Anime: Love Hina
Genre: Romance/General
Rating: Pg 13
Summary: After their parents' departure, and the death of their grandfather, the only relative whom they had left, Tsuruko and Motoko survived on their own in the dojo that was their only remnant of their childhood memories. Motoko feels deeply attached to her sister, Tsuruko, and on the dawning of the news that Tsuruko was getting married, Motoko was profoundly hurt, thinking that the only relative that she has left was now betraying her. Tsuruko married Seta and Seta has a younger brother, Keitaro, who became interested in his new relative, Motoko. Motoko feels indifferent to Keitaro's family, as she was reminded constantly that this family was the family who had taken her sister away from her. Will our hero, Keitaro, be able to melt the ice around the heart of our favourite kendo girl? Read this fic to find out!
Prologue
Melting Ice
By Fanficzgrl
Goodbye, Anu-ue
Motoko inhaled deeply at the autumn air that smelled of a slight pungency, the sweet scent of needle-leaf pines and fallen shrivelled leaves timidly staining the air. The warming sun was just peeking past the horizon and Motoko was already up and ready for a new day. Motoko adored the atmosphere that autumn mornings bid her. It was probably because of the sense of a new beginning that mornings somehow tended to bring with them.
The broom in Motoko's hands swept its way across the stone laden steps as Motoko made her way down the dojo staircase. Motoko swept the fallen leaves that autumn was characterized of away from the walkway cautiously, careful as to not to wake her sister from sleep. One thing that tends to make many busybodies frustrated around this time of year is the trouble of sweeping leaves that fall on your doorsteps, the leaves just lying there, waiting patiently for you to sweep them into mountainous piles for the garbage men to dump.
Motoko was deeply attached to her sister, Tsuruko. Since the young age of five, Motoko's parents disappeared in her life and Motoko had missed the love that parents give to their children. Motoko had survived solely on the guidance of her grandfather and the companionship of her sister, who was only six years older than she was. At the time of when their parents left, Tsuruko was strong and told Motoko that she needed not to worry about anything. She told her that Aoyama women were strong beings and should not shed a tear just because someone was leaving them. Trying her best to console Motoko, she reassured her that she would take care of her no matter what, and even if that meant sacrificing her life if it were called for. Motoko felt obliged, now that she was at the age of seventeen and capable, to return her sister's love and care.
Motoko placed down her broom, allowing it to lean on the stone stair rails, and then, lifting her sleeves close to her forehead briskly, she gently used the soft cotton cloth to wipe away the pearls of sweat that had formed on the sides of her head from being under the sun too long. Taking a rest, Motoko sat herself quietly on one of the lower stone steps to gaze at her surroundings.
The dojo presented a magnificent scene. She loved the old building dearly as a second parent almost, and ironically enough, it was a second parent to her. The building was rather worn, some pieces of the wood already betraying its owner's attempt to hide its years by exposing its scratches and markings to the average passer-by's sight. Some of the once ruby red paint on the building pillars had already gone to the darker end of the spectrum, taking up a deep brownish-maroon colour. Several slates of the roof had been blown off in the past due to a harsh wind current, and what was exchanged was an air of impoverishment.
The main entrance was characterized by a wide doorway that the set of stone laden steps led to, and on either sides of the dojo were tall trees that helped shadow some parts of the building, preventing it from further deterioration by the sun's harmful rays. On one of the shorter trees, a crudely constructed birdhouse perched on top of one of the stronger branch among the multitude of stem-like twigs. It was constructed by Motoko and Tsuruko when they were still young. Motoko still regularly supplies the feeder with seeds and corns as a regular habit of hers. The dojo was a heart-warming haven, but paradoxically speaking, it was also a permanent harbour of nightmares. To Motoko, the dojo was like her trench in war affairs. It'd held haunting memories, yet without it, she might not have even survived.
Motoko stirred boringly with a piece of grass at the weeds that petered out to the small scale forest on her left. Leaning on the large stone hand rail, Motoko directed her gaze ahead, cringing as she took notice, once again unfailingly, of a large crack that had been made on the concrete pavement floor. Thoughts of her grandfather returned, and his tragic death never fails to jerk tears to water her eyes. However, heeding to her sister's words, Motoko had never cried for his grandfather's unfortunate decease after that tearful and fateful night. Motoko shrugged the memories and heart piercing pain away as she heard her sister stirring and yawning from her sleep, breaking the serene silence.
"Ohayou! Ane-ue!" Motoko bided her sister a happy good morning as she saw her sister make way out of her room in a slightly dishevelled manner. Ane-ue's been out late at night these days, Motoko thought. Motoko banished the train of thoughts before it led her to any conclusions as she assured herself that her sister was always certain of what she's doing.
"Ohayou, Motoko," Tsuruko greeted back, covering her mouth politely as a slight yawn escaped her mouth again. "Did you sweep the floors already? I told you to wait for me to do that with you!"
