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LOVE HINA: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
CHAPTER THREE

By Doctor-T

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It was now midnight at the sprawling Hinata Hospital complex, and in the emergency wards, all was quiet and still. In the room where Keitaro Urashima was recuperating, the only illumination at that late hour came from a few dim, low-watt lights shining at regular intervals along the sterile white pillars built into the walls. The low light inside the ward contrasting vividly with the much brighter illumination cast by the strips of glowing florescent-light panels spaced out along the ceiling of the wide corridor beyond the double doors.

Without warning, the right-hand door suddenly and silently opened just a crack. A slender, shadowy figure carefully peeked into the darkened room. Then, seeing that the coast was clear, the intruder quickly and unobtrusively slipped through the gap into the ward.

Then the stealthy shape appeared right beside the bed containing the seriously injured student, a bubble expanding and contracting out of his left nostril as he slept on, totally oblivious to his mysterious night-time visitor.

A moment later, just above the bed, the black outline of a strange bat-like flying creature also appeared out of nowhere – except that no self-respecting bat had four legs and a tail hanging downwards from its drifting, somewhat sinister-looking form. The strange animal hovered in the air right next to the alert-looking silhouette of the intruder, whom was now bending over Keitaro's unconscious body.

"Don't worry, my poor big brother," the mysterious human shape whispered quietly and with deep compassion to Keitaro's slumbering, bandaged face, his dozing outline mostly indistinct under the crisp white hospital blankets. "I'm here, now, for you - and I'll make them pay for what they've done to you. I promise, they'll all pay dearly for this!"

The silhouette bent down to plant a gentle kiss onto his forehead.

"You know I love you, and that I'm the only one worthy of your love, don't you, my husband-to-be. But those abusive sluts in the Hinata Apartments never seem to be able to get that simple fact through their thick skulls, do they? And now those bitches have done this to you!"

"Rest easy, my love, you will be avenged. It's finally time for me to take out that trash – once and for all."

-:-:-:-:-:-

Naru's first trial was really nothing more than a formality. Unlike Western Democracies, the Justice System in Japan did not use jury trials; instead they used two separate court hearings to establish a suspect's guilt or innocence. The first hearing was to examine the evidence and reach the verdict, guilty or not guilty. The second court appearance was to hear the submissions from the prosecutor and the defence as to their views about the severity of the crime that had been committed, and also on the appropriate sentence that should be meted out to the offender. After these submissions, the judge first weighed up the two opposing arguments, and then announced his final decision on what the sentence for the criminal would be.

There was also one other big difference between the Japanese Criminal Justice System and that of western countries. This being that the prosecutors only took on cases that they were sure they would win. And that was why the criminal conviction rate in Japan was something like ninety-five percent.

Because of the incriminating digital footage that the Hinata Hot Springs Police Department had passed on to the prosecution as evidence against her, the terrified, guilt-stricken Naru had no choice but to plead guilty to all of the charges that the prosecutor brought against her. After all, it would have been impossible for her to deny any of her actions when they were being played on the big screen monitor right there in front of her in court.

The presiding judge ruled that there was, indeed, a case to answer, so the verdict of 'guilty' was given forthwith. Then the hapless Naru was remanded in custody once again, and the date for her sentencing was set down for the next Monday, at 10:30 am, sharp.

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On her journey back to the Hinata Apartments after Naru's first trial, which she had just finished attending with the other three somber Hinata girls, Mitsune Konno sat quietly by herself near the back of the electric tram, for once ignoring the furtive looks of admiration being directed her way from a number of her vehicle's male passengers – expressions of interest that she was used to receiving every time that she took public transport. However, on this particular day, the fox girl had too many thoughts of a serious nature on her mind to even think about flirting with any potential meal tickets.

Earlier on in the day at the courtroom sitting, Kitsune had learned, to her total surprise, of the existence of a number of surveillance videotapes that had been surreptitiously shot at the Hinata Apartments. Furthermore, these very incriminating tapes had proved conclusively to the severe-looking presiding judge, without any possibility of doubt or error, that her dear friend, Naru, was inarguably guilty of frequently and violently physically abusing their hapless landlord, Keitaro. Furthermore, most of these brutal assaults had seemed to occur for no good reason at all.

