A/N - Thanks again for the good reviews! I did want to address a couple of things, though. The fic is already functionally complete, so suggestions that would make the plot deviate from its current course probably won't be implemented. It doesn't mean that I won't consider your ideas, but I've already written my story, so if you don't see my plot incorporating your ideas, it's not because I think they're bad. I might write another fic that does incorporate them, though, once this one is completely finished. Other suggestions, especially ones that deal with expression, will help me polish the fic. Also, I'm currently writing a KeiMot fic, so suggestions made here will have an impact on that, too.

Unfortunately, I don't own Love Hina. Akamatsu-sama does. For now.

Chapter 3 - Recreation

The next morning was a Saturday, and Shinobu woke up even earlier than she normally did, and hurried over to her closet to pick out some clothes for her day with Keitaro. She felt somewhat guilty about skipping school that day, but she didn't want to face her friends, especially Akiko, after her failure on the practice exam. It was a bit cold that day, so after nervously, and not a little self-consciously, looking through her clothes to find a suitable outfit, she took a deep violet cashmere sweater and a medium-length beige suede skirt. She got dressed and walked down to the former lobby, pacing back and forth, excitedly, as she waited for Keitaro. About twenty minutes later, Keitaro walked into the lobby, and stopped near her, smiling.

"Shinobu-chan," he said, softly, "you look wonderful."

"Y-you think so, Keitaro?" she asked.

"Of course I do," he replied, smiling at her in that honest way he had. "Are you all ready to go?"

"I'm ready," she said.

They walked down to the train station, and Shinobu kept stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye. I'd love to hold his hand, to walk with my hand in his, but I don't know how he'd react. Maybe he'd be scared off. Maybe he still thinks I'm too young. Maybe he doesn't want anything to do with me like that. Maybe this will end like all of our other... dates... where I tell him to go and give Naru-senpai another chance. I hope it's not. I'm so scared about my tests, I don't think I could handle it if I had to go through that again. His hand is right there. Take it, Shinobu. Take it. I... I want to take it, but I couldn't bear to feel him pull it away, she thought.

Keitaro looked at the sky and smiled to her. "It looks like it'll be a beautiful day, Shinobu-chan."

"Yes, Keitaro-san, I think it will be," she said, looking up at the few puffy clouds in the sky, and feeling the crisp morning breeze across her cheeks.

They talked about small things on the way into Tokyo, and Shinobu found herself opening up slightly. I think this is different. Every time we've been together and I've had to send him back, the others have been with us. I've always felt scared that someone could see. Now, it's just us. I like this, she thought. Maybe things will be different, today.

When they got off at Shibuya, Shinobu was almost trapped by the press of Saturday morning commuters and day-trippers, but Keitaro reached down and clasped her hand, tightly. Her cheeks lit up brightly and a soft smile curved her lips, and her eyes seemed to dance with laughter. She squeezed back as though she would never let go, and let him guide her through the crowd. They pushed their way through the station to the Inokashira Line, which would take them to the Komaba campus of Toudai, where Keitaro needed to make some copies of an archeological survey of an Olmec settlement for Seta. He snuck Shinobu in with him, and let her browse while he made his copies. When he had finished, he walked over to where she was absorbed in an architectural drawing of a Roman ruin.

"It's quite incredible that people can recreate the image of something with just some pieces of the building lying in the ground, isn't it?" he asked her.

"Oh, yes, Urashima-senpai. The detail in this drawing is amazing. Look at the scroll on this Corinthian column," she said, pointing.

"Indeed. I do some drafting for my studies, but I'm not that skilled," he said. "You're quite a good artist, though," he recalled, smiling. "I remember the sketch you made of me back when I first met you and you took my sketchbook. The drawing you left me was wonderful."

Shinobu blushed. "I'm not that skilled, Keitaro-san. I'd love to learn more about it, though. I was thinking... maybe if I get into Toudai, I might study visual art."

Keitaro nodded, approvingly. "You'd be a wonderful artist, Shinobu-chan. You have the right mind for it, unlike me," he smiled self-deprecatingly.

