Thing's Aren't So Beautiful Now (PG-13)

[Krazy]

... I hate rings of Sharpies. >.>; They're stupid. YOU ONLY NEED ONE COLOR! NOT EIGHTEEN BILLION.

-kills the PP reference- <.<;;

It was an ... interesting update. And yes. Gerard is an idiot.

[TheClamWhisperer]

=D Nice update, Gerd. I'm amazed that Amy can still be so positive even after breaking her arm. o.o Never did try that volcano thing, but people at school use it all the time for science fairs. -.- Looking forward to the next update. =3

[Sterling_Silver]

Well, if Ketso is a whole galaxy away, then he shouldn't worry about Krazy! I'll take good care of her!

=D

Anyways, you need to updart. Like, now dude. What will happen in the next installment of TASBN?? How many bases will be traversed?? What will Gerd learn next?? =OO

ALL IN THE NEXT EPISODE!

*CHAPTER!

[Thelonepickle]

Well, if Ketso is a whole galaxy away, then he shouldn't worry about Krazy! I'll take good care of her!

=D

"dun wry bou tteh luf of ur lif,ill jsut sukc hr faec of til u git bac k.lololololol."

You were just now an insensitive jerk. Ketso's love for Krazy has NEVER faltered, and then you steal her and try to make jokes about it. >_> How does he feel? You should know, he just READ that post, and now he's in his room. Not baking. >_> Thanks a lot, Silver.

You lose mega bonus points for that one.

>_> He gets back to Krazy, having never even CONSIDERED (much to C_U's dismay) cheating on her, and he'll have to deal with you two being together and not him. And you're making jokes.

>_>

Anyway, good update, Gerard. x3 Teh sharpies do stink, though. D:

[Katattack]

How does he feel? You should know, he just READ that post, and now he's in his room. Not baking. >_> Thanks a lot, Silver.

Ketso must be baking because he sure is Smokin'!

<=D?

</feebleattempttoboostKetso'sselfhappiness.>

I hope Krazy doesn't come after meh. ._.''

[Taokitty]

>< Poor Ketso-san! *Feels bad for him*

I hope there is something I could do to help! ;-;

[Sterling_Silver]

Pickle, you know that's not what I meant. You act like I'm doing this to spite Ketso. I already told you I'm willing to step aside so he can have Krazy back, if that's what makes him happy. What else would you like me to do? Stop joking around? Fine. Sorry for being so callous and insensitive, I'll make sure to keep my mouth shut in the presence of Ketso, for his sake. >.>

[Thelonepickle]

>.> j00 don't heb to be like THAT. >.> j00're still a precious wickle KY, and j00ur luff for Krazuh ish kyute. >=(

Still. >:| Mayhaps I overreacted, but it twasn't teh most sensitive of comments.

Anyway, he's not mad. =/ Or sad. ._. He's in a state of "well-this-kinda-stinks" right now. \=

We're both just on edge. >.>;

[Cloud_Unchained]

Chapter Twenty

~My Actions Hidden In Messages~

I followed Penelope out the balcony and up the stairs to the roof. I stepped carefully on the floor, trying not to step on Mom or Asuka. She ran up the stairs and I slowly followed after her. At the top of the stairs I saw Penelope take a knee and slowly bend over. I ran to her side and she motioned for me to silence. She held her hand closed and fell backwards, and I did the same. She carefully opened her cupped hands and revealed to me a butterfly. It flapped it's wings slowly, as if it were displaying them as its treasure. The orange and black patterns had intrigued me. I moved in a little closer, but the butterfly had flown away. "Does that trick work on other things too?" I asked.

"Nah. I've practiced catching butterflies for a while. That's it,"

"Hmph. So..."

"Last night... I didn't go to the formal,"

"I thought so, seeing as to how I didn't see you there... What happened?"

"I'm sure you've met Alex,"

"Yeah," I said biting my tongue. She probably already knew he was cheating, but... Maybe she didn't? Either way, having her bring up what happened would be the best idea.

"After school yesterday, I caught him with some other girl," she said unflinching. I thought whenever girls got to a touchy subject like that, they'd start crying or something. I also thought you could swing skirts all the way around and have it be the same thing from every angle. Then I learned they had zippers. "So... There went my date for the formal. From what Shinobu told me, I heard you played yesterday?"

