Hello! Looks like I managed to get another chapter up this week! Geez, this thing is starting to drag on a bit, though. Just give me a few more chapters, and the plot will be on track after the 'Christmas' chapter.
---Kouji Tamino
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The threat over with, everyone headed back toward the mansion. "Oh man, am I glad that's over!" Megumi yelled, yawning and stretching.
Sakura sweat dropped, looking towards the fortress that was still in the sky. "Yeah, but what are we going to do about that?"
Ami chuckled nervously. "Um, don't worry… We'll figure out something! I hope…"
Meiruuna looked to the others. "What I pulled off in the last couple of days was horrible… I understand if you never forgive me… However… There's something that I've learned recently that may be of some interest to you all… Especially to Ami, Shinichi, and Shin…"
Ami tilted her head. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Shin and Shinichi… I have some information on your father and his history as the legendary 'Psychic Jammer'… And Ami… I've learned our family name, and the identity of our true parents…"
Ami's eyes widened. "Real… parents?…"
Love Hina Next: Second Phase
Chapter 38: Secrets Revealed! And Little Naoko Grows Up…
Meiruuna nodded. "You see, like us, our parents were psychic… We lived in one of the few 'psychic safe' areas. It was 20 years ago that Shinji Suichi, using his 'psychic jamming powers', helped a bunch of psychic hunters kill off most of the worlds psychics. Only the children were spared, plus a few possible adult survivors, which is why suspect that there are a few psychics left out there… Perhaps even a new generation has been born by now. The erm… samples that I took from Shinichi were just extra precautions…" She cleared her throat, reaching into a pocket. "Anyway, the hunters at least had the decency to make a list of the dead, and I managed to find our parents in here…" She pulled out a piece of paper. "Ami, I give you the honor to read it out loud…"
"Wait, wait, wait…" Sakura interrupted. "How did you find all this out? I'm finding all of this a little hard to swallow…"
Junko nodded, crossing her arms. "Yeah, as much as I hate to agree with the backstabber over here, I'm much more willing to believe her than I would you… How do we know you didn't make this up?"
Meiruuna chuckled. "I knew you wouldn't trust me… If you must know, I tortured it out of one of the former psychic hunters. Oh well, I could really care less if you believe me…" She gave Ami a sad look. "But please Ami, you must believe me…"
Ami frowned. "I don't know… I don't think I can trust you anymore…" She slowly took the paper from her sister, looking at it unsurely.
Kai sighed. "Please, Ami-san… Mistress may have done some bad things, but she really put her heart into finding out who your parents were… Please, just trust her on this…"
Tenshi looked to her brother. "Oh wow… Kai…"
Ami smiled. "Okay, I believe you!" Her smile became a frown again as she stared at the piece of paper. 'Well now… After 20 years of living, I'm going to finally find out what my last name is… But do I really want to know the names of my real parents? Losing my foster parents is one thing, but now I'll know the names of my real mother and father…' Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened up the folded piece of paper. "Dead: Azuro and Kila… Athna… Survived by their daughters, Ami and Meiruuna Athna… So my name is Athna…"
All was silent for a few moments. Shinichi cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "It's… a pretty name…"
Ami nodded, tears running down her face. "Yes, it is… Thank you, Shinichi-kun…" She sniffled, wiping her eyes gently. "I… I'm so happy, yet at the same time, so sad…" She gasped as Shinichi hugged her. "Shinichi-kun…" She slowly hugged him back.
"It will be alright, Ms. Ami…" Shinichi assured her, hugging her tight. "While my parents aren't around much, they're still here… I forget that sometimes…"
Ami gasped, breaking the hug. "I'm sorry Shinichi-kun, but I have to make a call! I just have to tell the others the news!" She quickly ran over to the nearest phone.
