Hi guys it has been a while, sorry it took so long but I have been struggling since my dog died. But anyway here it is chapter 4.
Notes: This takes place at the same time Chapter 3 happened. (It is what happened well Motoko and Keitaro were gone)
**** means a new setting.
If this story gets popular enough I will add the honorifics. If not I won't bother.
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Motoko, swinging her sword, led the charge as Keitaro struggled to carry the bag behind her.
Shinobu watched them disappear into the growth of the forest. She was worried about her Senpai (Keitaro). Motoko had always been a bit off hinged with her sword, but her mental state had seemed to become worse in the absences of her sword. Luckily Keitaro was immortal, how many possible threats could there be on the island for him?
Shinobu's string of thoughts was interrupted by Su, "Hiya Shinobu! What's you doing?"
"It's, what are you doing?" Shinobu corrected the small tan girl. Su's Japanese was not the best.
"Oh, what Argh ye doing then?" Su asked, imitating a pirate.
Shinobu sighed, Su was a nice friend but she was a little immature. Oh, how she wished she could be an adult and have Senpai notice her as the woman she was, instead of a little girl.
She could see it now. ~Daydream sequence~
Keitaro: Honey, I'm home. Enters through the door taking off his coat and hat.
Shinobu: Welcome home darling, we see a grown-up Shinobu entering through the hall wearing an apron. She then immediately rushes to hug her husband.
Keitaro: Honey, we have been married for 3 years now. When are you going to stop greeting me like this? He caresses her head as he says this.
Shinobu: I can't help it dear, I get so lonely when you're gone. She hugs him tighter before letting him go.
Shinobu: Did you have a good day at work? I hope your ex didn't bother you again. She said as she watched Keitaro take off his shoes.
Keitaro: The coast guard was pretty good today. His face fell a little. But we did run across my ex, Naru today.
Shinobu: Was her boat having trouble again today?
Keitaro: yeah she couldn't get her boat going. She wanted me to stay and help her sail it, but I turned her down.
Shinobu: nodded in understanding. She has to move on, a ship between you two would never work out.
Keitaro: Yeah, can you imagine.
Shinobu: So, honey, what would you like first, a bath? Dinner? Or me?
Keitaro: I WANT BANANAS! Keitaro's face is now replaced with Su's.
Shinobu: AHHHHH. Stumbles backward in fear.
Shinobu's dream sequence collapsed.
"Come on Shinobu help me pick some bananas please I'm really hungry," Su whined, her face right next to Shinobu's.
Shinobu stumbled away and fell in surprise. So much for her fantasy.
Shinobu sighed as she got up, "Su you know as well as I do we are not to leave the camp alone." One of the rules that had been set in place (by Haruka) was that the younger castaways (Sarah, Su, Shinobu. Kanako originally was considered for the rule but her disguise ability made it impossible to enforce) were not allowed to leave the camp without an adult.
"But I'm so hungry," Su whined.
Shinobu sighed again. She had been on food collecting duty for the past several days. What she really needed was to do something important so Senpia would notice how responsible and mature she was.
They made their way across the camp if you could call it that. They were in the process of trying to build a hut to live in, but so far they were just sleeping on some leaves in a clearing around the campfire.
The 2 young girls made their way over to the construction area of the hut.
"Can't this wait until Keitaro comes back?" Kitsune complained as she helped lug a bamboo pole over.
Haruka, on the other side of the pole, shifted her cigarette in her mouth. "No, we need this shelter built as soon as possible,"
Kitsune let out a huff of air. "I just think it's unfair of him not to help with the construction. He should have to pay to live in a place we built."
"Yeah, Can you imagine him living here for free while everyone else worked to live here?" Haruka remarked in a satirical fashion.
"Absolutely, that would totally be a jerk thing to do," Kitsune agreed, not catching the sarcasm.
"Hey Haruka senpia," Shinobu greeted the older woman.
"Shinobu there you are." Haruka interrupted. "We need you to help collect food."
Yeah, Su cheered.
"But, Haruka," Shinobu protested. "I want to do something more useful. Like help built the hut or something"
"Shinobu, gathering food is an important job," Haruka told her.
"And yall should be happy you don't have to do the hard jobs like building houses, caring for kids, and cleaning heads," Kitsune added.
"What does that mean," Su asked.
"You will understand when you're older," Haruka said as she gave Kitsune the death glare.
"There was that dreaded talking down to again," Shinobu thought frustrated.
But with no other choice, she was sent off to collect food.
***later***
Shinobu pulled another berry off the tree and dropped it into the homemade basket.
Shinobu, despite Kitsune's insistence, had been paired with Naru and Sarah to get food. Su had not been invited along due to her tendency to eat most of it before they got back.
Naru was in an odd mood; she was upset with Keitaro and had decided the best way to deal with it was to pretend he did not exist.
"Isn't this a lovely day?" Naru exclaimed as she picked some fallen coconuts from the sand. "Just 9 ladies fighting for survival on a tropical island. It sure is nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of college life. It's like a paradise, no phone, no men, no motorcars, not a single pervert to be seen."
