Another long gap, for another chapter. Life is kind of getting crazy, but at least summer vacation is about to come and I have more time to write when I'm not amusing myself with other things. Gosh, life's been rough, I got sick like two times for pulling all-nighters continuously.

Also, I also finally found out from one of my reviewers that Kanako Urashima from is Kana-Himazaki-Urashima on I'm a real fan of hers and I love how her writing is so unique and beautiful. I truly respect her and I hope you do too. For the ones who haven't read her stories before I recommend you read them.

I'm going to address the reason why these two characters had not gotten together yet. I really like these sad, dramatic, and slow romances and I've always been like that. Maybe I should compile longer chapters but you know it'll even take me even longer. Also, I was trying to bring out the utter sadness and despair set upon Hinata-Sou like a plague. I wanted to slow it so it made the hot springs dead from what used to be a lovely, energetic world.

As to everyone wanting me to speed this up, I'll do my best and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sadly, I'm still a newbie in the fanfic world and I'm not really as dedicated as I should be. So, just save your anger and rage until my birthday, so you can give me birthday punches.

As I've said before this story is only a fanfiction with you readers, so you're all very important to me. Please read, review, and enjoy. I appreciate everything. Hope you like it.

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Chapter 2-Confusion

As time passed by and the silence went on, the midnight chill slid by against Kanako's back, making her shiver in the sudden breeze that hit against her. Starting to feel uncomfortable from how cold it was outside, she decided the head back in her room. After stepping out of the hot springs, she felt the cold breeze tug on her skin and react from the sudden change in temperature. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as she rushed inside, to seek warmth within the inn.

After making it inside, she slowly made her way back in the room trying to not attract attention from within the peaceful Hinata-Sou. Every second she shivered from the lack of clothes and the fact that her brother was too cheap to turn up the heat at night. Finally, she made it in the room and closed the door and gave a sigh of relief. Turning around the face the window, she slid her body down against the wall as a sign of relief.

Tired as she was, Kanako saw only the darkness in her room, until her eyes were directly aligned to the windowsill. She held back a loud gasp as she stared half-angrily and half-confused as she saw Shinobu asleep, her head resting on the window and Kuro laying there, cuddled on her back. Slowly tiptoeing to her drawer, she pulled out a set of underwear and closed to drawer slowly and stealthy. She turned her back, unwrapping the towel, turning back around to see if Shinobu was awake of not before she dropped her towel. She slowly put on her underwear and then walked over to Shinobu and examined her closely. No doubt she was looking at her out the window. In a mix of rage, Kanako felt like strangling Shinobu at that moment and kill her right that second, but it would cause too much attention. Frowning seeing Kuro had grown fond of Shinobu's back so fast a brush of envy slid though Kanako's mind again.

Even colder, she grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her as she slowly sneaked back to Shinobu. She wondered what the girl could want with her. She never knew her well and hardly would know her motive in coming in this room. From her past experiences with Shinobu, she knew Shinobu wouldn't steal anything from anybody and wouldn't want anything she has anyway. She was puzzled like a lost mouse wandering into dead ends in a maze.

After going through multiple scenarios, she thought the only one possible was she was being stalked. There was no other way. Everything pointed that way. The windowsill, why she's in her room, the reason why she'd look over at her every breakfast. Sometimes, she would come over to her in random times and start a conversation. And there was no definite way. There was nothing she had that Shinobu didn't have. What confused her was, what would Shinobu want of her anyway? She felt like she was hopeless. A nuisance. In her mind, she was nothing and that nobody would want a girl like her. He decided that for himself, her own brother, to pick a lowly bitch like Naru, shows how much she was to him or anybody else.

So, there she was kneeling down gazing at Shinobu, she fingered Shinobu's hair a little and smiled a little. It did kind of feel good to have company. By now it seemed like the world didn't care, that it hated her, and the fact that everyone seems to reject her is so heartbreaking. But gazing at Shinobu gave her the sense that at least Shinobu wanted her. A lovely, innocent girl, whose smile was so heavenly. Still confused, she slowly maneuvered Shinobu from the windowsill and carried her to her bed. After a few minutes, Kanako successfully carried her to the bedside and gently laid her down. She unwrapped the blanket that she used to keep warm and put it on Shinobu. Then, she placed Kuro on top of Shinobu and closed the window to keep to cold air from coming in. She went back to her drawer to get out two bed sheets, laying down one on the floor and wrapping herself in the other.

Feeling cold again, she shivered as she closed her eyes, trying to go to sleep as quickly as she could.

Softly, through the silent room, Kuro said, "You must really like her to do this to her. I've never seen you do this before to anyone else except..."

