Author's Note:

If it wasn't already obvious from my huge time between updates, I should probably let you know that I may not complete this fanfic. But, hey, I definitely want to. So, who knows what will happen?

Chapter 12: Refreshments for Shinobu and Naru

Moaning softly, Naru opened her eyes to the faint morning sunlight sprawled around her room. She found herself looking up at the hole in her ceiling, which made her smile a little. Some dust permeated the air in front of her face. Lifting her head slightly to look at her door, she saw that it was closed. Naru put her head back down and rubbed at her chest, when last night's strangeness came back to her. Remembering Kaoru and his invention, she looked down at herself. To her surprise, no white-gloved hands grasped her breasts or groin. She had on the t-shirt, bra, underwear, and shorts that she had on the night before. There was no black, hockey-puck-looking thing on her stomach, or anywhere in her room, as far as Naru could see.

"That's weird," she murmured to herself.

Speaking of weird… Naru scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes as she turned to her left, noticing a strange smell. Leaning over her futon, she found the source of the smell coming from the hardwood floor right next to the blanket. There appeared to be nothing there on the floor next to her that would emit a smell of any sort. Still, Naru leaned even closer to the floor. She put her hands down against the floor, on either side of the source of the smell, to support herself as she lightly pressed the tip of her nose against the floor and sniffed deeply. Raising her head slightly, Naru smiled as she confirmed the smell in her mind.

"Bananas…"

-…-

Kaoru woke up in his room, his eyes hurting. He hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. Reaching for his closing eyes, he frowned as he absentmindedly jabbed himself with a spray bottle that he left in his hand while he slept. The bottle was labeled "Kaoru's Cleaning Solution – Banana Scented." Giving out a little sigh, he let go of the cleaning solution and snuggled himself more securely within his futon, bringing up the blanket under his neck.

I hope she doesn't notice anything, Kaoru wondered anxiously, thinking about what he did in Naru's room last night…

-…-

After experiencing his first ejaculation, he opened his eyes to see a few streams of white jutting out on the floor, with a small pool slowly forming under the tip of his still-hard penis. A crushing feeling entered his mind suddenly, like he was a horrible person. Nervously glancing over at Naru, Kaoru felt this feeling multiply as his cheeks burned. He knew that he had done something wrong. Trying to calm himself down, he looked around the room while coming up with a plan to get out of trouble. First, Kaoru used his shirt to wipe off a little semen from his right hand and his penis. Then, he would have to get the semen off of the floor.

Wait.

He'd have to put Naru's clothes back on first, just in case she woke up to find herself with her breasts hanging out. Half-naked, Kaoru put Naru's bra back over her breasts and clasped the bra, before tugging the t-shirt back down over her torso. Now, he could focus on the expelled semen.

Maybe he should wipe it up with something. Unfortunately, in his panic, Kaoru didn't think about tissues, as he did not want to use something that was in her room. The semen seemed sticky and unmanageable. My shirt, Kaoru suddenly thought to himself. Looking down at it, he hurriedly took the shirt off his back and knelt in front of his mess. Completely naked, Kaoru felt a nervous sweat on his forehead and underarms as he wiped away at the semen with his t-shirt. It was working well enough. After getting most of it, he used his hand to wipe off the rest of his semen. He decided to wipe his hand against his shirt again.

Walking briskly, yet quietly, Kaoru carried his clothes to his room. It seemed inappropriate at the time, but he enjoyed the exhilarating feeling he felt as he roamed the dark hallways of the Hinata Inn with his body in all its lithe and bare glory. To his embarrassment, and conflicting delight, he had another erection because of this feeling. Donning on his work gloves, the young inventor went back to Naru's room with his cleaning kit in hand. On his hands and knees, he sprayed his banana-scented cleaning solution onto the floor and wiped away with a clean rag. Every so often while he wiped the floor, Kaoru looked down at his throbbing erection. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

