Author Note: Sorry for the delay in posting. I got temporary additional duties two days in a row at work and was dog tired when I got home.
Ch 11
"I'll kill them all. Not Maehara, she sounds like a nice girl. The other ones are dead though. Is it OK if I make them scream first, nii-chan?"
The three Urashima were sitting at the back table of the teahouse again, this time with Keitaro and Haruka on one side, and Kanako on the other. Keitaro was leaning forward and rubbing the bridge of his nose while Haruka was fiddling with an unlit cigarette. Kanako was sitting up straight with her hands folded on the table in front of her wearing a long sleeved and long skirted black frilly dress. She certainly did not look like she was discussing the violent death of a group of people.
All things considered, Kanako was taking the story of Keitaro's arrival and stay at the Hinata-sou rather well. They had been expecting her to lose her temper and maybe to start to storm off to the Sou, but instead, she sat the table listening to the story without interrupting. The only sign of distress were her knuckles whitening as she clenched her fists, but now she looked calmer, even with her bloodthirsty request.
"Kana-chan… the reason I asked for your help is to help me run the Sou, not to run off or kill the tenants. I could have dealt with them alone or with Haru's help." Keitaro pushed his glasses back into place. "If something were to happen, yes I would want you to help me stop it, but I didn't call you here to do a sweeper mission."
"But nii-chan, just from your story I can tell they are nothing but a group of selfish bad-tempered harpies. If you want to leave the dorm open that's fine, but we can get other tenants to take their place." After Kanako ran a thorough background check and extensively interviewed them herself.
"Kana-chan, I decided to give them one more chance. With the new rules I'm putting into place, they are going to know what happens if they slip up. If that happens, the person involved is going to have to deal with the consequences. What I want you to do is to assist me so I can study for the Todai exam and eventually reopen this place as an Inn again. But in order to do that, I need people to help me that I can trust implicitly. Haru is one, and you are the other person I can trust to watch my back. With the two of you I know we can get this done. Will you help me?"
"Of course, nii-chan. You don't even have to ask." Kanako sat up straighter with that statement.
"Good, because you and I will have a more difficult road ahead than the tenants will. We are going to have to follow the dorm rules as well, and we are going to have to do so to a higher standard. That means we can't instigate or provoke them into violating the rules just so they can be evicted. Doing so would be a violation of trust, wouldn't you agree, Kana-chan?" Keitaro was looking intently at her.
"Yes, nii-chan." Kanako deflated slightly at that question.
"I can't have someone I can't trust to work with me at the Sou. That means if they did something that did not technically violate the rules but they knew would upset me if I were to find out about it, I would have to send them home. I don't need to be clearer than that, do I Kana-chan?"
Kanako was quiet for a moment. "Nii-chan, I can promise you I will protect you, and that I won't start anything. But if something were to happen to you, I also promise that I will finish it."
"Not permanently or fatally unless there is no other way to stop it. Agreed?" Keitaro kept his eyes on his sister.
"Agreed." Kanako was relieved to see her big brother smile at her.
"I'm glad we got that out of the way, Kana-chan. I know I can trust you, I just wanted it to be clear." Keitaro reached across the table and took her hands into his. "You are family, and we always defend family."
"And we always defend what is right." Kanako tightened her hands around his.
"And we always defend those who cannot defend themselves." Haruka reached across the table with her hands and clasped theirs.
"This oath is what makes the Urashima strong, from the time of samurai, through war and peace, to these times. So long as the Urashima stand together we shall overcome any obstacle, any enemy, any misfortune. The Urashima will defend until there is no need to defend anymore." Keitaro repeated the words he had heard Granny Hina proclaim at every major family event, at every family training session, and at the birth and death of every family member. Normally the clan head would do the proclamation, but now that he was the clan heir it was his duty as well, even though Haruka was senior to him.
Releasing each other's hands, Keitaro looked at his wristwatch and noted that it was now 4:30 PM. Dinner at the Sou was at 6:00 PM, so they still had an hour and a half to kill. "You going to be busy now, Haru-chan?"
