Chapter 9: Reaching For the Stars
By Zenithos
Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, Mahou Sensei Negima, or Sister Princess.
Proofread by Apocalypse Alchemist
Thanks ever so much for the really supportive reviews. They're really helping me get these new chapters done. You may not realize but your constant feedback, opinions, and suggestions are really the driving force behind this story's progress. Even I can't believe how much your reviews have helped shape the story. With each chapter, this inexperienced fanfic writer continues to learn new things, and its all thanks to you reviewers. So feel free to tell me anything you like, whether it be opinions and thoughts on the story, suggestions on where to take the story, or even things like what you want to see in later chapters (which I'll definitely take into consideration). Thank you, everyone.
Quick apology. Since we hurried the uploading of chapter 8, I didn't have the time to give it a re-read after the proofreading and somehow a small, yet significant section somehow got missed out by mistake during the proofread. I can't let it go because otherwise, Keitaro would sound like a complete and utter hypocrite in this chapter. The following is how the scene in front of Motoko's room was supposed to go:
"Just go and have fun, ok?" Keitaro smiled, as he watched them leave. "Keiko-chan?" He looked around at Keiko who had just left Motoko's room. "…I think I have a rough idea of what happened this morning. Congratulations. Your skills sure have improved."
"It wasn't much of a victory. A lot of things happened." Keiko said, smiling her usual modest smile.
"Well, a victory is a victory." Keitaro beamed.
"Anigimi-sama….I'm sorry I broke your rule…." Keiko said, suddenly looking downcast.
"Yes…I was just getting to that." Keitaro suddenly put on a serious look. "But I'm sure you had a reason. Care to explain?"
"….She challenged me to a fight, and I thought that if I could defeat her, I could get her to stop being so mean to you." Keiko explained.
"Well, whatever you do, remember, violence isn't a solution to anything." Keitaro sighed, patting her on the shoulder. "You should never, ever resort to violence, especially not for my sake."
"….Yes, Anigimi-sama." Keiko nodded, reluctantly.
"That's a good girl. I know I can always count on you." Keitaro smiled down at her. "Oh, and can I count on you to keep an eye on the girls? Especially that blonde-haired girl over there. Her name's Sarah and I'm supposed to keep an eye on her for a bit."
When we last saw Keitaro, he was about to get yet another beating from Naru on account of a wardrobe load of lingerie and a few scribbles in her review books….
"DIE KEITARO!" Naru screamed.
"LISTEN TO ME FOR JUST A FRIKIN' SECOND!" Keitaro shouted. Naru stopped, but only out of pure shock. Keitaro had never exploded like that before.
"We're caught….there's no way out of this…" Sarah sniffled.
"AND YOU!" Keitaro shouted, looking around at Sarah. All the pent up anger inside him welled up all at once, like a flaming oil platform blowout. The beast that's been clawing and raging inside him smashed its way out of his ribcage. "Whatever you have against me, I don't know. And I don't care what you do to me! But nobody, and I mean nobody, will ruin my little sisters with bad examples!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Naru ran forwards and punched Keitaro in the jaw, sending him flying backwards into the corridor.
"Onii-tama!" Hinako cried.
"Onii-chama! You should defend yourself!" Hinata shouted.
"…I told you already, Narusegawa, I'm not going to tolerate anymore violence. Not in front of my little sisters!" Keitaro shouted, standing up. "This has gone on too far!"
Naru suddenly recoiled in fear, seeing the menacing look in Keitaro's eyes. The shine in them had disappeared, replaced by the deep dark well of maturity and age.
"I've got responsibilities to my little sisters. One of them is to educate them properly and I don't intend to expose them to such needless violence!" Keitaro turned around to leave. "If you can't live with these simple rules, then you're free to leave. Girls, go back to what you were doing. Also, I don't want any of you talking to that….girl." He pointed at Sarah, who stepped back in shock. "It's enough that she stays here. But I won't let her spoil what your parents have worked so hard to teach you." He shouted, before striding down the hall.
'Whoah….I thought he was the yielding, pushover kind…' Sarah thought to herself.
"….The idiot…." Naru fumed. "How dare he? First he pulls Sarah into doing something like this, then he…."
"NO!" Hinata shouted. "Would Onii-chama really sign his own name there if he really did it?!"
Naru looked around at Hinata in surprise. That never really occurred to her. And to think that she prided herself as being the National first….and it took a 4 year-old to realize that?
'Whoops…' Sarah kicked herself mentally. How could she have been that careless?
"And Onii-chama was with Chiikage-neechama until a few minutes ago!" Hinata added. "Then he went straight to his room!"
"O…Oniitama w…would never do mean things like that!" Hinako said, without a single drop of doubt in her cute determined voice.
"Nii-ya isn't mean…." Aria sniffled, tears brimming in her eyes. "Nii-ya is the nicest person in the whole world…."
Kaho shook her head quickly and gave Naru a determined scowl.
"…There's got to be a thief or somebody really mean hiding somewhere in this room…" Hinata said, looking around. Hinako immediately hid behind her twin sister upon hearing the word 'thief'.
