Ch 13
V 2.5
"Left… left… no, your other left, Su-san… OK, now bring it over to the side…" Keitaro was gesturing like a aircraft ground handler at Haneda Airport, directing Su as she maneuvered MechaTama.
If someone had told Keitaro a few weeks ago that a fourteen year old girl had the intelligence and capability to built an advanced turtle robot with weapon and hover capabilities, he would have thought they were out of their mind. Even now, watching Su on the back of MechaTama as it stepped it way down the stairs was a little hard to believe.
Backing his way down the hall, Keitaro was able to steer the turtle around various corners and doorways until they got to the back door of the Sou. Once she was clear, Su gave a war cry as she hit the controls rapidly. Turbofans folded out from under the oversized turtle and with a loud roar MechaTama soared out into the back yard, Su cheering as it flew along, hovering about a meter off the ground.
"That is one scary little girl," Keitaro remarked to his aunt, who was standing beside him with an unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth.
"At least she isn't using you as a test dummy for her energy weapon prototypes." Haruka pulled out a lighter, and after looking over at Keitaro and seeing him give a slight nod, lit her cigarette. Taking a deep pull, she held it for a long moment before exhaling, careful to direct it away from her nephew.
"Yeah, I don't think Kana-chan would react well to that." Images of Kanako chasing after a laughing Su while waving a bokken overhead came to mind. "Speaking of which, where is she? School was out a while ago."
"She told me she had to go home after school, but that it would only take a couple hours or so. She should be on her way here now. Is her surprise ready?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah, cleaned it up and had it ready a couple hours ago." Keitaro watched as Su brought MechaTama back to the ground and shifted it to land mode. "I don't think she will be very happy to see it though."
"Ya think? How long do you think it will take before you find her on your futon again?" Haruka smirked at Keitaro.
"Knowing her? Tomorrow morning. Proprieties have to be observed though. She needs to have a room of her own." Su walked MechaTama over to an older shed in the back yard, the door open and barely wide enough to let the robot turtle enter.
"Good luck with that." The two Urashima watched as Su bounced her way out of the shed, closed the door, then attached some kind of electronic lock to the handle. Curious as to what she was doing, Keitaro walked over to the shed, Haruka following behind him.
"Su-san, what is that on the door?" The lock looked like an oversized padlock, only it was about twice the size of a regular one, and had a number pad on the front as well as a number display and the ubiquitous three eye symbol of her homeland.
"Hi, Manager-san! This is my super security padlock, so that no one can go in and mess with MechaTama! He tends to get a little touchy about who works on him." Su started to rapidly enter number combinations on the keypad, resulting in the lock giving a loud beep and a red light flashing for a moment before turning green and flashing every five seconds. "This will give a loud alarm tone here and in my room if someone tries to open it. If someone tries to force it open, it will sound the alarm and give them a shock."
"How much of a shock, Su-san?" Keitaro peered at the lock, which was now just blinking innocuously.
"One point twenty-one gigawatts." Keitaro's head snapped over toward Su, who was smiling innocently. "I'm kidding, Manager-san, it's not like being hit like a bolt of lightning. I did some research on police stun guns and used it in making the lock. It's powered by the same type of battery as a high powered flashlight, so it might knock you out, but it won't really hurt you."
"You might want to put a warning to that effect on the door, Su-san." Keitaro took a long step back from the lock.
"I can do that now! I'll go print something from my computer and post it on the door. I'll be back in a few minutes!" Su started to run off.
"Su, make sure it's in Japanese and English!" Keitaro called out after her, remembering that the warning poster on her room door was printed in her native language.
Su came to a halt for a moment, then continued onwards but not as enthusiastically. "Okaaayyyyy…" she called back as she walked back toward the house. "Manager-san is taking the fun out of this…" the Urashima could hear her say in a lower voice that still carried to them.
"Really scary…" Keitaro was shaking his head when he heard the hum of Kanako's motorcycle coming up the access road at the rear of the house. Walking over to the back door, Keitaro and Haruka arrived to see Kanako switch off the engine of the cycle. Carefully swinging her leg over the two duffle bags strapped to the rear fairing, Kanako stepped away and pulled her helmet off, shaking loose her long black hair. Seeing her brother and aunt standing there, she smiled at them. "Ohayo (1) nii-chan, Haru-san. How has your day been?"
Keitaro smiled back at his sister. "Not too bad, managed to get MechaTama out to the shed without anything blowing up."
"I still can't believe that you are letting her continue with that robot monster, nii-chan," Kanako now shook her head in disbelief as she unzipped her black and red leather jacket, and left it hanging open.