Haruka looked over at the counter where Yoko and a long-haired teen boy were working, then at the customers scattered throughout the teahouse. "Not really, I asked Jun to work some extra hours to cover for me tonight. Why're you asking?"
"I wanted to go over the dorm rules, both the new and the old ones with Kana-chan. I want to make sure we are all on the same page before we present them to the tenants. You know, now that everyone is here we can do the presentation tonight instead of tomorrow and cut back on the stress." Keitaro looked between Haruka and Kanako.
"Fine with me, Kei-kun. The sooner we get past this the better," agreed Haruka. Kanako nodded her assent as well.
"Well, let's be about this then," Keitaro smiled at his two female relatives as they started going over the handwritten sheets.
"Sempais, dinner is ready." Shinobu called out from the dining room doorway. As all the female tenants were sitting in the living room either reading a book (Naru), watching TV (Kitsune and Su) or meditating (guess who?), she did not have to go far to let everyone know, except for Keitaro.
"Where is Manager-san? He knows it's time to eat, right?" Kitsune asked as she stood from the couch and slowly stretched, bringing about a display of her ample assets that would have caused any hetro male within visual range to nasally hemorrhage.
"Haruka called earlier, she said that he was on his way and to please set two extra places for herself and his sister who just arrived." Shinobu stepped back as the other tenants filed into the dining room.
"What do we know about this sister of the manager?" Motoko asked as she walked over to her customary side of the table so that she would be facing the windows that lined one side of the room. She stopped at her customary place, then moved one place down so that the setting at the head of the table had an empty setting on either side.
"Just that she is younger than he is and is still attending high school. Haruka-san mentioned once that she is really studious and takes after her brother." Kitsune replied as she sat down on the opposite side of the table next to Naru.
"Indeed," Motoko responded as she watched Su bounce into the room and plop down next to her. "Perhaps with her here it will help curb any lecherous tendencies he may have."
"My, my, Motoko-san, going off into one of those anti-male rants again?" Kitsune was looking at the unmarked clear bottle she had brought with her from the living room, visibly considering if the half-full bottle was enough to last her through dinner.
"You should know as well as I do that men are nothing more than beasts that barely have control of their baser instincts." While Motoko had problems with men almost as badly as Naru did, her 'annoy me at your own peril' vibe she constantly gave off, plus the fact that she usually walked around in public with a barely wrapped sword or bokken slung over her shoulder was enough to keep most men away from her. Those that did not take the hint would then be at the receiving end of a ki attack that had been known to crack boulders. It had only taken two of those for most men around the Sou and Hinata City itself to give the kendoist a wide berth.
"You know, except for the first day he really hasn't done anything wrong, and even that was explainable." Kitsune took a sip from her bottle before putting it down on the table in front of her.
"Are you going to be an apologist for males now, Konno-san? That isn't like you." Motoko watched as Naru stiffened slightly at the harsh words directed at her friend, who just half-smiled.
"More like I want to have actual proof that something has actually happened before I go all avenger on them. You don't have any of that, am I right, Motoko-san?" Kitsune smirked at the kendoist.
Motoko frowned. As much as she disliked admitting so, the fox girl had a point. The closest the manager had done something that might be considered improper was when he caught Shinobu from falling over the stepladder. While her temper had flared when the younger girl told her of the incident under her questioning that morning, even she would admit that grabbing someone by the shoulder was far better than letting them take a possible injurious fall.
Motoko merely gave a mumble that could have been agreement in response as she watched Shinobu bring out a tea kettle and start filling the cups that were before them. She wondered why the apron-wearing young tenant was doing so when she would normally be bringing out the food at this time when it occurred to her that she was stalling until the manager and his guests arrived. She kept her thought to herself but her companion alongside her had no reluctance about speaking her mind.
"Where's the food, Shinobu-chaaaan? I'm hungry." Su was fidgeting in her seat, as it was almost physically impossible her to sit still if she was not engrossed in something.