'Wow….these sisters of his really do trust this idiot a lot…' Sarah thought. 'I've got to get on their good side somehow…'
"Hmmm….it's obvious Ani-chama couldn't have committed the act." Mizuki said (in English, off course), taking out her magnifying glass and putting on her Sherlock Homes look. "We've got eyewitnesses saying he was with Chiikage-neechama until the past few minutes, after which he went straight to his room. There wouldn't have been any time for him to come up here and do all this."
'No….a detective?!' Sarah groaned inwardly.
"Come to think of it….I was with him downstairs just a moment ago…" Naru said, shocked that she herself was confirming Keitaro's alibi.
"See? Even the prosecutor's an eyewitness to the defendant's credit." Mizuki nodded. "And nobody would be stupid enough to actually credit their wrong-doing to themselves like that if they didn't want to be found out. And the culprit must also be the person who dumped Naru-neechama's entire lingerie collection on Ani-chama's head. Now…as for the culprit, it's obvious. It's whoever's doing the acting." She looked Sarah in the eye who recoiled. "Elementary, ne?"
"Sarah…." Naru looked around at Sarah. Everything was suddenly falling into place. She was amazed at how much a few minutes of clear thinking could reveal so much. "…was…all this…your doing?"
"NO!" Sarah shouted.
"There's no way out." Mizuki said, walking up to Sarah. "It would make it easier for you if you just gave yourself up now. We have evidence. The modus operandi is obvious…but the motive?" Mizuki looked Sarah in the eye. "You're a single child, aren't you?"
"….wha…what?!" Sarah stammered.
"Ah, yes, you are. You can't hide it from me. I live with 12 sisters and a brother. I'd know a single child when I see one." Mizuki nodded. "And lemme guess, you want your father all to yourself, is that it? That's why you're afraid my brother would come in between you and your father, am I right?"
"B…but….y…you don't understand anything!" Sarah screamed. She pushed roughly past Mizuki, skid into the corridor, and ran away.
"The culprit has escaped! Beginning pursuit!" Mizuki shouted, leaping onto her feet and running out of the room.
"Hai!" Hinata shouted, as she and Hinako followed after her.
Aria followed them to the door, watched them disappear around a bend, before walking back to Naru. "Please forgive Nii-yaa…Nii-yaa's only like that when Nii-yaa's thinking of others." She said in her quiet little voice.
"Others?" Naru frowned down at the blind little girl. She was still fuming over what Keitaro had said to her earlier, but now that she was confronted by her big, cute, watery, unseeing eyes, she felt compelled to somehow consider seeing things her way.
Come to think of it, Keitaro never ever exploded like that, no matter how badly they treated him.
But now that he had his little sisters to take care of….
Naru gasped. Keitaro wasn't angry over how he was treated. He was angry because…she was being a bad example and was being a potential harm to his little sisters' development.
"Nii-yaa….is too nice." Aria said. "Nii-yaa cares for others so much. It must have been so painful for Nii-yaa to have to say all that." A tear ran down her cheek as she turned to leave. "Please do forgive Nii-yaa…." She said, before leaving.
"I….I should be the one asking for forgiveness…" Naru whispered.
In the kitchen….
"And now it's time for Hime-chan's cooking hour desu-no!" Shirayuki said excitedly, donning her chef's hat and putting on her cute frilly white apron. "Today, we'll be walking you through cooking the perfect feast to congratulate your beloved big brother on finding a job."
Karen came up to Shirayuki, whispered something in her ear, before hurrying away.
"…while simultaneously wishing him good luck for his all-important test desu-no." Shirayuki added. "Well, first of all…." She looked down at her little notebook. "….we get two eggs, some onions, garlic, tomatoes, and, off course, a few snails and some frogs desu-no."
"Err….Shirayuki-chan, are you sure you're looking at the right recipe?" Shinobu asked, poking one of the snail shells and recoiling as a long oozing tentacle came out. "Wh….what is that?!!"
"Snails from my home country…" Suu said happily, hanging down from the ceiling lamp.
Both Shirayuki and Shinobu sweat-dropped big time.
"The….the frog j…just changed colour…." Shinobu pointed out.
"Oh, they come from the swamps of my homeland. There was this huge nuclear fallout a few years back, then these little guys started popping up." Suu said happily, drooling.
Both Shirayuki and Shinobu face-faulted (anime style).
The snails and frogs were thrown out the window and Shirayuki and Shinobu went back to the drawing board.
"Maybe something vegetarian this time, desu-no…" Shirayuki sighed.
"That idiot….jeez….why's everyone fussing over him like that?" Sarah groaned, sitting down on the steps underneath the shikan (clothes drying area) walkway, hugging her knees. Way above her, a few linen sheets flapped heavily in the cold winter wind against the pale blue sky. More snow was on its way. It was going to be a really white Christmas.
A really sad Christmas too….
She sighed and warmed her hands as she looked out at the city laid out beneath the Hinata Sou, all covered in pure crystalline white. "It's Christmas Eve tomorrow too….and papa left me with that dope…" She scowled. "It's all his fault….that idiot…I hate him! I hate him!"
