Chapter 10: Sandbagged

Naru woke up groggily to Hachi giving off little wurf sounds. Listening for whatever he was complaining about, she could hear the sound of swishing, scraping and thumps next door. Given that their room was supposed to be soundproofed, it meant somebody was either making a helluva racket next door, or the room was less soundproofed than advertised. Cringing at the thought of the nighttime sounds from inside the room getting outside, she got up and threw on a robe, and glanced at the clock. Who's up at 5:30 in the morning? Moving silently to avoid waking her husband, she slowly slid open the door a crack.

With a furry explosion, Hachi leapt up and made a dash for the door, bumping into her leg and cramming his nose into the crack, trying to force it open. "Wurf! Wurf!"

"Knock it off furbrain!" Naru said firmly. "Now go on, lie next to Keitaro."

Hachi gave her a reproachful How dumb do you think I am? Look and another wurf. Sighing, she retrieved the leash and opened the door slowly, bracing herself for the dog's mad dash. She was mostly successful.

Staggering into the hall after the dog, she walked next door to 203, meeting Sara, who had just stumbled out of 202, rubbing her eyes.

"Whuzz go'n on," Sara mumbled wearily. "Too damn early f'r this."

"Dunno," Naru replied. 203 was vacant and there shouldn't be anything of interest there for resident or housebreaker. "You didn't sneak Kokeru in there, did you?" she asked, hoping the answer was no. If that punk stayed past their curfew despite the rules and was sneaking into Sara's room, there would be hell to pay from Haruka.

"No, dammit!" Sara snapped, irritated. "You think we want an excuse to get him banned from here? I already told you I'm not going to show anybody my birthmark!"

"Sorry," Naru said, believing the vehemence of her answer, if not the trustworthy nature of her character. She hesitated for a moment. Unfortunately, Motoko had stayed over in Nakagyo after seeing Grandma Hina home and wasn't available for security. "Let's see what's going on." She cautiously slid open the door.

Shinobu looked up, surprised. She had a cloth wrapped around her head and was wearing one of those house cleaning aprons. Apparently she had been cleaning and arranging the room, getting out futons from the closet to be beaten out and dusting the room. "Oh, good morning Naru, Sara."

"Dare I ask what is going on over here so early in the morning?"

"Oh, well, I forgot to mention it last night with Grandma Hina here, but we have a mother and daughter coming to Hinata City this evening. They rented a room through the weekend. So I thought I should get everything prepared before school."

"Okay," Naru nodded wearily. She had given Shinobu the authority to make such reservations for women—it was technically still a women's dorm after all—needing a hotel room, though those requests were very rare. "Do we need anything for them, besides warning everyone to behave?"

Shinobu shook her head. "No, I think we're stocked up fine. Mrs. Sakura and her high school aged daughter will be here visiting family." Her tone was innocent, though something seemed off about her expression.

Naru was too tired to ask questions about it though, and too tired to think of asking if she could help. "Okay. I'm going back to bed then." She began walking back to her room.

Hachi dug his heels in and wurfed in protest.

"Must you?" Naru asked.

Sara sighed. "I'll take him for you. You get your rest." She took the leash from Naru. "Come on, dumbass. Let's go." Her smile, though tired, showed she didn't really mind. Hachi gave a joyful bark and began dragging Sara towards the stairs.

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"Guests, hmm?" Keitaro asked, looking up from the lecture notes he was perusing as he ate. "Well, everyone knows the drill, right?"

Shinobu and Ema nodded. The troublemakers avoided his gaze.

"Right?" Haruka said, brandishing her harisen menacingly.

"Best behavior," they said half-heartedly.

Naru noticed the troublemakers exchanged glances. "Maybe it's best if the 'tea room' closes down at ten while they're here to avoid trouble with noise," she said to Kitsune. "And enforce the age limit. If this daughter gets in and the mother complains, they'll close down your shop for sure and maybe the whole of Hinata House."

"It's that serious?" Nagumo asked worriedly, though she was mainly worried about getting enough hours to pay her rent without getting evicted.

