Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ K2: A View to a Truth ❯ Chapter 3

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Omega X

“Talk to me KU,” Laharl muttered desperately towards his cell phone as he dragged the goddess, Nitasha on his tow. “Have you gotten or made any contact with Keitaro?”

“No… ever since the goddess teleported him and the demon representative out of the facility, I'm having trouble tracking him. I'll keep trying though…”

“Damn it…” Laharl shut his connection to her, and looked towards the goddess. “Alright… where is the extraction point?” he asked.

“Why should I tell you?” the goddess demanded.

“Didn't you hear what I just told you?”

“I heard what you said just fine,” the goddess replied. “I just don't understand. What in the Heaven's going on?”

“Okay, you want simple terms, fine; you were supposed to be in an abandoned facility in Kagawa Prefecture, right?” Laharl asked. When the goddess nodded, he continued, “Well, you're in Tokyo right now and talking to me instead of being there. Someone else took your place in rescuing the demon representative… and that replacement is someone I was supposed to meet here. I recognized her voice through a recorded conversation she had with the U Agent.”

“Okay…?” the goddess asked blankly. The hybrid stared at her.

“What is there not to understand? You were supposed to be there, not here! The one who's supposed to be here, is there, and to top it off, she hates K2,” Laharl suddenly grabbed the surprised goddess by the shoulders. “Tell me where the extraction point is supposed to be!”

“I don't know!”

“Don't lie!” Laharl growled softly. “Don't you understand? She wants kill him! She's been telling me that she wanted to kill him for the past 4 sessions we had! So forget your secrecy shit for a moment because this is an emergency! Where is he?”

“I really don't know!” the goddess replied, her voice rose. “I was never given coordinates on where the extraction point would be… all I know is the demons have stated where it would take place, and that the place was a dead zone.”

“Dead zone… brilliant,” Laharl shook his head. No wonder KU wasn't able to get into contact with Keitaro ever since he got teleported out… the extraction point was in the middle of a dead zone… quite smart, in his opinion.

The dead zone was a place where almost no radio or modern technology could reach. It was also usually a, as the name implies, a dead place, where almost no living things, except probably bacteria, live on. It was said that Dead Zones were holes in the Yggdrasil… a perfect place for secret meetings and plots because it's guaranteed that almost no one can interfere unless the place was known.

A perfect place to do an extraction. Laharl cursed.

“I did get a teleporter, though,” the goddess stated with an odd smile. “My Commanding Goddess told me yesterday to use this when we've nabbed the representative for a quick get-away.”

Laharl could only stare at her.

“And… you're just revealing this to me now because…?”

The goddess could only look at him blankly. “Um… I just remembered…” she replied unsurely.

“Can you use it so we can go there, and rescue the U-Agent?” Laharl asked.

“Sure… just let me start this thing up…”

The hybrid could only sigh… and wished this goddess would hurry up.

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Dead Zone 11213131

“Thank you,” one of the demon soldiers spoke as the representative that both Keitaro and his goddess partner rescued was returned safely to the extraction team.

“Not a problem,” Keitaro replied with a slight smile.

“We shall contact heaven and your Agency… you have completed the mission,” another demon spoke. “We shall take our leave.”

Keitaro watched the demons and the representative walk away, and grabbing one of their teleporters, they disappeared in a blinding light. After a moment, he looked towards his partner, and gave her an easy smile.

“Well… I guess that's all, eh?” Keitaro asked.

“Is this the part where you'll charm me into sleeping with you, Mr. K2?” the goddess asked. The agent could only blink and he shook his head.

“I think rumors have badly misinformed you, Nitasha,” Keitaro replied.

“Then… re-educate me on who you are exactly,” the goddess stated. “You're name is Keitaro Urashima… age 20. Son of Kazama, a baker. Am I right?”

“You're rather well informed,” Keitaro agreed in a low tone. He was a bit curious to where the goddess was going at, but he was also a bit uncomfortable of someone else retelling him his life history. The only other being that talked like this was Laharl… and he only did that as part of his mission to test him.

