"Eeeeeeeeeeh!?"
Bending over, Kitsune beamed at Motoko and Tsukio's hands still clasped together, then look at the both of them with a sly grin spreading across her face.
"Ah what's this? You two hit it off already? Aw, I guess I lose, hehe" Kitsune said with a snigger.
At this time everyone had gathered around the two, and reality suddenly checked in for Motoko.
"Ayaaaah!" she quickly let out while jumping away from Tsukio as if he had just become a giant turtle. "I-I-I-Its not what you think! You're misunderstanding!"
"Easy easy! We know you've been trying hard to look more womanly lately, were just glad to see it paid off Motoko."
"Yeah, Kitsune is right, guess all you needed was the right guy to come along" Keitaro added.
"Keitaro! You too!? But - …" Tsukio trailed off his sentence as he was interrupted by somebody else.
"Ts-Ts-Tsukio! Tell them what's going on! Ayaaaah!"
"Relax Motoko, we know what you want to say. It written all over your face, hehe"
"Kitsune! Don't badger Motoko! She's shy!"
"Naru! You're not helping!"
"Hey hey ! Everybody! She's right, it's not what it seems."
"Eh? What is it Tsukio?" Keitaro spoke out.
/sigh these people, jeesh. Getting so worked up over something so trivial./
"All that happened was that Motoko wanted to get back quickly before you all sat down for dinner, so she ran off dragging me along. That's all."
"So nonchalant, I guess he's telling the truth."
"Of course he's telling the truth Kitsune!"
"Aww, so onii-san won't be sleeping with you then Motoko?"
"Eeeeh?" shrieked Motoko again, backing off as if Su too had become another turtle. "Don't think ecchi Su -…"
"Nani? Ecchi? Is that delicious?" Su replied innocently.
"Guess its Motoko who's ecchi" sniggered Kitsune again.
/bah… why do they all insist on picking on me so much all of the sudden? Nothing happened! They take everything so out of proportion sometimes. Wait a minute; I act the same sometimes too now that I think about it… Brrr, I'm cold, what's this chill all of the sudden?/
"Eh? Motoko, you're shivering? Oh! The doors still open, I'll go close it"
"She's shivering? Motoko are -… why are you wet?"
"Huh? Oh that. We took a dip on the hot spring in the woods out back near the waterfall, Naru."
"Eeeeh!? WE!? You… You bathed together!? W-W-Woah! Ahhhh!"
Fwip
"Uh oh… He's dead" Kitsune muttered to Su.
"Nn Nn" Su throated while nodding her head in acknowledgement, a wide toothy grin spreading across her face.
"KEITARO!!!" Shouted an exposed Naru, covering herself with one arm while simultaneously driving a patented 'Naru Punch' right into the hunched over body at her feet.
The crowd of people watched on wide eyed bearing toothy grins on their faces. Keitaro slid across the waxed hardwood flooring faster than normal; the planks were still wet from the dripping of both Tsukio and Motoko's clothing.
"Uh… Keitaro? Naru, this is my fault. If anything, I should have been the one to get hit just then."
"Eh? What are you talking about Tsukio? You didn't rip my top off! God, he never stops!"
"Well, if I had shut the door behind myself after we came in, he wouldn't have gone to close it, and he wouldn't have slipped on the water left by Motoko and I and -…"
Naru stormed off before Tsukio could finish his sentence, heading upstairs to change her top and to cool off for a while.
"Ungh… Don't worry Tsukio-san. I'm used to it, this happens a lot."
"Yaha! Keitaro's immortal! See onii-san?" Su paraded around laughing at her own words, and then ran into the kitchen.
"But, it was an accident. He didn't do anything perverted?"
"That's Keitaro for you Tsukio. He's an accident prone pervert."
"K… Kitsune, that's a bit harsh. You saw him glide past us right into her! You can't say that was on purpose!"
"Ah, your right, but that's just how Naru has been trained to respond to Keitaro's random acts of said 'perverted-ness'."
"I wouldn't worry about it much more Tsukio-san, she'll cool off eventually. I'll go get something to clean this up with, you two go and change, you're still wet; you might catch a cold. Once you get back well start the party right this time."
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"So that's what Keitaro meant back at the hospital. Humph, he really is an unlucky guy."
Back at the teahouse, in his room on the second floor, Tsukio changed out of his Hakama into a pair of loosely fitting pants and a hooded sweatshirt, and renewed the wrappings around his stomach.
"Hm, it was interesting though. Looked like it hurt a bit however. I better remind myself not to get on that girls bad side… hmm" Tsukio said aloud to himself as he rounded the stairs of the teahouse to head back to the Inn.
"What was interesting?" came a voice from a stool by the bar counter.
"EH!? Oh, its you Kitsune, startled me, I didn't know you were here. Where's Mutsumi?