"Just a couple more minutes, Kaolla-chan." Shinobu was making her way around the table as she filled cups. Motoko was the only real tea drinker beside her in the group, as Naru was a coffee addict, Kitsune preferred beverages of an adult nature, and Su was kept away from anything that contained caffeine due to the not unreasonable fear of have to deal with an even more hyper mad genius.
"Sorry for the delay, there was a rush of customers I had to help with." Haruka's voice caused them all to turn toward the living room, as the manager and two females walked through the door. Keitaro was in the lead as he gave a smile and nod, Haruka was behind him as they split up and started toward the head of the table. The third person stood at the doorway, however. Shinobu noticed this and turned to face her.
"Good evening, Urashima-san, please join us in our meal," Shinobu bowed deeply and held it until the guest replied in a deeper yet feminine voice.
"Thank you, Maehara-san. It is good to see someone remembers their manners on how to greet a guest. You may call me Kanako-san." The young woman returned the bow and stepped forward into the dining room, either not noticing or not caring that the other tenants winced at her remark. Coming to a stop at the setting at Keitaro's left hand and opposite Haruka on the right side of the manager, she waited until Keitaro gestured to sit down, which she did next to the kendoist.
Motoko, having watched the guest move in the graceful and silent manner of a trained martial artist, had alarm bells start to go off in her head. This was not an auspicious sign of things to come.
It would have been difficult to think that a dinner could be awkward after the first one that Keitaro shared with the tenants of the Hinata-sou. However, this one was coming close to matching it, Haruka reflected to herself.
It was not because of a lack of conversation. Keitaro and Kanako had used the meal to catch up with each other's lives in the year that they had been apart. Granted, most of the subjects were of a fairly innocuous nature, like Kanako's schooling and her motorcycling. Keitaro's stories had been mostly about the various humorous situations he had found himself in while traveling, such as trying to explain to a decidedly humorless Thai customs inspector that the suitcase before him filled with sexy lingerie and high heeled shoes was not actually his, or shopping in a market square where all negotiations took place with only sign language.
Shinobu and Su smiled and giggled at most of the humorous stories. Kitsune smiled as well but otherwise keep quiet. Naru was almost glum as she sat there and drank her tea after finishing her meal, but it was Motoko who was bringing the heavy atmosphere about. Sitting straight and sipping her tea, it was almost like she was ignoring the Urashima sitting on the side of her, if it was not for the fact that Haruka could see that the kendoist was keeping watch on the youngest Urashima out of the corner of her eye.
For their part, the younger Urashima were enjoying each other's company regardless of the mood of certain of their guests. Keitaro did not exactly have a gloomy personality, but he had laughed and smiled more in this half hour than Haruka had seen since he had first arrived at the Hinata-sou.
The only thing that had put a damper on the conversation between the siblings was when Kanako had asked about what had happened at the end of Keitaro's trip that had required his early return to Japan. The happy look that had been on Keitaro's face had slipped off, and after a moment a sad half-smile replaced it. Nodding toward the younger residents of the Sou, Keitaro had only said that it was not something that should be heard by young ears and changed the subject.
It was at the end of the dinner that the surprise had been presented; Keitaro had asked the assembled tenants that since his sister had arrived early and all the tenants were there, if instead of doing the talk he had been planning to do tomorrow he could do it right after dinner. Everyone had agreed, with varying levels of lack of enthusiasm. This time however, when everyone stood to leave the table after the dinner, every tenant picked up their dishes, cups, and utensils and carried them to the kitchen sink, with only Su needing prompting from Motoko. This brought a surprised look to Haruka's face and a smile to Keitaro's.
Once everyone assembled in the living room, the tenants all sat on the various chairs and sofas while the Urashimas stood in front of them, with Keitaro front and center and Kanako and Haruka standing behind him slightly. Kanako was standing with her hands clasped together in front, her head tilted slightly to one side, her eyes moving from Motoko to Naru and back again. Haruka stood with her arms crossed and a unlit cigarette dangling from her lips.