With no trace of his ejaculation on Naru's floor, he closed the cleaning kit and took off his work gloves. He went back to his room to put these things away, and then walked back to Naru's room, without bothering to wear any new clothes. Admittedly, he did this because a part of him wanted to do more to her, which made him feel bad. Kaoru paused for a few moments before kneeling next to her, noting her still-calm face. His erection now subsiding between a full-on force and a soft state, he looked at her with a solemn face. "I'm so sorry, Naru," he whispered. "I-I think I did something wrong to you." With thoughts of his sexuality and her body clouding his mind, Kaoru paused as shame continued to course through his body. "Please forgive me," he continued, his voice wavering. Feeling tears in his eyes, Kaoru stood up and walked away. He closed the door and continued to his room. He plopped his naked body down onto his futon, and stayed awake for hours, haunted by his thoughts. At one point, Kaoru thought about Naru's breasts again. He could remember them so vividly. Succumbing to his body, he turned to his side and quickly stroked himself to another ejaculation. Afterwards, Kaoru glumly reached for his cleaning kit and went to work on his own floor.

-…-

Naru, he thought regrettably, I shouldn't have touched you. It was wrong of me. Kaoru threw off his blanket, got up, and set his futon aside as well, wanting to lie down on his specially-made nature floor. All around him, in his room, it looked like a jungle. His room teemed with ceiling-high trees, lush green grass, and black soil that was thick and rich with nutrients that his ecosystem needed to grow. The soil felt deep and cool on his skin as he lay down upon it, making him smile for the first time in many hours. Seeing only black soil, Kaoru was reminded of the black color of Makoto's hair and Makoto himself, which made him more depressed. Should I tell Makoto? he asked himself. He imagined the young warrior's face, and saw disappointment etched on his features, as well as disgust. Kaoru shook his head, letting the soil dig deeper in his cheek. He might even hurt me for doing that to Naru. The young inventor sighed as he got up again from his bed of soil. He brushed off some soil specks from his butt cheeks and walked over to his wooden desk, where his computer was. As he sat down in his chair, Kaoru could hear a mechanical whir above him. Before he could look up, a white-gloved hand shot out of the vines in front of his desk and grasped his throat tightly.

"Gah!" he squawked, trying to loosen the hand's grip. At this moment, another gloved hand shot out, this time with a freshly-peeled banana. It forced the banana inside Kaoru's mouth, before both of the mechanical hands finally left him alone. Oh yeah, he remembered, retracting the banana from his mouth and setting it down beside the keyboard. Maybe I should get rid of that device. Not hungry, he decided to surf the Web. On any other day, Kaoru probably would've spent most of his time looking at pictures of bananas, or researching the latest technology for his inventions. However, this morning, all he could think about was Naru, whether it was about how good it was to feel her breasts, or how bad it felt afterwards.

Maybe I should look at something else…Kaoru supposed. Glancing at his desk, he noticed a blueprint of his Mitsune-pleasuring robot folded underneath his banana. Unfurling it before his keyboard, he looked at the figures and models with newfound interest. Before last night, he didn't particularly care about the sketches of the naked women he made. Sure enough, he looked down at his groin to see a little blood rush through his flaccid penis. Setting aside the blueprint, Kaoru rested his hands at his keyboard and typed away. With a few clicks here and there with his mouse, he began to find things that were just as interesting as bananas…if not more interesting.

-Breakfast…-

As usual, Shinobu got downstairs to make breakfast for the residents. He was in a happy mood, humming a little tune while going through his cooking routine even quicker and better than usual. With breakfast ready on the dining table, he went upstairs to knock on each of his fellow resident's rooms to let them know the news. With Kaoru, Makoto, and Keitaro being the furthest away on the third floor, Shinobu would usually go to their rooms first.

"Kaoru?" the young chef called out as he reached Kaoru's closed bedroom doors and knocked twice on them. For some reason this morning, the young inventor would not answer Shinobu's voice the first time, which was strange. He called out his name again, this time getting a response from Kaoru.

