"I have an announcement to make," said Haruka Urashima, her ever present cigarette dangling precipitously from her nicotine stained lips.
The collective residents of the Hinata-sou, sans two, were assembled in the lounge before her. The irritable Naru Narusegawa and her best friend, the cunning Kitsune Konno were sharing a large love seat while the three younger residents, Shinobu Maehara, Kaolla Su and Sarah McDougal momentarily removed their attention from a portable game that Su and Sarah were struggling over. Everyone was fairly certain about what was to come next, but still the atmosphere was pregnant with anticipation. They were all waiting for Haruka to put the ending punctuation on a statement that they'd all been contemplating over the last few weeks.
Clearing her throat, the elder Urashima's face remained stony and impassive. There was no good way to do what needed to be done, so she just dove right into it.
"Keitaro and Motoko are coming home tomorrow."
Asides from the ever rambunctious Su, who gave a fist pump and a cheer, the rest of the Hinata crew remained relatively reserved. Maybe, just maybe, Sarah muttered something about a dork under her breath as she took the opportunity to swipe the gaming handheld back from her friend. Naru and Kitsune each wore indecipherable expressions and Shinobu, as she was wont to do, merely looked exasperated and bordering on tears. Haruka decided to screw it all and push ahead.
"There's going to be a few new rules. These rules are not debatable," she emphasized the point by gesturing to the girls on the couch with her unlit cigarette.
"First off, as I'm sure everyone's noticed, I've moved Motoko's stuff into the Managers room. She'll be staying with Keitaro for the foreseeable future."
She locked eyes on the duo sitting on the love seat. "Regardless of how individual tenants may feel about the situation I want to make this point clear – They. Are. Married." The staccato diction of those last three words were verbal gunshots aimed directly at Naru and Kitsune – it wasn't in Haruka's nature to beat around the bush.
Haruka had half expected tears or hysterics from some of the girls, and honestly, Shinobu was the most likely to start crying, but to their credit both Narusegawa and the younger girl managed to maintain some semblance of a poker face. Surprisingly enough it was Konno who raised the first objection.
"About that…" began the sly Fox, "I don't mind if they keep it down…" she made clear her meaning by wiggling her pinkie finger lewdly in the air, the gesture having the predictable effect of causing both Shinobu and Naru to turn red, albeit for entirely different reasons.
"But if they…" she tried to continue, only to be cut off by Haruka.
"You can move then. Take a room on the third floor. I'll even help you move today." Haruka spoke with a finality that made clear she'd brook no further discussion on the subject, which was probably for the best considering Narusegawa looked as if she was about to break something.
Kitsune raised her hands in the air and gave an obviously fake demure shrug. "Oh no, that's fine…"
Haruka inwardly cringed. She could tell that Kitsune wasn't going down without a fight, or at least, wasn't going down without making someone else start a fight.
"I don't think Motoko-chan would be much of a screamer, although you never know…."
"God damn it Kitsune!" thought Haruka. She had expected this, but had hoped for better behavior out of the girl, if not for any other reason than the fact that she knew each word was stabbing directly into the heart of her own best friend.
"Auuugh!" went Shinobu, who quickly shoved both of her hands over her own mouth. It was obvious that the younger girl was trying desperately to hold back her own tears and feelings.
"What does that mean?" asked Su innocently, only to have Sarah lean over and whisper something in her ear that caused the Molmolian princess to break out in an unusual blush and go silent.
Haruka grimaced. "I need to talk to Seta about that girl. She's far too mature for her age."
Finally, the reaction that everyone had been expecting exploded with familiar volume and heat.
"Baka!" blurted out Naru, "Baka! Baka! Baka!" she chanted, each iteration causing her face to get redder and her fists to pump up and down.
Haruka inwardly sighed. She needed to cut this off before the ill-tempered girl went completely ballistic.
"Naru…" she began.
"No!" screamed Narusegawa, "We all know this is wrong!" she locked eyes on Haruka, spittle practically flying from her lips, "And YOU know this is wrong! Why are you letting this happen?"
"Yes… why indeed? God Keitaro, I hope you know what you're doing…"
Haruka pinched the bridge of her nose. There was no getting around it, sooner or later she'd have to have this conversation with these girls and now it seemed was the appropriate time.
