Here's the fourth chapter! Enjoy!
The first week passed by quickly. It's the weekend! Kind of...it's Friday evening. Ryu picked out the perfect restaurant for him and Crystal to have their date in. He was in his dorm, getting ready for his "date". Kasumi was biting her lip. Ryu looked handsome in his expensive-looking clothing, but he's going out with...her...she just doesn't like it. Of course, it's to see if she can reveal herself. He couldn't have FEELINGS for her, right?
"When are you leaving?" she asked out of curiosity.
"In a half hour," Ryu answered. She nodded.
"I'm going to take a shower," she said as she headed to the bathroom. As she closed the door, she striped herself naked and turned on the shower in there. Not too cold...not too hot...perfect! She stepped into the shower and washed herself down. As she did, she felt a little tired. She sat at the shower floor while rubbing and washing off the body soap on her body. After a few moments, she slowly passed out.
In her dream, she was a mermaid. She had a red hibiscus on her hair, a pearl necklace on her neck, and her mermaid tail was milky pink. Her hair flowed gracefully in the blue ocean. She saw some fish friends come to her. She played hide-n-seek with her cute little fish friends. One of the fish were closing their eyes and counting down while Kasumi and the rest of her fish friends went into hiding. Kasumi was hiding behind a coral reef. As the fish was ready to find everyone, it suddenly saw a hook with fish bait on it. Kasumi realized this and tries to stop her fish friend, but it was too late. He took a bite on the hook and the hook swiftly came up with her fish friend. Kasumi began to cry. Then, more hooks with bait on them came down. All her fish friends bit on them and were never seen again. Kasumi cried even more. Suddenly, a net got onto her while she was crying. She struggled to get out of it, but it was too late. A diver came into the water with a spear. Her hair was purple. She knew who the diver was. The diver's scarlet eyes twinkled as she threw the spear at Kasumi.
Kasumi woke up. Her heart was beating really fast. She realized she was still in the shower and that the water was still on. She felt clean enough, so she stood up, turned off the water, and got out of the shower. She got a towel, covered herself with it, and exited the bathroom. Ryu wasn't in the room. Kasumi wondered how long she dozed off. She shrugged to herself and changed into a fresh pair of underwear, then pajamas. She slipped on her bunny slippers and got out her homework to work on. She got out a pencil and started working on a problem. The beginning of the universe is... she began to think.
After she finished a few problems, she heard footsteps in the hallway. She was expecting to hear Crystal and Ryu's voice, but there was no sound. She peeked out the door to see Hitomi wandering around. She wondered why...
"Hitomi?" she squeaked. Hitomi turned and saw her.
"Kasumi! How are you?" she asked.
Kasumi opened the door fully and answered, "I'm fine. What are you doing here? It looked like you're lost or something."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Crystal wanted me to patrol the school while she's off on a date with Ryu."
"Ah..." Kasumi said in an unhappy tone. Hitomi notices that and said, "What's wrong?"
Kasumi pursed her lips. "If I told you a secret, would you keep it and never tell anyone?" Hitomi nodded. Kasumi whispered to her ear, "I have feelings for Ryu." Hitomi tried not to squeal.
"Really?" she asked in such an eccentric mood. The runaway kunoichi slowly nodded, blushing in embarrassment. "You two would look so cute togeth-" Kasumi cut her off by shushing her. "Oops," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Kasumi whispered.
Hitomi raised her voice back to normal. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" She was walking away, but something popped into her head. She didn't tell Kasumi about Crystal's plans. She walked back to Kasumi.
"H-Hitomi?" Kasumi looked puzzled.
"I got a secret too...or more likely..." Hitomi's voice trailed off.
"Hitomi? Is anything wrong?" Kasumi asked.
Hitomi decided not to tell her about it and walked away from her. "It's nothing. Forget I said anything. Goodbye, Kasumi." Kasumi found Hitomi's attitude weird, so she slowly and quietly followed Hitomi. Hitomi wasn't noticing her. She then tapped her shoulder. Hitomi had a jump-scare and turned to see Kasumi.
