"Life was better and brighter from that morning on, even considering all that lay ahead."
- Keitaro Urashima; 'Ronin's Paradise'
Chapter II:
A Bright New Day
July 26, 2006
Hinata Apartments, Hinata, Japan
0556 hours, local time
As dawn broke the next morning, the sun's rays gently caressed the Hinata apartments, unaware of the changes that had occurred while it had slept. As the tenants of the apartment building rose into the new day, everyday routines were once more underway. Shinobu Maehara was already hard at work on the morning breakfast, giving a little extra effort, just because some inner voice told her she should.
Mitsune Konno, or Kitsune to her friends, meandered into the dining hall, for once not smelling of her morning dose of sake. She yawned heartily, then scratched her head and plopped down in her usual seat.
The front doors of the apartment opened and Haruka Urashima, Keitaro's aunt, wandered into the building. There was still another hour before her tea shop opened for the day, which left plenty of time for one of Shinobu's excellent breakfasts. Pausing at the door just long enough to crush her cigarette into the ash tray beside the entrance, she walked over to the breakfast table and dropped the newspaper onto it, taking the main section for herself as Kitsune grabbed the sports section to see the results of the last horse race she'd bet on.
Kaolla Su trudged into the commons area, still partially asleep, with the hot springs turtle Tama-chan perched on her head. The young girl flopped onto the couch, causing Tama-chan to flip into the air and fly around in search of a new post, and turned on a morning cartoon. Knowing Su, it likely involved giant mechs of some kind.
Upstairs, in the room above the kanrinin's, Naru slowly opened her eyes as a beam of sunlight crossed over her face. She felt warmer, more peaceful than she had in a long time, and for a moment, the reason eluded her.
And then her eyes focused, or her far-sighted vision at least tried to, on the figure lying in her futon, his arms wrapped securely and protectively around her. For the briefest of instants, her instincts screamed KILL at her, but she effortlessly crushed down that part of her subconscious before it could take control of her actions.
Smiling, she slid her right hand up Keitaro's face and gently brushed her fingers across his face. Then she kept reaching, her hand groping on her desk for her glasses, her movement inadvertently burying Keitaro's head in her bosom. Her fingers finally secured her glasses, but before she could move her arm, she heard Keitaro mumble something.
He probably thinks he's dreaming, she thought to herself with a grin. Slipping her right arm around the back of his neck, she innocently whispered, "What did you say, Kei?"
"I said either I'm dreaming or I've died and gone to Heaven," he replied, his voice still muffled due to his face being pressed into her chest. "Or maybe it wasn't a dream, and this was my last memory before being shot into space."
Naru giggled and hugged him against her. "You've always thought of me as an angel," she said. "So what would you say if I told you you're not dreaming, and that I decided to come down from Heaven to be with you?"
"I would consider myself the most blessed man in existence."
She kissed his forehead and grinned at him. "Then consider yourself blessed, Keitaro," she said, calling his name in a sing-song tone. "You are wide awake and really in my bed. And I have no intention of taking you out of it by any means."
It took a full ten seconds for that sentence to sink into his head, during which time Naru amusedly watched the varying facial expressions flashing through his face, everything from panic to elation. Then the panic returned as the concept sank in that they had spent the entire night together, in the same bed.
The same thought crossed Naru's mind, and she shifted her body slightly, feeling the resistance of her clothing against the futon mattress and her sheets. Everything was still in place. She slid down so that their faces were even with one another, her arms still wrapped around his neck as she leaned in and kissed him softly. "Don't worry," she said. "We didn't do anything. We still have all our clothes on."
He relaxed at that statement. Some distant part of her mind noted that, a few days ago, she probably would've been offended at his relief that they hadn't done anything, her ego and self-depreciation taunting her with the insane notion that she wasn't good enough for him. But she realized, with perfect clarity, that he was relieved because at this stage in their relationship, it would have been giving in to passion and lust, and would not have been as meaningful or special as it was supposed to be.
A shiver ran through her as she thought of just how much different she was now. Keitaro was like a flame, burning away all the smoke and mirrors of her soul until she was able to see herself and the world around her clearly. With every moment she spent in his arms, her perceptions came more and more clearly until…
Two children played in a sandbox together, patting at a mound of sand that looked strangely like a sand igloo. But neither child cared how their creation turned out, all they cared about was that they were together and having fun. The little boy was very obviously the five-year old Keitaro, but the identity of the little girl escaped Naru.
"Hey, Kei-kun," the little girl said. "Did you know that if two people who love each other get accepted into Tokyo U, they'll live happily ever after?"
The little Keitaro looked at the girl with wide eyes. "Really, Mu-chan?"