"I wouldn't describe having to poop in a bush, a paradise" Sarah drawled. "Or did you find the poison ivy incident fun?"
"And besides Naru, pretending Senpia doesn't exist isn't going to make life here easier" Shinobu reasoned. "You should try to make up with him,"
"Yeah, who else do you think is going to do all the laundry and chores for us," Sarah added.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Naru said, trying to avoid the subject.
"You know Keitaro, the only male in the group. That you continue to teach despite claiming to hate him. The guy who you forgave after he lied about being in Tokyo U and kept forgiving him despite more groping incidents than a politician," Sarah said sarcastically.
This finally got a response out of Naru. "Well, maybe I am sick of forgiving him. Maybe I want to stay far away from his perverted idiot ways."
"How far away from him could you get on an island?" Sarah drawled.
Shinobu was more tactful. "Please Naru, you've got to forgive senpai. You know he never tries to make you upset on purpose, it will be a lot easier and more adult to work out your issues with him.
"It's not that simple," Naru exclaimed.
"Why not?" Shinobu asked, starting to get exasperated.
"It,... it's just not, our relationship is more complicated being an adult is more complicated." Naru responded defensively.
"No it's not," Shinobu replied. "All it takes is some talking and forgiveness."
"Well maybe I am sick of forgiving that pervert." Naru snapped. "Maybe I want to end my relationship with him, maybe I am sick of getting caught up in his trail of accidents and failures that follows everywhere he goes." In a huff she stormed off to find a different spot to pick berries.
"Wasn't she supposed to be supervising us?" Sarah commented.
Shinobu was even more frustrated, Naru was being so immature. Why did Keitaro like her so much? If I had a chance to be an adult I would show her how grown up I am. I could take care of everyone here.
Shinobu lost in her unhappy thoughts went over to the next bush and absentmindedly started grabbing more berries.
***Once done they brought their haul back to camp***
Shinobu had prepared the food and they all sat down to eat. But Shinobu didn't have much of an appetite. Su consumed all the bananas they had found well, everyone else shared the berries, coconut, kiwis, cantaloupes, and other fruits.
She went to her leaf that night still thinking if only I had a chance to be the adult.
***the next morning***
Shinobu woke up to arguing. What could they be fighting about this early? she wondered as she crawled out from under her leaves to investigate.
It's mine. No, it's mine. I found it, it's mine. Shinobu just stared in confusion as she watched Sarah and Kitsune fight over a stick.
"What are you two doing?" Shinobu asked, now standing.
"She took my stick," Sarah whined, pointing at Kitsune.
"I did not, I had it first," Kitsune rebutted.
Shinobu did not know what to think, sure this was normal behavior for Sarah. But Kitsune was more mature than this… wasn't she?
"Okay, but why do you want a stick anyway?" Shinobu asked.
"A stick is great for pleasuring yourself," Kitsune explained.
"I think you mean amusing yourself," Sarah butted in.
"No, it's pleasure," Kitsune argued back, and just like that, they were fighting again.
To say Shinobu was confused would be a gross understatement. They were fighting like children. This had to be a joke right? Maybe a weird dream?
Suddenly she felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to see Kanako holding onto her shirt.
Excuse me, have you seen my big brother? She asked.
"Huh?" Shinobu asked. "You know as well as I do that Keitaro left yesterday."
Kanako's face scrunched up as it welled up with tears. "Big brother left without me?"
Okay, this was bizarre even for our group, she needed to find someone acting normal. Leaving the crying Kanako and fighting Kitsune and Sarah, Shinobu went to try to find anyone who could help.
"Haruka, Naru, Su, Mutsumi, where are you? Something is wrong." She called. But there was no response. She continued to search the perimeter of their camp until she realized she should check the hut construction. She dashed her way over their still calling for anyone to help.
Arriving at the hut she came to see a very frightening sight. Mutsumi was tying a blindfold around Su so she could swing at a pinata. Well, this might seem harmless, the pinata was tied to the primary support beam holding the roof up, if they hit it too hard the whole thing would inevitably come crashing down on them.
"Su, NOOO!" Shinobu screamed as she ran full speed at the small girl. But it was too late Su's bat/stick or whatever it was smashed against the pinata full force making it swing violently in one direction.
As the beam began to shake, Shinobu had reached Su and dived at her, hoping she could push both Su and herself free from danger.
But it only was enough force to knock the two of them to the ground. Shinobu could hear the structure creaking above them as the pinata whipped wildly around.
Goodbye cruel world, she thought as she laid there waiting for the impact. I can't believe I am dying without having kissed a boy. I leave this world a virgin, at least that's what she assumed virginity was.
Seconds passed, then several, eventually a whole minute passed. Shinobu opened one eye, the hut was still intact.
She exhaled a breath of relief. "Are you okay?" Shinobu asked her friend.
"What's okay? Is it yummy?" Su asked.
Yeah, she was fine. Shinobu though. But what about Mutsumi? She craned her neck to look at the older girl.
"My turn," Mutsumi exclaimed innocently, as to Shinobu's horror she took a swing at the pinata. Worst yet, she wasn't even wearing a blindfold.
