Cherry trees bordered the rising staircase for the last part of their climb. Kitsune heard Steve sigh in relief as the top of the illuminated roof of the Hinata House came into view. Each progressive step revealed more of the architecture, illuminated by colored lights. Limned in a similar glow were the neatly manicured grounds: more mountain cherry trees, standing with white oak and combined with landscaped shrubbery, hydrangea and golden lily flowers.

"It's beautiful…" Steve said as they reached the final step and stood on the path leading to the front door. Kitsune tried to remember what it was like to see the House for the first time. She was with Naru, and they both stood for awhile, mouths agape, not only at the size but the fact that they were going to live there, away from their homes, in a new adventure. She looked at Steve and saw that his eyes were closed, a small smile on his face. The breeze that had cooled them during their climb had fallen into a lull and she could hear frogs conversing nearby. The moon, dimmed only slightly by the house's illumination, hid coyly behind a skim of night clouds. They were both bathed in a diffused and ghostly glow.

His eyes opened and he saw her scrutiny. His smile widened. She found herself smiling in response and marveling again at his dimples. "I feel… I feel like I used to feel when I went to see my grandparents." He said, softly. "I didn't remember that feeling until just now. I didn't remember missing that feeling." He looked back at the house and it seemed to Kitsune that his eyes held the gleam of tears. "There's a surprise in there, for me. Bones didn't lie."

Kitsune raised an eyebrow, not understanding his last statement, but Steve took a long stride forward and she had to run three steps to catch up. She couldn't see any shadows in the doorway beneath the traditional portico, nor did anyone call a greeting from the engawa encircling the second floor of the House. Several of the windows were illuminated, but that was no guarantee that residents were home: since Koalla Su had installed the Molmol military grade pebble bed reactor in the basement, blackouts and power issues were of no concern to Hinata House: the lights could burn and air conditioners run all day and night.

Two tall ginko trees stood near the front entrance and Kitsume and Steve walked between them. The glass door slid open and they were in the genkan. She looked up at him, winked with her grin in place and then comically minced several steps in front and turned to face him, directly before the elevated floor of lobby and the slipper assortment arrayed there. She bowed very low and said: "Irrasshaimase, honored guest!"

He chuckled and straightened his posture, filling the entryway. "Why, with such attractive staff," he said in a comically gruff voice, "it will be difficult to restrain myself." He raised his eyebrows several times and leered at her. "So I'd like you to … get me some tea, please."

She threw a slipper at him and it struck him on the forehead.

"Nice shot!" He said. His eyes wandered as he took in the waxed and time- worn golden wood of the floor, the decorations, plants and furniture in the lobby and the crisscrossing beams of the ceiling. The scents of cedar and furniture polish and flowers filled the atmosphere, but something was missing. After a moment Kitsune realized she did not smell food… usually, Shinobu had all manner of items on the stove in the kitchen at this time of night. She frowned.

She saw his eyes widen as he looked left and made out the steaming, inviting expanse of the rotemburo through the doors.

He moved his head to the left. "That's the bath you were talking about earlier, right?"

She nodded.

He grinned. "I am soooo in there."

To the right was the rarely used check – in counter, from when the dormitory was a hotel. A large rectangular flat screen monitor was on the counter top, angled to face the interior of the lobby. "I wonder where everyone is?" She said. She removed her shoes, donned the Bonta - Kun slippers she had left earlier in the day and shuffled to the counter.

"Um, Kitsune…"

She looked up. He was blushing as he looked at the slippers before him. He raised his head and shrugged and she laughed, such an obvious thing. "Nothing in your size, huh? What'cha gonna do there, big boy?"

With a grunt, he lowered himself to the floor of the genkan, went into his backpack and took out new socks to replace the soiled, sweat- stained pair he was wearing.

She turned her attention to the monitor on the counter. "Let's see where everybody's at." She said. She felt Steve slide in behind her.

"What's that?"

"Sort of an electronic roster of the residents. It'll tell us who's in the House and who's not."

Kitsune slid her index finger past the symbol of three eyes in a triangular pattern on the center bottom frame of the monitor. Next to the symbol was a small black rectangle. She placed her finger on this for several seconds. With a soft hum the black screen began to glow.

A cartoon Stephen Hawking slowly made his way from the left of the monitor to the center. "Kaolla Tech," the professor's synthesized voice stated, "kicks ass!" Digital flames began to lick out from the bottom of his wheelchair and it accelerated upward. "Banzai!" the professor exclaimed. Just before the figure disappeared beneath the top frame of the monitor, the three – eye – triangle symbol appeared within the flames and glowed a brighter red.

"That's new…" Kitsune said with a frown.

Steve snorted. "I hope his lawyers can't find that on the Web."

Kitsune looked over her shoulder and grinned. "One of my friends, a resident here named Koalla Su, is something of a tech – savant. She's got a very offbeat sense of humor." She raised an eyebrow. "She's also a princess in the royal family of Molmol. She'll be able to handle any lawsuit."

As if on cue, a line of text began to scroll across the center of the monitor: "Today's Hinata House Naughty Moment, starring Mitsune Konno."

