Chapter five
"One hundred twelve! One hundred thirteen! One hundred fourteen!"
(Aiii, Why is Motoko training outside my room? Can't she just use the roof like she usually does? Wait... the roof! I'm on the roof! Why?) Keitaro's thoughts were jumbled. He groped through his sleep-fogged brain for the answer, and drew a blank. Then, it hit him. Motoko. Last night. He. Her. The roof. Crying out each other's names, over and over again. Love. Sweet, simple, physical love. Oh, hell!
Keitaro opened one eye and surveyed the scene. He was on the roof, as he'd known all along. Lying naked on a blanket, wrapped up in another. Motoko was training, less than twenty feet from where he still lay. On his other side, there was what looked to be a puddle of soup. Soup? Where did that
(someone saw, someone knows)
come from? Keitaro dismissed it as quickly as it had come, and turned his attention to more important matters. This deserved some serious, private thought.
He quietly rose, and grabbing his clothing, he ran down the stairs into his
(and Naru's, don't forget her)
room. He pulled on his clothing and laid down on his bed.
"Oh, boy. What have I done?" Moaned Keitaro. "Motoko-chan was just so sad, I couldn't refuse her..." Keitaro trailed off. He closed his eyes, and visions of the previous night flooded his senses. It had been amazing, that was for sure. Like nothing he'd ever experienced before, not even with Naru. Naru! The name kept jumping into his mind, screaming across the backs of his eyelids in a shameful, guilty shade of red. "This is all my fault. Naru gave her heart to me, even though it was so difficult for her, and she loves me. She trusts me. How could I have DONE this to her?" Keitaro felt tears threaten, and angrily swept at his eyes with the back of his fist.
He had no right to pity himself, but all he could think was (Is this going to end my relationship with her? I hope it doesn't. I'd be so sad if Naru left me. What would I do without her?)
"Baka!" He shouted to the empty room, "I! Me! My! Mine! All I can think of is myself! Naru will be devastated when she—" Keitaro was interrupted in his self-deprecating tirade by a familiar, and in this case, utterly dreadful, sound. Footsteps. Light mumbling. A knock. A wavering greeting.
"K-K-Keitaro? Are y-you in there? I'm coming in!" Naru sounded very distraught. Keitaro gulped. (She knows. How does she know?) An image came to him. A soup-stain on a wooden floor. She DID know! The door opened, and he was greeted with Naru in her studying fare of a sweater, skirt and stockings. Her face, though, was what saddened him the most. She didn't look merely heartbroken. She looked livid.
"Kei, I have to ask you something," Naru began. She walked over to the bed where Keitaro lay, and stood over him with a glare that could have melted steel. "Be very careful how you answer this. I have a f-feeling that no matter what you say, things are going to change from this point, but I want to hear your answer. What happened last night?" Naru gulped. Her breath inhaled. Exhaled, sounding like that space between a sigh and a sob. Tears which had been threatening the whole time started to leak from her eyes and trace silver tendrils down her cheeks. Keitaro sniffled, and started.
"Naru... Oh god, Naru. I... I... Well, you see, Naru... Motoko and—" He started, but she was damned if she would let him finish.
"That's a confession. I don't believe I need to hear anymore. BAKA!!" She screeched this last with an intensity that frightened him. She bounded the last two steps towards him with her fists raised, intending perhaps not to pummel but to kill.
"Naru-chan, I'm sorry!" Keitaro screamed, covering his face. He waited for the blow that would send him to the next city, but it never came. When twenty seconds had passed, he heard a soft thump. He uncovered his eyes. She had sunk into a kneeling position on the floor. She had her arms around her knees, and was rocking back and forth softly. He could hear her crying. Big, heart-rending sobs. Keitaro felt like his heart was being shredded. He had done this to her. It was his fault. He didn't deserve to be alive. He reached out a tentative hand to her shoulder. It was hit away before it got close. She raised her tear-streaked face to his, and the anger had returned.
"Don't touch me. Don't you DARE touch me. Keitaro Urashima, I can't believe you'd do this to us. Do I mean nothing to you? Or was I simply not GOOD enough for you?! WHY?!" She sniffled, and scrubbed at her eyes, determined to not cry anymore. She wouldn't give him the benefit of seeing her weakened.
