Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy ❯ Chapter 53

Under the lights of the streetlamps, a figure strode along the narrow road leading up the hill the Hinata sat atop. Most of the small, sleepy town was shut down by this time, and very few others were on the streets. None of the locals paid the figure any mind, choosing to go about their own business instead. Those that saw the figure decided - based on the posture and resolute step - that the person was heading for a meeting or appointment.

 

In truth, however, that was not entirely correct. The person was mostly lost in thought. Passing under a streetlight, one might have seen that he wasn't looking where he was going. It would also have been noticeable that the man wasn't very well kept. Far from being a dirty vagrant, he was nevertheless sporting stubble, his clothes were wrinkled and showed signs of sloppily-patched tears. He was also mumbling under his breath as he strode along.

 

“The hell does that quack know, anyway?” muttered the man. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his slacks, hands balled into fists. His shoulders were hunched slightly in a unconscious defensive posture. “I'm no more delusional than anyone else! All in my head my ass,” he gritted out. “He wants proof? I'll give him proof!” swore the man.

 

A glint of metal around his wrist made him snarl silently. “They didn't have to put a tracker on me, just because that fraud of a doctor said I was crazy,” he complained to himself. The great thing about complaining to one's self is that you were assured of a sympathetic audience. He had been going to twice-weekly sessions with the court-ordered psychiatrist, and taking the medication the shrink had ordered him to take, but the cops still insisted that he wear the tracker. “Guess it's better than keeping me in that cage,” allowed the man. And agreeing to wear it helped me convince the educational board to allow me access to my pension so I don't lose my apartment and can eat, he recalled, unhappily.

 

Reaching his destination, he steeled his nerves. “Ok, here's your proof, doctor,” he muttered, pushing on the dark, forbidding gates. They didn't budge. He pushed harder. Still the grim, ancient gates refused to allow him to enter. “Get out of my way,” he bit out, slamming his shoulder against the wood and iron obstacle. Other than a little hollow thud at each impact, nothing was accomplished.

 

“You have to turn the catch,” came a voice from behind the man. Blinking, he turned to see a young man standing there, a two-seat coup idling behind him.

 

“What?”

 

“The latch,” the young man repeated himself, reaching beside the man to turn a large steel ring. A hollow clank! sounded and with one push, the right-hand gate opened. “See?” the young man flashed a dazzling smile.

 

“Uh, thanks,” the man managed.

 

“No problem,” the young man waved it off. The man recognized the suit the young man wore as an Armani. “If I might ask, who are you, and what are you doing here?”

 

“I'm Ma…a teacher at the school one of the residents attends,” the man said. “And who might you be, young man?”

 

“I'm Kentaro,”

 

“Keitaro?!” the man snarled, a crazed look in his eyes as he jerked his hands out of his pants pockets, fingers clawing. The young man skipped back a step.

 

“No!” he yelled indignantly, “Kentaro! KEN! Why does everyone mistake me for that loser?!” complained the well-heeled young man. The older man blinked.

 

“You're not…Urashima?”

 

“For the last time, no!” yelled the young man.

 

“Oh,” breathed the old man, hands back in his pockets. “In that case, I'll just…” he blinked, seeing that the young man had stepped in front of him, passing through the gate. “You're going in?” asked the older man.

 

“Of course,” came the arrogant reply. “My dear Narusegawa awaits me within,” explained the young man, pulling a handful of red roses from somewhere in his clothes.

 

“Um, ok,” the man breathed. Following in the young man's wake, he decided that this was a good thing. After all, this way, I have a witness! decided the man. The pair climbed the stone stairs, the dorm coming into view. For some reason, both men felt a tingle of terror run down their spines as the house came into full view.

 

“That's…odd,” Kentaro noted. “There aren't any lights on.” The older man blinked away his thoughts, looking at the dark house.

 

“No,” he disagreed, “there are a few on,” he pointed to some exterior lights and a few lights from inside.

 

“Usually, the place is jumping this early in the evening,” Kentaro shrugged. “In any event,” he decried grandly, reaching for the door to the Hinata, “I have come to see you, my dear Narusegawa!” yelled the man, turning the door handle. The door didn't open.

 

“How strange,” Kentaro frowned, jiggling the door handle.

 

“Try the door bell,” suggested the other man, shivering slightly. Why does it feel like a demon is standing just behind me, drooling and waiting for the right moment to tear my head off? he worried.

 

Kentaro pushed the button, and from inside the house, the two heard a rather strange chiming clang. Nothing happened. Kentaro rang the bell again. “At least one of them must be here,” Kentaro mumbled.

