The Other Me
Chapter Nine: Farewell
By: Sci-Fi Raptor
Disclaimer: See Chapter Four
Thnx to glazedandconfused for that correction about Kerensky
I decided I'm too lazy to fix the ooc-ness, so I'm not gonna overhaul the rest of the story.
Some may wonder why Keitaro says what he says about the promise, but he realized what he said when what was supposed to happen didn't happen when he went to where that thing was supposed to happen with Yurislovak last chapter.
(-O-)
I push my fingers into my eyes
It's the only thing that slowly stops the ache
But it's made of all the thing I am today
Jesus, it never ends, it works it's way inside
If the pain goes on,
I'm not gonna make it!
All I've got...all I've got is insane...
All I've got...all I've got is insane...
All I've got...all I've got is insane!
All I've got...all I've got is insane!
- Slipknot (Duality)
(O)
They say now: "What! shall we indeed be returned to our former state?
What! - when we shall have become rotten bones?
They say: "It would, in that case, be a return with loss!"
But verily, it will be but a single Compelling Cry,
When, behold, they will be in the full awakening to Judgment.
(O)
Keitaro dejectedly looked at his mirror image. Or what used to be his mirror image. His own body looked like a zombie from resident evil; his tissue was rotting away and he held a lifeless face. His left arm was bloodied and covered in slimy yellow pus. His left eye was hanging out, blood, pus and mucus oozing out in a throbbing motion with a frequency similar to his heartbeat. His body was completely covered in welts and bruises and there was a big bloodied hole on his chest, encrusted with brown dried blood that caked its way down to his hips. His mirror image, who didn't even have a minor abrasion, held a smug smile on its face, happier than usual.
"So, you still think you know them as well as you do?" he asked with pep.
"I don't care anymore…" Keitaro replied in a bushed voice. "I don't care about anything anymore…"
"What about Todai? And that girl you've been chasing after all this time?"
"TO HELL WITH HER!" he spat with an angry glare. "To hell with all those lies…" he said, his face dead once more.
"Well, you've gotten into Todai, you must feel a little proud?"
"I'm so happy…" he sneered sarcastically.
"Well, you were pretty happy when you got the news…"
"When I realized that nothing changed and that the promise was just a lie, I just stopped caring."
"So you just sit around and mope all day?"
"What's it to you! Just leave me alone! Just… everyone… just… please leave me alone…" he cried, covering his slimy face with his filthy hands.
"Is that what you truly wish?" his mirror image said in a tone similar to Kitsune's.
"Yes…"
"Then just let me take the lead. I will rid you of all your pain very soon…" With that, the mirror image took a step back and vanished into the emptiness. Keitaro stood there alone in the cold, dark void as he, too, slowly faded into the darkness.
(O)
Dinner went by almost completely silent. Naturally, Su and Sarah were being noisy, but there was tension among the rest of the residents with Keitaro's presence among them once again. Every time Naru glanced at Keitaro, she could see him staring daggers at Motoko, as if he was mad that she lost. Motoko hardly touched her food before she asked to be excused with a cracked voice and ran away to her room. Everyone else finished their food, leaving Keitaro and Shinobu alone again. He offered to help her with the dishes, and she accepted, though she had become afraid of him a little after being witness to his power.
Sempai's gotten so scary… But why was he crying after he stopped Motoko-sempai from stabbing herself?
"I'm gonna miss her cooking…" Keitaro thought out loud, causing Shinobu to ask what he meant. He replied that she'd find out soon enough.
Around ten-ish, Keitaro called for a meeting. After everyone had arrived he started speaking.
"I've been doing some thinking recently and I come to realize that Motoko-chan is right," he said, pausing. The said person hung her head in shame at her mention. "It isn't proper for me to run the dorm and it should have been fixed a long time ago. After regarding most of your past complaints and careful deliberation of my own, I've decided to relinquish the duty of manager to someone more proper," he said, glaring at Motoko again.
"But Sempai!" Shinobu started.
"I'm sorry," he said, looking at the young woman. "But my decision is final. In both all of yours' and my interest, I will leave the dorms about three weeks from now, which shall be a little over a week into the fall semester. I have already made contact with your new manager and she said she will be able to start two weeks from now, letting her get to know the dorms and all of you before I give her all of her full responsibilities."
"Who's gonna be the new manager?" Kitsune asked her eyes slightly ajar.
