Love Hina belongs to Ken Akumatsu. This Fic belongs to me
Mutsumi blinked wearily as the familiar scenery of Suzu's guest room blurred into focus, the cottony feeling that always followed her fainting spell already beginning to envelope her brain and mouth as she rubbed her temple. She tries to recall exactly what she was doing before ending up here, but her head continuously draws a blank.
The moment she decides to sit up, a cup and pills are thrust at her.
"Take."
She carefully takes both, popping the pills into her mouth before bringing the cup up and taking a large gulp. Suzu, who is occupying the chair across from her, watches carefully as if to ensure she finishes the entire thing.
"Mutsumi, we need to talk." She says, tone grave as the brunette placed the cup back on the nightstand. Suzu has always been known as a bit of a "downer" by those at their workplace, but the in past months since getting to know her, Mutsumi has come to see she's honestly a rather upbeat and high-spirited type of woman – everything else was just an issue of of her face being harsh and her manners being a bit curt. Honestly, it reminded her a bit of Naru, so it made getting along a bit easier.
It also made seeing her with such a serious expression very concerning, because that meant something was very wrong.
"Sure, what is it?" She asks, sitting up properly now that her grogginess was finally starting to fade off. She hopes Naru didn't get into another argument with her about holing up in their shared room again – While she understood Suzu was concerned with how much time the ginger haired girl was spending in the apartment, what with her being suspended at the moment and still...reeling from that conversation with Keitarou, that didn't mean they couldn't up with a compromise-
"Naru can't stay here any more."
Mutsumi's almost happy she put the glass back when she did, otherwise she would have dropped it.
"Why? What's wrong?" she asks, frowning deeply. When they first arrived, Suzu had been all smiles (or at least her equivalent of one) and practically just as ecstatic to have Naru around as Mutsumi was. Her mood can't of change that quickly "Did...did something happen? If we did something wrong-"
The copper haired woman held up a hand to stop her "It's not a 'we' issue here." she says, giving a brief pause when it looked like Mutsumi would interrupt again "Look, when you said she had a fight with her boyfriend and got kicked out of her place and that made her a bit moody, I agreed to let her stay and put up with it. When you said she had run into trouble at school and to not mind the sudden spike in attitude, I didn't mind as asked. When you told me to delay my brother coming over because, and I quote, 'It wouldn't be good for her to have guys around at the moment', I asked him to hold off coming, despite how much I was looking forward to the visit. When she almost slugged my friend's buddy, I took the apology you gave in her stead, and got them to take it too – For the past two weeks, I've been as about polite and welcoming as I can be, despite everything..."
She then crossed her arms, narrowed eyes turning sharp "But now, that's no longer enough. She can't stay here."
Mutsumi's hands fidgeted in her lap, and Suzu sighs
"Look, I get it, you guys have been friends forever – 'thick and thin to the very end'. I have the same thing with Maka and Hitomi." she says, rubbing the back of her neck "But it's starting to get out of hand and I can't put up with it anymore. A bad breakup and school can only cover for so much nonsense."
The brunette can't help but frown scoldingly. When she told Suzu about what happened, she had been all sorts of sympathetic and understood Naru's crankiness was just a product of that – it seemed a bit unfair to throw it in as an argument now "Don't you think you're overexaggerating a bit. Whatever happened can't be as bad as you're making it out to be"
Suzu gives her a flat expression, then beamed the way she did when a customer started getting picky with their orders.
"This afternoon, when you passed out and my neighbor Tatsu caught you, she got into it with him over it, and after bringing you back here, I arrived in time to see her bust a hole in the wall." she says, smile tight and growing more aggravated "After barely managing to convince him that she was just drunk, he proceeded to call over our dear lovely landlord, who I just got through meeting with and has generously added the damage done to my rent fee."
Mutsumi squirmed. She recalls Naru having a few tense run-ins with him on their way out for groceries, mostly just misunderstandings, but she hadn't imagined... "I'm...very sorry about that," she says quietly "I'm sure she didn't mean to."
"I'm aware - you said the same last time too."
Mutsumi squirms even harder, biting her lip.
Suzu sighs louder this time "Like I said, if this was still two weeks before, I'd be nicer" she explains "But it isn't, and I literally can't afford to get in any sort of trouble with the folks here. She has to go."
