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CHAPTER 2- DEATH ISN'T BAD, IT's JUST THAT IT SUCKS BEING DEAD...
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After the bathroom incident, Josh-chan (I guess that's what you
call h- whatever) and I went over to my room. Of course, I had to punch out
about five guys who were looking at us like two sides of beef.
I never thought men were so bad, but I never had to view men from
this perspective. Josh-kun, who was fortunate enough to find a hot shower,
then started to read today's newspaper, then said;
"Jeff, you need to take a look at this." I read the headline.
NCSU STUDENT KILLED BY DEMON. 5TH STUDENT KILLED BY SUPERNATURAL FORCES
SO FAR THIS MONTH!
I gasped at the thought of actual demons on the NCSU campus, but
then Josh told me what has been going on these past two weeks. I was kind of
surprised at the detail he was able to go into on the various types of demons
that have been infesting the campus. I guess Josh just liked the subject.
Then I remembered that I, myself, in my current state, could be easily confused
for a demon, as I had the horns to match. I made a mental note to buy a beret
and some red hair dye tomorrow. Then I looked at the picture of the
unfortunate student. I saw the person I was yesterday. I screamed, for
the second time in my life. This time I did not faint. Suddenly there was
a knocking on the door. With geat fear, I opened the door. A pinkhaired girl
who I was very familiar with, and Josh was somewhat familiar with, entered.
She seemed to be happy, almost bubbly. I would have been less scared if she
just pulled out one of her big guns. Knowing Ran-chan she just might pull one
out in any minute.
"Ran-chan!" The greeting came from both of us simultaneously.
"Why am I dead?" I was somewhat curious as to why they went
through with faking my death, it wasn't like I was going to go around claiming
I was my old self. Ran then gave us her cutest smile, then said:
"You've been dead since yesterday. We can't go around having any
loose ends. People will begin to suspect that you are missing, someone might
get lucky and find out about our little secret, tehehe!"
I just had it. "HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH ALREADY! YOU'VE DESTROYED
MY BODY, NOW YOU HAVE TO GO AND TAKE MY IDENTITY AS WELL! WHAT KIND OF A
MONSTER ARE YOU?!" I really didn't want to start yelling, that would have let
her know that she was getting to me, which she was, but I just couldn't take
much more of this. Suddenly Ran started to laugh. A truly maniacal laugh.
Josh then said,
"I never knew Ran had a Kodachi laugh."
Ran-chan then reverted back to her cute form, and then whispered in
my ear,
"We are not destroying your identity, Emiko-chan. Tee hee."
I facefaulted, "Who's Emiko-chan?" Ran then pointed a finger in my
direction and smiled,Just before facefaulting I cried, "ME!!!".
Josh then said, "Right know you're a little too err, feminine, to
be a Jeff." Resisting to urge to use some more shock therapy on Josh, which
would be a little too cleched, I shouted,
"I'M NOT A WOMAN!", to which Ran-chan giggled and replied,
"Josh is right. Jeff is kind of a stupid name for a cute girl like
yourself. So Jariten, Lum, and myself got together and decided that
Emiko is a nice name, so Emiko you are. By the way, you sound an awful lot like
Ryu* when you're mad, I find it kind of cute."
"So I'm not even allowed to pick my own name? That sucks!" Josh
nodded in agreement. I wonder if he has a name for his Josh-chan form yet. I
hope so because Josh-chan sounds so stupid. Ran than spoke up.
"When you were born, did you get to choose your name?" Logic, the
2nd most powerful weapon in the universe, next to well, whatever they did to
me. "Also, in a way we are kind of your parents, we made you what you are,
so we should get to choose your name. Be glad we didn't get Ataru to name
you."
Josh then muttered "I'd love to hear this-" This was answered by
a lightning bolt, which caused Josh to pass out. Ran then replied,
"You need to learn to control the lightning, because if you overdo it, you
get really sleepy. Ataru wanted to name you Fluffy." You could see the
veins pop out of my forehead. I was angry before, now I was out and out mad.
"FLUFFY! FLUFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Calm down, don't you see that Emiko is a much better name? Tee
hee."
I nodded in agreement and resignation, "Hai." Ran then continued.
"We're not finished. We have set you up with an entirely new
identity. Your name is Emiko Morisato. If you're wondering we let Lum
pick your last name, she just loves Keiichi and says your old face reminded
her a lot of Keiichi, so she said Morisato would be a good last name for you.
Here is all the ID you will need for you're new identity." Inside a manila
folder were a driver's license, an ATM card, a student ID, and even the local
anime club's card, which had Ran listed as my favorite character. I need to
remember to change that as soon as possible. Ran then continued. "We put
$100,000 in your bank account. Oh, we will have to find a new place to live,
dead people cannot stay in their dorm rooms. It should only take a few days...