We all knew that Naru was guilty of assaulting poor Keitaro on occasion. But Ah never had any idea that it had happened so many times – and so severely, Kit gloomily told herself. Letting out a deep, unhappy sigh, the attractive young woman stretched herself back on her seat. She flopped her head back onto the top of the padded headrest, and with her slender fingers interlaced behind her neck, despondently stared upwards at the ceiling.

If Ah had known that something this serious had been goin' on every day since god-knows-when, Ah would have put a stop to it, long ago. But now, Ah'm too late – for both Keitaro and Naru-!

"Um, are you all right, Kitsune?" the worried-sounding Shinobu asked her older friend from the seat in front of her. "Are you feeling bad because you are still friends with Naru? And also because you are only just now realizing what a big mistake it was for you to be defending her previous behavior, right up until she put Sempai into hospital-?"

Then the blue-haired teen abruptly realized just what she had unthinkingly blurted out loud. A huge droplet of sweat appeared on her forehead as she gasped out, "No, no, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that to you, it just slipped out!"

Lowering her head once again as Shinobu's voice broke into her melancholy thoughts; Kitsune quickly looked forward at the row of familiar faces glancing back at her, all showing varying degrees of concern at her uncharacteristically solemn mood.

"No, no, that's not the reason, Shinobu." Yes it is - Ah'm lying to both her and mahself. "And calm down, you didn't offend me with what you said just then."

"'Phew!' Thank goodness!" Shinobu breathed out, her pale face showing her relief. "But…but you still don't look all that well?"

"No, Ah'm fine," Kitsune reassured her, forcing the depressing thoughts about Naru's actions from her mind for the time being. "Ah'm just doing some deep thinkin', that's all."

"Kitsune, are you hungry and thinking about food?" Kaolla interrupted from her comfortable seat on Motoko's lap, poking her blonde head back over her taller friend's right shoulder. "Don't worry; I'll let you have some of my turtle and hot-chilli soup when we get back home. In the meantime, have a banana!"

"I'm sure that Tama-chan won't be in favor of that idea, Su," Kitsune responded, waving away the piece of fruit that the younger girl had thrust almost into her face. "No thanks, Sugah, Ah'm not hungry at all. After hearing what the judge said at the trial, Ah've kinda lost mah appetite."

"Okies. Lemme know if you change your mind. I brought plenty!"

"Ah will. But now Ah just wanna think for a bit longer, okay?"

"Sure, Kitsune. We're really sorry for disturbing you," Shinobu hurriedly apologized. Then she quickly turned her head to face the front of the tram again, the other Hinata girls all following suit.

Lil' Shinobu's a bit like Keitaro, Kitsune told herself as she settled her head back down on the top of the seat once more. Ah should have a word to her about her backin' down and apologizing to people all of the time, too. 'Cause Ah sure don't wanna see people takin' advantage of her shyness and lack of social skills like they do with poor Keitaro!

But first, there's something that Ah've gotta check out with Haruka. Just where in the heck did the police get those videotapes from, anyway?

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Once the four girls had disembarked from their ride at the trolley bus stop on the street just below and along from the Hinata Apartments, Kitsune did just that. After waiting until Motoko and Shinobu had set off up towards the lengthy flight of stone steps that led up to the huge old dwelling, Kit strolled across the street in the direction that Su had run off in, the fox girl intending to pay her older friend a visit.

Sure enough, Kit found Keitaro's aunt where she usually was at this time of the day, on duty in the Hinata Tea Rooms. Haruka's traditional-style establishment was situated at the spot where the right-hand staircase - which also led up the hill to the Hinata girls' place of residence - intersected with the busy road that she had just crossed.

As she walked in through the doorway of the old café and looked around for her chain-smoking older friend, Kit noticed with no great surprise that Kaolla Su had stopped off there as well. And the Molmol teen was also up to her usual tricks of bumming free food – especially bananas - from Haruka's practically indentured cook, Kentaro Sakata, in the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, Kit," Haruka greeted her, looking up from her position behind the wooden counter where she was reading a newspaper, her ever-present cigarette dangling from her lips. "Su told me that you're all back from town. I suppose that you've come in for a late lunch?"

