Chapter Sixteen: That Terrible Day
It's Christmas… Well, this is shaping up to be a terrible day, Motoko thought looking out at the bleak weather. It wasn't even snow. Just a cold rain that was barely slush. Yuto had said he was planning to come back… but then snow and fog closed the airport in Seoul. It would have been better if he hadn't told me he had a change of plans and was trying to get home. The disappointment was so bad she could taste it.
Other things were doing wonders for her mood. Shinobu was alternating between bubbly excitement and nervous worries over her Christmas date with Takane. Unfortunately both were somewhat annoying because Shinobu wanted to share her thoughts and they reminded her that she was a woman who was going to spend Christmas evening alone... dammit.
Motoko wasn't going to be the only one not going out to celebrate however. When she asked Naru if she and Keitaro had any plans, Naru's response was one of disbelief and a gesture to her increasingly large abdomen. "No… Kitsune is going to take me to and from my local appointment, and then I just want to keep my feet up. The traditional fried chicken and Christmas cake will be enough excitement for me."
Naru was a bit annoyed she had to go into town at all, but she had missed her train and hence her appointment with Dr. Juse earlier in the week, and so had to take the last slot of the abbreviated Christmas day.
But maybe it's a good thing that Yuto didn't come back yesterday. She glanced over the newspaper with disgust. It seemed that a teacher named Yoshiyuki Terada had been arrested in Hokkaido over immoral conduct with grade school and junior high students both there and in Tokyo at a school called Tomoeda Elementary School. That had reignited some of her fear and loathing of men. It wasn't fair to men like Keitaro, Takane or Yuto that some were scum, she told herself, excluding Kokeru from that list. But if she had seen Yuto, she probably would have glowered at him like she had Keitaro earlier.
What makes men go for perversion when there are normal women seeking a normal relationship?
Shinobu poked her head in. "Motoko? What pair of earrings do you think goes best with the dress I bought?"
Motoko gritted her teeth before turning around with a smile. "Well, I tend to be more conservative in my dress, so I would favor the smaller and subtle over the big ones."
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"This is no fun…" Su mused. Everybody was off of school but a lot of them were busy elsewhere. Kanako had headed down to visit Grandma Hina. Keitaro and Seta had dropped her off while paying respect to his parents before getting a tree. Naru was going over the paperwork for Hinata House. Mutsumi and Ema were studying separately, though in the same room.
Meanwhile, Sara and Kokeru were looking over the movie listings in the paper, trying to decide on a movie to see in the limited dating window Haruka had allowed them.
"Auuu," Shinobu said, wandering through nervously into the room. "Do I have everything ready? I need to get dressed soon." That prompted eyerolls, as she had at least four hours.
"I'll help you get dressed!" Kokeru said cheerfully—before being struck by Shinobu's frying pan and Sara's kick. He fell to the floor, twitching.
So that eliminated the only viable candidate to practice a live fire exercise on. Sighing, Su resigned herself to re-calibrating the targeting system for the tenth time today. Hmm, maybe I can incorporate attack geese into my plans? The thought cheered her up.
Kitsune walked into the room then. "Anyone see Naru? I wanted to check with her about her appointment time, so I know when to take her up and back."
Naru, who was on the phone in the other room, suddenly raised her voice excitedly. "Oh, Eomeoni, you'll be coming to visit?" she said in English. "That's wonderful. Yes, I'll make sure I have a room set aside for you."
What does Eomeoni mean? Shinobu wondered. It wasn't English or anything like the French she took.
A moment later, Naru walked—well, waddled—into the room, beaming. "Shinobu? You don't need to do anything about it today of course, but put a hold on room 205 starting the twentieth of January. My friend from Pararakelse is coming over then.
"Your friend?" Haruka asked, looking up from her bowl. Obviously not Nyamo, or she would have said her name. "Would this be the Mrs. Cha or her daughter that you told me about?"
"Yes, but it's Mrs. Park."
"Mrs. Park of the Cha family?" Sara asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
Motoko walked in about then. "In many Korean families, the wife keeps her own family name," she said. Having taken Korean for her second Todai language requirement, she was considered the 'resident expert' about things on the other side of the Sea of Japan. "So, I imagine it's Mrs. Park of the Cha family?"