"Hey, wait a fricking minute, here…" Kitsune mumbled, even as Steve said: "Okay, now this is interesting…"

"Date: today, Time: 07:42:38." The text bounced around the monitor for a bit and exited, stage right. Kitsune paled, her mouth moving soundlessly. She pivoted. "Nothing to see here, heh heh, you must be tired and hungry, definitely hungry, heh heh, let's go get some grub." Kitsune raised her hands, placed them on Steve's chest and began pushing him with a desperate strength, her face a smiling mask.

"Stop." Steve said. He picked her off the ground and turned her around towards the monitor, his arms gripping gently. When she began to slide her way sideways away from him he picked her up and held her under his right arm, suspended several feet above the floor. When she began to kick him he canted her at an angle so that her feet flailed the air behind him. "Stop, I said. I want to see this."

"Nooooo." She whined. One eyebrow and one corner of her grimacing mouth began to twitch uncontrollably. "I am going to hunt you down and kill you, Su…"

A thin white line appeared through the middle of the black screen and expanded into a letterbox format view of a hallway, obviously somewhere within Hinata House with the same style floor and decorations. The grainy texture of the image disappeared as the still view resolved into action.

There was an undefined sound, almost like a loud buzz, and a muffled male voice raised in what could be called panic coming from off camera.

"Get that thing away from me, Kitsune!" The same male voice sounded, clearer to the listeners and growing louder as the speaker approached the microphone. The buzzing sounded again, also closer, and the male voice yelped.

A thin, medium – sized man dressed in a black t- shirt and jeans backed into the picture from the left. His dark hair was long enough so that spikes of it fell over his eyes and he jerked his head to the side in an unconscious gesture to clear his sight. His face was a study in discomfort, his hands held out in a defensive gesture in front of his body. Glasses with thin rectangular frames slid down his nose as he looked at whoever stalked him. Another buzz sounded in the microphone and the man's fingers twitched. "Kitsune!" he said, with exasperation, "No!"

The thudding sound of running feet could be heard and several youthful female voices giggled off camera, then the noises stopped suddenly. The same voices spoke simultaneously:

"Kitsune…? What are you…?"

"Oh, my…"

"That's not the banana one that I gave you for Christmas, Kitsune…"

The earnest face of the man in the frame showed concern and fear. "Get away from her, Shinobu! Su, you and Mutsumi should know better than to encourage…"

"Keitaro…" Kitsune's voice lilted through the speaker, "Better get your ass in gear! I'm frisky and takin' no prisoners!" The man, Keitaro, assumed a look of abject terror. At an explosion of giggles out of the picture he resumed his backwards trot.

Kitsune, still locked under Steve's arm, slumped. "This is very bad." She whispered. She felt the earth move and realized that Steve's body was shaking with contained mirth. She snarled and struck him open- handed across his back. The solid impact had little effect except to bruise her palm.

Kitsune appeared within the frame on the monitor, wearing a man's oversized button- down oxford as her only visible clothing. As she padded towards the recoiling Keitaro her face was curled into a wide and evil grin. In one hand she held a glass of what looked to be orange juice. In the other, the source of the loud buzzing noise, was a footlong rod of what looked to be red plastic, one end rounded to a blunt point. Her thumb pressed down and the item began to undulate in her hand. "Get over here, sweetie." She chortled. "Ohhh Mama!" More laughter came from off- screen. Keitaro left the angle of view.

"Run, sempai!" A bell- clear soprano exhorted the man, and he must have taken the advice. Kitsune's eyes widened on the monitor and she began to stride forward and out of the frame, her voice saying: "Oh, no you don't Mr. Sneaky!"

After a moment of silence came a male scream and several loud crashes. Kitsune's voice could be heard, laughing like a harpy. Something blurred past the screen, for all the world like a turtle swimming through the air. Keitaro reentered the picture, creeping right to left, his back against the wall of the hallway, his eyes so large that they seemed to be bugging from his face, held in only by his glasses.

"Stay back, Kitsune! I'm a married man, damnit. It's not right!" He jumped as the buzz began again, growing louder. "Kitsune! As landlord…" his voice cracked and he rolled his eyes. He began again in an exaggeratedly deeper voice. "As landlord, I demand that you stop this right now!"

Kitsune's hand entered the frame bearing its noisy burden and Keitaro exited off – camera with a muffled swear. There was another crash, and he could be heard to say "I'm sorry, Mutsumi..."

The Kitsune reappearing in the frame had an aggressive body lean and her devilish half – grin seemed to burn through the pixels. Her figure began a throaty laugh and the screen faded to black.

"Everyone lived." Appeared on the monitor, along with the familiar three – eye – triangle.

Steve, bright red and close to the breaking point, awkwardly let Kitsune's feet touch the floor while maintaining a loose grip around her waist. Tears were popping from his eyes and his posture took on the desperate urgency of a man with dysentery. "Hrumm, hrumm…" he gasped, "Bwah – hah – hah- hah!" His breathless voice was unable to reach the volume or tone that had filled the Café earlier in the day.

Kitsune crossed her arms in exasperation and nailed him with a keen elbow shot to the side, resulting in additional gasping on his part. She eyed his big hand on her hip. "Let me go, you stupid male. It wasn't that funny!" She said without heat.

She did, however, nothing to remove the hand herself. She turned her head away from him, as if in disgust, but her lips trembled and the edges turned up as he continued to laugh.