Fate
Chapter VI
Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, all the characters are property of Ken Akamatsu.
- 'Thoughts' -
- memories -
-'sound effects' -
Important stuff, emphasis
------------------- Change of scenery, change of character
The next day, something was… different, in an odd way; it was hard for me to put it into words but I think it was just instincts kicking in.
The argument between Naru and Kitsune came to my head, to see Kitsune, easily the most laid down tenant, being so down was like a big red light for me, I couldn't ignore it. But I didn't wish to mess with her or Narusegawa's privacy. Besides if someone knew that I eave dropped on them... even just circumstantial as it was, it could have very dangerous consequences, one of them was called Motoko.
Shivering a little, I changed into my clothes, and went downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast with the tenants. Shinobu, Sara and Su were already leaving for school, I was just in time to greet them good-bye.
I went into the kitchen, Naru and Motoko were at the table, still halfway through their breakfast, Motoko gave me a stern look from across the table that said: "Do not forget, a whole week" I nodded rubbing the back on my head nervously, Naru was surprised by that, she took a long inspecting look, and shrugged it off, for some reason I was a bit nervous whenever Narusegawa looked at me, but so far, no arguments, accidents or anything that needed Motoko's 'assistance'.
"'Narusegawa...' " I hadn't talked to her since that night two days ago… Something about her was strange, if I just knew...
"Good morning!"
Kitsune arrived to the kitchen, she was in her pajamas... well, I don't know if you could call them that, it was just a pair of shorts, the very… comfortable type, and a shirt, a very tight shirt around her… well, I guess you get the idea.
Anyway, she was the last one to arrive, but nonetheless she greeted everyone while trying to stifle a yawn as she took a seat besides me, I couldn't help but expect some 'tension' between her and Narusegawa but they exchanged their greetings casually, no glare, cold shoulder, nothing, they were acting... normal!
"Hey hun, hand over the soy sauce will ya?" Kitsune asked me, and I complied...
I took the bottle and handed it to her, but she didn't just received it from me, instead, she also took my hand between hers, I felt her soft, smooth fingers run across the back of it, embracing it in a kind gesture before taking the bottle from me.
I heard a muffled sound from the other side of the table, like when you scream directly into a pillow, I saw Motoko giving me a questioning look, but, it's not like I had done anything besides being a good caretaker. She tried to put her attention somewhere else, but Naru, the look she was giving me was, in one word, terrifying.
"Say Keitaro, You and Kitsune are being very 'friendly' lately..." Narusegawa stated. I swallowed, Motoko 'coughed' and Kitsune just poured some soy sauce on her food.
"Come on Naru, Keitaro hasn't done anything to me; he was just being a good landlord, right?"
I nodded, sweating.
We continued chowing down our food, but Narusegawa was still looking at me from time to time, and every time our eyes met, I looked away, trying not to make the matters worse; I began eating faster, clumsily, but faster. I had plans today, very important plans.
But that didn't seem to work the way I wanted to, but quite the opposite, I believe that whatever she was suspecting was getting stronger, the ambiance was getting heavier and heavier, I tried to look at her but I couldn't keep eye contact, each time I found myself turning my head the other way until, sooner or later, I came face to face with Kitsune, she had moved her seat closer to me, I don't know how without me noticing, but se was so close that I could feel her breath on me, giving me an intricate look, I felt drawn, curious, nervous, and scared, but for some reason I couldn't help myself but to look at her.
"Oh, you have some rice on your cheek" Kitsune licked her lips and took a little grain from my cheek, and then, she ate it… slowly, savoring the food as if it was the most delicious thing in the whole world, licking the length of her finger as she gave me a look that could make anyone think many things.
A hell lot of things.
My head started to feel hot and dizzy, like it was on fire, a little trick of blood flowed slowly out of my nose but a loud crashing noise pulled me back to reality. I saw Narusegawa giving me the worst glare I had ever seen, or remember, the kind that says a lot of things about your last moments in life, proof of it was that her tea mug was cracked from the grip she had on it, backed up by the fact that Motoko (who was flushed to the core), began looking for something with her right hand...
I took my crutches and ran out like a bullet before the bomb detonated, I was so nervous that I almost tripped on my way out, barely managing to keep going as I turned tail and left, I didn't need clairvoyance to know what would happen if I stayed within the sou much longer and I had my wallet with me, so I just ran out, encountering Mutsumi and Haruka along the way.
