The Other Me
Chapter Eight: Shinmei School's Demon Slayer! Evil Cutting Sword, Second Form!
By: Sci-Fi Raptor
Disclaimer: See Chapter Four
"Everyone needs to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer" –random NYU kid…
(Don't worry. Next chapter is the last fight scene in what I think will be a while…)
Thnx to cactus for notching that I spelled Urashima wrong. Lol…
Someone had told me about how they didn't like how I just randomly had Naru and the other girls up and leave last chapter. Okay, I kinda just needed them all out of the picture, so I guess it was pretty convenient and random for me to just pull them out of the picture. But my reasoning is that they all have lives outside of the Hinata-sou and just cause there's stuff going on there, doesn't mean that they should stop the rest of their lives. I know my excuse for Naru was weak, but I always wanted to see her reconcile her differences with her sister and parents...
One more thing, someone else commented about how this fic seemed to turn humorous suddenly. The answer to your questions in no. It has bits of humor and high times only because I find it unnatural for any kind of writing to be in only one state. (A lot of Shakespeare's stuff randomly has clowns in it to make it less depressing). Also, you'll have to bear with the seemingly random stuff that happens, but I promise all will be made clear… eventually…
(-O-)
Author: Check out cactus' 'Spur of the moment.' Someone FINALLY did my EVIL MONKEYS FROM SPACE! bit.
Evil monkeys: Curse you Su!!!
Su: (dances around like a monkey)
Author: "Su… goin' after me lucky charms…" (eye twitches as his finger goes to delete button)
(O)
"Idiot! You're making too much noise! You'll wake him up dammit!"
"It can't be helped! This part of the insertion is noisy! And its resistance doesn't help at all!"
Keitaro opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom, sleeping peacefully. I suck my thumb? he asked himself when he saw his three year-old self doing it. Wait, if I'm there… why can I see myself… He turned around and what he saw put him back to sleep.
"Idiot!" hollered the horny one, smacking the shorter one.
"Well, he's out like a light. I don't think he'll bother us anymore…"
Keitaro shot up. He hadn't had that nightmare since he was a little kid. His hand was over his chest and he could feel his heart pounding. His senses were blurry and he was soaked. As his vision and hearing came back, he started noticing his surroundings. He could hear a rapid medium pitched beat next to him, going as fast as his heartbeat. A steady higher-pitched note and a rapid low-pitched note suddenly accompanied it. The haze gone, he finally took in the room. Everything was white, including the bed he was on. On his right was a table with some flowers on it and on his left was a machine of some sort with wires running from it to him. The screen on it showed his heartbeat and had several warnings all over it.
The door burst open and someone rushed in.
"Keitaro, you're awake?" the person asked in surprise. Keitaro looked at the person and recognized her as Dr. Hikari. "What happened?"
"I had a nightmare…" Keitaro said once he had caught his breath. The beeps slowed down until only one pitch was playing.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked tenderly.
"Its no big deal. Its something I've been having since I was a kid," he said, smiling weakly.
"Alright," she said, though she didn't sound like she believed him.
"Um…" Keitaro chuckled. "Why am I here again?" Hikari's face became serious.
"When Shinobu called, she told us that you were in pain for some reason. When the ambulance got there, they had to administer morphine to calm your body down even though it seemed that your pain was gone. Since then, you almost fell into a coma, but I guess you managed to pull through."
"Damn… is Shinobu okay?"
"She's been here the whole time and left only because I forced her to get some sleep," she answered, causing Keitaro to feel guilty. After a few moments, she asked, "Do you have any idea why this happened to you?"
The disturbing image from his nightmare flashed before his eyes, but he didn't flinch. "No, I have no idea," he said with a straight face. Hikari got angry for some reason.
"Maybe this is the reason," she said, slapping a sheet of paper in front of him. "It's the results from your blood test." Keitaro scanned through it and froze when he saw something circled: Crack/Cocaine – positive. Before he could make any excuses, Hikari spoke again, "I'm supposed to report this to the authorities, but after what Shinobu-chan told me, I'm letting you off the hook, but only if you promise me that you'll stop taking it." Knowing that Keitaro was a man of his word, Hikari felt that she could trust him this much.
"Alright," Keitaro said after debating for a while. Man, I've been quite the criminal recently, haven't I? he thought to himself with a smirk, thinking of his recent 'joy ride,' drug abuse and 'run ins' with the Yakuza, though he couldn't really recall the latter of the offenses.
