Preliminary first part of Ch 10. Enjoy. ^_^
Ch 10
Author notes: IÆm going to list the various titles and honorifics that are going to be used in this chapter at the beginning so I donÆt have to use explain them in the middle of conversations or leave them to the end of the chapter and have the readers going WTH while they are reading. *g* BTW, the general rule is that the younger members of the family will address the older or more senior members by honorific title (ex. Ba-chan), while the older members will address the younger member by name and honorific suffix (ex. Keitaro-kun).
Oto-san û father (formal)
Oka-san û mother (formal)
Onii-san û older brother (formal)
To-san û dad (informal)
Ka-san û mom (informal)
Nii-san/Nii-chan û big brother/big bro (informal)
Ba-san/Ba-chan û grandma/granny (informal)
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Keitaro was sitting at one of the back tables in the teahouse, tapping his pencil against the tabletop as he looked over the notes he had before him. The notes from the clipboard that he had carried throughout the full house inspection now ran an even dozen pages, not including the two pages of notes he had taken from the tenant room inspections.
Like he had previously told Naru, he had pretty much decided to leave the dorm open at the Hinata-sou. The problem now were the rules that were going to be put in place to keep the chaos to a minimum. Keitaro had not been kidding about rules regarding certain tenants; almost every tenant had a new rule that was a result of their actions. Keitaro had listed the new rules on a new sheet of paper, and he knew that it would go over with the tenants like a lead balloon. About the only person whoÆs hands were clean in this entire mess was Shinobu, and one of the rules still affected her.
ôThinking deep thoughts, Kei-kun?ö Keitaro looked up at the sound of his auntÆs voice to see her standing beside his table, wearing her teahouse apron and a semi-amused smile on her face.
ôMore like working the kinks out of the plans IÆve come up with.ö Keitaro gestured to the chair opposite him and Haruka sat down. ôI have the new rules I want to implement, IÆm just thinking of how to present them without getting the tenants riled up. I can just force it through and they wonÆt be able to say anything about it, but I want them to work with me and not go off again.ö Keitaro pushed a single sheet of paper over to Haruka, who started reading it.
After a minute, Haruka started chuckling to herself. ôYeah, I can see Motoko going off about this, and Kitsune wonÆt be happy either. You sure you want to go through with this, Kei-kun?ö
ôHave to, it isnÆt fair what they are doing to Shinobu, and I have personal safety in mind for the rest of it. Kitsune canÆt just go through life scamming people, and with the costs of operating the Sou, I canÆt just let the rent arrears go. Than reminds me, how many people do you have working here?ö
Haruka looked thoughtful for a moment. ôThree part-timers. Yoko in the evenings, Karin and Jun in the afternoons. I canÆt really afford to pay very much, so they donÆt make a living doing this. Yoko is retired and the other two are going to school and work here to make some extra money. WhyÆre you asking?ö
ôKitsune needs to do extra work to start paying off those arrears, and if she doesnÆt have a good paying job now, I kinda doubt that she is going to bust her butt to find one to start paying. If I give her a choice of paying cash up front for the arrears or working for either me or you to make the cash, she would very probably rather work for us. It would be a lot harder for her to get much past you, and who knows, she might just like working here.ö Keitaro smiled thinly.
ôAnd why canÆt she work for you doing cleanup at the Sou?ö Haruka asked, planting an elbow on the table and resting her face on her hand.
ôBecause either I will be too busy doing things to keep an eye on her, or itÆs going to be Kanako keeping an eye on her. You can imagine how well that will work out.ö Keitaro tilted his head to the side.
Haruka gave a shudder. ôOh yeah, not good at all. Look, I can only afford part-timers here, so it would be four hours a day, maxing out at twenty hours a week. I only pay a thousand yen an hour (US$10.00). And this is if I pay cash under the table.ö
Keitaro did the math in his head. ôThat works out to six weeks work if she gives all her pay toward the arrears, twelve weeks if she gives half. That sounds doable. YouÆre going to use her to bus tables and do general cleanup, right?ö
ôYeah, IÆll let her get used to how I do things around here. If she keeps at it, and I see that sheÆs a good worker, I can train her in brewing and in working the register, but thatÆs if IÆm going to really hire her on.ö
ôSounds good. Which brings us to the next worry, Aoyama. How am I going to get her to go for her rule?ö Keitaro spread his hands in front of him.