"Ara Kei-kun, you are early today!" Mutsumi greeted me happily and Haruka waved at me a friendly 'Hello' but at that instant I heard a violent sound, just like an explosion coming from behind me, and it was getting louder and louder, sending a chill down my spine. I had to get out of there fast!
"Sorry Mutsumi, Haruka, but I am in a hurry, see you around!"
"Ara..." Both of them stood in the same place looking at me but I kept going my way, away from the sou, away from the chaos, and most importantly, away in one piece. I didn't mean to be rude at any of them, but given the little 'situation' that started brewing this morning... it was better for me not to be around until everything had piped down, I climbed down the stairs and walked to the nearest bus station.
I arrived just in time and I had to be thankful to the bus driver, he waited patiently for me to get in the bus, to pay for my passage and for me to settle down on the yellow seats, reserved for people with my... limitations, before he drove off.
The ride on the bus was a long one, but maybe that's just because I lost my memory or simply because I didn't really have anything to do until I arrived at Tokyo U, I found myself looking at the landscape, the people who came in an out all the time, and why not? I tried making out something familiar, something that could help me remember, but now that I think about it, I was like a child... everything I saw was new to me; it was like watching the outside world in a different light.
After an hour or so in bus, many people, most of them my age or younger, began to step down, I followed them the best I could, and after a minutes walk, I saw a big tall building with a clock watch embed in the center, the place of my dreams, Tokyo U.
Suddenly, I had the strangest calling, an impulse... a remembrance, I stood watching it, and, before I realized what I was doing, I extended my hand like if I was reaching for it, from the distance it seemed that I was taking the most prestigious school in Japan, just within the palm of my hand.
I was so happy... I didn't know why, I felt like if something really, really, heavy had just been lifted from my shoulders, I knew that this was a very special place... it was a shame about my amnesia.
But that's what I came here for.
Encouraged by my discovery I started walking around the campus, watching the faces of all the students, some of them were happily talking with their friends, others... were not so much, many of them were studying so hard, that they didn't notice anything around them, there were many others that had a face that showed nothing but pure oblivion.
"Hey Teshigawara, how did you do on the test?" A student voice came from behind me, two seniors, one seemed relaxed, while the other seemed, well… It seemed like he had been from hell and back
"Pretty good, the last three problems were very interesting"
"But… but… We never did anything like 'those' in class!"
"THAT'S why they were interesting!"
The student lumped his shoulders in defeat as they kept up walking. So the test were on… That explained it… I kept wandering around, the campus was enormous, I looked around the many places it had for a while, trying to remember something about it, but when nothing came to my mind, I moved on, surely that was a part of the campus I rarely visited, maybe the next one would be the one I was looking for, I had the entire day to search through it all.
After many, many tries, I slumped on one of the benches around the campus, I was so tired, and this was not going as I expected, that dream had been so real... had I missed something? No, I had been very thorough, but then, why? Why couldn't I remember? Who was that little girl? Why was she so angry at me...?
" sigh"
I tilted my head back and closed my eyes to relax, and then... I heard the sound of machines working, curious got the better of me and I followed the sound to a short building completely foreign from the others, the color, the shape, those were dead giveaways. But that was not all...
There was lots of yellow duct tape with the words: "Danger: Do not cross!" on it, there was also a sign that showed a construction worker apologizing because the building was under renovation/repairs. So I stood behind the lines, looking at the weird building... there was something odd about it, familiar, I couldn't place my finger on it but I knew this was what I was looking for, I circled around it, trying to make something out of it.
"Young man, this area is off-limits "
I turned around and a police guard greeted me, the officer was beyond his middle age, perhaps his retirement was not very far away, he had a gentle, but firm face, one that makes you respect someone.
"Sorry for startling you, but, are you looking for something young man?" He said as he examined me thoroughly, as if he was measuring me, he made me feel nervous, I felt that I couldn't hide anything from him.
"Yeah, well... not really, but the thing is that... yes but... err... can I ask you something? " He raised his eyebrow at my babbling, he was getting impatient and suspicious, but he didn't do anything... yet.
"As long as I can, sure, ask away "
"Why is this area like this? "
"You mean you don't know about the 'incident'? Where on earth do you live young man?"
