Chapter four
As we reverse ourselves yet again, dear listener, I beg your patience in these matters. It takes time to tell a story involving so many; rushing only makes it incomplete. We come again to the morning; we come again to the Hinata-sou, but this time we turn down a different corridor. We head towards the room bearing the "Manager" plaque above its door. The room that Keitaro and Naru have shared for the past two years. She sleeps there now, alone; oblivious to the events around her as of yet.
Naru became dimly aware of being awake hours before she moved. She liked doing that, seeing how long in the mornings she could go before people had to know that she was up. Keitaro could usually tell right away, but the fact that he hadn't done so this time didn't really register with her right away. Eventually, she grew tired of her little game, stretched, and reached out for Keitaro's sleeping form, meaning to cuddle up to him, kiss him good morning, tell him that she loved him...
Emptiness. Or, more accurately, empty beds. Her bed. Her shared bed. Where was Keitaro?
"Keitaro, love, are you up?" She sent her plaintive question across the room, not using more vocal force than was necessary; she thought it had to be fairly early still. The birds had just barely begun to sing outside, and the Sakura blossoms hadn't finished opening yet. No answer, anyhow. Just the continued sound of the birdsong, and a faint rustling of the curtains brought on by the morning breeze. A thin worm of the old suspicion and anger that had nearly strangled their relationship before it began started to work its way into her heart, freezing as it went.
She shook her head. She couldn't afford to start thinking like that again. She loved AND trusted Keitaro, and she knew in her heart that he would never do something to hurt her. He had promised. Promises had always meant something extraordinary to Keitaro, ever since he had made that promise
(with her the one to get into toudai together oh yes you remember don't you)
with the girl of his youth. She felt the icy feeling begin to go away. Relax.
Naru rolled out of bed and dressed quickly in her normal school-fare; an old sweater and skirt with her clunky shoes and glasses. She wasn't really concerned about looking good for school; Keitaro had always told her she looked beautiful in anything anyway. She smiled warmly at the thought. Keitaro always had a way of making her giddy and content at the same time. It was even in his glances. She made up her mind to go have breakfast (hopefully it was ready by now) and then look for Keitaro.
"No paranoid behaviour," she scolded herself, "That's what nearly tore you two apart. None of that. There's a reasonable explanation and you know it." She said this to herself, out loud, as she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. It was true, too. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Keitaro hadn't come back to her last night. She just didn't know that it involved Motoko, a blanket, and an hour of incredibly passionate lovemaking.
Glancing into the kitchen, she noticed it was both empty and bare. She'd apparently gotten up much earlier than she thought, if Shinobu wasn't even awake yet. Sighing, and resigning herself to being hungry for a while simultaneously, she walked to the common room and sat on one of the couches. She took out her textbooks and began poring over them. By the time anyone else in the house had stirred, she was so engrossed that she didn't hear their cheery greeting. That was bad. Kaolla Su didn't like to be ignored.
"HEY!!" Naru heard the girlish, giggling yell just before Kaolla attached herself to the back of her neck. "Naru-naru! Naaaaaru! Whatcha doin'?!" Su had grown a lot in the past few years, but retained most aspects of her childish, carefree personality. Especially the part of her that adored jumping on people.
"Aiii! Su, get off! You're going to mess up my hair," Naru scolded, "Anyway, why don't you go jump on Keitaro. You know he's always been better at this than me."
"I would, yesss indeedy I would, Naru. Trouble bein', I can't find him! Keitaro is nowhere to be seen! Poof!" Su giggled as she said this. She had many fond memories of jumping on Keitaro, who was always such a good sport about it. (Naru's so grumpy in the mornings,) Su thought. (She'd have a lot more fun if she lightened up sometimes!)
"Nowhere to be... found? Strange that you should say that, Su, because he wasn't in bed when I woke up this morning, and that was EARLY. I mean, Shinobu wasn't even up when I was today." Naru tried her hardest not to betray any of the feelings that were slowly renewing themselves within her: Suspicion, anger, and a little tinge of guilt, too, just for the hell of it. She sighed; hating herself for feeling like that and simultaneously not being able to do a damn thing about it.
"Yeah, that is pretty weird. Maybe he ran away with a beautiful woman!" Su grinned as she saw Naru's expression turn from annoyed to stormy. "I'm only kidding, you big dummy. If he still hasn't shown his face after breakfast, I'll help you look for him. Anyway, my bananas are calling me. 'Bye Naru!" With that, Kaolla jumped away and bounded up the stairs four at a time to whatever Banana-filled concotion awaited her in her room.
"Well, at least I can have some breakfast now," Naru said to the empty room, "I wonder what's going today?" Naru got up and walked over to the kitchen, finding an array of dishes and place settings on the table, all still steaming. (Shinobu must be eating on the roof again. That poor girl's grown so solitary lately. I'll have to ask her what's the matter when I see her next.) As if on cue, Shinobu chose that moment to burst through the dining room door. Flinging the tray of dishes she was carrying into the sink, she rushed over and sat down across from Naru, a wild sort of look to her movements.
"Naru-sempai, oh Naru! I'm so glad I found you. There's something you've got to hear about. I hate to pry into people's lives, I always have, but you deserve to know this."
End Chapter four
((Suspenseful, or what? Wahahahaha! Sorry this one took so long, but I got caught up in playing Ragnarok online the past few days and haven't been touching my stories. Chapter five – Keitaro's morning should be up within a week, and I promise it won't be the last! Read & review, if you would.))
