Hey, how you guys doing? Moved and had no internet for a while. Alright, to my favorite part of my author's note.
Sabere: I'll try to do so, and I understand. I'm just saying that it'll give you a good idea of what is happening with the kids and the world around Isaac and Shizuka. Still, thanks for the review, and did you alter Markiplier's outro? Unless… 0_0
GrimKid: That I did, and thanks for reading.
Itharax: Nice seeing you again, and maybe. I'd like to do something like that, but it may go any direction until I get to that point.
MasterSpecter: I'm on it.
Weasel: huehuehuehuehuehuehue, Wait. Why are we laughing?
Guest: Thanks, and it always good to see some MK&HST readers!
Thebutterking: Thanks, and I plan to.
Nothing is owned by me. Have fun.
"I'm sorry. I woke up feeling weird, and… just..." Both Isaac and Shizuka sat in the staff lounge, picking at their food.
"It's fine. Just surprised me." Neither of them really knew what to do at the moment, even eating wasn't palatable.
Come on, man. This isn't high school, and this isn't the time. Plus, Ellie… There isn't a damn point bringing up Ellie. Isaac glanced at his wrist, seeing the faint outline of the Holy Lock. This is my biggest problem right now…
"Isaac, if it is okay with you, can we just forget about this whole incident. I don't want to lose the only friend I have…"
"Yeah, of course." Isaac and Shizuka knew well enough that neither of them would forget.
"Shizuka."
"Yeah?"
"I'm no way near ready to get into anything like that again. I…" With a huff, he rubbed his face.
"I can't just give up like that, you know? I went to the edge of the universe for her." Another huff, and a chuckle followed.
"But…."
"Butt? Is my skirt too short? Am I eating too much? Don't look!" She made a few quick swipes at her skirt, then just started trying to block his view.
"No, no, no. I can't see your butt, I'm over here." A sheepish grin covered her face, as she reminded herself that Isaac was on the other side of the table. There her credit, it was a small table.
"I probably never told you about Titan, did I?" A simple shake of her head told him everything.
"You remember when I told you about the Ishimura, about Nicole?"
"Yep!" When it related to his past, she was all ears.
"How the Marker fucked with my head, used Nicole to get me to do its dirty work, and started this whole fucked up chain of events." A less enthusiastic reply was given this time around, as well as the drooping of cat ears.
"On Titan, a station built on the remains of one of Saturn's moons, Earth-Gov recreated the Marker using codes imprinted in my head. This triggered another outbreak… Along with my hallucinations of Nicole." Isaac's hand drifted off the table, and settled on his cutter. Which he did carry around still. It was his lucky charm, his anchor.
"This time was... horrible. They prodded me, blamed me, tricked me, and attacked me. All in the hope that I would give up." His parlor drained of color as he recalled one particular incident.
"One particular time, the first time that it really a struck me that I was fighting myself was when I crawled out of a maintenance shaft. As soon as I put my foot on the ground, I was wrenched around by Nicole. This wasn't the same Nicole as what I remembered, she was bloodied and pale. Out of nowhere, she began to try a stab me in the eye with a syringe, and it took everything in me to fight her off. Eventually, the hallucination passed, and I stood in the room for a moment. I was gripping my own damn arm, which had the syringe. I was fighting off myself, and I almost lost every time that I saw her. The Marker, no, the Moons, used my inability to move on to try and destroy me."
"But why you?"
"Because I was the only one who could stop it. The codes in my head worked both ways, creation and destruction. But, the damage was done by the time I destroyed the Titan Marker. I had a hard time believing anything I saw or heard, I was in a hell of my own that was nestled right. In. Here." Light knocks on the side of his head punctuated the last few words. He shifted in his seat, and checked his RIG display.
"I'm off topic, aren't I?" The hand that had lied on his cutter returned to the table, and Isaac took a swig of the now cold cup of coffee.
"I guess it just comes down to moving on with my life. Being stubborn only dug me a deeper hell." A somber thought crossed his mind, and Shizuka picked up on it.
"There's a but at the end, isn't there? You know, one that isn't mine?" Their light chuckle filled the lounge briefly, but they returned to silence soon after.
"The Necromorphs still haunt me, Shizuka. Not just psychologically, but genetically as well. I'm fighting for my own damn cells, and I'm not sure if it is transmittable. That's why I can't, that's why we can't."
