Read Or Die Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Dare! ❯ Chapter 10

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Messages and the Paper Sisters

In the far off country of Japan, the sun was rising over the city of Tokyo. Not too far from the shore a larger house was lit up by the morning sun, pigeons flapping about as they began their day. Inside Sumiregawa Nenene lay curled up on the couch, not far from her personal computer. Her work room on the second floor was a disaster area, but it was an orderly disaster, with stacks of books, papers, and reference materials all around. The blanket shifted, a messy head looking up blearily.

The brown haired young woman got up and stretched, scratching at her armpit. Nenene stumbled out of the room, the square rimmed glasses that she usually wore catching the light. Down the stairs she went, moving through the messy living room and in to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom three young women stood in front of the sink, brushing away at
their teeth almost exactly in synch. The tall, black haired woman towered over them all, the green haired girl was Nenene's height, and the redhead was a little girl.

"Good morning, Sensei," the tall black haired girl said to Nenene bashfully once the three finished their brushing, gargling and spitting into the sink.

"Good morning Maggie," Nenene nodded to her with a little smile, moving in to grab her own toothbrush. "Who's turn is it to cook breakfast today, Michelle?" she asked the green haired girl.

"Mine," Michelle said mournfully. She brightened up as she looked down at the little redhead, "Anita, could you help me?"

"I'd better," Anita sighed, "I've had your cooking."

“Don't be so cruel, Anita,” Michelle pouted.

"Thanks," Nenene murmured with a relieved sigh. She had tried Michelle's cooking, too, and hoped not to have to eat it ever again.

The four of them finished up breakfast, then Nenene went back upstairs to her work room. She sat down at her computer and checked her e-mail first, then she called up her website. She was surprised to see a message attached to the Yomiko section, and clicked on it.

"Dan Wisner," Nenene murmured as she read the message, "The Mariana's university?" She called up a search-engine, typing in the school name and calling up their site. She checked through the teacher's listing, coming to a dead stop when she hit a certain name, "My god. Yomiko?!"

A digital image was attached to the listing, and with a mix of excitement and fear Nenene clicked on it. Yomiko Readman looked a bit older, her long hair flowing over her shoulders as she smiled tentatively. A short biography was attached, and Nenene ran through it quickly.

"Where have you been the last five years, Yomiko?" Nenene murmured as she finally sat
back with a soft sigh. She checked her schedule, clearing all her upcoming appointments, then got on the phone. "Lee-san?" she smiled at her editor's voice, "I may be out of the country for awhile. I'll send you the latest pages as I finish them."

"But Sensei.." Lee started to protest, and Nenene could easily imagine him dropping the pen he was chewing on.

"Don't worry, I'll keep to my usual schedule. See you later," Nenene answered cheerfully, hanging up. She opened up her door and stuck her head out into the hallway as she called, "Maggie, Michelle, Anita?"

"Hai?" they answered from different places in the house, Maggie in the dining room under a table, Michelle upstairs in their own bedroom and Anita out on the porch..

"Pack your bags," Nenene yelled, "we're going on a little trip!" Not waiting for an answer, she strode back to the computer and called up her email account. She copied the email address from the Yomiko post, composed the message quickly, then hit send.

"Thank you, Mr. Wisner," Nenene smiled wryly as she murmured, "whoever you are."

Meanwhile, half way around the world in the dorm room that he shared with his roommate Koyomi Kishiro, Dan Wisner suddenly had to sneeze. The two of them were sharing a dorm room due to a computer mix up, Dan having been listed as a female in the system. While the staff had soon fixed the bug the school had already filled most of the dorm spaces, leaving the boy and girl stuck with each other for the time being.

"You catching as cold, Dan?" Koyomi asked curiously.

Dan shook his head, reaching out and grabbing at a tissue to blow his nose. "No," he wiped at his nose, "I don't know where that came from."

Koyomi chuckled to herself as she suggested, "Then maybe someone is talking about you."

A soft sound from Dan's personal computer called for his attention, indicating that he had a message. He got up from his seat and walked over to his desk, clicking on the computer's email program. "I'll be damned," he murmured, seeing the name attached.