When Keitaro had kicked the girls out, Mutsumi had been ready and willing to lend a hand. They were all friends after all, and she couldn't just leave them to face a crisis like that, especially poor Naru – she had just looked so...heartbroken (like she did all those years ago on the inn porch, watching the other kids play while she was left behind). But determined as she was, there was only so much help she could give, and in the end she had ended up having to drag a still furious Naru with her to Suzu's apartment and asking that she allow her to stay for a bit.
And it had been fine for the while it had happened. Sure, Naru and Suzu had their occasionally clashes on stuff, but they managed to get along well enough. And besides that, it wasn't going to be a permanent thing, it was just gonna be until the figured out what in tarnation had gotten into Keitaro suddenly that he would just...evict everyone like that, and even go as far as ban Mutsumi and Haruka from entering the dorms.
When she thinks back to the things he said that day, Mutsumi can't help but shudder. He was always so nice and sweet on her and the girls, and Naru was (well, definitely was now) the most import thing in the world to him. They had their ups and downs, sure, but it always all worked out in the end somehow.
She just...can't understand why he would do any of this. Everything seemed fine before - Keitaro was happy, Naru was too. They had eachother, their dream college, the inn, everything they had dreamed about since they were kids, and now all of a sudden he...doesn't want that anymore. It made no sense.
(He finally had what he promised all those years ago – why throw it all away?)
But as much as she would like to unravel that mystery, Keitaro wasn't the problem right now – the problem was convincing Suzu not to leave Naru out on the street.
"Let me talk to her," Mutsumi offers, brows creased resolutely "Then we'll go to the landlord and Tatsu-san and apologize-"
Suzu cuts her off immediately "If an apology fixed any of this, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."
The brunette shakes "W-what about one of the others? I'm sure if we ask them..."
"Maka lives with her boyfriend, and Hitomi's...Hitomi." Suzu says, tucking back her hair "If being around guys is as hard as you make it out to be for her, then staying with them gonna be worse than being here is."
Mutsumi looked away, but didn't miss the disaproving frown that appeared on Suzu's face when she did. Mutsumi had gone to Suzu specifically because she knew she lived alone, and a single-like environment would help Naru decompress and gain enough calm to properly find a way to tackle the issue of her eviction and make up with Keitaro again. Being around couples or boys was the last thing she needed right now, but maybe if they just talked things over and-
"Are you sure you guys can't just call up her folks?" Suzu suddenly asks, breaking her out of her thoughts and sounding honestly quite worried "From what you've told me about them, they don't seem like the types to leave their kid out on the lurch like that. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help with whatever going on at her old place."
Mutsumi rubbed her arm, still refusing to look Suzu's way "It's...complicated."
She thought about it the first time, convincing one of the others to contact their parents. Mutsumi might have failed the Tokyo U exams multiple times, but she's smart enough to know that even if Keitaro could legally keep them off the premise, he would be helpless if the family's got involved and took the girls's side; it was their parents that payed a majority of their leases in the end after all. Her folks were more hands off, so they weren't really an option, and she barely knew anything about Mitsune's family. Seta was a no go either, apparently too busy with juggling his university work and research, and Sarah wasn't technically a resident anyways. She wasn't too sure about Su and Motoko's families, and from what she's heard, Shinobu's own was too embroiled in their own problems to do much – but Naru's mother definitely wouldn't just sit still after hearing that her daughter's (former) boyfriend left her on the streets to fend for herself. If she called her up right now, she'd be on the first train to Tokyo and march right up to the dorms and-
Naru removed her fist from the large dent she made in the wall of the alleyway they stopped in after finishing up their meeting with the others
"I won't do it." she hissed through clenched teeth, tears pricking her eyes "I don't need that hag or her dumb boytoy's help to deal with this!"
Mutsumi eyes the dent cautiously, trying to pick her next words "Naru-"
She whirls on her, fists and shoulders shaking as her eyes glowed darkly with rage under the shadows "If that stupid pervert wants a fight, we'll damn well give him one! It doesn't matter how long it takes – we're getting back the inn, and when I get my hands on that sniveling asshole, I'll-"
Suzu rises from her chair with a creak, and Mutsumi realizes her small window is closing.
"She doesn't have anywhere else to stay!" She cries as she launches herself forward, then grabs Suzu's hands, staring at her pleadingly "Please, she's my friend! I...I can't just leave her by herself!"
