Hello everyone. It's me again. Coming back at you with another round.

By the way, a big thanks to Ivysumi Nagao for reviewing me (I am still small time, so it really means a lot! Cries joyfully

Anyhoo, you know the shpiel. Let's get to the story!

BEGIN

Throb...throb...

Naota's head pulsed, a dull ringing slowly fading from his ears. Thoughts flowed through his head, of baseball, of birthdays, of knives, of Mamimi, of Haruko, of...

"Haruko!" Naota sat up sharply.

And wished he hadn't. Every pain and pressure came back a thousand fold, driving needles into his brain. He collapsed, falling back into a bed he couldn't remember climbing into, looking up at the ceiling.

He moaned halfheartedly. "It's a curse. It's gotta be. My father harassed some witch and she put a curse on his son. Only explanat—OOOPH!!"

Ordinarily he wouldn't throw a random 'OOOPH!!' into a sentence. That is because ordinarily one isn't dive-bombed by a mass of flesh, pink hair, and saliva.

"GOODMORNINGSLEEPYHEADRISEANDSHINEUPANDATEMCOMEONTA-KUNYAGONNABELATEGETUPGETUPGETUPLET'SGOGOGOGOGOOOO!!!!"

Naota moaned, and tried to roll over.

Tried being the operative word, because the moment he did Haruko picked him up by the scruff of his neck and the seat of his pants and defenestrated him.

Mamimi walked into the room, yawning wide and rubbing a small bump on the side of her head. She looked up and her eyes met with Haruko's.

Haruko was the first to speak. Meanwhile, Naota's fading scream could be faintly heard in the background.

"Well, well, Samejima Mamimi. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She looked back over her shoulder out the window. Silence filled the small room.

Mamimi's eyes filled with tears. "Har...u...Have you any idea what you did? How much you hurt him?" Her fist's clenched and fire filled her eyes. "How could you?"

Haruko laughed and shrugged. "Guess I'm just that kind of sick and twisted person who would come back after half a decade just to toss a kid."

Mamimi's eyes died down. A small smile slipped out under the hair that fell over her face. "Haruko?"

The strange, alien woman merely sighed and stretched. "Yes, Sameji?"

"He doesn't love you anymore."

Haruko's eyes burst open momentarily, just long enough for Mamimi to see the rush of honest emotion within them. Then she dropped her arms and slumped in a corner next to Naota's acoustic guitar. "That's a good guess, Mamimi, but I came back for a different reason."

The use of her name surprised her momentarily, but Mamimi quickly recovered. The fire came back as a soft flicker. "So why did you? To torture him more? Ruin the rest of his life like before?"

Haruko burst out laughing. "You really don't get it do you? Naota is destined. His NO channel may be messed up from overuse or misuse or even underuse, but even if all I can get from it is one thing, that's all I need."

Stumbling footsteps echoed from down the stairs and then the hall way.

Mamimi just shook her head and walked to the door. "Use him and throw him away. It seems to be a general strategy you have when dealing with people." Haruko's eyes widened slightly as Mamimi tilted her head and pointed the bump forming on her temple.

"Even me."

Naota slid open the door, his clothes in disarray, his hair filled with grass and twigs, and bruises across his face. "DAMNIT, HARUKO, WHY DID YO HAVE TO DO THAT?"

At that moment, Eri Ninamori walked up to the room. "Is everything okay in there?"

More laughter poured out of the room. "Ha ha haha, hehe, hahehaahahahahaha!"

Eri's eyes narrowed. "She's still here?"

Haruko stopped laughing and looked up. "Hey, Naota, what's Eri doing staying in your house? You taking a concubine as well as a wife?"

Naota frowned and turned away. "Let's go you guys. We need to get ready."

Both Eri and Mamimi nodded. Behind them, Haruko wailed in confusion. "Huh? Hey, where are you guys going? HEY! What do you have to get ready for?"

...

Inside Mamimi, emotions roiled and battled. Her inner flame sought outlet. She had to let it out, or she would overflow.

Like before...when Tasuku...

She cleared her thoughts and leaned against Naota. His arm wrapped around her waist as they walked out of the door and into the morning fog hovering over Malbase.

Eri, meanwhile, turned down a side road. Mamimi glance back at her just as Eri looked back at them. A moment of contact, and Eri dashed off.

Silently, Mamimi mouthed a 'thank you' to her before turning back to Naota. His warm presence filled her with a simple joy.

"We better move it. If we don't we'll be late for your art show. Come on!"

END

Well, that's it for chapter three. Stay tuned for chapter four where I explain Eri Ninamori's reason for living with M&N (hm, reminds me of candy!)

Oh, and just so you aren't disturbed completely by this story...

(Defenestration as described in the only dictionary I could find that had the word in it: The act or acts of throwing people and/or objects out a window more than or at two floors up.)

Thank you all very much!

Leo Sunders