Kanto. A midland province of Japan, which dominates the centre of this eastern archipelago, laid a small hot spring village. The village of Hinata. An idyllic, mountainous Japanese hamlet, nestled deep in tree covered hills; its inhabitants are peaceful, friendly and welcoming of strangers. Truly, this is the stereotyped peaceful eastern village of your dreams. Situated on a large plateau in this village was the Hinata inn, a small hotel turned girls dormitory founded by the friendly and helpful old lady of the village, Hina Urashima. This dormitory is where our story begins.....
A single sliver of sunlight broke through a dusty set of shades, its faint glow illuminating a large room. A large destroyed room that is. The carnage became more and more evident as the brave beam of sunlight began its descent into this explosive test area that some may call a room.
The first thing it struck was a futon. Its blanket had long since flown the coop and now lay in the far corner of the room, draped over a desk. It was stained with a vaguely red substance.
It drifted westwards onto the floor. A plethora of bottle heaved into view. Sake, beer, lager, whiskey, all of these littered the about, the contents of some still dripping onto the wood floor leaving a large puddle of alcohol, with a stench strong enough to stagger a large dog.
Finally, it settled against the opposite wall. The last thing to be illuminated was the body of a young woman, her shapely curves evident even in the dim light. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. Her soft breathing, the single sound in the darkness of the room. She was asleep under an upended floor lamp. A peaceful, if alcohol soaked scene. But this serenity was not to last. All things must come to an end, some peacefully, others not so much.
This unfortunately was the latter.
Without warning, a battery powered alarm clock, which lay in a metallic dustbin, sprang to life, its ringing acoustically enhanced by the metal cone, giving it a megaphone effect.
The alarm clock rang and rang, its piercing sound booming about the room.
The young woman stirred signs of life returning, slowly at first but when the sound hit her ears all that changed.
She clutched her head with both hands, gritting her teeth violently, massaging her head roughly with her fingers.
"What.... What is that...? UNGODLY SOUND!?!" she screamed, the hint of an Osaka accent lining her voice. She raised herself slowly, her hands still clutched to her ears seeking out the source of the sound.
She came upon the dustbin standing over it menacingly, a malevolent glint flashed through her eyes. She bent down, gripped the rim of the dustbin and hurled it violently towards the far wall.
Her aim was a little too good however and the bin tore through the shades, broke the window pane and sailed into the deep blue sky, its beeping growing quieter the further it got from the room.
"Little beepin bastard" she muttered to herself quietly, her hands back on her head. A loud crash emanated from somewhere below and all returned to silence. She stood swaying for roughly 15 seconds, before shambling towards her desk. She wrenched the blanket from the desk roughly and flung it across the room, landing near the busted window. She rummaged through the desk for two minutes, tearing out clothes, makeup, books whatever she could get her hands on.
She slammed a fist on the desk and growled. Looking around she did not find what she was looking for. Her trusty aspirin.
She wobbled toward the door and slid it open softly, her rage being overtaken by pain once again. As she stepped into the bright hallway wearing nothing but a large t-shirt and a pair sleeping shorts, her eyes stung, the daylight hitting her violently. She staggered slightly but caught herself on the wall. "My... Christ!" she mouthed, a flash of pain shooting through her head.
Regaining her uneven composure she started down the hallway, her knees buckling frequently as she swayed down the hallway, moving ever so slowly.
Confronting the stairs, she gulped loudly. A daunting task for anyone in her position. She placed a foot down on the first step and made her way down from there, quietly moaning as she hit each step.
She made the ground floor and started down the hallway like a runner past the finish line. Into the kitchen and over to the cupboards.
Suddenly her legs buckled beneath her, with nothing to save herself with, she closed her eyes and braced for impact.
The impact she was expecting never came, she didn't understand what was happening. "Have I finally learned to fly after so many attempts?" She thought to herself.
"Hey Kitsune, started a voice. "Rough night?"
She snapped open her eyes and there, looking down at her was Keitaro the Hinata landlord, a small smile adorning his face. He was holding her under her arms, supporting her easily.