ôWellà you can always pull the samurai guest rule on her.ö It took a few moments for Keitaro to understand what Haruka was referring to, but after a bit he got it.
ôOk, that might work, but it only makes the problem slightly smaller, it doesnÆt get rid of it.ö
ôTell her it canÆt be in plain view, and she canÆt carry the real deal. That plus the rule you came up with for Naru should keep the problem manageable,ö Haruka replied.
Keitaro considered that for a few moments before nodding in agreement. ôAs long as I can see her coming, I can handle her. If she manages to sneak up on me without me noticing, it wonÆt matter what she has.ö
ôWhich brings up the most fun of the new rules. How are you going to tell Su that she canÆt play with her turtles in the house anymore?ö Haruka grinned at Keitaro, who sighed and copied her earlier pose and braced his face with his arm on the table.
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ôOnly one more thing left to do, Kei-kun.ö
Keitaro and Haruka had spent the last hour going over the plans for the dorm and the tenants residing within. Only part of the conversation had been about the new rules; repairs and remodeling had also been discussed as well. This was in between Haruka having to leave to go help out at the counter when it got busy.
Keitaro looked at his wristwatch; it was now close to 2:00 PM. The people he needed to call would very probably be at home, and if a certain person was not there, then they had her mobile number as well.
ôLend me your mobile, please?ö Keitaro picked up the phone that slid across the table at him. Looking at the screen, he could see his familyÆs home phone number was already on display.
ôThatÆs another thing I have to do, get a new mobile phone.ö Keitaro mumbled to himself. Keitaro had never really had much use for mobiles before he left the country, even though he had a plain vanilla flip phone for emergencies until he graduated high school. Now that he was back home, almost everyone and their dog seemed to be either talking on phones, playing games on phones, listening to music on phones or reading gods knows what on their phones. The fact that almost all of those involved had earphones plugged in did not lessen the impression that the electronics involved were connected directly to their brains. ôiPod people indeed,ö Keitaro muttered as the distinctive *ring-ring* of the Japanese phone system began to sound in the earpiece.
ôMoshi-moshi,ö a older male voice spoke into the phone at the other end of the call, giving the traditional Japanese phone greeting.
ôHello, oto-san, itÆs Keitaro, how are you?ö
ôKei-kun! IÆm doing well, we havenÆt heard from you since you returned to Japan. Everything is going well in Osaka, I trust?ö
ôThings could be going better, to-san, and IÆm not in Osaka anymore. Granny Hina asked me to come to the Hinata-sou, and thatÆs where IÆm at now.ö
ôI seeà I take it Hina-ba-san told you about her decision regarding the family.ö
ôYou could say that. I got here a couple of days ago to find out that the Sou is now a girlsÆ dorm, that she had left for a tour of the worldÆs hot springs the day before, and that the tenants had not been told who their new dorm manager was. Oh, and I found out about becoming the heir and manager by a letter she left after the girls chased me all over the house thinking I was a peeper.ö
ôHeh heh hehà ouch. You werenÆt hurt, were you Kei-kun?ö
ôNo, but it was touch and go for a while. I think IÆm getting things in order here, but IÆm going to need some help to do so. Is Kana-chan there?ö
ôSheÆs in her room, I can call her if you like. What do you mean, need her help?ö
ôIÆm still going to study for the entrance exam for Todai, plus I need a female to help run this place, to-san. I was hoping she could come and become the assistant manager here. It will not be that much work if she and I split up the work, so it should not interfere with her school work. SheÆs still doing well in school, I trust?ö
ôIf you can call getting a 4.2 GPA in Honors classes and cutting a wide swath through the high school karate tournaments doing well, yes. Ever since you left, she started to dedicate herself to her studies, even more than you did, Kei-kun.ö
Keitaro winced at that remark. The final two years of high school he had done nothing but study school and prep materials, stopping only to sleep, eat, and at the insistence of his parents and grandmother, practice his martial arts skills.