Suzu's face barely changes as she shook her head, and Mutsumi's head and heart dropped
"I'm going to let her know you're awake." she says, pulling away her hand before heading for the door "She still has tonight, but after that, she's out."
The door shut before Mutsumi could make another plea, leaving her alone with her thoughts as she realized she'd have to figure out a way to explain to Naru in the nicest way possible that they needed to find her a new placed to hunker down in for a while.
She collapses back onto the bed, eyes feeling warm
"I hope Keitaro-kun's feeding Tama-chan properly..."
Kaolla frowns as she scratches out the drawing she did, adding to the growing blotches of graphite dotting the notebook paper. After her talk with Shinobu a few days ago, she'd been working nonstop on designs for a machine that would help stop making Big brother Keitaro so cranky – but so far she had been stumped. She couldn't figure out what the problem was! She had the idea, and the outlines, but every time she tried to combine them and draw something out, she just...suddenly couldn't finish it, or stumbled on the finished product, or just couldn't get started period. If only she had access to her lab, maybe she could figure out what was wrong…
Frustration flickered at the edge of her brain, and she immediately shooed it off. There was no time to be cranky like Big Brother Keitaro was being – if she wasn't getting anywhere, it just meant she needed to try harder! Everyone else was thinking so hard of ways to make Big Brother happy again after all, so Kaolla needed to try too! Then they could all go home and stop being sad!
"Maeda-san, Kaolla-san."
Kaolla turns alongside Shinobu as one of the classmates calls out to them – Kaolla can't remember her name, but she was always fussing over the how she sat in her chair and made her stand outside to complain about greeting a teacher once, so she tended to avoid her.
"O-oh, Hamura-san! Is something the matter?" Shinobu asks, packing away the rest of her things
"I was actually sent to come retrieve you both." she says, adjusting her glasses "Apparently there's a call for Kaolla-san – something about the Molmolian embassy..."
Kaolla flinches, but still manages to keep up her bouncy aura "It must be big sis and the others! Su can come answer!"
Hamura nods, and so the three made their way to the principal's office, nervous energy slowly bogging down the tanned blondes steps as they walked. She knew Amalla and the others would be calling in to get an update on her situation sooner or later – it was practically tradition at this point that they call in once every few months to ask how she was doing and see if she was doing her due diligence as an unofficial ambassador for the Molmolian culture.
Which is why she was nervous, because the call wasn't supposed to come yet. They usual wait until the end of the month before contacting her, meaning something must of happened! Was Big brother Lamba sick? Did Big Sister Amalla break an arm? Was there a flood, a plague, an invasion? Did they...change their minds about Kaolla not becoming queen?
(Did they find out she wasn't at the dorms anymore...)
They're probably halfway to their destination when Hamura suddenly stopped, forcing them both to halt
"Why are we stopping?" Kaolla asks, tilting her head "Doesn't Big Sister Amalla need to talk to Su right now?"
Hamura looks at them, and suddenly she remembers another reason she didn't play with her much. She was always so...gloomy and serious all the time, and didn't seem that much fun to hang out with. She reminded her of the little crabs back home that scuttled around the beach after it rained, the ones whose backs looked like little frowny faces – and not even the cute ones, but the ones she saw teachers put on Sarah's homework to tell her she did a bad job (The ones she remembers Big Brother Keitaro making before he started being mean).
Actually, Koalla can't think of a single time since they were put in class together that she's ever seen the red haired girl even crack a smile.
"Are you two doing okay?"
The both of them blink "W-why do you ask?"
"No reason? You both just seem a little on edge."
Kaolla looks at Shinobu, and realizes she's bitten her lip raw in the time they've left the classroom (no good, she should make her something to make her stop that), and skips her way in front of her, acting like a little door between "Su's just worried about the call," she decides to admit, smiling wider "Big sister Amalla and the others don't call at school unless something bad's happened."
"Y-yeah," Shinobu adds "It, um, could be an emergency or something – though I hope that's that the cause"
Hamura stares at them for a bit longer before turning around, braids swishing along with her "I see."
Eventually, they start their walk again and make it to the office. Kaolla is told to follow a teacher while Shinobu and Hamura stay behind.
