Love's Redemption: Chapter 10
Jake lay on his western-style queen size bed, turning through the pages of the magazine he had borrowed the previous day from Keitaro. He rasped his lips, unable to make much sense from the articles, as they were written entirely in Kanji. His focus lie instead on the many advertisements splayed on every other page, no doubt sending shivers down the back of a marketing director somewhere. He rolled his eyes and chuckled at the badly broken Romanized English on many of them, including such gems as "Coke Get Yum!"
Sighing in exasperation, Jake flipped through the remaining pages of the magazine and tossed it unceremoniously onto the simple nightstand that could have passed for an end table next to his bed. Rolling onto his back, he stared blankly at the ceiling. Lying in silence, he pondered over the goings-on since he arrived back at Hinata Sou two weeks ago.
He made good on his promise to order new furniture for his room, which included the bed he lay on, two simple tables to act as nightstands, a chest of drawers, and a small wooden desk with a chair. The room looked like a slice of the West in the heart of Japan. However, he had little time to spend relaxing in the familiarity of the room as he was constantly on the telephone with and supervising over various contractors as they performed much needed repairs on the building. After ten days, Jake was sure Hinata Sou would be able to pass any code inspection.
With the busyness of repairs out of the way, Jake spent the next several days learning the schedules of his tenants. The three Tokyo University students were usually in classes or study groups throughout most of the day, not returning until sunset or later. Shinobu and Su returned from school much sooner than their sempai counterparts. Motoko kept herself scarce, but could usually be found on the roof early in the morning or camped in her room during the afternoons.
What was disquieting to Jake was the fact that he had hardly seen Kitsune since the day he returned. He had been accustomed to her visiting nearly every day after closing down the teashop before his hurried return to America, if only to scrounge a free meal. Now she barely showed her face at all, especially around him. He considered dropping into the teashop several times, but he decided against interrupting her during work.
After all of this, Jake was left with more free time than he knew what to do with after performing his daily chores, which took him two hours on the average. Today was no different. Sighing in disgust with his current situation, and rather tired of listening to the birds chirping incessantly outside of his window, he decided to go for a run before any of the other tenants returned.
Jake stripped out of his "work" clothes, a raggedy old pair of blue jeans and an age-old t-shirt from high school. He tossed them into the hamper parked in the corner of the room like a basketball player taking the last shot of the game. He pulled the ratty socks from his feet, wadded them into a tight ball, and sent them towards the basket with a fade-away jump shot. The socks bounced on the rim of the hamper, one sock landing inside of it, the other on the floor. He scoffed irreverently at the rogue sock before picking it up and putting it in its place.
Ten minutes later, Jake, clad in simple grey sweats, was outside of the building, closing the door behind him and locking the front door with a simple turn of his key. He had new locks installed on the outer perimeter doors to enhance the security of the all-girls dorm. Although he knew Motoko was still home, Jake felt better erring on the side of caution. Besides, all of the tenants had a key, and could enter and exit at will, so there was no harm in bolting the door when he left.
After taking a few moments to limber up his legs, Jake dashed down the stairs and into the dense, rolling fog that clung to the town like a wet sheet. Jake enjoyed a quiet jog through the town, the hustle and bustle of the day long since past. A few familiar faces greeted him as he carved through his well-beaten path, and he grinned and gestured to them in reply.
His mind wandering, Jake became suddenly and acutely aware of exactly how easily he was acclimating to his new lifestyle. Although there were times when he missed the comfort of home and sleeping in his own bed, the friendly faces of the people he had met in this relatively obscure portion of the world left him with little regret. He could not decide if the pros of living in a town one-tenth of the size he was accustomed to outweighed the cons, but he had promises to keep, and he was not the kind to back out on his word.
Turning a familiar corner leading to the homestretch of his run brought Jake's mind back into the here-and-now. He was rapidly approaching the Hinata Teahouse. As he bounded closer with each step, he was locked in a mental struggle to decide if he would drop in to say hello to Kitsune.