"Naru, I can't excuse myself... I can't even explain myself. Motoko said... she... she said that she... needed me. She needed one reassurance that someone could look upon her as a woman. She... she said she... loved... me." Keitaro gulped. He couldn't see this having any effect on Naru. She was still fixing him with the same stony glare as before. A look of pure loathing. Gods, but this was painful! (Again, thinking about yourself.) His traitor mind put in its two cents. Keitaro sank to the floor, shrinking back from Naru and leaning against the bed. He began to cry himself. He couldn't help it.
"What's this? Crying? Well, lookee here, folks! The devil can feel guilty!" Naru laughed, a cold, harsh sound. "Keitaro, I trusted you. I trusted you and you spit in my face. I never want to see you again." With that, she turned on her heels, beginning sniffle again. She made for the door, intending to exit as quickly as she could before she did something to him that she'd really regret, like
(killing)
really hurting him. She still didn't want to do that. Her exit was spoiled, though. She threw the door open to be greeted with the face she'd least wanted to see.
Her.
"Naru-chan, is Keitaro—" The face began. She cut in.
"You... YOU!! GET AWAY FROM ME! FROM HIM!! DON'T YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH, YOU BITCH?!" Naru screamed out her anger into Motoko's flabbergasted face. She slapped her. Hard. She tore past her, openly crying now, as Motoko sank to her knees in frank amazement. Naru grabbed her coat, running right past a flabbergasted Su and Shinobu, and out into the streets. She got on the first taxi she saw.
"Hey lady, where t— Jeez, miss! Are you all right? Someone chasing you, or something?" Her cab driver looked at her red, streaming eyes and nose with concern.
"I-I'm fine, thanks. Take me out of this city, please. After that, I'll figure out where I'm going from there."
"Sure, lady, whatever you say." The cabbie flipped on the meter and started away. Naru looked out her window and sighed.
"Goodbye, Keitaro," she whispered, "I hope that you learn something from this. I think I have already." That was it for Naru Narusegawa. She hugged her knees tight again, and sobbed. Crying out the grief of a thousand worlds in every tear, she sobbed. For what she'd lost; for what he'd lost; for what they'd all lost.
End chapter five
((So, whatcha think? Chapter six is going to be Motoko and Keitaro, in the room together. Who knows what antics may ensue? :P Stay tuned, it won't be longer than a week!))
"One hundred twelve! One hundred thirteen! One hundred fourteen!"
(Aiii, Why is Motoko training outside my room? Can't she just use the roof like she usually does? Wait... the roof! I'm on the roof! Why?) Keitaro's thoughts were jumbled. He groped through his sleep-fogged brain for the answer, and drew a blank. Then, it hit him. Motoko. Last night. He. Her. The roof. Crying out each other's names, over and over again. Love. Sweet, simple, physical love. Oh, hell!
Keitaro opened one eye and surveyed the scene. He was on the roof, as he'd known all along. Lying naked on a blanket, wrapped up in another. Motoko was training, less than twenty feet from where he still lay. On his other side, there was what looked to be a puddle of soup. Soup? Where did that
(someone saw, someone knows)
come from? Keitaro dismissed it as quickly as it had come, and turned his attention to more important matters. This deserved some serious, private thought.
He quietly rose, and grabbing his clothing, he ran down the stairs into his
(and Naru's, don't forget her)
room. He pulled on his clothing and laid down on his bed.
"Oh, boy. What have I done?" Moaned Keitaro. "Motoko-chan was just so sad, I couldn't refuse her..." Keitaro trailed off. He closed his eyes, and visions of the previous night flooded his senses. It had been amazing, that was for sure. Like nothing he'd ever experienced before, not even with Naru. Naru! The name kept jumping into his mind, screaming across the backs of his eyelids in a shameful, guilty shade of red. "This is all my fault. Naru gave her heart to me, even though it was so difficult for her, and she loves me. She trusts me. How could I have DONE this to her?" Keitaro felt tears threaten, and angrily swept at his eyes with the back of his fist.
He had no right to pity himself, but all he could think was (Is this going to end my relationship with her? I hope it doesn't. I'd be so sad if Naru left me. What would I do without her?)
"Baka!" He shouted to the empty room, "I! Me! My! Mine! All I can think of is myself! Naru will be devastated when she—" Keitaro was interrupted in his self-deprecating tirade by a familiar, and in this case, utterly dreadful, sound. Footsteps. Light mumbling. A knock. A wavering greeting.