“At the age of five, you witnessed the death of a close friend of yours…”

Keitaro cleared his throat, cutting her off. “Yes… I think I got the part that you have studied me well…” he said with an even tone.

“You sound hurt…” the goddess looked at him. “Surely… after all these years…”

“After all these years don't change the facts,” Keitaro cut her off, his tone beginning to grow a bit colder.

The goddess looked at him, and smiled for a moment.

“I understand completely…” she stated with a nod. “There are some things you can never forget, right?”

She slowly approached him, her eyes smile was sultry and inviting. Keitaro looked at her in a confused manner, wondering what was on her mind now, and when her lips slowly caressed his, the agent moved away slightly.

“Yes… there are some things you can never forget,” Keitaro said. “Like how you asked earlier, in a very uninviting tone I might add, if I was going to try and sleep with you. I am rather confused on your actions now.”

She smirked a bit, and approached him again. “I'm afraid it's simple… I find you rather attractive and I want to sleep with you.”

“You're lying… and nothing in this world is simple,” Keitaro replied, staying still.

The goddess smiled, and kissed him gently, her hands moved towards Keitaro's chest. “Yes… nothing in this world is simple… but when it comes to action…” she suddenly smirked.

Keitaro yelped as he felt her hands seemingly burn his skin. He moved away from her, clutching the spot he touched, and stared at her hard.

“When it comes to action… it's just a simple notion on whether you are willing to do it or not…” the goddess smiled and turned away from Keitaro, slowly expanding the distance between them.

“What are you talking about?” Keitaro asked neutrally. The burn feeling was gone, but the way the goddess is acting was raising his alarm.

“It's a simple concept, Mr. K2… I want to do something, and I will do it,” the goddess stated.

The whole place suddenly began to glow. A barrier of light… that was all the agent could describe as it rose from the ground, and slowly encompassed the place, forming a half-sphere. After a few minutes, Keitaro found himself trapped along with the goddess who didn't seem a bit disturbed at the new happenings.

“What is going on?” Keitaro asked, looking at the goddess. Something was definitely wrong here. “Nitasha?”

“My, my, you ask a lot for a human,” the goddess laughed.

“Is this your doing?” he asked.

“Yes…” the goddess replied. “Well, truthfully, I haven't personally done this. I had a little help with someone up there…” she pointed towards the sky. “This barrier is done so you wouldn't escape.”

“Escape?” Keitaro grabbed his two guns. “I know I'm rather wanted, but this is too much, even for a goddess.”

“Charming even in such situations, Mr. K2?” the goddess smiled.

“I don't know my situation, hence the guns,” Keitaro countered with his own smile, which quickly faded. “What do you want, Nitasha?”

“Maybe I should drop the façade,” the goddess replied. “Let me re-introduce myself. My name is Miyabi. And what I want… is revenge.”

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Tokyo

“You do know we are in a hurry, right?” Laharl asked towards the goddess, who was still charging the teleporter with mana.

“I know!” Nitasha replied rather scathingly. “Give me a minute…”

“Oh for god's sake… how hard it is to charge this thing with mana?” Laharl demanded. “You're a goddess aren't you?”

“Look, I have difficulty in drawing mana, okay!? So, you either do it yourself, or leave it to me!” Nitasha growled.

Laharl could only look at her. “Just hurry up…” he muttered.

----------------------------

Dead Zone 11213131

“Revenge?” Keitaro moved towards his left, his guns still aimed at her. “Revenge for what?”

“My angel…” she replied in a soft tone. “My angel that you killed.”

“Angel… what…” and he stopped when he remembered his first mission as a U-Agent. He remembered her details… from her hair, pale demeanor, and the details of the butt of his gun slamming in her eye. The bullets riddling her torso… that angel.

She realized that he remembered and gave a small nod to him. “By your reaction, I'd say you remember which angel you killed.”

“I didn't know she was yours,” Keitaro mumbled a bit.

“Of course you didn't,” Miyabi growled. “I bet you that you didn't even give it much thought until now! After all… what was my angel to you? A target, a mishap… and a blot to your perfect service record, am I right?”

