Chapter 3

Out in the bath, Shinobu had seen the pain on Motoko's face. She waited for Motoko to finish washing her hair which seemed to take a long time as Motoko was going very slowly. Motoko finally finished and using a bucket of water rinsed her hair and body clean.

As she slowly climbed into the bath Shinobu moved towards her and said "Please don't worry about your hair, I think its very cute and I like it."

"Why would a warrior like my self be worried over hair?" Motoko then softly said "it's not as if I am trying to get anyone to notice"

"It is not just me either; just this morning sempai said that your haircut made you look even more beautiful"

A strange almost calming effect seemed to come from mentioning Keitaro, or the word beautiful, or both. "Why would he say such a thing?" Motoko probed.

"Oh it's because I asked him if he likes girls with short hair, and he said 'How short' and I said about as short as Motoko's" what she didn't ask Keitaro this morning or mention now is she really wanted to add 'or like mine.' "He said something about how you reminded him of how some of the classic American movie stars looked, and how it showed off your beautiful neckline." Shinobu noticed how Motoko in fact did have a very beautiful neckline, and she felt very self conscious of her own neck, and how her own neck was far from being long and beautiful like Motoko's.

Motoko blushed a little, 'He was looking at my neckline?' she thought to herself, while her subconscious mind stowed away such valuable information to later put down on paper.

Her hand suddenly seemed to move on its own accord and it came to gently rest upon her neck. Upon realizing what she was doing she quickly put her hands back in the water. 'Gah.. why am I having such thoughts, I need to stop trying to think so much about him. If I keep it up, I am going to start acting on some of the schemes to get Urashima and Naru to break up. I just need to focus on Tokyo U for now, Urashima will come later.' Another girlish thought crossed her mind 'he might even come with Tokyo U.' Just then the mental image of holding hands with Urashima on the campus made her blush. 'Gack, just where did that come from?' she wondered as she tried to calm her racing heart.

"Oh, I haven't really watched any American classic movies because I have always been training."

"Later we can rent one and watch it if you want Motoko. I always wanted to see Charades my papa always talked about how he liked that one. He said it was full of adventure and mystery and action. That might even be one you might like, although I doubt that there is any sword fights in American movies of the time."

"No, that's alright Shinobu I need to train and study," she said although her heart really wanted to say yes instead.

Motoko didn't soak very long because she needed to get ready. Keitaro had promised to help her later on, and they had agreed to meet in her room. Motoko got out and went into the changing room and dried herself, and then began to dry her hair. She had discovered something quite new about having shorter hair; that it certainly didn't take very long to dry. She put on her robe and made her way to her room.

A few minutes later, Motoko was in her room pawing through her wardrobe looking for something other than her regular kendo uniform. Her wardrobe certainly felt very small lately, and she noticed that lately it has been almost an impossible challenge to find something to wear. Usually she got would just dress in her traditional attire, but lately she found that she simply did not have enough clothes. Suddenly she stumbled across the shirt she received from Keitaro so very long ago, and she paused. That was the night she really embraced Keitaro. 'That was a very confusing night. I had wandered for hours in the rain totally depressed when he found me, and brought me home. He was so kind and gentle that night, he even brought me home snuck me in and loaned me this shirt and a pair of his shorts, so I could get into some dry clothes. He did it so I wouldn't have to face anyone that night.' That she had dreamed about that night several times, and her she also found her pencil righting about that night also. Suddenly another girlish thought crossed her mind 'what if he hadn't spoiled the mood with those stupid cloths pins. Who knows what could have happened.' a wide grin broke out over her face 'Those clothes pins were pretty funny' she thought. Another girlish thought hit her with force and the grin vanished 'did he put those on his face to break the mood? Does he not like me? Was he trying to avoid me? Or was it something else... could... '

There was a knock at the door, and Shippu squawked.

Motoko was startled awake from her day dreaming, and she looked towards the door.

"Motoko? Are you there?" .....

'Oh no! It's Keitaro' Motoko realized, she had been trying to find something to wear for over forty minutes! 'How long was I sitting there holding his shirt?!' she wondered, and then realized she was still holding his shirt. She had meant to give it back to him so many times. Every time she would get close to returning the shirt, somehow it found its way back into her closet. It seemed like it was either dirty because she had used it as a night shirt, or it needed to be washed. Right now the last thing she wanted Keitaro to see was her clutching the shirt that she had "borrowed" and couldn't return.

"Just a moment" she cried. Motoko began to panic she threw the shirt into the closet and quickly pushed some other cloths on top of it. Then quickly glancing around the room she checked to see that everything was in order. When she arrived at the door and opened it, and said "ok you can come in now."

Keitaro face was wide with surprise, and then he quickly cowered like his head was about to be severed. This puzzled Motoko for a few seconds when suddenly she realized what he had seen. She was still wearing only her bathrobe. In her panic to hide the shirt she had forgotten to get dressed, and the robe wasn't as tightly bound as it was when she was coming back from the bath.

"AAaah" Motoko squeaked and slammed the door shut. 'Oh my God, I can't believe I just did that.' The heat in Motoko's face was almost unbearable, and her heart was thumping so hard she could hear it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean too . . . I can come back later," a small voice from the other side of the door cried.

"No, wait a minute, I had just gotten out of the bath, I was just surprised is all," Motoko said.

