Hey Chapter 4. Sorry about the wait, but updates are going to be a bit sporadic from here on out. I guess saying that the (sort of) plot would be unveiled (more or less) in chapter 4, and then not updating in ages was a total dick move. Sorry.
Whoa. Lots of reviews, favs, etc. since the last time I checked this thing. I didn't think my story would be popular at all. Cool.
I don't own anything I mention.
Don't forget to leave a review! They tell me how I'm doing after all.
I'd also like to say BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ, REVIEWED, WATCHED, FAVED, OR OTHERWISE INTERACTED WITH MY STORY! It's for you, after all.
Flashback to the last mock test.
Keitaro looked at his exam score and Jah-Jah-Moh cram class ranking before quietly getting the attention of the girl sitting in the desk next to his own.
"Hey, Narusegawa."
"What do you want, Urashima?"
"How did you do on the mock exam?"
"99.3 percent, ranked first in class." Naru allowed a little pride to seep into her voice as she peered at Keitaro through her massive glasses.
"Really? That's amazing!" Keitaro was honestly impressed. He hoped that Narusegawa would go easy on him if he failed a third time. She was a shoe-in to Tokyo U for sure.
But, he wasn't too concerned. His grades had definitely gone up under Naru's tutelage. And, the enthusiastic 'rewards' Tomo gave him every time he brought home an improved exam grade certainly provided ample motivation as well.
Keitaro did suspect, however, that Tomo enjoyed giving him those rewards as much as he enjoyed receiving them.
'Where did she get that naughty French maid outfit anyway?'
As Keitaro drifted off into a dreamland made mostly of his wife's thighs and rear end, Naru snapped him out of it.
"Hey? Hey! Urashima!" Naru dealt Keitaro a light-ish slap to the back of the head.
"Huh?"
"I asked, how was your score?" Naru smirked inwardly. Keitaro had a tendency to drift off at inappropriate times. It was easily his biggest obstacle to actually passing the exams and getting into Tokyo U. Naru had figured that out quickly and tended to be harsh in bringing him back to reality.
"Oh! Heh, let's see here...scored 95.8 percent, ranked 4th in class."
"Nice work, Urashima!" Naru was genuinely happy with her study partner's progress. "You'll never knock me out of first place, but you're doing really well!" The mirth in her eyes was apparent even though the massive glasses.
"Thanks Narusegawa. Your teaching really helped."
Flashback to a more recent study session.
The Tokyo U entrance exam had just been completed earlier in the week by both Keitaro and Narusegawa.
Keitaro studied the flash cards he and Narusegawa used to study English.
"Free-dom?"
"Correct. Now, what does it mean?"
Keitaro thought for a moment. "The idea of being free. The lack of coercion or constraint in choice or action."
"Correct again, Urashima!" Naru smiled softly. This was helping her as much as it was helping him. "Okay, now do the next one."
"Fol-ev-urr?"
"That's not right, Urashima. It's 'for-ev-er.' Now try again."
"For-ev-er?"
"Right. Now, what does that one mean?"
"Um..." Keitaro tapped his chin for a bit. "For an unlimited time?"
"Close enough."
"I think we're going through these backwards, Narusegawa. 'O' is supposed to go before 'R' in the English alphabet, isn't it?"
"Good that you noticed. I was wondering when you would."
"Heh. Kami, this language is tough."
"Yeah, but it's the world language of business, politics, and education, so we need to learn it."
They went over a few more definitions before Naru decided to take a break for a drink and a rice ball from the plate that Shinobu had left them.
"Hey, Narusegawa."
"Yes?"
"How do you think you did on the Todai exam?" Keitaro asked. The subject had been taboo, but Keitaro couldn't take it anymore. He needed to talk about the exam.
Naru stiffened a bit, then relaxed. "I think I did pretty well, actually. I was relaxed and I think I knew most of the answers. How about you?"
Keitaro sighed. "I don't know."
"What?" Naru's eyebrow went up. "You didn't zone out like an idiot again, did you?"
Internally, Keitaro panicked. That's exactly what he'd done.
