Life After Molmol, Book Two : Making Your Way

by Gojirob

The Hinata-Sou's residents are united as never before. Their goals are Tokyo U, fixing things up, and being there for each other. But romances and exhaustion join with potential tragedies past and present to make sure things never get dull for our gang.

6. Chapter Five Only Human

Chapter Five - Only Human

FEBRUARY 12th, 1946

As occupations went, this one wasn't so horrid in the eyes of many Japanese. The American soldiers in their land were as much tourists and consumers as they were conquerors. Granted, there were the girls who were too willing to give themselves to the Yanks, and then those who were too willing to sell or be rented, so to speak, but that had always been, and it happened, to hear it told, even back in the US, even in prosperous times. Not all was sweetness and light, by any stretch. If one wished to find either a hateful burningly resentful Japanese or a crude rude gloating American, then one never had to look all that far. But the people who were just people trying to live their lives tended to out over such miscreants, and soon it looked like the Americans might as well have come in as allies to drive out another attacker than in the way they did. It was still the aftermath of a war, and some Americans were exactly as bad as they had been told, if not worse. But since on average, these monsters were few, the injustice they engendered, while a stain, was not enough to fuel active resistance by a country rebuilding itself. Of course, there were those who said, and who would say more loudly later on, that Japan's own thugs had walked away cleanly. At this point, the desire on both sides was to begin to move on.

This war amnesia was not always shared by the rest of the world, and especially not in Asia, which would, eight years hence, take advantage of a disaster facing Japan, as the echo of the bombs that ended the war came back ashore in a hideous and unforgettable form lifted from primal and ancient nightmares.

Awa Urashima would see those days in December of 1954 and wish badly that he had not, but in early 1946 he was a man newly recovered from wounds that should not have left him with a recognizable corpse, let alone alive and mobile within months.

"Awa, the blankets are not washed properly-don't make us surround you again-we wear sharp heels for grinding into your little member!"

"Awa, the sinks are backed up-get your lazy ass in there and fix them, if you don't want it kicked straight into Hell."

"Awa, you fool! The water heater's temperature is inadequate for the hot water to sterilize eating utensils and dishes-do you have any idea how close you are to the street?"

Awa-that was all. No honorific, nor his family name. Just ultimate contempt. Nor did its effects stop there. The failure the nation wished to forget was one it would not let Awa Urashima move past.

Then there was the girl Hinata. Ironically, the others who bullied and ordered him around were of roughly equal rank to him; Only Hinata was kind, and she outranked everyone but the Administrator himself, now retired from the military.

"Urashima! Where is my aspirin?"

But Hinata was not kind today.

"You took it all down. Anymore, and you risk making your blood too thin."

She grabbed him, hurled him against the stone wall, and then hit him successively with both his broom and his mop. He knew something was wrong when he was able to grab both from her ten seconds later.

"All right, what's wrong with you? Usually, when you get going, those things are like chopper blades."

The diminutive girl stood, but not with any steadiness.

"Go to hell, you idiot. Man can't even fly a plane into a hundred tons of steel , and he wants to tell me about my blood and skills?"

A moment later, she was a girl who couldn't fly herself into the corridor, and a man who had taken her charity as well as her abuse for months caught her as she fell.

"I am an idiot. I should have taken prison or the streets, than put up with all of you. Now how many aspirin have you already taken today?"

For once, the girl that surprised everyone and had layered secrets was just a girl, helpless and sick.

"Not sure. Wanted to avoid-harder stuff."

He shook his head.

"You handle pain the way I do, and you whine less about it. The fact that you're even thinking about the hard stuff tells me everything. You're going home."

A shrill voice met his ears as he placed Hinata on his back.

"Awa! The bedpans need to be emptied."

"Then empty them. She's my charge, she's sick, and we're going home."

The wannabe-head nurse folded her arms.

"You know what they say about a kick down there, Awa?"

With all the restrained anger of a failed entry into Heaven backing him up, Awa kicked the woman and her five friends exactly where he had been warned of. They went down, heaving.

"Yes, I do. They say that, if you kick really really hard-even a woman can feel that special pain. Now do your jobs while she's gone. If she has to kick your asses, then I will follow up for her. Hai?"

"H-Hai."

"Hai-what?"

His grandson would have to find other methods to achieve this, but Awa's victory was just as clear.

"Hai-Urashima-San."

As they left, Hinata managed a laugh.

"You hit girls now?"

He shrugged.

"How much more of a disgrace can I be?"

As they neared their flat, she tried to shake off of him.

"Awa-San-you have done your duty. What's happening now-is part of how my life ends. It could get ugly. I release you, and urge you to get back to work."

He placed her on the futon, undressed her to the extent she needed to be, then covered Hinata up.

"You think, after months of being bossed around, I will pass up this opportunity to tell you what to do?"

She looked up, and suddenly the tiny comet seemed not so icy.

"Was I that harsh?"

"Ask the back of my head. Or my nose, shoved into bedpans about a hundred times. Ask all the maintenance and nursing staff you didn't treat that way."

She shook her head.

"That was because I knew you would do it, that it would get done. I've hit and pushed the others. They still treat those wounded men like they were disgraces. Only you take their care seriously."

He snorted.

"Then you are a stupid little girl. For even with my debts and arrest should I try to flee them, I was several times on the verge of bolting. Especially when you took a week off to go sightseeing with MacDougal-San!"

It was there, even he would be forced to admit it. Jealousy. Whatever its real underlying base, Awa wanted attention that his charge and employer would not give him.

"I wasn't sightseeing. I was preparing for this illness."

He placed a hot towel on her head as she spoke.

"That makes no sense at all."

She sighed, and resigned herself.

"You are cursed?"

"I should think that your nurses shoving me down stairs and punching me through windows without killing me would prove that."

"Then you may hear my story without consequence. Awa, do you know what happens to me a little over one year from today, should I live?"

"You will give me over to American nurses to be their punching bag?"

"DO NOT MAKE FUN!"

He looked scared, not of her, but rather for her, and so pushed her back down.

"I-apologize. No-you must tell me what will happen to you then. For you have told me nothing about yourself."

His words seemed to draw her gaze. The bitter broken man who resented his life and living had come to care about the life and living of another.

She nodded, a hint of a smile shining through the pain.

"I will. Sometime in early 1947-I no longer know exactly when-I will turn one hundred years old."

The shock on his face was worth a lot of years alone. Almost.

"Yes-your Lolita is actually a whole bakery's worth of Christmas Cakes, eh?"

"How can this be?"

She coughed, took more water and a little soup, then began.

"I was born as the power seized by the Shoguns flowed back to its natural place in the Chrysanthemum Throne-"

"Hina-San-power belongs to the people. That is the new way."

"Yet even MacArthur insisted this land have an Emperor. Now, do not interrupt me. But as the Emperor rose again as a power, a new power also rising made its presence known in Japan. That power's flag now flies over ours, by the way. Admiral Perry may have been crude and overly blunt, but he knew he was dealing with a proud and stubborn people, so when his contacts were refused, the bombardments began. Ultimately, he prevailed, and Japan met its first Americans. Some were the ultimate tourist trash-but others were in awe, and showed it. Perhaps being from so young a land themselves, they liked being in somewhere with more roots and history. One sailor struck up a friendship with a girl who reminded him of his little sister back home. I am that girl. That sailor's name was Sam MacDougal."

Despite his promise, Awa interrupted.

"He is cursed as well?"

"No. Our friend is descended of that man's sister, who married a cousin of hers later on. My father had not even wanted the Emperor restored, let alone see this incursion of 'foreign devils'. Several times, he forbid me to see Sam-Chan. Understand, he never tried anything-though I might not have stopped him if he had. He saw and treated me exactly as I have said. One night, not long before he was to ship out, I waited for him to say one of our last goodbyes. My father appeared instead, saying that I was a stupid girl, and a stupid girl I would always be. He said my sailor wasn't coming, and that he would never come again. I hadn't known that my father and some of his friends had made certain of this, and paid other Americans to say he had fallen off a dock somewhere while drunk. I vowed that he would return, and kept on vowing till he slapped a small scroll on my head-saying that I would always be a little girl, unless my vow were proven true. I was then told to leave my home, and seek family in other parts of Japan."

