Disclaimer: How many time do I have to say it? I do not own the rights to Love Hina, and never will.
a/n: An update never arrives early, nor does it arrive late. It arrives precisely when it needs to.
I decided, after some prompting from a helpful reviewer, Cizzymac, to give Motoko an actual reason to be so kind to Keitaro, and some of this will be different from earlier chapters. I edited them to comply with my changes, and made general improvements to my prologue. Sorry if you find that to be a problem. Review replies are at the bottom. Enjoy!
(Last Time: 'Life had gotten much harder indeed')
Chapter 3
As Keitaro stepped out of the overcrowded tram, he smiled to himself. After a week of labouring at the Hinata Sou, he finally decided that he needed to get back to cram school. Even though he had just finished his second training session with Motoko that morning, and was more than a little exhausted from it, it still felt good to be back. Shifting his school bag, and grimacing when it rubbed against a fresh bruise on his arm, he approached the building. Even though he had about half an hour until the warning bell sounded, he wanted to sit down after the hour long tram trip, which he stood for, as there were never enough seats. Plus, getting here early meant that there was time to chat with...
"Haitani, Shirai, how are you guys?" Keitaro called out to the only friends he had at school.
"Hey, Kei-man! Things are good, 'sup with you?" Shirai, short and overweight, glasses on his face, stood and waved to Keitaro. Like Keitaro, he was a ronin.
"Yeah, where've you been, man? Haven't been around here for a while," Haitani, tall and slim, also with glasses, followed suit. He rounded off the ronin trio.
Keitaro hurried over to the pair and let out a laugh. "I've doing great! Got booted from my parents place, but Granny Hina let me stay at her old inn. She even made me the manager. Got a place to stay, time to study, great food, and a decent paycheck," Some key facts may have been left out, but if he told the whole story, like the fact that it was a girls dorm, he'd have to hire security to keep them away.
These guys, while not really perverts, fancied themselves playboys. The fact that every girl they ever hit on either slapped them or sent muscular boyfriends after them, sometimes both, never seemed to be enough to make them realize that they are definitely not anything of the sort. It's probably for the best that they never have any luck. They only really want sex, and maybe someone to mooch cash off of for a while. They would never willingly leave the Sou if they found out about the tenants, and Keitaro wasn't about to let his only real friends get killed by Naru. Hell, these guys were bad enough that Motoko might take action against them. And if Su decided to test a mecha on them, there wouldn't even be recognizable corpses left. Telling them would be tantamount to sentencing them to death, so it was decided to keep silent.
Shirai scoffed. "Yeah, right. How the hell do you expect us to believe that? Not even funny as a joke."
Keitaro pulled some papers out of his bag, photocopies of the ones he signed, mostly for use in an emergency where the original may be damaged or misplaced and some proof of ownership may be needed. Of course, it works just as well as gloating material. Showing them to his sceptical friends, their demeanour's changed. After they had read enough, he stored them away. A few seconds passed.
Haitani let out a low whistle. "Man, how does a lowly two-time ronin like yourself end up as manager of an inn?"
Keitaro scowled at the description of himself, but smiled haughtily after a second. "I guess some people are more deserving than others," His tone indicated just who the some was, and the others were.
Shirai snorted. "You mean some people have more dumb luck than others."
Keitaro shrugged. "Either way, it works for me."
Haitani shook his head in amazement. "Kei, my man, you are one lucky bastard, you know that, right?"
Shirai nodded his agreement. "I don't know how you can, out of the blue, be given an inn to run, but somehow fail twice to get into Toudai. Seriously, you could quit the whole old promise thing, and settle in running this inn."
Keitaro waved off the suggestion. "You know how I am with promises, guys, I'm not giving up."
Haitani looked at Shirai. "Well, regardless of Toudai, you've got your own place now. So you know what that means..."
Shirai and Haitani yelled out in unison. "Party!" Several other early students jumped at the shout, before frowning and going back to whatever they were doing.
"Guys, it's an inn with paying customers. We can't throw any parties," He doubted it would placate his friends, but Keitaro really needed to have a decent reason for them to stay away without telling them the real reason.
"Ah, come on, man! Party! You know you want to," Shirai pushed.
"Yeah, and you run the place, so it doesn't matter about the noise," Haitani smiled huge.
Keitaro pretended to think it over. "Nope, sorry guys," Thinking fast, he added. "I'm on a probationary period for the first few months, and if I get any complaints, I loose the job."
Haitani frowned. "But you said your granny runs it."
Keitaro panicked. "Yeah, but to get the job, I had to fill out some stuff at city office, and any complaints registered there means that they have the power to remove me," He smiled nervously, praying they would believe it.
They thought for a second, then Shirai spoke. "Well, I guess we'll hold off on the party, but you have to show us the place sometime. Maybe...some of the customers rooms?" He got a stupid smile and a minor nosebleed after saying that, leaving little doubt as to which customers rooms he would like to check out. And at what time of night he would prefer to investigate.
Haitani jumped in. "Hey, some of those old inn have those...group bath things, uh, hot springs! That's it. Hot springs. And, umm, would your inn happen to have one? A mixed hot springs, perhaps?" His expression soon matched Shirai's, including the blood running from his nose.
