Troi Mikagami was not at all pleased. First, his daughter was made to participate in a Duel of Blood when she hadn’t even done a thing wrong (in the rule-breaking sense). Then, she was placed in a rotting corpse until her body had healed... Yes, Troi Mikagami was one unhappy camper. The way his eyes flashed at Amakusa only served to emphasize this point. Yuri for her part, didn’t really know what was wrong. She remembered tripping, then a flash of pain....it all went black, and then there she was. She looked around the office: there was Amakusa-sensei, her parents...nothing seemed out of place. Except for this grotesque picture on the wall. Goroggily, she stared at it, more than a little curious. As she stepped closer to it, it seemed to become even uglier. That was when she realized it was a mirror. “GYAAAAAAAA!!!!!” OoOoOoOoOo Dark Heart High Netherworld Educational Institution for The Universal Propagation of Evil started by Mads This Chapter by Pariah Chapter Nineteen: Salvation! OoOoOoOoOo “Wh-wh-what happened to me?!” Yuri wailed, gazing in horror at her reflection. The skin was peeling, the clothes tattered, and even worse, it was a boy’s body. Before anyone could answer her, Nurse Sybil poked her head in the door, chibi-fied at the moment. “Yuri, miss, Ryuji would like to speak to you...” Yuri followed Sybil to the Nurse’s office, where Ryuji stood waiting, in what looked like very used corpse. “Gomen nasai, Yuri,” he said, “but it was the only way to save you.” “Save me?! What are you--” Then Yuri remembered-that little thing about Amakusa’s sword feeding on souls. “Oh” Ryuji cleared his throat, then continued. “Look, your body’s out of any *immediate* danger, so I have to put you back, as that corpse won’t hold you for long. There’s just one problem...” Yuri raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t think of a bigger problem than being stuck in some boy’s rotting corpse. Ryuji looked down at his feet, not wanting to look at Yuri. “You’re going to be...in a coma. The wounds still need more time,” he said nervously, “but you must go back. I warn you, it’ll hurt for a while until you wake up...but it’s got to happen. You understand?” Yuri closed her eyes. Then slowly, she nodded. OoOoOoOoOo Meanwhile, in another part of the school... Ki Tamaida stood outside the office as Yasuko walked out with her detention slip. “Goddamn Iron Maiden for two weeks...” The succubus muttered. Ki then decided to appear in front of her. “Yasuko...” “Oh, it’s you,” Yasuko said, making it sound like he was something unpleasant on the bottom of her high-heeled boots. “You screwed up royally this time.” “What?! *I* screwed up? Don’t you want that little tramp dead? That *is* your plan, isn’t it?” Ki shook his head. “My plan is none of your concern, Yasuko. Even though you nearly screwed it up...” He began to walk away from Yasuko, who stood there, fuming. “Little...wench...she’ll pay for this....” OoOoOoOoOo Yuri and Ryuji stood next to her currently inanimate body, Ryuji taking Yuri’s hand. “I’m about to transfer your soul back into your body,” he explained, “Are you ready?” Yuri nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.” With this, Ryuji took the body’s hand in his other hand. Within moments, the corpse Yuri had been in fell flat, and she reappeared in her own body; the color returned to her flesh, and the heart monitor jumped from a flat line to a steady rate. “Yuri...wake up soon..so I don’t regret my actions.” OoOoOoOoOo Leilei and Balabalalde stood outside the hospital wing, soon after hearing Yuri was in a coma. Leilei looked especially worried as she paced back and forth. “This can’t be good.” *blink* “I mean, what if she never wakes up?” *blink blink* “I know I should try to be optimistic, but she’s the only person here who seems to understand me. Oh, Bala, I know you do, but she’s someone I can stay up late with and swap girlie stories with...” It went on like this for a while, till Bala stepped in front of Leilei, putting her pacing to a halt. *blink* “You’re right, worrying won’t solve anything. All we can do is wait.” As the pair began to walk away, Bala couldn’t help but look back at Yuri’s room. Something else was there in his eyes, not usually there... OoOoOoOo Yuri was swimming somewhere in her unconscious, sort of an Alice in Wonderland type of world. She was going to see the Mad Hatter for tea ( or its equivalent) when suddenly she heard a voice. “Yuri!” Yuri turned to the call to find a girl who looked very much like her. Except for her ghostly, pale form, she was exactly the same. Yuri walked towards the girl, a puzzled look on her face. “What do you want?” “Yuri, you have to wake up!” “Oh, but I can’t! I’m weak, and it hurts! I don’t have the strength...And people here are nice...” “But there are people who care about you, wanting you to wake up.” “I know, but it’s just my parents...maybe Leilei, too...but there was a reason I almost died today!” “But you didn’t.” “.....” “Why don’t you want to wake up, Yuri? Is it because you didn’t have anyone with you at the dance?” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Errr...hai...maybe...” “It makes you feel sort of alone, doesn’t it?” Yuri nodded, suddenly feeling kind of ashamed. “You have someone with you anyway.” the ghostly girl reached over, putting a finger on Yuri’s heart. “See, that there...he’s right in there. You may not know it yet..but when the time comes...you’ll have a glow there.” The ghost smiled. Yuri looked up at her mirror image. “Who are you?” The ghostly girl grinned and shrugged, beginning to float away. “I guess you could call me your other self. I’m always watching over you. I’m always cheering you on.... Cheering for you. My other self...” OoOoOoOoOo Nurse Sybil, at the moment an old lady, looked down at the comatose girl and sighed. If only she wasn’t so insistent on sticking up for that girl from Sakura Art, none of this would have happened. It had been two days since the Duel of Blood. Mrs. Mikagami and Troi stopped in at least twice a day to check up on their comatose daughter. Leilei and Bala stopped in when they could, but school kept them busy. Yuri still did not stir, though. Sybil sighed, preparing to make the coffee for the long night ahead, when suddenly, a murmur was heard behind her. Sybil whirled around to find Yuri, smiling weakly. “Well...” the chestnut-haired girl said, “I’m awake”. OoOoOoOoOo Yuri was given the rest of the week off to catch up on her homework, which she seemed to do without question. It was troublesome at times, due to her mother popping in every two minutes, asking her if she needed anything. (Yuri would always politely reply, “No, mama...”) Yuri also thought about what “her other self” had talked about. Although she was certain that the anesthetics had played a part...she also felt as if it really was her other self who talked to her that day. Yuri was about to re-concentrate on the last bit of her Basic Villainy essay (Name and describe three things every villain needs and how to best utilize them) when the phone rang. Yuri picked it up. “Eh, moshi moshi?” “Yuri-chan?” “Leilei-chan!!” “It’s good to finally hear your voice. Listen, are you feeling 100% better?” “Eh, probably 98% after all this make-up work, but it’s all the same. Why?” “Well, Bala-kun and I are going to have a celebratory dinner in the park, and was wondering if you’d join us as ‘the guest of honor’.” Yuri laughed. “Ne, sounds great! I’ll be there in a few minutes!” “Be sure you wear something warm!! We don’t want you bedridden again!” “I will. Ja ne, Leilei.” OoOoOoOoOo So, after about twenty minutes of pleading, Yuri found herself rushing to the park. *Here I go, late again...* she thought to herself, *At least I’m back in the routine.* She ran till she found Leilei who was jumping in the air and waving. Bala sat there as well, speechless as always. Yuri finally stopped when she reached them, panting, trying to catch her breath. “G-gomenne...I was held up...” “Ne, it’s all right! We just got the pizza anyway.” *blink blink* “Oooh, what kind!” *blink* “Pepperoni, huh? Sugoi!” They all eagerly dug into the fresh pizza (well, after the bandages around Bala’s mouth were removed) while Leilei filled Yuri in on what was going on at school. The Duel of Blood was all most of the students could talk about. Both Craig and Yasuko looked particularly smug until they went through their first day of detention. “Also,” continued Leilei, “ We found Ki Tamaida going to the hospital wing to visit you, just the same time as we were. But I think Bala-kun scared him off.” “Eh?” Yuri turned to Bala, who had suddenly become very interested in the grass. Yuri grinned. “It’s not like I would’ve been able to talk to you anyway.” Bala looked up at Yuri’s smiling face and quickly busied himself with his pizza, trying to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. (His arms were unbound from his body for the time being, yet still bandaged-- Leilei didn’t see the harm in releasing him, if only for awhile.) The pizza and the daylight slowly dwindled away leaving the trio with a beautiful sunset, and full stomachs. Leilei stood up cheerfully and said, “I’m gonna go throw this trash away. I’ll be back in a few minutes!” The pink haired girl ran off, leaving Bala and Yuri alone. Yuri looked over at the brown haired boy, who turned out to be looking at her too, because he quickly moved his head elsewhere. Yuri shifted a bit where she was sitting. Tucking a stand of unruly hair behind her ear, she finally spoke. “Bala...” The bandaged boy turned his gaze back to back to Yuri, who met her green eyes with his own brown. Yuri felt herself scooting closer to Bala, totally ignoring her mind’s commands not to. She knew she was probably blushing to the roots of her hair, but she didn’t care. All Yuri cared about was that she finally had this moment...and she felt the glow inside her heart. Summoning all her courage, she leaned upward, kissing the surprised boy on the lips. Bala wasn’t sure how it happened, one minute they were just looking at each other and the next...she had kissed him. And he didn’t mind a bit, he realized, closing his eyes (or eye) and returning the kiss. He didn’t move. He was too scared. Suddenly, Yuri pulled away, and it was over as suddenly as it had started. Yuri covered her mouth, not believing what she had just done. Shaking her head, she managed to utter an apology before running into the darkness. Bala felt himself blushing behind his bandages, shocked. Leilei hurried back just in time to see Yuri run off. “Yuri!” she cried, “Oh no, she must’ve started to feel ill. Well, we’ll see her on Monday, right Bala-kun? Bala? BALA! Hellooo?” She waved a hand in front of the boys face, but to no avail, “Bala? What’sa mater? Why’s your face red, do you have a fever?” OoOoOoOoOo Author’s notes: hee hee...love the smell of fresh shoujo in the mornin! Or anytime for that matter. As for an explanation, a wise writer said, “Go shoujo” So I did. All comments, concerns and death threats may be sent to pariah164@hotmail.com, but I won’t necessarily read them. ^^ Kudos and THANK YOUS go to Mads for being my muse and idea-person. Thanks for helpin me get over the dreaded Writer’s Block and getting it done, with two days to spare!!! ^^;; I think it isn’t too bad, for my first impro. Anyflip, good luck to the next writer as the relationship between Bala and Yuri goes even further into the angst pool! -Pariah 1 impro No skips 2 online journals A faulty CD player And a partridge in a pear tree. OoOoOoOoOo “Balabalalde, answer me!! OK, That’s it, I’m calling the hospital...” ~fin~