One or two people have inquired as to the point of a couple of crossover characters fairly random appearances in this story. My answer to this is that there is a larger, living, breathing world surrounding the 'Love Hina' cast, who's actions can affect and be affected by these other characters. The crossovers - while they can be puzzling to the reader at times - pertain to events that will affect the 'Love Hina' residents in the near future. These crossover characters are in this story for reasons that may not be immediately obvious to the reader, but all will be made clear in coming chapters as to how everything all ties together into a coherent whole.
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LOVE HINA: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
By Doctor-T
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The distraught Naru was just about to dash back towards the building and the staircase that led up to her destroyed lodgings, when the roar of a powerful car engine broke into the half-naked girl's frantic thoughts about what could have happened to the person that she thought was Keitaro. She whirled around in alarm to see Kentaro's car pull up in the parking area. As his Red Mazda MX-5 Roadster screeched to a juddering halt, the driver's-side window wound down and her startled friend's head poked out in her direction, his eyes gawking at her almost total state of undress.
"Narusegawa! What in the dickens just happened here?! And - um? Where's your – ah - underwear?"
Oh, shit! That's right, Naru realized with open-mouthed shame, momentarily forgetting her concern for Keitaro as she crimsoned like a stoplight with embarrassment. I dropped my panties when I fell out of the building!
"Kentaro? What the heck are you doing here right now?" Naru countered, blushing furiously as she hurriedly tugged the hem of her fortunately fairly long t-shirt downwards to hide her lower nakedness. Having absolutely no idea at that moment of just how to answer his perfectly understandable question, in an attempt to buy herself time to think, she quickly added, "I thought that you had to work at the Tea Rooms until this afternoon?!"
"So did I. But in a stroke of luck, most of the Hinata Inn guests have booked themselves on a sightseeing tour of Hinata City, and the bus trip includes their lunch," her wide-eyed friend answered, his disbelieving eyes flickering back and forth between her statuesque legs and the smoking remains of his home. "So Haruka let me off almost as soon as I had gotten there. But what in the heck happened to my apartment, Narusegawa?!"
"It – it was some sort of missile, Kentaro," the battered girl told him as she ran over to the fortuitously arrived vehicle, both of her shaking hands still holding the front of her shirt securely down between her thighs to protect her modesty. "It came directly for me when I was in my bedroom. If I hadn't been thrown out of the window just in time, I would be still up there in that…mess." Oh, god! Just like poor Keitaro…!
"A missile?!" Kentaro yelled. "How? Who? Why? And you say that you were thrown out of the bedroom window. Was someone else up there with you while I was away?"
"Um, yes. Keitaro came to visit me this morning, and he was in my room with me when the missile hit your apartment," Naru explained in a jittery voice. "I think that it must have been one of Su's, but she stuffed up somehow. I bet that she launched that thing and it was just supposed to find me, but then something w-went wrong. My god, I could have been killed!"
"Keitaro came to visit you?" Kentaro repeated, looking up incredulously at her pale and trembling face. Then he shook his head firmly in denial. "But that's impossible! When I arrived at the Tea Rooms to start my shift, Haruka was talking on the phone to Keitaro at the reception desk at the apartments. He can't have been here with you right now because he's been on duty there since early this morning!"
"B-but he was! I swear to you, he was upstairs in your apartment with me, Kentaro!" Naru cried out. "He was the one who threw me out the window just as the missile struck the building! You gotta believe me!"
"Um? And…you're sure about that?" Kentaro inquired in a hesitant voice, despite knowing how dumb that question must sound to her.
"It's true!" Naru vehemently insisted. "Oh, god, he was still up there when that thing went off! Oh, please, please, please let him be all right?!"
"Well, if it really was Keitaro up there, I bet that we're worrying about him for nothing," Kentaro consoled the now crying girl at his driver's-side window, managing not to look too worried at what could possibly have happened to his friend. "After all, he's got a far greater chance of surviving that explosion than nearly any one else that we know of. And you know better than most that the guy is practically invincible. He soaks up punishment like a sponge."
"Y-yeah, I guess that you're right," Naru sobbed, but with new hope in her voice for Keitaro's survival after being reminded of just how invincible her lover really was. "After all, he has fallen at least a hundred meters onto rocks on more than one occasion, and survived it with barely a scratch, hasn't he? But we've got to go look for him, Kentaro, just to make sure!"
