It's Labour Weekend here! Time for a rapid update chapter to celebrate.

Acknowledgement time, too, methinks.

To The Dragon Blood Guard, is this update fast enough for you?

To everyone who has reviewed 'Love Hina: Crime and Punishment', especially the regulars, Major Mike Powell III and LeonOrcot, a big thank you. I am pleased that you, Nysk, dsvjr 18, Tin Nyanko, DCWestby, Guardian 777, Miranda, kidcrud, Nivrilan, Eremes, Megatyrant, Blackwaltz, Mr. Lee, motorized-sasquatch, Kyana Va Sala, Starfire99, UltimateXShadow, George Mathew, Hiro and Zidane, Matt B. and all of the other reviewers below are enjoying this story. My apologies to those I have missed, I value all of your opinions.

I spend a lot of time doing the best job I possibly can on this story, and your acknowledgements are a big plus and an good incentive to carry on.

To Sailor Enlil and LonewolfBloodstorm, Naru has been through a lot. Especially from Kanako. But everything that happens to her here is for a reason. Stand by for a couple of interesting developments.

To Halo expert, Concerned and Kotir, despite your misgivings as to the wisdom of the crossover, this story was always intended to be one. But it is almost all pure 'Love Hina', and the other characters who make an appearance are part of the larger world surrounding them. Everything will fit together and make perfect sense when this story (and several others) are finished. I hope that you continue to read and enjoy this story even though you are currently adverse to the crossover.

I have now put up a poll on the wisdom of the crossovers happening in this story. The results will be very interesting!

To Kingswritter, All the girls share Keitaro, huh? Hmmm...? We'll see. And as for Shinobu, well she's not out of the picture yet - not by a long shot!

-:-:-:-:-:-

LOVE HINA: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

By Doctor-T

-:-:-:-:-:-

Haruka wasn't the only one to have realized that something fishy had been going on near the Hinata Apartments earlier on that day. Far away across the light-wreathed town, lying in her bed in her room in Kentaro Sakata's apartment, Naru Narusegawa was also in the process of putting two-and-two together. And she was about to come to the exact same conclusion as Haruka had done, with regards to who was most probably responsible for the sudden mid-morning appearance of her exact duplicate in the Tea Rooms.

Naru knew for a fact that she damn-well hadn't been at the Hinata Tea Rooms this morning, no matter what Kentaro may claim to the contrary. But there was also no-doubt in Naru's mind that her friend and savior had, indeed, been visited by someone who looked and dressed exactly like she did. This meant that the other 'Naru' had to have been an imposter! But who could it possibly have been?

Earlier on in the evening, Naru had been too confused and upset after Kentaro's angry account of the baffling appearance of her exact double to think through properly what he had said. After waiting in vain for Kentaro to return, the thoroughly miserable-feeling girl had made herself a cold dinner, and had then gone to bed early, hoping to seek the solace of sleep as an escape from the seemingly-endless tribulations of her life.

But once Naru was in her bed, sleep had eluded her, so she had once more focused her mind on the contradictory events of this morning. After the fugitive girl had worked through Kentaro's puzzling story once again in her confused but questing mind, the by far most likely culprit behind her exact physical double's shock appearance had suddenly become glaringly obvious. As the almost certain identity of the perpetrator came to her like a bolt from the blue, Naru almost leapt up out of her bed in shock and anger at the new plot by Keitaro's vindictive sister to discredit her even more in the eyes of her friends.

Kanako! Kanako's the one that Kentaro saw! She's impersonated me before, and she's clearly doing so again. But why – yeah, as if I really needed to ask myself that?! It's obviously to get me into even more trouble with my friends and the law! My god! Why can't Kanako just leave me alone? She's already won - I'm a hunted outcast! I can never return to my old life at the apartments with my dear friends…and with Keitaro! My life there is over!

"God-damn you, Kanako!" Naru screamed wildly with rage and frustration, tears streaming from her eyes as she shook her fists helplessly at the ceiling. "Just leave me alone!" Then she collapsed back down onto her rumpled bed, tearing sobs emitting from her shuddering, misery-wracked body.

You scrawny, incestuous, brother-loving bitch! Tomorrow, I'm going to hunt you down and if it was you disguised as me today, I swear that I'll make you pay for what you've done to me! I don't care what Kentaro says, either, I'll disguise myself and go to the apartments after he's left for work!

