Sempai, My Saviour Chapter 3
Review comments/answers at end of Chapter. Updated the last two chapters with minor changes so things flow better.
Last Time on Sempai, My Saviour
The next couple of hours were filled with Naru studying to block out the feelings of jealousy she was having for some reason, Motoko running through her schools Kata's to get rid of the feelings of guilt which were appearing from somewhere, Kitsune drinking in preparation for the show that was going to start at 3 o'clock, however fell into a drink induced nap, Su was chasing around Tama yelling something about making tama soup, while Shinobu rifled through her closet to find something to wear for her first ever date, and Keitaro was just trying to stay out of everyone's way.
3 O'clock came around and with everyone embroiled with their own activities no one was there to see the couple off.
"Sempai, I'm ready." Shinobu said as she descended the stairs and saw Keitaro waiting for her.
"Hey Shinobu-chan, how are..." he trailed off as he stared at the vision of loveliness before him. She wore a pale blue sundress which hugged her small frame, accentuating her slight curves and only a light touch of makeup on her face, complementing her already beautiful features. "Wow." He murmured.
Blushing, Shinobu asked "Is there something wrong Sempai?"
"N-no it's just you look really beautiful." He stuttered.
Shinobu blushed a deeper red at the complement and said bashfully "Thank you Sempai, shall we go?"
"S-sure" he said, still admiring the beauty of the young woman before him. Waking out the front door together and towards the stairs, Shinobu reached the first step but froze, thinking that she wouldn't be safe if she leaves the protection of Hinata Sou and started to have second thoughts about going out on the date.
She was about to move away from the steps when Keitaro took a hold of her hand. Surprised at the intimate contact between her and her crush, she looked up at his smiling face. Keitaro had noticed Shinobu's hesitation and had correctly guessed that she was nervous about leaving the safety of the dorm.
"Don't worry Shinobu-chan. I'm right here; I won't let anything happen to you."
Feeling more confident she griped his hand tightly and moved slightly closer to him and smiled "OK let's go."
With that they both head off for their first date.
As Keitaro and Shinobu walked down the stairs he never lets go of her hand. 'This is kind of nice.' he thought 'Naru barely lets me walk beside her when we go out; it feels good to hold someone's hand and not be sent to the moon.'
"So Shinobu-chan is there anywhere you want to go?" He asked her with a smile. "I think Haitani and Shirai still work at Kabagawa Never-land so we could go there if you want." She thought for a moment and as much as she would like to go she was worried about the amount of people that will be there. Just as she was about to tell him that when he pre-empts her "Too many people?" he asked, surprisingly perceptive for him "Don't worry about it, how about we go for a walk in the park instead? And maybe get something to eat as well?" He suggested, smiling.
Shinobu considered this and decided that she liked that idea and told him so. "That sounds good to me Sempai."
He laughed lightly and said "You know Shinobu-chan you can call me Keitaro if you want. We're friends right? So you don't have to be so formal with me."
"OK Keitaro-kun" She agreed with a glorious blush on her cheeks. He grinned at her as they continued on down the stone stairs. As they reached the bottom, they came across Haruka sweeping the entrance to her tea shop. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Shinobu's face is bright red and shy smile adorned her face, as well as the two hands joined together.
"Hey Kei-kun, Shinobu-chan. What are you two up to?" 'As if I couldn't guess.' She thought with an internal smirk.
"Hi Aun- I mean Haruka." he quickly amended.
Haruka, with her fan already halfway to Keitaro's head, smiled lightly and said "There may be some hope for you yet." Keitaro just rubbed the back of his head and gave her a goofy grin. "So what are you two doing?" She asked again still not getting an answer to her original question.
"Sem- I mean Keitaro-kun is taking me to the park." Shinobu told her, blushing an even deeper shade of red.
Haruka was slightly surprised at the informal address the girl had just used, but obviously did not show it. ' "Keitaro-kun" is it?' She thought, slightly amused by this. 'I think that's the first time I ever heard her call him by anything other than Sempai.' "Is that so? It's about time you got yourself a pretty girlfriend like Shinobu-chan." She teased them.
As expected both of them blushed but what surprised her was that neither of them was really denying what she just said. Looking behind them, she expected to see a group of very poorly hidden girls keeping an eye on her nephew but was surprised to see no one following them.
'I would have thought that the girls would have been following them. Naru and Motoko normally don't let him be alone in the same room as her, let alone allowing them to go out together, and Kitsune should be around to get stuff to blackmail Keitaro about.'
"Well I've got work to do so I'll let you two get back to what you are doing. See you later." With that she walked back into her shop leaving the pair by themselves. Still holding hands the both of them walked to the tram station just enjoying each other's company, all the while the blush on Shinobu's face never faded; neither did the smile on her dates face.
They boarded the tram and Keitaro positioned himself behind her in the crowded tram. 'With all the stuff she's been through she doesn't need some guy trying to feel her up.' He thought with a small amount of venom, looking around to see if there are any potential perverts in the tram. The tram started with a jerk which made Shinobu stumble and fall. Just as she's about to hit the floor a strong arm wraps around her waist, caught and pulled her back up.
She looked behind her to see that it was Keitaro who owned the arm and that he was looking down at her with concern in his eyes. "Are you alright Shinobu-chan?"
"Y-Yes Keitaro-kun I'm fine. T-Thank you for catching me." She replied with a blush when she noticed that he still had an arm around her waist.
Keitaro also noticed that his arm is around her waist and blushed but makes no move to remove it. He waited to see how she would react to this and took it as a good sign when she lightly leaned back into his chest, blushing harder than ever before, and also causing Keitaro to turn a deep shade of red.
The people around them looked on at their shy antics with much amusement, making comments about how sweet the both of them are and what a cute couple they make which caused the two blush even deeper. As embarrassing as it was Keitaro never removed his arm. It wasn't often that he got to be this close to a girl who he wasn't related to him without being punched to the next prefecture and he liked this new experience.
Much to their relief their station soon arrived and the two quickly hurried away from prying eyes and embarrassing comments. When they stopped to catch their breath they looked at each other and burst out laughing when they notice each other's blush.
"Well that was strange wasn't it Shinobu-chan" Keitaro remarks with a grin. He then holds out his hand to his date and said "Well shall we continue to the park?"
Shinobu looked at the hand for a moment before shyly grabbing it and standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with him "OK." With that the both walk slowly together, hand in hand, the short distance to the park.
They spent their time admiring the beauty of the area around them, talking about anything that came to mind, just enjoying the company and the lovely day that they had together. Before either of them knew it over an hour had passed.
Keitaro looked down at his young friend and hesitantly asked "So Shinobu-chan, are you having a good time?" both dreading and wanting an answer.
"I'm having a wonderful time. Thank you Keitaro-kun" She said while her ever present blush deepened.
"I'm glad Shinobu-chan. You know if you ever want to go out like this again you just have to ask."
"R-really?" She asked with a hopeful look in her eye.
"Of course Shinobu-chan. I've had a great time." He grinned
"Well, Well what have we got here?" a voice interrupts their conversation. Looking up they see three thugs have walked up to them and were leering at Shinobu. "Now what is a good looking girl doing with a loser like him." the leader smirked.
"Look we don't want trouble. Just leave us alone." Keitaro tried to reason with the leader.
"I wasn't talking to you!" the leader glared at him. "So what do you say you ditch this guy and come have some fun with us?"
"N-no thank you" Shinobu whimpered moving closer to Keitaro.
"Alright, we have already asked you to leave us alone, so could you please ju- " -CRACK- Keitaro never finished his sentence as one of the thugs had gotten behind him and hit Keitaro on the back of the head with a metal pipe he had been hiding.
With Keitaro on the ground he discarded his weapon and set about kicking his prone form with his friends. Shinobu could only watch as her friend and protector was beaten badly, her voice lost in her fear. When they got tired of beating on Keitaro they turned their attention to Shinobu.
"So are you sure you don't want to have some fun with us?" The leader leered evilly at her.
Understanding what he meant she started to back up away from them only to trip and fall backwards. She started to crawl backwards, terrified that this was happening again after such a short time. The men slowly approached the girl figuring that there was no need to rush since they were in a secluded part of the park.