"I understand…" They sat in silence for a little while till the bells for class rang out. They deposited their cups, and bid each other a goodbye.
-A week later, spring classes-
"So, times up, class. Turn in your papers." Over the last week, Isaac had figured out his students fairly well, and became well-adjusted to the workings of the school. Who would cheat, who had no clue, and who had a decent head on their shoulders. As well as those he liked to call "Shit-heads" for obvious reasons. Yet, he learned fairly quickly to keep his eye on the members of the Newspaper club.
That group was always involved in something dangerous. They were either fighting some rebellious group or each other for who would marry Tsukune. The thought that if an outbreak ever occurred, the kids would definitely be capable of handling any encounter.
On a side note, he did have to hand it to the kid, Tsukune was definitely the chick magnet that Isaac never was. Although, at Tsukune's age, he wasn't looking for it. His life had been upended by his own mother. Which had been the platform for his initial distrust of Unitology, seeing as how his mother spent his saved tuition money to be a vested member.
What would have happened if she didn't join? That question had never crossed his mind before. Everything he had done hinged on his education, one way or another. A better university would have netted him a better job, and he probably wouldn't have met Nicole. It was likely that he would have never made contact with the Marker, until it was too late.
Stirring from his thoughts, everyone had turned in their paper, and Isaac could leave now. He waited for the bell to release them though, seeing as some of them were rearing to go already. The bell rang, and everyone filed out.
Swiftly grabbing his jacket, he locked up the room, and went on his way to his room. He received a few hellos from passing students, which he responded in kind. Isaac had noticed that the people here were slowly becoming pleasant to him. It still jarred him a bit to remember that they were all monsters, him included.
"Hey, Isaac?" It may have been a little over a week ago, but every time he heard Shizuka, he remembered her ambush at his door. A few stray thoughts popped into his head, but he shrugged them off.
He turned to the Nekomusume. She was wearing her usual white blouse, orange undershirt, and skirt.
"Are you going to be at the meeting, meow? The clubbies want to see if you could help them fix up the printer."
"You mean they want me to make them one?" He grinned. The "clubbies" were always trying to improve their little operation with "future tech" courtesy of Isaac's Bench. It didn't always work out too well for everyone though.
"I'll be there. Tell them that they need to pay for my work this time. You remember their little drone incident?" Shizuka sighed.
"Well, yeah. I mean it is sorta your fault, meow."
"I told them I'm not a programmer, I just winded up copying the VI from my Scavenger bot." An accusing look was thrown his way.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the Earth Elemental had a heart of platinum. I'm still new to this. I can't do everything those kids expect me to do."
"Yeah, they do expect a lot from you. Well, I'll see nyah there." Shizuka waved as she left, and Isaac went into his room. He dropped the papers onto his desk, and collapsed onto his bed. A small alert went off, reminding him of a small project he had planned to do. Activating his RIG, he pulled up his recording program, and activated it.
"Audio Diary, Isaac Clarke." Lazily, he scratched his chin, and felt the scruff building up on his face.
"I am a teacher at Yokai Academy…" He shook his head, and deleted the recording.
This won't do.
"Audio Diary of Isaac Clarke, Ex-CEC engineer and current Yokai Academy faculty. I am making this as a means to recount all that has happened since my arrival here at Yokai Academy." I guess this will work, sounds formal enough.
He emerged from his room a few minutes later with a soured mood. Starting up that recording, he had knew that he wouldn't be cheery for much longer. So, not feeling in the mood to have anyone ask what's wrong, he forced a small grin. It would probably fool a few people, probably not Shizuka now that he thought about it. She could read him like a book.
That probably wasn't the best thing to do today, or any day for that matter. Still, the club is probably waiting for me. The walk to the room was as quiet as usual, most of the students were likely in their rooms already.
The club door was open, and Isaac could already hear Kurumu threatening Gin. Along with that little ruckus, he could hear Tsukune chatting up Moka. No doubt that Mizore would be breaking up anything too friendly.