"Can't Shinobu come with me?" she asks, voice and self feeling small because she doesn't want to talk to Big Sister Amalla alone, especially if she's going to ask about the Hinata. Usually she'd have Big Sister Motoko with her to help with talking (and avoiding talking) about things, but she isn't here right now (and Kaolla doesn't know how to contact her now that she's camping).
"They said they needed to speak with you specifically." the teacher explained, and Kaolla nails dig into her palms
Shinobu touches her shoulder, but it doesn't help her want to remove them any less "It's fine Su, I, um, wait out here." she says, smiling gently "Go and see what you sister wants."
Kaolla doesn't want that, and she doesn't want to follow the teacher. She doesn't want to talk to her sister because if it's about what she thinks it is she doesn't want to go through that conversation, not now and not ever. It wasn't fair that she had to talk about it! It wasn't fair Big Brother took her room and her machines away. It wasn't fair he was bringing boys over and wanted them to sign a dumb new contract when the old one was fine!
(Everything was fine before! Why was it changing? Why was Big Brother being mean to her all of a sudden, like Amalla was back then!)
She felt frustration (and other nasty feelings she doesn't like) trying to take root in her again, so instead, she focuses on the machine she wants to make to get Big Brother Keitaro to let her have her room again
Hmm, since making one that made him forget things wasn't doable for now, then maybe a machine that reminded him about how much he loved Kaolla and the others would help! It'd tell him all about how much fun he had with Kaolla with her machines and her greetings and buying her bananas and listening to her talk about Molmol and her family and that he wanted them all to be together and not living in Seta's house without her trees or the waterfall and even though Seta was nice and used a recording of one for her it wasn't the same as the one in her room!
Tears drip off her cheek and she quickly wipes her face before the teacher could notice. Maybe before using it on Big Brother Keitaro, she'd use it on herself first, and remind herself she should be happy right now.
(And maybe she'd use it on Big Sister Naru too – she's been yelling a lot more lately after getting told to not come to her school for a while. It was starting to scare her a bit…)
"Parakeet!"
"Tarantula!"
"Ape!"
"Emu!"
"Uroboros!"
Sarah frowns, and crosses her arms in challenge "Uroboros isn't a real animal Su!"
Su just grins and sticks her tongue at her "Is too! it's a special species of snake in Molmol! They have tiny heads and liked to bite their tails as a way of attracting mates!"
"Well I've never heard of it." she states, frowning even deeper
"It's very rare, and super shy! Su's only really seen them once, but they're definitely real!"
The littler blonde doesn't quite believe her, but if it was a Molmolian animal, she knows she won't win the argument, so she concedes and they continue their game.
"Sloth"
"Hippopotamus"
"Stag!"
"Giraf-!"
Static from the background noise of the TV interrupts Su's next response, so Sarah turns the volume down – She's long since stopped caring about the show she was watching anyways (actually, she wasn't even sure if the show was still going or if it had already switched over to the next one on the hour block), and was just having it on so she'd have some semblance of noise going through the house. Her father was still at work and Shinobu had gone grocery shopping, so it was just her and Su today with not much to do in a room far too quiet for either's liking. Homework had been finished, and the chores not taken care of by Shinobu had be dealt with a while ago, so they opted to just sit in front of the TV and plays word games until Shinobu returned. It was a nice distraction from time passing, as well as helping Su with her Japanese, and it helped that the game let her just...stop thinking for a moment.
Mostly because that's all she's been doing since the dork kicked them out two weeks ago – thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking.
She thinks about her room in the dorms, and taking baths in the hot springs, and eating Motoko's weird samurai diet food even though she just goes and gets the snacks Shinobu made for them from the fridge later. She thinks about doing her homework under the Kotatsu while Mutsumi naps and then heading to Su's room to get her to play tag with her using the mecha tamas. Then the dork comes and gets in the way and she kicks him for it but he just laughs and pats her head and it makes her angry (and also not but the angry still comes first) and she kicks him again and then Kitsune comes in and makes a dumb adult joke and then Naru comes in and kicks him too and he goes through the ceiling but he comes back in time for dinner and still laughs about that too and they all laugh with him and have dinner and everything great and Sara doesn't feel as angry as before like when she was back home with uncle and the rest.
(She think about how right now, she's more angry than she's ever been.)
"Sarah, it's your turn!" Su says, and Sarah stiffens, surprised she had zoned out like that.
