Keitaro and Kanako followed Eizo's group back to Gennai's headquarters, as it was much closer than Rikyo's island and the sun would soon be up. The sunproof cloaks that the vampire members of the team were partially made from Kevlar and Aramid, but most of them had nonetheless been torn and punctured in some fashion or another during the short but intense battle. The heavily bound prisoners had been piled into the backs of the vehicles and they had also taken the best remaining weapons from the foreign vampires' stacks and destroyed the rest. This ensured that they'd never be facing the same weapons again and maximized the financial loss to their enemy. In addition, they had captured a couple of filing cabinets full of papers. Both cabinets had suffered some damage and there was no question that some of the information contained therein would not be readable, but nevertheless they no doubt contained valuable insights into the further plans of their enemies.
Gennai personally greeted them upon their arrival, and after a very short introduction the teams were taken to the guest quarters for some well-earned rest. Unlike the Lycan Dens, most of Gennai's vampires did not live at their headquarters, and so all the vampire members of the teams took guest quarters along side their Lycan comrades. Fortunately, all of Keitaro's Lycans as well as Keitaro himself had had enough foresight to foresee the possibility that they might not return to the Den's island that same night, and so they had all packed a small overnight bag and at least 2 changes of clothes. The prisoners were taken to the brig cells below ground by the headquarters' security personnel.
"We go from not seeing one another in years to sharing a room, eh? Such is the universe's sense of irony," said Keitaro with a sigh of relaxation as he removed his blood-stained and battered armored vest, tossed his overnight bag into the corner and plunked himself down on one of the quite comfortably cushioned desk chairs provided with the small table. The room was small but well furnished and comfortable. He leaned back in the chair, and by an accident of the layout of the room his eyes again found themselves leveled on Kanako.
"Hope it's alright with you. With the extra security around here these days single quarters are in high demand but short supply, and I told the personnel manager that we could share a double room."
"It's OK with me."
Standing with her left side facing Keitaro, Kanako took off her cloak and began to remove her armor as well. As the exterior trauma plates came off, Keitaro saw that the underlying protective clothing was a one-piece body suit, with the shapes of additional sewn-in trauma plates clearly imprinted over much of it, and it covered her from the top of her neck down to the bottom of her feet. He heard the sound of buckles being undone and then she stepped out of the body suit. At that moment, had Keitaro been taking a swig of a beverage, this was the part where he would have choked on it. As it was, he only just saved himself from falling backwards. Kanako wore no liner underneath her armor. She now had on only a pale gray elastic bra and the matching panties, and Keitaro had barely rebalanced himself on his chair before she deftly slipped out of those as well. Rolling them up, she placed them on top of her armor, which she had stacked in a neat pile in one of the equipment cubbies built into the opposite wall of the bathroom by the front door. As with most of her kind, her flesh was paler than that of most humans or Lycans, but something about every little detail of Kanako's demeanor and the way she carried herself meant that this fact just made her even more beautiful in an icy and 'cold' sort of way.
Kanako seemed almost as startled as Keitaro when she turned to face him and he hastily averted his eyes. Her expression went blank for a moment and then broke into a weak smile. "Surely this isn't the first time you've ever seen a naked woman in your life, Keitaro ..." she said with a very light note of humor in her voice.
"No ... yes ..." he sputtered. "I mean, yes, I have ..." Keitaro managed in a more composed manner. "Why am I getting so flustered all of a sudden? She's my sister for crying out loud!" He thought to himself as he became aware of the fact that he must be blushing furiously going by burning sensation in his cheeks.
Kanako retained her weak smile as she took in his reaction for a moment, but then just raised an eyebrow slightly and asked gently, "mind if I shower first?"
"Not at all," Keitaro replied in a slightly still more composed fashion, although the strained nature of the composure was heavily betrayed in his tone of voice. He kept his eyes averted and his blush likewise stayed painted across his face.
Kanako stood there for another moment or two before turning and stepping lightly into the bathroom, which was right by the front door.
Once he heard the bathroom door close behind Kanako, Keitaro relaxed a bit and his blush faded. He suddenly recognized exactly how he was feeling - it was very like what he felt on his first day at the Hinata Apartments when Kitsune had come into his room and coyly taken his hand and placed it on her breast. The fact that it was nothing more than her plot to get out of a month's rent hadn't done anything to reduce the sexual experience for him, for minimal and of ulterior motive though it had been, it was at that point in his life still the only time he'd ever laid a hand on that particular part of the female anatomy without receiving an immediate beating. It would remain such for some time after that too. However, he was far more experienced in that department now, and moreover, was quite happy with his partner in said experience. He could claim with absolute honesty to have never felt any more intense than sincere friendship towards any woman other than Naru ever since he returned from his 8 month 'training' stint at the Den after his first full moon as a Lycan, and it had been longer still since the unobstructed view of a naked woman had drawn this sort of reaction out of him.
