Not unexpected in the least, Keitaro was the main center of attention at the table. He wasn't eating like a slob, or food was flying anywhere, in fact he had rather good table etiquette, it was just intriguing how much Keitaro could eat in one sitting. Already he had three dishes worth of food, Shinobu had to make extra in order to keep up with Keitaro. The Urashima paid little attention to everyone else as he continued to chow down. Despite him being so naïve and slow-witted, he eventually discovered that all eyes were focused on him.
That was perhaps the most awkward moment at the table. It was quiet enough to where anyone could hear him chewing across the room. He swallowed quickly, and loudly before attempting to speak up.
"Uuumm...it's...it's good.", was all Keitaro could say.
His eyes sheepishly drifted to his now empty plate in front of him. Keitaro then took the plate to the kitchen where Shinobu waited to wash the last few dishes in the kitchen.
"Thank you Shinobu, it was wonderful."
"It was no big deal Sempai, I'm really glad you liked it."
As Keitaro handed the younger girl the item, he turned back around to everyone sat, still as speechless as ever.
"Well, uh...", Keitaro pointed his fingers to the kitchen exit. "I'm gonna go and finish my project."
Keitaro immediately escaped the kitchen, but not before coming back for the last pieces of toast. Once he was out of the kitchen, not one of them said a word. Naru eventually broke the ice they were solidified in.
"He can sure pack on the food."
"Yeah, he ate my entire box of pop tarts" Sarah complained.
By now Keitaro was building two good, strong structures outside. The first one was a bit small, while the second one looked as if it could be a small living space. The larger one still lacked a completed roof, but it was getting closer and closer. Keitaro was on the higher drilling in some screws as Skinny handed him the needed screws.
"Oh Keitaro", the Urashima boy looked down as he heard Mutsumi's sweet voice.
"I brought you a snack in case you wanted something sweet.", Mutsumi said as she held a tray of snacks.
"Wow, thanks Mutsumi.", Keitaro said, "I'm actually kinda busy right now, can I eat it in a little while?"
As he focused back on drilling the screws to secure the roof, Mutsumi asked him one more time.
"Are you sure, it's milk and cookies."
Keitaro ceased all work when he heard this.
"Chocolate Chip", Keitaro asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Fresh from the oven", Mutsumi said with a smile.
Keitaro considered the possible outcomes for this. The day was rather cool, it was already lunch time, and he hadn't taken a break from work yet. After a few moments thought, Keitaro agreed to her terms.
"I'll just have a little", Keitaro said as he climbed down the latter.
The two sat on the front steps of Hinata Sou as they enjoyed the food. Keitaro decided to eat the small meal a little bit slower, to prevent any unwanted awkwardness. They remained in silence as the two watched the swaying of the trees, the flying birds, and the invisible waves of the wind. Just as Keitaro was about to thanks Mutsumi, she asked him a question that made him blush out of nowhere.
"Keitaro, will you take your shirt off for me?"
The boy would have had a nose bleed, if only his sinuses weren't clogged with the milk he was drinking. He coughed a few times before asking, "What?"
"Your shirt", Mutsumi asked, "Please take it off, I want to check something."
The Otohime girl tugged at his shirt, basically asking him to remove the clothes. Doing as he was told, Keitaro removed the shirt he was wearing. Underneath, was the heavy weighted vest that he wore to restrain his leg speed.
"Please remove this too Keitaro", Mutsumi asked.
Before he could comply with her, Mutsumi began to unstrap the buckles that held the vest in place. Keitaro had to look around first, to make sure no one was around to accuse him of anything pervy. Once the straps were taken off, Keitaro had to remove the vest himself because of the sheer weight. Keitaro's chest now had no protection against the cool wind, or Mutsumi's eyes. The Otohime girl let her eyes trace over him for some time, starting at his neck, to his bandaged shoulder, to his muscles and abs.
As her eyes were focused on his chest, hie eyes were lost in hers. There was something about those eyes that he remembered from before. It was some distant memory that he couldn't quite grasp. Maybe they went to the same school, they could have sat across each other on a bus ride, or maybe he saw her as some random person in a random crowd. Whatever the case, he had no idea where he had seen those eyes before. He wasn't going to get his answer now as Mutsumi turned him around to look at his back.
