Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Legacy ❯ Chapter 16

“She's coming around,” said the nurse, easing back as the PE teacher opened her eyes. Sitting up, she yawned. Seeing the nurse, the security guard and the dean looking at her, she blinked.

 

“What?”

 

“Um, how did you end up in the bed Maehara was in?” asked the nurse.

 

“And where is Maehara?” wondered the dean.

 

“And those two `scary' women for that matter,” interjected the guard. He had checked the entire campus, but they - and Maehara - were gone. The PE teacher blinked again.

 

“Well…” she began, only to frown slightly. “I hurried down here when you said that two women were talking to Maehara,” the woman began her story. “I came in, and those two women were helping Maehara get dressed,” she continued.

 

“Dressed?” wondered the dean.

 

“She came straight from PE, so she was in her swimsuit,” the nurse explained.

 

“So, they brought clothes for Maehara?” wondered the dean. The nurse shrugged. She had no clue, and wasn't there to see anything anyway.

 

“No, they had her school uniform,” the teacher recalled. “I went over to ask them who they were and what they were doing, and then…” she sighed.

 

“And then what?” the security guard wondered.

 

“And then I woke up here, with you three looking at me,” she said sheepishly. “What time is it?” wondered the PE teacher.

 

“You have been asleep for nearly an hour,” the nurse said. “I used some smelling salts to wake you up,” explained the other woman.

 

“They knocked her out,” the security guard surmised.

 

“If they did, I don't recall it; I'm sure they didn't even touch me,” insisted the PE teacher.

 

“Then how did you end up unconscious in the bed?” persisted the man. The woman sitting up in that very bed shrugged.

 

“Don't know,” she replied candidly. “Nothing hurts,” she volunteered, moving her arms and legs and stretching her body.

 

“And I don't see any signs of bruising or impact marks,” collaborated the nurse. “She just…went to sleep from the look of things.”

 

The dean sighed. “Well then, does anyone know where Maehara is?” he wondered. Headshakes all around.

 

“Maehara was exhibiting signs of stress and possible panic attack when she first arrived,” recalled the nurse. “She calmed down, and when the two women arrived, she perked up; I think they know her, and she knows them. In fact, when they spoke to her, she called one `Motoko-sempai'. Do you have any idea what might have been putting stress on Maehara?” wondered the nurse. “With her grades, finals shouldn't even be an issue, as she could all but completely fail them and still pass handily.”

 

The dean and the PE teacher exchanged glances. “We have addressed what we believe to be the root of her stress,” the dean said delicately. “Other than that, is she in good health?” wondered the dean. So much has been going on around her in the last few weeks that I am wondering if something isn't wrong, thought the dean.

 

“Healthy as a horse,” the nurse emphatically replied without delay. “I did her physical at the start of the year, and she is in better shape than nearly all her classmates. Whatever caused this must be from stress,” insisted the nurse.

 

“Whatever the cause, we need to find out where she is,” the dean pronounced firmly. Her school bills are paid by the Urashima family, and after that call from their family lawyers, I am not getting a good feeling about this, worried the man. As with all administrative staff in a school, he was well aware of what could happen to him if he crossed the wrong parties. In fact, he had been all but told flat out what his fate would be if he crossed the Urashimas.

 

“Her friend!” blurted out the PE teacher. Seeing blank looks from the other three, she backed up and explained in greater detail. “Akiko Taichi. Her friend. She might know,” suggested the PE teacher.

 

“And if you are brave enough, maybe that lunatic Su knows,” suggested the nurse. She herself dreaded any interaction with the rogue genius since she had tried to give the girl her yearly school physical. She had only turned her back for a moment, and when she turned back around, Su had the diagnosis rack disassembled and was talking to herself about an arc cannon. The fact that the girl hadn't seemed to care that she was naked at the time further disturbed the nurse.

 

“I'll go ask them,” volunteered the PE teacher, standing.

 

“Are you sure you feel ok?” worried the nurse. The younger woman brushed aside the hands of the nurse.

 

“I feel fine,” she said petulantly. “In fact, I feel better than fine; I think I could swim across Tokyo bay right now, in fact,” she grinned. Moving out of the nurses' office, the teacher went to talk to the two, leaving the dean, the security guard and the nurse to discuss the matter.

 

“Do you think those two were kidnappers?” wondered the guard.

 

“If they were, Maehara seemed awfully glad to see them,” the nurse resisted the notion.

 

“What do we do if we can't find out where she is?” asked the guard. The dean sighed.

