Anime: Love Hina

Genre: Romance/General

Rating: Pg 13

Chapter Eight

Melting Ice

By Fanficzgrl

Heartbroken…Heart healed?

Motoko stirred in her sleep. Her eyes shifted from one side to another behind her lids as she strained to arrive at consciousness. When she finally managed to force her eyes opened, she found herself lying on top of her futon in her room. The room was silent, as if nothing different had happened or changed. Everything was as if it had been before...before something had happened. That something, Motoko wasn't sure of what it was.

Suddenly a knock was heard from the screen door, and a voice reached in to her.

"Motoko," the voice called, attempting to intrude on her personal space.

The voice was had a familiar quality to it that Motoko recognized and her mind raced around thoughts, trying to identify who it was. Realization suddenly struck; the owner of the voice was Keitaro! One realization followed another, and Motoko very quickly recalled all the events that had happened the night before. Now that realization was possible, embarrassment followed as well.

"How could I have been so rash yesterday?" Motoko rebutted herself, "That was totally unlike me. Now Keitaro would think I'm some total freak who's incapable of handling stress appropriately! Argh, what am I to do?"

"Motoko-chan," Keitaro called once again, ready to give up if still no answer replied.

"Oh, yes, what is it Keitaro?" Motoko asked.

"Oh, you're awake, Motoko," Keitaro said, "I was about to leave, thinking you're still asleep."

"Oh, no, I'm not," Motoko replied quietly, almost as if the reply was for herself.

Silence claimed the atmosphere, Keitaro waiting for Motoko to open the screen door, and Motoko not knowing whatever was best to do.

"Motoko," Keitaro finally spoke.

"Yes?" Motoko peeped.

"About yesterday..."

"Oh! Yesterday, I just wasn't feeling well," Motoko quickly intervened, "Don't think too much about it."

"Yes, I understand, but..." Keitaro began, "I think there are some things that need clearing up."

"No, there isn't," Motoko said sternly, wanting to end the conversation right then.

"There is!" Keitaro's quiet voice turned loud suddenly.

Motoko was caught by surprise and decided to leave Keitaro to speak. It was funny speaking behind screen doors, Motoko thought.

"Motoko," Keitaro said, "I understand that there might have been a little misunderstanding between you and me..."

"There isn't!" Motoko denied, once again, in desperation.

"There is!" Keitaro countered, his voice sounding frustrated as ever. "You think that I'm only being nice to you just because I want you out of our family's ways, because we don't want you interfering on Oni-chan's marriage." Keitaro waited for Motoko's deniable but it never came, so he continued, "There's something that I want to know you, and that is, I'm NOT! I'm not playing with your heart, Motoko—I'm not! You got to believe me!"

"Then why are you being so nice to me for?" Motoko finally asked.

"I'm being kind to you because I really DO care about you. That I l--", and his voice trailed to a silence.

Both Keitaro and Motoko's face brightened with embarrassment when the words were almost slipped. Their hearts raced with excitement and both knew not what to say. They were speechless.

Finally, after long moments of stillness, Keitaro spoke up, "I understand why you would have mistaken Motoko-chan. That day, Seta was pulling a joke on me and I just played along with him. I had no intention on hurting your feelings at all. You may be mad at me right now, and righteously so too, but I just hope that you won't feel bad anymore. Seeing you hurt…hurts me even more. I don't know how to say it, Motoko, but you can hate and hurt me, but just don't pain and pressure yourself anymore, okay. I'll leave now."

Tears were streaming down Motoko's face without her mind even registering it.

"Keitaro…" Motoko let out a sigh that she had been holding down. The awkward atmosphere had left.

"Umm…Motoko," Keitaro's voice came back again.

"Yes?" Motoko answered, a little surprised that he had come back.

"I…err…thought you might need to take your medicine since you still have a fever, so I'll just put your medicine outside and you can pick it up whenever you feel like taking it."

"Alright."

With that, Motoko heard Keitaro's steps slowly descending down the stairs again.

Groaning with frustration, Motoko crouched herself into a tiny ball and cried out in exasperation. Everything was just too confusing now. Could she really have mistaken about Keitaro? She didn't want to think about that answer, or perhaps, she was just too afraid to know the truth.

A while passed and Motoko's fever soon receded thanks to the medicine and a little rest. The sun was starting to set and Motoko then realized that she had slept through the entire afternoon and her stomach was now complaining loudly in hunger. It gurgled at her in frustration for not sating its hunger. Motoko heaved a sigh, unable to decide whether it's better to endure the physical pain of her hunger or the emotional pain of having see Keitaro again. In the end, she decided to satisfy her physical demands and hoped to whichever god responsible for Chance or Fate that she wouldn't encounter Keitaro downstairs.

Just when Motoko was about to leave the room, sliding open her door, Keitaro was standing just outside her room, his hands carrying a tray of food.

"Umm…I'd thought you might be hungry so I made you a bowl of udon to eat," Keitaro laughingly replied.

