The Silent Man in the Rainbow Scarf
Ch. 1: A Rude Introduction
A bit of foreword
I do not own Love Hina, nor do I make any claims of owning it
Also, I haven't read nor seen the anime or manga in a long while so I may mess up the timeline of events
Changes to the canon:
-Keitaro is a bit younger than in the official media
-Keitaro has never taken Tokyo U Exams even once, for reasons I will go into
-He will be a bit OOC, meaning a bit less clumsy and a little more naïve, but a bit more optimistic. He's also slightly better around people in general and women in particular.
Let's see, there's something I'm forgetting here I just know it….oh right the main change:
-Keitaro can't speak, so his only means of communication are si
Such and Such – Characters thoughts
Such and Such- Keitaro's writing
The sun was high in the sky during this autumn afternoon in Hinata City. The leaves of the trees had taken on their brown, yellow, and red hues and there was a cool breeze wafting through the air. For the little blue-haired girl sitting on a park bench it made her feel no chill or wonder. For young Shinobu Maehara, every day was a personal hell at home. As she sat there, tears from having to listen to her parents treating her like a prize to be won long since cried, she held her knees and arms closer together to combat the fact that she had forgotten her jacket in her spirited attempt to get away from the two adults that mattered to her most.
"Why do they always have to fight over me?" Shinobu thought to herself, "Why can't things just go back to the way they once were, why did they have to stop loving each other?"
All of these questions and more continued to run through her mind as she began to start crying again, before all of a sudden there was a small sound from around where her feet were.
"Mew," the little creature seemed to say. Shinobu looked down and saw a small little black and white kitten looking at her with big yellow eyes. The little cat began moving back and forth around her legs, purring.
"Well hi there little guy," said Shinobu shakily, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Are you lost?"
"Mew," came the cat's reply, and it bounded off in the direction of the bench next to her, which Shinobu noticed that had once been unfilled but now was taken up by a rather lanky man.
He looked to be a few years older than her, perhaps around late high school or college age she guessed. He had somewhat unkempt brown hair and a thick pair of square glasses, a brown duster coat, a pair of frayed blue jeans, and a pair of black tennis shoes from what she could see. Next to him was a rather large duffel bag and backpack as well. However, what was most striking about him was the scarf he had around his neck which seemed to be made of every color yarn from the rainbow. To some it may have looked tacky, but Shinobu found she thought it looked rather nice. He sat there on his bench with what appeared to be a notebook in hand, sketching something and occasionally looking up and off into the distance with his pencil aimed straight outwards before returning to his sketch.
The small kitten sauntered over to the man and began performing the same routine as it had done to her. She half-expected the man to get angry and kick it away when he momentarily twitched in surprise but to her own surprise the man smiled, put down the book, and patted his lap, causing the kitten to leap up onto it. The man scratched the area around the cat's ears causing it to purr, before the cat once again jumped off the man's lap and walked over to her again. The man turned towards her and gave a small wave and a smile. Unsure of how to respond, Shinobu returned the wave but not the smile as she wasn't sure of what to make of the odd man. The man got up off of the park bench and began to walk over to her, causing Shinobu to begin to feel slightly nervous as she did not know him. He stopped right in front of her and pulled out his sketchbook again but instead of drawing, it looked to Shinobu like he was writing something.
The man then turned the book to face her and it said, "Hi."
"H-Hello," said Shinobu, not sure of what to make of what was going on.
The man turned the page of the sketchbook and began writing again, before finishing and showing it to her, "She's not bothering you, is she?"
On her confused look, the man gestured towards the cat that was purring while walking around her legs.
"O-Oh, no not at all," said Shinobu.
The man began writing again, and when he stopped the page said, "Are you alright? You seem rather nervous?" He was also tilting his head and had a concerned expression on his face.
"Umm…n-no reason," she replied, not wanting to offend the man.
The man once again started writing, "You're wondering why I'm using these signs to talk to you, aren't you?"
"A-a little bit, I didn't mean to upset you," Shinobu attempted to say but to her surprise, the man's expression turned into a warm smile as he replied, "No, it's quite alright. I don't mean to scare you , I would have a proper conversation with you if I could but…" and he began tapping his fingers on his throat, before shaking his head.