"Korean?" Shinobu asked in a small voice.
If Naru hadn't been so excited for the news, she might have noticed trepidation in her tone and expression.
"That's right," Naru said, easing into a chair… sitting on the ground had finally reached the point where too many people were required to get her to her feet afterwards. "When Keitaro and I were having difficulties, she was the one who helped me get through it and not give up. Otherwise I might have become a Hikikomori only leaving the house to buy groceries."
"Yeah," Haruka said. "Based on what you said, it sounds like she was a gift from the heavens for you at that time."
The others nodded in agreement. Now that she was back in Japan, supported by her friends, reconciled with her husband, and having a reliable treatment for her moods, she was a much happier woman than she had been in a long time. Well, the others except for Shinobu, who looked apprehensive.
"Yes," Naru explained. "She's been wanting to visit for awhile, but with the measles quarantine over there, she wanted to make sure she wasn't carrying anything that might affect me or the baby. But her daughter is returning to college in the United States, and Mr. Cha is going on the dig this time. So, she thought she would come and see me." She smiled. "When I first met her, she only knew a little English and no Japanese, so Ji-Hwan had to translate between us. But after Ji-Hwan left to go to college, she started studying English. She sounded pretty good on the phone. So I think there shouldn't be problem with those of us who know English communicating with her."
"Well, that's a relief," Motoko said. "While I wouldn't mind practicing my Korean with her to make sure what I learned can be understood by a native speaker in case I have to travel there as a lawyer, I don't want to be the resident expert translator. I'm suddenly not confident about everybody coming to me."
Naru smiled. "Oh, don't worry Motoko. We'd never put that kind of pressure on anybody here."
"HA!" Mutsumi called out from the other the room.
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Shinobu surveyed her room, her box of valuables in her hands. I should find a place to hide this before the fifth… she thought to herself.
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Because the colleges and schools were closed today, Nagumo, not Kitsune, was the one being run ragged as the baths and tearoom were getting a bit more business than usual. Meanwhile, Kitsune was taking inventory. "Lemme know how the stock is doing," she called out to Nagumo. "I'm gonna make a shopping run around three before I pick up Naru." She had been using the van more recently as of late. It felt like she had more freedom than staying in the tea house most of the time. She took a sip out of the hip flask in her pocket. It warmed her up in this weather and gave her the drive to get more done.
"Okay," Nagumo called back. Who the hell wants to do business shopping on Christmas? She shrugged. For that matter, who would be selling supplies for a business when everybody just wanted to go home? Maybe it was the ideal time to go.
Having finished checking the boxes in the storeroom, Kitsune wiped her brow and took another sip. I should probably ease off of this stuff today… Naru's having her appointment for her baby. She sagged internally. She wondered what that would be like, but knew she had permanently closed that door. Well, maybe one more… she thought, reopening the flask.
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Mutsumi examined Naru in her room, before her appointment. It wasn't out of any mistrust Mutsumi had for the doctor—Dr. Juse was her friend after all—but it was more of a test for herself. It was her turn to go with Naru to the doctor this afternoon and now that Naru was close to 28 weeks, she saw it as a chance to test her own diagnoses of advanced pregnancy against what an established doctor determined and see how much more she needed to learn in her own studies. If there were any discrepancies, Mutsumi would ask afterwards to see what she had done wrong… with Naru's permission of course.
There were some things she wouldn't be doing however. Things like the pelvic exam were too intrusive to be done in a non-professional setting. Neither woman felt comfortable about crossing the professional/friend barrier in that way. Besides, here at Hinata House, somebody would doubtlessly walk in at the worst possible moment and draw the wrong conclusion by default and Mutsumi did not want to be involved in the rumors that would start if somebody saw her and Naru in the middle of what that involved. Other things, she couldn't do because it required specialized equipment or lab work.
But she could check the blood pressure, look at swelling in the hands and feet, check the fundal height, and record Naru's weight. That one was done first because everything else involved Naru lying down on her futon, and since weighing her would mean getting her to her feet if she was lying down, it could be an ordeal.
