62 replies to this topic

[kawaii beam!]

chocolate??? yet eri dosent wanna get fat i wonder what ai and reina are planing??

[suaracheerios]

Yeah it was 5 before but since the chapters themselves are so short I've just been posting them in twos.
I was contemplating making the chocolate into something more... unappealing but I thought might as well just give Risa...??? lol.

Sorry for putting too much dialogue and making it confusing, Takahashi slept over for those 3 days Risa was confined, so Reina is the one with the sneaky plot, but Ai-chan is definitely in on it!

I'm afraid of giving too many things away.

[jdjohnson]

You will just have to wait and see! I didn't seek reference from a creature already existing in a horror story, that's probably why you can't figure it out. Just sit back and relax, everything will unfold eventually.

dammit...obviously i'm not a patient person when i can't figure things out....and i'm still thinking of creatures that they could be. cuz i thought of another one...the zombies from resident evil....(sides the fact that i just watched RE degeneration)

Anyway, we were fortunate enough to find a way to quell my rage when it becomes night.”
“Oh… “It was a lot to take in. “What is it?”
“Chocolate.” Risa giggled a little. It was weird.

hahaha i was laughing pretty hard at this

“We have to find out what wakes you up and puts you back to sleep.”

pervy thoughts......

Haha, Niigaki-san was right in some way Takahashi didn't really go ballistic, but she certainly lost her mind

haha i could see that

[Glasseyelashes]

i'm a bit lost, but i'm also incredibly tired. the words just jumble up right in front of my eyes. i wanted to read this, but i'll read it again tomorrow, then i'll give my comment.

[maxemerg]

Yay! I like the story, have a few suggestions, but I'll keep them to myself because I'll sound all nitpicky and stuff. I am glad to see someone writing properly, though.

Well.. just one suggestion. You should break your paragraphs a little more. I noticed the problem mostly in the early part of what you've posted.

As an example:

“What?!” she yelled in shock. In her realization she accidentally hung up on Reina. There was no use calling her back. She stood up and grabbed her towel to dry off. Within minutes she was dressed and out the door. She skipped blow-drying or even brushing her hair. The taxi she caught drove slowly when she requested for him to speed up. He still did not alter his driving even when she offered extra cash. He let her out at the far end of the hospital parking lot. She threw the change at him for being stingy. Ai began to run to the big sliding door entrance, but a man stopped her halfway. He was on the ground wearing a pained expression. The darkened sky made him look like a demon. She noticed blood on his face and on his hands. He began to reach for her sweatpants. She didn’t know if she should help him to the hospital or keep running. Luckily a male nurse came sprinting over. He shielded her from the man’s hands.

The problem here is that Takahashi is on the phone in a bath at the start of the paragraph and avoiding the grasp of an infected man by the end. There are at least 2 clear sections, if not 3, and putting them all together makes the whole block hard to read.

“What?!” she yelled in shock.

In her realization, Ai accidentally hung up on Reina, but there was no use calling her back. Ai stood up and grabbed her towel to dry off. Within minutes she was dressed and out the door—she skipped blow-drying or even brushing her hair.

The taxi she caught drove slowly when she asked the driver to speed up. He still did not alter his driving even when she offered extra cash. He let her out at the far end of the hospital parking lot. She threw the change at him for being stingy.

Ai began to run to the big sliding door entrance, but a man stopped her halfway. He was on the ground wearing a pained expression. The darkened sky made him look like a demon. She noticed blood on his face and on his hands. He began to reach for her sweatpants. She didn’t know if she should help him to the hospital or keep running. Luckily a male nurse came sprinting over. He shielded her from the man’s hands.

(I altered the first line after the speech, but refrained from making any other changes. Because of the difficulty of indenting and the wide format of this board, I used a space to separate paragraphs, but you can mark paragraphs how you see fit.)

[suaracheerios]

^Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for up coming chapters.