"First off, I'm sure you will be all be happy to hear," Keitaro started off the presentation with a smile on his face, "that I decided to leave the Hinata-sou open as a student dorm, and with the current tenants." Relief showed on the face of every tenant, even Naru, who already knew this was coming. "Given what I have seen of all of you, I am sure that we can all get along and live in a safe and supportive manner here at the Sou." Here was where one of Kanako's eyebrows twitched, but no one noticed.
"However, as I told you all before, there are going to be some changes in the house rules, especially since I am going to be living in the Hinata-sou as well, so these changes are mostly so everyone's privacy and safety is maintained as much as possible.
"As you know, I was appointed manager of the Hinata-sou by the current owner of the Sou, Hina Urashima. She gave me full authority to enforce the rules of the dorm, which you all received a copy of when you first became tenants here. Those rules are still in effect, however due to the unusual circumstances I have come across since I first came here, some new rules will added to the dorm rules. I have gone through these rules with both my aunt Haruka," here the aforementioned relative took a half-hearted swipe at her nephew's head, which he dodged without even looking, "and my sister and now newly appointed assistant manager Kanako. They are familiar with these rules and agree fully with the necessity to have them put in place. A printed copy of the revised dorm rules, including the new ones going into effect immediate, will be given to each tenant and need to be returned within 24 hrs to either of the managers in order to continue residency at the Sou. In the case of the two minors, a faxed copy with your guardian's or parent's signature and hanko stamp as well the tenant's signature will be sufficient until they can deliver an actual copy before the end of the month.
"As assistant manager, Kanako speaks with my authority and my full confidence. If she tells you something, it is as though I am the one who told you. If you have a problem with what she has told you, you can come to me, but you better have a good reason for doing so, as coming to just complain to me about her is very unlikely to get me to change what decision she has made, plus it will probably really annoy Kanako as well." Here Kanako gave a smile that looked more like the baring of teeth by a predator. Most of the tenants gave a slight shiver at the sight.
"Violations of the dorm rules will result disciplinary measures being decided by, for lack of a better term, the executive committee of the Hinata-sou. This committee is made up of myself, Kanako, and Haruka. We have to agree that the rules were violated and also decide on the punishment, up to and including evictions. Minor violations and punishments will be decided by myself alone, however. You will be given a chance to speak in your defense, but it better be good."
Keitaro looked down at the sheath of papers he was holding. "The rent is still due on the first of the month in full. Rent payments will only be given to myself or Kanako, and a receipt will be given at that time. Rent is payable by cash, money order, or electronic draft into the Hinata-sou bank account by the due date. Extensions on the rent will rarely be given, and will be on the order of a day or two maximum. Either myself or Kanako have to be told why the rent hasn't been paid and when it will be. Being more than two days late on the rent will result in the eviction process beginning. Being constantly late in paying the rent can result in the tenant being asked to leave the Sou. You know when the rent is due, make arrangements so it can be paid on time. Oh, and Kitsune-san, we have to talk about your arrears after this meeting." Kitsune turned a little pale, but nodded anyway.
"Another new rule is that while the drinking of alcoholic beverages are allowed in moderation to those of legal age, tenants are not allowed to be visibly intoxicated outside of their room, and in their room is discouraged as well. Depending on the circumstances, being visibly drunk in the Sou can be a disciplinary offense, of which repeat offenses can be grounds for eviction." Kitsune turned even paler but kept quiet. "Overnight guests must be cleared by the managers, especially one of the opposite sex staying in one of your rooms. I'm going to tell you right now, we are probably not going to allow an opposite sex guest in your room if they are not blood related to you.
