Some Kind of Trouble

Morning of April 2nd...

Natsuo approached the door to the apartment with a yawn, he hadn't slept very well the night before, having still been reeling by the situation he had found himself in. As he made it to the door he could hear female voices from the other side and thought, "At least they're awake already..."

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Misaki's panicked voice, "Hina-san?!"

"Oh! Oh no!" Hina exclaimed in equal panic.

Before anything else could be said Natsuo hastily unlocked the door and threw it open as he shouted, "Are you two okay?!" The panic on his face quickly shifted to a deadpan at the scene that greeted him: Misaki was frantically looking in various places around the room, while Hina was standing at the stove... where a plume of smoke was slowly spreading from.

"Natsuo-kun! I'm sorry! Your stove's settings are different than mine and –" Hina started to explain but was cut off by a sudden blast from the emergency fire extinguisher – which smothered both the burning food and Hina.

"I found it! Oh... sorry Hina-san..." Misaki said in a triumphant tone, shifting into sheepish as she realized she had gotten Hina as well.

Natsuo stared for a few moments before he blinked rapidly, processing what had just happened; once he had he burst out into laughter at Hina's shocked expression. Once he recovered he said, "Hina-nee, you should take a shower to warm up and then get ready for work. Your shift starts at nine right?"

Hina snapped out of her shock at his words and tried protesting, "But, we still need breakfast..."

"Leave that to me Hina-nee, you just go get ready," Natsuo insisted with a sigh. When it looked like Hina was going to protest again he pointed at the bathroom door and said, "Go."

Once Hina relented and Hina entered the bathroom Misaki whispered to Natsuo, "Are you sure you're not the older one Natsuo-kun?"

Natsuo chuckled as he started cleaning off the stove and replied, "I'm sure, Hina-nee can be pretty stubborn sometimes though. Oh, and sorry: I should have warned you about not letting her cook... or prepare anything more complicated than tea..."

Misaki laughed at this and asked, "I see, so she and Rui-chan don't share the talent for cooking?" When she saw Natsuo's concerned expression she added, "Hina-san explained it: she and Rui-chan are siblings and your families are close, that's why you and she call each other siblings right?"

"Good cover Hina-nee, I'll have to thank you later for that," Natsuo thought to himself before answering, "That's right. Our families have been close for a long time, so she's been like a sister to me for years, then Rui and I started dating during our last year of high school."

"So Rui-chan wasn't like a sister to you?" Misaki teased as she stuck her tongue out.

Natsuo rubbed the back of his neck as he replied, "It was... complicated. She had feelings for me and told me... but it took me a while to realize how I felt. Our parents were certainly shocked when we told them."

"Oh I can imagine. Do you have any pictures of the two of you? I didn't see any around the apartment," Misaki asked with genuine curiosity. When Natsuo simply stared in response she added, "What? I'm curious."

Natsuo shrugged as he took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a picture of Rui and himself together: both wearing their winter jackets, Natsuo smiling with his arm around her shoulders holding her close while she beamed into the camera. As he held the phone out for Misaki to see he explained, "This is one of the most recent ones of both of us."

Misaki examined the picture for a few moments before she spoke, "She's cute, you two look very happy... I can see why you weren't interested in meeting any girls," as Natsuo narrowed his eyes slightly Misaki giggled lightly before asking, "Where was this taken?"

"We stopped by Central Park in New York City when I visited her for Valentine's Day, surprise visit actually – she tackled me to the ground when she saw me," Natsuo answered with a smile as he recalled how excited she had been.

Misaki stared at him briefly before she sighed and said, "That's so sweet... it's a shame you're taken... Rui-chan is a lucky girl."

Natsuo smiled but shook his head as he said, "You say that... but honestly I'm the lucky one." With that he resumed cleaning the stove off.

"How so?" Misaki asked as she started helping him.