Scrubs
The plan would soon be in action. Reina had learned the Supplies Room key code easily by following a nurse and looking over his shoulder, pretending to have a question and chickening out at the last minute. At 9pm she granted herself access to the storage and slipped in unnoticed. The far wall was covered in shelves of clean scrubs. She sifted through the middle row and found a pink pair in small. She ripped off her home clothes and stuffed them into her purse, causing it to bulge awkwardly. Once she had slipped into her choice of scrubs she casually strutted back out into the hallway. No one had found interest in the new nurse walking around. She went into Risa’s old room. Ai was surprised to see Reina in her new garments.
“Reina, you just wanted to wear the scrubs!”
“Shush, no I didn’t!”
Ai took a picture with her phone.
“This is priceless, but it looks good on you!”
“Oh please. Seems like you’re the one who wanted to wear them so badly. You should have told me, I could have gotten you some,” Reina snickered.
They waited for 10:13 to roll by, and then they took action. Ai went up to the lonely receptionist nurse as the others loomed for their personal destinations.
“Um… where is the bathroom?” she asked. Reina watched from inside the hospital room, quiet enough to listen for her cue.
“It’s down that hallway and to the right, you can’t miss the turn.”
“Well, I went down there before and I couldn’t find it…” The nurse laughed in disbelief and got up from her chair. She took her time walking down the hallway as Ai followed. Reina shot out of the room and behind the counter. All the current patients were arranged standing up in alphabetical order from left to right.
“Niiiiiigaki, Nii, Nii…Nii…”
Risa’s wasn’t in the row. This wasn’t part of the plan. Reina scanned the desk in front of her.
“Shit!” she cursed. She heard a scream from down the hallway. Ai jogged towards her, grinning like a child who had just stolen a handful of candy.
“What did you just do?”
“Locked her in the bathroom,” she spat excitedly. She was still grinning. Reina chuckled before stating the situation.
“Risa’s isn’t here.”
“It’s not?” Ai whirled around. She pushed papers, pens, and folders around on the other desks. The screams of the nurse in the bathroom were getting louder as she pleaded for attention. One manila folder filled with white papers dropped to the floor. Reina scooped it up. It was Risa’s.
“I got it, let’s go!”
Together they sprinted to the stairs, located next to the bathrooms and elevators. They stampeded down the steps, through the lobby, and into the parking lot.
“Where do we go now?!” Reina wondered out loud. She slowed down her pace and followed her friend. They slowed down when they reached a sidewalk far away from the hospital.
“Don’t they have cameras in there?”
“Who cares, I’m never going back there again,” Ai stated boldly. She looked at Reina. Reina nodded and flopped the folder open so that they could both read. Big black letters greeted them. “VIRUS. Risk: High. Effects: Split personality, DNA alteration, skin discoloration, seizures, loss of consciousness,” the list continued down the page. The facts were overwhelming. Above the doctor’s signature was an extra note. “Patient serves as host. Organism unidentifiable. Plague?”
“What the hell, Risa has none of this. This tells us nothing!” Reina screamed to the paper. Ai was silent.

Small set of icons as well.

[Munkee_G1rl]

It keeps getting better and better~

RenAi is probably going to think that they killed Risa or something~ That might lead them to do something risky again ...like going all ninja-status again~

Ohoho~ Hopefully she's in safe hands with Kamei and they don't rip each other apart. They still need to find out what puts Risa in her "safe-mode" ....Risa get a hold of them quick before anything else could happen or before it's too late!!! Use a friggin' payphone or somethin'~

[kawaii beam!]

ohhh~! i can just imagine the smile on ai's face when she said that she locked up the nurse! XDDD i wonder what they're gonna do next... and lovely avies by the way!

[Glasseyelashes]

oh, well crap! this is a really great story. i love it. at the end of every chapter, i'm left with all sorts of question, but that's a good thing. i can't wait to read the next chapter.

[maxemerg]

You seem to imply that each person has a different thing to keep them from attacking people. That's probably good, because Aika would be uncontrollable if the only solution were chocolate. That is, if she were to become infected, of course. (if she's even in this story)

[sailormari]

oh my

my little cheerio writing fan fics


not bad cheerio keep it up i like see more your story's

[suaracheerios]

Dang, I haven't been here in a long time and I haven't been writing at all. I don't know if I'll continue this story anymore but might as well post everything I had so far.

Pull the Trigger
Eri got up away from Risa who was still sitting on the bed. She put her hands on her hips and stared hard. Then she went over to the dresser, picked up her phone, and threw it at the face in front of her.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Risa swatted at the object flying towards her and stood up from her spot.
“That wasn’t it…” Eri folded her arms, her expression still full of determination. With another idea she walked up to her friend and gently slapped her on the face. Risa looked completely dumbfounded, but she was quick to react. Hastily she slapped Eri back.
“Kame?! What’s wrong with you?”
“Not it.”
Eri retrieved a piece of chocolate from her jacket pocket. “Eat this.”
Reluctantly, Risa took a bite. She chewed and swallowed. No outburst. She licked her lips after consuming the sweet treat. They were very full of color, a dark red purple. Another lightbulb went off in Eri’s head. She decided to keep it as a last resort. She grabbed Risa by the hand and dragged her out of the alley onto the sidewalk.

She guided her in and out of stores, hoping that some aroma might trigger the dangerous response. When nothing happened after that, she then proceeded to force all kinds of tasty morsels down Risa’s throat. This also resulted in no response, and her companion was especially peeved after consuming so many empty calories. Next they paraded down the sidewalks and into the streets to listen for a word that might set off the bomb, only to no avail. They returned to the shelter in the alley and Eri sighed, defeated.

“I don’t know what else to do,” she said in a melancholy tone. In truth she had one more idea, but was reluctant to give it a go.
“You can pretty much control the other side then…” she considered giving up. Risa stood against the stone wall. Eri paced back and forth and in circles. She was debating whether or not to use the only idea that was left.
“There’s no choice…” she mumbled to herself. In a nervous fit she started to slowly inch toward Risa and then back again. Her friend was completely oblivious to her fidgeting.
“What are you thinking about?” Eri tried conversation to calm herself down and stall a little more. Risa was focused on the ground. “A solution.” When she looked up, Eri was right in front of her. She gently laid a peck on Risa’s lips. In an instant the older girl’s right eyelid floated up to expose a pitch black pupil. Both eyes now gleamed with evil and Risa’s entire expression changed into a wicked smirk. Her fake decorated nails popped off as her real nails extended into claws and she raised her arm, ready to strike Eri.
“Bingo,” Eri said in quiet triumph before dodging a lightning fast swipe.