"O-Oh, I didn't r-realize," said Shinobu realizing what the man was "talking" about, before the man gave a dismissing gesture as he began writing again.
"It's quite alright. May I?" he "said", gesturing to the spot next to her.
"O-of course," Shinobu replied, and the man took a seat next to her and the cat once again hopped up onto his lap.
The two sat in silence for a little while, with the man petting the cat before Shinobu decided to break the ice by saying, "Um, is she yours?"
The man looked up and wrote, "Kind of, she likes to explore on her own and sometimes I don't see her for a little while but she always seems to find her way back."
"What's her name, i-if you don't mind me asking," said Shinobu.
"Miyu," the man wrote, "after the sound she likes to make."
As if to illustrate his point, the cat mewed in response to being talked about.
"I'm Keitaro, by the way," he wrote, "Keitaro Urashima."
"S-Shinobu Maehara," she replied, smiling a little.
The man smiled in response and wrote, "Nice to meet you Miss Maehara, me and Miyu are pleased to make your acquaintance," with the cat mewing in agreement.
"Um, were you sketching something back there on the other bench," said Shinobu.
Keitaro began writing again before answering, "Indeed, I was just taken by the landscape around us. Just take a look," as he gestured towards the trees.
Looking around, Shinobu had to admit that the landscape around them was rather pleasing to the eye, she hadn't even noticed how beautiful it was since she had been more focused on her own problems to notice. The sun was still shining and they were surrounded by all manners of foliage. Thinking back to how she ended up here in the first place made Shinobu once again feel depressed, something that Keitaro seemed to notice as the smile on his face was once again replaced by a more concerned expression.
He began working on something in his sketchbook while Miyu hopped into Shinobu's lap and began purring in an attempt to make her feel better, which slightly succeeded as she developed a very small smile. The two sat in silent for a few minutes while Keitaro kept working unbeknownst to Shinobu when suddenly a couple old men walked by and plucked the book from his hands.
"Oh ho, and what might this be," old man #1 said, "A love note to this young lady perhaps?"
"Little young ain't she," the other old man said.
Keitaro began scrambling to get the book back but it was to no avail as the two elders began playing keep away with it.
Eventually one of the men threw it wrong and it land in front of Shinobu's feet. She picked it up and looked at the page it had landed on and let out a small surprised gasp. On the page was a small portrait of her, with a big warm smile on her face.
She looked at Keitaro who had developed a bit of a nervous expression before he began bowing over and over again and running off as if he had been frightened.
"Wait, come back," Shinobu tried to call out but to no avail as the man had disappeared off into the distance with Miyu running after him.
"Hmm...," one of the elders said, "Not very much detail, very roughly sketched, completely unrealistic."
The two elders left her standing there holding the book, still open on the picture of her smiling. She stood there and stared at it for several minutes before noticing there was a bit of writing on the back of the page.
I'm sorry you're sad Shinobu, I wish I could make you feel better but I don't know what's wrong. So I hope I captured the real thing as much as possible, and hope you feel better enough to show me if I'm right.
Shinobu gripped the page slightly and wondered just what was with this mysterious man, and why exactly did she feel slightly sadder now that he was gone.
Sometime later, with Keitaro
Keitaro eventually stopped running and came to a full stop near a small building to catch his breath.
"Why'd I have to go and do that," he wondered, "I probably freaked her out. And on top of that I can't just go back and get my sketchbook. She probably thinks I'm some kind of weirdo and threw it away. No, she probably wouldn't do that. She was nice enough to bear with our conversation, maybe she'll like the picture I drew."
He calmed down at the thought and briefly considered going back for his sketchbook but decided against it.
"I've been meaning to start up a new one anyway," he thought.
It took some time but eventually Miyu ran up to Keitaro and came to a stop right behind him. The cat glared at Keitaro for making her do all that exercise. Keitaro turned around and looked at the cat with an apologetic expression, to which Miyu "mewed" in acceptance.
"Alright, I need to just act normal when I get to the Inn," thought Keitaro, straightening his jacket and tightening his scarf, "Hopefully Granny will be willing to translate for me, or at the very least will have a few notebooks lying around for me to use. I hope I don't weird out the guests, I don't want to cause problems for Granny."