"Yeah. I really wish you were there to see it,"

"I know. She told me that too," she laughed. "I was too busy pitying myself,"

"It doesn't sound like you were unhappy about it,"

"I guess not. But yeah. Last night, I was bawling. That is... Until you came. I couldn't get to sleep. I was just too angry with Alex and myself. I just laid in bed, staring at the ceiling when I heard someone climbing up the balcony. My first idea was to go ahead and throw something, but I caught a glance of your face, so... I was more confused than angry. When you slid open the window, I got a little scared, but your words kinda calmed me down. I just, waited. And when you started playing I stopped being so self-centered and I..."

"Well, I didn't really... I just-" I stopped thered. Her lips were in the way. As our tongues met, I felt awkward. I had no idea what I was doing. I just waited, but for some reason, it felt like she was waiting too. She stopped and looked at me with a smile.

"Your first?"

"...Y-yes..." I said shamefully.

"Mine too..." she said blushing. We faced opposite directions in the awkward silence. I shivered as the wind lashed out at the both of us. "Why'd you play for me last night?"

"... The reason I went to play at the formal was because I thought you'd be there,"

"No, I meant in my room. Why?"

"I didn't lie about anything I said last night... So... Yeah,"

"I'm really glad to hear it," she said turning towards me. I turned around and wrapped my arms around her. She kissed me on the cheek once more and we just sat there quietly. It wasn't long before someone discovered where we were. At least it was Amy. She was still in her pajama's and she called for Penelope. When Amy told us that Dr. Pliskin was planning to go home soon, Penelope understood. We sat up and she ran back inside. Amy teased me about what was happening.

"Y'know, you looked like an idiot," Amy joked.

"Probably,"

"...That's it?"

"What else is there to say?"

"Huh..." she said. I laughed. It immediately warmed up as we went inside, where I gave Dr. Pliskin my regards as he left, and Penelope... Another kiss. Sanae was too busy covering Mom and Asuka's faces with whipped cream, Shinobu still asleep, Auntie Rikku in the shower, and Dad was throwing cherries at the mountain of whipped cream. Ketso woke up in a daze with hair all over his face. He walked outside and slumped over the kitchen table. I leaned in the hallway and watched as he shook.

"What's wrong?"

"Megan..." He said. I forgot about the whole SilverxKrazy thing. At least Sanae was quiet about it. I just laughed.

"Cheer up, emo kid."

-End Chapter-

[Katattack]

;-;

Poor Ketso.

*Gives him some Katmonade*

=D It's part caffeine, part.... MORE CAFFEINE! =D

Ew... there was kissing... Well... attempted kissing. xD

Updart!

[Thelonepickle]

That chapter sucked.

"What's wrong?"

"Megan..." He said. I forgot about the whole SilverxKrazy thing. At least Sanae was quiet about it. I just laughed.

"Cheer up, emo kid."

1. Not funny.
2. Hypocritical.
3. I hate you. And your slob of a spawn Kanynt.

[Sterling_Silver]

About time Kanynt got somewhere, dude. All this beating around the bush was just confusing! But still, good chapter. Even though you made an unnecessary reference to that.

[Krazy]

-stares-

They tongue-ed it. :/ -washes eyeballs-

AND THAT THING AT THE END. YEAH, YOU KNOW. I BET YOU ALREADY DIED FOR IT, BUT STILL. TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR. >____>;

Gud. Update. I guess. <.< -looks at Wilson to calm self-

[Taokitty]

>< Poor guy, well good chapter. =^_^=

... I wonder when Pen grew a liking to him?

[Cloud_Unchained]

Chapter Twenty One

~Rebuilding The Bridges~

After getting home sometime during noon, Mom told me that she and Asuka were going off for another sphere hunt. "We'll be back around four. Leave a note if you go anywhere," she told me. Where was I going to go? If I went back to Dad's place, it'd be kinda weird. I didn't want to go while he and Rikku were still doing damage control from last night. Nor did I want to go to Penelope's place. That'd be awkward. Dad always said that if there was a moment that had high tension between you and someone else, it'd be best to let the pan chill before touching it again. Whatever that meant, it probably meant don't talk to her just yet.

