Sun dawned over the Hinata Inn, delicate tendrils of light poking playfully over the horizon, and probing into the large, recently refurbished building.
The inhabitants of the building all slept peacefully, and perhaps none more so that the young woman sleeping in the manager's room.
Resting on a futon, and under a thick comforter, her bound black hair lay neatly on the pillow her head rested on, her catlike eyes closed in sleep. Beside her on the double-wide wide futon lay a man sized lump, topped with short black hair. On the floor beside the woman...girl, really, a small cat with extraordinarily large ears snoozed quietly.
It was to this young girl that another of the summoned spirits came, and stirred within her body...
Kwok opened his eyes. He felt weird... although he couldn't quite describe the sensation.
Unfamiliar ceilling...
Wait a minute, forget about the ceiling. The entire room is different!
He then noticed the man-sized lump next to him.
"AAHH!!" he screamed, and quickly hopped up and away, giving the lump a nice kick.
"Wait a minute, that's not my voice..."
The man-sized lump rolled away, pulling the comforter with it, and was revealed to be another futon, tied in a roll, and topped, strangely, by a black wig, that fell off as it rolled onto the bedroom floor.
As Kanako hopped out of bed, she was immediately struck by the chill of the morning air, as the window to the room had been left open...
Kwok ran to the window and looked out.
"Maybe I can tell where the hell I am... then I can do something..."
Beyond the window, Kanako could see a well-kept yard, and a thick forest grove of trees, scattered beyond the reach of the grounds.
To her right, she could see the wall of the building she was in, which extended for a fair ways beyond the wall of the bedroom she was in. A little further than the house itself, the neat and tidy yard gave way to a more wild looking field of grass, and sand and stones were in evidence scattered about. A soft breeze brushed her cheeks, whipping a long lock of long black hair up to tickle her cheek, as the breeze also carried a faint sound of bubbling water, possibly a creek, or small river of some sort.
To her left, the neatly kept yard extended until a hill ended the visible ground, and if she looked from far enough out, she could see a simple, but carefully maintained stone walkway leading up to the house.
Directly in front of her, a youngish man, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, and a pair of small rectangular glasses, and a round head topped off with a mop of black hair similar to the wig that had rolled off of the rolled up futon she had been sleeping beside, looked up at her.
"Oi! Morning!" he called, and then REALLY looked. "ACK!" he exclaimed, falling over backward as his nose began to bleed heavily.
Kwok's eyes widened as he recognized who the young man was.
"AH!" he practically screamed. "What's Keitaro doing here?!"
Just then, there was a slight scraping sound, and head with long, light reddish hair poked down from the ceiling of the bedroom behind Kanako.
"Good morn-!!! Kanako, what are you doing in Keitaro's bedroom dressed like that!" she demanded.
"What?" Kwok practically cried. "Kanako?!"
He looked around for a mirror, hoping that he didn't really turn into Kanako.
Fortunately, the room had a small mirror on the wall closest to the door, across the room from where Kanako was now.
The red-haired girl slipped easily through the hole in the ceiling, dropping lightly to the floor to stare at Kanako at first in annoyance and in growing concern.
"Kanako-chan, are you alright?" She asked her, eyeing the girl oddly. "I know Keitaro didn't seem to recognize you yesterday, but there's no reason to flip out over a guy like that..."
Kwok looked into the mirror.
He really WAS Kanako...
"I'm alright," he waved it off. "But I think I slept too much... I forgot where my room is..."
The red-headed girl, Naru, gave Kanako a strange look.
"You must have slept too much. You've stayed in this room since you came here." she replied, and cast a glance about. "Where did Keitaro sleep?"
Naru asked, then blinked at Kanako's attire, which consited solely of a corset and panties, and a slightly alarmed expression crept across her features. "He didn't sleep with you, did he?"
Kanako pointed out to the window.
"He slept there..."
Naru blinked and walked over to the window, and smothered a grin as she saw Keitaro being chased around the lawn by two small blond girls. "Idiot..."
She turned back to Kanako, bowing apologetically. "Sorry...when I saw you in his room dressed like that, the first day after he got back, I just thought..."