The leader moved closer to Shinobu, mentally planning the things he would do to her, when he heard a -CRACK- and a painful scream followed by another -CRACK- and another scream. When he turned around he was in time to see a bloodied Keitaro half way through a swing to his head with the pole his friend had discarded. There was no time to do anything as the heavy pole quickly finished its journey and with a sickening -CRACK- his cheek bone was shattered and he was thrown away by the force of the hit.
A panting Keitaro dropped his recently acquired weapon and limped over to Shinobu. He knelt/collapsed next to her and asked "Are you OK Shinobu-chan?"
"S-sempai..." was all she could say to him.
Keitaro gave her a painful smile and said "I thought I told you to call me Keitaro."
Despite the situation she lets out a small laugh. "I'm fine Keitaro-kun" she answered his previous question. "But what about you, how can I help you?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
Keitaro pulls out his mobile phone and hands it to her "Could you please call someone for help, I think I should go get checked out in a hospital." he asked her weakly.
"Of course" she replied as she grabbed the phone and quickly calls for help.
Within 15 minutes a police car and an ambulance had turned up to answer her call for help.
Meanwhile Back At Hinata Sou
Naru was still staring down at her text book, not taking anything in. 'What the hell is that pervert playing at? He probably can't wait to get poor Shinobu-chan all by herself and try something with her!' She yells in her mind. 'And why did Shinobu-chan agree to go out with that idiot. She knows that he's a pervert, me and Motoko have told her this time and time again so why did she agree to this stupid date?'
She turned the page of her textbook more out of habit than actually reading the page.
'I know! That pervert must be blackmailing her into going out with him! What other reason would do it?' Completely ignoring the fact that she was the one that suggested that they go on a date. 'There's no way I'm going to let that pervert be alone with an innocent girl like Shinobu-chan!' She looked towards the clock on the wall and froze when she saw the time.
'OH MY GOD IT'S 4:30!' She then proceeded to race about the dorm in the vain hope that they haven't left yet. When she found no trace of the pair she yelled.
"MOTOKO! KITSUNE! SU! GET DOWN HERE!" loud enough to wake even the comatose Fox. Within moments the lounge was filled with one swaying girl, one girl bouncing off the walls and one with a sword in her hand.
"Naru-sempai, what is the matter!" Motoko asked.
"It's 4:30! That means Keitaro and Shinobu-chan have been gone for over an hour!"
"Spirits! Your right! Who knows that that pervert could have done to her without our supervision!" Motoko agreed."We must track him down and punish him for his perverse ways!" she continued with fire in her eyes.
"And how do you expect to find them? They left over an hour ago, they could have gone anywhere." Kitsune put in.
"Well... well..., I know we'll use one of Su's Keitaro-Detectors!" Naru suggested.
"Nopes, no can do!" Su informed the others with her usual cheerfulness.
"WHAT? WHY NOT!" Naru yelled at the young girl.
" 'cause I turned them all into Tamago-Detectors!" She cheered.
"Why did you turn them all into tamago-detectors?" Kitsune, the most level headed/sane, asked.
"Well if one takes 30 minutes to find the flying snack-box then with 10 it will only take 3 minutes!" She explained the logic which only applies to her.
"Whatever, can you turn them back?" Naru asked impatiently.
"Nopes, ain't gots the parts to do it! Besides how would I catch Tama without them?"
Naru ignored the question "Fine. We'll just have to go and try and find them!"
"And how are you going to do that, check all the love hotels in Tokyo?" Kitsune countered, gently adding fuel to the fire and getting her Manager into deeper trouble.
Naru almost broke her fingers clenching her fist so hard. "Well, what do you suggest we do then?"
"I say we just wait for them to come back, that way you won't miss him." 'And I won't miss the show.' she added silently to herself.
Naru and Motoko both reluctantly accepted Kitsune's logic, and started to make plans as to how they would punish Keitaro for defiling Shinobu.
One Ambulance Ride, Many Medical Tests, Police Interviews And Hours Later At Tokyo Hospital
"Well Urashima-san, I must say you are quite remarkable." His doctor told him. "When you came in you looked like hell! But now just look at you now!"
Keitaro just grinned and scratched the back of his bandaged head. "So does that mean that I'm going to be OK?"
"Yep, apart from a minor concussion, a couple of bruised ribs and the stitches in the back of your head you're perfectly fine. The usually procedure is to keep you in for a couple of days but with the rate you're recovering you should be able to leave by tomorrow morning, and the stitches should be able to come out in about a week." She assured both the patient and his friend. Both of them sighed in relief.
"Thanks Sensei. Is there anything else?"
"Nope, just get a good night sleep and we will see how you're doing in the morning. I'll send a nurse in to give you a sedative in a couple of minutes to help you sleep." She informed the pair with a smile and then left.
"Well that's a huge relief isn't Shinobu-chan?" he looked over to his young friend and noticed the sad look on her face. "What's wrong Shinobu-chan?"
"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me again." she whispered.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked gently, genuinely confused by how she could see this as her fault.
"W-whenever I'm around you, you always get hurt. I-I'm sorry." Shinobu told him with tears in her eyes.
"Shinobu-chan how can you possibly think that?"
"It's true! You would never have gotten hurt if I didn't go out on this date with you."
"Please Shinobu-chan don't talk like that. It's not your fault."
"But it is! You're always hurt because of me!" She cried
Keitaro sighed. "Shinobu-chan, if I didn't ask you out then I wouldn't have got hurt." When Shinobu tried to interrupt he continued on over the top of her. "And if Naru hadn't said anything I wouldn't have invited you out in the first place."
Seeing the hurt look on her face and just hearing how it must have sounded to her and his arms start to flail around. "No-no Shinobu-chan I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was I wouldn't have normally asked you out because I never thought that you would want to go out me."
This caught Shinobu off guard "W-what do you mean? Why wouldn't I want to go out with you?"
"Well I mean just look at us. You're beautiful, smart, caring, talented, kind; you're the greatest cook I've ever met. And just look at me I'm not good looking, I'm clumsy, I failed the Toudai entrance exam 3 times, the only real jobs I've ever had were working in my parents bakery and running a girls dorm where most of the residents think I'm a pervert and... well I guess that I never thought that you would be interested in someone like me." 'Not to mention the fact that Naru and Motoko would kill me for even thinking about going out with you.' he adds to himself.
Shinobu looked at him with a shocked expression. She couldn't remember how many times she thought the same, only about herself. She had no idea how to react to being told by her Sempai that he thought she's beautiful.
"Look, Shinobu-chan, don't think for a second that I could ever blame you for these things. There is no way that I could ever do that!" He smiled at her.
Before she could reply a nurse walked in "Alright Urashima-san, I'm here to give you your sedative." She looked over to Shinobu and said "I'm afraid that you are going to have to go home now. You can't stay the night."
"B-but, please, please let me stay." Shinobu begged.
"I'm afraid that I can't let you stay it's against hospital policy... to... let.." She faltered when she was assaulted by a pair of blue puppy dog eyes.
"Fine you can stay." She relented with a sigh. She proceeded to give the sedative and to Keitaro which he went ouch as the needle went in. Shinobu suddenly realised something and asked
"Um, is there somewhere that I can make a phone call?"
"Yes just down the hall on the right" the nurse explained "I'll go and find you a pillow and blanket so I'll be back in a moment" she told the two as left.
"Who are you going to call?" Keitaro asked her.
"Haruka-san, it just occurred to me that no one knows where we are."
Keitaro visibly paled when he realised what the girls would do to him when he got back after staying out all night with Shinobu.
"Yeah, I guess we did forget didn't we." he chuckled nervously to himself as Shinobu went to make the phone call. The phone was right where the nurse had told her and it didn't take more than two rings for the person at the other end to pick up.
¬Hello Hinata Tea Rooms¬."
"Hello, Haruka-san? It's Shinobu."
¬Oh, hey Shinobu-chan, what's up. It's getting pretty late you know, where are you and Keitaro?¬ Haruka's voice said.
"Um, that's what I'm calling about. You see, um we ran in to some trouble and um, we're at Tokyo hospital right now." she answered
¬What? What happened? Are you and Keitaro alright?¬
"We're fine Haruka-san, Keitaro-kun has a minor concussion and a few bruised ribs and a few stitches but the doctor said that he would be able to leave by tomorrow morning." She informed the worried aunt.