"Hi, Haruka. Yep, Ah have, but – um - can Ah also have a talk to you for a minute, as well, if it's convenient? It's real important," she stressed.

"Sure, Kitsune," Haruka agreed, rising up from her stool and then leading the young woman over to a side table for a little more privacy. After taking their seats, Haruka leaned forward on her elbows and asked, "So what's on your mind?"

"Ah, well…as you know, the other girls and Ah went to Naru's trial this morning," Kitsune explained, a little hesitantly. "And while we were there, both the prosecution and the judge mentioned that they had tapes of Naru hittin' Keitaro. And we got to watch some of them, too. So-?"

"Yes, I know," Haruka told her bluntly, calmly looking the nervous, fidgety Kitsune directly in the eye.

"Ya see, Ah was wonderin'…? Um, those videotapes… The only way that they could've been taken was by someone inside the Hinata Apartments at the time the incidents were happenin'."

"That's correct. They were secretly taken then, but not by one of you girls – or me, for that matter."

"Huh? Then how…?"

"Okay, you've got a right to know, now, so I'll start from the beginning. Do you remember when Keitaro went back home to his parent's house for a break, a couple of months ago?" Haruka asked her puzzled-looking friend, leaning back on her seat and lighting up a fresh cigarette as she talked.

"Yep, Ah remember."

"Well, while he was there, my Uncle and Aunt found out that he was covered in bruises and scars over nearly his entire body. And they noticed straight away that he had lost a lot of weight, as well. So they phoned me here, and asked me if I had any idea about what had happened to him to cause his injuries."

"Hoo-Boy!" Kit breathed. "So what did ya say to them?"

"I mentioned the few incidents where I had actually seen Naru punching Keitaro to them, and they both got quite angry that I was allowing it to happen to him. But, in my defense, I didn't know at that time just how physically and mentally abusive Naru had become towards Keitaro. I wouldn't have stood for it for even one second if I had known. And the worst incidents always seemed to happen when I wasn't around to see them, and I told them as much."

"Ah'm sure that would've gone down real well with Kei's folks," Kit wryly observed. "You being his guardian here, and all."

Haruka grimaced. "Tell me about it! After copping an earful from Kei-kun's dad, I promised him that I'd keep a much better eye on Keitaro's welfare from now on."

"Anyway, they then asked me to keep a good watch on Naru, too, once Kei-kun had returned here, just in case. My uncle suggested to me that I try to get some photographic evidence of what was happening, so I arranged to have a couple of hidden security cameras installed. One went into the downstairs lobby, the other up in the dining hall, where it could cover both the kitchen and the whole dining area. Mind you, that second camera was also put there to discover who had been stealing food out of the refrigerator in the middle of the night – isn't that right, Su?"

The covertly-listening Kaolla Su whistled nonchalantly and looked away, digging the big toe of her right foot guiltily into the carpet.

"Well, to cut a long story short, the kitchen camera filmed Naru's attack on Keitaro the other week, the police subpoenaed the tape for evidence, and there you have it."

"But? But Haruka, Naru's our friend! How could you just give those security tapes to the police without…? Ah mean, this is my best friend Ah'm talkin' about here. Ah know that she did it, but-?"

"A serious crime was committed here on our premises, Kit," Haruka quietly reminded her. "I had no choice but to hand the tapes of the incident over to the police, or else I could have been implicated in the investigation as well, for knowingly withholding vital evidence. And I like Naru, too, remember. But Kei-kun is my nephew, his parents are my relatives, and Naru's only got herself to blame for the serious trouble that she's got herself into, this time. Keitaro's the victim here, not Naru."

"Ah…understand, Haruka. And Ah know in mah heart that you're absolutely, totally correct, too. It's just that Ah can't help but feel sorry for Naru. But - but she did do it, Ah can't deny that fact."

"I'm sorry, Kit. We all know that she is guilty, and so there's nothing more that we can do for her. We just have to let justice take its course."