Time to retract the statement about them not being perverts.
Keitaro felt great unease as he watched his friends space out. "Hey, guys?" He nervously asked.
The only response he received was for Shirai to drool slightly. Haitani seemed to have entered a near comatose state.
Keitaro cautiously stepped forward. "Guys?"
Shirais started to laugh softly, under his breath. Haitani now had a snot bubble, in addition to the blood, leaking out of his nose.
Eww, that's just nasty. Sweat was beading his forehead as he took another step closer. "Haitani? Shirai?...Guys!" he shouted.
"Gah!" They cried out simultaneously. More people looked over to see what the commotion was, but most looked away at one glance towards Haitani. Haitani, for his part, noticed this, and pulled some tissues (that, undoubtedly, were not usually intended for his nose) out of his pocket and wiped off his face.
Shirai nervously scratched at the back of his head. "Err, sorry about that. I guess a tour of the inn isn't gonna happen now, yeah?"
Haitani smiled weakly, face now clean. "Second chances?" half hopeful, half joking.
Keitaro inwardly thanked his friends for providing a good excuse to not let them near the dorm. Outwardly, he scowled. "Guys, this is a serious job for me. I can't let you guys anywhere near the place if you're going to act like this. I know we're friends, but after what I just saw..." He trailed of intentionally.
They both started stuttering apologies and promises to act better if he would let them see the inn. When Keitaro just shook his head, they resigned themselves to waiting for the time being.
Before they could move on to a different topic, the warning bell sounded and the students rushed to their seats.
(Lunch Hour)
Once lunch rolled around, the ronin trio hooked back up to eat together and discuss typical guy stuff. In other words, they sat around, insulting each other and occasionally commenting on some of the members of the fairer sex that happened to be nearby. In the rare instances when someone said something of importance, they would seriously discuss it for about two minutes, then either a attractive woman walk by, or someone would say something that could be turned into an insult, and the cycle would start again.
After a while, Haitani noticed a girl, wearing glasses, her hair in a pair of pony tails, wearing a baggy sweater, who seemed to be watching Keitaro. Never one to let a chance to taunt his friend go by, he pointed her out to him.
"Well, well, Keitaro, looks like you've got an admirer. You should go talk to her, I bet you guys have a lot in common. Ah, nerd love," Completely ignoring to the fact that he looks just as geeky as Keitaro does.
"Hey, who are you calling a nerd? I think you need to look in a mirror, Haitani," A brilliant comeback by Keitaro.
"That's not the point, Keitaro. That chick over there, she's been staring at you for a while."
Keitaro looked at her, while she suddenly looked away. "She looks familiar. Do you know who she is?" He turned back to his friends.
"Know who who is?" Asked Shirai, who hadn't been paying attention to the discussion for some time.
Keitaro looked around to point her out, only to find her standing right behind him. He flinched back, while Haitani laughed to himself and Shirai went back to his lunch, which he found far more interesting.
"Urr, hello?" Keitaro managed.
The mystery girls only response was to grab the collar of his shirt and pull him from his chair. Once he was on his feet, she turned and dragged him out of the room. Panic was apparent on his face, and he reached out beseechingly to his friends. Haitani laughed and waved, while Shirai didn't even look up from his food. A few other people watched this with bemused expressions, but most shrugged it off, and the rest shouted insults and cat-calls.
Suddenly, Haitani was worried. "Hey, Shirai, you don't suppose she might've been his girlfriend or anything?"
Shirai looked up, and asked around a mouthful of food. "Who was whose what?"
"No, never mind," The idea that Keitaro could get a girlfriend and keep it a secret was laughable.
Shirai frowned at being distracted from his lunch needlessly. "Then don't say anything, then," He returned to gorging himself. As it was now abandoned, he took the remainder of Keitaro's food, too.
(Outside)
After dragging him for some time, mystery girl let go of his shirt collar, letting him fall to the ground. Quickly picking himself up, Keitaro backed a few steps away from his would-be kidnapper. The girl, for her part, was content to scowl at him, waiting for him to say something, which he tentatively did.
"Ah, do I know you?" She seemed familiar, but he didn't recall ever speaking to her before.
She seemed genuinely surprised at the question. "You really are a baka, aren't you?"
The voice was familiar. "Narusegwa-san?"
She scoffed and pulled off the glasses, nodding the affirmative. "Why are you here? Are you following me?"
It was Keitaro's turn to be caught off guard. "I've been going to this school for over two years, ever since I started trying out for Toudai."
Naru made a sceptical face. "Really?" She let out a breath, then turned serious. "Just because you have school doesn't mean we're going to let you slack off on your chores at the dorm. And if you even think about doing anything perverted, remember that I'll be watching."
Keitaro bit off a comment that, if he would have said it, would undoubtedly have resulted in another aerial view of the surrounding area, courtesy of Naru Air. Even if he's clueless most of the time, he did have a few underused self-preservation instincts that he occasionally listened to. Right now, they were telling him that arguing with the girl wasn't worth being sent halfway to mainland China. So instead, he nodded meekly to avoid any unpleasantness.
