Chapter 9
Shinobu was cooking breakfast. 'I am glad sempai's bump is almost gone, you can barely even see it!' she thought. She was glad that Motoko had been taking such good care of him. She was cooking up one of his favorite breakfasts again just in case he woke up this morning.
Su did her usual magic trick this morning, like she did every other day, by somehow making full plates turn instantly clean, and bananas disappear into thin air. 'How she can eat that much and stay so skinny, it must be where she gets all her energy.' Shinobu thought.
Kitsune even came to breakfast this morning. She didn't have much to say, but ate her meal quietly and then asked if she could take a tray up to Naru. Shinobu helped her make a tray and poured a big glass of orange juice for her.
She hurried and did the dishes, and then fixed up a tray for Motoko and Keitaro. She took them to Keitaro's room and entered. She handed the tray to Motoko, and she began to eat hers very slowly. Neither one of them dared to touch his food this morning, because they were both expecting him to wake up any time now.
After a few minutes Motoko said "Excuse me Shinobu, but would you continue to watch over Keitaro for me, He won't need my help after today, so I am going to leave him in your excellent care till he wakes up. If you need me, I will be in my room, try not to let any one disturb me unless it's really important."
With this Shinobu smiled, and said "I shall do my best!" and then proceeded to turn three shades of red.
Motoko got up and walked out of the room.
Shinobu's gaze fell upon Keitaro's face and she felt so happy she started humming.
Kitsune took the tray up to Naru's room, and knocked on the door.
"Naru, it's me... look I am sorry for whatever I did to upset you, and if you want to talk, please open the door."
Silence answered her. About a minute later, she then said "O.K. when your ready to talk to me, you know where to find me. Shinobu prepared a breakfast for you; your tray is going to be outside the door. Just remember, I care about you, because were friends, please come talk to me when your ready."
Kitsune placed the tray down on the floor, and walked away. When she got to the top of the stairs she looked back down the hall to see if Naru would get the tray. After a moment, she started walking down the stairs, feeling a little dejected.
Motoko walked up the stairs, and turned the corner. She began walking down the hall, and she saw a tray outside Naru's door. She felt guilty for what had happened, so she bent down and picked up the tray to take it to her room. She was afraid that if anyone saw the tray still there, they might open the door and find that Naru had gone. More than finding out Naru was gone, she was afraid that they would start asking questions, and that they would some how find out about her shame.
She opened the door to her room and went inside. She set the tray down on her desk, and then collapsed on her floor. The tears started running down her face, and they wouldn't stop flowing, and she was so afraid of what was going to happen to her. She was shaking again from all the crying and she wrapped her arms around her legs, and put her head on her knees. 'What have I done' she cried to her self.
The only sounds of the room were the soft quiet gasps for air of a girl softly crying.
Haruka crested the stairs to the inn. 'One thing for sure about these steps, they sure keep me in a size three"
She opened the front door, and kicked her shoes off and slipped into her house slippers. She went to Keitaro's room and knocked first.
A small voice from inside the room cried out "Yes? Come in"
She slid the door open, and entered the room. She looked around the room. The only occupants were a comatose Keitaro and Shinobu. She came and stood over by Shinobu and Keitaro "Where's Motoko?" she asked.
"She left me in charge, she said that sempai would wake up real soon." She then thought to herself 'When he wakes up I will be the first person he will see, he will be so proud of me taking care of him.' She then started to blush just a little. "She said she would be in her room, and that she didn't want to be disturbed unless it was important."
Haruka said, "Alright, if he wakes up come and get me, I want to ask him something. I also need to go ask Motoko something."
With that, Haruka turned around and exited Keitaro's room. She then went up the stairs to Motoko's room and knocked on the door. "Motoko... It's me, Haruka."
There was no answer so she opened the door. She saw Motoko sitting curled up in a ball by her desk. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, and it was painfully evident she was crying. Haruka closed the door behind her.
