Chapter 19: Goodbye Motoko
Keitaro and Motoko were coming in from a late training session when they saw Su sitting on the couch. This in and of itself was very odd, but it had the added feature of Su being a very calm and collected young woman… instead of the usual mix of genius and mad scientist that normally resided within the young blonde's body.
"Hey Su," he said carefully. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, hey Keitaro," she said solemnly. "I actually am not feeling well. I think I will go and lay down if I may."
"Of course. Whatever you need."
"Su is very odd today," said Motoko as the blonde left. "I hope I am wrong, but did you notice her meekness just now?"
"Yeah, of course."
"She might be… well you remember I told you love changes people?"
"You think she may be in love?" Keitaro asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'll bathe and go check on her."
He took a quick wash and changed into a t-shirt and jeans, practically running to Su's room. He opened the door as calmly as he could and saw her leaning on the banister, just staring out into the world.
"Hey Su," he said, closing the door. "Are you hungry? I think there's some banana's downstairs!"
"I'm not hungry right now, thank you."
"Come on, they opened a new banana tapioca stand by the train station, I know how much you like both!"
"I don't want to go," said Su, despite the drool that was forming at the edge of her mouth.
"Come on, we can go together!"
He finally got the young blonde girl to agree to go, and passed Motoko as he was heading out the door.
"Hey, I'm taking Su out for a bit ok?"
"Sure, I'll try and make amends with Narusegawa today, hopefully."
"Just don't destroy the place."
"I promise I shall try to leave the apartments intact."
"…I don't like that the word try is in there."
Motoko kissed him on the cheek quickly and went upstairs, red in the face. She still wasn't used to any sort of public affection, but she was trying, and Keitaro was happy. However, right now he needed to focus his efforts on Su.
They went to the stand he mentioned together and Su did eat there, only she was still off. Instead of animatedly challenging even the most advanced eating contestant, she just sat their, calmly eating her food, barely looking at him. She was at out of the apartments and that was good for her.
One their way back, Keitaro noticed a movie was promoted on the side of a building. He'd read about this. It was supposed to be a sweet one about a sister searching for her big brother. Su agreed to go see it and noticeably perked up during the tearful ending as the two were reunited.
That's right, Su also has a big brother…
"That was actually fun," said Su. "Thank for you bringing me out on a date Keitaro."
"It wasn't really… You're welcome Su. I'm glad I could help you."
"I'm glad to have you around."
"Well…" he said, rubbing his hand on the back of his head. "It's not for sure yet, but I mean… Seta offered me the chance to go overseas with him… to America. I wouldn't be gone too long… just about a year."
"You… You're leaving me too? Stupid!"
Keitaro was taken aback. However, he noticed as Su spoke, she was missing a front tooth.
"Su… what happened to your tooth?"
"It fell out! I couldn't stop it! Now I'm a monster!"
"No you're not!" he explained. "It happens to everyone. You lose your teeth and grow in new ones."
"You don't understand. Every week I get a letter from my big brother. This week I didn't get one!"
"Su… there could be a hundred reasons you didn't get one, the postal service being the top of the list, but I promise your tooth has nothing to do with it, ok?"
She smiled a little at him.
"Thank you Keitaro."
He got back home and went up and grabbed up his books to go and tutor Shinobu and Motoko. When they arrived Motoko was alone, and furious. She sat next to him and didn't say anything for a full three seconds. Keitaro was afraid he was about to be sent flying into the distant mountains.
"You didn't tell me," said Motoko quietly.
"What didn't I tell you?"
"That you're leaving us."
"It's not a sure thing! Seta just offered me the chance and I wasn't sure what I was going to do yet."
"We just got together and now you were going to take off for a year without talking to me about it at all?"
"Of course I would! Like I said, I don't even know if I'm going to go. It was just something I have as an option in front of me. I could also actually go to Tokyo U right now if I wanted, I'm not sure."
The hot-headed Kendo girl noticeably calmed herself.
"Promise me."
"Promise you what?"
"Promise me that if you do decide you want to leave, you'll at least come and talk it out with me first, ok?"
"I promise you. I wouldn't just disappear like that."
"Good! Shionbu! You can come in now."
Shinobu timidly opened the door, as if unsure if Keitaro would still be alive when she did.
"I'm ok," he told her. "Motoko and I just had to talk about a trip I might be taking later."
Shinobu nodded. The small trio studied into the night and when Keitaro collapsed on his bed, Shinobu walked out, bowing and wishing him a goodnight. However, Motoko did not leave. She lay next to him on the bed. Keitaro tried with all his will not to think a perverted thought.
"Can I sleep next you tonight?" she asked softly.
"M-Motoko?"
"I am comforted when you are around and the knowledge that you may be leaving soon is really upsetting me internally. I do not wish to… go further in our relationship… but I just want to be with you tonight. Is that ok?"
He nodded hastily. "Of course."
