Here's chapter 3 of my Nightingale storyline. Hope you all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu.
Song of the Nightingale
Chapter III:
Decisions, Decisions
The phone's ringing echoes through the lobby and up the stairs. It eventually reaches Keitaro's ear as he sits at his desk.
"Ah! The phone's ringing."
Keitaro had been going over maintenance documents all morning. So the interruption was welcomed, seeing as he was almost at his wits end. After making it to the first floor in no time at all, he ran to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Hello. Sorry it took so long. This is Hinata Sou…Oh, hey Mom. Yes…yes, I'm doing fine. Do I have a free day coming up? Well, Sunday I guess. Yes. What's that? You want me to come over Sunday? Bring Motoko too? Sure, that shouldn't be a problem. I'll tell her about it and hopefully we'll see you then. Love you too, Mom. Tell Dad I said hi. Bye."
Keitaro hung up the phone and before he could complete his next thought, he heard a loud 'Woo-Hoo!' and then felt a pair of strong legs wrap themselves around his neck from behind.
"Hello, Su." Keitaro said, trying to keep her legs from cutting off his air supply.
Su stood up on his shoulders, bent down and looked him in the eyes from upside down.
"Who was that you were talking to on the phone, Keitaro?"
"That was my Mom. She wants Motoko and I to come visit on Sunday."
Su rolled forward and landed in Keitaro's arms.
"You and Motoko-yan too? How long will you be gone?"
"Just the day. We'll probably be back by six in the evening."
"Okay! Have fun, Keitaro!"
She then jumped from his arms and hopped into the kitchen area, in search of sweet sustenance in the form of the jelly buns Shinobu had bought earlier that morning. Not two seconds went by when Shinobu's voice rang out from the kitchen.
"Su! You can't have those! They're for after dinner!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Motoko paced around her room in circles, going over her English notes, preparing for her test coming up on Friday, which is the day after tomorrow. She was still wearing her robe, having just gotten out of the bath a short while ago.
"'Za man who is at za banku wiru not make a wi-wi…wizu…duroru…withdrawaru, but he wiru make a deposito…deposit-t-t.' Ergg! I hate English!"
"But you need to understand it to pass the college entrance exams."
Motoko looked over her shoulder and saw Keitaro standing there in her doorway. He walked up behind her and began to gently massage her shoulders.
"I know it's hard, Sweetheart. I had to suffer through it too."
"Mmm, that feels good. How about I call it quits and you can be my personal masseuse for the rest of the day? How does that sound?"
"Hmm, sorry. Can't do that." He said, playfully.
"Oh, well. It was worth a try."
Keitaro then spun her around and gave her a quick kiss.
"Oh, by the way. My mother just called."
"Oh, yeah? How's she doing?"
"She's good. She wanted to know if we could stop by on Sunday."
"Sunday? Sure. That sounds nice. Come to think of it, Keitaro, I haven't met your parents yet, have I? I can't wait to finally meet them."
"Good. I'll call them later and let them know we're coming for sure."
Keitaro glanced down at the notebook in her hand.
"Did you want me to give you some help?"
"Could you? I'm having such a hard time."
They both sat down at the kotatsu.
"I'm having the most trouble with this word here."
"This one? 'Will'. The thing with 'will' is we as Japanese, we instinctively use the syllable 'ru' to make the English 'L' sound. So when you say 'will', you have to hold the 'r' in 'ru' and omit the 'u'."
"Oh, I see." She paused for a moment. "'Wiru…wi…ru…wirrr…'will'."
"You did it!"
She let out a quick sigh.
"Thanks, Keitaro. That helped a lot."
"Sure. Was there anything else you needed help on?"
"Um, how about this one."
"'The'? With 'the', we would typically use the syllable 'za'. Instead, you have to bring your tongue up further until it touches your teeth so you can make a 'tha' sound. Try it."
"Zz…za…zzz…tha…the. Hey! It worked!"
"I knew you could do it."
Motoko formed a slight blush as she smiled a suspicious smile.
"Speaking of tongues…" She said before playfully pushing him down to the ground and positioning herself over him.
Keitaro matched her smile and said,
"Would this count as extra credit? Because I'm sure there's a lot of other words we could come up with together."
"Oh, you are naughty today, Mr. Urashima."
Then Keitaro swiftly rolled her over onto her back and playfully pinned her down.
"Though I can hardly hold a candle to you, Mrs. Urashima."
A bright smile came over her.
"Heh heh. 'Mrs. Urashima'. I like the sound of that."
Keitaro started to slowly plant soft kisses down her neck and over the top of her chest. He knew what it would do to her. She closed her eyes. Her breaths became long and heavy. She slowly ran her fingers up the back of his neck and through his hair, moving it around in broad strokes. He loosened her robe and ran his hand over the naked skin of her exposed hip. She moved her hands under his shirt and over the skin of his back, feeling the muscles as they flexed and relaxed. As his soft kisses moved down the center of her chest, her legs wrapped around the back of his legs, gently caressing them as if to say, 'more, more'.
