70Art Attack
By Lord Raa
Disclaim-me-do: Just a little bit better than rubbish.
Part 7
To say that Keitaro was surprised by Tsuruko's actions would be putting it mildly.
"T-Tsuruko-san?"
"I-I'm sorry, Keitaro-san, but I couldn't help myself," the widow apologised as she climbed off the surprised young man. "I… this character, she's…"
"How much of you is she based on?" Keitaro asked. The past week's events were making him unsure if this was another case of a woman trying to manipulate him.
"I haven't had any interest from anyone I could consider a suitor, Keitaro-san. While I know I've attracted the attention of one or two students at the Shinmeiryu dojo, I don't need the lustful attentions of hormonal teenage boys, I need the companionship of a good man," Tsuruko explained. "I want you to be that good man."
"But…"
"Please don't reject me, Keitaro."
"I'm not rejecting you, Tsuruko-san. I just don't want you to make a mistake. Besides, how can I measure up to your standards?" Keitaro asked. "What can I offer you as a husband?"
"Why won't you trust my judgement?" the swordswoman asked. "Are you afraid of letting me down?"
"Yes…" the ronin answered in a quiet voice.
"But don't you see that not trying would let me down more?"
Keitaro was at a loss for words. He knew Tsuruko was right, but he still couldn't understand why she would want him of all people. Perhaps it was better to try and fail rather than not know one way or the other?
'Look on the bright side, Keitaro, sleeping with Tsuruko would hardly be a chore, now would it?' the ronin asked himself. He smiled at that thought. "Ok, I will do what I can to be the man you think I am, Tsuruko-san. Just be patient with me, I'm new at this."
"I will be, Keitaro-san, I will be."
Kitsune knocked on the door to Keitaro's room.
"Come in," a female voice said.
'Wait, is Tsuruko-san in there with Keitaro?' the ash-blonde asked herself as she opened the door.
"Hello, Mitsune-san, is there something we can do for you?" Tsuruko asked as she looked up from the pages of the note pad she was using.
"I…is everything ok? I hadn't heard from you for a while."
"Everything is fine, Kitsune," Keitaro smiled as he stretched his arms above his head. "I've got a good premise for a new idea."
"Let me guess, demon-hunting shrine maidens and dashing ronin?" Kitsune teased with a smirk.
"Not quite," Tsuruko corrected. "We can't show you anything yet, but we'll let you take a look at it when it's ready."
"How very suspicious…" the short-haired woman said in a sceptical tone. "How can I be sure that Keitaro isn't using us as inspiration for his work? I should have a share of the royalties for Freeter Deluxe!"
Keitaro swallowed nervously. Kitsune did have a point; he should compensate her for using her as the basis of the character Megumi Kanno; however, she did owe him over three months of rent.
Not that he could mention it without embarrassing everyone involved.
"And just how much of a share in the royalties do you think you're entitled to, Mitsune-san?" Tsuruko asked, momentarily saving Keitaro's blushes. "Of course, some might think that accepting such a payment would suggest that you are just like this 'Megumi Kanno' character.
"I would like to think that you're not the sort of person who answers the door in a skimpy towel to avoid paying for food deliveries."
Now it was Kitsune's turn to feel the heat. She'd always made sure that her flirting with men had never gone too far and there were limits to how far she was willing to go to put off paying the rent in favour of going out for a few drinks.
The loss of her job was just too much for her to take in after Keitaro had been rather ruthless with his collection of the rent.
"That's not fair, what about Miko-Miko Revolution? Aren't you in the same boat?"
"That's certainly one way of looking at it," the widow acknowledged. "But I do not feel that the Shinmeiryu School has been defamed by a work of fiction."
"Why not?"
"Because Miko-Miko Revolution is clearly a work of fiction," Tsuruko replied. "Yes, it is set in a real part of Japan, and yes, some of the names are eerily similar. But would you really think that it's based upon a famous school of sword fighting?"
"I… well, no, not now you put it that way," Kitsune said, backing down from her apparent demands for money from Keitaro.
"Then I think the matter is settled. Keitaro-san, I think we're done with the script for the first chapter."
