The kitchen smelled of many different aromas from steamed vegetables, to sautéed meat, to scented candles. Hidden from all the commotion in the living room, Seta Noriyasu put the finishing touches on the meals.
"Is it ready papa", his young blonde daughter asked.
"Yep, it's ready. We won't be needing these anymore".
In unison, both Seta and Sara tossed their matching chef hats out the window.
Just as the dinner table was completely set, the residents piled into the room for the evening meal. Seta ttook a mental head count of the people in the room, but noticed two people were missing.
"Where's Mutsumi and our guest for the night", Seta asked.
Everyone was in silence by this point. It was Naru who eventually spoke up to her old sensei.
"We uuumm, had a little incident, and Keitaro needed a change of clothes."
Almost like clockwork, Keitaro was back in the room with Mutsumi wrapped around his arm. The sight was irrating...but somehow comical. Sara was on the floor laughing by what Keitaro was now wearing, a pink blouse like long sleeve shirt. He sighed before trying to explain himself.
"Look, I know it's kinda fruity", Keitaro mentioned, "but it does the job of covering up okay.
"I'm sorry", Mutsumi cut in. "I forgot that the only clothes I sewed up were for my mother."
Seta and Haruka chuckled to themselves as Sara pulled herself off the ground. Out of politeness, Seta walked over to Keitaro.
"So you're the boy my Haruka has had to take care of so much."
"And you must be the guy my aunt married. I'm Keitaro, it's nice to finally meet you Seta."
Naru was surprised by how Keitaro willingly shook Seta's hand. They were able to jokingly have a nice greeting with one another.
"They seem to get along so well", Naru thought to herself. "Telling Keitaro that Seta was my mentor probably isn't a good idea at the moment. Still how does Keitaro know about Seta and Haruka if he never visits. Maybe I can talk to him later one on one about this.
Dinner somehow reached a center point with little disturbances. The food was passed around with some light conversation. One way or another, the conversation seemed to avoid Keitaro's personal life. It was somewhat irritating for the residents, especially the Narusegawa girl. Keitaro ironically sat across from Naru, whether it was intentional, by accident, bad luck, or just old fate, Naru couldn't tell. Till this moment in dinner, he acted like she didn't exist. They barely exchanged words, and he seemed to almost avoid eye contact with her. Fate wasn't going to wait for her this time. Naru was going to have to take the direct approach.
"So Keitaro", Naru asked, "What are you doing now that you're not living here anymore?"
That sure got his attention.
"Well, I've actually started working for a private agency. It pays well, but it is a strain on me sometimes."
"Really, what agency do you work for", Naru persisted.
"I can't really say", Keitaro answered. "It's a private agency. You know, one of those confidential businesses. I'm not doing anything illegal, it's just under a low pro.
"I see", Naru confirmed.
This wasn't really getting anywhere. Even though she asked a general question, he still managed to slip out of it. Naru wanted to know more about him, but she didn't want to get into anything too personal.
"Well, I'm sure your parents agree it's a good career choice right?"
There was a deep sound of clanking silverware and glass. Naru felt like she hit an uncomfortable nerve; not just on Keitaro, but Haruka and Kanako as well. The table was silent for a while, yet everyone was oblivious of why. It was a matter that only the Urashimas knew of. None of them were ready to spill about the uncomfortable feeling. From out of the dead quietness, Seta slapped Keitaro on the back a few times.
"Well now", Seta chuckled, "I'm pretty sure they are. Keitaro is probably pretty tired from work, so how about we change the subject from work to something else."
"Yes, that would be a good idea", Kanako chimed in.
They all had to think about a new subject for a few seconds. What else could be held in a discussion. There were so many subject to be spoken about, but it was moments like these that none came to mind. Out of all the people in the room, the Konno girl spoke up.
"So Keitaro", Kitsune spoke out, "Are you still a virgin?"
Keitaro spit out a whole mouthful of water from Kitsune's question.