"That's the author you emailed, Nenene," Koyomi read over his shoulder. She jabbed him in the shoulder when Dan hesitated, "Open it."

"Thank you for the message," Nenene's mail said, "and I look forward to meeting you soon. Sumiregawa Nenene."

"Looks like she's coming here," Koyomi said calmly, her expression thoughtful as she considered what might be happening soon.

"Oh, yeah," Dan sighed, feeling a little stunned. He had not expected such a fast response and felt a sudden headache coming on. "I wonder if we should go tell Yomiko about this?" he asked.

"It's your email," Koyomi smiled, “and I think she'd be a bit upset if Nenene came here with no warning at all.”

"You're right,” Dan sighed, “but you were the one who actually sent the message, so you're going to help me."

"All right, all right," Koyomi smiled. She looked thoughtful, "Should we talk to her after class, or see her on her own time?"

"What, at her home?" Dan looked at her in surprise, "How are we going to do that?"

"Leave it to me," Koyomi grinned wickedly, leaving Dan with a sinking feeling in his guts.

Dan had the oddest look on his face later that day as they went up to the apartment that Yomiko lived in. "How did you manage this?" he asked weakly.

"Kelly hacked Yomiko's school records," Koyomi shrugged casually. “According to her the security is top rate, too.”

"Gah," Dan made a face as he muttered, "I didn't need to know that." They reached the door together, both hesitating, then Dan sucked it up and knocked firmly.

The door opened a few moments later, and Dan's eyes widened slightly. The slim black haired woman standing there was clearly not their teacher Yomiko, and she was only wearing a awfully short damp towel that barely hid her well shaped breasts. "Yes?" she asked.

Koyomi had to fight to control her amusement at Dan's bug eyed reaction as she asked bluntly, "Is Yomiko Readman here?"

"Who wants to know?" the woman seemed entirely untroubled by her near nudity, her blue-black hair falling around a attractive face.

"We're students from her English class," Dan managed to get out, blushing.

"Ah," Nancy nodded slightly. She turned back to the interior of the suite to call, "Sensei, your students are here to see you!"

"What?" Yomiko walked towards the entranceway, blinking in surprise when she saw them standing there. "Koyomi, Dan?" she blinked.

"Hello, Ms Readman," Koyomi waved casually, not at all bothered by their intruding on the two older women.

"Hi," Dan nodded weakly.

"Care to come in?" Nancy drawled, also rather amused by the whole situation.

"Thanks," Koyomi nodded, all but dragging the visibly uncomfortable Dan inside. They all sat down in chairs around the kitchen table, Dan looking about in awe at the piles of books that covered every available surface.

"What did you want to see me about?" Yomiko asked. Rather gently she added, "If it's something academic, you should really see me at the school.."

"No," Dan shook his head, "It's.. I mean.. " He sighed, reaching into his pocket for the printout he'd made of Nenene's message. "Here," he passed it over.

“Smooth,” Koyomi shook her head wryly.

Yomiko unfolded it, her eyes widening as she quickly read the words. "What?" Nancy moved over, putting a comforting hand on Yomiko's shoulder.

Yomiko gave her a grateful smile. "We'd better get an extra room ready," she passed the note over to Nancy, "it looks like Nenene is coming to the islands."

“Better call Shane too,” Nancy murmured thoughtfully.

“Shane-san!” Yomiko called and a older man emerged from one of the rooms branching off from the hallway.

“The librarian?” Dan blinked.

Koyomi looked at the three adults, a smile twitching at her lips, “Threesome? I'm impressed.”

Shane shook his head, blushing, “We're just roommates.”

“Here,” Nancy handed the printout over to him.

“Not quite what I expected when I showed you her site,” Shane admitted as he looked up at the students wryly.

“You did!” Nancy looked at him, annoyed.

“I think we'll be going now,” Dan said as he and Koyomi swiftly snuck out.

“Poor guy,” Koyomi noted as they hurried down the hall.

To be continued....