A sudden bolt of light suddenly burst from her body, and slammed into the surprised supernatural agent. He flew a few meters away, and landed hard on his back. He lost his secondary gun, and assumed a fetal position as he tried to block the pain he felt on his gut.

“But to me, Mr. K2… she was my partner… my friend… my companion,” Miyabi slowly approached the fallen agent. “Of course… you wouldn't understand that. You rarely work with a partner… last time you did, it was that demon hybrid, Laharl. Hah! Like that was a partnership… I wish I could see his face, meeting with the real Nitasha.”

Miyabi lifted Keitaro up, who suddenly aimed his gun towards her stomach, and fired away. The goddess was thrown back, releasing her grip on the agent as Keitaro continued to shoot at her until he emptied the clip. For a moment, he thought he had saved himself, only to realize that the goddess was playing possum when she just stood up straight, and smiled at him.

“I think you had your twelve, now let me have just one…” and she grinned at him before dashing towards his position, and gave a very strong punch towards his gut. Keitaro found himself in the air for a few moments before he landed on his knees, coughing air.

After a moment, she kicked him at the head, making him fall to the ground. She laughed.

“Get up, Mr. K2,” the goddess taunted. “Surely, you'd have more fight than this?”

In response, Keitaro tried unsuccessfully to trip her and bringing her down to his level… she dodged in the last second, and brought him up, and kneed once again on his stomach.

“Pathetic!” she exclaimed before she punched him to the cheek, which Keitaro blocked with his forearm and countered with one hammer punch towards her chest which got her to back away a few steps.

“Now… that was more like it,” she growled.

Keitaro jumped at the chance of space, and moved as he tried to look around for a good spot to either hide, or bide his time. Unfortunately, there is nothing around the place that would prove useful… the surroundings were barren and empty. He silently cursed.

“You got nowhere to run, Mr. K2,” the goddess cackled softly. “I have to admit… while the planning was a bit rushed, it's quite an accomplishment. When I heard you were going to be partnered with a goddess to rescue some demon representative… I saw my chance.”

Five bolts of energy were released from Miyabi's open palms, and rushed towards Keitaro, who jumped away. One barely grazed Keitaro's arm, while he dodged the others completely. He rolled on the ground, and moved farther away from her.

“Had a friend of mines… an Yggdrasil technician, to do a switch,” the goddess stalked him, smiling. “He must have done a really rough hack… but seeing you're here, alone, and at my mercy, it was adequate. The higher ups don't even seem to care about minor details… they just probably saw a battle goddess for the mission, and went on their way.”

Keep talking… Keitaro thought as he slowly approached his secondary gun. He didn't know what to do, but for now he needed his gun.

“But I'm disappointed in you, Mr. K2,” the goddess continued to walk slowly towards him. “The human that seduced and beaten vampires. Survived two angry neko-lycan twins… and beat the Golden Maiden's private army single-handedly with two guns to rescue the infamous Demon Eyes Laharl. And this is the challenge you give me?”

Keitaro already found his second gun, but bid his time, and didn't show any sign he had found it, and waited for a moment for the goddess to approach him. He used his ears to judge how far she was by her footsteps, and she was near, he turned, aiming his gun behind him… only to see nothing but air.

“Good try,” Miyabi whispered towards Keitaro behind him, her hand grabbing his raised firearm. “But not enough…”

She was suddenly cut off like her clothing when Keitaro's other arm lashed out towards her chest with a hint of silver. She barely dodged the blade coming to cut her, and she was left exposed from the top.

“Not enough, luv?” Keitaro growled darkly as he stood up, and grabbed another dagger from his vest with his other hand and went to fighting position. “I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

“Trying to get a rise out of me?” the goddess sneered.

“Yes…” Keitaro replied without pause, and threw one of the daggers towards the goddess, and charged towards her.

She dodged the thrown projectile, and blocked his first two attacks with her hands. She tried to get a good position to counter attack, but couldn't. Keitaro kept himself moving at all times, so as not liable to get caught, while planning another attack.

“What are you planning, you cockroach?” Miyabi asked as she dodged another swipe coming towards her.