"Never mind that, I'm sure that Keitaro'll be fine. I've got to get you the heck out of here! That explosion is going to bring every policeman in Hinata City here in a flash, and you don't want to be anywhere near here when they arrive! So come on, Naru, let's go!"
Damn it, Kentaro's right, Naru thought, hesitating for only a second before turning and running for the passenger side of his getaway vehicle. I'm sure that Keitaro will be okay – he's just got to be. He may be a perverted moron at times, but he's MY perverted moron, and he's as tough as they come! Abruptly remembering her very embarrassing state of undress, she silently breathed a deep sigh of relief that a solution to this very pressing matter was now right at hand. And it's just as well for me that Kentaro had packed most of my few belongings into the trunk of his car before he left for work this morning. I may be on the run again, but at least I've got a safe place to go to, some spare clothes – and underwear! - and money now. Oh, thank you, Kentaro, for being so good to me. You've a lifesaver!
But no sooner had Naru buckled herself into the front passenger's seat when she suddenly espied two figures, the taller one holding the limp and motionless form of the other, in the park off to the left-hand side of the smoking apartment building. And she knew them both, too! Although as to just what Tsuruko, of all people, was doing outside Kentaro's destroyed apartment, she had absolutely no idea.
"Kentaro! Look! Isn't that Motoko's sister, Tsuruko over there? And she's got Keitaro! Ohmygod, he's not moving! We've gotta go over there right now, quick!"
"What? Are you crazy, Narusegawa?" Kentaro argued, a huge bead of sweat appearing on his forehead at the very alarming sight of Tsuruko. "I remember what happened the last time I saw her – she cut my sports car clean in two with that katana of hers! Do you know how much money it cost me to replace my car with the exact same make and model?"
"Please Kentaro?" Naru cried out in desperation, clutching at the front of his shirt and almost strangling him. "Please do it, for me?!"
"Oh – hell! All right…"
From her position in the park, Tsuruko noticed the red sports car containing the frantic Naru and the apprehensive Kentaro coming her way. Coming to a quick decision – one that she was sure that the senseless Kanako would definitely not approve of – the Kyoto girl quickly removed her companion's Oniichan mask, leaving Kanako's pale face bare for the occupants of the car to see.
The Mazda MX-5 Roadster came to a screeching halt by the kerb as Tsuruko stepped forward to meet them, still carrying the unconscious form of Kanako in her tireless arms.
Naru thrust her head out of the passenger's seat window, worry etched on her face as she stared towards the approaching pair.
"Tsuruko! Is Keitaro…all…right…?" Naru's voice trailed away into silence as she stared at the motionless shape in Tsuruko's arms, her eyes widening with shock as they fell upon the familiar but totally unexpected face of Kanako. "What in the hell?! What in the hell is this?! Where's Keitaro?!"
"Right here," Tsuruko answered matter-of-factly, coming to a halt next to Naru. "Only it is Kanako-san that I saved from your apartment, not Keitaro-san."
"No, no, this can't be right," Naru stuttered in shock, her face now pale and trembling for obvious reasons. "It was Keitaro up there in the apartment with me – it was! It was!"
"You can easily see for yourself the truth of this matter," Tsuruko stated simply, holding up Kanako's Oniichan mask for Naru to see, and then tucking it into the right-side pocket of the unconscious girl's pants as she talked. "Keitaro-san is not here. It is and always was Kanako-san here that you were with."
"Oh, shit! Oh, crap! B-but that means…that I - that we-? I've just done it with-? Oh, shit!"
"What in the heck are you babbling about, Narusegawa?" the baffled Kentaro inquired, his expression a mixture of nervousness, puzzlement and alarm. "You're not making any sense. You've just done what with Kanako?"
The now petrified Naru couldn't answer him. And it was just as well that she was currently seated in Kentaro's car at the time, or else her suddenly nerveless legs would surely have failed her. Naru's stunned mind at that moment had been totally overwhelmed with the realization that she had experienced her very first totally willing and unforced time not with the man she loved like she had thought, but with his younger sister! With Kanako!
…With Kanako! I've just had s-sex with Kanako! FUUUUUCK! What in the hell?! What in the hell is that bitch playing at?! That's just so – so perverted! No – no, it can't be true?!
