Chapter 15: Bonding
The sun was low in the sky by the time our favorite Hokage Gang reached the hot spring resort. Shigeo pulled up at the entrance and everyone scrambled out and began pulling out their belongings from the trunk.
There was a cry of delight from the entrance of the white building, and an attractive woman hurried towards them.
"We're so glad you all could come!" she said, happily. "It's great to see you!"
"Hello, Miki-San!" Yanagi stepped up to greet one of their former opponents.
Miki gave Yanagi a hug and began to do the same to everybody else, talking excitedly.
"You guys will also be staying here at the hotel, like we are. Kurei specifically reserved two suites for you. So I guess one suite will be for the boys and the girls can stay at another, unless you all prefer otherwise-"
"Oh, that arrangement is fine, Miki." Kagerou gave the boys a stern smile.
"Darn." Recca feigned disappointment. Yanagi laughed.
Miki laughed too and resumed her hug-a-thon. She reached Fuuko and practically squeezed the air out of her. "Good to see you, Fuuko-san!"
"You ….too, …Miki…." Fuuko managed to gasp. She smiled teasingly at Tokiya when it was his turn for a hug.
"And Mikagami-kun! Boy, we haven't heard from you in ages! I'm glad Recca got a hold of you!" Miki tossed her pink hair over her shoulder and saw a small figure hiding behind Tokiya.
"Is this Tanya?" she asked.
"Oh-" Tokiya seemed to have frozen after being hugged by a hot woman wearing a tube top. "Yes. This is my sister, Tanya."
"You owe us all the whole story at the engagement party." Miki told him, holding out a hand to Tanya, trying to coax her out from behind her brother. "Hi, sweetie. I'm Miki."
"Hello." Tanya came out from behind Tokiya and shook Miki's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Ohhhh…. She's a sugar cube, Tokiya-kun!" Miki gushed. "I think I'll go tell Neon we found a flower girl for the wedding! See you all later!" she excused herself and ran back inside.
"F-flower girl?" Tanya sputtered, watching Miki's retreating back.
"It doesn't seem like such a bad idea, Tanya-chan." Kagerou said, reassuringly. "Of course, your brother has to approve first."
"I guess this means we're all invited to the wedding." Tokiya grinned and placed a hand on Tanya's shoulder. "It'll be nice seeing you as a flower girl, with the lacy dress and the basket of petals and fancy shoes-"
"STOP!" Tanya covered her ears. "Lace makes me itch like nuts! And I can't walk that much in dress shoes! I'll trip a million times! Plus, I've never been a flower girl before!"
Everyone laughed at her outburst. The expression on her face was enough to send Domon into gales of mirth.
Tanya scowled as she shouldered her knapsack. "Fine. I'll do it if they really ask me to, but I absolutely REFUSE to wear make-up no matter how pale everyone says I am!"
"You're too young wear it anyway." Tokiya said.
"It's cold out here." Recca suddenly spoke up. "Come on. Let's go inside before we freeze. Except Fridge-Boy, over here."
Tokiya whacked Recca's arm as the flame ninja passed him. "Watch it, Sea- Monkey."
"Uh huh. And Miki seems to be a new addition to your fan club." Recca turned around and grinned at him. "You should have seen the look on your face when she hugged you." He raced ahead before Tokiya could get his hands on something to throw at him.
"Fan club?" Tanya wore a similar grin to Recca's as they followed everyone inside. "They really weren't kidding when they told me that."
Tokiya resolved never to let his sister go shopping alone with the Monkey Crew ever again.
They waited in line to check in. It seemed that the resort was popular, for there were plenty of visitors. Tokiya could not help but groan seeing most of the female guests wink and bat their eyelashes at him.
"What did you say, Neesan?" Tanya looked up at him. She must have heard him wince.
"Nothing." Tokiya replied, watching her take her favorite red jacket and one of the beanies he bought for her out of her duffel bag.