"You're a good kid, Keitaro, she said, standing up. "I don't wanna see you turn bad because of something stupid like this," she said, referring to the sheet. She left the room, closing the door behind her. Keitaro picked up the sheet. He scowled at it, crumpled it and threw it into the trashcan, basketball style. "And the crowd goes wild…" he said to himself. The door cracked open.
"H-hi sempai…" Shinobu said, slowly making her way in. "Dr. Hikari said that it you finally woke up."
"Yeah…" he said, his hand on the back of his head again.
"Y-you really scared me, Sempai…" she said, sitting on the edge of his bed. She grabbed his hand without even thinking about it. "I thought I was going to lose you…"
"I'm sorry to have worried you," he said, squeezing a bit.
"What happened anyway? You just suddenly started screaming and then you were on the ground crying," she said, eyes moistening and her voice shaky.
Keitaro sat silent for a moment, then finally said, "I was just something I ate." There. He'd done it again. He'd lied again to the only person in Hinata-sou that actually seemed to care about him (besides Haruka, though sometimes he wondered.) But what surprised him about all of this was that the lie wasn't that hard to say anymore; he didn't even feel guilty now.
"Aaauuu… was it something I cooked?" she said, ready to cry him a river.
Crap! I forgot she's the cook!
"N-no! Of course not! It was something I got from a friend…" he covered. "He treated me to sushi, and we both ate it even though it seemed rotten." Shinobu sighed with relief.
"I'm so glad…" she said, but then caught herself. "N-not that you got sick, but that it wasn't my cooking that caused you to get hurt!"
"Its okay, Shinobu," he said, hand on the back of his head again. "I know you'd never try to hurt me."
The two sat there quietly until Keitaro looked at his hand. Shinobu followed his gaze and quickly retracted her hand from his and apologized, her face a cute shade of crimson. Keitaro just laughed.
(O)
The two had walked back from the hospital together, chatting about the last school term and such. As they scaled the last few steps, Keitaro stopped. Shinobu noticed this and also stopped, turning back to ask him, "Is something wrong, Sempai?"
Keitaro looked at her eyes and said, "I'd really appreciate it if you don't tell any of the girls about yesterday. I doubt if they'd even care, but I don't want them to worry about me anyhow…"
"A-alright, Sempai," Shinobu said, smiling at him to lift him from his sudden depression. "You can count on me!"
"Thanks," Keitaro said, smiling back. They walked to the mansion and went inside. As they passed the dining room, they noticed something strange draped over the table. They went up to it to see what it was and recognized it as Su. They heard her mumbling something and got closer.
"Food…" she drooled, chomping on the table.
"Oh my gosh, I completely forgot to leave something for Su to eat for dinner!" Shinobu said. She ran to the kitchen to whip up something for the monkey, who no doubt had been there since the night before. Keitaro just sweat dropped. As he made his way to his room, he heard Su mumble something his way.
"What was that, Su?" he asked, walking up to her again.
"The package is in your room, Commander Pervert Sirrr…" she said again, moving her to attempt to salute. Keitaro's face beamed.
"Thank for your hard work, Su," he said as he left for his room in anticipation. "I'll be sure to sneak in a crate of bananas for you when Shinobu isn't looking." At the mention of bananas, Su started drooling even more, causing the pool of saliva to grow.
Moments later, Keitaro came running back and made to leave the Inn. Before he left, however, he shouted to Shinobu, "Shinobu, I'm gonna be gone for a few days. See you later!"
Shinobu's head popped out of the kitchen just as he left, covered in flour and bananas, saying, "Be careful, Sempai! You just got out of the hospital!" Keitaro shouted back an "I will!" as the sound of tires screeching near the foyer could be heard. The tires screeched again following the sound of a door opening and closing.
"Banana!" Shinobu heard. She turned to look at Su; she held a fork in one hand, a knife in the other and a crazed look in her eyes.
"Su-chan?" Shinobu questioned.
"Banana!" Su said, throwing her utensils down and lunging for the teenager.
(O)
"Where did you score this?" Yurislovak said in utter disbelief.
"It doesn't matter!" Keitaro said, itching to get the monster rolling. "All that matters is that it works.
Yurislovak had picked up Keitaro from the top of the stairs with his prized super-car after a promise from Keitaro that he had something that would blow his mind. After three hours of installing the device, Yurislovak looked at awe at nothing. The nothing, however was his Veyron cloaked by Su's ingenious device.
"NOW LETS GET ROLLING!!!" Yurislovak yelled when the consequences of the cloak sunk in.
