Chapter Ten - Meet the Sasakis!

Today was the start of another fresh new weekend. After waking up later than usual, Keitaro warmly greeted the residents, prepared breakfast and popped back into his room to spend the rest of the morning idling around. Switching on his outdated computer, the manager stretched his arms and stared lovingly at his favourite website. On the front page, Chiu had a winking smile on her face, a cheeky grin which could sweep a regiment off their feet. This time the beautiful net idol opted for a more erotic style of fashion. She wore a very revealing jet black bikini which was compromised with a pair of sky blue cat ears and matching tail.

All of a sudden, Keitaro shook his head and closed the site down. He felt ashamed. It was only a short while ago since Sayo, the promise girl of his dreams left him, and there he was, looking at smut like she had never existed.

Keitaro stared long and hard at his desktop, a blank, blue screen with a few ancient programs he never got round to uninstalling. It was at this point a few memories flashed inside him, memories not so long ago that drastically altered his perspective of life.

Helping Makie with her studying. He felt a kind warmth emitting from the party girl. Beneath that hyper exterior was a person gentle and caring. Now every time they bumped into each other, Makie would blush slightly, which of course Keitaro would be completely clueless as of why.

Saving Mana from a ghastly death. Despite the size difference, Mana felt so small in his arms. For a moment she dropped her usual personality in favour for someone more… innocent. Someone… who had now developed many untested emotions. To show her gratitude, Mana elected to make herself more useful such as cleaning the living room and even help with the cooking. She also invited the manager to train with her, from meditation to basic fighting techniques. This experience with Keitaro has certainly allowed her to feel more open minded as opposed to her once secluded self.

The third memory, was of course… her.

"Farewell Kei-kun. May you find true love once again."

Her lips. Her warmth. Her voice. Thinking about Sayo gave the manager goose bumps all over. Even his wildest imagination paled when compared to her physical beauty. No words could properly describe how kind, gentle and amazing his promise girl really was.

Keitaro found it painful to lose his promise girl. Very painful. Despite feeling this way, he and Mana made an oath not to tell anyone. Keitaro concluded they had their own lives to be getting on with, and decided not to share his burden upon them.

Those last words before she disappeared…

"True love once again."

Keitaro slowly repeated those four words over and over as he stared into space.

(…♥…)

Chisame cracked her knuckles as she finished redesigning the front page of her website. She was tired, but looked fairly happy with herself.

"That oughta keep them satisfied." She grinned, undressing her bikini and replacing it with her normal clothes wear.

After updating her site yet again, Chisame did what she did every other day... surf the web to find out how far she outranked the net idol competition, and to play competitive online games. Only today there wasn't any major tournaments to participate in, and her playing games for fun just wasn't really… well… fun.

Chisame sighed. There was this awkward little gap in her lifestyle which she didn't know how to fill.

"Suppose it won't hurt to socialise with them." She mused, drumming her fingers on the touch pad. Besides, she figured it was usually this time of day when Keitaro would pester her by knocking the door.

Switching on her screensaver and padlocking the door behind her, Chisame decided to mix in with the motley crew known as the residents.

(…♥…)

As time passed by, Keitaro decided to join Yue on the living room couch. Yue was, as always, watching a cartoon whilst drinking a carton of freshly squeezed concentrated liquorice with turbo laxative. How she managed this far without needing the toilet was a feat unthinkable. Feeling nervous from all this silence, Keitaro decided to start a conversation with her. Again, a feat unthinkable.

"Um, y'know Ayase-san…" Keitaro began, scratching the top of his head. "Those drinks I buy for you. They're kind of… expensive."

No reply, only the sound of straw slurping liquid.

"I'm afraid I would have to add these costs to your monthly rent."

Yue made no effort to protest. Knowing her, she would probably sacrifice a limb for another drink.

"Why do you have those drinks anyway? Why not something like orange juice?"

Her eyes shifted to the manager's side.

"I don't like orange."

"Okay what about apple?"

"I don't like apple."

"What about… fruit mix?"

This time her whole head turned to face him. "Summer fruit mix or autumn fruit mix?"

"Gee I don't know… either of them."

Only to return back to the television. "I don't like either of them."

Realising this debate was going round in circles, Keitaro gave up and tried to do something a little more productive. He picked up a newspaper from a small round table and decided to catch up on the recent events. Now Yue and Keitaro had additional company as Chisame rummaged around in the kitchen to fill up her cup of coffee with as much sugar as humanly possible.

"Hi Hasegawa-san." Keitaro said, peeking up from the paper.

"Hey." Chisame grumbled her greeting, ever so desperate to slurp into her daily fix.