Haruka's motherly instincts took over, and she approached Motoko and put her arms around her and just embraced her.
The dam burst and Motoko started crying out loud with great wracking sobs. Haruka just held her and waited.
Minutes passed, and the river of tears slowed to a small trickle, and the sobbing slowed to an occasional shiver. Haruka then said "Want to talk about it?"
Motoko only shook her head in a "No".
"I think we should talk about it. You don't have to be afraid of me judging you either."
Motoko once again shook her head in a "No".
"Ok well if you feel you need someone to talk to. Don't be afraid to come see me. Just know I think that you have been a great help to him. He needed someone to help him, and I am grateful it was you that did help him."
"How can I have helped him, when all I did is hurt him," a quiet voice said.
"Oh I don't believe you hurt him, you have been a great help these last couple of days." Haruka said.
"No, I couldn't have helped, I.... I..." and she started to cry again.
"Motoko, Shhhh.... Shhhh... It's ok you don't have to explain anything to me if you don't want to." With that she gave Motoko a very tight squeeze, and just held her.
"I saw Naru leaving this morning. Give her time; she needs to be away from everything here for a while. It will be good for her to get away, you will see."
Motoko just cried a few more minutes, while Haruka held her.
Haruka stood up, and lifted Motoko with her. "Come, with me" she said, and took Motoko arm and wouldn't let go. They went out the door of Motoko's room and down the stairs in to the changing room outside the hot springs. "Hurry, go and take a bath, it will help you calm your nerves. I'll get you a change of clothes from your room, because the ones you're wearing are all covered with tears." She turned to leave, and paused and said, "Look I need you to be strong right now, don't worry about Naru, she has her own demons to deal with."
Motoko found herself slowly complying without questioning, and Haruka went up to Motoko's room and flipped through her clothes. She found a couple of Keitaro's boxers and shirts in her closet, and smiled in spite of herself.
After flipping through all of her clothes, she shook her head. 'Motoko really needs some new clothes,' she thought. She then opened her drawers to at least get Motoko some underwear. 'Well maybe this girl has a bit of style,' and she picked out a little turquoise number from what looked like a very new addition to Motoko's underwear drawer. "I guess I am just going to have to loan her something to wear" she said aloud.
She took them down stairs, and entered the changing room. Haruka then placed Motoko's underwear in the cupboard where Motoko had put the rest of her clothes. She removed the clothes that were there and placed them in her basket in the laundry room. Haruka then slipped on her shoes and made her way down to her apartment to raid something from her own closet. From it, she pulled out a light pastel green summer dress with little turquoise flowers on it. She then made her way up to the inn with the dress and sandals. She placed the sandals in her cupboard with the underwear that she had just picked out, and hung the dress on the peg beside it.
Haruka waited for a few min, and then called out "I'll be down watching the tea house, take your time and let the hot springs wash your worries away. Remember you can always come see me if you want to talk."
Haruka descended the stairs down to the tea house and thought 'Motoko I wanted to tell you so much more, but until I confirm a few things, it may be best if you didn't find out anything.'
Motoko sat in the bath. "Why is Haruka being so nice? She talked like she already knows what happened. She is pretty cunning, she probably does know. I just don't understand if she knows, why then?"
"What's the matter with me, why do I keep doing that?" she said. "Why do I keep waking up in Keitaro's arms? Especially how come I always finding myself waking up naked!" she added.
"The only time he even moved in last two days is to put his arms around me while we slept. Maybe we do share something special.... " Motoko softly said and she blushed.
"I only wish Naru hadn't found me like that, the look on her face before she left this morning ...." She began to cry again.
She spent several minutes soaking, and relaxing, and mostly calming down. After about twenty minutes she was feeling better, the hot springs had worked its magic, and Motoko decided it was time to get out. She climbed out of the bath, and dried herself with a towel, and then wrapped it around her. She then walked out of the bath area and into the changing room.