Taking note of the volatile play of emotions on Naru's white-as-a-sheet face, Tsuruko thought that she had better speak up.
"Regardless of what she has done prior to that explosion, Kanako-san has just saved your life, Narusegawa-san. She could have easily escaped before that missile struck the building, but she selflessly stayed in harm's way to ensure that she got you out of that apartment in time. Without her there, you would have been dead. That good deed of hers is surely worth your consideration, I think."
"Wha-what…?!"
"You owe your life to Kanako-san," Tsuruko repeated. "Take that into account before you condemn her."
At last, Naru trusted herself to speak. And the less said about her and Kanako's lovemaking session, the better, her numbed brain realized.
"Yes, I – I will. I do understand that she just saved my life. But she – she deceived me! And then she and I – um?! I mean, everything that she told me up there while disguised as Keitaro, about him forgiving me and caring for me – and her forgiving me as well - they must have all been nothing more than cruel lies! My god, that's just so fucked up!"
"I don't know what Kanako-san told you while you two were alone, Naru-san," Tsuruko declared. "But it seems to me that her brave actions at the end speak far louder than mere words could do."
"What – what do you mean…?"
"I don't think that Kanako-san hates you anymore, Naru-san," Tsuruko continued, her voice gentle. "In fact, I believe her feelings for you to be the exact opposite of that. Kanako-san was willing to put herself in harm's way for you just before. I think that she at the very least cares for you – maybe she even thinks that she loves you, now."
"Wh-what?! You're saying that Kanako loves me?! But – but I thought that she was Keitaro, and it was him telling me that," Naru cried out in an anguished voice, her tears beginning to flow as she pointed a trembling finger at the senseless girl in Tsuruko's arms. "What in the hell is going on?! And what about the real Keitaro – not Kanako, the real one? I wanna know whether he still loves me, not that she does! Oh, god…Keitaro!"
"With regards to Urashima-san, I do know that he does not hate you, Naru-san," the Kyoto sword master informed the crying girl in the car. "And I have also heard that he has, indeed, forgiven you for what you have done to him, including that last incident when you severely injured him and put him into hospital."
"He – he has? Oh, Tsuruko – 'sniff!' Are you sure?!"
"Yes, I can confirm that," Kentaro agreed, bringing both girl's eyes to him. "I was talking to Keitaro the other day when he came to the Tea Rooms, and he did tell me about his forgiveness for you, with regards to that last violent episode that Tsuruko-san has just referred to. Furthermore, he also wondered out loud to me about where you were and how you were doing. I considered telling him that you were safe, but since you are on the run from the law I decided that discretion about your whereabouts was the wiser path for me to take."
"So Kanako did tell me the truth about Keitaro not hating me, after all," Naru gasped out, her tear-streaked face actually managing a smile, despite her shock and confusion at Kanako's deception still running through her dazed and upset mind. "Thank god for that! And - 'sniff!' – he was asking about me?"
"Yes. I think that he misses you, as well." But I'd best not tell you about Keitaro deciding that he doesn't love you anymore, or about him dating all of the other female residents, either, Kentaro silently warned himself. I think that you've already been through quite enough for one day, Narusegawa.
"Oh, thank you, Kentaro! I-!"
Just then, the faint wail of approaching sirens came to their ears. Realizing their danger, Kentaro cut in on Naru's words of thanks, urgently grasping her right arm as he spoke out in warning.
"We can't stay here any longer, Naru! No doubt those sirens mean that the police and the fire department are on their way here right now. We've got to go now if you hope to escape their custody!"
"Kentaro-san's right, Naru-san," Tsuruko agreed. "And a crowd of spectators is already beginning to gather. I suggest that you go, post-haste. I shall look after Kanako-san, and also inform the real Keitaro-san of what has happened here today."
"Oh-?" Naru gasped, looking back and forth between the pair. "Yes, you're right! Goodbye, Tsuruko-san, and can you please tell Keitaro that I love him? And…thank Kanako for saving me, too. But I just-? Oh, never mind! Kentaro – hoof it!"
"You don't have to tell me twice," her driver muttered, flooring the gas pedal. "Hang on, Narusegawa! We're outta here!"