"Oh, sorry Su. What was your word again?"
"Baracuda!"
She taps her chin thoughtfully for a bit as she considered all the animals with A names before answering "Alligator!"
"Rhinoceros!"
"Sliverback!"
"Kangaroo!"
The game goes on, and as they hit another lull in turn taking, Sarah starts think again.
She thinks about Naru and how they haven't talked in a while (Mutsumi makes all sorts of weird noises when they ask her how she's doing and her dad makes weird faces when she does). She thinks about how Kitsune's smells more and more like her uncle used to lately, and how Motoko had a spider in her hair and she hadn't noticed to Su pointed it out and screamed. She thinks about how Su and Shinobu came home yesterday acting weird but wouldn't tell her why, and how Su will sometimes stare at the map dad had of Molmol he brought back from one of his trips.
She thinks about how once, when no one was in the house except her, she got angry at something she can't remember and smashed a pot, expecting the dork to be there and getting even more mad that he wasn't. She thinks about how he still won't talk to any of them, or let them back in, or even explain himself! He went on and on talking about how they were bad people but wasn't he being a bad person too right now by kicking them out without even talking to them first!
(Just like uncle and the others did – shuffling Sarah around without talking to her, asking her, acting like it was all her fault she was there when she didn't want to be either!)
"Sarah's turn again!"
Sarah jolts back into reality, trying to remember what word Su gave last and coming up disturbingly blank as her brain scrambles for one of her own
"I,um, er" she stuttered, fidgeting in place "A-Anteater!"
Su stares quietly at her for what feels like too long a time before leaping up "Sarah lost!" Su laughs, and she flinches at the sound for some reason
"W-what do you mean?" She asks,
"You used 'Anteater' twice!'" The other blonde explain, wagging her finger in the air smugly "So Su wins! Su's so good at this game!"
Normally, Sarah would have just been mildly upset over the loss, and eagerly challenge Su to a rematch – but instead, her insides boil and her jaw starts to hurt from being ground so tightly as Su continued to brag. She doesn't like the feeling, or that she's feeling it towards Su of all people.
"Wanna play again?"
Sarah jolts again before stares at her palms, and realizes they're held tight and painful in her lap.
She quietly nods, and the game starts again.
Eventually, she starts to think again, and again fails to avoid to. She thinks about how her classmates asked about the weird noises they heard from the dorm because they passed by it last week, and not having an answer for them. She thinks about how the teachers keep asking about how things are at home, and not matter how much Sarah lies, they don't seem to believe her. She thinks about how even though she can still have mealtime with Su and Shinobu, it doesn't feel the same anymore. She thinks about how even though the dork quit and she's back home now, her dad still doesn't have time to talk, let alone come see her. She thinks about how despite being in her old room again, it doesn't feel like her room, and it makes her uncomfortable for some reason.
(She thinks about how coming back home every day, not making that turn on the corner to that once familiar cherryblossom marked street, makes her feel the same way too.)
"Sarah!" Su calls, and she blinks slowly at the spot she was in and realizes she's behind her now "Shinobu's finished dinner, come on!"
She blinks again, and turns to see it's dark now, and that the familiar smell of food wafting in is making her stomach gurgling more apparent. She shakes her head free of all of that before getting up and following, complaining to Su for not telling her sooner and Su saying that Sarah looked like she was "thinking super hard on something", so she left her alone.
(She thinks about how hard she must have been thinking that Shinobu was able to come home and finish cooking without her noticing)
Shinobu heads out into the hall and stands off to the side as Su follows the teacher, Hamura settling right beside her as she stares off to the outside. From the window in front of them, they can see other students either heading straight home or to their respective clubs.
"May I ask something?" Hamura suddenly asks, startling her
"Um, W-what is?" she stuttered, as her classmate's eyes narrow and that same anxious prickling that took over when the divorce had started (When the teachers and classmates would give her pitying looks from afar and "sympathizing" whispers when her back was turned) crawled up her legs and pierced at her every nerve
"...I've heard rumors-" Hamura starts, and Shinobu can't help but hunch her shoulder's expectantly as the other starts tugging at her left braid "That you seemed a little unwell lately, and as both class representative and a fellow student, I was concerned over it. Are you sure you're alright?"
