Chapter 35
"Hey, can we talk?" Keitaro asked knocking on Kitsune's door.
"Sure, after the other night I'm sure you want an explanation." Kitsune responded.
"I'm sorry I shouted at you, I thought you were falling back onto your old tricks after you had made so much progress." Keitaro apologized.
"I don't blame you for thinking the worst of me, I've never really given you reason to believe otherwise." Kitsune replied.
"It was a real shock to find out that you're pregnant." Keitaro admitted.
"It's not something that I could just talk about. What was I supposed to say; 'hey everyone, I got knocked up by my abusive ex." Kitsune muttered. "This is just all the tricks and all that other crap I used to pull coming back to haunt me."
"I honestly don't know about that but you have our support. Shinobu's, mine, even Naru's overzealous support, we're all here for you." Keitaro assured.
XXXXX
Mutsumi clutched her handkerchief tightly. Her palms were sweating and she was moving the small cut of clothe from hand to hand trying to wipe away the sweat. She wanted to scratch her mid section so badly, a female officer had taped the wire to her bare skin and it was getting more and more itchy as she got closer to Hina's hospital room.
Mutsumi was so out of it she didn't even realize she had walked into the room and was standing in front of Hina. The old woman was on her bed snapping her fingers trying to get Mutsumi's attention.
"I know you're a ditz but this is too much." Hina scoffed.
"I'm sorry." Mutsumi snapped back into reality.
"Shinji isn't here today. Something about being in court over unpaid parking tickets." Hina sighed.
"Oh, I didn't notice." Mutsumi replied.
"I can't believe I'm relying on you." Hina sighed.
"I wanted to talk to you about that thing." Mutsumi squeaked.
"Huh?" Hina responded unsure what Mutsumi said.
"I wanted to talk to you about that thing." Mutsumi said more clearly.
"What thing would that be?" Hina inquired.
"You know the thing we spoke about the other day." Mutsumi clarified.
"I don't like talking about that with Shinji not around." Hina shook her head.
"I don't know what to do about it." Mutsumi blurted. "I'm an idiot, I can't figure out what to say."
"All you have to do is convey how much I love her." Hina sneered.
"What should I say exactly?" Mutsumi asked.
"You can figure that out." Hina responded. "Just keep it simple, tell her I love her."
"I should tell her how I love her." Mutsumi nodded.
"No, not you. Tell her that I love her, me, Hinata Urashima." Hina scoffed.
"I don't know if I can do that. What if I get faint, what if I mess up and say that you sent me." Mutsumi fretted.
"Do you need me to write it down for you?" Hina face palmed.
"Yes!" Mutsumi exclaimed.
"Mutsumi, you're acting strange." Hina noticed.
"I'm always acting strange." Mutsumi laughed it off.
"No, you're acting like a snitch. Are you wearing a wire?" Hina demanded to know.
"A… A… A… Wire…? What's a wire?" Mutsumi played dumb.
"They got to you, they turned you." Hina accused.
"Granny, please, why are you being so mean to me?" Mutsumi cried. "Do you want me to take off my clothes, I'll do it. I'll strip everything off if that'll make you happy."
The water melon lover began undoing her blouse buttons as she sobbed.
"No, no, Mutsumi, please keep your clothes on. I apologize for my outburst. After I used Saki to contact Kanako and she turned on me, I guess I got paranoid. I know you'll succeed where Saki failed." Hina sighed.
"I'm just worried granny; I'm worried if I talk to Kanako about this that Keitaro will hate me." Mutsumi snivelled.
"Don't be. Once you convince Kanako to not testify, I will make Keitaro understand." Hina assured.
"I think that's enough." Mutsumi said.
"If my grandson's friendship is enough for you, then I can guarantee it." Hina smiled.
"I wasn't talking to you." Mutsumi wiped her face. "I'm sorry I had to do this."
"You were wearing a wire…" Hina gulped.
"You forced me into this situation. You turned on Saki so fast; I couldn't give you the chance to do the same to me." Mutsumi lamented exiting the room as Makoto entered.
"Shinji should be here soon, I'll wait for him here." Makoto greeted Hina.
XXXXX
Walking up the stairs to the Hinata House Eikichi Onizuka slowly exhaled into the palm of his hands as he checked his breath. Deciding that his breakfast omelette was too heavy on the onions and not the best option to greet Urumi with, he began chewing some mint flavoured gum.
He then examined the bouquet of flowers he had just bought at the train station. It was the last one they had and he hoped it would be good enough to show how sorry he was for not visiting recently.
"Eikichi!" Urumi exclaimed excitedly as Onizuka reached the top of the stairs.
"Urumi, you look beautiful." Onizuka complimented although Urumi looked as she always did.