"That's okay," Kwok smiled back a bit. "I don't mind."
"Can you, err, leave me alone for a moment? I need to do some thinking..."
Naru looked slightly suprised by the request, but shrugged. "Allright..."
She replied nodding and hopping up, and grabbing the edge of the hole in the ceiling, the stretch required exposing her midriff as her pajama top lifted away from the bottoms, and with a slight wiggle, pulling herself back through the hole in the ceiling up to her own room.
A slight scraping sound, and the hole was covered again, and Kanako was alone...
Kwok stood in front of the mirror and pinched himself, err... herself. "Ow!"
"I guess that's real..." he muttered.
"Alright, so apparently I'm Kanako..." he muttered as he paced back and forth around the room. "And stuck inside Love Hina for whatever reason... since I have no idea what happened, I probably can't change back yet..."
Kwok sighed. "Time to live the role, I guess."
He rummages through Keitaro's clothing drawer and put on some clothes, then left the room.
Unfortunately, even for such an average guy, Keitaro's clothes were quite oversized for Kanako's slight frame. The T-shirt wasn't a problem, but the shorts promptly slipped down her legs the moment she stepped outside the room...
"Eep..." Kwok eeped as the shorts slid down her legs.
She went back into the room to look for a belt and pants to go with it.
There were a number of pair of pants, but belts seemed to be in short supply, and Keitaro's closthes seemed to fit him fairly well.
However, on Kanako's perusal of the closet, she found a number of her usual style of dresses stored within, that seemed like an excellent fit...
Kwok frowned. "I don't wanna wear a dress..."
She grabbed a random long object from the room and poked at the hole in the ceiling to try and grab Naru's attention.
Unfortantely, the random long object happened to be a balsa wood engraving, which promptly cracked as Kanako tried to tap on the plywood covering the hole.
OOC: Kwok, be more specific, and tell me what you want, and I'll see about providing it. trying to force me into giving you what you want will result in unfortunate consequences...^^;;
OOC: I don't know what I want either, don't know what's in the room ^_^;;
IC: Kwok eeped, then put the balsa wood engraving aside, and looked around for something sufficiently long and sturdy enough to poke at the ceiling and make a noticeable noise.
OOC: ^^;; All ya gotta do is look.
IC: Fortunately, the room had apparently been recently swept, and a straw broom that looked to suit Kanako's purposes was propped up in the corner.
OOC: And I just did! ^_^
IC: Kwok walked over to the corner and grabbed the broom, then went back under the hole and poked at the cover.
"Naru? You there?"
There was a momentary sound of footsteps, and the plywood moved away from the hole, and Naru's partially undressed form re-appeared.
"Hm? Is everything all right, Kanako-chan?"
"Ack!" Kwok cried a small cry at seeing Naru's partially undresed form.
"Umm..." she said, adjusting her gaze to look down instead of up. "I don't feel like wearing a dress today, do you have any pants I can borrow?"
Naru gave Kanako another strange look.
"I suppose, but I'm a lot taller than you are...are you feeling all right?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," Kwok answered. "I'll just roll the pants legs up since you're taller."
Naru eyed Kanako briefly, and nodded, and moments later, a pair of pants landed lightly on the floor.
"There you go." Naru smiled. "Call me if you need anything else..."
"Thanks," Kwok replied, not bothering to look up in case Naru was still partially undressed.
She put the pair of pants on and rolled up any excess lengths, then walked out of the room and towards a random direction.
...and promptly walked into a wall, since the random direction happened to be straight.
OOC: Seeing the pattern yet, Kwok?
OOC: Damn you ^_^;;
IC: "Ow..." Kwok muttered. "That was stupid..."
She then turned and walked to the right, rubbing her nose in annoyance.
Shortly, she arrived in the dining room, which was a scene of chaos, as the two blonde haired girls that had been chasing Keitaro were now attemting to set the table for breakfast.
In the kitchen itself, another girl, with shoulder length dark hair had her back to Kanako, and was cooking, humming cheerfully as she did...