Awa knew the sort of man Hinata's father had been, as the saying goes, all too well.

"To curse a little girl so casually is cruel."

She saw something in him, then, but frowned as though a condition in a deal had been met past that agreement's expiration.

"He said that he could not prevent the world from changing, but that I would remain the same. The family members I found never allowed me to stay for very long. I took to running with the kitsune spirits. They are mercurial, exasperating creatures, but their affections are not so easily thrown off, once you have them."

Awa remembered something.

"You took MacDougal-San to your father's grave, didn't you? To break the curse? Well, did it?"

Hinata smiled.

"I began to feel myself die as I spoke prayers over that grave. I wish that I remembered what he looked like. That is my illness, Urashima-San. That last illness of all, as the years catch up with me at last-and you made it possible for me to reach my rest."

Her hand gently cupped his cheek, and then she closed her eyes.

The next morning, the barely teened girl was gone, and in her place was a college-age woman.

"Why-why am I alive?"

In the night, Awa had crawled atop her to sleep, almost smothering her.

"YOU-IDIOT!"

She jump-kicked him in the head, sending him flying.

"Uhhhh-what'd I do?"

She pointed at him with absolute fury in her eyes.

"It was my time, you fool! Your being atop me stopped Death from claiming me when it had the chance! Your curse is now mine too! Your bad luck has rubbed off on me, and kept me back from my dream! Have you nothing to say for yourself?"

Awa looked nervous.

"Maybe-maybe you don't get to pick when you die? I know I didn't."

She punched him with abandon, straight in the face.

"You are the lowest sort of being-I HATE YOU!"

Awa Urashima ached, and he bled, and even his healing was painful. Yet every single time he thought of his role in thwarting Hina's death-he smiled broadly.

"An Urashima is not so easily gotten rid of, little woman."

Hearts had touched, but if this tender sound were drowned out by thunder, one would tend to understand.

By the way, Hina still demanded chocolates the next day, which was Valentine's Day. She did not allow her statement of contempt and hate to relieve him of his obligation in this regard. Awa learned this-after the fact.

FEBRUARY 1ST, 2002

THE PRIVATE JOURNAL OF MITSUNE 'MITSU' KONNO

I was honestly trying to turn over a new leaf. I was trying to show Kei that I could have been a real choice, and show all the others, including Haruka, that I could make it and then some. I had no choice, in some respects. They were going to throw me out over a mountain of debts and some 'Yes you can go too far' stunts I'd pulled.

I succeeded. Everyone was stunned and impressed by the new me, and I turned that energy towards replacing bar stools instead of wearing them out. To putting in tinted glass window panes to cool us in the summer instead of emptying tinted bottles. To seeing if this place could make money instead of me making debt.

Times were good. Molmol was behind us, Todai ahead of us. Shinobu of all people had snagged a decent guy and taken her turn in the Big-Stupid barrel we've all worn. Kei and Naru continue to make the local rabbits complain about the noise from their bedroom. Motoko found a guy she liked well enough to make her sister summon them for inspection. Kaolla Su is making stumbling progress towards less explosions-or maybe more manageable explosions. Mutsumi and I are becoming like me and Naru used to be-if I haven't pissed that away with some choice remarks. Me? I'm the respected house mother, the Ryobo chosen by the departing Ryobo.

How events on the other side of the world managed to smack us upside the head, I have no idea.

Grandma is dead, and she's not the only one.

As Mitsu lead her badly drunken other self upstairs to sleep it off-again-Mutsumi read the telegram, now two months old, a demand made as part of their final reconciliation.

"Oh-Mitsu. No wonder you were so upset."

Closing the door to her old room and old life for now, she nodded.

"He was a good guy. He had someone waiting for him back home, but he's the insanely jealous type, and hearing from a woman might set him off in a time of grieving."

As allied forces in Afghanistan approached Tora Bora, a counter-attack reminded everyone that this war would never be a cakewalk. Among those more harshly reminded had been a US Marine named Joseph, once stationed in Japan and dear friend to a woman named Mitsune Konno.

"He seemed genuinely at peace with himself, despite any problems his service had with his private life."

"Yeah. Someday, the Yanks better put the brakes on that little piece of wisdom. He would tell me, he was a Marine at heart, and Marines may seek cover, but they do not like to hide."

Mutsumi was touched, but also still touchy.

"And at least they don't walk down the street with the entire phone book as their date menu."

Mitsu tried to smooth over her dumbest action to date since taking what she saw as the responsible path.

"Look, first off, that wasn't even my crack-I got it from one of Joseph's George Carlin CD's. Second, isn't it obvious that I was a bit to a lot jealous?"

Mutsumi shook her head.

"Jealous of me?"

Mitsu shook her head.

"You were in there with the two of them. I wasn't. You were doing the brave and the bold team-up, and all I could do was think of going to my room and flying solo. I mean, I've thought about things like that-I love them both too. But you took your love and you tried like hell to make it happen."

Mutsumi for her part did not seem any less offended.

"So-acting out my feelings for both Kei and Naru doesn't make me a freak, it makes me a thrill seeker?"

"Hey! I didn't say it in a disparaging way!"

"Didn't you? What if I said that Kei was the only man I've ever had these feelings for? Or what if I said that Naru was the only woman? What if I said that it was only that combination that could ever make me want to join an existing couple in what can be an emotionally dangerous if not explosive mix?"

Mitsu, impossibly, felt smaller than before.

"I-don't know."

Mutsumi smiled.

"So don't guess, if you don't know. My love for those two goes back to a time when my heart was only forming. Don't assume that you can gauge from it anything else about me. As for flying solo-you don't have to, you know."

The smile grew slightly wider, and threw Mitsu off.

"I-don't know what to make of that."

Mutsumi began to walk away.

"See-you're already learning."

Mitsu turned around to follow her.

"You can't just shoot off a statement like that and expect to-"

But the bustiest woman a very busty woman knew was no longer there. The paneling, floors and furniture seemed different as well.

"Kit-Ryobo?"

The girl with glasses standing before her was someone Mitsu had never seen before, and looked to be the polar opposite of Mutsumi, chest-wise.

*Almost took her for a boy*

"er-yes?"

The girl looked perpetually annoyed, but with a twinge of this having been a shift from perpetual meekness. Mitsu could almost smell it off her.

"I have decided that I cannot allow the wedding to go forward. Arlo-San has bested all my tests, but he is still wrong for Maehara-Dono, even if she cannot see that."

Mitsu saw something fall from her own hand. It was a lit cigarette.

"Umm-Shinobu and Arlo are getting married?"

The girl stamped down.

"No! NO THEY ARE NOT! She belongs with me. I realize now I've been too meek for too long. Kit-Ryobo, she will listen to you. Don't force my hand in this."

Mitsu was beyond confused, but really did not want to upset this volatile kid any further.

"Why-don't you talk all this over with your friends, first?"

"Be-cause! Sarah-chan and Mei-kun love him too-they-may be hatching their own plots. But I will not be bested. Where do you stand in this? Answer me! I said answer me!"

A young woman of presence and confidence walked up and almost shoved past the yelling girl. She wore her engagement ring proudly, and acted like Naru once had.

"Leave Kit out of this-it's between you and-"

The paneling and the furniture shifted back to what Mitsu knew. The angry girl vanished entirely, while the young woman shifted into a girl on the verge of womanhood, absent an engagement ring, and absent some but not all of the confidence and near-swagger of the woman who had told the girl to back off.

"-me. Mitsu? Mitsu, you said you'd help me this morning."

Sweet little (though not as little) Shinobu stood before a woman she addressed by name and not title.

"Um-yeah. Glad to, kiddo. Uhhh-we're not planning your engagement party, are we?"

Shinobu blushed, and then smiled.

"Oh, you-you're as bad as Kei. We only played around in there-nothing serious."

