K: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Don't hurt me! Gomen ne!! I didn't mean to, really! I just haven't had much inspiration... But now it's dark and stormy outside and FLCL's on, so it's all good. XP I'm making this off the top of my head again, as usual, so be prepared for anything!
Y: FLCL + Sugar + Hikari Insanity and Chaos. Pray for me, people. --;
Disclaimer: I don't own Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Eva, FLCL, Black Cat, Ghost in the Shell, FAKE, D.N. Angel, or BBNM (Bannou Bunka Neko Musume/Cat Girl Nuku Nuku). If I did, most of the jokes in the dub of BSB would be a helluva lot funnier. At least, I think they'd be... Oh! And Hiromi would keep her grubby, bitchy mitts off Takao. He's Kai's, dammit.
Dedications:
- Skittles the Sugar Fairy ( Glad you like it! Taka-chan already has a hunch Kai's stalking him, as you'll see later in this chapter. )
- Ran-chan (Yay! You went back to your old 'last name'! I'm not so sure about the suspense part, but I'm glad you like it!)
- Darkspider (huggles Max plushie Arigato!! And yeah- Tyka is a majorly kawaii pairing. )
- Rumi-chan (You're welcome! Thanks for wishing me luck! )
- PinkDevil (laughs That's what Takao said when I first told him about this story. Kai just grinned and did his classic 'creepy laugh'... ;
- Kawaii-kirei ( So glad you like it so far! Not much happening this chapter, but I really like how I portrayed Taka-chan's thoughts... XP)
- Escuro de la Lus (I'm not sure about the whole 'one of the best' thing, but I'm glad you like it so much. )
- Kurushii/Kuro (Hey there, Kuro-senpai! I read your new beyfics, and I think they're great! I hope you continue them soon! I'll try to think of something for UWIB soon, k? I've been a bit busy lately, but I'll try to work on it. ;)
- PhEoNIix-fiREbiRd (sighs I know!! There's never enough Tyka, in my opinion. )
- Mieco (So long as you found it, everything's fine. smile smile)
- dna19 (You're in for a treat this chapter, then. knowing grin Glad you like it!)
- Japime Gurl (You don't know the half of it. Takao's POV this chapter is hilarious! in my opinion, anyway And stop dissing yourself- your Naruto fics are outstanding! )
- Izzeh (blushes and sweatdrops Thanks for the compliment, although I'm sure a lot of people out there are way better... chuckles Don't get me wrong, though- you still scare me a little. XP)
- Aysh ( Glad you think so. Here's some more!)
- Beyblade Fanatic (Glad you enjoyed it! Here's that update you wanted!)
- Shadow Weaver and Ikira (Oo; Water and tin foil? I don't think I wanna know... ; And yeah, Kai is having fun. He keeps cackling insanely whenever I work on this... hears something and throws her tea cup off-screen Shut up, Hiwatari!! I'm working, here!! sighs as someone complains No, no- I don't mean you, Satoshi-kun. I mean the laughing psycho over there... Yeah, yeah- I know I should be more specific, but it's not like I can say 'crazy bluenette Hiwatari', considering you both have the same last name and hair color... --; sighs again as Satoshi starts in on a lecture Niwa, make your boyfriend shut up!! --;)
- Touma (Not sure how many chapters it'll be... It'll take them a long while, I'm sure. ; Guess you'll get your way after all, ne?)
- Dark Faerie (Glad you like it! Here's more!)
Kirei na Tanin
Chapter III: Musings
It was a dark and stormy night... Thunder rumbled overhead, and the ground quaked every time lightning lit up the sky... Oh no, wait- that's just the sun shining off Grandpa's head as he rolls out the garbage cans. Never mind. My bad...
The 'dark' part? It's too hot out so I holed myself up in my room with the lights off and the fan going. Nothing big- just one of those cheap plastic sumo ones that only stand about 5 inches tall and it looks like the guy's holding the fan in place instead of running to use the crapper like he wants to. At least, that's what it looks like to me. His face is all scrunched up and stuff... Maybe he has indigestion? Better yet- maybe some kid snuck exlax in his morning tea...
Heh- sounds like something I would do. Not that I have anything against sumo wrestlers or nothin'. I just don't find 2 fat, sweaty guys trying to shove each other out of a ring that entertaining. I'll stick to my manga, thanks. Sure, it costs a helluva lot more and I'm broke most of the time after buying the latest issues, but I manage. So do the other 1.8 billion otaku.
Which reminds me- I wonder if anyone would bother to read my doujin when it's done... I mean someone has to like Nuku Nuku, right? Come on, people! Ryunosuke's cute!! There's BOUND to be a Ryu-chan fangirl somewhere, right?! Or fanboy... Wait- would fans of Bannou Bunka Neko Musume even bother looking for doujinshi? It's only an anime, I think... Or is there a manga of it too? Aw, hell... I dunno...
Maybe I should write about something else? My life could pass for a manga series, but that'd be too embarrassing... Well, I could always change the names. Hmm... Nah- who'd read something like that? And even more importantly, what the hell would I call it? Bakuten Shoot?!