It could also be an ordeal in other ways, based on the reactions.
"Ugh! I am such a bloated whale!" Naru had made the same complaint every time they went through this. The only difference being the vehemence in her tone and the adjectives she used before whale as the pregnancy progressed.
"Your weight actually looks normal for where you are in this stage of pregnancy," Mutsumi replied patiently. "Now, let me help you get down on the futon." She colored slightly, glad that Kitsune wasn't there to say something crass.
Naru eased herself down, with Mutsumi's help, and placed her hands over her abdomen. "I know my uterus getting bigger is a sign of the baby growing. I'm happy that everything is normal, and it reminds me every day of what is going on inside me. But it's getting so difficult to do things. Lately, Keitaro and I are finding it just about impossible to find a comfortable position to have s—"
Mutsumi cleared her throat loudly, hoping Naru would take the hint. One of the problems with wanting to specialize in OB/GYN was she ended up hearing a lot more about Naru's sexual activity than she wanted to. It wasn't just her. Naru just didn't realize how her casually mentioned married experience tended to make the non-married and mostly virginal members of Hinata House uncomfortable... or frustrated.
"So first off," she said firmly, hoping to prevent that, "are there any changes that seem out of the ordinary for you? Pain, discomfort, difficulties, outside of what you've normally been experiencing?" She inspected Naru's hands and feet. "Hmm, no abnormal swelling here…, let's check your blood pressure, before we head to your appointment."
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"You doing all right in there, Kitsune?" Nagumo called into the storeroom. "It's getting close to three!"
Kitsune started, having lost track of the time. She had been unpacking orders, and taking an occasional swig here and there. Shaking her flask, she cringed. Okay, not so occasional... it was mostly empty. Sighing, she put it back into her pocket... or tried to. It slipped out of her fingers and clattered onto the floor. Cursing under her breath, she reached for it and tripped over a box and went sprawling.
Nagumo entered and stared. "Shit, Kitsune! You're not thinking about driving now, are you? It might not be a good idea."
"Nah... I'll be all right." I don't want to piss off Mutsumi or disappoint Naru. She mentally slapped herself. Idiot! Naru and her baby are involved! Sighing at the thought of failure, she said "No... I guess I'm not all right." She fumbled for her phone. "I'll text her and let her I have to cancel."
Feeling utterly worthless as a human being, Kitsune got out another bottle of sake. Might as well... can't do anything right... can't ever do what the other girls can do…
"Okay, fine… I texted her," she said to Naguno, a little sharper than she intended. "Just check on the customers."
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Naru had just finished struggling back into her clothes when she got a text alert. "Oh, no!" she said. "Kitsune's not feeling well and has to cancel." She sighed. "I don't think we'll get to my appointment in time by the streetcar... so maybe I should cancel and you can see what's wrong with her."
Mutsumi, having a good idea as to what Kitsune's 'illness' might be, shook her head. "She should sleep it off. But I expected this," she said sadly. "A taxi should be down at the road in ten minutes. Shall we go?"
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"Moto… you're the legal expert, right?" Su asked in the tone Motoko found annoying. While her attachment wasn't as bad as when she was twelve and switched over from hanging around with Kitsune, sometimes Su would be intrusive when Motoko would rather be doing something else.
"Well, it's what I'm studying anyway," Motoko replied noncommittally, her eyes moving across the lines in a law textbook she wasn't able to focus on. I should have studied in my room instead of out here.
"Well, if I made my Mechatama spray sodium chloride in somebody's eyes, would that be a crime?"
Why would she ask that? Motoko wondered. "Um, that would be assault."
Su shook her head. "I know it's salt. But would it be a crime to spray it?" The smirk on her face showed she was more interested in being annoying than in seeking information.
Maybe I should just sleep through to January 2nd, Motoko grumbled to herself.
Kitsune trudged heavily through the room, keys jingling in her hand.
"Hello, Kitsune," Motoko said pleasantly. Interiorly, she felt worried. Something was bothering the older woman. "Umm, is everything okay?"
"Mmm?" Kitsune said, neither stopping nor looking up. "Jus' goin' to pick up some supplies. Be back in a bit." She walked out of the room.