Keitaro then stole a glance outside the large window, where one could see a section of the hot springs and a few attractive large trees. Mana, dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans, performed a selection of arm thrusts and roundhouse sweeps, all without moving a single inch from where she stood. Chisame looked at Keitaro with confusion before too gazing in the same direction as the manager. Watching the native woman made her raise an eyebrow.

"Just a spiritualist huh?" She thought, not knowing how much of a fighting background Mana really had. Keitaro was the only one who experienced her true strength.

Shortly afterwards Mana joined the trio, greeting everyone in her usual way whilst dabbing a white towel on her forehead.

"You know… this is kind of nice." Keitaro wondered to himself. "All my chores are nearly done and everyone seems to be happy with one another. Yeah… today is going to be…"

Now normally Makie would happily skip out of her room and downstairs, her cuteness radiating all of Hinata-Sou. This time she ran into the living room with all the grace of a possessed elephant. Makie looked clearly distressed. Her pretty short hair was now all scruffy with most of it all over her eyes, her face looked two shades lighter than her normal colour, and her entire body was shaking like no tomorrow.

Chisame turned around her looked at her like some kind of alien. "What the hell happened to you?" She bluntly asked.

Makie didn't respond for a moment since she was too busy biting the remainder of her fingernails. Taking many short breaths she then ran straight into her manager, tearing his newspaper in two in the process.

"SENPAISENPAISENPAISENPAISENPAAAAAI!" She screamed, shaking him in every possible direction.

Keitaro was quick to be infected by Makie's panic attack. "What's wrong Sasaki-san? Is it a mouse? Or a rat? OH MY GOD! IS YOUR ROOM ON FIRE?!?"

"NONONO! WORSE! IT'S…"

Suddenly Yue stood up from the couch, summarising the situation whilst wearing a detective hat and carrying a toy pipe. "I believe I know why Makie-san is making such a commotion."

The room fell silent as the blunette became the centre of attention. Yue walked left and right as she spoke her mind.

"When I noticed Keitaro-san walking down the stairs, he seemed a little quieter than usual, possibly because he was hiding a deep secret."

"Secret?"Keitaro repeated.

Yue puffed into her pipe, producing many tiny water bubbles before continuing. "And now after seeing Makie-san in a complete state of shock, as well as her seeking the manager as a source of comfort, I can only summarise a single conclusion."

She then swiftly turned and pointed at Makie with utmost authority.

"You… are pregnant."

"WHHAAAT?!?!" Keitaro, Makie and Chisame screamed at once. Mana remained silent, but was still shocked like everyone else.

"I AM NOT PREGNANT!" Makie protested angrily. She ran all the way upstairs to her room, and then back downstairs again carrying a pillow. Feathers flew everywhere as she gave Yue an almighty clout.

Mana tried to be the peacemaker, trying to calm the pink haired one down. "Sasaki-san, would you please refrain yourself and explain to us your problem?"

Makie whipped out her mobile phone and shoved it a centimetre away from Keitaro's eyes. Side by side, Mana and Chisame joined the manager, pressing their faces next to his.

The three of them read the text message sent to Makie's phone.

Hey Makie-chan! It has been a while since you left so I decided to surprise my cute button nosed popsicle! I'll be visiting your place about 12.30! Have a hot steaming cup of cocoa ready for me!

Okasan

"Your mum is visiting us?!" Chisame reacted. "That's… well… actually that doesn't sound so bad."

"Aaau! But you don't know my mother!" Makie whined. "She's like, so embarrassing!"

Chisame chose not to reply, instead crossing her arms and smiling to herself.

"What's so funny?!" Makie barked.

Chisame quietly chuckled. "Oh nothing… popsicle."

"Grrr!"

"Makie-san, Chisame-san." Mana ordered, cutting the tension between the two girls. "We don't have much time until she arrives. It is now noon…"

"…which means we have less than half an hour!" Keitaro finished. "Okay, I'll prepare the lunch."

"I will assist." Mana decided.

"I'll sweep the living room and upstairs!" Makie added, already feeling exhausted.

Mana and Makie both briefly looked at Chisame.

"Alright fine." She sighed. "I'll clean up the hot springs and keep an eye out for Makie's mother."

"Thanks Hasegawa-san." Keitaro said, who was already preparing clean cups and plates.

"Feh. Whatever."

As everyone got ready for their task at hand, Yue still remained flat out on the floor, unconsciously speaking to herself about white feathers.

(…♥…)

Twenty miles away from Hinata-Sou, a small, lime green automobile found itself stuck in very heavy traffic. Saturday afternoons in Tokyo were normally very busy, but an overturned lorry only served to delay the wait. However, the female driver remained calm as she carefully retrieved some lip gloss from her handbag. After a light makeover her lips were now glossy pink with traces of sparkling glitter around them. She looked at the front mirror and gave herself a big wide smile.