"Wow ... Kanako's figure sure has developed well over the years ..." he thought to himself as he moved himself from the chair to his bed, settling in on the thick comforter. "She's so beautiful ... she's ... ack! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! What the hell am I thinking?" He shook his head and grabbed the remote control, flipping in the TV in an effort to clear his head.
Kanako closed her eyes and slowly ran her fingers through her hair with a short sigh. Now that she was sure that Keitaro would not reject her for her vampirism, the deep-seated fear that was the very conscious reason why she had never contacted him in the past years, her long suppressed feelings for him were beginning to rise to the surface again. At the very moment she realized that Keitaro was a Lycan she should have figured that a werewolf was not likely to call a vampire a freak, but it had taken the better part of the first day of working together before Kanako was completely convinced that the looks and expressions she saw on his face were only those of surprise and not of scorn. For all the mental work she'd done on herself from her first day as a vampire to accept the fact that she and Keitaro could no longer have a future together, when that old dream of hers once again seemed within the realm of possibility her mindset had been doing a remarkably fast U-turn on the matter. Bearing that in mind, it was ironic that Kanako had actually not had any seductive purpose in mind when she had stripped down in front of Keitaro - she simply had thought to stash her armor neatly away in the cubbies rather than just tossing them aside as her senses of efficiency and fastidiousness far exceeded her notions of modesty. It wasn't until she caught Keitaro's reaction that she realized that it could also be a pretty candid test of what Keitaro thought of her beyond being partners in battle, and she was somewhat discouraged at the apparent results.
"Could it be that he really doesn't like me after all? That he's just playing along for the sake of our working together on this mission?" Thought Kanako as she put her face in water stream. "Is it because I'm a vampire and he's a Lycan? Does he already have a girlfriend? Or ... can he only think of me as his sister and not just as a woman? We're not really brother and sister, and we only actually lived together for a couple of years during our early childhood!" Kanako lowered her head slightly and sighed again. "Whatever the case, I probably shouldn't be concentrating on this too hard right now. We've still got a job to do. And who knows, maybe a little of that 'comradery of soldiers in war' could work in my favor ..." she couldn't help but crack a tiny smile and breathe out a whimper of a chuckle at her last thought. But Kanako decided not to think about it anymore right now, and hustled through the rest of her shower.
The next morning the team met with Gennai, and after brief honors were held for their dead teammates, they, Gennai and his staff met with Rikyo and some more of his advisors in a video conference to discuss everything that had happened and where they were to go from here. Rikyo and Gennai both congratulated to the surviving team members for their initiative and a job well done. In addition, they had a small reward to offer, but it was exactly what Keitaro had hoped for but had all but given up on for the time being.
"Anyway, about those files that you guys captured. They are all in code, and my codebreaker and his assistants tell me that it will take them no less than a week to crack the code and interpret all those documents. They assure me that there is nothing the lot of you could do to help them, and Rikyo and I have agreed that we should read everything in those files and catch up on our intelligence before making our next move," said Gennai. "Therefore, you are all may take this next week off do as you please, although I would ask that any of you who leave here take all your personal gear with you. While it seems unlikely right now, the codebreakers could have a sudden breakthrough or we could happen upon another enemy stronghold, either or both are always possible, and it will be more efficient for you to convene at a given site rather than having to stop off here to reequip first."
It had been a rough week for the residents of the Hinata Apartments. The very next night after they'd returned from their camping trip turned bloody fight to the death, Motoko and Naru had decided to come clean with the others about what had really happened. As it turned out, everyone else also had quite clear, albeit somewhat deliberately suppressed, recollections of Keitaro's warning of the possibility of some large conflict in the future, and everyone's mood had taken at least one step downward. The lack of contact from Keitaro was no help. Granted, he had never contacted them during any of his other trips to the Den either, but that was cold comfort against the knowledge that he was likely to be engaging in battle this time around. Keitaro could already be dead for all they knew, and no one thought that his Lycan colleagues would ever bother to tell them the fate of their landlord and friend, especially given that Keitaro had mentioned that only a few of them even knew of the Hinata Apartments.
"Everyone should be gathering for dinner right about now, what excellent timing we have! This will be a great way for me to introduce you to our resident cook. Her name is Shinobu, and let me assure you, whatever it is that she's whipped up tonight, it will rival the best you've ever had!" Said Keitaro cheerfully as he and Kanako walked up the stairs to the front door of the Hinata Apartments.
