The Other Me

Chapter Fourteen: The Frog and the FlyV2

By: Sci-Fi Raptor

Disclaimer: See Chapter Four

New notes below…

(-O-)

I saw a frog eat a fly on my way to Kyoto. I didn't think much of it then, since it is a pretty common sight. But I realized something now that I think about it. Is it really a show of how the strong lords over the weak, how all of nature appears to be ordained? Or is it something less brutal?

What N.N. has been going through since K.U. left has changed my view on that. Its not that the strong lord over the weak, but that the weak let themselves be oppressed.

-From the Bottom of the Bottle, by Konno Mitsune.

(O)

It was about noon and Kitsune had finished the latest chapter of her new book that dealt with experiences she had when she had toured the country. She was amazed at how many thoughts, ponderings and ideas she had come up with on her journey. No one was at the Inn at this time except for Amalla, but she was out buying groceries, so she decided to take a nap until everyone got back and the place got livelier. As she passed by Keitaro's old room, she heard a noise. She stopped for a second and heard it again. She popped her head into the room, but found that it was empty. But she heard the noise again. When she heard it another time, she realized it was coming from the room above.

"I wonder why Naru's still here?" Mitsune thought out loud. She went upstairs to investigate.

"Naru?" Mitsune said, popping her head into the room.

"Oof!" the girl exclaimed as she dropped something heavy. Kitsune walked in to find that the floor was covered in packed boxes, leaving the room bare.

"What's going on in here?" Kitsune asked, taken entirely by surprise. "If I didn't know any better, I would swear it looks like you're moving!"

That Naru looked away was all the answer she needed.

"You can't be serious!" Kitsune said, throwing her hands in the air. "How are you going to get to your classes on time from your house? You're late enough leaving from Hinata-sou as it is."

When Naru wouldn't answer, Mitsune felt like popping her ass.

"You're dropping out of Todai!" she said in fury. She grabbed hold of her friend's shoulder and shook her to force some sense into her. "What could possibly compel you to drop out of the most prestigious institutions to grace this planet?" The look Naru gave her told her everything, but Naru obliged her this time by spelling it out.

"I just can't stand it anymore! Every time I see him, he looks at me like I murdered his parents! I can't even concentrate on my classes anymore. It's just too much for me. Besides, I've already applied to NIT and they already accepted me with a full scholarship."

Mitsune looked hurt. She felt hurt, betrayed even. She had never known Naru to do something like this behind her back. But then, Mitsune knew something that Naru didn't.

"You didn't even tell any of us," she said sadly, trying to find some other way to convince the girl to stay without using her ace.

"Mitsune," Naru started, but stopped. When she started again, she said, "Please don't make this harder than it is…" Naru had looked at her with completely vulnerable eyes, like when she first told Mitsune about her crush on Seta. Realizing that there really was no other way around it, Mitsune dropped the bomb.

"Its you, you're the girl," she said, taking a step back. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively and looked away from Naru. "I heard Mutsumi say it."

"What do you mean?" Naru said reproachfully. She suddenly felt that she should be careful with her words.

"Dammit Naru!" Mitsune said, snapping her head to face her friend once again. "You're the promise girl! You're the girl Keitaro's been chasing after!"

Naru took a step back, as if someone had thrown a knife at her chest. Her hand went on top of her heart to keep it from leaping out.

"W-what did you say?" she said, still disbelieving.

God forgive me…

"You're the girl Keitaro made his promise to so long ago, Naru. Your place is by his side." Kitsune waited for her to respond. It wasn't as good as she had hoped.

"Mitsune, what have I done?" Naru said in despair. Kitsune was confused as to what she meant, but Naru clarified. "I-I drove him away from me… what did I do, Mitsune!" She had her arms in front of her protectively, but she fell to her knees.

"Naru…" Mitsune said, but the girl started bawling. Kitsune went down and lent her a shoulder to cry on.

(O)

Colonel Kassquit, SRDF: Would say you that a bad influence Keitaro has been the Hinata-sou to?

Mitsune: No, not really.

Kassquit: Then summarize what way would be the best about the relationship between Urashima and under his charge females?

Mitsune: Hmm… I would say he was like a… big brother. He was very protective of us and helped us out a lot.

Kassquit: Then beaten why was he constantly? Sense this no makes, agree?