"K-K-Keitaro? Are y-you in there? I'm coming in!" Naru sounded very distraught. Keitaro gulped. (She knows. How does she know?) An image came to him. A soup-stain on a wooden floor. She DID know! The door opened, and he was greeted with Naru in her studying fare of a sweater, skirt and stockings. Her face, though, was what saddened him the most. She didn't look merely heartbroken. She looked livid.
"Kei, I have to ask you something," Naru began. She walked over to the bed where Keitaro lay, and stood over him with a glare that could have melted steel. "Be very careful how you answer this. I have a f-feeling that no matter what you say, things are going to change from this point, but I want to hear your answer. What happened last night?" Naru gulped. Her breath inhaled. Exhaled, sounding like that space between a sigh and a sob. Tears which had been threatening the whole time started to leak from her eyes and trace silver tendrils down her cheeks. Keitaro sniffled, and started.
"Naru... Oh god, Naru. I... I... Well, you see, Naru... Motoko and—" He started, but she was damned if she would let him finish.
"That's a confession. I don't believe I need to hear anymore. BAKA!!" She screeched this last with an intensity that frightened him. She bounded the last two steps towards him with her fists raised, intending perhaps not to pummel but to kill.
"Naru-chan, I'm sorry!" Keitaro screamed, covering his face. He waited for the blow that would send him to the next city, but it never came. When twenty seconds had passed, he heard a soft thump. He uncovered his eyes. She had sunk into a kneeling position on the floor. She had her arms around her knees, and was rocking back and forth softly. He could hear her crying. Big, heart-rending sobs. Keitaro felt like his heart was being shredded. He had done this to her. It was his fault. He didn't deserve to be alive. He reached out a tentative hand to her shoulder. It was hit away before it got close. She raised her tear-streaked face to his, and the anger had returned.
"Don't touch me. Don't you DARE touch me. Keitaro Urashima, I can't believe you'd do this to us. Do I mean nothing to you? Or was I simply not GOOD enough for you?! WHY?!" She sniffled, and scrubbed at her eyes, determined to not cry anymore. She wouldn't give him the benefit of seeing her weakened.
"Naru, I can't excuse myself... I can't even explain myself. Motoko said... she... she said that she... needed me. She needed one reassurance that someone could look upon her as a woman. She... she said she... loved... me." Keitaro gulped. He couldn't see this having any effect on Naru. She was still fixing him with the same stony glare as before. A look of pure loathing. Gods, but this was painful! (Again, thinking about yourself.) His traitor mind put in its two cents. Keitaro sank to the floor, shrinking back from Naru and leaning against the bed. He began to cry himself. He couldn't help it.
"What's this? Crying? Well, lookee here, folks! The devil can feel guilty!" Naru laughed, a cold, harsh sound. "Keitaro, I trusted you. I trusted you and you spit in my face. I never want to see you again." With that, she turned on her heels, beginning sniffle again. She made for the door, intending to exit as quickly as she could before she did something to him that she'd really regret, like
(killing)
really hurting him. She still didn't want to do that. Her exit was spoiled, though. She threw the door open to be greeted with the face she'd least wanted to see.
Her.
"Naru-chan, is Keitaro—" The face began. She cut in.
"You... YOU!! GET AWAY FROM ME! FROM HIM!! DON'T YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH, YOU BITCH?!" Naru screamed out her anger into Motoko's flabbergasted face. She slapped her. Hard. She tore past her, openly crying now, as Motoko sank to her knees in frank amazement. Naru grabbed her coat, running right past a flabbergasted Su and Shinobu, and out into the streets. She got on the first taxi she saw.
"Hey lady, where t— Jeez, miss! Are you all right? Someone chasing you, or something?" Her cab driver looked at her red, streaming eyes and nose with concern.
"I-I'm fine, thanks. Take me out of this city, please. After that, I'll figure out where I'm going from there."
"Sure, lady, whatever you say." The cabbie flipped on the meter and started away. Naru looked out her window and sighed.
"Goodbye, Keitaro," she whispered, "I hope that you learn something from this. I think I have already." That was it for Naru Narusegawa. She hugged her knees tight again, and sobbed. Crying out the grief of a thousand worlds in every tear, she sobbed. For what she'd lost; for what he'd lost; for what they'd all lost.
End chapter five
((So, whatcha think? Chapter six is going to be Motoko and Keitaro, in the room together. Who knows what antics may ensue? :P Stay tuned, it won't be longer than a week!))