YOUR ORDERS
Chapter 17: Love, Troubles & Show Business

PV: HARUKA

Today was the big day. The Electric Girls Co. Bar would be open tonight. The girls wanted to utilize the Friday's happy hour to do the debut. I hoped that girls wouldn't turn my wonderful Tea House into a battle field.

All the girls were spreading posters in the places where they used to attend. Naru, Mutsumi and Mizuho put them up in the Toudai; Motoko (very reluctantly) put them up in the prep classes she'd attended, even as Kaolla and Shinobu. Kanako was helping me to arrange the Tea House to the spectacle, and Kitsune was dealing with foods and liquors sellers.

The day was running well, and I realized how that girls were organized, when they wanted to be. Shinobu arrived from the classes and she came to make some final arrangements in the adornment. Sarah and Motoko were readying the suits; Kitsune and Kanako were receiving the goods; Mutsumi and Kaolla were cleaning and sorting the silverware and glasses. So, in the tasks raffle, Naru and Keitaro were responsible to get some changes – because it's necessary to have changes in the box office. I included Keitaro in the tasks against his will, but I had explained all people should help – and the kanrinrin wasn't an exception. He read the situation and declared that he wouldn't be a problem to the cooperative enterprise.

Mizuho gave us a wish of good luck and were going to study with some classmates, and she promised that she'd come with them to the opening. When we were arranging the Tea House, I decided to check the chance of success to our enterprise. So, I tried to begin a chat with Shinobu: "And so, how was the thematic bar's publicity?".

Shinobu got red in the face and replied: "Man, that was something complicated to me. I'm very shy and I had to push myself to the limits in an attempt to spread pamphlets and fix the posters. And...".

Shinobu hushed suddenly. I noticed something disturbed her during the divulgation. I was very curious and asked: "Did something wrong happen, my dear?".

"W-well, so-so-some b-b-boys made a c-c-court to me... Geez, I felt so helpless...", Shinobu mumbled. What a girl, she wasn't ready for the boys' courting.

"Men... They're all the same. I also had a problem with some insolent boys, but they had what they deserved.", Motoko affirmed.

"I hope you haven't killed them, Motoko. We need customers, did you know it?", Kitsune said it jocularly.

"Don't you worry, Kitsune. I just left some things pretty clear... If you know what I mean...", Motoko responded, blinking the left eye.

"I didn't have many problems with flirts. I think Japanese people don't like foreigners so much..", Kaolla confessed, with a smile wide open.

"Ara, ara... Some boys also said something with a double meaning, but I didn't care... I don't like this kind of man...", Mutsumi confessed.

"Oh, really? And what kind of man do you like, Mutsumi?", Sarah retorted, with malice in the air. That shorty girl could lose a friend, but she never could lose an opportunity for a joke.

"I like loving men, but they must look to me with desire... Men that don't need brute strength to affirm themselves, but they must be able to defend themselves...", Mutsumi described, sounding as a daydream.

"And does this kind of man exist, Mutsumi-san?", Motoko asked.

"Ara, ara... Kei-kun, of course!", Mutsumi responded, with an accent where anyone would be able to see her throwing little hearts from her mouth. Luckily, Keitaro wasn't there. These kind of answers instigated some discomfort among the tenants. I chose to break the ice.

"Well, I think all of you must be ready for tonight, because I believe all of you will receive more flirts. You must accustom yourselves, it's part of the occupation...", I explained.

"Have you ever received flirts here in the Tea House, Haruka-san?", Kaolla asked, obviously very curious.

"Let's say that some unpleasant situations happened over here...", I responded her, avoiding details.

"And how did you react, Haruka-san?", Motoko asked me, curious as well.

"I just showed them the exit door. After all, exit door is a service from the house. I just use some strength when it's strictly necessary...", I responded, "And I hope you do the same. If you'd be too violent, the customers will disappear. Pretend that you're at home, having some visit. With time, you'll familiarize with customers' traffic.".

The girls smiled and all of them nodded. And, from the deep of my heart, I really wished they had understood what I said. Seeing the schedule, I found out that Keitaro would be in the kitchen, and I knew very well that the forthcoming waitresses would use the bar to show their own "gifts".

PV: NARU

Well, without much background to manage a great amount of money, I was called to get change. Well, the good side was the fact that Keitaro was sent with me to fulfill that mission. I chose to score my first point in the "Heart's Game" during the task.

"Well, you have some experience as kanrinrin, what do you think we must do?", I asked him, trying to break the ice.

"Let's go to Tokyo; I think we can try to get some change in some banks over there. What do you think?", Keitaro inquired, somewhat abashed.

"Great idea! Of course we can do it!", I replied full of energy. When I noticed, he was looking at me with suspicion. So, I said him: "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm very motivated to the enterprise we'll open tonight!". Obviously, the uttered motivation was false, I was happy because I was next to him, nobody else.

During the train trip, I was sat next to him, resting my head over his left shoulder. I tried to arouse na intimate climate, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what kind of subject we could have some chat without aggressions, without any fight. Slowly, I began to get my right hand closer to his left hand. I was very slow, because he shouldn't notice my intention. When I was almost grabbing his hand, he jumped and said: "Look, Naru, we arrived! Let's go!".