Appearance
“Wake up! It’s TEN!” Reina blurted in the sleeping leader’s face. Her eyes opened slowly and she winced with tire.
“Your breath,” she croaked.
“What? I brushed my teeth already!”
“Brush again.” Ai got up and steadied herself after Reina bounded off. She couldn’t remember the last moments of the night before. Her brain had entirely shut off after reading Risa’s file. It had left her in disbelief. When she looked around she didn’t recognize her surroundings, except for the scrubs that had somehow become her pillow on the couch the night before.
“Where are we?” she said to Reina who now had a toothbrush in her mouth. Foam was beginning to build up on her lips.
“Ma howth!”
“Go back to the sink, you’re going to drip!”
After they both finished washing up they walked to a nearby café for breakfast. They drank tea and split a rice omelet, as well as a crepe for extra energy. When they had eaten everything they went over the file yet again.
“There isn’t some kind of vaccine or pill mentioned anywhere.”
“There’s gotta be something out there. Hold on, she hasn’t even been acting funny or had any of these symptoms,” Reina stated for clarification.
“She hasn’t…” Ai said. The most recent time they spent together was normal; then again she hadn’t looked under the bandages for anything like skin discoloration.
“So we’re stuck again. We don’t even know where to look for her now.” Reina was flipping a knife around in her fingers out of agitation. To prevent her friend from hurting herself, Ai snatched the utensil out of her hands and laid it back down on the table. She grabbed Reina’s arm and pulled her out of the café.

For a while they walked in silence. No leads troubled them both. Suddenly Ai turned into a convenience store. She traveled down the isles until she reached the medicine area. There were also knee braces, wrist braces, and bandage like things. The package she picked up was thin and light.
“What’s that?”
“Eye patch,” she answered while reading information at the back of the pack.
“Hm.”
Ai walked over to the register to pay. The cashier was a young man, probably in his twenties. His face was cleanly shaven. He smiled at the two charmingly. The girls both smiled back politely. Once they exited the sliding doors Reina latched onto Ai’s left arm.
“He was cute wasn’t he!?”
Ai laughed a little and stared at the ground, “Yeah.” Reina turned her head to look in front of her after seeing her friend’s reaction. She froze immediately, which caused Ai to look up as well.

In front of them stood Eri, alone. Her purple lips were coiled into a friendly smile. Right in the middle of her face were four very long scratches. Reina reached out a hand though she was unsure if it was safe to do so.
“Eri, are you… okay?”
“’Course I am!” she said in the cheerful familiar tone they had so often heard her in.

Give Us the Detes
The three of them were sitting on a park bench. Eri was in the middle of Ai and Reina. They were both looming over her, thirsty for answers. She laughed nervously as they bombarded her with questions.
“So you guys aren’t going to die, right?”
Ai smacked Reina upside the head with the back of her hand. Reina flinched and brought both hands to rub her injured spot.
“Ow!”
“Why would you ask that?!”
“I was just making sure!”
Eri interrupted, “I don’t think so. Gaki-san is pretty good at controlling her other side and I don’t think she’s a threat to anyone really.” She wasn’t entirely sure her last sentence was true.
“What about you?” Reina was on the edge of her seat. Her worry for her other sixth generation buddy was very evident. She did not get her answer, however.
“So where’s Risa?” It was the question Ai was dying to know.
“Probably…asleep right now.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Eri, what happened to your face?” Reina reached out to touch the four cuts. Eri whipped her head back out of the way.
“I fell, while running,” she fibbed.
“Haha! You’re such a liar!”
“What about your lips?”
“I don’t know, they just have become like that.”
“It gives you a yankii edge,” Reina said in an attempt to be supportive. “Anyway… what’s this ‘other side’ you mentioned? Split personality?”
“Split personality… yeah, you could probably call it that.”
“Oh! Your skin. Is it colored somewhere? Is Risa’s colored?” asked Ai, remembering the symptoms written in her friend’s file.
“Well she has some purple veins… I don’t, except this,” she pointed to her lips. They continued to interrogate her. When she reached her limit in answering questions she stood up, hinting to them that she had to leave.
“Where do you go, anyway?”
“My hiding place,” was all she would give. It saddened her to see that the two looked like they wanted to come along. In reality it really was dangerous for her or Risa to be around people. Ai pulled a plastic bag from her jacket pocket and handed it to Eri.
“It’s an eye patch, for Risa.”
“Can’t we see you again?” the short rokkie was almost pleading.
“Sure.”
In thin air before them, their friend vanished. Neither of them felt satisfied after the meeting. They still had questions, they still wanted to see Risa, and they wanted everything to go back to normal.

Misunderstanding
Eri walked down the sidewalk by herself, using her fingers to feel inside the plastic bag. The shape of the object was too foreign to guess. She started to review the time she spent with the other girls. She missed their company.
“Reina… of course I’m going to see you again!” She turned the corner into the alley. Risa sat with her legs crossed and her arms folded. She was upset over being suddenly left by herself, and she refused to turn her head in Eri’s direction as she got closer. Risa was never pleasant when she was mad.
“Where’ve you been?”
“Got you something,” Eri stated as she handed over the plastic bag, ignorant to Risa’s display of agitation. The sitting girl untied the bag to retrieve the object inside. Its wrapping made a crinkly noise whenever she moved it.
“How thoughtful,” she quietly said to herself, her mood completely changed.
“Thanks a lot, Kame!”
“Uh huh,” she was unwrapping a piece of dark chocolate by the dresser.
“The color is a bit… dark, though.”
It was dark blue, almost turquoise. The piece that covered the eye was cushioned and when Risa put it on she could barely tell the straps were there. She got up to give her friend an appreciative hug.