"It really is chilly up in mountain areas." Tanya said, pulling on the jacket. Her brother reached over to put the beanie on her head.
"Which is why I'm sure you'll enjoy the hot spring."
It was finally their turn to check in. They received their suite card keys immediately when they found out Recca was the owner's brother. They squeezed themselves and all their luggage into the elevator and reached their floor. After a good five minutes, they found the two suites they had been assigned.
Well, I'll stay with the girls." Kagerou said. She slotted in her key card and opened up the suite to the right. The boys were to take the one on the left. "Let's unpack and meet at the restaurant for dinner. I'm sure you all want to take a look around after we settle ourselves in."
"Come on, Tanya-chan." Fuuko took the little girl's hand and followed the rest of the females into their suite.
"Wow!" Fuuko breathed, taking in the suite they had been given. It was HUGE. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room area with a big screen TV.
This was the life!
"You girls pick out where you want to sleep." Said Kagerou, graciously. "I'm going to put away all this food." She gestured to the coolers and baskets they had brought in.
"Alright." Ganko picked the room in the middle and began to lug all the pieces of baggage she brought, which, besides her fluffy pink five-piece luggage set, also included three makeup kits and a beach tote filled with magazines. Yanagi followed her, carrying her own bags.
Fuuko sighed, smiling at her adoptive sister. She was growing up too fast. From the stories Ganko had been telling over the phone, she and Kaoru Koganei already had fanclubs to match Tokiya's.
She scooped up her two backpacks and grinned at Tanya. "Want to stay with me, sweetie? You'll end up with three colors of polish on your fingernails and toenails of you stay with my sister and Yanagi.
Tanya looked appalled at the prospect of having to actually put on nail polish. "I-I'll stay with you."
"Come on." Fuuko led the way into the room on the left. "Let's unpack quick so we can have a tour of this place."
The boy's suite was similar to the girls'. Only with less vases and glassware. Domon and Recca had a huge argument over who would get a room to himself since Kaoru had already claimed the couch bed until Tokiya, smirking amusedly, went into the argued-over room and shut the door.
"HEY!" Recca and Domon yelled.
"That was supposed to be MY room, Fridge-Boy!"
"Whaddaya mean YOUR room?"
"He got to it first, fair and square." Tokiya heard Shigeo laugh from the other side of the door. "You two will have to share the other room."
More sounds of squabbling reached his ears as the two began to unpack noisily in the room next to his.
He removed his clothes from his duffel bag and began to fill up the closet, taking his time to hang up his trademark polo shirts and pants. He had brought some normal shirts too, and those went into the chest of drawers by the bedside, along with his underwear. He winced, holding up a pair of boxers with giraffes all over it. That does it. He would never let Tanya help him pack undergarments EVER again.
No matter. He would get her back later.
Kaoru, along with Recca and Domon came into his room, still talking loudly. Dang. He forgot to lock the door. He quickly shoved the giraffe boxers into the top drawer and turned around.
"Have you ever heard of knocking? It goes like this." Tokiya thudded his knuckles thrice against the wood of the bedside table.
"Sorry, dude." Recca slumped down on the bed, along with the snacks he brought. Domon chose to sink into an armchair. Kaoru sat on the floor. Tokiya humpfed and stowed his bag inside the closet.
"So, did you see the look on Fuuko's face when Miki hugged you?" Recca asked, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "She looked kinda jealous for a split second."
Tokiya's heart hammered pleasantly against his chest. He chose to remain calm. "What are you trying to say, Monkey?"
"Aw, Come on!" Domon raised his arms to the back of his head and in a relaxed pose. "We all saw you feeding her back at the restaurant we had lunch in!"
"And you let her eat from your plate." Recca added, opening up a bag of chips.
"And you were staring at her while pouring half the gravy boat on your chicken." Kaoru put in.
"So that's why it was almost empty!" Recca chomped on some Cheetos.