Keitaro continued on his path to the inn with his little friend following him, surprisingly he had been running in the right direction all things considered. He looked at his watch and made note of the fact he would be early for his meeting with Granny. Keitaro hoped that Granny would have a place for him at the old inn, and if not maybe he could work as a handyman while finding another place to live.
"This is going to be great. Meeting new people, learning new skills, and it's close enough to a cram school that it'll only take me one tram to get there," Keitaro thought. He liked riding the train, mostly because he always met new people to "talk" on the train. "Like that one time with that monk and his pet mouse or that one girl that sold exotic fruit out of her backpack.
He had to focus though as he neared the legendary staircase to the Hinata House. His father had always told him that if he tripped while climbing them, he would be an old man by the time he reached the bottom. Of course Keitaro knew that he was exaggerating but looking at them now, he couldn't help but think what his father had said had at least a kernel of truth to it.
"Hmm…," Keitaro thought as he surveyed his surroundings, before noticing a tea house near the base of the stairs.
"Maybe I should have a cup of tea before I start heading up," he thought, as he dug around in his pockets for money, only to find he was all out.
"Darn, I guess giving what I had left to that musician on the train here wasn't the best idea. Oh well, I'm sure he'll put it to good use. Guess I better start heading up to the inn," Keitaro thought as he began the long climb.
Going up the stairs and taking in his surroundings, he couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia for the old place. Being here after so many years just gave his heart a bit of warmness he couldn't explain. It was the place he had spent a lot of his childhood and the place he had some of his most cherished memories. Like the one he held true to most of all, making his promise to go to one day attend Tokyo University with his best friend in the whole world. Life had gotten in the way of him making his promise happen before but now he felt more ready than ever. Of course he knew that with the fact he had been out of school for only 2 years and was only able to attend cram school for a few months of them, he knew that passing the test the way he was now wasn't exactly in the realm of possibilities. However, that wasn't going to stop him from at least trying his best to make it happen.
"And who knows, maybe I will make it on my first try. But even if it takes a million tries I won't give up until I do it. Not just for the promise, but also to prove to everyone that told me no matter how many times I try that I'd never do it wrong," thought Keitaro, before briefly running his hands along his scarf.
"I'll do you proud Mom, I promise," he finished thinking.
He was halfway up the stairs before getting a little tired, he had already noticed that Miyu had stopped for a nap a while ago but figured she would find her way up eventually.
"Ricola," Keitaro thought as he looked out at the city and paused on his climb to catch his breath "It's a good thing I enjoy high places otherwise I would be having a serious problem right now. It would really suck for my clumsiness to act up right now."
Having caught his breath and after no cosmic anvils descended from on high, he continued his climb towards the top. With only a few more steps to go Keitaro managed to get a full glimpse of the inn in all its glory. Hinata Inn was truly a sight to behold, though Keitaro couldn't but feel how much smaller it was compared to when he was a child.
"Then again, everything is bigger when you're a child I guess," thought Keitaro, as he headed to the front door of the Inn.
As he opened the door and took in his surroundings, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong.
"Where are all the inn's employees? And where are the guests?" he couldn't help but wonder, "I know it's a weekday so normally people don't like to travel but I expected at least maybe a couple business men would stay here while waiting for their planes in the morning or something."
Checking his watch, Keitaro couldn't help but notice that his meeting with Granny was still about another hour away.
"I guess she's still running errands or something. I can't believe I managed to get up the stairs that quickly." he thought as a conclusion, "What to do, what to do I wonder?"
Keitaro paced around the same spot running that same question through his mind several times. He didn't feel up to trekking down the stairs again to get Miyu, who would probably show up at some point anyway. He also didn't feel like just sitting around and being bored either. He didn't feel hungry nor did he think it would be proper to root around in the kitchen for some food. Then he remembered one of the greatest aspects of Hinata Inn and what it was famous all over Japan for.