"Huh? You mean she wasn't here when you got here?"
"Um, not that I saw."
"Hmm, then I don't know. I thought she would have come here after…"
"After what?"
"You didn't notice? She looked really down after you and Motoko stormed through the front doors at the Inn."
"Oh? No I didn't even see her at all then"
"Of course not, she left the room right after you two came barging in."
"Any idea why? Did she forget something or-…"
"Huh?" Kitsune opened an eye and glanced at Tsukio. "You'll have to figure that out yourself. I don't know."
"Oh, well, alright. Thanks Kitsune. You're not gonna' be at the party?"
"Oh that? I might show up later. Depends on my mood."
"You mean whether or not you're too drunk to walk over?" Tsukio said with a chuckle as he left through the teahouse doors.
sigh "I'm on your side Mutsumi. But this guy's really dense…"
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"Hey Shinobu, how's the cake coming?"
"Good sempai. Su is helping me"
"Su eh? Just… no curry powder Ok? Oh, Motoko-chan. You're looking cute."
"Eh? Urashima! I… I don't need to hear such things from you."
"But you do Motoko, there's nothing to be ashamed about. By the way, is Naru feeling better?"
"Um, I wouldn't know. I didn't pass her room."
"Oh, hmm. All right."
/Maybe I should go and apologize? After all things were going well up until now./
Following the stairs and the hallway to Naru's room, Keitaro stood at the closed door contemplating whether or not he should indeed talk to her just yet. He raised his hand to knock on her door, and then froze himself in place.
/Wait, what if she's still mad at me? I did expose her in front of everyone. But that's no different than the other times is it? Wait, Tsukio also saw her… Maybe I should just let her cool off a while longer…/
Keitaro then turned around and began to work his way back from whence he came.
Shhhh-unt
A door slid open behind Keitaro, and a familiar voice called his name with a shiver. Reeling around, he was met by a pair of wet brown eyes. Making deep sobs, the globes of water came closer. Pressing their body up against his own, burying their face in his neck, a few feint words could be heard throughout the sobbing and quivering.
"I--I--… I'm s-s-sorry. It w-was… an… a-accident. I saw i-it. You-You slipped, i-it w-w-wasn't your fau… fault. I'm so s-sorry."
"Naruse-… N-Naru? It's ok. I'm fine, please stop crying."
Naru's body continued to quiver against his own. Reaching up and out, Keitaro placed his arms around Naru and embraced her tightly. Naru slightly lifted her head and looked Keitaro straight in the eye, who returned her gaze. She saw a feint swelling and a black and blue mark on his left cheek, then buried her face into his neck and began to cry even harder.
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"Oh? Tsukio ready for the party? I think everyone's waiting on you in the other room"
"Hai! Um, Shinobu-chan?"
"Eh? You remembered my name! Yep, that's me. Now c'mon, we don't wanna' keep them waiting any longer!"
"R… Right."
The table was set laden with grand dishes and pies strewn about. Su couldn't wait any longer and was already munching away happily on a banana cream pie with a large plate smothered in heaps of food. Shinobu ran over to the table to take her place amongst the people gathered. Keitaro, Naru, Haruka and Motoko stood and bowed to greet Tsukio into the house officially.
"I guess its official you'll be staying now; Motoko told us everything that's happened. What she remember at least. Heh. Well then, after you?" Spoke out Keitaro.
"Thanks everyone. But aren't we missing a few people? Where are Mutsumi and Kitsune?"
"I wouldn't worry about Kitsune, she's probably having her own party in the teahouse by now."
"And what about Mutsumi, Haruka? Have you seen her?"
"Now that I think about it, no I haven't seen her since you and Motoko came in. But this food wont stay warm forever, so don't worry about them. I'm sure Mutsumi will show eventually. So sit and eat, this is your party."
"Hai, Itadakimaaaaasu!"
Chatter and clamor filled the rooms as the six friends continued on throughout the night. Haruka had gotten a bottle of sake for herself and Motoko was feeling a bit tipsy. It had been the first party she actually drank more than 1 cup of sake for socializing purposes.
"Oi… you gonna' drink that?"
"Eh? Uh, Motoko I think you've had enough. You don't want to end up like Kitsune or Haruka do in the morning after parties do you?
"Nonsense Keitaro. I think hic I know what I can hic handle. And you know what? hic I think I'm tired."
As those last words escaped Motoko's lips, so did her consciousness. Luckily, she had been near the sofa. She slipped into dream world just as she slipped onto the many pillows strewn about the sofa.
"Motoko!? Ugh. Great. Now I'm going to have to really try and avoid her tomorrow. She's going to be stark raving mad for the most of tomorrow." Keitaro said followed by a deep sigh.
"Hmm, guess that means we won't be able to practice tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll sleep in some then."
