Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Love Hina or any of its characters.

Friends

Chapter Eleven

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She got into a fight with her mother.

It was nothing serious, nothing big. It was the usual useless banter they always exchanged since they were both stubborn. Her little brother was there, nodding along with every point their mother made. He was smart. Even if he didn't agree with some of the things the older woman said, pretending he did guaranteed he wouldn't be dragged into the spat.

Once again, it was another stupid argument about her attitude.

Time and time again, she tried to explain that she wasn't like them. She didn't think the value of person equated to the amount of time he or she invested in education so it wasn't surprising that she hated school. Her classmates were stupid, studying was boring enough to bring tears to her eyes, and academics didn't suit someone that resented them. If high school was going to be the same, then she'd drop out and get a job. Going to work was much better than wasting more than half of her day at school.

Her mother slapped her.

Stunned, she didn't stop to think about the sting of her cheek as she looked from her brother to her mother and then back at the little boy again. The look on his face, the shock that fractured the indifference that defined him, meant that her mother did indeed strike her for the first time.

Their mother, the frail woman that never raised her voice, slapped her only daughter.

It was a crime.

It was a betrayal.

It was wrong.

It was wrong because she didn't approach her mother for advice or permission. Her mind was already made up. She was going to drop out and save up enough money to get her own place. She was going to make enough money to get away from the boring family that always looked at her like they were disappointed.

All she wanted to do was see them off before she left.

She was going to hug the brat that was her brother and wish him good luck even though he didn't need it. He was a genius, the pride of the family. If he was her age then he would have already been in a university somewhere.

She was going to leave a note for her father and thank him for never scolding her despite all the trouble she got it. She liked to believe he was just weak against cute girls, but she had a feeling that he made it a point to never concern himself with the problems of his only daughter.

She was going to embrace her mother, the dull woman that always tried to teach her things she didn't care about, and say some crap about keeping in touch but…

Everything she thought to do was changed by the tinge of stinging red on the side of her face. The schoolgirl rubbed her cheek. It didn't hurt. The woman that slapped her was never strong. If anything was wounded, it was her perception of the woman that stood before her. The woman that gave extra chores to keep her at home slapped her. The woman that didn't let her watch more than two hours of television a day disrespected her. The woman that thought she loved to play the viola had the audacity to hit her when she was trying to be nice.

The woman that didn't understand her at all struck her thinking that she did.

That was the crime.

Her mother stared at her outstretched hand in mute shock, her eyes frantically darting up before she quickly pulled it back to her side with a speed that didn't match her weak body. The woman that never got mad at anything got angry enough to hit her when she did nothing wrong.

That was the betrayal.

She didn't quite know when her mother made the transition to that woman and, frankly, she didn't care because she had already decided the person in front of her wasn't her mother anymore. She didn't have a family anymore. She'd forget about them the moment she got to Tokyo. She'd be on her own so she wouldn't have to listen to anyone. She'd be able to party as much as she wanted. She'll be able to do anything she wanted to do.

She was leaving.

The woman grabbed her by the wrist to halt her advance and her daughter shook off the offending hand like it burned, the spiteful glare she shot back enough to fend off a second attempt. She shoved her brother aside and walked out the front door without saying anything to the people she left behind.

She left for Tokyo that night and didn't return.

"…just needs to rest."

"Are you sure? I think I should have taken her to the hospital…"

Kitsune quietly woke from her dream, but the voices she heard kept her still. She kept her eyes closed, steadied her breathing, and, even with haze of sleep clouding her thoughts, deduced some things quickly enough for her sleepy mind to process them.

For one, she was in Keitaro's room.

It didn't take the futon that smelled like him or the sound of his voice to make her figure it out. It was simply the way it felt that let her know where she was. The warm, inviting atmosphere of his room was almost enough to lull her back to sleep, but the voices to her side kept her interested enough to stay awake.