"You'll find out two weeks from now," Kietaro answered, a sly smile on his face. "Any more questions?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. "No? Good. Good night." With that, he bounded off to bed with a lighter step.
"Does that mean Keitaro isn't going to play?" Su asked.
"No, Su. I don't think Keitaro wants to play anymore…" Kitsune said, patting the disappointed kid on the head.
(O)
The next two weeks went by like a blur. Everything started to go back to its pre-Keitaro days since said ex-ronin was only around to do his basic duties like cleaning and eat dinner. He never spoke to any of them while he was there except for Shinobu, since he stuck around to help with the dishes. They had all tried to make him change his decision, but he was just too stubborn. They had asked his aunt Haruka to help, but she said that he was a grown man that was entitled to his own decisions. Presently, Keitaro and Yurislovak were somewhere inside his expansive house, staring at the fruits of their labor.
"It's finally done," Yurislovak said, beaming.
"It looks better than I expected…" Keitaro said, sweating from all the strain it took. "Too bad we can't use it yet…"
"Don't worry. When we do, it'll blow everyone's freakin' mind!"
"Yeah," Keitaro said, smirking. The two went to his entertainment system and played some more videogames. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said after taking one last look at their creation.
"I'll see your mom too!" he shot at him slyly, getting a laugh from the ex-ronin.
(O)
Naru was walking back from the bookstore. The books she needed for her classes were expensive, but she managed to afford them. What am I moping around for? Naru thought when she noticed her demeanor. I've finally gotten into the most prestigious college in all of Japan!
But it didn't feel as satisfying as she thought it would. She had originally tried to get in for Seta's sake, but she had long gotten over him and saw him more as the mentor he really was. Why did I go into Todai then? She thought to herself and stopped her trek. What was the point of it all? Why did I even try again?
An image of Keitaro flashed before his eyes. It's cause we promised to get in together… she thought sadly. Here she was though, all alone again…
The figure in the black ninja suit had been stalking its target for sometime now. The target stopped moving. That was all it took for her to get moving. The target seemed like there was something troubling her mind, so it made this little errand all the more easier. Why am I stuck with such a simple mission? she whined internally. Best just get this done with… she thought as she finally made her move. She jumped out of the bushes and landed without any noise. She ran up the steps, ready to ambush the girl from behind.
Too easy… she smirked, her arm around her victim's neck in a chokehold. She brought up her dagger and put it against the girl's neck.
The girl screamed and squirmed after she realized what was going on. "Someone please help me! I'm being raped!!!"
"You may be a looker, but you're not that good looking," the attacker said cruelly. "I'm not gonna rape you though. I'm gonna do a whole lot worse," she cackled. She was going to crack her in the head to knock her out when she suddenly felt a presence next to her. She turned around, using the girl as a shield.
"I thought I told you people to stay away from Hinata?" the man asked darkly.
Shit! Why didn't I notice him? Damn, now everything is ruined if I can't lure him to my trap with his girlfriend!
"Did you really think they'd just let you go like that?" that attacker said with a mocking tone.
"Let her go," he said darkly, his bangs shadowing his face. "No one touches any of them! If you so much as harm a single hair on her, I swear you're gonna wish you were never born!"
In defiance, the attacker brought up her dagger and cut off one of Naru's antennas. Naru had been frozen the whole time and couldn't believe what was happening. Does he still like me? she suddenly thought after she realized it was Keitaro who was standing there in her defense.
Fast as lightning, Keitaro punched the attacker's hand, sending the dagger flying. He also punched the elbow of the arm holding Naru, causing her to let go and reel in pain. Naru stumbled away from her and ran to Keitaro, holding onto him for protection. She felt comforted by the fact that he held onto her with one of his arms and turned so that he partially shielded her from the assailant with his body.
Dammit! the attacker thought, taken by surprise. Now I have to start all over again. I can't believe I let my guard down like that! She suddenly disappeared after she threw a smoke bomb.
"Keitaro, who was that?" Naru asked, crying from being scared shitless.
"Go home," Keitaro said.
"What?"
"GO HOME NOW!" he yelled after he shoved her away and ran down the steps, three at a time.