Naru was back at her house, watching the news with her family. The reporter was saying something about multiple ghost sightings all over Japan that happened to follow defined a curve.
Weird… they all thought.
(O)
(Over a week later)
Naru slowly walked up the steps of Hinata-sou, a big goofy smile on her face. Still in a good mood from the time she spent with her family, she felt that nothing could possibly go wrong. The sky was clear, the sun was shine… and yesterday she found out that SHE HAD MADE IT INTO TODAI!!!
Naru giggled at the thought of what would happen when she got back. Mitsune would throw a party, Shinobu, Su and Sarah would congratulate her. Motoko would do some good luck ritual. Mustumi would go, Ara ara! (Mutsumi had told her that she had gotten in since she found out the day before Naru, though Naru didn't get a chance to tell her about her own acceptance yet) Haruka would give her a lopsided smirk and Keitaro…
She stopped right in front of the door.
"Keitaro would be happy for me, right?" she asked no one. From the way they had departed, she doubted it.
As she made her way to open the door, she heard a scream. Naru quickly walked in to find… Kitsune sprawled over the floor with Su and Sarah tickling her.
"Stop! Mercy! I give!!!" she yelled in between her laughs. Naru sweat dropped.
The girls got off of her while she got up. She reached into her backpack and gave them their presents.
"Banana crate opener for you," she said, giving the said article to Su. She skipped away happily.
"And a water gun for you," she followed, giving the said article to Sarah. Sarah ran after her, an evil smirk plastered over her face.
"Hey Shinobu," she called, motioning for her to come. "I know you're growing up, so I got you this," she said, handing her a smack! "Ow… hey Naru, when'd you get back?"
"God Mitsune, poisoning Shinobu's mind with these weird things the second you get back," she said, taking the said article and throwing it in the trash.
"Hey, a girl's got her needs…" Kitsune said, causing Shinobu to go red when she realized what she meant. Su came running back with Sarah not far behind.
"Naru-san! Something's wrong with Keitarooo!" Su said, with sweat dropping Sarah just behind.
"You think…"
"I was looking for his dirty books to imitate, but all I found were these!" she said, giving her a bunch of magazines. Upon inspection, all she saw were cars. There was a model once or twice, but they weren't as 'professional' as the ones in Keitaro's normal magazines.
"Maybe he really likes cars?" Naru interjected, not knowing anything else to say.
"But he's no fun like that…" Su whined. Sarah smacked her and the two ran along.
"Hey, what's all this for?" Naru asked when she saw piles of stuff all over the floor.
"We're throwing a party for you three ronins getting in!" Mitsune said, opening a bottle of sake from nowhere.
"Wait… how'd you know that I got in?" Naru asked, sure she didn't tell anyone.
"Mutsumi told us," Kitsune replied. Mutsumi walked in just when she said that.
"Ara ara, what did I say?" she asked.
"You knew I got into Todai?" Naru asked her.
"Ara ara you did? That's wonderful!" she said, taking Naru's hand and dancing around her. The other two girls just sweat dropped. A thought suddenly occurred to the newest arrival.
"Keitaro got in?" Naru said in disbelief.
"Yeah," Kitsune said.
"YAHOO!!!" she heard someone say from the rooftop.
"He's been doing that every few hours since yesterday…"
Beep BEEP! A car honked from outside. Moments later, Keitaro came to the lobby with a big smile plastered onto his face. "Hello Mutsumi! Kitsune!" then dryly, "Naru…" Before she could say anything, he bolted out, excited over something else.
Naru's heart dropped. I thought that maybe after some time away he'd want to make up…
"I don't like that guy," Shinobu said.
"What guy?" Naru asked.
"That guy that came to pick Sempai up. He's been going with him to who knows where every day and Sempai hardly even talks to us anymore."
Needless to say, Naru didn't have much fun at the party.
(O)
Her ears perked up. She could feel it. Its aura was all over the place. Motoko growled as she entered Hinata-sou. Urashima is still among us? Curses! I had left the girls completely vulnerable to his perverseness!
She saw no one on her way to her room, and when she had finished unpacking, she felt it again.
Urashima… she thought, growling. Within the blink of an eye, her unsheathed Katana was in her hands, her legs a blur as she sought out the holder of her eternal hatred.
The shouting of "Pervert!" and the inevitable slap just fed the fuel to her fire.
"Urashima! You shall pay for your vile, lecherous ways!" she shouted when she saw him. Keitaro stood up, rubbing his chin. "Man, they should at least lock the door when they go to the bathroom," he mumbled to himself, seemingly not noticing Motoko.