Kanako just smiled and lowered her head slightly. "I'll have to take your word for it," she replied, with a hint of mild sarcasm in her voice that Keitaro initially missed.
"What? Don't worry, Shinobu always makes plenty of food, even though they aren't expecting us there will be plenty to go around. You won't have to take my word for ... it ..." Keitaro's words trailed off at the end of his sentence as he turned his head to look at Kanako, and caught her squinted eyes, cocked eyebrow and odd expression that all unmistakably said, 'did you forget who you're talking to?'
"Right. Sorry," said Keitaro as he lowered his own eyes. They both kept walking and were now just a few steps from the top.
Kanako decided to run with the thought. With a sharp and evil grin, she put her thumb and index finger to her chin in a mock expression of thought. "Now, if this cook of yours has a good vein or two, now that I could ..." Her own words were cut of by Keitaro as he snapped his head back up and attempted to drill through her skull with his eyes. Kanako's grin merely widened a bit and she put up her hands and looked away in the classic display of 'just kidding.' To complete her smiting of Keitaro, she copied the exact tone of voice and expression he had used as she said, "Right. Sorry ..."
Everyone was literally pulling out their chairs at the table to sit down for dinner when they heard the knock at the door. Shinobu had been walking into the dining room from the kitchen with a large bowl of rice. Everyone stopped in their tracks.
Haruka reacted first. "I'll get it," she said. She looked over at Seta and he made a subtle gesture with his arm that, to someone who knew what he was getting at, seemed to refer to a slight bulge hanging under his arm and next to his chest in the light vest he wore over his shirt. Haruka nodded just enough for the acknowledgement to be received and walked out of the dining room and into the entryway.
With her right hand, Haruka subtly wrapped her fingers around the grip of her pistol, which rode just below her beltline, as she cupped her left hand around the peephole of the front door. In the low light it took a moment for her to focus in on the two figures standing outside. When she did, she immediately recognized Keitaro, but it took her a another few moments to recognize the second figure.
"Hope we're not interrupting dinner, I thought we'd get here about 15 minutes sooner than we did but the train was running a little late," said Keitaro once Haruka had opened the door.
Haruka smiled thinly. "It's alright Keitaro, we were actually just sitting down, you're not interrupting anything. Welcome home." Having said that, she turned to look at Keitaro's companion. "Kanako ..."
Keitaro could hear the tension in Haruka's voice when she said Kanako's name.
"I will leave if you want me to. I'm not here to make trouble," said Kanako blandly, although she solidly met Haruka's eyes with her own.
With more hesitation than he could remember seeing on her face in a very long time, Haruka shifted her gaze again to Keitaro, as if she was hoping that he would cue her an answer. Finding no help on Keitaro's face, she looked again at Kanako.
"N ... no, please come in ..." Haruka said. She looked as though she were struggling for something else to say, but Keitaro decided to break the ice first. Slowly stepping forward, Kanako quickly followed suit, and Haruka stood aside to let them enter. The three of them walked into the dining room together.
"Welcome home, Keitaro." Naru, who had immediately formed the hope that it was Keitaro as soon as the door knock sounded, was the first to see him, though her expression changed from one of relief to one of inquiry when she saw Kanako.
"Good evening everyone. Seems like I'm just in time for dinner," he said with a smile. "Miss anything while I was gone?"
"Just more of the usual," replied Naru. "Who's your new friend?" She then asked, gesturing to Kanako.
Keitaro rolled his eyes at himself. "Forgive me. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Kanako. Kanako, this is Naru, the cook over there is Shinobu, and that's Suu, Motoko, Kitsune, Seta, Sara, and Mutsumi."
Everyone bowed their head or waved or otherwise sounded off as their name was mentioned.
"Kanako is my sister."
Keitaro's last words prompted the sort of subtle exchange of glances that take place when one of those 'all this time I never knew that' bits of information comes out as Haruka took her seat and Keitaro and Kanako each grabbed an extra chair.
"It's nice to meet you, Kanako. I'll go get you and Keitaro a place setting," said Shinobu politely as she set down the tray of sushi she'd been carrying and bowed again in Kanako's direction.
Keitaro opened his mouth to speak, but Kanako beat him to the draw. "Thank you very much my lady, Keitaro speaks very highly of your work, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass," she said, bowing her head to Shinobu.
Shinobu seemed puzzled. Kanako looked at Keitaro, who gave his nod of approval.