Hope
Ai and Reina walked with their arms linked down a sidewalk, with no particular location in mind. They were looking for somewhere to think, but no place seemed efficient enough. They had just been stuffed with plenty of information. Inside they continued to feel empty. There was still no solution for the situation and they were separated from their friends.
“You know what, maybe we should try a witchdoctor,” Reina suggested. It was entirely farfetched but the two were becoming more desperate for the way things were before. The girl beside her remained quiet.

Before long they conveniently found themselves in front of an internet café. They shuffled over to one computer and Reina sat down to handle the equipment. Ai stood over her holding onto the chair. After Reina had typed in the search keyword, a list of locations appeared on the screen.
“So some still do exist! There’s one really nearby and another one farther down in the same direction. Should we really go?”
“Why not.” Ai was almost monotone with glazed over eyes. Life was just getting more and more unrealistic.
They rode a bullet train to the next town, the place where the first doctor resided. It took them 45 minutes to reach the outskirts of the town and the front of the run down abode. Water dripped from the sky and clouds were rolling in. It started to seem like an omen that the future would be a gloomy one.

Regardless of the weather, they pushed on. Ai knocked on the door lightly, but the old wood made a creaking noise. Their breath made floating shapes in the cold as they waited. The door opened and a little boy peeked at them from the other side. His skin was very dark, most likely from dirt, and his blue shirt had rips in it. His brown shorts showed evidence of playing in the rain. Ai bent down to his level and asked, “Can we come in?” He backed up and turned around, calling out someone’s name.
“Way to go, Ai-chan, now he’s freaked out.”
“He isn’t!”
A completely wrinkled face appeared from behind a wall to the right. It could have been an old woman or an old man, they weren’t sure. When a wrinkled hand appeared from behind the wall to motion them in, they removed their shoes and left them near the door.

Slowly they inched in the direction of the person. They reached her spot and in front of them was a room entirely bleached with white. The lack of color was so bright it was blinding. They both squinted and walked towards the white table sitting in the middle of the room. Their previous guide was already sitting at the other side of the table when they had completely entered. Reina began.
“Are you the witchdoctor?” she inquired, and the woman nodded her head. Since there was only one seat across from the other, neither of them sat.
“The plague, isn’t it? They were startled to hear her speak. Despite her seemingly old age, her voice was strong and steady.
“So it’s a plague? Is there a way to cure it?”
“Indeed there exists a way to cope, but both personalities must be willing. I’ll give you a little something,” she offered, getting up from her seat. With her dirty old slippers she shuffled out into another room. Ai gave a side hug to Reina.
“We’re going to fix this!”
The woman reappeared, carrying a small sack. She handed it over to them hastily.
“Inject every morning. Do not speak of this elsewhere,” was all she could say before all three of them heard extremely loud banging. The small boy from before came sprinting in to cling to the woman’s saggy dress. She comforted him with her left arm and drug herself to a window to look outside. A violent mob had assembled itself on her front porch and yard. From within the shelter they could hear people screaming, “Give us the cure! You witch! You brought this to the country!” The woman pushed them to the back of the house which opened up to a barren rice field. She left them and came back again with another sack.
“Please, take these with you. My remedies, don’t lose them.”
With that she totally shut them out of the house. The little boy was running towards the far end of the field. In order to avoid the mob, they followed.

The Exchange
The field led them into a forest. On the other side of the forest was another town. Once they had come into the presence of other people the child disappeared into the crowd. They walked around and found the nearest train station. It was a thirty minute wait before the next exit.

They boarded the train, somewhat relieved to see that they had the place to themselves despite the eerie feel. On the train Ai clutched the two sacks given to them by the mysterious old woman, and Reina sat close to her for warmth.
“What the heck are we supposed to do with the extra things?”
“Shove them somewhere I guess. Maybe she’ll come get them.”
“No she won’t, she doesn’t even know who we are!”

It took twice as much time to get back to Tokyo than it had taken to go to the witch doctor. When the two had finally returned to the more familiar environment, they decided to spend the night at Reina’s again to look over the medicine. Eating at a restaurant was a bad idea, it was raining heavily outside and they didn’t want to get stuck somewhere waiting for the weather to improve.

As they traveled through the moist, Ai’s left hand began to itch. She moved the bags to her right arm to inspect it. Something seemed to have poked her in the palm and left her bleeding, though only slightly.
“Oh, ouch,” she said, only to notify Reina that she had acquired a minor injury.
“Oh no, how did you do that?”
Ai looked to the bags on her right. A sharp, needle-like object was poking out at her, and she suspected it of creating the puncture.
“She never said there were needles in here.”
“Ai-chan, what if you just got injected with something?”
“But I feel fine, it’s probably nothing.”
They continued to trudge along, Ai keeping her eye on the bags to make sure no more needles made appearances. As they turned a corner they found their heads slammed against each other, and then finally stunned on the cold, wet, concrete.