"Not again," Shinobu wailed as she tried to get up and stop her, only to find her limbs tangled up with Su's.
The impact was made and the pinata went flying again, the hut shaking like a leaf. But it did not collapse.
Shinobu almost passed out with relief.
"Come on, give me candy," Mutsumi shouted as she whacked it again and again. The building continued to shutter with every passing hit. Shinobu's face twisted deeper and deeper in terror as she watched this. She desperately started shouting warnings as Mutsumi whacked on.
*Whack* No Mutsumi stop! *Whack* Please, that's dangerous! *Whack* You're going to kill us!
If Shinobu had known any cuss words she would have used them. It was like physiological torture watching this.
"Clam down Shinobu," Su tried to soothe her. "We were just testing my new invention, shock absorption gel. We applied it all over the building to test weather durability.
Shinobu's head snapped back to Su's and her left eye twitched a little. "You mean you weren't in danger?"
"When have my inventions ever been dangerous?" Su asked.
Shinobu decided not to answer this.
After some searching, they found Naru and Haruka. So Su and Shinobu discussed their situation while the others built a sandcastle.
"Okay Su, what's going on? Did you test a new machine on them or something?"
"Nope, they were like this when I got up,"
"They were like this when you got up and you didn't find it concerning?"
Su cocked her head, "What does concerning mean? Is it yummy?"
"Nevermind, do you have any idea what could have caused this?
Su brought her hand to her chin. "Hmmm, maybe they're hungry?"
"Not everything is about food Su. Now let's think it has to be something that happened to them but not us."
"Maybe it's our age?" Su suggested.
"No, if it was because we are young Sarah would have been immune too," Shinobu noted.
"How about the leaves we've been using to sleep?"
"Maybe, but I am pretty sure we used the same leaves for all our beds."
"Maybe an evil turtle came and cursed all of them? But my anti-evil-turtle charm protected me?"
"Then why would I have been affected?"
"You are the only one who sleeps close to me?"
It was at this particular moment that Shinobu's stomach decided to let out a large growl. "I wish I hadn't skipped dinner last night," she commented. Suddenly something clicked in her head.
"Su, you ate only bananas for dinner yesterday right?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeah they were delicious, "Su said, remembering.
"And I didn't eat at all, so maybe one of the other foods that we gathered caused this. But how do we test this? And more importantly, fix it?"
"Well, I was saving them for my Stan-frog prison experiment, but we could test on these," Su said as she whipped out a cage of frogs.
"Stan-frog Prison experiment?" Shinobu asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about that," Su waved off any concern. "I'll get testing right away,"
"I guess that leaves me in charge of babysitting," Shinobu said, looking at the other castaways.
***babysitting***
Mutsumi and Naru were spending quite a bit of time together, playing house building sand-castles, etc.
Sometimes Kitsune would play the father, which oddly enough she was good at.
The other tenants were more of an issue, Sarah would go around playing practical jokes on everyone, Kanako kept trying to run away and find her brother, and Haruka mostly smoked and ignored everyone.
She needed an activity to keep everyone occupied. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Mutsumi and Naru playing house and got an Idea.
...playing house...
"Were home," Mutsumi called as she and Naru walked through the front door.
"Welcome home sweethearts, how was school?" Shinobu asked as she peered around the corner.
"It was great mom," Mutsumi announced. Little sis Naru here actually talked in class.
"Oh, that's good she really needs to come out of that shell of hers," Shinobu commented. Why don't you go see your father while I finish up dinner.
Mutsumi and Naru went into the living/dining room. "Hello father,'' they greeted.
Haruka just kept sitting there smoking.
"Honey, say hi to our kids." Shinobu called.
"Hi kids," Haruka said absently before going back to her cigarette.
"I forgot to mention the neighbors are coming over for dinner today. So be on your best behavior." Shinobu called from the kitchen.
As if on cue there is a knock at the door.
"Honey, can you get the door?" Shinobu asked.
No response
"Kids, can you get the door?" Shinobu asked.
Mutsumi ran to open the door, she tripped on her bag and several other things on her way over but finally got there and opened the door, letting Kitsune, Sarah, and Kanako in.
"Hello there Mutsumi," Kitsune greeted as they entered the house.
"You already know my kids Kanako and Sarah." Kitsune introduced them.
Sarah: Sup
Kanako: Have you seen my brother?
They all went to the dining room together.
"Hi, Kitsune food will be out in a moment," Shinobu called.
Kitsune sat down next to Haruka. And the kids went to play on the other side of the room.
"Hey there, handsome. Have you considered my offer?" Kitsune crooned at Haruka.
Haruka kept smoking.
"Come on, I could make you way more happy than your wife." Kitsune urged.
Haruka didn't even glance up.
Food's ready, Shinobu called. Kitsune quickly backed off Haruka as Shinobu carried the food in.
"Yeah the food is done," Mutsumi cheered.
"Oh, goodie," Sarah exclaimed scaracticly.
Shinobu set the plate on the table. Everyone hurried to their seats. No one noticed Sarah's hidden smirk as they started to sit around the table.