Naru smiled, satisfied. "Good," With that, she turned and walked back to the school.
Once she was far enough away, Keitaro let out the breath he never realized he was holding, and slowly followed after her. Because her back was to him, he never saw the slight look of uncertainty that flashed across her face.
(Hinata Tea Shop, Several Hours Later)
Urashima Haruka was tending to the her few late afternoon customers when the door swung open and someone walked in. Turning to tell them to take a seat until she could get to them, she saw that it was Keitaro, schoolbag slung over a shoulder and a weary expression on his face. Meeting his gaze, she pointed him to an empty booth at the back, out of the way of actual customers. With a nod, he complied, setting his bag down under his chair.
After sitting for maybe five minutes, Haruka walked over, two steaming cups of coffee in her hands. Setting one mug in front of her nephew, she sat down across from him with her own. They sat in silence, sipping at their drinks. Finally, Haruka spoke.
"So, Keitaro, what's on your mind?" He had come down here twice before, and on both times he was angry or upset about something that had happened at the dorm. The first time was on his third day, when he was upset over being mistreated by most of the tenants. The second time was just yesterday, and he mentioned super-lasers and blackmail, but never went into specific detail about either. So for him to be back meant something happened, or would soon happen.
"I went back to school today," He stated simply before returning to his drink.
"And?" Haruka wasn't normally one to play twenty questions, but Keitaro was to stubborn in his ways.
"One of my tenants just so happens to go there, too."
"But who could...? Ah, Naru," Of course it had to be her.
"Yes, her. We even have a few classes together, but I never noticed until she spoke to me. Well, threatened me, to be precise."
"Ah," Was all she had to say. I can guess what she said.
Keitaro adjusted his glasses before continuing. "Anyways, after classes were over, a couple of my friends, after seeing her drag me off at lunch for our conversation, decided to joke around by making a few choice comments towards her."
Haruka smirked. "These friends of yours, they aren't very bright, are they?"
Keitaro chuckled to himself. "Not terribly smart, no, but they're worse when it comes to women. Anyhow, after the smoke cleared and she saw me standing over the remains, she jumped to the conclusion that I sent them after her to make a point of some kind, and acted accordingly."
Haruka just shook her head. "Well, that may make your school life a little harder."
"You think?" Keitaro spat. "God, if it isn't bad enough to be walking on eggshells at home, now I've got my main tormentor hovering over me at school, too."
Haruka was caught off guard by his tone. "Well, Naru can be a little overbearing, but it can't be that bad."
Keitaro eyed her wearily. "Overbearing may be putting it lightly."
Haruka conceded the point. "Listen, she's nervous about you because how you were introduced to them. Give her some time, she'll warm up to you," Probably, She mentally added.
Keitaro shot her a look that said he hoped so. "I bet you're right, we did get off on a bad foot. But anyways, in a few weeks it shouldn't matter, thanks to training."
Haruka raised her eyebrows. "You think you'll be that skilled in a few weeks? I don't know any teachers that could teach you that fast," Especially since it's you we're talking about here.
Keitaro drained the rest of his coffee. "Well, we'll see," His overconfidence was apparent. "Thanks for the drink and the words," He stood, grabbed his bag and walked for the door. Looking over his shoulder, he got off one last comment. "See ya later, aunt Haruk-ack!" He was struck in the back of the head with a flung coffee mug, and tumbled out of the shop. None of the patrons of the shop even looked up at this sudden act of violence.
"Kid never learns," She muttered before checking in on her customers.
(Hinata Sou, Narusegwa's Room)
While Keitaro was talking to his aunt, Naru was venting on her own preferred counsellor; Kitsune.
"...And then he sends his perverted buddies over to hit on me," Naru was in the middle of her rant, but paused so her friend could comment on how stupid and perverted the manager of the dorm was.
"Well, that's sure somethin', all right," Replied the fox, not wanting to enable her friend, since that would likely end in her doing something stupid, but on the other she couldn't disagree with her since they were best friends. She was certain that the manager was a good guy, since he never made a serious move yesterday when she was teasing him, but defending him would be hypocritical because of said events. So she decided to remain neutral for the duration of the rather one sided conversation .
Naru misses her friends lack of enthusiasm and continues on without missing a beat. "So anyways, after I punish theses guys and see him there, I go and confront him about it. And, guess what, he denies doing anything. Can you believe that?"
"Hmm."
Naru ploughed on. "After he says that, well, of course I can't let the pervert get away with it, right? So I smacked the baka upside the head and left," She concluded. 'Smacked the baka upside the head' meaning 'launched him into low earth orbit'.
"Well done," Kitsune exclaimed with mock enthusiasm.
Naru accepted this at face value. "Yeah, so that was what he did to me today. He probably doesn't even go to school, I bet he was stalking me," It was uncertain as to whether or not she was joking.
"Well, I'm pretty certain he has ta be a student, or the teachers wouldn't let him in the buildin', right? Besides, I doubt he's the sort," Kitsune enjoyed playing the voice of reason every now and again.
Naru nodded, which made it clear that she wasn't serious about the accusation. "Yeah, I know. It's just, it's bad enough that he's here, and now he's at my school, too. I just, I dunno."