"Keitaro?" she said, staring up his nostrils. "My hero! Thank you so much" she said jokingly, her head in a momentary lapse from the pain. "I'd be split open if it weren't for you" she continued. Keitaro's face grew bright red; he began to feel hot... "Hey, what's a landlord for?" he chuckled, still supporting her with his hands.
She chuckled up at him. "Having a good time up there are you" she laughed. But the laugh soon died as the pain was returning. Keitaro looked down and squealed. He hoisted her to her feet and leapt back, shielding his face.
Mitsune stumbled forward, catching herself on the counter before she suffered a nasty blow from the cupboard door. She composed herself once more, still clutching her head with one hand, the endorphins dieing down and neural assault returning once more.
She moaned softly and sluggishly pulled the handle of the cupboard, opening it slowly with a small creak. A quick grope around the cupboard later and Mitsune's old friend emerged, gripped tightly in her soft hands. She smiled broadly, lifted the bottle to her mouth and out plopped two tablets. Bracing slightly, she swallowed both tablets and stood, eyes closed breathing softly, waiting for the pills to take effect.
She exhaled deeply and smiled widely.
"Much better now" she chirped cheerily. She spun around on her heel. "So Keitaro" she began, but stopped, her cheeky grin disappearing slowly from her face. "Keitaro? What's the matter, are you okay?" she asked, growing concern for the kanrinin becoming apparent in her voice and her eyes.
Keitaro lay huddled against a counter, his face obscured by his hands, shivering heavily. "I'msorryi'msorryi'msorryi'msorry" he muttered quietly and quickly over and over again, his words running together inaudibly.
Mitsune grew worried for the clearly disturbed man. She stepped cautiously toward him, reaching out a hand as she did. "Kei-Keitaro are you-" He let out a strangled shriek and desperately scrabbled past her to the opposite corner of the kitchen. Unable to flee any further, he curled up as tight as he could and mentally prepared himself for the expected beating he had grown so accustomed too.
Mitsune swallowed roughly, tears welling up in her eyes. "What have we done to him?" she thought, shame creeping into every fibre of her being.
"Keitaro? Its m-me, your friend Mitsune konno." She couldn't believe the state she and the other girls had put him in. "The Fox" began to feel physically ill. She edged closer and closer, a mixture of pity and horror etched on her soft features. "K-k-kei? She laid a hand on his shaking head, trying to comfort him.
To her surprise, he leapt forward and wrapped himself around her legs, causing her to jump back violently. Glancing downwards quickly, she observed a sight that made tears roll down her face.
Keitaro sat sobbing, clutching her legs for dear life, muttering beneath the anguished sobs. "Please no more no more, not again, please Kitsune no, I'm sorry" refusing to let his grip loosen even slightly.
Her lower lip began to quiver; tears were now streaming down her cheeks. She felt weak at the thought that she and her housemates had caused this polite and clumsy man to be reduced to a quivering shell of his former self.
"(Sniff Sniff) Keitaro, look at me please." She received no response. "K-k-Keitaro please!" she implored him again. His grip only tightened, afraid that if he answered her request, his punishment would only grow more severe.
She stood for it no longer. She dropped to one knee and wrenched his hands from her leg. Gripping each of his hands in her own, she levelled her head with his own, finally receiving a glance of the anguished face of her wounded landlord.
His eyes were red raw from crying, shivering from the thought of the beating he had come to expect whenever he laid a hand near a lady of Hinata house. His gaze would not meet her own. His eyes darted around always moving, never fixing on anything.
Mitsune, truly sorry and wracked with guilt, let out a sorrowful sob. Her guilt rising to the surface now. Guilt for all the times she had taken advantage of the gullible landlord, extending rent, rubbing up against him to get him in trouble for her own amusement. She never imagined that all the years living in Hinata would take such a toll on the young man.
She released his hands and gripped his head tightly, drew it forcefully to the nape of her neck and embraced him deeply, allowing her tears to flow freely, most of them now dripping onto Keitaro's head.
She held him close for what felt like a day until she felt his sobs slow and then stop. She brought his head away from her own and finally he would meet her gaze with his own.
"Keitaro" she began. "I had no idea, I..." she trailed off quietly, her own soft sobs obscuring her speech.
Keitaro's face was a mixture of confusion and fear. Confusion because he had no idea why she was crying and fear for his innate sense that he has always done something wrong.
