"Seta-san?"

"No, just a second—PAPA! THERE'S A REALLY OLD LADY ON THE PHONE. SHE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU OR SOMETHING!"

"Hai, Sara-chan. I'll pick it up on this line—hello?"

"Hello… Seta?"

"Ah! Haruka-chan! What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling about Keitaro."

"Keitaro? What seems to be the matter?"

"Look—I don't know how much I'm supposed to know about it but I was thinking—what did Kido-sensei do to Keitaro, exactly?"

"Ear surgery."

"That's what you told me, Seta."

"Don't you believe me, Haruka-chan?"

"Well, I supposed everything checked out back then. Kasumi used to tell me her son had that inner-ear defect. Then, a few weeks ago, she told me you and the doctor were coming over to fix Keitaro up."

"What's the matter then?"

"Is there any way any of this is related to that operation you had back in high school?"

"Hmmm—tell you what. Why don't we go out for dinner downtown tomorrow night and I'll tell you what I can."

URASHIMA UNLIMITED

Episode III: More Enigmas! The Investigation Goes Nowhere!

"Oi! Guys! Wait up!"

"Well if it isn't the Toudai student." Haitani replied, looking back and smirking as he and Shirai slowed down their paces to a halt.

"Hey Keitaro!"

It was a balmy Sunday afternoon in downtown Tokyo. The three friends had decided to meet up like they usually did back when all three of them were pushing for Toudai. Keitarou hardly hung out with them ever since he became the Hinata Sou manager and those times were even rarer now that he's a student again.

"I missed just hanging out like this." Shirai muttered as they walked through the shopping district. The two nodded in unison. Haitani seemed to have given up hope in getting into Tokyo University and has taken a low-paying eight-to-fiver at a nearby processing office. Only Shirai was left a ronin.

After quite some time of seemingly aimless walking and talking, it didn't take the bespectacled trio long until they've accumulated enough communal testosterone to act like the desperate, loveless geeks that they were. Exactly twenty-five minutes after Keitaro's arrival, Shirai and Haitani recieved their trademark urges of ambushing unsuspecting women with lewd invitations – urges promptly acted upon on a pretty young stranger with short black hair, a full bossom, and more curves than a telephone cord.

"Hi, perhaps you would be interested in a tall, svelte, intelligent young man—"

"Or maybe your interested in petite, plump and fun, perhaps?

"Oh would you knock it off you two!" Popped Kentaro out from a street corner. "Svelte? Pettite? You're even describing yourself as women now. I do believe the words your looking for is 'emaciated' and 'dwarven'. Let me handle—"

The woman had disappeared to everybody's disappointment.

"Hey Keitaro, you still—"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. But thanks for asking… Ah Haitani, you were saying something?"

Haitani, Shirai and Kentaro turned around and stared motionlessly at Keitaro for a full minute. Did that girl just pass through them and talked to Keitaro? Did she just smile at him and wave good-bye? Is that her number he's holding?

"Urashima?" Kentaro remarked, wide-eyed.

"Nani?" Keitaro answered, befuddled by the confused looks he was receiving.

"Well now! I see you're finally getting the idea."

Shirai and Haitani then shifted their gaze at Kentaro who was smirking complacently.

"W… what do you mean, Kentaro-san?" Keitaro replied, returning his smile nervously.

"Shaping up to Naru-chan, eh? Quite frankly, I never thought it could be done but here we are."

"What are you talking about?" Haitani said, nudging Kentaro before shifting back to Keitaro. "Oh… You're right."

"What? What's going on?" Shirai called out, even more confused now than he was earlier. Of course, Keitaro was the one baffled the most.

Kentaro scanned the Hinata Sou manager for a few seconds and stepped up to him. He then picked his auburn hair by the bangs and stretched it straight, forward towards Keitaro. The ends of his hair touched Keitaro at mid-forehead.

"Keitaro—" Shirai asked, finally getting the idea. "Aren't you supposed to be shorter than Sakata-san?"

"I think so." Keitaro replied, still none the wiser. Haitani then stepped beside Keitaro and traced the space between their heights with his right hand. He then stooped down to check the thickness of Keitaro's soles. Then he stood up again.

"Hmmm. I thought he looked different. I don't know how he pulled this off but Keitaro and I should be around the same height now – around 179 cm if I remember correctly."

Keitaro looked at Haitani and was surprised to catch his eyes at eye level. Even more surprisingly, He now had to tilt his head a couple of degrees lower to speak with Kentaro instead of the other way around.