"I see what your sayin'," Kitsune said, reassuringly.
Naru's expression was of discomfort. "Even if I'm wrong about him, I don't think he should be here. I just don't trust him. Even if he's a good person, it isn't appropriate for him to live in an all girls dorm, you know? It's not fair that this happens to us."
Kitsune smiled kindly at her friend. "I know you don't like this, but we can't really do anythin' about it. We just have to go with things for now. Give him a chance, because I think he deserves one."
Naru matched the foxes expression. "Yeah, I guess I've been pretty harsh, haven't I?"
Kitsune chuckled slightly at that. "Harsh is ignoring someone. You've launched him through walls."
"Well, I'll think about maybe being a little nicer. I just hope that he acts a little more careful from now on . And maybe me and Motoko can sort things out. I don't want to fight with my friends."
Kitsune nodded enthusiastic. "If ya treat him better, kendo girl will warm back up to ya. And I don't think she's really mad, so I don't think ya need to worry. You know how she is with 'warrior pride', and 'honour', and stuff like that."
Naru looked slightly amused at the description of one of her friends entire way of life. "Well, I've got a lot to think about. Anyways, thanks for the advice, Kit."
"No problem, Naru. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a horse race on soon, and I got a hot tip, and since cash is low, I need to get my bet placed before it starts. But first, I need to drink me some sake, for good luck," She stands, and makes to leave, silently cursing herself for wasting most of the money she got from the manager the day before. Well, on the upside, rent wouldn't be a problem this month.
Naru shook her head. "Kitsune, at some point you're going to have to grow up. You can't keep living like you do, it's just not safe. You barely ever have any money because of gambling, and when you do, you go out and get wasted at the bars. Sure, the manager might not be a threat, but other guys are. I worry about you, Kitsune," While Kitsune didn't like hearing the same lecture all the time, it looked like she may actually clean up her act regarding Keitaro, even if she still couldn't say his name.
Kitsune smiled her foxy smile. "Don't be worryin' about lil' old me, I know what I'm doin'," With that, she left the room.
Once the fox left the room, Naru was left to think of some way to fix things with the manager.
(Hinata Sou, Living Room)
"Oh, Hurry up! Come on, come on, oh...Dammit!" Frustrated, Kitsune ripped the betting slip in half and stomped her feet on the floor, letting the world know of her displeasure. Grabbing the nearest sake bottle, she droped back onto the couch, intending to drink away her troubles, as per usual. This time, her troubles being the fact that she just lost all that remained of the money she, ahem, 'acquired' yesterday on what had to be, in her opinion, the slowest nag in existence. Finding the bottle empty, she tossed it blindly away, feeling oddly triumphant when she heard it shatter against the wall, and grabbed another, tearing the cap off and gulping as much of the alcohol as humanly possible. After a few long seconds, she lowered the now half full bottle from her lips and inhaled sharply. After catching her breath, she took a more sparing sip, and let the feeling of satisfied contentment wash over her. Maybe using alcohol to solve all her problems isn't the best idea, but for now, it works.
Realizing her funds were essentially shot, she knew she had only a few choices. One, look for a bit of part-time work, do as much as possible for about a month or two, then quit it. Two, write a few articles, and sell them to whoever would take them. Three, blackmail the manager. Four, drink more sake. Seeing as she was lazy as hell, options one and two were disregarded immediately. Since the manager was out, option three would have to be put off until later. So that left option four, which, admittedly, was her favourite. Besides, after a little while of four, three would be a hell of a lot funnier and way more profitable, since those pesky morals and inhibitions would be out of the way.
Sprawling out on the couch, she flipped the channel on the television from the horses to some dime-a-dozen soap opera. Taking another sip of her drink, she smiled, and relaxed. All that was left was to wait.
(Hinata Sou, Motoko's Room)
If one was to look into the resident samurais room, they would find her sitting cross-legged on the floor, her sword on her lap, deep in meditation. The reason behind the meditation? Urashima Keitaro.
One the one hand, he was a male living at an all girls dormitory, serving as the caretaker for the other residents. This in itself should be reason enough for expulsion from the premises. Even if he was there because of his grandmothers wishes, he still should have the sense of mind to realize how inappropriate it was for him to even be near the building.
On the other hand, in the time he had been there, he hadn't committed any perverse or immoral acts intentionally. He did the work given to him, and did it well. He went out of his way to avoid most of the tenants. He never spoke or acted against any of them. He did what was required of him, and nothing more. But still...
He was a male, and by definition that should make him a pervert, weak willed, someone who would stop at nothing to sate his evil desires on any innocent maiden he should happen across. The fact that he hadn't done any did not even matter. These tenancies are there, and if left unchecked, they would assert themselves. Even if Urashima was a good person, he would eventually succumb to his evil nature, even if it was unintentional.
That was always the belief about males, anyways. But after nearly two years of meditation on the subject had left a large shadow of doubt on these thoughts. Justice meant all people are innocent until proven guilty, and to say all males were guilty by birth contradicted this in every sense. And if justice were flawed, then honour would be as well. If one dispenses wrongful justice, then they would loose honour. And if there was one thing a noble warrior valued, it was honour. Without honour, they were less than nothing.
