I have set aside everything I love
I have saved everything else for you
I cannot decide what this doubt's made of
Though I thought over it through and through
In a book in a box high upon a shelf
In a locked and guarded vault
Are the things I keep only for myself
It's your fate but it's not your fault
--Barenaked Ladies
Chapter 10
The sound of soft footfalls could barely be heard as Shinobu traveled along the hallway, stopping in front of a certain door. Almost hesitantly, she lifted her hand and knocked a couple times. It would only take a couple moments for the door to open, revealing Kitsune inside, with Keitaro seated at a table behind her.
"Hey, Shinobu," Kitsune said. "Dinner ready?"
"Yeah," Shinobu said.
"Alright," Kitsune said. "We'll be right down." She then watched Shinobu walk off. When the young cook was out of sight, she turned to find Keitaro right beside her. "You ready?"
"I think so," Keitaro said. The new partnership that had just been formed between the two brought with it some new things to consider. First on the list was making sure Keitaro's lucky streak of keeping everyone in the dark didn't end any time soon. They knew that they would have to meet with each other for updates, so in order to keep everyone's suspicions at bay, they decided to make it appear as though they were becoming an item. Hopefully, this would happen pretty easily, considering what had happened earlier in the day. Also, this might further Keitaro's cause even more, as having Naru see them together could push her that much closer to a confession.
When they reached the dining room, they saw that everyone else was already seated--well, almost everyone. "Let's eat!" Suu cheered as soon as the two new arrivals sat down.
Before Suu got the chance to devour her dinner, Motoko cleared her throat. "Before we do," she said, only the slightest hint of redness on her face. "I would like to apologize once again for barging in on you like we did."
"Don't worry about it," Keitaro said. "No harm done. Besides, you weren't really interrupting anything anyway."
This time, it was Shinobu's turn to speak up. "But when we saw you, Kitsune was--"
"Hey," Kitsune broke in. "On such short notice, it was the best thing I could come up with to get you to leave us alone for a while; obviously, it worked pretty well."
"If I may ask," Motoko said. "If you weren't doing... that... then what were you doing?"
"Nothing major," Kitsune said. "Just a little chat between friends. Right, Keitaro?"
"Yep," Keitaro said.
"Can we eat now?" Suu whined.
"Yes, of course," Shinobu replied.
"Hold on," Kitsune said. "Shouldn't we wait for Naru?"
Shinobu shook her head. "I already checked her room; she hasn't returned yet."
"What do you mean by 'she hasn't returned yet'?"
"Did you not notice that she wasn't with us when we got home?" Motoko asked.
"Apparently not. I guess my mind was too preocupied at the time. Where did she go?"
"She didn't say," Shinobu said.
"What?" Keitaro asked upon seeing the look Kitsune was giving him; whether it was for real or not he couldn't tell. "If she wants some time to herself, who am I to stop her?"
"Just answer this," Kitsune said. "Why did she need some time alone?"
Shinobu opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Keitaro. "Now's not the time," he said. "Let's just have a nice, peaceful dinner. I'm sure Naru can take care of herself, wherever she is."
"Let's dig in already!" Suu said, frustration already setting in.
Dinner that night was melancholy at best. All conversations were short lived and when the meal came to a close (after what felt like an eternity), Keitaro led Kitsune up to his room. A couple minutes later a certain two words resounded through all of Hinata-Sou for the second time in a manner of hours, but all within earshot knew it came from a different source, not to mention the reason why. Therefore, there would be no interruptions.
"YOU WHAT?!?" Kitsune yelled after Keitaro told her all that had happened at the karaoke club--including what song was involved.
"All I wanted to do," Keitaro said. "was find out how Naru would react to me doing my act in public. After seeing the result, I realize I probably should have put more thought into what song to sing."
"I don't care what you sang! You knew how emotionally fragile Naru's been lately! You should have known better than to pull a stunt like that! There's no telling what she might do in that state of mind!"
For some reason, Keitaro was unfazed by the uncharacteristically angry fox. "Hey, this is as much her fault as it is mine," he said. "If she didn't treat me like the scum of the earth at all hours of the day, payback wouldn't have been necessary."
"This isn't about payback anymore," Kitsune said. "This is turning a girl's world upside down and sending it through the shredder! I'm all for some pokes and prods, but this is too much."
"Well, I can't just stop altogether," Keitaro said. "At least not until she tells me how she feels towards me to my face."
"Will you forget this project of yours? One of your tenants is out there somewhere and you're going to go find her and bring her back before she hurts herself or worse!"
"Maybe if I waited until tomorrow and if she's not back by then--"
"NO!" By this point, Kitsune was right in Keitaro's face. "You can either leave now or I can drag you downstairs myself--and not by the arm. Take your pick."