"Oh, I know that tone. What's wrong?" Urumi asked.
"Nothing is wrong as per say, I was approached by a newspaper journalist. He wanted to interview me about the union incident from a few years ago." Onizuka sighed.
"Union incident?" Shinobu spoke up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"Shinobu, you're like a ninja. You just snuck up on us like that." Urumi responded startled.
"I guess I'm just light on my feet." Shinobu responded apologetically.
"Well kid, the union incident is part of the story of how Urumi and I got together." Onizuka explained.
"I would like to hear that story." Shinobu nodded.
"I guess we can give you the abridged version." Urumi nodded.
"It all started when I became Urumi's teacher. She was completely helpless against my charm but being the principled man I am, I did nothing to take advantage or encourage her very forward advances." Onizuka boasted.
"That's how he likes to remember it." Urumi giggled.
"My time as a teacher came to an abrupt end when one of my students snapped and attacked another teacher and the teacher's union who were responsible for her friend's death. I took responsibility for that and ended up having to flee the country." Onizuka went on.
"You left Japan, where did you go?" Shinobu asked.
"America, I managed to get a few jobs but I mostly lived a vagrant life since my English was not so good." Onizuka answered.
"Then when a scandal broke, proving that the teacher's union was indeed corrupt and Onizuka was innocent in the attack, he was able to return." Urumi added.
"I was gone for a few years and when I returned to Japan, I had nothing. It was tough; I thought I was going to completely lose myself." Onizuka admitted.
"That was right around the time when I graduated from high school. My friend Miyabi and I found Onizuka and we took care of him. It was while I was helping him get his life back on track that we began seeing each other." Urumi smiled as she remembered.
XXXXX
"And then he said no, but I have Krabby's." Yamato delivered the punch line and started laughing.
Yamato and Motoko were taking a walk together through the town park trying to spend some time together before returning to the inn.
"Okay, that joke made no sense at all." Motoko's face remained staunch.
"Well, I guess only people who've watched Pokémon will get it." Yamato shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm being to think that you spend too much time watching anime and reading manga." Motoko noted.
"I'll have you know, there is no such thing as too much anime or manga." Yamato declared.
"It must be nice, having something like that. Something you know, you have waiting for you. A hobby, a purpose." Motoko sighed.
"So this really is it, you've cut all ties with kendo." Yamato replied.
"Yes, I know it seems extreme but I have to find something my own. Something that isn't my sister's, something that isn't Shinmei-ryu." Motoko declared.
"If you need any help, I'm here for you." Yamato reminded.
"I know." Motoko smiled clutching his arm.
"Yamato-kun…" A soft voice called out a bit surprised.
Yamato and Motoko turned around to see Honoka walking towards them.
"Honoka, what are you doing here?" Yamato asked taken aback.
"I'm on my way to meet Mitsune Konno; I believe you live with her. She is going to get me in touch with a lawyer." Honoka explained.
Unlike with Suzuka, meeting this beautiful, model, ex-girlfriend of Yamato's was beginning to make Motoko a little green and worried.
'Oh god, look at her. She's beautiful and she has that shy kuudere image going on. Heck, she's even a shrine maiden. I heard people at school talk about her when they saw her in that magazine; they were saying that she could be big. Looking at her close up, she does look like a model.' Motoko's inner voice chimed away.
'That could be me next to him if I was just clearer with him at the beach? Bombing him with all those questions then playing it off? He didn't know what the hell was going and yet I dropped him like a roach I found in my closet. Things could have turned a hell of a lot differently if I just asked him straight then he wouldn't have hesitated like he did.' Honoka's inner voice ate away at her.
"This is Honoka Sakurai, I told you about her." Yamato introduced.
"Hi." Honoka bowed politely.
"I figured that out." Motoko responded. "I'm Motoko Aoyama; it's nice to meet you."
"Are you two…?" Honoka tried to ask.
"Yes." Motoko answered without hesitating.
There was an air of tension between the two women hidden behind the polite smiles that they both wore. Yamato wasn't clueless to this palpable apprehension the girls were putting off.
"Look at time, Motoko and I should get going." Yamato laughed nervously.
"It was nice to meet you Aoyama." Honoka said.
"I share the sentiment Sakurai." Motoko smirked.
Yamato and Motoko went on their way and Honoka on hers.
XXXXX
With an annoyed look on his face Tora Igarashi made his way up the Hinata House stair case. The rich business man was dressed in a suit that cost more than what some people made in a year.
The affluent man was being flanked by his old friend and lawyer, Kanade Maki. Kanade was also well dressed but in a less expensive suit.
"This is the place." Kanade said when they reached the top.
"That woman seemed like she fit in with high society but she came from a dump like this." Tora muttered.