As the two walked off to talk with a mother and son about their troubles, a floor beneath them, a young man bid the woman he loved to cut power to a device they operated only when the others were distracted.

"That one was close. Who was that girl?"

"Never seen her before, but that's the point, isn't it? We saw her, clear as day. So we have local views, and now we need regional."

Keitaro Urashima refocused and saw his target, but they were at the wrong point in their search.

"Naru-is this during the war?"

In the viewer, Awa and Hinata were running-so were a lot of people. An unholy wail pierced the skies of burning Tokyo.

"Nope-December 1954, just after Christmas. The time of his first attack."

Kei shook his head.

"Then it's no good."

Naru raised a finger.

"Maybe not! Maybe-maybe disasters in history have their own unique signature."

It was hope, so Kei saved their work and shut down the machine. They cleaned up to keep its inventor out of the loop.

"Still-could this end up having any side effects?"

PRIVATE JOURNAL

I thought I must be losing my mind, after seeing that girl from nowhere-or nowhere soon, as the case may be. Had to be overwork. I've been through more contractors these last few months than I used to go through bottles and cans.

Then and there, Shinobu needed me. I really wasn't much help, but I lent what support I could. Calling out your boyfriend's mother. Not a task I'd relish, even with a whole liquor cabinet in me and two in reserve.

They approached the meeting-place at one of Alice's restaurants, under renovation.

"So how's your friend Amy-San?"

Shinobu's growth had been obvious in many respects, including some that had been too fast for her Sempais' tastes. But one of the most positive had been how she played same-age sempai to a girl lost in a foreign country after her world fell apart.

"Her grandmother still wants her to wait until her father's reconstructive surgery is more complete before coming home. Amy is thinking of defying her. I don't know what to tell her. For a Japanese girl, that's supposed to be unthinkable-but if it were my Papa, I think I would have already gone over the fence. Whether that's me talking or my feelings for Arlo pushing it along, I can't say."

Mitsu smiled.

"You really like him."

"Yeah, but...I still think of Sempai Kei. A lot. Him and Sempai Naru going at it all the time-sometimes I take off the headphones and listen to them anyway. I want to be fair to Arlo-but the truth is, if Kei asked me, I'd lay back and let him-"

"There's a lot of that going around, kid. Don't let it guide you to a stupid choice."

Shinobu got a predictably sharp look on her face.

"You're one to talk."

Mitsu-Ryobo broke the surface just then, reminding the girl of the culture they were steeped in.

"That is enough! Yes, I am one to talk. You know why? Because, Maehara-Kun, I was the product of my father's affair with another...person. I was left on their altar on the big day because my real Mom was like a Super-Kitsune...literally. Even when I didn't know this, I knew I was born close to the date of their wedding, which meant someone somewhere jumped the gun. That's why I held back all this time, and why you will too, if you're smart."

Once unthinkable, Shinobu sniffed at the statement almost haughtily.

"You sound like Arlo. He 'wants to do' all these things but lacks the nerve."

Mitsu stopped their progress. This horse had to be ridden and broken.

"I used to toss around phrases like that, partly out of cover, and partly out of culture. Have you even thought about where Arlo came from? Why he might not want to repeat history on a girl he really likes? I'm sorry Kei got your hormones all jacked up, girlie, but let's be real. A bold man can get a bold girl pregnant. Kei and Naru have money and a business of their own, should that happen. They have matured, at least from where we knew them. You and Arlo have your parents and us, and that's all. I can't say we'd be delighted to hear you say you've been that stupid, and let's be real about dreams of Todai once that happened. Ten years added to the dream, if in fact you ever make it in. Yes, Mitsune Konno, once the legendary slut Kitsune, is a scared little virgin, same as you. I still also have at least half-a-decade on you. I am still sempai and Onee-chan, and I am still Ryobo, and I will kick the little ass you so badly want Arlo to pump if I have to. This isn't one of Kei's ecchi books, where the guy goes 'oops' at the end and the girl coos 'inside' and then joke about how to handle the baby. The lady you're about to confront probably has a good portion of her problems based in all that 'boldness' crap. So don't expect me to back you up in there when you want to make her a grandmother by way of the same stupidity."

Some of the attitude fled, but hardly all of it.

"This is all Kei's fault. If he'd just nailed me the night of our dinner-"

It was only two fingers strong and on her hand, but the slap Mitsu gave Shinobu brought things into sharp focus.

"He would never have, and if he would have, he would never have survived. We didn't fall for a player's line, Shinobu. We fell in love with a man. Now, are you calm, or should we do this another day?"

Shinobu closed her eyes.

"Mitsu, its gotten so bad, I can't even stay in the onsen too long. It used to be, if Sempai Kei walked in on me, he might see a boob or my butt before I cried and covered myself. Now, if he did? I'm no longer certain I could stop myself as I went at it. My crushes are crushing me. Look at me! Once, I would never have dreamed of talking to you this way."

She mussed the younger girl's hair.

"We can talk, ya know. Just bring the awkward stuff and leave the attitude. I mean, did you have anyone to talk to before this?"

"Just Sempai Kei."

Mitsu's eyes bugged out.

"You-you talked with Kei-"

"Mmm-hmm. He said he had to take responsibility for me, since none of you would."

"We-we-we would have talked to you about-ya know-stuff-Frau Leben! Uh-Uh-"

Shinobu nodded.

"You see? That's why I can't get over him. You all saw me and thought of sweet innocence to be protected at all costs. He saw me and thought of all those wonderful dirty things. I'd give money to be able to see his journal entries about me."

Mitsu wisely did not mention how such a wish could be very disheartening if it ever came true.

PRIVATE JOURNAL

All that was just in getting there. I thought sure it would be worse once inside. Not so much.

Alice shook her head slowly.

"I've never meant to hurt him. I don't believe this is the right thing to do. It has nothing to do with anything he's done. It just-I don't know, erupts. Moments of raw fury where it almost seems like someone else is in charge of my actions. I just keep hoping that I can remind myself that my son is not his father. Always when I think I've nailed it all down, it comes out."

Shinobu was surprisingly gentle with a woman whose actions, Mitsu knew, had infuriated her. Perhaps the girl's own bout with vengeful anger had made her more sympathetic.

"What brings it out, Alice-San? Is it just that random?"

The son who was being discussed sat with Mitsu, several things keeping him silent. But Mitsu could tell that, among those things was trust in the girl handling his case.

"When he is late or doesn't call, it really isn't all that bad. Usually lateness is followed by an explanation, and a missed call is followed by two extra ones. But in those instances, I see his father again, telling me how my Onee-chan must be attended to-just as my parents did the instant she moved in. Until our affair, I was the flat nail, and she was the one that jutted out. But instead of being nailed down, she was paid the extra attention and given what she wanted. Even before Arlo arrived, I was already coming in a distant second, and I began to suspect even third."

Shinobu sighed.

"Have I made things worse?"

Alice chuckled.

"You? You've forced me to confront this horrible thing I've been doing. His being with you means it can't go unnoticed any more. Without you, I could have lost my son someday."

The silence was broken.

"That would never happen! I would never leave you the way he did! I made a promise!"

Alice grasped her son's hand.

"And making you take such an oath was one of the worst things I've ever done. I've never had to demand anything of you. Everything a good mother could ask for, you've just given."

Yet Arlo could not let part of these tender words pass without comment. He rose from where he sat, actually looking upset.

"Then why have you never once said these kinds of things before?"

Alice at first looked like she was going to cite some event or holiday to counter Arlo's words.

"I guess-that I was always scared that, if I openly appreciated you, you would be taken away from me."

Mitsu openly nudged Shinobu.

"Don't worry. That hasn't happened yet."

Alice walked up and squeezed Shinobu's nose, albeit gently enough not to really hurt.

"I'd heard something about that. Maehara-Chan! Not even four months after our talk about my past?"

As she was released, Shinobu blushed.

"I-I like him. It's the first time I liked a boy, where we both aren't nervous wrecks about it. But it was so nice not being nervous, I forgot to be careful. Your son was careful for both of us. He actually brought-you know-not that we ended up being in a position to need it."

