That happened to be a fact that a certain young woman was depressed about. "Sorry that it's nothing special, senpai," Shinobu murmured disappointedly. "Naru-san...."
"It's really okay," the new Mrs. Urashima replied, waving off any concern.
Her husband nodded. "It's really okay, Shinobu. This is much better than some fancy meal."
"It is?" the cook replied.
"Sure! I mean, coming back to eat something that I can tell is your cooking just by taste makes it that much more clear that we're home."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Get a load of you!" Kitsune commented with a chuckle. "Maybe we should call you 'Mister Smooth'!"
"Who? Me? That is... I..."
"Now that's more like you."
"Ugh...."
"But it is nice to have you home... both of you," Motoko said with as much dignity as she could manage.
Shinobu leaned over and smiled. "I'll bet that you're glad that you won't have to worry about what sort of messes he's getting into with Naru, eh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, if senpai is here, you can have some training sessions with him. Some nice, private ones, like something out of those daydreams of yours...."
Slapping a hand down on the table, the kendoist glared at her housemate. "There is nothing untoward in what I want to do with him!"
"I never said that there wasn't."
"I can not believe... oh... well...."
"Leaving her at a loss for words. I'm being such a good influence on you," Mitsune murmured, miming wiping away a tear.
"You'll never change, will you," Naru sighed, and looked towards the newest resident of the dorm. "What about you, Ema? How are you fitting in?"
"Me?" the teenager asked, looking a bit out of her depth.
"Yes, you. I know that we only met at the wedding, but I have been wondering what you've been doing."
"Well, I'm... I've been studying hard."
"And she's been going to my old high school," Motoko put in.
"It's a nice place."
"I thought so, when I went there."
"I just hope that it'll help me get into Tokyo U too...."
"I'm sure that you'll manage it," Naru told her.
Keitaro nodded in agreement, and then grinned. "Besides, if you need some help, Naru can always help you. I mean, she is a teacher."
"She can?" Ema murmured. "She is?"
"Uh-huh. And you're looking at the first student that she helped. Got into Tokyo U with her help."
"After failing three times," the restaurant manager drawled.
"Err.... At least those mainly came before I met her. Besides, it's what she does, and she's good at it."
"Is she now? What do you say to that, Naru?"
Mrs. Urashima blinked at her friend for a moment before managing to focus on her. "What?"
"Are you going to be some great teacher?"
"I'll try. Being a teacher does seem to be something that I can enjoy, and maybe I'll manage to inspire someone like Seta did for me."
"That's something that I doubt that you'd have trouble with."
"Huh? Why?"
"The way that I figure it, those school boys are going to take one look at you, and start drooling."
"Mitsune!"
"Just calling it how I see it. And it's not like your husband disagrees on your attractiveness."
"Eh?" Naru grunted, and looked towards the sole man in the room, who was blushing, and staring down at his plate. "Keitaro?"
"Ye... yeah?" he stammered, not looking up to meet her eyes.
"What do you think? Do you think that I can teach?"
"Why wouldn't you be able to? I mean, you helped me manage to figure out all that stuff when those classes that I took didn't do much. If anyone can help Ema out, it's you."
"Keitaro...."
"I'm sure that you can manage it, and that you'd do it just to help her...."
"Thank you...."
"For what?"
"'For' not sounding like an idiot now. But... you really should eat."
"I know, but..."
"No 'buts'. You've got to eat. Let me help," his wife instructed, and used some chopsticks to lift the food to his mouth, with the two of them blushing heavily.
"Whoa, whoa.... You're even feeding him," the constantly squinting girl observed.
"So?"
"You're acting just like the picture of a doting wife."
"I am his wife!"
"And I'm sure that you'll make sure that, everything, and I mean, everything will go right this time, right? Got a pack from the drugstore, did you?"
"What sort of 'pack' are you.... How can you ask something like that?! Those sorts of things are just between the two of us, thank you very much!"
"I was just saying...."
"Don't say anything, please!"
"Okay.... If you say so...."
"I do! I do!" Naru declared, as she shook and waved her hands to put emotion behind her words.
"Oh dear," Mutsumi whispered with a note of dismay in her voice.
"What is it?"
"I know that you wanted to feed him a little bit...."
"And?"
"If that's true, why are you doing that? I didn't think that people could get things that way."
Naru frowned for a moment before turning to see that the chopsticks that she were using to feed him were now trying to shove the bit of fish up his nose. "WAH! I'm sorry!"
"It's okay. I know that it was an accident," he soothed.
"But...."
"You really didn't hurt me with them, so...."
"I'm glad...."
Everyone else watched the two of them gaze into each other's eyes, with their own take on it, while:
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(Posted Thu, 08 Sep 2005 06:19)
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