Love Hina: Outsider Looking In
Chapter Fourteen
(Sorry for the long delay. Life does have a way of getting in the way of these things, doesn't it? Anyway, enjoy!)
It was commonly said, often by rather serious people, that modern society was caught up in a sort of cult based on the worship of youth. This idea was far from indefensible, given that most people who became famous models, actors, and pop stars were under twenty five around the time they started to grow popular, but what was also far from indefensible was the idea that worship of youth itself was not that bad of a thing.
It was the youth of a nation, after all, who decided the future of the nation. It was the youth of a nation, more often than not, who introduced new technologies and new ways of developing technologies. It was the youth of a nation who introduced new socio-political ideas into a society, so that the best socio-political ideas would eventually rise to popularity after contending with other, older social mores.
More significantly, though, was the fact that younger people were stronger, healthier, and more physically fit than middle-aged or elderly people. While the latter groups became more and more common in Japan, general standards for physical fitness and beauty would slowly become more lax, but Kitsune was not interested in meeting general standards. The standards she expected herself to meet were far, far more rigorous.
From a young age, she'd realized that she was beautiful, and that she didn't really have to try hard in order to be beautiful. She could go without makeup and get second looks and requests for her phone number from boys in her school, and when she put makeup on, or "carelessly" allowed the top button of her blouse to become undone, or smiled and giggled just a little bit more frequently than usual, she could make any individual of the male gender dance in the palm of her hand.
Now, at the age of twenty, Kitsune had never been more attractive in her life. She had a perfect face, perfect hair, and a perfect body that had reacted phenomenally to the intense training she'd undertaken in the past several months. She was young, she was fit, she was wearing a two-piece bathing suit that showed more of her femininity than many women would have preferred, and if there had been a trace of humor or happiness on her face just then, she could have been on the front cover of any one of the hundreds of magazines that features attractive, young, half-naked women.
But there wasn't any humor on her face. There wasn't any expression on her face, not really, except for perhaps determination, but even that emotion was subdued and hidden. This wasn't by intention or design—rather, Kitsune was simply so focused on what she was about to do that not much of her brainpower was spared to displaying her feelings on her face.
Kitsune stood up halfway, and then, at a seemingly random point in time, leaped forward, stretched her body out, and dived into the water. After briefly diving, she rose up back to the surface and settled into a perfect, rhythmic, but incredibly fast and efficient freestyle. She focused on everything she was doing—breathing, working her arms and legs in precisely the correct manner, even positioning her fingers properly so as to maximize drag when proper and minimize it when not, and the result was that the fifty meter distance between where she'd begun and where she ended was traversed quickly, far quicker than she'd ever done before.
She came out of the water breathing hard and somewhat tired; she'd pushed herself, and doing that at the end of a tough workout may have meant that she'd gone beyond her limits somewhat. But Keitaro was staring at the time he'd recorded on his phone and shaking his head in disbelief; Kitsune could see that from where she was, on the other side of the pool.
"Was it really that bad?" Kitsune asked. "I know I was tired, but it wasn't that bad, was it?" she asked.
"No, no," Keitaro replied. He began to walk toward where Kitsune was sitting on the edge of the pool, and knelt next to her. He tried to speak—failed—and, instead, held out his phone so that she could see the time that he'd recorded.
"Th-thirty seconds?" Kitsune said. "No way—you must have started it a few seconds late, or something—right?"
"No way," Keitaro replied. "I started the clock exactly when I told you to go, maybe even a little bit before that. You swam a lap in thirty seconds, Kitsune."
She stared up at him for a few seconds, still trying to sustain the idea that he was mistaken or tricking her, but when she saw the same, old, sincerity on his face, and the way he extended his hand to her, she knew that he was being honest.
She reached out and took his hand in hers, but rather than hugging him, drew him in for a sudden hug. In another time, she may have pressed herself against him in a rather suggestive manner, but there was nothing of that nature now. For that reason, Keitaro didn't feel too embarrassed to hug her back, just for a moment, before they broke apart.
"Congratulations," Keitaro said. He was close enough to Kitsune that he couldn't see anything but her, and when he looked into her eyes like that, he found himself momentarily lost for words. "A lap in thirty seconds… that's seriously, seriously impressive. Especially after a workout like that—that's almost Olympian level, right?"