As the red Mazda MX-5 sped away from the scene of the explosion, Naru sat quietly in the passenger's seat, her mind still in partial shock; her torrid thoughts on what had happened to her that morning, and what she had just seen.
I just can't believe what Kanako did to me in my bedroom! That was just so fucked-up and wrong! I do accept that Kanako likes me now, but does…does she actually want me…in that way now, too? But…it did feel good, what we were doing with each other – no! I can't think that, I can't…!
Naru shivered all over at the memory of Kanako's sensual pink tongue exploring her body, encircling and tantalizing her nipples, working its tingling way down her taut belly, and down to-
Oh, sh-shit! I let her do that to me as well…didn't I?
But – the feel of her lips on my skin, the touch of her fingers on my breasts…inside my body. It made me feel so strange, so – so hot! I've never felt quite that way before – hell; I've never even done this before with someone I liked! And it was with Kanako, of all people?! Oh, crap! I know that she tricked me into doing it with her, but…I couldn't help but enjoy it. I want to deny that, b-but I can't!
Oh, god! Does this mean that Kanako's gay – no, bisexual? And, since I enjoyed it as well…that I am, too?
No, no, I'm not! I'm not! I'm straight, goddammit! I love Keitaro-!
Just then, Kentaro's reassuring voice broke into Naru's extremely troubling thoughts about her own now very questionable sexuality, jolting her back to her present precarious situation.
"I don't think that we're being followed, Naru," he declared in a relieved tone. "There are no police cars that I can see on our tail. So it looks like you have gotten clean away once again."
"Thank you. …Um, Kentaro...?"
"Yes, Naru?"
"What's your take on Kanako's actions? In saving me, that is!" she hastened to add, her blush deepening. "Not – um? That other thing… And do you think that she actually love-likes me now?"
"Well, I really have no idea at all of - 'ahem!' - what went on between the two of you before I arrived on the scene," Kentaro replied, scratching at the back of his neck. He was looking a bit hot and uncomfortable at the x-rated pictures that had just popped unbidden into his head, graphically detailing what his extremely good-looking companion and the also very attractive Goth girl probably had been doing with each other in the privacy of her bedroom. "But I do agree with what Tsuruko said to you," he hastened to reassure her. "If Kanako had wanted you dead, Narusegawa, then she would have had ample opportunity to carry out her wish when you two were alone together in my apartment. And if Kanako wasn't willing to do the deed herself, then all she would have had to do to have you killed was for her to depart the premises before that missile struck, leaving you to your fate."
"But Kanako didn't leave…and she got me out of there just in the nick of time," Naru continued in a low voice. "So I guess that she was telling me the truth about her change of heart towards me – it looks like she really has forgiven me, after all." But now I also know that she wants me in that way, as a lover, too. Oh, heck…!
"Yes. It sure looks to me like Kanako has dropped her grudge against you, Naru."
"And to me, as well. Thank you, Kentaro."
"And she actually likes you now. Who would have guessed it?"
"Eh-heh! Eh-heh-heh!" Naru laughed awkwardly, meeting his eyes with difficulty because of her embarrassment at what she and Kanako had done together on her bed. "N-not me, at any rate!"
My god! So Kanako really was telling me the truth about her new feelings of forgiveness for me! And, after what we did together, I know she really, truly wants me in a romantic way now, as well. I feel – oh, god, I don't know how I feel. This is all too sudden and too much for me to cope with just now. Still, despite her cruel trick of fooling me into believing that she was Keitaro, Kanako did save my life, didn't she. And so I'm still glad in a weird, screwed-up way that she managed to survive unharmed.
But what she did to me – what we did…brrrr! I just don't know what the hell to do about this - about anything, anymore…
"Kentaro, please just get me out of this damn city! Take me to your friend's house in Yokohama. I need some space from everyone and everything to sort out all of this in my head."
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About a quarter-of-an-hour later, Kanako woke up for the second time. As she slowly lifted up her groggy head, two things came to her almost immediate notice. Firstly, Tsuruko was still holding her. Secondly, both were seated in an upright position on a secluded park bench on the far side of the small park, well away and hidden from the sight of the Hinata City Fire Brigade and Hinata City Police Force, representatives of whom were now swarming all over the car park outside the apartment building. However, the cacophony of sirens, bells and shouts as the emergency services fought to contain the fires in Kentaro's destroyed apartment still came clearly to her ears. And over a nearby evergreen treetop, several columns of smoke still rose lazily into the air, testifying to the persistently burning fires that they were attempting to quell.