 

“We will have to wait until tomorrow and see if she shows,” he said. “We won't be able to file a police report until the day after tomorrow at the earliest,” he pointed out.

 

“How about calling her parents?” suggested the nurse. The dean glanced away.

 

“Her file is missing from the office,” he muttered. “It's being looked into,” added the dean in a slightly louder voice. A mad laugh and a crash from the hallway preceded the arrival of Su, riding some sort of three-legged mechanical device, an ear-to-ear leer on her face.

 

“I'm home, darling!” she laughed, flipping off the device and immediately digging into the internal wiring. All three adults stepped back. The giggling was unnerving; especially when it came from someone who made a semi-autonomous chalk-eating robot out of a teacher's laptop and some material from the home ec classroom. Of course, after `fixing' it, it went critical and blew a two-meter hole in the side of an empty classroom. Su had been delighted, naturally.

 

“Su!” came the voice of the PE teacher.

 

“Huh? You can ride it after I tune it,” shrugged the girl, smiling innocently.

 

“No thanks,” the teacher said, waving off the invitation to commit suicide. “We wanted to know if you knew where Shinobu was,” she explained.

 

“Shinobu? I haven't seen her since pool time,” the girl shrugged.

 

“Um,” came a timid voice from outside the office, “didn't she come here?” wondered Akiko.

 

“She was,” said the nurse, “but then some people came by, and now she's gone.”

 

“Who came by?” wondered Su, her curiosity piqued.

 

“Maehara called one `Motoko-sempai',” the dean answered.

 

“Motoko! Yay!” screamed Su, leaping onto her contraption and disappearing down the hall, all the while laughing and calling out for this Motoko person to play with her.

 

“Damn,” sighed the dean.

 

“Maybe…” came a soft whisper from behind the PE teacher. All four faculty focused on Akiko.

 

“Do you know who she was referring to, Taichi?” asked the dean.

 

“Maybe,” admitted the girl. “Was one of them tall, with a proud stance? Fine black hair to her waist? Serious expression?” she asked. The nurse and PE teacher nodded.

 

“Then, I'm pretty sure that her housemate and mentor, Aoyama Motoko was one of the ones here,” offered the girl.

 

“How do you know this Motoko person?” asked the guard. Akiko blushed a little.

 

“I get help studying from Shinobu, and she in turn gets help from her housemates. In particular from Naru-sempai and Mutsumi-sempai. Also there is Motoko-sempai,” supplied the girl.

 

“Who are these people?” wondered the dean. Akiko shrugged.

 

“I don't know much about them, but Naru and Mutsumi are Todai students, along with the manager of the Hinata. Motoko failed her first attempt at getting into Todai, but she should make it this time.”

 

“So, that's the secret of her scholastic success,” the dean mused. Getting help with homework from not one, not two, but three Todai students! No wonder she is first in grade! He himself had graduated from Todai with his educational administration degree many years before.

 

“Pretty much a sure thing Maehara will make it in on her first attempt with help like that,” smiled the PE teacher.

 

“Guess we shouldn't be too worried,” the dean said. “We'll see if she shows up tomorrow,” he told the others, sighing in relief.

 

“Um, you could call her,” offered Akiko. The dean blinked.

 

“Well, we don't have her current number,” he said delicately. Akiko pulled up her cell phone.

 

“I do,” she said. The four staff exchanged glances.

 

“Tell you what,” said the nurse, “give her a call and ask if she is ok, and let us know what she says,” directed the nurse, getting a nod from the dean and PE teacher. Akiko was too happy to do so.

 

To her surprise, however, Shinobu didn't answer her phone. Instead, a somewhat familiar voice picked up the line.

 

“What?”

 

“Um, I'm calling Maehara Shinobu,” said Akiko, confused.

 

“She's busy,” came the cold reply.

 

“Wait!” called out Akiko.

 

“What is it?!” the irritated voice fired back.

 

“Um, is Shinobu ok?” asked Akiko timidly.

 

Dead silence fell for several heartbeats. Finally, the voice answered. “She will be when I'm done with that fucker,” the voice purred before the line went dead. Akiko blinked at her phone.

 

Seeing the expectant looks of the teachers and administrators, Akiko gave them a weak smile. “Um, I think she'll be fine. I'm pretty sure that she's back home,” she offered.

 

“Did she sound ok?” worried the nurse.

 

“Actually, Shinobu didn't answer her own phone,” Akiko admitted. “But I sort of recognized the voice, and I think it's the acting manager of the Hinata,” she elaborated.

