In the manager's dorms at Hinata Sou Keitaro was back to struggling with his studying. He could not concentrate on his work, despite it being literally right in front of him. The eraser at the tip of his pencil had long disappeared from the many mistakes he made on his paper. In frustration, Keitaro ripped the paper from his notebook and tossed it into the trash bin that was once again overflowing. Momentarily turning his attention to the amount of trash in h his bin, Keitaro caught a glance of Skinny in his cat tower. The pine martin watched him without making a sound. The only way he knew Skinny was alive was because his tail swayed back and forth.

"Don't give me that look", Keitaro told Skinny.

The small animal didn't reply. He kept giving his master that same emotionless glare as his tail continued to sway.

"I know what I'm doing, I don't need your advice!"

Still, Skinny said nothing to Keitaro.

"Look, I know it's bad with the ERT, Captain explained everything", Keitaro argued with the silent martin. "I'm Not Scared!...I'm not scared..."

Keitaro looked back at his work. Unknowingly he had sketched a picture of Naru leaning on some the algebra problems. For a drawing it looked very much like her in close detail. The only thing missing were the colors and a voice. He began to daydream once again, until he remembered a set of eyes were watching him.

"Don't even go there", Keitaro scolded Skinny despite that he hadn't done anything yet. "She has enough to worry about, I don't need to drag her into my problems...I CAN'T talk to her, not after what happened between us."

Keitaro remembered the last time they really spoke to each other was nearly a week ago. That was when the studying/kissing incident occurred. She hadn't shown any signs of forgiving him yet, and he was too scared to ask for it.

"I'M NOT CHICKEN", Keitaro yelled at Skinny for a conversation he was having only with himself. "I just don't want to take the chance of making things worse...She can't get worse, she's a smart girl! She has Mutsumi to help her study...And I...Have nothing..."

Keitaro began to see how alone he really was when it came to trying to get into Tokyo U.

"I'm not smart like her...I don't have any backup plans when it's trying to study...It's really hard when you have to worry about Hinata Sou...The military...Enemies...Even meeting my promise girl again..."

The memory of his promise girl returned. Every detail from the words she spoke, to the small peck on his cheek. It was then Keitaro made up his mind.

"Alright, you win Skinny", Keitaro told his companion. "I made a promise to that little girl, and I can't throw that away. If I have to throw down all my dignity, and beg Naru to tutor me again, then I'll do it. Thanks for the coaching Skinny."

Keitaro gathered all his studying materials and left the room to Skinny. The pine martin did not move from his spot, for a whole world of soliloquy occurred in his tiny little skull.

"I am sooo high on cat nip, I could have sworn that giant talking turtle looked like Keitaro", Skinny thought he rolled onto his back.

Keitaro was now at Naru's door. He needed a moment to prepare himself. The boy felt like he was about to run a three-mile race back in cross-country. He even took it as far as stretching his hamstrings. With a final deep breath, Keitaro lightly knocked on her door. The few seconds it took for her to answer the door felt like eons.

"Huh, Keitaro", Naru asked only opening the door wide enough for her to peek through.

"Uh Hi", Keitaro asked shyly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine", Naru told him.

So far the greeting was all small talk, which everyone hated. Still, it was better than silence, which Naru and Keitaro were now trapped in. Keitaro took another deep breath before saying what needed to be said.

"Naru, I'm sorry about what happened the other day", Keitaro said as he hung his head in shame. "I have a lot of problems. My mind is a mess, my enemies are mobilizing, I'm behind in chores, and I can't study. I can take care of all of that, but I need your help..."

With his head still hung low, Keitaro held up his note-book only six inched from her face.

"Naru I'm begging you, please help me get into Tokyo U! I'm do whatever you say, just please help me out here! If you help me study I promise, I won't EVER drag you into my problems again!"

For a moment, there was only silence. Keitaro was already prepared for her to tell him to leave, but he was hoping she would tell him to stay.

"Keitaro...", Naru said in a low tone.

He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of his name.

"...You...ARE AN IDIOT!"

Keitaro never say the Naru Punch coming before it connected with his jaw bone. He hit the wall with a loud thud. Slowly Keitaro peeled off the wall like a sticker before ending up on his back. To add in more detail, his notebook landed right on his face. Naru approached Keitaro, and sat on her knees before removing the notebook then placing her hands at the sides of Keitaro's head. As much as this was a habit in the old day, he didn't expect something like this to happen again, at least not from this kind of situation.

"You're an idiot you know that", Naru scolded him as he lay on the floor.

"Naru...", Keitaro asked, worried to even move.

"You can't just hold everything inside of you, it's not healthy. You'll be dead before the entrance exams even get here", Naru took another breath to calm herself down. "You don't have to shoulder everything on your own. You have your team to help you on the battle field...You have all of us to help you around Hinata Sou...And...You have me...I'm not going anywhere Keitaro. I don't want to lose you again...I couldn't bear it if I lost you again."

Naru stood up and left to her room again. Just when she was at her door step, Naru turned back to Keitaro.

"Well, are you just gonna lay there, or are we going to study?"

Keitaro was now totally confused. Did she just forgive him? She was inviting him into her room, but she did hit him.