He never got the opportunity to make up his mind. The veil of fog lifted as he approached the steps leading to the shop, and the form of Kitsune manifested through the miasma. She was speaking with a man Jake recognized from somewhere, but he was unable to place his face in his memory. Nor could he make out what they were saying, as their tones were hushed.
Jake hurried past, not wanting to disturb Kitsune as she was talking to the man he had assumed was just a regular customer. Turning to look at her one last time, he saw her lean forward and kiss the man directly on the lips. A masterfully fired arrow of shock ran Jake through the chest, and he took off up the stairs leading to the inn as a fight-or-flight instinct overran his senses.
His feet did not stop until he was standing in front of the front door of the apartments, his mind racing to put the pieces of what he had just seen together. He paced back and forth along the front of the complex for an inordinate amount of time, but in the end, he simply could not recall. Breathing a huff of frustration, Jake meandered to the front door, unlocked it, and stepped inside the building. Kicking his shoes off of his feet, he checked the time on his wristwatch. He smiled when he realized he still had at least two hours before anyone would arrive home. A long soak in the hot spring would be more than sufficient to calm his nerves as well as his aching muscles.
Covered in naught but his skin, Jake slowly dipped into the pool, wincing at the initial burning sensation from his cold toes submerging in the hot drink. He stepped further into the pool methodically, letting the heat slowly work its way up from his ankles to his neck, and he let out an audible sigh of relief, feeling much better immediately. The water was particularly warm that day, and a dense cloud of steam brought his visibility to near zero. With his hands out in front of him, Jake felt around the edge of the pool for a suitable spot to sit down, finally parking in a crevice near the far end.
As he sunk into his chosen corner of the hot spring, Jake lifted his arms out of the pool, resting them on the edges on either side of him. He let his head fall back comfortably against the stone as he stared at the passing clouds overhead, listless. While his body relaxed, his brain was performing Olympic-grade tumbling passes in his head.
With practiced movements, Kitsune hastily brushed away the debris from the front of her shop. She was late in her preparations to open for business, no thanks to the antics of her latest boyfriend earlier that morning. Her face colored as she recalled those events despite her best efforts to the contrary. It was worth it in the end, she thought, chuckling at her own pun.
Kentaro Sakata…he was probably the last person Kitsune envisioned hooking up with, considering how he coolly attempted to play with her best friend's heart. And then tried to take advantage of Naru's latent talent for singing to make a quick buck.
But karma was a cruel mistress to him. After Naru's mini-scandal involving a paparazzi photo of her patented Naru Punch TM sending Keitaro into satellite orbit, Kentaro was stuck holding the bill when Naru called her abbreviated stint in show business quits. He was flat broke, still owing Haruka a fortune after she agreed to front the money for the repairs of the damage caused by his little stunt the day of Naru's graduation ceremony.
Becoming Haruka's busboy in the Hinata teahouse, earning a mere 150 yen per hour, Kentaro might have earned the pity of the tenants of Hinata Sou had the circumstances surrounding his enslavement been different. After all, he did perform his duties without complaint, and that was a trait shared by another man she admired. However, whether that was an actual virtue of Kentaro's or compliance due to fear of unleashing Haruka's wrath was another question altogether.
When all was said and done, Kentaro had it coming to him. But he did perform admirably, and his debt was repaid sooner than anyone expected. Whether it was an influx of money from Kentaro's affluent parents or Haruka being merciful towards the unfortunate lad was a mystery. Either way, he was freed from his bonds and, for his part, he did what he could to give up his affection for Naru and assist in bringing her and Keitaro together.
Perhaps that was what initially drew Kitsune towards him. To hear Naru tell the story about what he did to help her on that Christmas Eve two years ago, any woman's heart would melt to sludge. It certainly altered her perception of him. The man she once assumed had a one-track mind turned out to be a compassionate romantic, something she never expected.
So when the two happened across one another during Kitsune's weekly trek to the Hinata Onsen shopping district the week after Jake's abrupt departure back to the States, she obliged him when he asked her to lunch. The sincere, hopeful look on his face when he asked her out was a far cry from his usual overtly aloof demeanor.
