Chapter 1: the quietness before the storm, part 1
"Phew I finally arrived here" said Naru looking at this old dusty inn that she used to call home. "But why the hell did Keitaro told me to come here? He knows that I live in America and that I probably won't come!"
"But you came nevertheless right?" asked a voice beside her.
It was Kitsune; she was still running The Hinata tea shop and used part of the earnings to renew the ex-dormitory. She let her hairs grew and have now attached them on its two sides again
"I was so alone after you guys left, but now that everyone is coming back, we can have fun again." She continued.
"What do you mean everyone?" replied Naru
"It wasn't mentioned in the letter?"
"No"
"Well
then I'll tell you, Keitaro organized a reunion of all the tenants
of Hinata-sou"
"WHAT! Damn you Keitaro!" and she started to punch the teashop's wall repetitively
"Now that you are here come in and take a drink! You're not underage anymore am I right?"
"Ok, I accept your offer, but I'm leaving immediately after"
One hour later…
Naru was sitting on a chair yapping around and sometimes hitting the high desk in front of her
"You know what? hips after Keitaro had ahips forced marriage with Motoko, I was so depressed thathips I could jump off the roof.hips and kill myself" shouted Naru
"Geez girl what happened to you? You already drunk 10 bottles of sake and you're still going? You need to stop this" ordered Kitsune.
The expression on her face wasn't the normal cunning one but a rather serious and almost scary one.
"I'm not listening to what you say to me. You know how much pain I suffered? That's why I ran off to America. And this damn Keitaro" she suddenly heavily punched the desk again "Just reopened my wounds with this reunion."
Kitsune got mad and was trying to control it when suddenly
knock knock
"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU WANT"
"Umm… sorry, I didn't want to disturb this conversation." A beautiful young girl answered
It was Shinobu. She was the third person to leave Hinata-Sou after Naru and Kitsune. She was now taller and a lot prettier than before. But she changed so much that none of the two girls recognize her.
The attitude of Kitsune instantly changed.
"Welcome, welcome to the Hinata teashop how may I serve you?"
"Oh not much really, I just want to know if a person named Mitsune Konno still works here."
"Well that's me, how may I help you?"
"Kitsune is that you?" asked Shinobu
Without waiting for a response, she rushed to her and grabbed her tightly.
"Whoa girl who are you?
But she continued to cry without listening and when finally she calmed down, she started to explain herself.
"If you don't remember me, my name is Shinobu Maehara…"
"WHAT? Shinobu is that really you?" asked both girls, surprised.
"Umm… yes it's me…You don't remember me don't you? I think I'm going to leave then."
"Wait!" shouted Naru and Kitsune, gripping her tightly so that se couldn't leave
"Look we're sorry Shinobu, you changed so much that we didn't recognize you" said Naru
"And what's that clothe all about!" added Kitsune.
Indeed, Shinobu was not wearing a normal shirt and a skirt. She was instead wearing a white buttoned shirt, white pants and a tall white hat.
You guessed it, she was a chef
After leaving Hinata-Sou, Shinobu went to their parents shop and restarted her family business (anime episode 2-3). With all the training she got with the other tenants of Hinata-Sou the Café got quite popular. With the earnings she decided to move it to Tokyo where it became one of the most popular café in the giant city.
"Well that's all, that's how I ended up wearing this"
"Wow Shinobu." Said Naru." For you to be like this… you must be happy"
"Umm…" was the response.
"Come on Shinobu…"Said Kitsune seeing her old habits didn't change. "Say whatever you want we won't laugh at you"
"Ok…there goes nothing" said Shinobu, trying to gather her courage for the next phrase. "After Urashima-sempai got married with Motoko, went into a depression and wanted to suicide myself. I cried everyday and my parents saw that, so they kind of forced me to take the shop in charge so that I could clear my head. After a while I started to like this job so I continued to work there. So now, I cleared my mind and I completely passed over this incident"
"You mean… that you're ok that Keitaro is with Motoko?" asked Naru, surprised
"Not that I'm ok, I can now face the truth and move on. At least I don't start crying every time I see them together." Said Shinobu with a sour smile.
Naru really started to admire Shinobu now, not only did she became a successful person, but she also passed over Keitaro. On the other side, herself abandoned university, started working in a pizza shop and got drunk every night to try to forget about Keitaro.
As she was thinking, she was interrupted by Kitsune.
"So Naru, how was life in America?"
"Well… I can't say much." replied Naru. "I moved to New York City where I live now."
"What were you doing there? Did you continue studying or get a job?"
"Uh… I have a job as a…uh… Japanese Teacher." Lied Naru who knows very well that she works in a pizza shop
"well looks like the you got a pretty good job there" replied Kitsune. "let me congratulate you with this bottle of sake. And you too Shinobu!"
"uh… no thanks Kitsune…" replied Shinobu, blushing
"Come on Kitsune! You know as well as me that I can't take it anymore!" answered Naru, half drunk
"Come on guys, you don't have to be scared, take some!" continued Kitsune, starting to force Shinobu and Naru to drink the sake.
"KITUNE, NO! Gulp… gulp…"(she can't talk because Kitsune poured the sake in her mouth.)
After an hour, they were all sleeping peacefully on the floor of the teashop and this lasted until the morning the next day