"Good morning," Kwok greeted the dark-haired girl as she walked into the kitchen. "What are you cooking?"
Shinobu Maehara whirled around at Kanako's voice, and took a shrinking step back.
"A-ano...I was just p-preparing a 'welcome home' breakfast for sempai..." she stammered, blushing and clutching the frying pan nervously.
Kwok sweatdropped.
"Relax, Shinobu-chan," he looked at the nervous girl. "You don't need to get all jumpy like that."
Shinobu tensed up a little more, if that was even possible. "B-But....you tied me up and put me in that bear..."
Kwok groaned inwardly.
Great... I have to take care of Kanako's aftermath too...
"I'm sorry, I guess..." she offered, trying to come up with an excuse. "I guess I was just tense because, um... my brother wasn't back yet... now he is, and I won't do that again."
"Forgive me?"
Shinobu relaxed marginally, but behind Kanako, the noise of the setting table ceased.
"Oi!" came a voice. "You tied us up, too! You think we'll just forgive you that easily?"
Kwok sighed.
"Alright, what will it take you guys to forgive me? I don't really want enemies here..."
Behind Kanako, Sara MacDougal folded her arms stubbornly. However, the other blonde, Kaolla Su pumped one arm in the air.
"Bananas!" She announced, beaming.
Despite herself, Shinobu relaxed slightly, giggling at Kaolla's announcement.
Kwok sweatdropped.
"Shinobu-chan," she whispered to the young girl. "Do we have any bananas?"
Shinobu blinked and nodded a bit. "There should be a few in the bowl on the table in the living room..." she supplied uneasily.
"Cool, thanks," Kwok smiled in thanks.
Walking into the living room, she grabbed a few of the bananas in the bowl, then walked over to Kaolla and handed it to her.
"How's this?"
Kaolla cheered and accepted the bananas, and promptly began eating them. Sara, for her part, rounded on Kaolla. "Sell-out!" she snorted, and stomped from the room.
Shinobu smiled slightly, having returned to her cooking...
Kwok smiled.
One bomb defused...
"So," she spoke up, walking back into the kitchen. "Can I help?"
Shinobu managed a tentative smile. "Ano...I'm almost finished, Kanako-san...could you make sure the table is set properly?" she offered.
Kwok winced at hearing himself/herself addressed as Kanako.
"Okay," she replied, then walked over to the table and checked to see if it was set properly or if something needs to be fixed.
The table was set...in the sense that there were dishes on it, and other eating utensils. However, they were not arrayed in a manner conducive to eating, in that several plates were upside down, and/or placed on areas that would be difficult to eat from.
It appeared that Sara and Suu had gotten caught up in something as they had been setting the table...
Kwok sighed.
"Ah well..."
She proceeded to re-arrange the dishes and utensils so that they would be easy to use for eating.
"Alright," she called out. "I'm done... I think."
Shinobu brought out a boiling pot just as Kanako finished with the table.
"Oh! Arigatou, Kanako-san!" Shinobu beamed, setting the pot on the table.
"No problem, Shinobu-chan," Kwok smiled back, wincing inwardly again at the name.
I'll have to get used to that...
"Should we go call everyone here now?"
Shinobu smiled and shook her head. "No, we just wait...Kitsune-san and Motoko-sempai get upset if we interrupt their morning routine...Besides, they-"
Shinobu's explanation was cut off by a rather pretty, if dissheveled young woman with short dirty honey-blonde hair and a foxlike expression stumbling into the room, rubbing her eyes, she was clad only in an extra-large men's shirt, and the motion of it revealed a pair of black panties underneath when she bent at the waist. A faint smell of sake followed her into the room. "Gah....Morning too early..." she mumbled, grabbing a glass of water and an asprin.
Kwok silently adjusted her gaze to look away from the accidental panty flash.
"Well, I guess one of them just woke up... to their 'morning routine'..." she sweatdropped.
No sooner had the words left Kanako's mouth, than a tall, willowy girl with midnight hair tied back in a ponytail and dressed in a gi and hakama entered the kitchen from the door to the porch.
