"Beautiful Disaster"
Chapter 12
This chapter dedicated to TheBigW, Heartmonger, and Crysatl-chan! (She's on DA) Because I feel like it, here are some more lyrics for you to guess! I'll give a clue if no one gets it…
With just a little luck…
A little cold blue steel…
I cut the night like a razor blade…
Till I feel the way I want to feel…
"Cookies! Cookies!" Michiko screamed throughout the dining hall, as perky as she had ever been. "Come get your cookies! Tasty and delicious!" No one seemed to hear her, or her quieter accomplices. Keiko had taken a break from screaming (She still wasn't very happy) and the other council member wasn't as outspoken as Michiko. "Keiko-san, do you think we're colorful enough?"
I have never seen teenagers turn down a damn cookie, Keiko thought angrily to herself. "Hmm, Michiko?"
"Are we colorful enough?" The girl repeated.
Keiko sighed. "Michiko, we're a bubblegum stand. We've got a big pink sign and a yellow stand brighter than a flashlight in your face. I just don't understand it- every kid in middle school would jump for a cookie or a king size pack of peanut butter cups."
The other two sellers groaned in unison and looked out to the hall. "Support homecoming and your stomachs- buy cookies!" Michiko tried. Perplexed, she turned to Keiko again. "Do you think we're loud enough?"
"You're certainly loud enough, I would think." Keiko said, restraining herself from snapping. "Maybe we need megaphones. Now that you say it, that's probably the only reason people aren't coming."
Keiko looked over at the little corner where she usually ate with the two boys in her study hall. Usually Yusuke was the easier to spot, as he sported the eye-catching only green jumpsuit in the room, but she didn't see him. Kurama, however, was sitting in the corner, munching in a most mannerly way on a submarine sandwich. Telling herself not to think about the incident a few days ago, she did the very thing. He was one of the nicest people she had ever met…and yet, he could scare her more than anyone else as well.
Attempting to avert her thoughts from him, she looked around the rest of the hall, seeing Yusuke in a totally opposite corner. He appeared to be talking to a certain Takanaka-san, who was the prince of the castle school (Albeit a freshman like Keiko), to Kurama's king. Keiko couldn't see why Yusuke would associate himself with this person at all until he gave Takanaka an out-of-the-blue kick in the knee. He didn't even look like he was using any power to knock the kid into the wall, clutching his leg. They talked a little longer and then Yusuke walked away. Takanaka stared at him frightfully as he left.
Yusuke walked by the stand, smiling as though he'd won a great battle. "Sorry, I'm broke, but I hear I've got a buddy who's so nice he's buying a cookie for me. See you in English." Keiko gave him the worst glare she could come up with, burying her head underneath the stand.
"Something you need to tell us, Keiko?" said Michiko.
"Friend," was Keiko's muffled reply. "Sort of,"
"Can I buy a cookie?" said an angelic voice.
Michiko looked up, pushing Keiko out of her position. Both put on very cheesy smiles- it was Takanaka. "Actually, make that two," he said. "No, three," He looked up at the prices and put down the correct amount.
Keiko handed him three chocolate chip cookies. "Thank you very much for supporting homecoming, Takanaka-san!"
Walking off, he gave a nod like it was no big deal.
"Can you believe how kind he is?" Michiko pressed a napkin to her chest dramatically. "Takanaka-san! Buying cookies when no one else will? How chivalrous!"
Keiko couldn't share her excitement after seeing Yusuke beat him up. "Hmm."
Suddenly, the dining hall erupted. Takanaka-san sat down, shaking his head to flip his hair in a most seductive way. Hordes of students, witnessing the purchase, stood and walked toward the stand with the sign "Buy Sweets- Support Homecoming!" and two dumbfounded girls watching as their cookies suddenly became the toast of the hall (Keiko, in her mood, was musing on the stupidity of followers). In a flash, the girls worried that they may not be able to sell cookies to everyone before the bell rang, though they would end up victorious in that respect.