Shinobu looked back at him, questioningly. "What do you mean, senpai?"

"You know how to create something from nothing but basic elements. You know how to take fifty ingredients and turn them into a feast. You're creative, and you look beyond what is laid out before you. It's one of the things I admire about you, Shinobu-chan."

Shinobu blushed even deeper and closed the book. "Are you ready, senpai?" she asked, softly.

Keitaro nodded, and pulled her chair out for her. They left the library, and tried to decide on someplace where they could talk. Keitaro thought for a moment, and suggested that they go back towards Yokosuka, so they wouldn't have to travel so far to return to the Hinatasou. Shinobu nodded, but said, "Senpai, do you mind if we stay here for a bit? I want to look around, and maybe I can... regain my focus, I guess. Sometimes, I feel like I got swept up in this because..." Shinobu trailed off and started blushing a deep red.

Keitaro noticed and smiled. "I understand, Shinobu-chan. Let me show you some of the classrooms. Do you want to go to the Hongo campus, too, or would you prefer to stay on this one?"

Shinobu shrugged. "I'd rather stay on this one, for now. Maybe, if we have time, we can visit the other."

Keitaro nodded, and began to show her around, pointing out the various academic buildings, and the places where students gathered when they were out of classes. Shinobu walked with him, casting glances at his hand, wondering if she should take it again, but she chose not to. Not until I've told him what I'm thinking, she said to herself.

As it got on toward afternoon, they wandered over to the train station and headed back home. They wandered around for a while, somehow finding themselves by the seashore. Keitaro bought each of them a sweet potato, and they sat beside each other on a bench, waiting for the potatoes to cool. Shinobu seemed to be wrestling with some issue that was bothering her, so Keitaro said, "Shinobu-chan, if you're worried about practice-testing in the center, it'll be alright. You're months away from the center test itself. You can easily pass that. I mean, I passed it, even though my grades were awful before."

Shinobu smiled, albeit wanly. "It's not that, senpai, but thank you," she said, her cheeks beginning to burn. "It's... there's something I need to tell you."

Keitaro leaned toward her, curiously. "Is it about last night?"

Shinobu nodded, slowly, almost hoping he couldn't see. "It is. Do you remember what I told you? How..." she trailed off, looking at him, expectantly.

Keitaro closed his eyes in thought, then said, "You like me, Shinobu?"

Shinobu froze, then nodded fiercely, whispering almost inaudibly, "I love you, senpai."

Keitaro blushed a deep red, and asked, in his usual clueless way, "For how long?"

Shinobu was a little startled that he hadn't noticed in the early days, since she had been so bad at concealing it then. She had gotten better, as time went on, until it was virtually unnoticeable. Shinobu sighed, and said, "The moment you told me that you would be a happy man if you could eat my food forever, I fell in love. I felt so happy in that instant, and no one has ever made me feel so... safe... so wanted... so loved, as you did with a few tiny words of encouragement."

Keitaro was nearly speechless. "And... and you never told me? It's been... five years, and you kept it inside all this time?"

Shinobu looked out over the water, watching the evening slowly mute the colors of the sea. "If you remember, I spent a lot of time in my room, senpai. My feelings kept rising, and I knew that you were interested in Naru-senpai, so I stayed out of the way. I cried myself to sleep many, many times," she said, a touch bitterly.

Keitaro sighed. "I'm sorry, Shinobu-chan. I never wanted to cause you pain," he said.

Shinobu turned back to him and smiled. "I know, senpai, and I hope you know you never really could. I cried because I was too weak to tell you. If it hadn't been for that test, I probably would have laughed our talk off... I guess I just didn't feel like laughing."

Keitaro returned a wry smile. "I won't say I'm glad that your test wasn't good, but..."

Shinobu laughed, louder and more genuinely than she had in quite a while. "I guess I can hope that it'll all work out for the best, then." She fixed him with a serious look, combined with a nervous smile, and said, "Now you know how I feel. You don't have to tell me what you think, yet, but I hope you can, soon."

