"Whee! This day looks like it'll be fun!" Su declared as she ran out onto the front walk with her arms stretched out to either side.
Shinobu came stumbling out of the inn with her bags falling off of her shoulders in the blonde girl's wake. "Wait up Su! Wait for me!"
"Don't be so slow, Shinobu! We gotta go play at school!"
"We're going there to study!"
"But it's so much fun, and they have so many nice things there...." the princess murmured.
"Hold on...." Shinobu began... and then noticed that her friend was strolling away. "You aren't going to blow up the lab again, are you? Su? SU?!"
Giggling a little at the antics of the duo, Naru watched them leave as they went, only to see someone pop up right next to her.
"My, my. They're lively this morning. It's nice to see them that way," Mutsumi began, but then blinked suddenly. "Oh dear, wasn't I supposed to go somewhere too? I think that I had class this morning...."
The married woman just let her eye twitch slightly as she watched her easygoing friend wander away, and shook her head as the shapely figure disappeared in the distance. A part of her did worry, but she was at least pleased that they had something certain about their futures. Just spotting one was enough for her to be certain that the girl in question had something that gave her a path to follow. "Hello, Motoko!"
If the martial artist had heard her, it wasn't obvious, as the younger woman just sort of walked on by with her head down, mumbling something about 'honor', 'dignity', and 'self control'.
Of course, she made for a more respectable figure than poor Ema did as she raced out, her blouse untucked and a piece of toast sticking out of her mouth.
Seeing them all like that put a warm feeling in Naru's heart, and she treasured the fact that they could all enjoy a time like this. Out of all that had happened, and even though they had relatives of their own, they had all created their own little family right here at the dorm. Okay, it might have been disfunctional a lot of the time, but it was a true and complete home that they had made for themselves. All of them had grown from the people that they had been, and become something more than they had thought they would be.
But as she thought of that, she realized that they each had a future that they could count on. No matter if she was troubled right now, Motoko was still a respected master at a dojo. Then there was Su, who was a princess, and Shinobu, who was studying hard for her own future. Ema was working hard to get through school, and Mutsumi was happy with the person that she was at any given moment.
The thing was that Naru herself had hit a hitch in her life, and didn't know where it was going right then. Why, everyone else, including her own husband had a growing career or outlook, and she was still trying to secure her own job. After trying so hard to become a teacher, her first day of interviews had been nothing but disappointing. Everyone was still moving ahead at a brisk pace, but she was stumbling along the way. If she didn't get a chance to move on soon, she'd be left behind, and have nothing to show for all that she had been through.
"Are you okay, Naru?" a familiar voice asked.
Turning to look at the speaker, Naru spotted her husband's concerned gaze, and blinked back at him. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you had the darkest sort of look on your face...."
"I did?"
"Yeah, and it kind of bothers me, to tell the truth," he murmured, rubbing his hand behind his head.
Realizing that even if he had his own teaching position settled, Keitaro's own worries were about her, Naru felt a little ashamed. He'd stopped what he was doing to look in on her, and he hadn't even appeared to consider doing otherwise. It made her realize that she wasn't about to be left behind, at least not yet, and she was happy that she could have her future with this man. "No, I'm fine. It's just that my mind wandered onto something gloomy."
"Oh, that's good. I'd hate for something bad to be happening to you."
"I know, and thank you, Keitaro. Still...."
"What?" he asked, his tone growing concerned.
"Weren't you heading out to that meeting of yours?"
"Ah, you're right!" the young archeologist yelped, and pulled her in for a kiss. "Thanks for reminding me!"
As he bolted out the door, his wife pressed two fingers against her mouth and smiled. With a simple show of affection, he'd given her something that would more than help her keep her spirits up. His kiss reminded her that even if she hadn't found a job on the first try, she could always keep up the attempts. Besides, as she began to realize, there was always the fact that she was a Tokyo University graduate, and people were going to be looking for someone from such a respected institution to be teaching at their school. And, if nothing else, she had this as her home, where it would be likely that there would always be new girls to help through the sort of challenges that she and her friends had managed to overcome.
"You know, you might have a problem if you keep on staying there with such a goofy grin," came Mitsune's voice.
Sending her long time friend a sour look, Naru nearly pouted. "What, am I going to make myself look silly?"
"Perhaps, but I was thinking more along the lines that you'll be late for those job interviews."
"What? AHH! I can't be late!"
Chuckling as she saw Naru race off, Kitsune idly strolled over to make sure that the inn was secure before she headed back to the tea house, while:
(Posted Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:28)
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