Reina rubbed her head, grunted, and screamed, “What the hell just happened?!” She looked in front of her to see a young man sitting across from them, who had apparently been the cause of their fall. She sat up further and he shot up to move closer to them.
“I am so, so sorry!” he apologized as he offered his hands to them. After getting a good study of his face Reina realized that this was the youthful man from the convenience store her and Ai had visited earlier.
“You!” was all she could spit out.
“I’m so terribly sorry,” he apologized again, this time with a very sympathetic smile. Ai nodded so as to assure him they would not hold a grudge, but her sincerity was broken when her eyes fell upon the object oddly clinging to his right leg. She let out an “Ah! Your leg!” and he looked down to inspect himself.

On his right thigh hung the remedy bag given to Ai and Reina by the old woman. When he pulled it off, the needle jutted out confidently as if its purpose of existence was to stab people unexpectedly. Ai snatched the bag from his hand and the one remaining on the soaked floor beneath them.
“I’m so sorry!” she said, focusing on his leg to see if any blood would spill from his wound. Very little came to the surface of his pants.
“It’s alright. It’ll be fine,” he assured her. Nervously they all exchanged smiles to be polite, then carried on to their separate destinations.

Midnight 1.0
Their shelter was soaked. The hanging sheet above Eri’s bed could not shield her belongings from the heavy rain. She had stuffed all she could into her little dresser, except for the remains of her pack of chocolate which she kept hidden in her jacket pocket. She and Risa were without a dry place to rest.

They huddled together under a bridge.
“So let’s get this straight. You’ve figured things out?”
“That’s right! Gaki-san, are you sure you can handle all of it?”
“Oh please, listen to the PPP speak!”
“Then… what happened to us might be a disease, but it’s more of a mental kind of disease.”
“We’re both mental?”
“Hehe not exactly… it only happens if it’s spread to you. I don’t know the name of this condition. Anyway…this infection creates a, what should I call it, an opposite being? Of yourself.”
“Are you sure you didn’t dream all of this, Kame?”
“’Course not! This other being comes out at certain times to use our bodies… and they act very different than how we would. Completely opposite. What I learned about your opposite is that she is very hostile and angry all the time! But that’s strange because she is not much different than the normal Gaki-san.”
“Ehhh? Are you trying to insult me?”
“Kidding! As a normal human being you can control her quite well, as long as you don’t kiss…”
They both looked away from each other. Risa’s face was burning with embarrassment and she could feel the blood flood her cheeks. It made her face warm in the cold brought on by the rain. Eri looked down at the ground, deciding how to word the rest of her information. Risa made continuing easier when she spoke next.
“What about your other side, Kame?”
“Ohhh well, if I eat the chocolate during the day, she really only wants to come out at midnight. If I time the instances when I take the candy I can go through a day without her coming out. But… I don’t know what happens if I successfully keep her in for a long time. As for personality, at all times she is extremely serious, I think. She’s really violent too. I’m always aware of what she’s doing when we switch.”
“Must be nice. I don’t think I can remember what goes on after I’ve lost it.”
An ambulance siren wailed in the distance.
“Seems like you don’t.”
“Kame, if we know how to keep the bad sides at bay, why do we still have to hide?”
“Well I don’t know all the dangers yet… it’s better not to take a chance around the ones we care about.” Risa thought of Ai. The last time they had a conversation she had treated her friend somewhat rudely, pushing her out of the hospital to wash up. She regretted joking about Ai having a smell. She never smelled bad. Now it had been days since they met.
“Hey, what time is it?” Eri interrupted her thoughts. Risa pulled a watch out of her newly salvaged purse.
“Nnn… 11:43.”
Eri stuck her hands into her jacket pockets, both emerging with empty chocolate wrappers. Her eyes widened. She fished into her pants pockets only to feel cloth and emptiness.
“Is there any chocolate in your bag?”
Risa took a minute before turning to her friend with a frown on her face. There was none.
“This could be bad…”
“What should I do if you lose it?” Risa asked worriedly.
“Get away from her. You’re probably going to have to find a way to…change… as well.”

Actually there's more... but I'm sure that chunk could keep anybody busy.

[ShikyoxYaiba]

Keep me busy is right!! I just spent a good amount of time reading that instead of doing my history project!!! ...But it was so worth it anyway. I really wanna know what happens next, though... Gah. Oh, and Kame kissed Risa~ Even if it WAS just to find out what sets her off.

[sailormari]

oh no no more chocolate

poor Eri

[niigakirisa#1]

for some reason i had the feeling that a kiss was going to be what sets it off cuz everything else that eri tried didn't work

[LexLyp]

An update.
Nice
Definitely kept me busy.
Looking forward to more.

[writerjunkie]

This story is really interesting. It's different than the others I've read. I always did like story like this, but I can't seem to make them so well. So I stick to realistic stories. I should try something like this. It's fun and you're doing a good job at it too. I'm curious to read more. =)

[kawaii beam!]

surely kept me bussy! X3 poor kame and gaki >.< plus i wonder what'll happen to ai-chan???? oh~ so many questions!

[suaracheerios]

Woah I'm surprised people are still interested! Well thanks for reading guys. Really embarrassed about the next chapters. Don't know how I managed to write some of it or where I'm going with it now.

