Kanako paced along the walkways of the park, hands in her pockets, the wind in her hair, the sun warming her cold nerves. She had to get away, to go somewhere that allowed her to think for a moment. And the Maehara household was not that place. Shinobu’s smile and overall kind demeanor distracted her, Shinji’s eyes, the eyes that reminded Kanako so much not only of Yoichi but of every single person she ever killed, terrified her to the core and Miho’s mere presence was too much of a puzzle for her to resist trying to solve it. No, the three of them distracted Kanako too much. She had to contemplate her next move in this chess game. Once Hinata Sou had been rebuilt, she can expect Shinobu to visit often or even move in, so she had to resolve her confusion by then. Otherwise, she may not be able to take the guilt. Shinobu and the others had to know by then. She had no intention of running away but she had to be ready to do so. “Four years is a long time.” A low, almost hushed voice called out to her. “Do you still have the rifle?” “Himezaki…” Kanako’s voice turned ice cold. “I am pleased you still remember me. I thought you might have forgotten about your old friend.” He smiled malignantly. He was slightly taller than Kanako was, with his black hair cut short, his eyes cold, bitter and over-used. His skin was pale, a product of years of spending far too much time in underground rooms, basements and other similarly dark areas, working on things that would make most other people shudder. His hands smelled of gunpowder, the black rings under his eyes a mark of many years of depriving himself of sleep. He had an unremarkable appearance, he had no real distinguishing features other than his height but the way he bent most of his upper body downwards made for a unique method of compensating. He was the ultimate “gray” man, capable, virtually, of blending in with almost any crowd. His clothing was equally simple, a plain black shirt and khakis, all the more to help him fade into the crowd. The way he looked at Kanako was one that bore no malice, no ulterior motives, no secrets hidden, it was just a look. However, she knew better. This was not your typical man; this man was the very definition of insane. “What do you want?” she asked. “To catch up.” He answered. “I assume you’ve made some money after the kaisho got caught. You bought that run down old inn, after all.” “Kana, your insanity never ceases to amaze me.” “Hehe…” he leaned his body on one of the many trees along the walkway as Kanako sat by a bench. “Lucky you, you got away with money. Still, I did find an industry that needed my…talents.” “Demolitions, I assume?” Kanako knew him well. The two of them once worked together in cleaning up a few loose ends, as Kana once put it. He was the Kamakura’s resident bomb maker, explosives expert and was far beyond your typical homicidal psychopath. He was a creative genius, his intelligence was something Kanako appreciated, if feared only a little. It was a shame; his creativity was transformed into deviousness in the manner in which he concocted bombs, explosives and grenades in all shapes and sizes. His subtlety was the only thing that could match his malicious insanity, Kanako would always see what he would let everyone else see but behind that, behind the apparent madness, was a method that was probably beyond even his comprehension. As he kept his silence for a moment, as if planning what to say next, that mind of his warped itself and he blurted out the first thing to come to mind. “I’ve made a nice income for myself, selling my formula for edible, gelatinous napalm.” The vindictive madman clearly felt proud of it. “It’s the ultimate pyrotechnic poison.” “It’s the only pyrotechnic poison.” Kanako said as if she didn’t care. “Still, it would be an excellent way to get rid of smokers.” Kanako didn’t like being around him, it made her queasy for many reasons. If her sniper rifle was a grim reminder, Shinji’s smile a dreadful, choking specter then this man’s mere presence was possibly the most intense reminded of her guilt over her sins and the insanity that threatened to encroach her every waking moment. He was as close to absolute, pure evil incarnate as she would ever meet. The yakuza, any criminal for that matter, killed for a purpose that, in some strange, twisted way, made sense to her but Kana was different. He made his explosives to kill and he killed for no reason other than the fact that he wanted to see people die. He enjoyed listening over and over again to their screams as they burned to death or were consumed by the destructive forces of his bombs. Kanako would not be at all surprised to know that Kana was carrying a grenade or two somewhere in him. In fact, she would be shocked if he wasn’t. “Leave me alone.” Kanako insisted. “Fine then, Kanako, I’ll leave.” Kana said as he began to walk away. “By the way, do you remember a man by the name of Takenori Yoichi?” That name again. Kana smiled at her, which Kanako hated. He was mad, in any definition of the word, and he wasn’t suffering from insanity. As he so eloquently put it once, he was not suffering from insanity, rather, he was enjoying every minute of it. Kanako hated him for many reasons but under the surface, deep within her own mind, within that part of her that was already embracing insanity, she feared becoming like him in the end. Warped by his own genius, twisted by his thoughts, Kanako feared that one day, if she was not careful, she might become just the same as