Of course, these thoughts were helpful if she was in a mood to think before reacting, but her misconceptions about males caused her to often react without thinking. What really prevented her from lashing out at every accident of the manager was a phone call from her sister a mere two weeks before his arrival. It regarded an incident where one of the students at her school made a mistake that nearly cost someone everything...
It was a typical morning at the Hinata Sou. The residents, bar Kitsune who was hung-over, were seated around the table, partaking of the excellent breakfast created by their personal cook, Shinobu. Since it was a Sunday, most of the girls were looking forward to a day to relax. Of course, because of her training schedule, Motoko would likely spend most of the day running through her kata's. Since this was the usual routine, no one felt the need to discuss it. Breakfast was coming to a close, and Motoko was about to leave for the laundry deck, when the phone rang.
Shinobu was about to go answer the phone, but Motoko stopped her. "I will get it, Shinobu-chan."
Shinobu nodded her thanks, and went back to finishing her meal.
Leaving the dining room, she approached the ringing device. Picking it up, she said curtly. "Hinata Sou dormitory. Whom are you calling for?"
"Why, I'm calling for you, Motoko-han," The voice was very familiar. A voice she knew well. It was the voice of her...
"Sister! Wh-what do you need?" Even if she wasn't near, Motoko grew uneasy all the same.
Tsuruko chuckled. "Do I need a reason to call my little sister?"
'Yes', Motoko thought to herself. "Of course not, sister," She said instead.
"So, how is life at the dormitory, Motoko-han? Are you keeping up in your training?"
"Life at the dorm is well, sister, and of course I train every day," Motoko normally doesn't chat with people, and wanted to get to the point.
"Good, good. Maybe you should come home some time so I can test you. Anyways, how is your meditation? Have you sorted out those troubles you had when you left?" While Motoko never mentioned her dislike of males to her sister, or anyone in her family for that matter, it wasn't really surprising that she knew. Her behaviour towards Tsuruko's husband was anything but subtle.
Motoko hesitated briefly before replying. "I believe I have sorted out most of the...issues. I need some more time, but I think for the most part, my misconceptions are in the past," While what she said wasn't exactly wrong, she was making things sound easier than they were.
Tsuruko showed no sign of noticing her hesitation. "Very good, Motoko-han, very good. I'm pleased you have gotten over those dreadful misconceptions you had. Because if you hadn't..." She trailed off.
Motoko was very nervous. "Sister?"
It was a moment before she continued. "Something has happened, Motoko-han. Do you remember some of the those 'informal lectures' you delivered to the younger girls at the school before you left?"
Motoko flinched. She remembered those little talks well. Shortly after she had her 'revelation' about the evils of males, she decided to warn the students about them. While some students shrugged her warnings off, quite a few agreed, believing that the heir to the Shinmei-ryu would never mislead them on something so important. A few came to the idea that violence would be the best way to deal with it, an idea that Motoko quickly agreed with. In the end, all Motoko could do was give a meek 'Yes' in reply.
Tsuruko pressed on. "Well, you may be happy to know that most of those you turned had given up on those thoughts quite a while ago," Motoko felt relief wash over her. "Of course, not all did. Some held what you said as an absolute truth," The nervousness returned with a vengeance. "Three days ago, one of them did something. It was after a lesson, and she was walking with a few of her friends to a restaurant, since it was a free afternoon. While she was walking, a young man, about a year younger than her, approached them. He asked her if she wanted to have dinner with him. She reacted very badly to that. She screamed pervert, and used a ki attack to 'punish' him. She only had a bokken, but you know that they can channel ki as well as any sword. Luckily, she had only recently learned it, or it would have been worse. He was struck dead on and launched into a building. His injuries were minor, but but they could have killed him if she used a little more force."
Motoko was dumbfounded, and took a while to find her voice. "W-what happened to her?"
"She was removed from the school and is no longer allowed to study in another, nor bear any sort of arms ever again. Because his injuries were minor, and she is young, so she was saved from any other punishment."
Motoko was at a loss for words.
After a brief silence, Tsuruko continued. "The funny thing? Him and her, they had been friends for some time before she joined the school. Shortly after, she cut all ties to him. I spoke to him briefly, and he said that he just wanted to talk to her again. Sad, isn't it?"
Motoko could only think of one thing to say. "Is this...my fault?"
Tsuruko's voice grew gentle. "No, Motoko-han, No one blames you. I knew of your fears, and did nothing to alleviate you of them. I believed that if you overcame them yourself, it would be better for you. I only learned of what you had said to these students recently. But you did it because you believed you were doing the right thing, so I cannot fault you. But remember, Motoko-han; 'the road to hell is paved by good intentions'. Think before you act. No one blames you for this incident, because you had no knowledge of what your words would do. However, the next time something happens, the council may not be as lenient. Think before you act, Motoko-han. If you act out in a similar fashion, you may meet the same fate, if not a worse one. Be careful of your fears, and always act with honour."
Motoko swallowed hard. "I will, sister."
"I pray that you do. This is no doubt a lot to take in, so I will leave you to your thoughts. Goodbye, Motoko-han."