Although they had been on a mere handful of dates since then, Kentaro had proven himself to be a complete gentleman, happily paying for her portion of meals and such, despite their previous agreement that on every other date they would go Dutch. Even though they had only recently become intimate, Kitsune was under no obligation when he paid her way. Kentaro was a breath of fresh air for her.
Thinking back upon their relationship, Kitsune would have normally shut him down without a second thought when he first asked her out. However, and for a reason that was at first inexplicable to her, she was feeling exceptionally lonely for the last few days prior to their meeting. She mentally kicked herself immediately after taking him up on his offer, but she knew well that in the professional sport of dating, there is no such thing as a mulligan.
Little did she know that the source of her loneliness would return to her life in such a short amount of time.
"What are you smiling about?" asked a familiar voice, giving Kitsune quite the start. She turned her gaze to the man standing before her, wearing a million-dollar smile as well as a rather stylish business suit.
"Kentaro-kun!" Kitsune exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. "You scared the bejeezus out of me." She gave him a light rap with the handle of her broom to emphasize her point.
"Sorry about that, but it's not my fault you were in La-La Land and couldn't hear me walking towards you." Kentaro walked up two more steps so that he was even with Kitsune height-wise and gave her a peck on the lips. "Good morning," he said sultrily.
"Good morning," Kitsune returned his greeting, turning her head away from him, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"You were thinking about last night, weren't you?" Kentaro asked playfully, earning him a stiff jab in his gut with the butt of Kitsune's broom.
"A lady never harbors such thoughts so early in the day," Kitsune replied, tossing her hair with her free hand.
"Well, to be fair, you certainly weren't very, ahem, lady-like in bed," Sakata said, a honeyed grin playing across his countenance.
"Keep going and you're gonna end up with half of this broom up you-know-where," Kitsune barked, gesturing threateningly with the aforementioned tool.
Kentaro backed off, trying and failing to suppress a laugh. "So sorry. Anyway," he quickly changed the subject, "I just wanted to drop a line before I left for class since you departed a bit abruptly this morning."
"You could have called, you know," Kitsune replied, reaching into her apron and pulling out a cell phone. She flipped it open, checking to make sure it was on and had a decent charge.
With a chuckle and a shrug, Kentaro reached out and pulled Kitsune towards him. "I'm not quite so impersonal." He placed a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her into a long, passionate kiss. After a few moments, he released her. "I'll see you later."
Kitsune watched her boyfriend start to walk away, until her mind recalled something important that she needed to tell him. "Hold on a second." Kentaro stopped and turned to face her, wearing an enigmatic smile. "They are having a little get-together tonight up at the inn, so I'm going to be there."
"Is that right?" Kentaro asked lightly. There was no need to explain who "they" were. Whenever Kitsune used that term, it was specially reserved for the tenants at Hinata Sou.
"It's kind of a welcome-back-surprise party, so," Kitsune let her voice trail off.
A hint of realization flashed across Kentaro's face, but only an astute observer might have noticed. "I see," he said.
"You're more than welcome to come, if you'd like."
"I'll have to double-check my schedule, but I think I'll be able to make it," Kentaro said with a wink.
Kitsune smiled weakly. "Great. I'll see you later tonight then?"
"Yup," Kentaro said, waving goodbye. Kitsune waved back and watched Kentaro walk down the stone stairs until he was out of sight. She let out a hefty sigh before returning to her work.
Feeling reinvigorated after his dip in the hot spring, a fully clothed Jake set out to perform his daily chores. He stretched out as he checked his calendar against his managerial notebook, jotting down notes on what duties he needed to perform.
He grumbled out fruitless protestations when he discovered that it was time to mop and polish the floors throughout the building. The last time he performed this particular task, it took the vast majority of the day to complete. With so many other things accompanying this duty in his to-do list, he knew there was no time to dawdle. He made for the tool shed on the side of the building immediately.
An hour later, Jake began to wonder if there was some sort of elixir of life bubbling out of the earth into the hot spring downstairs. He seemed to have boundless energy after his dip. Having already completed the third floor, and halfway through the second, Jake took a quick breather when he heard the front door slide open and closed. Judging by the fact that the person failed to announce her entry, Jake surmised that Motoko had returned.
