Love Hina – Crimes and Miss-Demeanors
Fanfic
Chapter One –
Friday Morning
(I've finally made it to Tokyo U.! All that hard work and studying has paid off! No more slouching for me! I can hold my head up high and say 'I'm a Tokyo U. Student'. Everyone is congratulating me, yes, I know, thank you, thank you. What? Oh no, not you. Grannyyyyy! Nooooooooooo!)
Keitaro sits up, sweat pouring down his face. He looks around, and sees he is still in his bedroom, which, of course, means "Oh, man, it was just a dream!"
Keitaro Urashima, a two-time ronin, a part-time bakery delivery boy, and a full-time klutz, slowly gets out of bed and heads for the bathroom to prepare for another day of studying and delivering. As he steps out of the shower, a towel around his waist and one on his head, his dream comes back to him; more directly, the part where he gets a kiss from his grandmother. (Yuck, not Granny! Fond as I am of her, her kiss isn't the kind I'd wish to dream about.) He grabs his toothbrush and furiously scrubs his teeth and mouth.
The phone interrupts his ablutions. Walking to the kitchenette, he picks it up. "Keitaro Urashima, may I help you?"
A familiar voice answers him "Keitaro! This is your Granny Hina! How are you my dear boy?" A tiny, tan-colored kitten rubs against Keitaro's leg.
His surprise quickly turns to heartfelt joy "Granny! I was just thinking about you! I'm doing great, how are you? I haven't heard from you in ages." Absently-mindedly, he takes a plate from the refrigerator, removes the cover, and puts it down for the kitten. Being kissed in his dreams by his grandmother may be disturbing for the young man, but Keitaro is genuinely fond of her.
"Were you now? Well, I'm doing just fine, Keitaro. I called you because I was wondering . Could you come to Hinata and see me this afternoon? I have something I want to discuss with you over tea." After a final strong rub and purr, the kitten starts eating her breakfast.
"Sure, Granny, I'll be over after I get done with prep-school. Say, about five?" Keitaro asks as he dries his hair.
"That'll be fine. I'll see you about five then. Take care, Keitaro."
"You too, Granny, see you later." As he hangs up the phone, Keitaro stares out the window of his apartment for a moment. He looks down at the kitten and says "I wonder what Granny wants, Noraneko-chan. I haven't heard from her much since she decided she wanted to re-open the old Hinata inn."
"Meowrrrrr?" The kitten looks up from her meal; the look in her eyes saying "beats me" as she continues eating.
Keitaro kneels and scratches the kitten behind her ears. Noraneko purrs and stops eating as she leans into Keitaro's caresses. "I gotta get ready for school. I'll be home a bit late, Granny wants to see me. I'll leave your dry-food bowl out in case I'm real late. You be a good kitty and don't stay out too much." Keitaro makes sure the bowl is full, the water bottle is topped-off, and the cat-flap in the kitchen window is unlatched for Noraneko's convenience.
Walking back to his bedroom, Keitaro finishes dressing and heads for his parents' bakery to make his morning deliveries before going to school.
Later that day
Having finished his deliveries, Keitaro buries himself in his books. Since he found out the other day that he scored twenty-seventh from the bottom in the last practice test, he has spent the entire week studying harder than usual.
That afternoon, Keitaro is walking down the hall at school, his thoughts lost on his studies as he flips through his notebook, when someone bumps into him. Staggering backwards, he puts a hand out, "Oh, I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going."
He looks around and sees a girl sitting on the floor in front of him. She wearing a long, black leather coat (like the tough girls in anime do) Keitaro thinks absently. Under the flopped-open coat he glimpses a several-sizes too large orange sweater and a loose-fitting tan skirt. Her eyes are hidden by thick, round glasses, and her honey-colored hair is done up in twin ponytails that stick out from her head. She stares up at Keitaro, anger flaring in her eyes as she balls her fists.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, jerk? For Kami's sake, can't you manage to walk and watch where you're going at the same time, you idiot?" she yells, glaring at the people giving her a wide berth as they walk quickly down the hall.
Keitaro, ignoring her tone, grabs the back of his head and bows. "I'm really very sorry, miss. You're right, I wasn't watching where I was going, and I apologize." He gives her a lop-sided smile as he reaches a hand out to help her up.
Slapping his hand out of her way, she picks up her book bag and stands, straightenening her coat. "Don't you touch me, you lousy pervert! I don't want your clumsiness to rub off on me!" She snarls.