Shinobu and everyone were sitting down when suddenly there was a symphony of long drawn out fart sounds.
"What in the world?" Shinobu exclaimed as she hopped up. Leaning down she lifted up a whoopee cushion.
There were similar ones on Naru, Kanako, and Mutsumi's chairs.
"Oh my, I shouldn't have had that burrito at school after all," Mutsumi commented.
"No Mutsumi, it's a prank, it's not a real fart caused by eating habits." Shinobu explained.
"No, I'm pretty sure I didn't eat any habits," Mutsumi answered back. "Unless that is what that pale goop that the lunch ladies put inside of the burrito is called."
"You mean refried beans?" Kitsune asked.
"Oh, you know my lunch lady?" Mutsumi asked.
Sarah could not hold her laughter anymore as she pointed and laughed at all her victims.
"Hey, don't laugh, she is sensitive about her name," Mutsumi scolded.
"Sarah was it you who put the whoopee cushions on our chairs?" Kitsune asked.
"Gee, what gave you that idea?" Sarah remarked sacaticly.
"Listen here, missy. I am sick of your numerous little practical jokes." Kitsune scolded.
"What else has she done?" Shinobu asked.
"She put buckets of water above the doors, tied all my shoelaces together, and stole my copy of "A boring world where harem MCs are not dense"," Kitsune repiled.
"I've been meaning to read that, how is it?" Shinobu asked
"It's too short and extremely unrealistic." Kitsune answered.
"Sarah," Shinobu addressed her. "I told you to please stop pulling these pranks. It isn't very nice."
Sarah didn't answer. She was pretending not to hear them while looking off into the distance. Eventually she gave up and they continued with the meal/game.
"So," Kitsune asked. "How have your kids been doing in school?"
"Mutsumi was just telling us about her and Naru's day." Shinobu remarked. She turned to Mutsumi. "Go on and tell Kitsune about your day."
"Huh?" Mutsumi asked. "I don't remember all that."
"But you just told me about it."
Mutsumi just shrugged and returned to her noodles, but she ended up holding the chopsticks wrong and spilled it on herself.
She then tried to get up and go to the bathroom to tidy up. But end up being tripped up by the noodles.
Shinobu sighed as she got up to help guide the girl to the bathroom.
With Shinobu gone Kitsune went for Haruka again. "So handsome aren't you tired of living with that plank of a wife and her klutzy kid? I promise I can make it pleasurable if you do." She said as she leaned into kissing Harukas unreacting face.
Unfortationaly for Kitsune, Shinobu did not stay and help Mutsumi clean as she thought. She only helped her to the bathroom. So Shinobu walked in on this quite compromising scene.
"Kitsune! Haruka! What are you doing? In front of the kids no less!" She shouted.
"Oh, please the kids couldn't care less." Kitsune retorted, gesturing to them.
Kanako was hugging a picture of her brother, Sarah was still ignoring everyone, and Naru was too shy even to look up from her plate.
"That does change the fact you are kissing up to my husband." Shinobu returned. "Just look how torn up he is."
Haruka: …. Puffs cigarette ….
Shinobu started to rush around the table to get to them. But ended up tripping on another of Sarah's pranks. A tripwire.
Shinobu went plunging forward as Sarah burst out laughing again.
As Shinobu fell she braced herself for a hard landing. Suddenly something soft hit her face. And she stopped moving. Shinobu opened her eyes to find herself on Kitsune's cleavage.
"If you were jealous, not mad, you should have just said so." Kitsune remarked.
"Sarah, what did I say about the pranks?" Shinobu asked.
Sarah looked away again.
Shinobu pulled herself out and sat up. She was just about to speak when Mutumi walked in.
"Hey, does anyone remember what I was doing?" She asked.
Mutsumi?! Where are your clothes Shinobu asked as she rushed over to try and cover her up. And somehow managed to trip over the wire again.
"I think we are going to go,'' Kitsune said as she got up dragging Haruka with her. "Come on kids," She called.
Sarah, and Kanako got up and headed for the door.
And were taking the Sake with us Kitsune said as she grabbed some bottles off the shelf and they all left.
After how poorly dinner went Shinobu decided to never play house again.
***later***
"I want my big brother," Kanako whined.
"I told you Keitaro-senpai will be back in a few days," Shinobu tried to calm the girl. "Until then how about I stand in as your big brother?"
Kanako looked at her, "Okay." she sniffled uncertainty.
Okay, Shinobu thought what would Keitaro say and do with his little sister? Shinobu (in a deep voice) Hello, Kanako, how is my favorite little sister doing?
Kanako cocked her head confused. Big brother, why are you dressed as a girl and why is your voice so deep? Did you catch a cold?
"You're supposed to pretend I look like Keitaro," Shinobu explained to Kanako in her normal voice.
"But you look nothing like my brother." Kanako pointed out.
Kanako had a point, she and Keitaro looked very different.
Shinobu suddenly got an idea. "I'll be right back Kanako". She said as she took off. It took a couple of minutes of searching but she found what she was looking for, Kanako's disguises.
Shifting through them she found Keitaro's.