Is there anything else you want to ask before we go?" I nodded and said,
"What exactly was in that roast duck? Also will you be coming
back?" To this Ran-chan replied,
"Well, the duck is a trade secret of mine. As for coming back,
we're not finished with you yet-" Ran-chan then smiled, giggled, and headed
towards the door. In her cutest voice, I heard her say "Bye Bye!" I then
yelled for her to wait, but it was no use. It was now midnight and I had a very
eventful day, plus those lightning bolts I kept hitting my friend with did tire
me out, just like Ran-chan said. I then realized that I needed a place to
crash, so I asked Josh, "Do you mind if I stay over at your place for a while,
at least until they find me a place to live?"
"Uhm, I guess you could stay at my place until they find you a room,
but you'll have to put up with my new roommates. We don't have any bed
space, though, so you'll have to sleep on the floor. That's the best I can do
for you." Josh sighed. "You might see a few things that'll suprise you,
however. Oh, and we better remove your stuff from your old room before
someone disposes of them. I'd better call my roommates and tell them you will
be staying a couple of nights."
I thanked Josh for his hospitality. Fortunately I would not have to waste
my money on an expensive hotel. Sleeping on the floor was not the best option,
but I do have to be careful with my money, or else I may have to get a JOB!
After packing up my tapes, TV, cards, and other stuff, we got ready to
go to Josh's apartment. Then, Josh said, "Wait! i have to do something.",
then I saw Josh heading to the bathroom. After a minute, Josh-chan walked
out. Then we got in the taxi which I had called for a few minutes ago- you
don't expect two girls to carry all that luggage? I then had to whisper
something which had been burning in my mind for a long time.
"By the way, what do you call yourself in this form?"
"Kyone."
"Did you name yourself or did you get named?"
"I got to named by someone. I kind of like it, though."
"How exactly did you get cursed?"
"I got cursed for the same reason you did, just by different people using
different methods."
I then asked about Josh's- err Kyone's three roommates and how she
ended up living with them. For some reason Kyone was very vauge about
details, which was kind of strange. We finally got to the apartment, and
entered. I immediately recognized the three girls. They were the same ones
who dragged Josh away from my room when I was being (attacked?) (transformed?)
(cursed?) by Ran-chan and Ten-chan. I am kind of suspicious as to how they knew
where I was when I was being attacked, or if they know exactly what happened to
my friend. The Redhead then asked what was my name. This made me
uncomfortable, since I am really not used to speaking a lot with women. I then
said "I'm Emiko", with a long pause between the "I'm" and the "Emiko".
The blond-haired girl with glasses said, "What a nice name. My name is
Fuu. Is there anything I can do for you?" She seemed to be really nice.
Maybe living with women isn't so bad after all. I replied,
"No,thanks anyway. I'm just staying for a couple of days." I then asked
the two other girls in the room what their names were. The redhead responded.
"My name is Hikaru and her name is Umi." She then pointed to the
bluehaired girl, who seemed indifferent to everything. She probably just
didn't think I was interesting enough to talk to. Kyone then interrupted
everyone by saying.
"Everyone, it's kind of late and I have an early morning class." I also
wanted to get to sleep, if only because I was afraid Josh's roommates would
find out about my secret.
I slept okay that night. I would have slept better if the floor was not
as hard, but it beat sleeping on the sidewalk. About 6:30am my sleep was
interrupted by 4 people waking up and complaining over who gets to use the
bathroom. Kyone and Umi looked like they were about ready to slug it out. i
wonder if they were having their periods, or when I would have mine, or if I
even get a "time of the month". Then I noticed that I had to go. Bad. One of
the bad things about being in a woman's body is that you have to go to the
bathroom more often. After about an hour of anxious waiting I finally got
access to a bathroom. I hadn't felt so relieved, since, eh- bad choice of
words. Let's just say I felt relaxed. Of course, that was when Ran-chan
decided to pay me a visit- again. I was hoping no one would open the door, but
Fuu opened it, and as soon as she did I hear this bubbly voice.
"Ohayoo Gozaimasu, Emiko-Chan!" Usually I can stand Ran's high pitched
voice, but not in the mornings. I tried to be polite anyway.
"Morning, Ran. Why did you come and see me?" Ran then giggled and said,
"I have good news for you. We found you a pernament place to live, a
couple of miles away. it's a really nice place, you can come in today if
you'd like, I've finished all the paperwork. Your roommates would also love
to meet you, although you know one already!" Fuu then said,
"What good news! Now you no longer have to sleep on the floor, and you
can sleep in your very own bed. It's too bad we couldn't have been better
friends!" Usually if you hear that you would think that you are being brushed
off, but her voice sounded so sincere I had to believe her. It was time to
leave, so I told everyone goodbye and headed off with Ran-chan, hoping that
things couldn't get any worse...
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* For those who are not familiar with UY, Ryu= Ryunnosuke, not the Ryu
from SF or any anime. Ryunnosuke is a girl whose father pretends she's a
guy.
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