"G-goodbye, sister," With that, the phone went dead. It was some time before she moved from that spot.
After days of meditation, Motoko soon came to the realization that for her to make up for ruining a friendship and someones way of life, she would have to clean up her act regarding males. Oddly enough, she had only just came to this realization, when out of the blue, Urashima arrived. Of course, upon first viewing him, she forgot all about her decision and reacted by instinct. After his situation was revealed, it took much willpower, but she managed to follow the path of honour and wisdom. Without the call from her sister, this would have been impossible.
Because of her sisters words, she managed to maintain enough self control to give Urashima the benefit of a doubt whenever he was placed in a compromising position. She still felt the urge to punish him for any perceived act of perversion, but now had the sense of mind to ask questions and observe the situation before making snap judgement. It was hard, but she had not only kept from unnecessarily lashing out at him, but also managed to keep the others from seeing her uncertainty. She even managed to avoid directly thinking about what she had unwillingly caused most of the time, because whenever she did, she was filled with a painful sense of regret. The only time she ever thought directly about it was when Urashima was in a questionable situation and she felt the urge to react violently. And in meditation, of course.
After a few days without any trouble, she decided to test herself. Offering to train him was said test. There was a perfectly reasonable reason to do make the offer, but secretly, she wanted to see if she had the strength of will to avoid doing anything overboard. So far, things seemed to be going good. And, as much as she was loath to admit it, it was nice to have a training partner so she could vent these pent up emotions on someone.
In fact, things were going so well that there was only one thing that concerned her at this point. Her friendship with Narusegwa. When she had been so concerned with battling her violent urges towards Urashima, she had acted poorly towards her friend in the process. Naru couldn't be blamed for her distrust of having a male live in the dorm. In all likelihood, if her sister never made that call, she would be treating him just as badly, possibly worse. Most of her behaviour towards Naru was unnecessarily rude, and an apology would likely be in order to patch things up. That being said, Naru's behaviour towards Urashima was completely uncalled for, and had to be stopped at some point, preferably soon.
Breaking out of her thoughts, she stood and stretched, re-sheathing her katana. After insuring she looked presentable, she left her room, intending to find the resident female Toudai hopeful.
(Hinata Sou, Entryway)
As the manager walked through the door to the dorm, he felt better than he had earlier. A good cup of coffee and a quick chat with his aunt always helped. He hoped that Narusegwa had calmed down a little, but either way, he intended to avoid her for the rest of the day, if possible. Silently cursing whoever decided to build the Sou on a hill, he slipped his shoes off and cringed as the smell of sweaty feet filled the air. He stepped into the dorm proper, and made to go to the stairs so he could go to his room. Little did he know, someone else had different plans for him.
"Well, well, look wha' the cat dragged in," came a familiar, yet slightly drunk, voice.
Trying not to look nervous, and failing miserably, Keitaro turned to face the source of the voice. "Hello, Kitsune-san," He said in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice. After taking appraisal of her apparel, he kept his eyes firmly glued away from anything lower than her face. With her wearing a tight t-shirt and shorts that would put short-shorts to shame, he didn't want to risk a nosebleed.
The fox, even if she was a little drunk, could see his nervousness. "Hello yerself, Mr. manager. Everythin' goin' okay?" She asked with mock concern.
Keitaro examined what she said for any hidden meaning, but found nothing. "Fine, why do you ask?" He asked, cautiously.
Kitsune looked serious. "Well, I just happened ta hear that you an' Naru had a little lovers spat."
Keitaro spent the next two minutes sputtering that he and Narusegwa were not lovers, while glowing a shade of red that would make a tomato jealous. Kitsune looked disappointed.
"Aww, ya aren't? That's to bad. But then, maybe I have a chance now?" She smiled her best fox smile.
Keitaro completely lost it. His blush growing by at least three levels, he tried to politely refuse what he thought was a serious offer. "Kitsune-san, I-I'm honoured and all, but I'm not really looking for a relationship right now."
Kitsune raised the pressure. "Aww, and here I thought ya liked mah babies. Don't ya?" She jiggled her barely contained breasts to emphasize her meaning. Needless to say, Keitaro saw the movement, and quickly glanced away, his blush reaching critical levels.
He was now stuck in a hard place. If he said that he didn't like her, ah, 'babies', she would be offended, but if he said that he did like them, Naru would likely overhear and call him a pervert. Since Keitaro is rather slow, he had yet to figure out that Kitsune isn't being serious.
Kitsune watched him try and find a tactful way of refusing her offer, chuckling silently. This guy can't be a pervert, I mean, look at him. Smokin' hot babe like me makes an offer like that, and he's gonna refuse. I almost feel bad about doing this to him, but this fox needs a drink. Or two. Or five. Or ten.
When Keitaro only managed to silently open and close his mouth for half a minute, Kitsune decided to up the ante. "You seemed ta like 'em when ya felt me up yesterday," When Keitaro looked away awkwardly, she smirked. "Want ta feel 'em again?" Without waiting for an answer, she glomped him, rubbing him with her ample endowments. Add the fact she never wears a bra around the house, and the shirt was at least two sizes small, and little was left to the besieged managers imagination.
