Disclaimer: Borrowing the characters, setting and scenery from the owners, any Original Characters that spawn from here are mine, although they're probably inspired by others from other fandoms. I'm not making a red cent off this belligerent attempt at writing, so don't bother getting the lawyers. Comments and constructive critiques are always welcome and encouraged, flames and troll bait will be recycled for future use.

Big thanks to the pre-readers on The Fanfiction Forum for their encouragement. And just to misquote my response to chronodekar on TFF, I will be continuing this one as long as the muse keeps inspiring me... although I can't promise a quick turnaround (I'm not really prolific as a writer).

Dreaming Out Loud

Prologue

Waking up … never felt so real.

'Where... where am I?' these were my first thoughts as I woke up on what felt like a soft bed in a quiet hospital room, as a sudden memory reminds me why. 'Wait, my first day at TouDai… the roof ornament… the girls!'

I tried to get up in a hurry to see if they were okay, only to reel back in pain while I noticed it was having difficulty opening my eyes. "Ouch... did anyone get the number of that Mecha Tama that hit me?" My first words since I woke up, I bet it sounded weird thanks to a parched throat and the lingering pains.

"Kei? You're awake? Oh, thank God!" responded a soft feminine voice approaching me.

"Na…" I stopped myself, something just a little off about his current situation 'that… that didn't sound like Narusegawa'

"I'm sorry… how… how long have I been out for" I responded to the voice as I mentally cataloged the aches and pains my body was reporting as I tried to move 'yep, that definitely feels like a cast on my left leg, bandages on my head... and pain everywhere else'

"You've been in a coma a little over eleven weeks." The woman in my room responded; her voice next to my bed, as she placed a cool glass cup filled with water in my hands.

I start taking sips, as my mind started to try to make sense of the situation. 'She doesn't sound like Mutsumi-san either, or any of the other girls from the Inn for that matter.'

I hadn't noticed she had refilled my cup a couple of times, but thanks to that I was finally starting to feel a little more alive, although I still feel somewhat numb. I tried opening my eyes a little more; thanking my lucky starts it was a dark evening.

As my eyesight slowly improved, the first thing I saw was the feminine silhouette belonging to the voice I've been hearing. Feeling a little confident, I went ahead and cracked my usual wining smile at her 'maybe she's the nurse in charge of this shift?'

"Well, there went that triumphant entrance to TouDai that I've been parroting about for years now, huh?" I asked myself rhetorically as I scratched my head with my left hand, my usual nervous tick when I'm ashamed of something I did wrong or failed to do.

"It's alright Kei… you're awake and that's all that matters" Her gentle response stopping my thought processes as she takes the empty glass cup away, then returning to hold my right hand between her two soft warm hands.

My eyesight finally decided to clear completely at that moment, so I looked at her intent on recognizing her. She graced me with a beautiful smile, and I couldn't help but look at her more attentively as she squeezed my hand softly 'Okay, while this is a little awkward, I could get used to waking up like this… she does seem to be on a on nick-name basis with me.'

Her smile faltered at my lack of response, sobering up a little more before she continued to talk. "The Doctors said your cast may take a couple more weeks to come off". That gave me a little hope to get out of here soon. "But due to the blunt force trauma to your head, there may be a bit of memory loss, but they couldn't confirm from the tests they ran."

That last comment got me thinking out loud about my current situation "I've been in a coma for eleven weeks? And there's possible memory loss? Am I going to be alright?" I was about to give in to despair, but the warm hands holding mine were very comforting. "Um…"

"Natsuko… that's my name" she replied to the unsaid question as a couple of tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. "I guess we're going to have a lot to catch up on, huh Kei?"

'Catch up?' Any further questions I may have had at that moment were silenced as she pulled away from me. "I'll contact the rest of the family now."

I was left completely dumbfounded, 'rest of the family?' I could only nod back to her in response, as she wiped away her tears before pulling out a cell phone to make a call.

'Maybe I did get hit in the head a little too hard if I forgot someone like her was in my family.' I decided to keep my thoughts quiet and pay more attention to Natsuko.

As she stepped into the moonlight by the window, I couldn't help but notice her blue eyes and how her almost waist long straight dark red hair was shining. At that moment the loudest thought crossing my mind was 'She's way too pretty to be shedding tears for me.' I could clearly see her trying not to fidget as I all but stared at her.

I couldn't help but look back her previous actions and attitude, which often gave me small flashbacks of my dear friends at the Hinata Sou. 'Although I'm glad that neither Naru nor Motoko-chan are here right now, the way this girl responds to me, they would think I was shamelessly flirting with her or something.'

"Kana-chan?… No, I just didn't expect you to be at Haruka-san's this late at night…"

'Wait, Kanako-chan?... at Haruka's?... since when are they on friendly terms?' I tried to get my mind off the conversation by looking around the private hospital room. I noticed a clock on the wall in front of me reading 11:50 PM, a couple of tasteful paintings were hung on the wall by the door and the Hinata skyline outside the window on the far wall. 'At least I'm not far from home.'