"AHEM!"
The impatient sound made Keitaro and Motoko jump up and stand almost as if standing at attention in the military. In the open doorway stood Naru, with her arms folded and a not-very-amused look on her face.
"You know, in case you forgot, you do live in a building with other people. Could you at least go at it when it's not the middle of the daytime? Plus you left the door wide open. What if Shinobu walked in while you two were in the middle of something I should not mention?"
"You're right, Naru. We're really sorry." They said, now extremely embarrassed.
Naru simply shook her head and let out a sigh. "I swear…"
Then Naru refreshed her composure.
"Anyway, on to the reason I came up here. Miss Hasegawa is here. She would like to discuss the dinner arrangements for the wedding reception."
"Oh, okay. Could you tell her we'll be right down." Motoko said.
Naru gave a nod and turned to leave, but then she paused and turned back to them.
"You might want to straighten your hair, Keitaro. And…please fix your robe, Motoko."
The two scrambled as they realized their appearance. Naru just shook her head as she left the room and closed the door behind her. Keitaro had straightened his cloths and hair as Motoko dropped her robe and threw on a pair of blue jeans and a red shirt.
After making themselves presentable, they met Hasegawa downstairs in the lobby. Upon their entering the room, Hasegawa stood up, gave a short bow and said,
"Konnichiwa. Ojou-Sama, Urashima-San."
"Hello, Miss Hasegawa. It's good to see you again." Motoko said as they all sat down around the coffee table.
Hasegawa placed several sample menus, resumes of chefs from France to Italy to America to Japan itself, and a few brochures of highly acclaimed Kyoto catering services on the table before them.
Hasegawa began,
"What we're discussing today is the type of food we will be serving for the wedding reception dinner. Given the Aoyama family's wealth and influence, it should not be difficult to obtain the exact services you desire. So, that being said, have the both of you decided on foreign or domestic food?"
Motoko and Keitaro gave eachother a nod.
"We've decided on traditional Japanese food. We would like to stay with a traditional theme." Motoko said.
"Excellent, then that leaves 56 possible chefs in the Kansai area alone. Now keep in mind, each chef would have about 15 to 30 people working under them, cooking for all the guests. So timing and quality is assured. Or if you would like to go with a simple catering service, there are several exquisite companies in the Kyoto area."
Keitaro rubbed his chin as he looked down at all the brochures. Then something caught his attention on one of the chefs resumes. From under the pile of papers, in the upper left corner of the page was a professional print of a nightingale on one of the resumes. He then looked over at Motoko.
"I think we should go with a professional chef, Motoko. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Don't you agree?"
"Absolutely." Motoko then turned back to Hasegawa. "We would like a professional chef. Now, out of the all the possible chefs, which are the best ones for what we're looking for, Miss Hasegawa?"
Hasegawa glanced down at the listing she had before her.
"Well, Chef Toshio Yamada accommodated the Tanaka family's New Year Banquet this past January. He is said to be an expert in traditional cuisine. Chef Shinji Ishikawa prepares dinners regularly for the Sakamoto and Asakawa families. He is also an expert in such cuisine."
Hasegawa reached down and picked up the resume that Keitaro had glanced at earlier.
"Then there is Chef Mafune Katsura, who has been in charge of several dinner parties held at the Imperial Palace, not to mention numerous places around the world. Katsura is a master in the art of traditional cuisine, and as such he is in high demand. However, his services should not be hard to obtain."
Keitaro reached out his hand.
"Could I take a look?"
Hasegawa handed him the resume and he began to read through it.
"Wow, Motoko. This guy looks really good. Not only has he graduated from the top culinary school in Japan, but he's also received 26 awards for his cooking in Japan, France, America and Italy. And he owns Nightingale Restaurant in Tokyo. I think we should go with this chef, Motoko. What do you think?"
"Are you sure, Keitaro? After looking at just one resume?"
"Positive. I have a really good feeling about this one, Motoko."
Motoko looked at him, puzzled for a second, then formed a smile and gave him a nod. Motoko turned to Miss Hasegawa, who was waiting patiently for their decision.
"Miss Hasegawa, we will choose Mafune Katsura to be the chef for our wedding reception."
Hasegawa gave a pleasant smile as she straightened her glasses.
"Excellent. Then I'll begin making preparations right away."
After Hasegawa gathered all of her papers, they walked her to the door where she started to put on her shoes.
"All we have left to discuss are your final decisions regarding the floral arrangements, the guest seating arrangements, as well as arrangements for a Shinto priest to set up a temporary sanctuary on the family estate for the wedding to take place. I will see both of you next week. Until then, take care."
