The Gemini Movement
Chapter 3: Single Tension
Shinobu was climbing the stairs to Keitaro's room, her mind a dizzying mix of emotions ranging from happiness that Keitaro didn't get hurt by Motoko and Naru, to fear of what he became when they tried.
The other girls were all scared witless by what they had seen. Not only had Keitaro stood up to Naru and Motoko, but had done great injury to their prides, and in Naru's case, her wrist. Motoko had done her best to wrap it, though Naru was still in shock. The Keitaro they knew would never have spoken a harsh word to them, or hurt them willingly. Keitaro had been locked up in his room for several hours, so she decided to offer him some company. Naru was reluctant to let the girl go to the manager's room by herself, but she sure as hell wasn't going with her.
Shinobu reached the doorway that was her goal and knocked softly. A voice inside said "Who is it?"
Shinobu drew back slightly, not recognizing the voice. It was lower and rougher than her sempai's, and it had an angry tone to it that reminded Shinobu of the abused dogs she had seen occasionally in the alleys around Hinata. She took a breath and said "I-It's Shinobu. May I come in?"
There was a pause, and the rough voice spoke again, "Come in."
Shinobu entered, and her eyes took a second to adjust to the complete darkness that flooded the room. No lights were on, and the curtains were pulled to shut out all the light from the evening sun. She took a few steps forward, and the door closed behind her, and the strange voice spoke in her ear, "What do you want, Shinobu?"
She spun around, and in the darkness caught a glimpse of the source of the strange voice.
"S-Sempai!" the girl stuttered, "I wanted to talk about what happened, I mean, if you want to, that is, I..."
"There's not much to say," Keitaro replied in the same, low voice, "I spoke out of line, and then hurt them when they tried to put me in my place. End of story."
"But, you didn't do anything wrong!" Shinobu argued.
"Like hell I didn't! Why else would someone feel the urge to punish me like that?"
"Because they thought you were coming on to us!"
"Who's to say I wasn't?"
It was more a statement than a question. Shinobu's eyes were adjusted to the lack of light, so she looked at Keitaro's face and saw sorrow, regret, feelings that, sadly, were much more at home on the face of her manager.
"Keitaro..."
"I wasn't... right," Keitaro struggled to speak, the look on his face was painful. Shinobu placed a hand on his shoulder, thanking the darkness for covering her blush.
"Keitaro, you can talk to me. I won't judge you..."
Keitaro was silent, staring into Shinobu's eyes. His eyes had taken on a complete look of hopelessness.
"Shinobu, what's the scariest dream you've ever had?"
"Huh?" Shinobu was startled. She was not expecting anything like that. She realized that telling the truth wouldn't end well. She quickly thought of the kind of nightmare the rest of Hinata-sou would expect her to have. "I had a dream once that you got food poisoning from one of the meals I made you. You were sick for days..."
"You're lying."
Shinobu looked up in surprise. Keitaro was not the kind of person to doubt someone, especially Shinobu.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but don't lie to me, Shinobu."
"Sorry, sempai..."
"So, really, what is the scariest dream you have ever had?" Keitaro pressed, "You said I could talk to you, surely you can talk to me?"
Shinobu folded to the logic. "My worst nightmare was that Naru and Motoko were right about you, about being a pervert, trying to take advantage of us..."
"In other words, like I was acting in the springs," Keitaro contributed.
"No! No! Not like that!" Shinobu waved her hands, "That was... nice..." She flushed crimson.
"Hmm," Keitaro fell silent, "Shinobu, could you go downstairs and tell the others I'll be down in a minute?"
"Y-Yes!" Shinobu said, hurrying downstairs.
...
"What?" shouted a suddenly fearful Naru, "He's coming down?" When Shinobu had informed the other tenants of Keitaro's return from his room, they all seemingly exploded in various forms of excitement.
"Yes, but he didn't seem angry or anything," Shinobu tried calming her down, "He really seemed to be sorry for what he did."
"Here he comes!" whispered Kitsune.
"Hey everyone!" The tension was broken instantly by the energetic voice on the stairway. Everyone looked toward it to see Keitaro, smiling and waving, "Sorry about before, guys, I guess I just got into a bad funk. Let me make it up to you!" He walked over to Naru first and said, "Let me see your hand."
Naru hesitantly held out her hand, while Keitaro pulled what looked like a tube of toothpaste out of his pocket.
"This cream helps me when I get whiplash from your hooks, so it should help your wrist!" he chattered as he squeezed out some of the pale yellow substance and applied it to her wrist.
"Wow! I feel better already!" Naru enthused.
"Yeah, it's pretty strong, isn't it?" he grinned. Then he turned to Motoko and asked her to follow him to the storeroom.
...
"Are you sure about this, Keitaro?" Motoko was dumbfounded. She held the solid black katana reverently. She could feel the strength of the blade coursing through it.
"Of course!" the young man replied, "I have no use for it, so the Hina blade is yours!"
Motoko bowed low and said, "Thank you, Keitaro, but I have to ask, are you alright?"
Keitaro arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I'm alright."
"What I mean is," Motoko shifted uncomfortably, "You were extremely cold earlier, and shattered Shisui, but now you're giving me your family's katana..."
"Like I said, I was in a bad mood for a while. No big deal!" Keitaro replied, "I do ask one thing in return, though."
"What is that?" Motoko asked almost-warily. Almost.
"Can I train with you sometime?"
"What?"
"I want to train some in martial arts. I want to train my body and mind so I can do my job here better, and stand more of a chance of getting into Toudai!"
Motoko thought for a moment, while Keitaro bounced on his heels for a few seconds, and then she replied, "I will train you, but know that most of the exercises will most likely be beyond you."
"Well, guess I'll just have to try, huh?" laughed the kendo girl's new pupil.
"We will begin in one week," Motoko stated, "Be up at five."
"Yes, ma'am!" Keitaro lilted as he bounced up the stairs toward his room.