Huh. Where did that come from? Come to think of it, how the hell did I get onto the topic of manga titles anyway? A little voice in the back of my mind mutters something about how everything relates to anime, therefore all trains of thought eventually lead up to it, but I ignore it. I have to concentrate, dammit! Now- what was I thinking about before that crack about Gramps?
Oh yeah! That guy... I wonder who he is? I haven't seen him at all since that fateful Tuesday last week, and the whole aspect of him stalking me is driving me up the wall. He could have been watching me from God-knows-where and I would never know... Needless to say, I don't use the school bathrooms anymore.
Then again, maybe he's not stalking me at all. Maybe someone else was wearing a white scarf that day and just happened to be on their way to class like we were. Maybe he just happened to be sitting in that tree, saw I was on the verge of a panic attack, then decided to literally drop in and lend a hand to a guy in need. Yeah, that sounds plausible... But then why would I feel as if someone's been watching me all week?
I groaned, flopping down on my bed, my right forearm covering my eyes. Dammit- this makes no sense! Why the hell would he be following me anyway?! Why would anyone follow me? It's not like I have anything anyone would want...
Unless he's some psychotic gay pervert. Shit- now I'm really freaked out.
"Fuck. Why'd I have to come to that conclusion? Now I'll never use another public bathroom again..."
"What are you mumbling about, Takao? Public bathrooms? I don't think I want to know..."
Huh? I rolled over onto my stomach and blinked as Kyojyu and Hiromi removed their shoes and stepped in through the open door. What brought them here, I wonder?
"You know, if you want it to cool down in here, you should close this." Miss know-it-all chided, sliding the frame shut.
"Doesn't matter. It's just rice paper- it doesn't do much difference." I retort, sitting up to make room for them. "Besides, my fan is a piece of crap- it can barely cool down an area a foot away, much less the whole room."
She just scowled at me. "Then why don't you just get air conditioning like other people?"
"It's a dojo- if we got one installed, it would just be a waste since the cold air would escape through the screen doors, genius." Hn. And she calls me thick-headed...
"Ooh! Whatever- I didn't come all the way here just to argue with you..." Really? Sometimes I wonder...
"Well then, why did you guys come? Did you get a lead on Mr. tall, dark, and creepy?" I asked, turning to Kyojyu.
"Mr. who?" Hiromi questioned, but I ignored her.
"Kind of... I managed to find a yearbook from last year and figured you could point out his picture for me. There's a good chance it'll be there, unless he transferred in this year..." he replied, reaching into his bag and pulling out a slightly-worn hardcover book.
"That's great!" I exclaimed, snatching it from his hands and flipping to the first page of student portraits. "I'm pretty sure I remember what he looks like, so I'll know him when I see him!"
The great thing about our school's yearbook is that the records are listed in alphabetical order according to last names. Sometimes it's just easier to sort things that way. It also means you're bound to find things faster since it goes in a particular order. Of course, none of this really helps, considering we don't know Stalker-man's name. Well, there went that idea. Guess it all comes down to searching one page at a time, then. Joy.
I scanned through the pages rather quickly, comparing each photo to the memory in my head. Nope. Nope. Nope. WAY off... What the hell is wrong with that guy's face?! He needs to fix that... Anyway, back on track... No. Nope... Not him...
Not in the A's, B's, C's, D's, E's, or the short lists of F's and G's. Dammit, where IS he?! This is starting to piss me off... I growled in annoyance, flipping yet another page. What number am I on now? 43? I didn't even know we had that many people at our school...
Let's see... Fat guy... Short guy... That one dude who likes Eva and wears that NERV shirt every day... That freaky chick who cosplays like Naota from that one episode where he had white cat ears... I'm surprised they actually let her wear those for the picture... Heh- she probably threatened to smash them over the head with a guitar if they refused. At least I'm not the only otaku here...
I smiled a little, preparing to turn the page, then stopped dead in my tracks as I spotted the face next to my thumb. A chill went down my spine, and I knew for a fact it wasn't because of my sumo fan. Even in black and white, those eyes still managed to freak me out.
When I didn't move after a while, Hiromi and Kyojyu leaned over to see what happened. "What is it? Did you find him?"
Instead of answering, I gulped and lowered my gaze to the printed kanji below the boy's photo, subconsciously reading it aloud. "Hiwatari Kai."
They both blinked and scrolled down the different names until they found the one that matched it. There was a tense silence, then Hiromi spoke up.
"Tall, dark, and creepy? What are you talking about? He's a major hottie!" Hmm... She does have a point there, if you dismiss the fact he could be a crazy perverted stalker... "Why are you so interested in him anyway? And why are you so pale?"
"You want the honest truth?" I asked, then took her leer as a 'yes' and continued, "I'm pretty sure he's stalking me, and I have no idea why."
As expected, she snorted. "Hn. Yeah right. Who in their right mind would stalk you?! Unless he's making a documentary on Neanderthals..."
I scowled. "Shut up! Why did you even come here, anyway? Bored out of your mind so you decided to waltz on over and make my life a living hell?"