"Yeah, I think we should take a break," Keitaro said, letting out a yawn. "Let's get something to eat before I decide if I should start drawing or continue writing."
Kitsune was not sure just how far behind she was to Tsuruko when it came to winning over Keitaro. She had decided to go for a walk around the Hinata Sou, hoping for inspiration while he finished eating lunch with the swordswoman.
'Probably shouldn't be leaving him alone with her,' she thought to herself. 'Yeah, but what am I supposed to say to Keitaro? Leave the Christmas Cake here and run off to my room for some X-rated fun?'
The ash-blonde gave a small smirk at the idea of Keitaro blushing and stammering as she asked him if he wanted to go to bed with her. Then she realised that Keitaro probably wouldn't get so flustered, given that he'd written at least two erotic novellas.
"He'd probably think that I'm planning something," Kitsune sighed.
Looking up, she found herself facing an unfamiliar door in an unused part of the Inn.
Trying the door, Kitsune found that it was an unlocked room used for storage.
"How long's it been since this place was cleaned?" she asked, noting the thick coating of dust on everything as she scanned the room.
Inside the room, there were boxes of old papers. On the wall were a couple of shelves holding photo albums.
It was then that Kitsune saw what was taking up the majority of the space in the room. There was a rectangular table she guessed to be two metres by one metre, covered in a heavy duty sheet that had taken on a grey hue from all the dust in the room.
Curious as to why there was a table of such dimensions going unused in this part of the Inn, Kitsune gently lifted the sheet to see if there was anything that indicated why it had been placed here in storage.
"Hey, that's a pool table!" she exclaimed. "I haven't played pool in ages. I wonder if it's got a free play option..."
Looking at the sides of the table, Kitsune saw that it was a normal pool table, one that didn't require money for each frame.
"Score."
The ash-blonde looked around for some cues, hoping that there'd be something usable. Under the table, there were two cue cases.
She checked the black boxes and saw that one had split, but there was still one that looked to be in reasonable condition.
"I gotta tell Keitaro about this. Maybe we could start having tournaments?"
Keitaro was burning through the next chapter of his story. He'd outlined the main characters' stories and the setting, and was now creating a scenario where the heroine, Toriko, was getting to know the male lead, Kou.
Tsuruko was watching Keitaro write. There was a focus on his face that she found endearing, since to her it implied that he was trying his hardest. She'd also been going over the scenes that he'd written for spelling and grammar errors.
'Keitaro's got good grasp of language,' the widow noted. 'I wonder how his tongue...'
Tsuruko blushed as she realised just where that particular thought was heading. 'What am I thinking? Why am I thinking about that? Especially now, while we're alone...'
Keitaro was too engrossed with his writing to notice the change in expression on Tsuruko's face from approval to idle pondering to embarrassment to lustful.
After another five minutes of writing, he started to tap his thumbs as he tried to work out how the next scene should go. He exhaled as he became increasingly frustrated with the minor blockage to his story.
"Is there a problem, Keitaro-san?"
"I can't think about how to Toriko lets Kou know about how she feels. Don't forget that Kou's also shy. It's going to take something for him to get the confidence to talk to her about something other than business."
"She could just tell him how she feels," Tsuruko replied, somewhat knowingly. "I hear the direct approach can work wonders."
Keitaro blinked, then took a deep breath before explaining why he didn't think that would work. "Well, yes, the direct approach of Toriko saying 'we should go out' would solve this, but I can't just write something where they just meet then go to bed together. I tried writing a story that was basically a series of sex scenes and it felt wrong. To me, the difference between porn and erotica is that we care why the characters are having sex in erotica."
"I see," the widow nodded. "So, you want there to be something that leads to Toriko and Kou having sex?"
"Yeah," the ronin agreed. "I'm going to take a break for a few minutes. Feel free to look over what I've got for this scene."
Keitaro was returning from using the toilet when he encountered Kitsune.
"Ah, Keitaro," the ash-blonde smiled. "There's something I want to ask you."
The ronin was surprised by the amount of cheer in his friend's voice. Earlier, she had seemed taken aback by the presence of Tsuruko in his room and that had visibly unsettled her a little.