“Oh you'll know soon,” Keitaro muttered his reply through gritted teeth. After he moved position and took another swipe, he smirked a bit. “About right… NOW!”

The goddess looked at his eyes, trying to guess what kind of attack was coming when she suddenly felt herself pulled towards the agent. She noticed that his free hand was grabbing the hole of her clothes while his other was holding a blade.

He used two forces in this attack, the goddess would guess. His pull of her towards him, and pushing the blade he held on his other hand that was going directly towards her face. Miyabi didn't even blink as she raised both her hands and blocked the blade in between her two palms.

“That's it?” she asked with a smirk.

“No… this…” and Keitaro let go of the blade, and quickly grabbed a grenade which he hasn't used and pulled the pin with his teeth… and with a rather dark smirk, proclaimed, “This… is it…” as he dropped the grenade right inside the hole of her clothes, and kicked her away.

The explosion was still strong, even after moving away from the goddess. The outgoing air hit Keitaro like a wrecking ball. The white magic barrier had stopped his momentum, though the force had evacuated almost all air inside Keitaro's lungs. He took a few moments to cough in back what he lost.

There was a sort of tapping sound behind him, but Keitaro ignored that. It wasn't until he heard his name did he look behind him… and his eyes widened.

“Laharl!?” Keitaro gasped softly.

----------------------------

The demon hybrid couldn't exactly hear him speak, but he could read Keitaro's lips fine. Nitasha had finally charged the teleporter, and had transported them to the extraction point, but somehow, she pointed out, they were a bit off. And they now knew why.

“What is a magical barrier doing here?” the goddess asked, surprised. “This wasn't part of the plan!”

“Ask questions later!” Laharl replied. “We have to break through this… Oi, Keitaro, hold on, we'll get you of there in a moment!”

He quickly studied the barrier for a moment, taking in some notes to it, and feeling how the energy flowed. He recognized it.

“Go call Heaven and tell them someone's using the Yggdrasil illegally,” Laharl told the Nitasha.

“How would you know…”

“You think being a demon makes gods and goddesses go and give me hugs!?” Laharl asked her incredulously. “You know my damn history! I know when a barrier is erected through the Ygg… now go to Heaven and tell them what I told you! NOW!”

“You are one demanding hybrid,” the goddess muttered before she used her teleporter to disappear, hopefully going to Heaven to get the barrier down.

Laharl looked towards Keitaro who looked at him rather confused. He pointed towards where Nitasha disappeared, and stated, “She was supposed to be your partner. Charming, eh?”

Keitaro still had the strength to smile before he felt a great mana wave coming from behind him. Both guys looked towards the direction where it came from, and noticed a shadow walking towards Keitaro, holding a katana.

The shadow let a cackle out.

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Heaven

“That is some tale, Nitasha,” a beautiful goddess declared.

Nitasha had teleported back to Heaven, and relayed Laharl's message towards her superior goddess whom she answered for.

“Quite, mistress,” Nitasha replied respectfully. “The hybrid, Laharl told me that we find out who's using an Yggdrasil Barrier illegally to rescue the K2 agent.”

“Very well… come with me,” the goddess called, and both went on their way towards the Yggdrasil Department when suddenly the alarms blared.

Nitasha looked around confused. “What is going on, mistress?” she asked.

“I'll check, stay here, Nitasha,” the goddess superior stated before she moved towards the nearest rushing Emergency Response Angels. “What is going on here?”

“Someone's hacking in the Yggdrasil with unrestricted access!” one of the angels responded. “There's been fluctuations and data streaming with connecting universes… its horrible!”

“Who is hacking it?” the goddess asked.

“We don't know… the source is from a dead zone on Earth XXXX131…” the Angel rushed on, the goddess now stopping to her tracks.

The Earth the angel had said was the extraction point of the demon representative. She had to get back to Nitasha, and tell her to investigate.

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Tokyo University

April 1

Mutsumi Otohime looked at her study partner and friend suddenly seemed groan and ducked down. She was momentarily confused by his sudden action from seeing Naru Narusegawa, a girl he had a big crush on.

“Kei-kun… are you okay?” she asked.