¬Oh, that's a relief, what about you do you need me to come pick you up?¬ In the background Shinobu thought that she could hear someone yelling but it was too muffled to make out.
"Um, no that's fine I'll stay here with Sempai." the young girl answered with a light blush.
¬Is that so?¬ She asked in a tone of voice that made her blush deepen ¬Well if you're sure, I'll be by in the morning to pick you up and check on my nephew. What ward and room is he in?¬ Once she was told what she wanted to know Haruka said ¬OK, Shinobu-chan, I'll see you tomorrow, tell Keitaro-kun I hope he's alright.¬
When she said she would, Shinobu hung up the phone and made her way back to Keitaro's room. There she found the pillow and blanket the nurse said she'd bring in as well as a doped up, semi-conscious Keitaro.
She made her way over to the blanket and pillow and started to arrange two chairs to form a make-shift cot for herself next to Keitaro's bed when she heard him say "Shinobu-chan what are you doing?" his voice slightly slurred due to the drugs.
"I'm making myself a bed." She informed him.
"Why? You can just sleep here." he said as he pulled his covers down so she could crawl in next to him.
"B-b-but we're in a hospital it wouldn't be apropra-eep!" her protest was cut short as he grabbed her hand and swiftly pulled her into bed and covered them with the blanket.
"There, much better. I like waking up with Shinobu" he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a hug, the drug almost completely wiping out his inhibitions.
"K-Kietaro-kun I shouldn't be MMM-!" her protest, once again cut off by Keitaro, only this time by him placing a gentle kiss onto her lips, which effectively stopped all thoughts of leaving his arms the girl was currently entertaining.
When he released her lips he smiled sleepily at her before pulling her tightly to his chest and slurred "Good night Shinobu-chan." Before he finally dropped off Shinobu heard him mumble "..inobu taste nice." Which of course made so much blood rush to her face that she was in danger of passing out.
Resigning herself to the not very unpleasant situation she found herself in she sighed contently, snuggled closer to the man who held her in his arms and promptly went to sleep.
Several Minutes Earlier at The Hinata Tea Rooms
We find Haruka Urashima closing up for the day. As she cleaned the last dirty table she thought about the events that have occurred recently. She thought about what poor Shinobu had gone through and how proud she was of her nephew but at the forefront of her mind was not the pair that she had seen off on their date but the girls that were left behind, or more specifically their treatment of her nephew.
'I can't believe how Naru reacted yesterday.' she thought 'I know she's got a short temper when it comes to men but that was ridiculous. Kei was just walking up the stairs next to her and she tries to take his head off! I dread to think what would have happened if he tripped and took someone's clothes off like he normally does.'
Haruka lit up another cigarette and sighed 'I know that he's a clumsy idiot sometimes and that he's probably seen those girls naked more times than their future husbands ever will, but she didn't even give him a chance to explain and all he did was walk up the stairs at the same time as Shinobu. I wonder how many times I've seen him fly overhead when he didn't deserve it.'
The smoking woman had long ago decided to take a hands off policy when it came to her nephew and his tenants, figuring that he'd get nowhere with the girls if she coddled and fought his battles for him, but she was beginning to regret her laid back attitude to her nephews situation.
'I suppose I should take a greater interest in what goes on up there before Keitaro either gets seriously hurt or decides to leave this place for good. I doubt mum would be too happy about either of those possibilities, to say nothing about how my brother and sister-in-law would react to finding out that he's been used as a punching bag pretty much since he got here, let alone what his crazy sister would do to those girls.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at her door. Sighing she moved over to the door to shoo away whoever was there.
"I'm sorry but we're closed, you'll have to come back tomo- oh hi Su-chan, what are you doing down here so late?" She looked down to see her young foreign friend, standing at the door looking nervous.
"Hi Haruka can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure come on in." Haruka replied, a bit worried since Su was the only one up at the dorm who had never come down to talk or to get advice, nor had she ever hear her use that serious tone of voice. Haruka let the girl in and went to get a cup of tea for them both while Su sat down at a table. Thinking better of it she returns with a banana instead of a cup of tea for the girl, which was quickly consumed. "So Su-chan what do you want to talk about?"
"Well, um, I'm a bit worried about Shinobu and Keitaro." The girl looked around as if she was doing something bad.
This caught her attention. "Really? Why?" she asked, getting a bit worried.
"Well Keitaro and Shinobu left at like 3 this afternoon and are still not back and Naru and Motoko are getting more mad at him."
"Huh their still not back? Well I'm sure their fine. You know Keitaro wouldn't do anything or let something bad happen to her." She reassured the young girl although a pit of worry in her stomach appeared. Her nephew was an idiot but was smart enough to know what would happen if he came back this late with Shinobu.
"Yea, I know that Shinobu is safe with him but I'm still worried. 'specially after what happened to her yesterday, but I'm also worried about what will happen to Keitaro when he gets back." she looked up at her with a sad face.
"What happened yesterday?" She feigned ignorance.
"Haruka, Keitaro and Shinobu told me what happened before they came home, I know what Keitaro saved her from and I know you know." Su gave a little smile but refrained from actually saying what nearly happened, not wanting to think of her friend in that type of situation.
"Oh, I see." was all she could say, surprised that Shinobu actually told someone about it given her reaction about going to the police. "Well it's good that she has someone else to help her. Anyway I can call Keitaro's mobile to see where he is if you want." Seeing her face light up Haruka walked over to her phone when she asked. "Don't you have Keitaro-trackers you could use to find him?"
Su looked a bit sheepish and said "Yea but Naru wanted to use it a few hours ago but told her I had changed it into a tama-detector, 'cos I didn't want Naru and Motoko to ruin her first date and when I checked it before I came down here, he was out of range."
Haruka let out a little laugh as her phone began to ring before she got to it. "I'm sure Shinobu-chan will appreciate that." She picked up the receiver and said "Hello Hinata Tea Rooms."
¬Hello, Haruka-san? Its Shinobu.¬ The voice at the other end said.
"Oh, hey Shinobu-chan, what's up?" She looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it read 9:00 p.m. "It's getting pretty late you know, where are you and Keitaro?"
¬Um, that's what I'm calling about. You see, um we ran in to some trouble and um, we're at Tokyo hospital right now.¬ Came the hesitant reply.
"What? What happened? Are you and Keitaro alright?" she asked in quick succession.
Su, who had wandered over at the mention of her friends asked "What's going on? What's happened?" Haruka ignored the girl and waited for the response.
¬We're fine Haruka-san, Keitaro-kun has a minor concussion and a few bruised ribs and a few stitches but the doctor said that he would be able to leave by tomorrow morning.¬
"Oh, that's a relief, what about you do you need me to come pick you up?" she offered while trying to keep the phone out of Su's reach.
¬Um, no that's fine I'll stay here with Sempai.¬
"Is that so?" She asked in a tone of voice that was intended to embarrass the girl "Well if you're sure, I'll be by in the morning to pick you up and check on my nephew. What ward and room is he in?" After writing down the information she said "OK, Shinobu-chan, I'll see you tomorrow, tell Keitaro-kun I hope he's alright." Before she even put the phone down she was assaulted with questions from the hyperactive princess.
"What's going on? What happened? Why aren't you telling me? Please tell me! Pretty pleassssse!" Su beged.
"Alright, alright calm down and I'll tell you." She replied. "Shinobu tells me that they're both fine but Keitaro had to go to hospital."
"HOSPITAL! WHY WHATS WRONG WITH HIM!"
"Calm down or I won't tell you" Haruka bluffed. Seeing the girl restrain herself she continued "She didn't say what happened, only that they got into some trouble, and knowing my nephew that's very likely. He should be able to come home tomorrow morning." Seeing the worried look the girl had she added "You can come with me tomorrow to pick them up if you want."
Su thought about this for a moment and came up with much a better idea. "Can we go see them now?" she asked hopefully.
The older woman sighed and said "Su-chan, it would take over an hour to get there and we probably won't be able to see him that late, we might as well wait for morning.
Disappointed, but not willing to give up she unleashed her ultimate weapon. Her green eyes grew large and watery and her lower lip quivered as she pouted "Pleassssse Haruka-san" the princess whined "We'll be real quiet so no one even knows we're there."
Not even Haruka could stand up to this and relented. "Fine but if they don't let us in don't say I didn't warn you." 'Not that anyone could say no to her if she gives them that look.' She thought to herself. 'She could probably take over the world with that look alone.'