"Yeah," Naru replied. "Motoko told me about it. It's a ¥500,000 fine for a first offender supplying alcohol to a minor and consequences to the business doing it. It wasn't a problem in the past."

Haruka nodded. "In the past it was only a ¥10,000 fine and nobody was about to file any complaints here, so I let it slide when the younger ones had a little." She shrugged. "I guess if I hadn't married Seta and moved to Molmol, I'd have had to start enforcing the law here."

"Thanks for telling me," Kitsune said, sweatdropping. "If jail time is involved, it might have been good to know, say five years ago!"

I wonder how many other laws are being violated here? Naru wondered, popping an antacid. She turned to Su. "And no Mechatama or rocket tests!"

"Awww," Su replied, goodnaturedly. "Okay, I'll stop until they leave."

"I meant permanently."

"WHAT?"

Naru took another antacid, ignoring Mutsumi clearing her throat. "I'd like the baby growing up in a shrapnel free zone."

Shinobu sighed. "AUUUU, you guys, give Naru a break. She has enough to deal with here!"

Naru smiled. "Thanks, Shinobu. It's good to know you have my back.

"So, who has afternoon duty?" Kanako asked.

Mutsumi consulted a chart. "Looks like Shinobu with Motoko as backup," she announced.

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"You want me to take over the afternoon duty today?" Motoko asked. She looked a little inconvenienced. "You have a date?"

"Please?" Shinobu asked, hands folded in front of her face. "I need to get back early so I can check our guests in."

"Seems like any of us could do that," Motoko said dubiously, hoping she'd change her mind on her own. Of all the days she could have asked… but I guess I owe her after the hard time I gave her last month.

"Well, I would really like to get them checked in before Naru gets back and needs to interact with them." Shinobu, said earnestly. It was true, but not for the impression she was trying to give Motoko. If Naru met the guests on anybody else's terms, it might not go as well as it might if she got them settled and then got a good reading on Naru's mood.

Motoko pondered this, contrasting her feelings of obligation to Shinobu and her personal promise to protect Naru against her desire to see if she could "accidentally" run into Yuto again. Obligation, combined with the fact that her publisher only said he might be there won out. "Okay, usual time?"

Shinobu gave a relieved smile. "Thanks, Motoko. Give me a heads up next time you need to do something so I can clear my schedule for you."

Motoko checked her planner to see what she might have to reschedule. Suddenly her phone rang. "Hello? Kitsune? Is there something wrong? You don't usually phone me while I'm at Todai."

"I had a question about a law" Kitsune's voice came over the speaker.

"What did you do now?" she asked, sweatdropping.

Shinobu beat a hasty retreat before whatever Kitsune said could make Motoko change her mind. There was a lot that could go wrong with her scheme if she wasn't careful.

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Naru, was a bit surprised when it was Motoko who was waiting for her, but once the situation was explained, she stopped worrying, trusting Shinobu to handle the check in and management of Hinata House responsibly and make the right decisions when she wasn't there. The fact that she had managed the place while she was on Pararakelse showed her trust was not misplaced. And if one of the troublemakers tried something, Haruka would intervene.

Some day, she'll find a life elsewhere, she thought. But until then, it's nice to have her support. She had forgiven her antics from that summer and put it behind her, except to ruefully remember how she had slapped the younger woman.

"So, how was classes today?" she asked.

"Relaxingly explosion-free," Motoko replied.

"I miss those days," Naru smiled wistfully.

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Sighing, Nagumo showed up to work at the tea house. Kitsune looked surprised. "Oh, wow, you actually showed up."

"Of course I did. Why shouldn't I?"

"Well," Kitsune replied, "you struck me as kind of irresponsible..."

Nagumo glared at the pot calling the kettle black gall of Kitsune, but bit it back. "So, what do I have to do today?"

"Well, I need you move the alcohol into the storage room until the weekend is over. Then we need to move the non-alcoholic beverages out instead. Then I need you to move these boxes of chocolates under the bar." She smiled mischievously.

