On the Balcony

            The next day, Haruka awoke to the sliver of sunlight shining upon her room in the early morning. She heard the cries of Motoko up on the balcony. She sat up in her bed, and let her eyes adjust, before looking at the digital clock next to her bed. It read 7:00 AM.

"Damn, Motoko, you must really have respect for your kendo studies if you make yourself get up even after a late night. I envy you. But you really should get some sleep," she said to herself with a yawn.

Haruka crept slowly out of her bed, got dressed, and made her way up to the balcony.

Motoko sliced her blade through the air with precision and grace. "Perfect," she murmured to herself, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the collar of her kendo garb.

The sound of footsteps came from the steps leading up to the balcony. Motoko turned sharply toward the source of the sound. There stood Haruka in her nightgown with her fuzzy slippers on her feet.

"Oh, it's just you," Motoko observed.

"You were expecting someone else?"

"Oh…no."

"You're up early, after being up 'till one."

"Meh."

It was still early spring, and the air was still chilly. "It's cold up here. I don't know how you can stand it," commented Haruka, shivering. She leaned up against the railing of the balcony and lit up a cigarette.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. "Is there a particular reason that you came up here?" Motoko said finally.

"I thought you would never ask. I was just wondering what happened between you and Keitaro yesterday."

"Wait a second. I wanna know what you were doing setting us up like that!"

"Oh, right. It was just a little experiment of mine, that's all. And the results seemed positive."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Keitaro came out of the funhouse unscratched. The 'feelings' of yours seem to be for Keitaro, ne?"

"Well, my 'feelings' say no."

"Hm?"

"Last night, while we were in the 'funhouse', as you might call it, I felt absolutely nothing."

Haruka took a puff on her cigarette. "Well, that seems odd. It completely contradicts what you told me the other day. Maybe I just misunderstood you…"

"No, Haruka, you understood me perfectly." Motoko brushed the hair out from in front of her face. "This makes absolutely no sense." She ran down the steps to the balcony back to Hinata House, withdrawing her blade along the way.

"Keitaro, prepare yourself," Haruka said, following Motoko back to ground level.

Hinata House was just beginning to stir. Keitaro and Naru were already up, studying hard for their exams.

"…and that is how you do it," said Naru, finishing up an explanation of how to do yet another one of Keitaro's high school-level math problems.

"Thanks, Naru. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Ya know, you're gonna have to remember this stuff if you want to pass your exams, because I won't be by your side, then."

"Urashima!" Motoko called out, running through the halls of Hinata. "He has been complicating my life ever since he came to Hinata House, and I just can't take it anymore. I hate him, and this 'feeling' he is causing. I want Keitaro out of my life!"

The door to Keitaro's room flew open, revealing an enraged Motoko, gripping her blade tightly. There, she saw Naru and Keitaro studying peacefully under the kotatsu.

"What's up, Motoko?" asked Naru.

Motoko just stood in the doorway, holding her stomach with anxiety. "Why has…the 'feeling' come back, and it wasn't last night?"

"What's that, Motoko?"

The kendo girl dashed off back down the hall.

"What's up with her?" Keitaro asked. "Oh well, let's just get back to studying, Motoko can take care of herself."

"I suppose you're right."

Motoko fell to the feet of Haruka, crying.

Haruka sighed. "This may be more complicated than I thought."