Keitaro leaned back and sighed, then said, "What do I think? I'm just as nervous as you are, for one thing. If I say I feel the same, then I might break the Hinatasou into pieces. If I say no..." He trailed off, looking deep into her violet eyes, searching, then he closed his eyes and said, very slowly. "If I say no, then I'm lying through my teeth."

Shinobu gasped softly, tears springing once more to her eyes. "Senpai, you really...?"

Keitaro nodded, eyes still closed, almost unable to comprehend how he'd gotten to this point. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, or if his thoughts were even right. You love her, Keitaro, he thought, in a moment of sudden clarity. You love her for who she is and how she makes you feel about yourself. She's been your silent strength for five years, now. You can't imagine life without Shinobu looking into your eyes with complete faith and trust. It's so obvious, looking back, just how much she loves you. So, tell her. Tell her. Tellhertellhertellher.

Keitaro sighed softly, then looked at her and said, "I... I hate how indecisive I can be in times like this. I just... I'm so bad with words..."

Shinobu looked into his eyes, not pleading, just listening.

Keitaro sighed and shook his head, saying, "I can't imagine my life without you in it, Shinobu-chan. You've changed as you've spent time with us, but every change has just served to open more of your wonderful self to me and the rest of us. It's not like I don't want to say it, because I do, but I'm afraid I'll get it wrong, and I don't know... now I'm babbling." He laughed nervously and turned his face away so she couldn't see his cheeks flame up. When he felt two small hands take his own and squeeze them, he said, in a breathless whisper, "God, I love you so much, Shinobu."

Shinobu burst into tears and threw her arms around him, holding him so tightly that she was afraid she'd break him in two, but Keitaro slid his arms around her and squeezed her back, just as tightly. Shinobu whispered into his hair, "Kei-kun, my Kei-kun." Keitaro remained silent, but held her even more tightly than before.

After several minutes, they separated, and looked at each other. Keitaro sighed softly, and asked the questions the two of them had dreaded. "What does this mean, now? What do we do? And how do we tell people?"

Shinobu smiled. "What it means is that I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life. Beyond that, I don't know or care. We do need to tell people, though, and as soon as possible. I don't think we need to worry about Su-chan or Kitsune-san. Kaolla already guessed a long, long time ago, how I felt. She'll be happy for us. Kitsune-san probably will try to figure out some sort of angle, but she's a romantic at heart. I think she'll understand. Maybe it'll convince her to be direct with Seta-san, someday. Mutsumi-san is so nice that I don't think she'd want anything other than for people to be happy. Naru-senpai and Motoko-san are going to be the most difficult."

Keitaro nodded, and frowned. "I'll talk to Motoko-san." He laughed, nervously, and said, "If I'm going to die, I should meet it head-on, I suppose. I don't think she'd kill me, though. It's Narusegawa I'm worried about."

Shinobu sighed. "I think I should talk to her first, then you might want to talk to her, too."

Keitaro nodded again. "Yes, that might be good. She still thinks of me as some sort of pervert."

Shinobu growled softly, and said, "I'm eighteen. I'm no longer some scared child, and I can make my own decisions. I'll make her understand that. She's not my mother."

Keitaro was surprised by the determination in her voice, and nodded, which he realized he was doing quite often. "Shinobu, perhaps we should get back. When do you want to tell people?"

Shinobu thought briefly, and said, "I might try to talk to Kaolla-san tonight, because she'll probably be all over me wondering where I was, today. She's very curious." She smiled at him. "Thank you so much for letting me do this at my own pace. You're such a sweet man."

Keitaro blushed, and ducked his head. He started to say that it was no problem, but the words never escaped his lips, because he felt the soft touch of Shinobu's finger across them. He looked at her with questioning eyes, and she giggled softly, then cupped his cheek and leaned closer to him, murmuring, "I've been waiting to do this since that day..."

Keitaro's train of thought was derailed as he felt her warm, soft lips brush tenderly over his, and he was certain that in that instant, he was happier than any man had ever been.