That plan of action had exploded into Naru's thoughts in the heat of the moment. But now with the gem of the idea in her head, Naru's racing mind began to automatically work out the details of her daring plan.

Yeah…that's what I'll do. And I've got time to do it tomorrow, too, since I'm not leaving town with Kentaro to go to his friend's house in Yokohama until Saturday morning. 'Sniff'! Why, oh why do you hate me so much, Kanako, even before…this happened? I can't help being Keitaro's promise girl! And I love him just as much as you do!

Now that she had the rough outline of her plan of action in her mind, Naru sat up on her bed again and dried her tears. Luckily, Kentaro still hadn't returned to his apartment from when he had departed in a bad mood, earlier. So there had been no-one there to hear her previous hateful outburst at the vindictive girl who had put her on the run from the law.

"If I am going out tomorrow, I'll have to be very careful," the girl grimly told herself as she dabbed carefully at her moist eyes and cheeks with her lace handkerchief. "If I'm recognized by anyone, it'll be all over for me for good. But I have to do this; I have to know for sure whether you're there, Kanako…! And maybe, just maybe, I'll catch a glimpse of dear Keitaro too?"

Oh, Keitaro. I miss you terribly. And Kitsune and the others, too. I would give anything, anything at all for this whole horrible sequence of events to have never happened, and for me to be able to return to the apartments to you all – to you, Keitaro - once again! And this time…this time I'd tell you straight to your face that I loved you with all of my heart, and that we will go to Tokyo University together and live happily ever after-!

THUMP!

Naru froze at the sound, her head jerked upwards in alarm, and she stared off with an almost-panicked expression on her wide-eyed face towards the closed curtains on the outside window of her room.

Huh? What was that? It…sounded like it came from my window…?

CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!

"Who…who's there?!" Naru called out in a scared, high-pitched quaver, her rigid, now goose-bump covered body tensed for instant flight should that become necessary. The terrified girl was only-too-aware that Kentaro's suite was situated on the third floor of the apartment building – no ordinary person should or could be standing outside here! Could it be-?!

"Myuh?"

"Ta-Tama-chan? Tama-chan, you're back!" the now exceedingly-relieved teen cried out, her terror dissolving into a mixture of joyous disbelief the instant that she heard the achingly familiar call from just outside her room. Instantly Naru leapt up out of her bed, sending the blankets flying, and dashed for the covered window. Throwing back the curtains with twin sweeps of her arms, she eagerly pressed her face against the cold glass; to stare enraptured at the turtle's tiny yellow face only inches away, peering back at her from out of the darkness. "Oh, thank god! It's so good to see someone familiar again, apart from Kentaro. Lemme just get the latch, Tama-chan, and I'll let you in!"

Quickly Naru opened the window, grabbed the happily smiling turtle and hugged the tiny creature tightly against her right cheek, tears splashing down from her eyes once again, but this time with joy at her minuscule friend's totally-unexpected return.

"Myuh!" the onsen tamago exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously as droplets of salty moisture bounced off her little face.

"Sorry, Tama-chan, it's just that I'm so happy to see you, that's all," Naru sniffed as she wiped her eyes again, this time with her pajama sleeve. Then the tormented girl's own head lifted upwards and her eyes, red from crying, began to shine with newly-found hope as a brilliant idea suddenly popped into her mind.

"Tama-chan! I've just thought of how you can help me! If I write you a message, can you fly back to the apartments and give it to Keitaro for me? You know Keitaro, the goofy guy with the glasses who's always falling over things?"

"Myuh, myuh!"

"Oh, I hope that means that you understand me?" Naru implored the flying turtle resting comfortably in her hands as she ran for the notepad and pen on the desk next to her disheveled bed. "Hold on, Tama-chan, I'll just write it now, and then you can be on your way!"

I dare not phone the apartments because Kanako or Haruka or Shinobu might pick up the call. I'm pretty sure than none of those three have any time for me at all now, after what I did to poor Keitaro! And the cops could easily trace the call back to Kentaro's place. If that were to happen, we'd both be for the high jump! But this way, Tama-chan will hopefully take my message directly to Keitaro, without any nosy middlemen finding out where I am!

