The semi-final version of Ch 29. Enjoy! :lol:
Hinata-sou Dormitory
Hintata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
Early December
early afternoon
(three months after story start)
ôYou want me to do what?!?ö It was not quite a shout, but Keitaro UrashimaÆs voice did have a similar ear ringing quality when he asked his question. And to his recipientÆs credit, he did not flinch at being at the receiving end of it.
Noriyasu Seta scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, not at all put out at his student yelling at him. ôI wouldnÆt ask this of you if I had better options Keitaro-kun, but this is the best way to solve my problem. I live in a bachelor apartment, and if you think my office is bad, my flat is worse. Plus IÆm still having trouble with my leg. It really would be better for everyone if you let the girls stay here at the Sou.ö
After Seta, his daughter Sarah, and their friends Nyamo and Gidget had arrived at the Sou, they had all eaten a light lunch of leftovers and sandwiches that Shinobu had prepared for the residents. Afterwards, the group had split up, with Sarah and Su going off to look at her research lab and Haruka going along to make sure no one was blown up and Kitsune and Naru retiring to the latterÆs room. Shinobu and Nyamo were spending time in the kitchen swapping recipes; even with the two of them not speaking each otherÆs native language, they both knew enough English to understand each other. Seta had asked to speak to Keitaro privately, so he had led the older man to the back yard and pulled out a lawn chair for him to sit in, with another chair opposite him where he sat down, only to spring to his feet when Seta asked his question.
ôWhy canÆt you get a bigger apartment for all of you?ö Keitaro was more than a little surprised that someone wanted even more young girls to live in a dorm run by a young male manager.
ôBecause I donÆt get paid very much as a professor at Todai. And the leftover money from the expedition got used up for one thing or another,ö Seta replied, causing Keitaro to internally cringe. Technically speaking, they had only been in Thailand for a little more than half a year when everything went badly, but having to do the pay-outs to the families for the ones that did not make it back wiped most of the money out. SetaÆs share had been used to grease certain palms to make sure they all made it out of the country afterwards. KeitaroÆs share was about half of what he was supposed to have received, but he had little inclination to use what he considered blood money.
ôPlease tell me this would be a temporary arrangement?ö Keitaro had a feeling it was not, and SetaÆs next words did not encourage him.
ôMaybe?ö Seta had a hopeful hangdog expression on his face.
Groaning, Keitaro rubbed the back of his neck. ôYou do have permanent custody of Sarah, yes? The adoptive father shtick isnÆt just to make things simple?ö
ôYeah, the paperwork finally went through in the courts. It takes a while for that kind of thing to process. Once that was done I had to have legally certified copies of the documents and court approvals sent to America so that Sarah would be released from her uncleÆs guardianship and sent to me. Just in time too, Sarah was getting to be too much of a handful for him.ö Seta leaned back in his chair and close his eyes. ôIÆm glad that mess is over with.ö
Keitaro sat back down in his chair opposite Seta. He had close up and personal experience with the young American girl being on a tear. It took an incident involving a deliberately broken clay pot artifact, a open-hand spanking by her father, and several hours with the shards and a tube of super glue putting the pot back together to break the girl of her habit of throwing tantrums when things did not go her way or she felt she was not receiving enough attention. The girl could still act like a brat on occasion. ôYou know, it isnÆt over, Seta-sensei.ö
ôWhat do you mean?ö Seta cracked one eye open to look at the younger man.
ôNyamo-chan isnÆt in this country legally, and sheÆs under-aged to boot. YouÆre going to have to arrange for a visa *and* at least temporary guardianship for her to stay in Japan.ö Keitaro watched as Seta groaned in pain, bringing his clenched fists to his eyes and rubbing them, his glasses pushed up onto his forehead.
ôGods, I didnÆt think of that. IÆm going to have to burn through a bunch of favors at the Ministry of Justice, with Immigration, with the freakinÆ Foreign Affairs Ministryàö Seta let his hands drop and peered at Keitaro. ôWhy did you have to save my life, Keitaro-kun? I would have died a simple death from that gunshot wound, instead IÆm going to die the death of a thousand paper cutsà again!ö
ôBecause for one thing, it was Nyamo-chan and Yuri that saved your life, and secondly, if you had kicked it *I* would have been the one that would have to take responsibility for that hellcat you call a daughter, at least until another guardian would be found. No thank you. Nyamo-chan is the one that owe your life to.ö Keitaro gave a half-smirk when Seta groaned again and let his head drop back again. ôSpeaking of shooting, what am I supposed to do with my pistol? Do I have to turn it in to the school or to you?ö Seta muttered something, but the Urashima was not able to understand him. ôSay again?ö
ôI said, the pistolÆs officially yours. ItÆs registered in your name as your property, and the carry permit is good for three years. As long as you donÆt do something stupid with it and you stay employed as a Todai contractor, the National Police wonÆt say anything about it.ö
ôYou mean *I* own it? I thought it was the schoolÆs property. And *am* I still employed by the school? IÆve havenÆt exactly gone in to work since we got back to Japan three months ago.ö Once the trio had arrived in Osaka, Seta had told Keitaro to not bother going to the Todai campus, as he was essentially working for Seta alone, and until the professor had left the hospital and returned to Tokyo, the ronin was to consider himself on (unfortunately unpaid) leave. His pay up to the point where they had left Thailand had been deposited electronically in his back account, so he did have something to show for the almost eight months he had been away from home, but the payments had stopped once they had returned to Japan.