"Huh," Su said. "I thought she was going to take Naru-yan, but Mutsumi said she was going with Naru in a taxi for her appointment. Did she change her mind?"
"I don't know," Motoko said. "I think they already left though. Maybe Kitsune's just going to pick them up after her errands?"
"I guess that makes sense," Su said. "It's just she seems awful tired or sick."
"Oh really?" Motoko asked. Absorbed in self pity, she hadn't really noticed. She got up and looked outside. The van was gone. Well, probably nothing to worry about. Returning to her seat she shrugged. "Maybe with Shinobu wanting everybody's reassurance about her date reminded Kitsune she's depressed about being alone this year. I can understand that." Dammit, Yuto!
Ten minutes later, Naguno wandered in. "Have you seen Kitsune? She left the tea room unattended and I need her help."
"She took off in the van," Su said, peeling a banana.
Naguno went white. "She took the… oh shit! She's been drinking! I told her not to drive Naru to her appointment and I thought she canceled!"
"Shit!" Motoko and Su said simultaneously.
Su pulled a large remote out of somewhere and began tapping keys. "I'll deploy my mechatama to look for her... property damage set to minimal- OW!"
Rubbing her knuckles against her sweater, Motoko pulled out her phone. "Forgive me Kitsune," she mumbled as she dialed 110.
"Hello," she said unhappily. "I need to report a suspected drunk driver. Name of Mitsune Konno, driving a blue minivan." She rattled off the particulars, like the license plate and the description of the vehicle. She's gonna be in a lot of trouble for a DWI, but better that then... she couldn't bear to finish that thought.
"What's going on?" Shinobu asked, entering the room. She was dressed up for her date and bubbly until she saw the others' expressions.
"We think Kitsune is drunk driving," Naguno said miserably.
"Oh no...!" For a brief moment, Shinobu thought, but... what about my date? Then, thoroughly ashamed about that petty concern, she looked around, flustered, wanting to act. Now is not the time to worry about that! A thought struck her. "Naru!" she cried out in horror. "D- did Kitsune take her to her appointment?"
"No," Haruka said, entering the room. "She and Mutsumi took a taxi. What's going on?"
"We think Kitsune is drunk driving..." Motoko said.
"Kitsune... you f... you stupid idiot!" Haruka groaned, amending her epithet as she saw Sara and Kokeru enter. "Call 110!"
"I've done that," Motoko said. "I wish there was more I could do!"
"Call Naru!" Shinobu said suddenly. "Tell her not to get in the car if Kitsune comes to pick her up!"
"Right!" Haruka said, dialing frantically. She made a face. "Voicemail... Naru! This is Haruka. If Kitsune comes to pick you up, don't get in the car! She's drunk! Get her to give you the keys and get a taxi!"
"Somebody pulled out of your driveway like a maniac," a male voice said. The others looked to see Takane arriving. "Are you ready to... Shinobu? You're crying! Is something wrong?"
Shinobu, with a sob, rushed over and threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Taken aback, he embraced her and caressed the back of her head as she wept. Motoko filled him in on the story.
"Oh no!" he said, horrified. I wish I had known. I could have..." his voice trailed off. Could have done what? Rammed her off the road? "Okay," he said, forcing himself to think. "If it will help the police find her, when she tore out of the driveway, she was headed south towards the center of town!"
"Thanks!" Motoko said, putting aside her dislike of men as she dialed the police again. "I wish we had some way to track her!"
"Sorry," Su said. "Kitsune was always low priority for the Naru trackers!" She thought for a moment and then pressed a button on her remote. Hinata House shook.
"Su!" Haruka snapped. "What did you do?"
"If we want to find her, we need something that can spot her! So I launched Mechatama in surveillance mode."
Motoko sighed. "At this point, I'm just desperate enough to try anything."
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Naru's appointment was pretty uneventful. Mutsumi's test diagnosis was pretty close... it just lacked the experience of Dr. Juse. However, listening to the two talk on a different subject was alarming.
"So, your friend still hasn't called?" Dr. Juse was saying.