"Shall we?" Kanade suggested walking towards the house.
"I rather not step into that building; I don't want to catch anything." Tora joked.
As the two men laughed outside, Naru exited the building with her school bag ready to head to her tutoring job; she was in a rush and buttoning up her coat. She stopped when she noticed Kanade and Tora standing outside.
"Excuse me miss, can you please tell me if Mitsune Konno is presently home?" Kanade asked politely.
"Who wants to know?" Naru responded suspicious.
"I'm Kanade Maki and this is my client Tora Igarashi." Kanade introduced.
"You fucking bastard! Get away from here!" Naru screamed doing her best not to jump at Tora.
Naru's outburst was effective in drawing Keitaro, Urumi, Onizuka, Shinobu and Kitsune out of the house to see what all the commotion was about.
"Thank you." Kanade replied backing away from Naru.
"Tora…" Kitsune mumbled walking towards him.
"Kitsune, don't get too close to him." Naru held back her friend.
"What's going on here?" Keitaro demanded to know.
"That's the guy, he's the father." Kitsune revealed.
"I would like to state at this moment, my client is not accepting the accusations that Miss Konno is making." Kanade spoke up.
"How do we know you really are pregnant and this is not some scam?" Tora scoffed.
"I took a pregnancy test, I took several actually." Kitsune exclaimed.
"Even if you are pregnant, my client refuses to accept that he fathered your unborn child." Kanade added.
"You're the only man I've been with in months." Kitsune spat.
"I've done my research on you Mitsune, or Ayase or Cindy or Aika or Akio or Oe or Lucy, no wait, your favourite is Kitsune." Tora smirked.
"You see, we know all about your history with using your body to seduce men. We are currently taking the position that any number of men could be that child's father if you are indeed pregnant." Kanade explained.
"Shut up!" Naru shouted.
"I don't like to use terms like slut but if the shoe fits." Tora prodded.
"That's enough!" Keitaro exclaimed. "Kitsune has done a lot of questionable things but I will not allow you to keep insulting a pregnant woman like that on my property."
"Mitsune Konno is gold digger, plain and simple. She likes to go after rich men and this pregnancy is just a ploy to extort money from my client." Kanade declared.
"A ploy… A ploy… A fucking ploy!" Kitsune screamed.
Kitsune pulled her shirt off and threw it at the snippy lawyer's face. The resident fox stood defiantly with her ample cleavage covered only by her bra but no one was ogling her chest. They were focusing on the bruises on her upper arms and back all which varied in healing.
"I was falling in love with you, that's why I let you get away with this. I was alright being the other woman because I thought you cared about me." Kitsune cried.
"Tora did you…" Kanade gulped.
"Relax Kanade; it's her word against mine. Those could have been self inflicted." Tora sneered.
Naru took off her coat and put it over Kitsune to cover her exposed chest.
"You did this, you know you did." Kitsune muttered.
"Get off my property right now!" Keitaro shouted.
He had been abused before; he knew what it was like to be battered. Seeing Kitsune like this reminded him of how it was to be blasted by Motoko and Naru.
"We'll leave after we make it clear to this whore that she won't get anything." Tora stated.
"Whoa, Keitaro, you can't do this." Onizuka exclaimed as he held Keitaro back.
"What are you going to do? Hit me in front of my lawyer. Go ahead, I'll sue you and take this pathetic dump." Tora threatened.
"Everyone let's calm down." Kanade tried to speak up.
"I wonder what your wife is going to say." Kitsune questioned.
"My wife will understand. I'll tell her the truth. I was weak and tricked by a gold digging whore with a drinking problem." Tora scoffed.
"Shut up." Kitsune started crying again.
"That's it. Leave now! Get off my property!" Keitaro shouted.
"You should have just taken your birth control like a good slut and…" Tora was cut off by Keitaro's right hook connecting with his jaw.
"You've gone and done it now. I'm going to sue you for everything." Tora scoffed as he felt one of his teeth loosen.
"You won't want to do that. You two are trespassing." Yui declared from behind. She was at the top of the stairs and watched the whole thing unfold with her cell phone in her hand. "And I just recorded everything Tora said. I'm sure there are hundreds of newspapers who would want this recording that clearly show your client verbally assaulting the mother of his unborn child. This could stir up a very big storm."
"My client will not bother pressing charges. He understands that he was partly at fault. There is no need to do anything with that recording." Kanade nodded.
"This isn't over." Tora muttered bitterly walking away as Kanade followed.
Once the two were gone, Kitsune completely broke down in tears as Yui approached Keitaro.
"I'm glad he bought that. This phone doesn't have a video recorder." Yui sighed as she patted Keitaro on the back.
"Thank you for standing up me Kei." Kitsune tried to smile.
XXXXX