"What are you doing here, Kasumi?" she asked. "You're supposed to be in your dorm."
Kasumi thought up of an excuse. "How about I join you patrolling the hallways? I'm a ninja after all." Hitomi thought it wasn't a bad idea, so she agreed. The two walked through the hallways, making sure no one else is in the hallway and in their dorms. Kasumi kind of urged Hitomi to tell the secret, but she refused to tell her. She wouldn't believe her anyway.
Ayane groaned, "This is SOOOOOO hard!" She was doing Math. One problem made her fuss up.
"Sheesh, Ayane. You can just skip it and do the other one," Eliot suggested. Mei Lin was doing first-grade math problems like a professional.
"I wished I had Mei Lin's homework!" the violet-haired kunoichi complained. "Why won't you help me, Eliot? You're the brains!"
Eliot let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're on your own."
Mei Lin was frowning. "That's not nice, Onii-san."
"Well, that's what she gets for being mean to me all week."
"She was nice though."
"Yeah, ONII-SAN!" Ayane said in a high-pitched voice. Eliot scowled at her.
"See, Mei Lin? She's mean to me."
Ayane rolled her and went back to the math problem. She still didn't know what to do. Her teasing didn't do anything to help her with that. She asked again, "Can you PLEASE help me, Eliot?"
"You're on your own," Eliot repeated.
Ayane grunted. "Can you PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP?"
"She's using her manners, Onii-san," Mei Lin noted. "You should help her with her homework."
"Pssh. No. She's still mean to me." Ayane was about to give up, but then a brilliant idea sparked up in her head. For this to happen though, Mei Lin shouldn't see.
"Hey, Mei Lin. Could you go into the bathroom for a little bit?" she asked the little girl.
"Okay." She went into the bathroom with her homework and shut the door. Eliot was getting curious.
"Ayane, what's going-" he said before he realized she was unbuttoning her top. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Trying to make you say 'yes'," Ayane answered. She was halfway from unbuttoning it. Eliot blushed insanely.
"Okay! Okay! I'll help you! Just st-stop that!" Ayane buttoned her shirt up.
"Thank you!" she said annoyingly. Eliot shook his head to himself and went to Ayane.
"What is it?" he asked. She pointed at the problem. "Huh. I think you're over-thinking the problem. Here." He grabbed her pencil and explained to her the process of doing the problem.
...
Mei Lin was still in the bathroom, but she was doing her homework on a soft rug. She still thought Eliot and Ayane were dating each other and that they "need to be alone". They reminded her of her parents, saying that she can go to her room while they "need to be alone". A cute smile slipped across her face.
Ayane and Onii-san... she giggled at the thought. I should call her Onee-san!
Ryu and Crystal were at an expensive restaurant. Crystal was wearing a navy blue wrap dress with matching heels. She was drinking a wine she liked. Just what Ryu wanted. He wanted to make her drunk to make her reveal her true self.
"You really like that wine, don't you Crystal?" he asked.
Crystal cracked a short smile. "This is a delicious wine, Ryu. I can't get enough of it." She continued drinking it. Ryu was waiting for her to get REALLY drunk on the wine. He was waiting for the steamed lobster he ordered and her braised pork loin. When the waiter came back with the food, Ryu ordered more wine for Crystal. When he left, Ryu looked at Crystal. She's getting there. He grabbed his fork and begin eating his lobster. She began to eat her pork...sloppily. As the waitor poured the wine into her glass, she drank it again. She asked him to leave the bottle of wine at the table. The waiter did as told and left. Crystal had the look in her eyes that told Ryu she drank too much.
"So Crystal, can you tell about yourself?" he asked her.
She put her glass down and said, "You still want to know?" He couldn't tell if she WAS drunk or she can handle the amount of alcohol. "Okay then." Okay, she's a little drunk. "Crystal Lake isn't my real name."
"Oh really? What's your real name?"
"Carrie Louiston." He heard the name before, and that shocked him. Carrie Louiston, he heard, was a madwoman who fought her husband because she was abusive to him.
"Why did you change your name to Crystal Lake?"
