Disclaimer: All things Love Hina belong to Ken Akamatsu, and not me. As if you didn't know that.
Author's notice: Thanks for reviewing, everybody! I made a few major changes to the fiction, according to your reviews. It was meant to be a one-shot, but I changed that part. Keep reviewing, that is the only way for me to become better!
Chapter one: Dying Breath
by Child Of Ragnarok
Our story takes place in a hospital in close proximity to Hinata-sou. It is late at night. Urashima Keitaro is lying in his hospital bed, his heartbeat fading by the minute. All the residents at Hinata-sou have gathered around his bed, called there by Doctor Hikari.
The girls are all looking at Keitaro in concern, except for one. Aoyama Motoko. She sits and stares out of the window, recalling the horrible incident leading to Keitaro's condition.
-Flashback-
"You PERVERT!" screams Naru, after yet another of Keitaro's accidents with Shinobu's skirt.
"It was an accident, really! Narusegawa, I swear! I… AAAAAAAAH!" Keitaro's pleading is cut short by a perfectly executed Naru-punch. Just as Keitaro has calculated, he lands in the hot spring, where (surprise surprise) Motoko is taking her evening bath.
"URASHIMA!" she bellows in fury, grabbing her sword. Keitaro just sighs and admits defeat, knowing what is coming to him. At least he thinks he does.
When Motoko steps forward to fire her chi attack, she somehow slips on the slippery floor, falls over and lands painfully on her back, losing her grip on the sword in the process. When she looks up, her eyes widen in terror.
Keitaro has dropped to his knees, the sword firmly lodged in his stomach. Motoko sees blood flow from his mouth, then he falls over and doesn't move.
"Urashima! Spirits, no. What have I done?" Motoko wails, then wisely decides to yell for help. A few moments later, Naru, Kitsune and Haruka run through the door.
"Motoko-san! Why are you…" Haruka begins, but then she sees Keitaro and falls silent. She just has time to say "Oh my goodness!" before running back inside to call doctor Hikari.
After explaining what she has done to everybody, Motoko pleads for help. "Narusegawa, please help me tend to Urashima. Konno-san, do what you can for Haruka-san. I believe she is in a major state of shock right now." Without further ado, Kitsune walks inside.
"Oh, my poor Keitaro!" Naru whines, tears flowing from her eyes. "We've gotta do something! Can't we bandage him up somehow?"
"Unfortunately, we cannot," is Motoko's reply. She tries to sound calm, but her own tears are flowing. "We cannot apply bandage because of the sword, and if we remove it, we will cause further injury."
Kitsune, Shinobu and Su enter the room, but Shinobu passes out instantly, only having time to say "Aaauuuuu, Sempai!"
"Doctor Hikari is coming now, and Haruka is taking a nice lie-down," says Kitsune. She looks down on Keitaro, bends down and gently strokes his cheek with the back of her fingers. "How bad is it?"
Motoko answers through sobs. "It… the sword has p-pierced his liver and… and his right k-kidney. I… how c-could I have m-misjudged the f-force of my s-stab like that? Now K-keitaro may die and it is all my fault!" At that point, she loses it completely and falls into Naru's arms, crying heavily. Naru, crying equally heavy, pats Motoko on the back, while thinking. "She called him Keitaro, not Urashima. This must be serious."
Doctor Hikari arrives and, with some help from Kitsune and Su, the only two who can still help, carries Keitaro into the ambulance and they are rushed from the scene.
When the girls, Haruka, Mutsumi, Keitaro's parents and Seta arrive to the hospital three hours later, Doctor Hikari comes and gives them the bad news. It appeared that not only did Motoko's attack cleave Keitaro's liver and kidney, it also cut right through the nerve center which controlled Keitaro's ability to heal. So, with no ability to heal and a massive hemorrhage in his intestines, hope had run out for Keitaro. Doctor Hikari had estimated his life to last for five more hours.
-End of flashback-
With no hope left, everybody is sitting around Keitaro's bed and crying. Except for Motoko, who still sits by the window, knowing she has commited a murder.
As Keitaro's blood pressure is dropping, he suddenly coughs. Everybody leans close to him. Motoko leaves the window and joins the others to hear what Keitaro has to say. Keitaro speaks what he knows will be his final words.
"Everybody… cough… I don't have long left now. Before I pass… hack, wheeze… there are a few things I want to tell you all." All visitors now cry silently.
"First, try not to mourn for me. You're too young, your lives are ahead of you. Don't grieve over the loss of mine." Shinobu breaks down into heavy crying.
"Second... Narusegawa, Kitsune, Shinobu-chan, Su-chan, and Motoko-chan." The girls lean close. "Thank you for being my friends. The time I spent at Hinata-sou was the happiest in my life. I will always hold a place in my heart for you all." The girls, crying fit to burst, take it in intervals to bend down and hug Keitaro tight, and plant a wet kiss on his face.
"Third... Mutsumi-chan." Mutsumi, tears welling out of her eyes, leans in. "You taught me what it felt like to kiss a girl, and at that time, you made me feel... loved. I will always cherish you for that." Mutsumi chokes out an "Oh my, Urashima-kun...", bends down and kisses Keitaro.
"Fourth... Mum, Dad, and Au... I mean, Haruka-san." They lean close. "Thank you for showing me where I belong. Mum and Dad, kicking me out of the house, and Haruka-san, telling me about my grandmother's wish was the best that ever happened to me. Thank you ever so much." Keitaro's parents' grief is beyond tears. Haruka wipes her eyes on her paper fan, which she pulled out by instinct when he began to say the A-word.
"Fifth... Seta. When you told me you saw a great archeologist in me, I took it to my heart. Also, teaching me those martial arts... I appreciated it. Thanks for helping in turning me into the person I am today. Seta curls his hands in his lap, tears dropping onto them.
"And finally… Motoko-chan." Motoko looks at him, tears pouring out of her eyes. "I won't hold you responsible for this. I know you didn't intend to do this to me."
"Keitaro… how can you be so forgiving? I have murdered you, but you still forgive me! Why?" she asks, while crying.
"Because… I love you, Motoko-chan. I want you to know that I love you. Now that you know, I can die in peace."
Everybody in the room falls silent. Then they all break down into heavy crying, Motoko crying the hardest of them all. Then she bends down and hugs him tight to her, weeping into his hair.
"I love you too, Keitaro…" she responds, and kisses him on his mouth. They remain like that, arms wrapped around one another, until Motoko notices something. Keitaro's heart has stopped beating.
"NO!" she screams. "Keitaro! Do not leave me, please, I beg of you!" But it is too late.
Whispering the word "Motoko-chan", he draws his final breath, forever ending the story of Urashima Keitaro.
End of chapter one.