An Hour Later at Tokyo Hospital
As Haruka predicted, the journey in Seta's van that the archaeologist had left behind in her care, took about an hour and though there was some trouble with security, a quick pout from Su and the problem instantly disappeared.
Entering the injured mans room they saw the manager and chef of Hinata Sou both asleep in each other's arms and with matching smiles.
Haruka smiled slightly at the two and whispers to Su "They're asleep Su-chan I think we should come back tomorrow." When the expected pleading to stay never came from her young friend, she looked down at where she was expected to be, but the space was empty. Looking around to find out where the girl had gotten too she looked to her nephews bed and saw that Su has somehow managed to get in to bed with the pair and was already sleeping with her arms lightly hugging Keitaro around the waist without Haruka even noticing. 'I wish I knew how she did that.' Haruka idly thought with a sigh. "And where am I meant to sleep?" She asked more to herself than the sleeping trio in front of her. Looking at the chairs beside his bed and the pillow and blankets on top of them "Some thanks for driving her over here, not even a good night and now I have to sleep in a chair." she muttered.
Finding herself in a comfortable position she gave her nephew one final look before going to sleep. 'Huh, been a long time since I've seen him give a genuine smile. Maybe Shinobu is having a greater influence than I thought.'
~The Next Morning~
A drowsy Keitaro slowly awoke to the sleeping face of the domestic of Hinata Sou. Gently he reached up to stoke her cheek and thought 'She really does look cute like this.' Feeling something shift behind him, he finally noticed Su sleeping contently behind him. "Huh? How did Su-chan get here?" he asked the room.
"I brought her here."
Had Keitaro not been weighted down by two young women holding him it was very likely he would have jumped right through the ceiling. Looking over to where the voice had come from her saw the stoic face of his aunt peering at him. "Haruka? What are you doing here?"
"Well when I find out my nephew's in hospital what do you expect me to do? Besides Su-chan begged me to bring her here last night." She explained. "So what actually happened, Shinobu-chan never told me." Haruka inquired. After a quick rundown of the date he explained how they were attacked and how he saved Shinobu. "I see, well aren't you becoming her knight in shining armour." she joked "But what about you? How are you feeling?"
"Me? I'm fine Haruka. You know me, nothing keeps me down for long." he grinned.
Stirred from her sleep by the conversation Shinobu slowly woke up and said "Good morning Keitaro-kun."
Keitaro looked away from his aunt to look at Shinobu "Good morning Shinobu-chan. How did you sleep?"
"Fine thanks. Are you feeling alright?" Her blush returning at full force when she realised that she slept in his arms again and in such a public place.
"I'm alright Shinobu-chan, nothing to worry about." He told her with a smile.
"hmmm is it breakfast time yet?" A dreary eyed Su asked as she sat up slightly, only to rest her head onto Keitaro's arm.
Shinobu let out a small yelp of surprise and asked "When did she get here?"
"I brought her here last night after you called." a voice said behind her back. Surprise caused the girl to jump in to Keitaro's arms as the voice chuckled. "Well, well I didn't realise you two had gotten so close to each other"
Realising who the voice belonged to; she turned and said "H-Haruka-san! I-It's not like that!"
"I know Shinobu-chan." She gave the girl who was still in her nephew's arms one of her rare smiles "So how did you sleep? You looked very comfortable there in Kei-kun's arms."
This produced the expected result of both of them blushing "H-Haruka-san! I-It's not like that!" Shinobu repeated.
Haruka laughed a little. "Don't worry, I know. Keitaro-kun just filled me in on what happened. Some first date huh?"
"...Yea" Shinobu said quietly. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and draw her closer to its owner.
"Shinobu-chan, I already told you that it wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself OK?"
Before she can respond Su crawled on top of Keitaro and nuzzled into his chest while she mumbling "Shinobu how much longer until breakfast is ready?"
Keitaro's normal run of luck continued as this was the exact time his doctor and nurse from yesterday decided to pay him a visit bearing a tray of food for the patient. Seeing Keitaro with his arm around one girl, another one laying on his chest, and yet another one in the chair next to him the doctor developed a grin on her face that Keitaro is more used to seeing on Kitsune when she's up to no good, and said while laughing
"Well Urashima-san, if I had known what a ladies' man you are I would have arranged for a male nurse and doctor."
Keitaro's arms start to flail around as he stammered out denials, Shinobu's face turns bright red, Su sat up and stared at the tray of food drooling slightly, Haruka was as stoic as usual but grinned inside as she always did when her nephew got embarrassed, the nurse did a rather poor job of suppressing a fit of giggles that were threatening to escape and the doctor just continued laughing. Hoping to shift attention away from this line of conversation Keitaro quickly makes the introductions. "um this is my aunt Haruka Urashima and this is a good friend of ours Kaolla Su" he said while missing the glare from the elder woman for using That word.
"It's nice to meet you both." the doctor said with a large smile still plastered on her face. Haruka mealy nodded at her while Su's eyes never left the tray of food which seemed to hold a familiar yellow fruit. "So how are you feeling today Urashima-san?"
"Fine thanks, never felt better." he said as he accepted the tray food from the nurse while automatically passing the banana to Su. "So will I be able to home today?"
"Well that's what we're here to find out" she pulled out a pen light and checked his pupils' responsiveness. "So any pain at all?"
"No not really, just a slight headache and the back of my head itches like hell but apart from that I'm fine." he assured the doctor.
"mmmm well you seem fine, as for the headache that's to be expected seeing as you got hit with a metal pole yesterday. I would avoid using any aspirin or anything like that and let it fade naturally. If it doesn't and gets worse for no reason come back in for a check up as soon as possible. I'm afraid that there's nothing I can do about the itching and the bandages should stay on until you are ready to have stitches out."
"So I able to go home today right?"
"Yep, I can't find a reason to keep you here any longer. You know it's really amazing how fast you've recovered, I don't suppose you would agree to let us run some tests on you; you could help a lot of people if we find out how you heal so fast?"
Keitaro was about to agree, always ready to help others, when he saw the glint in the doctor's eyes, and he thought that it suspiciously resembles the look Su had in her eyes when she decided to find out why he could survive anything that was thrown at him. "Um sorry Sensei but I don't really like the idea of being tested on." 'At least anymore than usual.' he added to himself giving Su a quick glance and when she looked up and grinned at him, he knew she was obviously thinking along the same lines as him.
The doctor sighed and said "It was worth a shot, not many people are willing to be experimented on. Anyway just make an appointment with your local doctor in about a week to have your stitches removed, also try to avoid hitting you head at least for a while if not entirely."
Keitaro gave her a weak laugh, thinking about the reception he will receive when he gets home and said "I can't promise anything Sensei but I will try."
"Good, here's my card if you ever change your mind about the tests just give me a call anytime. You're ready to leave at any time you just have to fill out some forms and then you can go. I hope we won't see you any time soon, unless of course you reconsider about the tests."
"OK thanks for everything Sensei."
Shinobu looked up at the nurse and said "Thank you again for letting me stay here last night." blushing as she remembered just what happened last night.
The nurse smiled at her and replied "No problem, it's clear that you really care about your boyfriend I couldn't in good conscience rip you away from him."
"um he's not my boyfriend just a friend." her blush intensifying both out of embarrassment and from thinking of Keitaro as her boyfriend.
"Really? From the way you two were snuggled up together last night I would have thought that you were newlyweds." His doctor put in, the Kitsune like grin returning.
"Sensei!" Keitaro moaned as Shinobu struggled to remain conscious.
"Ha Ha I'm gonna miss you two." The doctor said over her shoulder as she left with the nurse following close behind her.
When she was out of sight Keitaro mumbled "Let's go home before she decides to come back."
An Hour Latter at the Bottom of Hinata Sou's Stone Staircase
Haruka pulled up outside her teashop and parked Seta's van. The journey back to the dorm had been an uneventful one, mostly filled with Su interrogating Shinobu and Keitaro about their date which made the hour long trip seem a lot longer to the blushing pair.
Stepping out of the van Keitaro looked up at the dorm and started to shake when he saw the red aura surrounding his home. Knowing what, or rather who is giving off this aura he started to see the positives in going off an a dig with Seta, sure it was back breaking work for little pay, sure he'd have to put up with Sarah trying to crack his head open with a random artefact, sure he'd have to survive the archaeologist's driving, but at least he would have maybe a week or so until Naru and Motoko caught up to him.