"Well, I don't know about that," Kitsune replied, but something about the way she was flushing and turning away from him told Keitaro that she was just being modest. "I mean… I've been training pretty hard, but I don't know if I'm that good. I am feeling pretty confident about the meet, though," she admitted.
"I hope so, after performing like that. What will you be competing in, again?"
"Just freestyle, all short distance," she said. "50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, and 400 meter. I was thinking of going for the 800 meter too, but after the four other races, I just wouldn't be up for something like that."
"Well, doing well at even one of those races is enough," Keitaro replied. He winced, suddenly, and then laughed.
"And here I was thinking that I had a shot of winning our bet. I didn't know that you had it in you, Kitsune, but… it looks like you do. I don't want to sound patronizing, but in a way… I'm really proud of you, and the progress you've made."
No woman could avoid blushing from a compliment like that, and Kitsune was no exception. She mumbled a thank you that made Keitaro smile and continue to sit next to her in silence, for a moment.
"So, what are you going to do after the swim meet?" Keitaro asked.
"I'll probably take a break for a week, maybe two… after that, I'm going to start training again, but not just in freestyle. Not just short distance, too. It's taken me a while to just physically condition myself, but now that I'm at this stage… I think I can broaden my horizons a little bit.
"Or, I could focus on my career more," Kitsune replied. "Swimming's a lot of fun, but if I want to take it seriously—if I want to become a professional athlete—I'm not going to be able to write at the same time."
"Why not?" Keitaro asked.
"Well, it's just… swimming professionally means spending hours every day in the pool. Not just one or two hours, but two hours, two or three times a day. That doesn't really leave time for much else."
"Doesn't it?" Keitaro asked. "I mean, say you spend three hours swimming, twice a day… that's six hours. Add in time to shower and travel, that's eight hours. That's another sixteen hours a day, every day, right?"
"Well, yeah," Kitsune replied. "But add in time to cook and eat the kind of diet you need to maintain for that kind of lifestyle…"
"And you still have another twelve hours," Keitaro replied. "That leaves you a couple hours for writing, right? Isn't that… you know, enough, for doing columns and articles every few days?"
"Yeah, I… guess it is," Kitsune said.
"B-but I don't even know if I want to keep up with swimming," Kitsune said. "Not at this level, anyway. There are a lot of other things I like, like poker, or horserace betting, or… well, you never know," she said. "This jiu jitsu stuff Motoko's been showing us… I sort of like it. Maybe I could become like Anthony Bourdain's wife, and instead of spending my rich husband's money all day, I'll train in mixed martial arts all day."
"I'm glad," Keitaro said. "I definitely want to be stable, but I don't think I'll ever be that rich."
He went on to say a few other things, then, but Kitsune had a difficult time paying attention to them. She kept replaying what he'd said in her head, over and over again, and no matter what, she concluded that Keitaro had referred to a future in which the two of them were married naturally, easily, without even thinking about it.
After pushing herself for the final 50 meter lap, Keitaro had coached Kitsune in a cooldown workout that had left her sore, tired, yet in good spirits and hopeful for the possibility of another great workout the next day. In the past weeks, she'd felt her body change on a fundamental level: she was no longer curvy, not really. Rather, she was slim and toned, and as she got closer and closer to the day of the meet itself, she'd become leaner still.
Perhaps at some point, she'd become like Keitaro. She glanced at him as the two of them walked, side by side, and was lucky enough that the wind kicked up, just then. This caused his loose shirt to cling to his body enough that she could see that due to his continuous training and conditioning in preparation for the YI, not only did he have a six pack, he had an eight pack.
Perhaps she'd prefer to not ever be that cut.
"So tell me, Kei… once all this stuff with the YI and the entrance exams are over, what are you going to do? You'll have a couple weeks off before school starts, so, one way or the other, you'll have some time off… how are you planning to spend it?" Kitsune asked.
"To be honest," Keitaro replied, "I haven't thought about that at all. I guess I'll relax for a couple days… maybe upload some biking videos to Youtube, and catch up on movies and stuff… eat a few cheater meals and all that. I guess I'll have to go home for a while, so I'll have to look into that at some point. It'll be weird to not be really busy, because being really busy has been my life for these past few months. In a way… I think I'll miss studying and stressing over the exams for hours every day. There probably isn't too much out there that's as stimulating."