What a welcome, isn't it? Not surprisingly, the majority of the students were busy scrawling their articles, or messing with each other. The old machine that was the printer was tucked away into a corner, and looked a decade past its expected lifespan. The plastic casing was cracked, especially where past students had kicked the machine when it sputtered. What metal parts were seen had a large coat of rust, and looked at the point of breaking. At the moment, a student was repeating the abusive act of beating the machine.
"Ease up on the machine, will ya? It isn't hurting anyone." Yukari, the perpetrator of the beating, nearly jumped out of her skin. The witch quickly slipped back to her chair, and started fidgeting with a paper. Everyone else just looked at him, and said their "Hi, Mr. Clarke"s or "Hey, Isaac"s.
"So, when was the last time this thing had a technician look at it, or is there even one for it?" Everyone shrugged.
I guess that explains everything. I'll do what I can to it, but I am a ship engineer, not an office technician. Popping open the side panel, the problem was presented to him as clear as day. Almost all of the internal components were rusted over, an obvious side effect of the ocean air. It was surprising this thing had lasted this long, and he would probably need to remake them.
Either that or buy a new printer. He put the side panel back on to the machine, and wiped his hands off on his jeans.
"Alright, the printer is done for. All the metal components are rusted, and I can't tell what half of these components do. So, it may be simpler just to try and get a new one." He looked around, and saw that everyone was off in their own world again.
Of course, I'm here to fix it. Brushing off some more of the rust, he stood up. He needed to put in a request, and thought it would be a prime example to talk to the Chairman about his ailment.
"Hey, guys." Shizuka had been absent from the room, and he saw why. She was cradling a hefty pile of printing paper in her arms, and looked a bit disheveled as she shifted the pile around.
"Need help with that?" He was answered with a vigorous nodding. Isaac lifted the majority of the paper out of her hands, and moved out of her way as she jogged past.
"So", both adults dropped the paper into a small storage cabinet," Where are you heading to, nyah?"
"The printer is FUBAR. I need to put in a request for a new printer to the Chairman." Shifting the box to her other side. She nodded.
"What is FUBAR?"
"Some military slang that a friend of mine used to say. In this case, it means fucked up beyond all repair."
"Alrighty. Can we still use it? The paper goes out tomorrow, and the clubbies put in a lot of work." Absently scratching the scruff that has accumulated in the past week, he shrugged.
"You guys can try, but the rust damage is pretty extensive. Don't be surprised if the prints are off." Shizuka nodded again, but neither side made any attempt to move. Isaac looked around the room a few times, only glancing at Shizuka occasionally. He had a feeling she was doing the same.
"Alright, I'm going to see the Chairman."
"Yeah, I'm just going to head to my desk, and do stuff. Have fun with the uh… Chairman…" Turning on his heel, he started heading to the upper floor of the school. That was the most that they had talked in a casual way since the incident. It really did not make sense to him. Hell, when he was younger, it would have been a simple thing.
No room for optimism, huh. Through his hesitation, he did like her. It didn't help that he found himself forgetting things. Nothing too important, but they were memories of Ellie.
Now is not the time for this...
The walk to the Chairman's office was a short and quiet affair, only interrupted when he arrived at the room. He was stopped by Ruby, another witch that had a crush on Tsukune. What he gathered from the group's little talks was that Ruby was a masochist with a long story for everything. Not really someone that he wanted to talk to. He had seen her around the grounds, but always dressed in different outfits.
"Weren't you just the groundskeeper earlier today, and the plumber last week?" The girl put down a small stack of papers, and adjusted lens-less glasses.
She doesn't even need to wear those...
"Well, it's a long story…" Okay...
"I'm in a hurry, Ms. Tojo." She apparently brushed off the comment.
"So, what can I help you with?"
"Is the Chairman in? I need to talk to him about equipment replacement, and an update on my situation." For the second time, she adjusted the glasses, and pulled up a list.
"Let's see. It's almost 5, aaaand here you are. 5 o'clock, Isaac Clarke. Printer replacement and Necromorphic purge update."
I'm not even surprised that he knew. The witch dropped the list, and fished a small folder from her desk.
"He is not in at the moment, but he did plan ahead. This is the receipt for the printer that should arrive later today, and this… I don't know what this is." As soon as she pulled the small capsule out, Isaac inwardly groaned. He swept up everything he needed, and lightly fiddled with the capsule.
Where the hell did he get a RIG memory drive?
"Thanks. I should probably get back to… What are you doing?" Ruby had dropped the glasses, and put on a strange blue hat.
"I am running security for the grounds from 5:30 to 10. It's a long story."
"I bet it is…" As politely as possible, he left. He already felt uncomfortable enough, and was dying to see what was on drive.
Hopefully not… Using the wireless connection that the RIG produced, he transferred the video file to his own, and queued video playback. The projected screen showed the Chairman grinning with his eyes alight.
Like usual.
"Afternoon, Mr. Clarke. My apologies for being away, I'm sure you would much rather hear my update in person." This guy always made his skin crawl.
"Not really."
"At this time, your spirit is constantly shifting. This makes separating you and the intruder much more difficult, and any attempt to remove it now would likely destroy your spirit alongside it. I suggest coming to terms with everything around you, and finding some inner peace." The lecherous grin grew a bit wider.
"And that means confronting Ms. Nekonome about that little incident between you two."
Is there something this guy doesn't know?
"There are a few things, but not much. One last thing, I do suggest preventing injury any chance you get. For your sake, as well as everyone else's." Isaac shut off the recording, thoroughly irritated by the Chairman's strange omnipotence. He didn't need any guidance about his life, all he needed was the Necromorph shit out of him. Yet, the spiel about not getting hurt did worry him.
"Mr. Clarke!" Ruby came barreling around the corner, flailing a paper.
"The Chairmen had a secondary note saying that it isn't transmittable as long as you are wearing the lock." She didn't even stop, and just ran past.
The hell…
Nonetheless, he started to head back to the Newspaper room. They needed to know that a new printer was on its way.
And what the hell does he mean my spirit is shifting? I thought the talk sorted that out. Spirituality wasn't something that he thought about, even now when he was surrounded by supernatural entities. The walk was fairly quiet, due to his downtrodden look.
"Is everything okay, Isaac? You look confused." He glanced up, and saw the Nekomusume standing with another set of boxes. This pile was much taller than the last, but it didn't seem to bother her.
"Yeah, just thinking about a few things. Let me help with those." Pulling the top half of the pile off the stack with Kinesis, both adults began to walk to the class.
"What are you doing all the way over here?"
"Our stockroom ran out. All the prints we sent through came out horrible, so we needed more paper. What did the Chairman say, nyah?" Isaac fished out the receipt from his jacket, and passed it to her.
"The Chairman thought ahead. We'll be getting it later today."
"That's great! The clubbies will be excited!" Isaac absently nodded. Arriving at the room, Isaac spotted a large cardboard box placed next to the rust bucket. Next to the box with a hand-truck was Ruby, dressed up in a jumpsuit and with grease smeared on her cheeks. Isaac swore that she had said that she was up to running security by now.
"Another long story?"
"Another long story." The witch quickly wheeled the hand truck out, and left the rusted printer in the room.
"Aren't you going to grab the old one?"
"No, I am supposed to be coaching the swim team!" He couldn't have been any less surprised at her comment.
No shit. Glancing back into the room, Isaac saw all of the students looking at him.
"What?" Shizuka leaned in a bit closer.
"I think they want you to get to work, nyah."
No shit.
"I'll set up the new one. Could you guys take out the old one?" The majority of them stared at him, not moving a muscle.
"I'll be back to scrap it."
-A few hours later-
"If they ask me to do one more thing for them for the next week or so, I'm punching Gin in the throat." Isaac and Shizuka were walking back to their rooms, and Isaac was fairly disgruntled seeing as the machine was more of a pain than what is was worth. Everything with that machine felt overly complicated.
Shizuka lightly chuckled at Isaac, but had cut herself short.
"Isaac, are we… you know… Okay? I mean, we're still talking, but it's always awkward between us, nyah." Isaac stopped instantly, and looked around.
What the hell do I say?
"I really screwed up, didn't I? I mean you still love Ellie, and it's only bee-"
"Shizuka, remember what I talked to you about?" Isaac faced her, and saw exactly what he expected. She had started to cry, but was trying to tough it out. He had to hand it to her,
"As long as I keep the lock on, we can…"
"We can…" He nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"We can give it a try." Shizuka gave Isaac an inquisitive look, unsure of what he was saying.
Fuck it. She must've been a bit unprepared as Isaac pulled her close.
