~The Ring~
Shinobu lay stretched out on the roof of Hinata house, staring up at the cloud dotted sky. "How can this be happening?" she murmured, contemplating how a simple gold band could ruin her life. Sure she had surrendered him to Naru back at the Todai Ruins but that was just because everyone else had, she hadn't wanted to look selfish, but they weren't supposed to get engaged, dammit!!
Sitting up angrily, she pounded her fist against the wooden floorboards, and to her surprise they pounded back! Screaming and jumping back, she watched as the floorboards rose and a blonde head appeared.
"Heyas Shinomu!! Lookie what I gots!!" Su said popping out of the trapdoor.
"Su! Where did you come from!?"
"Motoko's room," Su replied shrugging, "but guess what I got, it's Naru's ring!!"
"The engagement ring!? B-but how did you get it!?"
"Naru always takes it off when she's bathing, so I used my mobile suit and-"
"Su!! You have to give it back!!"
"Why!? We could hold it for ransom and refuse to give it back until he agrees to marry us!"
"Are you insane!? That would never work!!" Shinobu yelled snatching the ring from Su's hand. "We have to down there right now and give it back!"
"Oh, I wouldn't go down there if I were you.." Su said matter-of- factly.
"W-why not?"
"Keitaro and Naru are at it again"
"At it again..you mean they're..!?" Shinobu exclaimed turning red.
"Thats right, they're in the bath together and.."Su's voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned close to Shinobu.
"You liar!!" Shinobu yelled as Su bounced away laughing loudly. "I can't believe you Su!!" Shinobu declared throwing the ring at Su's forehead.
Su ducked still laughing, and watched the object Shinobu threw at her fly over the railing and onto the front roof where it bounced with a metallic gleam and dropped over the edge. "Hey, that looked like-"
"Su!! That was the ring!!"
"Uh-oh.."
~*~ Kitsune sat at one of the tables in the empty Café Hinata, sipping coffee and reading the paper. It was Wednesday and the café was always deserted on Wednesdays, heck that place was never busy at all! Business had totally died since Haruka took off with Seta. Sighing, she turned to the horse racing section of the paper and began to search for a good horse for the upcoming race, wondering absentmindedly where Mutsumi was. Just as soon as she had spotted a likely candidate the doors of the café flew open and Shinobu and Su burst in, Shinobu crying and Su holding what appeared to be a new robot of hers.
"Kitsune, you have to help us!" Shinobu cried. "We lost Keitaro and Naru's engagement ring!"
"How the hell did you manage to lose something that doesn't even belong to you!?" Kitsune roared slamming her mug down on the table.
"Well..." Su said profoundly "It was basically all Shinobu's fault, you see-"
"MY FAULT!? How could it be my fault when you're the one who stole the ring in the first place!?" Shinobu demanded.
"Like I was saying it was all Shinobu's fault, but lucky for her my all new Mecha-Tamachan 7 has a built in metal detector." Su said proudly, pressing a button on the robot's back and watching as the shell folded away revealing a L.E.D screen.
"Really!?" Shinobu asked watching the radar on the screen. "That's great, now we can find the ring!"
"'Fraid not..." Su said solemnly "Unfortunately it goes haywire whenever the train passes, and I don't think it can detect gold..."
"What good is it then!?" Kitsune exclaimed.
"Well," Su said matter-of-factly "We all know how cheap Keitaro is, so there's a good chance that the ring isn't real gold, so if I reconfigure Tamachan's sensors-"
"It could detect every bottle cap and spare yen within a three mile radius!" Kitsune declared, grabbing them "Come on we're wasting time!"
~*~ Motoko got off the train, clutching the groceries tightly as she made her way through the station. Sighing inwardly, she turned up the deserted street and walked along thinking of how much she despised herself. How could she have let herself get so obsessed with one man, and not just any man, a man who had been promised to someone all of his life. He was pathetic, fawning over a childhood promise like a fool. He had never once thought of anything but meeting this girl, a girl who he couldn't even remember. He was weak, always too busy daydreaming to ever once think of strengthening himself, and yet she was in love with him. For years she had watched him struggle to get into Tokyo University, she had watched him triumph and grow stronger. She had also watched as his childhood dreams came true on the day he proposed to Naru, and unbeknownst to all on that same day she had watched her dreams shatter.