Keitaro jumped slightly when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Turning around slowly he saw that the hand belonged to his aunt. Obviously knowing what was going through his mind Haruka said "Don't worry Kei, I won't let them lay a finger on you." the steely glint in her eye and the tone of voice made Keitaro wonder if he wouldn't be safer up there with Naru and Motoko than hanging around his aunt in her current mood.
"I'm sure everything will be alright, Keitaro-kun." Shinobu tried to reassure him even though she didn't really believe the words coming out of her mouth.
Keitaro just smiled weakly at her as he allowed Su to climb up on his back, when a though occurred to him "Um Shinobu-chan, I don't suppose you could go back to calling me Sempai, at least when we're around the other girls, I think I'm in enough trouble as it is."
The girl frowned slightly at the thought of having to go back to being formal with her love interest before seeing the sense in what he was saying. Sighing she said "Yes I suppose your right Sempai."
Keitaro put a hand on her shoulder and said "You only have to do it when Naru, Motoko or Kitsune are around."
"What about me? Do I have to start calling you 'Sempai'?" Su asked as she leaned over his head to look at him upside down.
Keitaro chuckled at her and said "No I think you can keep calling me Keitaro if you want."
"OK!" She cheered as she returned to her original position only to start to rub her cheek against his.
Haruka just looked at the three of them and shook her head. "OK you three let's get going."
The four of them started to ascend the stone staircase, and as they get closer to the top each could feel the angry red aura intensifying, and with each step Keitaro grew more and more nervous. Su could feel him stiffen in her embrace as they neared the top of the staircase and tightened her grip on him in hopes of calming him down a bit. This worked slightly as Keitaro started to worry more about his circulation that Su was cutting off than his welcome home.
Keitaro had barely reached the top step when the screaming started.
"YOU HAVE SOME NERVE TO EVEN SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND HERE YOU LITTLE PERVERT!" Naru yelled as she came rushing out of the entrance, followed by an equally pissed off Motoko.
"URASHIMA! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO SHINOBU-CHAN!" She yelled as she raised her bokken above head as Naru pulled her fist back.
Before Keitaro could even think about getting Su to safety the girls were upon him. Motoko's practice sword started its downward arc as Naru's fist closed in on his face.
As Keitaro attempted to shield Su from the two attackers, Haruka acted.
Stepping in between Keitaro and the two girls, she effortlessly caught Naru's fist in her left hand and Motoko bokken in her right. Her eyes ablaze in anger, her own red aura easily dwarfing their combined one, she squeezed both hands hard enough to force Naru to her knees in pain and to shatter the wooden sword to little more than splinters.
Seeing the anger in the elder woman's eyes Motoko backed away from the furious aunt. 'I..I have never seen Haruka-san so angry before.' she thought to herself. 'I do not think even Aneue would risk going up against Haruka like this.'
'This has gone on long enough. I have to make up for been such a negligent aunt and I'm going to start right now!' Noticing the anger had left the younger girls and had been replaced by fear, Haruka growled out through clenched teeth in a deathly whisper "Just what do you two think you were going to do to My nephew?"
"H-H-Haruka-san w-we w-were just going to p-punish him for w-what he did to S-Shinobu-chan" stuttered the normally unshakable samurai clearly terrified at this side of Haruka that she had never seen.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she said "And What exactly is he meant to have done to Shinobu-chan?"
"He- he was out all night with her, he must have molst-" Naru tried to get out before she was cut off.
"What the hell is wrong with you two? Why is it that whenever you think of Keitaro it always has to do with sex? You have the gall to accuse him of being a pervert when you two can only see him in sexual situations. It seems to me that your minds are far more perverted than his could ever be." Her voice dripping with venom.
"B-B-But he was out all night with her! W-What were they doing if they weren't... if they weren't..."
"Doing What!... See you don't even know what went on last night but you're ready to kill Keitaro. Didn't it ever occur to you that maybe you should ask what happened before you act?" Taking out and lighting one of her cigarettes she takes a deep breath to calm down before going on "If you two had actually asked what happened instead of instantly condemning an innocent man you would have found out that Keitaro had to spend the night in hospital."
"HOSPITAL!" Naru and Motoko both said in unison. They both rushed over to Shinobu, knocking Keitaro out of the way, and asked "Are you alright Shinobu-chan? What happened? Did He do something to you?"
"N-No I'm fine, Sempai was the one that got hurt." She replied slightly surprised at the quick change in temperament.
"Oh thank god you're alright Shinobu-chan." Naru said "Are you sure he didn't do anything perverted?"
"I-I'm sure."
"Well if you sure." turning back to Keitaro, Motoko said "Urashima, you have neglected you duties in your absence and the Hot Springs needs to be cleaned. I expect you to have done it by the time lunch is served."
As she walked off Naru started to follow her when she stops and points at the kindling that was Motoko's bokken and said "Don't forget to clean that up as well." She then stormed of back in to the dorm.
Above them they heard a cackling and as four sets of eyes look up they see Kitsune with a freshly opened bottle of sake in her hand, watching what had happened from the safety of her room. "Haruka-san you didn't have to be such a spoil sport, you ruined all the fun." she said before she disappeared from view still laughing.
Keitaro just stood there not saying or doing anything except clenching his fist. 'Do they really care so little about me? Haruka tells them that I was in hospital and not one of them asked if I was alright. I mean I can understand that check on Shinobu first, but when they found out that I was the one that got hurt they just shrug it off and tell me to start cleaning! I mean I have a bloody bandage wrapped around my head! Am I… am I just a cleaner to them? Hell I show more concern about Naru getting a paper cut! Aren't I their friend?'
Keitaro felt someone rest a hand on his shoulder and Su give him a quick squeeze, both seeming to know what he was thinking.
"Don't worry about it Kei, that's just how they are." Haruka said with a bit of bitterness.
"I know" he sighs "but still, it hurts you know, that not even half the closest people to me care about the fact that I was injured."
Haruka raises an eyebrow at his math "I think you miscounted there Kei. There are three of us out here that care about you."
Keitaro laughs a bit and said "I know but you don't really count, you have to care about me because you're my aunnn very young and very attractive relative!" Keitaro quickly changed his mind about calling her aunt as he remembered the doctors warning about getting hit in the head.
Haruka, looking slightly amused by his attempt of getting out of being hit in the head with her fan, said "Don't worry Kei I'm not going to hit you." 'At least until your stitches come out.'
Keitaro just laughed and said "Thanks Haruka, and thanks for protecting me and Su."
"Don't worry about it, in fact I should apologise to you."
"huh? Why? You haven't done anything."
"That's what I have to apologise for. I'm sorry for not stepping in before and putting a stop to Naru and Motoko." she explained looking slightly ashamed of herself.
"You don't have to apologise, most of the time it's my own fault, you know with my accidents and all."
"That's just what they are Keitaro-kun, accidents. You don't deserve to be put through a wall for something you didn't mean to do! Anyway I have to go open my teashop, try to stay out of trouble until you're in the clear OK Keitaro? I don't want to explain to that doctor why you're back after only an hour of being released."
The elder Urashima started to walk down the stairs when she felt a weight settle on her back. Looking to the side she saw that Su had launched herself from her nephews back and onto hers. She raises an eyebrow and asked "Yes Su-chan?"
Su responded to this by rubbing her cheek against Haruka's saying "Thank you for taking Su to see Keitaros last night and saving us just now."
Haruka smiled at the girl, gave her head a quick pat on the head and said "No problem Su-chan, now get going I've got things to do."
Su gave Haruka a big grin before launching herself back onto Keitaro, who received her with a grunt. "If you need anything you know where I'll be." Haruka said as she continued down the stairs.
Su gave Keitaro a big squeeze and a kiss on the cheek and said "Thank you for looking after Shinobu." Before rushing off to do things that we are a lot safer knowing nothing about.
Keitaro smiled at her departing form before sighing "Well I guess I had better clean the hot spring." he said unenthusiastically.
"Would you like me to help you?" Shinobu offered seeing that he was looking a bit worn out.
