Chapter 5

She went into her room, and grabbed the whole bottle of her special moonshine, and took three or four good swigs right out of the bottle. She wiped the tears out of her eyes, and rubbed her cheek trying to make it not so red. She couldn't let Keitaro know how hard Naru had hit her, but after she told him what happened, he might be able to help her. Then poured her self another drink, and as an after thought grabbed an empty glass for Keitaro too. 'He is gonna need some of this when I tell him what happened' she thought. She then put the stopper in the top of the bottle, and put the bottle under one arm, and grabbed both glasses. She walked with the bottle and a glass in each hand over to Keitaro's room.

Kitsune gently kicked the door with her foot, and said "Keitaro, its me, my hands are full."

He came, and opened the door, and saw what she had in both hands, and said "No, Kitsune, tonight isn't the night for a party." The vapors of her breath were pretty overpowering. She had evidently been drinking something pretty strong, or a lot of something, or both. He didn't think that it was a good idea for her to be there, especially as he was going to go take a bath. He had only his pants on, he was going to change into his robe when she knocked on the door.

"Who said anything about a party, this is serious, it's about Naru" she said, and in one gulp downed all the liquid in her glass.

Upon hearing Naru mentioned he quickly moved out of the way and let her enter. She then said "clear off a space on the table for these." She said motioning to the glasses and the unmarked bottle of clear liquid. He had been studying all day, and the table was covered with books.

"O.K." he said, and he began to clear the table off. When he finally got room on the table, Kitsune began walking towards the table. As she was just about there, her weight shifted kind of funny to one side, and she tried to re-adjust. But it was hard with two glasses and a bottle of liquor under one arm. The bottle fell from under her arms down to the floor, and her left foot stepped awkwardly on the bottle, and she fell towards Keitaro, and they hit their heads together with a loud Smack!.

Keitaro opened his eyes, and he could see Naru looking down at him through the hole in the ceiling. It was hard to really see the look on her face as he could only see a fuzzy shape. He realized he didn't have his glasses on, and he didn't recall where he put it. Who else could it have been but Naru looking down the hole at him?

"I Knew I couldn't trust either one of you! If you ever come near me again you bastard you're going to pay!" she yelled, and suddenly slammed the board over the hole, and he could hear the sounds of Naru moving her dresser onto the top of the board over the hole. He went to go move his arm to cry wait.... and he realized it was once again holding something very soft. He then smelled very strong alcohol smells, and realized that this time he was holding one of Kitsune's butt cheeks with one of his hands and quickly let go. He had no idea how long they had been there like that, but it was long enough for Kitsune to be asleep rather than just passed out.

She was completely lying on top of him, and her head was on his chest right below his. Kitsune's hand was pressing against his chest right next to her face. Her robe had slipped quite a bit down, so that both shoulders were completely exposed. He resisted the best he could to stop from getting excited by trying to think about algebra.

"Oh God... What this would look like from above!" he said out loud. Kitsune was completely passed out. He scampered out from under her and then stood on his table and got close to the hole and yelled "Naru This isn't what it looks like, I can explain"

To which a crash could be heard above, like several books slamming down onto the floor.

'I have got to go explain.' He said to himself. He looked around at Kitsune lying on the floor face down, 'but first things first, I have to get Kitsune back to her room. He grabbed his shirts off the floor, the ones he was wearing earlier, and quickly put them on. 'I can't have her here if I am going to go talk to Naru.' He got behind Kitsune, and pulled her robe up over her shoulders. He then tried to get a hand under her waist, and felt skin. Her robe had become a bit more open than he thought. He quickly lifted her, to a semi kneeling position, and adjusted the robe from behind her. After tightening her sash around her waist, he went around to the side of her, and moved her around so that he could pick her up. 'She is surprisingly light' he thought as he carried her to the door. He slid the door open with his foot, and continued next door to Kitsune's room. Her door was left open so he entered the room, and set Kitsune down on her futon. He grabbed a blanket that she had, and set it over her. 'I will ask Shinobu or someone to check on her later' he thought.

Motoko had worked up quite a sweat, she was gasping for air. Her heart was pounding so furiously she thought she could hear it. She wiped the sweat off of her brow with her arm. She had been working out in her cloths she had worn earlier when she had been studying with Keitaro. Her shoulders were sore where they normally didn't have any straps cutting in her. 'Damn, how do most women even stand this?' she thought.

She thought about it for a minute and decided that she was not quite ready to walk past Naru's room again. 'I'll go soak in the hot springs for a bit, and wash up. I am drenched from this workout as it is.' She made her way down to the first floor, and into the laundry room. She quickly undressed and grabbed a couple of clean towels and robe out off of the shelf. She put her clothes and a few others that were in the hamper that she had in the laundry room. She then made her way into the changing room, and grabbed her bucket of shampoo and soaps. She quickly washed her body off, and gingerly massaged her sore shoulders.