"Good morning." she greeted Shinobu politely, and Kanako warily, before giving the third girl a disgusted look, and sitting down beside her at the breakfast table...
Well she's probably harder to convince than Shinobu and Kaolla...
Kwok bowed politely to Motoko.
"Good morning," she greeted the kendoka with a smile.
Motoko raised both eyebrows, and blinked slightly at the change in Kanako's manner.
"..."
Shinobu, noticing the tension, continued to set the table, blushing slightly as she hurried from the room for the rest of breakfast. Just then, Naru entered the dining room.
"Good morning! I...Kitsune, are you hung over again?" she demanded, wrinkling her nose slightly as the faint odor of sake reached her.
Mitsune Konno looked up at Naru, a pitiful look on her face. "Not so loud!" she begged weakly.
Kwok turned around to face the newcomer.
"Good morning, Naru!" she said with a smile.
"Are you angry at me or something, Motoko?" she asked, turning back to face the kendoka.
Motoko blinked and frowned. "You have the audacity to-!"
Naru closed the distance between her and Motoko in a blur, and clamped her hand over the kendo girl's mouth.
"Kanako-chan's changed, Motoko..." she whispered in the black haired girls ear. "I'm sure she didn't mean it, Kanako-chan..."
"Yeah, uhh..." Kwok nodded. "I've changed completely, Motoko."
Change in more ways than one too...
"Will you forgive me?"
Motoko frowned slightly, then turned away.
"Hmph. We will see." she said simply, and added nothing further. Naru sweatdropped slightly smiling nervously, and sat down at the table, pulling out a chair for Kanako, too, smiling and gesturing for her to sit.
"Keitaro should be in soon," she mused, shooting a sidleong glance as Kanako, unconsciously assessing the smaller girl's reaction.
"Thanks," Kwok smiled and took the offered seat.
"Keitaro is so slow," she smirked a bit. "He's making all of us wait for him."
Everyone turned to stare at Kanako after those words left her mouth. Even Kitsune lifted her head off the table and managed a startled look.
"What?" Kwok stared. "Did I grow a third eye or something?"
It was Naru who spoke for the group. "Ano...no...It's just, well, you've had such a reverent tone whenever you talked about Keitaro before..." she explained carefully...
Just then, Sara and Kaolla bounded back into the room, an leapt into their seats.
"Yeah, it's like you had the hots for him or something!" Sara chimed in and there were nods all around the table.
I guess it must be too much of a change from canon Kanako...
"Umm... I changed!" Kwok said, her eyes wandering around the table.
"I'm really in love with Naru!" she said with a grin, tackling Naru with a glomp.
This particular declaration was met with dropping jaws all around the table, as Naru's chair tilted over backward, collapsing to the ground with a crash.
Following this, there was a slight clatter from the entrance to the kitchen, as Shinobu stared at them, a shocked blush on her face.
"Naru-sempai! H-How could you..."
Naru gaped at the short haired girl, and turned to Kanako, and eerie light in her eyes as her fist clenched.
Kwok jumped away from Naru, deciding to keep a safe distance away from the seemingly angry girl by keeping herself behind Shinobu.
"Chill, Naru... relax..."
Naru shivered slightly, then relaxed, and, with as much dignity as she could muster, got off the upended chair and set it up properly again.
"That's not funny, Kanako-chan."
Kwok walked back to the table, as the danger was seemingly over.
"Sorry, Naru," she grinned sheepishly. "It was too good to pass up."
Naru frowned and was about to open her mouth to reply as everyone around the table relaxed slightly at the passing of the tense moment, when the door opened again, and a young man with a shock of black hair walked in, wearing only a t-shirt, shorts, and glasses.
"Morning." Keitaro Urashima greeted the girls. "What'd I miss?"
"You're late, Keitaro!" Kwok pointed a finger and spoke in an accusing tone. "How dare you make all these beautiful ladies wait for you?"
Keitaro chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Sorry." he replied. "I got a bit distracted outside..."
Sara and Kaolla chuckled at this, and Keitaro sat down at the table.
