Love Hina Once Again

Chapter 35

"Inu yasha, hey," Rei waved as she walked up to the shrine.

"Yo," the white haired half demon waved. "Kagome's here, but she's pretty exhausted. Had an exorcism call last night," he noted.

Rei frowned, "She didn't think to call...?"

Inu Yasha gave her a look. "She had me along in case things went wrong," he pointed out to her a bit stiffly.

Rei held up her hand, "And I know you're quite capable. Still..."

Inu Yasha added, "Well, she knew you guys had just gotten back from Tokyo. She figured you were tired too."

"Ugh. Point," Rei conceded.

Rei excused herself then headed up to the main shrine building itself. As she got nearer she saw that Kagome was sweeping, the black haired young women looking distinctly tired. She smiled as Rei walked up, "Hey, morning."

"Rough night?" Rei asked mildly.

"Oooh, yeah," Kagome sighed. "It was a relatively weak entity, or I'd have called you in too."

"I see," Rei nodded. "So why...?"

"Because it was ALSO very stubborn and refused to get out," Kagome added. "I banished it eventually, but it took hours."

Rei looked over the visibly exhausted girl and said, "Why don't you lay down for a bit? I can manage the shrine for a few hours."

"You're a guest I'm supposed to be training with," Kagome protested.

"So we can train once you're rested up," Rei shrugged.

Kagome looked like she wanted to argue, but she was really tired. "Ok," she gave in, "but just a nap. Wake me later."

"Will do," Rei agreed as she watched the girl head back to the house to get some more sleep.

After Rei had swept a bit, she felt a presence nearby. "Thank you," Inu Yasha said gruffly. "I couldn't convince her to sleep in."

"You're welcome," Rei smiled slightly.

"Heh," with that Inu Yasha took off to lurk around the shrine.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The ongoing construction of a new 'Inn' on the grounds of the old annex was continuing, if slowly. The construction was being done with minimal impact on the surrounding area, as well as taking all precautions to protect the hot springs.

"I'm surprised you didn't apply to be the architect," Mutsumi noted as she and her girlfriend watched the crew working.

"I'm more an expert on commercial buildings," Tennyo admitted. "Besides, I knew Noboyuki was bidding on it, too." she added.

"Which reminds me... when do you introduce me to your family?" Mutu=sumi asked curiously.

"Whenever you wish," Tennyo smiled, "the Masaki Shrine isn't that far away." She paused, "I should warn you, my family is weird."

"Weirder that HERE?" Mutsumi asked pointedly.

Just this morning Su had been testing her Tama Mecha VII, with LASER BEAMS. There had been the usual morning duel between Tennyo and Motoko. And Ami Mizuno's attempt to do a science experiment in the basement triggered a fire.

(Not her fault. Su's pet turtle decided to investigate...)

"Well, as weird, in different ways," Tennyo conceded.

"Then I look forward to it. Maybe we can run up on the weekend...," Mutsumi suggested.

At around the same time Kitsune was talking to Kanako. "I still think we should do a bikini day at the cafe."

Kanako looked up at the taller woman in amusement, "You just want to put poor Mutsumi in a bikini and draw all the schoolboys in."

"Are you implying that me and Shinobu don't look good in bikinis?" Kitsune asked.

"Not as good as Mutsumi," Kanako noted.

"Point," Kitsune conceded.

Kanako added, "And honestly it'd be creepy for Shinobu."

"Yeah," Kitsune frowned. She brightened as she suggested, "Maybe I could ask Utena, Anthy, Rei or Ami to join in."

"I want to see you try THAT," Kanako snorted. "They'd kill you."

"Ugh, true...," Kitsune agreed.

"The cafe's not doing badly, is it?" Kanako asked curiously.

"We do okay," Kitsune waved that off, "I just want us to do better."

"You're just too ambitious for your own good," Kanako teased once more.

"I guess so," Kitsune agreed.

"Plus, wouldn't making Mutsumi parade around in a tiny bikini piss Tennyo off?" Kanako suggested archly.

Kitsune visibly paled at the image of a furious, sword weilding Tennyo. "Also a good point..." she muttered softly.

"KITSUNE!" a very agitated voice yelled.

Both woman turned and saw a very annoyed looking Motoko striding up to them. "I think I have paperwork calling to me," Kanako decided, taking off.

"Coward," Kitsune noted as she left.

"WHY did I just get an email from a PORN SITE asking about my writing?" Motoko demanded, an aura of pure rage swirling around her.

"Porn site...?" Kitsune blinked, then realized, "Oh, Honey Chop."

The aura of pure rage dispersed a bit. "YES, Honey Chop. Why are they emailing me?" she asked Kitsune flatly.

"My friend Shizue works there, we met on our Tokyo trip," Kitsune explained. "I lent her a copy of your story to look at."

That dispersed the aura completely as Motoko looked at her blankly.

Kitsune tilted her head as she asked, "Did she say she liked it?"

Motoko went bright pink, amusingly. "Uhm, yes actually...," she admitted.

Kitsune smiled, "Well, that's good."

"There's one thing," Motoko looked profoundly embarassed, "she said that while she liked my writing... it's not really explicit enough."

"Explicit... oh!" Kitsune realized. "More sex, huh?" she guessed.

"Yes," the blushing Motoko admitted.

"I could lend you a couple of magazines..." Kitsune suggested mildly.

Motoko's eyes went wide. "God no..." she groaned.

Kitsune just laughed as Motoko strode off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ami nodded as she and Su finished up cleaning the basement room.

(Interestingly, Su apparently had a sub-basement lab, large enough to house small mecha. Ami was also certain it probably violated the law to have it there, which was why she hadn't asked to look. She wasn't dumb...)

"I'm sorry I startled you," Su added once again.

Ami sighed. "I really shouldn't have been trying the experiment outside of a lab anyway," she conceded.

"You forgot the 'don't try this at home' rule," Su nodded wisely.

Ami snickered softly.

The two headed upstairs, both looking tired and, somewhat, messy. "I'm going to go shower then soak a bit," Ami said.

"You want to be nice and clean when Rei gets back," Su teased then hurried off.

Su was apparently no longer scared Ami would do something horrible to her for spying on her and Rei. Well, Ami supposed that was just the resiliency of youth.

'When did I start thinking of young teens as 'youth?'' Ami thought, amused. Probably due to the years of Magical Girl activities...

Ami headed up to their room and stripped off her dirty clothes, then headed out to the baths. A brisk wash, then she settled into the hot springs for a bit.

"Ah, that was a long day," Rei Hino sighed as she emerged from the mists and settled into the spring beside her.

Ami took her hand and squeezed, "Welcome home..."

To be continued...

Notes: I had kind of FORGOT, basically, that I had Rei part-timing at the local shrine from Inu Yasha. So just assume she was doing this in between other story bits.