"OK, what is it you want, Kitsune?"
"I was thinking about... things, when I found out that there's a pool table in one of the rooms that's being used for storage."
"Pool table?" Keitaro repeated. "I don't remember there ever being a pool table when this was an Inn."
"I'm just as surprised as you. But anyway, how do you feel about bringing it out into the common room? It's big enough for us to play pool in there without breaking anything, and we can use it to practice hand-eye coordination. Go on, it'll be fun."
Keitaro pondered the merits of the pool table. In several foreign TV shows, it had been established that having a pool table was a status symbol and Kitsune was right in that it would allow him to hone his coordination.
"If you keep it clean, we'll trial it. See if people use it more than you clean it."
"You're the best, Keitaro!" Kitsune flattered shamelessly. "When can we move it?"
"I was thinking about waiting until everyone got back, so they could help move it. Pool tables are usually heavy."
Tsuruko emerged from Keitaro's room. "Is everything alright? I was beginning to wonder where you'd gotten to. I read through what you've got, but I can't think of a way to help you at the moment."
"Damn," Keitaro winced. "I've done a lot of writing today, so maybe it's OK for me to do something else?"
Kitsune realised that this would be an opportunity to get closer to Keitaro, especially if they could have a few drinks while playing pool that evening. "Hey, Tsuruko-san, since you're pretty strong, do you think you could help me and Keitaro move something?"
"What are you thinking of moving?" the widow asked.
"A pool table. If we do it now, we could have a few frames tonight," the ash-blonde smiled winningly.
"I don't actually know how to play pool," Tsuruko replied. "Do you have a copy of the rules?"
"I found a cue in decent condition, so there might be a copy of the rules in the room," said Kitsune. "Even if there isn't, we could always play Killer."
Tsuruko blinked at the rather ominous name. "'Killer'?"
"It's an elimination type game, I'll explain when we've moved the table," the short-haired woman smiled.
It took the three of them half an hour to get the table into the common room. There had been much straining and sweating, especially from Kitsune, who wasn't used to such manual labour, but the table had gone into the room.
"I'll take care of this cover," Kitsune volunteer. She carefully folded the beige material, making sure not to get the vast amount of dust onto the green baize or herself. "I'll be right back."
"Do you mind if we get cleaned up before we have dinner," Tsuruko suggested.
Kitsune returned, her plan to shake most of the dust off the cover had backfired and it now looked like she was wearing most of that dust.
"Yeah," Keitaro nodded, having seen Kitsune's misfortune. "Let's all get cleaned up before dinner."
In Motoko's room, Tsuruko stripped off down to her underwear before selecting her outfit for the evening. She had only brought a few changes of clothes, since her visit was meant to be a short stay and that was causing her a little bit of concern.
'I could wear the kimono again, but I'm not sure that's going to make playing pool easy if I might need to reach over the table,' she mused. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. "I think that Keitaro-san might be a little distracted if I just went out like this."
Shaking her head as she smiled at the idea of just wearing her underwear for the rest of the evening, she noticed her sister's wardrobe. 'Well, I suppose I could borrow something from Motoko-han...'
Opening the door to the wardrobe, Tsuruko searched through Motoko's outfits for something suitable. It didn't take long for the widow to find the right outfit.
'Motoko-han hasn't even taken the tags off,' she thought sadly.
In her room, Kitsune was also pondering what she should wear for that evening. The afternoon had gotten quite warm, so she was thinking that jeans were unnecessary.
'Besides, this is a chance to get closer to Keitaro,' she thought as she looked at the myriad of outfits she'd acquired over the years. Kitsune looked at the maid's uniform. 'No, too close to what I actually do here.'
The next uniform in the wardrobe was a nurse's outfit. 'Haven't worn that one in a while... No, I better go with something that won't look weird when you're spending the evening at home.'
The ash-blonde spotted a pair shorts. "It is a warm evening and we will be playing pool..." she said, a smile forming on her lips. "Yes, and that blouse where the buttons easily undo..."