"It's not that serious." It was Motoko. She sounded tired. "She's just dehydrated."

"I see, but she still has a temperature." She hoped to feel his hand on her head after the remark, but she could feel his presence, his concern, tilting over her like an umbrella instead. "Motoko, can you go and get the medicine out of the kitchen for me? I think it might make her feel a little better when she wakes up."

The soft, measured footsteps moved away from where she laid told her that the swordswoman was gone.

"Keitaro…"

She opened her eyes.

"Kitsune…"

She grinned at the simple exchange, but he didn't share her smile after the greeting. His eyebrows were low, his eyes guarded in an attempt to subdue the feelings he didn't know how to properly express.

Something was wrong.

Keitaro took off his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose before he looked down and sighed. The air around him changed. He was clearly worried. She knew that much, but she could almost see the emotion around him. He was angry and she knew him well enough to tell. He was seriously mad at her and he was trying his best not to say anything rash.

"Kitsune," He repeated her name without looking up. "Please don't do something like that again."

There was nothing she could say to him. A joke wouldn't make him feel better and he already didn't want to talk about it. The issue of Kitsune putting herself at risk for his sake was locked away, never to be talked about or considered ever again.

In his own way, he was telling her not to be stupid.

"There's this guy that makes me feel like doing stupid things sometimes…" Kitsune decided she was going to talk about it because it was a possibility she would always consider. "If it was for him…"

She'd do anything for him.

She wanted to tell him that truth from the bottom of her heart, but the eyes staring directly into her own left no room for something as broad as a declaration. His expression, the grave expression that doesn't suit someone like him asked her if she was crazy. The way he looked at her asked if she had any idea what could have happened to her last night.

"I had a—No…" Kitsune calmly observed his reaction and readied a proper answer to the question he didn't voice. "It was a memory. I remembered when I left home…" She sighed before turning her sight back to the ceiling. "I was a stupid kid, Keitaro. I had good grades, but I wanted to quit school since it was boring. I got into a fight with my mama so I just walked off and left." She could almost feel the look on his face. "Yup, no bags or anything. I just hitched a ride with some woman and ended up in the place I always wanted to live."

He didn't quite understand why she telling him about her past all of a sudden, but he was interested. It wasn't like he could never stay mad at any of the girls for long, and he always wanted to know about her so he listened, quietly and patiently, to her story.

"I don't think I ever felt so free…" A fond smile spread across her face at the memory. "In the back of my mind, I knew what I was doing was wrong, but it felt so good to just shrug off my responsibilities and go. I felt so relieved that I wasn't scared. I kind of knew bad stuff could happen to me out on my own, but I was so glad to get away that I didn't even bother to think about it until I realized I didn't have anywhere to go. I would have been in some real trouble if I didn't run into Grandma Hina."

"Grandma…" Keitaro regained his smile. His grandmother always had a habit of showing up at just the right moment. "So she's the reason you came here?"

"Yeah, she saved a stupid girl that didn't have anywhere else to go." Kitsune turned to look at him. "The crazy part about it is that I ended up going to high school anyway. As long as I stayed in school, I didn't have to pay rent. I know it sounds silly, but…" She smiled as she trailed off, but it wasn't as happy as her usual grin. In fact she looked sad as she thought about the family she didn't speak to since she left. "I think the reason I had that dream was because you reminded me of my mother a little."

"Y-Your mother…?"

She shook her head up and down.

Obvious reasons aside, there was a reason the comparison bothered him. Keitaro locked eyes with her and she idly noted he looked really different with his glasses off. "I want you to stay with me, but I wouldn't force you to stay if-"

"No…" Kitsune groaned. "What I'm saying is that you're the type that only gets angry at people because you care so much. If I realized how my mother felt at the time, then I wouldn't have been such a bitch to her."

"I just don't want you to go out of your way just to do stuff for me…"

"I'm always going to do things I don't have to do because I love you."