At breakfast, the mood was odd. Kaoru seemed less energetic and cheerful, while Shinobu was the exact opposite. Naru also seemed to not be herself. She avoided Shinobu's confident and curious glances, and kept her head down as she ate. To the watchful eye, it seemed that Kaoru was nervous about something. Fortunately, Keitaro and Mitsune only noticed that something was a little off with their fellow residents, and decided to not make a fuss out of it.

-Later that day…-

In her room, Naru sighed deeply once again at her studies. I am so bored, she thought to herself. On the first few problems, her handwriting looked normal. However, as she continued to work on her practice problems, her scratch work became sloppier and sloppier, with huge numbers clunking on the page in indifferent loops. All of a sudden, Naru heard someone knock on her door.

"Yeah?" she voiced with uncertainty, looking at the door.

Please don't be who I think it is…Naru thought to herself as she pursed her lips.

"Room service," the person exclaimed in a pleasant tone, causing her to tighten her lips even more.

Shit.

"Oh, it's okay. I didn't want anything-" To her dismay, the door to her room slid open and revealed Shinobu's grinning face, along with a large assortment of refreshments arranged beautifully on his rectangular and silver tray.

"How are you, ma'am?" Shinobu asked snugly, in a manner bordering on arrogance. Out of extreme awkwardness, Naru's cheeks reddened slightly as she fearfully smiled at him for an instant before looking down at her studies in an effort to look busy.

"Kind of busy here," Naru answered, keeping her head down as she scribbled random equations and unrelated numbers down in her notebook. Shinobu's shadow passed over her writing. Walking over next to her, he knelt down and slowly set down the tray on the floor before sitting cross-legged a couple feet away.

"You don't want to have a break?" She shook her head curtly.

"No, I'm good." Shinobu lifted a round, white sugar cookie off a jean-blue plate and playfully waved it beside Naru's face. Not getting her attention, he teased the cookie in the space between her face and pencil-wielding hand. "I'm not hungry," she tersely added. Shinobu sadly retreated his hand, pausing before he bit down on the sugar cookie himself. Finishing it quickly, he turned to his tray and proceeded to fill a paper cup with ice-cold water from his cylindrical plastic pitcher.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked, offering the cup to her.

"No." Shinobu frowned and slowly put the cup down on the floor in front of him while keeping his gaze on Naru. Not looking up at him this whole time, she continued to write in her notebook, hoping he'd leave her alone.

"I can kiss you again," he finally said, looking her straight in the eyes. Upon hearing this, she stopped writing. The tip of her pencil hovered over the surface of the notebook paper, and then leaned silently against it. Naru's eyes lowered from the paper, crossing the edge of the table and into her lap as she started to shake her head. In frustration, she let out a small breath.

"Shinobu," she began quietly, "this can't happen."

"What can't happen?" Shinobu asked irritably, also sounding quiet. He remembered Mitsune who was next door.

"Us," Naru replied, blushing as she said the word. She couldn't believe that she was saying it. "Kissing."

"Why not?"

"You're…you're just a child-"

"No," he breathed out angrily. "No, I'm not." Without thinking, he got up and walked around, pacing. "Is that what this is about?" he asked. Naru didn't respond. "I'm thirteen now. I'm a teenager, just like you." She looked on uncomfortably. "How old are you?"

"…I'm seventeen."

"You know, you're not that much older than me," he tried to reason. "Only four years. And we're both teenagers."

"But-"

"It felt so good," Shinobu blurted out, trying to force himself to speak softly; he didn't want Mitsune to find out. "…kissing you. I want to kiss you. It's not like I kissed you accidently. It's something that I wanted."

"Shinobu-"

"How did it feel when you kissed me?" Naru became redder and looked away from his face, paying attention to Shinobu's chest. "It felt good, didn't it?" Resting in her lap, her hands played with the ends of her t-shirt. "That's why you're not saying anything. If it didn't feel good, you'd say something? Wouldn't you?" She opened her mouth, but she could feel an overbearing pressure closing it up.

It's the truth…Naru realized.

