so much!
A less positive note: I'm getting a lot of griping about the lack of Kurama/Botan. While I can say that the next chapter will have a little, please keep in mind that the summary says MILD. That means there isn't much and this is also Keiko's story, not Botan's. Please understand: I still want you to read, but don't gripe because a pairing is mild. You were warned beforehand.
Until my next update…Federer won Australian! I taped it…so now whenever I'm sad, I can watch it and feel better.