He'd been sitting in his chair, marking answers when he started thinking about how great it would be to be a Todai graduate. He envisioned himself and Tomo living in a comfortable house, with their family. Maybe a boy and a girl. He pictured weekend family trips to various points of interest around Japan, in a nice car, or maybe even a fancy SUV. He pictured a nice big bedroom with a big, comfortable western-style bed where he and Tomo could...
The lewd thoughts had snapped Keitaro out of it and it was then that he'd realized that he had 10 minutes left to finish 2 pages of the test. In a panic, he'd quickly marked every answer he thought he knew, and then just went and randomly filled in the rest.
After that, Keitaro had felt like just running away and hiding, but he knew he couldn't do something like that. Not with Tomo and his Hinata House waiting for him.
Narusegawa had been trying to break him of the habit, mostly with slaps to the back of the head, but she wasn't able to do that at the actual exam. And now she was asking why he wasn't sure about his result.
"No! No! No no no." Keitaro waved his arms around like an idiot. "I just...just...kind of froze up. Test jitters or something. I don't think I made as good of use of the time as I could've." he hoped Naru wouldn't see through his lie.
Naru looked like she didn't buy it for a second, then she just raised her hand and...
"Baka!" Slap. Keitaro flew forward over the table and landed on the other side of his room. Naru had a mean slap. He'd hate to catch a punch from her. "I told you to just breathe and relax!" she barked.
"I know, I know! I'm sorry. I still think I got most of the answers though."
Naru was placated momentarily. "Did you follow my OTHER advice?"
"Go with my first instinct and don't second-guess myself?"
"Right."
"Of course."
"Well, that's good then. Now I guess all we can do is wait for the results to be posted."
Keitaro agreed and the two went back to English vocabulary.
Back to the present.
"Could you repeat that?" Keitaro asked as he held the phone receiver to his ear.
Haitani's excited voice once again assaulted Keitaro's ear. "I got into my first choice school! Isn't it awesome?! No more stupid cram school, no more mock exams...I'm free! Sexy college girls, here I come..."
Keitaro managed a sickly smile. "Congratulations, Haitani. How about Shirai?"
Shirai's voice echoed from the background. Apparently he was standing close to Haitani. "I haven't gone to check yet, but I already know I failed." Shirai sounded morose.
"Well, good luck Shirai, and congratulations again, Haitani. I've got to go eat breakfast and then get my own exam results, so I 'll catch you guys later."
"Bye!"
"Keitaro! Fail too so I won't be the only ronin..." was the last thing Keitaro heard before hanging up.
Keitaro replaced the phone and went down to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Tomo and the rest were already there.
"Who was that, Kei-Kei?" asked Tomo.
"Just Haitani and Shirai. Haitani got into the college he wanted."
"Cool!"
"It's the same college you go to."
"Ugh. Not so cool." Tomo slumped into her chair.
Shinobu began putting the food on the table. "I-I-I hope that both of you m-make it into Todai." she squeaked as she served the rice.
"Thanks Shinobu-chan."
After eating, everyone began getting up to go about their business.
Except Naru and Keitaro.
"Come on you two, what's the hold up?" scolded Tomo as she tried to get her husband up so they could all go check the Todai entrance boards.
"Just one more cup of tea." said Keitaro.
"A little more rice." murmured Naru.
Keitaro had been sitting in between Naru and Tomo, which made it easy for Tomo to reach both of them, as she grabbed their arms and tried to yank them out of their chairs.
"HUUURGH! COME ON!" grunted Tomo as she tried to unseat the two students. Unfortunately, while Tomo had a lot of energy, her physical strength left something to be desired, and she impotently tugged at her husband and Naru with little to show for it. Some things hadn't changed much since high school.
"Kendo-babe, help me!" yelped Tomo as she continued to pull. "They're not fooling me! They're just too nervous to get their butts up and go check their results!"
"I have a name, Tomo-san. It is Motoko." muttered Motoko for the umpteenth time. She really didn't care for being called 'Kendo-babe', even if it was another girl.