"Mind if I come?" I asked. The worst she could say was no.

"You really want to?"

"I don't mind," I said cooly. Besides. Coming to this epoch had lost it's purpose. Might as well create a new one. I left my jacket on my bed and searched my room for the sword that I brought along from my own time. I brought it forward and Asuka decided to stay back. She poked fun at what she called, "our mother-son bonding time." If anything, this was just me trying to use up some time before the day ends. Because once it does, another one begins. And this one was too much of a bore anyway.

Almost an hour later, we were searching in the valleys of the Mi'ihen Highroad. This area wasn't excavated by the now expanded Gullwings, which included Paine, Rikku, and mom, along with Asuka and Dad (who normally didn't go because "someone has to hold down the fort"). We encountered several fiends, but nothing too serious. Mom was quite the markswoman, or at least, a pretty good shot. I've heard rumors that Amme had a better eye, but I've never seen or heard anything about it. And I've seen Dad with a gun too. He's not so bad if you ignore the fact that recoil scares the hell out of him.

We went deeper and deeper into the valley and we had passed the crash site of the hover years ago. The same crash that claimed Sanae and Shinobu's parents. Made me think how they really were. Shinobu seemed... normal. I guess. If you forget the fact that she'd run into walls without her glasses and she'd occasionally fall asleep in the shower. Or at least, it's what I hear from Amy. Although, Sanae was creepy. Not the disgusting kinda creepy. More like the, "let's do this because it'll hurt someone else, but be funny to us," kinda creepy. My thoughts were interrupted by Mom's sudden stop. "Don't move," she said in a whisper. I looked forward to see what the problem was.

A small green figure covered in a brown robe holding a butcher's knife in one hand and a lamp in the other stood in our way. I've always wondered what one would look like in real life, so I was pretty excited to see my first tonberry. I wanted to make quick work of it. Despite their slow movement, these things could defintely do some damage. "C'mon. It can't catch us anyway," I assured her.

"Y'know, I've fought two giant tonberries before," she whispered back. "The first one cast haste on itself and we were lucky to survive because we had the aeons power,"

"And the second one?"

"Even Paine said we should've ran,"

"Did you?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. The tonberry had shaken it's lantern in a circular motion and a subtle flash of light emitted from the lantern.

"...Is that haste?"

"Yep,"

"Run?"

"Good idea," she said. We made a move for the left, but the tonberry had thrown it's knife towards me. Mom used her gun to shoot it out of the way, but I began charging at the little bastard. I would've gotten a swing in, but Mom pulled me by the wrist out of the valley's gorge.

"We could've beaten it! Why're we running?!"

"Do you think I want my son on the verge of death, twice in one day?" she asked yelling. I kept quiet as she pulled me forward back to the entrance of the valley. We stopped by the entrance to the Highroad and we sat on a soft patch of grass. Mom and I were tired. She wiped a tear from her eye and chuckled a bit. "Heh... That was... That was kinda close..."

"...I'm sorry..." I said. Before, I would've probably hated saying something like this. But then again, before, I was selfish and only thinking of myself and how to end myself.

"For?"

"Not listening..."

"It's fine. Just a little worried is all. Well... Very worried. It's not like I know how to handle having a kid. Much less, having a kid like you," she smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're so moody sometimes. Last time I checked, you were in your room blasting loud music and yelling at me last week. But this last night, you bringing up the guitar with you and playing a sweet song for Penelope... It was a little different from the Kanynt that tried to kill his parents when I first met him," she said with a nervous giggle. "... Do you hate me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. She really was trying to get it out of me. I knew I was going to hate myself later for saying it.

"...Do you hate me still? And your dad?" her eyes piercing and judging, yet compassionate and... almost... innocent. Or at least as innocent as mom could get. After meeting Dad, it probably went all the way downhill.

"Well... No..."

"That's good... I was getting the feeling that you weren't getting the message,"

"What message?"

"...I know that we have our differences. And that... Well... I know I'm not the most responsible person. And I'm sure I'm doing doing such a great job as a mother too, but I'm trying... And I love you," she said smiling. I swear, if I never said this again, it'd be too soon.

"...I love you too..." I murmured, just before she wrapped her arms around me and surrounded me by her warmth.

-End Chapter-