ôYou really think the University of Tokyo is going to *own* guns? Nope, youÆre still a contractor for Todai, and now the envy of every gun nut otaku in Japan. You are the proud owner of a Glock pistol, complete with high capacity magazines and ammo. You could always turn it in to the police and have it destroyed, but I think your girlfriends would skin you alive if you did that.ö Seta pushed himself back so he was sitting properly in his chair. ôHow are your two girlfriends, by the way?ö It was now KeitaroÆs turn to mumble. ôSay again?ö
ôI havenÆt called them.ö The younger manÆs head dropped down.
ôWhat?!? YouÆve been back in country for *three months* and you havenÆt called your sexy girlfriends?!? What the hell is wrong with you man?!?!ö Seta was now the one leaning forward toward the reluctant speaker.
ôWhat am I supposed to say? æHi girls, IÆm back, I know IÆm three months early, but our expedition got torn apart by pirates and I had to sneak into and shoot my way out of the ugliest hellhole on Earth? Oh, and as a result I probably have a higher body count than any single Japanese since the Pacific War?Æö KeitaroÆs chin was almost touching his chest, his head was bowed so low.
Seta sighed as he looked at his younger compatriot. Both of them knew that Keitaro had done what he had to both get in to and out of Roanapur, but the methods and tactics were not something that most æcivilizedÆ people would be comfortable with. Sarah never spoke about what had happened, even when asked about it, and Seta had the feeling that there was some disassociation going on there. Even though the younger teen had not been physically assaulted during her ordeal, given what she seen happen to others was enough to traumatize most anyone, let alone a young girl.
ôI may be wrong, but IÆm pretty sure Natsumi-san and Miyuki-san were really into you. I didnÆt say anything back in January, but I think they were pretty torn up when we had to leave for Thailand. You should at least call and say youÆre back. Who knows, maybe they might actually be looking forward to seeing your sorry butt.ö Seta grinned at Keitaro, but it faded as he saw that the other maleÆs expression did not change. ôWhat, you got a æDear JohnÆ letter from them?ö
ôNo. Worse.ö Keitaro was still not looking up.
ôYouÆre now the proud father of two bouncing babies?ö The older man saw Keitaro shiver at that.
ôDonÆt even joke about that, Seta-sensei. I got a email from them last week, barely saw it today. They say they are really looking forward to seeing me again.ö For some reason, Keitaro was apparently not thrilled by that fact.
ôAnd???ö Seta drew out the word.
ôYou know I donÆt have a poker face worth a damn. If I start telling them what happened, they are going to realize something really bad happened, and theyÆre going to want details. And what then?ö It was now KeitaroÆs turn to run his hands over his face.
ôThen you give them the minimum amount of details necessary and you hope to hell they are understanding about it. You seem to be forgetting they are police officers, theyÆve seen a whole bunch of bad stuff on the job.ö Seta watched as Keitaro finally raised his head.
ôRoanapur level bad?ö asked Keitaro, a flat look on his face. Seta did not respond to the question, as there was nothing he could really say. As bad as the nearest big town close to the expedition had been, with gambling joints and whorehouses, Roanapur was an entire order of magnitude worse. There were people that said it was the modern day version of Sodom and Gomorrah. Seta had not seen the infamous port city himself as he had been laid up in a Thai hospital after the pirate attack , but the stories that came from there were not for the faint of heart.
