Haruka's Fanfiction

This story is not canon. It is based in one of my wife’s and my RPG worlds, this one being set in a family neighborhood. The households are usually large, and are made up of some of our favorite fandoms.

Info/warnings here: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/sakuracourt/profile
Earlier chapters here: http://canadian-haruka.insanejournal.com/tag/sakura+court


Sakura Court – Part 7

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

--

Parents gossip amongst themselves, just like kids. Talk is especially common here on Sakura Court where we all know each other. It’s not always a planned get-together; sometimes, like today, it just happens. I went out to put something in the mailbox just as Jabi was doing her meditation stretches in her front yard and Naoya was getting back from wherever he had been in his van.

“Hello, Miki-san,” he greeted me with a friendly smile. I like Naoya very much. He’s so young, but willingly took on the responsibility of his six siblings and manages the career of their very successful band as well. Plus, he’s just plain nice, funny, and easy to get along with.

“Hi Naoya-kun,” I said. “Busy day today?”

“So far,” he laughed. “Got the gang to school, stopped by Avex to go over some contracts, did an interview, and now I’ve got housework to do until noon when I pick the kids up and we all go to rehearsal.” He made an exaggerated gesture of brushing sweat off his forehead. “How about you? Not going to SCRTC today?”

SCRTC (pronounced ‘scratch’) is the sporting goods company of which I am director. It’s also the front for our Gekiranger activity. “I’ll be heading over there shortly; I had paperwork to finish up, so I took care of it here.” We both looked over at Jabi, admiring her slow, graceful movements. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I remarked. “I wonder if she could teach that to me so I could incorporate it into the Gekiranger training.”

“I don’t know, I think it’s something particular to being a Makai Priestess,” Naoya said. Watching Jabi, I had to admit he was probably right. The concentration she had achieved as she effortlessly shifted precariously-balanced positions without a single wobble seemed all part of a magical dance no one could imitate.

“I can understand why she’d need meditation exercises today,” Naoya confided. “Rei got a ride to school with us and on the way there he admitted that both he and Yasuka had been spanked this morning.”

“Hello there!” came a greeting from the direction of the Imagin house, and we looked over to see Deneb running toward us. I tried not to smile at the lumbering manner in which he ran in his natural form. He was carrying a basket over one arm, and I could already guess what was in it.

“How are you today, Deneb-san?” I asked when he reached us.

“Very well, thank you, Miki-san!” He pulled a huge lollipop out of the basket and handed it to me. “I made a new batch of candy and thought you all might like some!”

“Thank you!” I told him sincerely. It was no secret that I love to eat, and Deneb Candy was always wonderful. Naoya thanked him as he received his own lollipop.

“What’s new in the Imagin household, Deneb?” Naoya asked while tasting the irresistibly-coloured treat.

“Oh, things are pretty much the same with us,” he commented cheerfully.

“I saw Deneb Candy over here,” interrupted Jabi, abandoning her meditations to join us with an impish smile. The tall Imagin happily handed over another lollipop.

“You looked beautiful, Jabi-san,” Naoya remarked. “I heard you had a tough morning.”

She gave a long-suffering sigh. “It WAS a bad start to the day, and felt more like it started yesterday, since we didn’t get to sleep until the wee hours.”

“Oh my, what happened?” Deneb asked worriedly.

“Kouga and I had to spank two of our boys this morning,” she explained, shaking her head. “First we found out that Rei’s been lying to us about going out to hunt Horrors alone, and then Yasuka breezed in at three a.m..”

“Yeah, Rei told us on the way to school this morning,” Naoya said sympathetically. “If it makes you feel any better, I had to break up another knock-down, drag-out between Shinjiro and Chiaki this morning. I let them off with only one swat this time, but told them they’d be getting it for real if it happens again.” He smiled ruefully. “And knowing them, it probably will.”

“I feel lucky,” I admitted. “The Gekirangers don’t tend to fight like that, and they don’t lie and sneak around, either.”

“That you know of,” Jabi said dryly.

I laughed. “Well, I suppose there IS that, but honestly, it would be hard for them to hide it, with so many adults in and out of the place.” Although Master Shafu and I are the primary guardians and trainers for the kids, the rest of the Seven Kensei are always available and give specialized training in between their own daily business elsewhere.

“So Rio and Mele are getting along with the other kids?” Naoya queried. “Their addition is fairly recent, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” I admitted. “And I won’t say that things there are perfect, but there haven’t been any physical fights outside of training.” I chuckled. “So far, my biggest problem there has been trying to keep Mele out of Rio’s bedroom at night!”

“I’d be happy just to keep Yasuka IN his bedroom at night.” Jabi sighed.

“I guess you’re the really lucky one, Deneb.” Naoya turned to him with a smile. “You’ve only got one kid to deal with.”

“But that kid is Ryuutaros,” Jabi pointed out. “He’s a handful all on his own, I would imagine.” She paused, “Um, no pun intended.”

Deneb laughed and patted her shoulder. “None taken.” He became quiet and thoughtful then and finally said, “Ryuutaros CAN be a problem sometimes, but his brothers are always on top of it rather quickly when he is. However, he isn’t the only child Sieg and I have to worry about. You’re forgetting Yuuto and Ryotaro.”