And Keiko didn't realize until her World History class what a certain someone might have done solely for her.
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Directly after school, Keiko went into the art room, where she found only Kasumi waiting for her inside. She was sitting at one of the tables, bending over to work on what Keiko guessed was a poster. She didn't seem to have any pencils near her, which confused Keiko. "How's it coming along?" she asked.
"Oh, this is just a test to see if you approve," the student replied, sitting up. "I just finished applying the last part. You can come look at it if you like- I know it's a little off what you guys seemed to want, but I thought it would look better this way."
Puzzled, Keiko walked over to where Kasumi had been working, looking down at the test poster. It was, actually, rather similar to what the council had envisioned: It was a large piece of purple paper with black paper cut in shapes of a staircase, Cinderella, the prince, and a few spectators. At the top, in a pretty font and silver ink, was "Dreams do come true…" and at the bottom was "Homecoming October Fifth". Keiko had imagined something done with colored pencils, like her campaign posters, but she found the test poster very pretty indeed.
"I like it," said Keiko. "It looks very…fancy. Yeah, that's the word."
"Really?" Kasumi answered.
"Of course. Once the others-"
"Hello!" Michiko yelled loudly, followed by the rest of the council. "We're here!"
"As I was saying, once the others get here, they'll help you, and I'll, well, start hanging up posters," Keiko finished, picking up Kasumi's poster. "Look at this, you guys. This is what all the posters will look like, okay? Kasumi's got the tools." She put the poster back down and watched as the council took their seats and worked. Michiko handed her the box of money for the cookies for Keiko to sort and count. She sat on the floor and began doing so as the council made posters.
In another hour (Kasumi had to make prototypes for the not-so-skilled members to trace), the first student yelled "Done!" and handed Keiko his poster. Walking out, Keiko put the first poster outside of the dining hall. She came back in and finished counting the money when Michiko finished a poster. This one Keiko put inside the café. Things proceeded like this until dinnertime, when just enough posters had been made.
"How much money did we make?" A member named Akira asked before the group set off for dinner.
"A little bit," said Keiko, "Because we don't have to pay for anything, we're going to donate the money to the seniors and juniors, who are buying food and décor. The amount will make it a very happily accepted donation."
"We don't have to buy anything?" Kasumi asked.
"Considering we haven't been raising money for years, no, but we still have to help raise money and then give it to the other classes. It's…complicated." The council nodded. "Dinner, anyone?"
"Dinner!" Michiko shouted with glee. "It's tacos!"
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Keiko sat down next to Yukina in their little section of the hall. Botan was on Yukina's other side, and across the table were the boys, talking amongst themselves. Yukina gave a tiny wave and a sweet smile, then taking a delicate bite into her soft taco. Botan was apparently in her own little world, eating quietly.
Yukina had taken notice of Keiko's horrible mood for the past six days and was making sure to be as amiable towards her as possible. She sometimes double-checked what she was about to say for things that may set the younger girl off. "How was your day?", for instance, was a large no-no.
"Did you sell lots of cookies on your lunch shift?" Yukina asked.
Keiko looked over at her. "Yeah,"
She nodded. "I bought one. So did Botan,"
"Really? Thanks," Keiko, on the other hand, knew always to have her manners towards Yukina, even in her current state.
They ate in silence for a while longer before Botan spoke up. "I got a pass to go into town,"
"For all of us?" Keiko asked.
"Yeah, all of us. I was thinking that we could go to this ice cream joint. I saw a picture in the town brochure outside the office. It's very cute, very small. It's on me."
"Sounds lovely," said Kurama, "What day?"
"Sunday. What about the rest of you?"
"Do I ever turn down food?" Yusuke answered, while chewing.
"Ice cream's my favorite." Yukina replied. The boys looked at her and laughed to each other, obviously about an inside joke.
"Don't even have to ask," Keiko said nonchalantly, taking another bite.