"Sorry for calling this late… actually, I called because he finally woke up…" I looked back at her and caught a light blush coloring her cheeks while she continued her call, glancing back at me with a playful smile every so often "yeah, I'm glad too…"

'She does have a nice smile… arrgh! Naru and Motoko might be right, maybe I am a pervert.'

"Do you want to speak with him?... okay, tomorrow during your visit then?… thanks again, for being there" she hung up and put away the mobile phone, then walked back over to my bed.

I try to think of something to say, although I'm drawn back to the phone call. "Was that Kanako on the phone?" Natsuko nods back at me, then sitting right next to me on the bed as if she always belonged there. "I haven't seen her for quite a while; she must have grown up by now."

Shaking her head at me, she gets this sad smile for a second then takes a mockingly formal tone. "Well, I'm glad you took such a good nap Kei, because We're going to have a long talk"

I gulp nervously at her stern words, "Um… Natsuko-san?" I get a giggle out of her in response to my nervous body language.

"Don't worry, I won't bite" her comment letting me relax for a moment as she leans in and whispers in my ear. "I like to nibble." Which only serves to make me more nervous, I bet I'm visibly blushing. 'She must really know me well if she can rile me up as easily Kitsune usually does'.

"Guess Your Hime still has it!" she sits up posing proudly, then make a gun hand gesture at me and winking as she makes a shooting motion.

Enjoying the relaxed air we have now, I decide to ham it up in response as I fall back dying like a bad actor on a second rate TV drama "Uguuuu! You got me!" The honest laugh from Natsuko-san made me feel better, although now I'm curious why "um, wait… My Hime?"

"Yeah, you've called me that ever since… forever" she sighs tiredly for a second as she arranges her thoughts. "Geez, I never thought I'd ever have to explain that one to you! You're the one with the attention for detail and the passion for remembering things"

"My memory's not THAT good" I grin sheepishly. 'Okay… so maybe we ARE closer than I originally thought.'

"Says the guy that serenaded his girlfriend on their first date with the Liddo-kun and Friends theme song… over ten years after the show ended" she replied with a bit of a snicker.

"Ugh!" I hang my head in shame, knowing that I'd probably do that. "I bet that must have been embarrassing for her!" pausing after catching myself hum the first few bars of that old song. I couldn't help myself; the old tune was an ear worm and always got me in a good mood. 'Wait, I never serenaded Naru… or Mutsumi on our dates.'

"You could be surprised at what some girls consider romantic…" she replied with a playful wink, which stopped my thought process "also, you gave your Hime a good birthday present this year."

"Wait, I did? What was it?" Making me hopeful, if she can help me remember stuff, I shouldn't stop her.

"You woke up, silly!" she replies matter-of-factly, then poking at my ribs playfully. "And here I thought I was going to spend a boring birthday at the hospital tomorrow".

"Huh? Your birthday is tomorrow?" looking a little mind boggled "and how did me waking up from a coma become a good birthday present?"

"You always bake me a 'Death by Chocolate Cake' on my birthday! But it seems like this year, I'm going to miss it." She pouts cutely at me for a second then looking at the clock on the wall strike midnight.

"The date is now June 21st, 2000…" she leans over me on the bed and kisses my forehead and then proceeds to selfishly pull me into a warm hug.

"Well um…" I blink confused for a moment, then proceeding to return the hug to the affectionate young woman in my arms, whispering back "Happy Birthday Hime."

As I feel myself relax, she then pulls back and graces me with a saucy wink that wouldn't look out of place on Kitsune back at the Inn. "um… Hime?" My question was ignored and promptly followed up by her kissing me fully on the lips.

While it was innocent at first, I found myself responding to the kiss. As I we were took break for air, I could have sworn she had a look saying she enjoyed the goofy grin I'm sure was on my face "Thanks hun!"

Her happy response quickly turned into slight disappointment, noted by her pinching of my nose "Aww, I thought we had cured you of those nose bleeds on our Wedding day" she huffed cutely as she wiped the trickle of blood on my upper lip with a kerchief.

"Yay! Wedding day!" She smiled hapilly. I still grinned like a loon.

It took few moments for my brain to reboot and process her last words. "Wait! We're Married? How long? When and where did we meet? How long have we known each other?" Putting a dainty finger on my lips, she effectively shut me up and stopped my spazz out moment.

Taking a moment to collect herself and sit beside me on the bed, she smiled sadly at me before continuing. "My name is Natsuko Urashima, née Natsuko Sunohara… and you better get comfy mister, because I'm going to tell you our story".

She had my full and undivided attention now, but there was still one comment left unvoiced and lingering in my back of my mind. 'When the girls find out, they're gonna kill me!'