A new chapter to add to this little story of mine. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: Please read first chapter.
"Oh, this quite a large house." Keitaro said, taking a tour of Motoko's house.
"Yeah, it is, but I like our home!" Sakura said happily. "We use the roof as our practice area!"
"Oh, you're teaching her your schools arts?" Keitaro asked. "Well, it should be obvious from her clothes."
After their impromptu reunion, Motoko invited Keitaro to her house to dry off. In other circumstances, Motoko could have just ran away, but he rescued her daughter from the rain. It would be rude if she just went off with her daughter like that. Motoko took Keitaro to the living room and gave him some hot cocoa, since he already drank a cup of coffee just now. Keitaro thought back to that night when he found Motoko in the rain a few years ago, everything was happening again, except the roles have been changed and a new character was added.
"So, where's your father, Sakura?" Keitaro asked, oblivious of the conversation the two had before Sakura ran off.
"Oh, uh, I don't know." Sakura said, lowering her head.
Sensing that a serious talk would be happening, Motoko told Sakura to go to her room. She didn't want to reveal anything to Sakura if things might slip from her mouth. She hated lying, but she needed to keep some things a secret.
"Now, that we're alone. You can ask anything you might want answered." Motoko stated, her expression suddenly serious.
"You're a single parent?" Keitaro asked, shocked by what he just learned.
"Yes, I am raising Sakura alone." Motoko answered.
"Why is that?" Keitaro asked, a bit concerned for his former tenant. "Did he leave you?"
Motoko didn't know how to respond, she didn't want to tell Keitaro the truth. She just looked downwards, thinking of how to answer his answer. But Keitaro looked at it differently, he thought that Motoko looked downwards because she was ashamed to tell him that that was the case.
"So, he did..." Keitaro sighed, feeling sorry for Motoko.
"No, he did not." Motoko said, surprising Keitaro. "I left him. I was weak back then, I did not want to burden him with bringing up a child. And that is why I left the Hinata Sou, so that he would not be burdened with a problem he need not bother with."
"Who is he?" Keitaro asked, feeling that he's the father. "Do I know him?"
"No." Motoko lied, feeling strong for her daughter and weak for lying at Keitaro. "You need not concern yourself with him, it is a matter of our family."
"But..." Keitaro tried to say, but was cut off by Motoko.
"This a problem that only my family can be involved with, just listen to me Keitaro."
"Okay, I won't intrude in your affairs." Keitaro sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "But, if you ever need my help, call me or come to my parents house. I'll be there for a few weeks, so just come if you ever need something."
'Always the helpful one.' Motoko thought, then said. "I will."
After giving his contact number and his parents' address, the two talked about what they were doing this past few years. Keitaro learned that Motoko is working at a desk job at a high company that her brother-in-law owns and was earning a few thousand yens a month. He was surpised to hear that she had overcome her hatred or men, but trusts only a few men at work.
And in their talk, Motoko was informed of Keitaro's break up with Naru. She thought that he was going to be all depressed if that happens, but she sensed that he was okay with it. He understood why they needed to break up, and felt that it was the right thing to do.
After a few minutes, a sudden noise rang from Keitaro's pocket. Digging it up, Keitaro saw that the number was from Kanako.
"Sorry, need to get this." Keitaro said to Motoko, he then pressed accept and put the phone on his ear. "Yes?"
"WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?!" Keitaro's mother screamed from the phone, making Keitaro put the phone away from his ear. "ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP US AND THE FOOD WAITING?!"
"Sorry, just got into a little mishap." Keitaro replied, laughing nervously.
"I don't care about that! Just get home right now or I'll lock you out!" Keitaro's mother screamed then hung up immediately after.
Keitaro sighed and thought, 'Some things never do really change.'
"Sorry, Motoko but I need to go or else mother will have my head." Keitaro half joked, if he really was late he'll be locked out.
Keitaro immediately stood up, took his coat and umbrella, then ran towards his house in the rain.
"He's still the same old Keitaro." Motoko smiled, feeling a bit nostalgic. Then, she saw something on the coffee table, it was Keitaro's tablet. "Yup, he's still the same old Keitaro."
Motoko sighed, she would have to deliver his tablet at his house. Looking at the address Keitaro wrote down, she noticed that it was the same address as the confectionery shop she and her daughter buy from.
"Oh, so that's why it was named 'Urashima Confectionery Shop'." Motoko said.
She assumed that it was just a coincidence, since he didn't mention it when they were here last time. Her thoughts then ran back to when she was developing feelings for him. The main reason she fell for him was that he was always there when she needed someone. Finding her during her intensive training to perfect her sister's move, going with her plan to lie to sister, accepting that she work around the dorm to pay off her rent, finding her that night and helping her defeat her sister.
The reason she ran away after learning that she was pregnant was because she knew he loved Naru and she liked him back, even though she was deny it. But now that she learned of their break up, feelings were surfacing up from inside her. She thought that she was finally free from him, but it seems there are still fragments of him inside of her.
'Oh, spirits, why torture me like this. No, this is just nostalgia. That is right, nostalgia. No need to think deeply of this. This feeling will pass.' Motoko thought, deluding herself that it was nostalgia talking.
When Keitaro got home, he was greeted by a scolding from her mother. She was reprimanded him because he made them worry and hungry from waiting him. After a minute, Keitaro was saved by Kanako. Their father was used to this scenario, this would often happen if Keitaro got home late or when he failed an exam.
While eating, Keitaro told them what happened to him. Meeting Motoko after all this years and learning that he had a daughter after she had ran away. Their parents were surprised to hear that Motoko was a former tenant of the Hinata Sou.
"What?! You knew that Motoko was here at Kyoto?" Keitaro asked incredulously.
"Yes, though we didn't know that she was your former tenant." Keitaro's mother said. "If we had knew, we would have told you."
"Anyways, I'm glad I saw her again." Keitaro said, a smile on his face.