"The hot spring of the Sou had been only mixed gender bathing before, when it was a resort inn. As this is no longer the case, and due to the requests of some of the tenants, there will be female only hours set up for the spring for both the morning and evening. These hours are from 6 to 8 AM in the morning and from 4 to 6 PM in the afternoon. All other hours are mixed gender bathing, and bathing suits will be required during those times. You can decide if you want to wear a suit during the female only hours, since obviously I'm not going to be there." Here Motoko gave the eyebrow twitch. "The hot spring will be cleaned twice a week and a sign will be hung on the door announcing that fact. In any case, it is a good idea to call out when you enter the spring, both to announce yourself and to give me fair warning if for some reason I'm in there. I'm probably going to hang a warning bell on the door anyway.
"Next up, cooking and laundry. It has come to my attention that Shinobu-chan has been doing both, even though it is specified in her rental agreement that she only has cooking and kitchen duties. I noticed that everyone helped with the table cleanup this evening, and that is a good start. What I would like is for some of you to find it in the goodness of your hearts to help with the dishwashing as well, with everyone trading off days. This is something I have to think about, so keep it in mind.
"Shinobu has enough things to do with school and kitchen duties to be doing full loads of other peoples laundry, for free." Here everyone looked a little guilty, even Su. "Since I doubt that anyone here has the same high school and work load of Shinobu-chan, you are expected to do your own laundry. If you ask to throw an item or two in a load that Shinobu-chan is running already, that's fine. Having three loads of laundry being done before Shinobu-chan even starts on her own clothes is *not* acceptable." Here Keitaro looked over the tenants, who were all having trouble looking at him in the face. Even Shinobu was looking a little flushed. "Starting now, if you want Shinobu-chan to do your laundry, you are going to have to pay her a thousand yen per laundry load." The older tenants looked up at him with wide eyes and protests on their lips, Shinobu looking like she wanted to object as well. Holding up a finger to quiet the younger tenant, he continued regardless. "That's a bargain, especially if you consider what you would be charged if you took that many clothes to a dry cleaner/launderer." The protests visibly faded away before they were spoken. "And I highly suggest that if you do pay her to do your laundry, you wait for the weekend so she has time to do her homework and her kitchen duties during the week." Here the guilt slammed back full force.
"These last three rules are tenant specific, due to the special circumstances involved. I am not picking on you, I am giving you a chance to work things out. If you think you can't follow these rules, chances are you would not be able to live here at the Sou anyway."
Keitaro turned and focused his attention on Kaolla Su. "I don't know what the heck Granny Hina was thinking when she wrote up your rental agreement, but she gave permission for you to do your tech research as long as it did not endanger the other tenants or the Sou. What she should have put down is that it should not endanger you either." Su grinned unrepentantly at that. "Since your family is willing to pay for your lab equipment, insurance and damages, I have to allow it to go on. What I don't want to happen is for someone to be hurt or worse." Here Su's smile slipped. "So what I am going to do is mandate that you cannot do inherently dangerous research here at the Sou, especially in your room. That means if there is a chance it goes 'boom', you can't do it here." Su pouted at that. "What I can do is let you have one of the sheds outside for your bigger works, like your MechaTama." Keitaro had seen the giant mechanical turtle partially disassembled in Su's lab earlier that day. "And weapons on any of your projects will not be ready to be used unless you are on a outside testing range." Keitaro still had memories of MechaTama firing those rockets at him. Su gave a nod of agreement, looking slightly depressed at the new rules but happy she could still continue with her research.
Keitaro turned to look at both Naru and Motoko, who were looking at him tensely. Sighing, he continued. "This next new rules applies to everyone, but specifically to both of you. These are the rules governing fighting and the use of force in the Hinata-sou. And I am not talking about martial arts sparing here." Here Naru winced slightly, while Motoko's eyes narrowed. "Simply put, force is not to be used against another resident of the Sou unless there is no other reasonable way to stop what is happening. To use the example of what happened when I first came to the Sou, unless I were physically assaulting you or someone else, you are *not* allowed to attack me just because you are upset. If you have the opportunity to get away, do so and call for help. Force is a last resort, and the minimum is to be used to stop the attack. If someone were to grab you, for example, pushing them away is OK; punching them so hard you shatter their jaw is too much. If they keep coming at you or the initial assault is serious, you can use more force, like a punch or kick that will knock them away, or hurt them enough to get them to run off."