"Yeah, Ah know… Haruka, Ah'm sorry for bringin' this up, but Ah just had to talk to someone about it. And Ah didn't mean to infer that you…well…that you try to interfere with-"

Haruka smiled and laid her right hand on Kitsune's left arm, cutting off her apologetic words.

"That's all right, Kit. That's what friends are for."

"Hey, Haruka, one last question," Kit then said, bringing up a point about the security camera footage that had been puzzling her. "How come you set up videotape security cameras, and not digital ones? Ain't they a little old-fashioned and out-of-date? And their picture resolution is pretty crap, too."

"Because if you're clever - like Su over there, still listening in - digital footage can easily be altered to erase any incriminating evidence, Kit. Videotapes, on the other hand, are much harder to tamper with because you'd have to physically cut a section out of the tape to do it. And that would be a dead giveaway that someone like Su had a guilty conscience."

"Oh, yeah? Good point. Ah never thought of that."

"Anything else that you want to know?"

"Um, no, Haruka. That just about covers it, Ah guess."

"Good." Haruka smiled and stood up once again. "Come on, Kit, I'll get Kentaro to whip you up a big bowl of ramen noodles, and I'll get you a bottle of Asahi Gold biru to go with it. And just for once, it's on the house."

"Sure, Haruka. And thanks."

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It was a much more composed Mitsune Konno who left the Hinata Tea Rooms after her belated lunch. She now understood in her own mind that Haruka had been one-hundred-percent correct in handing over the videotapes to the Hinata Hot Springs police, and also with her summation of Naru's situation. And now their overly-aggressive friend was beyond their help. So the only thing that Kit Fox could now do was to try her best to remain on Keitaro's good side when he was finally discharged from the hospital – and hope like heck that those incriminating security camera tapes hadn't caught her out in any compromising situations, as well!

A light shower of rain suddenly began to splatter down onto Kitsune as she walked back up the long flight of grey stone steps towards the Hinata Apartments. Looking up in surprise at the sudden cloudburst falling from the still mostly-sunny blue sky overhead, Kitsune felt a cold raindrop splash against her partially closed left eyelid. She shook her head to clear it, and then an ironic grin appeared on her still worried-looking face.

Heh. That's one in the eye for me, and for all the rest of us, too. All of our actions have consequences, good or bad. Ah just hope that Ah had learnt my lesson before those cameras went in?

-:-:-:-:-:-

The Monday morning of Naru's sentencing arrived all too quickly. All four remaining Hinata girls were present in the courtroom on the morning of the court sitting; although most of them were looking a little pale and drawn from their worry and lack of sleep the previous night.

This time, Haruka had accompanied them to the courthouse as well, although she was now seated next to Keitaro's parents, right down at the front of the courtroom, on the right-hand side of the aisle. Naru's sorrowful parents and her even more tearful little sister, Mei, had also made the sad journey to see their daughter's fate The three were also sitting in the front row, but on the other side of the aisle to the Urashima family representatives.

Keitaro's two friends, Kimiaki Shirai and Masayuki Haitani, had gotten wind of what was happening and had showed up for the sentencing, as had Kentaro Sakata. All three of them had attempted to sit next to the four apprehensive Hinata girls, but Motoko had quickly chased them away by showing them the tanto that she was wearing, concealed under her white kimono. Nor was it just her dislike of most men that had prompted her angry action. The four jumpy girls couldn't, after all, quietly discuss during the sentencing their shared guilt with each other at what had happened if there were witnesses present. Especially big-mouthed witnesses that couldn't be trusted not to blab.

Keitaro, of course, wasn't present, as he was still laid up in the Hinata City Hospital. But there was no sign of his younger adopted sister, Kanako, in the courtroom, either, which was very surprising to all concerned for she truly loved her older brother. Grandmother Hinata wasn't there because she was still on her extended overseas trip, and no-one knew where-or-how to contact her. Nobody knew where Mutsumi Otohime was, either, but they all suspected that she still hadn't returned from her trip to visit her family in Okinawa. Lastly, Noriyasu Seta and his daughter in all-but-name, Sarah McDougal, were also absent. But those last two omissions were only to be expected, for Seta and Sarah weren't even in the country. They were currently overseas on Pararakelse Island, engrossed in another one of his 'Lost Turtle Civilisation' archaeological digs.

