Chapter 26

Okay one last one, I have to write it when my idea comes or I may just lose it. Enjoy!

"Hey waiter! I want another glass of water", yells Joe as Ken struggles with the tub of dirty dishes he is carrying.

"Go stick it Joe", says Ken walking into the kitchen with his load.

"That's not very customer service oriented. Watch it or I won't leave you a tip", laughs Joe as Ryu smirks at their commander waiting tables.

It's been a week and Jun still hasn't woken up. Jinpei and Ken visit the hospital each evening and luckily the Science Ninja Team hasn't been called up since Jun being injured. Jinpei is flipping hamburgers as Ken walks in.

"Man, I never realized how hard you and Jun work. I feel like I've run a marathon today. And those customers are brutal out there. You really need to hire some help if you keep expanding your business this way. The nighttime hours are even worse when the bar opens up", says Ken wiping his forehead with his arm.

"Yeah sis never rehired anyone after the Dave situation. She just didn't trust anyone finding out who we were", replies Jinpei placing the two burgers on their buns and throwing a bunch of fries on each dish. "These are for table seventeen. I'm going to start the dishes now, or we're going to be running out tonight."

"Yeah, give me just a second", says Ken sitting down and leaning back against a counter.

"You okay bro", asks Jinpei.

"Yeah, I'm not getting much sleep. With the joint, going to visit Jun and then running my deliveries I've only been getting about three hours a night", replies Ken.

"You can't keep that up bro, especially flying. If you end up killing yourself my sister will be devastated. You've got a lot to think about. I think maybe we should close for a day and just catch up."

"Not a bad idea Jinpei, but Jun would have a gasket", replies Ken.

"Nah she wouldn't. Besides what do you think we do when the two of us are out on a mission? We have no choice. Tomorrow is Sunday. I say we sleep in and visit Jun at a decent hour. Do the rest of your deliveries tonight and we'll have a complete day to ourselves."

"That sounds really good Jinpei", replies Ken. "I am just totally beat. I really had hoped that Jun would have woken up by now."

"Tell you what, I'll make Ryu come back here and work off a part of his tab. Go take a nap big bro, you really need it", says Jinpei.

"You sure that he'll do it", asks Ken questionably.

"Yeah I'll offer him a couple of burgers. No problemo", replies Jinpei pointing towards the door with his spatula.

"You rule little brother", says Ken untying his apron and tossing it on the counter. He goes out the door and smiles at Ryu. "You're on duty while I take a nap."

"Say what", replies Ryu. "I'm not working behind the counter."

"Come on Ryu, working with food? What better job can you think of", asks Joe stealing a large cookie from under a covered plate.

"Jinpei, add a cookie to Joe's tab", yells Ken towards the kitchen.

"Got it", yells Jinpei.

"You guys are worse then Jun", replies Joe rolling his eyes. Before he knows it Ken is in front of him holding him by the neck of his #2 t-shirt.

"You listen here you jackass. I'm here trying to hold this place together for Jun while she is lying in a coma in the hospital. You have the gall to actually defile her name while she is down? What kind of teammate are you?" He shoves Joe and then walks away.

"What's got into him", asks Ryu as he gets off the stool.

"I think he is getting overtired and stressed out", replies Joe eating the cookie. "He couldn't take jokes before and now it's ten times worse. The guy has it bad."

"Ryu, get back here and help me with these dishes. I have an extra cheeseburger if you want it", yells Jinpei.

"Oh wow, okay I guess I could do that", replies Ryu heading to the kitchen.

"I'm out of here by the way", replies Joe and heading to the door.

Meanwhile Ken has gone upstairs to Jun and Jinpei's apartment. The first couple of nights he had slept on the couch, but as the days kept going on he was finding that the little sleep he was getting was worthless so he had moved into Jun's room. He wasn't totally comfortable sleeping in her room, but it was the only other bed in the apartment and he had to admit it beat out the couch.

Dropping down on the side of the bed he looked around the room and absorbed all of the hard work that Jun had gone through decorating the room. The walls were a light pink with lace curtains and her bedspread was an off-white crocheted piece. Getting up he walked to the closet. He didn't want to pry, but he was getting restless and bored with the arrangement and just wanted to get to know Jun better and what way was there at the moment but looking around. Opening the closet he saw a row of five or so red and white striped pants followed by a few #3 t-shirts and a neat row of black loafers. Shoved in the back of the closet were a few other outfits including a very fetching green dress with spaghetti straps. Raising his eyebrow he looked to the door of the closet seeing some jewelry as well as a large "Demon Five" poster. Closing the door he walks over to her dresser and looks into the mirror at himself. He looks exhausted and wipes his eyes with his hands before opening up the top drawer of her dresser.