"It's more than just the height too" Kentaro continued. "Shoulders a bit broader. Hair seems healthier. Longer too. Not hardly as soft-looking as you usually are, might I add? I do believe you're turning into a guy worthy of Naru, Urashima."

"Thank you… I guess."

"Then again" Kentaro leaned closer "I don't suppose you've developed the personality yet, have you?"

"Well…"

"Tell me, Urashima: ever since your sister Kanako left – have you two ever kissed again?"

"Actually…"

"Actually, I really didn't think so. Keitaro-san, a word of advice: you've finally got the looks of a half-decent gentleman. I certainly hope you don't waste it – especially if there's already someone you fancy a lot. If that isn't a wad of socks you're stuffing inside your pants, I suggest you start finding ways of getting to use it. Ja ne."

As Kentaro bid the trio farewell, Keitaro found himself eyes agape and frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, blushing profusely.

xxx

A large number of heavy-duty punching bags were spotted flying clear across Tokyo that afternoon. Kitsune and Mutsumi were getting ready to load the next one onto the bag hook when Naru, hair tied back tightly and forearms wrapped in ribbons of thick cloth, decided that she has proven her point – she hasn't lost her touch. The gaping hole on the shoji windows would have to vouch for that.

"Ara ara! That was very nice punching Naru-chan! Are you trying out for women's boxing?"

"No!" Naru replied rather sharply. "I was just checking to see if my punches have gotten weaker or something."

"Well everything seems to be in order." Kitsune said, arms akimbo. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing!" Naru responded, somewhat defensively. Kitsune was hardly content with her answer.

"Well, as far as I know, nothing's never 'nothing' you know… unless that 'nothing' you're talking about is Keitaro."

"Oh dear. Where is Kei-kun, anyway?"

xxx

"Urashima."

"Oh good kami! It's the pretty swordsmaster-girl of Hinata Sou!" said the voices in Shirai's and Haitani's heads. "But no… speaking to her brings pain… brings so… much… pain… Must not… but so PRETTY!"

"Motoko-chan! What are you doing out here?"

"I have no time to explain. We need to go to Kyoto right away!"

"Motoko-chan…"

"But pain… so much PAIN… cuts and bruises… sword will hurt US, it will…"

"Let's go, I'll explain on the train!"

"Hai!"

"But the PRETTY… hey, where'd they go?"

xxx

"Haruka-san?"

"You were saying something, Shinobu?"

"These photos from on the coffee table—"

"Oh, I'm sorry – I must've left them there when I got up… I'll get them for you."

"No, it's alright. I… I was cleaning up this spot anyway. I was just wondering who these people were."

"Well…" Haruka sighed out of what seemed like defeat. She then sat on a nearby couch and allowed Shinobu to look over the couch's shoulder. She picked up a photo. "That one's me."

"From high school, right?"

"Yes, this was our Junior Class. Those two were my friends Nodoka and Setsuna."

"And who's that little squirt over there with the glasses!" Popped Su out of nowhere, pointing at the rather surprised, rather disheveled little boy on the photo. The young Haruka had him clutched tightly by the shoulders, his head only going up to her already fulsome breasts. He had been pulled against his will into the picture although he seemed to belong there perfectly either way.

"That's Seta."

"Really?" Shinobu gasped. "I never knew you were older than Seta-san!"

"Not really." Haruka answered. "He was our classmate. This one's a photo of the clique I used to hang out with."

That couldn't have been right, Shinobu thought. While it did look like it was Seta on the photo, he must've been around twelve or thirteen when it was taken. Haruka, on the other hand, looked well into her late teens.

"Seta looked so cute!" Su remarked.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? I suppose we all did as well although we all thought he was kind of klutz."

"But that's different now, isn't it? Seta-san's so agile now. And so tall too. A lot of girls must've fallen for him once he grew!"

"I wouldn't deny that. By the time he reached the six-foot mark, half the girls in our school had serious thoughts about asking him out. Most of them did, actually." Haruka gave a wry smile. "I guess what really surprised us was how he just shot up like that."

"People shoot up like that all the time in Mol-mol!" Su cited matter-of-factly. "Nii-sama looked a lot like that before he decided to become a man!"

Haruka didn't even attempt to respond. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have Mol-mol genetics to explain away the puzzle that lingered in her head since high school.

That coming night however, that puzzle might just as well be solved.