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Having cleaned up from school and travel home, Naru put on a yukata and prepared to meet the new guests. She met Shinobu in the hall, dressed in a (non-sleazy) maid outfit and carrying towels.

"Ah, hello, Naru," Shinobu said flustered. "Are you coming to meet the guests?"

"Yes, I thought I ought to play the okami role as much as I am able." She put her hand over her growing abdomen. "I just hope that don't expect me to do too much stuff on my knees. I might not be able to get back up again."

"Oh, I made clear that I would be fulfilling some of those roles," Shinobu said. "They are aware that you're expecting."

"Reliable as always," Naru said smiling. "So, shall we meet the… Sakuras did you say?"

"Erm, That's right," Shinobu said, relieved to see her in a good mood. Maybe she'll understand.

They walked from Naru's room to the room next door, and Naru politely knocked. The door promptly slid open and Naru automatically bowed. "Welcome to Hinata House."

"It's good to see you again, Naru," the woman replied.

Startled at the informal address, Naru looked up, and her startled expression turned to shock. "G- Gibo-san?" She took a step back as her stepmother emerged. 'But I thought the guest name was Sakura…?"

Mrs. Narusegawa smiled. "Did you forget that was my maiden name? It seems this was the only way to get to talk. I thought that since I received your Anteiki this was a good time to-"

Naru whirled and looked at Shinobu. "You knew… no, you helped set this up didn't you?"

Shinobu smiled weakly. "Well, I thought it was important to-"

"Unbelievable!" Naru snapped. Turning to her stepmother, she bowed, "Excuse me…" she said, beating a hasty retreat.

Cringing, Shinobu pursued her. "Naru, please wait!"

She caught up to Naru in the courtyard. That wasn't too hard—Naru didn't like to risk the baby by running now that she was getting big—but she did hurry away as fast as she felt she safely could, so Shinobu had to walk swiftly to catch up. "Naru, please, don't be angry. If you listen, you'll understand why-"

Naru stopped and turned to look at her, her arms folded. But her expression and voice weren't angry in tone. The tone was one of hurt and disappointment. "Shinobu… This isn't the worst thing you ever did to me. Right now, I think it is the third worst thing you ever did."

Shinobu flinched at the expression and the odd phrasing. "The third?" Why would she classify it that way?

Naru nodded. "The third, yes. So you'll understand, the worst thing you ever did to me was your pursuit of Keitaro when we were having problems. The second was your snooping and giving away something I wanted to keep private. I forgave those sincerely and I'm sure I'll forgive this too once I'm over being mad." Her expression shifted from disappointed to sad. "But, you see, until today, I used to think I could trust your decisions… but right now I'm thinking you're eventually going to reach a point where I can no longer trust you to make those right decisions." She turned away. "If you'll excuse me, Maehara-san, I feel like this stress is exceeding my Sertraline, and I don't want to say anything else while I'm feeling so hurt. I might overreact and regret it later." She began waddling away again.

Maehara-san? Shinobu thought, horrified. She recognized the formal address showed Naru thought her actions were less than that of a friend. But... why doesn't she understand how important family is?

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Dinner was a nightmare for Shinobu. Keitaro had come down puzzled, saying Naru wasn't feeling well and might not leave her room for a few days. He cheerfully introduced himself to Mrs. Narusegawa, and said hello to Mei, who had represented her family at their wedding.

After dinner, cleanup, and making sure that the Narusegawas—why go through the pretense anymore—had what they needed, she made her way over to Kitsune's. Since Naru had made a no alcohol policy, Ema and Sara were there, playing one of those collectible card games with Mei, and the three of them were getting along well.

She went over to the counter where Kitsune sat, watching Nagumo busing tables. "Hey, Shinobu. There's only non-alcoholic beverages tonight."

"Too bad, I could use some alcohol right about now," Shinobu replied sitting on a stool.

Kitsune gave a wink. "Then try one of these whiskey filled truffles," she said gesturing to the box."