When Arlo was cornered by a glare, he shrugged.

"Most girls classify me as not even a prospect, for more reasons than I can really understand. But Shin-Chan talked to me from Day One. And she is just so-cute. Even though half her words are about Kei Sempai, I don't mind. Again, most girls I've known pretend to be embarrassed by their families."

Shinobu used the opening.

"Alice-San, I don't want anything you or I could do to come between you and Arlo. So I obtained this name and number. It belongs to a psychiatrist. Auntie Haruka recommended her."

Alice took the card. It had a name she was already familiar with on it.

"And when is Haruka going to see this doctor?"

Mitsu nodded.

"We're working on that one. She thinks it's 1999 now. That's something."

Alice threw down the card.

"I can't see this woman!"

Mitsu again took up the gauntlet.

"Alice-San, you were screwed over by an intermittent interpretation of our customs, one that pampered your shrill cousin, and forgave Arlo's father while blaming you. Even your Dad, who was supposed to go against tradition, went from one pole to the other in a heartbeat. Now, are you going to let our people's feelings against seeking psychiatric help destroy what you and your son have together?"

Alice laughed.

"Haruka said you were a handful, Mitsu-Chan. What I meant was, I can't see this woman-as in this particular woman. She was one of Haruka's friends, and I remember her. I even threw her out of my first place for getting drunk underage in it. I could never take her seriously. I told Haruka as much when she first suggested this-before she herself came to be in need of care."

Shinobu smiled.

"She has a sempai-a colleague who practices with her. A Bob Hartless-err, Hartlen-Hartnost-errr-Hart-Hartley."

Alice sat back down.

"A head-shrinker can't change Arlo's looks, or my feelings of betrayal that those looks bring out."

Mitsu, now a bit more sure-footed, came up with the coup de grace.

"I'm half your age-and by that I mean to bring up life experience. But I have you beat in one arena, Alice-San. I know better than you how pent-up feelings can wreck a home. All my friends refused to tell me how poor a friend I was being, till it all exploded-and nearly cost me that same home. Can you afford this service?"

"And then some."

"Then what do you lose by going?"

Alice nodded.

"I will go-on one condition."

She pointed at the young couple.

"I want your word that any thoughts of taking things to the next level will wait until Shinobu knows she has earned admission to Todai. Be careful after that, but before that, nothing that places you in bed together-at all. And you know what I mean by that, so no couches or back seats or what have you."

Shinobu bowed.

"I agree to your terms."

Arlo breathed in, and then bowed as well.

"As do I, Mother. History will not repeat itself."

When the two had left, probably to talk about the next two to three difficult years, Mitsu turned to Alice.

"All an oath like that will do is give them pause. Even good kids will find loopholes. You know what you just did?"

"Yes! I have just insured that they will both find the means and grades to graduate high school early and enter Todai in record time. That alone will keep their motors from revving too high too quickly."

Mitsu stood stunned.

"Wow-Auntie said you had a lot to teach me."

PRIVATE JOURNAL

That was the first time I ever felt like a house mother. I was also kind of happy that it ended early in addition to ending well. I was finally able to schedule a session with Kei and Naru regarding the contractors' beginning their work. We may all have to seek other quarters while they do their thing, in order for it to get done in time.

Kei and Naru already have another place to stay-each other. My dearest friends are a new couple, and are they ever annoying. Even more annoying is the fact that my predecessor feels the need to sit in-without remembering what year it is, or that I have her job now.

Then there's the subject I try not to think about, that refuses to let me put her out of my mind. The presence of Mitsune 'Kitsune' Konno-who claims to be me as I used to be.

I could use some dull times.

"We all know each other, so semi-portable walls will enable us to reconfigure the rooms on our level, while keeping the guest rooms below us..."

Naru raised a finger.

"Umm-can't we do the same thing on the guest level? I mean, if a family that books with us turns out to be larger than we thought, and if the next one cancels, reconfiguring their rooms would make as much sense as for us in our rooms."

Mitsu shook her hand in the air.

"Opens us up to safety lawsuits, pervs and busybodies checking on other people."

Kei called the idea back from cancellation.

"Not if their rooms have combination locks that only we know the codes to. Plus, in an Inn this size, do people have an expectation of complete privacy? I mean, even back when it seemed like I was getting pummeled every five seconds, you girls always allowed me a two-second window to turn around and get out-most times, anyway."

Haruka was a picture in absurdity. Her pregnant stomach was like an announcement that this was not 1999, but her attitude and demeanor seemed almost good-naturedly at odds with this reality.

"Guests? Are we having guests? Oh-yeah-Nori Seta said he was stopping by with Tara MacDougal's little girl. Keitaro, did I ever tell you about him, her and me?"

"Yes, Auntie-you found Exca-an excellent antique Celtic sword in some caves near the Brittany coast."

Haruka suddenly swatted her nephew across the back of his head before getting up to leave.

"I've told you before-call me Haruka-San! Auntie is too familiar and makes me feel old! Now-I have the task of raising the dead-or rather raising Kitsune from her bender."

"Ummm-I'm right here, Haruka. You know me, the one who has your job now? How do you explain me?"

Haruka shrugged.

"Kaolla Su built a time machine, right? So you're from some weirdzo Terminator-Zombie-Robocop future where everything went wrong. Because there is no way in Hell Kitsune could do what I do."

After she left, Naru rubbed the back of Keitaro's head.

"Did she hurt you?"

Kei pshawed her.

"It was barely worth mentioning. I've been pounded by people who knew what the word means!"

Mitsu put aside the dismissive words against herself and kept on Kei.

"Yeah, but Kei-she's obviously getting worse. She may have hit you a few times since you got here, but it was never like with us. And what's with her objecting to Auntie, all of a sudden?"

Naru nodded in agreement.

"Seems like something out of a bad cartoon, like the ones where somebody punches someone else out from a mile away. That's never been part of the Auntie I know."

As always, it seemed that if there was one person in the world who understood his aunt and cousin best of all, it was Kei.

"I talked to Doctor Kashigawa when all this nonsense started. The first part is obvious-she's placed herself three years back, because Grandma was still alive then."

Naru grinned.

"What else did Emi-Oba-San tell her Kei-Kun?"

Kei blushed.

"Hey! She was just happy to see me after all those years. Auntie's friends used to play beach ball with me."

Mitsu felt confused.

"Weren't you too short to reach the net-or anything?"

"Nope. I was the beach ball. They were all fond of jell-o shots. I would have seen them nude-but the motion of being the ball made me sick."

Mitsu felt an ache at the mention of what had been a party favorite-in another life. Naru couldn't help but keep teasing her man.

"Our Kei had a harem, even back in the day. Doctor Emi said they all wanted to marry him!"

Kei unloaded his best on his best girl.

"I'm not the one she offered to do a case study on acceptable levels of violence in relationships, am I dear?"

Naru grabbed him by the collar, and held him at fist point.

"You want violence, you perverted monster?"

His eyes grew cold and steely.

"BRING IT!"

So she did bring it-her face right up against his, that is, as Mitsu sighed audibly.

"Remind me to never create a drinking game based on you two starting in."

Walking-almost stumbling in through the door was the inexplicable Kitsune, adding to Mitsu's headaches. She belched lightly as she saw the two lovebirds kissing.

"Lemme guess-this isn't what it looks like, right?"

Naru stopped, an all-too satisfied smile on her face.

"Nope-this is exactly what it seems."

Kitsune seized Kei by the back of the head and looked at him.

"Let's find out, then."

She kissed him as well, then pulled back while grinning.

"Not bad! 'Cept, ya see, Naru is supposed to be all objectionable to my joke, Keitaro is supposed to be freaking, she's supposed to be punching him while he's crying-"

Mitsu took some small delight in this part.

"Check your calendar, relic. This is a brand new day!"

Kitsune fired right back, pointing to herself.

"Or maybe it's the Clone Saga!"

Mitsu grumbled at both the odd reference and the annoying way her counterpart would always raise a finger in the air before saying something absurd or snarky. She was so obviously fuming, Kitsune couldn't resist moving in for another strike.