"Blame Granny. It's part of Su-san's rental agreement. Su can do her mechanical and robotics research as long as the proper safety precautions are taken." Keitaro gestured toward the shed behind him. "At least we got her to move it outside."
"Hm." Kanako made a non-committal noise as she started to unstrap the bags from her bike. "Nii-chan, could you help me carry this into the house?"
"Sure." Picking up the full-sized military duffle bag, he turned and started walking toward the door, leaving Kanako to hang her helmet on the hook on the rear of the bike, grab a smaller shoulder duffle bag, and hurry to follow him.
Pausing to kick off her motorcycle boots at the doorway, Kanako was able to finally catch up with her brother as he stopped at a door. "Nii-chan, this isn't your room."
"I know." Keitaro pulled out a key ring and opened the door. Stepping in, he gestured for her to enter, and she did. Setting down the duffle beside the door, Keitaro gave a 'wait a minute' sign to Haruka, who nodded and closed the door so that she was out in the hall and Keitaro and Kanako were in the room.
"Who's room is this, nii-chan?" Kanako looked around at the bare bones room. Except for a futon, a low table, a dresser, a desk and a chair, the room was empty.
"Yours, as long as you stay here at the Sou."
Dropping her bag, Kanako turned and faced Keitaro, her eyes wide open. "Nii-chan! I wanted to stay in your room!" And on your futon, the words unspoken but still present.
Keitaro sighed; he knew this talk was coming, but it did not mean he was looking forward to it. "Kana-chan, that would not be appropriate, and you know it. As brother and sister, we can't live in the same room, you need a room of your own."
"But I want to be with you!" Kanako's eyes started to fill with tears. "These feelings I have for you are not those of a sister, and we are not of the same blood anyway!" Stepping slowly, she walked toward Keitaro, who stood in place. "I missed you so much when you left, and last night was the best sleep I could remember in a long time. And now you want to separate us again?"
"Kanako, I'm next door to you," Keitaro tried not to flinch as Kanako stopped right in front of him, close enough to feel her breath on his face.
"Next door is not close enough, Kei-kun." Moving slowly again, Kanako hugged Keitaro, rubbing the side of her face to his and pressing her body, clad in a t-shirt and tight jeans, against his.
"I know you don't want us to be lovers, but please don't make us stay apart. This last year has been the worst in my life, because I could remember being with you, and then you left me alone. It made me ache so much, Keitaro…" Kanako sniffled with her face next to his neck.
Keitaro cursed himself. He had thought that with the tapering off of Kanako's attempts to bed him that her feelings for him had been reduced as well. Apparently that was not the case. That left only one thing to do.
Reaching into his pants pocket, Keitaro pulled out a key ring. Waiting until Kanako's sniffles had decreased, he then stepped back slightly. Seeing her eyes come up to meet his, he started speaking. "As long as you are the assistant manager, this will be your room, where you will keep all your clothes and things. As a part of your job, I'm giving you these keys, they will open any door here at the Sou. These include a master key to all the resident rooms, which you should only use in the course of your duties, or there is something wrong." He pressed the key ring into her hand. "If you are feeling bad, or your insomnia is really bothering you, you can come see me."
Kanako's eyes widened again. "You mean…"
"I mean if you are feeling bad. This does not mean every night, it does not mean you taking advantage when you should not. And it does not mean it should be done where the other residents can see it. This is a trial period, we'll see how well it works out, yes?"
Kanako did not answer verbally. Instead, she leaned up against him and hugged him tightly. After about a minute of standing there in her grip, Keitaro started to move away from her, and she reluctantly released him.
Looking at his wristwatch, Keitaro said, "It's 5:30 now, that gives you enough time to wash up before dinner. I got to go wash up myself, so I'll see you at dinner, Kana-chan." He smiled at her, and she gave him a half-hearted smile in return as he walked out of her room into the hallway.
Seeing Haruka standing in the hall, leaning against the doorframe to Kanako's room, he jerked his head toward his room, and she silently followed him as he unlocked the door and entered.
"How did it go, Kei-kun?" Haruka leaned up against the wall again as Keitaro pulled off his t-shirt as he walked into the small bathroom. The water came on for a few moments, then he walked out again, his face and hair damp.
"She didn't take it all that well," Keitaro walked over to his dresser and took a clean t-shirt out from a drawer. This one was olive green and had a silhouette of a sniper and the words 'Truth At 2799 FPS' printed on it. Pulling it on, Keitaro ran his hand through his hair finger-combing it. "She understands that we can't get romantically involved, but she still wants to be as close as possible."
"How close?" Haruka watched as her nephew's head drooped.