The car radio played an embarrassingly high volume of western style music, the kind of music that no teenager would be caught dead listening to. From the back row, two little voices continuously mumbled to themselves. Their identities remained hidden behind the car seats.

"Are we there yet?" One of them groaned.

The woman sighed slightly as she replied. "Aww, are my cute little angels bored? Well it shouldn't be long now…"

(…♥…)

Back in the dormitory, Makie had nearly finished mopping up all the dirt and dust. She was quite flustered, though that was probably due to her nervousness. She took many deep breaths but she secretly knew what her mother was capable of, and that was humiliating her to no end.

Yue remained motionless, Makie's recent outburst still left her dazed.

In the kitchen, the chemistry between Mana and Keitaro felt slightly awkward. The incident with the illusions and the promise girl had definitely changed Mana's perspective of the bumbling manager. She always remained calm no matter how wild or dire the situation. Now, she found herself lost for words, just by being near the guy.

"Urashima-san, I think we are out of bread."

"It's at the top self."

"Oh… oh of course it is. Th-thanks."

"No problem."

And soon afterwards, the two of them touched each others hands as they both reached for the kitchen knife. For a woman full of stamina, Mana had practically ran out of breath.

"Tatsumiya-san! Are you okay?" Keitaro asked, ever the concerned gentleman.

Mana swallowed a lump in her throat. She didn't know whether to feel scared, excited or bewildered, so she just settled for all three.

"Yes! Yes I am well thank you."

(…♥…)

By the hot springs, Chisame swept the fallen leaves with a rather primitive but sturdy wooden rake. The work was certainly exhausting since she wasn't used to work on a Saturday. Despite this she didn't mind. In fact Chisame had a wicked smile across her face. Since day one, Makie had insulted, annoyed, frustrated and ridiculed her to the point where she took her anger out on her own laptop. She hated the way Makie would always picture her being with the manager, and making many sleazy jokes in the process. It made her mad. There was no way she would be hitched up with a nervous, stuttering person like him.

But those times were going to change. This time Chisame had the ace up her sleeve, and that ace was called Makie's mother.

Footsteps were heard, gradually getting louder as they made their way up the stairs leading to the dormitory.

"She's here!" Chisame realised, placing the rake to one side before alerting the others.

(…♥…)

Considering they had less than thirty minutes, every room of Hinata-Sou sparkled like never before. Everything was spotless, everything was clean… all that had to do now was play the waiting game.

"She's on her way." Chisame alerted everyone as she opened the main door.

Mana coughed politely as she addressed the manager. "Ahem. Manager-san, if you don't mind would you allow me the honour of greeting Makie's mother firsthand?"

"Um… sure." Keitaro said, feeling a little confused.

Chisame raised an eyebrow whilst Makie was still trying to spring some life back into Yue. "What's up with her?"

As three loud knocks were heard, Mana calmly approached the main door whilst Keitaro, Chisame and Makie stood in a horizontal line behind the couch. Yue was still out.

The door slowly opened, revealing a woman most beautiful and enchanting. Though in her late thirties, her looks made the woman at least ten years younger. Her height slightly exceeded above Keitaro so compared to Mana she stood just above her shoulders. Her hairstyle was also similar to the native girl, though it was coloured violet and looked more vibrant. The rest of her looked exactly how Makie would look when she reached adulthood. Her lips, as revealed earlier, were a bright glossy pink and her cheeks were lightly dabbed with makeup, altogether enhancing her beauty. Strapped around her shoulder was a small, leather black handbag.

But on top of all this, her more noticeable assets were her huge breasts. They tried in vain to escape from the ever so tight, white shirt she wore, making her chest look like a ticking time bomb. Also, her short green skirt and pink high heels revealed her slender legs and a great portion of her thighs.

"Good afternoon." Mana said formerly, bowing lowly on her arrival. "My name is Mana Tatsumiya, one of the residents of Hinata-Sou."

After her greeting, Mana found herself unwillingly staring at the woman's chest. Four buttons were undone from the collar, giving the native girl plenty of eye candy.

"Goodness me! Her dress wear is rather… exposing…"

Makie's mother made a stunning eye smile. Her voice was bright and chirpy, like birds on a summery morning.

"Hello there! I'm Miwa. Pleasure to meet you."

After a brief how-do-you-do Mana guided Miwa through the hallway and into the living room. For the first time in three months, Makie's mother saw her baby daughter. In her eyes, Makie had grown so much but she still had the tiny smile, button nose and innocent eyes her mother remembered all too well. Tears streamed down her face as she lifted her beloved girl and cuddled her in the strongest hold she could manage.