Shinobu sweatdropped. "With minors here? You're going to get in trouble."

Kitsune grinned. "Thanks to Motoko, I learned there are a few holes in the law. The Minors Protection Act forbids serving alcohol with minors present, but it doesn't say anything about serving food with alcohol in it. So help yourself, but don't overdo it."

Shinobu gratefully took a couple, savoring the effect.

Kitsune waited a bit for Shinobu to unwind. "So, what happened?"

Shinobu sighed. "When she realized I set her up, she called me 'Maehara-san.'"

"Ouch." Kitsune winced. "Formally polite, huh? Look, I did warn ya that Naru might not be ready to face her stepmother, and this might blow up in your face. Well, she wasn't and it did. There's no sugarcoating this. You sandbagged her."

Shinobu took another truffle. "So how do I get out of this? She's already looking at me like… erm…"

"Like she does me?" Kitsune grinned.

Shinobu turned red. "Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't mean it to sound like that…"

"Oh, I'm not offended," Kitsune laughed. "I did a lot of stupid stuff back in the day, and I still do. Case in point..." She gestured to the box of truffles. "She'd probably be mad if somebody else pulled this stunt, but with me she thinks 'Just Kitsune being Kitsune,' and I'm okay with that. But hell, you were someone she thought she could trust to make the right decisions. Now she's wondering if she made a mistake in trusting you. You don't want to get classified with us troublemakers."

"Troublemakers?"

"Yeah. I think Naru puts us into groups based on where how much she can rely on us to do the right thing. The Troublemakers are me, Su, Sara, and Nagumo. Naru expects us to do things that cause trouble rather than help. The reliable ones are Mutsumi, Haruka, you and Ema. Naru thinks you're usually mature enough to make decisions she doesn't hafta worry about even if she might not care for them."

"I see," Shinobu said. "You didn't list everyone though.

"Good to see you're paying attention. I'd say Kanako and Motoko are mostly in the reliable group, though they sometimes bounce into the troublemakers. Not as much as they used ta do, you know?"

Shinobu sighed again. "I can't argue with that, though I wish I could. So, again, how do I get out of the troublemaker classification?" She reached for another truffle.

Kitsune stopped her. "Hey, slow down with those! Think of each one as doing a shot!"

Everyone stopped and stared for a moment.

Lowering her voice, Kitsune said, "It's gonna to be rough, and you might think it's unfair. But the only way I can see you surviving this is if it turns out okay between Naru and her mother in the end. That's gonna depend partly on Naru, partly on her Stepmother, and partly on you. You can't help the other two parts, but if you can help them get together in a good way—without seeming to meddle like I do, mind you—Naru might see what you did was a good thing. But if it falls apart, she's probably gonna think it wouldn't have happened ya hadn't done this."

Shinobu pondered that for a moment. "I think I get what you're saying. Even though it's out of my control, it's a problem because I went along and made it possible. I just can't imagine why Naru wouldn't want to take the opportunity."

"If I had ta guess, I'd say it's because your families are different. You want to stop a divorce, you want your parents to have a happy ending. But Naru doesn't see her stepmother as her real mother. So what's a happy ending for you might not be what Naru can handle."

Shinobu reached for another truffle, then stopped herself. "I'm going to have to think about that for a bit. I wish I did that first. I've been causing her a lot of problems since she came back from Pararakelse. Worst thing is, I thought I was doing the right thing with each time too."

"Yer a good kid… sorry, woman… Shinobu, and I think Naru knows it… or at least she'll remember it in time. Just remember, she isn't you."

Author's Notes

This chapter was originally going to be called Planting Sakuras reflecting that Naru's Stepmother used her maiden name to get a room rented and Shinobu planted her there. But as I developed the chapter, it felt like "Sandbagged" was a more appropriate title.

"It's a ¥500,000 fine" The law was changed in 2001 which, in the Love Hina timeline, was at the tail end of the main manga story.

"Gibo-san" I'm told this is the term used for stepmothers (also for mother-in laws). Another term used is mamahaha.