"What d-" He cut her question off with a kiss. For a moment, she stood stunned, but was soon wrapped up in the moment as well. Eventually, they broke it up for a breather.
Isaac could only admire her in the surprised state she was in. Her face was beet red, and she was nervously giggling to herself. He swore that there was a glow to her, something that she hadn't shown before.
"Could we give that another try, nyah?" Even though she asked, she pulled Isaac back in before he could answer. The world around them faded into the background, and they might have stayed that way. In retrospect, both of them agreed that they should've moved farther along the corridor before getting into it.
"Hey, guys! Get back here, the teachers are getting frisky!" The same thought raced through both of their heads at that moment.
OH SHIT! Kurumu was standing down the hall with the other clubbies popping around the corner. From their perspective, they must've seen Shizuka with a hold of Isaac's shirt, and both of their teacher's eyes bulging out of their heads.
"Uh. No, no, no, no, no, no, we were…." Shizuka quickly released Isaac's shirt, and flattened her hair. Isaac fixed his shirt, and looked back at the clubbies.
"We were kissing. What do you need?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thought you two needed some air."
"Doesn't Tsukune need air every time you smother him?" Kurumu stood firm, but her smirk faultered. The others were smiling with an occasional "finally" thrown in.
"Alright, guys. Just go." With a collective sigh, the students disappeared, leaving Shizuka and Isaac to look back at each other. Even though they had been found out, Isaac felt better than what he had felt in the past week. Another thought crossed his mind, one that considered it odd how the kids just left.
"So, yeah."
"We should head to our rooms."
"Yeah." Free and clear as they were, both of them made a speedy retreat to their respective rooms.
"See nyah tomorrow, Isaac!" As she closed her door, she threw a wink Isaac's way.
"See ya." He closed his door, and locked it up.
-July-
"It's been awhile since I did a recording, hasn't it? Well, here we go. It has been strangely peaceful the last few months, considering the life that the Newspaper club lives. A few issues have popped up, and they handle it all. I haven't been forced to do anything rash, so I'm happy.
I'm getting along with them fairly well, but one thing bothers me. The girls have started asking me to help them nab Tsukune. I do talk to the kid, but they know more about him than I do. It still doesn't help me when one of the girls corners me for info, or in Mizore's case, tries to listen in. I'd rather not fight them, and something tells me that they are probably a lot harder to fight than any Necromorph. I do admit that they are all growing on me. They all have their problems with each other, but they work together when someone gets hurt. Mainly, if the kid gets hurt. That reminds me, I haven't talked to Moka about that whole silver-haired her, but what I keep hearing is that there is two versions of her in one body. I'd like to say that I understand, but my dark passenger wants to kill everything. I hear their relationship is sibling-like, lucky them.
Mizore is the one that shows up the most, and Moka the least. Kurumu is just short of a train wreck, and Yukari… I can't believe what that girl says. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with Ruby and Kokoa. Unfortunately, I'm sorta protective of all the kids. As much as I tried to stay outta their business, I have had to step in, at the cost of the majority of my med-kits. I'm sure the Chairman could help with that. Which still bothers me.
Another point to bring up is Shizuka. Even though we are dating, we've gone back to just having lunch or dinner together. Occasionally, we head out to the lake to watch a holo-film or one of her converted films. She got a kick out of "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang", and not just because it says "kitty" in the title. I did enjoy one film she had, I think it was called "Batman Begins"? Yeah, that was it. Pretty weird guy, dresses like a bat, which I think was some mammal. I'm still not all there with my animals.
I would never want to face that Crane guy, though. I already lost it a few times, and that gas would probably be the end of me. That movie brings me to the next little tidbit about Shizuka.
She loves comic books and visual novels. Especially when they feature cat-themed characters. Her walls are absolutely plastered with posters of Catwoman, Black Cat, and some others. I hope I got the names right, they are simple enough. Some posters are a bit risqué, but it is not my room. IT WAS, CRAP…
Damn, mic level. Sorry, what was I saying? Oh, it was sort of funny when she invited me in. I'm sure she was nervous to show me her little collection. I can see why.
All in all, I've been feeling better. So, uh, end recording."
As usual, he woke up to the hum of the air conditioner. The cold air helped keep him from drifting off again. He rolled off the futon, and snagged his RIG. As usual, the pinch on his spine helped wake him up a bit more.