Botan smiled. "Oh, this is going to be so great! I do love treating people," She shook her arms around in happiness. "Just meet at our dorm on Sunday!"
Everyone nodded, most excited, and continued eating.
When Keiko was done, she looked up and saw Yusuke standing in the same corner he'd been in while beating up Takanaka-san. She had been planning to thank him personally about his actions, although they had been slightly violent, because they had received quite a lot of money. After counting all of it, her touchy mood had temporarily subsided.
She stood up, putting her napkin on the table, and walked over to his corner. She started to feel nervous as she got closer and couldn't understand why. He looked surprised when he finally realized that she was coming over to him.
Keiko's mouth suddenly couldn't make words. She opened her mouth and forced herself to speak. "You did something at lunch today,"
"Yeah, I beat up Takanaka. What's it to you?"
Keiko blushed. He thought she was mad at him! Oh, what was she going to do now…quick, say something! "No, I don't mean it like that, I-" She slowed herself down with a deep breath. "You did, well, beat up that boy, but you did it for a really nice cause. So…thank you."
He didn't say "You're welcome", not that Keiko expected him to, but just put a hand up and looked away from her, his face coloring slightly. She turned around and walked to her dorm, looking back at him one last time.
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At eleven on Sunday morning, Keiko thought she was feeling a lot better. Council was becoming more routine and less of a giant bomb. She imagined things would worsen again when it was time to decorate and clean up the hall, but for now she was starting to regain her regular disposition.
Keiko took out a pen and carefully wrote on her left hand "Call Shizuru". She kept forgetting every day to do so. She imagined Shizuru, lighting a cigarette with "Seinfeld" blaring on the TV and sitting by the phone, answering it in a heartbeat whenever it rang. It made her giggle to think about it.
She was wearing an outfit she'd picked herself- a light pink dress with puffed short sleeves and a large skirt to her knees. Botan was wearing her hair up and had a tight red jacket with a pair of black pants. She had wrapped a red ribbon with a pink rose around her hair tie. Yukina had a little white dress on that Keiko and Botan had already showered her with coos over.
There was a knock on the door and Botan eagerly answered it to reveal Yusuke and Kurama. Yusuke had his jumpsuit on, as usual, and Kurama had a chest-revealing, button-up white shirt, contrasted by…black pants. Botan blushed and looked to the side before leading the way out of the school.
A security guard stopped them and Botan flashed her pass. They let the five of them right through after that.
For the first few minutes of the journey into town, everyone was quiet, and Keiko didn't know if it was because none of them had been into town or because no one knew what to say. It was mostly eye contact from person to person, sort of like everyone was looking at everyone and saying, "Say something".
Yukina, strangely, was the first. "Keiko, are you going to Tokyo before homecoming?"
The boys' eyes lit up. Keiko nodded. "Shizuru and her friends are going to help get me ready. I'll also get to see Kazuma and the other people from my middle school…"
"Is Kazuma a friend?" Botan asked.
"I guess you could call him that," said Keiko. "He's Shizuru's little brother, my age. He used to be a gangster, but he's still extremely strong. Reminds me of Yusuke, actually."
The one mentioned made a gagging noise. "What?" Keiko asked.
"I could beat him," Yusuke kicked a rock as he walked.
She looked on. "Maybe…say, maybe you guys could come to Tokyo with me- no, wait, I don't think we have enough room…maybe for winter break!"
"That'd be nice," Botan said. "Shizuru sounds like a good time."
"Yeah…hey look, is that the store?"
"No, that's another place," Botan fiddled with her fingers for a moment. She muttered something about how the boys weren't talking at all when Kurama came up to her and complimented her on her hair accessory. She blushed, thanking him, and turned around to talk to Yukina.
Keiko was rather hopelessly trying to engage conversation with Yusuke before she brought up video games (Living with a teenage boy for a summer greatly helped her in that area) while keeping her eye on Botan. She didn't quite understand it- Botan seemed to like Kurama quite a lot…so then why did she not even accept his gift?