"In the Kanagawa District... but you wouldn't believe it anyway "
"Heh, it has been the talk of the entire campus for the last days, Are you here on a visit? I've seen you wandering around the campus for quite a while now "
"Yes... I am looking for something "
The man looked at me skeptically, straight into my eyes, he didn't say anything, he kept staring at me, looking for god knows what, and when he found himself convinced, he sat besides me and took a deep breath, he stared at the building, and he began to talk.
"I was on duty that day, but I was on the other side of the campus, it was the very start of the semester... the entrance ceremony to be exact" I listened to him, focused on the duct tape, rubble and dust.
"The thing is that the building in front of you is or was an auditorium, on the very day of the ceremony, a student, surely a show off and very stupid prankster, began dancing on top of it. We don't know how he got there, there were guards like me watching the building and no stepladders and all of the locks were in place"
"And what happened? "
" The thing is that, the idiot started dancing on top of the auditorium dome, to show up surely, its not the first time it happened, there was a time when one of them pulled off his pants and... "
"I get the idea!" And fortunately, not a mental image.
"Oh, sorry kid, as I was saying, the guy was dancing there, and all of a sudden, Boom! The dome collapsed, taking him down with it... "
"And what happened to the guy?! "
"Don't know, things got hectic for us, I had to make sure the students didn't panic; the sound it made when it crashed was heard through the entire campus. Right after that, I got an order from my radio to help relocate the remaining students away from there, but as far as I know, an ambulance was called and he was taken to an hospital, the strange thing is that no other students were hurt but I guess you don't question that, it was a relief "
"And what else? "
"I don't know much about it, rumors says he died, others said that he broke all his bones... but it's just rumors, if you ask me, no one could ever survive a fall from that height, or at least not without a one way ticket to intensive care... but there is no way for me to know"
The officer made a pause, giving a long sight.
"The school has tried in many ways to keep the case as quiet and under the rug as possible, it's never good for a school to have any of their students injured, it's even worse if it happens because the facilities were not proper, I believe the school paid all the expenses in order to keep the family quiet and happy"
The color had drained from my face, I took one glance at my leg before managing to pull myself together for one final question.
"And… and… how did the dome look like? "
"It was Arab style...or was it Russian? You know the ones that look like giant onions? Well... so much for culture I guess "
"Like an onion? You mean a big yellow onion?"
"Yes, that's the one, so you've heard of it after all" The guard turned back to me, looking at me skeptically, I suddenly stared sweating, badly, my body started trembling like it was cold, shivering uncontrollably...
"Hey, Kid, are you Okay?!" The guard called from besides me as he held me so I didn't hit my head as I fell, I was miles away... my vision blurred, my senses abandoned me... even the light, It dimmed and vanished into nothingness.
There I was, once again, that day, that time, a sudden blow to my jaw, me dancing happily on the cupola, the void under my feet, the air, the adrenaline, the fear, rubble falling all around me, the dome... the impact, my leg, the pain, the ambulance, Tokyo U fading in the distance... all of it, going out of my grasp, going away. Away... growing tinnier and tinnier until there was nothing more…
The bright white light of a lamp, and a strong smell of disinfectant was the next thing I noticed when I woke up, my head hurt, and my leg felt funny, I sat on the bed, looking around, I was in a small room, with a little desk, a shelf with many labeled medicines, a window, and a nurse carrying a notepad.
"How long have you been awake?" The nurse said mildly amused as she sat before me and took out a penlight, she told me to stay put, as she examined my eyesight.
"I've just did, Where am I?"
"In the infirmary of course, you collapsed from stress a few hours ago, but don't worry, you are alright now"
I looked at my leg, for some reason it was just a little 'itchy', after that I took a look outside the window, the campus was a lot quieter, a clock above the infirmary marked 4:00 pm, I had been knocked out for long...
"You know, it's never good to let too much stress build up, take this pamphlet, and give it a good read, ok? " She told me as she handed it over, it was about stress and the negative effects on the body, she made me read through the whole thing before letting me go, but I knew it wasn't just stress what knocked me out, luckily I didn't end up in a hospital nor anyone I knew noticed... well maybe that was not as good, if anyone I knew had noticed me, they would have at least said hello or something.