ôWell, the only advice I can give you is what a Muslim colleague once told me. Inshallah.ö Seeing KeitaroÆs eyes fix onto his own, Seta gave a small smile and a shrug. ôItÆs Arabic for æGod willingÆ. There is only so much you can do, after that itÆs GodÆs will. Unless you want to get all determined and to do the impossible again.ö
Keitaro snorted. ôNot for a good long time if I can help it, Seta-sensei.ö Standing up, he looked back at his boss. ôYou going to stay the night along with the girls?ö
ôYeah, if you donÆt mind. Wanted to kick back for a while, driving with a leg in a cast is the pits.ö Moving carefully, Seta got to his feet and put his crutches under his arms. ôYou have a room with a western bed?ö
Keitaro nodded, waiting for his boss to walk up to him and then the two walked along sides toward the door. ôAnd if you promise to not hit on my aunt, IÆll give you one of the ground floor guest rooms.ö
Seta came to a halt, and it took Keitaro a moment to notice. ôSeriously?ö
ôNah. But Haru-chan will smack you silly if you keep coming onto her, and I donÆt think you need to break the other leg.ö The ronin watched as the Todai professor thought about it for a moment before starting to walk again.
ôI think IÆll take my chances. Haruka-chan did like me, once upon a time.ö
ôYeah, but jerking her around with another girl didnÆt help.ö Keitaro had heard about the love triangle consisting of Seta, Haruka, and Cynthia McDougal, SarahÆs now deceased mother.
ôWould you believe that I didnÆt know they were interested in me that way? Plus your aunt was still in the æhit the guy you likeÆ mode from childhood?ö
ôAnd people say *IÆm* hopeless with girls,ö was KeitaroÆs response as the two men walked toward the house.
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Naru NarusegawaÆs Room
Hinata-sou Dormitory
mid afternoon
ôHe barely recognized me, Kitsune. ItÆs like I was some kind of stranger.ö While the fox-eyed girl was the one that was drinking alcohol at the moment, it was Naru that acted and sounded like she was blitzed.
Kitsune was watching her best friend with a worried look on her face. She had known that Naru had a massive crush on Seta, one that had intensified after the sexual assault she had suffered on a train as a high school student. Seta was the only male that Naru did not feel threatened by and she let him get close to her emotionally. However, the older college grad student had not realized what she felt for him, or he just did not want to get involved with the much younger girl. In any case, while Seta had tutored Naru in school materials and taught her some martial arts (the infamous Naru Punch being the majority of it), he never made a romantic overture toward her, and then abruptly disappeared from their lives after he got his doctorate in Archeology and started working at Todai.
Naru and Kitsune were sitting at the low table in the younger girlÆs room. While Kitsune had a glass with lemon shochu and ice in it, Naru had a large mug of hot chocolate she had made herself, using an envelope of powder mix and the hot water that was left over from Shinobu making tea. The fox girl knew this was a bad sign, as her friend only drank chocolate when she was depressed. Even now, the mug was half empty and Naru was resting her head on her crossed arms on the table, her face turned toward her friend.
ôItÆs been three years since you saw him last Naru-chan. I know you had feelings for him, but he never did or said anything to show that he thought of you as more than a student of his.ö Kitsune had to be careful about this subject, as Naru had on a couple of occasions gotten severely depressed, to the point where she stayed in bed for days. Thankfully she would snap out of it after two or three days, but that had been without a stressor like this one appearing in their lives. The fact that Motoko Aoyama had left the Hinata-sou the previous week under a thin story that was apparently to cover the fact that she had been asked to leave by the Urashimas for a major rule violation had put them under some anxiety and unease, even if the two younger girls had reported seeing that the former resident was still at their school, although with a *much* shorter haircut.
ôI know. ItÆs just that I start thinking about things, what I never had the nerve to tell him. HeÆs the one guy that never made a pass at me, never eyeballed me, never acted perverted. You know how guys act around me. Seta-sempai was the only one to never act like that.ö Naru somehow managed to slump lower on the table without even moving.
Kitsune said nothing and instead took a drink from her glass. While it was true that she had the bigger bust between the two of them û in fact, she had been one of the first girls at school to start developing û Naru had both the figure and the face that all their male schoolmates desired, at least for more than just a grope in the dark. The problem was that Naru was not the most social person to begin with, and dedicated to her studies as well. So while Naru had to fend off suitors in school, most of whom Kitsune would have taken and rode into the ground, the fox girl had dress in tight provocative clothes and act like a drunken party girl to get attention, which wound up being from the kind of boys that were not exactly looking for a serious relationship. After a while the act had stuck; Mitsune Konno had disappeared, and Kitsune the good time girl was what was left.
ôYou know, even though I was kind of interested in going to Todai all my life, it wasnÆt until I met Seta-sempai that I really got serious about it. I wanted to get the best test scores possible and getting tutored by him was icing on the cake.ö Naru slowly raised her head and reached out for her mug, taking a long drink and draining it. Putting the mug back on the table top, the brunette leaned her head against her hand, her arm and elbow braced against the table. ôThose were the happiest days I had in school, untilàö NaruÆs voice trailed off.