Hurrying back, while tightening the clothes to match her small frame, she decided on trying a higher pitch for Keitaro's voice. Sorry about that Kanako, I just needed to get dressed, you want to play a game with your big bro?
"Oni-chan, is it really you?" Kanako asked, "you seem smaller," she commented as her eyes panned down to the rest of the body. "Especially your cro-"
"Never mind that." Shinobu cut her off. "Now that I'm here, what do you want to do?"
"Let's play Shogi together!" Kanako declared.
So they played Shogi together, but they had only started the sixth round when the trouble started.
"Miss Shinobu? Mutsumi asked, "could you help me build a sandcastle?'' she asked.
"Sure," Shinobu answered as she got up.
"Oni-chan, where are you going? Keep playing with me." Kanako whined, tugging at her sleeve.
"Sorry Kanako, we can play more later. Maybe Naru or someone can play with you?" Shinobu answered.
"I don't want anyone else, I want to play with you." Kanako persisted.
"I will play more with you as soon as Mutsumi and I are done," Shinobu told her.
Kanako went oddly quiet. "As soon as you're done." She repeated sternly to Shinobu.
"As soon as we are done," Shinobu reconfirmed.
…...
Because it was an island there was plenty of sand, it was just a matter of collecting water to help the sand stick together.
After filling a bucket in a stream at the edge of the camp, they found a good area in the center of the camp to start building.
I love castles Mutsumi rambled on as they built. They have moats, keeps, princesses, and dungeons.
"Aren't dungeons like prisons?'' Shinobu asked worriedly.
"Only if you let them be," Mutsumi replied cheerfully.
Things were going pretty well. They had a good base and a moat dugout. The bad news was they were out of water.
"You keep working, I will get more water,'' Shinobu told Mutsumi.
"See if you can find some baby crocodile for the moat," Mutsumi requested as Shinobu grabbed the bucket.
Shinobu hoped she didn't run into a crocodile or a perverted gorilla for that matter.
Luckily for her all she found at the stream was water.
She carefully lugged it back to Mutsumi, doing her best not to spill any.
"Okay, I'm back, how is the castle coming alo-" Shinobu stopped mid-sentence as she saw what was in front of her.
Towering to the height of her belly button was the most spectacular sandcastle she had seen. It had towering keeps, windows, and great detail. The only thing that was missing was "Mutsumi?" Shinobu called as she looked around for the girl.
She walked in a circle around the castle looking for her. "Well," Shinobu reasoned. "If the castle is done, maybe she went to do something else? But why wouldn't she have told me?"
Shinobu's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout. "Oni-chan are you done?" Kanako was standing a short distance away waving at her.
I can talk to Mutsumi later, Shinobu decided.
They sat back down and continued with Shogi.
They were about to start their 14th round when the next interruption came.
"Sarah stole my yoyo," Kitsune cried.
Shinobu sighed as she stood up. "Sorry, Kanako I have to sort this out,"
"You'll be back as soon as they are done fighting, right?" Kanako asked.
"Of course," Shinobu answered.
"See you again soon," Kanako replied.
Shinobu found this slightly odd because there was no way she could know how long it would take, but she assumed Kanako meant it as a figure of speech.
Shinobu and Kitsune went off looking for Sarah. Eventually, they found her behind the construction of the hut.
"Are you enjoying my yoyo?" Kitsune asked accusingly.
"Eh, It has its ups and downs," Sarah replied.
"Sarah, why did you steal Kitsune's yoyo?" Shinobu asked.
"I wanted it," Sarah replied coolly.
"But it's not yours," Kitsune said exasperated.
"Sure it is, I'm holding it aren't I?" Sarah returned.
"But I'm the one who owns it; I bought it so it belongs to me."
"That sounds like it's all in your head,"
Shinobu cut in, "Look Sarah just because you took it doesn't mean it's yours,"
"Well, nothing stopped me,"
Kitsune had had enough and stormed off. Shinobu ran after her.
Hey, Kitsune, calm down. She is just messing with us. I am sure we can get it back. Kitsune wiped her eyes okay, she answered.
They went back to Sarah. But, to their surprise, all they found was the yoyo.
"I guess she decided to give it back?" Shinobu said, confused.
Shinobu was really confused now, why would Sarah give it back? She was not budging earlier. And why just leave here to find?
But without any answers, Shinobu went back to Kanako.
Shinobu made her way over to where Kanako last was. But, all she found was the game board. Hmm, Shinobu thought, "where did she go?"
Shinobu was just about to look for Kanako when she heard "Welcome back Oni-chan." She turned to see Kanako approaching.
"There you are," Shinobu commented.
"I wash just using the bathroom bush," Kanako explained.
As Kanako went to sit down, Shinobu noticed a scratch on her upper arm. She was going to ask about it but they all had been covered in scrapes since living on the island. In fact, she probably got it from the bathroom bush. They seriously needed to get plumbing installed on a new shrub.
Shinobu herself was about to sit down when she heard a faint voice. "Shinobu-senpai, have you seen Haruka or anyone else? I can't seem to find them.", It was Naru.