Kitsune pulled out a thin, cream coloured blouse and placed it on her bed. She reached into her underwear draw for a fresh set. She paused as a thought occurred to her and mock-frowned. "Oh dear, all my normal underwear is in the wash. Only my special occasion lingerie is clean right now. Going braless would just embarrass Keitaro, and I did promise to be stop teasing him so much..."
The short-haired woman smiled as she pulled out her chosen underwear for the evening. "Oh yeah, this'll let him know how serious I am."
Keitaro took it upon himself to make dinner for everyone, since he'd gotten cleaned up first. He was about to call for the others when Kitsune arrived and took a seat at the table.
"Oh, I was just about to call you to let you know dinner was ready," he said. It was then that he noticed that the short-haired woman had changed into quite a nice blouse.
Before he could comment, Tsuruko arrived in a bright red, off the shoulder dress. It was clear that it was a little too small for her, especially around the chest, but even so, Tsuruko looked stunning in the garment.
It gave Keitaro the impression that she was here for pleasure, rather than business.
"Oh, it looks like I've timed this right," the swordswoman smiled as she took a seat at the table. She moved a lock of her hair behind her left ear.
"Err... yes," Keitaro replied, taking a moment to reassess what was going on. "Now, who's hungry?"
"I am," Tsuruko smiled.
"Me, too," said Kitsune. She cast a glance at the dress Tsuruko was wearing. 'That's Motoko's dress. She's going to make a play for Keitaro!'
Because he was serving the meal, Keitaro missed the look of challenge that Kitsune shot Tsuruko.
'Oh, so you think you can compete with me, do you?' the widow thought with a smirk. 'It might have been a while, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.'
"That's an interesting dress, Tsuruko-san," Keitaro commented as he handed a plate to Kitsune.
"I have a confession to make," Tsuruko said with a nervous smile. "I borrowed it from Motoko-han. I know that it's not nice to borrow things without asking."
Keitaro blushed when he heard the raven-haired woman's reasoning. "It was either that or spend the rest of the evening in my underwear."
"Yes, that's true," the ash-blonde nodded as she filled her plate with the food Keitaro had prepared. "But we're all adults here. We've all seen naked bodies before, haven't we?"
"I didn't realise that you were trying to turn the Hinata Sou into some sort of exhibitionist camp, Kitsune," Tsuruko replied. "I don't think Motoko-han would approve of such a change, do you?"
"It took her long enough to accept me being the manager," Keitaro muttered. He realised that his comment had been spoken aloud and moved on to dishing out the rest of the meal.
'Uh-oh, better stop Keitaro thinking about Motoko,' the short-haired woman decided. 'I've got enough competition from the Aoyama family as it is.'
Tsuruko noticed the look of panic on her rival's face and reached the same conclusion. "I wouldn't worry about what a little girl thinks, Keitaro-san. Not when you can have a woman who knows what she wants."
Keitaro picked up on the purr that the swordswoman spoke her words with and, when he factored in the kiss she gave him earlier, finally put two and two together and came up with four. 'Right, Tsuruko-san is serious about being with me. How do I do this without screwing this up completely?'
"Speaking of a woman's wants," Kitsune winked playfully, "How about you finish dishing up?"
"Yes, sorry," the ronin apologised as he served the rest of the meal.
After dinner, Kitsune racked the table for the game of Killer.
"And how do we play this game?" Tsuruko asked, noting that the ash-blonde was quite happy to bend over the table in front of Keitaro. 'Oh dear, it seems he missed that show, Kitsune. What a shame.'
Keitaro was preparing drinks when he realised that Kitsune was making a bit of a show about bending over the table to prepare the game. He decided that it was for the best if he didn't stare at her. Especially since those shorts did contain a fine pair of buttocks that, had things gone differently three weeks ago, he'd have loved to have run his hands over them.
"Well, the basics are we each take it in turns to have a shot and attempt to pot a ball. If we miss a pot or make a foul shot, we lose a life. We start out with three lives each," Kitsune explained. "Potting the black will get you a life back and we won't count a life gone if you don't pot on the break shot."
"That seems clear enough," the widow said as she reached for her drink. "So, who's going first?"
"I'll go first," the ash-blonde offered. "It'll give you a chance to get an idea on how to hold a cue."
To be continued...
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