A sharp spike of pain cut through Naru's heart at that nickname. The girl playing with Keitaro, the promise girl from his memories, was named Mu-chan. And that, she clearly realized, was a shortening of Mutsumi Otohime. Mutsumi truly was Keitaro's promise girl.
But he loved her, Naru, didn't he? He had said as much to her last night. And she loved him as well. Without understanding why, she focused back on the vision before her.
"That's right, Kei-kun!" the little Mutsumi said, smiling happily. She stood up from where she'd been playing, then walked over to a corner of the sandbox to retrieve her Liddo-kun doll. "So I want you to make me a promise, Kei-kun."
"Sure thing," little Keitaro said.
Mutsumi sat back down in the sandbox and handed her Liddo-kun to Keitaro. "I want you to promise me that you and Na-chan will get into Tokyo U and live happily ever after!"
Naru was floored. This couldn't be right. Keitaro always said that his promise girl had wanted him to get into Tokyo University with her, not another girl. This had to just be a product of her imagination. There was no way… was there?
Keitaro looked down at the stuffed doll, then back up at Mutsumi. "But what about you, Mu-chan?"
Little Mutsumi gave him that warm, head-tilted-to-one-side smile that Naru recognized from seeing the older Mutsumi give a thousand times. "I'll be happy that you and Na-chan will be happy together," she replied. "You're both my best friends, and we can all go to Tokyo U, but you and Na-chan have to go together, okay?"
Keitaro smiled and held out his right hand toward Mutsumi, his pinky finger extended. "I'll do it, Mu-chan!" he said, the tenacity and determination of the adult Keitaro underlying the five year old's words. "I'll get into Tokyo U with Na-chan and live happily ever after!"
Little Mutsumi absolutely beamed as she hooked her pinky finger around his, sealing the promise. As they did so, the vision of the past began to fade around Naru. Soon, all she could see were faint shapes in the white mist.
"Hey, Mu-chan!" she heard little Keitaro call out. "What do I do with this Liddo-kun?"
Mutsumi giggled, but when she replied, it was her adult voice that Naru heard, "You give it to Naru, silly. That way she'll know that you love her."
With that, the real world, her room, and Keitaro returned to her vision. As she focused on his face, she saw that he had a pleased expression on his face, that his eyes were out of focus. Was he having a vision too?
Her heart skipped a beat. Is he having… the same vision? Will he know that even though Mutsumi is his promise girl, she made him promise to be with me?
Carefully, she extracted herself from his arms, slid out of her futon, and padded over to retrieve the Liddo-kun doll she had been given so long ago. Giving the stuffed toy a tight squeeze and kiss on the head, she walked back over to the futon and slipped back into it, and into Keitaro's arms, placing the Liddo-kun between them.
After a few moments, his eyes focused on her again. "Huh? Wha? Sorry, I spaced out again."
She smiled. "What did you dream about?"
"I dreamt about the day I made my promise fifteen years ago," he replied. "But this time, it was different. It wasn't how I remembered." At Naru's curious look, he continued. "I actually remembered her name this time!" he said excitedly. "But, the promise was different from what I thought it was. It turns out that I didn't promise to get into Tokyo U with her."
Naru held her breath. Some part of her waited for her to wake up, for this wonderful dream to end. But with his next words, she knew that she was living in reality.
"I promised her that I would get into Tokyo U with our friend, Na-chan," he said. "The little girl from my memories may have been my promise girl, but the girl I was promised to was, no, is you, Naru. She even gave me her Liddo-kun to–"
He was cut off in midsentence by Naru crushing her lips against his, kissing him with the passion of fifteen years of lost time. As they trapped one another in their arms, Liddo-kun was forgotten between them.
Motoko opened her eyes slowly, her right arm draped across her forehead, and stared up at the ceiling. Sunlight streamed through the rice paper door of her room, dancing through the light haze of incense smoke drifting across the ceiling. She took a deep breath, inhaling the pleasant scent of vanilla-apple and smiling as it brought her closer to full alertness.
That was when she realized that vanilla-apple was not among the scented incense that she possessed. Perhaps Seno had given it to her? She sat up, realizing that she was lying on her futon, rather than the floor. I thought I fell asleep on the floor. Maybe last night was just a dream?
She sighed. After finally having come to terms with her feelings and who she truly loved, it would be a shame for it all to have been a dream. She reached her hand over to the floor beside the futon to provide her with leverage to get up, and her hand fell on what she instinctively knew to be a sheathed blade.