"Hey, save all that hate for the snowball fights, will ya?" a voice said from above.
Sarah swiveled around in surprise. Had they found her already?
"Oh….it's only you…" Sarah sighed, looking back at the city.
"What do you mean, it's only me?" Sakuya asked, coming down the stairs and sitting down beside Sarah. "So, what's eating you? Wanna talk about it?"
"It's none of your business." Sarah said curtly.
"Lemme guess….it's Christmas Eve tomorrow, and you're feeling chewed out cause your dad left you with his assistant, am I right?" Sakuya asked, a mischievous smile on her face.
A spear (proverbial, off course.) went straight through Sarah's heart.
"And you're afraid that with his new assistant around, your father would get busier and would start neglecting you more often, right?"
This time, a proverbial light saber (if such things are possible) pierced through Sarah's heart and burned everything else around it.
"From the looks on your face, I'd say I'm right." Sakuya grinned.
"Wh…what do you know?!" Sarah shouted hotly.
"Well, I do know this." Sakuya said. "An assistant's job, if anything, is to lessen the employer's workload. My brother's task is to relieve your father of some of his work and allow him to have more time for you."
"But….but…" Sarah looked away from her. No matter how much she thought this over, it made complete sense. It also made her extremely angry, at Sakuya and at herself as well.
"Your father may not have much time for anything, being the busy man he is, but he'll always have time for you, Sarah." Sakuya said, looking up at the sky. "Nothing will ever make him too busy for you. I know…" She closed her eyes. "Because my brother is like that. No matter how busy he is with studies, or work, he'd always have time for us. Well, perhaps never enough time, since we're very demanding sisters." She chuckled. "But whenever he's not busy, he dedicates all his time for us. Your father's just like that." Sakuya smiled down at Sarah.
"Besides, how do you think we feel about you?" Rinrin popped up and sat down beside Sarah. "If we were to take your view on things, we'd start hating you as well. You're taking up our brother's time and attention and you're not even thankful for it." Rinrin sighed. "Not to mention you cause him trouble too." Rinrin looked around at Sarah.
"I….I….but…" Sarah stammered.
"Haha, no worries. I said that's if we take your view on things." Rinrin laughed. "Aniki is such a kindhearted person. We'd be extremely selfish if we were to bereft the world of his kindness and keep it all to ourselves." She smiled. "But a little appreciation wouldn't hurt. There are 12 little girls here who'd do anything to be in your shoes, you know that?"
"W…wait! You already heard about….what I did?" Sarah asked, cautiously.
Both Rinrin and Sakuya grinned. "We're sisters, after all." Rinrin smiled. "And sisters love to gossip."
"I….I…." Sarah grew quiet.
"That was really mean of you, Sarah-neechama…." Hinata said, coming down the steps. "But….Hinata-chan thinks she can understand….Hinata-chan would also not like it if anything kept Onii-chama away from Hinata-chan."
"But…it's still wrong. Onii-tama hasn't done anything wrong to anyone." Hinako said, coming down beside her.
"Since it's all cleared up and nobody was seriously hurt, Mizuki-chan thinks we should just forgive Sarah-chan." Mizuki said, coming down beside Hinako, "Besides, Mizuki-chan had a chance to show her analysis skills, checky!" She smiled, looking into Sarah's eyes with her magnifying glass.
"Aria-chan agrees." Aria said, nodding, coming up the rear.
"Th…that's it?!" Sarah shouted in disbelief. "You're going to forgive me?! If someone had done something like that to me, I'd…." she stopped short and blushed.
The sisters all smiled understandingly.
"Oh, there you are, Sarah." Keiko said, popping up at the foot of the stairs. "I and Karen just found the decorations. We need your opinion, since you're from the US and everything." She smiled. She looked up at Keitaro who was coming down the stairs behind Sarah and gave him a quick wink.
"There's your punishment. Go and help out." Keitaro said, sighing and crossing his arms and looking away from Sarah. "And have fun while you're at it. Otherwise, I won't count it even."
"I…idiot! Where'd you come from?! And who wants to get even?!" Sarah hissed, "Besides, you told your sisters they're not allowed to talk to me!"
"I remember saying 'that girl'. I didn't mention any names." Keitaro said, his back still to Sarah. "So they're not to talk to that spoiled, selfish little brat that was being completely inconsiderate to everyone around her. But they can talk to cute, nice, understanding little Sarah McDouggal." Keitaro gave her a sidewards glance.
"Cute and understanding?! Huh! You wish!" Sarah shouted, but she couldn't help but smile a small smile up at Keitaro's back.
"Come along, you all should help too." Keiko said to her little sisters, who all replied in the affirmative and followed.
"Ummmm….." Naru shifted about uneasily as she came down the stairs behind Keitaro. "Well….uhh….I guess….I should apologize…" She said in a quiet voice. Keitaro looked around at her and gave her an appraising look. "Sorry, Keitaro, I really should give you the benefit of a doubt at times."
"Don't worry about it." Keitaro said, turning around to watch his sisters descend the stairs. "I don't need apologies. I only need you all to start following the rules."
"Yes, I'll try." Naru said.
