CHAPTER 4- EMIKO GOES TO TOMOBIKI!! TSUBAME'S WEDDING- I'M INVITED!! ________________________________________________________________________________ All non-original characters used are either a) real people who have given their permission or b)characters from various series whose copyrights are still held by the original authors As to why I no longer call my story a revengefic: In the future, a large part of the story will occur in the UY universe, but a large part will also occur in the unanimated world. Also my story does not have much to do with the revenge wars, and is only partially set in that universe. ________________________________________________________________________________ Morning came. As usual Shinobu is the early riser. I get up a little later, and Anita- well Anita rarely gets up before noon. Good thing she registered for all afternoon classes. School starts again for me next January, and it starts for my roommates. One good thing about my "curse" is that I getan oppurtunity few people ever get- the oppurtunity to change the past. Since i will be starting as a freshman all over again (it was the only way Ran-chan could get me in) means i won't have to make the same mistakes I made during the freshman year. I know now not to take things like Chemistry and, well Chemistry if at all possible. I will have to remember to change my major: Ran made me an Engineering major, snd although I should have the money for years of schooling- I don't want to take all those long classes. As for my roommates, Shinobu wants to major in some form of History and Anita apparently wants to major in men-chasing. At least that's what she says. I looked it the calendar and noticed it was Wednesday. With all the action that's been going on, I forgot all about the weekly anime meeting. After making breakfast with Shinobu for all of us, I told my roommates that I was going to take them to the anime meeting tonight. Shinobu was curious to see if the people at these meeting were as weird as she had heard, so she was willing to go. However, I had to tell Anita that there were lots of good-looking guys there and that she might find someone. After that was taken care of, Shinobu took Anita to all the places she took me too earlier, and I went off to find some hair dye. I go to my wardrobe and look for something to wear. After about ten minutes of searching, I decide on jeans, a brown sweater, and a light jacket. I then on my beret to hide my horns; although I now have a headband that is hollow (which also covers the horns) I think the beret looks better. I put my hair into a ponytail, mostly to keep it from flinging all over the place. I then take a look at myself in the mirror, and think on how I would be too embarassed to even talk to a person who looks like myself. After walking to the drugstore and getting my brown hair dye. I walk around and check out a few places nearby, including the local anime store. Not much of value around here, but I did pick up a Yohko tape for Anita. It was noon, so I decided to eat out. I go to the Chinese place and order my favorite- Sweet and Sour chicken. My transformation did not affect my taste buds. The waiter serving me seemed to be very friendly, and when I received my bill I got a phone number on the back of the ball. "Oh well, maybe Anita will be interested in him". After that I went back to my apartment. When I got back onlt Kitsune was home. I made myself and Kitsune some lunch. I made some grilled cheese sandwiches for myself, and I made Kitsune's red bean special for Kitsune. Kitsune then decided it was time to act like he was Ryoohki and I was Sasami. He stayed on my head for two hours. During that time I watched some TV semi-actively and thought about how lonely I was. There was a loud knock at the door, followed by an artificially cute giggle. I opened the door. "Ran-chan" "Konnitiwa, Emiko-chan! How are you doing! I have good news for you!" Ran-chan was unusually hyper, even for her cute state. Even Kitsune was suffering from saccharine overload and ran off to Shinobu's bedroom. Sometimes I think of all the people here, Kitsune may be smartest one here. I then responded to Ran's greeting. "There are plenty of things that coyld be considered good news. World peace, elimination of hunger, winning the lottery, a good meal, going back to my original form. You will have to be more specific." Ran then replied "Silly Emiko-chan, you are in your true form. You wanted this. As for the good news, you and your roommates have been invited to a wedding. Here's the invitation." I read the invitation. You are hereby invited to attend the joyous union of Sakura and Tsubame Ozono. Refreshments will be served and restraints will be provided. Inside was a picture of the bride and groom. I was not surprised to see Sakura and Tsubame being able to tie the knot, in fact, I was happy for both of them. However, "Hey, Ran-chan, what's with the restraint part?" Ran-chan than responded. "That was Lum's request. You know the reason why." I could see why restraints would be useful, I was even glad because I know I did not want HIM all over me. "So, are y'all going? Oh, did you notice my new Southern accent?" Southern my ass. Well, maybe South Urusei or South Japan, but not South Carolina or even South America. That was irrelevant, however. I wanted to see what a wedding in Tomobiki would be like- it might even be fun. "So when's the wedding and how to we get there? I don't know if my roommates are going though." Ran-chan then said, "It's this Saturday. I'll take y'all there. I'll see you Saturday. Ja ne!" Ran them quickly exited before I could ask her anything about this "you wanted this" that she said to me. She was probably lying; but then again, what if there WAS a deep-down part of my soul that actually wanted this? Am I really that sick? "Masaka." (impossible) I kept telling myself this, but I'm still unsure. ________________________________________________________________________________ A couple of hours later, Shinobu cooked all of us a delicious dinner, baked chicken, baked potatoes, and a delicious salad. Shinobu did get a little mad at me for feeding Kitsune some of her cooking, but I don't think she cared about it too much. I never thought having a pet would be so much fun. Of course Kitsune is potty-trained; that makes it much easier to take care of him. It was now time for us to go, though I was a little