Kitsune inwardly winced. As bad as it had been on the train, the aftermath had almost made it worse. Even in current times there was not a lot of sensitivity in Japan toward victims of sexual assault, especially if there was no actual rape. All the two girls were able to do was to make a report to a foot patrol officer at the train station who was patently not very interested, who took their information and sent them home. There had never been a follow-up call or visit by the police, and even though NaruÆs parents had been sympathetic and did what they could, they had never taken their daughter to counseling.
After that day, Naru would react badly to being touched unexpectedly or without permission. It had gotten to the point where the brunette almost slugged a male teacher that had touched her shoulder from behind and startled her. Male students that tried asking her out on dates were dismissed out of hand. Anyone that tried to push the issue would get what was called æthe demon-eyed stareÆ where it appeared that her eyes would turn red and strands of her hair would form into devil horns. And the gods help anyone that laid a hand on her; the first one to do so wound up with a badly bruised and swollen face and Naru had suffered a sprained wrist from punching incorrectly.
When Seta had seen the bandaged wrist and asked about it, all Naru said was that some guy had grabbed her and she defended herself. Seta had asked her to show him how she hit the guy, and after she demonstrated with her uninjured hand, Seta showed her the correct way to punch, including how to lock the wrist to prevent injury and proper stance to transfer the energy properly and not get hurt or thrown back. Seta had made an off-hand remark about using chi to reinforce and power a punch, and when Naru had asked about it, the tutor had responded that sometimes using emotion would do the same as chi, and the most common emotions used were fear and anger. That had been all the grad student had told her, but Naru was able to use that to figure it out, and she started using it when she hit men she thought were perverted or touching her. Thus, the Naru Punch was born.
ôSo what are you going to do now, Naru-chan?ö Kitsune watched as her friend slowly turned so that she was facing her, even though her eyes had something close to a thousand yard stare in them.
ôThere really isnÆt much I can do, Kitsune. Seta-sempai is so far beyond me now I donÆt stand a chance. Even if he wasnÆt a Todai professor and a father, heÆs more interested in Haruka-san than me.ö Indeed, throughout the luncheon, Seta had spent most of the time flirting with the Urashima woman, who apparently enjoying the attention from the handsome academic even though she acted annoyed. ôBesides, what am I going to do, marry him and become the stepmother to a girl the same age as my little sister?ö
ôWell, there are other fish in the sea, Naru-chan. All those fine-looking undergrads at Todai to look forward to.ö Kitsune did not really know why she was using this line of thought to try and cheer up Naru; her friend was as close to asexual as anyone she knew, which was a shame since she could have cut a wide swath though the school dating scene if she wanted to. There had even been some girls at high school who had wanted Naru to join the school choir or glee club because of her excellent singing voice, but the girl had refused outright. When a teacher had tried to make her join either of the music clubs as a extracurricular club school requirement, Naru had instead joined a juku study group; when the teacher tried to force the issue, Naru had given her the demon-eyed stare and that had been the end of it. It was a shame really, since there were scouts for both the music and TV industry that looked for talent at the various recitals and concerts, and with her looks Naru could have been picked up as a J-pop idol singer.
ôYeah, right.ö Naru was still looking past Kitsune, so the fox-eyed girl gave it one more try to snap her out of her funk.
ôHey Naru-chan, remember back in school when the math teacher was instructing us on multiplying positive and negative numbers? He said that while you get a positive answer from multiplying two negatives, and a negative answer from a positive and a negative, there was no way to get a negative answer from two positivess, and that slacker Ichiro in the back of the class went, æYeah, right.Æö Kitsune grinned at her friend, and Naru had no choice but to give a half-hearted smile.
ôGods Kitsune, making math jokes now. It must really be bad.ö Naru straightened up before pushing herself back and up from the table. ôLetÆs get going, we can continue this in the hot spring. ItÆs almost time for female-only bathing.ö Kitsune nodded and pushed herself up from the table as well. She turned at walked toward the door but halted and turned her head when Naru spoke up.
ôYou know, mathematicians have a joke. If you keep decreasing distance by halfs, you may never get there, but at some point you will be close enough that it wonÆt matter.ö Naru watched as Kitsune mentally replayed what was just said before she understood what was meant and groaned in response.
ôYou should stick to singing Naru-chan. YouÆre not going to make your fortune as a stand-up comic.ö The brunette merely smiled in response.
ôThanks anyway, Kitsune. Give me a couple of minutes, IÆll meet you at the spring.ö
ôYeah, but this time leave your glasses on until you can confirm that itÆs *me* in the spring, and not someone else.ö Kitsune was amused to see Naru blush in embarrassment. ôEspecially if you want to compare breast sizes again.ö
ôDamn fox! Out, out!ö Naru blushed even darker, but was laughing at the same time. Kitsune grinned at her best friend before turning and walking out of the room.
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