Quietly grabbing a simple flannel, jeans, and boots as today's scrounged up ensemble. This and his cutter, of course. A breakfast of oatmeal and cranberries graced his stomach with an orange juice chaser. Which had become his breakfast ritual, a welcome change from the modified food he'd eaten in his time. It was funny how humanity had advanced, but the food only got worse.
The last thing he nabbed was his holographic projector. Isaac still didn't care much for paper or dry erase boards. He always saw them as wasteful things, but it worked well enough for the current era. Getting back to the moment, he left and locked up his room.
Surprisingly, Shizuka wasn't there to greet him. The hallway was empty, and that fact set Isaac on edge.
His cutter had already found its way into his hand as he took a few steps towards the opposing room. The familiar weight of the tool helped his nerves, but it did very little to ease his paranoia.
Why is it so quiet? A myriad of possibilities floated through his head, but as the past few times have indicated, nothing as whimsical as a school play was likely. A few light knocks on Shizuka's door yielded nothing.
"Hey Shizuka, you in there?" Nothing yet again.
"What is going on here?" What could he do? As much as he expected Necromorphs again, his eye didn't hurt. His new connection to the creatures would probably give him a heads-up, anyways. The thought that he was the only Necromorph-like creature around did cross his mind, but that paranoia only egged him on.
Knocking on the door harder resulted in the same lack of response, and calling her phone didn't work either. The thought that he missed something was starting to creep up his spine. Somebody should have walked by, or he should have heard Ruby over the PA call for a student or faculty member. Or he should have just looked out the window.
The students and faculty were outside, listening to the Chairman.
Apparently, he's back. Clipping the cutter back onto his leg, he quickly made his way downstairs. No doubt in his mind that he missed something important, maybe it was why the place was so damn warm. He had looked it over, too wrapped up in the moment. The more he thought about the heat, the more he felt it as he went down.
"Finally. As you all may know, the temperature has increased drastically. For some of you, this presents a problem. I will have this resolved over the weekend, but until then, I suggest going home. Have a great weekend."
Tail end of the speech, huh. I'll ask Shizuka. The old term "Speak of the Devil" came to mind as said woman made her way to him, skipping as she did so. She was obviously uncomfortable in the heat, and was sweating up a storm. It made it horribly obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra, not that he was arguing.
"Where were you, meow? I knocked on your door."
"I guess I slept pretty heavy. What did I miss?" She shrugged, letting her ears flick as well.
"Nyat much. A few changes to student curfew, a new menu for the cafeteria, and the heat problem. I hope they didn't get rid of the salmon gumbo."
Salmon gumbo?
"I think you have a more pressing matter at the moment." For some reason or another, the color drained out of her face as soon as he said that.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I can tell that you go commando in one way." Glancing down, she let out a small cry, and pulled her blouse closed. Her eyes went wide as she looked around, and her face became a more intense shade of red. Isaac also noticed that her actual ears lowered. Luckily for her, the students walked past her and Isaac without a second thought.
"Oh, noooooo. What did you see?"
"Plenty." Another "Oh, nooo" followed, and she fled behind Isaac.
"Can we just go inside?"
"Of course." They quietly sifted into the crowds of students, making sure to conceal her at every turn.
"To your room?" The hidden feline shook her head, and murmured that she kept an emergency set of clothes stashed in her desk.
"Why do you have an emergency set?"
"I'm a bit of a klutz, nyah." He didn't expect anything less, and didn't need to know anymore. His gut told him that if he asked for more, they would both regret getting into that whole conversation.
"I'll be quick!" She ran past him with an awkward stance, but cleared the hall unnaturally fast. No doubt that it was one of her natural abilities, or supernatural abilities to be a bit more accurate.
I hope I never have to run from her. The room was closed off when he arrived, but the occasional clattering told him she was in there.
"Having a hard time in there?"
"NO! I'M FINE!" A hefty thud followed, along with a yelp.
"Aren't you just switching out your shirt?"
"Ye- OH NO!" The sound of tumbling came from inside, and against his better judgment that she just fell, he went in.