"Yeah, you look like you need some rest too. I guess were done for the night. Haruka, Shinobu and I will clean up, you can all go ahead."
"Eh? Haruka left a few minutes ago to the teahouse to drink with Kitsune." Tsukio pointed out.
"And Shinobu is asleep with Su on the chairs" said Naru pointing behind herself.
"Oh um, then could you stay and help Naru?"
"Sure, I'm still awake."
"Um, what about these guys?"
"Huh? Oh them. Hmm. I don't think Motoko will be waking up anytime soon. Just wake the others up and leave Motoko there."
"Why don't I just wake these two up and have them lead me to Motoko's room? I'll carry her up there, its no problem."
"Huh? Alright I guess, just don't wake her… it wont be pretty."
"Don't worry so much Keitaro. We'll be fine."
Tsukio then walked over to Su and Shinobu asleep on the chairs. Nudging Shinobu slightly, she quickly woke. Sleepy eyed and not totally there, Shinobu got up and started to wake Su. Tsukio then walked over to Motoko's sleeping frame and picked her up in his arms, for the second time that day. The two girls had already started off drearily up the stairs to each others rooms by the time Tsukio had reached the foot of the stairwell.
"Matte Shinobu-chan. I need you to show me where Motoko's room is."
"Huh? Nani? …. yawn its… over here."
Shinobu trudged through the hallways in a crooked pattern until reaching Motoko's door. Sliding it open for Tsukio, she then bid him good night and began the trek back towards her room.
The futon had already been lain out prior to Tsukio's arrival. Rolling the blanket aside with his foot, he slowly lowered Motoko into the confines of her own bed. Covering her sleeping body with the blanket, he stood up to glance around the room. As usual, Motoko's room was very organized and clean. The suit of Samurai armor still against the wall untouched. A mirror, to the side of the suit, reflected a figure standing in the doorway. By the time he had turned around, the figure was gone. Upon reaching the doorway, looking around and seeing nothing, instinct lead him down the right hall to another flight of stairs, leading into a courtyard connecting one side of the Inn to another wing.
After wandering around in the courtyard, Tsukio came to a chasm with a river flowing bellow. In the feint distance lingered a bridge closing the gap to the opposite side. He had been this way earlier, before entering the woods for his confrontation with Motoko. If his memory served him, the bridge should bring him to a broken down building. A strong sense of foreboding came over him as he began to walk further and further along the rickety bridge.
Sure enough, there it stood. Or rather, there it remained. The building was completely torn apart. Rubble lay about in multiple piles around the perimeter of the ruins. The building itself looked as if it imploded. The way the debris was spread, support beams shredded, and wooden planks split in two, didn't simply imply that it had collapsed onto itself. No, there was a much greater force that manipulated this building into the state it was in now. And Tsukio felt it.
Walking slowly and silently, he made his way past the debris and came upon a battered door on the ground. Chained and bared, with sacred seals strewn about its hinges and across its surface. The door seemed as if it had lead into the ground. Only something was out of place. For such a building of this size to have collapsed, surely the door would be in much worse condition than this had been. Granted the sacred seals offer some protection, but by no means would they make something impervious to physical harm, especially this grand of a scale.
Bending over to get a closer look, Tsukio realized the upper right corner of the large solid door was slightly elevated compared to the other corners. Getting down to the ground to see at eye level, he realized there was a rather large slab of concrete elevating that corner. The door connected to nothing. Patches of dead grass, dirt, and debris lay beneath the large frame.
Just at that moment, movement caught Tsukio's eye off in the distance.
ft ft ft ft ft ft-thump
The sound of heavy footsteps through thick grass running swiftly in the shadows. Tsukio shot straight up, opening his eyes as wide as he could to take in all the light available in attempts to see through the dark abyss that is the night. Scanning his surroundings, he saw nothing. No movement, no sound.
FWUMP!
A heavy sounding noise came from far behind Tsukio's current position. Reeling around, a figure stood at the base of the bridge on the opposite side of the chasm. Whatever it was, it had ran and leapt the distance of the ravine. Driven by pure curiosity and frustration caused by his pursuer, Tsukio sped off running back towards the bridge. The figures' stance didn't falter. Nearly 3/4 of the way across the bridge, the figure rose an appendage and made a swiping motion, then vanished into the shadows once again.
Fwip Fwip
The two ropes binding the old bridge were cut. Tsukio soon found himself on the brink of falling into the rocky stream bellow. In a single, last desperation attempt to remain a living being, he launched himself forward towards land. Hands frantically flailing through the air searching for salvation, he managed to grab hold of one of the support studs which held the ropes in place. Pulling himself up to safety, Tsukio knew it there was no time to sit and rest. Not yet, it wasn't safe. Something was out there, or someone, and it was rather obvious they were toying with his life.
