Chapter Ten: A Card Game
Naoko looked out the window again, still worried. Toto sighed softly and touched her arm.
"Your turn, Aunt Naoko."
The red-haired woman refocused on the three of hearts the dark youth had placed on top of the pile, and on her own hand. She sighed, and placed a three of spades on top. Renaldo groaned.
"Ah man. Now I have to draw another card."
The middle-aged mother was sneaking another peak out the window. Toto laughed.
"Don't worry; we've known Baron since we were kids. You have nothing to fear from him."
Naoko blinked and then sighed.
"I'm sorry; I go through this every time Haru goes out. I think you two can understand."
Renaldo nodded, drawing his third card from the deck, and looking at it with disgust.
"If it makes you feel any better, Baron's such a gentleman that he probably won't dream of kissing anything but her hand, at least on the first date."
Naoko raised one eyebrow at him.
"What about a second date?"
"Dunno. Baron's never dated the same girl twice, because they drive his lie detector crazy. Hence why he asked out Haru." Grinning with triumph, the fat brunette placed a queen of spades on top of the pile and grinned smugly at his twin, who shrugged and placed his last card on the table. Muta stared in shock.
"Where did you get that eight?!"
"From the deck, where else?"
"I think you cheated!"
"Why would I cheat at crazy eights?"
"To beat me!"
"And of course, it's all about you, isn't it?"
Naoko's eyes widened.
"Hush, you two. They're back."
The two brothers stopped immediately, to try to sneak a peek out the window. They stared in amazement.
Clearly through the window, Baron and Haru could be heard laughing, and seen with linked arms as they talked excitedly.
But what the trio at the window found most puzzling was the fact that the two were soaking wet, and leaving wet footprints behind them.
Coming to the front porch, the golden youth stepped respectfully away, a grin on his face as Naoko softly opened the window a crack, so she could hear better.
"Well, tonight was certainly an adventure."
Haru giggled.
"I'd say so. That was the most exciting date I've ever been on! Can we do it again sometime?"
"Tomorrow night?"
"Absolutely."
Baron smiled even wider, and kissed her hand softly.
"Till then, goodnight, Haru."
She smiled back at him while opening the door.
"Goodnight Baron."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As soon as Haru shut the door, she could feel her mother almost materialize behind her.
"Tell me what happened. Now."
The brunette laughed while walking past her mother, in search of a towel.
"Tonight was a perfect example of everything going wrong, and everything still turning out right. Baron's really cool."
Renaldo tossed a thick towel at her, his eyes wide with shock.
"Why on earth were you two soaking wet?!"
"We jumped into a river," Haru managed to say through the thick cloth as she dried off her hair. Her mother touched her shoulder.
"Why?!"
"To get away from the cats." The slim brunette started laughing again. "It was the strangest thing, Mom! First cats storm into the restaurant and ruin our meal, and then they stormed the movie theatre we were in and scatter our popcorn everywhere while disrupting the movie, and then give chase again when we were just walking around and talking. Baron and I didn't really want to jump into the river, but frankly, it was the only place we were certain the cats wouldn't bother us again." She shook her head in amazement. "Last time a date became stressed, it was over football rules, and the guy just walked out on me, but Baron and I made it a game to stay away from the cats, and it looks like we won. It was such a blast!" Feeling naughty, Haru quickly hugged her oldest and fatter brother, who yelped from her cold and wet body as it soaked through his shirt.
"You two rock for setting us up!"
Renaldo tried to pry her off while Toto laughed his head off.
"Haru, you're showing favoritism! What about Birdbrain?!"
She smiled evilly and latched onto the younger twin, whose guffaws turned into gasps.
"Haru, you're freaking cold!"
"Aww, I just love you, bro," the brunette said affectionately as her mother came up behind her.
"That's enough, young lady. Into the shower with you."
The slim young lady released her darker brother and smartly saluted her mother like a sailor.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" She started marching down the hallway, still laughing happily.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Haru stretched happily, now warm, dry, and in her favorite flannel pajamas, which her mother had retrieved for her after her brothers left for their apartment. Her heart was still pounding a little heavily when she made the trek up to her room, but she tried to silence it. Tomorrow would be the day that she heard back from the publisher who was making the first batch of her latest book, and she needed to have her wits about her.
She opened the door to her room, and made the usual steps around her clutter in order to reach her bed. She landed on her stomach across the quilt, tempted to lay just like that for the rest of the night.
No, she's been cold enough. The slim brunette reached up with one hand to set her alarm clock, which she was getting better at not ignoring, but then noticed that she had landed on something stiff. Rolling off her previous place, she found a strange scroll on her bed, flattened by her weight.
Puzzled, she picked it up, and undid the knot of the tied cord so she could read it. But, it was strange sort of paper, almost like it had been handmade papyrus, and the slim brunette couldn't understand the strange hieroglyphics written across the stiff paper. The marks seemed to be feline in nature, with cat's paws and heads everywhere.
'Must be a formal 'thank you' from Lune's father.' Sighing, Haru decided it was a mystery that could wait until morning. She rolled the paper up again, and placed it on her desk before setting her cow alarm clock, snuggling into bed, and fading into the world of dreams.