Everybody in the crowd had now sat through over an hour of argument and counter-argument between the prosecutor and the defense lawyer. The prosecutor was trying his best to convince the judge that Naru's heinous crimes were worthy of the longest jail sentence possible. The defence lawyer was arguing for leniency, citing her young age, genuine sorrow and undeniable repentance of what she had done. To this end, he had the tearful Naru stand up in the courtroom to confess her guilt and her utter remorse with regards to her violent actions.

Then finally the prosecutor began his summing up of the case against Naru and his appeal for a very long deterrent sentence to be imposed on her.

"I put it to you, Your Honor, that Mr. Keitaro Urashima was the victim of a deliberate and systematic plot to drive him from the Hinata Apartments, which he owns and is the manager of, for no other reason than the fact that he is a man," the prosecutor boomed out, waving his arms in the air for added emphasis.

"This dastardly plot was masterminded by the accused who you see here before you today, Miss Naru Narusegawa, whom was aided-and-abetted by at least one or two other accomplices. Unfortunately these co-conspirators have yet to be brought to justice."

"However, the main perpetrator has been caught, has been found guilty on all charges, and now stands right here before you today. So the prosecution is humbly asking for the strongest-possible sentence for Miss Naru Narusegawa. Her justifiably harsh sentence should serve not only as the richly-deserved punishment for her shocking crimes of physical and mental abuse, but also act as a strong deterrent against any of the other co-conspirators thinking that they can just take up the abuse of Mr. Keitaro Urashima where she left off. Let justice be done, and be seen to be done!"

"The prosecution rests. Thank you."

Then, at last, it was finally time for the judge to announce his verdict. He looked at his notes one last time, took a sip of water from his glass, cleared his throat loudly, and then spoke up.

"I have carefully reviewed all of the facts of this case, all of the videotapes and all of the verbal evidence. With such an overwhelming amount of proof for the case of the prosecution against you, Miss Naru Narusegawa, coming to the correct verdict in this particular instance was not a particularly hard task for me."

"Miss Naru Narusegawa, Mr. Keitaro Urashima is not an inanimate object that you can strike and hit and abuse whenever you aren't having a good day, or whenever it takes your fancy. He is a living, breathing human being, with human feelings and emotions."

"Yes, I have heard evidence that he is sometimes clumsy, and sometimes he makes mistakes, and that he is also prone to unlikely accidents. But many, many character witnesses have also reliably informed me that Mr. Keitaro Urashima is also a good, honest, hard-working young man, with aspirations to study hard and win a place for himself at Tokyo University."

"There is no way that I can just sit back and accept that such a promising young man should be beaten and abused – and finally hospitalized – for no reason other than you felt like doing it! You, on the other hand, Miss Narusegawa, despite showing some academic promise, some insight into your offending, and appear to be genuinely repentant of your actions, are clearly guilty of the sustained physical and mental abuse of Mr. Urashima. You are a repeat, violent criminal, and our city will be well-rid of you!"

"Naru Narusegawa. I find you guilty on five counts of causing grievous bodily harm; a further ten counts of common assault, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted murder. Have you anything further to say in your defence before I sentence you?"

"Oh, shit!" Kitsune hissed out, as a loud stir ran through the courtroom. "Ah know that she did put Kei into hospital, but 'guilty' on all of those other charges against her, as well?!"

"Naru's toast," Kaolla whispered back. "Only I can't eat it!"

"It serves her right," Shinobu snapped back to them, the young bluenette outspoken for once. "I saw Naru beat poor Sempai for no reason at all, hundreds of times! So did you, Kitsune, and you never, ever, even lifted one finger to defend him, even though you knew that most of the time it wasn't his fault! I hope that Naru goes to jail for a thousand years - she deserves it for everything she ever did to him!"

"I hit him, too," Motoko whispered, her slender body awash with barely contained guilt. "Shinobu, I'm so sorry for what I did! But I honestly thought that Urashima was a pervert. No one ever told me otherwise…!"