"No," Mutsumi said, visibly frustrated. "Maybe after New Years, I can drag her in."
"Okay, but remember that using disulfiram is not something that can be done lightly. I want your friend to fully understand the consequences, and she will need someone she trusts and who won't be tricked or bullied to make sure she takes it no matter how miserable it makes her feel. Otherwise, it's quite easy to stop taking it and wait out the consequences."
"Ara, I have to start my internship in March," Kitsune said sadly.
"Is this something I can help with?" Naru asked suddenly. "If we're thinking of the same friend, I think she needs help too."
Dr. Juse assessed Naru. "Well, let me tell you what you need to be aware of..."
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It had been challenging but not impossible to drive downtown. Kitsune had a few close calls, but she had mostly stayed in her lane and hadn't run any lights or signs… yet. But her destination was in sight and, driving home, she knew the traffic would be lighter. She knew this was a bad idea, but she needed to get a new flask of schnapps and then she was just going to get blackout drunk so she could forget the painful memories that came up between Christmas and New Years. It was easy when I was nineteen and would just get mildly hammered and hit on Keitaro at the New Years festival. But at 27, seeing the others move forward in life while she just got by made it worse.
A whooshing in the air startled her. That kinda looked like a turtle… She shook her head. I better get my purchase and get home… I'm a bit worse off than I thought.
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"She's headed past the Nakatomi shopping plaza!" Su announced.
Motoko relayed the information to the dispatcher and hoped the woman wouldn't ask where she was getting the information from. If I have to tell her I'm getting it from my friend's flying robot turtle they'll probably think I'm the one who's drunk...
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Up ahead, Kitsune saw the liquor store she was determined to reach, she shifted lanes, ignoring the horns blaring behind her. She just had to navigate into the driveway opening in a concrete wall that led to the parking lot. It should be easy enough. Just brake, slow down, and squeeze in.
A siren and flashing light behind her startled her.
She stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. Worse, to her horror, she saw a woman pushing something... a shopping cart? A baby carriage? With her blurry vision, she couldn't be certain.
She swerved to avoid the woman, swung too wide and slammed into the edge of the wall.
Newton's first law of motion paraphrased says that a body remains at rest unless a force makes it move. A force is required to change the speed or direction of a moving body. This law means that it will take a force to start and stop an object in motion. Even at a speed we consider low has a lot of energy when it is suddenly halted.
In the first tenth of a second, the front of the minivan went from 50 kph to zero. The bumper began to crush inward. Kitsune, not wearing her seatbelt, was flung forward at 50 kph, colliding hard with the rapidly deploying airbag at that speed. Throwing her arms up to shield her, she was only vaguely aware of one of her arms and her nose breaking before she lost consciousness.
The front end of the car continued to crush, destroying the radiator while the engine and frame impacted into the corner of the wall. Kitsune's forward momentum was halted, but her internal organs continued forward, slamming into her rib cage. She rebounded backwards into the seat, bounced forward, slumping into the fully deployed airbag. She was unaware of the debris in the van continuing forward striking everything in front of it... including her. Her body received numerous bruises and lacerations as they struck her, or bounced off of the windshield and struck her.
It was over in slightly over half a second. It took ten seconds for the police vehicle to come to a stop and exit the vehicle. The younger officer began halting traffic while the elder rushed over to the vehicle. He looked inside, and shut off the engine to prevent a fire.
"This is unit A-12!" He said into his radio, giving the location. "Single vehicle crash, occupant one female mid twenties. Unconscious with bleeding head wound. Other injuries unknown! Request ambulance dispatch immediately!"
She's not much older than my oldest, poor kid! he thought to himself. As the snow began to fall, he wished he could take her out of the van and put her somewhere warm. But he had no ideas what sort of injuries she might have sustained. So he had to wait and keep the scene safe. "Hang in there, girl!" he whispered as he continued to monitor her.
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"What the hell's going on over there?" Keitaro said nodding at the mass of flashing lights on the other side of the road. They'd just picked up the chicken and were heading home when they came across the police detour directing them out of their way.
"Looks like an accident," Seta said grimly. "An ambulance and three police vehicles. I can't make out anything else in in this light."