Keitaro's eyes suddenly looked up, and looked so surprised that got the poor woman even more confused.

“MT… what are you doing here?” he suddenly asked. He looked around. “And where am I?”

“MT?” Mutsumi looked at him, confused. “Why are you calling me MT? And you're in Tokyo U, silly!”

“Todai…?” Keitaro looked around, confused. “How can I be in Todai… I was just fighting off… LOOK OUT!”

Mutsumi found himself in Keitaro's arms as he pulled her close. A manhole cover was flying dangerously low, and almost him and Mutsumi along.

“You okay?” he asked her.

Mutsumi couldn't respond. The way his eyes looked at her… it was like he hadn't seen her for a long while. They were warm and quite inviting in her opinion… he never stared at her in that way. She also noticed the way he placed his body close to hers… it seems like he lost all shyness.

“Kei… Keitaro…” her blush came out. This was rather new. Usually, it was him blushing, and she'd pretend to be either not care when they were this close. But her wistfulness suddenly vanished when something from above seemingly was coming down at them. “Lo… look out!!”

Keitaro took her up automatically and ran, dodging the crashing Tanuki Statue that was going to slam towards them. He grunted as he used all his strength to carry her and run as a few more items were coming at him for some reason.

He was confused… heck, he was more than confused. He had no idea what just happened. The last memory he had was that goddess Miyabi going to stab him to the heart with her katana, and Laharl was trying to punch a hole in the barrier when everything went white… and the next thing he knew, he was there, beside Mutsumi and in Tokyo University.

Keitaro yelped as a car (!?) crashed behind him, sending some parts of glass on his back. He was being slow… his arms were getting sore. And the odd thing is that it shouldn't be! Either Mutsumi got really heavy the last time he carried her, or he gotten very weak…

At least his legs weren't complaining… though he could have sworn he could run faster than this. When the crashing behind him stopped, he thought it was all clear until he saw the shadow on the ground he was running at.

Looking behind him, he gasped. For some reason, the rooftop of one of the buildings of Todai was coming down on them. In a last ditch effort, he threw Mutsumi away, and didn't even breathe when the whole thing just slammed on him with the full force of gravity, putting him in the world of darkness.

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Hospital

Confusion… pain... shock. Three things that suddenly came to Keitaro's mind when he woke up.

Confusion came when he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He tried to sit up, only to gasp in pain coming from his whole body. He checked himself for a moment, and saw that was he was covered in bandages, and his leg was in a cast.

He didn't even begin contemplating on the fact which hospital he was before the door suddenly opened, revealing five females. Motoko, Su, Kitsune, Shinobu, and a blonde little kid he didn't recognize. The shock came when they suddenly began to talk at once.

“Hey Keitaro!” Su came busting in with a childish smile on her face. “Heard you have complex bone thingy!”

“Yeah, weird, eh?” Kitsune replied. “Hospitalized with a broken leg just before even getting to attend class at Todai? The gods must really hate ya!”

While Su and the blonde kid went to his cast, and began to put graffiti on it, Shinobu and Motoko approached him from the side.

“Sempai… are you okay?” Shinobu asked.

“You must have turned to a mere human,” Motoko began, “for not healing an injury like this…”

Keitaro had only one thing in mind when he saw them all.

Who are these people?

He was utterly confused. For some reason, Kitsune was giving a vibe and not acting like she usually did around him. Su was silly… even more so than she usually is and even playing along with the blonde kid… he still couldn't identify her. Motoko was also acting differently… she seemed quite more civil at him, and didn't have that aura of which she usually put up every time they were in a room together.

She was actually acting quite nice. And that was scaring him.

His second shock came when H came in, wearing her `Tea House' clothes… except the way she stood and acted wasn't the same H he knew. She wasn't even armed… H always kept a small knife in her hip, hidden well beneath even those clothes. Maybe he ought to check closer.

“Doctors say it's going to take months for your leg to heal,” Haruka stated towards Keitaro. “Since it can't be helped, you're going to take time off from your school. For your other injuries though… they'll heal after a week, so no problem.”