"Well, I saw Kitsune and Sarah just a little bit ago. I am sure we can find them." She reassured Naru as she got up.
"Kanako, do you want to help too?..." Shinobu trailed off as turned to Kanako.
Kanako was shaking like a leaf as she slowly rose from her sitting position. "Why? How many times do I have to get rid of people to have you for myself, Oni-chan?"
Shinobu was taken aback. "Get rid of? What are you talking about Kanako?"
"They kept taking you away from me, but I couldn't have that. So I took care of them."
Suddenly it clicked for Shinobu, "You finished Mutsumi's sandcastle and got Kitsune's yoyo back, and then you did something with them to keep them out of the way."
"I couldn't stand you being gone so long so I helped speed up the process," Kanako said as she slowly approached Shinobu.
Shinobu moved in front of Naru. "Stop this Kanako"
"Senpai, move out of the way once she is gone we can be all alone together no one will bother us." Kanako urged Shinobu.
"I can't let you do that Kanako, besides what about Haruka?"
"Haruka won't bother us as long as she has cigarettes, now come on Oni-chan you don't need anyone but me."
Shinobu was honestly very surprised; sure Kanako was obsessed with her brother, but Shinobu had assumed that had set in when she was older. To be this infatuated this young was quite worrisome.
"Come on Oni-chan let me take her, then we can play Shogi, cards or anything we want together." Kanako insisted.
Arg, Shinobu thought, why did I have to dress up as Senpai. Wait, that's it.
"Kanako, this will not help," Shinobu said as she raised her hand to her head. "Because I'm not Keitaro." She shouted as she pulled the mask and wig away.
Kanako suddenly went completely quiet, and fell to her knees. She just kind of quietly stared off into the distance as she kneeled there.
***a wee bit later***
Shinobu found and released everyone Kanako had captured, they were completely unharmed. As for Kanako herself, she had sunk into a depressed state. She ate and all that stuff, but most of the time she just sat and stared off into the distance mumbling how much she missed her brother.
Eventually, dinner rolled around.
Shinobu rushed the food out to the dinner table. "Okay everyone, who's hungry?" she announced.
(Author note: they made a table out of stuff on the island, why this took priority over the hut is anyone's guess.)
"Me!" Su declared.
"Okay here's the food," Shinobu said, setting the plate on the table, "Wait, Su, why aren't you working on the cure?"
"I can't work on an empty stomach," Su explained as she reached for a banana.
"Ugh, why is it all bananas?" Haruka asked.
It was true as far as the eye could see, or rather one whole plate there were raw bananas, banana chips, banana pudding, banana bread, banana pancakes, and banana boats for dessert.
"It was the only food we know for sure was safe, considering Su's lack of symptoms. And you would not believe what I had to do to make flower for the pancakes and bread ..." Shinobu started.
"Well I don't want bananas," Haruka said, turning her back to the table.
"Me neither," Sarah agreed.
"More for me," Su said, reaching for the plate. But Shinobu stopped her.
"No Su, they need to eat which means no extra for you."
"This watermelon tastes funny," Mutsumi complained.
"That's because it's a banana….. And you need to take the peel off." Shinobu answered, rushing over to help the girl.
"Oni-chan," Kanako said gloomily. "This banana reminds me so much of you."
"Why would your brother remind you of a banana?" Su asked. "Is Keitaro yummy?"
"I bet it's because of Keitaro's secret banana," Kitsune interjected.
"Keitaro has a secret banana? Where?" Su asked excitedly.
Shinobu did not like where this was going.
"Yeah, the one found in his pan-" Kitsune started before Shinobu slapped her hand over kitsune's mouth. For a "child" Kitsune sure wasn't innocent, Shinobu thought. Wonder what made her that way?
Shinobu slowly removed her hand from Kitsune's mouth. "Let's refrain from comparing our food to friends okay." her voice quivering nervously.
"Well, I still don't like bananas. I refuse to eat them." Sarah said, crossing her arms.
"But Sarah," Shinobu said as she moved over to her. "You need to eat,"
"No," Sarah said firmly.
"Isn't Haruka also not eating her bananas?" Mutsumi whispered to Kitsune.
"Yes but I think Miss Shinobu is secretly scared of Haruka," Kitsune whispered back.
"You will eat your bananas," Shinobu said, trying to sound like a demanding adult.
"Never," Sarah said, still not budging.
"If you eat your bananas you won't have to help clean up the table afterward," Shinobu tried to bargain.
"How about I clean up now," Sarah shot back as suddenly whipped around and with surprising strength flipped the table on its side, spilling the food on the ground.
Shinobu felt something well up inside her, something she wasn't sure she had ever felt before. It was similar to what she felt when Naru would hit Keitaro, but it had a more fiery energy to it.
"Sarah you are completely out of line, I want you to apologize to everyone for ruining their lunch," Shinobu shouted in anger at Sarah.
"Uh, s-sorry everyone" Sarah stuttered, taken aback by Shinobu's sudden rage.
"And apologize to me for the food I slaved to make and you ruined." Shinobu continued.
"Sorry miss Shinobu," Sarah said.
"And Finally apologize to the table." Shinobu finished.