"Terrible thing for somebody to have their Christmas ruined like that," Keitaro said sadly.
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Mutsumi had forgotten to turn her phone off during the appointment. Blushing furiously when her ringtone sounded, she apologized and excused herself.
Inside Dr. Juse's office, they could see her answer the phone, listen, then pale and stagger before recovering. She spoke rapidly before hanging up and rushing back into the office.
"Naru..." she said breathlessly. "We have to get to the hospital right now!"
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Keitaro was surprised not to be met with light and the usual tumult as they entered with the tree and the chicken and cake. Instead the girls were sitting around in the dark, downcast. Shinobu had obviously been crying. Her boyfriend had his arms around her, his hands folded in prayer. Even the stoic Haruka and the clueless Su looked worried sick. And that creature, Kokeru, looked subdued as well.
"W- what's going on?" he asked, noticing with alarm that Naru wasn't there. No...!
"Kitsune drove off in the van," Naguno said. "She was drunk and we can't reach her."
"Oh no..." Keitaro whispered, suddenly remembering the crash they saw and was struck by the the horrible thought of his wife, unborn daughter and two friends lying dead on the side of the road. "No... no..."
Motoko understood. She walked over to Keitaro and put her hand on his arm. "Not her. She and Mutsumi took a taxi to her appointment. We can't reach Naru to let her know though. She has her phone turned off."
"Umm, did you try calling Mutsumi?" Seta asked.
The girls—who hadn't—looked embarrassed, and Keitaro began frantically stabbing buttons on his phone.
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Entering the foyer, Naru was breathing heavily as she tried to keep up with the frantic Mutsumi. "Just go!" she wheezed gesturing to the emergency room desk at Hinata City General. The waiting room was mostly empty except for a few staff. A police officer was sitting in one chair.
Nodding with gratitude, Mutsumi raced over to the desk. "Excuse me, I am Mutsumi Otohime... the hospital called me about my roommate, Mitsune Konno?"
Oh, Kitsune must have listed Mutsumi as her emergency contact, Naru thought as she waddled over to catch up.
The nurse looked at her monitor. "Konno... oh yes, the DUI crash. She's in the Emergency room right now."
...the DUI crash... Emergency room... The implications—both of what it could possibly mean for her closest friend and what could have happened if Kitsune hadn't canceled—struck Naru suddenly and she fell backwards. Thankfully, Mutsumi, a nurse and a janitor caught her and helped her to a seat.
The doctor on duty approached them, and began explaining the situation. Many of the words that reached Naru were ominous... unconscious... broken limb... medical tests... there were other words, medical terms Naru didn't understand but Mutsumi obviously did. Not knowing gnawed at her.
Mutsumi's phone rang, and she muted it. "Naru! Please call your husband." She continued talking to the doctor.
Embarrassed to realize she forgot to turn it on, she did so, receiving a barrage of missed call and message waiting notifications. Ignoring them, she speed dialed Keitaro, who immediately answered.
"Naru? Are you okay?" His voice showed obvious relief
"I... I'm fine, I wasn't with her," she said, voice quavering. "But Kitsune... she's in the ER, unconscious..." she began to sob. "Keitaro, I'm scared what might be wrong!" She was vaguely aware of Mutsumi putting her arm around her.
"Hold tight, Naru! I'm coming," Keitaro said.
Meanwhile, the doctor continued, "...Blood alcohol content of 0.16..."
Mutsumi fixed a hard look on him. "0.16?"
"Yes, she was damn lucky, especially since she wasn't wearing a seatbelt."
"Did you examine her head?"
"Yes, we didn't find any evidence of a concussion," the doctor said reassuringly.
"Did you find any evidence of a brain?" Mutsumi snapped, angrily. Dammit, Kitsune! Why didn't you listen?
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Keitaro turned around to see everyone from Hinata House with their coats and waiting. He sighed. "There's not going to be enough room for all of you!"
"But the van holds six," Sara said.
"Yes," he said patiently, "but Seta's driving, Naru needs to be with me, and we do have to to bring her and Mutsumi back at least. Maybe Kitsune too?"