"You might be right," Kitsune said, "but I wouldn't worry about life getting boring. In my experience, life only gets boring if you let it get boring. For example, say that Tokyo U coursework and stuff only keeps you busy for a couple hours out of the day… okay, you can join a bunch of clubs, and if that isn't enough, there are part time jobs, research opportunities; you could take up a new hobby, you could try to start your own business, or you could just "relax" by being the resident manager of a mansion full of unruly young girls."
Keitaro laughed in appreciation of Kitsune's comments. She definitely had a point, so he thought about it for a moment before responding.
"I guess I'll have to find excitement in life as I go along, just like everyone else. Thanks for the advice, Kitsune," Keitaro said.
By this point, the two teenagers were just starting to make their way up the stairs to Hinata Inn. And despite how exhausted they each were from their physical training, when the sounds of a physical confrontation of some sort reached their ears, they both climbed the stairs three or four at a time.
Motoko rarely wore anything but a gi, and, generally, it was a perfectly reasonable choice of clothing. Her gis were tough, easily maintained, and simultaneously modest and flattering enough that she could be both a samurai and a professional-looking individual at the same time.
The problem was, however, that her gis were so tough that they could be a liability in a grappling match. Whereas normal clothing would rip and tear if it was sufficiently abused, a gi jacket would not, and that opened her up to chokes, holds, and sweeps that would be far more difficult to pull off if she wasn't wearing it.
And, given that her opponent was at least as strong as she was, every disadvantage was a serious problem for her.
Motoko had started off with her opponent in a tight closed guard position that had given her the advantage, initially. Unfortunately, it hadn't lasted for long when her opponent had postured up and then stood up, before jumping up and down just enough to force Motoko to open her guard. After that, it had been a simple matter for Motoko to be stacked, more and more, until she was in a non-dominant and rather tight side control position.
Naturally, Motoko had tried to stop herself from being mounted, and she'd rejected her opponent's first two, then three, then four attempts to get both knees around her torso. The fifth time, however, her opponent had been successful, and Motoko had had to hurriedly trap her own elbows between her opponent's knees to avoid going from the frying pan into the fire.
Still, this was a bad position for her, so although Motoko was only fighting with 70% of her strength and skill, she had to keep her defenses up to avoid losing. She shrimped away from her opponent twice, enough to create space, and then simply countered the various attacks that came her way. She negated a sode guruma jime by tucking her chin in, and then she negated a nami juji jime by hooking her hands into her opponent's elbows and firmly pulling down. Then, she saw her opponent going for a juji gatame and negated that, too, by ensuring that her elbow was too close to her own body for a reasonable fulcrum to be created, and then she saw that her opponent was getting frustrated, nervous, desperate, and sloppy.
Sure, it was uncomfortable for Motoko to be mounted for so long by someone around her weight, but it wasn't nearly enough to make her concede defeat, not even in her mind. She simply lay there and waited, constantly shrimping, constantly defending, constantly ignoring openings for sweeps or counters, and constantly working to put herself in a better position.
And then her opponent went for one of the easiest and most effective armlocks from mount. Motoko knew it as the ude garami, but most martial artists these days referred to it by its English name: the Americana.
Motoko had tight shoulders, and she wasn't strong enough to prevent her opponent from using the weight of her body to press her arm to the ground. She was seconds from defeat when she reached over her arm, and her opponents, and, in a last-ditch defense, took hold of her own wrist and pulled.
This caused her opponent's wrist to bend, bend, bend—and then, just when Motoko was about to accept defeat, she hear Haruka swear in pain and then tap her torso rapidly.
Motoko carefully released her grip and felt Haruka do the same and release her from the mount position. Motoko sat up and found that she was breathing surprisingly rapidly, though this was nothing compared to how worn Haruka was. The older woman was panting slightly and staring at Motoko with a mixture of frustration and awe on her face.
"I thought I had you," Haruka said. "I felt you holding back until I went for that Americana—how did you do that?" she asked. "What did you do?"
"A wrist-lock," Motoko said. She tried to keep her demeanor serene and calm, but she couldn't help but grin as she sat up. "You did almost have me, Haruka-san, but the nature of jiu jitsu is that there are countermeasures to everything. In any case, although I submitted you, you did very well. Congratulations," she said.
Haruka just shook her head, and lit up a cigarette. She'd just taken a drag of it when Keitaro and Kitsune came into view from having dashed up the stairs and toward the small expanse of empty space directly adjacent to Hinata Inn, on the opposite side of where the hot springs were.
