"Man, this is all making me so tired!" he grunted to himself.
"Stop complaining, will you?" Satsuki grumbled, glaring at him as she hurried her steps up to catch him. "That's the problem with kids these days. No stamina or will at all...."
"Oh, yeah. Like you're an old lady yourself."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
As the gym teacher turned her nose up and crossed her arms over her chest, Yayoi glanced over at their 'son' in concern. "Perhaps he needs a visit to my office the next time that he has a chance."
"This slug?" Satsuki scoffed. "All that he needs is to get some motivation."
"Well, excuse me for being exhausted. It's not like I'm just bumming around all day," he muttered sourly.
Uzuki blinked over at him. "You're not?"
"Of course I'm not! I've been trying to keep a look out for problems before they happen!"
"You were trying to keep watch," Mutsuki softly commented.
"Yeah, sure. I mean, it's a man's duty."
"Thank you then. Thank you for protecting us."
"Umm... I wasn't trying to do anything special. It'd just... cause trouble if someone did poke too far into things," Chitose stammered, flushing slightly as he did so.
"There was no need to worry though," Kisaragi put in.
"Huh? Why?"
"I have put in systems to prevent any sort of tracking of our movements. Should anyone follow, they will be dealt with appropriately."
The other teachers and Chitose laughed nervously in her direction as they wondered what 'appropriately' meant.
"Still, we've been fortunate so far. Now, we're here, so that means that we can relax," Yayoi told the others, gesturing at the name plate at the walkway.
"We're home now, so let's relax and just enjoy being a family like we have been," Mutsuki agreed as she took out her key and held it ready for use in the lock.
"That is a rather interesting comment that you made, Miss Ichimonji," commented a male voice that was most certainly not Chitose.
All the residents of the house whipped around and stared in shock at the sight of who was standing there, with the classics teacher being the one to speak for their group. "Mister Fujioka?!"
"I wanted to visit Mister Hitose, so I got his information from the school records and came to meet him here," the government agent told them as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. "But I didn't expecting him to be living with five teachers. Most of whom he has classes with, and all of whom are young."
"We were.... That is...."
"What are you thinking?" Chitose demanded, moving forward to stand protectively in front of his teacher-mamas.
"Well, I was thinking that we can discuss this inside like civilized folks, and you can explain matters to me. Sound like a plan?"
Faced with a difficult position, the household looked to each other in concern as they wondered what it was they should do.
In his rather shabby office, a small man suddenly sat up straight, obviously disturbed by something, but just why that was didn't seem to be all that clear.
"Sir, is everything alright?" asked the only other person in the office, simpering so that his buck teeth looked to be protruding even more.
"I don't know, but I just had a feeling."
"What sort of feeling, Mister Tanuki?"
"I'm not quite sure, but it was like something was... shifting," the stocky little man muttered. "And I'm not sure that I like it."
"So, let me see if I understand this correctly," Fujioka said, gently lowering his tea cup down to the saucer as he sat straighter on the couch. "Mister Hitose was having trouble with life, becoming something of a delinquent and a recluse, and so you all decided to come and help him become a better person through affection and maternal care?"
"You don't have to put it quite that way," Chitose grumbled.
Mutsuki winced from where she sat next to him, with the others around them. "It was something like that, but over time we've really become close."
"Some more than others," Satsuki drawled under her breath, making the woman in glasses blush.
"But five mothers?" the government agent asked.
"That may seem strange to you, but we didn't plan on it. Still, it's become our life, and we being taken away from it would be...." Yayoi began.
"Horrible," Uzuki finished.
"Living with Chitose gives us more that simply the chance to take care of him," Kisaragi told the agent. "We become more and get something in return that can not be measured in mere 'meters' or 'liters'."
"And what would that be?" their visitor asked, looking a bit interested in the answer.
"'Love' and 'family'."
"I see...."
"And you can say that we have found that being with him is perfect,' the school nurse added in, and put a hand on Mutsuki's shoulder. "For one of us even, it became more."
"I think that I know what that means."
"I'm sure that you do, but I can't be ashamed of it. What we have might not be what others might consider... appropriate, but we can't change what we feel. I love him, and whatever happens to me, that will never change," the classics teacher stated, glancing over at Chitose as she took his hand before her firm gaze settled on their visitor.
Swallowing hard, Chitose looked over at her with admiration and care in his eyes before interlacing his fingers with hers as they showed a united front.
"So, no matter what you do, I'll protect him with everything that I have in me."
"You really don't have to go that far," the agent told them.
"Huh?"
Fujioka leaned forward and folded his hands together. "To tell you the truth, this is surprising to me, but I don't really mind it. In fact, it even plays into my own needs and plans."
"Then that means," the gym teacher started to say.
"You all really should relax. It's not in my interest to do anything to this family. And I actually want to keep you together."
"That's great!"
"Still, you have to let me handle this. If I can, I'll be able to protect you for the long term, but that is only if you'll allow me to do what I have to," Fujioka told them.
"And what will we have to do?" Uzuki asked him.
"Simple. Just follow my lead, and let me do what I have to. With what I'm thinking of doing, you all will be able to walk freely together as one family, never having to hide your home life again."
"Wow, you mean that we could having outings and everything?!"
"Yes. You all are going to do as I say though, right?"
The residents all nodded as one.
"And you'll help me with my work?"
That got another nod.
"You all do understand that what you'll be doing is basically permanent and will make you legally bound, without anyone having a way to break you apart through the courts or authorities. Heck, you'd be the poster children for what we want from others."
This time the nod was quite enthusiastic.
"Good. Just leave it to me, and everything will be alright. I'll start setting up things tonight. You will only have to follow through with things after I get them ready. Remember to meet me in the consultation room before classes, all of you."
Chitose felt a weight leave his shoulders... but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he had a nagging feeling that he was missing something, while:
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(Posted Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:23)
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