"Oooh! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole-"

The lusty, almost wicked grin that had made a nervous wreck of Kei on more than one occasion now did its work on its former owner as Kitsune kept on.

"-fire in the hole! Bring a hose! A long-thick hose-with a lot of reserves."

She glanced over at Kei.

"You seem to have moved up, Manager-San. You brought your fire-fighting equipment for poor Mitsu? You up to using it?"

Kei seemed to shudder a bit at first, despite his recent changes. Then, he appeared to shift his gaze at Kitsune, and looked almost annoyed.

"That equipment is under contract with a lifetime option I hope gets picked up."

His look then became very annoyed.

"Tell me you have a good reason for doing all this!"

It was finally neo-Kitsune's turn to look nervous. But this she fought off.

"Hey-I'm doing this for her. She's so uptight, she forced me into existence. I guess-I'm asking you to trust me on this one. We had some good times, right, Kei?"

His look softened, but not entirely.

"Yeah, we did. Like that time I forgot something you asked me for, and you forgave it. But whatever you are planning, do it soon. Mitsu is a treasured and indispensible employee and a dear friend. She has a life to live, and a job to do."

Kitsune smiled, grabbed Kei's cheek-then a cheek located far from his face, and then mussed his hair.

"I love ya, Kei-you're sooooo fluffy!"

Kitsune's hands were both grabbed and bent back.

"All cheeks and lips on that body have been optioned-by me. Hands off!"

Naru then kissed Kitsune on the cheek.

"On the other hand-it's almost a relief to see you. Things were getting a little dull around here."

Mitsu shook her head.

"Thanks a lot, Best Pal!"

Naru also kissed Mitsu.

"Just saying."

Naru still teased her man as they left.

"So-how was that kiss, loverboy? What was she like?"

Kei nodded, checking his breath with his hand over his mouth.

"Eighty-Proof. Hope I don't do any driving anytime soon."

"You and every driver on the road, dearest."

"Oh, lady-I wouldn't even want to see what kind of road rage you bring to the table..."

Kitsune made for the door as well.

"I have gotta keep needling those two. They're actually more fun, now that they've unclenched."

Before the once and present queen of mayhem could go forward, the woman who had begun to pray she was the true Mitsune Konno blocked her at the doorway.

"Who the hell are you? No more 'wouldn't I like to know?', or other like vague answers. You told Kei you were here for me. So do something for me, if you're going to do it!"

Again, that smile, joined by that finger in the air, a finger so annoying, Mitsu wondered how Kei avoided cutting it off, during his times in the barrel. Then again, since this was a man who had avoided simply hitting Naru back or telling Shinobu to grow up, that part wasn't so hard.

"I already have, oh retentive one. On Thursday, we leave for home. You want out of the Twilight Zone? Well, the only way out is through. And remember-you are dealing with the trickster!"

"Home? To which family?"

"Both. Or-maybe only one family will be there. Hard to say."

Mitsu folded her arms.

"You love playing the trickster, don't you? You think that can make you happy, because you're always the best."

Kitsune leaned in close to Mitsu.

"I am the best. I am so damned good, I could make you think Mutsumi was a boy!"

Kitsune walked off still smiling, and with Mitsu still fuming.

"Yeah-right."

PRIVATE JOURNAL

Ever since the Kitsune-Mom-showed me Kei's journal, I wondered how a lazy but honest effort to get a guy could lead to that same guy dismissing me entirely. I knew how it had happened, but the why was still on me like duct tape. Dealing with this other 'Kitsune', I now wonder how any of my friends put up with me. Did I call her into being, by trying my damndest to change? I don't want to steal Kei from Naru. I just want to be the sort of person he could have taken seriously. But is the trickster so far up my spiritual backside that nothing can get her out?

Thursday, when we both go home, is two days away. Tomorrow-I go with Motoko and Koichi when Motoko introduces her boy-pal to Tsuroko. Motoko is a grown woman, by law very much allowed to choose whoever she wants. By custom, though, Tsuruko is Onee-Chan and theirs is a warrior clan, devoted to outward acceptance of others and inner intolerance of all weakness in themselves.

Watch out for flying glass.

Kaolla Su smiled at the woman who still held large pieces of her heart.

"Thanks for letting me come, Motoko-Chan. What with teaching Onii-Chan and hanging back after the plane crashes, I feel like I haven't left the Sou in forever!"

Motoko pulled the child close. There was Kei, and there was Koichi, and there was dealing with her sister. But this small bundle of life energy would always occupy a precious place in her heart.

"I can think of very few I would ever wish to have more by my side than you, whether in simple situations or in a challenge such as this."

After a hug, Su went over to Mitsu.

"I tried following her around like you said, Mitsu-but boy she's slippery."

Mitsune had almost known that the secret of her other self wouldn't be broken through surveillance. But Su's offer was welcomed as at least a possibility of doing so coupled with the huge advantage of giving the Human comet something to do other than beg for more of Alice-San's chili cheese fries. If Kaolla Su could be annoying at times, her ability to eat endless amounts of the fat-laden carbs had earned her the wrath of every other woman that lived at the Sou-and the avoidance of all its residents, when those chili cheese fries exacted a gaseous price on the young princess's breaking of the wind.

"It's okay, kid. I'll find out all I need to know, tomorrow. I just appreciate you trying. Huh. You changed, too, but nobody is saying they miss the old you."

Su blushed.

"Yeah-I'm sorry me and Shinobu took Kitsune to the movies with us, instead of you. But she was just more fun, and people were always trying to shush her while she talked over the bad plot."

It had been that way for weeks. Kei played a board game with her instead of Mitsu. Naru watched a horror movie with her, apologizing later for it being force of habit-and it once had been. When Mitsu had been too busy to drink a cheap bottle of sake with Motoko in the onsen-Kitsune had obliged. When Mutsumi had a sudden yen for junk food, Mitsu as a shopping partner seemed to be not even a consideration.

*Have I lost that much? Damn them all, this is what they said they wanted-I am who they said they wanted. Don't demand I grow up and then ditch me for not being all about the fun anymore.*

Su next ran up to Koichi.

"Are you scared, Koichi? Tsuruko is really tough. Even Motoko is scared of her."

Having the young princess as an eternal accessory to his relationship with Motoko had taken some getting used to, but Koichi had grown to love her as much as any resident of the Sou.

"Well, little princess, I see it this way : When I'm doing work on a building's air conditioning in the middle of summer, the job can get messy and hot and end up involving a lot more work than we ever guessed. But I can't back out once started, because by then the system's shut off entirely, and nobody can live for long if I don't finish up. While I'm not comparing Motoko to an air system, I did start in with her, and wherever this ends up, I can't just go halfway there and still call myself a man."

Motoko halted before a small, unassuming house that fooled no one at all.

"We have arrived at my sister's home."

Mitsu seemed a bit confused.

"Where's your family's mega-temple? You know, the one that the temples in every Bruce Lee movie only wanted to look like?"

Motoko sighed.

"Mitsu, would you call this place alarming?"

"The place itself, minus your Onee-Chan? Not one bit."

"What would you call it then?"

"Ummm-so charming its-"

Mitsu nodded as she caught on.

"Disarming."

A course of action on the back burner for a while re-formed in Mitsu's head while Tsuruko and her husband greeted them. The man immediately put out his arms for his sister-in-law.

"Welcome back, Little Blossom. What? My arms were good enough when I was Temple Keeper, but not as your Onii-Chan?"

Motoko surprised almost all by entering and returning that embrace. Tsuruko had scandalized her family, just a bit, by marrying a man whose family was once hereditary servants, bound to the temple and to a lesser extent, to the Aoyoma family. But ancient scrolls showing that a change in status had been offered and deferred put paid to the parts of the opposition that true love could not overcome. It had been Motoko who had objected the most loudly. She understood the heartbreak Kaolla Su felt when she had ended all possibilities between them beyond dearest friends, for she had felt a similar heartbreak when the parent/sibling she worshipped started playing house with the man who made sure a young warrior's tough training also had its comforts and joys.