 

“And does this person have a name?” wondered the dean.

 

“Yeah,” Akiko said, “she's the sister of the manager, and her name is Urashima Kanako.”

 

-

 

“That's twenty six hundred yen, pal,” said the cab driver disinterestedly. Biting back a snarl, the man dug in his pocket for cash. After several moments of searching, he came up with just under the fare.

 

“Twenty five fifty is all I have on me,” he spat, thrusting the paper and coins at the cabby. “Choke on it,” he added, spinning on his heel and marching off.

 

“Stiff!” yelled the cabby angrily. “To hell with you,” he muttered, tucking the money away as he pulled away from the apartment building. The man who had just gotten out of the cab stalked to his apartment, his mind afire.

 

It had not been a good day for him. First, his protégé had suddenly come down with something and gone to the nurse's office in the middle of PE class. “Doubtlessly something those animals she lives with gave her. Filthy losers,” snarled the man to himself. He had gone to see her, only to find that the parasites feeding off her had come to torment her even while she was at school.

 

“And what do those twits in administration do? They haul me to the dean's office and slap me with a two month unpaid administrative leave!” he complained to himself. All I did was protect my Maehara, and those impotent bastards act like I'm some sort of weirdo! No wonder the educational system in this country is falling apart! the bitter tirade continued in his mind.

 

After he had been informed of his sudden leave, he had been escorted out of the school, the guard not allowing him to go by the nurse's office or to page his prize student. He could only imagine how it must have looked to the students to be all but bodily dragged the entire length of the senior floor by the burly ruffian of a security guard. “Like some sort of criminal or delinquent.” His so-called `co-workers' - incompetent fools, the lot of them! - hadn't even met his gaze, though he was sure that they peeked at him out of the corners of their beady, shifty eyes as he passed the class rooms.

 

It hadn't gotten any better when he reached the parking lot. His car - not even a month in his service yet - had been vandalized. Aside from the quarter panel that had been mysteriously crushed when he had gone to talk to the faculty of Todai about that menace Urashima, his car now closely resembled a car that had been in a riot somewhere. The glass was shattered, but not broken out, the sheet metal looked like a used tissue. All four tires were flat, and the rims bent. How did someone bend steel rims like that without anyone noticing? he wondered. He had tried to crank his car, but the entire thing was dead. “Not surprising, really, since there was a hole punched clean through the hood,” he reminded himself. Whatever had hit the center of his hood had penetrated the top of the engine block, though apparently it hadn't exited the bottom, since no fluids were leaking.

 

He had barely been allowed to call the police about it, and after an embarrassingly short examination and report, he had been told to file with his insurance carrier. He had immediately called them, but after an hour of arguing with the agent, had found that his policy did not cover work-place accidents, just road accidents. “Should have known the package was too good to be true,” he grumped to himself, fumbling for his keys. Insurance that was half what the other plans were should have told him something, after all.

 

He had been forced to endure the indignity of having to call a taxi as classes let out. He had delayed as much as he could, hoping to catch sight of his pupil, but she had been a no-show, and he had had to pay for the time as well as the ride. He had not anticipated having to catch a taxi, so he hadn't been carrying much cash with him. And now I am out of cash, he sighed, opening his door. Stepping inside, he flipped the light switch. Nothing happened. He tried it again. “Figures,” he muttered.

 

Checking the fuse box, he found that none were blown. Using a flashlight, he dug up the number for the power company and called them from his cell phone. When he complained about his power being out, he had been referred to a half-dozen departments before finally being informed that he had requested his power service be discontinued. After chewing out the customer service associate, and their manager, and the manager's manager, he had demanded that his power be restored immediately. Ending the call, he had barely been able to stop himself from hurling his cell phone at the wall.

 

Deciding that he would feel better if he had a beer, he took off his jacket, removed his tie and loosened his pants as he moved to his kitchen. Opening his refrigerator, he pulled out a can of beer, pausing for a moment of thought before pulling out a second can of beer. Sitting down at his table, in his dark apartment, he cracked the top and took a long pull from his first can. Unable to use his computer, he could do little more than wait for his power to be turned back on.

 

As he sat there, his mind turned to his financial situation. No work, no money to pay bills, he thought, frowning to himself as he finished his first and moved to his second beer. I spent me entire savings on the car, driving lessons and the insurance, so how can I make it two months without income? wondered the man. Shaking his head, he focused on the important issues. “For my Maehara, this is but an unimportant challenge,” he told himself firmly. Smiling as he pictured the girl's angelic smile in his mind, he got up long enough to grab her school file - and a third beer - before sitting back down and reading the pages in the file for the millionth time.

