The Tale of Shinobu
Disclaimer: Forgot to put this in the last chapter/prologue. I do not own Love Hina. I don't even own the computer I am writing this on *sob*. However, I do own all of the Love Hina mangas that have been released in the US. So I guess that counts for something. Oh yeah, I'm going to be using the Americanized versions of the characters names because…… well, I can. :P
"How do you know your brother wasn't lying?"
"I know he wasn't. He never lied in his entire life. Sometimes he was wrong. But my brother was not a liar."
"We have reason to suspect your brother is either a liar or a very good story-teller."
"Did he tell you anything?"
"Yes, he did. He told us that he was going to find "him" and that your brother was going to kill him."
"WHAT?"
"Pay it no attention though. The drugs we have to give your brother can make people delirious."
"No. I can't tell you, but my brother, he….. let's just say he knows things."
"What kind of things?"
"He knew my parents were going to die?"
"You mean he planned it?"
"No. He loved our parents as much as I did. He just knew. He told mom and dad when I was four. He told them "Mom, Dad, you are going to die. But when you die, please don't make Shinobu go away". Three years later, they died. My parents paid him no attention when he told them they were going to die. But he told me the exact date, time, and place of the murder. I couldn't tell anyone though. No one would believe."
"You certainly didn't miscalculate. I am finding hard to grasp the idea of your brother being able to see the future. But he is a very, um, astonishing person."
"How so?"
"He escaped twice. Without even trying. He just wanted to play hide and seek. We never found him, even though he had a homing chip implanted in him. We had to start calling "You win! Come out, Come out wherever you are!" As soon as we gave up, your brother would drop out of the sky and prance around like a lunatic."
"So that's what my brother is. A lunatic."
"No, he is a genius. But sometimes genius gets to people. That is represented in your brother by his split personality, paranoia, and manic depression. But we're working on it."
"No you aren't. He told me. You were working on it, but you gave up a couple of years ago. He's hopeless, isn't he?"
"I can't imagine where you get your information from, but it's completely correct. It is only a shame that we didn't contact you sooner. How do you get your information anyways?"
"My brother. He talks to me in my dreams."
"Shinobu, you know that's not possible."
"It happens."
"Oh, never mind. I see there is no convincing you, so I give up. Tell me what happened in the orphanage.
"Well, a couple of months after being in the orphanage, some people took me away. It was arranged that, incase of my parents' death, my brother would stay with Grandma and I would stay with friends of the family. I already knew them, so I promised my brother we would see each other again soon. I knew I could keep my promise, as the friends of the family had signed the Will accepting both of us, me first and my brother three weeks afterwards."
"But my brother couldn't stand being away from me. I think his problems grew to be at Grandma's apartment. I think being away from me makes him this way. Anyways, he disappeared a week after being at Grandma's apartment."
"Yes, we know all about that incident. What do you know about it?"
"All I know is what I saw on TV. I saw my brother standing on a burning building, eyes dashing about like a crazy person and his dentures shining."
"There is more to that story than you know, Shinobu. For instance, your brother coerced a dentist to surgically reshape his jaws and install those dentures."
"No, my brother didn't do that. Leioji did. The person controlling my brother. Leioji gained full control, didn't he?
"Well, it's true that we're seeing him more and your brother less every day. Did you hear that from your brother?"
" Yes, I did. Although Leioji is gaining more control during the day, I think my brother has more control during the night."
"It's also true that your brother has been causing less problems each night. You may be correct. I think that's all for today Shinobu."
The President of the mental institution Shinobu's brother was staying at got up from her chair and walked out the door. Shinobu got up from her chair and slowly walked back to her room. She was glad her brother was still alive, but it scared her that Leioji was taking over. She knew it from her dreams, but she couldn't always trust her dreams.
On her way to her room, Motoko ran past her, being chased by Tama-chan. Su and Sarah followed after Tama-chan, Su drooling as she went, fork and knife in hand. Shinobu had grown to blank them out unless they were trying to talk to her.
When she got into her room, she collapsed on her futon. Looking up at her clock, she verified that it was around 9:00. She was exhausted. Shinobu quickly passed into dreams. But she was not alone in her dreams.
She was visited again by a vision. It was her brother escaping from the mental institution. He blew past the guards with a fluid strength that frightened and astounded her. She then recognized the characteristic crazy eyes of Leioji. That wasn't her brother escaping. It was someone dangerous. Shinobu tried to wake up, but the vision persisted.