It's not what she expects, but it doesn't calm her nerves – makes them more alert actually. Was she being that obvious? Were people really seeing that much dread and anxiety in her? Had there already been talk about how she's changed routes going home again?
"Nothing to be worried about, I'm just..." she starts, tugging at her own hair "a little nervous about spring term coming up soon – Exams and all."
She worries the excuse is too vague or too deliberate to be seen as truth, but the redhead nods, seeming to buy the lie thankfully "Understandable. We're going to be third years soon. It's an anxious time for all of us." she says, and adjusts her glasses "Still, if you find yourself troubled, please don't hesitate to come find me – classmates should help each other out when they need it."
Shinobu weakly nods, and turns her gaze back out the window, quietly gnawing on her now sore bottom lip
Naru calls for another emergency meeting, and it's just as unfruitful as the last one – Everyone's frustrated and unhappy, and none of them could come up with a compromise over what their next course of action should be, only really agreeing on the fact that they couldn't sign the new lease or let Senpai go through with bringing in new tenant, with no ideas or plans to stop either – Naru was still mad about her suspension and about Senpai, Motoko had fallen asleep partway through her own update, Mitsune had spent the majority of it in the corner nursing a hangover, Su had suggested machines she could use but had no means of making, Mutsumi was...Mutsumi, and Sarah was just as angry as Naru. Haruka tried to mediate things, but at some point gave up and deigned to just sit back and watch the catastrophe unfold in front of her.
The mounting frustration over the complete lack of progress towards anything doable causes the entire thing to eventually devolved into a mudslinging match, with Shinobu spending the entire time watching everyone spit desperately spun insults about her dear senpai back and forth while her still unfinished list burned a hole in her bag's pocket. She had told herself that she'd bring it up no matter what when their next meetup time was scheduled, but somehow never an opening to bring it up.
(No, that's a lie – there were plenty of openings. She was just too scared to)
Soon they were adjourned, and told to meet up again next week so they could discuss more and plan further on how to get their dorm and lives back.
She's supposed to be heading back to Seta's, after stopping by the store while Su and Sarah went ahead, but instead Shinobu stops in the middle of the street, her list still in her bag unopened and unread, as a feeling of complete and utter helplessness washes over her that keeps her frozen there.
There was only two weeks left until the deadline, and they had nothing to show for it.
They had no plan, no advantage, absolutely nothing they could do or get or use to get Senpai to let them return. He was closer to giving their sanctuary away with every day that passed, and so far that seemed more and more the likely conclusion as the former residents spun their wheels trying to come up with some sort of flawless plan that would put a halt on what was slowly becoming the inevitable.
(And the worse part of it all was that none of them seemed to care. They were acting like they still had all the time in the world when the seconds were literally ticking away.)
She feels the will of motion return to her limbs, but instead of going to Seta's, she walks. And she walks, and walks, and walks, and walks until she finds herself at the street corner where, if she just turned and went straight ahead, would land her straight at the Hinata Dorms.
Hard as it would be to admit out loud, when Haruka was about to suggest them signing the new leases, Shinobu wanted to agree with her – Frankly speaking, she thought the new contract Senpai drafted up wasn't asking too much of them. True, the new cleaning arrangements had concerned her as chores were pretty much her basic means of providing a substitute for rent, but she figures if maybe she could get him to sit down and talk, they could probably work something out.
But she didn't, of course, because even if she felt that way, the others didn't – and there in lied her conundrum. The group wanted their shelter back, yes, but they also wanted to keep their sense of pride, which had cause the two to come into conflict because this was sadly a situation where they couldn't have their cake and eat it too. Though most of them were too stubborn or scared to say it, the girls needed the Hinata inn to survive, because what else did they have? Outside of a miracle, what other choices were available to them? Their home lives were too chaotic and much too much of a mess to return to (it had almost been, what? Three years since her parents filed for divorce, and they were still arguing over who Shinobu was better off with), and none of them had either the knowledge nor social connections to make it on their own. They had no jobs (or in Mitsune's case, no steady ones), no degrees, no means of paying for necessities save the monthly allowances they got from their parents and Shinobu's pitiable nest-egg she scrounged up that would most likely run out before the two weeks left were up.
And then what? What will their plan be after? She'll tell you – nothing. They'll do nothing because none of them had even considered up until this point what they should do once they left the Hinata because it had just...seemed so distant and unimaginable. Like it was something that would happen to someone else.