 

“Maybe I should go by that boarding house again,” he thought out loud. “Since I suddenly have so much free time,” he reasoned, half-way through his third beer. Remembering the cold, cold reception of the other residents of that pit of hell, he suddenly wasn't so sure he should. The gaijins, the swordswomen, the drunk, the Goth girl, the bimbo with the huge knockers and that Keitaro filth, he considered carefully, I'd be at a disadvantage if I went there. They would probably assault me, maybe even kill me, and then where would my Maehara end up? Probably poor, lacking a proper education, and likely working in some shady ecchi shop! fumed the man, infuriated at the prospect. “Never!” he yelled, shaking his fist. “I will protect her, my Maehara!” he bellowed.

 

“Hey! Shut up!” came the muffled voice of the man next door.

 

“Silence, you un-educated social reject!” he yelled back.

 

“Who you telling to be quiet, pansy?!” came the hot-tempered reply. “I oughta come over there and bust your candy ass up!” the man yelled back.

 

“You and what army, imbecile?!” the teacher yelled back. A moment later, he heard the door to the apartment next door slam, nearly instantly followed by someone pounding on his door.

 

“Get out here, you fancy-pants wuss!” demanded an angry male voice. “I'm going to re-arrange your face!” Hearing the angry neighbor rattle his door, the teacher snapped.

 

Shooting to his feet, he ran to his door, throwing it open. Everything that had happened to him that day erupted into blind anger and rage. Throwing punches like a mad man, he vented his pent-up frustrations in a very physical way. “I'll kill you!” he yelled at the man he could barely see. “You picked the wrong day to mess with me, punk!” So great was his rage that he couldn't even actually see the neighbor; but then, he didn't need to.

 

-

 

A hollow knocking sound came from the front door to the Hinata. Most of the girls were in the hot spring, listening to a very irate Motoko describe what had happened at school, with the coldly merciless supplementation of Kanako. Shinobu, who had calmed down and settled down shortly after the two had all but pulled her from the school, had tried to counter-balance the highly-biased commentary of the two with a more reasonable version of what had happened, but it was clear that the other girls were not interested in excuses for what had transpired.

 

“He's a bad boy,” grinned Su. What was most disturbing was that she seemed eager to act. “I will smite him from crotch to groin with my new ionized plasma blade!” Su boasted grandly before giggling. “Or maybe test out my prototype Death Tickle machine,” she added thoughtfully.

 

“Just so you know, sugar,” Kitsune drawled, “crotch and groin are the same thing.” Su gave her a blank look.

 

“They are?” she wondered. Kitsune nodded. “So that's why Keitaro didn't like my compromise,” she said to herself, as if she had just discovered the secret of the universe.

 

“What do…?” began Kitsune, before waving it off. “On second thought, I'd rather not know,” she sighed. Kaolla's thought processes are truly a mystery of nature, thought the ash-haired girl sagely.

 

“I had no idea your instructors were so…unstable in this country,” Amalla offered her opinion. “Or so creepy, either,” was an afterthought.

 

“They are not, usually,” Kitsune shrugged. I had been wondering what Kanako's hard-on was for this guy, but he really is a danger to Shinobu-chan, the fox worried. Of all the girls, Shinobu was the most innocent and delicate, and she'd be damned before she let some irrational fuck-off hurt her Shinobu. “Don't worry, Shinobu-chan,” Kitsune said, smiling at the girl, “we'll take care of this overly-familiar jerk for you,” promised the fox.

 

“But, I…” Shinobu said.

 

“Such a thing is why I despise males!” Motoko was still fired up over the incident. “The very gall of that foul beast!”

 

“Motoko,” Tsuruko said, only to have her younger sister turn to fix her with a steady gaze.

 

“I will not let this pass, sister,” said Motoko firmly. Tsuruko sighed.

 

“It was never my intent to tell you to do such a thing,” the elder replied, “I merely wish to remind you that we are not within our walls here. Nor are the old ways followed in this age. Plan before you act, sister,” lectured the older Aoyama warrior.

 

“The old ways have their uses,” Motoko muttered angrily.

 

“I do not disagree,” came the reasonable reply from Tsuruko. Were this a different age, we could have killed him for his careless words before he had the change to harm an innocent girl, thought the woman. The passage of time had seen a marked decrease in the Aoyama's killing record, but spilling blood and lives were far from forgotten in the ancient family of samurai warriors. Time was, as a favored family under the Emperor, even a discourteous word or failure of manners was enough to be cut down by our swords. Our family sword has tasted far more than most blades of the blood of our enemies, Tsuruko thought.