"Face it, man." Domon pressed the button on the side of the armchair that lifted up the footrest. "We know you like her."
Tokiya could not hide the blush rising in his cheeks. "You-"
"I know you gave her a jacket too." Recca's smile was widening. I asked her about it when she and my Hime went grocery shopping with me and Mom for all the food we brought along for this trip. She was wearing it."
Tokiya felt his insides warm up at the thought of Fuuko wearing his gift. He turned to Domon, who was wearing the same grin as Recca. "You don't seem bothered by all of this."
Domon adjusted his feet into a more comfortable position. "Yeah. I realized I was more of obsessively infatuated, rather than in love with her. If I kept it up, I knew I was going to hurt her sooner or later, so I got over her and moved on. She was happy when I told her I got a girl. A good friend, that's what Fuuko is to me."
"You have a girl?" Tokiya raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Domon sank deeper into the armchair. "You're not the only one who's got charm."
"I find that hard to believe." Tokiya sat down on one of the beanbags at the foot of the bed.
Domon threw a cushion at him, which he dodged easily.
"So, what are you going to do about her?" Recca inquired, tossing some snacks to his friends.
"About who?" the Ice-Prince asked, catching the bag of Lays Recca had passed him.
"Don't play dumb. It doesn't suit you." Recca teased. "About Fuuko. What are you going to do about her?"
"I don't know if I should do anything. Maybe she's already dating someone."
"Ah-hah! You're admitting you really like her!" Recca crowed. "You sound jealous, Fridge-Boy! And FYI, Fuuko's not dating anybody right now. After all that heartbreak she got over Raiha saying he'd kill her without a second thought to protect Kurei back when we were still enemies with the Uruha, she hasn't even thought of dating anyone."
Tokiya bristled at the sound of Raiha's name. That wannabe really did hurt Fuuko's feelings. He had seen her hold back the tears during that battle.
Recca turned over so he lay on his stomach. "You all right, Tokiya? You look like you want to throw someone out a window."
"I'm fine." Tokiya replied. He paused before asking; "Why do you three want me to get together with her anyway?"
"Because you're the right guy for her." Recca answered. "We wouldn't approve of anyone less."
"I mean, you care for her, right?" Domon sat up, rested his chin on his hand, and surveyed Tokiya.
The Ensui-master nodded.
"There we go." Recca said. "You do care about her a lot. And you only show it when you think no one's watching." Grins spread themselves once more on his, Kaoru's, and Domon's faces. "Beneath that freezer attitude, we know you have a soft spot for her. And you've already proven you're good at taking care of kids, though if you try and make any too early with Fuuko, I'll pommel you within an inch of your life. She is my best friend after all."
"I have no plans of being a teenage father, Recca." Tokiya turned to face the flame caster. "And how did I prove myself adequate in taking care of children?"
"Tanya. The way you take care of her."
Tokiya smiled. "It probably only looks like I'm good at taking care of her because she can practically take care of herself. All I have to do is get her an ATM account and she'd be all set. During the past week, it was like she was taking care of me. She knows how to COOK, for crying out loud, and she was the one who reminded me to pack my toothbrush this morning."
Recca, Kaoru, and Domon laughed, emitting bits of chips from their mouths.
"But it's good to have custody of her." Tokiya mused, as he opened his own bag of crisps. "I was afraid I wouldn't be very good at being a big brother, but everything's working out just fine." He popped a chip into his mouth.
"Well, treasure all those moments because from the way she looks right now, she'll grow up to be a total babe." Recca guffawed. "You'll be beating off all her suitors with a stick! Using your Ensui would be a bit too extreme."
"Like I'd let her date at an early age!" Tokiya looked absolutely livid about the idea.
"Come on! She's a sensible kid. I'm sure she won't go out with some idiot who's sure to try and do something stupid to her." Kaoru spoke up.