Keitaro puts his hands out, palms facing her, "I said I'm sorry. I was just trying to apologize." He says, trying to calm the girl down.
"Ooooooh! If I want your apology I'll beat it outta you! Now get out of my way, baka!" She shoves Keitaro roughly to the side as she moves to go past him, causing him to trip over his own feet. As he starts to go down, he reaches out to grab something to break his fall. Unfortunately, his hand grasps the girls' arm near her elbow.
Her eyes go wide, and she spins towards him. "LET GO OF ME, YOU PERVERT!" She balls her right hand into a fist and slams it into Keitaro's forehead, sending him skidding, bouncing and flying back down the hallway, landing at the feet of his high-school friends, Haitani and Shirai, who are doing their best not to come to the attention of the angry female as she rushes past them.
Looking down at Keitaro, Shirai says "What do you think you're doing, getting in the way of that piece of work, Keitaro? You wanna end up in the hospital, or worse?"
"Yeah, that's Narusegawa. She's been trouble since she started here last month. Rumor has it she once beat up three guys just because one of them said 'hi' to her; put them all in the hospital for weeks!" Haitani says.
"I heard she nearly killed a skateboarder just for riding too close to her on the sidewalk!"
"I was told she hit one of the teachers and knocked half his teeth out; made it so he has to eat creamed corn for the rest of his life!"
"She's supposedly a hit-man, er, girl for the Yakuza!"
"She's a magical girl, and she has weird powers that let her steal your soul and turn you into a newt!"
Crickets chirp.
"Well, that's what I heard." Haitani says, scraping his foot on the floor.
Keitaro scratches the back of his head as he stands and adjusts his glasses. "You guys shouldn't listen to the rumor mill so much. I can't believe she's all that bad. At least, not the part about being a hit-girl for the Yakuza, or being magical." He rubs his forehead. "But, maybe I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on the rest. Ow!"
"Well, how about this? Can you believe she actually scored highest in the nation on her practice exam? She's got brains and brawn, but a total lack of respect for others. I'd hate to run into her all by myself, there's no telling what kinda tortures a devil-girl like that could think up." Shirai states, shivering.
"No kidding. And judging from her looks, she probably doesn't get out much on dates, and has a lot of pent-up issues with guys, you ask me." Haitani replies. "I mean, seriously! That long black coat look works for tough high-school girls, but she's a bit too old for that kinda cosplay."
Shirai glances down the hall in case she returns, "And are you gonna be the one to tell her that? I like my head right where it is, on my neck!' he says.
Keitaro shakes his head at his friends blathering as he retrieves his backpack and notebook. Putting the latter safely inside, he closes the backpack. Looking at the clock, he grimaces (Oh no! If I don't hurry, I'll miss the train and I won't make it to Granny's in time.)
Remembering that he forgot his wallet that morning, he asks his friends, "Hey, could you guys lend me some taxi money? I gotta go see my grandma this afternoon and I'd rather not fight the crowds and risk missing the train to Hinata."
Haitani and Shirai backpedal up the hallway, their hands shoved into their pockets "Sorry dude, but it's the weekend, and we got plans. See ya later, Keitaro." Shirai squeaks out.
"Yeah, take care buddy." Haitani sputters "We gotta get going"
Keitaro calls after the two skin-flints, "You cheap buggers! You friggin' tight-wads! You just wait and see, you'll need me to help you out one of these days, and what do you think will happen?"
Shirai; "Same thing as always, bud. You can't help yourself when anyone asks ya fer help."
Haitani; "Yeah, you're too soft of a touch, Keitaro. See ya!"
Keitaro looks at his friends as they disappear up the hallway. He smiles as he says to himself; "Yeah, I know. I just wish it'd rub off on others once in a while."
About Four-thirty that afternoon, Hinata City
Keitaro looks around after getting off the tram. The city is just like he remembers is, more like a small town or village than a suburb of Shibuya. People here walk at a slower pace than in Tokyo, seeming to not be in as much of a hurry to get where they are going.
Crossing the stone bridge over the Hinata River, Keitaro stops by a bench and looks at his watch. (I still have half an hour before I see Granny. I think I'll just sit here for while, let my stomach settle.)
He places his backpack in front of him as he sits. To himself, he says, "It's been years since I've been here, and having Granny call me out of the blue like that, wanting to see me, I guess I'm a little nervous."
Hearing an almost inaudible sigh, Keitaro looks around and sees a young girl sitting on the bench on the other side of the bridge gate. She has her head down, her short dark hair not quite hiding her face. The girl appears sad and worried, with a small tear at the corner of her eye.