Keitaro looked at Shinobu, and as much as he would appreciate the help he didn't feel right about increasing a work load that she volunteered to take off his shoulders by doing the laundry and cooking. "No thank you Shinobu-chan you don't have to do that, but I don't suppose you could try and keep everyone away from the hot springs while I'm cleaning it?"
"Of course Keitaro-kun" she said with a small blush "See you at lunch?"
"Don't know, I think I'm gonna have a lay-down once I finish the spring, if I'm not down at lunch do you think that you could bring me up something to eat?"
"OK." She answered with a smile as she walked to get changed out of the dress that she had been wearing since yesterday.
Keitaro watched her walk away thinking what a wonderful girl she was, always willing to help. Shaking his head he thought 'Oh well the sooner I finish cleaning the springs the sooner I can lay down.'
~An Hour Later Outside Managers Room~
'Whew! That took a lot longer than it usually does. I guess I should take it easy for a while.' He thought as he rubbed his sore head. 'And I don't think standing out in the springs did my head any good.'
As he entered his room he moved to prepare his futon so he can have a quick nap, when two arms wrapped around his shoulders and a voice cooed "Keeeei-kun, ya know just because a girl's in your room doesn't mean that she's going to jump into your futon with you." The voice laughed. "Unless you ask nicely, that is."
Keitaro groaned inwardly. He knew that voice and that it usually earns him a free flight to the centre of Tokyo. "What can I do for you Kitsune?" he asked in an exasperated tone.
"ooooooooow what's wrong Kei-kun? Don't you like me anymore? Maybe it's because you got little Shinobu-chan now you don't need me, hmmmm?" Even though she was still behind him he could hear the pout in her voice.
"No, it's just that I'm a bit tired, and got a bit of a headache, so I'd appreciate it if I could just get some rest..." he hinted.
"Awwwww is my poor Kei-kun is hurting? You want your Big Sister to kiss it all better?" she said giggling.
"Kitsune please, just not now OK." he tried to reason with her to little avail.
"Now, now Kei-kun don't worry I'll make sure you feel a lot better." she purred into his ear.
"DAMN IT KITSUNE IS SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" he yelled at her as he pulled away from her embrace.
Kitsune's eyes shot open and her jaw dropped. She had never heard Keitaro yell in anger. In fear, yes, in surprise, yes, but never in anger.
"Wha.. wha... what are you yelling at me for! Jeezs I was just having a little fun, what's got your panties in a twist?"
"You want to know why I'm yelling? Fine I'll tell you. First of all two days ago, all I did was walk up the stairs with Shinobu-chan and I nearly get my head taken off, we didn't even get a chance to say anything before Naru tries to deck me. Secondly when Shinobu-chan asked to sleep in the same room with me because she's scared and I let her, not so I can rape or peek at her while she's asleep but because I'm her friend, Naru finds out and tries to kill me and if I hadn't jumped over her Shinobu-chan was likely to get seriously hurt just because Naru can't stop for one second to ask a question, then You decide to blurt it out over breakfast that Shinobu-chan spent the night with me, knowing full well what Motoko was going to do. Do you have any idea how much it hurts to get blasted through a wall and then land on concrete from very high up? Not only that but then I had to put up with Motoko berating me for not doing my work when she blasted me out of the building and then more or less call me a potential rapist. You have no idea what it's like to hear someone you care about say that to you! And about Shinobu-chan no less! Do you lot really think that the first chance I get I'm going to try to have my way with her?" he glared at the fox eyed woman.
"Oh and then when I got back this morning what am I greeted with is Naru and Motoko trying to kill me, completely ignoring the fact that I have a bandaged up head, and if it wasn't for Haruka I would have been back in hospital less than two hours after I was released. What's worse is that Su-chan was still on my back when it happened so she would have been really hurt, and she can't bounce back from things as easily as me. But you know what really upset me? It wasn't the fact that they asked Shinobu if she was alright before they asked about me, but when they found out that I was the one that got hurt, an injury that I got from protecting Shinobu-chan, you know what they did? They didn't even ask if I was alright! They just told me to clean the hot spring! Like it was my fault that I ended up in hospital! And not even an apology when they were proven wrong. And this was in the space of two days!" he exclaimed.
"I've had put up with a lot of crap from you too! Like when I first got here you put my hand on your breast and when Naru walked in you acted like the poor victim being molested by the 'evil' new manager. Not to mention the times you told me the hot springs are empty when there not or taking down my sign when I'm cleaning or putting me in situations where I'm going to get beaten! And now's no different! If I hadn't yelled at you Naru or Motoko would have walked past, saw us and accuse me of doing something perverted. So Kitsune that's what 'Got my panties in a twist' as you put it. I'm about to be launched through a wall again and I really can't deal with that right now!" As Keitaro finished his rant he leaned against a wall and slowly slid down to the floor and covered his face with his hands.
Kitsune just stared at him, eyes wide open and mouth agape. "K-Kei.. I..I.." She struggles to get out.
Keitaro took a deep breath and let out a sigh "Look Kitsune, I'm sorry for yelling like that at you. I'm not having the best day, I'm really tired and I got a splitting headache so can you just leave me alone for a while please?"
"Yea.. yea... sorry" is all Kitsune could say as she walked out the room. As she slid the door shut Keitaro let out a frustrated groan.
'Why did I yell at her like that! She didn't deserve that, I shouldn't have gone off on one like that.' He rubbed his throbbing head trying to alleviate some of the pain.
'Well crying about it isn't going to make it up to her, I'll have to go apologise.' He thought before a sharp pain shot through his head 'Ugh maybe after I get some rest' he then finished setting up his futon. Barely a moment after he got into it he fell off to sleep.
~Lunch Time in the Dining Room~
In the dining room we find four girls sitting at the table each with different moods. Su was happily bouncing in her chair, a knife and fork in her hands, eagerly awaiting the arrival of food. Motoko was confused about the events of the past few days and was sitting in silent contemplation. Kitsune was staring into her cup of tea, not being in any mood to drink sake while Naru sat there stewing in annoyance.
"Where the hell is that idiot?" Naru muttered "Doesn't he know it's rude to keep us waiting?"
"Sempai asked me to bring lunch as he was feeling tired." Shinobu explained as she brought the final dish out. As she began to prepare a plate for Keitaro, Su cried "I'll help too!"
With that she grabbed a couple of the dishes that Shinobu had already laid on the table as well as Shinobu's arm. As she pulled Shinobu out of sight upstairs to Keitaro's room Naru frowned.
"I suppose I better go with them to make sure that, that pervert doesn't try anything on them." She said as she began to stand up a voice said.
"Leave them alone Naru, Keitaro wouldn't do anything to hurt hem and you know that."
Naru turned around to see her best friend playing with the food on her plate. "Are you drunk Kitsune? You know what he's like!"
Kitsune sighed at her friend. "Yes Naru I do know what he is like, and no I'm not drunk, as you can see I am drinking tea instead of sake."
"Motoko you agree with me right? We can't trust him alone with them!" she asked looking for support.
Motoko thought for a moment before saying "I believe we should show a little trust this time."
"What! Are you willing to risk Shinobu-chan's and Su-chan's life on it?"
"If he harms either of them I will allow him to live just long enough to regret doing so but I believe that we should see if he has finally changed his perverted ways."
"Fine but if he does do something you'll have to beat me to him." Naru huffed, recognising a losing battle.
"Like you really need an excuse." Kitsune mumbled as she stared at her food.
"Huh? Did you say something Kitsune?" Naru asked.
"No." She replied "I'm not too hungry right now so I'm gonna have a quick dip in the hot springs. I catch you later."
"What's up with her?" Naru wondered.
Motoko just shrugged and continued on with her meal.
~Managers Room~
While this conversation was happening Su had dragged Shinobu up to Keitaro's room. Rather than rushing through the door as she normally would, she gently slid the door open and both the girls peered inside to see Keitaro still asleep in his futon.
Su walked up to him and gently shook him away by singing out "Keirarooo, wake up! It's lunch time!"
"Huh? Su-chan? What are you doing in my room?"
"Silly Keitaros." Su giggled "It's lunch time! And Me 'N Shinobu brought it for you!"
Keitaro looked past her to see Shinobu setting down the dishes which Su had brought onto his small table.
"Thanks Su-chan, Shinobu-chan." Seeing how much food the two had brought for him, he said. "Um I don't think I'll be able to eat all of that."
