Epilogue: The Guests
Six months later…
Haitani yawned widely, light brown bangs tickling his face as his head went back with the motion. Greeting guests was an important role if not always an interesting one.
Briefly he wondered why he always seemed to end up doing these small, sidekick-esk jobs for his friends. Then again when the friends in question carried swords around casually it was usually wise to listen to their requests.
He stole a glance at the girl standing between him and his best and oldest friend Shirai.
Mutsumi Otohime. The beautiful, if sometimes ditzy, Tokyo U student form Okinawa, also the only girl who didn't seem to mind hanging out with them.
Personally Haitani thought that proved she really was the closet genius her peers described her as being.
Keitaro's oldest friend the college student thought his companion had been mad to pass her up, but then again he'd had a pretty wide choice the lucky devil.
She looked over at him and smiled, "The Guests".
"Hmm?", he followed the line of her finger to where a small line had formed in front of him, "Er, yeah, I knew that".
She giggled a little and turned back to her own duties, admitting a stunningly dressed Kitsune and dapper as always Kentaro. So many new couples springing up in the past few months. Haitani was beginning to wonder if he and Shirai had missed a memo.
Perhaps if I work on Mutsumi a little more, he thought, plastering on his best smile and turning to the first two in line.
His grin widened as he caught sight of the bob of blue hair just below his eye level, moderating his gaze down at the pretty young girl it belonged to and her dark haired companion.
The girl just got cuter every time you saw her.
Ah to be young again…and in her class, he thought, unaware of the slightly creepy edge his smile had taken on until she began to step back uncertainly.
"Hey there cutie", he said, in his own mind, winningly.
Shinobu smiled politely while the girl next to her gave him a look that dropped his body temperature several degrees.
What's her problem, he wondered, scanning her over. Short dark hair, sea grey eyes, a pretty face and a bearing that bespoke of a noble birth she was almost as cute as her friend, if only she would smile.
His eyes continued down until they lighted on the pair's clasped hands and he looked back up wonderingly, noticing a faint colouring on Shinobu's face as she pretended to be thoroughly interested in a nearby flower arrangement.
"Ara, hello you two", Mutsumi's cheerful voice cut off his building question, "My, don't you two look cute together as always".
Shinobu blushed and the other girl coloured slightly.
"Thank you Mutsumi-san", the dark haired one answered, pulling Shinobu a little closer and casting another disapproving glance at Haitani.
The older girl laughed again, "Don't worry Kyoko-chan, Hai-kun isn't going to try and steal your girlfriend".
Haitani's eyebrows went up, but he was more interested in his new nickname than what he had just learned about the two girls in front of him, much to his own surprise.
That isn't to say it wasn't stored away in his mental ecchi file for later, it just wasn't a priority.
The dark haired one took that opportunity to pull Shinobu passed him while he was distracted, collecting one of the guest gifts on their way by.
"What was that about?", Shinobu asked when they reached the reception area, checking over her sky blue single strap gown.
"Just another pervert", Kyoko said shaking her head, "Sometimes I honestly think that the only decent men in the world are my brother and Urashima-san".
"I was talking about you", Shinobu said poking her in the ribs gently, "I thought you were going to squeeze my hand in two".
"I have no idea what you mean", Kyoko said not quite looking at the other girl.
"Possessive", Shinobu poked her again, giggling as Kyoko tried to look indignant at her childish behaviour and failing miserably.
"Speaking of possessive", Kyoko said with a small grin, looking at something over Shinobu's shoulder.
Shinobu looked around, spotting a familiar brown haired girl walking toward them, her eyes scanning around the crowd as if looking for someone else. It was pretty easy to guess who.
"Hey you two", the older woman said, "Have you seen that loser around here anywhere?"
"We've only just arrived", Shinobu said shaking her head.
Naru's eyes narrowed as she cracked her knuckles unconsciously, eyes already scanning the crowd again.
"You can't hide forever Keitaro", she promised darkly, walking away from the two slightly scared younger women.
Kyoko and Shinobu looked at each other as she left and smiled sympathetically for the dorm manager when his fiancé caught up to him.
As the other guests began to bustle, moving toward the wedding hall, Kyoko and Shinobu linked hands again and followed suit.
Up ahead Koichi and Motoko were about to be jointed together, forever.
---Author Notes---
For those of you who haven't figured out the program yet, each installation of Blademasters ends with a small part of the wedding scene, the final scene will come at the end of my next ficlet: Love Hina: Boy's night out.
Unfortunately no Tama in this, sorry bout that, and Mutsumi didn't get as much screen time as I wanted either, but oh well.
Well my friends it's that time again when I have to say goodbye to you all for a while, but I'll be back.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell