[Thanks for the reviews. As for the reactor in kaollas room, I used a manga reference (vol.13 page 71). In one of the scene inside of Kaollas room you will notice that behind some of the jungle brush there is a nuclear reactor. It is difficult to spot but is normally found either near her tree or near her work bench. It's going to take longer between the chapters now because It is no longer the weekend. Same as last chapter I said the disclaimer at the beginning so I feel that I don't have to repeat it again.]
Devastated
It had been nearly a week since the Incident. Keitarou was now up and moving around, mostly using walls for support and his feet to see if there was anything in front of him. He seemed to be making some distinction between them now, it was obvious because of the way he would cringe when certain ones approached him. It was getting bad, it came down to having Shinobu feed him because all that he would do when someone else came near him, was cringe and cower. Motoko was probably the only one that could get within a meter before he would recognize who it was, mostly because she could walk more quietly than the others could.
Such was the case right now, Keitarou was making his way down the hall on the third floor of Hinata sou. Motoko was shortly behind him, watching him walk to the bath. He was adjusting fairly well but it was obvious that moving around caused him allot of pain. Motoko couldn't do much except for watch, she wished that she could help him. Ever since that day she hadn't practiced, instead she had been watching him, making sure that he was safe, even feeding him on occasion.
Until recently, Naru was the first that he learned to pick out from the rest. She had almost gone hysterical just trying to get him to stop being afraid of her. They ended up pulling her off and taking her out of the room to help calm her down. Su was shortly after fallowed by Kitsune and finally, her. Each rejection hurt deeply, without his hearing or his sight it was difficult to apologize to him, and every time they approached him he would either curl up into a ball and roll to where they can't see his face or get jumpy and end up cowering in a corner. Stopping outside the bathroom Motoko sighed then stared at the door. A few minutes later she left, all she could do now was try and make up for her mistake. That was all that any of them could do.
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The door opened to the hot springs and Kitsune turned to see who it was. Keitarou, wearing his usual clothes for cleaning the Hinata sou just leaned off the wall and brought the end of the brush down against the stones of the onsen. He then began scrubbing the stone deck using the combinations of the feeling from the tip of the brush and his feet to find his way around the hot spring, cleaning it thoroughly. Kitsune shrunk back into the pool so that he wouldn't feel her when he reached the spot that she was sitting in.
Watching him clean the hot springs like this was new to her. It both amazed her how well Keitarou was coping with his lack of sight, made her joyous to remember the good times when he would come to clean them and run into one or more of the girls, then it also pained her to think of how they had treated him. Motoko had quit practicing and had began to stalk behind him, watching him and making sure that he would be okay whenever she could. Su had become more mellow and had been working on something in her room, probably fixing the reactor and making sure there was no radiation leak from it, Shinobu was more depressed than ever, Mutsumi, well no one had seen her or Sara for a while, but they expected them to show up again soon. Naru, Kitsune sighed at the thought of what happened to Naru, she had mostly secluded herself off from the rest of them. Blaming herself entirely on what happened.
Herself, she had almost completely quit drinking, the alcohol would make her pain vanish, for a while, then it would comeback greater than what it had been before. The Sake' tasted differently now too, it was more bitter than it was sweet, she knew why too. Keitarou had bought it for her, even though he had better things to do with the money, he had still bought it for her at her insistence. How could she drink ever again without remembering what happened to him.
The door opened again, Kitsune looked up and watched as Naru walked in with Motoko right next to her, they were talking about something but stopped when they saw Keitarou. After about half a minute of staring they both jumped down and rushed him, Motoko quickly grabbed him from behind and Naru took hold of the brush pulling on it. After a few seconds of struggling Keitarou let go of the broom and Naru put it back inside the inn. Motoko mean while had been struggling with Keitarou who was struggling against her hold. He surrendered to whatever they were going to do to him. Motoko dragged him to the onsen but Naru stopped her.
"I don't think that that's a good idea Motoko. I mean, he might flip and take it the wrong way." Motoko looked at her then at Keitarou.
"You're right, but we can't let him go back to doing chores. He's not fit for doing them."
"He is still doing them though, that's the sad thing, we made him do so much he thinks that he must continue to do them." Said Kitsune speaking up for the first time. "I say we let him do them, he must get bored and there is little else he can do." The others nodded and let Keitarou go. He quickly got up and started running towards the door.
"I hope your right Kitsune, I hope your right." Said Naru watching him vanish around the corner.
********
"Motoko, someone's here to see you." Su called jumping around the inn. Motoko walked out of her room and came face to face with Su.
"I'll be right down Su, do you know who it is?"
"It's you sister, she says that it's time to inherit the dojo. Is that yummy?" Motoko sighed, Su had almost recovered from the shock, and it seemed that she had almost forgotten that Keitarou is blind, except when she would normally greet him with a kick, she instead gave him a firm hug, which he seemed to stiffen at then calm down gradually. It had been three weeks since the accident, almost everyone there had stayed away from him except for Shinobu and Su. Su constantly gave him hugs and comforted him whenever he would freak around the girls. So he took it as an apology and gradually was becoming less and less afraid of her.
Motoko had reached the bottom floor without realizing that she had been walking. She had left her sword up in the room and wasn't going to go get it. Her sister was sitting in a chair relaxing while the others were sitting around on the couch. Motoko took the chair opposite of her sister and looked up at her.
"Ahh Motoko-han, it's good to see you again. Are you ready to take over the dojo yet?"
"No sister, I am not. I have a few other things to do." Keitarou, scrubbing the floor with a rag as was tradition, accidentally bumped Tsurukos leg, which she quickly forgave, when he grabbed her leg to move it so that he could continue was when she got angry.
"Are you trying to take advantage of me? Then you are making a big mistake." Said Tsuruko raising her sword high above her head to bring it down onto Keitarou, who had reacted to the sudden movement and curled up as a ball on the floor. Motoko however quickly moved and clapping her hands together stopped her sisters' strike.
"He didn't know it was your leg, sister. "Yelled Motoko.
"You're defending him. Maybe you have feelings for him, Mottoko-han, or are you defending him for another purpose?"
"Sister, I." Motoko looked at the ground rather solemnly. "He, Keitarou, was in a horrible accident, and was blinded, he is also unable to hear or speak any longer. I wish to stay here and take care of him, since it was partly my fault." Motoko was now close to the verge of tears. Her sister watched this.
"Then we shall see if you speak the truth. I shall test you, get your sword and meet me in the front. I'll be waiting there." Spoke Tsuruko who then turned and after kneeling down real quick gave Keitarou a gentle rub on a pressure point which calmed him drastically, walked out the front door.
[K if you like review, if you din like, send your flames this way, I need something to cook my steak with anyways. The chapters are coming slower now because I have to go to my classes now. Thanks for the reviews and I plan on finishing this story soon. But I need some help, do you people crave the better ending or the more sinister ending. Things are going smoothly, except that I am writing at 3 in the morning. Well NE ways, I hope you enjoy]