His assumption was confirmed when he saw a head of perfectly straight raven-hued hair appear in the stairwell, its owner silently padding up the stairs. Motoko, clad in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, a surprisingly fitting ensemble in Jake's mind, had a bulging backpack slung over one shoulder, and her black-as-night sheathed blade resting on the other. Why her cram school would ever let someone carrying such a lethal weapon onto its grounds was a completely mystery to Jake. He assumed she hid the blade somewhere, but where?
"Good day to you," Jake greeted the Shinmeiryu heir politely from across the hall.
Motoko was slightly taken aback, but recovered just as quickly. "Oh…I'm home," she replied with the customary phrase. She met Jake's gaze for a fraction of a second before panning her eyes down to the floor in front of her as she continued her climb to the third floor without stopping.
Jake followed her movement until she was completely out of sight, unable to shake the thought that she appeared to be monumentally distracted, something of which he thought she was incapable. He was well aware, as was everyone else in the household, that her second attempt at the Tokyo University entrance examination was just around the corner, and that test was by far the most difficult to pass. Only the inhuman could not feel at least some pressure, if not feel completely overwhelmed.
He could not be sure whether he had overestimated or underestimated her. On one hand, she was the most stoic person he had ever met. It seemed that nothing could faze her, except for that flying turtle, of course, but that was explained away as being a simple phobia. However, seeing her humanity was a thankful breath of fresh air, even if the glimpses were few and far between. He wished to see more of that part of her, as it made her at least somewhat approachable.
As Jake motioned towards his cleaning implements, he suddenly remembered that the third floor was not quite ready for traffic as of yet. Without thinking, he yelled out, "Motoko, be careful that you don't slip!" (A/N: "to slip" in Japanese can be translated as "to fail", as in failing a test)
An incredibly girlish cry tore through the third floor, down the stairs, running full bore into Jake's ears, followed immediately by a loud thump and the ringing sound of metal rattling against wood. Motoko must have slipped and fell on the freshly polished floor. Jake winced, ducking his head slightly in empathy. "Sorry about that! Are you okay?" he yelled.
Jake could practically hear the blush on Motoko's face as she angrily replied, her voice muffled by the distance, "I'm just fine! Don't worry about me!"
"Okay then," he said, kneeling down. As he reached for the wood polish, he froze, a light bulb going off in his head. "Oh shit," he mumbled to himself. "I meant the floor is slippery! I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"Don't worry about it," he heard Motoko's voice, still angry, but lower by a half-octave. A door upstairs slid open and shut, and Jake could do nothing except shake his head and sigh at his own ignorance.
Twenty minutes later, as Jake set about completing the second floor, he heard the front door fly open loudly. "I'm home!" he heard the voice of Su belt out, surely heard even by Motoko in room 302. She bounded across the room and ran up the stairs two and three at a time. "Hi there!" she greeted Jake with a wave and a toothy grin.
Jake was flustered by how much energy that girl had even after sitting in a classroom for hours on end. "How was school?" Jake asked.
"Pretty boring actually. No one in my class was willing to do anything fun with me today. Everyone is freaking out about their entrance exams," Su explained, leaning against the stair rail.
"That's too bad," Jake said. Su was a senior, and she would be graduating in a few short months. That reminded him. "Don't you have your exams coming up too?"
"I sure do!" Su exclaimed a bit too loudly given the proximity between the conversers.
"Aren't you at least a little sympathetic towards your classmates then? Aren't you stressed about your tests too?"
Su shook her head emphatically. "Motoko and I are studying together, so there's no way we'll fail. I'm really confident!"
Jake smiled weakly. This girl was a certifiable genius, likely at least on par with Naru. But what worried him was that she was as likely to pass the test straight up as invent a device that would somehow give her all the answers. He silently hoped she thought twice about such a thing, as she would likely have no shame if she were caught cheating, causing her to be banned from taking the exams permanently.
"Isn't it a bit strange studying with your sempai for the same test?" Jake asked.