"What? The table is an inanimate object. Why should I apologize to it?" Sarah asked.
"Exactly the table is inanimate, literally unable to do anything to you and you flipped it on its side. Apologize to the poor defenseless table." Shinobu demanded.
"Sigh, okay. Su leaned down next to the table. "I'm sorry table."
"I think if you were truly sorry you would give a kiss," Shinobu suggested.
Sighing again Sarah gave the table a quick peck.
"Like you mean it,"
Smooch, "I'm sorry for hurting you table." Sarah said.
"Good, now doesn't that feel better?" Shinobu asked.
"I feel like a fool," Sarah answered.
The anger had started to dissipate from Shinobu's mind. The full weight of what she had just done sunk in. She had gotten mad and yelled at Sarah. But this had not come out of nowhere as she recalled all the insanity she had been through the past couple of days. She could not go on like this. She thought as she fell to her knees.
She turned to Su. "Su please tell me the cure is close to being done," she asked.
"Oh, it's finished already." Su informed her.
"It's done?" Shinobu asked. "Since WHEN."
"I finished it up just before dinner,"
"And you DIDN'T tell me." Shinobu gabbled.
"I didn't want to have to wait for my delicious bananas, besides cures are more of an after dinner thing."
Shinobu grabbed Su's arm. "Let's start NOW," She turned back to the other castaways. "Great news the cure is ready." Then she noticed there was an empty seat.
"Wait! Where's Kanako?" Shinobu asked.
"She said she was going to go look for her brother," Mutsumi answered.
Shinobu's heart sank. "Su how long will it take for the cures to take effect?"
"Around an hour, maybe more," Su answered.
Ugh that was too long, there are too many dangers on the island. "Okay you start administering the cures to them. I will start looking for Kanako. When they are all better, have them start looking too." Shinobu explained hastily as she grabbed some things.
"Roger that," Su confirmed as Shinobu gathered up her courage and rushed off into the rapidly growing dark woods.
***the search***
The sun was rapidly sinking below the horizon as Shinobu's search began.
"Kanako," Shinobu called as she scanned the forest with her flashlight. Oh, why did that girl have to run off. It had been so close to being over too, but now she was out searching for her in the dark.
Suddenly a branch crunched behind her, she whipped around illuminating the broken branch. A shape darted across the beam of light, Shinobu quickly showed the light after it, but lost it in a bush. She gulped and took a step away from the bush only to have a winged creature of some sort to dart by her face.
She fell back on her butt from surprise, fumbling with her flashlight but managing to hold onto it. She scooted back on her butt until she was against a tree.
As she scanned the surroundings with the flashlight, the reality of what she was doing dawned on her fully. What was she doing? She had rushed off to find Kanako to protect her from the dangers of the forest but in doing so had put herself at the same risk. (It must have been the adrenaline from her outburst that drove her to make such a hastily decision.)
Shinobu put her free hand on her small chest, feeling her heart pounded as she took some deep breaths to calm herself. She felt her heartbeat slowly even out.
Okay she needed a plan. She couldn't leave Kanako out here by herself, but she needed a backup plan if things got bad in a hurry. She surveyed the area with her flash light. There was nothing useful to defend herself with. The beam fell on the sand in front of her, illuminating her footprints.
Her footprints! She could easily follow them back to camp if there was any danger. Shinobu exhaled letting some of the tension leave her body.
She rose to her feet, her legs still feeling shaky under her. Even with her back up plan she felt nervous. But she pressed on calling out for Kanako.
The sun had completely sunk as Shinobu continued on. Despite her fear, she couldn't help but find herself reflecting on the prior couple of days.
Nagging at her mind was how she had yelled at Sarah. She vividly remembered the strange emotion that had welled up inside herself. It reminded her of how she felt when Motoko or Naru would hurt Keitaro. But in all those instances she had dealt with the feelings by running to her room, or crying. She had never yelled at anyone before.
But she was pretty sure the emotion had been anger based on what she had seen from Naru and Motoko.
But, why had she been so angry? She sighed, no she knew why, taking care of the childfied tenants had been hard on her, she had tried so hard. Yet she had failed to maintain an adult-like hold on any of the situations.
She had not been able to control Sarah or Kitsune's antics, She had not been able to stop Kanako's crazy pursuit of Keitaro, She hadn't gotten Haruka to cooperate with anything, She had failed on every level.
She slowed to a stop, her head hanging low. What was she doing out here? She was no adult, adults were brave and mature like her beloved Senpai. And she was nothing like that, even before the island she would cry and run from her problems. And her best attempts to be more adult-like had only proven how kiddish she was.
"I am sorry Keitaro, and Kanako. I can't do this." She said aloud as she turned to go back to camp.
Suddenly her flashlight began to flicker. "Huh?" Shinobu gasped in surprise.
The flashlight suddenly went dead, plunging her into darkness. In fear and desperation Shinobu began banging the back of the flashlight trying to get it started up again. Come on, she squeaked in panic.
But no light came. Shinobu clutched the broken flashlight as she shrunk in fear, as if she could blend right into the dark.