"Just help me get their big butts out of these chairs." grunted Tomo as she continued to yank.
"Step aside." said Motoko with a hint of a smile.
Tomo did as she was told. Motoko walked over to the table, grabbed Naru and Keitaro, and effortlessly lifted them out of their chairs by their arms, with a small smirk on her face.
"Agh!" screeched Keitaro.
"Wah!" agreed Naru.
As Motoko began to haul the squirming Todai aspirants towards the door (while still holding them above the ground, Tomo spoke up again.
"Jeez Chun-Li, take it easy!"
"Will you ever call me by my name?" asked a slightly irritated Motoko.
Tomo just stared blankly. Motoko sighed.
As they got to the door, Motoko tossed Naru and Keitaro down and began to put her shoes on.
'Hmmph. Motoko never would've done something like that before Tomo got here. That girl is a bad influence.' grumbled Naru to herself as she put her shoes on.
Tomo was grabbing Motoko's biceps and squeezing them. It irritated Motoko, but since Tomo usually went for the breasts instead, she decided not to get angry about it.
"Man, feel these guns!"
Motoko pulled her arm away. "I have a strong body because I put lots of effort into my training. If you would do more than sit in front of the TV, I'm sure you would have a strong body as well."
Tomo just snorted. "Yeah yeah, you're tall, strong, sexy, and you've got jugs like watermelons, everything I'm not. Just keep rubbing it in." she said as she stuck her tongue out at Motoko.
Motoko blushed a little, but said nothing otherwise. She wasn't used to compliments on her physical stature.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Keitaro as he grabbed his bag and made to exit.
"Yeah, let's go!" Tomo bounced out the door, ahead of everyone else.
"I'm set." agreed Naru.
"Alright. Goodbye, Motoko." Keitaro and Naru followed Tomo, who was going to be accompanying her husband to the entrance boards, before making her own way to school.
"I bid you all good day, and good luck." said Motoko.
At that, the college student and two aspirants left Hinata House and made their way towards the trains that would take them to Tokyo.
Shirai sighed a bit as he trudged towards the square where several Tokyo colleges were posting their exam results. He was hoping to either join Haitani at Tokyo Metro, or get into the Tokyo Technology Institute as a backup. But, his grades hadn't really improved.
'Oh well, another year as a ronin. I can deal with that. Maybe I can get a job somewhere...'
He huffed again and resumed his walk as he made his way towards the boards that were looming into view.
With every step, the rock in his stomach seemed to get heavier.
Back in Hinata City, Motoko moved towards her high school with her usual purposeful strides. She was known at the school as a girl who abhorred both nonsense, and boys, meaning she sometimes had trouble making friends. She did seem to have a few devoted fans though, something about her stoic, strong nature seemed to draw certain people.
As she moved towards the school, she stopped suddenly. An unpleasant feeling had suddenly overtaken her.
'I sense an evil presence here.'
Motoko looked around, but saw nothing. A few classmates trudging towards the school, a truck parked on the street, an old lady going in the opposite direction. Nothing seemed out of place or unusual.
But Motoko could still feel the presence.
She decided to simply shake it off and continue to school. Maybe she was just imagining things.
As she walked away, a large black tomcat with expressive eyes and a big mouth with even bigger teeth smiled at her retreating figure from his vantage point behind a garbage can, before pouncing off in the other direction.
Motoko shuddered a bit as more evil energy seemed to overtake her from behind.
Back on the train, Tomo was getting restless.
"Hmmm...." she murmured as she looked around.
"What are you thinking, Tomo?" asked her husband.
"I was just thinking. I've never been groped on a train. Is that something that only happens in manga and anime?"
Keitaro sweatdropped. "Uh, I really don't know, Tomo-chan."
"How about you, Naru. Ever been felt up on a train?" A few of the other train passengers looked like they wanted to get away from Tomo.
"Um...no."
"Hmm. Maybe I should just try groping someone." said Tomo as she glanced around, before settling her eyes on her husband and the other Hinata House resident.