After she had fastened her hastily-scribbled note tightly to the green-shelled back of her ally with a handy rubber band around her body, Naru carried the diminutive green-and-yellow terrapin back over to the still-open window, the curtains swaying gently in the slight but chilly breeze. After a quick kiss of total gratitude on the smiling turtle's mouth, the now hopeful girl opened her hands wide as she extended them through the opening and out into the cool night air. With a final "Myuh," of farewell, Tama-chan floated out of her grasp, and then soared off like an armored bat up into the blackness above the light-spangled city below, and out of her sight.

Oh god, I hope this works? I've got to let Keitaro know that I'm still alive, and that I'm so sorry, and that Kanako is up to her old tricks again, the almost frantically apprehensive Naru pleaded to herself, shivers racing over her curvaceous body as she closed the window and pulled the curtains shut once more. Him knowing the true story about what Kanako's doing is the only hope I've got of ever clearing my name, if she is trying to frame me for even more of her misdeeds? Oh, please, please, Tama-chan, get through to Keitaro safely?! I beg you!

-:-:-:-:-:-

Up in Keitaro's room on the second floor of the Hinata Apartments, the clock had just struck ten-thirty pm, and the diligently studying student was still hard at work. Despite being solely pressed for time, the young landlord had made sure to attend his usual Jeet Kune Do sparring session with Haruka earlier on that evening. Then the somewhat battered student had enjoyed his usual relaxing, muscle and ache-soothing soak in the hot tub outside the laundry room, before retiring once again to his room for yet another bout of badly needed school catch-up time. But now, with the clock approaching the appointed hour, Keitaro had found himself on the horns of a dilemma.

I've been invited to go and visit Su and Motoko in her room at eleven o'clock tonight. Do I go, or not?

Knock, Knock!

"Hi, Kei-kun! It's Mutsumi! Can I come in?"

Looking up from his books, a wide smile replaced the frown on Keitaro's face as his visitor announced her identity. Banishing his impending decision to the back of his mind for the nonce, the suddenly much more cheerful student raised his voice in answer to the query from his long-time female friend, who he assumed was now standing right outside his room in the hallway.

"Hi, Mutsumi! Sure, come on in!"

But to Keitaro's surprise, it wasn't his door that duly slid open; it was the board covering the hole in his ceiling. Then Mutsumi's upside-down head with its twin hair strand antennas poked downwards through the opening, her face bearing a cheery smile.

"Oh my goodness, Kei-kun. Did Naru used to jump down into your room from up here all of the time? She was very fit, wasn't she?"

"Ah, yes, she was," Keitaro answered, leaping to his feet and hurrying over to stare up with alarm at the young woman. "Be careful now, Mutsumi, you don't want to fall through there and land on your head - yikes!"

That was precisely what she had just done! Hurriedly bracing himself for the impact, Keitaro managed to safely catch the plummeting girl, both landing with a loud thump in a tangled heap on his table, which was fortuitously positioned almost directly beneath the hole.

"Oof! Geez, Mutsumi, be careful, willya?" Keitaro warned the startled though still-chuckling girl, rolling unsteadily back to his feet and shaking his now sore arms with a grimace, which was almost immediately replaced by a look of concern for his friend. "Hey! You aren't hurt, are you?!"

"No, no, I'll be fine, Kei-kun," Mutsumi giggled up at him, still sprawled out on her back on his tabletop. "My hero! Fu, fu, fu."

"Ah, yeah, thanks," Keitaro replied, hurriedly averting his eyes from the large and alluring twin bulges at the front of the turtle girl's rather-tight top. "So, Mutsumi - ah? What can I do for you?"

"Um, it's nothing special, really. I'm just paying you a friendly visit to catch up. Oh, my! I'm not interrupting anything important at the moment, am I?"

"No, no," Keitaro reassured her, sitting down behind his table and making himself comfortable in preparation for their talk. "I was just finishing off a bit of study, that's all. You're welcome to visit me right now because I've already done all of what I wanted to do with the books tonight, anyway."

"Oh, goody!" Mutsumi slipped off the tabletop and then sat down on the cushion opposite to him, before looking around his room with a surprised expression on her lovely face. "Oh! So where is your sister, Kanako? I thought that she might be in here with you at the moment."