As we reverse ourselves yet again, dear listener, I beg your patience in these matters. It takes time to tell a story involving so many; rushing only makes it incomplete. We come again to the morning; we come again to the Hinata-sou, but this time we turn down a different corridor. We head towards the room bearing the "Manager" plaque above its door. The room that Keitaro and Naru have shared for the past two years. She sleeps there now, alone; oblivious to the events around her as of yet.
Naru became dimly aware of being awake hours before she moved. She liked doing that, seeing how long in the mornings she could go before people had to know that she was up. Keitaro could usually tell right away, but the fact that he hadn't done so this time didn't really register with her right away. Eventually, she grew tired of her little game, stretched, and reached out for Keitaro's sleeping form, meaning to cuddle up to him, kiss him good morning, tell him that she loved him...
Emptiness. Or, more accurately, empty beds. Her bed. Her shared bed. Where was Keitaro?
"Keitaro, love, are you up?" She sent her plaintive question across the room, not using more vocal force than was necessary; she thought it had to be fairly early still. The birds had just barely begun to sing outside, and the Sakura blossoms hadn't finished opening yet. No answer, anyhow. Just the continued sound of the birdsong, and a faint rustling of the curtains brought on by the morning breeze. A thin worm of the old suspicion and anger that had nearly strangled their relationship before it began started to work its way into her heart, freezing as it went.
She shook her head. She couldn't afford to start thinking like that again. She loved AND trusted Keitaro, and she knew in her heart that he would never do something to hurt her. He had promised. Promises had always meant something extraordinary to Keitaro, ever since he had made that promise
(with her the one to get into toudai together oh yes you remember don't you)
with the girl of his youth. She felt the icy feeling begin to go away. Relax.
Naru rolled out of bed and dressed quickly in her normal school-fare; an old sweater and skirt with her clunky shoes and glasses. She wasn't really concerned about looking good for school; Keitaro had always told her she looked beautiful in anything anyway. She smiled warmly at the thought. Keitaro always had a way of making her giddy and content at the same time. It was even in his glances. She made up her mind to go have breakfast (hopefully it was ready by now) and then look for Keitaro.
"No paranoid behaviour," she scolded herself, "That's what nearly tore you two apart. None of that. There's a reasonable explanation and you know it." She said this to herself, out loud, as she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. It was true, too. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Keitaro hadn't come back to her last night. She just didn't know that it involved Motoko, a blanket, and an hour of incredibly passionate lovemaking.
Glancing into the kitchen, she noticed it was both empty and bare. She'd apparently gotten up much earlier than she thought, if Shinobu wasn't even awake yet. Sighing, and resigning herself to being hungry for a while simultaneously, she walked to the common room and sat on one of the couches. She took out her textbooks and began poring over them. By the time anyone else in the house had stirred, she was so engrossed that she didn't hear their cheery greeting. That was bad. Kaolla Su didn't like to be ignored.
"HEY!!" Naru heard the girlish, giggling yell just before Kaolla attached herself to the back of her neck. "Naru-naru! Naaaaaru! Whatcha doin'?!" Su had grown a lot in the past few years, but retained most aspects of her childish, carefree personality. Especially the part of her that adored jumping on people.
"Aiii! Su, get off! You're going to mess up my hair," Naru scolded, "Anyway, why don't you go jump on Keitaro. You know he's always been better at this than me."
"I would, yesss indeedy I would, Naru. Trouble bein', I can't find him! Keitaro is nowhere to be seen! Poof!" Su giggled as she said this. She had many fond memories of jumping on Keitaro, who was always such a good sport about it. (Naru's so grumpy in the mornings,) Su thought. (She'd have a lot more fun if she lightened up sometimes!)
"Nowhere to be... found? Strange that you should say that, Su, because he wasn't in bed when I woke up this morning, and that was EARLY. I mean, Shinobu wasn't even up when I was today." Naru tried her hardest not to betray any of the feelings that were slowly renewing themselves within her: Suspicion, anger, and a little tinge of guilt, too, just for the hell of it. She sighed; hating herself for feeling like that and simultaneously not being able to do a damn thing about it.
"Yeah, that is pretty weird. Maybe he ran away with a beautiful woman!" Su grinned as she saw Naru's expression turn from annoyed to stormy. "I'm only kidding, you big dummy. If he still hasn't shown his face after breakfast, I'll help you look for him. Anyway, my bananas are calling me. 'Bye Naru!" With that, Kaolla jumped away and bounded up the stairs four at a time to whatever Banana-filled concotion awaited her in her room.
"Well, at least I can have some breakfast now," Naru said to the empty room, "I wonder what's going today?" Naru got up and walked over to the kitchen, finding an array of dishes and place settings on the table, all still steaming. (Shinobu must be eating on the roof again. That poor girl's grown so solitary lately. I'll have to ask her what's the matter when I see her next.) As if on cue, Shinobu chose that moment to burst through the dining room door. Flinging the tray of dishes she was carrying into the sink, she rushed over and sat down across from Naru, a wild sort of look to her movements.
"Naru-sempai, oh Naru! I'm so glad I found you. There's something you've got to hear about. I hate to pry into people's lives, I always have, but you deserve to know this."
End Chapter four
((Suspenseful, or what? Wahahahaha! Sorry this one took so long, but I got caught up in playing Ragnarok online the past few days and haven't been touching my stories. Chapter five – Keitaro's morning should be up within a week, and I promise it won't be the last! Read & review, if you would.))