Chapter 2

Life was not better for Mitsune the next day, as she believed it would be. The day was gloomy, with a slight drizzle. The sky was covered with grey. Kitsune yawned as she uncovered herself. After rubbing her eyes several times in an attempt to magically destroy her vicious hangover, she slid open the door of her room, and walked to the kitchen. Keitaro and Naru were already there eating breakfast.

"Good morning." the two said in unison.

Feeling a bit hesitant, Kitsune said nothing, and only made a slight gesture of acknowledgment. Moving over the counter, she picked up a bowl, and poured some cereal into it. The only sounds which could be heard were that of Naru crunching on her toast. This made Kitsune especially nervous, for she was waiting for Keitaro's impending attack. Yet-there was nothing.

"Kitsune," Keitaro said all of the sudden, almost making her jump out of her skin, "since I understand that you sometimes get a little carried away with yourself, I am going to forgo collecting rent from you this month."

"Ahem!" Naru snapped.

"Oh, and sorry for being so harsh last night. But, you have to make sure you keep enough money stowed away to cover your rent."

"Thanks Keitaro." she said softly.

Keitaro, extremely worried about getting the hell knocked out of him by Naru, got up and quickly scampered out of the kitchen. Now alone with Kitsune, Naru turned her attention to her.

"Don't mind that idiot, he was just on a power trip." she said.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I think I can defend myself against a puny little wimp like Keitaro." she chuckled.

Both of them laughed out loud in unison. However, for Kitsune, this was more of a release of pressure than a funny joke. She was wholly worried that Keitaro might actually throw her out. But then she smirked and thought that moron would never do a thing like that. Ridding her mind of her problems, Kitsune noticed the time on the clock.

"Hey Naru, aren't you gonna be late for class."

Naru glanced up at the clock and shrieked, "Oh damnit, you're right! Ooo, that jerk is going to make me late. I'll give it to him..."

Naru ran out of the kitchen and out of the Hinata House poste haste. Kitsune blinked a few times in awe, then shrugged and returned to eating her breakfast. She wondered what to do today as she chewed. Then, a very disturbing fact came to her.

"I really don't do anything with myself." she whispered to herself.

A pang in her chest developed. What does she do besides blow the money she had, flirt with some random guys, and get drunk? Her expression rapidly turned sour, and she put down her spoon. She racked her brain to list everything she does with her life. And all that came to her was writing. Most of that wasn't even real writing, just short stories she did for fun. She shook her head in an attempted to snap out of her perplexity.

"Oh what the hell does it matter. If all I want to do is be a bum, then so be it." she convinced herself.

Feeling a new sense of pride, Kitsune walked upstairs and took a nice long shower. Subsequently, she put on one of her sexier outfits, and left Hinata to carouse the town. And carouse she did! Many a man gave her some excited looks. Fully aware of this, she slowly made her way to the bar. Of corse, since she blew all of her money the day before, she slipped enough yen from Keitaro's room (don't tell) when he wasn't home to buy herself a drink or two. Approaching the bartender, she sat down at her favorite stool, and slapped down her money.

"You know what I want." she blurted out.

"Usual huh?" he asked as he filled up a glass of sake.

Kitsune's smile grew of the glass filled to the top. The bartender slid it to her, and Kitsune accepted with total adoration. Just then, the man beside her faced her and put his arm up on the counter.

"Well, well-what's a pretty girl such as yourself doin' here all alone?" he asked eagerly.

Kitsune was a bit surprised by his nonchalant manner. Nonetheless, she too, became a little anxious herself.

"Hmm, not much I suppose. I'm here just sitting by my lonesome, about to enjoy a drink."

The man smirked as he noticed her slight whimper.

"Would you mind if I removed your lonesomeness?"

"Why not at all."

The man's smirk grew into a smile. He had a slight muscular build, with slick black hair. His eyes gazed into Kitsune's with a firm, yet gently look.

"It's not very common to find a beautiful young woman out in a bar in the middle of the day."

"I guess you're just lucky." she laughed.

"Maybe so, Kitsune."

Kitsune paused for a moment, and pondered how he knew her name, when she was sure she hadn't told him yet.

"Hey, how'd you know my name?"

"Oh, I've been in this bar a few times when you were here. I overheard your name."

She nodded, and went to pick up her drink.

"So, what do you do with yourself," she blurted out, "when your not here of course."

Kitsune, stopped reaching for her glass and gave him a puzzled look.

"You do do something besides drink here, right?" he asked again, this time with a less subtle amount of force.

"Of course I do. What, you think I'm easy or something?"

"Easy. Ha! That's an understatement. They don't come easier than you babe!" he laughed loudly.

This sent Kitsune into shock. Why would this man want to attack her like this? She thought then he was just joking around.

"Haha! Real funny."

"It's really sad when you think it is funny," he continued his rant incessantly, "God knows how many guys a slut like you has gone to bed with."

At this point, she realized he wasn't kidding. With a surge of fury, she stood up and pounded her fist on the bar counter.

"Who the hell do you think you are! You don't know a damn thing about me! How dare you sit here judge me like I'm kind of whore!"

The entire bar fell silent, with all staring at Kitsune and the man. The man just laughed hysterically.

"Of course I can judge you! I see you all the time here prancing around, drunk as a dog. Good god, you flirt with every man you can. And anybody at all with a yen in their pocket is automatically your friend, because they can buy you drinks. It's so disgusting, it's hilarious!"

Kitsune's expression of anger hastily turned to ultimate embarrassment. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. Everybody was starring at her, and they all had a look in their eyes, like they were saying, 'What a dirty girl she is.' Be that as it may, her eyes burned, as she began to cry. She picked up her glass of sake and threw it in his face while calling him a bastard. With tears pouring down her face, she ran as fast as she could out of the bar. She didn't look back at all, just burring her face in her arm and sprinting back to Hinata House. She ripped open the door and ran upstairs to her room, where she curled up by her bed in the fetal position, and cried.