"Pretty close. As long as she doesn't overdo it, we'll see how it goes." Keitaro looked up at Haruka, who had a concerned look on her face. "I guess I never really understood how strong her feelings were for me."
"Well, as long as you don't end up on a yacht, you should be OK, right?" Haruka was being factious, but Keitaro took her semi-seriously.
"OK, I'll make a note of that. If Kanako-chan asks me to go on a boating trip, run." Keitaro shook his head. "Time for dinner, let's go, aunt of mine." Grimacing slightly, Haruka followed Keitaro into the hall.
"Coming…" Keitaro called out as he walked toward the front door. He already knew who was at the door, or at least why they were there.
Last night after dinner, Kaolla Su had received a phone call, which given the reactions by the other residents was unusual. After chattering for a few minutes in her native language, she called Keitaro over to the phone and passed it over to him. On the other end was a polite gentleman who introduced himself as Mr. Patel, a representative of the MolMol embassy and the person in charge of checking up on Su. He let Keitaro know that a family member of Kaolla's would like to speak with him in person at the Sou as soon as could be convenient, and tomorrow if possible. More than a little curious, Keitaro agreed and set the time for the visit at 10 the next morning. Mr. Patel also asked that Kaolla stay home from school, as the family member wanted to speak with her as well. Keitaro agreed to that as well, mentally making a note to ask Shinobu to bring Su's missed class work from school.
That next morning, Keitaro had been sitting in the living room going over one of his old prep school study guides when he heard a vehicle engine coming up the access road to the Sou. Correction, engines; it sound like at least one heavy truck and a couple of smaller vehicles.
Keitaro had barely stood up to walk to the door when the door bell rang. Giving himself the once-over, he made sure his dress shirt and slacks were presentable before he opened the front door, revealing a tall blonde woman in a black business suit wearing black shades and what looked to be a radio earpiece. "Are you Keitaro Urashima?" she asked in English.
"I'm Keitaro," he answered in kind, looking up at the woman, who was at least a half head taller than he was.
"Good, I was afraid I would have to use my Japanese, which is not that good. I am Rebecca, Lady Su's assistant. She will be with you in a moment." The assistant raised her left hand to her mouth and started talking into what Keitaro presumed was a radio mike. Looking behind her, he could see a blacked out SUV with what looked to be four more bodyguards coming out of it, all of them female, all of them bigger than him. Behind the SUV was a stretch limo, and behind that was a large passenger van with what looked to be a half dozen workers and a large moving van.
The bodyguards presumably heard what Rebecca said into her radio, as they quickly moved over to the limo and formed up around the passenger door. One of the guards opened the door, and a tall and thin darker-skinned male in a black business suit stepped out. Stopping once he was out of the limo, he reached into the limo and helped another person out, a female, and decidedly not dressed like the others were.
This lady (and she was obviously the Lady Su Rebecca had been speaking of) was maybe around his height and age. With long white hair and tanned skin, it was easy to tell that she was related to Kaolla. She was wearing an Indian style white sari dress, with gold bangles on her wrists and ankles, making a musical chiming sound as she moved. Golden strapped sandals were on her feet, and she moved with a grace that Keitaro had only previously seen on master level martial artists.
Seeing the group of people start to move toward him, Keitaro mentally asked the gods for guidance. Even if she was not noble or royal, Lady Su was obviously of a higher station than him, and needed to be treated accordingly.
Stepping out of the doorway and silently grateful that he had put on some sandals before opening the door, Keitaro walked forward and came to a halt once he came to the walkway leading to the drive the vehicles were parked on. Once the group stopped about two meters in front of him, Keitaro gave a bow and held it, even though he kept his eyes up and on the group - some hard-learned lessons were never to be forgotten. "Greetings Lady Su, and welcome to the Hinata Sou. I am Keitaro Urashima, the manager of this house and dormitory. It is a great honor to receive you, I only wish I had been informed that someone of your stature was coming today, I would have made better arrangements." All this was done in English, as Lady Su was obviously not Japanese, and her assistant spoke English.
"Greetings, Keitaro-san, it is good to see finally meet you. I have heard so much about your from my sister Kaolla." Lady Su's voice was slightly deeper than Keitaro's, with a musical lilt to it. "Please call me Amalla, Lady Su is much too formal."
"Lady Amalla," both Keitaro and Amalla smiled slightly at that, "what can I do for you today?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Kaolla. I know how… enthusiastic she can be with her research projects, and I wanted to see what I could do to allay your concerns."