"That's good to hear." Keitaro turned around and smiled a warm smile at Naru before walking down the stairs.
"You've got really nice sisters, you know that?" Naru said. "It seems like….nobody in the world understands you better than they do."
"Off course I know." Keitaro said. "They're my sisters."
"And now we're back to Hime-chan's cooking hour, with your hosts, Hime-chan and Shinobu-neesama desu-no." Shirayuki said. "After going through the entire recipe book, we finally decided on oden, along with a few other side dishes desu-no."
"…and the fish is sponsored by me, Suu-chan!" Suu shouted, holding out two heavily deformed blobs which could only pass as fish during brief periods of extremely lax maritime quality control.
"…Kaolla-san…are those fish?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeah, check it out." She poked one. It suddenly let out tons of ooze out of what is, presumably, its mouth. "See, it's a fish!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEKK!" Shinobu shrieked.
"….Hime-chan think we can do without that, Suu-neesama." Shirayuki said, uneasily. "errr…on with the show."
"Mizuki-chan's got the oden ingredients." Mizuki announced, coming into the kitchen.
"That would make a lot of oden…." Suu smiled, drooling, looking at Hinako who was clinging onto Mizuki's back.
"Aaang…" Hinako looked up at Suu fearfully.
"Does she look like food to you?" Mizuki asked uneasily.
"Noooo! Suu-neesama!" Shirayuki cried. "My little sister isn't food!"
"But I'm hungry…" Suu moaned.
"Err….and on with the oden desu-no. Ummm…." Shirayuki said.
"Tama-chan! Tama-chan!" Hinako giggled, waving at the cute little turtle.
"Myuuu!" Tama-chan greeted her.
"He really looks like he's enjoying himself, isn't he?" Mizuki smiled down at Tama-chan, who was bobbing about in a small pool of water.
"Off course he is. That's first class oden he's getting cooked in." Suu said happily.
"Myuuu!" Tama-chan looked down in shock at the flames under his little pool.
"NOOOO!" Shirayuki shouted. "You can't cook Tama-chan!"
A scratching sound drew her attention to the oven.
"Mew…mew…." Vanilla mewed contentedly as it scratched its nails on the oven's grating.
"UNYAAAAAAA!" Shirayuki cried, running over to the oven and slamming it open, letting out a wave of sweltering hot air into the kitchen. "Vanilla-chan! Suu-neesama!" She looked around at Suu, holding the kitten close. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Yeah?" Suu asked, looking around, while trying to stuff Wataru the toucan into a frying pan.
"CHECKY! CHECKY! SQUAWK!" The toucan shrieked.
"NOOOOOOOO! WATARU!" Mizuki screamed, coming to Wataru's rescue.
"No! Down! Bad Suu!" Shinobu shouted.
"And….the main course…." Suu smiled happily as she sprinkled some salt and pepper on, of all things, Hinako's head.
"WAAAAAAAH!" Hinako cried, running away. Suu immediately leapt after her.
"NOOO! HINAKO-CHAN!" Mizuki, Shirayuki, and Shinobu cried as they ran after them.
"ITADAKIMASU!" Suu shouted as she leapt up into the air, her mouth wide open.
"AMYAAAAAAA!" Hinako cried.
CRUNCH….MUNCH….MUNCH…MUNCH…
"….Suu….that's my head…" Sarah said in an impatient tone. Hinako had taken cover behind her and was cowering in fear, peeking out at Suu.
"Yum….yum…slobber…drool…" Suu continued on munching.
"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" Sarah screamed, flinging her head about, causing Suu to flail about like a fish out of water.
"Should we do anything?" Rinrin asked.
"Yeah, get a video camera." Sakuya said, nodding in a final manner.
"You still haven't forgiven her, have you?" Rinrin sighed.
3 hours of cramming later…
"GASP…" Keitaro gasped expansively as he dragged himself into the corridor. "God…3 hours of studying and I'm out already?"
"Oh, y…you're back already, Keitaro-sama." Ako said, looking down at him.
"…U…Urashima-sama…" Makie stammered, blushing again.
"Oh…" Keitaro quickly got onto his feet. "How was your first day at work?" He asked the two.
"It was great." Ako said, smiling brightly. "And the salary's great too." Ako looked around at Makie who had gone completely silent. She lightly patted her on the back.
"Ah…um…it was great….yes, we made lots of bread…" Makie said awkwardly. "There was…lots of kiss…I MEAN…LOTS OF CHEESE!"
"That's great. It's good that you're enjoying your jobs." Keitaro smiled.
"We heard you got yourself a job too, Keitaro-sama." Ako said, trying her best to cover up Makie's awkwardness.
"Yes…and, um…can you two please start calling me Keitaro? It's extremely awkward now that you're not working for me anymore." Keitaro said.
"Oh, ok." Ako said. "Keitaro-sempai."
"…K…Keitaro-sempai…" Makie turned so red that Ako was getting worried that she might suddenly get a nosebleed all of a sudden.
"Err…yeah, anyway, I think dinner's ready, so…shall we?" Ako managed. Her face was a bright red as well, despite her apparent efforts to keep her composure.