"I see that you are awake again."
"Yes," Kanako replied, reaching upwards to massage her throbbing temples with her fingers. "But why are we still here?"
"It is broad daylight, remember?" Tsuruko reminded her. "If I was to be seen carrying your unconscious body away from the scene of that explosion, it might have raised unwelcome attention from the police. So I have brought you to this secluded spot, well away from prying eyes, to wait until you have recovered sufficiently to walk of your own accord. If anyone does see us sitting against each other on this bench, they would think that we are merely lovers after a bit of privacy, and pass us by."
"Good plan. Thank you. I shall be recovered enough to walk soon, I think-? Hold on!"
Kanako's entire body suddenly stiffened and she sat bolt-upright on the wooden bench. She had just remembered something of vital importance to her future plans, and anxiety gnawed at her insides as she speculated on the fate of the girl that she had seduced.
"Tsuruko-san! Did Naru survive falling out of the apartment into that big rubbish skip?"
"Yes," Tsuruko confirmed. "Naru-san was unharmed by her fall, and she departed the scene with Kentaro-san in his car about a quarter-of-an-hour ago."
"That's…good." I think? "And – do you know where they are heading?"
"No," Tsuruko replied simply. "I am not privy to that information."
At that news, Kanako sighed and slumped back down onto the wooden backrest again.
Oh, damn. How am I going to find Narusegawa again, now? From Kentaro, maybe, when I see him again? But… perhaps I really should have left you to die in his apartment, Naru. If I had, then all of my problems with you and my brother would have finally been solved for good! However – thanks to what I know and feel about you now - I somehow couldn't just abandon you to your fate. But you can thank your lucky stars, Naru, that I've decided to let you live – for the moment, anyway. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt until I am sure that you have truly changed your ways, and try to help you find a cure for your mental illness. And…this will give me time to sort out my feelings for you, too.
Just then, the gloomy Kanako realized something else.
"My Oniichan facemask – it's gone! Who…? Oh, of course. It must have been-?"
"Yes, it was I," the Kyoto beauty admitted, fixing the younger girl with a look of mild amusement. "There is no point in you persisting with your ruse of being Keitaro-san, now, Kanako-san."
"Huh? Why do you say that?"
"Because Naru-san now knows that it was really you up there in Kentaro-san's apartment with her, not your brother, that's why."
"She – she does?" Kanako gasped out, unable to keep her usual unemotional façade at that startling revelation. Her eyes widened with surprise and something else more akin to fear and anxiety, as well. "But how did she find out?"
"Because I told her."
Oh, shit! But now Naru will think what I said about forgiving her was nothing but a lie, and that I was just screwing with her mind to drive her away from me and Oniichan! And that is exactly what I was doing at first, but now-?! I wanted to help her and give her once last chance to get better!
"How – how did she take the news?" Kanako finally asked, despite her understandable fear at the probable answer.
"To say that Naru-san was shocked by my disclosure would be something of an understatement, Kanako-san," Tsuruko admitted truthfully to the sweating teen manager. "But, despite you deceiving her, I do not think that Naru-san wishes ill of you, especially since I reminded her that you saved her life by your quick thinking and action just before that missile struck."
"Really? She really doesn't hate me again, now, for what I did?" the Goth girl exclaimed in an incredulous tone, fighting to resume her unemotional expression and failing badly at doing so.
What the hell? Did Naru really enjoy our sex session so much she didn't care that it was with me and not Oniichan? No, that can't be right! That's just wishful thinking on my part, dammit!
"No, she doesn't," Tsuruko continued, a slight smile playing on her luscious lips at her companion's angst. "Admittedly, Naru-san went into shock at my rather unwelcome news, and she shed some tears over being fooled into thinking that you were Keitaro-san. But after hearing what I had to say, she wasn't cursing your name over your misdeed, or anything like that. Well, not audibly, anyway. Overall, she seemed to take it rather well – better than I had hoped, or you probably deserve. Oh yes, one other thing. I also told Naru-san that you were in love with her."
"You did what?!" Fuuuck! "So how…did she take that news, then?"