"And if that ever does happen, we'll help you punch that moron's lights out." Domon cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah." Recca agreed. "We've only known her for a short time, but she's easy to get attached to."
Tokiya gave his friends one of his rare, appreciative smiles. "Thanks, guys."
They sat in companionable silence, eating up their snacks. Domon swallowed he last of his chips and stood up.
"Come on, Fang Boy. Unpack your PS 2 so we can play some games." He lead the way outside, intending to fully take advantage of the 40 inch, flat screen TV in the living room area of their suite. "I know Recca's parents would throttle me if I brought any X-rated movies, so I guess we have to settle for Playstation."
"You didn't bring anything X-rated? There's another TV in our room!" Recca admonished. "We could've still watched some!"
Tokiya couldn't help but be amused at their gibbering. "If you even think about renting any, Hanabishi, I'll be sure to let Yanagi-san know."
Kaoru laughed while he set up his PS 2.
"Shut up and get that plugged in, Fang Boy!" Recca pulled a beanbag over. "For that, you and me, first battle of Tekken 5, Icicle Man. You lose, you buy the first round of beer when we hang out at the bar tonight."
"Deal." Tokiya picked up one of the controllers Kaoru unpacked.
Domon settled for fetching them more snacks. Shigeo came out of the shower.
"I'll be in the girl's suite, boys. I promised Kagerou I'd help her unpack the food."
"Sure, Dad." Recca looked up long enough to wave to his father before hitting select on his controller. He and Tokiya started picking out their character fighters.
Fuuko and Tanya came out of their room and found Shigeo helping Kagerou and Yanagi put away all the food they brought to into the refrigerator and cupboards.
"You need any help?" Fuuko asked, coming forward to take some of the fruit Kagerou was unwrapping.
Tanya began helping Yanagi set aside the packets of coffee.
"It's all right." Kagerou smiled at them. "Why don't you all have a look around the resort? Shigeo and I can finish unloading all the food. You girls should go around so you know what you want to do first tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" Yanagi asked.
"We don't mind helping." Added Fuuko, as she put the all the fruit she had relieved Kagerou of into a basket on the counter.
"We'll finish up." Shigeo assured them. "You girls go on. The boys seem to want to stay in our suite and play video games. At least you girls will know your way around by tomorrow."
"All right. I'll go get Ganko. She must be done drying her nail polish by now." Yanagi went back into her and Ganko's room.
In a minute, she and Ganko were back, the latter having pink, purple, and baby blue glitter nail polish on alternate fingernails.
The girls promised to be at the restaurant at seven for dinner and then trudged out of the room.
When they got out into the hall, Tanya asked if she could tell her brother she was going around.
"Sure. Fuuko smiled. "We'll wait for you out here."
Tanya knocked and heard Recca's tone yell "It's open!"
She came in and found the boys sprawled in front of the 40-inch TV screen, playing-
"Tekken 5?" Tanya hurried over. "Cool!"
"Hey, squirt!" Recca paused the game and tousled Tanya's hair, making her laugh. "What're you doing here?"
"Fuuko and Ganko and Yanagi want to go have a look around." She replied before turning to her brother. "May I go with them?"
Tokiya grinned. "Of course."
"We'll be at the restaurant by seven." Tanya smiled back, before pointing to the screen. "You're getting massacred, Neesan. Use some special moves."
"There are special moves?" Tokiya turned his gaze back to his fighting character. "And how do you know?"
"I play this game too. You didn't unpack my PlayStation. I noticed it was still in a box in my closet."
Tokiya grimaced.
"Man, Fridge-Boy. You lost the first round because all you could throw at me was a flying kick!" Recca walloped him with an empty chip bag.
Tokiya threw the bag back at the flame caster. "Just because I prefer mind games and not this artificial violence doesn't mean I won't get the hang of it sooner or later."
Tanya laughed along with the others before saying; "They're waiting for me outside. I'll see you all for dinner."
"Later, Pyro." Kaoru grinned at her.