"That's OK me and Shinobu will eat with you so you don't gets lonely." Su explained as she helped him get up and over to the table.
With Keitaro sitting cross-legged at his table and Shinobu sitting at his right, Su decided to sit in his lap, causing both of her friends to blush.
"er Su-chan what are you doing?" Keitaro questioned the girl.
Tilting her head back to look at him in the eye and she simply said "Feed me."
"WHAT!" cried both of her companions.
"Feed Me." Su repeated.
"um Ok?" He replied, confused by the girls actions. Picking up a set of chopsticks he selected a piece of food and lifted it up to her mouth. When it was in range she opened her mouth and quickly took what was presented to her.
"MMMMM! This tastes really good! Here you try!" Su cheered. She grabbed another pair of chopsticks, selected some food and held it up for Keitaro. Smiling, he gratefully accepted the offering.
"mmmm, you're right Su-chan it does taste good."
"See I told ya it taste good when someone feeds it to ya." Su said, smiling smugly.
Still smiling, Keitaro selected another morsel of food but this time held it out for Shinobu. "Would you like some Shinobu-chan?"
Blushing, she timidly accepted it. "Thank you."
After she finished, she selected her own pair of chopsticks and held the food out for Keitaro.
He leaned in to eat it but before he could, Su leaped forward and grabbed it for herself.
"Suuuu-chan that was for Keitaro-kun!" Shinobu cried out.
"Oh, OK! Here you go Keitaro!" She yelled as she stuffed some in his mouth, causing him to choke. Su sat there laughing at the face Keitaro was making while Shinobu ran around trying to find something for Keitaro to drink, to clear his throat.
~An Hour Later, Managers Room~
After the three had finished the meal, Keitaro found himself staring out of his window. While Su had wanted to stay and play with Keitaro, he was relieved when Shinobu had insisted that Keitaro needed his rest. Pouting, Su waved goodbye to him and promised to come back to keep him company after he had rested. He felt much better when Shinobu told him that she would try to keep her distracted long enough to let him get some peace.
After failing to get back to sleep, Keitaro decided to try to get some studying but with his headache still annoying him, he gave up and took to admiring the view out of his window thinking about recent events. At the forefront was his encounter with Kitsune earlier. Sighing, he thought to himself 'I can't believe how I snapped at her. How the hell am I going to make it up to her?'
-Knock- -Knock-
His musings were cut short by a knock at the door.
"Come in." Keitaro said assuming that Su had managed to get away from Shinobu. He started to worry when he noticed that instead of the tanned princess, in walked the woman that he was thinking about.
"er hi Kitsune um what can I do for you?" he asked still not sure how to talk to a woman that he had just yelled at an hour ago.
"Hi Keitaro-san, do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" Kitsune asked.
"Ye-yeah sure what do you want to talk about?" he stuttered.
"About what happened earlier today." She said, her eyes not meeting his.
"Oh I see…" he answered looking away from her. "Look Kitsune I – Kitsune?"
Looking back at her he saw that she has her head bowed low. "Keitaro-san, I came here in the hopes that you could find a way to forgive me for what I've done to you in the past."
Keitaro sat there for a moment before he said "Kitsune you don't have to, I'm the one who should be - "
"Keitaro-san can I please say what I have to say before you say anything?" she asked quietly.
"O-ok sure" he stuttered.
Taking a deep breath she began. "Since this morning when we had that... discussion, I've been thinking about what you said and you were right. Since you've been here I've done nothing but torment you for my own amusement. Looking back at the things that you've gone through I can't for the life of me figure out how I could possibly have found it funny. I've set you up, teased you, gotten you in trouble with the other girls, hell you weren't even here five minutes and I accused you of groping me. I've stolen, blackmailed, tricked and seduced you out money that you worked hard for, when I just hang around here all day drinking, just because you were an easy target." When she paused to take something out of her pocket Keitaro can see tears streaming down her face. Holding out her hand to her manager, he could see that there is a wad of cash in it.
"This- this is some money that I've saved up." She explained around her sobs. "I know it's not much and nowhere near the amount I have taken from you, nor will it make up for what I've done, but I want you to have it. I have asked Haruka-san for a job down at her tea house so that I can pay you back for every yen that I have taken and I promise that I will never behave like I have been again, so please take this along with my deepest apologies." she bowd again with her hand still out stretched and tears still flowing.
Keitaro looked at her with wide eyes before reaching out and curing her fingers back so that she had her fist around the money. "Kitsune I can't accept this."
The woman flinched before saying "I understand, I wouldn't forgive me either."
"No that's not what I meant, of course I forgive you. I can't accept the money."
"But why, it's yours and you deserve it." She sobbed.
Keitaro picked up a tissue and made his way over to the crying woman. Cupping her chin in his hand he lifted her head and began to wipe away the tears. "Because your apologies all I want I don't need the money and besides I should be the one to apologise, I shouldn't have said those things to you."
"I deserved it and much more." She sniffed "I'm really sorry Keitaro-san, I don't know why I never thought about how you were feeling but I promise that I won't tease you or ask you for money ever again."
Keitaro slipped an arm around her waist and said "Kitsune I don't mind lending you money every now and again but you don't have to try and trick me to do you just have to ask, and you don't have to stop teasing me but can you just do it when it's just us and not around Naru and Motoko?"
She looked up at his smiling face and asked "R-really?"
"Of course. This place wouldn't feel right without you teasing me." He joked.
Kitsune looked up into his eyes until her own began to mist over. She buried her head into his chest as a fresh wave of tears hit her. Keitaro wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair until she calmed down. After a few minutes, she eventually stopped crying and felt him lift her face up again to wipe off the tears. "Feel any better?"
"Yea a little bit." She said giving him a small smile. "Thanks for letting me cry on you for a bit."
"No problem. You sure you're alright."
"Yea, just a bit emotional, but please take this." She asked holding out the cash again.
"Keep it. Besides the rent is due at the end of the week." He said with a gentle smile.
Looking up at his smile Kitsune found herself blushing and unable to look him in the eyes. "Thanks Kei-kun"
"Anytime Kitsune." He replied which got him a kiss on the cheek and another hug. This touching moment between the two was interrupted when the board covering the hole in his ceiling was removed and Naru called out "Hey Keitaro-san did you do something to upset Kitsune she was acting weird this morning?" as she poked her head down she saw the pair with their arms around each over and with Kitsune more or less sitting on his lap.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER YOU PERVERT?" she yelled as she dropped down from the ceiling with her arm drawn back. As she threw the punch Keitaro realised that once again if he didn't do something then Naru was going to hit someone other than him. At the last possible moment he dived forward dragging Kitsune with him. Missing her target Naru sailed past the pair and tripped over Keitaro's outstretched leg to send her flying into the wall near the door.
Meanwhile Keitaro had ended up on top of Kitsune with their faces just centimetres apart. Placing his arms on either side of her he lifted himself up slightly so that she wasn't supporting his weight. "Are you alright Kitsune?" he asked in a worried voice.
Kitsune looked up and blushed at his close proximity and replied "Yea I am, thanks." Still a little in shock by what had happened.
"Ow my head!" the two looked over to see Naru was sitting against the wall rubbing a large bump on her head.
Keitaro frowned and made his way over to Naru "What do you think you're doing Naru? You could have hurt Kitsune! Don't you ever think before you do something?"
"Wha- what about you? You were just molesting her!" She countered.
"I was not! But what you did could have put Kitsune in hospital! This is the third you've done something like this! What isn't Shinobu-chan and Su-chan enough, now you're trying to hurt Kitsune as well?"
Naru was struggling to put together a coherent sentence, the reality that she could have hospitalised her best friend coupled with her bump made it difficult for her to do more than stutter. Turning to her friend for support, all she got was a hurt look. This look coupled with the glare she was getting from Keitaro was too much for and so she flung open the door and ran back to the safety of her room. Shaking his head Keitaro closed the door and went back to Kitsune. "You sure you're all right?" he asked as he helped her to sit up.
"Yeah I'm sure." She said in a shaky voice. 'Is that what he has to deal with everyday? I damn well nearly pissed!' She noticed something that seemed strange to her. "Hey Kei how did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You know, dodge. Normally you would have been sent flying." 'And so would I if you didn't pull me out of the way.'
"Oh, don't really know, I guess I was more focused on getting you out the way than anything else." He explained.