"Take no offense, Miss Shinobu. I would get very sick if I were to indulge myself in your masterpieces. The price a vampire pays for her powers and immortality is to forever give up the delight of good Japanese cooking."
Kanako had spoken so bluntly and matter-of-factly that it took everyone around the table a moment to catch what she had said. Keitaro knew that he had made crystal-clear that Japanese vampires were not to blame for what had been happening, but just to remind everyone and remove any possibility of misunderstanding, he spoke up.
"Kanako is the leader of a delegation sent by the Japanese vampire nation to my Den in response to these attacks from the outside. You see, it was not only Lycans who were hit by these foreign vampires. Similar attacks were leveled against the leadership structure of Japanese vampires. Therefore, the native Lycan and vampire populations are working together to meet this common enemy."
Keitaro and Kanako both noticed a very definite look of discomfort pass over most of the faces around them as Keitaro had begun to speak, although the look dissipated somewhat as Keitaro finished.
Kitsune had done what she does so well and lightened the mood shortly after the introduction had been completed, and the rest of dinner passed more or less normally. Kanako had done her best not to stand out too much and had partaken in the casual conversation, which by the time dinner was over had improved the comfort level in the room, although Haruka's lightened demeanor had still seemed somewhat strained. Afterwards, when everyone had gone their own way for the night, Keitaro, Kanako and Naru found themselves alone out on one of the front balconies, where they managed some more small talk for short while until Haruka passed below them, seemingly on her way to her tea shop. It was of course closed, but Haruka liked to check on things and see how the day went after the shop was closed.
Kanako's demeanor changed immediately, her expression changing from casual to deadly serious. Keitaro and Naru both noticed, but after a short moment of silence, Kanako spoke before either of them did.
"I hate to cut this short, but I think Aunt Haruka and I have got a few old skeletons that need to be buried," she said in a very purposeful manner. Naru seemed to take alarm for an instant, until she saw Keitaro looking down at Haruka and nodding.
"It would make me happy if you two did just that," he said softly. "Want me to go with you?"
Kanako shook her head. "No. If I know Haruka at all, if you came with me she'd assume that I was only approaching her because you had dragged me along to do it and I doubt very much if anything worthwhile would be achieved. As it is I imagine the first thing she'll say is, 'did Keitaro put you up to this?' I appreciate the support though."
Keitaro stood up from leaning on the balcony rail and put his hand on her shoulder. "Well, let me know if you think it would help if I had a word with her myself."
Kanako stood up and smiled at him. "I will Keitaro. Thank you." She took his hand and gave it a light kiss. Without saying another word, she gracefully turned and went back inside. After a few moments of silence, Naru spoke up.
"What's the story between those two?" She asked quietly.
Keitaro looked down and closed his eyes. "When we were younger, those two had about as ugly a relationship as I've ever seen within the same family. For every memory I have of the two of them getting along, I can easily come up with five memories of them fighting. They might have come to blows more than once had someone else not been around to break it up. Neither of us really had much of a family life even before we became family, but after that pretty much everyone on both sides save those two managed at least a working relationship. But if Haruka and Kanako could be in the same room for more than an hour without getting into some kind of argument, that was considered 'working' for them."
"Both sides? What do you mean?"
"Kanako and I are not related by blood, only by marriage," replied Keitaro. "We were young enough when we first met and we got along so well that our relationship quickly became like brother and sister. I like to think that it was our successful relationship that helped steer most of the rest of the family in that direction. Everyone except Haruka and Kanako of course."
"You don't think Haruka is in danger, do you?"
"No. If I thought that Kanako would hurt Haruka or anyone else here, I would never have brought her here in the first place. Kanako doesn't hate Haruka, and I really don't think Haruka hates Kanako either. If for no other reason, Kanako won't touch her because she knows that I love Haruka."
There was yet another brief span of silence.
"Anyway, we will only be here for a week at most, then we'll have to leave again. So let's make the most of it," Keitaro said as he turned to look at Naru.
"Why only a week?"
Keitaro's expression sombered a bit. "This war is far from over. We destroyed an enemy staging last night, but that could not have been their entire force. Captured data is being studied and prisoners are being interrogated right now, that's why we have even this one week, but once we've got more information, we've still got a job to finish."
"So it really is happening then. That great battle you warned us about a long time ago. You're going to go away again."
"I'm afraid so."
Naru was silent for a few moments, then she looked away and down before speaking.
"You'll just drop off the face of the earth. I'll not see nor hear from you for who knows how long, or never again if you should happen to get yourself killed, as odd an event as that might be in something like a savage battle between werewolves and vampires and more vampires."
Keitaro was stung by her tone of voice. There was sadness, but there was also anger. It had been a long time since he'd heard her use that tone of voice on him. Or at all for that matter.