"Kanako? No, she told me earlier on today that she was going to be really busy tonight since the Inn opens tomorrow morning," Keitaro informed her. "At the moment I think that she's gone to deliver yukata uniforms to the two new girls living here, Chibiusa and Hotaru. If they're going to be part-timers at the Inn, they need to have the correct uniform on hand for tomorrow, just in case of any emergencies when they might be needed in a hurry. Then Kanako was going to give them both a crash-course in their duties, and after that she wanted to go to bed early, since she's going to be manning the lobby reception counter tomorrow. Apparently she's rostered herself on for the entire day, from seven in the morning right up until midnight. Heh, heh! So I guess that I won't be seeing too much of my little sister either tonight or tomorrow, eh?"

"Oh my goodness! She's very hard working, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is. Kanako's always wanted to run an inn with me, and now that this is her big chance to achieve her aim, there's no way that she's going to blow it by not being there right on the spot for the opening day. Hey, that reminds me. Wasn't Aunt Haruka going to offer you a part-time job at the Tea Rooms? I clean forgot to ask you both about it at dinner."

"Yes, I got the job, Kei-kun," Mutsumi told him with delight. "I start tomorrow evening, well after our classes at Sasaki Seminar have finished, so I have plenty of time to make it back to the apartments before I commence my shift. I will be working from five o'clock to eight o'clock, Monday to Friday from now on."

Keitaro gave her a cheerful smile. "Congratulations, Mutsumi! I knew that Aunt Haruka would hire you if you really wanted the job. And those hours should still leave you with enough free time to study as well, so you won't fall behind on your class work."

"Thank you, Kei-kun. I'm really glad that things are working out so well for me here at the train station. It looks like my luck's in, doesn't it? Fu, fu."

Things are really beginning to work out for me now, as well, Keitaro thought happily to himself, his mind suddenly filled with visions of the gorgeous female boarders who for so long had been as far out of his reach as the moon – but no longer. Now that Naru has left the apartments and is probably gone for good, my whole life seems to be falling into place. With Naru gone, Motoko, especially, has done a complete U-turn in her treatment of me. I still can't believe that I'm actually dating both her and Shinobu…and I could date Su, as well, if I decided to-!

"Hey, I hear that you've been sleeping with some of the other girls here," Mutsumi suddenly declared to the moony-eyed Keitaro, jolting him out of his daydream and back to the present in a flash. "Fu, fu, fu! So when is it going to be my turn for a little bit of action from you, Kei-kun?"

"Wha-?! Er, well, that is...? Um...are you telling me that you want to date me, too, Mutsumi?" Keitaro stammered, his cheeks flushing pink at her very forward words. "Unless you're joking, of course?" he hastened to add. "Eheh, heh!"

Did she really just say what I thought that she did?!

"Of course I want to date you, Kei-kun," Mutsumi replied, reaching forward to gently touch his chin. "And do more than just that, as well. You know that I love you. I've loved you ever since we were both little kids at the Hinata Apartments; playing together with Naru in the sandpit at the park, remember? And I know that I have promised to step back and support your relationship with Naru – if it were to ever actually happen, of course? But now that Naru's gone, I don't have to hold back any more."

"I…see," Keitaro said, looking flustered but happy at the same time at yet another gorgeous girl declaring her love for him.

Oh, man! Mutsumi, too! Even a month ago, I would have thought that this type of luck with women ever happening to me was nothing but an impossible dream! I really like Mutsumi, but I don't know how the heck I'm ever going to find time to fit her into my busy schedule. What with Shinobu, Motoko and Su…and Kanako…all after me, as well, I already don't have enough time to myself as it is!

"Um, okay, sure," Keitaro finally agreed. "I'd like to date you, if you really, really, really want me to, that is? But, Mutsumi, I have to tell you that I'm already – um – dating some of the other girls here. That won't be a problem for you…will it?"

Mutsumi laughed at his expression. "Oh, I already know all about that, Kei-kun. And it doesn't bother me in the slightest! Fu, fu. In fact, we can double or triple-date with them all, if you like? I don't mind, it'd be fun."

"Really? Okay then, let's, um, do it, I suppose – date, I mean, not the other thing!"

Mutsumi giggled, then leaned forward even more to grasp both of Keitaro's hands in hers, and then she planted a soft, moist kiss directly onto Keitaro's unsuspecting lips.

