Disclaimer: All Klonoa characters belong to Namco. Yada, yada. You know the drill. OCs belong to me.

Chapter 33: Hindrance

The inn Leorina's twin led them to was rather large. It was made purely of stone and wood, giving it a kind of old style. Actually, most of the buildings in Matsuri Town were made this way. After talking with her boss, Mio managed to get the group a discount for the bill.

They had one, large room. It was capable of being cut in half by a sliding door in the middle. As usual, the girls would be stay on one side while the boys the other. The inn apparently had a few balconies to look outside and even a hot springs somewhere. Food would be taken up to them when requested. Overall it was a rather nice inn.

"Reminds you of home, huh, Leo?" Mio asked once they'd finished exploring the inn. "Although our house was much bigger than this," she continued when she received no reply. Leorina still said nothing, and her face gave nothing away. "Stop calling me Leo," she eventually said. "Aw! But Leorina doesn't rhyme with Mio!" Mio squealed, grasping her sister's arm.

The rest of the group watched nearby and it took Mio a moment to notice them. "Oh yeah, the festival's probably gonna start by sunset. They usually always do," she informed them, releasing Leorina's arm. "Then let's get goin' now! It's gonna start soon," Popka prompted impatiently. Lolo nodded, about to agree when Mio interrupted her.

"Wait a minute, you can't go in those clothes." Lolo felt slightly offended by the way she'd said that. What was wrong with their clothes? Leorina's frisky twin skipped to a closet in the room. "It's tradition to wear kimonos and yukatas to festivals in this town." Mio turned around, two loose, dress-like garments in her arms.

"It's very comfortable," Lolo commented after she and Klonoa had gotten changed. Her outfit was mostly white, with pink flower patterns marking the edges and a large bow tied around her waist. Klonoa's was green with black markings, woven slightly differently from Lolo's.

"That looks very nice on you, Lolo," Klonoa smiled. Lolo blushed, looking down. "Th-Thanks…"

"I'm staying here," Guntz said when Mio offered him an outfit. "Me, too," Leorina added after a moment. Mio gave them a blank look for a few seconds. "So… are you two, like, boyfriend and girlfriend? I can already tell they are." Mio motioned toward Klonoa and Lolo, who was too embarrassed to reply.

"No!"

The two's fierce, united reply made it more doubtful than believable. Though Leorina had said it the exact same way, she actually seemed offended by Guntz' quickness to answer. Mio smiled. "Ah, so that means he's free, huh?" she asked. "What?" Guntz mumbled, not comprehending it very quickly.

"Who cares? Trust me, you don't want him, Mio," Leorina scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Guntz snapped. "I'm just telling the truth! You're not exactly the most charming fish in the sea," Leorina retorted.

Wonderful. More arguing. Klonoa almost sighed aloud. Mio cocked her head. "Are you sure you two don't have some kinda relationship?" Leorina spoke before Guntz could. "Yes!" She was quite angry by now. "Well, that's too bad." Mio then walked closer to Guntz and clung to his arm.

"I think he's kinda cute!" she squealed, putting on a childish smile.

Guntz tensed, startled. "H-Hey!"

Leorina turned away sharply, crossing her arms. "Get some glasses, Mio."

A little angrier, "Hey!"

Mio squeezed his arm tighter. "Then if you're not gonna have him, I will," she declared simply.

Leorina turned on her sister almost challengingly. "What?"

"Don't I have a say in this?"

The sisters' replies were identical in every way except mood. "Shut up!"

Leorina closed in on her sister. "You can't always have everything you want, you know," she scowled. Mio blinked, letting go of Guntz' arms. In response, he backed away quickly to avoid getting glomped again. "I should've expected you to say something like that. You were never happy with what you had," Mio retorted. "That's because I didn't have anything!"