Natsuo hesitated for a moment before he answered, "I'm lucky she wants to be with me... When she first told me how she felt I kind of pushed her away a bit, I could tell it hurt her but I was an idiot and hadn't realized how I felt about her. Then after we started dating there were a lot of hurdles and mess ups... and now with my writer's block my writing career is in the air... but despite all that she wants to stand by my side. I'm the lucky one."

Misaki smiled at this as she said, "I won't ask what those 'hurdles and mess ups' were, but it sounds like whatever they were you learned a lot from it. Don't you take her for granted!"

"Oh trust me, I won't!" Natsuo replied with a smile of his own before adding, "Now then, let's get this finished. I should be able to manage something quick so Hina-nee can eat before leaving for work."

Misaki nodded as she said, "Let me help. I'm pretty good in the kitchen myself, it's the least I can do."

"I appreciate the help," Natsuo replied simply as he started getting ingredients for a quick meal ready.

Before long the two had managed to make a simple meal of omelets, toast and tea. Hina had exited the bathroom as they finished cooking and the three sat down to eat together.

"Thanks you two... And Natsuo-kun I'm really sorry..." Hina mumbled as she finished her meal.

Natsuo waved his hand as he replied, "No need to apologize Hina-nee... but leave the cooking to either Misaki-san or me from now on okay?"

"Okay..." Hina groaned she she deflated and rested her head on the table.

Misaki placed her hand on Hina's shoulder as she said, "It's okay Hina-san, I told Natsuo-kun already but I don't mind doing the cooking while I'm here."

Hina turned her head to thank Misaki again but paused, from the angle she was at she could see the part of Misaki's face that was covered by hair. Before she could stop herself she asked, "Misaki-san... what happened?"

Misaki, realizing what Hina was asking, brought her hand back and put it over the left half of her face and replied, "Oh... this. Sorry, I hide it out of habit..." Seeing Natsuo's inquisitive look she pushed her hair back to reveal the scar covering the left side of her face.

Natsuo's eyes widened for a split second before he asked, "Is it a birthmark?"

Misaki smiled sadly as she answered, "No... I think if I had been born with it I would have gotten used to it and wouldn't feel the need to hide it."

"If it's not a birthmark then... I mean, if you don't want to talk about it that's okay," Hina added with an apologetic look.

"It's okay Hina-san, I only hide it so people on the street won't stare," Misaki reassured before taking a breath and explaining, "Up until about three years ago I made my living as a fashion magazine model. I wasn't in any of the huge ones, I was just getting started out... but my dream was to make it onto the cover of a national magazine. I had even gotten word that I was going to be on the cover of a regional one, so I was making progress... but..."

"But...?" Natsuo pressed.

Misaki took a moment to recollect her thoughts before continuing, "I don't know who exactly, but one of the models must have been jealous about me getting chosen for that shoot. One night I put my lotion that I kept in the dressing room on my face... and before I knew it it felt like my face was on fire. They had to rush me to the hospital... someone had put some kind of substance in my lotion, it gave me second degree chemical burns... the doctors said I was lucky to only have this much of a scar."

"That's horrible! Did they ever find out who did it?!" Hina exclaimed in anger.

Misaki shook her head sadly as she replied, "No. The agency never contacted the police; the only people who would have had access were the other models or the stylists. They must not have wanted to deal with the scandal, so they swept it under the rug. I lost my job since my face was ruined, I've drifted from job to job since but nothing has worked out..."

Natsuo frowned at this before asking, "Did you go to the police yourself?"

"I did, but by then the lotion I had used had been disposed of, and the agency claimed it must have been some kind of mistake that it got thrown out. Without that the police had nothing to go off of," Misaki answered with a defeated sigh.

Hina shifted over and pulled Misaki into a hug, much to her surprise, as she said, "That's so terrible, all because they were jealous of you..."

Misaki took a moment to recover from the surprise of being shown such open affection, when she did she returned the hug hesitantly and replied, "It's okay Hina-san, it hasn't been easy but I'm okay. Mostly..."

Natsuo watched this exchange with a small smile before being distracted by his phone alerting him to a message, which he quickly read and responded to.