A fox eyed figure stood up out of the far side of the bath. The expression on her face was hard to decode, because it was a mix of shock, disbelief, joy, but mostly mischief and relief. However, one could easily say that the fox was always full of mischief, even when being serious.
Kitsune waited long after she knew it was safe, before exiting the bath. 'It's not like I intentionally over heard her...' she thought, 'I just wanted to be alone, that's why I hid myself.' She reflected at how she had been crying this morning, and needed to wash away her tears. She quickly made her way back to her room and shut the door. The pain that she received from Naru's slap may have physically disappeared but the emotional impact still remained. 'In all our years of friendship, that's the first time she ever hit me, or a girl for that matter. Sure she was always punching guys for pinching her or other weird things, but I never expected her to ever hit me.'
'Now I see. I am glad that I am not the only one that Naru is upset with.' She was thinking of hearing about how Motoko let slip that she had been caught by Naru doing something with Keitaro. 'I wonder what she was doing, since he couldn't have been doing much in his comatose state.'
Kitsune's second nature suddenly kicked in, and she thought, 'I wonder how much money Motoko has saved up....'
Little quiet maniacal giggles could be heard softly outside the door to Kitsune's room. Had any of the other Hinata apartment residences been near by, they would have instinctively checked their wallets to see how much cash they may potentially be loosing in the near future.
It was dark, and lonely, a voice cried out "hello? Anybody here, please don't leave me alone." About two times now, a sweet light had been leading the owner of the voice out of the darkness. It had been easy to make a path through the darkness following the light, but it would go away for a while, and it would cause the owner of the voice to stumble and fall.
"Hello? Naru? Anybody?" the voice cried again.
The path he had been following was becoming less rocky, and there was a bit of light coming from somewhere, although he couldn't place the light, he could faintly make out his path.
After several hours, he could see the exit to the darkness he was in. It looked like the entrance to a cave.
He made his way to the exit. It was very bright outside and he had to squint his eyes shut just to see where he was going. He tripped and fell headlong out into the brightness.
There was someone humming softly, and he opened his eyes. The humming stopped.
"Sempai! ... Sempai your awake! Thank goodness."
His eyes were having trouble focusing, and put his hand to his head to check for his glasses.
"Shinobu, is that you?"
"Yes, it is me, are you feeling ok sempai?"
"I don't know..." he paused, trying to get his bearings. "Where am I, how did I get here, and where are my glasses."
"Um.. Um... you are in your room, and Motoko brought you from the bath in here. I don't know what happened to your glasses."
He suddenly remembered that he had something important to tell Naru, and the vague sensation of flying through the air. Everything else was fuzzy after that. He sat up in bed and turned to Shinobu.
"Shinobu, is Naru still mad? I need to talk to her."
Shinobu looked at him, and suddenly turned three shades of red. He looked down, he was wearing Motoko's bathrobe and the front had came open. Only his chest was completely visible to Shinobu and he closed the front of his robe just a bit. "umm ... sorry about that Shinobu, umm.... Do you know where Naru is?"
Shinobu was still blushing profusely, and said in a shaky voice. "N ... no, but I can go ch... check her room" and she then thought, 'oh my sempai is so handsome and strong looking'
She hurried and stood up and ran out of the room, afraid that he would be able to hear her heart thumping as loud as it was to her.
He gingerly reached up and felt his head. His forehead was really tender. He also noticed that he was really hungry.
He noticed a nice breakfast platter that was set out next to his bed. It looked like Shinobu had made him some toast and orange juice, and something under the round plate cover. He lifted up the cover, and underneath and still fairly warm was scrambled eggs and what looked like ham although it was hard to tell without his glasses. He munched on them and then decided that it was time to get up. He climbed out of bed, and noticed a bit of a draft. He looked down, and his eyes went wide with shock. 'Boy I am glad that I didn't jump right out of bed while Shinobu was here, Naru would have killed me,' he thought. He hurried over to his dresser and opened it, and took a pair of boxers out and put them on. 'I better do laundry soon; I only have a couple of pairs left.' He thought. He went to his closet, and pulled out some jeans and a T-shirt, and began dressing himself. He started looking around the room for his glasses, when Shinobu came back.