Midnight 1.1
There was thunder outside, and it was loud. Reina stirred in her sleep from the noise. She began to lose grip on her dreamless rest as rain tapped on her window at a steady pace. It wasn’t dark in the room because she refused to sleep with the light off, especially in this kind of weather.

She opened her eyes and the ceiling greeted her. To the right, a clock read 12:02. She looked to her left at the figure silently unconscious beside her. The face wasn’t very familiar.
“Eh?”
She picked up her body and leaned towards the motionless mass to inspect it, resulting in her screaming and leaping off the bed. It was a man.

She snatched a pillow and let out a battle cry as she put all her might into slamming the weapon into her unsuspecting victim’s face. The body came to life instantly, bringing tired arms up to shield a very startled visage. Reina swung again, this time whacking her opponent in the gut. She brought the pillow above her head for another strike, and he gently shouted her name.
“No!”
She let the cushion smack him a third time. Assured that the contact left him dumbfounded on the bed, she dropped her weapon and sprinted out of the room. She slammed the door behind her and set up a chair to render the handle useless on the other side.

Inside the bedroom, the man got up and rubbed where he was hit. What was all that freaking out about? Though reluctant to confront the violent girl, he attempted to leave the room. The door refused to budge.
“Reina!” he shouted. There was no response. “What’s wrong with you?!” Still he received no answer. It took an hour of body slamming to get the portal to finally open. He rubbed his shoulders, knowing the soreness would turn to bruises shortly.

Reina was nowhere to be found. Her purse remained on the kitchen table where she had set it down earlier in the night when they came home together, meaning she had not left. A soft grumbling told him that he was hungry. He rubbed his tummy, noticing that it was tighter than normal. Before he could approach the fridge for some rummaging, the cat came out of hiding. Reina lunged at him, this time with a long metal tube in her hands.
“Reina!” was all he could manage. He had to dodge her and maneuver around the living room couches. Twice she hit him on the arm, and once in the leg. She backed him into the front door of the house. Turning around to unlock the door would give her a clear shot of his head.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Who are you?!” Her face was disfigured with confusion and fear.
“It’s me!”
“Who the hell’s ‘me’?!”
“Ai! Ai Takahashi!”
“Don’t mess around! Tell me who the hell you are!”
“It’s me! I’m Ai,” he pleaded for her to understand. He was clueless as to why she would question his identity.
“Do you think I’m stupid? What did you do with her?”
“I AM her! I locked a nurse in the bathroom, we stole the file, and we talked to Eri!”
“Damn, you saw all of that?! Why were you spying on us?!” she continued to threaten him by waving the metal in front of him. If he shifted an inch she was going to let him have it.
“Spying? Reina, why don’t you believe me?”
“You’re a male!” she couldn’t take how stupid he was making her feel. In a second she charged, jamming the metal into his chest. She dropped the tube and fell back on the floor, eyes wide open to observe the damage she had inflicted. He wasn’t bleeding, but he had fallen as well. He leaned against the door, clutching himself in pain. Then she saw him inspecting his hands, staring at his feet, feeling his hair, arms and face, ignoring the sting of pain. It looked as if even he didn’t know who he was. He sighed and made a whining noise.
“What the…” she heard him mumble to himself. Reina cocked an eyebrow and sat up. Even if it would have been dangerous to get closer to a stranger, she crawled forward.
“Ai-chan?”

Midnight 1.2
Risa and Eri sat in silence. They were nervous. One of them could turn into a bloodthirsty animal in the blink of an eye without warning.

Risa kept the watch in her right hand, clutching it tightly. Every couple of seconds she would quickly glance at it and back at the girl next to her. It was 12:06. When Eri shifted beside her she flicked her head to observe the movement, but her friend was the same. Were they in the safe zone yet?
“Geez… I can’t take this anymore…” Risa complained when she thought it was alright to speak. As she finished her sentence she noticed the presence beside her change. Suddenly it seemed colder. She looked far into the eyes that were now staring at her, hungry for human flesh and contaminating more people. They were spooky and uninviting, but drawing away would be fatal. The once purple and pink lips were now a dark violet.

Unwillingly she put herself face to face with the demon in front of her who sat still as stone, waiting. The menacing expression of the being who was once her precious friend was already devouring her from the inside. With her right hand she pulled her eye patch off and leaned in. For a moment she thought the eyes in front of her flickered, and she was staring at Eri again. She did say that she knew about everything that went on while she was out of control.

After turning off her thoughts and shutting her eyes tightly she planted the kiss, entirely expecting her world to go black as it had before. Icicle fingers found their way to her cheeks, hot with embarrassment, to pull her in closer. The other lips responded to her touch by pressing themselves harder against her. Risa was completely spooked and on the verge of panicking, but she couldn’t pull away. She would be digging her own grave if she attempted to run with the physical ability of a frail human.

She initiated a deeper kiss in a further attempt to transform. This only caused Eri to return the intimacy. She kissed around Risa’s lips which still retained the reddish tint of human life. She ran her hands through the girl’s voluminous hair and down her neck, to the neckline of her blouse. Risa’s arms had positioned themselves around Eri’s neck. Her head hung in flustered puzzlement.
“Why?” she breathed, the breath erupting into a cloud of white in the night air. She felt a freezing hand travel down her torso before everything finally became pitch black. Risa’s right eye slowly opened. She flung herself backwards, grabbed Eri by the shoulders, and threw her to the ground. With lightning speed she leapt back to a safe distance and extended her nails into ten sharp points.