"I'm really lonely," Shinobu's voice quivered as he continued, "and it just felt so good to kiss you." He walked back up to Naru, and knelt down next to her. "…A-are you lonely?" Still looking straight ahead, she kept frozen in her cross-legged stance.

Yes.

"I dunno," Naru mumbled. Shinobu sniffled and blinked away a couple of tears, letting them roll down his cheeks.

"Can't I just kiss you?" He reached out and rested his hand on hers, surprising Naru. Her heart started to hurt again with longing, as it always did when she thought of her promised boy. She glanced at Shinobu in a sideways manner before turning her head slowly in his direction. Earlier, it seemed like her face was definitely expressing awkwardness. Discomfort. But now, Shinobu had a hard time reading her face. He tentatively leaned closer to her, grasping her hand as he did so. Naru let this strange feeling course through her fingers and palm, leaning in as well.

What about Keitaro? the little voice in her head reminded her. She continued to lean in, although at a very slow pace…

-…-

"There's one more thing," Mitsune said. "Why did you…want to go to Tokyo University in the first place?" Keitaro looked at him, puzzled.

"Don't you already know this? I thought I already told you this before?"

"Well, yeah," Mitsune admitted, causing Keitaro to furrow his brow, "you have. I just…want you to say it out loud, so that you remember why you want to go to Tokyo U. …So that you can use it as motivation during your studies." Keitaro gave him a strange look. "And, to be honest, I kind of…forgot your reason for wanting to go to Tokyo U. Sorry." Keitaro rolled his eyes.

"Some friend you are," Keitaro remarked in jest. "It was because of a promise."

-…-

It's okay, Naru replied hopelessly to herself, focusing on Shinobu's quivering lips, he already has someone special back home…

-Meanwhile…somewhere in the wet and humid tropic jungles of Brazil-

After a few more swings with her machete, a short and elderly woman was finally able to chop down the remaining leaves and vines. Before her, there was a clearing of pale brown dirt which led to a few small huts and a large, white medical tent.

"Still having a problem back there?" the elderly woman asked, turning around to look at her companion. A few feet away, a teenager in fashionably-tasteful cargo wear struggled to keep her black cat from clawing at her forearms.

"Stop it!" the teenager muttered, with part of her black hair sticking up in the air like a radio antenna. "Ow! There's no more food, Kuro. You just have to wait." The cat, Kuro, with its extremely long ears, responded with a swipe at the teenager's face. Three parallel red scratches appeared on her right cheek. Stunned, the teenager looked down at the ground for a few moments, trying to collect herself. Then, she slowly nodded before reaching for the machete attached to her belt. Seeing this, the elderly woman sighed and turned back around to the camp clearing, trying to ignore the cat's wild and loud screams. Under the shade of the medical tent, a male voice shouted Portuguese in their direction. A thin and tan man with a thick brown mustache ran out to greet the two of them.

"My God," the man exclaimed with a thick accent. "There you are! The other guides thought you were lost in the jungle."

"We were all right," the elderly woman said kindly, sticking her machete back into its sheath.

"Why didn't you follow the rest of the tourists?" he complained. "We were so worried."

"It's okay. We're fine." Suddenly, a loud screeching meow could be heard throughout the camp. The black cat bounded across the campsite, followed very closely by the tight-lipped and machete-wielding teenager.

"You didn't even need to go through the jungle," the tour guide continued in annoyance, "like we said before, we had a nice, clear path for you to walk through. Just like the rest of the tourists."

"Sorry, Miguel," she apologized, giving him a smile. "I don't want just any tour."

"You do realize…that we're not responsible for you getting hurt, if you don't follow our directions?"

"Of course." Sighing, Miguel wiped his wet brow with his forearm and glanced up at the sun in the pale-blue, partly-cloudy sky, before looking back at the elderly woman anxiously.

"We just don't want anyone to get hurt," he said in a caring manner. "…Please, promise me you will follow the tour as we planned earlier. We don't want any problems." The elderly woman looked at Miguel for a few moments before getting distracted by her granddaughter and her cat.