Like I care going to school, Keitaro thought, though he wondered why he couldn't go with a broken leg.

“Auntie, why can't I go to school?” Keitaro asked. “It's not like I got hit in the brain, or having neurological problems… or do I?”

Everyone paused and looked at him. Most of them laughed.

“Oh, Keitaro, you really want to attend Todai, don't ya?” Kitsune laughed.

“I'll skip the aunt bit for now, since you're injured,” his aunt quipped.

“By the way… where is Naru?” Kitsune suddenly asked. “Is she visiting?”

Keitaro found it odd for Narusegawa to visit him, but didn't voice it. But it seems the other tenants had the same opinion.

“Did she do anything after the ceremony?” Motoko asked.

“She prolly doesn't care what happens to this guy,” the blonde kid pointed out. Keitaro had to agree with her.

But the moment she spoke, the door knob turned, surprising both Keitaro and Kitsune into looking.

“Naru…?” the woman asked, unsure.

It wasn't Naru… it was Mutsumi.

“Oh, hey! Its Turtle girl!” Su suddenly declared, and everyone greeted the woman. Keitaro looked at everyone, and found it odd that they knew her, since to his memory… they never met… except KU…

“Kei-kun,” Mutsumi greeted as she came in. She couldn't meet his eyes for some reason. “Are you feeling better?”

“Quite… are you okay, Mu-chan?” Keitaro asked. She blushed horribly, but seemingly no one else caught up on what Keitaro had called her, except one woman, who suddenly looked thoughtful.

“Ah… anyways… Naru-san was approached by a Miss Todai scout” Mutsumi changed the subject almost at once, something very uncharacteristic of her, in Keitaro's opinion. Mutsumi is usually calm, collected and not easily embarrassed.

“Wow… Naru-san's incredible!”

Keitaro didn't know who spoke, nor did he listen to what anyone was telling anymore. He found himself so out of place in the hospital bed, wondering if he was either dreaming, or in a coma. Maybe he was actually dead, and this is Heaven… a place quite bright, where his tenants, friends, team-mates and lovers are with him.

He had to make sure.

“Aunty…” he called.

“Haruka-san,” Haruka corrected with a glare.

“Haruka-san,” Keitaro muttered, and beckoned her to come closer. “I have something to say.”

Curious, the woman softly approached him, “Yes?” she asked. “What is it Keitaro?”

“H, what does G have to say for all this?” Keitaro whispered softly at her, making sure his tone was low as not to be heard by everyone else, who was slightly busy listening in about Naru.

“Who's G?” Haruka asked, looking suspicious. “And why are you calling me H?”

“Never mind,” Keitaro muttered, hoping against odds that this was some sort of demented dream.

But as time passed by, he knew he wasn't dreaming, nor was he in Heaven. The sky darkened, and everyone left, stating its already past visiting hours.

Left alone, he looked up in the ceiling blankly thinking what was going on. Since everything had gone quiet, he would slowly retreat at the back of his mind to take the details on how everything had gone so far. He closed his eyes.

It was the same as before. Miyabi was going to stab him. Laharl was punching the barrier outside. Everything went white… and everything vanished.

“Oi… Keitaro!”

The agent's eyes opened suddenly when he heard a familiar voice. Opening his eyes, he saw Naru bedside, smiling.

“Oh… Narusegawa-san…” Keitaro greeted.

“Narusegawa-san?” she frowned suddenly, looking a tad displeased. She shook her head. “You know, I was waiting for you when the ceremony was over… it was really idiotic to get injured just after you finally passed!”

She might have called him an idiot, but for some reason, Keitaro couldn't feel anything negative or malicious about her tone. It was like, she was joking around, yet serious at the same time.

“Anyways,” she continued with a small worried smile, “I'm sorry I was late… I met with a few acquaintances.”

“Ah…” Keitaro nodded, unsure about her actions. “Was… was the ceremony good?”

“Oh, that was the funny part!” Naru smiled at him. “I couldn't understand a word out of the University President! But Mutsumi-san just kept nodding, saying `un uhn', it was hilarious! Oh and the banquet… it was really something!”