He couldn't help it when he saw her, and instantly began to chuckle. She was lying in a stack of papers with the remains of the Newspaper club's poster supplies splattered around her, and like her earlier embarrassment, her face was crimson. A heavy layer of glitter coated her too, adding to the situation. Luckily for her, she failed to take her shirt off. It was only bunched up, revealing some of her stomach.
"DON'T LAUGH!"
"At least you are sorta covered." Not one to just stand about, he helped her up, and passed his coat on. She willingly took it, and looked at the floor.
"Your room, now?" A solemn nod was his reply.
"Let's g-". Now, it was Shizuka's chance to laugh as Isaac slipped on an upended bottle of glossy paint. Followed up by collapsing into a pile of spilt glitter.
"Crap." Now both of them were evenly coated, and looking disheveled. If anyone looked at them in broad daylight, they would've gone blind.
"I guess this is what I get."
"Told you not to laugh." At least one of them had their sunny disposition back.
"You did. So, let's call it a draw. I think we've had enough incidents today." They went quiet for a moment, and checked themselves over. Shizuka groaned, and Isaac just sighed. It hadn't been the worst thing he got on him.
"Ugh, it'll take forever to get it out of my hair, and my back hurts." The sound of vertebrae popping rang out.
"Well, it shouldn't have been so hard to take off your shirt."
"I know, I know. Oh, I hope the clubbies don't see this."
"Why? They know how you are, and I think they wouldn't be surprised that I was involved."
"Can we just go?"
"Yeah." Both Isaac and Shizuka were rearing to run to their rooms, but stopped dead in their tracks as they opened the door. On the other side, stood the club members. Each of them were red in the face, and looking away from the messy faculty.
"Did you two have fun?" Kurumu, through an awkward smile, gave Shizuka a wink. She was being cheeky, even though it was obvious that she was uncomfortable.
Wait… Oh, goddamit. Isaac questioned his very existence at the moment. A few glances were exchanged, and then Shizuka broke her silence. In the back of his mind, he swore that they must've looked like tomatoes at the moment.
"No, wait. We didn't, I mean it wouldn't be a bad thing, but we didn't."
"Let's just go, and you guys get your minds out of the gutter." They didn't even give the kids a chance, as they ran off to their rooms. A heavy trail of glitter was left in their wake.
This day's gone to the dogs, and it isn't even noon. Following this, they took separate and very thorough showers to not only wash away the mess, but to try and figure out what to do,
Unfortunately, the mixture of paint and glitter proved to be a harsh task to remove for Shizuka. Her shower was left looking like an epileptic artist's work, but she did enjoy the colors mixing as they were washed away. A small inkling of a distraction from the awkwardness of the day.
Luckily for Isaac, his clothes had taken the brunt of the colorful coating. His shower had only taken him a few minutes, and he was already dressed by the time Shizuka finished her hair.
His suit had been left on his bed from his small closet clean up, so he had dragged that on. As well as being nostalgic, he found it extremely comfortable back in his suit, especially when his helmet was on.
"Hello? Mr. Clarke?"
What now? Irritated or not, he answered the door, and was greeted by Tsukune. Greeted was a bit of a stretch as the ghoul jumped when he caught sight of the re-armored Isaac.
"What do you want, kid?"
"Why are you wearing that?" Isaac shrugged.
"It's pretty comfy. What can I help you with?"
"Oh, yeah. I just thought to tell you that Mizore invited me and the others to go to her home. We'll be leaving in a few hours."
No surprise there.
"Alright, have a good weekend. " He began to close the door.
"Wait. Mizore wants you and Ms. Nekonome to go, too."
"Why?" The kid shrugged.
"I'll see, okay? Knowing you guys, it may not be a restful weekend."
"Alright, we'll be at the bus stop if you two want to come with."
"See ya."
I'm afraid to even ask her. Regardless, Mizore apparently invited them. It'd be rude to not even respond. As he had done earlier, he crossed the hall and knocked.
"Shizuka, you decent?"
"IN THE SHOWER STILL! JUST COME IN!"
Okay. He tried the door, and quietly entered seeing as it was open.
"You should keep the door locked. People can just walk in." The room was a lot more homey than his own. Cluttered walls, a messy bed, pile of clothes, and a television. His was more like a sterile workroom with a futon, so he enjoyed coming over when he did.