Kanako quickly cut Kuro off, almost in a voice loud enough to wake Shinobu, "I...I don't like her. She came in my room and disturbed everything. It's just kind of...well, I was just thinking that maybe she was cold..." as Kanako ending her statement almost in a question.

"You're just not like that. Through all the years I knew you, you never cared for people like that because well you thought nobody loved you. Don't you see it in you? You know you really are. Open up," Kuro said in a soft, cat like voice.

Kuro purred as he cuddled back up in a ball to go back to sleep. Kanako slowly said, "I'm not like that...I don't need anybody..." slowly Kanako laid there, staring into the ceiling pondering why did she really do this much for Shinobu and about what Kuro said. She tried to ignore it and say it was a lie but every time she said that it drove her back to the same question. Why did you do it then? And who I am I then? Unable to sleep, she stood there almost as if petrified, looking for an answer, even a single reason, but she couldn't find a single one.

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Shinobu woke up to the bright, morning sky which gleamed through the window; her head was once rested on. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, still feeling a bit tired. Then, she realized that something wasn't right, that she was on a bed and this was not her room. She looked down to find Kanako on the floor with no pillow and a thin bed sheet as a blanket. She was puzzled why Kanako would care for her like the way she did but Shinobu was happy that Kanako would do that to her and it made her feel that their friendship could work.

Getting up she decided to carry Kanako into the bed like she did for her, but she found that the Kanako was quite heavy for her arms to manage. Instead, she took the pillow and lifted up Kanako's head to place the pillow underneath Kanako's head, and dragged the blanket on top of her. Then, she kneeled down to gaze at the resting face, just like Kanako had done last night.

Shinobu sat there in silence and then whispered in Kanako's right ear, "Thank you Kana-chan."

With that she exited the door, not knowing if Kanako was actually awake or not. Going to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth in a tiredly state, washed her face with a washcloth, and combed her hair which got somewhat messy from yesterday. As she headed down to the kitchen, ready to prepare breakfast, she found that most of the residents in Hinata-Sou were at the table eating silently. Looking up at the clock in the dining room area, she saw it was ten o' clock akready.

Usually, on a normal day, Shinobu would be ready at eight to cook breakfast, but because there was no alarm clock in Kanako's room and she went to sleep later than usual, she woke up two hours late. She walked to the dining room table and noticed two plates of burnt eggs and two glasses of water beside it, over the two vacant seats.

It seemed so quiet and silent. Not even Su or Sarah were running around, everyone seemed to be just dead. Shinobu felt it wasn't right to sit down and eat without an explanation. She seemed guilty at her failure to cook breakfast like she did everyday. It seemed like daily habit for her to wake up now and cook breakfast, be the first one seated at the dining room table, and wait with a smile for everyone to come down so she can serve them.

Kitsune was reading the newspaper about upcoming horse races, sipping on her sake quietly. Haruka was leaning against the wall, smoking her morning cigarette. Naru had left to buy supplies for their upcoming beach trip. Su and Sarah was sitting there quietly, poking their eggs. Motoko was already out in the shrine meditating. And Shinobu she stood beside the chair nervously, her hands gripping on the chair, pondering what to say. She felt obligated to give an explanation at least.

Flinching a little, Shinobu said as she looked down, "I'm sorry everyone. I went to bed late, I guess..." Her voice trailed off and she took a seat and ate her eggs slowly.

Finally, unable to stand the silence, Kitsune, put down her newspaper, finished the rest of her sake, and got up. She walked around the table and behind Shinobu, placing her hands on Shinobu's shoulders. In her foxxy voice, Kitsune asked, "Well, we searched everywhere for you. When we realized you didn't wake up as usual, we got so worried we checked your room, but you weren't there. We thought you ran away, we looked everywhere, and we found you in Kanako's room on her bed and she was sleeping on the floor. So, what do you have to say about that? Going to bed late, eh?"

Ashamed and dumbfounded from Kitsune's comments, Shinobu's mind raced for an answer. She really didn't know why she was in Kanako's bed. She didn't know what had happened and she really didn't want to tell everyone, especially him, for her reason to go in Kanako's room. Shinobu never was a good liar, and the way Kitsune said it and what she thought Kitsune implied it her comment made her embarrassed.