nervous about how I would be looked at. I KNOW how male otakus think, well, I KNOW how many male otakus think. We arrived at the place where the meeting was taking place, and I could tell immediately that there could be problems. Several men, including many of the officers, were staring intently at us. Then a couple of them became very friendly. I let Anita handle those two, and I picked out a couple of seats for myself and Shinobu, away from the majority of the male population. I then told Shinobu that I had to meet a couple of my friends. Shinobu then asked if that was wise considered that my old persona was now dead. I reassured her and told her that I am going to become friends with both of them again. First I saw an attractive girl studying her books, again. This was an old err,friend and companion for a while. I said hello and we started to talk for about ten minutes. During that time, she said I looked a lot like one of her old friend's favorite characters. I then asked where he was, and she said that he had died in one of the first demon attacks. Then I saw a familiar face. "Hi there, Josh!" Josh then turned around and saw me. Then another of the officers yelled out, "Hey Josh, looks like you finally got yourself a girlfriend. Woohoo!" We both shook our heads as rapidly as possible. The mere thought of Josh as a romantic partner- yick! So then I asked how everything was going, his experiences with his roommates, etc. I think I'm having an easier time with the change, even though Josh gets to be Josh-kun sometimes, at least i don't have to fight over the bathroom or cook all my meals, and we have a cute pet around the apartment to cheer me up when I'm depressed. It was time for the show to begin. After an extremely long winded speech, the anime started. They showed Princess Army again, it was still bad. Then they showed Nadia next, which was much better. Then they showed Fushigi Yuugi. Shinobu loved the character designs in that one, although she said Hotohori reminded her too much of Mendo. Then they showed Escaflowne. Anita then gave us a fifteen-minute lecture on all the inaccuracies involved with the tarot cards. I had to tell her to shut up, she was getting annoying. Shinobu liked that one as well. Then Marmelade Boy came on, the the cheers and groans of many in the audience. Shinobu said she often got up early to watch this one. Anita hated this and left, slugging out three guys who asked her for a date. After the meeting was over, this man comes up and asks me out. I said no, politely at first, then more firmly. He then started to ask why I didn't like him. Then when I told him that I didn't not like him, but that I didn't want to go out with him. Then he asked who my boyfriend was. I wanted to give this clueless lover 50,000 volts, but that would not be a good idea in a roomful of otakus. So I looked for the nearest guy availiable and pointed at him, hoping that he wouldn't be worse than this guy. I pointed at Josh. He said "Oh. Don't want to break anyone up, I'm sorry.", then proceeded to start asking Shinobu out. Fifteen minutes later the ambulance arrived to carry him out. there was a big welt on his forehead. After the meeting was over. Josh walked all of us to our car, he said something about not letting vulnerable,cute girl like myself walk unescorted at night. I was able to keep Shinobu from slugging him, but barely. Josh then asked how all of us enjoyed the meeting. Shinobu said that the subtitles were annoying. Josh then said "Don't worry about that. You get used to reading them." Shinobu then replied, "I just think they get in the way, and there a little off sometimes. I can understand Japanese. I was born in Tokyo, so I understand Nihongo. How good is your Japanese?" Josh said "I know a little, more than Emiko-baka over there." I frowned at him, and thought about how much Josh would enjoy turning into Kyone-chan in front of everybody, or how much he would enjoy crumpling under 10,000 volts. Josh then asked Anita how she liked the meeting. Anita then said, "I didn't like much of it. I liked Escaflowne, but that was about it. Not enough good-looking guys here. Emiko, I have to kill you when I get home." Josh then stated, "Escaflowne is a good show." I shook my head and giggled. This really annoyed Josh. "What, you don't like Escaflowne?" I had to say it. "You look kind of cute when you're annoyed." I didn't mean it, but I just HAD to do it, and it was more effective than lightning. You could also say it was revenge for calling me cute. Shinobu then looked at me strangely, like I was some strange pervert. "I was just making a joke." A giant sweat drop formed on Josh's head. He then looked at me and said, "I'm going to have to kill you for that, someday. SHI NE!" Shinobu also laughed at the two of us and said we must really be good friends. Then Josh asked me what I liked. I told him that everything was a good as usual, except for the first one. I told him that if they show it again, I'm leaving. Josh agrred with me, saying that it was one of the most boring animes he's ever had the horror of watching. He then asked me what I was doing with that guy earlier. Shinobu then interrupted me before I could give an explanation. She said, "That horrid hentai! He kept hitting on me and Emiko-chan, and even Anita-chan the whole time! He was almost as bad as Ataru! Someone needs to put him on a leash before he gets hurt!" I chuckled again, "Before? He looked like he was hurting after you got through with him." Shinobu then said, "Sorry. I guess a got a little carried away." We arrived at our transportation for the night. Josh opened the driver's seat for Shinobu, who quickly went in. Anita made several crosses before entering the vehicle, and I said a few prayers myself. Shinobu then drove off at about 85mph, almost hitting two cars in the parking lot. On the drive home, Shinobu asked me if you could get vanity plates for your car in Raleigh. I said yes, and asked what she wanted. She said she wanted a "SHINOBU" license plate. I then told her she may have a tough time because someone already has that one. She then told me that she would like to meet that person. I told her that I knew the person who had to license plate, and that she was a lot of fun to be around. We managed to get home without hitting anything except a couple of curbs, and as soon as we enter, I see Ran-chan waiting for us. TO BE CONTINUED...