Day 25 - A Discovery
Keitaro gazed at the ceiling with a bored expression on his face. His eyes were half closed and the rest of his body decided to completely shut down. Despite doing absolutely nothing, Keitaro felt the strength slowly ebbing away.
After numerous pranks and countless acts of perversion, Keitaro was rapidly running out of ammunition to amuse himself with. When Keitaro first discovered this time continuum, he thought this would be his biggest opportunity in life. He would explore each day with all the originality he could muster, and break boundaries no person would even consider touching. To put it simply, it was perfect…
…and that was the problem. It was too perfect.
Keitaro looked back on all those times he raised havoc. There were too many of them to list, although… a few of the more notorious ones sprung to mind. There was this one early afternoon where Keitaro waltzed into Kitsune's room and politely asked the girl to pay the monthly rent, since the drunken fox had 'forgotten' for the last five or so months. Of course, Kitsune was up to her usual old tricks, and persuaded the manager (by swaying her cleavage) to delay her payment. Soon after leaving, Keitaro returned to her room with many feet of thick rope. Kitsune struggled violently as Keitaro actually had the guts to tie up and kidnap the freaked out girl. Hearing the commotion, Naru attempted to come to the rescue, but Keitaro knocked her out with a wooden chair before she could deliver one of her trademark uppercuts. With Naru out of the way, Keitaro ran all over town carrying Kitsune… before breaking into a car (hurling the driver to the curb) and driving off recklessly at top speed. In the end, the car exploded into a petrol lorry, and the police could only identify their deaths by locating Keitaro's shattered glasses and Kitsune's right shoe.
Another day involved Keitaro walking into the main room… completely naked for all the girls to see. The best part was, Shinobu was just dishing out the food at that very moment. When her eyes made contact with Keitaro's revealed anatomy, Shinobu flew backwards and had the worst nosebleed known to mankind. Even as she turned pale and fainted, the blood would still not end, resembling a dual waterfall of ketchup. It was a miracle she was still alive, though her freakish, unconscious smile looked very disturbing. When a blushing Naru asked (in a disbelievingly squealed voice) why Keitaro was naked, Keitaro simply stated that his clothes were invisible. Even Kitsune gasped and covered her mouth, as though she wasn't mentally prepared for such a sight. Kaolla, unsurprisingly, laughed her head off, making a childish statement that she could see Keitaro's 'banana'. As for Motoko, her eyes were lifeless, and that's how they remained for the rest of the day.
Then came the 'ordinary' days where Keitaro and Naru were studying together. For each day, Keitaro would spend the first fifteen minutes studying as normal, the way Naru would expect him to do. After that time however, Keitaro would suddenly do things that would irritate and stress out the promise girl to no end. One time he 'accidentally' prodded her right breast with his finger. Naru reacted by punching him in the gullet. Another time he laughed manically and started to mess up Naru's beautiful hair. Naru was stunned for a moment, but when she recuperated, she proceeded to strangle the life out of him.
One of the most shocking moments was where, one evening, Keitaro just walked over to Kitsune and casually started to remove her clothes… and this was during dinner time so everyone could witness this insanity. Everyone's jaw dropped, and Kitsune almost felt like screaming. Thank goodness the time loop syndrome was capable of restoring shattered bones. Keitaro shuddered at the thought of Motoko and Naru closing in on him at that time. To sum it up in one word; slaughter.
Suddenly, he heard Naru's voice, distracting him from his crazy memories.
"Um, Keitaro? We all get the impression that you're bored…"
Keitaro, who was spread out like a star at the time, managed to turn his head so he could see Naru.
"…BUT CAN YOU PLEASE GET OFF THE TABLE?!? WE'RE TRYING TO EAT OUR DINNER!!"
"Huh? Oh… right." Keitaro realised.
He sat up and walked casually to his room, whilst the girls never took their eyes off him.
"What's gotten into him?" Naru thought with a sigh.
-0-0-
Later that night, Keitaro laid back on his bed and contemplated everything that has happened to him. Frustration was starting to kick in. He wanted to do something, anything so long as it raised a few eyebrows, but nothing sprung to mind. Later at night, Keitaro heard the voices of Naru, Shinobu and Kaolla. They were all wishing him a goodnight through his door. Keitaro decided to ignore them, pretending he was already asleep hours ago.
That was when Naru, a few minutes later, decided to open the door.
"Okay Keitaro, you can stop pretending to be asleep now." Naru said sternly, "You can fool the others but you can't fool me."
Keitaro groaned quietly. Why did Naru have to be such a psychic? He sighed and sat up. By shuffling to one side, he allowed Naru to sit next to him. Keitaro could only stare at his twiddling thumbs, as though he felt ashamed looking at Naru. For the past few days, Keitaro has seen Naru in various and ridiculous costumes, not to mention the countless times he has deliberately seen her in various exposed positions. He still recalled the time he dived into the hot springs wearing Naru's clothes, not to mention what he did afterwards.
Naru changed her voice and expression to one of concern. "What's wrong?" she asked, "You've been acting strange all day."
"I've been acting strange most days." Keitaro thought.
Realising Naru was waiting for an answer, Keitaro took a deep breath and sighed. What was he to say? He never liked lying in front of anyone, but in this case, truth really was stranger than fiction. Still, he felt as though he needed to say something.
"Naru… I…"
Keitaro felt a familiar, warm sensation in his right hand… a comforting, pleasing… and yet somewhat… forbidden feeling. He decided a squeeze was in order, so he squeezed softly… then with a little added strength. He then tilted his head up and looked at Naru. Naru was in dire shock, and truth be told, so was he. Keitaro's right hand just… reacted by its own will. At last he managed to let go, though it was like removing cello tape from a sphere of superglue.
"K-Keitaro?! What… what were you doing!?" Naru asked in disbelief, though she had a pretty clear understanding of it all.
Keitaro could feel an all too familiar scene unfolding before his very eyes. Keitaro would say sorry a million times. Naru would smash him in the air. Yeah, he thought, this was going to get ugly.
"SORRY!!" Keitaro apologised frantically, "IT WAS A REFLEX I SWEAR!!"
Naru rose from his bed and took a step back. With her mouth hung agape, she stood there, stunned.
"You… you mean every time I sit next to you, you… you just… instinctively want to grope me?!" she asked, barely finding truth from her own words.
Keitaro found himself in a maze without an exit. "I… no! Nonono! I didn't mean it like that!" he protested, retreating his hands as he spoke. At least… he tried retreating his hands…
…but he couldn't. In fact, through a misguided reversal of thought, Keitaro did the exact opposite of retreating his hands, lunging himself forward and fiercely massaging her twin delights.
"K-KEITARO?!?!" Naru shouted, now doubly distressed.
Keitaro, at this time, could only think of one word to say. One word that would overrule and end all existing arguments.
"Boooobies…"
-0-0-
It was a well known fact that a Naru punch to the skull would always hurt like hell, but this punch made all other punches feel soft and fluffy in comparison. The good news is Keitaro flew in a more horizontal direction, meaning he didn't have too far to travel back home. In fact, his not so predetermined destination turned out to be the small city just outside Hinata Sou, taking only twenty minutes or so to walk back. The problem was, were the girls going to allow him to come back? It was a high possibility Naru already informed the other girls of the pervert known as Keitaro Urashima. No, scratch that, Naru would never take a full on grope and accept the consequences.
Keitaro wearily stood up as he felt the cold rush of air from the black sky. For lack of a better word, he felt like crap, physically and mentally. Once upon a time, when he first entered Hinata Sou, Keitaro wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn't a pervert, merely just accident prone. Unfortunately, it was due to his accidents that led everyone to believe he was a pervert. Now… after abusing the time continuum… he, Keitaro Urashima, was an accident prone pervert.
He looked at his hands, the left one followed by his right. He could not believe the lack of control he had over them. His hands have been groping breasts for such extended periods of time… that now, he felt the need to grope on a daily basis. Even now his hands were making a squeezing motion, as though they were holding a pair right this instant.
"What have I become?" he said quietly.
"What have you become?" replied a voice.
"If you are you, then you haven't become anyone else other than yourself!" came the voice of another.
"You are what you are." said a third voice.
Keitaro gasped and turned around. Standing in front of him were three old men, dressed in traditional Japanese robes. He recognised their identities already. They were the three spirits that often inhabit this place, though nobody has a clue as of why (with the exception of Keitaro's grandmother, perhaps). There has been a few times in his life where Keitaro has unceremoniously encountered with them… and each time has been more unusual than the last.
"What do you three want?" Keitaro groaned, cutting to the chase.
The man in the middle approached him. "Do you have the time?" he asked.
"Huh?" Keitaro said with a frown, before glancing at his wrist watch. "Oh, it's eleven o'clock… wow… that late already? I must have been unconscious for a while."
As quick as a flash, Keitaro found his watch being unfastened, courtesy of the old man's nimble fingers! Keitaro watched in further surprise as the trio were playing catch with it!
"HEY! What are you doing?!" Keitaro asked angrily. He tried to catch the watch himself, but the old men were too fast for him.
"We're making time fly!" happily said the first old man.
"Time flies when you're having fun!" sung the second man, just as he caught the airborne watch.
"Well I'm definitely not having fun!" complained Keitaro, lunging for the thrown watch, but falling an inch short of it.
"That is because, for you, time is going around in circles." reasoned the third man.
Keitaro stood there, awestruck from the words of the old man. The thrown watch bounced off his forehead and fell onto the pavement, chipping the screen when it made contact.
"Whoops, my bad." the old man apologised.
For a moment, Keitaro's hair overshadowed his eyes. Then he looked up, slowly, and stared at the group of spirits.
"Do you three… know of my condition?" he asked.
The first old man stroked his beard. "Hmm? Condition?"
"Do you have body odour?" the second questioned.
"You're the one with body odour!" the third said to the second, "And that's saying something since you're not alive anymore!"
"I'M BEING SERIOUS!" shouted Keitaro.
Keitaro's voice commanded the attention of the three. They decided not to mess around with the boy any longer. They all looked at each other and nodded.
The first old man flapped his wings like a bird. "If you wish for time to fly…"
The second stood on his tiptoes and pretended to look for something far away. "…you must simply find…"
And the third started to draw a large imaginary circle with his finger. "…the key to unlock the circle."
A fierce wind sailed through the spirits, and once the elements have faded away, they too have disappeared. Keitaro scrambled to where the old men once stood, and the silence made him feel alone again.
"Wait!" he panicked, "Unlock the circle? What do you mean?!"
The still air was his answer, the still air… and nothing more. He found an empty drink carton nearby and kicked it to release his pent up anger. First Keitaro was depressed, now he was confused. What else could go wrong, he thought to himself. His stomach emitted a low, lingering rumble. Great, he thought. Depressed, confused… and hungry.
Lightly clutching his stomach, Keitaro decided to venture towards Haruka's tea shop, just for a quick snack and a chat if anything else. Haruka was always hard to get hold of during the morning and the afternoon, but during the night, she didn't mind her nephew's company in the least. Besides, Haruka always had the odd cup to clean, even at this late hour. Keitaro was surprised at himself really, because during those repeated days, not once had he visited his aunt. Then again, with all the excitement Keitaro has indulged himself into, it didn't come as a shock after all…
…but what did come as a shock was the appearance of the tea shop itself. Why on earth was the shop bursting with flashing lights and dance music?! Keitaro thought he wandered to the wrong place, but nope, there was the tea shop in all its glory. The windows flashed in neon colours of red, yellow and green, hypnotic enough to give any sane person a headache. Keitaro could not see behind the windows, for the curtains were drawn all the way, not even exposing the tiniest of gaps. The ambience, other than the pumping soundtrack, consisted of three, perhaps four female voices, cheering and making other loud noises, though not clear enough to pinpoint what they were saying.
Keitaro took a few steps back, thinking maybe the unknown group were celebrating somebody's birthday. It couldn't be Haruka's, because her birthday already passed by, so it must be one of her… friends? Haruka knew a lot of people, but she rarely ever 'hung out' with anyone, least not to his knowledge. Keitaro was about to turn around and leave, thinking he didn't want to become a burden… but a nagging thought inside told him otherwise. After a brief mental engagement with himself, he decided to see what was going on.
He took three steps forward… and was interrupted by an all too familiar flying turtle. It was Tama, Mutsumi's 'gift' to Keitaro and Naru before they ventured their separate ways. However, since Tama set foot onto the dormitory of Hinata Sou, the poor turtle, day after day, found herself being chased to hell and back from Kaolla, whose newfound mission was to capture and boil Tama into turtle soup. This was probably the reason why she was perched up on the shop roof, to get away from that hungry foreigner.
Keitaro smiled at the thought of Mutsumi. He admired her ditzy, yet carefree nature, but it was a while since he last saw her. He wondered when their paths would cross again.
Keitaro was about to wave a greeting to Tama, but instead of returning the wave, Tama flew at a strong speed and clonked Keitaro on the head! Undoubtedly surprised, Keitaro staggered back and acknowledged the mark where Tama attacked him. Some return greeting, he thought.
"Tama-chan! What did you do that for?!" Keitaro complained.
To which Tama replied with, "Myuh! Myuuh!" ('Please Keitaro! Don't go there! I beg of you!')
Unfortunately, Keitaro was not very fluent when it came to speaking with turtles.
"Tama-chan! Let go of me!"
"Myuuuh! Myuuuh!" ('Please! For the love of God, go back!')
"LET GO!!"
"MYUUUH!! MYUUUH!!" ('Not a chance, glasses boy! It's for your own good!')
For such a little critter, Tama's strength was extraordinary. She managed to bite into the cloth of Keitaro's back… but her grip wasn't quite enough. Keitaro used all of his willpower and struggled to get to the door, whilst Tama was still attached to him. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked, but Keitaro remembered her aunty's old trick. Underneath the welcome mat was a spare key which Haruka always kept in case she lost the original. With Tama still being a nuisance, Keitaro scooped up the key, but hesitated instead of unlocking the door. He remembered what the old men said to him regarding the key. Keitaro honestly thought the key would not be one of a literal sense, but more of a metaphorical solution… but whatever. A key was a key in his eyes.
However, now was not the time to indulge in riddle guessing. He inserted the key, turned it sideways and pushed the door open.
…
…
…
…
It was an image that would forever burn in his mind.
Keitaro never did learn to knock on doors before entering them.
The music blasted through the open door… whilst everyone else struck to immediate silence. Tama, defeated, released Keitaro's top and placed a flipper over her face. Keitaro had a feeling the turtle knew about this all along.
A large, circular wooden table was placed in the middle of the room. Surrounding the table were Haruka's friends she knew when they were young; three drunk and very attractive ladies, each lounging on a comfortable chair. One was wearing an extremely tight fitting dress, another was wearing a cosplay outfit of some unknown origin, and the third was wearing a leather top and blue jean shorts. All of them had extremely busty breasts to say the least.
But on top of the table… was a woman all too familiar. Haruka was easily the largest attraction compared to the rest of them. Guessing from the ambience when he was outside, Haruka was attempting to dance on the table… at least, she was attempting to dance on the table.
And her dancing wasn't the disturbing part.
The disturbing part… were all her clothes, which, at one point, Haruka was wearing about five minutes ago. All of her clothes were strewn around the room. Her left shoe (with sock inside) was thrown to the topmost right of the room, and her right shoe (again with sock inside) was flung somewhere in the middle-right. Her top lied in a heap next to the round table. Her trousers, again in a heap, was a few feet away from her top. As for her bra and panties… well… one of the three girls was actually wearing Haruka's bra on top of her head…
…and her panties… Haruka's vacant, white panties were a mere inch away from where Keitaro was standing. Keitaro had no idea Haruka could wear something so… tiny looking.
It was at this stage Keitaro's mind divided into two separate entities. The first entity told him that Haruka was dancing naked for her lively friends. The second entity… wanted to acquire a pitch fork to gouge his poisoned eyes out.
Haruka was so stunned, her hands did not bother covering up that which needed concealing.
For her and her nephew, it was an experience beyond the boundaries of mortifying.
…
…
…and then Keitaro had a nosebleed.
-0-0-
…
…
…
"Aww! Isn't he just adorable!" Yui said sweetly, pulling Keitaro's cheek with her thumb and index finger. Yui was the woman wearing the tight dress, so tight her breasts would explode if someone so much as prodded her. She had longish, untied brown hair and wore round glasses.
A young lady named Temaru wrapped her arms around Keitaro's stationary body. Keitaro learned that Temaru's boyfriend had only recently proposed to her, so Keitaro gathered it wasn't a birthday bash, but a hen party instead. Temaru was the one wearing the cosplay outfit, which somehow matched well with her short black and spiky hairstyle.
"Perhaps I should dump my fiancé and marry him instead! He's so young and innocent!" Temaru suggested, which resulted in herself and Yui giggling like mischievous little schoolgirls.
Meanwhile, Tanya, a woman of American heritage, transformed into an absolute drama queen. She was the oldest of the four, her age being thirty one, and she was crying her eyes out because she wasn't engaged yet. Of course, she was the lady wearing the leather top and jean shorts. She had long blonde hair which was tied back in a ponytail.
"Waaaagggh!! I'll never get married! I'll get old and lonely and depressed!" Tanya sobbed, "Hey! Haruka's nephew! Do you think I look old and lonely and depressed?"
"Uh…" came Keitaro's unfinished answer. He was having a devil of a time sitting next to three Kitsune replicas.
"Oh don't worry Tanya-chaaan!" slurred Temaru, "You can share my fiancé if you want!"
Tanya at once thrilled with laughter, completely negating her previous emotion.
Whilst the nonsensical conversation turned even more nonsensical, Haruka, now fully clothed, simply sat still. Since Keitaro's arrival, Haruka had not muttered a single word. She never took her eyes off that glass of beer, and she had been drinking that same glass of beer for the best part of an hour.
Keitaro dug his nails in the palm of his hands. He felt the urge to grope some serious boobage but desperately tried to suppress his desires.
"Heeeey… were you staring at my cleavage?" Yui grinned like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.
Keitaro gulped and stared at the table. He only glanced at her breasts for a split second!
Temaru giggled again. "Looks like Kei-kun is a pervert!"
"So…" Tanya started to ask, her eyes narrowing to lusty slits, "Which of us do you think has the biggest breasts?"
This only made his nails dig deeper into his palms. Keitaro thought he was going to end up with bloody hands.
Before Keitaro conjured up an answer, three pairs of flesh filled balloons coexisted all over his body. Keitaro didn't know which part of him would explode first. Whilst all this was happening, Haruka made no effort to stop her flamboyant friends, and Keitaro briefly wondered if she would have done if he hadn't caught her naked in the first place.
"Breasts… too… big… not sure… if I can… make it…" Keitaro thought as he struggled desperately for a breath of fresh air.
His hands trembled. He couldn't take it much longer. His hands needed something to grope! They ached for something to grope! Already Keitaro felt dirty for thinking such thoughts… but… what would it matter anyway? Tomorrow, Haruka's friends wouldn't even know the name, 'Keitaro Urashima'. What did he have to lose?
Perhaps a tiny squeeze wouldn't do much harm…
"Oh fuck! Look at the time!" Tanya realised as she looked at her silver watch, "I've got an early work-shift tomorrow as well! Damn it!"
Temaru swallowed a large mouthful of beer. "Mmmgh!! Me too!! My boss will kill me if I'm late again!"
"And I've got a date with a friend of my brother's friend!" remembered Yui.
Keitaro was amazed by the way they all remembered their problems at the same time, and how they instantly dispersed their drunken haze. In a flash they all stood up, which caused Keitaro to nearly faint from exhaustion. The three friends said their goodbyes to Haruka, though Haruka, still suffering from that previous disaster, only managed to wave at them without saying a word.
"Nice seeing you Kei-kun!" said Temaru before leaving.
"Don't be a stranger, cutie pie!" called out Tanya.
Yui gave Keitaro a very flirty kiss on the cheek before going off with the other two. "My number's on your sleeve if you want to call me!" she said, with added seductiveness.
Keitaro looked at the three women staggering off with a dazed, confused expression. Even to this day, Keitaro just never understood girls. Some would avoid him like the plague, others would attack him on sight, and a handful of them would kiss the guy without any hesitation. Girls sure were complicated.
Keitaro's eyes shifted to the right. He almost forgot Haruka was still sitting there, though in all actuality, her invisible like presence made her fairly difficult to notice. He changed his dazed expression into his usual nervous laugh whilst rubbing at the back of his head routine. After having seen his aunt starkers… what was he to say? How the hell could he say anything?! Right now, the only intellectual thing he could come up with was 'Haruka's boobies for the win'. He was seriously amazed that beneath that apron and thick top were two giant, fleshy, perfectly sized… NO! Nonono! No… the last thing he wanted was another nosebleed.
He took a deep breath… and tried to say something, anything, so long as it was just an ordinary, plain, vanilla conversation.
"Uh…"
"I think I hear the tap running." Haruka interjected.
Keitaro watched as Haruka rose to her feet and walked briskly to the kitchen. He sighed and slumped forward. Then he realised Yui's glossy pink lipstick was still lingering on his cheek, so he licked his thumb and wiped it away. Ten minutes later and Haruka returned to her seat with a cup of coffee; extra caffeine and extra sugar.
Keitaro fidgeted his thumbs and tried again.