 

“Hello, meow?” came a voice from the other side of the door. From above their heads, they heard the rustle of wings, a white crane landing on the peak of the entryway roof tiles, the bird's head cocking to watch the two.

 

“Um, yes, I'm Kentaro Sakata, and I am here to see Narusegawa. Could you open the door, please?”

 

“Sorry, meow. We're not accepting any visitors, meow,” came the voice, sounding amused.

 

“Why not?!” barked Kentaro.

 

“Because we're not, meow,” repeated the voice.

 

“Now see here,” the older man snapped, pushing Kentaro aside, “you open this door right now or I will break it down!” he threatened.

 

“Hmm,” came the thoughtful voice. “Are you sure you want in that badly, meow?”

 

“Open this door!”

 

“Very well, meow,” answered the voice. A moment later, the pair heard the door handle click, and when Kentaro turned it, the door opened.

 

“Finally,” muttered the old man, pushing past the young man. “Maehara! Are you here, Maehara?”

 

“Stop yelling, meow,” came the voice from beside the two. “My ears are very sensitive, meow, and your voice is painful, meow.” Turning the two didn't see anyone. Only a soot-black cat with huge ears, yellow eyes and a bell tied to the end of his long tail was there.

 

“Who said that?” wondered Kentaro.

 

“I did, of course, meow,” the voice came again. The two looked all over, but still couldn't see the speaker.

 

“Quit playing games, Su,” demanded the older man. “Go bring Maehara to me,” ordered the man.

 

“You two aren't very bright, are you, meow?”

 

“Myu!” a cry came from inside the house, a dark green and tan form swooping out of the hallway. “Myu!”

 

“Gah!” Kentaro dove for the wood floors as the small form dive-bombed him. “Stop that, you turtle terrorist!” he waved an arm at the flying turtle. “I said stop it!” he begged.

 

“Myu!” came the cry, the turtle banking around and making another pass.

 

“Tama, behave yourself, meow,” the unseen speaker chided the turtle. Once more, the turtle banked, settling next to the cat with a dull scraping sound as its shell met the wood floor. Kentaro picked himself up, dusting off his suit.

 

“That's better…” began the rich boy. He was interrupted by the flutter of wings, the crane acrobatically looping in through the door to land gracefully beside the cat and turtle. The large bird had had to fold its wings and turn in a full circle as it crossed through the door to both avoid the two, and still enter due to its wingspan. As the snow-white crane meticulously settled its folded wings, the bird fixed the two with a beady-eyed stare.

 

“Shippu doesn't like you two, meow,” the person once more said.

 

“Who is talking, damn it?!” demanded the old man. The two heard the person sigh.

 

“You two are stupid, meow,” observed the voice. “I'm talking to you, meow,” stated the voice. The old man was staring at the cat. Kentaro was still looking around.

 

“Who are you?” he asked petulantly.

 

“I am Kuro, meow, and I have been given the task of watching the Hinata, meow,” replied the voice. Kentaro looked over, only to gasp in shock. The black cat was hovering in the air staring at the two with its large, luminescent yellow eyes. “And I think it is time for you two to leave, meow,” the voice said firmly.

 

“Th…tha…that cat is talking!” stammered the old man.

 

“I'm more concerned that its flying,” breathed Kentaro. The cat shook its head.

 

“I swear, meow,” complained the cat, settling back down between the turtle and the bird. “If only Shiro were here, meow.”

 

“Myu!” agreed the turtle. The bird bobbed its head.

 

“Guess we'll have to use that, meow,” the cat sighed, lithely hopping up to the small stand next to the door. Using his paw, the cat flipped open a small electronic device. Turning to smile toothily at the two, the cat spoke to them. “Last chance to leave in one piece, meow,” warned the cat. Both men were staring at the cat, immobile and mute. “Very well, meow,” purred the cat, pressing a button with one extended claw.

 

“Intruder! Intruder!” blared a bullhorn, red lights flashing. “Activating Mecha-Tama fourteen point four revision beta,” intoned the voice. A panel in the floor clicked open, and a gleaming metallic form rose from somewhere underground. The two men managed to force their minds into working order as they saw the machine rise, the `eyes' beginning to glow a yellow-red.

 

“Oh, shit!” both men breathed. Independently, they knew what this thing was, who had made it, and what it was likely going to do. “Run!” they both screamed, bolting for the door.