Thankfully, Keitaro was completely clueless. Ah, blissful ignorance. "Ok, let's." Keitaro nodded, glad for something other than calculus.
"CONGRATULATIONS! KEITARO! MAKIE! AKO!" Everyone shouted, raising their glasses.
"Thanks, everyone." Keitaro, Makie, and Ako said, bowing.
"So, Makie's now working in a bakery and Ako's working in a clinic, right?" Mitsune asked. "And what about you, Keitaro? Babysitting?" She asked, gesturing at Sarah.
"It's not babysitting!" Both Sarah and Keitaro shouted.
"Looks like babysitting to me." Mitsune shrugged. "Though things like that are right up your alley, isn't it?" Mitsune grinned cheekily. The sisters all looked around at Mitsune.
"It's more like we baby-sit him." Sakuya said. Everyone at the table laughed.
"Hey, speaking of babysitting, who do you think acts most like a baby when she's drunk?" Keitaro asked. "And who has to do the babysitting then?"
"What's life without a few drinks?" Mitsune asked. "And be honest, Keitaro, you enjoy babysitting me when I'm drunk, right?"
Everyone laughed again. Well, almost everyone. Suu was too busy stuffing her face to notice anything else around her.
"K…Kaolla-san!" Makie cried. "That's mine…"
"Spoils of war!" Suu said in between mouthfuls.
"Don't worry, Suu, there's more over here." Shinobu said, gesturing at the large pot of oden in the middle of the table. "You don't have to take stuff from others."
"But Makie-Makie already works in a bakery. She gets to eat all that bread…." Suu said in a sulky tone.
"It's a job, Kaolla-san…" Makie sighed. "I can't eat anything without paying for it…."
"…And cheese…and chocolate….and bananas….and turtles….and crickets…" Suu continued to drool.
"Anou….Suu….where does turtles and crickets come in?" Shinobu asked, uneasily.
"So does this mean I can get discounts when I visit the bakery or the clinic?" Mitsune asked Ako and Makie. "I mean, I can use some free painkillers for all those hangovers."
"Don't start mooching off them already, Mitsune-san. You might cause them to lose their jobs…" Keitaro said, referring to the job she lost him earlier that day.
"Hah, don't be such a spoil sport, especially when you got a job I can't mooch off." Mitsune said. "I mean, babysitting? It'll be a long time before I need people like you…."
"WE SAID IT'S NOT BABYSITTING!" Keitaro and Sarah shouted. Everyone laughed again.
"Hey, speaking of babysitters, when can we expect baby Mitsunes running around?" Naru asked playfully.
"H….Hey!" Mitsune protested. "That's deep. That's really deep." She looked around at Keitaro and grinned. "Well….if you put it that way…..perhaps not long." She gave Keitaro a suggestive wink. Keitaro couldn't help but blush.
"M…Mitsune-san!" Sakuya gasped.
"It…it's not a topic of jest…." Keiko said, blushing brightly.
"Yeah! Aniki's mine!" Rinrin shouted.
"What do you mean yours? Ani-chama's mine!" Mizuki protested.
"The cards speak…." Chiikage said, pulling out a card from her pack of tarot cards. "There is a thread of destiny binding me and Ani-kun…."
"NO WAY!" Rinrin and Mizuki shouted. It suddenly started raining tarot cards.
"No matter what you people say, he's mine…" Sakuya sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Nii-sama's Hime-chan's prince!" Shirayuki announced.
"Aniue-sama…." Marie gave Keitaro a concerned look.
"But…but…." Karen looked around in panic. "Onii-chan's the one who decides, right?"
"Nii-yaaa…." Aria pulled on Keitaro's sleeve.
Kaho pulled on the other sleeve and gave Keitaro a beseeching look.
"Whatever anyone says, Onii-chama will always be ours!" Hinata shouted. Hinako nodded in agreement.
"Is this what they call sibling rivalry?" Mitsune whispered to Naru.
"Scary…" Naru whispered back. "But it's cute though."
"You two're not going to hammer him for incest?" Mitsune asked, grinning.
"Nope. He's just being a good big brother, that's all." Naru said. "I can't hammer him for that."
"I'm honour bound to not give undue punishment." Motoko said, sipping her tea. "I've given my word to Keiko."
"Argh…you two are no fun anymore…" Mitsune laughed.
"Ah….I wish I had a big brother…" Shinobu said, wistfully.
"Yum….Gulp….Slurp….Gobble…." Suu continued on demolishing what's left of the table.
They all couldn't help but smile as they watched the sisters crowding around Keitaro, vying for attention. Keitaro laughed, picked up Aria and Marie, and ran off to lighthearted protests from his other sisters.
"He's...different now, isn't he?" Mitsune asked, looking out the window. Keitaro and the sisters had begun throwing snowballs at each other in the courtyard.
"But that's what Keitaro-sempai really is like." Shinobu smiled. "He's always been such a nice person..."
"It took us such little angels to notice these little things..." Naru too smiled as she joined the others at the window.
"Hmm..." Motoko nodded.
"I don't know whether or not I should join them..." Sarah said, slightly wistfully.