It felt as if the whole forest was watching her. Shinobu's eyes darted around trying to make out anything. Were those vines on the trees or snakes coming to get her? She was pretty sure she had seen them move.
Suddenly something big thudded behind her. That was all the encouragement she needed as she took off like a cork up the nearest tree.
Having gotten several branches up the tree Shinobu stopped to look back. She saw a humanoid shape stumbling towards her, groaning as it neared.
This was enough to send Shinobu up the tree further, she was about 40 feet up when she stopped. But while she was safe from one threat another appeared.
Coming out of a knot in the tree, an owl came screeching at Shinobu, angry that it's sleep had been disturbed.
In blind instinct Shinobu rushed out onto the nearest branch. She was about halfway out when she missed her footing and found herself clinging to the thin branch with only her hands. Luckily the owl did not pursue her, instead leaving to find a new sleeping spot.
Her attention was caught again by the mysterious humanoid shape that was angrily murmuring to itself as it banged something against itself.
Suddenly a bright light engulfed Shinobu. It took all of Shinobu's willpower to not let go and cover her eyes.
Then a familiar voice came to her ears. "Shinobu?" It was Naru.
"Naru?" Shinobu asked. "Why did you attack me in the dark like that?"
"Attack?" Naru answered confused. "No, I tripped when my flashlight went dead. And I ended up hitting the ground really hard. It had me groaning and cursing with pain as I hit my flashlight to get it going again. But that's not important right now." She said as she took in the full severity of Shinobu's situation.
The branch that Shinobu was dangling from was at least 40 feet up. A fall from that height would definitely be bad.
"Shinobu, hang tight." Naru screamed as she dashed to the tree and clawed her way up. She stopped when she was level with Shinobu.
Shinobu's heart was racing as she tried not to look down.
"Okay Shinobu here I am," Naru announced. Holding on to the trunk of the tree with one hand Naru attempted to reach out to Shinobu. She wasn't even close. She tried testing some of the branches to get her closer, but they all proved too weak.
"Shinobu," Naru called out to the girl. "I am too heavy, you're going to have to climb towards me so I can grab you."
"Are you kidding? There's no way I am going to be able to make it all the way to you." Shinobu shouted.
"Yes, you can. You managed to take care of all of us as kids, this is just a few feet of climbing." Naru encouraged.
Shinobu flinched at the pain that Naru had just brought back up. "No, I failed at that. I tried to take care of you guys, but I couldn't get a single thing to go right. I thought I could change to be the mature adult that you needed and I wanted to be, but I…" Her eyes start to well with tears "I am just a kid, and I always will be."
Naru was taken by complete surprise. "What are you talking about Shinobu? Su told me about all you did to take care of us, you're a very mature person and I am sure you will grow into a fine adult."
"You're wrong," Shinobu returned. "I snapped at Sarah, I lost my cool. Adults are supposed to be composed and perfect." It's the only way Keitaro senpia will notice me, Shinobu whispered the last bit to herself.
"You think adults are perfect?!" Naru shouted flabbergasted. "Look at all of us adults, Haruka refuses to patch things up with Seta, she is so stubborn. Kitsune not only has a drinking and gambilng addiction, she also leaves trails of destruction in wake of her pranks. Mutsumi is barely functional, always clumsy in poor health for goodness sake. Keitaro is a clumsy idiot that is a three time ronin that constantly wraps me up in trouble with him. *Sigh* But he doesn't really mean it." And I shouldn't be mad at him for his good but clumsy intentions, she admitted to herself.
"But if I am not prim and mature, how will Kei- people notice me?" Shinobu quavered.
Naru sighed. "Look, Shinobu, I was shy as a kid too. You saw it for yourself." Naru admitted. "But chasing after big dreams of Todui or a mature adult didn't get me noticed by my crush. Take it from me, what you-we needed is confidence in ourselves. Because you are a fantastic and mature young lady that anyone would be lucky to be with, if you only just asked them. And if you are scared it is more than okay to take confidence in one baby hand shuffle at a time." Naru said as she extended her hand towards Shinobu.
Shinobu's eyes rolled up to the branch she was holding onto. Shakely she moved one hand forward inching further and further she grasped the branch. Just as she grabbed onto the new spot her old hand gave way from fatigue and sweat. Quickly wiping it dry Shinobu reached for another close spot. Then another, then another and another and another until. She felt the embrace of Naru.
Shinobu was a vast mix of emotions, but she had decided she was going to take growing up and Keitaro one day at a time.
***whew, what a tense scene***
The two made it back to camp to find the other campers had been successful in finding Kanako without them. Everything had worked out okay.
As Shinobu watched the stars from her sleeping bag that night, she could help thinking about Keitaro. She dreamed and fantasized about a life together. Living in the same house, eating together, sleeping in the same bed, bathing. But this time she wasn't an adult in them.
She sighed it was a long way from becoming a reality, but she was going to take it one hand shuffle at a time.
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a handful of ideas of who to focus on next chapter. But, why don't you leave me a review of who you want to see the next focus on.
Also in general reviews help motivate me to write more. Well see you for chapter 5.