"Shuhei-I denounced you when I had no cause. Can you forgive me?"

The Keeper smiled at the warrior and honked her nose.

"Now-you are forgiven. Though if I'd found someone like that on my sister-he would not be a man anymore, so I always got you, Little Blossom."

Motoko looked at Mitsu.

"If you hold your head dear, Konno-San, not a word about my nickname to anyone!"

Mitsu grinned.

"I may not be Kitsune anymore, but that tidbit has way too much potential mileage to pass up."

Tsuruko showed that, among members of a warrior clan, combat training never really ceases.

"Is my sister afraid Urashima-San will tease her with this knowledge?"

Motoko seemed prepared for this.

"Urashima is my and therefore your brother. He may tease me as much as you, and he is usually fairer about it."

Tsuruko upped the ante.

"A brother whose bargings-in you have ceased to punish-and whom you lost to-along with the robe he seized as a prize. Just when did our Motoko lose her desire for a body wrap?"

Motoko blushed, and turned to her boyfriend.

"Koichi-I'm sorry you have to hear all this."

He shook his head.

"I'm not. I mean, I like Kei-San-the man amazes me for taking all I've heard about and probably more-sometimes most of all from you, Moe-Chan. But I really don't get when all I've seen is your bare shoulders-not that they're not hot-that he gets to see the whole special order-with sukiyaki and fried rice."

Kaolla Su jumped in and both sidetracked and amped up the awkwardness.

"I once offered to send Kei Onii-Chan pictures of me with nothing on-but Motoko ritually executed my camera."

The princess had the last word as they sat down to eat. Shuhei clapped his hands and began the prayer before fetching the meal. Koichi looked on.

"Dude does the cooking?"

Tsuruko raised an eyebrow.

"He does. Does that present a problem, Otohime-San?"

Koichi shrugged.

"Ma'am, I'm a bachelor. Boiling an egg without making egg soup is a challenge for me. Shuhei-San knows how to make a meal-I just wanna learn at his feet."

Motoko looked at Koichi.

"These meals are usually simple, Koi-Chan. We shall be eating Onigiri with very little filling-"

Shuhei walked out with a cart full of steaming bowls.

"Roasted peppers, Fried Beef, and Rice fried in the juices from both of them, not to mention my own fish cakes as a starter! Dig in all!"

Motoko looked at the feast with shocked eyes her sister immediately picked up on.

"Motoko-San, my husband has gone to a lot of trouble. Won't you eat his meal?"

"Since-since when is this part of any meal eaten here?"

"Well-this is not the temple, but rather our own home. Shuhei is a winner of as many cook-offs as you and I combined on tournaments. My sister simply does not visit very often, so a little excess is called for, don't you think? After all, it's not every day she brings with her the first real attempt to get over her painful rejection by the man she truly loves. Do you still write fiction with you displacing Narusegawa in his heart?"

Koichi spoke up again.

"I hope she never posts that stuff, for Kei's sake. Woman's a great warrior, but an awful writer. Me, I prefer Draco/Hermione, and Son-Goku/Buruma. But not Kouta/Lucy-that's just too hard to believe."

Su grumbled.

"They belong together!"

"Let's not go there, 'kay, Little Princess? Shuhei-San-fish cakes rule!"

"My thanks, Otohime-San. Once, during a violent storm, I was offered refuge at an American base. They served-things-they called Fish Cakes. I resolved that I could do better with the worst catches and cuts-though the tartar sauce still helps, I must admit."

Motoko tried to regain her footing.

"It is all most excellent, Shu-Chan. You always were the heart of this temple."

Tsuruko could not resist an opening, but she would find she was not alone in this.

"Was that the same heart you once threatened to cut out for his defiling me? Strange how both men whose lives you regularly threatened are still among us and are now held openly dear by you, sister. One would think..."

The ever-more shaking Motoko was incapable of responding at that point. Another was not. A plate came straight at Tsuruko's head, so fast she barely plucked it out of the air in time. She glared at the thrower.

"You dare?"

Mitsu stood firm.

"Back off, Aoyama-San! Having been a bully, I can't say as I have any tolerance for one, even if she has style and cunning. We told Grandma off-I'm telling you off."

Tsuruko folded her arms.

"Is it your newfound spiritual purity that guides you in this challenge, Konno-San, or your long-time physical purity?"

Mitsu refused to take the bait.

"So you have a spy-or something at the Sou. Big deal. I can do all mystic, too. But you know that, right? Motoko has always been my pal, but now she's also my charge, and as such, I demand you come out and tell her why you're trying to provoke her instead of just speaking your mind. "

Tsuruko patted her sword-sheathe.

"My sister can find that out any time she wishes, merely by invoking..."

"You're pregnant."

Tsuruko looked at Shuhei, who indicated he had said nothing of this supposed surprise. Motoko shrugged.

"Sister, I'm not a little girl anymore. If I'm not afraid of your man, then I'm not afraid of my niece or nephew by way of him. I still love Urashima, because he is the place where I finally grew up and stopped quailing over a few inches of extra flesh. I still love Kaolla Su, because she was the place I started to grow back the heart I cut out of myself. Koichi-I may learn to care for you more, but it is so soon, and you are the first one to touch my heart without my first chasing them away. I think that may be a good sign. Are you in a mood to be patient and find out?"

Koichi smiled.

"Put a body-wrap on when fighting Kei, and get Shu to teach me some cooking, and you got a deal, fighting lady."

Tsuruko seemed both impressed and put off all at once.

"Sister-how could you know?"

Mitsu answered.

"I once knew a lady whose level of bullshit became so pure-grade, she could be seen right through, even at her best scheming. So with the help of our princess here, she put together a messed-up plan no one could figure out, and she nearly blew herself up. Again, Tsuruko-it's like we told Grandma. The Kei-Sou Bunch has a lot of problems, but being united is no longer one of them. We've grown past hidden tests, and provocations with another agenda. I mean, you couldn't just tell your sister this wonderful news, instead of making this evening hell?"

Tsuruko cleared her throat.

"Ahem! Sister-you tell her."

Motoko looked sheepish.

"I-once-kind of-vowed-to errrrr-cut any, ya know, ummm-hell spawn out of my sister's belly before I would let it be inflicted upon a planet that had too many males as it stood. I didn't make the vow to anyone directly-so it didn't count, right?"

Koichi winced.

"No babe-that counts."

Su nodded.

"Yeah. You can't go that far and then say it doesn't count-we are talking about vows, aren't we? I never catch on to these things!"

As the evening kept on and broke up into giggling talk about babies and names, and with Kaolla Su pressing her ear against Tsuruko's stomach every so often, it came to be a much happier one than any there could have guessed at first.

"Mitsune-you are a fierce advocate for my sister. I must admit, I badly underestimated you. By my late mother's accounts, you have moved into your new job far faster than Haruka-San ever did. I had expected a rougher transition."

"Well, so did I. Tsuruko-San? Can a person be haunted by a part of themselves they left behind?"

Tsuruko looked non-committal.

"I have heard about that, too. I would advise you that, around the world, spirit stories end two ways. One of those involves the specters and their lessons, grim and glorious, being quite real."

"And the other?"

Tsuruko chuckled.

"The other usually involves a group of meddling kids and their Great Dane."

PRIVATE JOURNAL

I thought sure she was mocking me at first, maybe for my lack of propriety in calling her out. But then I started playing teen-okay-post-teen-sleuth. It hit me in a thunderclap, and I knew exactly how to handle the other Kitsune-her and her-OUR-whole family. The only thing that stings is why I didn't see it sooner. An old book of Grandma's provided what I needed for the journey home. Mutsumi, bless her, offered to come along for support as I call out my own folks for keeping me in the dark about so much. But I hug her and let her off the hook, so she can give her brother some advice on handling Motoko.

Kei as always helps me along, though not directly. When I see him promise the crying Sara to get her new Mom back to normal and mean it-I wonder why I didn't love him as soon as he walked through the Sou's front door.