Going back to what had happened, I knew that remembering the accident had caused it; I never want to feel that kind of pain again... I just can't describe how it felt, and I don't wish anyone to ever experience it, it was a mayor overload to the senses… After reading the pamphlet and answering some questions for good measure, the nurse pulled out a small laptop from one of the drawers and typed all the info on it, checking on the database for my file, from which I asked the nurse about my student id, she told me that I was a special case because I had been discharged "because of illness" only to return until I was healed. I chuckled, the school had managed to cover everything all right, and after she finished making the entry she sent me off.
I went out of the infirmary, it was on the lowest levels of a building, I didn't care which building it was, the warmth of the day began to wane as a cold breeze began to roam through the campus, all of the students began to rush off to their homes, maybe it was time for me to do the same.
I started walking, slowly, my crutches and my steps made a light eco within my head as I contemplated what had happened. Many say that misery loves company, but with me it was on a whole different level, it all happened so fast, but to see a white van rushing at full speed towards you in the middle of a campus makes you reconsider about odds and life, and it's definitely not a bad partner for misery at all. What's even stranger was that when the van was about to run me over, it changed directions and 'drifted'? But if you ask me it was as if the van had slipped past me just to barrel roll behind me.
"Oh, partner! I've finally found you! Want a ride home?" A man on his late twenties came out of the van and waved at me, with his face half covered in blood coming from his forehead, but still, smiling heartily, I didn't know what to think, it was creepy in so many levels, and yet, the way he talked to me was like old friends or even family, that I felt like giving it a try. He called me 'partner', was he a classmate? No, he should have graduated already; he came out of the van, cleaning away the blood off his face with a towel. He asked me how Sara was doing, I didn't answer, then, he looked at me strangely, maybe because the way I was looking at him showed him that I didn't know who I was talking to.
The man then introduced himself as Noriyasu Seta, he also told me that Haruka had phoned him, telling him I was coming and about my amnesia, after that, he offered me to drive me home again; I took that offer almost immediately. Hell, so far, that was the creepiest and for some reason, the most pleasant surprise of the day.
Odd
That was the fist word that could describe him, but with a sense of friendliness and bits of brotherhood in him… The guy seemed disperse and stuck into his own world, to prove my point; his whole van was full of all kinds of old looking and, according to him, invaluable objects of research.
"So, tell me Part-Timer, how've you been?"
Boy… That question was getting annoying, but mostly frustrating… because there really wasn't an answer to begin with.
"Well, I've been taking care of the sou… It comes with its ups and downs."
"Oh? Talking about ups and downs; how is my little Sarah? I hope she is not much of a burden to you"
"She is very energetic that's for sure, and with Kaolla… let's just say they are an 'dynamic duo'"
"Ha, ha , ha, true, Sarah used to use my artifacts back there as toys, she'd say, 'Daddy look! An UFO' and then, she would toss them across the van or out to the road, much to my demise. I was worried of her growing a bit too attached to me and that she might have problems making friends, I am glad I left her at yours and Haruka's care"
"…" I said nothing as I looked at a piece of pottery that was on my seat, it was a pot in the shape of a turtle, its long neck had a handle where you could serve the water, and it was fascinating
"Feeling a little under the water eh? Anyway, I'll pick her up for a few days; a father needs to look after her daughter after all"
"You are right" Wow… for some reason I was suddenly fighting the grin on my face from showing as I heard those marvelous news.
As we arrived to the sou, the sky was a mix of blazing red an orange, the sun was beginning to set, and so, as we climbed the stairs talking to each other two blurs came towards us.
"Papa, you are back!" Sarah jumped at the Seta, who caught her into a big warm hug.
"Keitaro, Welcome back!" Su on the other hand, or feet? Greeted me with a flying kick to the jaw, almost making me lose my balance back to the staircase, luckily I am used to my crutches by now.
"Come on Sarah, let's keep playing 'jungle raiders!"
"Sorry Su, I want to stay with papa for a while"
Su looked at Sarah and looked at them seriously, maybe she didn't like to be cut off like that while playing, but when I thought she was about to protest, she just smiled and looked at me… intently.
"D… Do you need something Su?" I tried to keep my voice from sounding strained; I didn't want to be a part of her experiments, toys, games or any other contraption she built.
"Keitaro, let's play 'eat the Tama'" She said as she made me the 'puppy eyes' on me, that was a low blow, but survival instincts prevailed.
"Sorry Su, but I am busy at the moment, why don't you go ask a tenant to play with you?"