(Poor kid. Something seems to really be bothering her.) Keitaro looks on, his natural empathy pulling at his heart to see someone so obviously depressed. Not knowing if he should say anything, being a stranger to her, he pulls his sketchbook out and, with short, quick glances, he starts to draw.
(She kinda reminds me of Nako-chan when she was younger. It's a shame a little kid like that looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.) Barely seeing his sketchbook, Keitaro lets his imagination and heart guide his hand. (She's a cute little child, even if she isn't in the mood to smile right now.)
Keitaro's hand moves almost without his conscious thought, capturing the image in his mind of how the girl 'should' look, with a care-free smile on her face instead of a frown. As he glances at her, he doesn't notice she has noticed his attention.
Shinobu Maehara, leaning forward, her elbows on her legs and her hands hanging loosely between her knees, is afraid that the strange man keeps looking at her.
(Oh, no! W-why does that man keep looking at me? What is he doing?) Shinobu looks down quickly as the man looks towards her again. Blushing slightly, she thinks (He, he doesn't look like a bad person. And he's just sitting there.)
Daring another look, she notices the man's eyes as he seems to be drawing something. Looking at her feet, (His eyes look so kind, brown and warm. He has a gentle face, too. I wish…)
She hears a disturbance and turns to see that three of the village elders are standing around the man, holding his sketchbook in their hands. "Nope, doesn't look like her." One of them says. "Isn't her likeness." Says another.
Shinobu watches as the young man tries to retrieve his book. "Hey, give that back! That's my sketchbook!" He pleads, jumping and trying to reach the book as the elders toss it from one to another. His hand hits the book as it goes past, knocking over to land in front her. It lands face up, and Shinobu gasps as she sees a drawing of HER! Smiling and happy. Not at all how she feels. "T-that's me!" she whispers.
Thinking about what the elders had just done, she looks at the young man, feeling sorry that they acted like bullies towards him. (He seems like a nice person. Why are they doing this to him?) Gathering her courage, Shinobu dares to speak to the elders for the first time in her life.
Keitaro sees his book on the ground, his latest drawing confronting his unknowing subject. He hears her say "T-that's me!" as she, her face flushed, "That's not funny!" she sobs, looking at each of the elders before she glances at him. (Oh no! She saw my drawing! I've angered her!)
Slapping his hand, Keitaro explains "I'm sorry; it was just my stupid hand! See?" (Now THAT was about the most idiotic thing you've ever said, Keitaro, blaming your hand for drawing!) Not wanting to cause any more problems, he grabs his backpack, turns and runs down the nearest side street.
Shinobu watches the young man disappear. (Aaauuuuu! The poor man! H-he thinks I was blaming him!) She looks down, realizing he did not retrieve his sketchbook. She gently picks it up, staring at the drawing he did. (It looks just like me! Except I'm smiling! H-he drew me smiling!)
The three elders stand behind her, looking over her shoulder. "Let us see your smile," One asks in a gentle voice.
Shinobu, thinking about the young man, looks up, a weak but genuine smile on her face.
"Nope, isn't you. Yet." The elder says.
"Oh no, I h-have to return this to him." Shinobu looks at the elders.
All three point at the street Keitaro went down "He went to the Hinata Apartments."
Shinobu freezes at the mention of that name. (T-the Hinata Apartments? Mom s-says that place is f-full of real mean girls! I….I can't go there!) Shinobu, hanging her head as she clutches the sketchbook to her chest, turns and walks in the opposite direction. (B-but, I have to return his book.)
Keitaro, still running, nearly trips and falls as he realizes he left his sketchbook behind. "Oh no! My sketchbook! Darn, I can't go back there right now!" Noticing where he is at, Keitaro's mood lightens "Hey! I know these streets! This is the way to Granny's place!"
Keitaro turns another corner and sees the Hinata Tea Shop. Next to it are the stairs leading up to the old Hinata Resort. Sprinting faster, he races up the stairs, his sketchbook forgotten in his anticipation at seeing his dear Granny again. As he reaches the top of the stairs and rushes to the front door, Keitaro misses the brass-lettered sign on the wall near the open gates:
Hinata-sou All-Girl Reformatory.
And beneath it, in red, painted-on letters:
No Trespassing!
No Solicitors!
Males forbidden beyond this point on pain of death!
And we ain't kiddings!
For alcohol deliveries, ask for the Fox!