A/N: My first attempt at a chaptered fic. Motoko is my favourite Love Hina character. And I pretty much hate Naru, not really but you know what I mean.
Love Hina - Keitaro x Motoko
She had simply slipped up. The slight mistake had caused the close match to be called in favour of her opponent. Motoko didn't quite know what to do with herself. She still trained and did reasonably well in school, but she did so listlessly.
"Motoko."
She turned and looked at the speaker.
"Urashima, why are you here?"
The sunrise was very beautiful that day, she noted absentmindedly. Keitaro made his way over to her and removed the bokken from her hands. He placed her hands between his.
"I was once told: 'It is not winning that one learns from. It is the bitter experience of defeat which propels you to greater heights.' My Shishou told me that when he visited me in the hospital after the accident that killed my grandfather and rendered me almost useless.
I was paralyzed from the neck down with recovery only possible if I worked for it. And look at me now. I walk and talk almost as good as anyone else. Not bad for a quadriplegic, eh? If someone as weak as me can do it, then there is nothing someone who is as strong as you can't come back from."
He led her over to sit on a near by bench. The roof was made to view the sky comfortably. They sat her hands now folded in her lap, her head bowed. Thoughts and feelings rolled around in her head like stormy seas.
"You practiced martial arts?" she asked.
"Yep," he smiled a crooked smile at her, "I was decent. I placed in a regional tournament. It was the happiest moment of my young life."
"And then you got hurt and had to stop."
"Yeah, but I keep working to be healthy enough to start up for real again. Luckily, I can still practice the kata. My physical therapist highly recommended it. I actually have my black belt, since I know all the forms and am capable of teaching it. I just can't compete."
She looked up into his eyes. He seemed happy but his eyes still showed concern for her. His defeat made hers seem inconsequential. And he came back from it. With years of hard work.
"What style?"
"Old Man Kung Fu. Better known as Tai Chi."
She actually giggled at his jab at his art. She clapped her hands to her mouth, eyes wide in embarrassment.
"That's good, I made you laugh! There's some improvement."
His smile was getting to be infectious. But she sobered as she asked the question that really plauged her mind.
"Can... can you tell me about the accident?"
"Sure. I'm over it now. I had to see all kinds of therapists. Do you wanna know something first though?"
"Sure."
He leaned in conspiratorially. The hand next to his mouth added to his attempt in comedy.
"I was actually Granny Hina's heir."
He leaned back and Motoko looked at him in surprise.
"Haruka, who is really my cousin, became my aunt while I was in the hospital. Despite that, Haruka is still jealous of the fact that I'm Granny Hina's favourite. Always have been and I will be for a while yet. That's why I get the dorm. It was always my favourite place as a child. So its my consolation prize."
"You make it sound like you don't care."
"I do. Not about being favourite or heir or anything, but I do care about what's happening around me.
Anyways. My accident. Its pretty boring and simple. My grandfather, Grandpa Kentaro, and I were walking one day when a drunk driver came racing down the road and lost control. Grandpa Kentaro pushed me out of the way, in an attempt to save my life. We both ended up surviving. But he was an old man. The wounds were too much and he died four days later in the hospital.
But when he pushed me out of the way my left ear," Keitaro turned his head and pulled back his hair showing a horrible scar along the back side of his ear, "got caught on something and broke my neck. I woke up long after Grandpa Kentaro passed. My only regret from the whole thing is not being able to thank him for saving my life."
Motoko fidgeted.
"I'm sure he loved you very much and already knew."
He smiled forlornly at her.
"It still would have been nice to thank him."
Keitaro stood and brushed imaginary dust off his knees. He walked over to the discard bokken and brought it back.
"Now, if I can deal with all of that, than you, Aoyoma Motoko, can deal with one measly loss in a high school kendo match."
Motoko looked at the handle of the bokken being presented to her. She smiled brightly, what was considered brightly for the stoic girl, and took it.
"I suppose I can."
When he smiled at her this time, Motoko felt her face heat up. But his next comment brought butterflies to her stomach.
"There's the Motoko I know and love."
X x X x X
Motoko was soon back in top form. Noticeably she had stopped attacking Keitaro. She sometimes would get to him before Naru could launch him, and diverted the attack by chastising him. Like one would a small child.
"Why do you defend the pervert, Motoko?" a frustrated Naru asked.
"I am not at liberty to discuss what Urashima-san told and showed me, but it does explain many of his mishaps. Many of which, if one were to take a step back and look, could be explained as general clumsiness anyways."
Naru looked darkly at the kendoka as she left.
"So he did something perverted to you and you liked it? Don't worry, Motoko. I'll set you on the straight and narrow again."
X x X x X
Motoko knocked on the frame of the manger's door.
"Coming," came the reply. The rice paper door slid open to reveal a slightly messy Keitaro. It seemed he was taking a nap, if the Futon laid out was any indication.
"Motoko-san, how can I help you?"
Motoko blushed. She didn't know how to go about these things. Boys confessed to her or asked her out on dates(rarely). Not the other way around.
"Ah, Urashima-san, I was wondering if you would like to do anything tonight."
"Not really," he answered, not understanding the thrust of her statement, "just some studying. I have a test at the end of the week."
Motoko hung her head in defeat. His education was important. She had no right to stand in the way of something he worked so hard for. But she was not prone to giving up so easily.
"W-w-what about this Saturday night?" she asked, head still bowed.
"Nothing to my knowledge. I might go out and have a few at the local bar if the dorm isn't seriously damaged between now and then, why?"
"W," her lips and throat seemed so dry, "would you be adverse to accompanying me to dinner and a movie?"
"Sure, are we doing this as a treat for Suu? She had been good lately."
This was so hard. Now she understood why the boys always seemed like such weaklings when they did this. And his obliviousness made it just that much harder.
"N-no. Just the two of us."
It finally clicked in Keitaro's head.
"L-l-like a d-date?"
This was a bad idea all around. She never should have asked. She turned to go.
"Yes."
She stopped dead. Did he really just say-
"Yes, I'll go on a date with you Motoko-san."
Motoko went with her emotions before she could chicken out. She spun around and hugged him tightly for a moment before running as if fleeing a turtle.
She was really quite happy.
X x X x X
A/N: Please review