Crystal drank the whole glass of wine. "I grew up near a lake that sparkled in the sunlight like crystals. Or actually...the lake had crystals in it!" She chuckled. Ryu didn't recall a place where there's a lake with crystals in it.
Crystal kept on talking. "When I was 18, I just let loose and be who I wanted to be. So, I worked at a club and I fought many times there, so I got fired." Ryu didn't want the information she was giving, so he asked her another question, "Why did you open up Lake Academy?"
Crystal poured the wine into her glass and drank the whole glass again. "I'm sorry, what was that, Ryu?" Okay, she's drinking a little too much of that wine. He got the bottle and the glass away from her. "Heeeeeeeey!"
"Why did you open up Lake Academy?" he repeated.
"I'm not telling you unless you're giving me my wine back." Ryu sighed.
"Answer my question, then I'll give you the wine back."
Crystal frowned, then answered, "Because my life goal was to have an excellent school with excellent staff and students. Now can I have my wine back?" Ryu gave up. This woman was Carrie Lousiton, the abusive wife, but she changed, he guessed. So, Crystal is out of the question now. He gave the wine back to her. She can't be the woman, she just can't be. He asked her out and made her get drunk for no reason. He wasted his time.
The waiter came back with a receipt. Ryu told him to bring two boxes for the food. The waiter left to get the boxes. Crystal drank...and drank...and drank...and drank...
Hitomi and Kasumi saw no one in the hallways yet. They were talking about things like normal friends do. They are locker neighbors, but they got along pretty well! Hitomi still didn't want to tell Kasumi the secret. Hayate believed it, yes, but Ayane looked like she didn't believe it. So, why tell Kasumi? Plus, Ryu is on a date with Crystal, so he should know that she's evil, right?
"So, you've seen your friend...um...Leifang?" Kasumi asked.
"Yep!" Hitomi answered. "We met each other at lunch on Wednesday and we talked a lot. It was nice seeing her again!" Kasumi smiled. She was still wondering about Hitomi's "secret", but she didn't want to annoy Hitomi with that question, so why bother?
Hitomi stopped when she heard footsteps. Kasumi stopped too and listened in. With her ninja speed, she ran toward the footsteps, only to see Ryu with a bag in one hand, and a dozed-off Crystal on his shoulder. Kasumi looked confused. Ryu noticed the copper-haired kunoichi and stopped in his tracks.
"Kasumi?" he said. "You're not supposed to be here."
"O-oh, uh...I was helping her out," she stated. "What happened with Crystal?"
"Too much alcohol," he said. He walked with Kasumi to Crystal's office, where Hitomi was at. Hitomi noticed Crystal and asked about her, only to get the answer that she drank too much. Hitomi understood.
"Hitomi, do you mind opening the door for me?" Ryu asked.
"Oh, not at all!" Hitomi opened the door to her office. Ryu went in and carefully put Crystal on her chair at her desk. Hitomi pursed her lips, just not keeping her eyes off the door to that...room...
"What are you looking at, Hitomi?" Kasumi questioned. Hitomi bit her lip.
"Are you alright, Hitomi?" asked the super-ninja. Hitomi sighed. If Hayate believed her, she'll have to make these two believe her too.
"Follow me," she said as she stepped into the office.
"What? But, if Crystal-" Kasumi got cut off by Hitomi shushing.
"There's a secret I discovered about Crystal on Monday..." the dirty-blonde girl stated in a quiet voice. "And it's in that room." She pointed at the door to the contraption room.
"Her bedroom?" Ryu said. Bedroom? she thought. How can she sleep in there?
"Plus, isn't it a little rude to barge in here?" Ryu added. True, her being in the office without permission on Monday was rude, but they needed to know about the secret.
"Yeah, Hitomi, that is kind of rude," Kasumi also added.
"I know, but-" The words couldn't come out.
"Hitomi, are you okay?" Kasumi asked. "You're acting very weird."
Hitomi sighed again. "Go into that room and see for yourselves." She exited the office, acting a bit down and off. She went back to her dorm.
...
Ryu and Kasumi were still there in Crystal's office. They both were looking at the door. They both don't know if they should go back to their dorms or check the room out.