They seemed to have heard the sounds of a struggle and assumed the worst, instead of realizing that Motoko and Haruka had simply been rolling—aggressively, sure, but in a friendly and safe manner regardless. Once they realized this, they calmed down immediately and approached at a more normal pace as Motoko and Haruka stood.
"Who won?" Keitaro asked.
"Who do you think?" Haruka answered, though in a somewhat more pleasant tone than the curt, somewhat standoffish voice that she generally employed. "I thought I had Motoko, but she did something unexpected… and I couldn't defend myself from it. More importantly, Keitaro, you and Naru got a few letters in the mail today, from Tokyo U. I'm not sure, but I think they're details about the official test and application process. You should take care of them soon."
"Definitely, thanks, Haruka-s—Haruka," he replied. "The last thing I want is to be rejected from Tokyo U because of some technicality."
"That's right, the test is in about two weeks, isn't it? Keitaro… how are your studies going?" Motoko asked.
"Pretty well," Keitaro said vaguely. It was clear that he was being evasive, so Motoko just stared at him until he continued. "Err… I actually placed number one in the nation for the last mock exam, so I should do pretty well on the real thing."
"Number one in the nation? The whole nation?" Kitsune exclaimed. "Hey—congratulations! Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"It didn't seem like a big deal, at the time," Keitaro replied. "I mean… okay, it did seem like kind of a big deal, but I didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it. I still have to do the actual exam… I don't want to, you know, get cocky."
"There's a difference between cocky and confident, Keitaro," Motoko replied. "And there's nothing wrong with being proud of your achievements, especially something like this. Number one in the nation for a Tokyo U mock exam, eh? You'll probably start to receive offers from other schools very soon. In fact, you'll probably be able to get Tokyo U to give you a full-ride scholarship, or maybe even a stipend, if you really push them on it."
"I'm not sure about a stipend as an undergraduate, but Motoko's right about a scholarship," Haruka replied. "Keitaro, once you get the results of the real exam back, be sure to take them, and your report on the mock exam, to the financial assistance office. I bet you'll be able to get them to give you a huge discount… even more, if you're able to get that professor friend of yours to write you a letter of recommendation."
"I'll definitely ask him about that, once I take the test," Keitaro replied. He couldn't help but flush at all of the attention he was getting, and look away from each of the three women nearby. "Like I said, I don't want to get cocky."
Kitsune sensed that Keitaro was growing embarrassed, so she began to speak.
"Two weeks… say, Motoko, isn't that when you take your black belt test, for jiu jitsu?"
"Roughly, yes," Motoko said. "I think it's a few days after the Tokyo U exam, actually."
"Then maybe we can go with you for support," Kitsune suggested, glancing at Keitaro and Haruka—and then, at Shinobu and Suu, who had emerged from the inn some seconds prior. "As long as it doesn't conflict with the Tokyo U exam, Keitaro can go, and as long as it doesn't conflict with my swim meet, I'll be able to go… what about you guys? There's an administrative holiday in two weeks, right? So, you two can come along—and what about you, Haruka? Can you take a day off from your tea shop?"
Slowly, everyone Kitsune had addressed began to nod, slowly. It was as if they were interested in getting away from Hinata Springs for once, but were hesitant to do so due to how close Motoko's test was to other important things that they were up to.
"Come on," Kitsune urged them. "We have to support Motoko, right? And besides, her dojo is only two or three hours away by train… we can go there and come back in the same day, and still have time for all of the other things that have to get done. It'll be fun, and we all need to get out of Hinata Springs. We've been here without a break for far too long."
Slowly, everyone present began to get more enthusiastic. It wasn't long before they were nodding, at which point Naru came into view. She was making her way to the group from the inn, and one could guess that she'd been studying simply from the way she was dressed and how stressed she seemed. Kitsune was about to address her and let her know of the group's plans to go and support Motoko at her dojo, when it became clear just how angry Naru was.
"If you don't mind," she said poisonously, "some of us are trying to study. It's hard to do that when people are fighting loudly, or talking about wasting time on dumb trips to martial arts schools. Don't you all have better things to do?" she asked. "Haruka, your tea shop isn't going to run itself, and aren't your finances in a bad position right now? And you, Shinobu and Suu—you have finals coming up soon, you shouldn't be spending a moment out in the sun when there's studying to be done!"