"Well", Naru asked one more time.

"Uh yes, let me just grab my stuff", Keitaro told her as he collected his materials.

Naru let Keitaro enter as he quickly took a seat at her desk. There was more uncomfortable silence.

"Um, Naru", Keitaro hesitated to talk. "I am sorry for..."

"Don't be", Naru told him, which only confused him further. "You had a lot of pent-up emotions, and you needed to let them out. It feels good to express what you're feeling sometimes. Don't be so afraid of your emotions Keitaro."

Keitaro sheepishly looked away as he said, "Okay Naru, I'll try. Thank you for tutoring me again."

"It's no problem", Naru said as she put her glasses on. "But it sure did take you a long time to man up."

Keitaro hung his head low. She did have a pont there, but arguing about it would get him nowhere. For now, there was studying to do.

As the days passed, Keitaro began to improve. His studying sessions with Naru and Mutsumi began to pay off on his practice test. Keitaro's health had returned to its prime, allowing him to exercise and do his chores with ease. While the trail for the missing projects had gone cold, the ERT resumed their smaller missions to earn money. They decided to remain stationed in Keitaro's training room for fear that they would target Keitaro. It proved to be of no trouble having them there. As long as they promised to not peep on them, Hinata Sou remained ever so peaceful. The summer weather was still warm, when Haruka brought everyone to the kitchen for an announcement.

"A summer beach café", Everyone asked at once.

"Yes, it's always been a successful way to earn money, and it does count as a tax write off", Haruka said as she placed the pamphlet on the center table.

"I see. It would be nice for a new change of scenery", Keitaro added in.

"Cool, can we help", Haitani asked with high hopes.

"If you help, you better be ready to work", Motoko threatened. "We will not tolerate any of your perverted antics."

Both Shirai and Haitani's sweat dropped before Tokui defended them.

"Don't worry Motoko, I'll keep an eye on them. Once we all finish at the beach, we'll be out of here at our own safe house."

Han began to ponder more thoughts as he looked to Tokui, then Kanako.

"We'll be leaving after this", Han thought in his head. "This isn't good. I need to ask Kanako out before we leave, or I might not get another chance. The beach scenery will be a perfect way to ask her out."

Han thought of himself and Kanako walking on the beach sand, playing volley ball, and splashing playfully in the water. He wiped away a small drop of blood with his sleeve as he imagined Keitaro's sister in a bikini.

It would be another day until the Hina girls, and the ERT arrived at the beach. Two more days would pass while everyone pitched in to help repair the stand. Finally on day four, the beach café was all ready. In no time, the café was a big hit, and why wouldn't it be. Even a blind person would be at the front of the line if they heard beautiful girls, and muscular soldiers were at their services.

"Wow Naru, this is going great", Nentou told her as she readied another tray of drinks.

"Yeah, even though the place is always a wreck, we can always make a profit from it."

From the crowd of people came Tokui looking somewhat flustered.

"Naru, don't make me go back there", Tokui pointed to one table in particular.

Naru could see three very feminine looking men waving at Tokui. The swordsman shuttered as one of them blew a kiss at Tokui.

"Tokui, be nice. They're just some more customers", Naru said to him.

"The customers are not allowed to touch the waiters", Tokui flared his arms. "I can not be a waiter for them any longer!"

"Hey, you wanna switch jobs with me", Kitsune yelled to Motoko's brother-in-law from the back room.

"Yes", he immediately said.

"Hey there", Skinny told Tokui once he entered the room.

"Oh crap", Tokui said in disappointment.

Tokui was later regretting switching jobs with Kitsune, since she was assigned to the dishes with Skinny. However, there was no turning back for Tokui, and Kitsune was very good at getting tips. With a small fluke of Angel nearly getting into a fight with someone over Kitsune, there were not troubles.

"Hey, Naru", A voice called out to the Narusegawa.

She turned around to see her old teacher sipping on a pina colada.

"Seta Sensei", Naru said as she hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"My excavation team finished up early, so I earned a little vacation time", Seta said as he took another sip of his drink. "I see the cafe is going well."

"Yes it is", Naru said proudly. "I hope our play goes just as good tonight."

"Oh, you have a play tonight?"

"Yeah, we hired some actors. They're going to be performing the "The Kingdom of Man and Beast". Are you going to see it?"

"Are you kidding, I wouldn't miss it for the world", Seta spoke now in a whisper. "If you can, would you see if you can get me in on the play."

"Sure, I'll try Seta Sensei."

"Thank you Naru", Seta told his old student.

"Naru, we need table seven cleared", Motoko called from across the room.

"Okay, I'll be there! I have to go now Sensei, we'll see you later."

Naru wandered off back to her duties as Seta searched for his wife Haruka. He hadn't seen her in a while, and she was probably going to chew him out for it. Still, that was what he liked about Haruka.

I'm kinda disappointed in this chapter because only a few things happened here. The only major thing that occurred was that Keitaro started talking to Naru again. On the bright side, there was a small prelude on what is going to happen next time. The business with the ERT is going to take a break for a while, since they have been a major focus for some time. Next time, everyone is getting ready for the lay, but will it go as planned? Find out and see. I'll try to write fast, I promise.