Disclaimer:
I do not own anything from Love Hina or any copyrighted material. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.
Chapter 8 – Lingering Wounds
Kitsune lay in her hospital bed, staring off into space. She, Jay, and Gus were able to find safety after several days of hell. They arrived at a Red Cross camp where Jay and Gus were treated for minor injuries. Unfortunately for her, she had to be shuffled to this camp because of her injuries. Before she left, Jay and Gus were at her side reassuring her and putting her fears at ease – that it'll be all right. When the volunteers loaded her in the ambulance, she felt truly alone…forgotten.
She hadn't seen either of them since.
For nearly a week she remembered the events that had lead to this point…and each time she did, it made her wish she hadn't. The most painful of her memories was that of the death of her friend Sandy. How could Sandy die while she was spared from a similar fate? Kitsune couldn't help but feel guilty for her own survival, blaming herself for what happened. She wondered if she could've been able to save her friend – but like many of her questions, there wasn't an easy answer.
Kitsune reached in her shirt pocket and pulled out the group shot of everyone back home. She looked at everyone's faces in the photo intently. Her eyes soon focused on hers, a reflection of her personality: a carefree individual full of life…part of which had been left behind in Kosovo. Kitsune caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the plastic windows of the tent earlier – the only difference is that the face that looked back at her wasn't her own. Instead the face belonged to a tired, withdrawn girl who had seen too much. Kitsune seemed to isolate herself from the rest of the world…her eyes had a glazed look to them now, seemingly starting off into the distance.
"Kitsune!" cried a familiar voice.
Looking up, Kitsune saw two faces she thought she'd never see again. Keitaro and Naru quickly made their way to her bed. Soon they were at her side, a mix of joy and concerned graced their eyes.
"Naru? Keitaro?" she said in disbelief.
The moment Naru and Keitaro came to Kitsune's bedside they gasped at the sight of her injuries. The once vibrant Mitsune Konno that didn't have a care in the world lay tired, worn, and broken in front of them. Naru leaned down to her old friend and took her hand into hers.
"Kitsune…we were so worried about you," said a relieved Naru.
Kitsune turned to Naru and Keitaro with a sad expression on her face. She remained silent as her two friends looked on. Gradually Kitsune began to sob and rested her head on the bed railing. Keitaro knelt down to her and stroked Kitsune's short, blonde hair gently, trying to comfort her.
"Everything's going to be okay," added Keitaro, "We're gonna take you home."
"H-Home?" Kitsune choked.
"Yeah," replied Naru, "home."
~~
It was not long until the trio found themselves on a plane back to Japan. Keitaro already called the others back at the Hinata Sou the good news. To say that Shinobu, Su, Motoko, and Haruka were overjoyed was an understatement. But the moment he told them about the fox girl's injuries caused them all to be concerned for Kitsune once more. After he hung up the phone, Keitaro hoped that their presence could help cheer her up.
Kitsune's injuries still required some hospitalization once they landed some twenty hours later. After being moved to the hospital in Hinata, Naru and Keitaro sat at her bedside awaiting the others while the fox girl slept. Kitsune hadn't said a word to either Naru or Keitaro the entire trip.
"I'm worried," said Naru. "I've never seen Kitsune act like this before."
Keitaro sighed. "I don't know…I just hope we can help her get through this."
At that moment, Su, Shinobu, and Motoko burst into the room followed by Haruka, trying in vain to keep the girls from causing too much excitement – they were all eager to see the resident party-girl once more, thus causing a lot of commotion during their initial entrance. The end result of this was a series of loud bangs that resonated within the walls, causing the sound waves to amplify even greater.
~~
Kitsune walked through a familiar forest as a thick fog swirled all around her. She did not get the sensation of peace or tranquility the fog used to radiate before – instead it gave off a more dreary and hopeless feeling. She shivered in fear as she continued walking to her unknown destination. Suddenly, she heard the all-too familiar sound of incoming mortars. Time seemed to slow down as Kitsune desperately tried to find some cover. Diving into a small ditch, she felt her arms come in contact with something wet and sticky. Looking to where her hands landed, she was horrified to see where she had landed.
In the ditch next to Kitsune was the body of Sandy – her still-warm entrails and blood began to seep into the moist earth. An explosion caused her to close her eyes and cover her face. When she opened them once more, the body of her friend was replaced with her own – the look of death graced the features on the corpse as it stared blankly back at Kitsune.
'No! Please make it stop!' she thought.
Terrified, the fox girl clawed her way out of the ditch in an effort to get away. As she stood up, a shell landed right in front of her. The explosion was much greater than ever before; the fire engulfed Kitsune entirely as shrapnel passed through her body.
