"Hai. A mark of reppression"
"Hmmm—the name itself is probably generic but the curse does sound familiar. And you say Urashima-san had it"
"Hai, Onee-sama"
"Without either of us detecting it"
"Hai, Onee-sama"
"I see. I am beginning to understand the nature of the curse although I will need to consult our family manuscripts for complete details. I will send for you, Motoko-chan, once I have found the manuscripts you need. Would you like more tea?"
URASHIMA UNLIMITED Episode II: Strangeness Noticed! Keitaro keeps his ground!
Begin Chapter
Naru couldn't place a finger on it but there was something terribly wrong with the way things have been going the last couple of days. Dinner didn't quite register too well on her palate that night – quite unfortunate, she thought, since Shinobu had prepared it as a feast of some sort. Something about the Hinata Sou weekly budget being a lot looser this week than usual.
In any case, Keitaro's operation a few days ago has been reduced to something of a non-event – pretty much in the same way everything else that happens in the Inn does over time. Their mild-mannered manager was out of his bandages in a day and was hardly shaken by what happened. Haruka even showed them clippings from American newspapers supporting her nephew-in-law's claims to accelerated schooling and an overseas medical practice.
Neither Naru nor Motoko, however, felt comfortable with this seemingly uneventful resolution. Sword-wielding neurologists do not routinely go about flying across oceans just to treat relatives with ear conditions—at least as far as contemporary reason was concerned. He left Japan as abruptly as he left so questioning him further wouldn't be possible. Then there was the fact that it was a neurologist, as opposed to an otologist who would have specialized in ears, who performed the surgery. Somehow, the fact that there was actually less hacking, tropical-motif cruise missiles and emotional trauma going around at Hinata Sou these last few days didn't seem to bode well in Naru's mind. She would take a bite on a slab of sashimi or pinch a glob of rice onto her mouth but it wasn't really eating as much as it was a display of courtesy on Shinobu's behalf.
"So, where's you scrounge up the dough?" Kitsune asked halfway into a bottle of sake.
"Well, actually, I did some accounting this morning and it turns out we're not spending as much on repairs as we usually do. I added some of our savings to the food budget and here it is" Shinobu said smiling, first at Kitsune and then at Keitaro.
"That's really nice, Shinobu-chan! This Donburi tastes great… as usual of course"
Shinobu only blushed at her senpai's response.
For a moment there, Naru felt like everything that has been bothering her has spontaneously fallen in to place. Come to think of it—it has been quite some time since she last ruined a couple of fine shoji doors with a beaten-up manager flying clear through them.
Of the year and a half they've spent living together in Hinata Sou, Keitaro has shown himself completely unable of letting a single day go by without so much as a good thrashing. He hasn't seen the business side of a Naru Punch in four.
xxx
"Hiya Keitaro!"
Kaolla Su was not used to meeting anyone from the inn besides herself awake at five o'clock in the morning. She was usually the first one up and about around the grounds, playing seemingly pointless games in her pyjamas and certainly did not expect to see their manager, wearing a pair of jogging shorts and a plain white tee, as energetic during this time of the morning as she was.
"'Morning Su-chan"
"Keitaro, what are you doing up so early"
"Uhm… well, that dinner Shinobu prepared last night must have been really good. I felt so energized this morning so I took a jog out here."
Of course, young Kaolla was never one to expend too much effort to notice such a discrepancy in her daily routine so she did as she usually does to Keitaro first thing in the morning – she latched onto him and hugged his neck with her legs.
Or, at least, tried to. After hearing a sudden shaking of foliage from a short distance, Keitaro realized that Su had fallen onto the pavement.
"Su-chan?"
Su looked at her senpai puzzledly. "I usually launch myself from this trajectory point. I wonder what went wrong?" After a quick glance at Keitaro, she adjusted her jump and found her target
Again, there was a sound of rattling foliage although this time a disgruntled, sleepless Naru Narusegawa with a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck hurtled from the source of the sound. "Keitaro… you PERVERT!"
"Nani? Ah… AAAAAAH NARUSEGAWA… GOMEN NAS…ai? What the…"
An odd sensation – or, perhaps more clearly – an unsettlingly odd lack of sensation ran across Keitaro's cheek during that particular moment of contact. Of course, the Naru punch did not cease to feel hard as the impact coursed through his jaw and he did feel as though his face might suffer some temporary bruising. There was, however, something lacking in the experience that made it feel incomplete.
"Keitaro…"
"Y… yes Naru-chan?"
"You didn't fly."
xxx
Naru's room.
"So… you're telling me that you've been waiting for Keitaro to slip up since last night so that you can try a Naru punch at him"
"Mm…hm." Naru takes a punch at a floor-mounted punching bag.
"And when he didn't, you decided to stalk Su because she usually gets Keitaro into spots like that herself"
"Mm…hm." Naru takes another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag.
"And when you did get to try the Naru Punch, he just took it"
"Mm…hm…" Naru takes yet another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag.
"Without flying"
"Yes." Naru takes yet another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag. Punching bag flies to neighboring prefecturate.
"Wow! Keitaro's starting to shape up into a real man! It's about time, don'tcha think?"
Mitsune's eyes sparkled bright with mischief. She knew Naru couldn't stand the fact that she can beat up their manager eighty ways to Sunday. Perhaps having Keitaro gain a little sense balance from that inner-ear operation wasn't such a bad thing after all. Maybe it would even get some gears turning around the old inn – and Mitsune has been craving for some excitement for some time.
Naru, on the other hand, didn't know what to make of the situation.
xxx
"Hmmm…" Shinobu stared at Keitaro's pant-sleeves long and hard, trying to trace where the fold stitching was.
"Hallo Shinobu! What are you doing"
"Oh… just mending Urashima-senpai's pant-sleeves"
"Pant-sleeves, is that yummy"
With a wry smile, Shinobu held up the length of denim on her lap. Su only smiled back.
"I don't know what happened but these pants seem to have shrunk in the wash. I… I noticed how Urashima-senpai's pants only go up to his ankles now so I decided to unstitch the sleeve folds, see"
"Oh… but these haven't shrunk Shinobu"
"Actually, I never thought denim did shrink in the wash"
"Of course not! Keitaro is becoming like Nee-chan and Nii-sama"
"What d…do you mean, Su"
"I tried to climb Keitaro this morning like I usually do but I missed his shoulders by around an inch and a half. I couldn't have miscalculated my jump so that means Keitaro is taller"
"Eh"
xxx
"Motoko, I do believe I found the information you were looking for. Would you care to visit me here at Kyoto again some time next week? Please bring Urashima-kun along too. –Tsuriko"
Chapter Ends
Author's note: I promise, this will get somewhere next chapter. I would also wish to forewarn everybody that this will feature mature content later on. All those who believe I should do otherwise, speak now or forever hold your piece.
Shamelessly plugging my blog: omniskriba. And my Deviantart page: omniskriba.