"URASHIMA!" she boomed, finally catching his attention.
"Yeah? What?" he said, annoyed.
"I challenge you to a duel!" she cried. "And if you lose, you will be banished from here forever!" Surprisingly, he didn't cower from her intimidation as usual.
"Okay Motoko, but let us do it the proper way," Keitaro said calmly. I've seen this coming for quite some time… he thought.
(O)
Everyone was gathered outside in the hot springs, most still in their bathing suits. The happy banners floated lazily in the air as the two fighters stood face to face, each wielding a katana supplied by Motoko. Though Kitsune had said that she had forgiven Keitaro of what he did to her before (something about finding out more about herself and weird writer's stuff like that) because she realized it really was all of her fault, Motoko was on a roll and would not back down with her challenge.
"When you lose," Motoko started. "You will leave immediately and surrender your managership to someone more… proper," she said, proper implying a female.
"And when you lose," Keitaro said with a confidant face. "You'll wear this," he said, smirking while holding a white costume of some kind. "And sing to the tune of 'Little Rabbit Fu Fu.'"
"Everyone acknowledges the terms of this battle?" Motoko asked, referring to the girls. When they all nodded, she turned to Keitaro and said with a smug look on her face, "There is no more backing out now, Urashima!"
"It was foolish of you to challenge me, Motoko," Keitaro said, face not faltering. The two stood their ground, staring off at each other. Motoko, having desired to do this since Keitaro first came into the picture, started the battle by charging at him with her Katana.
Keitaro still stood calmly, as if he weren't worried. As Motoko neared, she leapt into the air for an aerial assault and to take him by surprise in the process. Not that this is necessary, but a duel must be taken seriously.
Motoko swung down, but was surprised to find that Keitaro had anticipated the move and prepared accordingly. Keitaro pushed up hard on his sword and sent Motoko flying, but she righted herself before she landed.
"I see you've been training, Urashima, but it will not help you!" she said, unleashing one of her trademark attacks. "ROCK CUTTING SWORD"
Keitaro stood his ground, waiting for the attack to connect. Just as it was about to strike, he jumped past it and slashed towards Motoko.
After the attacked exploded and caused the whole bath to be rained upon by its hot spring water, Motoko expected Keitaro to be sent flying away. Instead, he jumped towards her with his sword ready to strike. Her reflexes managed to block in time and the two swords sparked as Keitaro's sword slid against hers. Keitaro was now standing on the ground, his sword pushing against Motoko's.
Motoko growled and pushed him forward. Before he could react, she sent another 'Rock Cutting Sword' his way. Unable to dodge, he took the full fury of the attack and was sent tumbling backwards, diving with a big splash into the hot spring. Seconds ticked away as if in molasses until the water exploded and Keitaro rocketed into the air.
"Thousand Needles Attack!" he shouted as he swung his sword at Motoko. Showers of thin needles matted the ground that Motoko had been standing on the moment before. Since when did he possess Ki based attacks? she thought while standing on the roof, trying to catch her breath. Keitaro landed on the same roof moments later and charged her.
"Hiya!" he said and swung down onto her. She brought her sword up in time and blocked a relentless torrent of strikes. She was force back until she reached the roof's edge. Unable to walk any farther, she jumped back and landed on the front yard. Keitaro jumped down after her, a bloodthirsty glint in his eye and the rest of the girls ran through the Inn to see the unbelievable fight.
Keitaro charged again and sent a torrent of strikes at her, each of which Motoko blocked, but chipped at her stamina. I shall actually lose at this rate! she thought in horror. Trying to change her tactics, she pushed off Keitaro's sword with all her might and went flying into the air. "ROCK CUTTING SWORD!" she yelled thrice and sent three singularities of ki flying his way.
Keitaro managed to deflect the first attack, but the other two hit him head on. Motoko landed, weak from her monumental loss of ki, and used her blade to support herself. Keitaro laid on the ground some distance away, a heap of male worthlessness. She walked/wobbled up to him as her strength came back. When she had reached him, fully composed, she was about to start a lengthy monologue of the shortcomings of all males and how it was a glorious day truly worth celebrating now that the offending male would no longer dishonor them with his presence.
She'd had this speech ready for quite some time now and was looking forward to finally saying it, but Keitaro started to twitch. Curses to men who are all foul! What will it take to vanquish him! she thought.