Keitaro started to get really nervous when he saw Kitsune move her hand dangerously close to his family jewels; he knew in an instant that this was no idle threat. "Okay," he said. "I'll go. Just don't hurt me."
"Good," Kitsune said. "And just so you know, this terminates our partnership. You should be glad I'm not going to tell the others about what you've really been up to, but you had better ease up somewhat or I'll blow your cover so fast it'll make your head spin."
"Yes ma'am," Keitaro said submissively as he was finally allowed to leave the room. As he walked down the hall, he didn't have to look back to know that Kitsune was following him. When he stepped out the front door, he turned to say something, but didn't get the chance, as Kitsune had slammed the door in his face.
"Don't you think you're being a bit hard on him, Kitsune?"
Kitsune turned to find Shinobu and Motoko standing there. "Hey, a girl can only let so much happen to her best friend."
"I hope Naru's alright," Shinobu said.
"For Keitaro's sake, she'd better be," Kitsune said. "Because if she isn't, I'll make all his prior beatings combined look like a slap on the wrist. I'll bring him to within an inch of his life, invincibility be damned."
"Shinobu, let's go," Motoko said. In all honesty, she was starting to get scared of the now savage fox. "I don't think we want to be here when Keitaro comes back."
Shinobu, too frightened for words, simply nodded her head and the two quickly left Kitsune alone in the foyer with her rage.
---
Without even a thought passing through his brain, Keitaro walked down the front steps until he passed by the tea shop, where Haruka was just closing up. "Hello, Keitaro," she said.
"Hey, aunt Haruka." That was followed by the usual slap to the face.
Haruka was a bit surprised to find that Keitaro didn't even flinch. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"How long have you known Kitsune?" Keitaro asked out of the blue.
"A couple years. Why?"
"Tell me: on a scale of one to ten, what was the angriest you've ever seen her?"
Haruka pondered the question for a couple moments. "I don't know, maybe a four. Why, what is she now?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure I can count that high. See ya."
"Hold on, where are you going?"
"To find Naru. I think my life depends on it." With that, Keitaro left Haruka in a mild state of shock.
---
Meanwhile, Motoko was meditating in her room to keep the--to put it lightly--bad vibes coming from downstairs from plaguing her thoughts, with little success. "I have never seen Kitsune in such a state," she thought. "I hope Urashima finds Naru or else..." She shivered a bit at the thought of what Kitsune might be capable of. "I guess those two aren't becoming a couple after all. At dinner, I thought any chance I might have had--what am I thinking?!"
She mentally kicked herself for thinking in such a way purely out of habit, but she knew that train of thought couldn't be avoided. In the week since Keitaro first stood up to Naru, she has grown accustomed to his new persona and after watching Naru degenerate like she did, she knew that keeping one's emotions bottled up was not the way to go. And so, as hesitant as she was to do it, she had to face facts; she liked Keitaro, pure and simple.
This revelation seemed to release a burden that she has forced herself to bear for a long time and, much to her surprise, she felt a lot better having admitted her feelings, even to herself. "Urashima... Keitaro... Naru had her chance to be with you, but I promise I will not repeat her mistakes."
---
The first place Keitaro went in his search for Naru was the karaoke club where it all began. From there, he tried to figure out where she would have gone. Thinking back to the times when he felt like he had hit rock bottom, he came up with one possible solution: get drunk. Of course, considering Naru's age, this idea was significantly less likely to bear fruit.
Unable to come up with anything else that might work, Keitaro decided to simply wander around town and pray that luck would be on his side for once in his life. After a while, he saw a train station in the distance and started heading towards it, figuring he'd be able to cover more ground on the rails than on foot, but he couldn't have predicted what he would see as he got closer.
Through the crowd, he could barely see Naru and Kentaro boarding a train. "Perfect," Keitaro thought, quickly weaving his way towards them. Along the way, he noticed that Naru was barely able to stay upright, bringing his original idea back into consideration, but his brain was rooted in the here and now and his heart sank when the doors started closing. "Oh no," he thought. "Oh, please, no." Of course, the doors closed before he could get to them.
It was at that point that Keitaro's brain shut down entirely. The only thing he could do was follow the train as it left the station with his eyes. When it was out of sight, he regained conscious thought, but only enough to repeat the same four words again and again in his head: "I... am... so... dead..."
End of Chapter 10
So much for the partnership. I bet none of you expect Kitsune to be the one losing it, huh? This thing just keeps getting more and more complicated as it goes on. To be honest, this is about where I'm starting to have doubts that all the positive feedback will continue to flood in like it has. Anyway, please R&R and I'll see y'all next time around.