"Kitsune", Motoko exclaimed, "This type of conversation is not acceptable at the table!"
"Why, I wanna know" Kitsune defended. "Right Naru?"
As the fox girl looked over at her best friend, she had a real shocker. The water that Keitaro had spewed from his mouth earlier, landed on none other than Naru herself. They couldn't see the look on her face, because her eyes were covered by her bangs.
"I'm, I'm sorry Naru" Keitaro told her, "I didn't mean to..."
"KEITAROOOOO!"
In a rage awakened from her past memories, Naru stood up ready to send the boy flying through the wall with her fist. However, Lady Luck was not on her side tonight. Out of all things to happen, Naru tripped on her seat, and fell backwards in her chair. With a loud thud, Naru was flat on her back. Keitaro knew that this was very well his fault, but he pondered if he should help her or not. She wasn't the politest person to him, so she might blame him for the whole thing. There was also the fact that he had a clear view up Naru's skirt. All Keitaro could pray for was that Naru didn't notice any of these things. As the girl layed on the floor, she quickly thought up her next move.
"That idiot, I should send him clear across the nation with the bottom of my shoe!...No, no, I can't. I have to ask him so many thing...and we need him as our manager...just keep your cool Naru, just keep your cool."
Without another word to anyone, Naru calmly readjusted her seat, and sat down as if nothing happened.
"Are you alright Naru", Su asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Naru said as she wiped her face off with a napkin.
"Naru I'm really sorry" Keitaro apologized again, ""t's just that..."
"It's fine Keitaro, really", Naru tried to assure everyone.
With that incident out-of-the-way, there were more questions to be asked.
"Maybe a more mature question is in order", Haruka started, "Like what do you do on your spar time now?
"I've actually started jogging more often. I run take a morning run, nothing major, just a good six-mile run. Sometimes I play basket ball with my co-workers, and I study some zoölogy every now and then."
"You say you play sports Urashima", Keitaro was now focused on Motoko. "Yet how are you able to perform such high levels of combat like the other night.
"I don't know, I guess I just watched too many fighting movies."
He was trying to play dumb, and Motoko knew it.
"Liar", she bluntly stated. "Those abilities could only be performed by a professional fighter, so how did you do it?"
"I'm telling you Motoko" the Urashima began, "It was just luck and a little adrenaline. I'm not some super powered martial arts expert."
"You are a lying disgrace of a man, and a disgusting insect of Hinata Sou!"
She stood up and began to unsheathe her sword. The others scooted back a little bit while Keitaro stood up.
"If you will not tell me the truth, then I will personally sever it out of you!"
"Motoko Noooo", Shinobu yelled as she swung her katana.
A deep loud ring of the sword passed through the kitchen, along with many gasp. Shinobu opened her tiny eyes to an astonishing event. As Motoko's sword was within an inch to Keitaro's face, it was parried by Keitaro's pocket knife. Both blades fidgeted slightly from the power being put into their weapons. As Motoko stared down Keitaro dead in the eyes, she found what she was searching for.
"I knew you were hiding something Urashima."
The intensity of his face lightened from what she said. Keitaro noticed that all the people around him were in a state of shock and fear. He gave a slight push from Motoko's sword to gain some distance. When he was out of reach from Motoko's sword, Keitaro tried to catch his breath from the small adrenaline rush. It was no use. As got a better look at everyone's face, his breathing became more rapid and shallow. Everybody, every one of them had a deep sense of fear in their eyes. It was hard to understand, but Keitaro read their expressions as fear.
"I..." Keitaro choked up, "I gotta go!"
Without even trying to finish his dinner or telling them all thank you, Keitaro bolted from the room in a fast sprint.
"Wait Keitaro", Shinobu shouted.
Shinobu was the first to chase off after him. One after the other, the girls chased off after Keitaro. The only ones who stayed behind were Haruka, Seta, Sara, and Mutsumi. With the room silent and no more to be said, Haruka took a small sip from the contents in her glass.