~~
Kitsune sat up immediately and screamed. She began to look wildly around the room in a panic and tried to get out of bed.
"Cover! I need to find cover!" Kitsune screamed. "I gotta get out! I gotta get out of here!
Naru rushed over to her friend. "It's okay Kitsune! You're safe…nothing's going to hurt you."
Kitsune slowly realized that she was no longer in Kosovo – she was back home…among friends. She buried her head into her arms and sobbed. Naru wrapped her arms around her and began to comfort the crying girl.
"Naru…I-I'm so-sorry," choked Kitsune. "I'm really sorry."
"It's okay Kitsune…you don't have anything to be sorry for."
Keitaro and Haruka moved the others back outside and closed the door behind them. Running his hand through his hair, he turned to face them. Haruka moved to Keitaro in remorse of what had happened.
Haruka sighed. "I'm really sorry Keitaro. I tried to keep them from doing something like this."
"That wasn't a good idea bursting into the room like that," he said to the rest.
Su, Shinobu, and Motoko shot a confused look at him. A moment later, Su broke the silence that was in the air.
"Why? Did we do something wrong?" she asked innocently.
"We just want to see Kitsune is all Sempai," added Shinobu.
The door opened once again, and Naru stepped out. Wiping her brow, she gave a low sigh.
"How is she Naru?" asked Keitaro.
"Kitsune's okay now…she's just a little shook up is all," said Naru.
Motoko turned to Naru. "Naru, what's wrong with Kitsune…I've never seen her this scared before."
"Well, the doctor said that Kitsune had been through a lot over the past few days. I can only imagine what she saw over there," she answered.
"The doctor thinks that she may have P.T.S.D.," add Keitaro.
"Pe-tee-ess-tee? Is that some sort of snack?" asked Su.
Shinobu covered her eyes and shook her head. "Kolla, I don't think it has anything to do with food."
"P.T.S.D. stands for Post-traumatic stress disorder," answered Haruka. "It's an anxiety disorder and it can be very damaging to Kitsune if it's not treated."
Everyone remained silent. The seriousness of Kitsune's situation seemed too unreal, but the truth was evident. After talking amongst themselves for a couple of minutes, they decided to try and talk to Kitsune – this time they'd enter in a more orderly manner. Filing into the room as quietly as they could, each of them took a seat near the bed.
Kitsune looked up, her eyes still red from crying. She felt ashamed that she panicked in front of her friends like that, but she couldn't help it. Sitting up as best as she could, she spoke.
"I-I'm really sorry…I j-just don't know what came over me," she whispered.
"Kitsune, we should be the ones apologizing to you for entering your room like that," replied Motoko.
"We're really sorry Kitsune…it's just that we're happy to see you is all," added Shinobu.
Kitsune managed a weak smile to her friends. "It's all right. I'm…I'm glad to see all of you too."
"Kitsune, when are you gonna come home?" asked Su.
"S-Soon I hope."
"Do you think you'll be able to play with me again?" Su asked next.
Naru was about to say something, but Keitaro stopped her. It was evident that Naru was a bit frustrated at Su, but she calmed down when Kitsune answered her.
"Well…um…I-I hope so Su…but not right away."
The rest of the day went on like this. Everyone took turns talking to Kitsune, trying to free her from the demons that still haunted her. When it was time for them to leave, Kitsune was a bit frightened – she didn't want to be alone again. After persuading the doctor and the nurses, they allowed them to stay by Kitsune's side until she fell into an uneasy sleep. As quietly as they could, the group walked out of the room. Out in the parking lot, Motoko, Keitaro, and Naru began to talk about what to do next. Keitaro decided to make arrangements for Kitsune to be moved back to the Hinata Sou by tomorrow afternoon.
"I hope it'll help Kitsune if she was back at the dorm…it just might do her some good," he said to Naru.
"Still…I really think we need to talk to a therapist about this," commented Naru. "I'm afraid that she may never get over this."
"That is true," replied Motoko. "But I'm sure that she'll be able to Naru."
Nodding in agreement, they and the rest of the group made their way back to the Hinata Sou. As they walked, each of them couldn't help but think about Kitsune. All that any of them could do at that moment is hope that she'll find inner-peace once more.
***
A/N – That does it for chapter 8! Just FYI, we're approaching the end of this fic, so I'm gonna work pretty hard on the next chapter to give it some closure and bring things full circle.
Well, I'd like to thank i won't tell and Gotenks01013 for reviewing once again, and to those who've read and enjoyed what I have up! Hope you guys enjoyed it!
Whew, I'm tired. Anyway, please by all means read and review, and I'll try to have the next chapter up soon! ^_^