Keitaro exited quickly thru the train's door. I didn't know if he jumped because we arrived or because he felt my closeness, but that was the first deception from that day. I said "first" because I had a feeling that having a walk with Keitaro wouldn't be an enjoyable experience. Anyway, I tried to motivate myself and stayed at his side.

I was surprise with Keitaro's tactics to obtain change. When the banks were open, he spoke with the office's manager to get some change. If the office was closed, he checked if there were automatic boxes with small value bills. If the search was positive, he checked if any of the tenants had an account in the bank he was and made an interesting strategy: he put a great amount in the account, using the deposit with envelopes, and made several draws of low values, in order to obtain small value bills from the automatic boxes in every draw.

That was amazing to me. Albeit he was somewhat naive, Keitaro was able to solve several problems from ordinary life. Trying to have a chat again, I asked him: "How were you able to obtain girls' passwords?".

"Before my departure, I talked to some of them and explained them what I was intending to do. Every girl I asked for help gave me ok, trusting in the fact I wouldn't be able to do something dishonest with them. It's funny, if I'd ask this kind of help during the first year of the inn's administration, I think none of them would agree with that. And I'd be beaten, I'm sure of it...", Keitaro confessed, smiling.

I was amazed again. I realized that Keitaro was entirely conscious that something changed in his relationship with Hinata-sou's tenants. Surely he knew that several tenants were contesting his love. So I made my move: "What do you think of me, Keitaro?".

"What do you mean, Narusegawa?", Keitaro asked me, demonstrating himself very surprised. I realized the distance between us when he called me "Narusegawa".

"Can you call me Naru, Kei-kun?", I retorted. I didn't want that he wasn't close to me again.

"If you want it... It's alright, Naru. But I insist with my question: what do you mean?", Keitaro asked me again. I felt I should be more specific.

"Do you feel something for me?", I asked him, hiding my face. I felt myself so abashed with so intimate questions, but I needed to know the truth. I really needed to know the truth.

"Honestly, Naru, I don't know. I feel the girls have several kind of feelings for me. Some of them like me, other ones just tolerate me. Maybe some of them are in love, I really don't know. But I think I was hurt too much with girls' indifference during so much time. Perhaps only Shinobu and Mutsumi are the girls that have always supported me. The relationship with the other girls have always been complicated a lot. Well..", Keitaro explained me, making a pause. It's the very first time we had a polished chat about our feelings.

"Go on, Kei-kun!", I begged.

"I think we must back home. It's too late.", Keitaro said, changing the subject. But I desired to know what he thought of me. So I decided to show what I felt for him.

It's very similar with the time when we went thru Toudai's gates together, after the request I made in the Ai-Ai Gasa (1) and throw it into the air as a paper airplane. I was supporting my body on tiptoes and hugged him tightly, kissing him in the mouth. It's a powerful kiss, a movie's kiss, totally passional. I swore to myself that, if he had taken me to a motel, I didn't make any opposition for that.

After several minutes of kissing him, we kept from each other away slowly. I couldn't avoid a smile. I didn't feel something as wonderful as a long time ago. He just avoided my look and commented: "Naru, I still don't know what I feel for each one of the girls. I ask you not to do that again while I don't have a decision about giving a chance for anyone of you, ok?".

"I just want that you know I didn't give up of conquering you again, Kei-kun. Sooner or later, we'll get together. It's our destiny, isn't it true? I'm ready not to make the same mistakes from the past, just for staying with you!", I confessed to him, waiting for some Keitaro's understanding.

"It's ok, let's finish this subject here. There will be other moments to discuss that, copy that? I'm not ready for a new relationship...", Keitaro explained me.

"And when will you be ready? I need to know", I begged him.

"You'll know it... If I were you, I didn't have any preoccupation.", Keitaro changed the subject. I felt he still didn't want to discuss it.

"Well... at least, can I walk holding hands to you? I just wanted... Well... I just wanted to satisfy a need of...", I begged him, quite abashed. What surprised me was his answer: a loving smile and he had initiative of holding hands to me.

And we came back home holding hands. It's a long time ago that I felt as good as that moment. When we were closer to the inn, he undid the enlace between our hands. He justified that it wasn't a healthy thing if we were together, with so much intimacy. The other girls would be sad with no reason. In that moment, I agreed and undid the enlace. But I couldn't wait any longer to get together forever...

Chapter written in Jul-21-2005, and translated in Oct-06-2006. Albeit I'm delaying to release more translated chapters, I'll do it as soon as possible. I'm in the final phase of my Medicine class (I'll get the gradution next year). Currently, I'm doing an elective curricular period in a Psychiatric Wing from a Hospital in the city of Porto Alegre. In the moment when I was translating this chapter, the original saga in Portuguese reached the chapter 29. So, wait for more adventures of Love Hina's gang. Here are the notes:

(1) Ai-Ai Gasa: it's a very popular Japanese game, where the partakers draw a umbrella and write beneath it about things and people that each one loves, the same way that a couple of lovers or great friends share an umbrella to escape the rain. It's similar to a Western play of putting names into a heart drew in a tree or in a wall.