Rui: Hey, had to run some errands after work. Hope your morning is going well, you were going to swap out with Hina-nee right?

Natsuo: Hope your shift went well, and yeah. This morning has been... eventful...

Rui: Eventful how?

Natsuo: Hina-nee tried cooking breakfast.

Rui: I'm so sorry.

Natsuo: It's okay, the crisis was averted.

Rui: That's good to hear! I'm just getting home, going to clean up and eat something. I will talk to you soon!

Natsuo: Can't wait!

"Oh look at that smile! I assume that's Rui-chan?" Misaki asked playfully as Natsuo looked up from his phone.

Natsuo blushed slightly as he answered, "Yeah, she just got home from errands after work; she wanted to check in." After a moment Natsuo noticed that Hina was no longer in the room and asked, "Where's Hina-nee?"

Misaki laughed as she replied, "Wow, you really were in your own little world. She left for work just now."

"I'll have to apologize to her for spacing out..." Natsuo muttered to himself. He then asked, "So what's the plan for today?"

"Today I'm going to spend the morning putting in a few job applications, I'll be back around lunch time. Then later today I have to go get some of my stuff from where I was staying," Misaki answered with a smile.

"Sounds good. While you're out I'll restock the food and make something for lunch, once Hina-nee gets back I have to head out to the campus," Natsuo said as he finished up his meal.

"Got it. Before I leave I'll take care of the dishes," Misaki stated she quickly grabbed the dishes from the table and brought them to the sink.

Natsuo stood up and followed her as he replied, "If you're washing then I'll dry them." Misaki paused for a moment before smiling again and nodding. With that they set about cleaning up from breakfast in a comfortable silence.


5:45pm at Forester Club Room...

"What?! She's staying at your place?!" Fumiya's voice sounded from the phone that was resting on the table. After Hina had returned from her shift Natsuo had gone to help Forester with more work, currently finding himself applying varnish to one of the wooden props.

"It's not like that Fumiya. She got kicked out and needed a place to stay, Hina-nee is staying with her while I stay with dad and Tsukiko-san," Natsuo replied with a tired sigh, having already told Fumiya this. Before Fumiya could say anything else Natsuo asked, "So how did things go between you and Hazuki-san after I left?"

Natsuo could hear the smile in Fumiya's voice as he replied, "It went great! At first I was worried because she did ask a lot about income, but once the night went on she calmed down on that and we were able to talk about a lot of stuff. We have some common interests that I was surprised by."

"Oh? So are you going to see her again?" Natsuo asked with genuine interest, he had expected Kasumi to be relentless on her income questions and scare Fumiya off.

"You bet! I don't know if anything will come of it, but it's worth a shot right?" Fumiya laughed in response.

Natsuo chucked slightly as he said, "That's right. I haven't had a chance to talk to her since last night at the restaurant, so I'm glad to hear it went well."

"Thanks again for setting up the mixer Natsuo... and sorry it ended up getting you into a situation like this... how'd Rui take it?" Fumiya asked hesitantly.

"Oh. She was very displeased, once I was able to explain the whole situation she calmed down, but that doesn't mean she likes it. I feel it's only fair to warn you that she's going to punch you when she gets back for this," Natsuo answered with a grin.

Fumiya was silent for a moment before saying, "Yeah... I guess that's fair... It can't be helped."

"Rui will be glad to hear that you're being so understanding of this," Natsuo laughed in response. After a moment he sighed and added, "Anyway, I've gotta get to work on this. I'll talk to you later Fumiya."

"Gotcha, talk to you later dude!" Fumiya replied before ending the call.

Before Natsuo could shift his focus to the work in front of him he heard a female voice say, "Well now, that's certainly interesting."

He looked up in curiosity to see Nene across the table from him, leaning forward. Natsuo quickly averted his gaze as he realized how low cut her shirt was and thought, "I thought we were passed this. There's no way she isn't doing that on purpose." Once he had his eyes fixed squarely on her face he asked, "What's interesting Kuzuoka-san?"