"All right, Miguel," she replied, putting a hand to her chest and bringing a relieved smile to his face. "I promise."

"Thank you, Ms. Hina," Miguel returned. "So…" With that matter settled, he looked around the campsite and observed the other tourists. "If I recall correctly, you wanted to have a video call on a computer, is that right?"

"Yes, for my granddaughter. Do you have a computer here?"

"Yes," he replied, "we actually have a laptop for you. If you'll follow me…"

"Kanako!" Grandma Hina called out to her. Running around one of the medical tent poles, Kanako and Kuro stopped in their tracks and looked back at her.

-…-

"Hey, brother!" Kanako exclaimed, smiling at the laptop in front of her. She was sitting on a green folding chair inside one of the huts. Dissatisfied with her greeting, the teenager softly shook her head.

"Hey, bro!" she exclaimed, tilting her head at a slight angle. Once again, she shook her head.

"Keitaro! …No."

"Hey! …No…"

"Brother…" Kanako softly said to herself. That's it. "Brother," she repeated. Suddenly, her black cellphone vibrated in her pocket. Taking it out, she noticed that she had one new message. She opened it and saw that it was from Keitaro. Seeing his name on the screen, Kanako could see him clearly as well, bringing a small smile to her lips. I'm ready for video chat, she read the text message to herself. Looking at the laptop, Kanako noticed the screen brightening out of standby mode. On the screen, it showed a shaking phone graphic, with the words "Keitaro" beside it. She instantly shoved her cellphone back into her pocket, and moved her fingers over the mouse pad, using her right index finger to scroll the clicker over to the "Video Call" icon. Pausing, Kanako could barely contain her bubbling emotions. Heck, the last time she felt "bubbly," it was when she last saw Keitaro leaving the house for the Hinata Inn. She clicked the mouse button.

At first, nothing happened. Kanako glanced anxiously over at the bottom right-hand corner of the laptop screen, checking the internet connection strength. …It seemed fine-

"Uh, hello?" the small laptop speakers sounded suddenly. Kanako's heart jumped inside her chest. A moment later, a window popped up, revealing Keitaro. She stared at him for a few seconds, just gaping at his pixelated image with her mouth open slightly.

"…Hey," Kanako voiced automatically. Keitaro smiled…and then frowned.

"Did…something happen to you?" he asked. She pursed her lips; she'd never seen the look that he just gave her now. "It looks like someone scratched you-"

"Oh!" Kanako exclaimed belatedly, blushing as she touched the scratch on her cheek. "Stupid cat…Kuro. The cat got hungry, and you know how Kuro can get."

"Ouch," Keitaro remarked with a sympathetic smile. He sat in front of his laptop in his room, his legs dangling from under the furnace table, which was turned off. "How's Kuro?"

"She's okay." They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, making her gulp. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he replied. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Oh, yeah. You're not going to believe what happened." Kanako gave her brother all her attention, ignoring everything outside her gaze.

"What?"

"Maybe Grandma told you, but this girl came to the dormitories just over a week ago." Kanako furrowed her brow.

"Wait, aren't you living in an all-male dormitory at Hinata?"

"Yeah, but Grandma said it was okay."

Grandma? she thought to herself. Usually, Grandma Hina would've told her something like this.

"Plus, you know, being the new manager here-"

"What?" Kanako interrupted sharply, looking at him with shock. Keitaro looked back confusedly.

"Grandma didn't tell you?" His sister shook her head.

"No," she whispered, her gaze dropping down from the screen. "Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Well, it's no big deal. I don't really-" Kanako snapped her gaze back at her brother, feeling another blow…this time, from the person she loved most.

"No big deal?" she yelped angrily, looking on helplessly. "What about your promise?" Keitaro frowned, seeing that he hurt her. "Our promise?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized, rubbing his neck as he looked away from the screen. "I forgot how much it meant to you." From the look on her face, Keitaro could tell that there was an undercurrent of sadness running through the hotness on her skin. "When I said it's no big deal…I just meant that you could keep doing what you were doing, and I could keep doing what I am doing. You don't have to worry about anything. You can keep traveling with Grandma, while I hold down the ship here at the inn." Kanako frowned slightly as she shook her head with increasing haste.