"Be that as it may…" Haruka looked around at the assembled group, "The fact of the matter is that Motoko doesn't know it."
This got a snort of derision from both Kitsune and Naru, with the later girl obviously gearing up for another one of her patented tirades. Haruka merely held up her hand to silence her.
"This was going to come out eventually, so it might as well be now before any of you can do anything stupid." She glared directly at Kitsune, the meaning wasn't lost.
"About Motoko's accident…"
The girls had been made aware of the "accident" or at least, the cover story for what had actually happened, so they were aware that Motoko had been injured. Some of the more recent changes around the Hinata-sou had left little to their imagination about how serious her injuries were. However, they hadn't heard the "full" story. Haruka clearly had to make this plain.
"There's no clever way to say this – Motoko has amnesia. She's lost her memory."
This elicited a wide array of gasps from everyone present, only Kitsune's face was inscrutable and if Haruka knew the girl as well as she thought she did, she knew exactly what she was thinking. Haruka quickly decided to press on before Kitsune could launch her attack on the dubious morality of having a woman with no memories shacking up with a man she had loudly decried as a pervert for months on end.
"As far as Motoko-chan is concerned, Keitaro is her husband." She paused and looked directly at the two girls on the couch.
"Her husband that takes care of her despite her injuries," she continued, making sure to look directly at the obviously annoyed fox.
"And unless the rest of you are considering things like financially supporting her…" this got Kitsune to look away.
Haruka continued, "Or, helping her to the toilet in the middle of the night..."
Now it was Narusegawa's turn to blanch.
"Then I expect all of you to merely support them as Motoko tries to recover."
Everyone seemed to settle down at this. Even Shinobu managed to regain some precious self-control, only to utter out a plaintive "Senpai…" tinged with sadness.
Su stood up from the couch, a look of excitement on her face. "I got it! I'll make a memory restoration device!"
The diminutive Molmolian was just about to bound down the hall before Haruka brought her up short by the scruff of her collar.
"No you won't," the elder woman said, perhaps a little more gruffly than she had intended. She caught herself and tried to remain calm. Getting angry with Su wouldn't help anything.
"Look Su-chan, no memory restoration devices, no cybernetic enhancements, no robot exoskeletons, nothing like that – okay?" She patted the petite blonde on the head.
"Everyone," she continued, "If you want to help then just be their friends. This is a hard time for them right now, particularly for Motoko." She ushered Su back to her seat.
"She won't know us. The only people she knows are Keitaro and her sister. Don't take it personally if she's not the same girl you remember."
"Uh… Haruka-san…" Unexpectedly, this was Shinobu.
"What can we do for…" she paused for a moment, her mind calculating the right sentiment, "…for them."
Haruka sized up the diminutive chef. Shinobu's crush on Keitaro was an open secret, but it appeared that the girl was conflicted between her devotion to her "senpai" and genuinely wanting to help her friend as well. She vowed to keep an eye on the girl. "It's always the quiet ones."
"Keitaro's talked to some doctors and of course Motoko will be getting some help that way. However, we spoke this morning and he made it very clear that the best thing we can all do right now is to just support them. Hopefully in time she will recover her memories – being here at the Hinata will probably help that. The only thing I will directly ask is for everyone to not undermine her relationship with Keitaro."
There was a predictable reaction from the usual culprits and Haruka muttered a curse under her breath. She had to make this point crystal clear.
"I mean this – The doctors have said that this could be extremely upsetting to her," she continued, "and the results could be…"
She let that thought linger in the air and simply let the scowl on her face end the sentence.
Haruka looked around at the girls once again. Her gut was telling her that this was a bad idea. Her experience with these little hellions was telling her that everything was going to go pear shaped before the week was out. Her heart was telling her that if anyone could pull it off, it was her dumbass "nephew". She decided to go with that last thought and put her hands together as she addressed the group for a final time.
"Everyone… it's hard to ask this of you, but even if you don't approve, please respect our families decision in this matter. Keitaro is still your manager and will do his best for you, even with his new responsibilities. Motoko is still your friend and I'm sure your feelings will reach her memories over time. If anyone has anything they want to discuss in private, I'm returning to the tea house now."
She bowed deeply to everyone. It was an unusual gesture on her part and one that punctuated the seriousness of her request.
"Thank you, everybody," she stated without a hint of irony and then turned away. It would be better for her to leave for now, both to give the younger girls time to come to grips with their own feelings as well as to make sure that she could sort out her own before her nephew and his new bride arrived.
LH-LH-LH
Keitaro pushed Motoko's wheelchair across the bridge leading from the train station and took in the sights before him. Even though it had only been a few weeks since the last time he had seen this particularly sunset, in his heart he felt like it was a million years ago.
"Obviously things have changed. Nothing stay the same forever." He looked down at the back of the head of the woman he was pushing and bit his lip.
"And not everyone stays the same, for good or for ill."
It was a sobering thought, but also true. Motoko had changed, perhaps the most of all and certainly not for the better. Her life, whatever it would end up being, would be dramatically harder for her from here on out. Without noticing it, Keitaro's feet came to a stop.
"Keitaro-san?" asked Motoko. She had tilted her head around to face him and Keitaro noticed the soft amber hue of the fading sun lighting upon her cheek. Keitaro had always thought that Motoko was beautiful, far more than she ever gave herself credit for, but in this light she looked like an angel – a beautiful, wounded angel.
"Her eyes… have they ever looked at me with so much trust?" he thought to himself.
His first feeling was one of strange contentment. He wasn't sure that any woman barring his own sister had ever looked at him with such kindness before and the sentiment of the moment was marred by the guilt he still felt over lying to her.
"Ah… I was just taking in the sights. It's been a long time since I've seen this view," he replied as he forced himself to tear his gaze from Motoko and look out across cityscape.
"It's pretty," stated Motoko, "I've never seen… I mean, I guess…" she fumbled for the right words.
Keitaro just smiled at her. "It's okay, I know what you mean."
And he did. This was perhaps the first sunset other than the fading light through the hospital windows that Motoko could ever remember seeing.
"That's the Hinata-sou up there on the hill," he gestured to the ancient inn on the hill.
Motoko nodded and placed her hands on the bridge rail. Without asking for help, she attempted to pull herself up. Keitaro swiftly lent her his arm around her waist, bringing them close together and eliciting a slight blush from the raven haired girl.
"And that over there?" she nodded her head towards the blue expanse in the distance, her hands still firmly gripping the worn railing.
"Sagami Bay, it's nice. There's a beach there, but it's not as good as the one we went to last year."
There was a subtle pause and Keitaro glanced briefly over to Motoko who was gazing off into the distance. Softly she began to speak.
"I'd like to go… to the ocean someday. I wonder what it's like to float away," her voice was twinged with an undercurrent of longing that surprised Keitaro. The Motoko he knew wasn't nearly as open, or at least, as openly romantic as this strange girl next to him.
"Hmm. I wonder," said Keitaro idly, mostly to himself. Suddenly, almost as if a lightbulb went off in his head, he had a thought.
"We can go you know," his voice was filled with an undercurrent of excitement. He was always happy when he could help someone else fulfil a dream.
"In a few weeks, Haruka usually goes to the sea-side café, I wasn't planning on it this year…"
Truthfully, he had been planning on being in school during the festival, or at least studying, but his injury earlier in the year had prevented that. Of course, this left open a whole slew of new possibilities that he hadn't even contemplated yet.
Motoko looked at Keitaro and smiled. "We don't have to go Keitaro-san, it was just a..." she struggled for the word, "…moment I guess."
Keitaro moved his arm up along Motoko's waist and pulled the two of them closer together while he spoke, never reflecting on how easy it was for him to get this close to Motoko, or at least, the "new" Motoko.
"It's okay! Honestly, we could probably use the money and it'd be a lot of fun!"
Motoko chuckled at Keitaro's enthusiasm and decided to have a little joke at his expense. "You probably just want to look at the girls in their swimsuits!" she said saucily.
"What?!" gasped Keitaro," No! No! I swear Motoko-chan, I..." Keitaro began to fumble over his words, sweat perspiring on his forehead.
"It's a joke! A joke Keitaro-san!" she interjected.