"You letting some random girl stay in your apartment, and you went to a mixer? Here I thought you were dedicated to... 'Rui' was it?" Nene teased as she leaned further.

Natsuo let out an exasperated sigh as he replied, "Well if you were listening to my conversation than you know it's nothing like that, and yes I am dedicated to Rui."

"How did she even manage to get you to let her into your apartment though? I'd think if you were really as committed as you say then you never would have let another woman into your apartment in the first place," Nene pressed in a taunting tone.

"If you must know she followed me home when I left the restaurant, she said she'd leave but had to use the bathroom. I let her in so she could, then she refused to leave saying she didn't have anywhere to stay," Natsuo replied in an even tone, taking a breath before adding, "She's staying temporarily until she can find work and a better solution as to where to stay. If she can't she'll make arrangements with family, until then my older sister is staying in the apartment with her."

Nene grinned as she said, "So that's all it took for her to get you to let her in... I'll have to remember that."

"Again, it's not like that. I just couldn't in good conscience throw someone out to sleep on the street; I have absolutely no other intentions regarding her," Natsuo insisted, beginning to get agitated.

"Oh I heard you, it's just hard to believe that you wouldn't have even considered it. I mean, a woman you just met wanting to stay in your apartment, and your girlfriend so far away – she wouldn't have even known if something happened. The temptation must have been there," Nene whispered in a suggestive tone, standing up straight and stretching in a very particular way.

Natsuo's eyes narrowed as he replied with a tone of finality, "Look. I don't know what exactly you're playing at here Kuzuoka-san, I thought I made it pretty clear to you that time before that I have no interest in you like that. And as far as hiding things from Rui, I learned my lesson in not sharing what's going on with her. For the last time: I am committed to her, so I suggest you either drop this subject or leave me to my work."

Nene let out a sigh as she said, "Alright then, I'll leave you to it. I'll see you later Fuji-kun." With that she gave a wink and walked away, purposely swaying her hips to draw attention to her.

Natsuo groaned as he returned his attention to his work and mumbled to himself, "Great, just what I needed on top of everything else. Hopefully that was just a one time thing and she won't keep it up, I've got enough going on as it is."


Meanwhile...

"You didn't have to come with me Hina-san, I don't have all that much to pick up," Misaki said as she and Hina exited the station and Misaki lead the way.

Hina shook her head slightly as she replied, "Oh don't worry about it, I don't mind. Besides, it would be a hassle for just one person to move even a little bit from one place to another."

Misaki chuckled as she retorted, "It really is just clothes and other small personal things, it'll probably all fit into two bags."

"Well there you go, one bag for each of us! You only have carry half as much this way!" Hina cheered with a smile, and Misaki found herself smiling with her.

"I suppose there's no point trying to argue with you since you're already here, thank you Hina-san. I don't know how I can ever repay you and Natsuo-kun," Misaki said after a moment of silent walking.

"There's no need to repay us, so don't you worry about that. Just worry about getting yourself back on your feet Misaki-san," Hina replied cheerfully.

As they continued towards the apartment building Misaki had been staying at she thought to herself, "I was hoping Hina-san wouldn't come with me... I don't want them finding out about her. Hopefully they're not too worried yet, Hojo should be sitting down at his usual diner if he's sticking to his normal routine, that'll give us time to get in and out." As they entered the building's lot she looked around cautiously and sighed when she didn't see any sign of Hojo or any other member of the gang that she recognized.

"Everything okay?" Hina asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Yeah everything's fine, sometimes a group of kids loiters around here; they can be a hassle so I'm just relieved that they aren't here right now," Misaki replied hastily as she looked around one last time.

Hina watched her with a concerned expression for a moment before asking as they entered the building, "So your stuff was moved to the building storage? Do you have to talk to the landlady to get in?"

"Mhmm, she should be in her office, and the storage room is at the end of this hall," Misaki replied, pausing to point at a door at the far end of the hall before asking, "I'll talk to the landlady, meet you at the storage room?"

