Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Fallout ❯ Fallout: Moving Home ( Chapter 1 )

Fallout

Chapter 1

Moving Home

 

 

“Keitaro, we got some mail. It's from Granny Hina,” announced Kitsune wandering down the hall in her matron's smock. She was pregnant again, seven months, so she sort of waddled.

 

“Huh, I wonder what that's about?” asked Keitaro, putting down the sticky spoon covered in curry. He'd been working with Su on her family recipes over the years, getting better at cooking. He'd never be as good as Shinobu, more popular than ever with her TV show rebroadcast via worldwide satellite TV on the Food Network. The scandals which occasionally broke about her personal life were troubling and Keitaro worried from time to time about his friend. She never answered his letters and he'd stopped sending them after a couple years.

 

Their youngest, Maya, fretted in the baby carrier on his back. She liked to watch what he was doing all the time, cute little slitted eyes and big grin in her toothless mouth. It wouldn't be long before she sprouted those too and started running around like her older sister. He rinsed and dried his hands before opening it, reading the contents.

 

“Wow, hey Kitsune Dear, we've been invited to the family reunion in a month,” he yelled back up the stairs. This royal apartments had no servants, preferring a more traditional Japanese lifestyle and the implied privacy which would allow them to be a proper family. He didn't want his kids to be treated differently, though Kaolla's children seemed to be just fine, if not preternaturally observant from time to time. Amalla's three children, all boys, were little terrors despite still being so small. Their nannies were some of the most tireless people Keitaro had ever known. Raising his own two girls had been hair raising enough. They tended to play little pranks on him sometimes.

 

“Really?” she asked, coming down to look at it with him in the kitchen.

 

“Granny is holding it at the Hinata Inn,” he said. “It'll be nice to see Sis again,” he admitted. He missed Kitsune's grimace at the mention of Kanako. She's found the young woman trying to steal into his bed more times than she cared to remember. Keitaro remained guileless even after four years of marriage. It was one of the things she loved about him.

 

“Well, Professor,” she emphasized, “Are you ready to return to life in Japan? We're almost packed. Todai wants its most famous professor to start teaching classes this fall.”

 

“Sure, I guess. Its kinda intimidating after having the run of the site.”

 

“Are you going to miss the Royal treatment?” she teased. Keitaro rubbed the back of his head. His daughter Maya grabbed his hand and fussed his hair with her sticky little hands, cooing.

 

“Yeah, it'll be weird driving again,” he admitted.

 

“Uh-uh. I'm driving. You're still almost as bad as Seta,” she shook her finger at him.

 

“I love you,” he said, sliding close and dipping his wife into a passion-filled kiss. She shivered in his touch, dazed when he finally lifted her back to her feet.

 

“Whew. You've sure gotten good at that, hero,” she murmured. It was times like this that she was glad she'd won his heart. The last four years together had been busy, but wonderful. He was good to his word, keeping her happy. The times he spent with Kaolla Su were harder but she tried not to think about it. And she really tried not to think about the secret visits from Motoko. Part of her ached in jealousy over that, but some of that was pity for her friend.

 

“I'm still a little worried,” he said, changing the subject back to their move from Molmol to Japan.

 

“Don't be. Professor Mumiya will do a fine job managing the site with the Royal Tourism Board. And Haruka found us that cute little house with the patio in the district. You can even see the Hinata Sou. Taking the train just like old times,” she reminded him. “And it's a good place for the children to grow up.”

 

“Speaking of which, where's Kimiko?” he asked. Their eldest was two and when she wasn't throwing temper tantrums she was a little angel.

 

“Playing with her picture diary. I gave her some crayons and she's telling stories to herself. I left the camera on her in case she says anything cute,” she smiled. It was Keitaro's turn to frown. What Kitsune called cute, he found disturbing. If he didn't know better, he'd say their firstborn child was psychic. What's worse he did know better which meant that she almost certainly was.

 

“She say anything about the trip?” he asked.

 

“Nah, something about a sandbox and a playground and meeting all her brothers and sisters,” said Kitsune, smiling.

 

“Well, its time to get dressed and finish up the final packing. Remember to clean all that up before you put it away. I don't even want to think what those dishes would look like with two week old curry growing in them,” she teased.

 

They finished dressing up and Kitsune packed Bentos for the family.