"K-K-Kit.., what did I do, where did I..."
"NO!" She shouted. Keitaro visibly flinched. "You did nothing! Nothing at all! Its always been the same, you do nothing wrong and somehow your the one who ends up being floored for it!! Its just wrong..."
She fell into soft sobs again, gripping his shoulders tightly.
"The Fox" had grown a conscience.
"I promise you Keitaro..." she began once again. "I promise that" she gulped loudly. "As long as I'm here no one will lay a hand on you again. I promise..."
"KEITARO YOU PERVERT!!!!"
Both of them looked around to see a raging Naru standing in the kitchen doorway, wearing a malicious smile, cracking her knuckles.
"Taking advantage of poor Mitsune right in the middle of the kitchen! You are a shameless parasite aren't you?" she hissed lowly.
She advanced on the pair, her right fist primed for landing.
She stood behind Mitsune, bidding her to move aside to allow her to enact her horrific deed.
Mitsune grunted roughly, shooting Naru a dirty look from the corner of her eye. She rose to her feet, still gripping Keitaro tightly as she did.
Naru looked confused. "Kitsune? Why are you-?"
Kitsune released Keitaro softly and spun around, confronting the aggressive advance of the fuming Naru.
Kitsune scowled vindictively at her friend. She brought her right hand over her left shoulder and swung roughly back at Naru.
The back of her hand connected successfully with a resounding, sharp "SMACK." She followed suit with a verbal assault.
"IF YOU EVER RAISE A HAND TO HIM AGAIN NARU, I SWEAR I WILL BREAK ALL TIES WITH YOU THAT I EVER HAD BEFORE AND I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE SURE YOU NEVER FORGET THE PAIN YOU HAVE INFLICTED ON HIM IN THE PAST. KEITARO DID NOTHING WRONG! HE STOPPED ME FROM FALLING OVER!! -HOW IS THAT PERVERTED, NARU? HOW!? She screamed directly in her friends face. The look on Naru's face ensured "The Fox" that her fangs were cutting deep.
Naru rubbed her stinging cheek, her face a mask of confusion. Kitsune continued with her sharp words.
"AND NOT ONLY THAT! EVEN WHEN HE STOPPED ME FROM FALLING, A SURE ACT OF HIS GOOD NATURE, HE LEAPT BACK SO FAST I THOUGHT I'D FALL AGAIN! YOUR FAULT AGAIN, NARU! THAT EVEN THE THOUGHT OF LAYING A HAND ON A WOMAN IN THIS HOUSE TERRIFIES HIM!"
"But..."
"No "buts" Naru-just... Go, please" she turned away disgusted.
Naru didn't even make a sound. She turned and left the room, her face still fixed in a mask of utter confusion.
Kitsune faced away from the door, her face fixed with a mixture of disgust and shame.
Keitaro did nothing but stare at Kitsune, the woman who finally treated him as a man rather than a one man circus act. He was amazed at her conviction, her commitment and most of all her ferocity.
Kitsune finally looked up to see Keitaro fixated on her, unblinking unmoving. She sniffed lightly and shot him a quick smirk, assuring him that she was fine. She spoke only once. "Keitaro, come to my room in ten minutes, y'hear, I need to say a few things to you myself." Her face fell and disappeared beneath her fringe and she left the kitchen, leaving Keitaro alone.
"Kitsune" he muttered. "Thank...you."
End of Chapter 1
Well, what can I say, I tried a Love Hina Fanfic before but it was not well received, so I thought I'd try again. This is obviously a Romance Fic between Kei and Kit, a totally underused pairing.
I realise also that the amount of dialogue in this chapter is lax and Kit may seem a bit OOC but i promise i just need to peruse the manga again and all will return to normal.
Oh and the name will have a meaning later in the story too so wait for that.
Okay please, Comment and tell me what you think, if you have criticism for me make it constructive; tell me how i can improve.
Okay till the next chapter, dasvidanya! To you all.
Lucifernum, signin off!
Oh btw I don't own Love Hina, any of the characters im simply inserting my own take on the plot and relationship in Love Hina, so yeah i disclaim any copyright good night to all.
The Last of the Summer Sake