The two gave a bow and said,
"Thank you very much for your hard work."
Hasegawa matched the bow and said,
"Thank you very much for having me."
Hasegawa had left and the two made their way back to their room.
"I never thought setting up a wedding would be so complicated." Keitaro said, as he opened his door for Motoko.
"Yeah, the Cake alone took two visits from Miss Hasegawa, just so we could reach a final decision. Of course that's mostly your fault." Motoko said, walking in first.
"What? All the cakes she showed me all looked alike."
"Keitaro, there is a difference between a triple stacked vanilla and a quintuple stacked lemon liquor."
Motoko walked over and sat down at her Vanity table. She looked in the mirror, picked up her brush and began to brush her hair. Keitaro walked over to his desk and sifted through several documents. Keitaro then looked at Motoko. He took a moment as he stared at her reflection in the mirror with an appreciative sigh. Motoko saw this in the mirror and smiled at him.
"What is it, Anata?"
Keitaro just leaned back against his desk, formed a pleasant smile and said,
"You know, all this wedding stuff has been nothing short of hectic and chaotic, but when I look at you, it all seems worth it."
Motoko turned around to look at him. She saw the look of gratefulness in his eyes. She put down the brush, walked over to him and gave him a loving kiss.
"No, you are the one that's worth it. I'm glad I met you, Keitaro Urashima."
Keitaro gave her another kiss back and said,
"When I first met you, I never would have thought that you'd turn out to be the love of my life."
"I never thought I'd find love at all. I thought I wasn't meant for it. But you changed all that, Kei. You opened my heart. I want to thank you for that."
With his fingers, he moved a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I should be thanking you."
"For what?"
"For giving a guy like me a chance."
"I'm glad I did, Keitaro. You've made me very happy. Given, it hasn't been easy, and after all that we've been through, I'm still glad I took the chance."
She then leaned into him and put her arms around him as he did the same. After a long moment, Keitaro said, "I also never would have thought you were a part of such a wealthy and powerful family. I thought you were just 'Kendo girl'."
Motoko cracked a smile.
"Well, it's not something I chose to talk about very much."
Then her expression became more serious.
"There was a while I just wanted to get away from that family. There was so much pressure to be the best. To be the successor and take over the Divinity School. I guess my time here was sort of my escape from all that."
"I can't even begin to imaging the type of stress you must have been under."
"I made it through alright. I'm no longer afraid. I'm ready to accept my role as successor. I'm going to take up the special offer that stands, despite my getting married. I think it's all because of you, Keitaro."
"Me? Why me? You're a strong woman, Motoko. I think you can achieve anything."
"No, I think it was always you. You've always been able to give me the courage I needed to go forward. Only through your encouragement, can I climb one more mountain, cross one more sea. That's one of the reasons why I love you so much. It was always you, over the years, giving me strength."
Keitaro moved in close and laid his hand on her cheek.
"All I did was bring out the person you really are."
In the back room of the Hinata Teahouse, we see Haruka sitting silently at the table alone. The evening sun shines through the windows and onto her face. On the table before her was an envelope addressed to her. She just sits there and stares at the envelope with eyes of uncertainty. The handwriting is all too familiar to her, even on the return address written in the upper left corner. It's his handwriting. Her eyes slowly traced the kanji of the name. 'Noriyasu Seta'. She's eager, and at the same time, afraid to open it. Afraid her fortress of a heart will give in to the feelings boiling up inside it.
Again, Keitaro found himself standing at his window, looking out into the cloudy night. He watched as the gray tones swirled in the dark abyss, almost slower than the eye can see. The clock on his desk ticks just past 1am. He heard rustling in the futon on the floor behind and a moment later, soft warm hands gently moving up his back and over his shoulders. Caressing them, massaging them.
After kissing his right shoulder, she said quietly, "Wedding preparations still have you stressed?"
"Yeah, a little bit. It's just…the wedding's getting closer and closer and there's still so much we need to plan."
Motoko reached her arms around his chest and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Everything will be decided in time. So don't worry, okay? Miss Hasegawa is doing a phenomenal job."
"Okay."
Motoko paused as she looked out the window with him. Then she raised her lips to Keitaro's ear and whispered,
"I have an idea. How about we pick up where we left off earlier today? I promise, after I'm done taking care of you, you won't wake until at least 11."
Keitaro turned and looked lovingly into her eyes.
"Oh, really?" He said with a smile.
With a smirk and a raised eyebrow, she said,
"Oh, yeah."
With a devilish smile, she took his hand and slowly led him down into the futon. As they disappeared under the covers, you could almost hear the whispers of sweet little nothings being spoken into each other's ears.
We move up and away from the apartments, down the long stretching steps and over grassy grounds to the Hinata Teahouse. Inside the back room, in the dim light that is only on after hours, we see that the envelope on the table has been opened and its contents…missing.