Hina nodded before starting towards the far door and Misaki knocked on the landlady's door. Almost immediately she received the response of, "Come in!" Once she entered and shut the door behind her the landlady looked up from her desk and asked, "Ah, Ogura-san. Here to pick up your things from storage?"

Misaki nodded as she answered, "Some of it anyway, just my clothes mostly. I hope it's okay leaving the larger things here for a bit longer. I apologize, but I don't have anywhere to keep them."

"That's okay for now Ogura-san. My policy is that I'll keep evicted tenant's belongings in the storage room for three months, if you don't clear it out by then I'll either toss it or pawn it," the landlady replied as she got the key out of a desk drawer. She paused while handing it to Misaki to say, "And don't take anything that's not yours, I keep track of who comes and goes so if anything goes missing I can figure out who took it."

"I understand ma'am, my friend and I are just grabbing my essentials. We'll be in and out in just a few minutes," Misaki replied reassuringly.

Before Misaki could leave the office she was stopped by the landlady asking, "Oh and Ogura-san... a man came by looking for you. He seemed suspicious so all I told him was that I hadn't seen you since yesterday."

"I see..." Misaki replied slowly before quietly adding, "Thank you for telling me."

The landlady was quiet for a moment before she added, "I get the feeling that this man is some kind of trouble... so if he comes back I still haven't seen you. So you'd better hurry and get your things before he comes back."

Misaki let a small smile show as she nodded thankfully before quickly making her way out of the office and down the hall. As she approached she called out to Hina, "Sorry for the wait Hina-san, I was just confirming with her how long I can keep the larger things here for."

"No worries, I'm glad you're able to do that until you get back on your feet," Hina replied as Misaki started unlocking the door.

"She's strict but understanding, now then... ah there's my stuff," Misaki said as they entered the room and she pointed towards a small cluster of boxes and furniture and made her way over to it. Once there she added, "Okay, there should be a few duffel bags somewhere in here that we can load things into."

"Got it," Hina replied simply as she started riffling through the boxes. After a few moments it was Hina who located the aforementioned bags and triumphantly exclaimed, "Found them!" Having located the bags it only took the pair about five minutes to load them up with a good amount of Misaki's clothes and other essential items and exit the room, the door locking behind them.

"I'll just return the key and then we can get going," Misaki said as she placed the bag she was carrying by the office door before heading in; receiving a nod from Hina in response she entered the office.

"You weren't exaggerating about being in and out quickly," the landlady said with a slight chuckle.

Misaki nodded as she handed her the key and replied, "Well my friend was kind enough to come with me to help even after working all day, I don't want to keep her out any longer than needed."

"I see, then you two better get going then. And like I said before, if a certain person comes asking around for you I never saw you," the landlady said with a stern, yet kind tone.

"Again, thank you for that. I'm sorry if any trouble comes from it," Misaki replied sorrowfully, but only received a "shooing" gesture from the landlady in response. With that Misaki rejoined Hina and they made their way out of the building and back towards the station, before long having boarded the appropriate train.

As they packed into the crowded train, ignoring the glares they received from people being bumped by the bags, Hina thought to herself, "She seems really relieved to be away from there... I wonder what's going on. She kept looking around like she was looking for someone..."

Hina was snapped out of her thoughts when Misaki asked, "Did Natsuo-kun say whether he was stopping by after he's done at campus?"

"Oh... um... I don't think he said either way. Why?" Hina asked in turn.

"Well I figured since today is a late day for all of us, I'd make dinner for everyone. I know you and Natsuo-kun say I don't need to thank you, but you're both going out of your way to help me so I have to at least do something like this," Misaki answered resolutely, to show she wouldn't take no for an answer on this.

Hina smiled at her as she replied, "In that case, once we get off the train I'll send him a message to stop by for dinner when he's done."

"Great! I should be able to whip something up quickly with the ingredients at the apartment, do you have any preferences?" Misaki asked happily. When Hina shook her head in response Misaki exclaimed, "Okay, stir-fry it is!"

"That sounds great!" Hina chimed in with excitement. The two looked at each other, then around at the odd looks they were getting before bursting into laughter and continuing their animated conversation for the duration of the ride.