She glared back, a faint blush splattered across her cheeks. "FYI, I came because as the head of the Student Council, it's my duty to remind you that next week it's your turn to clean the classroom. And don't think you can weasel out of it again, Kinomiya!"
I gave her a dull look. "Yeah, yeah... Is that all? You could've just called like a normal person, Hiromi. Now if you'll excuse me, Kyojyu and I have a lot of sleuthing to do, so go ahead and show yourself out, alright? See ya..."
She looked just about ready to explode, but turned and left, slamming the screen door shut behind her. We watched as her shadow moved across the thin paper, showing she was slipping her shoes back on.
"Why that no-good, wiseass, lazy, arrogant, annoying-"
"I can hear you, Hiromi, dear..." I called sweetly, grinning from ear to ear.
She stopped short of her ranting, going rigid, then huffed. The shadow on the door turned around and flipped me off, then disappeared as its owner left. Good riddance.
"Why are you always so mean to her, Takao? She's only looking out for you..."
"Looking out for me? Not likely... She makes sure I'm assigned multiple detentions for the littlest things- how the hell is that looking out for me?! She's a major pain in the ass and that's that."
He sighed, adjusting his glasses. "The only reason she does all that is because she likes you, you idiot."
I gagged. "Bleah! Me and HER?! NO WAY! NEVER!! Don't even joke about something like that!" Geh. Bad mental images. VERY bad mental images. I'm gay for a reason, dammit!
"Who's joking?" he muttered blandly, but shook his head and dropped it. "Anyway, now that we know his name, we should be able to dig up something on him somewhere. I'll go home and do some research, so you just sit tight and try to think of reasons why he would be following you, okay? Oh! And stay away from dark alleys, try not to go out at night if you can help it, and stay in areas where lots of people are around. That way, you're less likely to have a close encounter with this Hiwatari character that you may live to regret."
"Dude- I'll admit I'm less than genius material, but I'm not dumb enough to do anything like that. You forget I read Black Cat, Ghost in the Shell, and all that other assassin manga..."
He waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. "Yeah, yeah... But, that's manga, Takao. Fiction. It won't help much in real life if this guy sneaks up on you and mugs you or something."
"That's what kendo and jujitsu are for. Anyway, I gotcha- I'll watch my back." I smiled, getting up and sliding the door open for him. "Good luck. I'll see you at school tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright." he answered, putting on his shoes and stepping out onto the wrap-around porch. "See ya, Takao."
"Bye. And hey- you watch out for yourself, too. He's probably seen the lot of us together at one time or another, so you, Rei, and Max may be targets as well..."
He nodded solemnly. "I will. I'll tell the others too, okay? Bye..."
With that, he jogged off toward the front gate, vanishing behind the cement wall that surrounded our yard. I went back inside, leaving the door as it was and tugging a random volume of manga off my shelf. Glancing at the cover, I noted it was volume 2 of FAKE- the one where Ryo and Dee go on vacation to England and the hotel owner tries to murder poor Ryo just because he's Japanese like the men who killed his daughter 5 years before then. Yay. Another theory to add to the list of 'reasons why this dude may be stalking me'. He could be a pervert, homicidal, or both. Or it could be something else entirely.
I sighed, placing the graphic novel back on the shelf and lying back on my bed again, staring at the collage of posters on the ceiling. Huh. You'd think I'd be used to a bunch of eyes on me all the time- what's one more pair?
I snorted, closing my eyes and rolling over on my side, facing the wall my bed is pushed up against. You know who that Hiwatari guy reminds me of? Satoshi from D.N. Angel... They even have the same last name. What are the odds of that? I guess that makes me Niwa Daisuke, then... And the little manga-obsessed voice in the back of my mind is Dark Mousey. Then who's Krad? Ah, well- it's stupid anyway...
Still, with all of this happening, I can't help but wonder if writing a manga based on my life isn't such a bad idea after all... I still need a new title, though... I guess I'll think of one later, after I take a little snooze...
YAWN. G'night, anime people...
K: This is fun. Episode 3 or so of BSB 2002 proves Takao owns manga, therefore, I'm allowed to make him an anime otaku without having him be OOC like Draco is in "Double Take". ; (I made Draco an anime otaku. I made him sing a Gravitation song, too. XP It's fun having he and Harry insult each other in Japanese...) Plus, it makes it a helluva lot easier to write as Takao, considering what he is thinking (for the most part) is what I would be thinking. Except for saying goodnight to the anime posters. I grew out of that. ;
Well, hope you liked that chapter! Sorry if it's too short- I tried to make it long, I really did! I'm just too tired and inspiration-deprived to go on right now. Besides, my Nuku Nuku soundtrack is putting me to sleep. --;
Y: yawns You're not the only one. Everyone else fell asleep a LONG time ago... points to all 42+ bishi muses, curled up with their respective koi They'd all make cute pictures, I'm sure, but I'm too tired to go find the camera, so blah. I'm going to bed. Oyasumi nasai, aibou.
K: Oyasumi.