"Um…"
Haruka swallowed the coffee down in two mouthfuls and swiftly stretched her arms far and wide. "Wow, look at the time. We should hit the hay."
"Ah… …yeah." Keitaro said, preparing himself to leave, "Goodnight Aunt Haruka."
Haruka didn't have the energy or will to slap him with her fan.
Keitaro got up from his chair but tripped over a glass bottle. He toppled onto Haruka and grasped onto her breasts for support. The two of them crashed to the floor, and Keitaro landed right on top of her… hands still attached on her breasts.
…
-0-0-
…
Haruka slammed the door shut before Keitaro had a chance to do it himself. After stepping away from the door, Keitaro placed a hand over his forehead. Whilst seeing Haruka's friends was an… interesting experience, he could never hide the experience of seeing Haruka herself. What with the troubles he had with Naru, not to mention riddling mad old men thrown to the mix… this was going to be one hellacious night.
The sound of Tama suddenly negated his anguish, and for some reason, the happy go lucky turtle was looking quite distressed. Keitaro groaned and thought, what now? He glanced upwards and saw Tama wrestling vigorously against her robotic counterpart, Mecha-Tama, version heaven-knows-what. Naturally this confused the already confused manager. Why would Kaolla send off a Mecha-Tama this late at night? Of course, it must have been Kaolla who created the turtle in the first place, since no one else would have the brains or imagination to make one.
The struggling Mecha-Tama tilted its tiny robot head in order to locate its new target. Normally, it would have unleashed a salvo of rockets at the poor ronin, but much to Keitaro's surprise, it managed to release its grip from the original Tama… and retreated! Tama decided to punish the cowardly robot by squirting a long stream of water all over it, causing it to short circuit and slow down considerably.
Keitaro gripped his right hand into a fist. "For some reason… I feel like I need to give chase…" he thought, "…but… why? Knowing my luck, this might land me into even bigger trouble… ….but something at the back of my mind… just tells me to follow it…"
Obeying his instincts, Keitaro ran after the escaping Mecha-Tama, using up whatever energy he had left. Tama would have joined in the chase, but she was a little exhausted after her tussle. As for Mecha-Tama, despite being short circuited, it still managed to out speed the manager, but Keitaro wasn't going to give up. Something inside told Keitaro that this Mecha-Tama was the key.
After much running and panting, Keitaro finally returned to the flight of stairs leading to Hinata Sou. However, a commanding and resentful voice caused him to stop dead in his tracks.
"Urashima… you have some nerve showing your face here…"
Keitaro watched as Motoko emerged from the shadows, her katana drawn… and her vengeful eyes locking onto his. Her presence could be described as deeply sinister.
"Um… M-Motoko-chan? Can we t-talk another time? I… I need to do something…" Keitaro tried saying.
"…LIKE REPENT FOR YOUR SINS?!?"
The heir of the Shinmeiryuu leapt gracefully into the sky, the moon illuminating her poised-to-strike blade. She chopped the air down with considerable force… and delivered a most malicious cutting demon strike. With a wave of fiery red energy, the technique caused Keitaro to sail weightlessly into a nearby building, almost crushing the structure upon impact. When the dust dispersed and disappeared, Motoko stood only a few feet away from him.
Keitaro's immortality saved him this time. He managed to stand on his feet, but his head felt dazed from the sudden impact.
"Naru-senpai has informed me of your vile and perverted ways. To openly molest another is an act truly deplorable and unforgiving. Even as I speak, she is still crying in her room..." Motoko told him.
She lowered her stance and closed her eyes.
"…there was a time where I started… to trust you. I thought you were the first person to lift my unconquerable hatred of men… but I was wrong. I even thought that I had… feelings for you… but then I realised… that was a foolhardy mistake on my behalf."
Keitaro could not help but feel a little surprised. He never knew Motoko was even capable of seeing him in such light, let alone expressing herself in such a way.
"Motoko-chan…" he started to say.
But it was too late. Her eyes lit up, and she was overcome with emotion.
"NO! NO MORE WORDS URASHIMA! THIS IS THE END…"
She raised her sword high, and charged with the ferocity of a thousand raging bulls.
"…SECRET TECHNIQUE…"
Keitaro had 0.43 seconds to react to the threat… and did so by unleashing an incredible counter attack.
He rushed forward… hugged her… and kissed her passionately on the lips!!