Giving himself a quick sniff, his nose wrinkled slightly. "Ugh," he thought, "That is certainly quite a bit of ripeness. I guess Granny won't mind if I use the hot springs while I wait. If I want to make a good first impression I best not smell like I've been sweating onions."
Sometime Later
"Ahh," Keitaro thought as he relaxed and let the hot water heal his aching muscles, "This is real nice. I hope Granny lets me use it even if I don't end up staying here. People just don't like talking at public bath houses. Always give me the weirdest looks they do."
He sat there in his bathing suit, he still felt awkward in public baths and on top of that he still wasn't sure if he was allowed in the bath.
The steam was thick around the bath, so Keitaro stared up at the sky overhead to pass the time. He couldn't help but marvel at the cloud patterns he saw. He decided to name off what he saw to pass the time while he soaked.
"That one looks like a bunny. That one looks like an American cheeseburger. That one looks kind of reminds me of a joke I heard once from that guy in the Japanese Naval Forces," he listed off, "I wish I had my sketchbook, I think I'd find plenty to draw just by looking up at the sky alone."
That was when Keitaro heard what sounded like the door opening and footsteps along the rocks overhead.
"Ahh," he heard a distinctly female voice say, before he noticed that a girl was getting into the bath next to him.
Keitaro wasn't sure how to respond. He knew due to the lack of a dividing wall that Granny more than likely had made the baths co-ed, but he didn't expect to see someone there. Luckily thanks to the fact he wasn't wearing his glasses and the steam around he couldn't see anything he wasn't meant to. It wasn't like he could have a conversation with her anyway Accepting it, he just returned to his activities of cloud watching until he heard the girl speak again.
"This is the greatest, isn't it," she said, again leaving Keitaro with no idea how to respond.
He didn't have his sketchbook to write out his signs, and he was pretty sure the girl didn't know sign language. Even if she did, it's wasn't like she could see his gestures through the steam.
"Still giving me the silent treatment Kitsune. Look I apologized already for borrowing your shirt but I needed it because I had gotten behind on my laundry. You know I need to study for the exams," she said.
"Ah...she has me mistaken for someone else. I wish I could explain who I was," Keitaro thought.
"Fine, be that way. I know what'll get you talking to me again," thought the girl unbeknownst to Keitaro.
Keitaro heard the girl let out a sigh and say, "I think my boobs might be getting bigger again. What do you think?"
Before Keitaro could have time to react, the girl grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast. Keitaro began panicking slightly as he wasn't sure such physical contact was fully appropriate as he didn't know the girl in question. Situations like this is why he wasn't exactly popular with girls in middle school, along with the whole no talking thing. He tried to pull away but the girl held his hand right where it was.
"Come on, squeeze them. I swear they've just gotten bigger than before," the girl said, despite Keitaro's struggling.
"Fine be that way," the girl said, finally releasing his hand.
Keitaro breathed a silent breath of relief and moved to get out before another awkward situation could occur before the girl stopped him again.
"But I bet that mine are getting bigger than yours," the girl said before she wrestled Keitaro back into the springs.
Keitaro then felt the girl reach out a hand and…grope his chest.
"This girl is rather odd," he thought, wondering how exactly this situation was going to turn.
He saw the girl's face was filled with confusion before turning to sheer abject horror.
"PERVERT," she screamed.
"Wait you were the one who groped me, how does that make me perverted," thought Keitaro, before that train of thought was interrupted by a fist sending him flying into the change room.
"Owwie," he thought, before getting up and retrieving his clothing, "I swear that situation was just crazy, I guess I better go apologize to her afterwards."
Pulling on his shirt, pants and scarf, he was about to head out before noticing another woman had been watching him dress, and said woman was only wearing a towel covering her rather…ample physique.
"Why hello there, and who might you be," said the woman, moving closer to him.
Before Keitaro could respond, he heard the door slam open and the girl from before came rushing in.
"Kitsune, get that pervert before he gets away," yelled the girl.
The "pervert" in question began doing some random hand gestures, at least that was how it looked to the girl.
The girl saw red, and punched him once again through another door.
"I didn't know the stars shined so brightly in the afternoon," thought Keitaro, trying to shake off another mean right hook.
"GET HIM," the girl screamed.