"We'll forgive you this time, but next time you'll be punished!" Kwok grinned.
"Now that everyone's here, let's eat!"
Keitaro simply sweatdropped.
Shinobu, however, came out with the final pot of breakfast miso, and placed it on the table, still blushing slightly.
"Hai, everyone, please enjoy." she agreed. With several exclamations of delight, the assembled residents dug in...(or fled to the bathroom, in Kitsune's case)
"This is great, Shinobu," Kwok looked at Shinobu and smiled after eating a few bites. "I wish I could cook as well as you..."
Shinobu blinked and gave a tentative smile as she blushed. "Arigato, Kanako-chan..."
Kaolla grinned and beamed. "Shinobu's a great cook. I bet she could teach you..."
Keitaro blinked and looked up from his breakfast. "Oh?You want to learn to cook, Kanako-chan?"
Kwok gave a small nod.
"Sure, why not?" she smiled at Shinobu. "Learning from a master is always good."
Shinobu smiled a little and nodded. "All right..." she agreed, blushing.
Keitaro smiled. "Planning on getting married, Kanako-chan?" he asked mildly, and, promplty on cue, Naru began choking on her breakfast...
Another twinkle lit up in Kwok's eyes.
"Sure," she deadpanned, stirring her bowl of miso around idly as she rested her chin on her palm. "I'll marry Shinobu-chan and save her from the cooking."
Shinobu let out a tiny, barely audible squeak, and went a vivid crimson, her eyes swirling.
Keitaro stared at Kanako, a small trickle of blood leaking from his nose, as the rest of the girls, save Kaolla, took a long, speculative look at Kanako...and edged their chairs back slightly.
Naru, for her part, made a shockingly fast recovery. "What are you staring for, HENTAI!" She yelled, knocking Keitaro into the wall with a devastating punch...
Kwok gave a small whistle.
"Wow, that's one hell of a punch, Naru," she commented, partly ignoring the girls' reactions and partly smirking inside. "You almost knocked his head off!"
Naru seethed for a minute before calming down slightly, and blushing at Kanako's remark, and Shinobu 'eep'ed and rushed to Keitaro's side.
"Sempai!"
"Don't worry, Shinobu-chan," Kwok remarked offhandedly. "He's a big boy, he can take it."
As Shinobu fretted over Keitaro, and Naru 'hmph'ed, Kitsune focused her bleary-eyed gaze on Kanako.
"You don't seem to concerned about your brother, Kanako..." She observed. "Especially after all that effort you went through to refurbish Hinata-sou so you could run it with him..."
"You're awfully observant, Kitsune," Kwok answered with a smile. "One would think that someone like you wouldn't catch onto small details like this."
"I just thought that he can probably take it with the amount of abuse he normally takes, that's all."
Motoko and Naru nodded at that, but Kitsune's eyes glinted slightly, as if to say 'gotcha!'. The fox-eyed girl smiled sweetly, despite the pathetic look her hangover lent her.
"How would you know that? You arrived after he left for America, and he's only been back for a day..."
Kwok smiled back with an equally sweet smile.
"Hey, it's pretty obvious," he explained, giving Keitaro a sideway glance. "Naru acts like it's a casual thing, and if he can't take that, he'd probably be dead by now."
Kitsune smirked, and Naru and Motoko were suddenly examining Kanako interestedly.
"'Casual', you say?" she chuckled. "Not exactly the usual observation when you see someone scream and punch someone into a wall."
Naru squawked in embarrassed protest, but Kitsune's attention was fully focused on Kanako. "Add that to your little 180 personality-wise...not that it isn't an improvement, mind you, and I think something's up..."
"Well, it's a logical assumption," Kwok smiled serenly. "If it's not something that happens a lot, Naru would probably be more concerned than Shinobu. Afterall, if it's the first time and he can't take it, she'd end up a murderer and she wouldn't like that. Since she's not that worried, he's gotta be able to take it."
Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous. She only punched him." she replied irritably, rubbing at her temples. "Naru's strong, but not THAT strong."
The grin came back.