"So Kawai..." Ako giggled.
"Keitaro-sempai..." Makie sighed and blushed.
"I'm finishing everything!": Suu shouted.
"SUU! NO!" Everyone else shouted.
2 more hours of cramming later…
"Brrr…" Keitaro shivered as he walked out onto his balcony for some fresh air. The sea of lights that was Kanagawa city sparkled under the pale winter moonlight. The snow had stopped.
From down below came the cheerful laughter of the children as they decorated the great fir trees in the front courtyard. On one side of the courtyard stood a completed Christmas tree, a majestic shimmering tower, even though its lights haven't been turned on. Apparently either Rinrin or Suu (or from the looks of it, both) had somehow made an army of Santa sleds orbit the gigantic Christmas tree.
Everyone else was clustered around another, unfinished Christmas tree on the other side of the courtyard.
"Keiko-neuesama, you can't put up Tanabata wish talismans on the Christmas tree…" Marie said, watching Keiko strung up pieces of paper on the Christmas tree.
"Why not? It's a tree and it's a beautiful night. Why can't we make wishes?" Keiko smiled. "The wishes are all for Anigimi-sama's good luck anyway. What harm could it do?"
"…I think I'll put up a few too then." Marie said, smiling at her big sister's strange idea.
Rinrin along with Shirayuki were off on one side of the courtyard, setting up something with their backs to Keitaro.
Ako, Mitsune, and Motoko were handing up brightly coloured baubles and lanterns up to Shinobu, Makie, Mizuki and Sarah who were sitting atop scaffolds by the fir tree. It seems Suu had tried to mount an entire xenon lamp and possibly an entire laser show with real death rays as well. Hinako, Aria, and Kaho were running around one of the smaller fir trees on one side, wrapping it with a set of sparkling paper chains and streamers.
"Whoah! Suu! Watch out!" Mitsune shouted, as Suu narrowly missed kicking her head off as she swung around on a streamer while wrapping it around the tree. The tree shook violently with the force of her twirls, shedding baubles, lanterns, candy canes, grenades (?), and other odds and ends in random directions all over the courtyard.
"Look out! Incoming!" Hinata shouted, pulling Hinako out of the way as the glittery Christmas artillery fire landed all around them.
One bauble bounced off Aria's head, causing her eyes to water. "Kusu…" She sniffled.
"Ahh, Aria-chan!" Keiko cried.
"Hey, Suu!" Everyone shouted.
"Nyahahahahaha! The only way you can stop me is by catching me!" She shouted, looking backwards as she made another twirl around the tree
"SUU!" Rinrin shouted.
"Nyaaa? Nobody can stop me!" Suu laughed.
"He could!" Rinrin shouted, pointing at something in front of Suu.
Suu turned forwards.
SMUSH…
She crashed headlong into a snowman.
"Hurry! Snowball her!" Sakuya shouted. Nobody needed telling twice. They took aim, and fired.
"Snowman her!" Sarah shouted, before everyone charged forwards and rolled the pile of snow that was Suu into a gigantic snowball with her head poking out on top.
"Victory!" Mitsune shouted. Everyone cheered, even Suu.
It was things like this that was worth fighting for. Keitaro smiled a content smile as he turned around to go back inside.
Everything went quiet outside for a few moments before a knock sounded on his door.
"Onii-chan." Karen greeted him with a cute smile.
"Oh, hi Karen-chan. Why aren't you downstairs with the others?" Keitaro asked, gesturing her to take a seat in the kotatsu.
"Karen-chan thought you'd need some coffee." Karen said, setting down a tray with a pot of coffee, Keitaro's favourite mug, and a plate of homemade cookies.
"Thanks, Karen-chan." Keitaro patted her on the head. "Gosh, you girls have been busy today, haven't you?"
"But it would've been more fun with you there, Onii-chan." Karen said. A whistle sounded outside. "Oh, can you please come with Karen-chan, Onii-chan?" Karen asked, pulling Keitaro's hand and leading him towards the balcony.
The courtyard had suddenly come ablaze with light. One of the two fir trees that had been converted into Christmas trees was sparkling magnificently, boasting the image of an ideal Christmas tree.
The other Christmas tree, though half finished (and half-decimated by Suu), was also gleaming brightly in the dark.
"Wow…" Keitaro gasped.
"Ok everyone?!" Rinrin shouted down below. "One…Two…THREE!" She shouted.
"GOOD LUCK!" Everyone down on the courtyard shouted, before cheering as a set of lights strung up between the two Christmas trees came alive to form a set of letters.
Keitaro looked up and noticed that Naru too had come out onto her balcony with Sakuya beside her. "You cheeky little angels actually came up with something like this?" Keitaro asked, picking up Karen as more lights lit up the trees surrounding the front courtyard.
"Haha, do you like it?" Karen giggled, hugging Keitaro around the neck.
"Well…for one thing, the words spell COOL DUKG….though I get the message." Keitaro smiled.
"Ah!" Karen gasped, realizing the letters were all arranged incorrectly. "Everyone! The letters are wrong!" She shouted.
"What?" Rinrin looked up at the words and gasped.