"But Shinobu says my games are scary and she also has to cook dinner, Motoko is busy with her studies, and Naru and Kitsune are not good playmates, they can't run fast enough!"
"I… need to catch up with my studies; I haven't even opened a single book since my incident" I said lamely as it was the first thing that came to my mind, and it was in part true, but I admit that I would have said anything else in order to 'escape'.
"Can I come and watch you study? I promise I'll be good"
"Good as in no 'toys' in the room?" - I ask and she nodded – "That sounds ok…" -
"Yay! Thank you Keitaro! Let's see who gets to your room first!" Su cheerfully announced and took off, I said my goodbyes to Sarah and Seta before going to my room, walking, yes, but at least relaxed because I only had to deal with one member of the 'dynamic duo' and besides, Kaolla said she'd be good.
I opened the door to my room, was it really my room? Last time I remembered my room the futon was undone all right, a the room was little messy? Yes, it was. But it looked like a place to live, but now… it was chaos, books were scattered all around the room, I entered only to feel something heavy around my shoulders.
"What took you so long Keitaro!?" Su asked me as she landed on my shoulders, snuggling against my head.
"I had to say goodbyes to Sarah and Seta, Su… by the way… what happened here?" I said as I pointed to the mess.
"I got bored and I looked for something fun to do" She said brightly as she leaped from my back and swinged across the room via light bulb cord, falling neatly in a pile of books from where she began to read through them interestingly.
I didn't know what to make out for it, in a way I knew I had to be angry at her for trashing my room like that, on the other hand she seemed like she didn't do it with any bad intentions, it confused me, but for some reason I was just uneasy but not angry, so, I t grabbed a bright yellow book that contained math exercises and I got to it.
Beginning with the simplest problems like finding the value of the variable x, or sometimes x and y together were a good warm up, I was glad that my memory loss didn't mess up with my studies so far, but when I stumbled upon mid level problems, it's where my worries began.
I had solved those before, I had written the answer on the notebook and I checked that it was correct at the back of it, but, when I tried solving them again… if I was lucky I got the answer wrong, and the other times I had hit a brick wall in the middle of solving them, I asked Su to hand me a used notepad, and there was many procedures that I made to solve the problems… the thing was that even when the writing was clean I couldn't make head or tails of it.
"Damn" I cursed inwardly, I began to sweat, and being honest, I felt scared, there was no way that I could have passed my entry exam like this, but for some reason I had forgotten many high school related stuff, or even more…
The possibility made me shiver, but I didn't know what to do, did I have to re-learn everything? I really wished I didn't have this amnesia anymore, but that was the frustrating part, I would never know when it was going to dispel, it could be a few more days, weeks, months maybe… or even years… and I knew I didn't have them.
"Keitarou, what's wrong? You look pale!"
"No… nothing Su, don't worry" But I knew she had seen my lie, she was a lot smarter than I thought if she was able to build her toys, but to my surprise, she didn't argue, I heard her move to another side of the room, while I was just too shocked about my situation looking only at the test book and notepad as I desperately tried to keep going. Suddenly there was something shoved between my text book and my face… the picture of a female without her top, only clad in her black panties, resting on a bed while calling me with her finger to go and join her.
"Wha… what?!" I held my nose, for I knew I didn't want any blood sprawled anywhere.
"Ha, ha, ha, so this worked right!? Feeling better Keitarou?"
"Su! Kid's aren't supposed to see that stuff! Where did you get that anyway?!"
"It was behind your bookcase, see?" Su pointed the bookcase in question, indeed, it was moved and I could see many more magazines in there… and I didn't even know I had them! And yet, she found them so easily… I feel embarrassed… and for some reason, defeated.
"Well, just put them back will ya!?"
"Nope!" She answered giving me a devilishly amused grin as I got the message, she was going to make me earn it.
"Well, if you want it that way" I tried to swipe the magazine off her hands but she back stepped away in the last second, and so the grand chase around my room began, we knocked out books and I tripped many, many, times before I caught her and claimed the magazine.
"What is going on down there?" We heard a voice and the sound of an object being swept away as Narusegawa's head showed from above.