She then stepped carefully into the hot springs. Now days she always brought a towel into the hot springs with her, mostly because it was a forced habit. The other reasons were because everybody else did, and most of all, no one could ever predict when Keitaro would happen to be coming into the bath. She blushed with the thought of Keitaro coming into the bath and seeing her. 'Gaah... Why am I thinking about that!' she thought.

She made her way to the deeper part so that she could soak her shoulders too. She could feel the penetrating heat absorbing into her sore muscles and her shoulders too. Just sitting there her mind began to wander again, she was thinking about everything that happened today. Soon she found her heart racing again and confusion starting to set in. 'Why..... what.... who... why.. how ...' Realizing what was happening she quickly attempted one of her focusing techniques and found the voice in her head join her slowly in quiet meditation. 'Ahh... much better' she thought.

He had run up the stairs as fast as he could and was standing outside of Naru's door. "Naru listen to me, it's not what you think!" He paused, nothing. "Naru Kitsune came to see me because she was worried about you. She just slipped that all"

Nothing... he grabbed the handle to her door and began to slide it open. "Naru I am coming in! Let me explain."

Her room was dark and he couldn't see anything, once he got the door all the way open. He lifted his foot to take a step in. A voice from inside the room said "You do that and you're a dead man" she said.

"Naru, Stop it! I am coming in because I am worried about you." He placed the foot he had lifted on the floor of Naru's room. Half expecting it, and half surprised, he found he was receiving a right hook. Once again he found himself flying through the air again. 'My jaw will probably be broken and need to be wired shut after that one' he thought. "AAAAIIiiiiiiiiiieeee" his scream had escaped from him, as he was hurtling through the air. He opened his eyes, and saw a rock that was out in the hot springs coming straight at him at high velocity, or the other way around. A tingling sensation started to burn in his chest, 'Is this what it feels like to die?' he thought as the burning sensation increased. It was like something wanted to burst out of his chest.

The rock suddenly came up to meet him. CRACK! .. It suddenly went dark, and he could feel hot water flowing around and over top of him... 'Great not only did I crack my head open, but I am going to drowned too?' was his final thought as the darkness was overpowering him.

"AAAAIIiiiiiiiiiieeee!"

Keitaro's scream shook Motoko out of her meditation, purly by reflex she quickly checked to make sure she had covered herself with her towel, and then looked around for Keitaro. Motoko spotted him flying through the air towards the hot springs.

For a second there, it almost looked like he was glowing, and then suddenly CRACK!..

The boulder he hit split in half and his body went limp and fell into the water. Motoko's First instinct was to launch him again with her bokken, but she saw that he was completely passed out face down in the water. She quickly went over to him and pulled his head out of the water, and using his natural buoyancy brought him over to the shallow end. She checked to make sure he still had a pulse, and was breathing. The lump on his head was beginning to swell to the size of an egg. Her first thought was to pull him completely out of the water, but she didn't know how long he would be out, and didn't want him to freeze in the cold night air.

With quiet resolve, she sat down in the shallow end, and placed his head in her lap, and let the rest of his body rest underwater on the stone bench she was on. After several minutes he still wasn't stirring she wondered what to do. 'I can't leave him in here,' she thought. So she decided that she had best try to get him to his room. She picked up his drenched limp body and set it on the side of the bath next to the edge. She stepped out and quickly dried herself and put her bath robe on. She then picked him up and water was still pouring off him in droves out of his cloths.

'I guess we will have to leave some of his wet clothes here, he will get everything including his bed all wet if he is like this, and if that happens he will probably catch a cold,' she thought. Her heart began to beat much faster, and a blush formed on her face. 'Gaah... I can't be thinking about things like that at a time like this' she thought. She quickly reigned in her thumping heart, and quietly pulled Keitaro's both of his shirts off. That night he had been wearing a white t-shirt with one of his button up shirts underneath. She couldn't help but to run her fingers down his chest, he actually did have quite nice form, and chiseled abs. 'It must be all the shoveling with Seta on his digs and the cleaning and repair around here' she thought.

She then carefully removed his belt and unbuttoned his pants; her heart began to thump so hard that she thought it was going to leap out of her chest. 'Why is my heart pounding like that, what am I thinking about? This is an emergency,' she reasoned with herself. It was kind of awkward getting his pants off without removing his boxers, as they wanted to stick to his pants. After several grueling heart pounding moments, she finally got them off.

She dried him off the best she could with one of the towels she had used. She got all the water off of his legs and his arms and upper body, and then gingerly dried his hair around the newly formed goose egg on the crown of his fore head. She couldn't stop her self from staring at his lips. Like so many times before she just desired to kiss him. Both in person and in her novels she had written, and like so many other times her lips met his in a soft gentle kiss. After a few minutes their lips parted, and she thought 'Just once I would like for him to kiss me or return the kiss that I am giving him. Why is it always a one sided kiss with him, he is either asleep, passed out, or possessed.'