"There, we've sealed it with a kiss! Oh my, how forward of me. And I haven't even been drinking. Not like I was when Sarah started trying to set me up with Kitsune this morning."

Wow…! Mutsumi's kiss felt good! Keitaro thought happily, absent-mindedly licking his lips that were still tingling from the warmth of her unexpected smooch. I guess that I'm probably buying myself even more trouble by agreeing to date Mutsumi, as well as the others, but I really do like her a lot. I haven't forgotten what Aunt Haruka told me, but dating them all is the only way for me to find out for sure just which one of the girls I like the best. And I'm only dating some of them, not sleeping with them, so what the heck…? But – what was that Mutsumi just said about Kit?!

"Huh? Did you just say that Sarah is trying to get you to go out with Kitsune?" Keitaro asked, gaping with surprise at his brand new, part-time girlfriend. "What on earth is she trying to do something like that for? That's kinda crazy, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure, but I suspect Sarah's trying to hook us up because she's hoping that if Kitsune and I get together, that will leave the way more clear for Su to catch you, Kei-kun," Mutsumi guessed. "Su and Sarah are pals, after all, aren't they? And this sounds like just the sort of thing that Sarah would do to help her friend."

"You don't say," Keitaro laughed, feeling so good about his abrupt and most pleasant change of status with Mutsumi that he was quite unable at that moment to be outraged at the young American girl's behavior. "Why, that little brat! When she's boarding here, Sarah's more trouble than a barrel of monkeys to me, but still, I guess it's probably just her child's enthusiasm and high-spirits coming to the fore, like always. But Su definitely is after me, so you're probably right about that being her ulterior motive."

"Kitsune will be wild, too, once she figures out what that girl is plotting," Mutsumi added, laughing along with him. "But I'm wise to what she's trying to do. Fu, fu, fu! I'm secretly going along with it for the moment, just so that I can find out if I'm correct about what Sarah is really planning."

"But why on earth did Sarah think that you and Kitsune fancied each other in the first place?" Keitaro wanted to know, a puzzled tone now in his voice. "I know that you – 'ahem!' - like to kiss people, especially after you've had a few drinks, but there has to be more to it than just that."

Geez, Mutsumi wasn't drinking just before she kissed me just then, was she? He asked himself, that worrying thought popping into his head as he pondered his own comment. No, no, I would have smelled it on her breath if she had been. I…guess that she really does want to go out with me. Wow!

"Well, quite apart from the fact that Kitsune and I shared a sleeping bag last night, Sarah seemed to be all excited that Kitsune had a big bruise on her neck this morning," Mutsumi explained. "But it wasn't me who gave that to her, it was Tama-chan. I know, because I was awake at the time it happened. When Tama-chan first arrived at our campsite last night, she got a little cold, so she climbed into bed with us to keep warm. Then Kitsune accidentally rolled over onto Tama-chan in her sleep, so the turtle bit her on the neck to get Kitsune to move, that's all. And since Kitsune and Sarah only saw Tama-chan after they both had woken up this morning, they both assumed that the turtle had only just arrived there that very minute, and also that I must have been the one who gave Kitsune that love-bite on her neck, you see? Fu, fu, fu!"

"Is that so? Oh, brother! Sarah is as bad as Naru is at jumping to conclusions," Keitaro chuckled, an amused look on his face at her tale. "So are you going to set Sarah straight, or shall I?"

"Not just yet, Kei-kun," Mutsumi giggled playfully. "Playing Sarah's little game is fun! And I'm interested to see just what else she's going to try to get Kitsune and me to become an item."

"What she really needs is a darn good spanking," Keitaro declared. Then he looked at his clock again, and a wry expression crossed his face as he saw what the time now was. "Hmm? Well, as much as I've enjoyed our talk tonight, Mutsumi, I guess that I'd better get myself up and get ready to go out. Sorry."

"What? Are you going somewhere tonight, Kei-kun?" Mutsumi asked, looking at him with surprise. "It's getting quite late, you know?"

"Urm, yeah. You see, I kinda promised Su that I'd pay her and Motoko a visit in Motoko's room at eleven o'clock tonight," Keitaro explained. "I should really go to check up on Motoko, but I'm really tired from last night myself, so I'd prefer if I didn't have to stay for too long because we've got cram school again tomorrow. But once Su has me there in Motoko's room, I've a feeling that it might be a bit of a battle for me to escape again for the rest of the night."