Mitsune: Well, you probably won't understand, but it was a way of… expressing affection.

Kassquit: Affection say you, but to me seems harassment, it.

Mitsune: It does, doesn't it, hahaa… well, it was the only way anyone could be intimate with him without publicly admitting they liked him. Naru and Motoko were the ones that "hit on him" the most.

Kassquit: What of this Naru? Relationship with him what is?

Mitsune: Well, those two are your classic case of Romeo and Juliet in some strange way. They have this thing from their childhood that has them connected and all, though Naru would probably never believe it when Keitaro first showed up.

Kassquit: What of relationship with you and him?

Mitsune: Keitaro and I… let me see… I guess I've always thought of him as a younger brother. I always tease him a lot like that.

Kassquit: If speak to him to did again, what say you?

Mitsune: What would I say? I'd have to thank him of course! I'd be drinking my life away instead of writing if it weren't for him.

(O)

Mutsumi felt guilty. She never meddled with people's lives like this, but it had to be done. Naru had gotten more depressed day by day and she had finally decided to drop out of Todai. Mutsumi knew that there was still hope in patching up the relationship between Keitaro and Naru, but it would die if she quit.

So, she made sure that Kitsune would see Naru packing before she left. She assumed that Kitsune had eavesdropped on her that day with Haruka and that she would drop the bomb. She wanted to do it herself, but Naru would be more furious about learning it from her so late in the game, than hearing through her best friend. Making another disappointed sigh, she went to her next class.

(O)

Keitaro looked at his vanity mirror for a second or two. He stroked his face and remarked at how he was finally growing man-hair on it. He thought it was a bit puzzling that he was growing fuzz after all these years. Maybe I'm finally having a growth spurt! he remarked to himself. His pants did seem a bit shorter everyday.

Keitaro shut the mirror and casually cruised out of the student parking lot. Shadowing him was an armed caravan of Yakuza soldiers in a mix of motorcycles and cars. The farther he went, the bigger his train grew. And the bigger the distance became between him and normal traffic. By the time he got on the highway, there were three cars and two bikes tailing him.

He didn't know what the fuss was all about. He had only been issued a challenge for a duel that was obviously an ambush. The worst that could happen was that he'd get hurt. Or killed. He looked at his rear view mirror. They were still trailing him. And they were starting to get annoying. Keitaro put his foot on the clutch.

Ten minutes later, he was on another highway. When he checked for them again, they weren't there. Since he never told them where he was going, they were bound to not bother him for a while. He thought that maybe it would have been useful to have backup, but every fight he'd had so far was essentially against a single opponent. The fights he had were very blurry, but he remembered that after every one of them, he felt more powerful than before. Just the other day, he dropped his pencil during class. When he reached down to grab it, it actually jumped into his hand!

He reached the exit he was supposed to take and followed the directions as if he were going to meet a friend. Of course, his car drew stares in the country/farm setting, but it wasn't because there was an armed caravan behind him this time.

The place he pulled up to was the classical ambush area. There was a wide, open plain that was surrounded by forest on three sides. The forest rose up to a mountain range, essentially leaving one way in or out of the plain, that being the direction that was behind him. He had no doubt that this "Akira" would probably approach him from there, so that he'd have no choice but to fight her.

He mused over what kind of powers she would have. His first true opponent was some street thug he didn't remember. The second was some woman that he couldn't put a face to that used daggers in a weird way. And his last opponent was an actual Ninja!

"Whoever she is, she must be amazing," Keitaro said to himself. The Yakuza had ceased all personal attacks on him since he started hunting them down, so it must have taken elephant sized balls to pull off this stunt.

"URASHIMA!" someone boomed nearby. Keitaro had been sitting on his hood, just watching the flowers sway gently till his thoughts were so rudely interrupted.

"URASHIMA KEITARO!" the voice boomed again.

Because of the snow, it was a little harder to discern where the voice came from, but it became obvious when Keitaro looked towards the snow covered mountain. There was a stranger in combat cold-wear holding the little Chinese girl he had come to know as Ren in a chokehold in front of herself; the poor girl looked blue from cold, no more energy left to try and escape anymore.

"Oi…" Keitaro yelled back, waving his arms at the person as if he was trying to get a friend's attention. "Wait a sec," he added, and went back into the car. A moment later, he came back sporting his own white parka, looking much less chilly.