"What am I doing? What am I looking for? I'm being a nosey idiot going through her stuff", says Ken to himself. Picking up a frame that's upside down in the drawer he picks it up to see a photo of himself in the frame. "Hmm interesting", he says aloud and opens the back of the frame. Another picture falls out, this one being of Koji. "Yeah dude you've been replaced", sneers Ken turning the photo of himself over to read the back. It just says "Ken" on the back. He puts it all back together and notices a small scrapbook in the drawer as well. Flipping through the book he sees photos of his teammates growing up before his very eyes on the pages. Underneath he finds a smaller book, which he only assumes, is Jun's diary. "Now this could be interesting. Oh she would so kick my ass", smiles Ken to himself. "Oh why the hell not."

Opening the book he notices that the date is an old one. It was the first day she had been brought in by Dr. Nambu. She talks about the three older boys that she has been assigned to work with . "Ryu is the larger boy. He is very funny and pleasant. He doesn't seem to be bothered that I am a girl and enjoys talking about food and sports. He is also very good with Jinpei." Ken grins as he turns the page to the next paragraph. "Joe is going to be known as the Condor. He is very flirtatious and said that I had nice wings. Ryu has told me that he is very into racing and has posters up in his locker. He's not old enough to drive yet, but from what I see he will make a great racecar driver. He is good looking, but has a real attitude which I don't think is very attractive." Ken chuckles out loud to see Jun's attitude of Joe pre-Science Ninja Team.

He turns the next page and finds little hearts written all over the page. "Then there is Ken who is to be our commander. He is going to be the Eagle and has been born to lead from what Dr. Nambu has told me. He has been so kind to me and is much quieter than Joe. I think that he is hot. That hair and those blue eyes when they look upon me just makes my heart melt. Dr. Nambu has told me that I am not to have any romantic feelings towards any of my "brothers". But I don't care what he says. I'll keep it a secret crush and someday it is my dream to be Jun Washio."

Ken's mouth opens. "Wow she really did like me since I've liked her." He flips through the book and finds numerous entries of how she felt about him, how she was hurt when he ignored her or how worried she had been on missions. Closing the book he leans down and finds a small teddy bear in the drawer. Picking it up he stares at it and closes his eyes to a day gone by. They had been thirteen and fifteen and were at an ISO sponsored carnival. Dr. Nambu had made them buddy up so no one would be lost. Joe and Ryu had headed to the rides immediately while Ken was instructed to look after Jun and Jinpei. He laughed as he had bought Jinpei cotton candy that day and he had gotten it in his hair and Dr. Nambu had ended up taking him home early. Jun had been afraid to go in the Haunted House, but he had held her hand and brought her through. She had been so scared and clasped his hand with fear. At the time Ken hadn't minded at all as he thought Jun was awesome and he knew that she normally wasn't afraid of anything, but it was fun to play the hero for the day. Afterwards he had taken her to the gallery as he wanted to prove his skills to her. Stopping at the dartboards he forked over the dollar and within seconds had pierced enough balloons for Jun to pick out the red and white teddy bear, which she promptly had named "Kenny". She'd even given him a small kiss on the cheek for his efforts.

Replacing Jun's belongings into the drawer he walks over to the bed and lays down. Even after more than a week of Jun not being around he can smell her perfume in the air. Just then his bracelet beeps.

"G-2 to G-1, Ken come in", says Joe.

"What is it? I'm trying to sleep", scowls Ken.

"I just want to tell you, well I'm sorry for being a jerk today. You're doing a good thing for Jun and Jinpei. I was wrong making fun of Jun. I guess I'm just jealous of you that's all", says Joe.

"There's nothing to be jealous of Joe. Just leave me alone and drop it okay? I'm doing this for Jun and making sure that Jinpei is taken care of. We're all a family and it's nothing more than any of you would do in the same situation if she asked", states Ken.

"Yeah commander, I understand. But we all know it's more than just her asking. I'm not going to get my beak in again where it doesn't belong, but we're all rooting for Jun to get better as soon as she can and we're rooting for you two to finally be together. That's all I've got to say."

"Thanks Joe. Have a good night", says Ken. Just then the phone rings. He answers the phone and his eyes pop open as he hears the doctor from the hospital tell him that Jun woke up. Jumping out of bed he runs down the stairs to the joint.

"Family emergency folks, we've got to close the joint", he yells to the three tables of people that are sitting there. "Come back tomorrow night and we'll give you a meal on the house."

"Big bro, what are you doing? You'll put us out of business", replies Jinpei running out of the kitchen with Ryu on his tail.

"Add it to my tab! Your sister just woke up and we're heading to the hospital", says Ken with delight as he grabs Jinpei and swings him around.

Ryu smiles. "You guys go ahead. I'll lock the door and let the folks finish up. That way you don't have to give any free meals away. Its okay folks, finish up. The guy is just excited that our friend has woken up from being unconscious for a while. I'll be here." He follows Ken and Jinpei to the door. "Jinpei you better drive him in your buggy, I think he'd get you guys into an accident with how excited he is."

"Sure thing Ryu, see you in a bit as Jinpei pulls out the keys to his buggy. Let's go bro. Bro??" He looks around to find his brother who has already hopped his motorcycle and is speeding away. "Um too late Ryu."