Leioji threw medical staff, guards, and some patients threw the air until he had gotten to the lobby. It was apparent that he didn't mean to help any other patients escape. Leioji crushed the cash register and took a wad of bills. He shoved them in his pocket, and ran through the doors. The seemingly indestructible wood broke like glass hit with a hammer.
Shinobu then flew to a sitting up position. Her eyes fluttered, getting used to the light. She had forgotten to turn off the lights. She also had to use the bathroom. She stood up, and walked towards her door. In the light, she could barely make out the form of someone outside her door.
"Sempai? Su? Are you there?" Shinobu asked in vain. The figure didn't answer. It didn't move. It appeared to Shinobu that a statue was standing outside her door. Yet, she could feel someone's presence.
She picked up an umbrella and swung open her door. She shrieked.
Naru was sleeping peacefully when she was awaked by a shrill cry. It was Shinobu. Naru knew right away it was that pervert, Urashima. She threw off the small trap door between her room and Keitaro's room and jumped down screaming. She was about to strike him when she saw he was sleeping. Rather innocently too. She was felling tired again, looking at Urashima, but another scream from Shinobu woke her.
Shinobu stood nowhere near the face of the person in her doorway. He stood a full 200 centimeters tall. He appeared to weigh around 100 kilograms. He was gargantuan in comparison to Shinobu. But the thing that truly frightened Shinobu was his eyes and his malicious grin. His eyes seemed not to be under that control of anyone. They darted around the room in every direction, completely apart from each other.
His grin was a chilling grin. His head leaning slightly to the right, his teeth shone in the light from Shinobu's lamp. His teeth were not human, however. They were huge, shark like teeth that looked dangerous and terrible. Yet, the figure still did not move.
Shinobu shrieked a third time. This time, she was answered with assistance. Motoko fell threw the ceiling, katana drawn.
"DIE, URASHIMA!" Motoko swung violently. However, there was no Keitaro Urashima in her sights. Instead, a bizarre demon –like creature stood in Shinobu's doorway.
"A demon," Motoko whispered. She had never faced a true demon before. However, it was her responsibility as the only true warrior of the Hinata house, it was up to her to banish this vengeful spirit. She drew her blade to her chest and addressed the demon with an unwavering hand and voice.
"Foul demon, you must die for your trespassing. I can not allow you to live, for that would be an insult to me and my dojo." When Motoko spoke, she never expected the demon to speak back.
"Try me." His voice was harsh but brittle, deep but sullen, evil yet tender. The voice of not one, but two people. Those two words pierced Motoko's heart. She felt as though she had just been violently slapped. The demon hadn't even turned to face her.
"YOU'LL DIE!" Motoko charged into battle, katana held above her head. The demon then moved. With the precision and skill of Urashima, the demon caught the blade. But rather than using both hands, only the index finger and thumb of the right hand was used. But still, the demon didn't turn to face Motoko.
Motoko didn't know what to do. She had failed. But she would not give in so easily. However, her opponent wouldn't either.
Motoko ripped her blade out from the demon's fingers, dragging his attention away from Shinobu and finally to Motoko. The demon's eyes darted around madly. He shivered up and down his spine, flexed his muscles, and drew his own katana.
"W-what?" Motoko was only able to see the katana before the demon began his assault. The blades crashed against each other, sending sparks flying into the night. The demon began frothing at the mouth as though he had rabies. Each blow was consecutively stronger and more vicious. Motoko, however, was losing strength each attack. The demon batted her across the cheek with his left hand, sending her spinning through the wall.
Just as Motoko crashed through the thin wall, Naru arrived. The demon smiled maliciously at Naru and ran his palm across the blade of his sword. Blood fell the wooden floor, staining it permanently. Naru saw the fear in Shinobu and panicked. She blazed past the demon and ran into Shinobu's room. She slammed the door shut and pulled so the demon couldn't enter the room. Or so she thought.
The demon merely began hacking away at the thin doors, shredding them like air. He barked, and slammed the door down. Naru was thrown to the ground with it, her hand pinned under it. The demon stood on the door, watching Naru's pain with glee. He then looked out into the hallway and disappeared, leaving the Hinata house in disorder.