By now, everyone else had moved away from Tomo. A few people had placed briefcases and bookbags to protect sensitive areas.
As Tomo began to move towards the two, they both took a step back.
"Tomo-chan, please don't..." begged Keitaro.
Naru, on the other hand, was not in the mood. "You do that, and I'm going to punch you so hard that even your husband will feel it." she gritted out as she held up a fist that was positively quaking with restrained force and anger.
Tomo gulped. "Uh...maybe I'll just stand here then. With my hands in my pockets. Yeah."
"Smart girl." replied Naru.
Keitaro just sweatdropped.
Shirai walked with his hands in his pockets, head down.
His fears had come to pass. He was a second-year ronin, he'd failed to get into either school. He fought to keep the tears back.
'Hey, those are the Todai boards over there. Maybe I'll go past, see if Keitaro is there.'
The three Hinata House residents arrived at the number boards. Keitaro pulled out his number card, and found he had to walk all the way to the far left side of them. He made his way over, Tomo following.
Naru on the other hand, had to move a bit to the right, and she did.
Hopeful eyes looked through gigantic glasses as she peered over other hopefuls' heads to see the boards. She located the correct group of numbers and...
...she didn't see hers.
This couldn't be right.
She searched again.
Her number wasn't there.
She drew a shuddering breath.
'I'm not going to cry.'
So, that was it then. All of that studying, all of those top scores and rankings, and she'd failed to achieve her goal.
Naru stood there dumbly for a moment, before robotically moving herself in the direction Tomo and Keitaro had gone in.
As she trudged over, she heard a great whooping shout and looked up to see Tomo jumping on her husband, yelling and cheering.
"You made it! You made it! Kei-Kei, you finally made it!" shrieked Tomo as she continued to jump all over Keitaro. For his part, Keitaro just stood there in stunned silence.
"You're a real Todai student! Your parents are going to be so proud! I'm so proud! KEITARO YOU MADE IT!" Tomo's antics were starting to annoy the other hopefuls.
Naru forced herself to smile a little. Forced herself to be happy for the couple. She pulled up short when Keitaro began to speak, however.
Neither Keitaro nor Tomo had noticed Naru's presence behind them.
"Jeez, I can't believe I made it in, especially after that entrance exam."
"What happened?"
"Oh, I totally spaced out like I always do. I started thinking about you and me and our future together, kids, house, jobs, all that stuff. When I came to again I only had ten or so minutes to complete the test so I just filled it randomly as fast as I could."
"Whoa! Talk about lucky!" Then, Tomo registered the rest of what he said. "So, how many kids did we have?" she asked saucily, drawing close.
"Uh...two. A boy and a girl."
"Sounds good to me." Tomo leered at her man.
"Heh-heh. In the future, remember."
Naru heard all of this and was shocked.
'That idiot didn't even take the exam right and he got in? What the hell!?'
It was too much for Naru, and she dashed off, completely unnoticed.
Tomo and Keitaro were still distracted.
"I can think of a dirty boy who's going to have to be cleaned up by his French maid tonight." murmured Tomo in Keitaro's ear as she drew circles on his chest with her finger.
"Heh-heh-heh." Keitaro was beet red. "Wait till we get home, Tomo."
"And I'll be you can't wait until we get home." replied Tomo with a cheeky smile.
"Oh-h-h yes..."
"Hey, wait a second. Where's Naru?"
Keitaro almost facefaulted at his wife's sudden shift.
"Um, I don't know?"
Keitaro scanned up and down the Todai number boards. "Where the heck could she have gone?"
"You don't think she...failed...do you?" asked Tomo. It seemed inconceivable.
"God, I hope not. She would've felt terrible if she saw us celebrating like that."
"Well, regardless of how she did, she's a big girl who can take care of herself. I'm sure she'll turn up."
"I hope so." replied Keitaro.
"Well, I need to get to school in an hour. What are you planning to do?" asked Tomo as she checked her watch.
"I don't know. I don't really feel like going back to Hinata. Maybe I'll just hang out around Jah-Jah-Moh and study or something. I'm still a registrant there, after all.