She had already determined that Keitaro was a relatively reserved young man, but she hadn't expected his eyes to go as big as saucers at the mere hint of sexual innuendo. It almost looked to her as if he was preparing to be slapped and for some reason this thought gave her a profound sense of sadness. She took a risk and removed one of her hands from the guard rail and placed it on Keitaro's shoulder.
"I can do jokes, can't I?" she asked with a smile. "It's not like I'm going to hit you or something…"
Keitaro smiled back at her, but it was a sickly and weak thing that made Motoko frown.
"It seems like I ruined the moment," she thought to herself with resignation. Keitaro confirmed it with his next words.
"We're running late; let's just get to the tea house."
LH-LH-LH
The Wafū Chabō Hinata, or Traditional Tea Room Hinata, had been closed for the better part of an hour and its proprietor and manager, Haruka Urashima was steadying herself against a conveniently placed bit of fencing while she killed time through the use of a half a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a zen technique that she referred to quite plainly as "not giving a shit".
"These things are going to kill me someday," she thought as she stubbed another depleted butt under her heel. Turning her head back to the path, she made out two recognizable figures in the distance. Other people might have waved, or called out their names, but that just wasn't Haruka's style. Instead she sat, lit another cigarette and waited.
"Hello! Aunt Haruka!" called Keitaro as he approached.
Haruka's response was to merely stand up and stare and while yes, part of it was due to the fact that her inner nature was one of cold hearted indifference to everything, a greater part of the response was simply her brain trying to come to terms with seeing her nephew pushing Motoko along the street in a wheelchair.
"This just shouldn't be happening."
"Keitaro," she stated by way of greeting and then turned her attention to woman in the chair.
"Motoko-san," she nodded her head in the younger woman's direction. It was about as formal as she was willing to get right now.
Motoko did her best to reply with a bow from sitting, "Aunt Haruka," she stated.
There was a glint in Haruka's eye, a moment of almost indecisiveness as she contemplated her next move. Then, without mercy, her hand swung out and she wailed Keitaro over the head with a large manila envelope she had been carrying under her arm.
"It's Haruka-san," she stared at Keitaro.
"What?" he gasped, "She said it not me!" he complained.
Haruka snorted. "You said it too. Anyway, welcome home the both of you."
It wasn't like Haruka Urashima to be effusive in either greetings or goodbyes, so she simply turned around and began to walk.
"Let's get this tour on the road. Come back behind the Tea House," she said.
Keitaro and Motoko just looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
"That's Aunt Haruka for you…" whispered Keitaro.
"HARUKA-SAN!" came the bellow from around the corner.
Keitaro cringed and began to push Motoko after Haruka. "Sorry!" he wailed as he tried to catch up to his Aunt.
"Hey, Keitaro – let her do that herself," said Haruka as the husband and wife team rounded the corner.
"Eh… but…" Keitaro started to complain, only to be silenced by Motoko.
"It's okay Keitaro-san," she said as she handed him the bags she had been carrying in her lap.
Keitaro was obviously unhappy as he accepted the bags. "I'm just trying to help…" he offered lamely.
Haruka grunted at the boy. He was nice, soft hearted, and in her opinion, a little dumb. She might as well explain it to him.
"Yes, you're a very doting husband Keitaro," she said sardonically as she approached the two.
"However, we need Motoko to show us she can get around with all this…" she waved her hand behind her, drawing attention to a bit of new construction that Keitaro hadn't noticed before.
"Ah!" he spoke, realization finally starting to dawn upon him. "A ramp? For the…"
Before he could even finish the thought, Motoko was already wheeling herself up the slight incline alongside an unusually animated Haruka who was discussing the improvements to the Hinata-sou that Keitaro's inheritance had purchased.
"There's another ramp in the main parking lot so if you need to take a taxi someplace you can get in and out of the building," said Haruka as the two rounded up another incline – there were three in total, zig-zagging back and forth behind the tea shop and up the incline facing the inn.
"Now, around here is the biggest change we made and probably a bit overdue," she said as they continued approaching the hill that the Hinata-sou rested upon. It didn't take long for Motoko and Keitaro to see what she was talking about.
"Is that an elevator?" asked Keitaro, only half comprehending what he was seeing.
"Yes. Motoko – the button is over there," Haruka gestured to a small box sitting on a post. It was about arm level to someone sitting in a wheelchair. Motoko looked at it with an amused expression on her face and pressed the flat square button.