Keitaro slowly got back on his feet, though his arms and neck just seemed to hang lifelessly. Slowly, Keitaro's arms held his sword up while his neck went back to its natural position; he had a smirk on his face.
"That was impressive, Motoko-chan, but not good enough… Your skills have seemed to become rusty," he taunted.
"Urashima!!!" Motoko said in a rage. "BOULDER CUTTING BLADE!" she screamed, sending another ki attack at him. With a swipe with his katana, he casually deflected it back to her. Motoko barely jumped away in time.
"Thousand Needles Attack!" Keitaro said, swiping his sword. Motoko had just stabilized herself from dodging her own attack, so she couldn't move in time. She braced for the pain, but felt nothing. When she opened her eyes, she saw the needles passing right through her. An illusion! She suddenly realized, but her right shoulder registered a lot of pain. She looked towards her right and saw Keitaro about to strike her with his sword's hilt once again.
She jumped away just as he clipped her and was about to send another violent torrent of wind at him, but he was already breathing down her neck, sending a volley of swings at her. While she blocked all of his attacks, she just couldn't get over that maniacal, blood-lusting look on his face. This is not the Urishma that we know. It's as if he's possessed…
Then is all clicked. That must be it! There is no other way for him to suddenly become so powerful over so little time. It would also explain his dark disposition… Don't worry, Urashima, I will rid you of this demon. I will deal with you later!
Motoko managed to find an opening and jumped away. Before Keitaro could attack her, she attacked him with a 'Boulder Cutting Blade.' While distracted by this, she made her finishing move. "Shinmei Secret Arts: Evil Cutting Sword, Second Form!" she shouted and let loose the attack.
Everyone on the sides covered their eyes as the whole area in front of Hinata-sou was lit up like a bomb went off. The attack headed straight for Keitaro just as he deflected her 'Boulder Cutting Blade.' Motoko held a knowing smirk on her face as everything was engulfed by light.
The white light faded.
Motoko stared at her hand in disbelief, as if the katana in her hand wasn't real; as if it were a figment of her imagination.
If only it were so.
She looked back at the other girls, each holding expressions of disbelief. She finally looked at the face of her adversary. Keitaro.
"I told you it was foolish to challenge me," he said with a smirk.
"How… how could I have lost!" she cried, dropping her katana. There was no demon! As the sharpened piece of forged metal clattered on the ground, it snapped in half at the point where the victor had struck. How could this be? How could I lose to a vile, perverted male such as Urashima?
Keitaro had run through Motoko's finishing move without a scratch and broke her sword, effectively ending the match.
"You lost Motoko," Keitaro said darkly. "A deal is a deal."
"I'm afraid that I have to agree with him, Motoko-chan..." Naru said disappointedly. Kitsune smirked. Motoko came back a few moments later without wearing any of her clothes...
Except the white bunny suit Keitaro had given her. It had a hole where the face would be so everyone could see the look of shame on her face. Keitaro smirked.
"Now, dance!" he ordered. Motoko sighed heavily.
"Little rabbit Fu Fu..." she started, singing the song while she hopped back and forth, wiggling her hips, almost on the verge of tears. Sarah had a camera (like magic…) and was recording the whole ordeal with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Keitaro..." Naru said. "This has gone on for long enough. You've had your fun, tell her to stop..."
"No way! This is too good!" Keitaro said, joined by Kitsune. Naru glared at the latter and tried to reason with the high-and-mighty former ronin.
"Keitaro, you're humiliating her-"
He cut her off, angrily saying, "Like you and the rest of them always humiliated me?" Naru recoiled back at the force of his answer, if not only in shock, but in guilt.
"This is too much!" Motoko suddenly burst out. "I cannot stand this shame," she said dangerously, a dagger at hand. "I will commit seppoku for my humiliation!"
Before anyone could hold her back, she held the dagger over her chest and stabbed.
But the was no longer a dagger in her hands, only a pissed of Keitaro standing in front of her. He held up the hand that had magically taken the dagger from her. He stretched his fingers, letting the dagger go.
SLAP!
Motoko held a hand to her cheek, completely taken by surprise by what he had done; and the expression on his face.
His face covered with tears, he said to her weakly, "You and your damn honor…" Then, with a voice as loud and forceful as Hitler's, he screamed, "YOU FUCKING DISGRACE!" and stormed off.
(-O-)
OH MY GOD, UNHOLY SHIT GOES DOWN NEXT CHAPTER!!!
And remember; click the 'Go' button on your way out. (Flames are still understandable and especially welcome if critical)
Cheers! )