She quickly threw on the closest thing she could, and put it on without really checking. She found herself a pair of white shorts, and a light blue tank-top with white lettering that said I.A.C. and in small print underneath it said "I Am Cute" on it. She realized that she hadn't yet put a underwear on, and this tank top certainly wouldn't leave too much to the imagination. She went to open the drawer and get out some of the undergarments that Kanako had given her, and then after a second thought she grabbed one of the new bras and panty sets she had purchased this week with Mitsune's and Kanako help. Kanako had given her a few hand-me-downs, but because she had stopped binding her breasts up, she found she needed quite a few more bras then the ones Kanako had given her. How Kitsune and Kanako had convinced her that she needed to buy a very lacy bra and matching panties was beyond her understanding. She had been worried because they were a very non conservative pink labeled "passion pink". She quickly put them on, and soon noticed that something inside her suddenly felt just a little bolder wearing something that was lacy and "passion pink." Then she quickly put on the tank-top and shorts.

Maybe they were right about that kind of underwear. A thought entered her mind 'look at me... all concerned about clothes. What would the old Motoko say about that! . . . . Maybe I have changed more than I have noticed.'

She regained her composure log enough to say "Sorry about that Keitaro, it's safe to come in now." She tried to reign in her racing heart by some of her calming deep breathing exercises.

A head carefully peeked into the room, followed cautiously by the rest of Keitaro.

Motoko noticing that he seemed to be on the defensive said "Don't worry, I am not going to hit you, it was my fault, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was wearing. I was kind of distracted is all, and I have had a lot on my mind," for some reason her heart was pounding again.

Keitaro seemed to relax a bit, however he still looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Umm.... Well what do we get started on?"

"I don't know, but sit down while I brush my hair, this will take just a moment."

She grabbed a brush, and began brushing her hair. She wished that she hadn't waited quite so long after the bath to do this, because there were quite a few tangles in her hair that needed worked out. It certainly would have been much easier had she done this earlier.

Keitaro in the mean time had set his books and note books out on her small round table, and now found his eyes wandering. Shippu seemed to take an interest in what he was doing by cocking his head at Keitaro. His eyes fell upon Motoko brushing out her hair, and found it very hard to find something else to look at in the room.

Her warrior senses could feel his eyes staring at her, and she began to blush. She couldn't help but look over and check to see if he really was staring at her. His eyes quickly darted down to his books, and he said "Well you did say you wanted help with math."

Unknown by both Motoko and Keitaro someone else besides Keitaro happened to catch a glimpse of Motoko's free show, and just about went over there and give him one of her solid patented pending right hooks. When a sudden flashback of a quiet voice in the dark that said "Please, don't. ... No, stop talking, and just hold me..." stopped her dead in her tracks. A few seconds after Keitaro had gone in Motoko's room Naru could be seen storming down the steps of Hinata Inn like a small storm, and an occasional rumbling "pervert" and "just die" could be heard.

Voices down by the river were speaking, had there been an observer they might have heard but not seen three old men talking and plotting.

"That went as we expected."

"Of course it did, why wouldn't it have?"

"Now we just need to do a little more pushing, and things will start to progress nicely towards our goal"

Keitaro found himself trying to reconnect his mental circuitry and regain his surroundings. He also felt something very soft cupped in his hand. His instincts kicked in and he let go and cried "Sorry Naru!" But when is eyes finally focused he realized he wasn't in his room but Motoko's. 'Oh man, what have I done, I fell asleep on Motoko. I wonder if she is mad at me for sleeping through her study session.' He was still trying to clear the fog in his brain when he realized why he wasn't able to move. Motoko had also fallen asleep on Keitaro... litteraly. She was laying her head and upper body on him, and it had been her that his wandering hand had found in his sleep. 'How on earth did this happen, and what am I going to tell Naru!' then the thought hit him, 'Oh if I did that I would be a dead man.'

He furiously thought how am I going to get out of this one? Since he was still partially pinned under Motoko, and if he wasn't careful he might find himself dead before Naru even got a hold of him. He gently began moving Motoko off him like he was trying to diffuse a bomb, and in some sense he really was diffusing a bomb. 'If Motoko finds me touching her in her sleep, I am as good as dead,' he thought. Several minutes later he had Motoko's head gently resting on a duffle bag that seemed soft, and had also been within reach.

The whole process went without a hitch, but was carefully observed and scrutinized by a yellow bird that seemed to know more than he would be willing to say.

'That one was a close one' he sighed. 'I'd better go before she wakes up.' He began gathering up his books and other study equipment, when he found his eyes once again staring at her. 'She looks really beautiful and innocent when she is asleep. Although she is not at all that different from a sleeping tiger, except this tigress only had one really long sharp claw that could cut through just about anything, and a couple of mean right and left hooks.'

On his way out, he had one final thought, and spotted a light blanket, and gently placed it on her and quietly left the room. Then he left Motoko under the watchful eye of Shippu.

Motoko was warming herself by a happy little fire. The fire danced its warmth into her body and it felt very safe, while the night snow was gently falling all around them. The fire was very warm and reassuring and made her feel at peace, and it kept the dark and the cold out. As she rested by the fire, she was just enjoying the very warm happy crackle and pop of the dancers in yellow and orange costumes. An every so often there would be an occasional hiss as a particularly large snow flake would fall into join the dance of the flames.

A slight breeze started to pickup out of no where and the warm fire wasn't warm enough, and the snow began to move around as she furiously huddled closer to the fire. The breeze took a few minutes to once again die down to nothing, but the fire had changed. Something wasn't quite as warm or safe or as comforting as it was before. But there was still something vaguely familiar about it. She continued to watch the flames waiting for them to come back alive and dance their happy dance, but it never happened as she watched the fire through the rest of the night.

All the while she was huddling by the small fire, there were a pair of knowing eyes was watching her and guarding her.