Focusing on Motoko, Keitaro kept speaking. "There are certainly levels of force that are too dangerous to be used unless the user or another person is in danger of being killed, being gravely physically injured, or being raped." Here all the tenants winced. "I'm sorry to say that mere groping does not fall under that exception under Japanese criminal law. Use of certain weapons or attacks in situations where it is not permissible is considered unlawful use of force and can be charged under criminal law as assault with a deadly weapon or even attempted murder."
"Where are you going with this, Manager-san?" Motoko's voice sounded like it had been cooled by liquid nitrogen.
"Where I am going with this is that possession and carrying of purpose-made weapons is to be restricted in the Hinata-sou. Weapons are to be declared to the manager of the dorm, properly secured on the tenant's person or in the tenant's room, and only visible when used for training purposes, when being transported in or out of the Sou, or being used in a self-defense situation."
"So you are trying to ban me from carrying my swords then?" There was an almost physically felt *thrum* of anger in the kendoist's voice as she stood, her right hand unconsciously moving toward the hilt of the sheathed sword she held in her left hand.
"You didn't listen very closely, did you, Motoko-san?" Haruka spoke up from beside Keitaro, where she had stepped once Motoko started to stand up. Her hands were loosely at her sides, and one of her feet were slightly in front of the other. "*Purpose-made* weapons are to be properly secured *on the tenant's person* or in the tenant's room, and only *visible* in certain situations. Think about that for a minute."
Motoko stopped, her hand close to her sword hilt, as she considered what Haruka had said, especially had she had emphasized. After a few moments she looked to Keitaro, who had shifted to the balls of his feet as well when Motoko stood. "My swords are purpose-made, obviously, what about my bokken?"
The corner of Keitaro's mouth twitched upwards. "In your hands, they would be considered deadly weapons, but we could bend that rule a little. I would rather not have people *visibly*carrying weapons, so having a training tool stashed here and there around the Sou would not really be a big deal, if you are worried about a rampaging horde attacking the Sou."
Her hand slipping back to her side, Motoko was visibly considering her options. After a long moment, Kanako finally spoke up from her ready stance beside Keitaro as well. "Aoyama, when a samurai was a guest at another samurai's house, what is the first thing he did at the door?"
"The visiting samurai would give his katana over for safekeeping…" Motoko ceased speaking and winced. She then continued in a more subdued voice, "…and keep his wakizashi or tanto for personal defense."
"Do you feel you need to keep your katana with out at all times to defend yourself, Motoko-san?" Haruka asked.
"No, but it is force of habit, ever since I first moved to Tokyo." The hand holding the sheathed sword swung back close to her side. "I almost always carry my katana or my bokken."
"And at home in Kyoto? Did you always carry your sword there?" Haruka continued her questioning.
"No, training weapons were always kept in the dojo…" Motoko winced again before continuing, "…and I did not receive Shisui from my sister until just before her wedding, when I was made clan heir. I left shortly thereafter."
No one spoke for a long moment after that. Motoko was lost in past memories. The Urashimas looked at one another then at the other tenants, who had sat very still at the start of the possible blow-up, but now relaxed slightly.
Keitaro took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Seeing that the kendoist was still thinking to herself, he decided to cut his losses for the night. "OK, that about covers all the new rules for now. Since we are all a little tired, we'll call it a night. Kitsune-san, do you want to talk about your arrears tonight or tomorrow?"
The fox girl gave a start. Smiling weakly, she said, "Tonight, Manager-san. Might as well get it over with."
Keitaro nodded. "Very well, come with me, Kana-chan and Haru-chan to my room, this won't take too long. Everyone else, have a good night, we'll talk to you tomorrow." Turning, the Urashimas and Kitsune filed out toward his room, while Shinobu and Su left for the kitchen, leaving a thoughtful Motoko and a worried looking Naru in the living room.