 

“Adapting to the modern world has always been problematic for you Aoyama,” Kanako said, though the normal level of hostility and venom was all but gone. “In the modern world, there are far more effective ways of dealing with one such as him. After all,” the dark sister smiled evilly, “you can only kill someone once.”

 

“But you can make them suffer endless while they live.”

 

The entire group stared, wide-eyed, at the source of that comment. Mutsumi was smiling, Shinobu hugged to her comfortably.

 

“Mutsumi-chan? Are you feeling ok?” wondered Naru. That was so far out of character for her, it's kind of disturbing, thought the brunette.

 

“Yeah,” agreed Kitsune, “maybe you should get out of the spring for a bit; cool off a little and let your head clear,” she suggested. Mutsumi kept smiling, her hand absently stroking Shinobu's hair.

 

“I'm perfectly fine, Kitsune,” she replied.

 

“Um, really?” asked Naru. “That comment…kind of came out of nowhere, you know?” prompted the woman's most common bedmate.

 

“You think?” asked a surprised-sounding Mutsumi. Looking down at the nearly-asleep Shinobu, she pursed her lips. “I thought it fitting,” murmured Mutsumi, dipping her head to tenderly peck Shinobu on the forehead.

 

“Works for me, Mutsumi-chan,” came an amused voice from the door to the changing room. Granny Hina was standing there grinning. “Shinobu-chan,” said the woman, moving closer to the small young woman, “you have visitors,” said the old woman, Shinobu rousing in Mutsumi's arms.

 

“Visitors? Who?” wondered Shinobu.

 

“If that repulsive animal has come again…!” began Motoko standing, fist clenched.

 

“Then we will instruct him on proper conduct around a young lady of standing,” Tsuruko cleanly followed the thought of her younger sister.

 

“Better beat me to him, then,” offered Kanako, already moving past Granny Hina, a smile on her lips that was anything but warm. “Inside these walls, it will look like self-defense,” purred the younger Urashima.

 

“Kanako,” said Hina. The younger sister turned to stare at Granny Hina.

 

“Why not, granny?!” she exclaimed, frustrated. Why is Granny protecting this walking dead man after telling me to handle it as I saw fit?!

 

Granny Hina sighed, shaking her head as she wrapped a warm, fresh towel around Shinobu before guiding her toward the Hinata's living room. “You still jump to conclusions far too early,” the old woman said. “As do you two,” added the elder, giving the Aoyama sisters a look that made them feel like they were children again and had been caught stealing cookies from the kitchen after bedtime.

 

“Not going to join the bloodbath, Naru?” wondered Kitsune, seeing that Naru had not immediately led the attack. Naru sighed.

 

“If he hurts her, I'll hit him harder than I ever hit Keitaro,” said the brunette, “but I can't keep letting my emotions rule over me,” murmured the girl. It has already all but cost me my relationship with Keitaro, and nearly cost me all my friends. It has cost me Mei, the girl left unsaid. “I'll just see how this plays out for now,” she said, rising as well to follow the group. Kitsune rose as well.

 

“Have fun!” came Mutsumi's voice. She and Amalla were staying in the spring, it would appear, while Su had vanished at some point between her proclamation to neuter the teacher with some tech toy and Granny's arrival. Kitsune followed behind Naru, donning one of the terry cloth robes as she followed the group.

 

“Who came to see me?” wondered Shinobu. Behind her, a very dangerous trio - two swordswomen and the acting manager - were nearly running in anticipation of what they might encounter.

 

“Shinobu?” the girl stopped cold.

 

“M…mom?!” stammered the girl, blinking in confusion. What is mom doing here?

 

“Shinobu-chan?” came another voice.

 

“Dad?” breathed the girl. Dad's here, too? Mom, and dad, together?!

 

“What happened?!” worried the girl. “Did someone die?” she asked. Granny Hina squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.

 

“Not that we know of, honey,” replied her mother, glancing at her father.

 

“Then…?” Shinobu frowned. “Why?” wondered the girl. Behind the primary guard, Naru watched and listened, Kitsune close by, also watching and listening. After another exchanged look, the parents of the girl pulled out sheets of paper, one each. From the creases and folds, it was apparent that they had been mailed.