"It's alright, Ane-ue," Motoko beamed at her sister as she replied happily, "It wasn't a lot of work and I was awake early today and had nothing to do anyways."
"You shouldn't push yourself so hard sometimes, Motoko! Go have some fun! At your age, you should be engaged in some fun activities with your friends!" Tsuruko urged her sister again despite the countless refusals that she'd received in the past. She felt slightly responsible for having her sister become so attached to her. It's not that she hated her sister; she just wanted her to have a life more happy than she does now. Motoko didn't go to school like her, and she was worried that she would remain isolated from people, especially with the painful childhood experience. Tsuruko was eleven when their parents left them and was old enough to learn the art of stress and anger management to release her pent up anger and ease her feelings of hopelessness. What's more, her grandfather had served as a formidable counsellor to speak with, and Motoko didn't have that opportunity, being the reserved and quiet person she was when it came to sharing your feelings. Besides, her grandfather's already deceased now and there's not reverting of history. Tsuruko was truly Motoko's only saviour in loneliness, as she confided in no one but her elder sister. Tsuruko felt it was only right for her, as an elder sister, to provide her sibling with the slightest bit of consolation possible.
"Ane-ue, you look awfully tired these days. Are you not feeling well?" Motoko questioned her sister earnestly, her eyes conveying care.
Tsuruko cringed slightly as she remembered where she was yesterday night. It was not necessary a horrible reminiscence of her past date, it was just that she had kept it a secret from her little sister. In fact, it was, on the contrary, a very memorable and heart-warming and not to mention, unexpected happening.
That night, Tsuruko was strolling along the beach with Seta-san, the man whom Tsuruko had been having a relationship with for quite a long time. It was their first year anniversary since they first met unexpectedly at a forest near the dojo. Seta had heard about the famous kendo sisters who inhabited the Kyoto Mountains and had wished to meet them. While fighting his way up the mountains, his track burdened by patches of weeds and puddles of mud below, countless bands of wines above, Seta heard a call for help. Racing to wherever the voice originated Seta spot a white and red figure also running towards the same direction that he was going in. He gave the young woman a glance, and noticed that she was wearing a traditional white gi and red hakama outfit, the traditional outfit that a kendo swordsman wore. They raced to the source of where all the alarm was being caused and caught sight of a young girl trying to get out of where she was, being tied up by a mass of green, velvety fibres, her limbs and neck encircled and trapped by the green shrub. The two of them cooperatively, helped the young girl out of her dilemma and told her to leave the forest immediately.
"This forest sure is untamed, isn't it?" Seta had said, his breath slightly disturbed by the physical effort that he had had to exert while trying to help the young girl.
"Yeah, it is, a bit," the young women in the kendo outfit had replied, her breathing jagged, trying to reap the soothing benefits of fresh air.
"The caretaker of this mountain must be a real lazy bum to leave it like this, don't you think?" Seta suggested, watching the young lady's appearance carefully.
To his delight, a response did come out of the swordswoman as she pointed a finger accusingly at the man, saying, "You have no right to judge the goodness of this mountain's tamer. There were frequent heavy rains in the recent past and it was impossible to do the necessary trimmings. How do you know that the tamer of this mountain isn't already making her way down here to clean up the mess, HUH!"
Seta stared in awe at the feisty woman before his eyes. The woman was tall with a slim figure that subtly hinted at her beauty. Her skin was a pale ivory, but currently, her cheeks were stained a deep pink from all the effort that she was putting in to regain her posture. Seta awed at the smoothness of her skin and felt drawn to feel its silkiness like moths drawn to fire, deadly yet tempting. The swordswoman glared at him, and it was then that he noticed her eyes were a piercing green, their depths underlined by a slither of grey that made them all the more pronounced. It was just love at first sight, Seta summarized.
"I was just kidding you, my charming lady," Seta replied chivalrously, his hand reaching for Tsuruko's, and in a sudden gesture, he brought her hand to his lips for a brief kiss that stunned Tsuruko to the core, as she had never been in contact with a man before, nonetheless get kissed by one!
Tsuruko's instinct brought her other hand to slap the man's face at once, and to her surprise, the man dodged it with equal, if not faster, speed. "Why are you here?" she finally questioned him formally.
"I'm here to look for someone," Seta replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Whom are you referring to?" Tsuruko asked in a cold manner.
"The lady of my life," Seta said, once again in his taunting tone of voice that aggravated Tsuruko to a getting-on-her-nerves extent.
"And whom may that be?" Tsuruko asked, obviously annoyed at the bluntness of the man who had just intruded on her property.
"You." Seta said, his eyes grinning at Tsuruko.
Tsuruko's eyes widened and before she knew it, she was soon falling in love with this charming male creature as well. Their love story began and all's a fairy tale from then on, that is, except for the occasional occurrences where the story has its certain anticlimaxes when the situation somehow turns out painful on Seta's part. I guess the Aoyama women do tend to whip power wherever they go, even in love world.