With a slight blush, she shuffled over to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him another small kiss on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks Kei-kun" she murmured as he began to lightly stroke her hair.
After a few moments Kitsune noticed that something wasn't quite right so she assessed her situation. She was currently sitting in Keitaro's lap, arms wrapped around him, resting her head on his shoulder while he was ran his fingers through her hair, her breasts were pushed against him and Keitaro wasn't freaking out nor has a single drop of blood fallen from his nose.
"Hey Kei-kun is everything alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Why?" he replied slightly confused.
"Well I'm sitting on your lap with by boobs rubbing against you, breathing into your ear, and not so much as a nosebleed. I can only think of one thing that could have happened to dull you to this extent." The sly look once again returning to her eyes. "Soooo tell me what you and Shinobu-chan really got up to last night."
"N-n-nothing happened!" Keitaro stuttered, returning to his default personality.
Kitsune just giggled as his arms started to flail around. "I'm just kidding Kei-kun, but really how was your date, and how did this happen?" She asked, lightly tapping his bandaged head.
"oh right well…" Keitaro proceeded to summarise the events of the date, skipping over the main bits and getting to the part where he and Shinobu were attacked. "… we went to the hospital where the doctor said that I would be able to leave the next day, and rather than sending Shinobu-chan home by herself she stayed at the hospital with me."
Kitsune just stared at him with her mouth hanging open. As his story concluded she felt a bubble of guilt rise up. Resting her head on his shoulder again she murmured "Sorry Kei-kun"
"What for?" he asked, having trouble keeping up with her mood swings.
"For being such a bitch to you, all last night I was winding those two up, saying stuff like you took her to a love hotel, you know that type of thing, when you were laid up in hospital because you saved Shinobu-chan from god knows what those thugs would have done to her. And then when you get home to not even ask if you were alright even though you've got a bandage wrapped around your head. I honestly don't know why you even bother to put up with us after everything we've done to you." She told him, her voice coated in sadness and regret.
"Don't worry about, trust me its fine." He reassured the woman in her arms by giving her a quick squeeze.
"Thanks Kei-kun" she said with a small smile "How's your head does it still hurt?"
"Yeah a bit, mostly just a headache and itching from the bandages, I'm also still a bit tired from cleaning the hot springs before lunch."
"Hmmm well I suppose I'll let you get some rest now, but if you need anything just let me know ok?" Standing, she bent over at the waist giving him a perfect view of her cleavage "And I mean anything." She purred.
She giggled and gave him a small kiss on the nose as his eyes widened and arms flailed about. "See ya later Kei-kun."
As she closed the door behind her she leaned her back against the wall with a smile and blush on her face 'He really is a great guy. And from the way he yelled at Naru he might be giving up on her. And if he's giving up on her that means he might be in the market for someone else.' Her smile turned into a large grin. 'This defiantly needs some consideration.' She thought as she walked away.
From the shadows, a tall woman detached herself wearing a troubled expression. Unbeknownst to Kitsune, Motoko had seen the girl enter Keitaros room and had listened in on their conversation. What she had heard had disturbed her greatly. 'How many times was he innocent? How many times was he set up? How many times did he tell us it was an accident and we struck him regardless?' Retreating back to her room, she locked herself in and attempted to calm herself. 'Looking back at everything that he's been involved in, it can almost all be explained through Kitsunes meddling or just plain bad timing.' The true reality of what was had been happening was becoming apparent to the young samurai. 'Have I been striking an innocent all this time? Have I really been so blind as to not see what was right before my eyes?' Her hands started to shake. 'I…I need to speak to someone about what I should do.' She thought as she wiped away the tears threatening to spill. Making her way to the door she resolved to call the one person who could help her.
~Dinner Time in the Dining Room ~
"Who's Motoko-chan talking to on the phone?" Keitaro asked as he sat down. Walking past her on his way to the dining room he noticed that she was paler than she normally was and she had a troubled look on her face.
"No idea, but she's been on for a while." Kitsune answered. As Shinobu brought in the last plate Motoko walked in and silently took her place at the table.
"Are you alright Motoko-chan?" Naru asked with concern.
"Y-yes I am fine, thank you Naru-sempai ." after receiving a plate from Shinobu she continued "I-I was just talking to my sister and she has asked me to return to Kyoto."
"Is everything alright?" Naru asked.
"Yes there is just some family business that she wishes to discuss with me, so I will be leaving after dinner." turning to Su "I am afraid you will have to find someone else to sleep with for a few days."
"Well don't look at me" Kitsune said immediately "I've got a bachelorette party to go to tonight and I probably won't be back till tomorrow." Giving Keitaro a wide grin she said "You know Kei-kun, if you want to earn a bit of cash we could use a bit of …entertainment." Her grin widening as he choked on some food.
Naru just scoffed "As if anyone would want to see him naked?"
"I don't know about that Naru-chan, I can think of one or two people who wouldn't mind." Giving Shinobu a sly wink. "Anyway it looks like you'll have to sleep with Naru-chan."
"Sorry me neither, my sister Mei asked me for some help with some homework, so it'll be easier to just to stay round there tonight."
"No problem, I'm going back to Molmol tonight."
"Why?" Naru asked.
"coz its dads 50th birthday." Su stated around a mouthful of food.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Keitaro asked 'What's up with these girls? They're all leaving and not a one of them said anything about it until 5 minutes before they leave'
"coz no one asked." She replied.
Keitaro just shook his head, not bothering to try to decipher the girls thought process.
Kitsune had a though "Hey doesn't this mean that Kei-kun and Shinobu-chan will be …"
"… All by themselves tonight" Naru finished as all eyes fell on the pair.
OK another chapter finally done. Sorry it took so long but due to various reasons like I just finished my first year of uni so I had a lot of coursework and exams to do, the fact that this is the longest chapter so far (longer than both previous chapter together) another reason is that I'm not that happy with the first part of this chapter i.e. up until the hospital. The pace felt rushed and the dialogue was crap and the bit in the park with the thugs was terrible, clichéd dialogue and little to no description, but I hope I made up for it with the rest of it. I think reason for that is that I wanted to get to the scene with Kitsune so the first part didn't turn out so well. Anyway this fic is nearly over just one more chap and maybe a special extra chapter and it will be more a romance fic than an angst fic and I think iv found a way to work Kanako into the fic. I'm planning on posting a couple of other fics iv got ideas for so please have a look at them and tell me what you think when I put them up.
Other things:
1) The sum total of my medical knowledge comes from watching House MD and Scrubs so for all I know giving someone who has a concussion a sedative makes their head explode but I needed kei to get doped up.
2) From what I understand, in Japan doctors are referred to as 'Sensei' rather than doctor so that's why Keitaro said Sensei instead of 'Doc' or anything similar.
Reviews:
To : Ocrun, iloveanime2008, Lucas B., One Warrior 86, Mike Kromer, smoffer1, Mike, KiAnson, Midrom, Ashurii Shirosaki, Starfire99, pak40, GroveWolf , smoffer1, Kingswriter, thanks for you kind words, I hope you liked this chapter and that it wasn't to much of a disappointment.
Hyrulian Hero Akai- thanks for the reviews, I know what you're saying about the dialogue and this chapter is probably worse so sorry about that, the comment about Shinobu and the kitten was just meant to show how powerless she was to stop what was happening, as for Shinobu being dependent on kei I had originally planned to go that way with a scene of her at school having a break down as how su found out but I didn't feel I could create a story like that.
Cheshire Cat5- thanks for the kind words and hope you enjoyed this chap despite the crappy dialogue.
Last but not least Dragice Ryudo- thanks for the incredibly detailed review so lets get started:
Ok Su's speech personally I think that for the most part she's just putting on an act. The fact that she's a genius, a princess, and had to marry her brother/cousin when she grows up would put a hell of a lot of pressure for anyone so she just acts childish because she doesn't want to grow up.
We seem to be on the same wavelength regarding the extra words as you got the right reason, as I'm writing I come up with something and type it before I forget even if it doesn't really sound right or the sentence goes on to long.
As for the improvements you suggested I think I've gone back and acted on them and I hope that the previous chapters read better.
Anyway I haven't started the next chapter yet as I want to get the first chapters done on the other fics first but I'll get on to it ASAP
Thanks in advance for any reviews/ comments