"No," she said flatly. "I miss you." She bit down on her quivering bottom lip. "I want to see you again."

"Aw, come on, sis," Keitaro tried to console her. "You can't just pack up and leave. What about Grandma?"

"She can take care of herself," Kanako muttered, looking off into the distance. Her brother sighed.

"Look," he began, holding his hands out in front of him, "just talk it over with Grandma first, at least?" It was his sister's turn to sigh.

"Fine," she grumbled. "But I'm coming home."

"Kanako!" Grandma Hina called, from outside the hut. She entered and found a disagreeable Kanako looking back at her. "Is something wrong?" she asked, getting the feeling that her granddaughter knew everything. "The tour is leaving. We have to go." Kanako continued to look at her menacingly for a moment or two, before looking back at the laptop screen.

"I have to go," she said disappointedly. Keitaro nodded.

"Okay. Stay safe. Love ya." With the word "love," Kanako could feel her heart flutter. She gaped at her brother once again, before coming up with the right words.

"I love you, Keitaro," she returned in a clear and confident voice. She could imagine the two of them kissing right now…

"All right," he said, giving an appreciative smile…completely oblivious to his sister's true intentions. He waved at her before reaching for the mouse pad. "Bye."

"Good-bye," Kanako breathed out. A second later, his smile disappeared, along with the rest of his torso, and his room. The screen returned to the desktop background. Slowly reaching for the laptop to shut it close, she let her mind savor the thought of Keitaro, before letting her anger return. She gave her grandmother a steely look.

"Are you okay?" Grandma Hina asked, waiting for her granddaughter's wrath. Kanako scoffed, and then made a face, wrought with fake sympathy.

"Are you okay?" she mimicked. It never ceased to amaze Grandma Hina, to hear Kanako mimic her voice with absolute perfection. It was as if her own words were echoing right back at her. Still, this didn't stop the overall feeling of frustration that boiled over inside Grandma's head.

"Stop that," Grandma Hina demanded.

"Stop that," her granddaughter voiced perfectly, still holding complete malice.

"Kanako…"

"Kanako…" All of a sudden, Grandma Hina slammed her fist down onto the table, making the laptop jump a little. Kanako jumped as well. However, it was half fear, and half excitement, that made her jump.

"That's enough," Grandma Hina said sternly. Looking at her granddaughter, she eventually grimaced as she lifted her hurting and shaking left hand from the table.

"Did that hurt?" Kanako asked quietly, in her normal voice. Her grandmother lightly held her hands together, close to her chest. "…Good," Kanako remarked heatedly, a disturbing smile crossing her face. Expecting this response, Grandma Hina looked at her with sorrow. "Maybe now, you know how I felt," Kanako continued, "when I found out that you didn't tell about Keitaro being manager. Or that girl." Kanako scoffed once again. "What are you trying to do? Get him to marry her?" Hina continued to look at her sadly. "Is that what you're trying to do?"

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," Grandma Hina began. "I didn't tell you because I'm trying to protect you."

"Here we go again," Kanako muttered, crossing her forearms. "You're trying to protect me from Keitaro, the one person who I want be with the most."

"He won't return your feelings."

"He will," Kanako growled as she stood up from the chair, seeming to tower over her grandmother. Slowly uncrossing her forearms, the teenager looked down at the ground, lost in her own head. Then, she looked back at Grandma Hina, with a determined look on her face. "We made a promise to each other." Hina didn't reply as she looked back at her granddaughter with tired eyes. Kanako looked back for a moment, and then walked past her towards the hut entrance. Stopping at the entrance, she turned her head back towards her grandmother. "And we love one another," Kanako remarked over her shoulder. "We always will," she quietly added as she turned back her head, letting the words warm her heart while walking away.