She would never do anything to jeopardize Keitaro and Naru's relationship; she loved them both too much to do that. Before she had tried to force them apart, to make him notice her, but it had always seemed to fail, miserably she might add. And now she knew why; those two were meant for each other. After seeing them overcome all they did there was no doubt in her mind. She would do everything in her power to make sure nothing got in the way of their happiness, but that didn't mean she couldn't dream now did it?
Walking up the stairs leading to Hinata House, she noticed a strange beeping sound, accompanying a rustling in the bushes. Straining to look at the source of the noise she promptly tripped over Kitsune who was on her hands and knees in the center of the stairs.
"Ow, dammit! Just run me over Motoko!"
"Ah! Kitsune, aren't you supposed to be tending to the café now?" Motoko asked, trying to gather the groceries which were now making their way back down the stairs.
"I was before the Fellowship That Lost the Ring showed up!" Kitsune retorted, pulling herself up.
"Huh?"
"Shinobu and Su, they lost Keitaro and Naru's engagement ring, and now we're trying to find it."
Shinobu rushed up to them. "Any luck Kitsune? Oh, hi Motoko, we're looking for sempai's ring."
"So I've heard" Motoko replied coldly "Shinobu, I can't believe you would go so far as to steal-"
"Hi guys, what's up?" Naru asked walking down the stairs.
"No-nothing! We were just, um..."
"Looking for Tamachan" Kitsune said, finishing Motoko's sentence. "She ran off about an hour ago, we think she might be laying eggs, she has been getting bigger you know." Kitsune added, stuffing the disoriented turtle into the grocery bag.
"Really, that's neat." Naru said distractedly.
"Is something wrong, Naru?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeah" Naru said quietly, eyes filling with tears. "I can't find my engagement ring, I took it off this morning before I got in the bath and now it's gone. Can you guys do me a favor and help me find it?"
"Sure"
"I don't have anything batter to do"
"It will disrupt my studying, but fine"
"Thanks, guys! But whatever you do you can't let Keitaro find out, I know he'll be upset" Naru said.
"Got it!" Motoko, Shinobu and Kitsune chimed.
"You guys are the best!" Naru cried hugging them, before continuing down the stairs. They watched until she was out of sight before letting out a sigh of relief (and Tamachan out of the bag).
"That was close" Shinobu said plopping down on the steps. "I didn't think she'd be that broken up about it."
"I need a drink!" Kitsune exclaimed sinking down beside her and pulling a beer out of the grocery bag. "Here Shinobu, take these up to the house before they go bad, Motoko and I will take it from here."
"Sure thing" Shinobu replied, placing Tamachan on her head and grabbing the bag before turning and climbing the stairs.
"Now what?" Motoko asked watching Shinobu's retreating back.
"There's only one thing we can do," Kitsune stated tossing the empty can aside. "keep looking."
~*~
A few hours later the two made their not-so-triumphant return back to Hinata House. It was getting late and Naru would be back from her evening classes soon. They were walking along, pondering what to do when Su popped out of a tree in front of them, her tan skin glowing in the light of the L.E.D screen hanging from her neck. "Where have you been all day!?" Motoko demanded, "And what's that around your neck!?" "This is my new and improved metal detector, which I've been using to track the ring." "Track!?" Kitsune exclaimed "You mean you know where it is?" "Negative" Su replied. "It disappeared from the radar a while ago." "That's great!" Kitsune yelled. "It's probably on its way to a pawn shop by now!" "I don't think so, I've been watching the radar for a while now and every once in a while it re-appears, each time getting closer." "Closer?" Motoko asked. "Maybe someone's trying to return it." "Return what?" Asked a voice behind them. Jumping startled they turned to find Mutsumi standing behind them. "Oh me, oh my, did I scare you?" She asked placing her hand in front of her mouth to stifle her giggles. "Just a b- IT'S THE RING!!" Kitsune cried, jumping forward and clutching her hand. "Where did you find it?" Motoko asked. "Well let's see, I was on my way to the café when I saw something shiny floating down the stairs towards me. It jumped down and started running around me in circles. I chased it and chased it until I got dizzy and fell over, and when I woke up this ring was lying next to me on the ground. So I picked it up and put it on and came up here. Why do you ask, is it important?" "We'll explain later, for now we need to get inside before Naru comes home!"