Akira could only gape in shock at the rudeness, though luckily the face mask she wore covered her expression. How in the world could this man just up and leave the battle field, in a hostage situation nonetheless, to get a jacket? Oh… he'll pay… Akira thought angrily, realizing that his action was just really a statement. The nerve of this guy… she continued, showing his back to me. Just exactly who does he think he's dealing with?

"So," Keitaro said, actually walking up to her and rapidly closing the distance, "how are we doing this?"

What the hell? Akira thought, flustered. What's with this sudden change in attitude? He's nothing like what my observations from this month and previous battles implied… She calculatingly analyzed his face and was surprise to find… a big goofy smile!

Where's the fire and brimstone? Akira thought, completely surprised. He should be acting like some kind of psychotic maniac! Where is that vicious monster that Azuka-sempai lost to?

Her thoughts suddenly turned deadly at the reminder of her beloved teacher. The whole reason that she had been working so meticulously for the last few months was for only one purpose… to KILL Urashima. She had to hand it to him though; he must have been some master tactician to have broken her focus so thoroughly.

"Die!" she screamed, pulling out the silenced 9mm hidden behind her impromptu hostage. She squeezed three slugs with rehearsed accuracy; one to the forehead and two to the chest. Against a normal person, the combo would have ensured a kill. But Keitaro's upper body suddenly seemed to blur and the slugs flew past harmlessly. Akira grinned; yes, he was still an incredible opponent.

"Say…" Keitaro said, still calmly walking towards her at an easy rate, "you do know that this was over before it started, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Akira said coldly, buying time for her next move.

"Oh, you'll see," Keitaro said as he stepped just in front of her. "But I'd like her back, if you don't mind…"

"Sure," Akira said with an edge in her voice, and shoved the little Chinese whore roughly to its master. Keitaro caught the child with one arm and held it closely. It whimpered when it came back to consciousness, but started bawling tears of happiness when it saw exactly who was holding it.

Disgusting… Akira thought, as she pushed a button on her glove. Almost instantly, Keitaro's head was suddenly lit up with red dots; the snowflakes falling around him radiated a soft red, giving the impression that Keitaro himself was glowing. Akira smiled as the sharp sounds of gunshots reached both of their ears. Goodbye… she thought, imagining how his head would explode from the kinetic energy of so many sniper slugs.

But something was disturbingly off about all of it. Yes, she expected the little Chinese girl to stiffen up, and yes, she expected all the red dots to go haywire from the recoil. But she did not expect Keitaro to just continue staring at her hardened fibrous visor, as if he could see through it.

As expected, there was an explosion of snow that showered the area as the bullets impact made impact with the ground. Too anxious and frustrated to clean her visor, Akira quickly took off her mask, exposing the whole of her head. The snowdrift made its way into her raven black hair, as Akira tried to find the bloody remains.

But there weren't any.

Instead, off in the distance, she could see Keitaro gingerly putting the girl into his car and closing the door. She could see the Chinese girl trying to get out desperately, pleading for him to escape, but Keitaro just simply turned towards Akira and started walking her way. Frustrated that he was still alive, Akira ordered her snipers to fire again.

And she knew that Keitaro knew that she did.

But he still continued walking, his hands in his pockets; as if he were just normally walking home, trying to keep the cold of winter out.

The next wave of shots registered, but again, Keitaro had slipped off somewhere else in less than a blink of an eye.

"Oi…" Akira heard someone speak next to her, "this is getting really boring…"

With the speed of a well oiled killer, Akira had a hidden wrist dagger pointing where Keitaro's heart should have been. But the thing was… it wasn't. It was in thin air.

"What the hell!" Akira muttered, quickly scanning the area to find her bane. And there he was, calmly standing with his back against a tree, its foliage filtering all the snow, effectively blocking it from touching him.

"That's it!" she screamed in frustration. Keitaro had said something to her, but she could not hear him this time because of the thickening snow. "I want everyone!" she screamed into her radio. With her order given, the sounds of the machines of war resounded from within the forest. Akira had at least managed to bug Keitaro with a homing device so her underlings would not have a hard locating him. Out of nowhere, a stolen American Abrams tank rolled over the tree that Keitaro was standing against, literally flattening it into the snow covered ground. Its anti-personnel gun started cracking, when it became painfully obvious that Keitaro had suddenly managed to give the slip and ended up sitting on the tank itself, Indian style.