"Have you heard of the 'stunned mullet look?'" Tsuruko laughed, by way of explanation. Then she leaned forward towards the discomforted Goth girl. "So is it really true? Are you in love with her?"
"Ah-? Mind your own business!" the pink-cheeked Kanako finally managed to get out in a strangled tone, despite smiling inside at the utterly unexpected good news that the girl she had tricked and seduced unbelievably didn't seem to want her head on a plate.
"But it is true that I don't seem to hate Naru as much as I used to anymore, or currently wish any further harm to befall her," she then admitted, figuring that her companion at least deserved an explanation as to her sudden about-turn with regards to her taking revenge on Naru. "Make no mistake, I still dislike intensely what Naru has done to my brother, and I am finding my new attitude towards her just as surprising as you no-doubt are, and rather hard to swallow, myself."
"But, as to the reason behind my unplanned and most-unexpected change of heart towards the person responsible for hospitalizing my brother, Tsuruko-san, I have discovered that Naru is almost certainly suffering from a severe, long-term mental illness. Despite what you and others may think of me, I am not an evil person. This being so, I fully understand that there is nothing to be gained by plotting harm to a mind-damaged girl who can not consciously control her outbursts, and therefore is not really mentally responsible for her actions."
"Hmmm? Very mature of you," Tsuruko conceded. "And if what you say about Naru-san's mental condition is true, then you are morally correct as well. So it's not just that you have got the hots for her now, that you spared Naru's life, is it?"
Kanako's face reddened again. "No. No, it's not!"
Tsuruko chuckled at her expression. "I knew that you were up to something, Kanako-san, when I saw you creeping out of the Hinata Apartments this morning. I am just glad that you have seen the error of your ways, and have developed the moral fortitude to spare a sick girl who is just as much a victim as Keitaro-san was. All right, I shall forgive you for your transgressions this time, and not inform Haruka-oba-san of you breaking your word to her about impersonating other people, just this once. After all, who am I to stand in the way of young love? And if I get the chance, I shall examine Narusegawa-san myself and see if I can confirm your diagnosis of her psychosis."
"Thank you, Tsuruko-san," Kanako breathed out, blushing again at her companion's last flippant comment about her and Naru's supposed relationship, but overjoyed at the news that Tsuruko intended to keep what had happened that morning a secret. The Goth girl vividly remembered Aunt Haruka's final words to her in reception last Thursday, and she knew her what her fate would be should her aunt hear of her impersonating a resident again.
"Don't mention it. Well, have you recovered sufficiently to travel?"
"Yes. But I had best reconfigure my body back to its normal proportions before we depart," Kanako replied. "My head on a man's body is sure to attract unwanted attention."
"Good thinking. The male clothing that you are dressed in will be fairly loose and baggy after you have finished your skeletal transformation, but it will suffice for the journey back to the Hinata Apartments," Tsuruko observed. "And it will also serve to conceal that male bodysuit that you must be wearing."
"Yes," the Goth girl agreed as she made it back onto her feet. "I could not have successfully fooled Naru without it. This bodysuit is fully flexible, and so it will shrink around my body to match my real proportions. It won't be noticable at all under these loose clothes."
"Then proceed," Tsuruko ordered her. "I shall accompany you back to our domicile – hold on. There is another car approaching our location. It looks to be Haruka-oba-san's vehicle."
"What?" One glance was all it took for the apprehensive Kanako to confirm her companion's unwelcome observation.
Oh, shit, that's Oniichan coming in auntie's car! I've got to ditch this man's body, and fast, before he sees me! Turning, Kanako dove headlong into the bushes immediately to their rear, simultaneously willing her mind to begin the somewhat painful process of morphing her body back to her normal slender proportions. Tsuruko remained in place on the seat, waving a cheery hand at the disbelieving Keitaro, who had noticed the pair almost as soon as they had spotted him.
Kanako finished her outré task just in time. Even as she re-emerged in her normal shape from her leafy cover, Keitaro had pulled up on the road adjacent to their position, and was staring with confusion at them through the open passenger-side window.
"Tsuruko-san? And what in the heck are you doing here, Kanako? I didn't know that you two were close friends." Then her older brother noticed something else amiss. "Why are you wearing those baggy clothes, Kanako? And where are your shoes?"