"I'll be done with class in three hours, and I'm not scheduled at Magnetron today. Why don't you meet me at the usual place by Metro and then we can go out to lunch to celebrate. Beef bowls on me."
Tomo knew her man's food weakness.
Keitaro smiled. "I like the sound of that."
Tomo then whispered huskily in Keitaro's ear. "And then we can go...home."
Blood spurted from Keitaro's nose.
Shirai's mood was not improving as he got further away from the entrance boards. As he angrily stalked along, trying to avoid other passers-by while walking with his hands in his pockets and his head down, he decided to deal with his depression in the best way possible.
Food and drink.
It helped that he'd skipped breakfast that morning, having had too many butterflies in his stomach to have kept his usually sizable breakfast down. He didn't maintain his sexy physique through exercise and vegetables, after all.
He'd just picked out what appeared to be a bar and Korean barbecue joint when a huge force hit him from behind and sent him sprawling.
Shirai just groaned as he rolled to a stop. 'Great, just when this freakin' day couldn't get any better...' he thought as he pushed himself up to his feet.
As he swung around to see who had hit him, he was surprised to find that it was a somewhat familiar face. It was the glasses-girl with the ponytails who sometimes hung out with Keitaro at his cram school, and she sitting on the ground where she had fallen after hitting him. She appeared to be fighting tears back even as she sat there. Shirai recognized the look on her face, but didn't feel any real sympathy. He was in the same boat after all. And she'd just sent him flying into the sidewalk.
She seemed to recognize him as well.
"You're Keitaro's friend." they both said in unison.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before Shirai extended a hand to help her up. She took his hand slowly, but did take it.
Another beat.
"Didn't get in?" Shirai was blunt.
"No. I didn't make it."
"Yeah, I know the feeling.
"I'm sorry I hit you."
"Don't worry. It's not like my day was going to improve anyway."
"Have you seen Keitaro and Tomo?"
"No. Did Keitaro get in?"
"Yeah."
Shirai sighed. "Then, I guess I'm now the only ronin from our little group. I don't think you count as a member because the only one you'd ever talk to was Keitaro."
Naru snorted.
"Well, nice meeting you. I'm gonna go over here now and eat and drink until I can barely walk and then go home and sleep for a week. See you later." Shirai pointed to the bar and then made to leave.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Want some company?"
"Whatever." Shirai wasn't feeling all that personable at the moment. So unpersonable that a pretty girl inviting herself to lunch with him didn't even register on his usual radar of desperation.
A short while later found the two failures sitting at a table in the barbecue place. Shirai was sipping a beer and purposefully scarfing down barbecued meat, while Naru was nibbling at some barbecue and putting booze back like a sailor in a dockside pub.
"Hey, easy on the wine. Are you even old enough to drink that?" asked Shirai.
"Oh shaddup!" said Naru as she slammed another one back. "Hey, waiter! Draft beer, now!"
Shirai frowned. Naru looked to be winding herself up.
"I can't believe I failed! I failed and that idiot Urashima didn't! He didn't even do the test properly! I was the one ranked first! I was the one who studied all the time! I got all the best exam scores!" Naru was waving an empty cup around for emphasis. "I bet he's the one who dragged me down."
"If you were always getting better grades than him, how could he have dragged you down?"
Naru glared at Shirai for a moment, before slamming her cup down. "You're right. And that really pisses me off."
Shirai just stared back.
"Why did I fail?" asked Naru.
"I really wouldn't know."
"Why did you fail?"
Shirai grumbled. "Because I'm not that smart, because I hate to study, and because I get distracted easily are the most likely reasons."
"I did nothing but study for two years! I never saw my friends, never had a boyfriend, studied with a private tutor, never joined any clubs or teams, just like some damn antisocial loser! I studied so much I have to wear these hideous glasses to see anything! And where did it get me? I'm sitting in a bar with some fat dork I hardly know, drinking things I shouldn't be drinking, and wallowing in my failure! I should have passed!" Naru's ranting skills were considerable.