His eyes went wide, and a second later, his nose started bleeding. A panicked expression crossed his face, while he did his what he could to stop the blood flow, and doing his best to not fall from being taken off balance by the fox now solidly lodged on his back. By no means a simple feat, given that Keitaro was Keitaro.
With her victory all but certain, she released her victim and turned him around. "Thinkin' dirty thoughts about me? For shame," She mockingly waggled a finger at him. "I think I need some, whats tha fancy term? R somethin', resti, recom, er... reconstitution? Ah, blast it! Give me money so I don't report this lil' indiscretion ta the others," She held out her hands expectantly.
Keitaro resigned himself to his fate, and started reaching for his wallet. Before he could remove it from the pocket, however, a quiet voice spoke up.
"Umm, manager-san? I need your help with something."
The blackmailer and her target looked over at the direction the voice came from. Standing by the door to the dining room was the youngest resident, Shinobu, the blue-haired chef.
Upon seeing the young girl, Kitsune knew that the extortion would have to wait. However, she was by no means giving up. "Well, we'll jus' have ta finish this discussion later, Mr. Manager. See ya later," And with a seductive wink, she was gone, returning to her room, to scheme and drink, but mostly the latter. She was certain that there was at least one bottle left up there, and she was determined that the sake wouldn't remain in the bottle for long. The three, or maybe it was four, that she had drank earlier would soon have company.
With a relieved sigh, Keitaro took his hand from his pocket and turned to his savings saviour. Smiling kindly, he asked the girl. "What do you need, Shinobu-chan?"
Shinobu nervously asked him, after a brief hesitation. "Y-your a student at T-Toudai, right? Can you help me with my homework?"
Instinctively reaching out to pat her head, but catching himself before she noticed, he answered her. "Well, truth be told, I'm not a Toudai student, but I think I can help with whatever homework problem you may have," I'm not that stupid. I think I remember most of what I learned in junior high.
"T-thank you, sir," Shinobu said, embarrassed. She wasn't the best in her school, and due to her already meek nature, she often believed herself worse off than she actually was. In truth, she was likely smarter for her age than Keitaro was for his. Although, admittedly, that isn't as impressive as it sounded, seeing as Keitaro was rather dense. He was so dense, in fact, that he never noticed how nervous she was.
Shinobu wasn't used to being around guys. In fact, with sempai's Naru and Motoko always warning of their evils, she had avoided men whenever possible. And when this one showed up, out of the blue, doing what appeared to be something bad, it reinforced her fear. When she learned that he was to be the manager, it was terrifying. The only thing that stopped her from fleeing from him whenever she would see him was the fact that Motoko-sempai seemed to be friends with him. Motoko-sempai always spoke of honour, and justice, and being a good person, so she wouldn't choose to be friends with someone bad, right?
Even so, she never spoke to him beyond basic polite greetings, and sought to avoid being in the same room as him for longer than absolutely necessary. She was glad he ate separately, and spent most of his time doing chores or studying in his room, as it minimized the likelihood of ever having to actually interact with him in a significant way. She fully intended to spend the remainder of either her or his days at the dorm in such a fashion, but she saw something just the day before, something that proved that he was not a bad person.
She had been cleaning the kitchen before supper, when she heard voices in the dinning room. Looking to see who it was, her first impression of what was going on was what she feared. The new manager appeared to be doing something wrong to Mitsune-san. It didn't take long, though, before the true nature of what had occurred was revealed. It was Mitsune-san who was taking advantage of him. At that moment, she felt immeasurably sorry for him. It wasn't fair, and no one would ever be able to help him, or even believe him, if he told anyone about what happened. It was wrong.
Unknown to her, she had just prevented a repeat of the very same thing just then. If she had known, she would likely be to worried to move, and the fox would have gotten away with her scheme. She was just to timid to do something like that. It was just how she was.
Because of this new knowledge, she felt confident enough to ask for help in her schoolwork. She would prefer to work with one of the girls, but they were unable or unsuitable to help her. Naru-sempai had her own studies, Motoko-sempai had her studies and training, Mitsune-san was busy with her own things, and Su, who was more than willing to help, often made simple concepts insanely difficult due to her weird reasoning and most of the times her explanations were unrelated to the question itself. So despite how nervous she was, she built up her courage to ask for his help. And besides, she felt bad at how he had been made an outcast by everyone, and wanted to make him somewhat welcome.
When Shinobu silently stood for a few moments, Keitaro grew concerned. "Er, did you want to some help right now, or do you need anything else?" He wanted to reach out to her, a brother instinct that was rather difficult to curb, but reigned himself in. It wouldn't do to frighten the girl, after all.
Popping back into the here and now, Shinobu quickly responded. "If you aren't busy, I could use some help with math," She timidly asked of him.
"No problem, Shinobu-chan. Do you want to get your books and study at the table here, or somewhere else?"
Shinobu thought for a second. "Can we use the laundry deck? I like to study outside when the weather is nice."
Keitaro nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll meet you up there."
Shinobu hurried to her room to retrieve her books, while Keitaro made his way to the deck.