(But now it wasn't. It had happened and was happening and to them and all they've done up to this point to fix it is just...nothing.)
She stands for what feels like an eternity, and almost – almost, turns towards the street-
"Shinobu?"
She freezes, then shifts slowly to see Mitsune, staring right at her. She briefly wonders why she's here, especially now of all times, but that gets enveloped with the panic of wondering how long she saw Shinobu standing there, staring longingly down the street towards a place she couldn't return to.
And suddenly, the defiant helplessness that had pushed her all the way there was so quickly replaced with painful, excruciating shame – because despite agreeing so strongly of how they needed to stand united, here she was, caught redhanded in enemy territory right after, while hand in hand with the others, declaring along with them that they would not falter in their resolve.
"Were...were your going to...?" She asks, and Shinobu begins to shake, eyes tearing up and lip wobbling as she pinned her gaze to the sidewalk, not wanting to see what sort of expression was being made at her right now.
"P-please," She begs, almost preforming a full seiza in the middle of the street because even if she could comfort herself with the illusion that she had done nothing wrong (that she was not going to go through with that selfish little impulse she allowed to take over only for a bit), the idea that she could have, of being thought of almost doing so, was too heavy and unbearable for her heart to suffer through.
(For all she told herself of pride being their unmaking, she could barely get herself to toss it away when it matter most.)
"Please don't tell Naru..."
There's silence and wind between them, and it make the smaller brunette shiver even more. Even for late March, it was much too cold to call this nearly spring.
Eventually, she hears the telltale sound of a beer can being open.
"Okay," She says, voice sounding almost as tired as Shinobu felt "I promise."
No relief comes over her, or joy, or anything. She simply raises her head, rubs the remnants of her tears away, and rushes off past her back to the main streets before any more could be said.
Naru lays awake in the (new) shared room of her and Mutsumi, staring at the ceiling as she tries to will herself to even get a minute of sleep. Her suspension is almost over, meaning she had classes to make up. Final exams were coming soon too, she couldn't afford to be poorly rested.
"Hey Naru." Mutsumi asked, snapping her out of her thoughts
"Hmm?"
"Do you think we'll get to go back to the Hinata soon."
Naru opens her mouth to reassure her, to promise her that it would happen, that she'd force that jerk to change his mind and give them their inn back.
That everything would go back to normal again.
But instead, she just grips the edges of her blanket, trying desperately to hold back anxious tears as she reminds herself of the words she spoke today, hours before.
("No matter what, we're going back home!")
"Yeah."
[2 weeks left until the end of Winter term of Tokyo U]
Hey it's part two
Mutsumi I feel is a person who's very...caught up in nostalgia (the rose-tinted glasses don't help). She still sees Keitaro and Naru as the little kid versions them that lived in the Hinata when they were all chubbycheeked and starry-eyed, bound to that cute little promise to get married and go to Tokyo U together - but now Keitaro's breaking from his mold, and Naru's is coming apart with all the blows she's taking. It won't be long before the rest of that optimistic vision of the (canon) future follows. I also feel like she's that friend who always tries to make excuses for everyone, because she likes being understanding and "fair", but doesn't seem willing to put that aside in times where she actually needs to put her foot down.
Su is a character I really wanted to tackle seriously because I feel she and her motives get simplified in fics like this. Her issues aren't so much that she's childish and doesn't care, but that she works on a completely different moral system that everyone else, and has a bad tendency to ignore/avoid her problems rather than face them. Su's used to quick fixes and easy solutions because she could literally always just make them with her machines - but now she can't, and she has to actually deal with things as they are, and that's terrifying to her, so she's still focusing on trying to get her easy answer.
Sarah is in the same category of "gets issues simplified a lot", because frankly she...actually has genuine reasons for being bratty? Seta (bless his heart) is barely around when she needs him, and canon did at least hint at her being abused by her relatives when she was back in the US. All that kind of becomes a very easy recipe for all sorts of toxic behavior - so Sarah's question is more or less "How would a kid with trauma react to this and how long will it take for this to explode into a new problem"
And a last Naru who...got a really short section because I want to milk the mystery of "What the heck did she do to get suspended?" a bit till next chapter. She's still stubbornly hanging on to the idea that she's in the right and they just need to hold out, but even dragons tire eventually.
See ya next chapter