"Come on, now, Naru," Kitsune said in a jovial tone. More than a hint of her native accent began to creep into her voice as she tried to save Naru from offending everyone present and embarrassing herself more than she already had. "Sure, we all have important things to do, but it's important to take a break once in a while, isn't it? Anyway, we're sorry for making so much noise," she continued when it became clear that Naru wasn't going to accept that as a response. "We'll be quite for the rest of the evening, I promise."
"No," Naru replied. "It's already too late. You guys broke my concentration, so… go ahead and do your martial arts, Motoko. Who cares if it's a hundred years out of its time, right? Who cares if it distracts people who are studying to do actually useful things? It's just part of the game, isn't it? Never mind that you're also distracting middle schoolers from their studies," Naru went on.
By this point, everyone present had gone from being surprised at Naru's unwonted anger to being upset by it. For her part, Naru was clearly not in an ordinary state of mind; she was red-faced and almost panting as she started to pace back and forth in front of her housemates, ranting out loud rather than at anyone in particular.
"The exam is coming, finals are coming, projects are due, and I have more homework than ever, and I have to deal with this bullshit? Come on, cut a girl some slack! I-I can't believe that you'd be so inconsiderate!"
"Naru," Keitaro said as gently as he could, "we're all very sorry for distracting you…"
He should have stopped speaking there, he really should have. A hundred times in the past, his parents had each taught him that anything said prior to a "but" was thoroughly negated by whatever came after it.
But he couldn't stop himself. Before he'd realized it, Keitaro had already started to speak, and once spoken, words could never be unspoken.
"But the thing is that we weren't being very loud. We really weren't, and besides, your problems… are your problems. I mean, that's just how it is," he said. "Everyone's got struggles in their lives, but that's no excuse to be… such a bitch."
Keitaro wasn't accustomed to using bad language and those present weren't accustomed to hearing him using it. But no one gasped, because just from the way he looked at Naru, and spoke to her, it was clear that he wasn't trying to insult her, not really. He was chastising her, in a way, like an elder might do to a petulant child.
And for reasons that only Kitsune understood, that made Naru mad.
"Listen, gaijan, just because you got first on one mock exam, doesn't mean you're all that," she said, striding up toward Keitaro until she was close enough to him that he could see every vein in her eyes.
"You might have done well on one stupid little test, but that doesn't mean anything. All that matters is what happens on the real exam, isn't it?" she demanded.
"That's right," Keitaro said. He found himself meeting Naru's eyes without flinching, and that wasn't like him. But for some reason, he found himself unable to back down, unable to meekly tolerate what she was doing anymore. So, he looked into her eyes and he didn't look away—he didn't even blink.
"And that's why when I get into Tokyo University, and when I get full ownership of this inn… the first thing that I'm going to do is to kick you out. I don't care what the laws are like in Japan, I'll find a way to get you out. I swear to God, I'll do it."
Naru laughed mockingly in response.
"When you get into Tokyo U. You arrogant bastard, what makes you think you're worthy of it? And what makes you think you'll be able to kick me out of Hinata Inn, when I haven't done anything —anything wrong?"
"No? Nothing wrong? Not a thing?" Keitaro asked, staring at Naru in a strange mixture of anger and humor. She didn't think that she could fool him, did she—it didn't matter that there was only the slightest evidence indicating that she'd been responsible for what had happened to Hinata Inn, and what had nearly happened to its residents, Keitaro knew that she had done it.
But even in his angered state, he had to admit that he couldn't prove it. And if he couldn't prove that Naru was a bad tenant, then Japanese laws might mean that she would be allowed to stay in Hinata Inn, regardless of what he wanted. He couldn't bear that.
"Alright, if you're so sure about that, let's have a little bet," Keitaro said. "If you're right and I can't get into Tokyo U, you can stay at Hinata Inn, but if you're wrong, and I do get into Tokyo U, you'll leave."
"Keitaro—" Kitsune tried to interrupt what was going on, but both Keitaro and Naru ignored her.
"You know what… let's up the ante," Naru replied. "If I don't get into Tokyo U but you do, I'll leave Hinata Inn right away—the same day we get the letters—but if I do get into Tokyo U, and you don't, you'll be the one to leave Hinata Inn—and all of Japan, actually."
Keitaro's face was stern and cold in a manner that had rarely been seen in the past. Even Haruka, who was generally stern-faced, found herself almost frightened of the dark expression her nephew wore.