"Not really. It's a lot of fun studying together. We get to do what Keitaro did together with Naru and Mutsumi!"
Jake chuckled. There was some merit in that explanation, he supposed. "Motoko seems to be pretty stressed out, though." Su nodded plaintively. "Can you do me a favor?"
Su beamed at Jake, her jade eyes shining brightly at him. She nodded.
"Take it easy with her, okay? She's pretty fragile right now, and a lot of excitement is probably the last thing she needs right now." As soon as the words left his mouth, Jake stole a glance up the empty stairwell. If Motoko heard him call her fragile, even in context, she would have his head. Thankfully, no berserk swordswoman jumped down the flight of stairs brandishing steel and roaring a battle cry.
"You got it!" Su agreed, turned on the spot, and jumped over the railing, sending the skirt of her high school uniform flying, and ran full bore up the stairs to the third floor. Jake averted his eyes when he caught a glimpse of white against blue. That girl had absolutely no shame. "Perv!" he heard Su shout playfully, followed by the sound of her door sliding open and slamming closed. Jake put his forehead to his palm and shook his head. No shame at all.
Just as Jake finished the last of his chores for the day, the three Toudai-seis formerly known as the Three Ronins returned home. Shinobu walked in about an hour after Su, having had one more class period than her sempai. It was another ninety minutes later that Jake finally closed up and locked the utility closet parked next to the hot spring. As he walked back into the complex, he noticed his boss and the two women flanking him as they were changing into indoor footwear. "Hey guys," he greeted them as he plopped down on the sofa facing the door for some much-needed rest for his aching feet. "You're home pretty early today."
"Oh, yeah, I guess we are," Keitaro replied, laughing. Jake couldn't help but think there was something suspicious about Keitaro's laugh, and another red flag went up in his head when Naru prodded him in the shoulder blades and the two shared in some non-verbal conversation.
Meanwhile, Mutsumi floated over to where Jake was sitting and took a seat next to him. Directly next to him. Any closer and she might as well have been in his lap. Although there was plenty of space for her to sit next to him without invading his personal space, he adjusted to put some distance between them to avoid an it's-not-what-it-looks-like moment. Mutsumi seemed blissfully oblivious, however.
"What are you doing tonight, Ja-kun?" the beautiful maiden asked, placing one of her delicate hands on Jake's leg.
"Mutsumi-san!" Naru exclaimed, glaring at her friend as she walked over to take a seat on the adjacent love seat.
"What did I say?" Mutsumi asked, looking like a puppy-dog that was just admonished for piddling on the floor. She retracted her hand from its position on Jake's thigh.
As Naru and Mutsumi engaged in another round of non-verbal communication, Jake looked at Keitaro with a look that suggested he tell him exactly what was going on. Instead of answer, Keitaro simply looked away.
"Am I…missing something here?" Jake asked. These people were probably the worst at keeping secrets he had ever had the pleasure to come across. They were obviously plotting something, and he figured he would try to get them to come clean up front.
The three people sitting around Jake replied "no" at the same time, in surround sound stereo. He openly smirked, knowing that short of all-out blackmail, there was likely no way for him to tip their hands. He had no choice but to retreat and to engage them on another front some other time. "So how were your classes today?"
Keitaro shrugged. "Pretty boring now that our finals are finished. I don't even know why we bother going anymore until the start of next semester."
Naru gave a playful tug on Keitaro's shirt. "Because you can't afford to miss anymore of your classes without getting an incomplete, dummy. You don't want to fall behind another semester do you?"
Keitaro sighed. "That doesn't mean I have to like it. I'd rather be doing something more productive. At least we'll get to do some fieldwork next year. Reading books on archaeology is not nearly as exciting as actually doing it."
"Kei-kun, you really do have a one-track mind, don't you?" Mutsumi asked playfully.
"Don't hate me because I like my major," Keitaro grumbled.
"Correct me if I'm wrong here," Jake interjected, "but no one faults you for it. You're like Indiana Jones' klutzy nephew trying to follow in his uncle's footsteps."