Confused, Naru ran home crying, knowing nothing better to do. When she arrived, everyone asked her why she was crying and when she explained what happened, they all went outside to look for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. They called the police but they could do nothing about it but give the general populace a warning about the intruder since Naru couldn't identify the attacker. They all worried about Keitaro and jumped to the phone when they got a call late that evening. Shinobu picked it up and heard the voice of some foreign kid. He asked if Naru was okay and when she said yes, he said Keitaro wasn't going home that day and he hung up. She assumed that it was Keitaro's friend and told everyone that he must have been fine, since he would have said something otherwise.
Everyone decided that everything was okay and went about their business, but Naru still had doubts. She went to talk to Haruka about them, and found her books still strewn over the steps on her way to the teashop.
"Haruka-san?" Naru asked as she entered.
"Naru-san, welcome. Should I get you some Oolong tea?" she asked. (I forget the tea that she really drinks, but I think that's what it sounds like)
"Sure," she said and took a seat. Haruka came back a few minutes later with a pair of steaming teacups.
"So, what's on your mind?" she asked lighting up.
"Its Keitaro…" Naru said after taking a sip of her tea. "Do you know what kind of people he hangs around with now?"
"What do you mean?" Haruka asked. Naru explained what happened earlier and her thoughts about how he seemed to know her attacker. Haruka took a long drag and seemed to age a bit. She put her hands to her temples, as she seemed to think.
"Kami… I didn't know it got this bad…" she said.
"What do you mean by 'this bad'?"
"Well, Dr. Hikari told me that Keitaro's started to take drugs…"
"What?!" Naru said in disbelief. "Since when? For how long?"
"She said it started sometime around when he got his cast removed. She made him promise not to take any more and you know how he is with promises. But with what you're telling me, I don't know what to think anymore. Keitaro's never acted like this before."
"Then what should we do? We can't just leave him like that! What if he gets seriously hurt… or worse?"
"Unfortunately, Naru, we can't do anything. This is Keitaro's fight, and if we meddle, it'll probably just get worse…"
"But… But what if it still gets worse?"
"Well, it's all really up to Keitaro. Its his choice what he wants to do with his life. The best thing for us to do is to do nothing." With that, she got up to attend to a customer who just arrived.
Do nothing? Naru repeated in her head. Can I really sit back and do nothing?
(O)
(Back to Keitaro, where we left him)
She was attacked! Keitaro's protection mechanisms were on the fritz. The girls were attacked because of me!
He had been running through the forest autonomously, giving chase to the attacker. He sped up when he saw her in a clearing.
"You bitch! I'll kill you!" he screamed with rage. He ran towards her and gave her a momentum-backed punch. She exploded in a shower of splinters.
"Huh?" Keitaro said when the unexpected win came. He looked in front of himself and saw a split log with an imprint of his hand embedded in it. "What the hell?" he asked himself. He screamed when he felt multiple hot 'somethings' dig into his back. He put his hands there and took the 'somethings' out. What he found were a couple of bloodied ninja stars.
"It's a very handy trick when you want to surprise your enemy," came a feminine voice behind him. He turned to see who it was and saw the ninja in her black attire, though her mask was gone. She had green hair, hazel eyes and quite a stunning figure. "My name is Ayame," said, bowing. "I am a mercenary of the Black Ninja Stars."
"Never heard of it," Keitaro scowled.
"That's because everyone who knows of us outside of our circle are no longer alive," she said with a dark look on her face. "You and your girlfriend are not among our circle!" she said and jumped at him.
"SHES NOT MY GIRLFREIND!" he shouted and leapt for an intercept.
She slashed at him with her dagger, but he jerked his body around and grabbed her by the wrist. Using his rotational momentum to his advantage, he twisted and flung her straight down. She landed with a resounding 'Thud!' and was covered by a cloud of dust. Keitaro landed a few feet away at the end of a graceful parabola.
"Chidori!" boomed the dust cloud and a sphere of dangerous looking 'something' came flying his way, creating a hole in the cloud it exited from. Keitaro just managed to jump to the side as the sphere thundered past the space he stood only moments before. He jerked his head towards it when he heard/saw the extraordinary explosion that resulted from it crashing into a tree. The devastation was… cataclysmic. Where there used to stand dozens of old colossal trees now stood cinders and smoke.
Taking Keitaro's suddenly lack of concentration to her advantage, she ran up to him and sent a volley of blows aiming for his pressure points. He managed to dodge most of them, but a few broke through his defense. He seemed to by unaffected by the attacks, however, so she retreated to try another attack.