"And if we both get into Tokyo U? Or we both don't get in?"
"If you both get into Tokyo U, you'll have to learn to live with each other somehow, I don't care if we have to call a professional counselor," Kitsune interrupted. "And if you both don't get in, then… we won't worry about that happening, because it's not going to happen. Each of you are really smart, wonderful, forward-thinking teenagers, and I know that you might… not really understand each other, but you both have to know that each of you isn't a bad person, no matter what disagreements you have. You have to know that, right?"
Keitaro realized that his hands were clenched into fists at his sides when, at Kitsune's words, they slowly began to loosen. He realized what he'd said, and that everyone present was staring at him and Naru, and that made him flush somewhat and look away. He was about to say something—perhaps it was even an apology—when Naru spoke first.
"Shut up, slut," Naru snarled. "What would you know about being smart, or a good person, or even being able to think ahead of your next bottle of booze?"
That seemed to have crossed the line, because when Naru said that, Kitsune's face took on an incredibly ugly look. She began to make her way to the brunette, to say something harsh, or perhaps to do something harsh, when Haruka and Motoko both positioned themselves in front of Kitsune and began to talk her down. They were succeeding—barely—but it was Keitaro who prevented things from escalating further.
He turned to Naru and spoke in an almost disembodied voice, without a shred of what he was feeling—if he was feeling anything at all—showing on his face.
"I think," he said slowly, "that you should go back to the inn, Naru. Just… please, go there until we can figure all of this out, alright?"
Naru didn't respond at first. She just stared at Keitaro and then turned away with a shriek of frustration and outrage, and then, she began to stalk away toward the inn.
Keitaro didn't take his eyes off of her until he watched her walk through the door. Then, he turned back to see if Kitsune was alright, and she was, at least to a degree. She wasn't angry anymore, but the sadness on her face was so severe that it made Keitaro stare, for a few seconds.
Kitsune tried to wave him ff, as well as Haruka and Motoko away by saying that she was alright, but Keitaro ignored her and held her close to him until he was sure that she really was alright.
The cheater meal had not been planned, but given what had just happened, it had been entirely necessary. Keitaro, Kitsune, Haruka, and the rest of the Hinata Inn group went on a walk after the events outside of the inn to clear their heads, which turned into a lengthy stroll around town, after which they made their way into a nearby sushi bar, sat down, and began to finally recover from the hasty words that had just been hurled.
Shinobu had timidly suggested inviting Naru. Keitaro hadn't been too keen on that idea, nor had Kitsune, but Haruka had agreed that it was good to at least extend the offer and had sent Naru a text message letting her know where they were and what they were doing.
There had been no response, and Naru hadn't shown up, and so Keitaro had let out a mental sigh of relief.
But he knew, in the back of his mind, that he'd have to confront her when they returned to Hinata Inn, and so the walk back home wasn't a very easy thing for him to do. He tried to think about what he'd say to her—should he apologize? Should he demand that she apologize? What if she tried to slap him, or something? What then?
All of these questions turned out to be academic in nature, though, and that was because when Keitaro and the rest of them returned to Hinata Inn, Narusegawa Naru had packed a bag and left.
Keitaro had no fun in the days that followed. He only used the internet a handful of times to talk to his parents and to make sure that no one had to tell him anything serious, and he didn't go anywhere but cram school, Hinata Inn, and the expanse of space behind it.
When he ate, it was simply: brown rice, vegetables that were steamed or baked in the smallest amount of fat possible, and lean fish.
And protein shakes, of course. Keitaro had plenty of protein shakes, even though he hated them. He hated the fake, cloying flavor, he hated the texture, and he hated the way they tended to ruin perfectly good bottles after just a few uses.
He didn't watch TV, of course, nor did he engage in any other sort of leisurely activities. He studied, he did his chores, and he biked as much as he possibly could.
Keitaro ignored the paths he'd already been on a hundred times before, instead, he forced new ones. He rode up slopes, through creeks, off of slabs of rock, and did a dozen other maneuvers that he'd scarcely attempted in the past. Then, when he'd maxed out his technical skills for the day, he'd drive out, past Hinata Inn, through Hinata Springs, and get onto the highway.
There, he'd keep up with cars for miles and miles and miles until he turned and did the same thing on the way home.
And then he did pushups and pullups and core workouts until he was exhausted.