They found themselves in the shop, finally engaged in a five-way conversation. Keiko ordered a strawberry flavor and saved a table right by the window. The place was truly beautiful…the town was small but very pretty and clean. She was joined by her four comrades, who had taken a rainbow of flavors. Yusuke sat right next to her, taking her completely by surprise.
"What did you get, Keiko?" Botan asked.
"Strawberry,"
"I almost took the same flavor," said Yukina, "But I like this one very much. Kurama-san helped me,"
"It wasn't a problem," he said, waving it off.
Yusuke crumpled up his napkin and shot it at the trash can, frowning- he missed by an inch. The rest of the group was split between laughing and being in awe that he was already done eating. He glared back at the group, then playing with the sugar packets on the table. While the rest of them talked, Yusuke made a triple-decker.
Keiko realized how sneaky Kurama was when she was in the middle of a conversation between everyone but Yusuke and totally forgot everything weird he'd done. Aside from that, she found the whole experience, as Botan hoped it would be, most delightful. She learned all sorts of things about the others she never knew and had some of the wackiest conversations she could remember. When they were almost ready to leave, she turned to Yusuke, who hadn't talked since they were outside. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine, better check Kurama though. If he keeps having such easily-built conversations with girls I might start to worry he's gone bi on us."
Kurama gave him possibly the nastiest glare Keiko had ever seen. Yusuke almost fell out of his chair laughing.
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"So, if it's on October fifth, why don't you come…Friday?" Keiko could just see Shizuru twirling her phone cord lazily.
"Friday? Shizuru, that's the day before-"
"Yeah, so you'll miss a day of school." Shizuru said. It was like she didn't even care, while Keiko was hyperventilating!
"To prepare for homecoming?" Keiko shrieked. "You must be kidding."
"Sure, why not? And I do have to get you back in time, you know."
"I can't miss a day of school, and especially not at a prestigious boarding school!" Keiko could see it: Unexcused absence! Five detentions, Yukimura!
"Calm down, valedictorian," said Shizuru,"I'll get all your assignments,"
"Student council-" Keiko started, pleading.
"Makes you even more PMS-y. Speaking of which, did you start yet?"
Keiko blushed. "No, and can we not talk about this?"
"I suppose," said Shizuru, sighing. Keiko heard Kazuma making barfing noises, followed by a loud slap. "So, it's all sorted out. Go to bed, Keiko-chan." She hung up. Keiko didn't bother to say goodnight.
She took off her robe and put it on the rack, tucking herself into bed and turning out the light. It was late- she'd been talking to Shizuru for a long time. Both Botan and Yukina were fast asleep. She wondered if the curfew people were going to come get her.
Keiko tossed and turned for about ten minutes before she started to hear something. There weren't any voices, just…swoosh! Swoosh! Clink! Clink!. Great…it was noise day, she thought. Never mind Keiko needed her precious sleep!
Clink! Swoosh! Swoosh! Clink!
Keiko buried her head into her pillow, turning in frustration. Just go to sleep, go to sleep…
BOOM!
"That's it!" she hissed, careful not to scream so loud. "Whatever's out there is going to get a piece of my mind!"
Tossing the blankets aside, Keiko stomped over to the window, opening it. She poked her head out. It was a windy night. Maybe that was what was causing the sounds…no, wind couldn't cause voices though. Keiko looked down.
She froze. "Uhh…h-h-h…um…h-h-h…"
End of Chapter 12
Katie's Note: Eeek! Sorry for the wait…I keep saying that, need to get on my tail- hopefully, things will speed up now- I'm doing "Fractured!" as well as this, but don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story, especially now that things are picking up speed…
Next chapter is Hiei! Yay! I've been waiting to put him in! I just love his 'tude- cracks me up every time.
This one was fun to write. And here's some shameful self-advertising- go read "Fractured!"
Until my next update…Maria lost yesterday! Man…but Roger's going to kick some you-know-what twenty minutes from now…