Looking over to see if she had accidentally left the Hina blade lying on the floor again, she gasped when she recognized the distinctive hilt of the Shinaijou beneath her palm. If his sword is here, then that means…
She lifted her eyes to the other side of the room, where she saw Seno standing at her dresser, staring into the burning incense candles he must have brought in at some point after she had fallen asleep. For a moment, a sudden spike of fear shot through her as he realized that there was any number of things he could have done to her while she was asleep, since he had clearly been awake at some point during the night when she had not.
Shaking her head violently, she pushed those thoughts away. Not Seno. Seno wouldn't do that to her. He was a man of honor who lived and died by his morality. Deep down inside, she knew that he had acted the perfect gentleman last night once she had fallen asleep.
"Good morning," she greeted tentatively.
The taller swordsman looked over to her and smiled. "Good morning, Motoko," he said. "Did you sleep well?"
She found herself smiling as well. The sheer warmth she felt just being in his presence astounded her. "Yes, thank you. And you?"
"How could I have slept otherwise, next to a goddess?"
Her face immediately colored, more at his compliment than at the notion they had shared her bed. She climbed out of the bed and stood up, walking over to Seno and slipping her arms around his waist as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Flatterer," she whispered to him.
"The truth isn't flattery," he replied matter-of-factly, turning to face her and enfolding her in his warm embrace as he kissed the top of her head.
Before Motoko could reply, they both heard Shinobu's voice call out from downstairs, "Breakfast!"
Kitsune and Haruka were still reading the newspaper, but had cleared room for the breakfast dishes to be placed on the table. Su jumped over the back of the couch, then bounced across the commons room into her seat. She picked up her utensils and gave Tama-chan, perched on the back of Keitaro's chair, an evil eye. "I wonder if turtles are good for breakfast?" she mused aloud, extending her fork toward the flying turtle.
Haruka picked up one of her chopsticks and smacked the back of Su's hand, stopping her breakfast explorations. At the younger girl's yelp, Haruka calmly put her chopstick back down and put her hand back on the paper, all without looking up from behind the black-and-white page.
As Shinobu walked out of the kitchen with the last dish in hand, she looked up to see the last four missing members of the Hinata family coming down the staircase. "Good morning, guys!" she called out to them.
"'Morning, Shinobu!" Keitaro called back, raising his right hand high in the air. "'Morning, everybody!"
"Good morning, everyone," Naru said, smiling happily. Though nobody downstairs could see it, her right hand was holding Keitaro's left, and as she greeted the others, she gave his hand a squeeze.
Motoko bowed her head as she and Seno followed Naru and Keitaro down the stairs. "Good morning," she said. They were all used to the swordswoman greeting them with a smile, but not one of them argued that the look on her face was nothing but outright joy.
"'Sup, folks," Seno said in his usual manner, raising his left hand in that distinctive wave of his, with his thumb and first two fingers raised while he clenched the remaining two fingers in. "Good food this morning, Shinobu? I could smell it all the way down the hallway."
The blue-haired girl nodded emphatically as she placed the last dish on the table. "I worked extra hard on this morning's breakfast," she said. She gave a broad smile as she clasped her hands together in front of her. "So please enjoy it!"
"I already know I will, Shinobu!" Keitaro said. "Nothing starts the day like–"
Cue Keitaro's bad luck.
One misstep as he came down from one of the stairs sent him falling face-first to the ground. He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, his right hand flailing for a grip on something to pull himself up. To compound the bad luck, his holding Naru's hand had brought her down with him, and by what some would consider intelligent design, the timing of her fall was just perfect enough to land her breast on his flailing hand.
Shinobu gasped. Kitsune leered. Su looked oblivious. Seno shook his head, and Motoko was impassive. Haruka looked out from behind her newspaper with a 'Here we go again' expression on her face. It was only obvious that it was time for Keitaro to take another flight on 'Air Naru.'
What happened next shocked everybody.
As the dust settled, silence fell to replace it for several seconds, broken only by Keitaro groaning, "Ow."
With the rest of the apartment's tenants looking on, Naru calmly removed his hand from her breast, then leaned forward to look into his face. "Are you alright, Keitaro?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "What about you? Are you hurt?"
"No, you caught me before I fell," she said, then leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it," he said, then climbed to his feet and held out a hand to help her up. "I guess I need to watch my step a little more, huh?"
"Yeah," Naru agreed, taking his hand and his help to stand up. "Good thing nobody got hurt."
Another wave of expression changes passed over the Hinata residents. Shinobu, Kitsune, Su, and Haruka all looked on in shock. Seno looked very pleased with himself, and Motoko smiled appreciatively. Keitaro looked around at all the confused faces and scratched his head nervously. Naru reddened slightly.
"What?" she asked. "Something wrong?"