"We also had to redesign the kitchen a little bit, by the way Shinobu thanks you for the new stove top Keitaro. Anyway the elevator runs up the side here to the top floor of the main building."
At that moment, the elevator door opened. Haruka stepped aside to allow Motoko to enter and then both she and Keitaro piled in.
"It's a little snug…" said Keitaro as he eyed the simple control panel on the inside. His mind was already racing as to what sort of mischief the other tenants could cause with such an obviously expensive addition to the inn.
Haruka just shrugged and pressed the button for the 1st floor. "It's all you could afford Keitaro."
Motoko flinched. She was certain that Haruka hadn't intended it, but she couldn't help but feel somewhat ashamed at the obvious financial burden she had placed upon her new husband and his family.
"Aunt Haruka, I'm sorry…" she began to say, only to be screaming, "Ouch!" seconds later as she found herself on the receiving end of one of Haruka's infamous head slaps.
"Haruka-san," said the elder Urashima without missing a beat.
As the door opened and the trio left the confines of the elevator, Keitaro turned to his aunt and said, "And here I thought you were going to show Motoko-chan special treatment."
Haruka screwed up her face and looked at Motoko in a way that caused the younger girl to squirm.
"No. That was for apologizing."
This drew a blank look from the newlywed couple.
"Come on, let's get on with the rest of the tour," said Haruka as she turned her back to her idiot relations. She knew that she might be a bit cold and indifferent, but that didn't mean that she didn't know how to take care of her family.
"Maybe those two idiots are more alike than I thought."
LH-LH-LH
"So there you go Manager-san," said Haruka as she ambled over to a chair in the main lounge.
Keitaro took a seat next to his wife and began to scratch his chin. The "tour" as it was had been relatively short. Asides from the major changes such as the elevator and ramps leading up to the buildings, the rest of the changes were minor. Replacing a few steps with ramps, widening some bathroom doors, a new bench in the bathing area that had hand holds. Nothing really major, but eminently useful for someone with Motoko's needs.
"About the bathrooms," he asked, "I noticed the fixtures were new… did the plumbing change much?"
It was an entirely practical question. Keitaro was after all the individual mostly responsible for fixing the various mechanical breakdowns around the place.
"I left all that stuff in the managers room," said Haruka. "Updated the plans and left the numbers for all the contractors in case you need to call them."
She smiled briefly but then hid it. Keitaro didn't realize, or at least it never occurred to him, that he did far more work around the Hinata than Haruka had ever done. Not because she was lazy of course, but simply because Keitaro was far better with his hands than she was. It was likely that none of the other residents had ever truly appreciated it, but without Keitaro the Hinata-sou would have shut down months ago simply due to age and the inevitable inertia of decay.
"Oh and there's this too." Haruka tossed the envelope that she had been carrying across the room to Keitaro. The boy fumbled for it and dropped it on the floor. "Typical" she thought. She waited for the customary look of confused bewilderment to cross her "nephews" face.
"H-Haruka-san!" he exclaimed as he finally began to understand what he had just been handed.
Haruka removed her cigarette from her mouth and placed it between her thumb and forefinger, rolling it around absently. She chose her words carefully.
"Yes… Landlord-san?" she said with twisted smirk on her face that even got Motoko's attention.
Keitaro's expression, already distraught, turned into one of pure panic.
"Why?" he croaked. It was a good question.
"I told you Keitaro. It's your inheritance," his aunt stated bluntly. It was fairly evident that she was enjoying this little surprise.
Motoko couldn't control her curiosity and somewhat presumptuously (at least for her) she reached over and began to peek at the contents of the envelope that Keitaro had spilled onto his lap. It didn't take her long to notice the words printed in bold on the top of the pile of documents, "PROPERTY DEED."
"But the tea house too?" asked Keitaro with obvious puzzlement.
Haruka shook her head slowly. "Don't expect me to call you boss anytime soon. You own the building but I own the business. I pay you rent. The same goes for the beach house."