"Oh me, oh my? Do you want me to come along with you, Kei-kun? That way she'd have to behave, and being with me would give you an excuse to leave afterwards."

"Yeah…? Yeah! Great idea, Mutsumi! Heh, heh. Let's do just that," Keitaro chuckled, delighted that the turtle girl had come up with a workable solution to his dilemma. "It's not that I don't like all of this positive attention from Su and Motoko," he hurriedly clarified. "It's just that…well; tonight's not really a good night for me. With school again tomorrow, I really do need a good night's sleep."

"I understand, Kei-kun." Mutsumi leaned forward and kissed him on the lips again, her eyes shining. "Just leave it all to me."

-:-:-:-:-:-

Later on that night, up in her darkened room, Motoko tossed and turned on her futon, unable to drop off to sleep. This unhappy and taxing state of sleep-deprivation had been plaguing her for days now, with the sole exception of last night when Motoko had been so exhausted from her late-night study that she had fallen asleep almost from the moment that her head had touched her pillow. But tonight, despite the welcome and comforting presence of Su once again sleeping in her futon next to her, it looked like she was back to the same old weary and mind-sapping struggle to nod off into blissful oblivion, yet again.

As Su had promised her earlier on in the day, dear Keitaro had indeed paid them a visit just over an hour-and-a-half ago. But what had put a real dampener on the happy event was that Mutsumi was accompanying him at the time. Then her sister, Tsuruko, had showed up as well, to check on Motoko's healing injuries and for a talk with them all. And Oneesan had still been there in her room when Keitaro (who was secretly very relieved at Tsuruko's somewhat-intimidating presence having kept Su in line during his visit) and Mutsumi had finally departed half-an-hour later, her older sister not leaving until another ten minutes after that.

Su had been disappointed that she hadn't gotten any action from Keitaro because of the crowd, but Motoko hadn't been too troubled by the non-event. At least Urashima had showed up to see her, which meant that he was concerned for her welfare. And while the recuperating girl had been gladdened by that thought, the sight of his smiling face had also had the unexpected side-effect of reinforcing her current mental insecurity.

Motoko instinctively knew what the root cause of her nightly bout of insomnia was. The problem was her unforgiving conscience. The fact that she still hadn't managed to come to terms with herself for the brutal way in which she used to treat Keitaro was behind her sleeplessness. Furthermore, what Tsuruko had said that morning about her lack of honor in trying to kill an unarmed, defenseless and innocent man had also really hit home hard, compounding her problem. And to the remorseful kendo girl, whose honor was her all; the guilt about what she had done now kept running through her mind, over-and-over again, in an endless loop of self-blame, denying her the sleep that her body craved so urgently.

But…if Keitaro and Oneesan have both forgiven me for my crimes, then why do I still feel this way? I can't help but feel unworthy…!

Just then, the frustrated and weary Motoko was distracted from her quandary by an unexpected sound. Lying in her futon next to her, Kaolla Su was giggling in her sleep once again, as she was wont to do from time-to-time. Looking across at her girlfriend, the bone-tired kendo girl felt a stab of envy for the carefree state of mind that her lover must have for the young Molmol girl to be able to rest with such pleasant dreams as she obviously was now having. After the last of their late-night visitors had left, in an effort to cheer each other up, Su and Motoko had then made gentle, unhurried love to each other. Su had fallen asleep almost instantly after they had finished, but the frustrated kendo girl was still as wide-awake as ever. The tender ministrations of the younger girl had succeeded in giving Motoko's bruised and aching body the total relaxation that it needed, but not her mind…

But, seconds later, Motoko realized that she had prejudged her blissfully-slumbering friend too soon. Without warning, the peaceable smile on Su's face faded away, as did her chuckles of merriment, and her slumbering body froze totally rigid as if in fear. Then she began to sob in her sleep in a broken voice, tears trickling down her cheeks as the Molmol girl began to jerk and thrash about under the covers, kicking the blanket half-off her now shivering body, leaving her long, shapely legs bare to the cold night air in the room.

