How had he failed to realize that the girl he had been hitting on for the last few weeks was an internationally wanted terrorist? Even he couldn't answer that. But, in between worrying about The Father, the hotel, and the real Natsuko's death, there was something that was bothering him.
Who did he like?
The current situation had him placed in an uncomfortable state. Had
these last few weeks even been real? Yes, he was pretty sure. So then it was fair to say that he liked an 18 year old terrorist...? Or did he like the other girl? The questions kept coming. After a few hours, he ceased all thought and decided that it didn't matter at all. One of them was Minene Uryuu and the other one was dead. It seemed selfish to think that way, but this was all he could come up with to finally cease the endless questioning. He didn't think either one would give him a chance, anyway. Maybe Natsuko would have, but now he had no way of knowing.
Days after the incident, he still couldn't stop thinking about her, or them, whichever it was. He did, however, manage to finally come to some sort of conclusion about the whole situation, giving him some much needed, uh...closure. Indeed, he liked the terrorist, not the rookie. At least, that's what he thought.
Natsuko had been there for some months prior to her scuba diving trip, but during that time he didn't really think of her as anything more than a friend. She was, at most, 6-week dating material, just the mandatory thing with a coworker, the short fling at work. That's not to say she was a bad person. On the contrary, Natsuko was very sweet and not too bad looking. Still, after she came back from her trip (or he shouldn't say 'she'), she had a different air around her, as if she had somehow become more charismatic. One thing he noticed was that she was much more confident in her opinions. Usually, she'd just agree with whatever anyone said, no question. After she came back from her trip, she had no problem telling him that his handwriting was sloppy or that he ate too much. She had more personality, which Nishijima had assumed was due to her relaxing trip. She was certainly relaxing now, thanks to the new-Natsuko. Though they looked similar, new-Natsuko looked a little smaller, and her posture was a little different. It wasn't only Nishijima that noticed, the whole department had. Even with these minor setbacks, Uryuu had done a great job of impersonating Natsuko. She was really talented, attractive, and, if he was to go by the Natsuko act, a really nice person.
Videos and pictures didn't do her justice. All the photos they had of her were dark and dirty, you couldn't see her very clearly, just clearly enough to make out some features. Most of the guys on the department, and around the world, apparently, thought she was cute, with killing machine as a hot bonus. She was much cuter in person, definitely. He felt sad when he saw her falling, almost wanted to reach out and pull her back or something romantic like that.
He stopped there. Nishijima caught himself yet again, one's dead, other one would kill him, blah blah blah. He realized how pointless it was to decide on either girl, again. It's not like he would ever see either girl again, anyway. He put his fingers over the keyboard, ready to work. He changed his mind and pulled them back, took a deep breath, and then put his head down on it. Completely hopeless.