"Naru's not in her room, and I didn't hear her go out this morning."
"Great, now I have to find Naru and my glasses. Shinobu have you seen my glasses? I can't find them. I was using my new pair." 'My old pair got broke in a couple of weeks before that. I will need them when I go to find Naru to explain something to her', he thought.
Shinobu looked around the room, "umm I haven't seen them since Motoko brought you here the other night"
"Oh... ok..." he said, then he started "The other night!! How long have I been here!!"
"Umm... I am not sure, Motoko said that you hit the rock in the evening after dinner. That was day before yesterday, You have been recovering here since then." She suddenly ran over to him and gave him a big hug, and said "I am glad you are ok sempai, I was so worried, but Motoko has been taking really good care of you, she said you would wake up today and I believed in her, and in you."
He brushed her hair, and lifted her chin, and noticed the tear in her eye. "I am sure she couldn't have done it without your help. I bet you were very helpful too." Shinobu smiled, and blushed, and said "Thank you Sempai, I am going to go tell every one that your awake." With that she ran out of the door, and down the hall. He smiled and then grabbed his towel, and followed her out into the hall. "If it has been a day and a half, I probably should take a bath before I go looking for Naru."
'Leave it to Keitaro to always know what to say at the right time. He may be clumsy and a little perverted, but when it really counts, he knows how to put a girl at ease,' Kitsune thought. She plugged her peep hole, and then thought 'Motoko undressed Keitaro hu? What on earth was she doing in there? Although as I can't say as I blame her much, because Keitaro does look pretty handsome in his birthday suit.' She had drilled the holes on several occasions, It was getting more and more difficult to maintain a proper hole to spy on Keitaro with, because all her other holes had been discovered and plugged. 'Sometimes painfully discovered' she thought about a particular time when her eye was poked by Naru.
Keitaro rinsed himself off, and climbed into the small wooden tub. It felt good, but he only really relaxed in the tub after he had had a particularly rough day, or had been launched several times from the end of Naru's fist, or one of Motoko's special techniques. For the strangest reason he didn't feel particularly sore, or damaged, besides the sore spot on his forehead. He only concern was what was he going to tell Naru when she returned later in the evening.
His bath was suddenly interrupted by Su barging in to the men's bath area. She was holding a contraption that looked an awful lot like a small guillotine with lights and buttons on it. She had tears in her eyes, and she said, "Keitaro, how could you! You woke up too soon before I had a chance to use my bump remover!"
No more than two steps behind Su was Kitsune. "Hey Keitaro, did you dream any interesting dreams?"
"Um... do you mind, I am kind of right in the middle of a bath," he said as he made sure that he was covered with a towel.
"No, I don't mind, so, did you have any interesting dreams?"
"Can I still try out my invention? I worked really hard on it?"
"Feeling better?" asked Haruka as she walked in the door. Shinobu was hiding right behind Haruka, and her head was peeking out from behind, in a deep shade of red.
"Sempai ... I ... I asked Motoko about your glasses she said she would look for them."
Keitaro whined "Aaaaaiieee" and tried to sink lower into the tub.
"I wasn't able to find your glasses, I doubt that after that brush with the rock, that we will be able to find anything at all," said Motoko.
"What were you looking for my dear sister?" said Tsuruko.
Motoko jumped "Onii-san what are you doing here!"
"Oh well I heard a lot of noise up here, so I thought that there was a party here"
"That's not what I meant sister!"
"I'm glad were having a party, I brought some watermelons over just incase we were. Shinobu called me and said you were awake, sorry I couldn't have come sooner, I was kind of lost on Shikoku, it took forever to find a way home."
By then the only sound Keitaro could make were bubbles as he was hiding under the water in the tub.