After a long day of work, Kentaro Sakata decided to relax. In the small room towards the back of the Hinata Tea Shop, he laid down on his tiny bed and felt underneath for the remote. Finding it, he flipped on his stereo. On of the few vices left to him after his financial ruin, his stereo was one of the few luxuries he now possessed. He massaged his weary temples and let the chilling music sooth his tired muscles.

"What's playing?" Haruka Urashima, his boss, stood leaning in the doorway.

"Brahms," he replied without looking up.

"Rough day?"

"Sort of, I'm not complaining."

"You work yourself pretty hard, Kentaro."

"Maybe that's because you'd beat the crap out of me if I slacked off."

Haruka sat down on the foot of the bed, "you really think so?"

"Let's just say I don't care to find out."

Haruka chuckled lightly, "by the way, Keitaro sent you this letter." She placed the envelope on his stomach and got up.

"Pass me my letter opener before you go?"

"Where is it?"

"In the cup on my desk."

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

As Haruka exited the room, Kentaro slid the tiny blade across the filament of the seal, breaking it. This was no strange occurrence. Through their rivalry over Naru, they had both developed a sort of quasi-friendship, which had only further developed once Keitaro had left the House and both men had lost interest in Naru. Therefore, they occasionally exchanged e-mails or written letters.

Upon reading the letter, a wry smile crossed his face, "well, I'll be damned."


Keitaro Urashima and his young wife boarded a plane in Maui. He helped her gently into her First class chair, providing the window seat, and flopped down beside her. They had been married a little over six months now, but the ties of the marriage were incredibly strong. The two were quite a couple, Nyamo possessed the strength and durability to endure Keitaro career, and Keitaro had the kindness and caring to make her life one of joy and happiness.

"I'm sorry, Kei-kun, but once more, why are we flying back to Japan?"

Keitaro smiled warmly, "An old friend of mine is graduating from college in a few weeks, and I kind of want you to meet all my old friends. Besides, the vacation will be good for us."

Nyamo was apprehensive about this vacation, certainly she trusted her husband completely, and a part of her really did want to meet his old friends, like most married women, she could barely stand the site of young women near her new husband. She really shouldn't worry about that, since she was only sixteen. That was another thing she felt bad about, lying to Keitaro about her age. Still, she couldn't shake the terrible sense of foreboding that she found herself staring into.

"Trust me you'll like them."

Nyamo managed a weak smile, "Do you think they'll like me?"

"Well, seeing as I love you more than anything in the world, I'd say they'd better!"

Keitaro certainly seemed happy, and so, for the sake of her husband's joy, Nyamo decided to stop worrying about the trip.


Naru Narusegawa munched her cupped noodles silently, wincing at the sour flavor. Everyone else seemed to have a similar opinion of the dinnertime fair, all except for Kaolla Su, who was now happily dousing her cup of noodles in Tabasco Sauce. Having Shinobu gone for the weekend was rough.

Sara was the first to begin whining. "Why don't we get Kanako to fix us something, she's a decent cook!"

"She said she had some personal business to attend to tonight."

"Well, what about Haruka?"

"Same thing."

"I wish I brought some watermelons," said Mutsumi wistfully, poking at her cup with a chopstick.

"Well, what about Kentaro?" This was Motoko speaking, and everyone looked up

"Keitaro's gone, Motoko," said Kitsune.

"No, not 'Keitaro,' 'Kentaro!'"

"Who?"

"Kentaro! You know, the guy who works for Haruka!" A 'oohhh of realization swept over the table as each girl considered it.

"Bah, there's no way that spoiled rich boy can cook!" spat Naru

"Wait a sec, Naru, didn't he used to cook for you, Motoko when you two were-, Ow!" that was Su, but she was cut off by a swift jab to the ribs by Motoko.

"Wait a minute, what's wrong with the noodles I made?" Naru demanded. The other girls just stared.

"Right," said Kitsune, sardonically, "Then it's settled, lets go down to the tea shop."


Hearing a scuffling noise by the door, Kentaro looked up from his reading. By the doorway stood the entirety of the Hinata House girls, excluding Shinobu.

Someone elbowed Naru, "Uh, Hi Kentaro, you got anything to eat?"

Kentaro was surprised, but he played it off smoothly, "I think there's a few sandwiches in the fridge over there," he replied, gesturing behind the counter.

"Thanks Kentaro," said Naru in an artificially bright tone. The girls moved quickly to raid the refridgerator and disappeared quickly.

Kentaro sighed and returned to his reading.

Author's Note

Well, Here's the first chapter. I know the pacing's kind of slow and it's pretty short, but there's a lot of important stuff to the storyline so look out!

Also, I plan to be updating this fic pretty frequently, so tell me something I don't know and ignore the short chapters in your reviews.