The three of us exchanged a surprised look. “But weren’t the two of them the Kamen Riders?” I asked. “They seem like the Gekirangers to me; responsible and hardworking.”

“Oh, they are!” Deneb nodded emphatically. “As you know, Yuuto and I fought alongside each other while Ryotaro and his Imagin were doing the same, and our lines often crossed so that we all fought together. However, now that all the battles are over and we’ve been settling into normal life, Yuuto has had to adjust to being a regular boy again. Ryotaro hadn’t been Den-O for as long as Yuuto was Zeronos, so it’s not as difficult an adjustment for him.”

“What problems has Yuuto had?” Jabi asked.

“He gets restless and anxious, like he still feels he should be out there fighting something.” Deneb sighed. “I’m content with my candy-making, cooking, and taking care of everyone, but I worry that he may get bored with nothing to do.” He smiled a little. “There is Ryotaro, though, and he’s been wonderful in helping Yuuto adjust. They’re spending more and more time together lately.”

Once more, the rest of us shared a significant glance. “You might want to keep an eye on that, Deneb,” I suggested. “Just in case.”

“You think it could be a problem?” He sounded completely clueless, poor man. And since we didn’t really have any grounds to worry him further at the moment, it seemed best to let it go.

“In any case, it does seem like your issues with children in your home are minimal right now, and that’s a good thing,” Jabi told him.

“With the children, yes,” Deneb sighed ruefully. “Now if I could just stop Momotaros and Kametaros from trying to kill each other every day, all would be well.”

There is no one named ‘Kametaros’ in Deneb’s house – he was referring to Urataros, who is a turtle Imagin, and was effectively calling him ‘Turtle-taros’. He also often calls Kintaros ‘Kumataros’ as in ‘Bear-taros.’ I suppose the name mix-ups are fair play in turnabout as the Taros brothers constantly refer to Deneb as ‘Odebu.’

Naoya laughed. “Well, if you figure out how to do that, let ME know. Maybe I can use the same technique on Shinjiro and Chiaki!”

Jabi glanced past us and said, “Deneb, isn’t that Ryuutaros climbing out a window of your house?”

We all looked that way and saw the purple dragon Imagin lower himself to the ground, the proceed to skip off happily until he saw us all staring at him. “Uh ohhh ….”

“Ryuutaros, you’re supposed to be doing those vocabulary assignments I gave you,” Deneb said. “Did you finish them?”

The one thing I’ve always found amazing about the Imagin in their natural forms is how their body language and personalities more than make up for their lack of facial expressions. The child before us now was exhibiting all the classic signs of guilt without being able to show it on his face; shuffling feet, avoiding our eyes by ducking his head, a cajoling voice, “ I WAS doing them, Odebu, but then I remembered I had something very important to do.”

“And what was that?”

“I have to go to the park and dance!” he said happily and did a quick spin. “It’s fun, great exercise, and a lot of people show up to watch!”

“I’m sure they will, if you go looking like that,” Jabi remarked, motioning toward him. He laughed, spreading his arms and turning in a circle.

“What’s wrong with this? Can’t hear you!” He chuckled again. “Just kidding; I’ll change to human form before I leave the neighborhood.” Even though the Imagin had been seen in natural form outside before, thanks to their stint as policemen, sometimes it was just easier to blend in.

“You’ll finish your lessons before leaving the neighborhood, too.” Deneb turned him around and gave him a gentle push toward their house.

“Awww, Odebu ….” Ryuutaros whined, but his shoulders slumped like he knew he had lost. At the last moment he swiped a lollipop from Deneb’s basket and ran back home with it.

We laughed. “He’s an appealing kid, for all that Momo calls him a brat,” I remarked.

“That’s mostly a term of affection … I think,” Deneb said, then admitted, “It can be hard to remain firm with him sometimes, but Sieg and I want him to be educated. He can’t go to regular school, so I must persevere.” He sighed. “I think the problem in keeping him focused is that he has no one to study with. He’s easily distracted.”

“I understand that,” I said with a sigh. “Jan’s having a terrible time in school himself. He wants to be with the other kids but it’s becoming obvious that he can’t keep up. How can he when he was only a child the last time he had any formal lessons?” I didn’t say that Jan might not be the only one having trouble; I had suspicions about Mele, as well. She hadn’t been in any kind of classroom for years between her death and later revival by Rio. She had to be in need of supplemental lessons, if not starting right from scratch. But she had insisted on being in Rio’s class, and I doubted she would consider leaving it now.

“Jabi!” called out Kouga from their front door. He headed toward us and nodded a greeting before turning to his wife. “I just had a disturbing phone call.”

She groaned and put her head in her hands. “Please, not the Principal. If Yasuka’s been suspended again, I’ll kill him.”

“It wasn’t the Principal,” Kouga said grimly. “It was my brother. Hiroki’s disappeared.”

Jabi looked up, fearful, the others and I exchanged a worried glance. I squeezed Jabi’s shoulder encouragingly.

“We’ll be happy to help any way we can,” I said firmly, and Naoya and Deneb nodded. The Saejimas smiled gratefully.

That’s the other thing besides gossip that’s commonplace on Sakura Court; neighbors who are there for each other.


Miki

--

End of Part 7

(2008)

No characters here are mine. Celebrities here are for fictional purposes only and none of the events within ever happened.

This fic is not to be re-posted.