"You know more than you should...and less than you should, about other things. And you talk a lot more than you did yesterday. You almost sound normal..."
"Hey, she punched him into the wall," Kwok looked at Naru, then back at Kitsune. "That's pretty strong to me. It could've killed a weak person, especially if he hit the wall at the wrong spot. None of you seem to be especially concerned about that, so he can't be that hurt."
"Besides," she said with a smile. "I don't talk that much more. You started the interrogation, otherwise I'd be eating silently right now."
Kitsune just laughed at Kanako's explanation. She didn't say anything further, but her hangover no longer appeared to be occupying all of her attention as she fixed Kanako with a look that said it all.
Nice try, but we both know you're blowing smoke, and I'm going to find out what's up...
Kwok simply smiled serenely in response.
At roughly the same time, Shinobu helped Keitaro to his feet. He seemed a little unsteady, but waved it off as breakfast continued, with most of the people at the table, (Save Keitaro) shooting curious looks at Kanako...
"What?" Kwok asked. "Why're you guys staring?"
That, of course, was the cue for everyone at the table, (excepting Kitsune, who was facedown and groaning again) to pretend they hadn't been staring. Which they promptly did.
The rest of the meal passed without incident...(Well, without a major one, anyway.) And, upon completion, the residents of Hina-ta sou scattered, as Shinobu, humming, began to clean up the debris...
"Man, that was so totally obvious..." Kwok muttered under her breath.
"Want me to help you clean up, Shinobu-chan?" she ofered after dinner was done.
Shinobu blinked. "Ano...You don't have to, Kanako-san. I'm used to doing it by myself, and you helped out getting ready..."
Kwok gave a small shrug.
"Well, there's nothing else to do... so why not?"
Shinobu nodded as she finished clearing the table, a small, nervous smile showing. "Ah...hai. W-Would you like to help with the dishes?"
"Sure, I can do that," Kwok smiled. "Why're you so nervous anyway?"
Shinobu smiled weakly. "Gomen, Kanako-san...I know you apologized, but it's still hard to get used to you being friendly..."
Kwok smiled a bit ruefully.
"I understand, kind of," she nodded. "And it probably doesn't help after what Kitsune tried to do during breakfast..."
Shinobu shook her head. "Kitsune-san's always like that...she likes mysteries." she nodded. "And you seem to have attracted her interest..."
"Unfortunately..." Kwok said with a small sigh.
"You don't agree with what she thinks about me, do you?"
Shinobu blinked, and winced. "Well, Kanako-san IS acting different...and Kitsune-san didn't say anything, but this is the first time we've seen you wear pants...are those Naru-sempai's?"
"Yeah," Kwok smiled.
"I didn't feel like wearing a dress today, and I can't find any of my own pants, so I borrowed Naru's, since she's probably the only one nice enough to let me borrow stuff."
Shinobu blinked as she carried the last of the dishes to the sink. "Ano, Motoko-san and Kitsune-san...Ano...Kaolla, Sempai! I mean...we're all nice!" Shinobu protested nervously, her eyes swirling.
Kwok began to do the dishes as Shinobu carried the last of the dishes to the sink.
"Well, I think you and Naru are the nicest people here," she smiled at Shinobu. "And I know that most of the other people don't like me because of what I did to you guys, so I asked her."
Shinobu nodded. "Ah...hai." she agreed. "They'll get used to you, if you keep being nice...Even Naru-sempai got used to having Sempai around..." she reassured Kanako tenatively.
Kwok paused a bit to decide if she wanted to say the line she had in mind.
"But Onii-chan is always nice," she answered. "That's why... umm... I like him so much. He's always nice to everyone."
Shinobu smiled and nodded. "Hai! Sempai didn't get off to a good start here, though...there were some accidents..." she blushed at the thought of Keitaro's first days...
"Oh?" Kwok inquired, as if she didn't know what went on.
"What kind of... accidents did he get into?"
Shinobu's blush went nuclear, and the the poor girl looked horribly embarrassed.
"Well, there was...and then...I mean...Aah! He didn't mean it!" she managed, waving a dish frantically.