"We're just wonderin' why y'all didn't put Keitaro into orbit," Kitsune drawled. "Any other time and he'd be landin' in Okinawa right about now."
"It was Eastern China last time…" Keitaro muttered under his breath.
Naru huffed and planted her fists on her hips as she glared at Kitsune, who picked up a cup of tea and began to sip from it. "Excuse me?" she hissed. "You expect me to hit my boyfriend just for a little accident?"
No sooner had the word 'boyfriend' left Naru's mouth than a spray of tea shot out of Kitsune's. "B-b-b-b-boyfriend?" she stammered. "When did that happen?"
"Last night," Naru answered, beaming, as she linked her left arm through Keitaro's right. "Keitaro came up to my room and after a little talk we admitted our love for each other." She looked back up the stairs to where Motoko and Seno were still standing, and gave the other couple a wink. "Though I have to admit, it probably wouldn't have happened if Seno hadn't given us the time to talk."
The swordsman waved it off nonchalantly. "Nah, don't go saying it was all because of me," he said. "I just put you guys together and you two did the rest."
"What do you mean that he gave you the time to talk, Naru?" Haruka asked, folding up the newspaper in favor of this far more interesting, and far more newsworthy, conversation.
"He stopped me from interrupting them," Motoko answered.
"Oh?" Kitsune leered, grinning with one eye open. "And just how did he do that?"
Seno grinned in reply, his own causing Kitsune's to falter. "Kinda like this," he said, slipping one arm around Motoko's waist as he swept her feet out from under her. She fell back, letting out a noise of surprise, but he caught her in both arms as she was parallel to the ground, then smiled down at her, leaned in, and kissed her.
Both of Kitsune's eyes were now wide in shock. Su was bouncing up and down in her chair, exclaiming, "Sweep her off her feet! Sweep her off her feet!" Keitaro and Naru both cheered the couple on as Shinobu blushed and Haruka smiled.
After a moment, Seno released Motoko's lips and leaned back, grinning down at her. She fought to regain her breath, then looked up at him as a wicked smile curved across her lips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled herself up to him and all but assaulted his mouth with hers.
Naru tightened her hold on Keitaro's arm and laid her head against his shoulder as they watched the two sword-wielders before them. "It's good that he found happiness trying to get us together, don't you, Kei?" she asked.
Keitaro nodded and led her toward the table. "It is. And it's good that Motoko's finally happy, too."
Su scooted around to the head of the table so that Keitaro and Naru could sit together, and a few moments later, Seno and Motoko joined the crew, reasonably out of breath. This time it was Haruka who scooted to an adjacent chair to allow the couple to sit together.
"Now I understand why I felt like I needed to work extra hard on breakfast," Shinobu said as they all dug in.
"Because we've got to celebrate everybody getting together!" Su said in between mouthfuls of food. "Good food because everyone's happy!"
Kitsune leaned forward over the table, one eye opened as she stared at the two couples. "Sooo… you guys do it yet?"
Silence.
Keitaro immediately pressed two fingers against his nostrils to prevent the nosebleed he felt was imminent just at the prospect of doing something else with Naru at night other than just sleeping in comfort. As for Naru, her right eye was twitching, her face was bright red, and it was obvious that she was working very hard to avoid turning her physical ire on the fox woman.
"I believe I speak not only for myself and Seno, but Naru and Keitaro as well when I say that what we value in our relationships is love and companionship, and not simple animalistic passion," Motoko said calmly, taking a sip from her tea as if she were discussing the weather outside. She set her cup down, then smiled thinly at Kitsune and added, almost as an afterthought, "Unlike some."
It was silent for another moment after that, then Naru, Keitaro, and Seno burst out laughing. "Nice one, Motoko!" Naru said, giving her friend a thumbs-up.
"As Seno would say, 'Owned!'" Keitaro added.
"I don't know about you guys," Seno said, mimicking the pose on his 'Buddy Jesus' shirt as he pointed at Kitsune, "but we call that getting served where I come from!"
Motoko merely smiled, very pleased with herself.
And soon enough, Kitsune, Su, Shinobu, and Haruka were also laughing as the entire group enjoyed their breakfast. Food, condiments, and stories passed from person to person, adding to the feeling of warmth and family that surrounded the table.
Before long, everyone had finished eating, and for once, there were no hidden heartaches or busy schedules that compelled anyone to leave the table immediately. Sitting with Seno on her left and Kitsune at the end of the table on her right, Haruka leaned back in her chair and smiled. "It's never felt this good at the Hinata before," she said, to the nodding of the others. She looked across the table at Naru and Keitaro, then at Motoko and Seno on her left. "It's like we're all one big family."