With widened eyes, Motoko froze for a second, and her sword fell from her once strong grip. Her face turned a reddish purple, and her eyes transformed into two gigantic swirls. Then… her kendo outfit started to melt from her shoulders. Finally she collapsed in a motionless heap, spread out like a snow angel, eyes… still swirling.
"I… can't believe I did that…" Keitaro said in disbelief.
-0-0-
He thought he was used to those mountainous steps by now, but the crazy events that took place only served to make the journey even more tiring. He didn't even know why he was running. Mecha-Tama should have easily escaped by now… but as Keitaro reached the top… he was amazed to find the robotic critter still lurking around! As luck would have it, Mecha-Tama was very low on battery juice (probably due to Tama's water attack), and so to save energy, it slowed down to the speed of, ironically, a turtle.
Mecha-Tama hadn't recognised the manager, for it was too busy focusing on whatever goal it needed to accomplish. This gave Keitaro the advantage of sneaking up behind it. Was this really 'the key' the old men were referring to?
Keitaro took a stealthy step forward…
…and stopped.
Hidden amongst a cluster of trees… was a passageway leading to an open trapdoor, big enough for an ordinary sized person to squeeze into. It must have been extremely well camouflaged, for during the day when it was closed, it had blended perfectly with the rest of the ground. Keitaro heard rumours of the secret locations that inhabit Hinata Sou, but he waved them off as nothing more than idle rumour and fairytales. Boy, was he proven wrong.
Keitaro watched as Mecha-Tama disappeared into the trapdoor. Having made it this far, Keitaro threw the remainder of his caution to the wind… and played follow the leader once again.
-0-0-
Taking a much needed deep breath, Keitaro carefully climbed down into the underground. He checked out the surroundings once he reached the bottom. Amongst the rubble and the vegetation… there was but a single tunnel heading north. Unfortunately the tunnel was too narrow to simply walk into, so Keitaro had to get on his hands and knees if he wanted to venture through it. Still, he made it this far…
…
He felt his hands and knees becoming increasingly dirty, thanks to the hard ground and gravel that inhabit this tunnel. The tunnel did twist and turn, but at least there were no traps waiting for him. He did however, wonder what was waiting for him, when, or indeed if he ever reached the end.
At last the tunnel fanned out into a small muddy room with a wooden door. Behind it he heard numerous noises of machinery. Cautiously he opened the door which led to a second room. The whole 'low creaking noise' thing reminded him of an old horror movie.
Perhaps the sight wasn't as shocking as seeing Haruka in her birthday suit… but nonetheless, it did make Keitaro take a step back to properly see what was going on.
The second room was much larger than the first. In fact, it was almost the same size as the Hinata living room. The floor, wall and ceiling were all fixed together with navy blue tiles. At least half a dozen Mecha-Tamas were patrolling all over the place. The Mecha-Tama which Keitaro chased moments ago was being recharged by some sort of hand held device. The room itself was partially filled with red, blue and grey wires, some of them tangled up into piles impossible to untie. There were lots of modern looking tables which, on top, were all sorts of machinery complete and incomplete.
However, two certain pieces of equipment… not to mention a certain somebody… all demanded the spotlight.
In the furthermost corner of the room stood a colossus, cylindrical shaped machine with rusty robotic like tentacles sprouting all over the place. In the centre of its grey body was a round, analogue clock, bashed together with nails and aided with large chunks of beige sticky tape. Below the clock was a small screen which displayed the number seventy five in red digits. Scattered around the clock were many small green and red buttons.
The second item was a monitor screen taking up half the wall by itself! The screen was unnaturally vast in size, and was completely filled with a mishmash of numbers and symbols. Looking at it would baffle even the most battle hardened of computer geeks… but of course to a certain somebody, it all made perfect sense. She was even typing a few extra lines with her super high-tech keyboard.
"K-Kaolla-chan…" Keitaro said slowly, as he took in all the wondrous and chaotic sights and sounds. "What… what is all of this?"
Grinning, Kaolla, dressed in a lab coat over her usual attire, spun from her swivel chair in order to face the befuddled manager. It was true that her technological jungle bedroom was impressive to say the least, but this room… was the hub and foundation of Kaolla's latest masterpieces. Only the greatest and craziest of machines inhabit this secret area.
"Aw! Looks like you found me!" she playfully pouted, "Took you long enough!"
…
…
Author: Yui, Temaru and Tanya are all original characters (though I'm sure you already guessed that).
And Kaolla reveals all in the next chapter…