 

“Intruder attempting to escape,” noted the mechanical voice. “Escape is impossible - prepared to be punished!” warned the Mecha-Tama, raising one flipper/arm. The cat, bird and turtle ducked for cover. “Resistance is futile, foolish intruders,” the machine rattled off, twin streaks of fire flashing as two small missiles roared out of the integrated missile tubes.

 

The two heard the whoosh! of the missile launch, and redoubled their escape efforts, taking the stone steps five at a time as they frantically scrambled for the gate at the base of the estate. If they could reach the car there, they might live to see sunrise. Stumbling, the older man desperately grabbed at Kentaro to break his fall, but only succeeded in knocking the younger man down, too. Lucky, as it turned out - the two missiles screamed overhead, missing them. Both men struggled to their feet and hurried on even as the missiles looped around to make a second pass.

 

In the doorway to the Hinata, three pets watched in amusement as the pair finally tumbled through the gate, just a whisker ahead of the missiles explosions. The ancient stone, wood and iron gates and wall shook, but held firm as fire, smoke and shrapnel belched from the gate, singeing the two as they sprawled in the street on their faces.

 

“Missile attack ineffective,” noted the Mecha-Tama, rising into the air on its thrusters, “switching to energy weaponry. Pulse laser selected. Targeting lock established,” the machine nattered to itself, two pylons extruding from its back as a the `barrel' of the pulse laser emerged from the arm/flipper. “Q-switch enabled, firing,” the mechanoid reported to itself.

 

Below the unit, the two had literally dove into the two-seat sports car, Kentaro frantically jamming the idling car into gear, flooring the gas and cutting the wheel hard. As the engine screamed, the rear whipped around in a cloud of tire smoke. “Made it,” breathed the young man, almost giddy. Suddenly, the smell of burnt metal and fiberglass filled the evening, the engine sputtering before the front of the car fire-balled. The two bailed out.

 

“Escape vehicle disabled,” Meche-Tama gloated, “commencing personnel termination.”

 

“That's enough, meow,” Kuro sighed, hopping back up to the small end-table and quickly pressing buttons with a claw.

 

“Defense mode cancelled,” the unit almost-pouted. “Returning to stand-by. Repair units activated,” concluded the mechanical defense unit, returning to the concealed launch bay and vanishing back into the floor of the Hinata.

 

“Kaolla needs to learn restraint, meow,” mused Kuro, silently landing on the floor beside Tama and Shippu. His sharp eyes spotted police car lights closing in on the Hinata and the burning wreck outside the estate walls. “We'll let them handle it from here, meow,” decided the feline, using his head to close the door. Easily jumping up, his paw flicked the lock closed again. Below, the small repair units finished removing the shrapnel from the wall and gates, scrubbed the smoke off the walls, and filled in the small craters from the missile impacts. Before returning to their charging stations, one of the units closed the gate once more.

 

Outside the gate, the two police cars had pulled up, the four officers scratching their heads at the mystery before them. A burning high-end sports car was in the road, with no sign of what had made it catch fire, two singed men were laying on the road, panting and trembling, and there was nothing to explain what had caused this strange accident. “Ok, either of you care to tell us what happened here?” sighed the senior-most patrol officer.

 

“That maniac Su tried to kill us!” Kentaro wailed. “Just look what her robot did to my car! And it was brand-new, too!” mourned the playboy. The four cops looked around.

 

“Robot?”

 

“Yes! One of those mechanical turtle units she built! It's up in the Hinata right now! Go see for yourselves!” insisted Kentaro. Tossing his head, the senior cop dispatched his two junior-most officers to check on the claim.

 

“What's your story?” the cop asked the older man. He was staring blankly at the stars, his lips moving, but nothing coming out. After two more tries to get a response, the cop decided to give the man a chance to regain his facilities before trying again. Five minutes later, the two junior patrol officers returned. “Well?” barked the senior officer.

 

“Nothing to report,” shrugged the cop. “No one home, and no robots to be seen.”

 

“Did you talk to the cat?” demanded Kentaro. “It knows what happened to my car!”

 

“Cat?” asked the officer in charge.

 

“Come to think of it, I did see a cat there,” mused one of the junior officers. “It was a cute black cat with big ears and yellow eyes. So cute!” gushed the young woman.

 

“Easy, Kobayakawa,” sighed the officer.

 

“Well?! Go question the cat!”

 

“Uh huh,” the seasoned cop grunted. Studying the two, he nodded to himself. “Tell you what, how about you blow in this thing while I go question the cat,” he said, handing the young man a breathalyzer.