"Well… well… well, what do we have here? Anything to say in your defense Keitaro?" Narusegawa dangerously said as she jumped down, cracking her knuckles and by god I swear I saw the air around her distorted in a black void before she pulled back her fist and…
"Naru! Want to join in? You can be in Keitarou's team!" Su asked cheerfully as she jumped from behind me and hugged Narusegawa, who changed her face from killing rage to overwhelming fear as Su hugged her… hard.
"Narusegawa, are you ok?!"
She said nothing as I caught her as Su released her, Su stood besides her, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sorry Naru, I forgot…" That's all she said as we looked at each other, and in silent agreement, we postponed our playing as we both helped Naru back in her room… of course, not without an 'I'll get you for this' look from her, and I suddenly got the urge to fix that hole in the ceiling… along with locking my room at night.
And so, the day was at it's end we all had dinner at the kitchen as Naru ate quickly and left, later on, to my surprise Kitsune was the next one to leave, and so, the rest of us ate our dinner, I praised Shinobu's cooking once again as Motoko looked mildly surprised that nothing had happened today… She really doesn't believe I can win… but I had survived so far.
And so, the day came to an end… I had mixed feelings about today… I remembered, right… but it was not what I had expected… I had been discharged until I was healthy, did that mean that until my leg… or even my amnesia were healed I could not go back? But true to that, I had forgotten much high school stuff… I was in lots of trouble… I couldn't shake that ominous feeling… but I was tired… very tired… in fact… such a long day…
I turned the lights out… those thoughts be damned…
I am in the middle of nowhere, everything is empty, and with every step I take, a dull sound all around me echoes in every direction.
I keep walking but it leads me nowhere, all empty, am I truly walking? Or even moving? It's hard to tell, it's all the same, it's just me and the echo.
" He, he, he" A childish laughter came from somewhere, I feel relieved, I did get somewhere after all, and the laughter sounds so happy, brilliant, that alone makes me walk faster.
And once again, there is no use. It's all the same all around me, the laughter and my steps, all around in echo.
"Is anyone there?!" I call for the voice
"What are you looking for?" The voice asked me, I turned around, the voice is coming from all directions.
"My memories!" Was my answer.
"HE, HE, HA, HA, HA" The voice laughs louder than before.
"WHAT'S SO FUNY?!" I screamed, the voice just laughs.
I scream again, but it's muffled. Just laughter, laughter, laughter, I put my hands on my ears, but I can still hear it, unending laughter…
It laughs and my head begins to hurt in a searing pain, it's so much it gets me on my knees, the voice laughs even harder, it laughs at me.
I woke up with a huge gasp of air, almost throwing a tantrum.
"What the hell was that" I was shaking, I reached for my forehead, it was all sweaty, I sat on my futon, taking my breath as I looked around the room, it was dark, but a bit of moonlight from the window behind me let me see enough to let me calm down and recognize my surroundings.
"What's wrong Keitaro?"
"I had a bad dream Su, but it's ok now" I said to the groggily girl at my side as I laid down again.
"Oh, nighty night Keitaro!"
"Good night Su "
'...'
'.......'
'.........'
'...........Wait'
I looked again, where did she come from? No, more importantly.
"Su? What are you doing here?"
" I am sleepy... Keitarou..." She said as she barely opened and eye, she rubbed the other one to wake herself up.
"Err... Su, is something wrong with your room?" I didn't want to be rude, but I must confess that I was very scared at the moment, because, I was pretty sure that this wasn't anywhere near 'landlord duty', and if the word got out... I couldn't even imagine... actually, I could, I could see myself tied to a tree, with all the tenants looking down on me, Motoko unsheats her katana as she approaches me, and then, with a swift swing of her blade she cuts off my...
"No Keitaro, my room is fine"
"But then…" Kaolla looked away from me and hugged her pillow.
"I had a bad dream, I can't sleep" She said as she sank her face in her pillow. A nightmare? That's what this was all about? I felt a bit relieved; this couldn't be a hard thing to handle.
"Su, it was just a bad dream but it's all over now, want me to take you back to your room?"
"Only if you sleep there with me"
"Su, I can't do that... it's..." Complicated, I was about to say, and not very healthy for myself.
"Do you hate me Keitaro?" She said and her voice took a very serious tone...
"NO! I don't! Why would you think that?"
"Because you are not letting me stay"
"Damn" I cursed inwardly, it's not like I hate her, but it's not like she can stay either...
"Do you want... to talk about it?"