 

“And then Keiwana said `I wanna play with that,” chirped Kimiko musically. “No, I want to,' said Meikoto. And Na-chan stamped her foot and yelled `Kei, you baka!' TEE-HEE,” she laughed. She was a bright little girl with daunting blue eyes and her mother's light brown/blonde hair. She looked up at her mother's approach. All these brown boxes left her confused and frightened. She couldn't play with all her toys and there were more and more of them all the time.

 

“Mama? Are we going away today?” she said in her trembling little voice, suddenly sad. Kitsune scooped her up, grunting at the weight of her daughter.

 

“Yes sweetie. Molmol is home to you, but we're going back to Japan, not just for a visit but to live there near Auntie Haruka. Mommy and Daddy have many friends there,” explained Kitsune yet again.

 

“But Auntie Kaolla is here, and big brothers,” she complained.

 

“Yes yes. They'll come for visits, and we'll visit here sometimes too,” assured her mother.

 

“Sooner than you think,” said the Other Voice Kimiko used sometimes. Kitsune froze, trying not to panic again. She hugged her daughter, fear and worry eating at her. Again, she blamed herself for how her daughter behaved at times. It scared her and Kitsune wondered if she'd pushed herself too hard when she was pregnant. Keitaro had needed her, it was true, but still….

 

“I love you mommy,” said her cute voice again, little arms gripping her.

 

The movers worked with quiet efficiency and in a couple hours the truck was loaded with their belongings. She looked around at the empty furniture turning the room back over to the seneschal, who bowed low to the family before leaving them to their trip out of the palace.

 

Kaolla greeted them politely, nannies minding her children.

 

“I'll miss you Keitaro. It's been wonderful to have you here with me. I am glad to have been allowed this privilege,” she said formally. Keitaro hugged her and kissed her cheek.

 

“I'll miss you too, Kaolla-chan,” he agreed.

 

“I'll see you in August at the Reunion,” she said, waving the invitation he recognized.

 

“Well, you are family,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. The children waved goodbye to their father with help from their mom. Kitsune saw a tear grace his eye before he turned away.

 

A short ride to the airport followed, the city even more busy than before. It was crawling with electric cars and scooters blaring Molmolian folk songs and what sounded like an antique Brazlian Jazz tune Keitaro recognized from Haruka's collection. Kitsune raised an eyebrow at it as well. The airport was busy but four carts loaded with brown paper boxes each labelled with their new place in Tokyo they entered the terminal. With far less fanfare than their arrival had been, they finally reached the single JAL flight 1 of the day, crowded with Japanese workers, various Polynesians, and a few Europeans scattered in the press. Holding tight to their children, a porter checked in their luggage and the boxes of belongings, far fewer than they'd have thought for four years of living in an exotic foreign country. Keitaro paid the high fee for air freight, wincing at the cost. He'd gotten far too used to the unlimited Su wealth. It was time to scale back his life and slow down a little. Spend more time with his family and more time with his kids. He hoped a life more ordinary would agree with him.

 

 

 

“That should be the last of it,” sighed Keitaro. Seta and he had emptied the back of the rented truck. Haruka waved from the driver seat and putted away for the rental lot, leaving the two men to sweat in the summer heat. Like all places in the Hinata District, the local grid couldn't support air conditioning without causing a blackout, and electricity was so much more expensive than it used to be. Japan's efforts to conserve were considerable and Keitaro saw signs of it everywhere. The economy in Japan wasn't that good, even now with the growth of solar power technology. He did spot a billboard for the Su-Chan electronics store in Akihabara, the familiar three-eyed symbol on everything she made.

 

“Well, Part Timer, looks like you just gotta unpack and get settled in,” announced Seta. “I'll be next door if you need me. I'm gonna check on the kids. Saki tends to fight with Naomi if they're left alone too long.”

 

“Thank you, Seta. See you later, then,” agreed Keitaro. He finished carrying in boxes, observing his wife bent over a box working hard in the heat.

 

“I keep forgetting how its wet heat here and makes you slow down. I got spoiled by the desert air in Molmol,” she admitted, rising up to rest her back, clearly hurting.

 

“We really need to get a chair,” he agreed. She lay down on the tatami in the living room. It was a tiny place, barely enough room for them but it's what they'd agreed upon. Kitsune was going to stay home with the children and Keitaro was going to teach at Todai. It wouldn't pay that well, but it was more important to be with his family.