"And we've got Seno to thank for that," Kitsune said, raising her tea glass and gesturing to the swordsman. "If y'all hadn't been playin' matchmaker last night, who knows how long it'd have taken for Naru and Keitaro to get hooked up?"
Motoko dropped her hand from the tabletop and laced her fingers through his. "And I certainly wouldn't have found my happiness without you," she agreed.
"Aww, come on, guys, you don't need to put me out like this…" he said.
"It's true!" Shinobu said, sitting on the other side of the table, between Kitsune and Keitaro. "You've helped everybody feel happier since you've been here."
"Even if we sometimes question your methods," Naru said with a grin.
"What do you mean?"
"Like the time you broke Mister Virtual when Kentaro was beating Keitaro in that dating fantasy!" Su said.
"Dating fantasy?" Naru asked.
"You can't fault me for that," Seno told Su. "Poor Keitaro was getting tortured." He tossed a wry smirk across the table to his old friend. "Besides, that fantasy clearly proved to be a sham anyway. Who's the one holding Naru's heart?"
"Wait a minute!" Naru said. "What dating fantasy?"
"Well, time to go open up the teashop," Haruka said, standing up from the table. "Thanks for the wonderful breakfast, Shinobu."
Kitsune stood up as well. "Come on, Shinobu, I'll help with the dishes."
"Okay!"
"Wait a second! Why isn't anyone telling me about this fantasy you're talking about?"
Motoko finished off her tea and stood. "Ready for our morning spar, Seno?"
The swordsman nodded and stood up. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because we're dating."
"I'd kill you if you did," she replied flatly as the two disappeared upstairs.
Naru whirled on Su, freezing the girl to the spot with her glare. "Su, what dating fantasy?"
"Whoops, look at the time!" Su replied, pointing to a nonexistent watch on her arm, then bounced out of the room. "Got inventions to make!"
That left Keitaro. Naru turned to her boyfriend and posted her fists on her hips. "Keitaro, you'd better tell me what everyone was talking about or you might make me break my promise not to hurt you."
Laughing nervously, the Hinata kanrinin stood up and pulled Naru into a hug. "It's like Seno said," he replied. "I'm the one you love, so it didn't matter."
Pouting out her lower lip, Naru gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "But I want to know…" she whined.
Keitaro smiled and kissed her cheek. "Fine," he said. "You know I can't resist you when you look so cute."
She grinned widely. "I know it!" she exclaimed, then grabbed his hands in both of hers. "Now tell me!"
"Well, Su used that Mister Virtual machine to see who would win your heart on a date, me or Kentaro," he explained. "It turned out that I was a major klutz and knew next to nothing about impressing you, and that Kentaro swept you off your feet with all kinds of major plans that made him sound more like a war general than a boyfriend."
Naru smiled softly and leaned her head to one side. "What'd he do, take me to expensive restaurants?"
"Yeah."
"Buy me souvenirs?"
"From right next door, too."
"Take me on rides that had short wait times?"
"Every one."
"Impress me with a nighttime view from the Ferris wheel?"
"He even said research on girls proved it would impress you."
"And then did he try to steal a kiss from me?"
Keitaro nodded. "He said that only in fantasies would you willingly give a kiss, that in real life you'd want it taken from you forcefully."
Naru laughed incredulously. "He really doesn't know anything, does he?" she asked, then smiled and leaned into Keitaro, looking up into his eyes. "I don't like eating at expensive restaurants. Souvenirs are nice, but our memories are perfectly fine for remembering good times with. Whether it takes hours or a few minutes to get on a ride, it doesn't matter as long as I'm with the one I love. Same goes for the Ferris wheel. Be it sunset, nighttime, or in the middle of the day, it's perfect as long as you're with me. And I would give you a kiss whenever you want one."
Keitaro's mouth worked up and down as his mind fought frantically to come up with something, anything, he could say to that. His brain failing him, all he could do was hold her close to him.
Smiling, Naru rested her head on his chest. "In short," she said, "Kentaro may have won his little video game fantasy date with the virtual me. But all he got out of that was a little boost to his confidence." She lifted her head from his chest and looked into his eyes, raising up on her toes to bring her face close to his. "But you, Keitaro Urashima, have won something far more valuable."
"And what would that be?" Keitaro asked, grinning, as he kissed her nose.
She closed her eyes and kissed him, then pulled back just slightly, their lips still in the slightest contact. "You won my heart," she said simply. "Now kiss me, and claim your prize."
Sliding his hand down to the center of her back, Keitaro gently bent her backwards until he held her almost parallel to the ground. "With pleasure, my Naru," he whispered, then pressed his lips fully against hers.