"Would you like to come in for some tea while we talk, Lady Amalla?" Keitaro gestured toward the house. He did not get a response since at that point Kaolla ran out of the house and with a cry of "Big Sister!" jumped at her sibling. Amalla was able to catch her without falling over, and gave a smile as she hugged her, the younger girl talking a mile a minute in her native language.
"Kaolla, it's not polite to speak in a different language in front of those who don't understand it." Amalla rubbed the top of her sister's head as Kaolla switched languages.
"It's good to see you, Big Sister. How long are you going to be here?" Kaolla finally let go of her sister and stood next to her.
"Just for today. I wanted to talk to your manager here and we can go out to get something to eat later." Amalla turned and started speaking to him. "Keitaro-san, the first thing I wanted to ask you is if it is all right to replace the shed that Kaolla is storing her MechaTama in? It would be at our cost, and it would be more secure and safe than what is in place now."
"How big is this new shed going to be?" Keitaro looked from Kaolla to Amalla.
"Maybe twice as big as the shed you have now. It would also have safety precautions for Kaolla's work."
"That sounds fine. When would you like for this to be done?" Keitaro asked.
"Now, if that is alright with you. We would also move most of Kaolla's more… sensitive research equipment from her room to the shed right now as well." Keitaro gave a nod, and Amalla turned to the gentleman beside her. "Mr. Patel, go ahead with the work we outlined earlier." The man nodded and briskly walked over to the van behind them. After speaking to the driver briefly, everyone got out and started to unload materials from the moving van, what looked to be sections of a prefabricated shed.
"Kaolla, go with Mr. Patel and assist him with your equipment. I need to speak with Keitaro-san for a few minutes." Kaolla gave a happy nod and bounced off after the man in the suit.
"Keitaro-san, if you could walk with me? Rebecca, please give us some room." At Amalla's softly given command, the bodyguards spread out to where they were out of immediately earshot and Amalla started walking away from the house and toward the back yard, Keitaro beside her.
"Has my little sister been giving you problems, Keitaro-san? I know how much of a handful she can be at times." Amalla was looking around the land behind the Sou, although she did look back at Keitaro when she asked her question.
"We did not have an ideal first meeting, but after some rules were put in place regarding her research, it calmed down. There has not been an incident since." Keitaro kept his focus on the older Su sister as they walked along.
"You may not know this, Keitaro-san, but Kaolla is part of the royal family of the island nation of MolMol. She is number three in the line of succession, so some liberties can be taken with where she lives and goes to school. As you can imagine, we keep an eye on her, just not as close as the security around me and my husband. So when we found out that a new manager had taken over the dorm she was staying at, we looked into it."
Keitaro came to a halt. With a steady voice but no emotion on his face, he asked, "Is my past causing a problem?"
Amalla stopped and looked back at him. "Not at all. Once we got your name, we did a background check on you, and of course certain incidents came to light. We checked with the governments of Japan and Thailand, and did a review ourselves with our security people, and everything came back as justified under the circumstances. We do not have a problem with you, Keitaro-san, otherwise we would not be having this conversation. Kaolla would have been withdrawn from this dorm and that would have been it."
Keitaro stood and looked at Amalla for a long moment before looking away. "I'm glad to hear that, Lady Amalla. Those incidents were not the proudest moments in my life."
"Keitaro-san, there is nothing to be proud of in the taking of human life. We would be more concerned if you *were* proud of it. You defended those too weak to defend themselves and lives were lost in the process, lives that would have been forfeit in our country if the crimes had been committed there. What you have done instead is to go on with your life while you have learned from what has occurred. That is the most that anyone could ask of you ." Amalla looked steadily at him before looking forward again. "I am sorry I brought this up, Keitaro-san, but I needed to know about the person that is now taking care of my little sister."
"I understand, Lady Amalla." Keitaro walked up to where he was even with Amalla. "I can promise you that I would take care of the residents of the Sou the same way I would my family."
"I'm glad to hear that, Keitaro-san." Amalla smiled at him, and he could see more than a little of her younger sister in it. "Let's go see how the shed is coming along, yes? I want to make sure Kaolla didn't decide to use the old shed for target practice."
"Yes, lets." Keitaro smiled back at her as they turned and started walking to the back yard.
"Keitaro-san, did Kaolla ever tell you that you look a lot like my husband Lambda?" Amalla had a teasing smile on her face.
"Well, she did call me 'Big Brother' once when she was sleepy. I didn't understand why at the time."
"Well, perhaps one day the two of you will meet. It should prove interesting." Amalla's smile widened as they entered the yard to see Kaolla riding around on MechaTama in flight mode while the workers were tearing down the old shed.
1 - ohayo - Japanese greeting, equivalent to 'Good Morning', but can be used whenever people see each other for the first time that day.