Kanako cleared her voice nervously at her brother's questions as she and Tsuruko made their way over to Haruka's car.
"'Ahem!' Me? Well, we were both – um – in the Tea Rooms earlier, and since it's my day off, Kentaro gave us a ride into the city," Kanako stammered, thinking fast and luckily coming up with a plausible reason for her and her companion to be in the vicinity of Kentaro's apartment. "Then we saw this big cloud of smoke rising up from the building that held Kentaro's apartment, so we thought that we'd better make a detour here to see what had happened."
"But – but it looks like Su's missile hit Kentaro's apartment," Keitaro exclaimed, putting two-and-two together as to the reason why, the young landlord now staring in shock up and across the park towards the smoke pouring out of the blasted and blackened remains of his friend's accommodation. "That could only mean that Naru was up there at the time the missile struck! Damn! Why the heck didn't Kentaro tell me that he was looking after her for all of this time?! Even though I don't love Naru anymore, I was still worried about her, and it would have been a load off my mind if I'd known that she was at least safe."
"Maybe it was because Narusegawa was worried because she thought that you hated her now, Oniichan?" Kanako suggested, knowing full-well that this was in fact the reason, and brightening up considerably at hearing from Keitaro's own lips that he no longer had feelings beyond friendship for Naru. "She is on the run from the police, after all! So she would have definitely sworn Kentaro to secrecy about her presence in his apartment."
"That's true," Keitaro grumbled. "And she definitely wouldn't have wanted him to get into any trouble from the law because of her. But what's happened to Naru now?! Is she safe?!"
"Yes, she is. It was lucky that I happened to be here with Kanako-san at the time, Keitaro-san," Tsuruko declared. "Naru-san was up there, and Kanako-san managed to save her from the blaze caused by the missile strike. But then your brave sister got into peril, too, and I had to rescue her. Naru-san has also survived unharmed, and she left less than a quarter-of-an-hour ago with Kentaro-san in his car. I'm sorry, but I don't know where their final destination is."
"Wow! Thank god that you did get here just in time to save Naru, and that none of you were injured," Keitaro gasped, a look of absolute relief on his face. Then he turned to his sister, anxiety replacing the relief on his face and in his voice as he asked, "Kanako, are you sure that you're not hurt?"
"Yes, Oniichan, I will be fine," Kanako replied, her heart warming at his display of genuine concern for her welfare. "I only have a few scratches and bruises to show for my misadventure."
"Thank goodness! And you are well, also, Tsuruko-san?"
"I am unharmed. Naru-san looked to have suffered a few bruises and scrapes, but she has no injuries of any concern either."
"Good. But, darn it all! So I've missed my chance to find Naru again and tell her that I've forgiven her for putting me into hospital," Keitaro then cursed in a regretful tone, his face falling. "Ah, well? I guess that I can always get her new location off Kentaro the next time that I see him?"
"That's true, Keitaro-san," Tsuruko consoled him. "But if you do, it might be best if you and Kanako-san keep that information to yourselves. And neither of you will want the fact that Kentaro-san knows where Naru-san is to become public knowledge, for obvious reasons."
"Yes, you're right," the student manager agreed. "I'll do just that, and find out her new location from him in total confidence. Do you agree to that, Kanako?"
"Yes, Oniichan, I do. I shall keep all of this a closely guarded secret," Kanako confirmed. "But please can you take me back to the apartments now? I know that you are supposed to be manager for the day, today, so you shouldn't be away from your post for too long."
"That's right," Keitaro exclaimed, a worried expression crossing his face again upon being reminded of his prolonged absence from his clerical duties. "Aunt Haruka agreed to mind reception for me for an hour-or-so while I went to find out if Naru had managed to survive Su's missile. She said that she could spare the time because the Tea Rooms were going to be quiet this particular lunchtime. Most of the inn guests have gone out on a bus tour of the city, you see. But I'd best not push my luck too far with her. I've taken enough breaks from my job this morning as it is!"
"Will you be accompanying us back to the Hinata Apartments, Tsuruko-san?" Kanako inquired, hoping that the answer would be no. The last thing that she needed right now would be for the Kyoto girl to start blabbing her mouth off to her Oniichan about her deceiving Naru whilst impersonating him!