She hugged her pillow even tighter, her face became darker and she trembled, this hadn't gone as I planned, she recalled her dream... and now.
"No... can't... I .... really... stay? Do... do you really... hate me?" Her voice quivered as she trembled, she was scared, and whatever she dreamed of it scared her.
For some reason... I saw that she and I were in the same situation tonight… both of us scared out our wits because of a dumb nightmare and just like that, my determination to pull her away fell into oblivion… I was defeated before I even started.
"No, I don't hate you Su, and yes, you can stay"
"Really?"
"Really"
"Yay! Thank you Keitaro!" Su brightened almost instantly, that had been a real emotional roller coaster right now.
I got up groggily and clumsily because of my crutches and moved to look inside my closet, luckily there was an extra futon and sheets, It was on the top shelf, I reached for it, but I was short, way too short.
Suddenly, Su climbed up on my shoulders, she did that so fast that I didn't have time to say 'wait' or even object, she told me to go towards the closet, and so, she threw down the sheets, and when she was done, I moved so she could get the futon.
Su tried to pull it out, she said that it was stuck, so, mustering all the strength she had, she pulled it free, but in doing so, she jerked her body the other way, making me lose my balance, my crutch slipped, and with a loud 'thud' I fell backwards.
The next thing I knew, my face was in between Su's… tights. And suddenly, I heard movement coming from the top floor, footsteps? Or just Narusegawa stirring in her sleep? I didn't know but I felt my heart pounding against my chest, and cold bullets going down my face… which was in a not-so-nice place to be caught.
Seconds later, well, some agonizing seconds for me, all the sounds and stirring stopped, Su, removed herself from me as she almost laughed for our little accident, I 'sheeshed'her, I didn't want to wake up anyone, so I asked her in a quiet voice to help me set up her futon. When we were done, we wished each other good night and went to sleep.
Just like that.
Yet, sometime later, I felt a kick on my side, waking me up. I looked at my side tiredly, I could see her face just inches from mine, breathing on me. I moved a bit away from her, and closed my eyes. Moments later, she had rolled and slapped me with the back of her hand; Once again, I moved, but only to find myself kicked again, and again… until I was thrown off the futon.
"Kaolla… Su… wake up…" I stirred the young girl to wake her up again, so we could both go back to our futons, but suddenly she grabbed my torso into a hug.
A bone shattering hug.
I placed my hands on her arms, trying to break free, I couldn't even make her soften her grip on me, on the contrary, she just hugged me tighter, I felt my ribs flex as her face turned into a frown. She began to mumble things in another language, she stirred and trembled... scared.
My mind went into an overload, survival instincts perhaps, but out of the blue, I began to stroke her hair.
"It's ok Su, it's just a bad dream"
"Please, don't go away... I don't like being alone, I miss you!" She said in a strained voice, my words were getting to her.
"You are not alone… you are hugging me, right? I am not going -'gasp'- anywhere"
She relaxed her grip, but she still didn't let go, she was still trembling, I kept stroking her hair, but that didn't seem to do the trick anymore, I talked her gently but still… nothing else happened… until I finally hugged her back. And that worked wonders.
The grip she had on me almost banished, it was a gentle hug, her breathing became calm, and her trembling stopped, I was relieved, now it was time to break apart.
But as soon as I tried to move away, she tightened her hug again. "Arrrgh.... damn it" I thought as I looked around the room, I watched the hole on the roof, and my door, scared that someone might walk on us, but nothing, only the faint sounds of the trees and Su's breathing altered the peacefulness of the night.
"Brother… let's play a lot tomorrow, Ok?" Su said in her sleep as she relaxed even more, I kept stroking her hair.
"I am not your brother… but sure, let's play tomorrow"
And so, she finally let go of me, resting peacefully, I was exhausted, I made my way to the other futon… Perhaps I had just exaggerated, I did a fuss about this… but…I needed… some rest… I could think of something tomorrow so we didn't get caught in a misunderstanding… but boy I needed the rest...
End of chapter VI
Some rant:
Hey, it's been a while (an understatement, I know) since I last published something, and, if you read this chapter to these very lines, I really hoped you enjoyed it!!!
And so, I'd like to thank to everyone who has left me a review a PM with pointers, and all those who added me to their story alert, I really apreciate it (You guys ROCK!).
Well, I'll be seeing you in chapter VII.
Peace . JKaitz