Then he showered, ate, and studied some more.
The only times Keitaro broke his routine were when he had chores to do. Fortunately, things were very quiet around the inn, those days, and since he'd had Haitani help him set up a website the girls could use to pay rent directly, he didn't even have to worry about that. If he'd been a less sociable person, Keitaro could have gone the week and a half that followed Naru's departure from the inn without saying more than a few words to anyone.
Perhaps he wasted time by talking to people, but Keitaro didn't much care about that. He was a biker, so he needed to bike, and he was (hopefully) a future Todaisei, so he needed to study… but he was also a person, so he needed to talk to people. He talked to Professor Nawaz after class and sometimes during the brief breaks they took, and he also talked to a few of the other students who'd come to look at him as a sort of role model. On his way home, he stopped to talk to Haruka, and once he got home, he made it a point to spend at least ten minutes with Kitsune, alone in her room.
Sometimes, they talked. Sometimes they just sat next to each other and held hands, and that was enough.
After that, Keitaro talked to whoever else happened to be out and about at the time. He'd say hello to Shinobu and ask her about how her studies were going, and then he'd let Suu kick him in the head (although it was rather gently, these days), and then he'd spend a few moments rolling with Motoko so that he could practice jiu jitsu, and so that she could impress and slightly frighten him once again with all of the dozens and dozens of way she could use to choke people out, or dislocate their shoulders, or hyperextend their elbows, or on, and on, and on, and on. Sometimes he'd help Shinobu with preparing dinner, sometimes he'd help her out with her homework. Sometimes he'd go and learn about foreign affairs and geopolitics from Suu (the girl was an expert on them for some reason) and sometimes he'd read over the articles Kitsune was working on and the leads she was pursuing for longer-term stories.
So, in that manner, although Keitaro didn't do anything that was truly exciting or fun in the traditional sense of the words, he was reasonably happy. There was a strange pleasure in dedicating himself so utterly to just a few things; given that nothing else bothered him, he wasn't very stressed and it was almost like the rest of the world had simply ceased to exist. In many ways, it was one of the most peaceful times in Keitaro's life.
And, just a few days before he and the Hinata Inn group were due to go with Motoko to her black belt test, Keitaro realized why.
"Narusegawa still isn't here," he said one evening, as he and Kitsune cleared up the dishes after the evening meal. Shinobu and Suu had already returned to their rooms to prepare some sort of project that was due the next day, and Motoko was on the roof with a sparring partner, practicing her arts yet again, so they were alone.
"Have you heard anything from her? Is she coming back, or… or do we send her stuff to wherever she's staying now?"
"I haven't heard anything from her," Kitsune said. Her expression was difficult to read as she hunched over the sink and began to rinse off the dishes so that they could be loaded into the washer, but when she straightened up and looked at Keitaro, he could see that she was… concerned, at least, about what had happened to her friend.
"I've tried calling her, texting her, emailing her… I've also gotten in touch with some of our friends from the old days, but… it's like she's dropped off the face of the Earth. At this point, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to be found."
"It looked like she only took her books, some clothes, and that's about it, right? So, she's probably studying somewhere…"
Keitaro's voice trailed off, and for a moment, he was unsure how he felt.
"I'm glad that she's gone… I mean, I'm glad that she's not here, because of what she said, and because… me and her, we just don't get along. At the same time, I feel bad for her and… whatever she's going through right now. I hope she's alright… wherever she is."
"She's alright," Kitsune said with a surprising amount of force in her voice. "It might not seem like it, but Naru's a tough girl. She's alright, and… I guess we'll get in touch with her again when she's ready for it. For now, she's probably just… studying, all day, day in and day out, so that she can get into Tokyo U. It's been her dream, after all, for… honestly, for as long as I've known her."
"Oh yeah?" Keitaro asked. He found himself surprisingly interested, for some reason, so he set down the final stack of dishes in his hands in the sink and looked at Kitsune. "Do you know why?"
"Well, she mentioned a promise she made as a kid a couple times," Kitsune said, and when she said that, Keitaro had to place a hand on a nearby counter to avoid reeling and falling down. He only just collected himself when Kitsune continued to speak.
"But the real reason she wants to get into Tokyo University has a lot more to do with… her father."
(A cliffhanger! It's too bad that you'll have to wait for a very long time again for the next chapter, isn't it? :P)