~*~
Shinobu lay stretched out on the roof of Hinata house, staring up at the cloud dotted sky. "How can this be happening?" she murmured, contemplating how a simple gold band could ruin her life. Sure she had surrendered him to Naru back at the Todai Ruins but that was just because everyone else had, she hadn't wanted to look selfish, but they weren't supposed to get engaged, dammit!!
Sitting up angrily, she pounded her fist against the wooden floorboards, and to her surprise they pounded back! Screaming and jumping back, she watched as the floorboards rose and a blonde head appeared.
"Heyas Shinomu!! Lookie what I gots!!" Su said popping out of the trapdoor.
"Su! Where did you come from!?"
"Motoko's room," Su replied shrugging, "but guess what I got, it's Naru's ring!!"
"The engagement ring!? B-but how did you get it!?"
"Naru always takes it off when she's bathing, so I used my mobile suit and-"
"Su!! You have to give it back!!"
"Why!? We could hold it for ransom and refuse to give it back until he agrees to marry us!"
"Are you insane!? That would never work!!" Shinobu yelled snatching the ring from Su's hand. "We have to down there right now and give it back!"
"Oh, I wouldn't go down there if I were you.." Su said matter-of- factly.
"W-why not?"
"Keitaro and Naru are at it again"
"At it again..you mean they're..!?" Shinobu exclaimed turning red.
"Thats right, they're in the bath together and.."Su's voice dropped to a whisper as she leaned close to Shinobu.
"You liar!!" Shinobu yelled as Su bounced away laughing loudly. "I can't believe you Su!!" Shinobu declared throwing the ring at Su's forehead.
Su ducked still laughing, and watched the object Shinobu threw at her fly over the railing and onto the front roof where it bounced with a metallic gleam and dropped over the edge. "Hey, that looked like-"
"Su!! That was the ring!!"
"Uh-oh.."
~*~ Kitsune sat at one of the tables in the empty Café Hinata, sipping coffee and reading the paper. It was Wednesday and the café was always deserted on Wednesdays, heck that place was never busy at all! Business had totally died since Haruka took off with Seta. Sighing, she turned to the horse racing section of the paper and began to search for a good horse for the upcoming race, wondering absentmindedly where Mutsumi was. Just as soon as she had spotted a likely candidate the doors of the café flew open and Shinobu and Su burst in, Shinobu crying and Su holding what appeared to be a new robot of hers.
"Kitsune, you have to help us!" Shinobu cried. "We lost Keitaro and Naru's engagement ring!"
"How the hell did you manage to lose something that doesn't even belong to you!?" Kitsune roared slamming her mug down on the table.
"Well..." Su said profoundly "It was basically all Shinobu's fault, you see-"
"MY FAULT!? How could it be my fault when you're the one who stole the ring in the first place!?" Shinobu demanded.
"Like I was saying it was all Shinobu's fault, but lucky for her my all new Mecha-Tamachan 7 has a built in metal detector." Su said proudly, pressing a button on the robot's back and watching as the shell folded away revealing a L.E.D screen.
"Really!?" Shinobu asked watching the radar on the screen. "That's great, now we can find the ring!"
"'Fraid not..." Su said solemnly "Unfortunately it goes haywire whenever the train passes, and I don't think it can detect gold..."
"What good is it then!?" Kitsune exclaimed.
"Well," Su said matter-of-factly "We all know how cheap Keitaro is, so there's a good chance that the ring isn't real gold, so if I reconfigure Tamachan's sensors-"
"It could detect every bottle cap and spare yen within a three mile radius!" Kitsune declared, grabbing them "Come on we're wasting time!"
~*~ Motoko got off the train, clutching the groceries tightly as she made her way through the station. Sighing inwardly, she turned up the deserted street and walked along thinking of how much she despised herself. How could she have let herself get so obsessed with one man, and not just any man, a man who had been promised to someone all of his life. He was pathetic, fawning over a childhood promise like a fool. He had never once thought of anything but meeting this girl, a girl who he couldn't even remember. He was weak, always too busy daydreaming to ever once think of strengthening himself, and yet she was in love with him. For years she had watched him struggle to get into Tokyo University, she had watched him triumph and grow stronger. She had also watched as his childhood dreams came true on the day he proposed to Naru, and unbeknownst to all on that same day she had watched her dreams shatter.