"Hey okaasan." Makie said, her voice muffled inside her mother's comfort. Makie was certainly happy to see her, but also felt increasingly nervous. A cold dread filled inside her. She had a secret feeling today was not going to run smoothly at all.

Chisame and Keitaro looked at Miwa in her overjoyed state. Of course the first thing that sprung to their minds were these humongous orbs even Photoshock could not compete with. Chisame's eyes almost popped out of their glasses whilst the manager had a fiendish time controlling his nose fluid.

After a long reunion, Miwa detached herself from her daughter, who gently gasped for air. She then greeted Chisame by clasping her hands together, and did the same to Yue as well, even though Yue was still out of action.

Miwa then turned to face Keitaro. She squealed a delighted noise and found herself latching onto him as tightly as she did with her daughter.

"So you must be her boyfriend!" Miwa said, nursing him like the son she never had.

"Heh… um… that's right!" Makie replied, lowering her face to the ground.

Chisame and Mana instantly shot a surprised stare into Makie's direction. Makie just stood in the centre of it all, her smile trembling and her chest sharply breathing in and out. Keitaro didn't know how to react, mainly because he found himself forced right into Miwa's vortex like cleavage.

Miwa finally let go of the crushed manager and performed a fancy twirl which was her unique way of examining different surroundings.

"My, my! Aren't we all looking stunning?" She said, radiating with happiness. "Fufu! It's a wonder why you don't call this place Hentai-Sou!"

"Eh… ahahaha!" Makie nervously laughed, rubbing the back of her head. She quickly decided to change the subject. "So how are the twins doing? Manage to find a babysitter for them?"

"Huh…? Oh… oh my goodness!" Miwa gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "They're still in the car! Excuse me everyone."

Makie watched her mother dart out of the dormitory. Then a fatal dread crept inside her.

"Oh no… oh no… OH NO! D-d-don't tell me she brought them with her!" She complained, clutching her hands on her head.

Chisame felt like her stomach was in knots. "I really don't like the sound of this…"

"Hmm." Mana thought aloud. "I hope we made enough sandwiches."

The redhead just closed her eyes, hardly believing what the native girl just said. "I think that's the least of our troubles."

She then gave Makie a cold stare. One that made most cold stares feel warm and fuzzy.

"So… Keitaro is your boyfriend is he?"

Keitaro's jaw locked, still finding it hard to believe.

Makie laughed, at the same time feeling very scared. "Uh… it's a long story…"

With her index finger, Chisame pushed back her glasses, waiting for the inevitable slaughter to commence.

"Oh I do believe I have an incline of what's going on here. You only moved to Hinata-Sou, because you said to your mother that you have a boyfriend who lives here… and, lo and behold, he just so happens to be the manager. Now your mother has made a surprise visit and she really thinks you two are an item. Makie, you madam, are digging a very large hole."

At long last Yue finally rose from the couch, not knowing that Makie's mother had laid foot here. She decided to get some fresh air but the second she opened the main door, a double flying kick sent her airborne into the corner of the room.

"TA DA!" Two girls screamed, clearly beyond hyperactive.

Back in the living room, Makie's family and Keitaro's residents stood opposite each another. In front of Miwa were two girls, nearly identical. They were both ten years old and looked exactly how Makie would look if she were six years younger. They both stood at the same height as Yue, and one could tell from their faces they were highly mischievous. If there was one difference between them, it would be their hairstyles. The girl on the right had her hair tied up at the sides, whilst the girl on the right had her hair done up in a Chinese chignon fashion.

There was a tense air surrounding the residents.

Miwa placed one hand each on top of their little heads. "Everyone I would like you to meet Fuuka-chan and Fumika-chan! My ever so darling twins!"

"Hi Makie-chan!" The twins shouted together, waving frantically at their older sister.

"H-hey you guys!" Makie stuttered, half looking at them and half looking at her feet. "Long time no see! Please God kill me now…"

"Welcome to Hinata-Sou." Keitaro, Chisame and Mana greeted, all bowing at the same time.

The twins were a bit confused from this gracious introduction. They both placed a finger on their lips, wondering how to return the gesture. After a few seconds, a shining light bulb appeared above them. They confirmed this idea by simply nodding to each other. They looked at the strangers in a standard, regular kind of way.

Without warning they both blew massive raspberries at them.

To be continued…

Author: Miwa is my first original character for the story, so I hope you'll enjoy her (ahem) company. Can Makie survive the embarrassing wrath of her family? Find out in the next chapter!