"You never wanted him at the Hinata Apartments, either, Motoko," Shinobu shot back to her. "Between Naru and you, poor Sempai's life was a living hell! Kaolla, you picked on him as well, and even you did, too, on occasion, Kitsune. Everyone bullied him mercilessly, except me."

"I just don't understand how you all could be so cruel to him? He had a few accidents, sure, but he never did anything to deliberately hurt any of us. Sempai just couldn't – he's not that type of person!"

"Y'all know that Ah never wanted him to come to any harm, Shinobu," Kitsune hastily replied, another stab of guilt piercing her curvy chest at what she had just heard from her young friend. "And Ah tried to help him out on more'n one occasion, too. And Ah was the one that came up with the idea that let Keitaro stay at the Hinata Apartments in the first place, remember?"

"Well…?" Shinobu started to say, slightly mollified at the fox girl's words. "I guess that is true… And you did tell Naru off about hurting poor Sempai; on the day we went to visit him in hospital..."

"Believe me, girl, we're both on Keitaro's side, now."

"And you know that I really like Keitaro, too," Su declared from where she was balancing on the back of Motoko's seat. "Sure, I hit and kicked him, but he knew that I was only teasing. But I do feel bad about doing it, and I sure didn't want him to get hurt like he did!"

"I know that, Kaolla," Shinobu sighed, her anger ebbing away at Su and Kitsune's obvious contrition. "But that still leaves you, Motoko. With you it was deliberate, and I know it was! You've even admitted to all of us just how much you despised Sempai!"

"I...did. And I'm so sorry, Shinobu," Motoko mumbled, hanging her head with shame. "I am guilty – as guilty as sin."

"Well, Miss Naru Narusegawa," the Judge repeated, after Naru had remained quiet for almost twenty seconds, her mouth open and eyes unseeing, as if she was in a trance. "Now is your chance to make a statement."

"I…ah-uh? No, I-!" Naru stuttered, her eyes wide with shock and still unable to quite believe that this horrible event was actually happening to her. "I don't know - what-?"

"Very well. Naru Narusegawa, I hereby sentence you to two years in the maximum-security wing of Tochigi Women's Prison. Maybe your time in there doing solitary confinement with other violent criminals will give you time to reflect on your numerous, ill-advised, callous and totally-unprovoked attacks on a totally innocent fellow human being, who you so falsely claimed to be your friend. In all of my years as a judge, seldom before have I heard of a multiple assault case so deserving of a longer prison sentence. But, because of your age, I am forced to hand down to you this lesser sentence. However, you may be assured that you will not be eligible for early release!"

"What? Two years? Oh, no! No, please? Please, somebody, help me!" Naru cried out in shock, realizing at last just what was going to happen to her. "Keitaro! Keitaro, where are you? I'm sorry, Keitaro! I'm sorry! I'm sorryyy-!"

"Take her away," the judge ordered the two prison guards flanking the distraught, weeping girl.

No! No! That's not enough! an unnoticed figure in a bulky coat, seated at the rear of the courtroom, silently thought. That's not nearly long enough for what she's done to him! I see that it's going to have to be up to me to give him proper justice, then? Good!

Once the struggling, piteously-pleading Naru had been dragged from the courtroom, the Judge banged his gavel down onto his desk and called for order.

"I have been informed by the prosecution that there could be further charges pending in this case against the defendant, and maybe even new charges laid against several other residents of the Hinata Hot Springs Apartments, as well," the Judge announced to the shocked, murmuring crowd in the courtroom. "I shall be personally following this case with a great deal of interest. Because, as was strongly indicated by some of the evidence given at this trail, I am sure that Miss Naru Narusegawa was not alone in torturing Mr. Urashima. Thank you."

"All rise for the Judge!" The Court Bailiff called out.

Is that so? The padded shape told itself with another surge of anger. It looks to me like I do have more than just one fish to fry here, after all!

Quickly the mystery observer rose up from the chair next to the aisle in the back row of seats, to hurry furtively out of the courtroom, face shielded by a newspaper to help avoid recognition.

The talking was over. Now it was time for action.