"Yes I will, thank you. As far as the Hinata Tea Rooms. I promised to call in to see Haruka-oba-san this lunchtime. But since she is currently in reception, I will first avail myself of a cup of tea at her establishment and reflect on this morning's events in peace and quiet while I await her return."
"Okay, fine," Keitaro said. "Hop in, both of you, and I'll be getting back."
As she sat next to her brother in the front passenger seat of her aunt's car, Kanako noticed with relief that both Keitaro and Tsuruko seemed content to make the return journey back to the Hinata Apartments in silence. This gave the Goth girl the opportunity to reflect without any distractions on what had just happened between her and her former enemy, Naru Narusegawa. And on other pressing matters, as well…
It's just as I suspected. That psychotic Molmol freak, Su, launched that missile at us! But why? Maybe Motoko told her about what I did to her the last time I was here, and Su decided to get even with me for sleeping with Kendo girl, as well as with Naru for injuring Oniichan? If I only knew for sure whether that was in fact her plan, I'd pay her a little visit in the middle of the night and ensure that Su doesn't get any clever little revenge ideas like this ever again! But I'm not totally sure about any of this. I'm just speculating. What happened could have been an accident – I just can't prove anything, either way. Yet.
But even though she's with Motoko now, could Su still be after my brother as well? Even though I did see Su kissing Oniichan at the party last night, I know for a fact that she and Kendo girl are really in love with each other, so I just don't know. So, bearing that in mind, I guess that I'd better give that kook and Motoko the benefit of the doubt about their aspirations towards my brother...for the moment, anyway. After all, I have already forgiven them both for their previous treatment of my poor Oniichan, haven't I? And I still feel bad about what nearly happened to Fox-girl and mental Mutsumi because of my jumping to incorrect conclusions. I certainly don't need another screw-up like that on my conscience!
Yes, as much as it irritates me to do it, I'd best let Su's little misdemeanor slide. I've got enough on my plate already with sorting out just how the hell I'm going to find Naru again, and exactly what I'm going to do when – or if - I manage to catch up to her once more. I also have to consider that Tsuruko and Auntie Haruka are watching me like a pair of hawks. So I really don't want to - or even have the time to - take Su and maybe Motoko out of the picture as a precautionary measure. But - like I've decided with Naru – I will get rid of them both if I have to, but only as a last resort tactic to save Oniichan from their clutches.
And that brings me to yet another resident of this mad house. I'm certainly not going to forget what I heard from Naru about so-called 'shy Shinobu' kissing my Oniichan, either! I wonder just what else is going on that I don't know about between him and that little tart.
Hmmm? I think that I'd better make time to pay that sneaky little cook a visit as well, and find out. I know that Shinobu has always been good to Oniichan, and for that I truly am grateful, so I'll just warn her off him first. I really, truly don't want to have to hurt her, but if they're kissing in secret, then Oniichan obviously feels more than just a little affection for her. And that means there's a real chance that she could actually succeed in winning his heart and taking him away from me. I may like Shinobu, but I can't allow that to happen…I just can't! Naru may be an acceptable second-choice substitute for me if Oniichan flatly refuses to marry me, but until that happens; all these other girls can just fuck off! He's my one-and-only chance for true love before I die!
So, if Shinobu doesn't take my advice to heart and quit her pursuit of my brother, I'll really hate myself for doing it, but I will have to resort to – stronger measures - to make my point. But…hold on for a moment here...!
Maybe I can get Shinobu to back off without resorting to violence by telling her that she can marry Oniichan with my blessing after I'm finally gone? God, it rankles me to say this, but out of all of the girls here, she is the one that I'd most prefer to be with Oniichan in my place. I know for certain from my inquiries and observations that Shinobu has always treated Oniichan with nothing but kindness and respect, and she does love him almost as much as I do. She would never, ever hurt my brother like all of these other witches here have done.
No! This idea is just too risky! If Oniichan finds out from Shinobu that I want her to be with him later, then that might drive them even closer together right now, and that would cut me out of spending my final time with him. Besides, she's not even fifteen yet, and in the year-and-a-bit until Shinobu's old enough to marry my brother, one of the other girls might manage to win Oniichan away from her and cut her out! And I won't be around then to stop it!
God-dammit! I have no choice then but to keep Shinobu away from him, and all of those other freaks here, as well. While I'm still alive, Oniichan's mine – and only mine!