Keitaro didn't speak as he felt affection from the woman whom he normally haphazardly met civilly. Mutsumi being shy was one thing… Kitsune being distant can be another thing. But having Narusegawa treat him like this was something he couldn't get his head into.

Even now, she offered to peel him some apples as she continued to re-tell her story of Todai acceptance festivities. She spoke for a good 5 minutes or so before she gently nudged Keitaro.

“Keitaro… anything wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing…” he mumbled.

“Ah… it just seems you're… distant,” Naru stated softly, looking at him. She looked at her watch, and she suddenly stood up. “Oh… it's late!”

“Maybe you ought to go,” Keitaro stated with a nod. “You have school tomorrow, right?”

Naru looked at him oddly. For some reason, the way he said it was like driving her away… but she couldn't find fault in his logic, and nodded back.

“I'll try to visit when I can,” Naru smiled at him. Keitaro gave her a smile back.

“See you later, then,” Keitaro replied.

Naru looked back a moment before she went out of the hospital room, and walked on the hallway until she spotted her friends, who immediately greeted her.

“Naru-san!” Mutsumi called. “You came!”

“Oh, hey everybody,” Naru greeted back. “Yeah, I did… What are you guys doing back here, though? I saw you guys leave.”

“Yeah, but we kinda forgot to bring him the gifts we brought,” Kitsune replied.

“And some stuff from the ceremony,” Mutsumi nodded. “Is Kei-kun okay?”

“Yeah… a bit weird, but yeah,” Naru stated. “Come on, guys. I'll join you…”

“Sure!” and the group began to walk back towards Keitaro's room.

“Keitaro!” Kitsune called as she opened the door. “We brought some…”

She went silent when she saw the bed empty. Everyone suddenly rushed in, panicked.

“Where's Keitaro?” Naru asked.

“I… I think he went out through the window…” Motoko replied as she looked towards the open pane.

“With a broken leg!?” Naru asked.

“I-I think he grabbed a crutch,” Shinobu pointed out towards the wooden aid in the corner of the room. “There were two of them…”

“What's the dork thinking?” the blonde kid asked.

“Come on! We gotta find him!” Naru declared.

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Streets

Keitaro passed through the streets with hazard breathing. He didn't know what to do, or where to go… he just knew one thing.

He was in hell. Or something close to it.

He didn't mind the change of attitudes of some of the people he knew. He didn't mind not moving as fast or being as strong as he remembered. He didn't even mind the sudden blindness he acquired to wear such dreadful spectacles. But Haruka, very convincingly not knowing who G was? Or even respond to him calling her H?

She could have been covering herself, but there was no need. No one else on the room was interested on his talk with his aunt. And she definitely didn't have the knife hidden… when she approached, he was finally sure.

Wherever he was, he wasn't in his… world. It must be some sort of alternate dimension that Sci-Fi story tellers talk about. Or maybe he was in hell… killed by that mad goddess Miyabi.

“I see…” a sudden voice cut through his thoughts.

Keitaro could feel a large mana source behind him. He turned around, and spotted a woman in a black dress, with long flowing hair behind her. He couldn't make out her details in the darkness, but he knew whoever she was, she was very exotic looking.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“A fellow watcher in this world,” the woman replied calmly, slowly approaching him. “I wondered who had entered this world…”

“Again, who are you?” Keitaro demanded this time, his tone now cold.

“Knowing who I am isn't what you truly want,” the woman replied, now her details becoming clearer. “What you want to know… is where you are.”

Keitaro gasped silently as she spoke those words. His teeth gritted, new questions popping on his head. He wanted to know how she knew… he wanted to know who she was… is she an enemy? Is she there to confuse him? He couldn't decide.

“It… it seems you have the advantage,” Keitaro replied evenly. “The name's Urashima. Keitaro Urashima. Who are you?”

“My name's Ichihara Yuko…” the woman replied with a small smile. “May I invite you to my home?”

“Is it far?” Keitaro asked.

“Not very,” she replied.

Keitaro looked at her for a moment. He nodded, and went to her, for now, completely lost.

To Be Continued