As the girls giggled away, Keitaro, feeling ganged up on, exclaimed, "Leave me alone!"
"We kid you. You're doing what you want to do. Just be sure you give us a call when you find Jesus' tomb, alright?"
Keitaro laughed. "Whatever you say, I guess."
The foursome continued to chitchat about random nonsense for the next twenty minutes before Shinobu walked down the stairs, dressed in casual outdoor clothing. Keitaro picked up on the teenager's appearance immediately. "Heading out, Shinobu-chan?" he asked.
Shinobu nodded. "Yes, I'm going to the market for some groceries. I wanted to be back before it gets dark."
"Would you like some company?" Naru asked.
Shinobu looked like she was pondering the question. "I suppose I could use an extra pair of hands to help carry everything back, but if its too much trouble…"
Naru waved a hand at Shinobu. "Don't be silly, Shinobu-chan. Jake is more than willing to go with you, am I right?" Naru cocked her head in Jake's direction.
It wasn't a question. He was being volunteered. Call it one of his duties as manager. The tenants sure had high expectations of their landlord. "I suppose I wasn't doing anything anyway. I'll go with you. Just let me get my jacket, and I'll be right back down."
Shinobu beamed. "Great!"
Jake stood and Shinobu took his seat. As he climbed the stairs to the second floor, he turned his head to look at the four seated around the common room. They were all watching him silently. It was too suspicious. They obviously planned this whole thing, and they needed him out of the house for an hour or two. Whatever it was, he decided to play the part of the unwitting victim in this suspense play. What else could he do?
"Think he bought it?"
"Not a chance in hell."
"Oh well, at least we're getting him to leave for a bit. The end is the same, anyway."
"If he suspects us, he'll probably try to pry it out of you, Shinobu-chan. You need to be strong."
"Uh…okay. I'll try."
Returning to a standing position in the corner of the stairwell, just out of sight of the tandem in the great room, a mischievous grin crept from corner to corner on Jake's face. This could turn out to be a remarkable evening for him after all.
Shinobu and Jake sat on the train, silence enveloping them. Jake stole an occasional glance at the young woman next to him. She was obviously nervous, but as far as he could remember, that was par for the course. Despite her past confession to Keitaro and accepting the offer from one of her classmates to start dating, she still had not changed much.
Self-confidence can only come with time, when that person is ready. Not every female could hold herself to a high accord like Kitsune. However, being demure certainly had its merits in terms of capturing the attention of a potential mate, but was that Shinobu's intention? It is said, after all, that it's the shy ones you have to watch out for. No way, Jake thought. This girl was far too pure to play that kind of mind games with men.
On the other hand, was she really that innocent? She had turned seventeen this past November, and was entering her senior year in high school. From everything he heard about Japanese public schools, the environment was not dissimilar from when he attended high school. Was there any possible way this girl somehow remained immune to sexual desires?
It was equally possible she seemed nervous because she was afraid of spoiling their little secret. Jake let out a tremendous sigh. He was probably thinking much too deeply about the subject. Thinking that the silence was likely not helping matters much, Jake decided to engage her in some small talk. "So you're going to be a senior pretty soon, huh?"
"Huh, oh, yeah," Shinobu replied, looking surprised for a second at the sound of Jake's voice, then reverting to her typical timidity.
"You looking forward to it?"
After a lengthy pause, "I'm not sure," she replied with a barely noticeable shake of her head. "I'm going to miss seeing Kaolla-san during the daytime. But I've made a bunch of new friends this year, and I'll get to see all of them next year, too, so it's kind of bittersweet for me."
"I understand," Jake said, turning to look out of the window at the passing landscape. "It's going to be a special time for you; a year you'll never forget as long as you live. Try to make it memorable, okay?"
Shinobu cocked her head up and looked at Jake. He seemed to be gazing at something unseen on the horizon, as if he were reminiscing about something. He was likely thinking about his own time in high school. She toyed with the idea of asking him what he was thinking about, but the train braking to a stop wrenched that idea from her grasp. Instead, she replied minimally, "I will."