Shinobu sighed and picked up the fried chicken and Christmas cake. "I'll fix dinner I guess."
"Let me help with that," Takane said, jumping up. Obviously the Christmas date was out. This was more important. But he wanted to support her in any way he could.
Everyone else began to follow and help as well. The Christmas tree still leaned against the wall, forgotten.
In the end, Motoko was the one who went along.
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When he and Seta arrived, Naru tried to jump up and run to him. But in her condition, struggling to her feet and waddling a few steps was the best she could do before Keitaro reached her. He held onto her, trying to be strong for her as she clung to him and cried. D- did the worst happen? he wondered, feeling dread creep up.
The doctor came over to Mutsumi. "She is not in any danger. So, we are going to admit her to a regular hospital room," he said softly.
"Can... can I stay with her in her room?" Mutsumi asked, knowing that Kitsune would probably be waking up frightened and in pain.
"That is very difficult," the doctor said, using the Japanese euphemism for no. He nodded to the police officer sitting in the hall.
The officer stood and walked over. "I'm sorry. Due to the conditions of her arrival in the hospital, we will have to place her under arrest once she wakes up. So we will need to control access to her during the investigation."
Of course you do... Mutsumi thought. She knew there would be consequences for what happened, but had pushed it out of her mind. Realizing they would be starting immediately made her stomach twist.
"Don't be stupid!" Naru snapped, removing her face from Keitaro s chest. "You're going to throw her in prison when she needs a hospital?" She stood in front of the officer, hands on her hips, scowling.
"She will stay in the hospital until she is ready to be discharged," the officer said slightly intimidated by the wrath of Naru. "Then she will be moved to prison until the investigation is complete. But until the investigation is complete, we will need to control her access to others to prevent collusion in testimony. It's a standard procedure."
The others looked at Motoko, who nodded. That was how the system operated.
"Fine!" Naru sighed.
"In the meantime, since Miss Konno does not own a vehicle, we will need to determine who owned the vehicle she used and where she received the alcohol from." He took out a notebook. "Would you happen to know?"
Keitaro stirred to answer that, but was cut short my Motoko elbowing him in the ribs. Surprised, he looked at her and saw she gave a slight shake of the head. So he stayed silent.
The police officer put his notebook away. "At any rate, any visits must be monitored. But right now, there will be no visitors. You may as well go home.
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Slumping, they walked out into the cold and climbed into the van. After Seta started up, Keitaro leaned forward to Motoko. "Why didn't you want me to answer him about the van? It seemed reasonable.
Motoko sighed. "In a DWI case, the person who supplied alcohol and the person who lent a vehicle to an intoxicated person can face similar charges as the person arrested. Since you didn't know that, it's quite possible you might have said something that might have been misinterpreted as incriminating."
They all sighed. While they were grateful that Kitsune had survived and would recover, they knew her troubles were just beginning.
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Author's Notes
While this was planned to take place during Christmas, I didn't expect to actually publish it on Christmas. It's a bit different, and a bit darker. But hopefully, as the story progresses, I'll have the talent to portray how Kitsune moves forward from this.
"Having taken Korean for her second Todai language requirement." As I understand it, in Tokyo University, one needs to study not only English, but a second language as well. Shinobu took French. Motoko took Korean. She figured it would be more immediately useful for law.
As a reminder, Naru met Park Hyun-Sil and her daughter Cha Ji-Hwan in Forever and a Day, chapter eight: Have You Eaten?
Now that Naru was close to 28 weeks". After 28 weeks, appointments go from monthly to twice monthly.
"Check the fundal height". Measures the distance between the pelvic area and the top of the uterus to determine how advanced the pregnancy is, as well as get a sense of how big the baby is.
"Dialed 110." In Japan, 119 (their equivalent of 911) only contacts Fire and Ambulance services. 110 is for the police.
50 kph... slightly above 30 mph.
"Blood alcohol content of 0.16" at that level, the effects are described as: Gross impairment of motor control. Blurred vision and major loss of balance. Dominance of of dysphoria (anxiety, restlessness). Nausea may appear. Drinker has the appearance of "sloppy drunk."