Keitaro nodded and sat back in his chair, obviously relaxed. The idea of anyone but Haruka owning the Tea House was something that made him extremely uncomfortable, even if that owner was him – especially if that owner was him. He didn't know if he could have ever looked his aunt in the eyes again if Granny Hina had left him what he had long considered to be not only Haruka's birthright, but the one place where she seemed to truly belong in the world.
"Honestly… that's a relief," he stated as he readjusted his eyeglasses. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I couldn't stand being your manager."
Haruka looked sideways at the boy. "How else am I supposed to take that Keitaro?" she asked. Her tone was more acrid than her cigarettes.
Keitaro cracked an awkward grin and tried to recover. "Ah… I… respect you too much?" he tried feebly.
Motoko put her hand on top of Keitaro's. Initially he almost flinched at the contact but managed to calm his already frazzled nerves. At least it was only Haruka present and not the other residents. The idea of Naru or Kitsune seeing such a casual gesture from Motoko was something that he just wasn't ready for yet – even if he knew that in all likelihood his time for avoiding the issue was running out.
"I think what Keitaro-san is trying to say Haruka-san…" Motoko's speech always tended to err on the side of "formal", but her tone now was much more polished than the brusque demeanour Keitaro was used to.
"…is that he has many responsibilities and while we are grateful that Grandmother has provided for us, we are also grateful that you remain in your current position as well."
She ended her statement with a curt bow that seemed far too authentic and sincere for Haruka to take seriously. There was a blustering silence in the room, so much so that Keitaro was certain he could hear a drip coming from a leaky faucet someplace on the premises. Imaginary cicadas began chirping in his mind.
Haruka cleared her throat.
"Okay. Fine," she said. Haruka was short, terse and to the point, but this didn't stop her from shooting Keitaro a look that could clearly be deciphered as, "What the hell was that?"
"Beats me!" thought Keitaro as hard as he could. Hopefully Haruka picked up the message.
"So… where is everyone?" asked Keitaro in an attempt to break the awkward mood.
Haruka paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder and in the direction of hallway that connected the lounge to the kitchen.
"They should be getting dinner ready and certainly not spying on us right now," she said. Almost as if on cue, there was a loud crash and what almost sounded like "Dammit Kitsune!"
Haruka rolled her eyes. At least some things were already back to normal.
"Anyway, you two must be hungry? Ready to check out the kitchen?" she asked as she rose from her seat.
Keitaro smiled. "Let me tell you, after a month of hospital food I am really looking forward to some of Shinobu's cooking."
The name 'Shinobu' seemed to click with something in Motoko's head and she turned to Keitaro and asked, "Shinobu… she's the middle school girl that works here, right?"
Keitaro moved behind his wife's chair and started to escort her out of the room. "Well, she gets a rent discount… and she's a high schooler now. Both her and Kaolla Su are in the same grade."
The dining room and kitchen at the Hinata-sou was a free-standing edifice not directly connected to the main building except by way of a small covered path. Keitaro had noticed the few steps that had been there had been replaced with a slight ramp and wondered what other small "improvements" had escaped his notice. Out of the three of them, Haruka entered the kitchen first, leading the way for the couple and announcing their arrival.
"Everyone, the happy couple are here," she deadpanned into the room.
She hadn't really been expecting that to get a rise out of anyone so she was more than a little surprised when she heard the snapping sound of Narusegawa's chopsticks splintering into toothpicks.
"That one's going to be a problem. Funny, I would have figured it'd be her best friend instead."
"We're back!" shouted Keitaro as he wheeled Motoko into the room to face the assembled residents of the Hinata-sou. Motoko, while nervous, had done her best to put forth a good or "happy" face for the benefit of the other residents. Her smile, as fake as it was, instantly crumbled when she saw the looks the other women were giving her. Not a single one of them bore an expression other than shock, disbelief or as Motoko noticed on one beautiful auburn haired young woman - barely concealed contempt.
There was a discordant reply of "Welcome home!" from the still shocked Hinata girls that was immediately followed by an awkward silence as the two groups tried to figure out where to go next. Luckily for all involved, Haruka decided to (once again) cover for the lack of social tact amongst the collective assemblage.
"Everyone knows the score," she said with a quick nod to Motoko.
"Introductions, left to right," she pointed at Kaolla and then marched off to make herself a drink, likely the first of many for the night and it certainly wasn't going to be tea.