With the gun chewing slugs at him, Keitaro had to choose between being pumped full of lead or escaping, and decided with the latter. With the ridiculous skill of a ballerinast, Keitaro managed to actually avoid the hammer of not only the anti-personnel gun, but also the tank's main gun, while performing some kind of ballerina routine on the fly. Moving in a circle around the tank, the turret's rotation mechanism whined from excessive strain while the wasted ammonium turned the serene winter wonderland into a war zone.

Luckily, a missile got Keitaro by surprise and hurled him into a tree from the nearby tree line. He looked up to see the painfully quiet specter of a Comanche helicopter baring its exposed weapons array at him. Taking everyone by surprise, he somersaulted back on top of the Abrams as the Comanche fired another heat seeking missile at him. As the missile was about to explode, taking the Abrams with it in the process, Keitaro magically disappeared. The missile exploded, showering all with a blanket of snow.

When the extra snow settled, the Abrams stood where it was almost unscathed, a tribute to the American war machine. Akira, along with three Comanches and two Abrams, scanned the area, quickly trying to find Keitaro.

"Where'd he go!" Akira screamed over her radio to her snipers. She screamed again when they would not reply, but stopped when she felt that something was off again. Looking around her, she found that she was once again alone, the sounds of the war machines long silent.

Tanks and helicopters just don't disappear like that… Akira thought, panicking. Suddenly, the forest next to went ablaze as the fire of the Abrams and Comanches ripped through it, instantly evaporating nearby snow and toppling age old trees. At first she thought that maybe they had gotten Keitaro when their guns died off, but something in the air made the hairs in the back of her neck stand. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, Akira ran back to the clearing, certain someone was watching her.

The first thing to greet her was the charred form of Keitaro, his parka still on fire.

"Whew, that was close…" Keitaro said, as if he had just almost missed his train.

"Why won't you die!" Akira screamed, tears falling down her face as she stabbed forward with her combat knife.

That she had penetrated flesh shocked her; but the fact that Keitaro continued standing there, his goofy grin still adoring his face made her think that this was some sort of horrible nightmare.

She had penetrated up to the hilt of the knife, and she could feel his blood seeping through her glove, but he looked to her as if they were shaking hands. After one blink, he looked like an older brother greeting his sister after years of separation. After another blink, his eyes were suddenly dilated and he sported the grin of a demon from hell.

From pure reaction, Akira moved to remove the knife from where it stood, but Keitaro put his hand over hers to keep it still, actually relishing the pain.

"Why won't you die…" Akira whispered with despair. She suddenly heard the sounds of rotors and saw the Comanches rise above the tree line. In almost no time, they were on top of the two, their chain guns already spinning in anticipation of the slaughter.

Feeling hopeful once again, Akira tore away from Keitaro so the deadly machines would have a clear shot at him. For Azuka-sempai! Akira thought vengefully, as the multiple lines of holes in the ground made their way to the large crimson circle under Keitaro. The sounds of trees falling over added to her delight as the Abrams joined the fray, but there was that nagging feeling again.

She looked at Keitaro, and saw that goofy grin on his face again, though it seemed really creepy now that his eyes were totally dilated. Just as the lines of slugs were about to pepper him, and the Abrams stood by his side, Akira noticed something.

She had the red dots of laser sights all over her body. To her horror, she saw the Abrams and Comanches actually rally around Keitaro, and point their cannons at her.

"Like I told you," Keitaro said smugly, "this was over before it started…"

"W-what is this?" she said like a meek little girl. "What have you done?" Akira demanded from the crazy looking Keitaro. She could swear she saw a dark looking cloud surrounding his body.

"What have you done!" she screamed, going forward to stab him in the neck.

"No!" another voice cried, blocking Keitaro's body with its own. Akira stepped back when she recognized just who she stabbed.

"A-Azuka-sempai?" Akira cried in horror.

As hard as it was for her to believe, Azuka, her Azuka, had willingly jumped in front of the demon and protected it with his own life. "Azuka-sempai!" Akira cried and leapt to his side.