"Hey!" Shirai's indignation at the insult from Naru would've been a lot more credible if he didn't say it through a giant mouthful of BBQ beef.
"And worst of all, I haven't managed to keep the promise I made to get into Todai! I may never see the guy!" Naru was finally winding down.
"I think that's the same reason Keitaro wanted to go there. Made a promise to some girl when he was a kid or something. I don't know the details though...I never really paid attention when he told me that stupid story." Shirai wolfed down more BBQ as he spoke.
"Stupid, stupid Keitaro. Stupid Todai. Stupid everything." grumbled Naru.
"Well Narusegawa-san, I'd like to say it's been fun. But it hasn't. So, I'll probably not be seeing you around." Shirai stood up and threw a few bills on the table to cover his food and the tip and made to leave.
"Hey, wait a sec." said Naru slightly drunkenly.
"What?"
"Um...what...what are you planning to do now that you're a ronin again?" asked Naru. She'd never been a ronin before...she had no idea what to do in this situation.
Shirai sighed. "What else can I do? I'll probably re-enroll at Jah-Jah-Moh, try to find a job to pay the bills, and hope I do better at the next exam. I'd like to lower my standards for my school of choice, but I'm not willing to go that far yet."
Naru blinked. "Right. What else can you do?"
"Exactly. Well, bye."
"Bye." Naru called after him. Shirai was already walking out.
Naru went back to her drinking and eating part of the barbecue Then, she took a glance at the money Shirai had left.
'Hey, did that guy even leave enough to cover his half?!'
Keitaro let out a heaving breath as he slumped down into the booth at the beef-bowl joint. Tomo slid in across from him.
"Gosh. I'm going to be a Todai student. It still hasn't sunk in completely." said Keitaro as he semi-stared into space.
"When are you going to tell your parents?" asked Tomo as she picked up her menu.
"Tomorrow. I don't plan to be too smug about it though. Just a little smug." Tomo smirked.
"Okay, now that you've made it in, what do you plan to study there?"
Keitaro sat and blinked stupidly.
"...you did have a career picked out, right? I mean, I never asked because you were so gung-ho on getting in at Todai...I figured you had a plan."
"Uh...er."
"Ah, well. I'm sure you'll think of something."
"I always thought I'd go for something normal, like law or economics or something."
Tomo made a face. "But that's so dull! You're not going to turn into one of those creepy salarymen who hates his life and spends all his time trying to peep at schoolgirl panties on the trains are you?"
Keitaro stared at his wife for a second, before reaching into his bag and pulling out a book containing the course offerings for the upcoming year at Todai. "Well then, let's see what my options are."
Tomo stood up and moved around the booth to sit next to her husband and read the book as well.
"Hey, they have an archeology department." said Tomo. "You could be like Indiana Jones!"
"Uh..."
The food arrived, and the two settled down to eat their lunch.
"I sure wish I had Naru's phone number." murmured Keitaro as he ate. "I'm kinda worried about the way she just disappeared."
"Yeah I know. I'm sure she's fine though. If anyone messed with her, she'd just punch them so hard they'd land in Russia."
"Heh. Still, we should really put the other residents' cell numbers on our own phones. And they should have our numbers too."
"We can do that later." agreed Tomo.
"Yeah. So, how are things going at Tokyo Metro and Magnetron? I haven't had a chance to talk to you much with all the exams and stuff."
Tomo began updating Keitaro on her own life outside of Hinata House, and the couple made pleasant conversation as they finished up their lunches, and then stood up to make their way back home after Tomo paid for the food.
Later that evening, the Urashimas made their way back to Hinata House, fully expecting to find Naru there. But, they were in for a surprise as they walked in the door.
"Surprise!" chorused all of the residents of the house, plus Haruka.
"What's going on?" asked Keitaro. There were snacks and drinks arranged on the main room's table, plus a few banners and signs around. Banners and signs that didn't necessarily match.
"Su-chan, turn your sign around!" squeaked Shinobu. Su's sign read 'Better Luck Next Time!'.