him. Then, as she closed her eyes, she recalled Shinobu, the image, the crystal clear memory of her sweet smile, it was a memory she clung to in all those years. She would like to believe she was a different person then, that her cold hearted willingness to kill was just a phase she had stepped out of. Then, he showed a proud smile at her, making her wonder what was the situation when she last saw that madman smile that way? “Impressive work, wasn’t it?” “If you can call such a sloppy headshot impressive piece of work, then yes.” Kanako answered with no indication of pride in that kill, or anything else, for that matter. “Sloppy? Have you ever seen a grander explosion? I find pride in what I did to him.” Kana said with a proud grin. “It wasn’t your bullet that did that man in.” “What?” “I’ll be going now.” “Wait! Answer me Kana!” As Kanako followed him out of the park, she was amazed at how much distance he had covered in such a small span of time. She didn’t trust him, he may well have been lying after all, but if Kana was telling the truth, then she didn’t have anything to fear from being around Shinobu, Miho and Shinji. He vanished into the crowd but Kanako desperately tried to lock her line of sight with his location. Looking around furiously, she tried to move forward in that sea of humanity when she bumped into someone. She felt her body bounce off of something and as she looked at what it was that she bumped into, she saw Kana slowly vanish. He turned around with a grin before walking around the corner. Kanako gave chase but as she was about to run, a soft touch took hold of her wrist and stopped her. She turned her head to see the angelic face of Maehara Shinobu, who looked a little confused but otherwise was her usual endearing self. “Kanako-san is anything the matter?” she asked. “What?” Kanako turned her head, looking out at the corner. She gave out a sigh of disappointment as she realized Kana’s trail was cold now. “No, nothing is wrong. What brings you here?” “I came looking for you. We still have so much to catch up on, after all.” She answered. “Well? Why don’t we take a walk together?” Kanako didn’t answer but Shinobu didn’t feel any resistance, which she took as a good sign. She wanted to spend time with Kanako, it was her goal to help the dark one recover from the trauma of her past. She felt the same way Kanako was feeling now, once in her life. She knew what it felt like to think that the world doesn’t care about you, to feel that your existence doesn’t matter, to feel that no one would care if she were to die. She wanted to show Kanako that she did matter, that someone would cry at her funeral, that people cared about her. If not everyone in Hinata Sou, then at least she would show that she, Maehara Shinobu, her complete opposite, cared about her deeply. She held on to Kanako’s hand, which slowly curled its fingers to hold on to her hand as well. It was a gesture that showed that the dark one appreciated what she had been doing. Kanako’s touch was warm, a contrast to her ice cold presence. Shinobu admired those hands. Those hands that could create wonders from simple make-up yet were the same hands that could destroy several blocks of ice with ease. Kanako was a contrast, a walking contradiction. She isolated herself from everyone but inside, the driving force within her was the longing to be with that one person who would love her for herself, darkness and all. Perhaps it was motherly instinct, perhaps it was something more but Shinobu wanted to just hold Kanako in her arms, letting the other girl simply cry on her shoulder, to let all her angst out, to comfort that solemn heart. She moved a little closer, as did Kanako, neither doing it consciously. Shinobu looked at Kanako’s face, seeing not the face of a manipulator but the face of a person who has lost her way. She hadn’t noticed much of what they were doing as she held Kanako’s hand as they walked when suddenly, she tripped. Kanako managed to catch her in a tight, saving embrace before she fell into the lake. “Kanako-san…” “Shinobu-chan…” Did she blush as she saw Kanako blush? Did she think Kanako felt their bodies press against one another? Did she realize that Kanako too was feeling the urge to move their lips closer to one another but was fighting against it? Shinobu didn’t know the answer to these questions but she did know one thing: the warmth, the security of Kanako’s embrace reminded her of her first love, Keitaro’s embrace. Rarely did she feel so secure, so cared for, so…loved than when she was in Keitaro’s or Kanako’s embrace. Only one other person had ever made her feel any safer than that, a person to whom she gave her heart and soul to but that person didn’t respond the way that Shinobu expected. That person had the audacity, perhaps even the arrogance, to break Shinobu’s heart. Now, the fear of that happening again didn’t exist, as Kanako’s lips slowly drew to hers as she drew her own lips towards Kanako’s. When they stop and stare - don't worry me “Shinobu-chan…I…” Cause I'm feeling for her what she's feeling for me “Kanako-san…I…” “There you two are.” Miho’s voice suddenly interrupted. “What are you two doing?” “Oh, we weren’t doing anything.” Kanako answered for the both of them as she helped Shinobu up from the ground. She noticed Miho’s lack of suspicion about anything as Shinobu’s hand touched hers for a moment and then pulled away. “I had better go see if my things have arrived already.”
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