Kwok sweatdropped and looked at Shinobu.
"What?" she asked. "What is it?"
Shinobu shook her head, ducking it to hide her blush as she began washing the dishes she'd brought to the sink.
"Ano...no-nothing..." She murmured sheepishly.
"Come on," Kwok gently nudged the younger girl on the shoulder. "Tell me."
Shinobu mumbled a reply, too softly to be heard clearly...
Kwok sighed a small sigh.
"Speak up, Shinobu-chan, I can't hear you."
"He took my panties!" Shinobu blurted, then quickly looked back down at the counter, her cheeks flaming. "..but it was an accident..." she finished softly.
Kwok couldn't help but smirk a little at Shinobu's embarrassed look.
"Wow," she whistled. "I never knew he had it in him, taking a girl's panties..."
Shinobu looked up sharply, waving her arms in protest. "No, no! It was an accident! Sempai is clumsy..."
"Sure," Kwok smirked. "Clumsy enough to end up stealing a girl's underwear..."
Shinobu's eyes got big, and misted slightly. "I said it was an accident..." she said again in a wavering voice...
Kwok's resolve to tease further was instantly dissolved by Shinobu's watering eyes.
"Fine, fine," she relented. "Accident it is."
Shinobu relaxed slightly, but her distressed expression took a bit longer to fade, and she resumed washing the dishes.
However, after a few moments of silence, she spoke up tentatively. "Ano...what was Sempai like when he was little?"
Kwok practically ack'ed out loud.
Geez, how am I supposed to know what Keitaro's like when he's little...
"He's..." she began, lookiing off into nowhere to try to imagine what Keitaro would be like when young. "He's nice. Kinda like how he is right now, actually. He's always nice to everyone, even when things don't go his way, and, uh... he's really nice to me."
Shinobu nodded, smiling softly, apparently satisfied. "It must have been SO cool to grow up with him..."
"Well, uh... not really," Kwok searched for an answer. "It's nice when he helps you and sticks up for you, but sometimes he kinda gets in the way."
Shinobu blinked up at Kanako, puzzled. "Hah?? What do you mean, Kanako-san?"
"Well hey, even you think he's clumsy, and you're one of the nicest people I know," Kwok explained. "What do you think he'd be like when he's a little boy?"
Shinobu smiled. "But Sempai always tries his hardest to help..." she corrected. "Even if it doesn't always work out, it can't have been too bad..."
"Sure, but when you're that young..." Kwok shook his head. "Things don't work out much, and sometimes helping adds to the problem..."
Shinobu blinked. "Ara? What problem did he add to?"
Kwok cursed inwardly.
Dammit, now you did it. That'll teach you to lie too much...
"Nevermind," she said with a wave of a hand. "It's behind us, and I don't like to talk about my past."
Shinobu's eyes widened slightly, alarmed. "Ano...it wasn't that bad, was it?"
"Nah, it's not that bad," Kwok said dismissively. "I just don't like to talk about my past, that's all."
Shinobu blinked innocently as she finished with the last dish, and passed it to Kanako.
"Why not, Kanako-san?"
Kwok shrugged as she took the last dish.
"It's just... something I do, I guess," she answered. "I may talk more than normal, but there's still limits."
Shinobu looked uncertain, but she smiled. "Mm. Thank you for the help..." she said, bowing slightly.
Kwok smiled back.
"No problem, Shinobu-chan," she answered politely. "Anytime."
Shinobu smiled brightly back at Kanako, nodding. "Please excuse me...I have to do the laundry, now..."
So saying, the fifteen year old hurried from the room...
Since Shinobu left, Kwok decided to make her way to the living room where the couches are, to see if anyone was there.
Kanako entered the living room to the odd sight of Kaolla tinkening with an odd looking machine. It was mobile, if the tank treads were indication, and the largish, egg-shaped head was mounted on a long, spindly body. The face itself had three eyes, and a pair of cherries dangling from the mouth...
Kwok looked at the odd machine and puzzled over what it could possibly be for.
"Kaolla-chan," she said, walking up to the younger girl. "What's this you're working on?"