Omake Chapter 1-D: Kanako

[Kwokinator]

"This is great, Shinobu," Kwok looked at Shinobu and smiled after eating a few bites. "I wish I could cook as well as you..."

[Bean Bandit]

Shinobu blinked and gave a tentative smile as she blushed. "Arigato, Kanako-chan..."

Kaolla grinned and beamed. "Shinobu's a great cook. I bet she could teach you..."

Keitaro blinked and looked up from his breakfast. "Oh?You want to learn to cook, Kanako-chan?"

[Kwokinator]

Kwok gave a small nod.

"Sure, why not?" she smiled at Shinobu. "Learning from a master is always good."

[Bean Bandit]

Shinobu smiled a little and nodded. "All right..." she agreed, blushing.

Keitaro smiled. "Planning on getting married, Kanako-chan?" he asked mildly, and, promplty on cue, Naru began choking on her breakfast...

[Kwokinator]

Another twinkle lit up in Kwok's eyes.

"Sure," she deadpanned, stirring her bowl of miso around idly as she rested her chin on her palm. "I'll marry Shinobu-chan and save her from the cooking."

[Bean Bandit]

Shinobu let out a tiny, barely audible squeak, and went a vivid crimson, her eyes swirling.

Keitaro stared at Kanako, a small trickle of blood leaking from his nose, as the rest of the girls, save Kaolla, took a long, speculative look at Kanako...and edged their chairs back slightly.

Naru, for her part, made a shockingly fast recovery. "What are you staring for, HENTAI!" She yelled, knocking Keitaro into the wall with a devastating punch...

[Kwokinator]

Kwok gave a small whistle.

"Wow, that's one hell of a punch, Naru," she commented, partly ignoring the girls' reactions and partly smirking inside. "You almost knocked his head off!"

[Bean Bandit]

Naru seethed for a minute before calming down slightly, and blushing at Kanako's remark, and Shinobu 'eep'ed and rushed to Keitaro's side.

"Sempai!"

[Kwokinator]

"Don't worry, Shinobu-chan," Kwok remarked offhandedly. "He's a big boy, he can take it."

[Bean Bandit]

As Shinobu fretted over Keitaro, and Naru 'hmph'ed, Kitsune focused her bleary-eyed gaze on Kanako.

"You don't seem to concerned about your brother, Kanako..." She observed. "Especially after all that effort you went through to refurbish Hinata-sou so you could run it with him..."

[Kwokinator]

"You're awfully observant, Kitsune," Kwok answered with a smile. "One would think that someone like you wouldn't catch onto small details like this."

"I just thought that he can probably take it with the amount of abuse he normally takes, that's all."

[Bean Bandit]

Motoko and Naru nodded at that, but Kitsune's eyes glinted slightly, as if to say 'gotcha!'. The fox-eyed girl smiled sweetly, despite the pathetic look her hangover lent her.

"How would you know that? You arrived after he left for America, and he's only been back for a day..."

[Kwokinator]

Kwok smiled back with an equally sweet smile.

"Hey, it's pretty obvious," he explained, giving Keitaro a sideway glance. "Naru acts like it's a casual thing, and if he can't take that, he'd probably be dead by now."

[Bean Bandit]

Kitsune smirked, and Naru and Motoko were suddenly examining Kanako interestedly.

"'Casual', you say?" she chuckled. "Not exactly the usual observation when you see someone scream and punch someone into a wall."

Naru squawked in embarrassed protest, but Kitsune's attention was fully focused on Kanako. "Add that to your little 180 personality-wise...not that it isn't an improvement, mind you, and I think something's up..."

[Kwokinator]

"Well, it's a logical assumption," Kwok smiled serenly. "If it's not something that happens a lot, Naru would probably be more concerned than Shinobu.  Afterall, if it's the first time and he can't take it, she'd end up a murderer and she wouldn't like that.  Since she's not that worried, he's gotta be able to take it."