"I really don't have much time to play, so I'll just end this quickly, she said smiling. She moved her hands again and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The whole of the devastated battlefield was covered with smoke. As it cleared, he could hear the sounds of multiple swords being unsheathed. When he could see, he found fifty Ayames jumping towards him, the wrong end of a Wakazashi pointing at him. Keitaro tried to get out of the way by jumping into the air, but the Ayames just used each other as a boost to catch him. He screamed a blood-curling scream that caused the birds that weren't frightened by Ayame's previous attacks to fly away. Before he knew what was happening, he was on the ground again, around twenty Wakazashis on or in him from all directions.
"Bitch," was all Keitaro say through the wall of anguish. What happened? Why can't I fight her?
"Now, now," one of them said. "Watch your mouth," another finished. Keitaro writhed with agony, only causing the pain to increase since there were still some swords embedded in his flesh. Everything was turning red since the cuts on his face were now bleeding into his eye.
Do you want to win? something asked.
Yes, Keitaro answered with a desperate edge.
Why? Do you want to protect them?
No… I want… I want her dead!
That's what I wanted to hear…Keitaro smirked as his vision suddenly became clearer. The pain that was overwhelming his body was still there, but it didn't hurt anymore. It gave him pleasure. He started laughing.
"What are you so happy about? You're about to die! "
"I'm laughing because of this!" he said and threw them all off of him. He them grabbed one of the clones' Wakazashis and stabbed another in the arm.
POOF! All of the clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The real ninja jumped back, clutching her arm.
"How did you know it was me?" she simply asked, numbing the pain with one of her secret techniques.
"I can smell you," he said, looking at her. What she saw scared her; he was completely covered in his own blood and his eyes were dilated. He slowly advanced towards her.
"Kokuangyo no Jutsu!" she cried just after completing her seal. Keitaro was suddenly engulfed in darkness. He couldn't see anything for some reason. He started panicking and lashed out wildly in the air. All the while, Ayame performed field repairs to her impaled arm. She shifted when she felt a disturbance in the air.
The disturbance was the Wakazashi spinning past where she had just stood. How did he break through that seal so quickly?
The answer was obvious when she looked at Keitaro; he never broke the seal. He broke his eyes. They oozed out blood, giving the impression that he was crying black tears.
"What kind of monster are you!" she shouted when he lunged at her, his mouth wide open as if to bite her.
"Hahahahaa!" Keitaro laughed manically as he punched her in the stomach, causing her to fly to the smoldering ashes she had created. How is he still moving?! she thought as she quickly got back to her feet.
Seeing no other way out, she decided to use her ultimate technique. But she needed time first. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she yelled again and her clones reappeared. "Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" she yelled again and the clones doubled. Without hesitation, they all charged Keitaro and piled on top of him until all that could be seen was a mass pile of flesh that would make most men jealous had the situation not been so grave.
"Detonate!" she ordered and the clones exploded into a burst of high explosive. His scream went unheard as the explosion caused vibrations within the earth that a nearby earthquake probe mistook for a shockwave. Keitaro was crushed into the ground because of the resulting pressure and most of his body was now charred to a crisp. The smell of burning blood and fat were all that registered into his highly tuned nose and it just made his hunger for blood go wild. He slowly got back to his feet while his exposed bones magically regenerated the flesh that once covered them.
While Keitaro was recovering, Ayame worked diligently to finish her seal in time, doing her best to not to watch the grotesque display of Keitaro literally rising back from the ashes.
Her seal finished, she stabbed into the wound Keitaro had given her and let her blood flow into the ground. Keitaro had jumped again for the attack. Half of his face was burned while the other had the bone exposed, black ashes staining it in a manner that gave the illusion that it was actually his hair. The scariest part, however, was his eyes. With no epidermis to cover them, the spheres stood fully exposed, completely dilated and bloodshot. Before he reached her, however, a bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky and sent Keitaro rocketing the other way. When he got up to take a look, he found a large yellow bird between he and the ninja. All he did was start cackling as he charged at the new foe, a darker glint in his black-in-red eyes.
Ayame watched with disbelief as her target charged after Zapdos. But what made her completely dumbfounded was how he could possibly still be moving. Zapdos' entrance had scorched even more of his flesh than the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu combo had dealt, leaving him looking like a walking pile of bones. His arms were clearly missing their biceps, but he still made to strangle her protector.