 

Kimiko was playing with her toys in the nursery, where her sister was sleeping in a crib. The heat was making her itchy with rash. It would fade with time and attention but she was miserable. Maya was teething, which didn't help. Keitaro was glad they'd opened that box first, and that Seta and Haruka had prepped their furniture for them. Very grateful. It was 11 PM Molmol time but the sun was still up in Japan, far to the West and quite a ways North. Keitaro thought wistfully of Kaolla and their children, resolving to put up their pictures soon.

 

After a short rest Kitsune rose and the two exhausted parents unpacked enough boxes so they could sleep and called it a night as soon as it got dark. Drifting off to sleep beside his wife, both sweating, he resolved to visit the Hinata Hot Springs the next day for a good soak.

 

 

 

“Amalla, you have some mail from Japan,” offered one of her maids from a finely carved wooden tray. She nodded, opening the letter and reading the contents. She paled briefly, then smiled. “So, the cat is out of the bag, eh?” She told her maid to set aside those weeks for their trip to Japan.

 

“Your Highness, will you be journeying with Princess Kaolla?” asked the maid after a brief phone conversation. Amalla twitched, then nodded.

 

“So, it's like that, is it?” she muttered to herself. “This WILL be interesting indeed.”

 

 

 

Tsuruko opened the letter from Urashima Hina, studying the contents before nodding approval. “It's about time.” It was raining in Kyoto and the sounds of her students chanting out kata was pleasing to her ear. She marked her calendar and checked ticket prices online from a discreet computer terminal in the Dojo business office. She wondered what her younger sister would do, faced with this meeting.

 

 

 

 

“A reunion for former Hinata dorm residents? It would be nice to see them all again. We had such good times,” she admitted from her law office high up a tower in downtown Tokyo. Even as a junior member of the firm, her high dollar international business law agreements and expertise in Molmolese law had made her rise fast, though having ties in the Royal family had something to do with it. She stared at the picture of Tsuruko and her husband, their children grinning before her knees. Her children. It was hard not to see them as much as she wanted, to be called Mama only in secret within the Aoyama family home and nowhere else. Her career demanded this of her, though her samurai virtue demanded her apartment be as traditional as she could muster a refuge in a forest of steel and glass. Sometimes she wished she could move back to Hinata Sou and live more simply, dedicating her professional life to the art of the sword, and her personal life to her children. Suu needed her, and her family needed her here. But it was so hard to be alone. From time to time, she would slip away to Molmol and meet in secret with Keitaro. Their time together restored her faith, bit by bit, but it ached to leave him, and it hurt that she couldn't see him openly, that she'd lost him to her friend Kitsune. Then again, how must the others feel? At least she had four beautiful children.

 

 

 

“Mutsumi-chan!” called Natsuki. Her daughter was staring out to sea, cradling her son as he slept against her shoulder. Mutsumi had more solemn moments since returning from Hinata Sou four years ago. She doted on her son and was defending her PhD thesis on Macroeconomics. Her master's thesis had made the rounds in publishing, finding a small following and minor publicity. Natsuki's next eldest children were attending university on Okinawa, the younger ones home schooling with the other families on the small island they inhabited together.

 

“Yes Momma?” asked Mutsumi, noticing her mother finally. Natsuki held out a letter from Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Mutsumi smiled in recognition and opened it careful not to disturb her sleeping boy. She read a few moments. Her eyes opened wide and she fainted. Natsuki smiled, waiting for her girl to wake up. A moment later she stirred.

 

“Any news?” asked her mother.

 

“There's a reunion at Hinata Sou. Granny Hina asked me to bring Kei-kun. I didn't know she knew about Kei-kun,” she admitted.

 

“Granny Hina has always been clever. I'm sure she has her ways. How soon?” asked Natsuki, grinning in spite of herself.

 

“The twenty-second. That leaves enough time to start back to school,” she said, thinking. Keitaro, her son, wriggled against her, waking.

 

“Momma? Are we going somewhere?” he asked in his piping voice.

 

“Yes, honey, and you're coming with me. You get to meet Daddy.”

 

“REALLY? YAY!” he cheered and hugged her before running around the yard.

 

“I hope you won't be disappointed. He's got a family of his own. Two of them if what you say is true.”

 

“Oh, it might be quite a bit more than two, Momma. That's why I'm going,” said Mutsumi grinning with certainty.