She would never do anything to jeopardize Keitaro and Naru's relationship; she loved them both too much to do that. Before she had tried to force them apart, to make him notice her, but it had always seemed to fail, miserably she might add. And now she knew why; those two were meant for each other. After seeing them overcome all they did there was no doubt in her mind. She would do everything in her power to make sure nothing got in the way of their happiness, but that didn't mean she couldn't dream now did it?
Walking up the stairs leading to Hinata House, she noticed a strange beeping sound, accompanying a rustling in the bushes. Straining to look at the source of the noise she promptly tripped over Kitsune who was on her hands and knees in the center of the stairs.
"Ow, dammit! Just run me over Motoko!"
"Ah! Kitsune, aren't you supposed to be tending to the café now?" Motoko asked, trying to gather the groceries which were now making their way back down the stairs.
"I was before the Fellowship That Lost the Ring showed up!" Kitsune retorted, pulling herself up.
"Huh?"
"Shinobu and Su, they lost Keitaro and Naru's engagement ring, and now we're trying to find it."
Shinobu rushed up to them. "Any luck Kitsune? Oh, hi Motoko, we're looking for sempai's ring."
"So I've heard" Motoko replied coldly "Shinobu, I can't believe you would go so far as to steal-"
"Hi guys, what's up?" Naru asked walking down the stairs.
"No-nothing! We were just, um..."
"Looking for Tamachan" Kitsune said, finishing Motoko's sentence. "She ran off about an hour ago, we think she might be laying eggs, she has been getting bigger you know." Kitsune added, stuffing the disoriented turtle into the grocery bag.
"Really, that's neat." Naru said distractedly.
"Is something wrong, Naru?" Shinobu asked.
"Yeah" Naru said quietly, eyes filling with tears. "I can't find my engagement ring, I took it off this morning before I got in the bath and now it's gone. Can you guys do me a favor and help me find it?"
"Sure"
"I don't have anything batter to do"
"It will disrupt my studying, but fine"
"Thanks, guys! But whatever you do you can't let Keitaro find out, I know he'll be upset" Naru said.
"Got it!" Motoko, Shinobu and Kitsune chimed.
"You guys are the best!" Naru cried hugging them, before continuing down the stairs. They watched until she was out of sight before letting out a sigh of relief (and Tamachan out of the bag).
"That was close" Shinobu said plopping down on the steps. "I didn't think she'd be that broken up about it."
"I need a drink!" Kitsune exclaimed sinking down beside her and pulling a beer out of the grocery bag. "Here Shinobu, take these up to the house before they go bad, Motoko and I will take it from here."
"Sure thing" Shinobu replied, placing Tamachan on her head and grabbing the bag before turning and climbing the stairs.
"Now what?" Motoko asked watching Shinobu's retreating back.
"There's only one thing we can do," Kitsune stated tossing the empty can aside. "keep looking."
~*~
A few hours later the two made their not-so-triumphant return back to Hinata House. It was getting late and Naru would be back from her evening classes soon. They were walking along, pondering what to do when Su popped out of a tree in front of them, her tan skin glowing in the light of the L.E.D screen hanging from her neck. "Where have you been all day!?" Motoko demanded, "And what's that around your neck!?" "This is my new and improved metal detector, which I've been using to track the ring." "Track!?" Kitsune exclaimed "You mean you know where it is?" "Negative" Su replied. "It disappeared from the radar a while ago." "That's great!" Kitsune yelled. "It's probably on its way to a pawn shop by now!" "I don't think so, I've been watching the radar for a while now and every once in a while it re-appears, each time getting closer." "Closer?" Motoko asked. "Maybe someone's trying to return it." "Return what?" Asked a voice behind them. Jumping startled they turned to find Mutsumi standing behind them. "Oh me, oh my, did I scare you?" She asked placing her hand in front of her mouth to stifle her giggles. "Just a b- IT'S THE RING!!" Kitsune cried, jumping forward and clutching her hand. "Where did you find it?" Motoko asked. "Well let's see, I was on my way to the café when I saw something shiny floating down the stairs towards me. It jumped down and started running around me in circles. I chased it and chased it until I got dizzy and fell over, and when I woke up this ring was lying next to me on the ground. So I picked it up and put it on and came up here. Why do you ask, is it important?" "We'll explain later, for now we need to get inside before Naru comes home!"
~*~