"Getting a little awkward…"

Popka's low voice seemed to snap the bickering sisters back to reality. Mio looked down quickly, a hand to her face, as if she were extremely embarrassed. "Oh, I'm so sorry! But you know sisters, gotta argue the whole way." She smiled brightly as she hugged Leorina's arm. Leorina only rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"You look stressed, Guntz," Klonoa muttered, looking up at the wolf/dog next to him. "No shit!" Guntz barked sharply. "Hey! No cursing in my inn!" Mio suddenly scorned. Guntz gritted his teeth, lowering his voice to a deep growl. "Between the two of them… I'm not going to last one day here without snapping."

Klonoa understood his point. Mio seemed to have specifically selected Guntz out of the group to play with, as if she knew it would bother Leorina the most. "I hear hot springs are good for calming the nerves. If you're not going to go to the festival, you should at least go there," he offered.

For once, Guntz actually seemed to consider the offer, sighing. "Come on, Klonoa. We don't want to be late," Lolo then called. Popka was already making his way for the door. "I'm petty sure it's downstairs, outside. I think it'll really help," Klonoa added, before quickly following the two.

---

"Wow. It's huge!"

Klonoa, Lolo, and Popka stood together at one of the many entrances to the festival. From what they could see, it took up neatly half the town. "I guess that's why the people were so busy preparing," Lolo said. "Come on! Come on!" Without waiting for a response, Popka dashed into the excited crowd of people.

"Popka! Wait for us!" Lolo called. She was about to run after him, but something held her back. "Let's try our best not to get stressed, okay? I'm sure we'll find him later," Klonoa smiled. Lolo straightened. "I guess you're right." He was. They were here to have fun, not worry. It was hard for Lolo, though. Worrying was what she did best.

"Lolo! Come and look'it this!"

Popka's voice called from somewhere deep inside the crowd. Lolo frowned. "How am I supposed to look at anything when I can't even see you?" she called back, stalking toward where Popka's voice had come from. Klonoa smiled and took a step forward, only to find the ground wobble under his feet.

At least, that's what it felt like. He staggered as his mind made the world around him look like a lava lamp. His ears went numb and all sound around him was dulled, making him feel blind. He thought he heard a quiet chuckle. Not outside, but deep inside his mind. It was his voice… and yet not his voice.

Klonoa shook his head vigorously and suddenly everything was back to normal. The bustling people received their original shapes back, the ground stopped moving, all sound returned at an alarming volume, and the voice inside his head died away. For a moment, Klonoa wasn't even sure if all of that had even happened.

His acute ears picked up Lolo's impatient sigh above all other voices. "Now where's Klonoa?" she asked, apparently finding Popka. Klonoa hesitated, taking one last quick look around him. He eventually came up with the faltering conclusion that it had all just been his imagination, before turning to follow Lolo's voice.

---

The hot springs had been where Klonoa had said just outside the huge inn. The pools were surrounded by flat, clean rocks and boulders, as most outdoor hot springs were. The steam covered the sky, making it hard to tell what time of day it was. But last time Guntz checked the sun was setting.

Guntz undressed, leaving on only the bandages around his arms and chest, and slipped into one of the pools. He sunk down to his chin, sighing. The hot water certainly was refreshing on his tense muscles. Though he knew the last thing he needed right now was false security.

He closed his eyes. His long hair spread out behind him, skimming the surface of the water. A disturbed trickle made him open his eyes again. He looked around slowly. He was pretty sure he was alone. Too paranoid, he told himself. The water quickly relaxed his senses and he closed his eyes again.

A dark silhouette appeared in the steam behind Guntz. It slowly got closer, lifting what seemed to be a pair of arms. Hands came over from each side of the unsuspecting wolf/dog and then suddenly slapped over his eyes. "Guess who," said a bright voice. Instead of answering, Guntz, in sudden alarm, pushed himself forward quickly and spun around, causing several splashes. At first he thought it was Leorina, but then saw the black hair. Mio smiled like a fox.