 

 

 

“Momma!” cried Mihoshi as Naru stumbled in the door. The elementary school where she taught exhausted her every day, but she never lost her temper. Having a child of her own finally took away her mean streak. While she cried sometimes from loneliness, it helped having her sister Mei looking after her some of the time, and Tina acted as a Nanny the rest of the time. The rowdy American was recovering from a heartache of her own and despite a strange habit of groping women's breasts her good cheer reminded her of Kitsune back in the old days.

 

“And how is my little Miracle? Have you been a good girl or are you driving Nanny Tina crazy?” asked Naru, bending down to examine her three year old.

 

“Tina-chan is sleeping. She cries,” she said solemnly. Naru sighed at the news. Tina's moaning over her lost lover, Kaoru, reminded her far too much of her own situation.

 

“Well, lets let her sleep. Momma wants to sit down. Will you tell me about your day, honey?” she asked her little girl. The child grinned widely and scratched the back of her head with her left arm, suddenly reminding Naru of her former love.

 

“Aww, Mommy's crying? What did Mihoshi do? Is Mihoshi bad?” asked the little girl, confused at the sudden tears from her mother. Mommies always cry. She knew that. Naru grasped the girl and held her tightly.

 

“Promise you'll never leave me, sweetheart?” she demanded, holding too tightly. Mihoshi was scared of momma when she was like this.

 

“Yes Momma. Always stay with you,” she promised, knowing the words her Momma wanted to hear. Naru's grip loosened and she stroked her girl's head, sobbing more quietly now. Tina found them that way a short time later, Mihoshi asleep in her mother's arms.

 

“Hey, you got some mail from someone called Urashima,” she said, extending to the letter to Naru. Naru froze in panic and Tina looked up to see real terror in the woman's eyes.

 

“What's wrong?” asked Tina.

 

 

 

 

 

“Miss Maehara, you have some mail,” said her personal assistant.

 

“So deal with it. I have to see to Kei-kun,” dismissed the pensive brunette cooking star. The show that night had been a disaster. She was ready to throw in the towel. She needed a vacation, and soon.

 

“Its from your old home, in Hinata district, from someone named Urashima,” said Kiko.

 

“Which Urashima?” asked Shinobu, suddenly interested. She snatched it out of the hands of her assistant, who waited anxiously for orders.

 

“Really? Granny Hina wants to have a reunion huh? And she wants me to bring Kei-kun too? I wonder how she found out? Schedule it.”

 

“Uh, but the show? Your producer will be angry…,” reminded the girl. Shinobu bit back the snarl, forcing herself to calm down.

 

“I'll talk to him. We'll run some re-runs for the duration,” she ordered.

 

“Very well,” said the girl, bowing then left.

 

“So, a family reunion, eh?” muttered Shinobu. No amount of success had fixed the burning ache of rejection in her heart. He'd left her for Kitsune and her best friend, Kaolla. How could she compete with a princess? That she understood, but the house drunk? Why would he choose her over someone sweet and innocent like Shinobu had been back then? Her aggressive ride up the TV career ladder had made her rich. She was a princess now, a princess for TV addicted wives all over the world. She was their world for 30 minutes a day. Translated into fifteen different languages. She'd cooked for the Emperor and his family. She'd cooked for kings and queens. Shinobu released the crumpled invitation, surprised at herself.

 

“I get to be more and more like Naru every day,” she sighed. Clearing her mind of anguish and regret she thought of her son, the star of her morning. Her one priceless souvenir from her years with Keitaro, the Idiot. Keitaro Junior was her big secret. Her staff knew all about him, or thought they did, but some aggressive Non-Disclosure Agreements kept them quiet. She'd learned her lesson from JK Rowling's example, protecting her son from the harm of the public life. Little Miss Maehara couldn't go on a drunken rampage in Akihabara, or assault a clerk in Kyoto, or drive drunk in Sapporo. Little Miss Maehara was a perfect princess, proper and demure in every way. All but her indiscreet love child, rumors of which won her another 8 percentage points of viewers. It was a bitter irony that when she finally fell from public favor someday, she'd get even richer. And she barely spoke to her mother, who held her daughter in disgrace for being an unwed teen mother, holding little regard for public and professional success. “What does that matter when my daughter has no husband, no father for her child?” That calm accusation burned deeply, turning the outwardly beautiful girl into a smoldering mask of hatred.

 

“Yes, I'll be there, Granny. You can count on that,” promised Shinobu.