His body started to get goose bumps on his skin, and she once again was recalled back to the current situation from her daydreaming. She then gently picked him up and put him on her back, and walked her way into the inn. He seemed a lot heavier than he normally did when she had had to carry him. 'Either he is putting on weight, or I am getting weaker', she thought. His wet boxers were making a wet spot on her back as she carried him to his room. He had left the door open to his room, and she went inside. She carefully set him down on his futon, and looked around. There was a bottle and two glasses on the floor. 'What was that about?' she wondered. She pulled out of his cupboard the blankets he used, and pillow. She carefully picked up his head and placed it on his pillow, and put his blanket over top of him.

Suddenly her heart began to beat furiously again. 'I can't leave him sleeping in wet undergarments,' she thought. She lifted up the edge of the blanket, and placed her hands under the blanket. Her heart was beating so hard that it felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. Trying to maintain modesty she fumbled around under the blankets, and she soon found the top of his boxers. She began to pull them down she got them below his knees, and then lifted the bottom of his blanket up, and quickly pulled them off, and replaced the blanket. 'That wasn't so bad' she thought, as she was trying to calm her heart from racing.

"I wonder.....' she began thinking about what was under the cover. Her heart started beating furiously as her hand slowly crept to the edge of the blanket. 'No, I won't do it, or I would be no better than one of the perverts that I despise so much.' She sat down and forced a mental picture of calmness to come over her to try to still her heart from trying to escape its cage.

She sat there wondering if she should stay and watch over him or not. She decided that it would probably be a good idea to stay just until he regains consciousness. She looked around the room again, and found the bottle and two of Kitsune's glasses catching her eye. She went over and picked up the glasses and bottle, and saw the lipstick on one of the glasses. Her suspicion began to rise, and she examined the other glass. It was dry and clean. She then noticed lipstick on the top of the bottle, and thought 'Kitsune what were you doing?'

She gathered up the glasses and the bottle, and went next door. Kitsune's door was also left open, and there Kitsune was sprawled out on her futon. She had kicked her blanket off, and was shivering from the cold night air that was coming in through the open door. She also noticed the smell that Mitsune was giving off, and the fact that she had not changed in to her night shirt.

'Kitsune what were you doing in Keitaro's room?' she thought. She placed the bottle and glasses on the desk, and she gathered up the blanket. She then adjusted Mitsune so she wasn't sprawled all over the place, and placed her under the blanket. 'Was Keitaro doing something with her?.. No probably not, the second glass was completely dry. He could have tried something if she had passed out though.' She thought. 'No, probably not, he is kinder than that. He probably wouldn't have done anything like that, even if he is a bit of a pervert.'

She got up and went to go back to Keitaro's room making sure to shut Kitsune's door. She went and got his boxers, and then went back out into the bath and grabbed the rest of the wet cloths. She took them back to the laundry room, and realized she hadn't started her own load yet, so she threw his cloths in with hers and started the batch. Kitsune had warned her that she had to wash things on delicate if she was going to wear lace, so she started the load on delicate. She grabbed a washcloth from the changing room, stopped by the sink and wrapped a little crushed ice in it. She then went back to Keitaro's room and closed the door behind her and sat down by the bed. 'I am just going to watch over him for a little bit' she thought. She placed the washcloth that had she had prepared over the bump on his fore head.

She watched over him for quite some time, and her eyes began to feel very heavy and her head began to seep lower and lower. Soon she found herself completely asleep.

She once again found herself in the peaceful midnight snow, sitting by the warm and happy fire. She changed positions many times to try to get closer to the fire, trying to keep both sides of her warm at once. After a few minutes she finally found a good position that seemed to keep her warm enough on both sides, and the warmth that was coming from the fire seemed to go straight through her to warm her all over at once. This time its warmth was amazing, it seemed to penetrate her even her soul, and chase her fears away. She quietly watched the fire happily dance its regular happy rhythm all night long.

Once again, two eyes carefully watched from just beyond the fires warm light.

Su knocked on Shinobu's door.

"Yes" a sleepy sounding voice said inside.

"Shinobu its Kaolla, can I come in?" Su asked.

"Hu... wha.... I guess so... come on in" Shinobu

Su entered the room, and closed the door behind her. She was in her pajamas and holding her big stuffed banana. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked.

Shinobu blinked in surprise... "Why do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Shinobu questioned. Su didn't answer right away, she just looked at her all doe eyed. "Sure I guess," she said caving to the power of the doe eyes.

"Yay!" Su leaped over and quickly climbed under the covers of Shinobu's futon next to her.

Shinobu turned her back to Su to go to sleep, and casually said "how come you aren't sleeping with Motoko?"

Su casually answered "Oh ... I went to Motoko's room, she wasn't there, and so I went to go sleep with Keitaro. My spot with Keitaro had already been taken by Motoko, so I came here"

"Oh", said Shinobu, and she closed her eyes to go to back to sleep. They opened again with a start. "She what?!... Sempai..." and then quickly blackness had descended on her as she fainted away, which later resolved into the deep rhythmic breathing of sleep.

The storm in Naru's room subsided into a small rainstorm again, and then down once again to nothing, as the creator of the storm finally found a teary sleep.