I was probably drunk. Well, Kitsune Konno-I'm sober now, I know your secret, and I am prepared to kick my former ass.

The Konnos' home was immaculate as always. Mitsu took this in silently, while Kitsune couldn't seem to manage this.

"Never changes, does it? Always and forever, this place is Staid Central! Hey, Sis? Just why are we here again? Cause I'd rather have Su perform root canal on me."

Mitsu had developed a strategy for dealing with Kitsune that only Mitsune Konno could. She was ignoring her.

"Mom? I'm here."

Kitsune was not so easily ignored, and nudged Mitsu hard.

"We're here, Girl-Friend! I won't be ignored!"

Mitsu was now in her zone, a study in calm.

"You mean the way Kei ignored you, when he chose Naru?"

Kitsune seemed to fall off her pitch at these words, but resumed quickly.

"Hey-they aren't married yet. Bro just needs a little persuasion."

Mitsu turned her back on Kitsune as she responded.

"He will never choose either of us-especially you."

Mitsu then upped the ante and held up an ornate platter.

"Mom-come out now or I will smash this heirloom with a song in my heart and a smile on my face."

The platter was casually snatched out of Mitsu's hands by a woman Mitsu once thought she knew, at a speed that she supposed was meant to shock her.

"Mitsune! First of all, there's no need to play the drama queen. Second, this is hardly an heirloom. It's actually rather crass and kitschy. For the life of me, I can't remember why I bought it."

Kitsune looked at the piece.

"Knowing you, Mom? You probably found out Mrs. Minoho down the way had her eye on it. You two and your shopping wars!"

Saki Konno chuckled at these words, leading Mitsu to an almost perfunctory question she wisely did not expect a straight response to.

"Mom? There's two of me here. Why are you so accepting of this?"

Saki kissed both Kitsune and Mitsu on their cheeks.

"What? I shouldn't welcome my daughters home with grace and dignity?"

Mitsu seemed on the verge of picking up the logical argument, but instead spoke small prayers by a collection of family portraits.

"So-where's Dad?"

"I am here, Mitsune. Are you well?"

Aran Konno, a man who usually started in on her manner of dress, whether wild or conservative, was choosing to bypass that entryway. Mitsu knew something was wrong, and on more than one level.

"Actually, Papa-San-No. I'm kind of split in two, and a woman I met claimed to have tricked you into being her lover-and that I was the result."

Her father and mother pointed as one to yet another instant visitor.

"Would that be your mother's sister?"

"Heya, kid-you look great! Kind of prim, though."

The Kitsune Mitsune had met all those months ago was there, yet Mitsu showed no signs of surprise, which did surprise all others present. Kitsune Konno leaned in, grinning her trademark grin.

Well-not her trademark, per se.

"Ummm-Mitsu? Doesn't all this sudden revelation kinda-sorta rock your world? I mean, this place is brim-full of confus..."

Mitsu's fist lashed out at her past doppelganger, catching her full in the nose, as Mitsu told 'Kitsune' something she had ached to since tumbling to the big scheme.

"Cut the crap, Kanako!"

At last the disguise of the wild party-girl faded, revealing a girl as much ninja as samurai-and sister in her own way to both Kei and Mitsu.

"You didn't have to hit me!"

Mitsu grabbed her up.

"And you-don't have to obey every dumbass family order when you know how stupid it is. The supposed grownups know a lot, Kan-but they don't know everything."

The mother Mitsu had known growing up separated them.

"Stay off your sister, Mitsune. She knows how to obey, something you never have learned."

"And-Mother-what did obeying get me? I got major crit from the two of you whether I was Polly Purebred or Suzie Slutty."

The mother Mitsu had only recently met spoke up now.

"My Onee-Chan does things in a roundabout way, kid-but she always means well and she usually knows better than you think."

A clash old but new to Mitsu's eyes took place.

"Usually, Little Flower? Just how many times have I bailed your tail out of a hunter's trap?"

"Don't-DON'T push me with that Little Flower crap, Saki! You know I hate it!"

"Is that why you slept with my husband-the one you couldn't get honestly?"

Mitsu thought to herself : Irony-just what I needed. All in all, I'd rather be Naru Punched, sliced up by Motoko and endure a joint crying jag from Kei and Shin than take any more irony.

"All right-would someone please tell me-"

The two women were gone-and in their place two foxes growled at each other. Kanako shrugged at Mitsu.

"I am told they have always been like this."

"Not in front of me they haven't...ENOUGH!"

Mitsu felt her voice echo, with thunder and wind shaking the room around them. The foxes shifted back to the form of women.

"How-did I do that? Why is Kanako my sister, with my family name, and why are my Moms sisters, and why haven't I ever known about any of this-AND-"

The storm kicked up again, but Aran Konno stepped forward as though the winds weren't there, and hugged his little girl.

"Calm down, honey. This time, we'll explain it all. Ladies-whose idea was it to have Kanako deceive her sister in this way?"

Both women raised their hands, and the foxes looked sheepish as they all sat down.

"Papa-I don't understand any of this."

"It is both simple and difficult, Mitsu-Chan. Firstly, of our respective clans, only I and your mother may bear or sire children. So even though Kanako was born of her sister's affair with my lecherous brother, and even though your aunt tricked me with your mother's form and birthed your spirit, we two are the only physical parents both of you have."

Mitsu tried to take all this in, and found she could not.

"O-kay. So everyone here is a Kitsune spirit?"

Aran seemed to appreciate his child's efforts at calm.

"Not everyone. You and I are different. You are-complicated. Your nature is that of three worlds. You are beyond all of us, yet no one here is more Human. But I am not a Kitsune, though nor am I Human."

"Papa, you're not a demon, are you?"

Aran laughed.

"No-no Mitsu. Not at all."

The mother recently met nodded.

"Your father is no demon."

"Well, that's good..."

The mother recently revealed as more than believed nodded as well.

"He's a god."

Aran looked at a stunned Mitsu.

"My father is the Storm and Lightning God Protector for this realm."

Mitsu felt very strange.

"Does he have a name?"

The newer mother snarked at her.

"Ever play a fighting video game, kid? The gory kind?"

Mitsu's jaw dropped.

"Oh-him. Look-why didn't you tell me any of this-and why this game with Kanako?"

The mother she had known spoke first.

"We all first met Hina when she was adopted into our clan. It's almost unheard of for a Human, but she helped us get what we needed from this world, and defended us where she could."

The mother who was a little too much a Kitsune continued.

"The world started to change after the bombs dropped. After the 1954 Disaster, it was clear that the forests needed an advocate, or most of our clan would not see the 21st Century. So we started playing Human almost full time, and helped seed the environmental movements across the world, in conjunction with other local spirits. It's like Saki Onee-Chan said. Someone was always pulling my tail out of things. Aran's brother was a pretty-boy Light God, and I fell for him hard. That's how we got Kanako-and that's why he jetted. Aran here was so nice and my Onee-Chan so supportive, I wanted in to a relationship that didn't need a ninth paw. The rest was like I told you-she made the comment, I made-you to get even."

Aran nodded as though to confirm the ever-wilder story.

"You were kept in the dark because we wanted you to be raised well away from the kind of irresponsibility that gods and kitsunes often engage in. Your mother was angry with her sister, but they are sisters, in the end."

"But what about the other Kitsune? Why do that to me?"

The mother who had never taken a Human name rolled her eyes.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. Kitsunes always go too far, whether in play or work. Honey-bun, your very soul can seize up from too much work. We worried that this 'Mitsu' might be a lie you were living."

Saki Konno kept on with her sister's words.

"So Kanako did this for us, but with a warning that she would not do it again."

Mitsu stood up, clapped her hands together once, and looked around at her family.

"So-instead of telling me what I was, you tried so hard to raise me normal that I rebelled -stupidly-against normal. I go crazy fighting against normal and boring, so I get vague misleading hints as to who and what I truly am-"

Mitsu cut off her birth/guardian mother with a look.