"You are the only one that comes over." The sound of the running shower cut off, and the bathroom door cracked open.
"Could you pass me the robe on the chair, please?" It was nothing more than a silk bag with short sleeves.
"You mean the bag with sleeves?"
"It is not that bad! A towel wouldn't be any better!"
"With how this is, a towel would cover you better." There was a huff, then Shizuka popped out of the room.
"Well, maybe a bigger towel would." The poor piece of cloth could only be a two by two foot rag. It covered her, but Isaac still had a prime view of her. To be honest with himself, he had been very reluctant to look her over. Not for any reason in particular, he just did. Which he was slightly regretting now.
The towel did little to hide her shape, lithe but well endowed. The body of a gymnast with a bit more to carry around. He found it funny how her clothes made her seem less filled-out. A cruel illusion if he had to say so himself.
"I'll wait outside. Just needed to see if you wanted to go with the club to Mizore's home, apparently she invited us too." As soon as he finished, he stepped out with the image of her burned into his memory. A far more pleasant memory than the majority of the other burned-in ones.
-An hour later-
"Are you sure about this?" Isaac received the brunt of a punch to the arm, and glared at Shizuka.
"You worry too much, nyah! It'll be fun, we'll have a great time!"
"Your stomach will. She promised you an all-you-can-eat buffet, right?" A complaint was on the way, but she quietly shied away. Thoughts of worry and fish were pushed aside as they were heading to the bus stop that linked Yokai Academy to the outer world. A world that Isaac was honestly afraid to see, even Necromorphs were a preferable alternative.
"Shizuka? Have you gone to the human world?"
"Yep, I have a house there. Why?" There was a moment of hesitation for Isaac, but he didn't have to tell her just yet. They were intercepted by the lively students, which Isaac noted that Mizore wasn't a part of. He could see the stress in how she looked around, especially at her worried glances at the resident ghoul. This wasn't just a friendly invitation, that much he was sure of. At least he had the sense to wear his suit. His cutter was tucked away in his bag, but would be easy enough to draw if the need was there.
"Hey, guys!" As he expected, the ecstatic ones erupted in glee.
They must've thought we wouldn't be coming. One thing he noticed was how Mizore was acting. She wasn't her stoic self, and looked on edge. It wasn't unusual for her to stare at Tsukune, but Isaac noticed her stares to be a bit more desperate. It didn't take a detective to tell something was up.
Why did she invite us? She's worried about something. Shizuka drifted into the pack of girls, while Isaac stayed watching the tunnel and the Yuki-onna.
"What's wrong, Mr. Clarke?" Unsurprisingly, his fellow time-bomb walked over. It was obvious that the kid was excited, but it only made him more uneasy. Something bad was going to happen, it always did. He didn't need pain behind his eye to tell him that.
"I've always hated traveling, kid. Something always gets in the way."
"We'll be fine, it's just the weekend." The enthusiasm this kid had make him nostalgic for his pre-Ishimura self. An enthusiastic, hopeful Isaac who was ready to settle down. One who had taken some vacation time to search for a perfect place to stay for the honeymoon. One who had saved a few months' worth of pay to get a ring, but never got around to it. All of that had been ruined in the span of a day. The Isaac that was left after all of this was paranoid, schizophrenic, and lost. An Isaac he wanted gone.
"A lot can happen in a weekend kid, and not all of it can be good." Rumbling caught Isaac's attention, which was just the sound of a combustion engine emanating from the tunnel. Everyone snatched up their belongings, some less excitedly than others. He threw a glance at the ensemble again, and his gut sank lower.
I should have asked the resident fortuneteller what the weekend's forecast will be.
All right, guys. A few notes. I'm flat out saying that Shizuka is 46. The only hint we get of her age is in the anime. She says that she feels 30 years younger when wearing a cheer outfit. So…yeah.
Chronologically, Isaac is 49ish. Maybe 50. Although he spent nearly 3 years in stasis.
I also need to say one thing. I sorta had a breakdown, and I feel different. I'm unsure of how this has affected my writing, BUT I'm feeling better day by day. I'm writing to get better, that's why this chapter is a bit longer (It would have been a lot longer, but I divided it). A few bad transitions intermixed, but I had to get it out. I have plenty left in my repertoire, so don't worry.
And the final note, thanks for reading.