"Hey ... Naru ... come on now, you've kno..."
"DAMN it Keitaro, you don't owe those people ANYTHING! You didn't ASK for them to nearly kill you and then turn you into tool for their battle that has nothing to do with you! We were just minding our own business and they DRAGGED you into their world! Don't these past couple years count for anything! Don't I count for something! Why don't you just tell those packmates of yours where they can stick their little feud and to leave you the hell alone?"
Keitaro had rested his elbow on the balcony rail and put his hand over his face in a gesture of exasperation as Naru ranted. Hearing the rant stop, he spoke.
"Are you finished?"
No answer from Naru. Keitaro let out a sigh and continued.
"First off ... did you know that I am the first Lycan in nearly half a century to continue to live his human life after being turned?"
Still nothing out of Naru, but Keitaro knew the answer anyway.
"There is no written rule per se against doing so, but it's one of those things that just isn't done. If they were as inconsiderate and uncaring as you say, they would have never let me come back here at all. You'd have never seen me again after the night I was whisked away. Speaking of which, with regards to your suggestion that I try to avoid my responsibilities, do you really need to be reminded that they could retrieve me quite easily if I attempted to do so. Only this time, having proved that you all are a such a source of distraction to me fulfilling my duties, they'd probably kill all of you to remove the distraction, and if I still refused, they'd force me to pass on my lineage, and then kill me too."
Naru's eyes were by now filling with tears, and she could no longer meet his gaze. She looked away as he continued.
"You do not understand Lycan society and how it works, because you are not a Lycan. It's a little different than ordinary human society. But you should easily be capable of understanding the concept of duty. Responsibility."
Keitaro's eyes began to bead a few tears now.
"Do you honestly think that I want to leave again? Do you really think I enjoy being away from you, the person I love with all my heart, and everyone else here whom I consider family? Hell, do you think I even enjoy fighting at all, even if I could do so with you at my side? Does ANY of this strike you as having my name written all over it?"
Keitaro was unaware that anger was beginning to seep into his voice, but Naru was quite aware of it, and her own anger was fast melting into guilt, and the sadness she was feeling wasn't going anywhere but worse.
"I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you ... me .. us ... are not the center of the universe! The world is not revolving around our needs and desires! There are much larger forces at work in the world than a young couple in love! I know it's tragic but that doesn't make it any less true! Rightly or wrongly and whether we like it or not, I have been made a part of one of those larger events. You're right, this was nothing I asked for. It was thrust upon me, there was nothing I could have done to avoid it, this is just the way things are and how dare you make me pay for it like this!"
Keitaro's words had their intended effect. Perhaps more of an effect than intended. With very little physical movement, Naru seemed to shrink, and her body began to shake slightly with held-in sobs. At that moment Keitaro became aware of anger in his voice, and the sight of Naru crying quickly disarmed it. Wiping his own tears, he walked over to Naru and gently embraced her in a hug.
"Keitaro ... I'm sorry," whispered Naru, in the sort of whisper one uses when they are too choked up to speak normally.
"It's OK," Keitaro replied quietly.
"I'm just scared, Keitaro," Naru whispered.
Keitaro put his hand under her chin and gently raised her head so that her eyes met his. "Don't be," he said, doing his best to smile. "I am leading a team of the strongest, fastest, smartest, best trained immortals that Japan has produced. Our adversaries are cocky, arrogant, and overconfident. And we've got home field advantage."
Naru tried to smile, although she met with minimal success.
"Don't think that I've forgotten that you and I still have a 'and they lived happily ever after' story to live out. I promise I won't deny you that story. I promise."
Naru just managed a weak smile at that moment, and then Keitaro kissed her.
Kanako had gone around and past Haruka, and was waiting for her at the door of the tea shop as she walked up. Haruka quickly noticed her as she came within sight of the shop. Unfazed, Haruka didn't miss a step or slow her pace in the least. Their eyes met, and a moment later Haruka reached front steps.
"Did Keitaro put you up to this by any chance?" Haruka asked as she stepped up onto the porch, neither slowing her pace as she walked to the front door nor stopping for an instant before unlocking it. But, as she stepped inside, Haruka did not close the door behind her. "Well, whatever the case, let's get it over with. You coming in or not?" Came Haruka's voice a moment later from well inside the shop.
Kanako, who was still standing on the front porch leaning against the wall by the front door with her arms crossed, shook her head and half-chuckled, half-sighed. "Here we go ..." she thought to herself, and with a deep breath spun on her heel and stepped inside the shop, gently closing the door behind her.