The thought that she and Kanako would ever be in a relationship like that seemed impossible, but the thought of it, made her heart beat for some reason. A little picture slid in her mind for just an instant of her and Kanako kissing. Their arms around each other, cuddled in embrace. Their glimmering eyes would stare into each other seeing right through each other and seeing true love within each other. The single vision suddenly jumped in and out of her mind so fast and the thought which seemed so forbidden and wrong in her mind, made her blush a shade of dark red, her skin tingle and get goose bumps, and made her cover her mouth of shock in embarrassment. She felt so ashamed of thinking of that, but for some reason, that vision of a perfect kiss had always followed her since the time, she first saw him sketching her to her first kiss. She always wanted to know what it would be like to have the perfect kiss and every time she thought of it she would envision a kiss of her and someone else. Usually, it would be him, her dream kiss, the kiss that would make her heart melt. Maybe it was only because Kitsune commented on Kanako, but the dream itself, the picture that flashed in her mind was beautiful. And the vision that she saw was a peaceful, heavenly kiss with a princess whose beauty was so stunning.

All of a sudden, all eyes were focused on Shinobu, their eyes fueled by curiosity and suspicion, waiting for an answer. Many thoughts rushed through Shinobu's mind, wondering what she could possibly say to everyone. Haruka was even giving a glimpse over, every excuse she could make-up didn't seem a bit believable. In a stuttered and mumbled tone, she said, "Ka-nako-san i-invited me to sleep over in her ro-om. Yeah, sh-she wanted to ta-alk wi-with me about st-uff."

Kitsune hovered up Shinobu intent in finding an answer. The look on Shinobu's face had shown that she hit something. And with such a look, Kitsune thought for sure that Kanako and Shinobu were having a secret relationship. She wanted to push the truth out of Shinobu. She wanted to hear; there's was a secret relationship, in which Shinobu sneaked in Kanako's room every night. "Stuff, eh? So, what does Kanako want from you? Could it be that maybe she wants her lover?"

The word "lover" had came out so smooth, so easy like it was true. The way Shinobu acted, nobody could tell if it was really the truth, or what was. The way Shinobu talked in such a general manner and a tone that seemed so uneasy as if to hide something. How she blushed when Kitsune mentioned Kanako to her, nobody how tell the actual truth. Some may know that they weren't lovers, but none really knew what really went on last night. Su and Sara were totally fascinated on the conversation, wondering what would come next from it.

Suddenly, he stood up and went towards the trash can, not wanting to hear no more. As he scrapped the rest of the eggs into the trash can; he said in an almost dead voice, "Shinobu-chan isn't like that...and Kanako-san wouldn't do such a thing either."

Kitsune hearing that comment rushed to his side and said, "My, my, my, how can you be sure? It was you who left their hearts empty...so you never know how desperate they are."

Reality always hit him in the hardest ways now; nothing really went right with him and Naru. He thought after they got married, the beatings would stop, they could relax, and live everyday peacefully as a happy couple. Every day that deception of love had eaten him apart. Every day in Hinata-Sou has whittled him down to as low as he could be and now he wished to take everything back, but he was trapped confined in a jail called Hinata-Sou. Some reason, though, Kitsune's comment about Shinobu had gotten to him.

Shinobu isn't that girl. With all my years with her she's kept her innocence and tried to do her best for everyone. And Kanako-chan, she isn't the type of person to fall in love that easily.

And then a surge of guilt rushed through him, the thought that he knew those two girls, those two angels, had been damned by his disapproval. The thought that he didn't just deny their love but rejected them in any way, shape, or form. The thought that he had crushed their hearts and he was just realizing it. These days, he had dreams of everyone in Hinata-Sou staring at him with spiteful eyes, hating him, despising him for his choice, and the person that he claimed he loved, just faded away like she didn't care.

Maybe it was just the moment but he felt like being the hero, being the one to get Shinobu out of a bind, but now he was in even more of a bind.

Shinobu looked up and him and wanted to know they had a connection, but they didn't. Every time she glanced at him she thought less of him. Kitsune's comments had made Shinobu in the end a little frustrated. She knew nothing had gone on with Kanako and herself, but the thought seemed very alluring. Shinobu didn't know why the thought was so appealing to her, and she guessed it was just her imagination searching for the perfect kiss, just like she dreamed of the perfect kiss with him years ago.

Shinobu always knew Kitsune liked to uncover scandalous secrets, but there was nothing going on between herself and Kanako. So, she defended herself and said this time in a firm voice, "Kanako-chan and I aren't in a relationship, we're just friends, and we were just having an evening chat." Everyone just stared at Shinobu and this time she didn't step down. This time was different, somehow.

Not expecting Shinobu to say anything, Kitsune was a little taken back. Not wanting to upset Shinobu, Kitsune started reading the newspaper again in silence. Su and Sara stared at Shinobu in interest as if trying to read her mind.

Getting up from her seat, she picked up two plates and scraped the eggs into the trash can like he did. She washed the pan and put it back on top of the stove. Walking to the refrigerator, she got on some chicken, eggs, and some green onions. Turning the stove on, she was motivated in cooking a good breakfast, but not for everyone, not for him, not for herself, but for that princess whose face would not escape her mind.