"Zapdos, Chuusuusei Biribiri!" she ordered. She was starting to get suspicious of his abilities. Is he one of those? The bird squawked and pecked Keitaro with its beak. Mega volts of electricity traveled through his neck into his spinal chord and finally, his brain. Keitaro was once again flung back, but as she expected, he got up again. It was disgusting to watch as his flesh crawled up his skull and matted it with his original face. The sight of watching his skeletal muscles shift or contract this way and that almost made her want to turn back and throw up. The smirk was still there when his lips reformed.
"Zapdos, hold him down!" she ordered and the bird obeyed. It flew high into the air and swooped down, talons facing forward. Before Keitaro could react, the bird landed on top of him with one of its massive feet curling against his left shoulder. As Ayame slowly approached him, he struggled in a futile attempt to be released.
"There's only one way to make sure," she said, thinking out loud. She made another seal and said "Kyuushuu no Chakra!" after putting her hands to his temples.
Nothing happened, expect that Keitaro struggled more to her touch, snarling like a bloodthirsty wolf.
"As I thought," she said to herself. "Zapdos, return!" she ordered. The bird gave a questioning squawk, but she repeated her order. The bird opened its wings to their full extent, shadowing the whole ravaged battlefield and flew as if with a giant gust of wind. Keitaro moved to attack her, but she performed a Chuusuusei Biribiri and sent him flying once more. She moved her hands once more and shouted "Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Edo Tensei." She ran away as fast as she could, muttering under her breath, "Be at one with your own kind, you unholy freak of nature!"
As Keitaro, once again, tried to get on his feet, the ground erupted and he fell on his recomposed ass. He snarled at whatever was coming and found a giant skeletal rat pouncing after him. It still retained its innards and had skeletal muscles and blood vessels matting its bones, but it still gave the illusion of a large walking skeleton. The rat landed with a content squeak, having swallowed him whole, earth and charred vegetation with him.
I want blood… a dark, animal-like mind thought.
(O)
(Some distance away, a large building)
"You insolent assholes!" Ayame screamed, storming into the room.
"What's wrong? Why did you leave! You had him dammit!" yelled a rather angry man.
"Our contract clearly states that we don't kill those things!"
"What do you mean?"
She didn't answer and stormed off again. "We're keeping your deposit, you cheating scum!" she said over her shoulder.
"WHAT!" the man said and went to follow her, slamming the door to his office shut. It seemed empty until a faint giggle could be heard. A girl was looking through a large telescope. What she saw was Keitaro exploding out of the rat's gut and eating it alive. She giggled again when the rat writhed, probably squealing in agony.
Her hands slowly slid into her pants and into her underwear…
(O)
(Three hours later, Yurislovak's house)
"Goddamn it, I'm coming already!" Yuri yelled as he ran to open the door. Damn butler's so damn lazy! he thought. "WHAT THE HELL do you want…" he exclaimed, until he saw who was on his front porch. "Keitaro, are you okay man?" he said, eyes bulging. He looked fine, but he was covered with dust, ash and blood that caked his body and tattered clothes.
He just smiled at him and simply said, "We're leaving."
Yurislovak looked around before he answered, "First lets get you cleaned up. Holy shit you look like you've been through the grinder!"
Yurislovak tried to get answers from Keitaro before he went to the shower, but he ordered him to check if a girl named 'Naru' back at his charge was okay and to tell the residents that he wasn't coming back that day. He did as he was told and then waited impatiently for Keitaro to come out of the shower.
Keitaro came out with the change of clothes that Yurislovak gave him: an oversized black T, black boxers and large, baggy black jeans. He stood in the hallway, glaring at the said ex-ronin, his foot tapping.
"What the hell was up with you showing up at my door looking like you got shot ten times with a shotgun and then again just for measure?" he said angrily. Then he realized that Keitaro had nary a scratch on him. Keitaro just looked at him with cold eyes, though he was still smiling.
"Hack into your dad's police account," he simply ordered as he headed for the eccentric Russian's room.
"What the fuck? Why the hell should I do that?" he sputtered, grabbing Keitaro by his shoulder and forcing him to face him.
With a look that could kill, he said in a dark voice, "We're gonna go hunt us some Yakuza…"
Yurislovak's face went from anger to utter confusion to a smile. He let go and the two walked to his room while Yurislovak played a single memory in his head. The one time he should have done something, but couldn't.
When they raped and shot his mom right in front of his eyes…
(-O-)
Remember; click the 'Go' button on your way out. (Flames are still understandable and especially welcome if critical)
Cheers! )