"Oooopsies!" Su flipped her sign and it now read 'Congratulations, Todai Students!'
Keitaro and Tomo both sweatdropped.
"So, how did y'all do?" asked an already slightly inebriated Kitsune. But, to be fair, Kitsune was always already slightly inebriated.
Before Keitaro could speak, Tomo jumped in excitedly, and began hopping around the room. "KEITARO MADE IT! He's a Todai student!" she punched a fist into the air for emphasis.
"Aaaauuu! Congratulations, Keitaro-sempai!" squealed Shinobu.
"Nice work." winked Kitsune.
"Congratulations are in order, Urashima-san." nodded Motoko.
"Good job, Keitaro." said Haruka through a faint smile and a puff of cigarette smoke.
"Did you bring Su anything to eat?!"
"Thanks everyone." Keitaro beamed.
"Hey y'all, where's Naru?" Kitsune had finally noticed the absence of her friend.
"We thought she'd be here. She vanished at the results posting." said Tomo.
"Oh."
Nobody said it, but everyone suspected what had happened. Especially Kitsune, who knew how her friend would occasionally react to unpleasant situations. She just hoped Naru would come home quickly.
It put a damper on the rest of the evening, and everyone was subdued in their celebration of Keitaro's success.
It was late at night and everyone had gone to bed, save for Kitsune. She was sitting on the couch in her panties and an old shirt, idly flipping through TV channels and sipping sake.
She wouldn't be able to sleep until Naru got home. A woman who cares deeply about her friends is always hiding underneath that foxy exterior.
Then, there was a click at the door, followed by it sliding open and somebody stepping in. Kitsune looked up to see her oldest friend trudging slowly in.
Naru kicked off her shoes and ambled over to the couch where Kitsune was, and heavily sat down next to her.
Kitsune looked at her friend. "Want to talk about it, hun?"
"I didn't get in." was all Naru said.
Kitsune nodded, but said nothing.
Tears began to form in Naru's eyes. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry again, but every time I think about it I..."
Kitsune just grabbed her friend into a hug. Naru sobbed on Kitsune's shoulder for a few moments, before pulling back and thanking Kitsune.
"So, where have you been all day?"
Naru sighed and told Kitsune all about her day, about running away from the Urashimas, about her lunch with that fat sleazebag idiot Shirai who only paid for a third of their meal (which made Kitsune snicker), and about just wandering around Tokyo for the rest of the day, trying to find her bearings.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Kitsune.
Naru echoed Shirai. "What else can I do? I'll go back to cram school, keep studying, and try again."
Naru couldn't subdue the huge yawn that suddenly overtook her.
"Come on, hun. It's time to get you to bed. You've had a long day." said Kitsune as she gingerly helped her tired friend up and began walking her towards her room.
"Thanks Kitsune" said Naru through another yawn.
And then, through the walls...
"Mmmm....landlord-san, is your naughty maid going to have to use the feather duster again?"
"Tomo-chaaaaaaaaan!"
Naru and Kitsune stopped, and then looked at each other.
Kitsune looked amused.
Naru did not.
"Perverts."
Elsewhere in Tokyo...
The big black Chaser sedan sped through the streets of Tokyo, it's four occupants looking the worse for wear, but otherwise alive. They were speeding away from a warehouse that had just been leveled by an explosion.
"That was a pretty clever move, Rock. I never would've thought to flood the boiler with cold water to create that explosion. We may not have escaped if not for that." said the blond driver, who had since identified himself as Benny.
"It was just like the time that idiot Takino spilled ice cubes into the fryer at work. It just makes a giant mess. So, why did you have to kill all those guys anyway?" Mr. Okajima was terrified, but glad to be alive. "And why do you guys keep calling me Rock?"
"It just seems to fit."
It had been a wild ride in the weeks since these insane people had dragged him out of his workplace, but they had not only kept him alive, but gradually warmed up to his common-sense intelligence and remarkably slick tongue.
And, he had to admit, these past weeks were a lot more exciting than greasy French fries and stupid subordinates.