Scrambling to his feet, he took off heading in the direction of the feint light coming from Hinata-Sou's hot springs. He had no idea what he was up against. No information to gauge anything by. His only thought now was safety. Safety was at the Inn, where the light would show the face of his pursuer so he could ready himself.
Leaping the fence surrounding the hot springs, Tsukio landed hard on the stone surfacing. Positioning himself in the middle of the bathing area, he stood ready for his attacker, completely enveloped by a dim yellow glow coming from several stone lamps about the spring.
A minute passed. Two minutes. Three. Nothing. Tsukio lowered his guard, turned, and walked into the changing room.
/Huff What the bloody hell just happened out there!? Huff I nearly died! On top of that, there's some creep… No…Huff jumping that ravine isn't possible by human standards. What the hell was that thing? Huff-Sniff Eh? Bah, I'm drenched in sweat and covered in dirt. Nani? There're towels and robes hung here to change into? How convenient! I'll just take a bath now then. I suppose it might be safe…/
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Fifteen minutes passed as Tsukio reflected upon the day's events, but primarily focused on what happened just minutes before.
/From what I've gathered, whatever that thing is, will only show up in total darkness. Or at least so far. It doesn't seem that being in the Inn matters much either. After all, it was right outside Motoko's door in the hallway. To be safe I should set up a barrier of warding seals around the Inn. If it's some kind of demon, it should keep everyone here safe at least./
Tsukio dried himself off in the changing room and donned a robe. Running through the dark house, then outside to the teahouse to grab a handful of seal parchment and ink paintbrush-like pen, he began to place Warding Seals throughout the Inn. Upon placing the last of the seals near the main entrance to the teahouse, a silhouette danced in his peripheral vision. It was making its way up the stairs. The front porch light remained lit. Tsukio stood guard underneath it ready to take whatever might be coming at him.
The figure moved steadily closer. Creeping up the stairs one by one in a very calm demeanor. Tsukio felt his spine shiver and his muscles tense. Ever closer the shadow lurked; continuing its accent up the stairs. As it became even closer, almost into visual, the light flooding the porch flickered and cut out. A sudden overwhelming rush of fear took control of Tsukio's body. No sooner had he rushed into the Inn and slammed the door did the porch light turn back on. Tsukio backed away from the door and quickly looked over at the grandfather clock in the common room. It was 2 a.m. He was all alone.
/Seems the Warding Seals I put up have held. Whatever that thing is isn't advancing. Doesn't seem it can get in. Tomorrow I'll put some up around our perimeter. Better safe than sorry…/
Click Shhhh-unt
The latch to the sliding doors unlocked, and steadily opened. The dark figure stood ominously in the doorway.
Flip
Light flooded the room which Tsukio stood. Mutsumi, puzzled look across her face, stood staring at Tsukio.
"You're up late, aren't you?"
"B-B-B-B… But… Did you see anything just a minute ago?"
"Huh? I saw you standing at the porch looking for something, then the light flickered and you went inside, then I saw it come back on. Why? Something the matter?"
"Uh… No. It's ok. Where were you anyways? I was looking all over for you earlier."
"Huh? Oh, I um, I went for a walk."
"This late at night? Isn't it dangerous for a lady like you to be out this late? Alone for that matter?"
"What do you mean, 'a lady like you'?"
"Well… Have a seat." Tsukio said as he motioned over to the bar stools. "I heard you were looking depressed earlier, and how that's now like your normal cheery self. So I got a little worried is all. Was wondering if there's maybe something you wanted to talk about or anything I could help you with."
"Oh… Ah, No. I'm fine now thank you."
"'Fine now'?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Besides, its 2 a.m. aren't you tired?"
"I'm a bit too riled up right now to be tired. A lot has happened today and it's only my first day here."
"…" Mutsumi looked away from Tsukio for a moment as if trying to escape his gaze.
"Mutsumi? You have beautiful brown eyes."
"Nani?" Mutsumi's head snapped back to face Tsukio, who was smiling right at her.
"Um…" Tsukio's eyes wandered from Mutsumi's as he searched the table for a change of topic. They came across a baby watermelon. "Want some watermelon?"
"Hai! I would love some!"
Mutsumi bit lovingly into her half of the watermelon, filling her mouth with seeds and its succulent juices.
"You look content." Tsukio said with a pleasing smile.
"I love watermelons, that's why. Hehehehe." She giggled, smiling happily.
"It's nice to see you happy. You're smile is amazing. Makes me feel happy too."
"Ara…" Mutsumi spit a seed at Tsukio followed by a light laugh.
"Hey! Well, I'm done. I'm going to turn in for the night. Or morning, whatever it is. I'm really tired."
"Ara…Tsukio-kun?"
"Huh?"
"Thank you." Mutsumi said beaming at Tsukio.
"Eh? You're welcome Mutsumi-chan." He said, returning the smile wholeheartedly.
/wait… -kun!?/