Eri recovered gracefully from the shove and jumped to her feet. Risa sent all swords flying in Eri’s direction, but the turtle was quicker than her in reaction and physical movement. Dodging every edge brought Eri to the back of Risa. With her speedy ability she grabbed the girl by the neck and went in for a bite, bearing her teeth as they neared unbroken skin. Risa elbowed Eri in the chest, causing her to lose grip and back up.

They punched and kicked and exchanged snarls until Risa had bitten a chunk off of Eri’s lower arm. The injured girl looked down at her wound. Her jacket sleeve had torn away completely, exposing the river of blood. Such a sight seemed to have further enraged her, and in an instant she had pinned Risa down outside of the tunnel.

The rain was pouring, although it wasn’t enough to dilute the blood running from Eri’s arm. Droplets of blood fell on Risa’s face, scrunched in pain from being suppressed against the ground. Before her opponent could deliver a death blow, lightning flashed the terrifying face looking down at her. Traces of the light-hearted, giggly, always joking “PPP” she once knew had vanished.

She was back. Why had she changed back so soon? Butterflies in her stomach fluttered up, down, and side to side because she knew death was looming right over her. She could no longer put up a fight or escape. She stared into the bloodshot eyes of her grim reaper and at the teeth glistening in the darkness. She closed her eyes. It was surprising that she didn’t find herself dead within a few seconds, minutes even, it seemed like.

The force crushing her lifted. Her left lid popped open to see Eri a few feet back chomping on her own arm. She was sobbing profusely, but her eyes were wide open and fixated on Risa as if to say, “Run.” Risa understood the scene and she picked herself up from the street, without grace, to flee. She sprinted into the busy streets full of night life, ignoring stares and the occasional “Are you alright?” from the random passerby. She didn’t know where she was going; she didn’t care.

Midnight 1.3
Reina stood in the kitchen. She was supposed to be getting a moist cloth for the forehead of her strange guest who sat in pain on her living room couch, but all she could do was stare. She now half believed his story. After she had finished thinking, she pried her eyes away from their subject. She prepared hot tea and the cloth, and slowly brought them over to him.

He sipped once before closing his eyes at the feel of the comforting material on his head. Reina crouched on the floor with her elbows on her knees, staring again. From underneath the fabric she saw an eye peeking out at her, causing her to get up and back into a chair.
“Ah, I’m sorry…”

She recognized this body. It was the man from the convenience store that they had run into again on the sidewalk. There was no doubt about it, but how could he be Ai then?

Unwilling to deal with awkward silence while he rested, she conducted a lively search throughout her entire home. The body of her friend didn’t turn up. She returned to her chair to think some more. Maybe this really was Ai. Whoever it was still wasn’t talking, so she turned on the TV. News reporters were discussing a new disease. Twelve people so far had been quarantined in hospitals, and doctors still had not found a proper vaccine. She was about to flip to another channel when she happened to hear some of the symptoms. Skin coloration was mentioned, as well as passing out. Could it be?
“Reina…”
The unexpected noise made her jump and accidentally press a button on her remote, changing the input and ceasing the epidemic talk. She switched the device off.
“Need something?”
“Reina, what happened to me?”
“How should I know?”
“You still don’t believe me?”
Reina stood up from her spot to sit next to the man.
“I do.”
“You still don’t.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” She said, leaning back into the couch and folding her arms. She was still undecided and reluctant to choose a side. She popped back up as she thought of a question.
“Does this mean you have…”
“I don’t know! I’m not going to check!”
“You have to go to the bathroom!” She chuckled to herself at their immaturity.
“I won’t go!”
Reina swallowed and grabbed his pants, about to find out for herself. He swatted her away and stood up.
“Don’t do that!”
“Someone has to find out!”
“We have to find out how this happened first!”

In silence they thought about the day before, searching for a possible reason. At the same time their heads shot a glance towards the kitchen table where Reina’s purse sat. Next to it were the old lady’s bags of medicines.
“Do you think…”
“Yesterday with the needle?”
“No way!” they shouted in unison.

They rushed over to the goodies and found the needle that had poked Ai and the man yesterday. Dried blood clung to the metal, teasing them, reminding them of the mishap. The man shrieked and Reina ducked under the table.
“My body!”
“What?”
“He’s going to see all of my body!” He grabbed Reina from underneath the wood and pulled her to her feet and unintentionally close to his body. He looked her in the eyes and then began to drag her towards the front door.
“We have to get my body back.”
“Wait, wait!” Reina was trying to pry his fingers from her wrist, without much success.
“It’s cold outside!”
“Oh, right. Do you have a jacket I can wear?”
“Probably not… my dad isn’t as tall as you now. Guess we’re going to have to make more than one stop. How do you even know where to look for this guy? Are we going to go back to the convenience store? It’s late, should we wait until morning?”
All the while Reina asked her questions, she grabbed herself a coat and her purse, then unlocked the door and stepped out. Her troubled companion loomed behind her. As they began walking away from the house, she saw him shivering in the cold; he was wearing only a tight tank top and pajama pants. At least clothes had switched with the bodies. She reluctantly put an arm around him so that he could have at least some form of comfort.