 

“Shinobu honey,” said her mother softly, “we each got one of these from your school,” began the woman. Before she could even say another word, the paper vanished from her hand, the copy Shinobu's father had likewise vanishing. Faster than a diamondback in June, Kanako and Motoko struck, grabbing the paper from the parents of their young friend. The mother of the girl stared at the two in shock.

 

“Um,” her father tried to pick up the conversation, “well, we were worried after reading that, so we came to check up on you,” he explained. A soft, low snarling noise came from behind the girl and Granny Hina. And it was from multiple sources, as well. Unconsciously, the parents retreated from the sound. Shinobu didn't even seem to notice, though.

 

“Are you doing ok, Shinobu?” asked the mother. “Maybe you should come live with me,” she started.

 

“No,” said Shinobu immediately and firmly.

 

“I would love to have you come live with me, if…” began her father.

 

“No,” repeated Shinobu firmly.

 

“Shinobu…” her mother said, uncertain.

 

The girl at the center of this drama sighed. Tossing her head, she led her parents over to the couch and sat down, absently making sure that her towel didn't show anything it wasn't supposed to. Motioning to either side of her, she indicated that her parents should sit down. “Look,” the girl began, “I'm doing fine, no matter what you might hear. And this isn't about not loving you, because I do. But, well,” the girl looked at her bare feet, “we just don't do good together as a family.”

 

“That's not true!” scolded her mother. Shinobu lifted her face to gaze into her mother's eyes.

 

“Yes, it is true!” she said, a touch of heat in her words. “You and dad were always quarreling, I was always caught in the middle, and none of us were happy. When you two split up, and I came here, I discovered this is what I wanted. Even though I love you, and you're my parents, we just don't work as a family. Here, with my sempais, Keitaro and Granny Hina, everything works out. I'm getting into Todai in a couple months, and…” she stopped, blushing ever so slightly, “well, some major things are coming up. I hear that you got named Senior Department Head, mom, and dad, didn't you say that you were so busy with the new restaurants you couldn't come visit?”

 

Slowly, both nodded. Shinobu smiled one of her special smiles at them. “Congratulations,” she said. “I mean it; I'm happy for both of you. And you seem happy with how things are now, too. Am I right?” Again, both nodded uncomfortably. “Why make ourselves unhappy again?” asked the girl softly.

 

“But, Shinobu,” her mother said quietly, reaching out to brush back Shinobu's damp hair, “You always have been and always will be our daughter. We worry about you, you know?” she said.

 

“I know,” said Shinobu reasonably. “But I'm perfectly fine here; not to mention happy and getting excellent grades,” the girl smiled. “Can you think of any of your friends who have children who are going to Todai straight from high school?” she asked. Looking at each other, the two shook their heads.

 

“Uh, speaking of Todai,” her father began, “how are you planning to pay for it?” he wondered. Shinobu shrugged.

 

“It'll work out,” she said. “I haven't asked for any help before, and I won't now,” said the girl. I learned from Keitaro and my sempais the value of standing on your own, thought the girl, and of standing with your loved ones.

 

“I didn't want to say anything before,” said the father slowly, nervously glancing at the other residents, who were watching this in silence, their eyes hooded, “but, how have you been managing?”

 

“She manages perfectly fine,” came the almost-cold voice of Kanako. “Shinobu works for her room and board, and will be able to continue to do so while attending Todai,” stated the girl.

 

“But, Todai is expensive,” noted the mother of the girl.

 

“Not really,” said Granny Hina blandly. “Shinobu won't have any problem supporting herself,” the old woman said, smiling at Shinobu and winking at the girl playfully. “Especially if she catches the eye of some fine young man of means,” the woman said innocently. Shinobu blushed, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. The parents looked a little nervous at that remark. Even more so when they realized that the tension in the room twisted in a strange way when the old woman spoke to them.

 

“Urashima-san,” the parents began, glancing at each other constantly, “we appreciate you caring for our daughter,” they said, offering her a bow.

 

“Nonsense,” Hina dismissed it, “she is the one caring for this bunch,” cackled the woman. “Now, Shinobu, if you stay out here in the cool air, dripping wet, you will catch cold. Back to the spring with you; the rest of you as well,” ordered the woman. As the residents did as ordered, Hina took the spot Shinobu had vacated. “Not so fast,” she said quietly to the parents. Both of them had been rising to leave, but Hina's tone and words froze them in place.

 

“Urashima-san?” gulped the man. Something about the wizened old woman sent a shiver down his spine.

 

“Sit down, you two,” said Hina firmly, “we have some matters to discuss.”