 

“I'm not drunk!” Kentaro indignantly began.

 

“Less talk, more blow,” ordered the cop, moving toward the Hinata. Stepping inside the wall, he paused, leaning against the inside of the wall. Pressing the button on his radio, he got in touch with his base. Five minutes later, he stepped back out of the gateway, closing it behind himself.

 

“You see?! I told you the cat knew what happened!” Kentaro crowed. The three patrol officers looked at their shift supervisor.

 

“What did the cat have to say, sir?” asked the woman who had gone to the Hinata first.

 

“It said `meow', of course,” smiled the officer. “What else would it say?”

 

“Of course, sir,” smiled the woman.

 

“That cat knows!” insisted Kentaro. “And the bird and turtle, too! Ask them!” he demanded shrilly. He was currently wearing handcuffs. Beside him the older man was also sporting handcuffs, though he was still silent.

 

“Cat's don't talk, idiot,” barked one of the other officers.

 

“Speaking of talk, has the old guy said anything?” asked the leader.

 

“Not yet,” reported the other female officer. “Shock, maybe? Should we call an ambulance?”

 

“No,” the officer shook his head, “but we will take them to the station. Is the fire out?” he asked, seeing that the car was no longer burning.

 

“Yes, sir,” reported the first female officer. “Tsugimoto and I put it out with our fire extinguisher. It was limited to the engine compartment, so we're sure it is out, sir.”

 

“Good work,” nodded the officer. “Guess we won't need to call the fire department, then. Get a wrecker out here and let's get this cleaned up - fast,” he added, glancing back at the dark estate.

 

“Sir?” wondered Kobiyakawa.

 

“You wouldn't know it, since you are only covering this district while we're training new officers, but this is the Hinata House. Owned by the Urashima family.”

 

“Urashima family? Is that the…?” began Tsujimoto. The supervisor nodded.

 

“Same family that owns damn near all of Tokyo,” he confirmed. The two women looked at the estate.

 

“You know, I thought they would live in a bigger estate,” mused one.

 

“And isn't this kind of…common for such a prestigious family?” agreed the second one. The senior patrolman chuckled.

 

“When I was a kid - about six or so - I was visiting some family around here,” he said. “Me and some of the local boys were playing baseball in the street, here, and I winged a ball up into the estate. The local boys ran off, scared of the place, but I decided to see if I could get the ball back.

 

“I climbed over the wall, and was looking for my ball when I ran into a girl about my age. She was holding my baseball. I asked her for it, but she said that it had almost hit her, and had damaged her flowerbed. Of course, being a boy, I mouthed off to her.” He chuckled. “I woke up a couple hours later in the house, with a woman watching over me. Seems I had accidentally picked a fight with her daughter, Haruka Urashima.”

 

“Who was the woman, sir?” asked the senior cop's partner.

 

“Yoko Urashima-san. She introduced herself, then made her daughter apologize for beating me senseless. Let me tell you, having a girl beat me so easily was hard for my pride to take!” chucked the man. “I knew that Haruka wasn't any happier having to apologize to me than I was having been beaten by her, but about then, an old woman came into the room, laughing like she had just heard a funny joke.”

 

“The mother of Yoko Urashima, I surmise,” Kobayakawa surmised. The man nodded.

 

“Not only that, but the elder of the entire family,” he confirmed. “When I left the house after supper that day, I had been put on the path that landed me here. Hina-sama is a real wildcat, let me tell you, and I don't want to leave this mess in her driveway. She can be a little rough at times,” he chuckled. The two female officers turned to look at the dark estate once more.

 

“I never knew,” mused Kobayakawa to Tsujimoto.

 

“Me, either,” shrugged the short-haired officer.

 

“Anyway, what are we going to do with these two?” wondered the second senior-most officer.

 

“Talk to them at the station,” replied the lead officer. “We still need to figure out what happened here. And I want to hear what this one has to say,” he added, nudging the older man with his boot.

 

“Officer,” the man said, turning to look up at the officer, “I need you to contact my doctor.”

 

“Lost your meds or something?” guessed the lead cop. The man shook his head.

 

“My psychiatrist,” he clarified. “I think I need stronger drugs,” he sighed, his shoulders drooping. “And more therapy, too,” he mumbled, staring blankly at the charred husk of the car. It is all in my head, after all, he thought blankly.

 

“That's a surprisingly rational request,” noted the officer. “Maybe we should see if this one needs the same care,” he suggested, looking at the irate Kentaro Sakata.