The martial arts were what kept him from cracking up like so many other overly dedicated college prep students did, but his dedication for studies bled over to the physical. Keitaro went from a mid ryu rank to sho-dan (first rank black belt) in his formal martial arts training just before he graduated high school. Not to say that he wore a black belt before he left school. In his family technique training, on the occasions that members wore gis the beginners wore white belts, and members who had defended others from deadly attack wore black belts. In KeitaroÆs memory only Great-Uncle Hiro and Granny Hina wore the red belt embroidered with the Urashima crest. He had received a red belt from Granny shortly before he had left Japan over a year ago, but he had never worn it, finally understanding what the symbolism of the belt meant.
ôHow is ka-san doing? Is she there?ö Keitaro decided to change the subject after the turn his thoughts had taken.
ôSheÆs out shopping, she wonÆt be happy that she missed your call. Kei-kun, thereÆs something I need to ask you. Are you sure that inviting Kanako-chan to the Hinata-sou is a good idea? She is not as bad as when you left, but that English phrase æabsence makes the heart grow fonderÆ definitely applies here.ö
ôThat might be part of the problem, to-san. I left before I was able to deal with KanakoÆs feelings to me. Now that IÆm back, I can try and convince her that we are not meant to be together like that.ö
ôSo long as she does not wind up going yandere (1) on you, son. IÆll go and call her over right now.ö
ôGee, thanks to-san.ö Keitaro muttered to himself as he heard his father put the phone handset down . Twenty seconds passed before he could hear thundering footsteps through the phone and in a moment of insight yanked the mobile phone away from his ear before the deafening shout of æNii-chan!!!Æ blasted out of the speaker. Carefully he put the phone back to his ear to hear someone babbling at about 500 words a minutes. After a few moments he heard her take a breath and was finally able to get a word in edgewise. ôKana-chan, I didnÆt understand a word of what you were saying. Please slow down.ö
ôNii-chan, youÆre finally back in Tokyo! ItÆs good to hear your voice again! When did you get here, and how long before you get home?ö
ôItÆs good to hear you too, Kana-chan. I got to Tokyo a couple of days ago, and IÆm not going home yet. IÆm at the Hinata-sou, and wanted to ask you a favor.ö
ôAnything, nii-chan!ö Keitaro could hear at least a couple of different meanings to those two words, but it was not something he could do anything about over the phone.
ôI need to talk to you in person here at the Sou in order to explain it right, itÆs not something I can do over the phone. How soon can you get here?ö Keitaro asked.
ôIn an hour if I use my motorcycle. Thirty to forty-five minutes if I push it.ö
ôNo need to push it, Kana-chan. I donÆt want you get hurt when there is no need.ö Keitaro was wondering how it was that Kanako had a motorcycle; she was barely of the legal age to have a driverÆs license. ôOne more thing, pack for an overnight stay, if everything works out, we can go back to the house and get more things if you agree to my idea.ö
ôYatta! IÆll start packing right now! You are at the house right?ö
ôIÆm at HarukaÆs teahouse, meet me here. The three of us have to be involved in this talk.ö
ôOK, nii-chan! IÆll see you in an hour!ö There was a click as Kanako hung up the phone on her end.
Keitaro looked up at Haruka, who had been listening from across the table. She had a unlit cigarette in her mouth and was toying with her lighter. He could see that she wanted to say something, but was keeping quiet. ôGo ahead, say it.ö
ôThis is going to be really really good or really really bad, Kei-kun.ö Haruka grinned crookedly at him around her cigarette.
ôYeah yeah.ö Keitaro stood up and stretched. ôGo ahead and light up, IÆm going outside for a walk. IÆll be back in a few minutes.ö He walked toward the side door and therefore did not see Haruka look at the smoke she had taken out of her mouth for a moment before lighting it up.
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1 - Yandere - a person that is very gentle and loving to someone at first, then winds up obsessive and destructive, sometimes in violence. The violence can be directed to both the loved one or anyone perceived to be interfering in their relationship. Known in the US as Fatal Attraction syndrome.
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