Everyone smiled, watching Ami excitedly run off. They then sweat dropped as Meiruuna pulled out 2 certain vials. "Um, heh heh… What the hell am I gonna do with this stuff?" Sakura slowly raised her hand. "No. I don't even wanna think about what your plans for them are…" Meiruuna replied. Sakura pouted.
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Shinichi sighed, walking into the bathroom. He took off his clothes and put on a towel. "Geez, what a week… Ever since the girls moved in it's been an adventure a minute… Will I ever get a break?" As he stepped into the bathing area, he got his answer. The girls, all in the bath, stared at Shinichi for a few seconds. Shinichi froze up, wondering what to do, when his brother walked in.
Shin chuckled, patting Shinichi on the back. "So, trying to get a bath with the girls as well, huh? Well, good luck! Oh, hey there, Junko!" Shinichi and Shin screamed as Junko punched them out of the room.
"Well, thanks a lot…" Shinichi muttered, upside down with his back to the wall. "I might have gotten out of that unscathed… What are you still doing here, anyway?"
"Oh, me?" Shin chuckled, upside down as well. "I'm on vacation!"
Shinichi sweat dropped. "Heh heh heh… Figures… just try not to get me killed, okay?"
Shin gave his younger brother a thumbs up. "You got it!"
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The next day, Naoko awoke feeling wet. She frowned, tilting her head in confusion. "Huh? Why am I wet? Did I wet the bed? It smells odd, too…" She put a hand between her legs and brought some of the wetness closer to her face, so she could get a better look at it. Her eyes widened and she began whimpering as she saw that the wetness was red. "KYYAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! Oh my god, I'm bleeding!!"
As soon as she said that, every current resident of the mansion burst into her room, Junko leading the way. "Naoko, show me where you're hurt!!" Everyone sweat dropped as they realized what had happened. "…Shit."
Megumi squealed in delight. "Eeee! Naoko's becoming a young lady!" She and Sakura pushed Shin and Shinichi out of the room. "Boys, out… This is girl stuff…" They quickly shut the door, and turned back to Naoko. "Okay, Naoko… Um, this is all a part of growing up… You see, when a man and a woman--" Megumi was quickly shut up by Junko, who stuffed one of Naoko's dirty socks in her mouth. She quickly spit the sock out. "Yuck! Hey! What did you do that for?!"
"She's just a baby!!" Junko screamed, tears running down her eyes. "I've managed to keep her innocent for this long, please don't take that away from me!!" She yelped as Sakura stuffed Naoko's other sock in her mouth.
Megumi chuckled. "Thanks, Sakura… Junko, she's not a young child anymore. She'll be 13 soon and she needs to know these things!"
Ami nodded. "I remember when I had my first period… I caused such a fuss, I scared Ms. Su off for a couple days!"
Megumi cleared her throat. "Anyway, Naoko, you see, when a man and woman love each other very much--"
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Naoko stared at the other girls with wide eyes. "S-so that's how it really works?"
Meiruuna nodded, grinning. "Yep, that's the whole, nasty, detailed truth… Isn't it great?"
Junko looked to Meiruuna. "Oh yeah, what the hell are you still doing here?"
Meiruuna shrugged. "Eh, just decided to hang out here for a while… Hinata House has been a little boring lately, believe it or not… Besides, I really like Shinichi… Him, the people here, and the others at Hinata House are about the only normal people that I can stand…" She smiled. "But death to a bunch of losers isn't worth the lives of my friends…"
Ami grabbed Meiruuna in a tackle hug. "Awww, that's so sweet! But Hinata House, boring? That's a scary thought…"
"Ack… You're choking me…" Meiruuna said, her voice strained.
"Okay, let's get you cleaned up, Naoko…" Junko muttered. "Can't have you sitting around in that all day…"
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Naoko happily bounced around the living room in the new outfit that Shinichi went out to buy for her. It was a jacket, skirt, tank-top, gloves, and knee high boots, all pink. On the tank-top was a ducky. Naoko squealed. "Thank you, Shin-sama! It's so cute!"