"They're after the same things we are. And they had the information we needed. Now that they're all dead, we shouldn't have many problems here." murmured the hulking black man from the front passenger seat. He had told Rokuro to just call him Dutch.
Before Mr. Okajima could say any more, Benny piped up again.
"And the way you managed to distract them all just by talking, amazing. I've never met anyone who could stop Yakuza cold like that with just words."
"Uh, heh. I guess when you can placate a bitchy mother and her three screaming brats at Magnetron, talking to Yakuza just doesn't seem as intimidating."
Both occupants at the front of the car chuckled.
"So...uh...if you don't mind my asking, why are you in Japan?"
"A customer has asked us to retrieve some valuable items, and ship them back-channel to his contacts." Dutch replied matter-of-factly.
"And, you grabbed me, because?"
The Chinese-looking woman, who Mr. Okajima now knew as Revy, next to him suddenly spoke for the first time since entering the car. "I was just hoping nobody would try to plug me with you in front. You made a good shield. Those guys in the Magnetron burger worked for our former enemies back there...we hadn't expected to run into them on a lunch run." she smirked.
Mr. Okajima looked like he wanted to vomit in fear.
But, before he could, the black man spoke up again. "I don't normally do things like this, Rock, but I have a proposition for you."
"Um...okay?"
"We could use a local guy, someone who knows the area well. Plus, you're an out-of-the-box thinker and you know how to talk to people. Revy back there isn't much of a diplomat."
The woman snorted.
"I'd like to offer you a position on our crew. The starting pay is 15 percent of our profits, and after we're done here, we take you back to the home base and you continue to work jobs with us."
Rock didn't really know what to say. "Um...what am I going to be doing, exactly? I don't think I could kill someone..."
"Just do what you did tonight, Rock."
Mr. Okajima thought a bit. "And if I don't join?"
"Revy?"
He looked over at the woman. She was delicately stroking the butt of one of her pistols with one finger.
Rock gulped. He got the message. "Hobson's choice it is. Looks like I've found a new job."
"I knew you'd see it our way. You don't get seasick, do you?"
"Um...no. By the way, you never told me where these 'items' are being retrieved from. Is it in Tokyo?"
"Mmm-hmmm." rumbled Dutch. "We're going to be hitting the archeology wing of Tokyo University's history and science buildings. That's where all of the items are."
Rock gasped. "That's where my brother went to school...I hate that guy..." he trailed off.
Dutch just chuckled. "Oh, Rock...one other thing."
"Yes?"
Dutch turned around in his seat and extended a meaty paw.
"Welcome aboard."
Oh hai, looks like this chapter is in the books. I hope I didn't disappoint you TOO MUCH because I know I did disappoint. I tell you that the real plot is going to be released in the next chapter and the real plot is...Keitaro gets into Todai and Naru doesn't? That's what I made you guys wait all this time for? Lol, I suck.
Though, I suppose I did make it clear early on that this story's plot wouldn't get too wild. It's not like it was going to be 'Keitaro gets to Hinata house but he's a transvestite and Tomo is a serial killer and then Jack Black shows up and he's a dingly-dang...'
But then, I suppose that part at the end there is pretty dingly-dang-ish, eh? And wtf is a dingly-dang? I don't even know what I'm typing anymore. Shit. I bet you guys didn't expect that goofy crap from chapter two to go anywhere, eh?
I kind of like BitterJerk!Shirai. I think I'll bring him back, though I'm not sure where. He's a fun counterpoint to Naru.
I'm going to say in advance that the chapters aren't going to come as quickly as they used to. Real life just sorta jumped up and bit me on the ass. But, don't ever consider this story dead unless I say so. BECUZ I SEZ SO!
And, I just took a gander at my stats. Damn. 98 reviews? That's a lot. And between the favs and watches, I have like 200 people waiting for the next chapter.
And I hope that some of those people (as well as first time readers) will leave reviews to tell me how I'm doing. Because I do read them all and I do try to take some of the (not crappy) advice into consideration.
Well, I've rambled on enough.
TEA AND CAKE OR DEATH?