Discovery
They were bombarded with another problem: they were traveling aimlessly. The first time they visited the store, they had not noted their location. It had been a day of hopeless wandering. Now they regretted acting so ignorant towards their surroundings, for they had only been thinking about Risa’s file.

The sidewalks were dim and chilling, and many stores were closed. Reina worried they were putting themselves through a pointless search that could wait until morning. Her eyebrows were furrowed in displeasure.
“It’s probably one by now,” she said, annoyed. The body to on her left shivered continuously as they walked. She looked up at the man whose eyes were glued to the floor.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he answered without turning. She tried to think of an appropriate topic to chat about.
“Hey… what should we call you?”
The question finally triggered a lively response. He jerked his head up to look into her eyes in confusion.
“What do you mean? My name is still Ai.”

Reina looked to her other side, at the street. Somehow she felt it would be awkward in the future, addressing him by that. She turned to face him again.
“It just seems… I don’t know, it’s weird. How am I going to explain to other people, if they ask me who you are?”
“Oh, you have a point… Aoi? There isn’t much of a difference.”
“Aoi? Where did you get that?”
“I think I remember reading it that day, on his name tag.”
“You checked out his name tag?!”

This was strange. Reina had a difficult time comprehending the situation as she was living it. She was talking about a guy she didn’t know, with the same guy, who was padding along right beside her. Only, he was actually her rather close friend. Her knees felt wobbly and her stomach churned. She had never gone through a more bewildering experience in her life. It made her feel extremely uneasy, as if she were losing grip on reality, on her identity.

She chuckled and elbowed him in the side for “checking himself out,” hiding her true emotion. It would only prove more stressful if she outwardly expressed her discomfort. She wanted to believe she was having a dream, a nightmare of some sort.

She felt sorry for Ai, for Risa, and Eri, but she felt sympathetic towards herself too. All of them were going through troublesome scenarios, but she believed hers to be the most unbearable. She was the one observing it all, the one who was supposed to accept it all, and now the one who had to fix it all. Inside she was angry and her rage was only just growing.

She stared into the dark streets, away from the one clinging to her arm. Her eyes wandered the sidewalk across from them, to the people slowly strolling about their business. There were quite a few people out. A couple in particular stole her attention. She watched the girl hanging onto her boyfriend’s arm, looking into his eyes and giggling at their own jokes. They were cute, but they fed her flame of fury within. She glanced back to her left, at herself and her attachment’s arms. They were intertwined to bring him and her close. For an instant Reina forgot that the purpose of this position was to let him have an escape from the freeze of the night. In one quick motion she swiped her limb away, bringing it as far away from him as possible.

He jumped in shock, his expression that of true alarm.
“What happened?!”
When she realized how reckless her sudden action was, she put her arm down stiffly close to her side. Nodding, she apologized and offered her arm again. Cautiously he took it and kept his grip loose as they walked. Reina tried to clear her thoughts to prevent herself from committing any more stupid acts. She looked ahead, only to be reminded of her problems when her eyes landed on another couple.

She felt him eying her, so she reluctantly lifted her gaze to his visage. It made her stomach flip. She remembered when she and Ai giggled about him, after they had left the store. He was cute. But this wasn’t him staring down at her. It was Ai. It was hard to keep telling herself that. He pointed to a place across the street that was open.
“It’s a clothing store.”
“Oh,” was all she could say.

They trotted across the space separating them from the shop. Outside the entrance they saw a figure sitting alone, huddled against a newspaper dispenser. Without saying anything, they strutted in and headed to the back, where men’s clothing hung. A woman welcomed them and offered her service, but they declined. All they needed were some pants, a shirt, and a jacket. Neither of them planned on having Ai’s body switched for long.

Reina snatched brown pants and a yellow t-shirt off the racks, without checking sizes. She was anxious to just get home where she could lock herself up in her bedroom for the rest of the night. Tomorrow she could worry about finding the store again. Tonight she couldn’t take it. She spotted a yellow hoodie and grabbed it, ignoring size again. Somehow, she knew it would fit. He didn’t say anything. It irked her that he trusted her picking out his garments so easily. She stopped in her tracks, furious at how she was thinking. That was Ai! Not Aoi.

She paid quickly, shoved the clothes at him, and marched outside. Reina was embarrassed with her thinking, with how she was handling things, but she didn’t know what else to do. In the cold she folded her arms and leaned against the stone wall of the store. She realized she was standing extremely close to the bundled person they had seen before. Afraid of the stranger to her left, she jumped to the right, causing her to knock into Ai who had just walked out of the sliding doors. When she whirled around her face flashed red. She couldn’t accept it. She couldn’t see this person as her old friend. She could only think of this being as Aoi.

They said sorry at the same time. Reina peeked down near the newspaper dispenser again; she wanted to focus on something else other than the situation at hand. Her mouth went dry. Things had instantly become more complicated. She recognized the half hidden face. It was Risa.

[ShikyoxYaiba]

UWAAAAAH!!! GakiKame!! I hope those two will be okay...

Oh, and at Pervy Reina. That had me laughing for a good while.