The pair left the station in silence and walked two blocks to the nearby market. As Shinobu pulled a small grocery cart from the well on the side of the entrance, she said, "If you need anything specific, just let me know."
Jake nodded his head, but he did not know the first thing about Japanese cuisine other than the shoddy dishes Seta and Keitaro concocted for him on special occasions. While they were palatable, they were trash compared to Shinobu's excellent recipes. He decided that he would remain silent and trust her instincts.
They walked through the store methodically, walking slowly down each aisle as Shinobu consulted a carefully folded list that she pulled from her purse. Not knowing yakisoba from teriyaki, Jake was utterly useless as a hood ornament. He walked several paces behind Shinobu with his hands in his pockets, glancing at random items here and there whenever Shinobu stopped to look for a particular item.
"Did you find something you wanted?" she asked him on one particular occasion.
Jake looked at young woman, then at the box in his hand. "I don't even know what this is," he admitted, replacing the item back on the shelf.
Shinobu giggled, looking relieved. "That's good, because I don't even know how to prepare that stuff." Jake kept his hands off the merchandise for the remainder of the trip.
Having crossed out the final item on the list and double-checking to make sure she had not forgotten anything, Shinobu rolled the cart to the front of the store and pulled up to a checkout register. "Let me do that," Jake offered, shooing Shinobu away when she began to pull items out of the cart and place them on the counter.
"I can get it," Shinobu protested.
"No, please," Jake rebutted, "I haven't done anything. I can at least do this for you."
"Thanks."
"Good evening, Maehara-san," the cashier, a woman that Jake estimated was in her early forties, greeted the young woman.
"Hello, Watanabe-san," Shinobu cheerfully replied. It was obvious to Jake as the two women exchanged pleasantries that they were more than simply acquaintances. He remembered vaguely Shinobu's family owning a restaurant at one time, so it made perfect sense. She was likely the errand-girl whenever supplies ran low.
"And who is this lad, here?" Watanabe asked, giving Jake a once over after he finished placing the merchandise on the counter.
"This is the new manager at my apartment while Urashima-sempai is in school," Shinobu replied.
"My name's Jake." He bowed politely to the woman on the other side of the counter after introducing himself.
"Oho," Watanabe replied with a smile. "An American male managing an all-girls dormitory in Japan. There's something you don't see everyday."
"Well," Jake began his response, but decided against going completely into the story, "I suppose you're right."
"You make sure you look after Maehara-san. She's one of our most valued customers," the woman said with a wink.
Jake blinked several times, perplexed. He couldn't help but think she meant something other than a simple landlord-tenant relationship when she said to take care of her. Nevertheless, he replied, "Of course."
Swiping the last item over the scanner, Watanabe clicked a couple of buttons on her register. "Alright, that comes to sixty-four hundred eighty-two."
Shinobu paid the bill from a more than modest roll of bills stuffed into the bottom of her bag. As the cashier counted out change from her register, Jake suddenly felt glad that he decided to come along. An innocent-looking woman like Shinobu out in public alone with that much cash made a tempting target for a would-be mugger.
"You two take care now," Watanabe said, giving the pair a friendly wave as they picked up their bags and left the store.
The sun was setting when they stepped outside of the store, casting the sky with hues of violet and orange. The crunching of the plastic bags and their own footfalls were the only sounds around them for a while as they made their way back to the train station, groceries in tow.
"She seems nice," Jake noted.
"She's been a family friend for years," Shinobu replied.
That she decided not to elaborate further was something not lost on Jake. It served as a reminder that her parents had gone through a particularly nasty divorce, resulting in the sale of their restaurant and Shinobu's permanent residency at Hinata Sou. It was an event not dissimilar from one that he experienced, although she was much younger than he when his parents decided to split.
He stole a glance at the woman next to him, her depressed, downcast appearance welling within him a deep sense of empathy. No matter the amount of time that has passed, some scars still hurt when touched. "It must have been rough on you," Jake said.
"I'm sorry, what?" Shinobu replied.
Jake shook his head, thinking it best not to dwell on such negative thoughts for too long. "No, it's nothing. Let's get back. I'm sure everyone's waiting for us."