"Oh, I see," Motoko stuttered, "Umm…well, thank you." With that, she took the tray from Keitaro's hands, bowed her thanks and quickly slid back closed the door. Keitaro's being too kind to her, Motoko thought, a little too kind. Sighing, Motoko took a bite of her noodles and felt the warmth from the food overtake her, giving her a rising sense of well-being.

Feelings may change, as attitudes do too, but nonetheless, the rising never fails to forget to rise beyond the horizons of mother earth. Motoko woke up the next day, feeling all better and perhaps, slightly refreshed. Her sister had returned home knowing Motoko was sick, and had taken care of her throughout all of last day. Motoko was starting to accept the fact that her sister hadn't changed after the marriage---at least she still cared for her the same way she had before. The only thing that was perhaps different was that Tsuruko was a lot more open now; by open the meaning is being accepting of new things and allowing herself be seen the way she is on the inside by people. Motoko was seeing a side of her sister that she had never seen before. Tsuruko was always smiling now, happy everyday and Motoko was beginning to love this new ane-ue that Tsuruko had become. Seta-san was also being nice to her and she felt at ease now conversing with him. He may seem clumsy at times, but this clumsiness, liked by Tsuruko, is also liked by Motoko. Living with her new family was becoming more natural now, as if life had been like this all along.

Now the only trouble was: Keitaro.

Keitaro was being extremely kind, this kindness creating ever more inner frustration in Motoko. Motoko just wished that he could be some despicable teenage boy, who is like all others---selfish, inconsiderate, lazy, so that she could feel no guilt in hating him with all her heart. As much as she tried, she couldn't manage to hate Keitaro. In the end, Motoko decided that it was better to keep things as they were, as if nothing had happened so that she needn't think about how to behave in front of Keitaro now that she knew what she had been angry with was just a misunderstanding. Keitaro silently seemed to be complying with this idea, as he showed no intention to change things as they were.

On to school, Motoko and Keitaro went, as "normal" as ever. The two talked briefly to each about the upcoming school events and some of the topics at school---nothing too serious that would involve a long conversation. When they finally arrived, they took their seats, and listened conscientiously as their teacher talked about the upcoming field trips.

"Very soon, we will be going to the Hanabishira Island where we will be excavating ancient artifacts from a prehistoric turtle civilization," the teacher informed the class.

Loud cheering noises enveloped the classroom atmosphere as the teacher proceeded with his speech.

"However, apparently, our school budget is running slim, and the school can not afford to fund such a grand expedition outdoors," continued the teacher, followed by groans of disappointment from the students, "but, I have decided that we will still participate in this event, as it is relative to our course studies and is a great experience for all of you. To do this, I have decided that we will host a school fundraise campaign in order to build up our school funds. How's that everyone?"

"Yes! That's great sensei (teacher)!"

"Alright, calm down everyone," the teacher said, "We'll need some ideas on how to fundraise though, does anyone have any suggestions?"

Hands rose quickly and everyone waved with excitement, trying to tell the class the clever ideas that raced through their minds.

"How about setting up a food stand to sell Japanese sweets," one girl with pony tails asked.

"Oh! I know! We can set up performances and sell tickets to those who wishes to attend" another cried out, her movements dramatic, hinting that perhaps she could be an asset of an acting cast.

"Umm…everyone could bring their stuffed animals to class and we can sell them to people?" a timid girl suggested.

Keitaro smiled as he listened to everyone's ideas. Shifting his glance at Motoko, she saw that her face had somewhat paled and she was mumbling something under her breath anxiously.

"Ah, Motoko-chan?" Keitaro whispered to his side.

"Huh!" Motoko gasped out suddenly, shaken from her reverie.

"Are you alright?" he asked, "You look a little green and shaken up. Is anything the matter?"

"Oh no," Motoko replied, "Nothing's wrong…"

"Oh, alright," Keitaro said, accepting Motoko's answer, but was somewhat sceptical about its honesty. He listened on to everyone's suggestion afterwards.

"Oh…what am I going to do!" Motoko asked herself, nervously, "What am I going to do? A turtle civilization…turtles…probably lots of them too" Motoko felt herself feeling more upset and wondered whether her face was turning as green as she felt…as green as a turtle even, maybe.

Fanficzgrl: Hey everyone! I'm extremely sorry for the long update. It's been two months since I last updated, huh? You'd all be thinking, "Fanficzgrl is sooo LAZY!" I know! But please, don't kill me! I have reasons too! As most of you know, it's almost summer break and for teachers, it is their nature to turn evil around this time of year. Sadly, I've been having many projects, and some upcoming final exams as well. sighs sadly I really do want to update badly, so please, bear with me! I hope you guys haven't lost interest in this fic, as it is getting to the fun part very soon. Hope you'll all continue to support this fic, and I want to shout out my thanks to those who reviewed and gave me the support and encouragement in writing this fic! Thanks all!