"Well, that was an Epic Fail", Seta said with no shame.
Haruka gave him a strong punch to the jaw that put Seta to the ground. Without even bothering to see if her husband was still alive on the floor, Haruka took another drink from her glass.
Wanting to get out of this place as fast as he could, Keitaro didn't bother using the steps. Instead, he slid down the smooth side railing on the steps to Hinata Sou. He could already hear them filing down the steps, along with their calls to return.
"Brother, please come back!"
"Sempai be careful on the railing"
"Urashima, stop right there!"
"Now don't leave just yet Keitaro!"
"You can't leave yet Keitaro, we still haven't eaten desert yet!"
"Keitaro, wait!"
Each voice he recognized, and each different calling was familiar. Still Keitaro kept moving.
"Why am I running", the Urashima questioned in his mind. "It was mistake, it was a mistake coming back here! I can't let them see me, I can't let them know about me!"
By this time, Keitaro had reached the bottom of the steps. Just around the corner, Keitaro's black motorized bike was waiting for him. He fought his pocket to find his keys. Once they were found, his bad luck as always forced him to drop the keys. With some unfocused fiddling in the ignition, Keitaro desperately tried to start his bike.
"C'mon, c'mon start", he tried to order his bike.
After a few attempts with the ignition, the bike sprung to life. With some black smoke and puttering, Keitaro revved the engine to get moving.
"Wait Stop!"
Like a trained soldier to its commander, Keitaro braked his bike to an immediate halt. The back wheel jumped up slightly, from the impact of his stop. This abrupt stop was necessary. For Naru Narusegawa held was right in front of him holding the handle bars of his small motor vehicle. It was a stupid move to make, but a bold one to say in the least. Although he was in a rush to leave, Keitaro was slow to look Naru in the eyes.
"Please, let go of my bike."
"Be our manager again!"
That was it, Naru said it. That was what this whole evening was about anyways. Hinata Sou needed a manager. Haruka was doing a great job as being manager, no doubt about it. Just as well, everyone was willing to do their own fair share of cleaning. However, it still wasn't the same as when Keitaro was here.
"Wait, what" Keitaro asked thinking he heard something else.
She had Keitaro's attention
"Come back and be our manager again Keitaro", Naru asked again. "Hinata Sou hasn't been the same without you."
Keitaro listened to what she was saying. It didn't sound like she was lying, making Keitaro look her straight in the eyes. How could he look away. Her expression was sad and sincere with swelling eyes that threatened to cry.
"Please Keitaro, we need you...I need you."
Keitaro looked back to te residents of Hinata Sou. Shinobu, Kanako, Motoko, Kitsune, Su, they were all there. They looked so inviting. The only thing that would make it seem more welcoming is if they all held their arms wide open for him. He traced his head back to Naru. That sad look on her face just shattered his hear again. Why was it breaking again? There was no violence again, and no regretful words this time. While these old abandoned emotions tugged at Keitaro's heart-strings, he had to cut the bondage. There were reasons why he couldn't return to Hinata Sou, return to his old life, return to Naru. As for the reasons why, he couldn't tell them. The Urashima boy gripped onto the handles of his bike. He lowered his head just enough to see the road, but to not see Naru's face.
"Naru...you don't need me...not anymore."
Naru's eyes faded to a deep, darker hue. His words hurt her, deeper than anything he had ever said before. There weren't criticizing, or spiteful, they just hurt. As gently as he could, Keitaro turned his bike off to the side before speeding off down the street. He didn't say anything, or look at anyone, he just left, like before. As he drove off, he could see Naru in his rear view mirror. She fell to her knees and broke down in a full-blown cry. The other girls ran up to her, most likely saying he was no good, or they didn't need him; but Keitaro didn't care what they had to say about him. While Keitaro was driving, his vision began to blur. As he took a sharp turn around a corner into an alley way, he turned off his bike.