"-that no one bothered to confirm or deny. So I sit for months, stewing over what the hell I really am and what all this means while watching my best friend mock me verbally for beating me to the finish line with the man I was too stupid to pursue seriously-not to mention the orchestral sounds of their rhythmic humping-which by the way never stops. I am literally getting so lame and riddled with doubt, SHINOBU is seeing more action and getting closer to the finish line than me! I even manage to piss Mutsumi off-and that's next to impossible. Oh, and let's not forget I'm doing all this while grieving a woman who was more of a mother to me than anyone here. Add-ons include Haruka breaking down and Motoko also starting to outpace me."

This time, it was Aran's turn to shut up at a glance. God or no, he did not interrupt.

"But rather than say 'Mitsune, don't let all this change who you are' or something like it, you all have Kanako-who must think her real name is Chess Pawn by now-play this game with me. Ya know, I'll always make time to visit-but I haven't got time for this."

Aran rose, and rather than throttle his little girl for her tone, he held her close.

"We were partly afraid that we'd fumbled things too badly to have the authority to just pull you aside like that. And is getting to the finish line that important? You have a LOT of time ahead of you."

"I made a rep, Daddy. I created a wild party-girl, and I wasn't really her-not in some important details."

Her spirit-mother shrugged.

"That is so typically Kitsune, I can't even begin to talk. Whole archives of our legends involve one of us being called out on our built-up rep. Sis here once swore she slew an ancient enemy of ours-he wasn't so dead. I once had a hoard of field-spirits try to drag me to the netherworld-never gamble with the undead, kid. They have no sense of humor."

The mother who was still Kitsune but less so in demeanor also rose.

"I was the main one keeping the truth from you. Not for powers or propriety-but for fear that-if you knew that I was not wholly your mother, you would-"

Mitsu held this dear woman before tears could compromise her dignity.

"You are Mama. We may butt heads, but you were here for me."

Her other mother was next.

"I want to get to know you. I want you to stop by and get to know everybody. But you can only come under one condition."

"What's that sweetie?"

Mitsu shook her head.

"Get a freaking name! What are you, Clint Eastwood?"

Kanako, Saki and Aran all looked at the woman with eyes that said 'Told You So'.

"Walk your sister home, Kanako?"

"A pleasure, Mitsune."

"Folks-it's been-badly confusing. But I will prove to you that I have changed from being both too irresponsible and then too responsible. I will very soon prove to you that I have learned the lessons of maturity, and yet I remain at my core-Kitsune."

To the surprise of all, Mitsu shifted into a fox, and darted out with Kanako who did the same. Once outside, the two shifted back.

"You are learning rapidly, Mitsune. I needed instruction the first time I met Mother."

"Yeah, well, I accidentally shifted into a wolf a couple of months back, so I already had some clues about it."

"Yes. We are able to shift into something other than foxes, as a legacy of our fathers. But the truth be known-I prefer my work with material disguises. Much more satisfying."

"Yeah-like when you made Mutsumi look like a boy? What were you, advertising it?"

"I was getting tired of the disguise-and perhaps of hiding who I am in general."

Mitsu looked back at her childhood home and smiled.

"Think they tumbled to it yet?"

Kanako chuckled.

"You mean that the prayers you muttered were really a binding spell Grandma once showed me? They will not be pleased."

"Ehh-it can't hold them for long-maybe a week. But I think lessons like these will come to a stop. You coming back with me, Double-Sis?"

"I cannot, Mitsune. Unlike you, I cannot witness the man I love holding so firmly to another on a regular basis-especially not one whose past treatment of him I find unacceptable. Though I'm now aware-so does she."

Mitsu began her walk home.

"Naru used to love 'The Boxer' by Paul Simon. Now, she tells me, the part at the end, where the sounds of the boxer being pummeled mercilessly play through-make her cry and think of Kei. She gets it, Kan-Chan. He's forgiven her long since-she might not ever. What about Grandma? Why haven't you made an appearance on that front?"

Kanako began to mist out.

"That would seem to be a cruel and heartless thing, wouldn't it? There is something-wrong-about her death, my sister. Something very wrong."

The disguise-mistress gone, Mitsu found herself alone. Later, she would hear those words in her head once more.

"Yeah-very wrong."

PRIVATE JOURNAL

Back home, I had infinite messages from the parade of contractors we will soon have coming through our house. I had to throw Haruka out of my chair-again. I had Su bouncing off the walls and neck-hugging me. I had Naru freak at all I told her, but she deserves it for outing me on the virgin front. I had a very studious Arlo and Shin using word-games in their prep studies to accomplish what their new promise keeps them from physically. Those kids can be creative. Motoko and Koichi have reached a compromise in their efforts to move things forward. They now watch Samurai films from here in Japan badly dubbed into English for comedic effect. Problem is, only Mutsumi really knows American English well enough to explain just how badly the dialogue is being butchered. For Motoko, having her bustier friend about in this is as much of a blocker as it is for Koichi to have his sister on hand. But they're still managing to have a laugh, and I envy them that. Maybe when my debt is paid in full, and that's coming up, to hear Kei tell it. As the night ends, Sarah calls, and I reassure her by saying just how much of a pain in the ass her Mom is being. Guess who ends my not-so-perfect day on a perfect note?

"Kei! That's not for almost a week from now!"

Kei kissed her on the cheek and bid her eat some of the Valentine Chocolates.

"You looked like you could use them now. I was originally afraid that 'Kitsune' would eat them. She was known to do that."

"You knew who she was?"

"I caught on. No matter how good Kan-Chan gets, to me she will always be that little girl falling out of her first disguise attempt while exposing her little butt. Things may change between us, but she is still my first sister."

"Annnnd-you didn't tell me-why?"

Kei looked a little embarrassed.

"Yesterday, she begged me, based on our love as siblings, not to expose her. There's only one thing I've ever been able to refuse her."

Mitsu gave in and asked a question.

"Kei-how am I doing in this job?"

"Doing? You have this wonderful old place ready to finally perform to its potential, and you ask me that? I thought you gave up on the snarky remarks."

She smiled and blushed a bit at his compliment.

"I am still Kitsune, after all. And being said scam artist, I ask my employer : What are you and Naru up to? You're planning something."

Kei yawned, looked around, and shrugged.

"I think Winter's getting to you, despite the recent warmth. Things should look clearer when Spring begins. What I can't figure out is, why didn't we all react when you first shape-shifted a few months back?"

Mitsu took his barely-hidden hint and let the matter slide for then and there.

"Kanako told me, that, despite all the weirdness in and about our lives, we still react in disbelief when struck with the unbelievable. Immortals, Titans, Spirits, Gods, what have you-whatever we may secretly be, in the way we perceive and react to the world-we are still only Human."

The small moment between the two friends was broken by a development they most pointedly did not need.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?"

It was Haruka, pointing at the two of them. She puzzled particularly on Keitaro, but was soon smiling.

"Are you my little cousin Kei? Wow! You've grown! Who imported the Geek God in place of my little pal?"

Kei and Ruka's wince-inducing comedic flirting was by now well known to the residents of the Sou. But this time, as Haruka rubbed up against him, there was no routine.

"You know-cousins are legal, last I checked. How old are you now?"

Keitaro looked more nervous than Mitsu had seen him in well over a year.

"Twenty-Twenty-Two!"

Haruka snapped her fingers.

"Damn! We'll have to wait-"

The next words dealt a telling blow to hopes of her easy recovery.

"I don't turn eighteen till my next birthday."

In the doorway, Naru looked at Kei and Mitsu and all shared a mental *Oh Boy* moment.

SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001

Thirteen seconds remained until impact.

Hinata Urashima felt a sense of utter and complete calm overcome her. At last it would be done. She had loved her life, but she now looked forward to the reward promised to the good true and faithful.

"What is that ahead-?"

In front of her eyes, Hina saw a great portal form in the New Jersey Palisades, a gate made all of crimson and dripping the blood of innocents. She knew the thing both from her studies, and from the half-whispered legends of her nearly-forgotten early childhood

"The Red Gate!"

When another second had passed, Hina felt arms hook beneath her own. Arms that began to pull at her.