Keitaro, not understanding what was going on, decided to do the logical thing to do when punched in the face really hard two times in a row. He ran towards the door, before running into what looked like a girl in a formal kendo outfit.
"Dirty Male," the girl exclaimed, "How dare you sully this place with your presence!"
Once again, Keitaro had no means to respond so he tried his best to sign to the girl in front of him.
"Stop with your motions, I shall see you removed from this place immediately," the girl yelled, before drawing a sword on him.
Much to her surprise, the male didn't look scared, simply fascinated. He stared at her sword as it were the most amazing thing he had ever seen.
"How dare you defile Shisui with your perverted gaze! Secret Technique, WIND SLASHING SWORD," the girl yelled before sending Keitaro flying through the wall and outside.
"What is with people and hitting me today, I already apologized to the other girl and now I'm attacked by a girl with a real sword. How could this day get any worse?" he thought, before he got his answer.
Getting up and dusting himself off, he saw what looked like a little toy tank move towards him.
"Oh, how adorable. I wonder who this belongs to?" Keitaro thought, regarding the tank with curiosity. He then noticed that the tank was soon joined by another tank and then another and another before he saw a whole battalion of tanks advancing towards him.
"Hmm…someone has quite the large collection of toys," Keitaro thought.
"Troops, ready to fire on the weird guy," said a little girl in a general's outfit.
"Hey, who is she calling weird," thought Keitaro.
"Ready…aim…fire," the girl yelled, pushing a button on the remote.
"So what I'm going to be hit with some little pellets or something," Keitaro thought before being rocketed into the air once again when the tanks seemingly exploded.
Keitaro flew quite some distance this time, crashing through the upper deck headfirst.
"Darn I think I might miss my train to Marrakesh," thought Keitaro, slightly dazed.
"The pervert's on the roof thanks to Su, let's get him," he heard someone yell, before hearing the thundering of footsteps and a door slamming open and the girls rushing through.
"Let's put an end to this," said the girl with the sword from earlier.
"Now now girls, don't you think you're overreacting a bit," the woman from earlier said.
"That pervert groped me Kitsune, he deserves the punishment he's about to get," the punchy girl said.
"What's a pervert, does it taste good," asked the general girl.
"He'd have to buy me dinner before I'd try to find out," joked the woman.
"Sisters please, we must focus on our original purpose, this male has defiled our home and we must punish him thusly," said sword girl.
The girls all turned towards the boy in question who was still doing the same odd hand gestures as before. Ignoring the confusion they felt, the girl's began to move towards him with rather off looks on their faces.
Punchy girl and sword lady had rather angry expressions while the general girl had a very manic smile.
"What's going on here," Keitaro heard a new voice say, "I could hear your yelling and the explosions from all the way down at my tea shop."
"Haruka, we found this pervert trying to peek on us in the baths. We were just about to deal with him," the punchy girl said.
Haruka made her way through the mob to see this alleged pervert, only to back up in shock.
"Keitaro? Oh god, I forgot to tell the girls you were coming today. Are you okay?" Haruka asked him, brushing off some of the dirt on his shirt.
*Just fine,* Keitaro signed, as he shakily pulled himself up *Though could you tell the conductor I forgot they don't allow enchanted frogs on the hovercraft?*
Unable to stay conscious, Keitaro collapsed on the ground in a heap.
"Wait, you know this pervert Haruka," said the punchy girl.
"Know him, of course I know him. He's my nephew," Haruka replied.
"HE'S WHAT," all the girl's simultaneously said.
Author's note
Ahh, another fic started, and it only took me a few months to write the chapter. Hopefully third time's the charm when it comes to this one. I'm looking forward to exploring this story concept as far as I can take it. Sorry for any potential errors you guys might find, but what can I say? I'm rusty after having not written anything for almost a year.
Likewise I'd like to say I'm glad to be back and hopefully I can get the second chapter up for this story pretty soon.
Leave a review if you liked this, as it inspires me to keep on writing.
Now I need to head to bed as it took me almost 2 ½ hours to finish this chapter and it's already half past one in the morning where I live. I also might do some revisions in the morning but I just needed to get this out there now to see what people think
Thank you from gale1243