With a weak smile, Shinobu agreed. "Okay."
An abbreviated train ride later, the duo approached the long stairway leading to the apartment building. Jake offered to carry Shinobu's bags to make her trek easier, but she politely refused. As they reached the crest of the slope, Jake noticed that the lights in the building were all off, making it appear as if the place was deserted.
"I wonder where everyone went off to," Shinobu said.
Jake chuckled. "But you already know, don't you?"
"Eh?" Shinobu started, looking a might fearful.
"Keitaro's behind the sofa with Naru and Mutsumi right next to him. Motoko is waiting in the dining room with Su, while Kitsune waits to turn the lights on to scare the dickens out of me, right?"
Shinobu gawked. "I don't know what you mean."
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. You guys tried this once before, don't you remember?"
Shinobu appeared puzzled. "I don't recall."
"This must have been Keitaro's idea. Only a git like him would fall for something like this twice." To make his point, Jake approached the door, unlocking it with his master key. "Watch this." He whispered to Shinobu and threw the door wide open. He ran directly to the light switch and flipped it to the on position.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the flood of light, and much to his surprise, the room was truly and honestly devoid of any sort of party decoration, and there was not a single soul in the room, except for Shinobu, standing in the doorway, looking utterly mystified. "Did I miss something?" she asked.
"Huh," Jake said, relaxing his posture. He expected to catch the poor suckers trying to set him up off guard, but the only one looking like a sucker was him. "Well, whatever then," he said, dropping the bags he was carrying on the table. Walking back to the entrance, he peered at the base of the door, and sure enough, everyone's outdoor shoes were missing. He kicked his shoes off and put on his slippers. "Sorry if I freaked you out," he said to Shinobu, feeling a touch guilty for setting off such as he did.
"A little. I really had no idea what you were talking about," the woman replied as she walked towards the kitchen area, stopping to pick up the bags Jake left on the table.
As Jake watched the blue-haired beauty disappear beyond the portal to the kitchen, he muttered, "That's just too weird." With a shrug and a sigh, he retreated upstairs to his room, remarking just how strange the day had been.
After making himself more comfortable, Jake lay on his bed flipping through a few channels to pass the time. After a few minutes, he heard a loud crash that sounded like a dish breaking in the kitchen. Acting almost on instinct, he bounced to his feet and dashed out of his room towards the stairs. Taking them two at a time, he called out, "Are you okay, Shinobu?"
"Wait, when did the foyer get dark again?" Jake asked as he continued down the stairs into the darkened great room. In a matter of an instant, light flooded the room, which was now filled with refreshments, balloons and banners and all sorts of party favors, not to mention the large group of people yelling "Surprise!" in unison.
The sudden shock caused Jake to miss a step and he completed his trip down the stairs on his behind. The crowd gasped collectively, and by the time Jake regained his bearings, he was surrounded on all sides by familiar faces.
"You alright, man?" Keitaro asked with a pained expression on his face.
Jake continued to lay prone, trying to laugh through the pain. "If I could stand right now, I'd kill you."
"Sorry about that," Shinobu said, unable to hide the mischievous grin on her face.
"I owe you one," Jake said, pointing at Shinobu. "And the best part is you'll never know when it'll happen."
"We got you pretty good, didn't we?" Su asked, giggling madly.
"I don't even want to know how you did it, but yeah."
"Let's get you up," Naru said, offering Jake a hand.
The group helped the temporary manager to his feet, and he seemed no worse for wear once he stood up. "Are you alright?" Motoko asked Jake.
Jake nodded. "I'll tell you this though: this has been the strangest day." He looked around for the one other person he had hoped to be there, and he found her standing on the opposing side of the room, with the arm of the man he'd noticed earlier that morning draped around her waist. "And it's only going to get stranger."
Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've published anything. The way things are lately with work, and personal life, etc. etc. leaves very little time for things like this. However, I've also made a bunch of excuses for myself on why I haven't done anything, and that ends now. So, thanks for reading and reviewing, and you'll be seeing more from me in the future (again).