(Hinata Sou, Laundry Deck, Forty-five Minutes Later)
"...And that's how you do that type of question," Keitaro concluded. Ha, I guess I'm not a complete baka after all.
After she finished writing out the answer, Shinobu closed the book. "Thank you for the help, manager-san."
Keitaro stood back up and stretched, before turning back to Shinobu. "Anytime, Shinobu-chan. I'm here to help. Now, I guess I better go do some of my own studying," With one more smile to Shinobu, he turned to go. Before he took two steps, though, Shinobu stopped him.
"Um, manager-san, if you have a minute, I would like to show you something," The girl said, embarrassed for reasons Keitaro couldn't speculate.
Turning around, Keitaro responded. "Sure, Shinobu-chan."
She stood up, but instead of walking to the stairs, she walked over to the side of the deck. Before Keitaro could react, she jumped over to the roof, and stood unsteadily.
"Shinobu-chan, you shouldn't go up there! It isn't safe," He walked over, hoping to keep her from falling.
Shinobu turned around, careful make sure her skirt was placed in a way that he could not look up it, given her new elevation. "Don't worry, manager-san, I go up here all the time, I'm safe."
Keitaro nods, with a uncertain expression on his face. "Well, okay, but be careful," With that said, he jumped after Shinobu, and almost fell due to his innate clumsiness.
Once he was standing, Shinobu skipped to the end of the roof, both careful and carefree. Once she reached the end, she twirled around with a huge smile on her face. With her arms outstretched, she asked. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Indeed it was. If the view from the laundry deck nice, this was incredible. The extra elevation and different location gave a completely unhindered view of the entire city, all the way down to the ocean. The light played of of the buildings and water in a way that was entrancing. It would be a great place to sketch the surrounding area. Keitaro was so distracted that all he could managed in response was a quiet. "It is."
So distracted was he that he almost missed the sudden, strong gust of wind. What he didn't miss was the look on Shinobu's face when she lost her footing, and started to fall from the roof.
Before she could fall out of reach, Keitaro grabbed her hand. She was hanging from his hand, over three stories of empty air.
"Auuuiii!" She screamed, terrified.
Gritting his teeth, Keitaro managed to say. "Don't worry, I got you."
Carefully, Keitaro pulled her back onto the roof. The second she was safe, Shinobu reacted as one would expect; by latching onto Keitaro. Burying her face into his shirt, she started to cry. Laying on his back, with the trembling girl on his chest, he reacted in the only way he knew how; by embracing her tightly, providing the protective presence she desperately needed. They stayed this way for nearly ten minutes. Finally, Shinobu lifted her head.
"T-t-thank you, Sempai," Keitaro noticed the sudden change from manager to sempai, but made no comment about it.
"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're safe," He replied, letting up on the hug.
Realizing just what she was doing, Shinobu pulled away from him, rising to her knees. "I'm sorry, Sempai."
Tilting his head, Keitaro asked. "What for, Shinobu-chan? You did nothing wrong."
Stuttering for a few seconds, Shinobu managed to say. "But you could have been in trouble if someone saw us."
Smiling that reassuring smile she so loved, he kindly told her. "You're more important, Shinobu-chan. You were scared, and I couldn't just abandon you," His inner kindness asserted itself.
"Sempai..." Shinobu wasn't used to receiving kindness from people, let alone someone she didn't know.
Clearing his throat, Keitaro stood back up. "I think we should go back inside. I'll make you some tea. Trust me, it will help."
Shinobu nodded weakly, and stood herself. Walking slower than before, she made her way back to the deck. When she hesitated, Keitaro jumped over first and reached out his arms. Carefully, she jumped into his arms. Setting her back down, they made their way back inside.
(Hinata Sou, Narusegwa's Room)
Motoko and Naru hurried inside, and closed the door. Sitting down at the table, There was only one thing to say.
"I think...I understand now, Motoko."
(To be Continued)
Well, that's chapter three. What did you think? As always, drop me a review if you have the time. I have a hard time proofreading my stories, and may have missed a big mistake or something. If you tell me in a review, I can fix it. And speaking of reviews...
The Jabberwock Of OZ: I try to stay close to cannon in regards to combat skills and whatnot. In regards to Kitsune, I don't hate her, but I sure as hell don't like her, mostly since she's really hard to write.
Zero-nightmare: I was worried that the whole sequence with Su and the doomsday weapon would be considered out of place. Glad that you liked it!
Keikun4283: Well, I think I covered most of your comments in the chapter. By the way, I love your avatar.
Megato: Well, you know how Su is.
Infinite Freedom: Thanks for reading!
Cizzymac: Thanks again.
Chris(anonymous): I'll do my best!
So far, no one is saying yes or no for Mitsumi and Tama making an appearance. What I said in my last chapter probably confused you, and I'm sorry about that. I just meant that I didn't want a whole bunch of anonymous reviews about it.
I'm not sure if I need to make any changes to the previous chapter, or if I should leave it as is. What do you think? I don't think it needs any changes, but I'm not the reader.
I leave info on all my stories and current progress on my profile. I typically update at least twice a week, normally more.
Well, see you next time.
Later
-The Hendog