Keitaro began to wipe his eyes, but it was no use. The blurriness didn't go away, it only smeared on his borrowed blouse. With the oncoming headache, Keitaro grabbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger. With his palm covering his eyes, Keitaro let out his deeper emotions. It wasn't anger, or fear, it was sadness. Sadness strong enough to make even the invincible Keitaro Urashima cry.
Back at Hinata Sou, Kitsune helped her friend Naru to the couch. She had stopped crying after about a half an hour, but everyone could still see the effects. Hell, it took an effect on all of them; but not like Naru. By Now Haruka, Seta, Sara, and Mutsumi had called it a night, but not the rest of the residents. Everyone took a seat on either the couch or a chair. Somehow, the floor or their own feet became the most interesting things in the room. The only thing that made noise in the house was the annoying clock on the wall. Out of the five girls here within the room, Shinobu was the one to squeak up the first words.
"We...We failed...Didn't we?"
Everyone's silence answered her question for her. After all the effort, and heartbreak, it was all for nothing...or was it?
"Not everything was a failure", Su said as she dug into her pocket. "Look, I got Keitaro's wallet when he wasn't looking."
Everyone pretty much said "Le Gasp" in sync as they saw what Su held in her hands.
"Su give me that", Motoko ordered. "You shouldn't be taking things that don't belong to you. Especially when they belong to that slime ball!
As Motoko tried to take the small item away from Su, the little girl was having none of it. It was all just one big game to her. When the kendo girl finally seized the small item, it accidently slipped out of her hand and landed in the exact center of the living room. As it made contact with the ground, the contents of the wallet splattered all over the ground. This intrigued everyone in the most. Naru was the first to dive to the ground to see what was in the wallet. Soon everyone else joined in. No one said anything for a while. They only wore questioning and puzzling expressions.
Their eyes darted back and forth between the little papers and cards. Kitsune pocket the money from the wallet as they all exchanged the other contents. There were pictures of various things. One looked like a family photo of him and his parents. There was another of him running on a race track, wearing a running outfit. Perhaps from when he was in highschool or something. There was a third one of him in what looked like a military training uniform. He was dirty like he had been rolling around in the mud. Along side him were two other soldiers not too far from his age.
"Well I'll be", Kitsune said, "I didn't know Keitaro was in the army."
"I didn't either", Kanako added, "He, he never told us..."
Now things were starting to get suspicious. How could someone hide that they were in the army. Someone could hide that they were in a club, or in a sports team, but not in the army. They needed more information. Su emptied the rest of the wallet's secrets onto the floor. Inside were some simple things, a paper clip, a stick of gum, a few coins that Kitsune also pocketed, and some cards. The first one was a library card, nothing suspicious. However, they started getting more and more questionable. The next card was a an animal sanctuary card, most likely involving Skinny. The third one had the picture of a green tree that read, "Oni-Zakura Dojo". This card especially caught Motoko's attention. The next was questionable, it was a simple note card with an address on it. There was no picture or markings, and it looked like some wrote the address with a pen. Another card was olive-green with yellow writing on it. The main title said "experimental Recruitment Training (ERT)". That would explain the pictures of Keitaro, but not why he didn't tell them.
The last card was pure jet black. There was some white writing on it that read Mission Card: Demon Cheetah. Naru flipped the card o the other side, where it said insert into laptop this side face down. They would have to try this later with her own laptop. They all remained with no words. This time they weren't sad or upset. No one really knew what to think of this. The only question on everyone's mind was "Keitaro, what are you hiding from us?"
Wow two chapters in less than a week. I hope I didn't rush my way through this chapter. It's just that I had some free time, I had some good ideas, and...well, you all can guess the rest. This is where the story starts to take a whole new turn. Stick around and see what happens. You won't be disappointed I promise! I'll try to update as fast as I can. Hope you all enjoy. XD