"Oh wow! This is so cool! You don't really remember anything do you Motoko?" asked Kaolla, her voice practically quaking with excitement.
"Kaolla!" gasped Shinobu at her friends antics. She wasn't sure what the proper etiquette of the situation was, but she was fairly certain ranting in excitement over Motoko's amnesia wasn't acceptable anywhere, even in Molmol.
Motoko waved her hands and tried to force another smile. At least this strange brown girl wasn't treating her like fragile glass.
"It's fine. Yes… Su-chan is it? There's a lot that I don't remember right now, but most troublesome is the fact that I cannot remember people or places. When I woke up in the hospital I didn't even remember my own name."
This pronouncement drew a long whistle out of Kitsune. "That's like something out of a bad soap opera…" the ash-haired blonde seemed to be contemplating something for a moment, but obviously decided to let it pass.
Keitaro broke away briefly from Motoko's side to address the group. He hadn't originally planned on doing this, at least not this instant, but since Su had already brought the issue front and center he decided to be direct… for once.
"Everyone, before we continue I just want to say a few things."
He gulped, steeling his nerve and thrusting his hands into his pocket to mask how absolutely bloody nervous he was.
"First, as your manager I am glad to be back and I will do whatever I can to fix everything… around here," He had looked directly at Naru when he said this, hoping that she understood the intention.
"And… uh…" he glanced briefly at Motoko, "…I'm sure everyone wants to support Motoko because she's our precious friend."
There was some mutterings of approval at this and a couple of nods. Keitaro felt the wind coming back into his sails. It seemed things were heading in the right direction.
"And the best way we can do that is to make sure we behave as normal as possible."
To his credit, Keitaro managed to actually say that line with a straight face. "Normal" for the people who inhabited this dormitory was actually a certain brand of lunacy that under the current circumstances made his skin crawl. At least it sounded nice.
"And finally, as Motoko's husband, I entrust her and I to your care."
Keitaro made a deep bow in an attempt to relate his earnest feelings to girls. He was staring directly at the floor when he heard the clarion call of the Hinata-sou's resident tsundere.
"BAKA!"
At this point in Keitaro's life, what happened next was more or less an automatic response. Quickly he changed positions, cowering and covering his head as he awaited the inevitable punch that would send him careening across the floor. However, to his surprise, it never came. Instead Kitsune had managed to both cover Naru's mouth with her own hand as well as lock the younger girls arm behind her back with a skill that looked more like it belonged to a professional bouncer rather than one who was continually being "bounced" from bars.
"Ah ha! Sorry! Sorry!" the Fox rasped as she put on her best fake 1000 watt smile. "Naru-chan needs the toilet!"
Naru was struggling now, her face reaching boiling hot degrees of red fury, as Kitsune tried to frogmarch her out of the kitchen.
"Ha ha! Don't mind us! She has explosive diarrhea! I'm sure she'll be fine in the morning~" she lilted as she gave the furious girl a push through the door.
All eyes were on the backs of the retreating duo, each person lost in their own thoughts. The spell however didn't last long. It was Su who eventually broke it.
"What's diarrhea, is it…"
"SU!" screamed everyone in unison.
LH-LH-LH
Authors Note:
This chapter was a little overlong for me, or at least, longer than I like to write for a single chapter. Still even saying that I found myself wanting to add a few more scenes. There were also some variant or divergent scenarios I had contemplated writing – one for instance involved a complete introduction with the girls, another one involved the girls being introduced over time during a longer tour bit. Eventually I settled on abstracting some of the activity and focusing on the character interactions.
I want to thank everyone again who's been reviewing this story (including the anonymous reviewers) and particularly I want to thank the people who have marked this story as a favorite. I have to admit that one of the reasons why I put out another chapter so fast is because I saw that today this story had already reached a significant number of favorites in a short period of time. I felt that was a good indicator that I was heading down the right path.
Anyway, thanks again everyone for reading and please drop me a review, particularly if you can point out a piece of the story (so far) that you like, or a character that you like, etc and let me know why. I'm curious as to what bits of the story I should be focusing on just as much as I am curious about what parts I could improve. I mean this sincerely, I do actually try to focus in on comments people make and then carry those forward into my work. This is getting long so I'll sign off now.
QC