"Oh no…" Makie groaned. "Kaolla-san! I thought you said it was perfect!"
"Nyaaa?" Suu cocked her head to one side as she looked up at the letters.
"Forget it, she can't spell." Sarah sighed.
"Anigimi-sama! We need help with the star!" Keiko shouted up at Keitaro.
"Haha, sure." Keitaro laughed. "Narusegawa, you should come down as well!" He shouted up at Naru.
"Idiot…how're you supposed to get a B at this rate?" Naru sighed, smiling as she leapt down the hole into Keitaro's room. "Let's go. I can't study while exciting things like this are happening anyway." She winked.
A few moments later…
"Ok, nii-sama, are you ready?" Shirayuki called out.
"We haven't done this in a long time…are you sure it's all right?" Keitaro asked. "Now that I think about it, I realize why our parents always disapproved of this."
"Don't worry. I think everyone's as ready as ever." Rinrin said, digging her feet into the snow behind Keitaro. She crouched and cupped her hands between her legs.
"It won't be too difficult, Ani-kun." Chiikage said, grasping his hand beside him.
"Yeah, the old one-two." Sakuya said, grasping his other hand.
"But…we've never done this with Hinako, Hinata, Kaho, and Aria." Keitaro said, giving the youngest sisters a worried look.
"I'm sure they'll manage." Keiko said, standing in front of Keitaro with her back to him. In front of them towered the completed Christmas tree.
"What on earth are you people doing?" Naru asked.
"Please be careful…" Marie said, wearing an expression of concern.
"This better not be something dangerous, Urashima." Motoko warned.
"Yeah, but it better be entertaining." Mitsune laughed.
"Be careful everyone!" Makie shouted.
"Please try not to hurt yourselves…" Ako said, worriedly.
"B…but…we're missing one person. We're going to need one more person to keep it all balanced. Kanako isn't here." Keitaro pointed out.
"Oh…yeah. We need one more person." Keiko said. "Oh, Sarah!"
"Yeah, Sarah will do!" Rinrin shouted.
"Huh? Me? What?" Sarah asked.
"You're joining level 2. Just follow Mizuki and Shirayuki's lead. Get ready!" Sakuya shouted.
"Huh?" Sarah looked around in confusion.
"Ok, one…two…three…GO!" Rinrin shouted.
Mizuki ran forwards towards Rinrin and stepped on her cupped hands. Rinrin heaved upwards and threw her sister up onto Keitaro's shoulders from where she adjusted her position so that she was standing on Keitaro and Chiikage's shoulders.
Shirayuki went up next in a similar manner and took up a position on Keitaro and Sakuya's shoulders.
"Oh, I get it now…" Sarah nodded. "Wait…I'm supposed to jump?"
"C'mon, what happened to all that spunk?" Sakuya taunted.
"…You ain't seen nothing yet…" Sarah shouted, digging her feet into the snow before dashing forwards with all her might.
"Whoah! Slow down!" Rinrin shouted. Sarah treaded her palms and was thrown up into the air.
"Aaaaaah!" Sarah screamed as she sailed through the cold air.
"She got overshot!" Keitaro shouted. "Keiko, catch her!"
Keiko quickly shifted her feet and raised her hands, catching Sarah neatly on her shoulders.
"Phew…that was close…" Keitaro breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, nobody told me what I was supposed to do!" Sarah protested.
Karen followed and landed, wobbling slightly, on Keitaro's shoulders in between Shirayuki and Mizuki, who grabbed onto her. She reached out and grabbed onto Sarah, forming a stable platform for the next level. .
"Uuu…" Aria shuddered quietly.
"Come on!" Everyone cheered her on. Aria took a few uncertain steps backwards.
"You can do it, Aria-chan!" Keitaro shouted. Aria lifted her face upon hearing her brother's voice and shook herself before running forwards.
Suu watched Aria closely as she stepped onto Rinrin's cupped hands.
Aria screamed 'Nii-yaaaaaaa!" As she sailed up into the air and landed on Karen's shoulders. She wobbled precariously as Shirayuki and Mizuki grabbed onto her and pulled her into a balanced position. Kaho's leap was a rather quiet, if not heart-pounding one. She took up a position opposite Aria and held out her arms for Aria to hold to form a cradle for Hinata.
Hinata gulped as she walked backwards to ready herself for her running jump. She looked up at the tower of people. She gulped again before taking a few more steps backwards.
"B…be careful, Hinata-tan…" Hinako stammered nervously.
Hinata ran forwards, slipped and slid on the snow a bit, before stepping on Rinrin's hands. She sailed up landed lightly in the cradle formed by Aria and Kaho's arms. She looked down and gestured Hinako to come up.
"Whoah….the most difficult jump's left to the youngest one…." Mitsune said. "Bets, anyone?"
"I think you shouldn't do this…it's too dangerous." Naru said, worriedly.
"Aaaaang…" Hinako shuddered in fear as she looked up at the tower of people. Her jump would be, by far, the highest.
"C'mon, Hinako-chan!" Rinrin shouted.
"She's going to need help…" Motoko said, stepping forwards. "C'mon." She walked over to Hinako. "Don't worry, we'll catch you if you fall."