Tsuruko grinned as she remembered the time when Seta had promised to buy a treat for her and she had asked for ice-cream, but all the stores were closed. He had had to knock on all the shops in Japan almost, until one finally opened and the only flavour that it sold was ginger. He gave the ice-cream to Tsuruko and after a taste of the ice-cream and its surprising tongue-burning hotness, she threw the ice cream right at Seta in an attempt to get the sinful product out of her face.
"Tsuruko," Seta's voice sounded.
"Yes?" Tsuruko asked as she turned her head in her fiancee's direction. Their faced touch and the intimacy of Seta's warm breathing on her face caused her to blush slightly.
"Tsuruko, I've been thinking about this for a long time, "Seta said, "And I'd like it if you would…ummm….you would…marry me?" He said, laughing wholeheartedly as he rubbed the back of his head like a young, nervous child.
Tsuruko didn't know what to say. She was sure that she was in love with the man, but marrying him was a whole different issue! It was true, that she'd gone out many times with this man, had found him smart and charming, not to mention funny when he does cute, clumsy things, but did that mean that she was ready to marry him! She had been alone all along and marriage presented such a warm and happy feeling that she was almost too afraid to touch that warmth, fearing that it might scald her if she did.
"Tsuruko, I love you very much," Seta began as he wrapped his arms tightly around Tsuruko, warming the swordswoman with his love, "I'm not a man of words and I know I just can't express to you how much you mean to me, but I just want to tell you that I can't go on with my life normally without you. I've tried! I've really tried! But I just can't! Life without you just isn't the same anymore. The loneliness is too unbearable! Please accept my proposal to you! Please!"
Tsuruko was shocked. This man had suddenly changed from his usual composed and charming self, to a restless and despairing man. Tsuruko's heart pained to see her love suffer so much and she knew too, that her heart was wishing for her to accept the proposal, so she agreed.
Hearing Tsuruko's agreement in the proposal was like God giving a poor soul back his life with redemption, Seta's face immediately brightening to the break of the news.
"I'd got a lot of explaining to do once I get home," Tsuruko thought, giving a sigh.
"Ane-ue? Ane-ue? Aneue!" a voice called to Tsuruko's head as she shook herself from her reverie.
"What's wrong, Ane-ue?" Motoko asked out of genuine concern, "You've been acting unlike yourself lately. We're sisters! You can tell me anything!"
Tsuruko looked young Motoko in the eyes, seeing past those same piercing green eyes that were only more subtle in its sharpness, but more prominent in its luminosity, and saw a soul that was weak and yearned for help. She felt her heart tear apart as she thought of how the news might break her.
"I have something to tell you, Motoko," Tsuruko said in a slightly solemn voice. Her brain chastised her for hurting her sister. However, what needs to be done must be done. Letting out a sigh, she continued, "I know you're going to feel hurt when I tell you this, but you must understand that I have the right to make a decision too."
Motoko stared her sister in the eye and was slightly frightened by the sudden thick air of solemnity and seriousness that settled on their conversation. Motoko gulped and gave a nod in reassurance to urge her sister to continue.
"I'm getting married," Tsuruko said, closing her eyes, her brain not wanting to register what had just happened, just wishing for the harm to banish away with the irreversible leaving of time.
Unfortunately, nature doesn't govern in that manner and the harm had been done.
Slowly, Tsuruko opened her eyes as she stared at her sister, standing there, eyes wide opened, and her breathing turning rough. She was breathing almost as if she were hyperventilating.
"Motoko! Motoko! Are you okay!" Tsuruko cried out, encircling her sister in her arms.
Motoko walked slightly aback, out of Tsuruko's embrace to look her sister in the eye. Watery green eyes that had turned hazy glared at her sister with tears threatening to fall, but did not because the words of a certain person who was currently hurting her was still resonating in her mind.
Motoko's voice finally perked up, when she delivered her strained reply, "Why? Why are you doing this?"
Fanficzgrl: Hello everyone! It's amazing that I'm writing a new fic, eh? Yeah, I'd thought you'd say yes. But don't worry! You're bound to see more of my name appearing on the site as I will be updating more frequently now, hopefully. I hope all of you liked this story, because I sure did when I thought of this idea! This story should stir some interest in all of you as it is a Mot/Kei pairing fic. This is just the beginning and there's a whole lot more to come that would bring both laughs and tears to your eyes. Keep an eye out on this story, Melting Ice! Please give me some comments on this fic, as they are much taken to heart! I'd prefer no flames but constructive criticism is highly welcomed! Leave a review to tell me whether you like the pacing of this fic, or whether the characters need some more work on, or just leave a review anyways to tell me you've read it! Tell me anything you have on mind and I'll try my best to work hard to make this fic all the more better to read!