What? Su must be having a bad dream. But…she never has bad dreams! I wonder what the matter could be. Maybe I'd best wake her…?

Instinctively, Motoko rolled over and reached for her distressed lover, then hesitated, her outstretched arm frozen in place in mid-air.

Su had stopped whimpering, and now had begun to smile once more, her sudden nightmare obviously at an end.

Wow. I wonder what that was all about? Motoko mused, the startled expression still on her weary face at what she had just witnessed. I must ask Su about it tomorrow morning. It's not like her at all to have such bad dreams all of a sudden. What on earth could possibly be wrong to trigger one like that?

Seeing that her companion was once more sleeping peacefully, Motoko pulled the snug duvet back over her lover's legs. Then the girl rolled over into a more comfortable position on her still-aching back, her hands slipping down behind her head, fingers interlaced, to stare up with worry at her shadowy ceiling.

And that brings me back to my own pressing problem. I can't keep going on like this - night after night with only a few, short periods of disturbed napping! It is beginning to affect my mental health. I have to break the grip that this stupefying curse of sleeplessness has on me, but how…?

Hmmm? I know! I…think that I'll pay Urashima a visit by myself again tomorrow night. Su won't mind, and my injured body should have almost fully healed itself by then, I think. And once I am with him, I shall again offer both my body and my true and unconditional love in humble supplication to dear Keitaro for him to enjoy as another part-payment for my sins against his person. Yes, I will!

Oh, Urashima! I want you to once again make full use of me, to enter and take my worthless body in any and every way that you see fit to do, as is now your everlasting right after what I did to you. I love you and Su with all of my unworthy heart, and I will submit only to you both, no-one else. No-one else loves me like you both do; only you two have the right to make me feel the way I do in bed with you…! Ahhhh…

And…maybe after dear Keitaro has finally finished with me, as I am lying there in his loving arms with the sure knowledge that I have fully satisfied his manly urges, my mind should at last feel relaxed and content enough to earn me a reprieve from this cursed insomnia for one more short night, at least? But is…is the real reason that he allows me to enjoy these nights with him because Keitaro is only attracted to my body, and not to me as a person?

Motoko sobbed, her overactive mind suddenly fixated on that terrible possibility. That – that must be it. Otherwise, why would Urashima even be remotely interested in a pitiful, honorless, unfeminine wretch like me?! No! I'm sure that he does care for me. It's just that…I just don't feel that I am worthy of Keitaro's love, I don't…!

"Motoko-chan? Are you still awake?"

"O-Oneesan…! Y-yes, I am," Motoko replied, jumping with both shock at the sudden interruption and guilt at her previous impure thoughts as Tsuruko's quiet voice suddenly broke into her fantasy. She had forgotten that her older sister, after visiting Haruka in the Tea Rooms, had promised to check in on her for a second time before seeking her own bed for the night. "I can't seem to fall asleep again," Motoko wearily added, by way of explanation. "Not even my attempts at meditation seem to be helping me tonight, Oneesan."

During their earlier journey to and then from Motoko's kendo class, the tired girl had told her older sister of her almost-nightly battle with insomnia, and how her lack of sleep was sapping both her body and her spirit. Tsuruko had listened sympathetically to her sibling and had then offered her help that very night if it should be needed, hence her late-night return visit to Motoko's room to check on her welfare.

"You really haven't been sleeping well recently, have you?" Tsuruko gently asked, noticing the soul-deep fatigue in Motoko's eyes reflected in the light from the hallway streaming in through the open door behind her as she moved silently over to her younger sister's side. "Do you need my help to aid you with your rest, Motoko-chan?"

"Yes, please," Motoko whispered gratefully, knowing that a quick though temporary release from her suffering was now at hand. "You…know what I want you to do?"

"Yes. Just close your eyes, Motoko-chan, and relax. You will be asleep before you know it, I promise you that."

"Thank you, Oneesan. You have my everlasting gratitude. Good night. And Oneesan, I…love you."

"I love you, too. Good night, Motoko-chan."

Tsuruko's fingers moved across Motoko's neck until she found the pressure point that she had been seeking. Next second, Motoko's entire body gave an involuntarily twitch then relaxed fully as she was instantly rendered unconscious, the kendo girl finally ensconced in the welcome and healing slumber that her injured body and damaged mind so desperately needed.