"We…we will?" Mitsune asked.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. We'll be here for you." Naru said. "And you, idiot!" She pointed at Keitaro. "You'd better praise her for this when she's done."
"Yes, we'll help too." Shinobu said, nodding. Makie and Ako came up behind her and nodded as well.
Hinako looked around at the tower of people waiting for her. She shook herself. She didn't want to be left out. She grasped the star entrusted to her, took a deep breath, before running as fast as her little feet could take her towards Rinrin.
Rinrin threw her upwards vertically. Hinako landed a second time with both feet on both Rinrin's palms. Rinrin pushed upwards with all her strength as Hinako leapt out of her hands.
She sailed up in a slow arc before coming down on Hinata's shoulders where she wobbled precariously, fighting against gravity. "Amyaa!" She cried.
"Hang on, Hinako-chan!" Hinata shouted, as she leaned forwards slightly towards the tree's peak. "Go!"
Hinako opened her eyes and saw the peak. The wind whistled in her ear and whipped at her hair as she looked all around her. She gasped. Below the city was a glimmering sea of orange yellow pinpricks. Above them the full moon shown down, its rays shimmering as it caught on the slowly drifting snow flakes. She looked down at the star nestled in her arms then down at her sisters and her brother, all of whom were cheering encouragingly at her.
She looked back at the peak. She nodded with determination, lifted the star, and planted it neatly on top of the tree.
Everyone cheered.
Rinrin leapt around in celebration, tripped, and knocked over Sakuya, who fell over on Keitaro, bringing down the whole tower vertically down with them, leaving a pile of sisters on top of Keitaro.
"Ouch…" Keitaro groaned quietly, trying to sort out the tangle of arms and legs.
"I can't feel my arm…" Rinrin moaned.
"That's my arm, Onee-chan…" Karen supplied.
"Please quit grasping my leg, will you, Mizuki-chan?" Chiikage asked.
"Oh…Mizuki-chan thought Mizuki-chan found a mole Mizuki-chan's never seen before…" Mizuki said, subjecting Rinrin's leg to close scrutiny.
"Ok, fess up, Mizuki, that's my underwear you're wearing, isn't it?" Sakuya asked.
"Mizuki-chan's just borrowing it…." Mizuki said.
"Can we do that again? Hime-chan wants to see the view again!" Shirayuki cried.
"Would you mind saving the sibling chatter until you've all gotten off my back?" Keitaro asked.
"Nope. It's so comfy here." Sakuya said, leaning back on Keitaro's back. "And keep your foot out of my face, Mizuki."
"Kusu…" Aria was crying again.
"We've got injured people here, where's the medical back-up?" Keitaro asked, looking up at Marie.
"My turn…" Marie sighed as Ako pushed her forwards, before everyone started laughing.
The star twinkled brightly up on the peak, a bright beacon against the pitch black sky.
Inscribed on its golden surface were the words 'Together Forever'.
End of chapter 8….oh, wait, it's not quite finished just yet…
….Later on that night….
"Hello? yes, Papa?"
"Hello there, Sarah. I just came back from the meeting. How are you?"
"I…I'm fine, Papa."
"That's nice to hear. Are you having fun over there?"
"….ummm…yeah…"
"Oh yeah, can you please tell that assistant of mine that I wanted to say thanks. He really saved me today."
"Huh?"
"He somehow got all those artifacts I was supposed to deliver here all fixed up perfectly. If he hadn't done such a spotless job, the director would've kept me here for the whole week just to get them all repaired. Thanks to him, I can come back in time to celebrate Christmas with you."
"….that idiot…"
"What was that, Sarah?"
"Oh…nothing, Papa. It's nothing. By the way, could you please come pick me up here at the Hinata Sou? I've got lots of really nice people I'd like you to meet."
"Sure thing, Sarah. It's good to know you've made some new friends. Well, I've got to go. Take care of yourself, and be a good girl, ok?"
"Always, papa. I love you."
"I love you too, Sarah, always. I'll see you tomorrow." Click.
"….That idiot….now look what you've made me do…sniffle….to think I was responsible for half those destroyed artifacts…." Silence. "They're kind of lucky...big brothers aren't half-bad…."
To be continued…
Finally! End of day 4! Next chapter, day 5, Christmas Eve, the day of the test, and, off course, more of the 12 sisters!
For character profiles, sneak peaks, previews of upcoming chapters, for Sister Princess as well as my other works, feel free to visit our Fan Works Forum, the Unlimited Fan Works, accessible through the homepage link on our profile. Thank You.
Tanabata: A Japanese traditional celebration in which the Japanese string up paper talismans containing their wishes on bamboo trees. The celebration itself is to celebrate the annual meeting of the prince and the weaver girl.
The shikan is the entire clothes drying area. There are steps under the walkway connecting the Shikan and the Hinata Sou, which is supposedly Sarah's favourite place when it was first planned by Akamatsu-sensei. I'll be using this area quite frequently, so it might be worth looking up the Hinata-Sou design notes at the end of volume 2 of the manga. I'll put it up on the website too later on.