"What do you think, Kasumi?" Ryu whispered. "Should we check it out?" Kasumi had no idea. In fact, she was scared to learn about the secret. She could take a peek at it though.
"We'll just...take a peek," she suggested. Ryu nodded. The two approached the door. Kasumi opened it a little bit and peeked inside. She gasped. The room looked NOTHING like a bedroom!
"What is it, Kasumi?" Kasumi opened the door all the way for Ryu to see. His jaw dropped as he saw the contraption and the papers taped on the wall. What the hell is this? he thought.
"This is not good..." Kasumi muttered. "Especially that thing..." She pointed at the contraption. Ryu looked back to see if Crystal's still asleep. She was sound asleep. He looked back at the room. He stepped into it. Kasumi stepped in too. She closed the door. She didn't like this! Is she working for Donovan?!
Ryu read all the papers on the wall. She hasn't changed. She's grown worse... he thought. He looked at the contraption. So, this is used to absorb the strength of a person. That sick woman...
"R-Ryu..." Kasumi stammered. He patted Kasumi's head.
"Crystal's the enemy here," he explained to her. "Thanks to me, you, Hayate, and Ayane being here, she can absorb our strength along with everyone else's with that thing." He pointed at the machine.
"No...no!" Kasumi covered her mouth. She thought she would be safe here...she thought.
"We need to get out of-" Ryu said before he noticed a tiny camera at the corner of the room. He cursed under his breath. That means...she knew Hitomi's here and now that we're here... He grabbed Kasumi onto his chest, which made the runaway kunoichi's cheeks warm up. They disappeared and reappeared in their dorm. Ryu let Kasumi go. Kasumi still looked terrified. She isn't safe at this school. Sure, she's out of the Mugen Tenshin clan's reach (minus Ayane and Hayate), but she was going to be powerless and weak. She didn't want that.
"I had enough for one night," said Kasumi. "I'm going to sleep." She jumped onto her bed and closed her eyes.
"We can't stay here forever. We have to warn everyone and get out of here somehow," Ryu said.
"We can do that tomorrow. Goodnight, Ryu." Kasumi fell asleep. Ryu sighed as he decided to sleep for the night as well. Still, everyone, including the ninjas, is in grave danger here. He must think how he's going to warn everyone without Crystal knowing.
Hitomi went into her dorm. Hayate was still awake. He noticed Hitomi's attitude. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You should be smiling."
"Nothing," Hitomi replied in a slightly depressed tone. She sat at her bed.
"Something is wrong, I know it."
Hitomi's lip curved downward. "Well, Kasumi joined me on my duty, then Ryu came back with Crystal sleeping. I told them about Crystal and that there's a place in her office that they needed to see. I left them."
"Well, they looked right?"
Hitomi answered with a shrug. Hayate sighed and sat next to Hitomi. Hitomi went on, sighing. "I don't want this to become a catastrophe like in DOATEC." Hayate chuckled.
"I'm sure DOATEC is worse," he said to cheer her up. She still acted gloomy. He put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. "Even if Crystal is evil, I'm sure she wouldn't beat even the weakest of us." Hitomi smiled a little bit.
"You may be right...if she hadn't gotten at least one person's power."
"You don't need to worry. We can beat her if she tries to get our strength. Like I said, DOATEC is more worse." Hitomi smiled more.
"You're right. You're strong after all, Hayate." She yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. Hayate blushed a little. Suddenly, Hitomi lifted her head from his shoulder, blushing as well.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she said.
Hayate nervously smiled. "It's okay." He looked back at his homework he was working on.
Hitomi grinned. "You can do your homework on your own, right?" she asked.
Hayate chuckled. "There's one problem."
"I hope that 'one problem' isn't '100 problems'." They both laughed. Hitomi helped Hayate with his homework. She thought, I have nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about...
There we go! This was a little rushed. How was it?
It turns out I can work on 4 fanfics at a time very quickly, so expect some quick-ish updates. ;)
Question of the Chapter:
Do you want Dead or Alive to have an anime adaption movie? Why or why not?
R&R, F&F, and I'll see you all later! :D