Keitaro watched the scene unfold with little to no interest. All he knew was that the crazy woman before him was no longer a threat. He looked beyond the two and covered his mouth for the yelps of laughter he started spewing from watching the aftermath of the battle. The clearing was peppered with burning potholes, while the forest beyond was ablaze from all of the spent ammunition. In fact, so many shots were fired, he could see the glinting of the forest fire reflecting off of the spent shells.

It looked so beautiful.

Without even thinking it, he ran into the blaze, dancing around, and feeling like he was in a summer breeze. Cooked duds exploded around him, reminding him of the ocean for some reason. It all just felt to right, so wonderful.

The fact that his clothes and skin had burned off and his fat was being cooked away never registered.

After her tearful and almost fatal reunion with her sempai, Akira registered her surroundings once more. Of course, in her arms was her beloved sempai, asleep from the exhaustion of his flesh wound. To her right, in the blazing forest, she could she a charring human form running around. For some reason, it did not revolt her too much; from the data she had come across, Keitaro could get much worse. And to her left was the army of Yakuza soldiers rumored to have joined the ranks of the man called Urahara Koishi, also known as the monster nearby, walking towards her. To her surprise, she found that the men that were supposed to have been under her command just a few minutes ago were in their numbers.

And last of all, there was Sakura, a love struck face adorning her features. As disgusting as it must have seemed, the woman was actually looking into the burning forest, at the sick transgression that was Keitaro frolicking in it.

And it all clicked…

Damn that Sakura… Akira thought, feeling used. But she had her sempai all to herself now, and at least she would stay out of the way now. She better, if she knows what's good for her… Akira thought menacingly.

But at least for now, Sakura seemed only infatuated with the monstrous Keitaro. And she seemed to have gotten his attention, since he stopped his hellish movements and walked out to the clearing. By then, his muscles had started cooking, his exposed bones charred, so when the snow fell on his exposed skeletal muscles, they instantly evaporated. In fact, with ever bloody step the man took, the ice and snow melted in his path. By the time he was standing in front of Sakura, his body was expelling steam and he looked like he had just come fresh from the oven, blood splattering down from his caked fingertips and all.

"Hi," Keitaro said, in his 'naked' glory, the sickening movements of facial muscles all too visible.

Before Akira could even guess what Sakura was thinking, the girl lunged hungrily towards the he-demon and kissed him on his still exposed lips. And what was even more disgusting, was that she held him in a tight embrace, smearing blood all over her white cotton sweater.

But the fact that his body was regenerating before her eyes was enough to make her vomit.

Keitaro pulled away from the kiss, huffing and puffing from the lack of breathing, his lips already reformed. Sakura on the other hand had an unsatiated look on her face, as she licked her lips clean of the blood that had accrued on it.

"Nice to meet you too," Keitaro finally said after his breath had caught up. Before he could say another word, Sakura assaulted his fully regenerated body with another deep, hungry kiss.

The rest of the Yakuza laughed at his comic situation.

(-)

Ren could watch no more. After the tanks came in, she just closed her eyes as explosion after explosion rocked the forest. When the carnage finally stopped, she peeked out of the window to see what had happened. If the mysterious man had survived.

To her horror, everything was on fire. Her abductor was on her knees with a blood-soaked man in her arms, but to Ren's infinite relief, it was not the mysterious man. She also noticed that the army that resided with her at Yuri's house was also there. They were all at attention, some people she did not recognize among their ranks. But what held their attention almost made Ren throw up. Standing in front of them, for all to see was a woman holding a bloody man in a tight embrace.

It was the last thing Ren remembered before the horrible nightmares came…

(-O-)

So… almost a whole year since I updated… yeah… (my grades at least justified neglecting it at least).

This story is multiple years in the making by now. I've considered killing it a few times… I almost did when I realized that I lost 30k words worth of files that I had already written over the year, but never got around to publish… but oh well.

I'm actually in Japan now, doing research in robotics in Osaka University. The best way to describe the country is that everything is so damn clean here! I mean, people are actually surprised when they see litter in public… wth…

Anyway, no, nothing is being killed, and yes, I did significantly alter this chapter because the original idea I had to transition to the finale was just too complicated and time consuming for a particularly negligible effect.

I'll try to reconstruct the next chapter as quickly as I can.

Well, enough with the excuses…

Remember, click the 'Go' button on your way out. (Flames are still understandable and especially welcome if critical)

Cheers :)