Guntz' first impulse was to get annoyed, but then a different thought came to mind. He didn't know what to make of it. "Gah—jeez, I thought this was the men's side," he said quickly, suddenly losing his breath, pressing his back against the rocky edge. "There is no men's side. It's mixed," Mio answered in her usual childish voice, still smiling.

"What—Is that legal?!"

Guntz just wanted to jump out of the pool and dash off before Mio could do anything, but dared not with her staring at him so closely. She slowly edged closer and started playing with his hair. "Your hair is so pretty when it's wet," she complimented. All the muscles in Guntz tensed all over again. The hot springs was no help anymore.

"And you look so cute with your fur all wet like that," Mio continued. She put her hands on Guntz' shoulders and he twitched. He couldn't take this anymore. He had to get out. Guntz suddenly leapt out of the pool, water splashing after him, grabbed his nearby towel and wrapped it around his body into two seconds flat.

"Mm, impressive. I didn't see a thing," Mio said knowingly, leaning over the edge of the pool. Guntz said nothing and started to briskly walk away. "Wait a minute," Mio called. Guntz froze when he heard her come out of the water. She was suddenly behind him. "Why leave? You just got here," she asked slyly. "Because… I want to," Guntz stammered slowly.

"Is it because of me?"

"Maybe."

"Why?"

"Put a towel on!"

"Okay," Mio replied simply, turning away and putting her towel around her body. "Better?"

"Yes," Guntz sighed. "Now will you stay?" Mio asked. "No," Guntz replied quickly. "But I want to play with your hair," Mio insisted, suddenly behind him again. Guntz was about to reply sharply when two hands were suddenly on his shoulders and pushed him down with unexpected strength. He was forced to sit, avoiding falling down completely.

"Just relax," Mio said quietly.

Guntz' ears were flat against his head the whole time Mio played with his hair. He had no idea what she was doing to it, but he didn't really care about that at the moment. He just wanted to get out of there. There was definitely something wrong with this girl. Mio delayed herself from his hair for a moment, looking at his bandaged arm.

"You could at least take these off, too, you know," she began, putting a hand on Guntz' bandages. Somehow, Guntz managed to work up a low, warning growl in his throat. Mio didn't seem to take it to much alarm as she looked at him for a moment before taking her hand away.

"Aw, don't get tense with me!" Mio then squeaked in an innocent yet somehow seducing voice, pressing her half-naked self against Guntz' back. He jerked slightly, throwing his hands to his face as blood began to drip from his nose. Something was flung through the air from nowhere and suddenly slammed Guntz square in the face. It was a shoe. "Well, well, well," a voice began.

Guntz looked down, still covering his nose. He already knew who the voice belong to. "Figures you'd be here. Trying to seduce my sister, huh? Because she looks weak, or something?" Leorina asked irritably. A towel was around her body and her hair was tied up with another towel.

Mio looked at Guntz. "Aw, look'it what you did. You made his nose bleed," she said with childish concern. "His nose was bleeding before I got here, I'll bet!" Leorina replied loudly. Guntz made no attempt to defend himself, still not daring to look up. He could barely defend his pride, knowing how ridiculous he would and already did look.

"Aw, you're just jealous, sis," Mio said, hugging Guntz' back, making him tense all over again. "Jealous?! Why would I be jealous?!" Leorina yelled a little too quickly. "No need to get so flustered," Mio replied quietly. "I'm not flustered!!" Leorina was practically screaming.

Guntz looked up slowly, a bit surprised. He had never seen Leorina so out of control with herself. "I just came in here to relax in the hot springs," Leorina began breathlessly. "Then relax in the hot springs," Mio offered simply.

"That'll be hard. Watching you two will be like watching a soup opera." Leorina pretended to wretch. She picked up the shoe that had struck Guntz, turned around, and left with a stomp in her step.

"My sis is a weirdo, huh?" Mio asked. Guntz said nothing.

Yeah. So Mio and Leorina have those typical twin issues, Klonoa's not feeling so hot, and Guntz is, literally. Fun times.