Morning of April 3rd...

"You're putting in more applications today Misaki-san?" Hina asked as she started doing the dishes from their breakfast.

"That's right, I'm also going to look into places that I could possibly stay once I start getting some income again – I don't want to put Natsuo-kun out of his own apartment for too long after all," Misaki replied as she got her shoes and and coat on.

Hina nodded as she said, "That's a good idea – it can't hurt to already have somewhere lined up once you start making money. Do you want me to go with you? I have today off."

Misaki smiled but shook her head as she answered, "That's okay Hina-san, you helped more than enough yesterday. I'll be okay handling this on my own today."

"Okay then, I'll be here all day, Natsuo-kun said last night he'll be working with the drama club all day on campus but if anything urgent comes he can come over," Hina stated as she continued cleaning up.

"I think we'll manage without him for one day... as long as you stay away from the stove!" Misaki teased as she opened the door to leave.

Hina deflated slightly at the good-hearted tease and whined a response of, "I knoooow..." which prompted Misaki to laugh happily as the door closed and she left.

Left with just her thoughts and the mind numbing task of cleaning the dishes Hina began thinking to herself, "She seems back to her usual self... she was last night on the train back and during dinner too... But she seemed off while we were getting her things. She seemed nervous... or even afraid. I wonder if I should mention it to Natsuo-kun or if I'm just thinking about it too much..."

As she finished cleaning Hina's thoughts turned towards how she could keep herself occupied, not wanting to leave the apartment unattended if Misaki came back earlier than planned. As she looked around she made a decision and said to herself, "Natsuo-kun is fairly neat... but I think I'll give the whole place a once over and let it air out. It's the least I can do since I'm the one staying her with Misaki-san." With that she started on her self assigned cleaning the entire apartment.

While Hina was starting her cleaning, Kasumi had bolted out of her apartment, hastily locking the door behind her before she ran to and down the stairs. As she ran she was cursing to herself, "Damn it! I can't believe I overslept so much! I stayed up too late talking to Fumiya-kun!"

Fortunately, the shop she worked at was close enough that she didn't need to take public transit to get there, but it was far enough that her oversleeping resulted in her needing to skip breakfast and sprint if she was to have any chance of making it on time.

As she neared the shop she realized she might actually make it, but was distracted by something she saw out of the corner of her eye, muttering a "Huh?" to herself as she slowed and did a double take. In an alley she saw a man standing in front of a woman who was counting a large amount of money with a solemn expression on her face. It wasn't a strange enough sight to attract her attention on its own, but the woman she saw is what confused her as she thought, "Wait... Misaki-neesan? What's she doing?"

"I was surprised to see you here, this isn't your normal neighborhood Misaki-chan," the man said in an overly friendly way.

Misaki was quiet for a moment before she paused in counting the money and replied, "I was just passing through... running errands," she quickly finished counting and added, "Okay, it's all here." After saying that she seemed to reach into her pocket before shaking the man's hand, Kasumi couldn't see well enough to be sure.

As they shook hands the man pulled her slightly closer and asked, "So... wanna go enjoy ourselves?"

Misaki quickly separated herself from the man and started leaving the alley as she replied, "Hell no, now get out of here. I have things to do."

Kasumi quickly hid herself behind a telephone pole to avoid being seen as the she heard the man mutter, "Fine whatever... bitch..." Kasumi judged by his voice growing fainter he was continuing further into the alley."

When Kasumi felt it safe she peered around the pole and saw Misaki in the distance, walking away from her. As she fully emerged from her hiding place she asked out loud, "What the hell was that all about... I hope Misaki-neesan isn't mixed up in something bad... I should let Fumiya-kun know so he can tell Fuji-kun... Shit! I'm definitely going to be late now!" Having realized her unplanned eavesdropping has cost her precious time Kasumi took off in a full sprint, throwing apologies to various people along the way.

A/N: Nothing much to say here, just hope you're enjoying the story so far!