Motoko curled up next to him, her back to his front. He lay right behind her on his small bed and he put one arm behind his head, and the other he placed around her side, grasping her hand in his. He could feel her smooth fair skin on his and it was almost magical. He could feel her steady rhythmic breathing and it matched his own.
"Keitaro," said Motoko gently. "I am sorry I got so mad about you leaving… If you decide that you want to… I support your decision."
"You're sure Motoko?"
"Yeah, when you talk about archeology, you're eyes light up like a kid going on a treasure hunt. I think you'd never be happy if you didn't get to travel some."
"Thank you Motoko. You don't know how much that actually means to me."
She didn't respond, but just went back to breathing steadily. He listened to it over and over as he slowly drifted off to sleep, still grinning like a madman.
A week later he was outside talking to Motoko after their training session. They were leaning against each other, back to back with their hands entwined.
"I decided I'm going to leave with Seta. I know you may not want me to go, but I'll be back before you know it!"
"I thought you would. You're right. I do not want you to go, but I think you should. This must just be another one of those problems, right?"
"You bet, and we'll work through it, just like anything else!"
She squeezed his hand gently.
"How are you going to break it to the others?"
"Request certificates."
"Really?"
"Well no… that… that could go wrong so fast… Oh wow… it was an idea of Seta's and now I regret listening."
"You should just be honest, they like that you know."
"Fair point."
In just a few minutes he had the meeting called and all the girls were present, even Naru. Shinobu was very visibly worried.
"Hey girls," he said. "I don't know how to say this, expect to just say it. Seta offered me a chance to go an study with him in America for a while, and I'm going to take it."
"You're… going that far?!" shouted Shinobu.
"But only for a few days, right?" asked Su.
"That would be more like a trip," he said. "I'd be gone for at least six months… maybe a year."
"A whole year?!" shouted Naru. "You inconsiderate…"
"Naru!" he shouted. "Calm down, not in front of every or you'll break this place. I just got done putting it all back together again!"
Surprisingly, Naru actually did calm down… at least enough not to shout anymore.
"So you're trying to become just as sexy as Seta is huh? You have a long way to go!" said Kitsune, drinking something out of a bottle.
"Oh haha! Look I will be back and I'll be better off for this trip, you'll see."
After several hours of discussion, everyone more or less accepted his decision. Oh sure, Naru was still fuming and Shinobu was crying, but there wasn't anymore arguing about whether or not he would go on this trip.
He really tried to make the next three weeks he and Motoko had left count. He took her anywhere he could think of, and yet she got more depressed as the day went on. By the time he was packing for the flight out, she was actually a bit short with him. He palmed her medallion, and ended up putting it on his table, deciding not to take it.
"You're leaving that?!" she asked.
"Yeah," he said yawning. "I don't want to, but you know my luck I'd end up losing it over there or leaving it by accident. I don't want to miss it, so I'll put it where I know I can come back for it."
"Oh," she said, meaning she didn't really understand at all. "Good to see something that I poured myself into isn't important enough to go with you."
"It's important enough that I couldn't stand to lose it," he explained. "What would I do if it fell into a hole somewhere?"
"So you would just drop it like that, that's why it's staying here?!"
"Not on purpose! How many times have I fallen and broken something these past two years?!"
"No!" she shouted. "You don't get to excuse it like that! If what I do for you really means so little you can just go! I don't need this and I certainly don't need you!"
"Motoko…"
"GO!"
"You don't mean that. Look we've both been on edge because of this trip, you know you have. So have I!"
"And yet that's important enough to leave me over!"
"I'm not leaving you! Not really! I am setting up a future!"
"A future of more trips like this! More leaving, more of it not mattering if I'm there or not! I am not a housewife who just waits diligently for her husband to return home!"
"And I'm not asking you to be! If you wanted to you could come!"
"You know I can't. I have to run the school here and train. In fact, without you, I shouldn't have a useless distraction. I spent the past six months teaching you aikido, just for you to run off at the last second. Fuck you!"
"Whatever!" he shouted. "I've had enough, you want to be mad! Be mad! You encouraged me to go! You said it would be good for me!"
"I was trying to make you happy, but you're making me miserable!"
"Oh, so it's my fault, how refreshing! So sorry I'm ruining you!"
He grabbed up his bag and pushed out the door. He'd wait at the airport for Seta. He couldn't believe that's how she wanted to end this. All the effort he'd gone through to make her happy, and she was going to be mad at him because he was doing what they had agreed on?
Forget it, maybe he was just destined to be alone. His relationship with Motoko hadn't lasted two months. Seta showed up a couple hours later, plowing the doomvan through the window on his right.
"Hey there, you ready to go?"
"Sure am," he said, shouldering his pack.
"Good. You didn't leave anything behind, did you?"
He thought of the kendo girl… his warrior princess with pale skin… He felt her anguish and pain as he was packing for this trip…
"No," he said slowly. "I don't think I did… Let's go."
And so he boarded the plane to America… away from Motoko.