Shinichi smiled, scratching the back of his head. "It was no problem! The least I could do for the new young lady…"
"Shinichi", Megumi began. "Since you seem to be so interested in helping her out… Could you go out and buy some tampons for Naoko?"
"Wha?!" Shinichi yelled. "Why me?!"
"Because… now that Naoko's becoming a young lady, we need to teach her a few things…"
"But… but…" Shinichi sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine… I'll do--"
"Now wait just a minute!" Shin shouted, appearing next to Shinichi.
"Gyah!!" he screamed. "Where the hell did you come from?!"
"Never mind that!" Shin adjusted his glasses, putting an arm around his brother. "Now look here, ladies… Just earlier, you said that this was girl stuff… And now you want to involve poor Shinichi here when it's convenient to you!"
Shinichi's eyes widened. "What are you doing, you idiot?!"
"Trying to save your dignity, you spineless jellyfish!" Shin shouted, looking to him. He looked back to the girls. "Now why can't some of you stay here and teach the little woman while the rest go buy that stuff?!"
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"…Because Junko is psycho and will rip off our balls if we don't?" Shinichi asked, repeating the threat that Junko gave them earlier. Both Shinichi and Shin were at the store, in the hygiene section.
Shin shuddered, whimpering. "She's so scary… Did she really have to grab and yank on mine to make a point? I don't think you're going to have any nieces or nephews now…"
Shinichi sighed. "Stop overreacting… You've still got them, right?… Now let's go find those tampons before Junko has our heads…" He and Shin sweat dropped as they realized that there were several different brands and types. "Why me?"
"Stop complaining…" Shin muttered. "Our family is rich enough to buy this whole store… Just buy several different ones and hope that we get the right one for Naoko…"
Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Are you insane?! Do you know how many weird looks we'll get if we go up there trying to buy several boxes of tampons?!" Women wandering in the section gave the two men strange looks as they walked by.
"Do you think it's easy having this type of conversation with you?!" Shin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Now just take it like a man and let's get this over with…"
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Shinichi and Shin awkwardly walked up to the cash register, quickly dumping all the different brands and varieties of tampons that they thought Naoko could use. The person at the register, who just happened to be a woman, stared at them. "Um… excuse me, sirs… You are aware that you're buying--"
Shin couldn't take anymore. He snapped. "Yes, yes, I know!" Shin screamed, raising his arms in the air. "We're buying freaking tampons! Look, I just had my balls yanked on by a violent psycho bitch! I don't need this crap right now, okay?! Just sell us the damn--" He pulled out his wallet and emptied the contents of it. "Y'know what, just take all my money! I'm through!" He then went stomping out of the store, leaving Shinichi, the woman, and everyone in the area staring after him in shock.
Shinichi chuckled lightly. "Heh heh heh… Bad day…"
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Shinichi, carrying the tampons in several bags, ran after his brother. "Shin! Shin, are you okay? You kind of scared me in there!"
Shin chuckled, rubbing his chin. "I knew that pretending to snap would work…"
Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right… You so totally lost it in there…"
Shin grabbed his younger brother in a headlock. "Hey, hey… Shin Suichi does not lose his cool… You got that?"
Shinichi nodded, choking. "Okay, okay! You can let go, now!"
Shin laughed, letting him free. "So, what do you plan on doing once we get home?"
"I'm gonna take a nap, and I'm not waking up until dinner… I'm still exhausted from the past couple days…"
"Yeah, me too… That, or I'm gonna go try to get a bath with one of the girls again…"
"…They'll kill you… You know that, right?"
"I never back away from a challenge!"
"You are insane…"
End of Chapter 38
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And there we go! Sorry for the switching of gears about halfway through. The first half was what I had planned for the second half of last chapter, but didn't have enough time to do. So, I just condensed it and this chapter and slapped them together. Anyway, seeya next time!
---Kouji Tamino