Keitaro thought in his mind, "What is she doing? Why is she looking at me like this?"
He suddenly felt a soft finger lingering on the tattoo at his shoulder. She shuddered slightly as she traced the design of the markings.
"This feels like deja vu from yesterday", Keitaro mentally said. "Why is she doing this? Did Kanako tell her something about this?"
"Does it hurt", Mustumi asked about the ink design.
Keitaro was hesitant to ask as if he was hiding something. Strangely enough, Mutsumi didn't catch his flawed answer.
"Sometimes", Keitaro asked. "It gives me problems every now and then."
Mutsumi was silent for some time. Keitaro began to worry if he said too much.
"I see", Mutsumi said.
It put Keitaro on edge as if she found out some dark secret about him.
"If it starts to hurt you more, I'll be here for you."
Kietaro shuddered as he felt two soft lips press against his shoulder. Oddly, but not unexpected from someone like Mutsumi, the Otohime girl kissed the tattoo on Keitaro's shoulder. He turned around to look at her as she walked away. She smiled and waved back to him as she giggled. Keitaro sat there dumb folded as he watched her disappear into Hinata Sou. Still frozen by the event, Keitaro was in a deep mess of brain fibrillation.
"What just happened", Keitaro asked only the invisible wind currents.
Not much else happened in the day. Keitaro had shown little of himself. He continued to work on his constructive projects, then locked himself in his room. His door was now literally locked since he had installed one into his room. For now he remained in solitude, even absent of Skinny as he watched a movie with a small bowl of popcorn. While his focus was on the television, it was suddenly was disturbed by a loud creaking sound. Keitaro quickly looked around the room, his hand ready for the gun at the table.
After a pause and trying to sense for the sound, nothing appeared. Before he could reach into his bowl for more popcorn, he heard the noise again. Knowing that hearing the noise twice wasn't a good thing, he stood up to search for the source of the disturbance.
"Skinny, is that you", Keitaro asked.
No one was at the door, neither the window. His closet was undisturbed, and nothing was under, behind, or hiding in his furniture.
"Huh", Keitaro said after an unsuccessful search.
As he scratched his head in question, he heard the noise again. This time it was more loud, rapid, and easier to trace. The Urashima boy looked above him and saw a deep crack emerging from the wood he used to cover up the hole in the ceiling.
"Oh dear", Keitaro muttered in worry.
As it god bigger and bigger, it suddenly stopped. He had a moments relief, but only a moments worth. With a final snap, the plywood came crashing down with a certain brunette wearing glasses. She shrieked from the downwards descent, but somehow avoided a crash landing. Maybe it was reflex or instinct to catch someone falling, but somehow, Keitaro managed to catch Naru in his arms bridal style. With no sudden complaints, Naru immediately held on to him.
Both Naru and Keitaro were breathing deeply from the sudden shock of events. Before long, Naru's eyes behind her glasses met his. For a moment, just a moment, she was thankful that he was there. He suddenly came to his senses and gently set her down on the floor.
"Naru what are you doing", Keitaro said trying to sound irritated. "I just put that board up."
"Me?! I...I was just sitting in my chair when it came crashing down! Yeah! It came crashing down! You're the one who didn't do a good job of fixing it up!"
Naru also tried to hide herself by pretending to be angry and irritated by the incident.
"Oh yeah, well what's that in your hand", Keitaro asked referring to the mallet in her hands.
The Narusegawa girl hid the item behind her back as Keitaro picked up the splintered pieces of wood off the floor. He tossed the items out the window like a frisby, knowing it would land near the pile of construction items he had outside.
"Never mind, I'll fix it tomorrow", Keitaro said before Naru spoke up.
"No, you don't have to do that!"
Keitaro looked back at her. She said that a little too quickly. By the look on her face, it was as if she didn't want him to repair the hole. As he stared on, she turned her head in another direction with a tint of pink in her face.
"I mean...I don't want to fall through the ceiling again! It's dangerous! I'll just put the board I already had...it'll be fine."
Keitaro didn't buy it. There was another reason why she didn't want him to repair the hole. However, he didn't feel like pushing the issue any further, and decided to drop it with a simple, "Huh..."
They stayed in silence for a while, eying everything else in the room besides each other. Surprisingly, everything Keitaro owned were still in boxes. The truth was, Keitaro wasn't sure if they would let him stay permanently. If that was going to be the case, he would be ready to leave in a moments notice. Still he didn't tell Naru or anyone else that he was already prepared for the worse. He wouldn't get to, at least not tonight. About then, Naru noticed that Keitaro was watching a cartoon.
"What are you watching Keitaro?"
Keitaro tried to avoid the answer by saying, "Nothing."
"Well it's obviously something", Naru pursued. "Tell me, what is it?"
"It's umm...it's", Keitaro mumbled something that she couldn't quite hear.
"What was that", Naru asked.
"It's...Sleeping Beauty", Keitaro said now truly embarrassed.
He had the feeling that she was either going to roll on the floor laughing, call him a pervert, or call him a sissy...but that's not what he received. Surprisingly Naru let out a girly "Aaawww, that's so sweet! I love Sleeping Beauty!"
Without thinking that this wasn't her room, Naru sat on her stomach, with her stocking feet up in the air as she watched the movie too. She was basically making herself at home in his room. Keitaro was debating whether he should kick her out of his room or not. She didn't make fun of him, yet, she seemed to like the movie, and company during a movie wasn't all that bad. Following something that was a combination of instinct and trust, Keitaro sat down right besides her. He took the bowl of popcorn and passed some over to Naru.
Both sat and watched the film of the small screen munching on the popped corn. It was then Naru asked him something.
"So you like Sleeping Beauty huh?"
"Shh", Keitaro held a finger to his lips not taking his eyes off the screen. "This is the whole reason why I watch this movie."
Naru turned back to the screen to see what he was talking about. It was at the scene where the owl, and the other forest critter stole Philip's clothes to approach Aurora.
"You know I'm not really supposed to talk to strangers. But we've met before. I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream! I know you the gleam in your eyes is so familiar! A gleam yet I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem!"
Naru turned to Keitaro again. He was tracing Aurora's words with his lips as if he'd seen this part a million times and memorized it by heart.
"But if I know you, I know what you'll do! You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream!"
At that part, Keitaro stopped following her words, and shoved some more popcorn into his mouth. Naru decided it was alright to ask why that was his favorite part, even though the movie wasn't over yet.
"Well", Keitaro began, "Do you remember the promise girl I told you about?"
"Yeah", Naru said as she listened to what he had to say.
"The thing is, I used to dream about her...a lot."
Keitaro scratched a non-existent itch on his cheek in embarrassment.
"I always had this little fantasy that when we did get into Tokyo University, she would see me, and I would see her. We wouldn't recognize each other, but we would know that we've met before. She would ask me my name, and I would tell her. Then I'd ask for hers, and she would tell me too. Then I would ask her, have we met before? And then...she would say...we have, in a dream I once had. I've been waiting for you...that's when..."
That's when what", Naru asked now very interested.
"...That's when I wake up", Keitaro said in disappointment. "Reality hits me, and it hits pretty hard, then I realize...it's all just a fantasy."
"Keitaro", Naru said as he shied his eyes away from her.
She looked under his face as his head hung low.
"You know, if you believe and try hard with your heart, some fantasies come true."
The Urashima boy looked up at Naru. She had a genuine smile on her face, as he had masked one on his. Naru refocused on the television as she took some more popcorn in.
"This is also a good part", the Narusegawa girl said with a mouthful of food.
Keitaro tried to push the conversation out of his head. It was hard for someone to just do that on his own. Nonetheless, when Naru Narusegawa was with him at that moment, he felt he could rest at ease. He didn't have to worry about sad or depressing memories from his past creeping up on him. His heart was just happy that he could share a moment like this with someone like her. After all, life could be rough, cruel, and straight out mean; but it could also be spectacularly happy.
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Which is true, it's our weakness. Still, there are some other ways to Keitaro's heart. I think this chapter turned out quite well, if I do say so myself. I'll see when I can post another. Finals are approaching, and so are the holidays. Hope you all read and review! :j