"Kitsune…"

"I'm just letting you know that this ain't the last time you're going to get mad at me." She winked at him, her trademark smile returning as she told him the truth. "I'm always going to try my best for you, Keikei."

"You're an idiot…" He reached down and touched the silver gray of her hair, playing with the locks as she accepted his criticism. He touched her because she touched him. "Did you know that?"

"I did… Did you-"

"I apologize." The door to his room slid open. "I had to go ask Su what she did with the—Oh…"

Motoko stepped into a moment of open affection. It felt like she encroached, trespassed into a place where she wasn't supposed to be. She averted her eyes, quickly looking away from what she didn't want to see before taking another step.

She wasn't angry.

If anything, she was hurt by the scene in front of her but shifting her feelings into neutral was something she was always good at doing. Her shock vanished in seconds, and the vacant expression she used to mask her feelings was all she needed to quiet the heart that wanted to be heard. She walked into the room and held up the medicine the landlord asked her to get.

"I found it." The sight she tried so hard to ignore was burned into her mind like a brand even though she looked away. "I'm… sorry that it took so long."

"No p-problem." Keitaro pulled his hand back so fast it was almost like it was never there. "T-Thanks for bringing it though…"

Any disappointment Kitsune experienced because of the absence of his hand in her hair was swept aside by the feeling that stirred inside her as she looked up at Motoko. It wasn't anger. She definitely wasn't angry at Motoko anymore. It was something more poignant, a feeling that something was wrong and that she didn't know how to fix it. One thing she did know was that she didn't want to fight with her.

She didn't want to fight and argue with the other girls anymore.

"Motoko…"

"Mitsune…"

The frigid greeting they exchanged with each other chilled any attempt to add more to it. Kitsune turned her attention back to the ceiling and Motoko never summoned the strength to look the woman in the eyes. They spoke without looking each other in the eyes and the greeting that was meant to tear down some of the walls between them only put up more.

Kitsune heard her talking earlier, but it wasn't until she actually looked at her that she recalled exactly what happened the day before. It wasn't that she forgot. Her stomach still hurt. It was more of that she didn't bother to think about it because she simply didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to even have it on her mind, but seeing the girl who punched her forced her to remember everything she did to taunt her.

It was already awkward considering Motoko saw something she didn't want to see, so what already happened between them only served to add more invisible weight on top of her shoulders. The dignified posture she was proud to possess was lax, her pride scarred by the things she did yesterday.

"She helped me out a lot." Keitaro put his glasses back on, oblivious to the gloom that slowly started to fill his room. "I was really tired after I carried you up the stairs and—Not that you're heavy or anything!" He blurted out, unintentionally brightening the mood with his outburst. Kitsune grinned at him and Motoko nodded in light of knowing what he meant. "I mean you're lighter than you look. No!" He was mortified. "I mean you're you weren't as heavy as I-"

"Just say that you carried her here and leave it at that." Motoko grumbled, fed up with his antics as she looked down at the medicine she held. "Anyway, she's awake now. You can go to sleep."

"Not yet." Keitaro stayed where he was. "I've been in here since I got back and I didn't want to ask anyone to do some chores for me. I still got to see about-"

"No." She interrupted him again. "You will do nothing of the sort. I'll help Mitsune back to her room and then you can rest."

"I'm sorry." She hated when he apologized to her. "I can't go to sleep when there's work to do. I still got to see about some different schools, too. I promise I'll take a nap when I'm finished though, okay?"

"Okay…" Motoko was weak against his smile so she could only nod. "I'll stay with her then."

With that Keitaro stood up, but it wasn't until he rose to his full height that the woman in his futon realized something she should have noticed. He was still wearing the same clothes. He just said he was with her ever since he got back to Hinata House. The things that should have been obvious blindsided her. The white of his dress shirt was still dirtied by the mess she left on him, and the specks of mud on his slacks were her fault.

He was with her the whole time but…

She was dirty last night.

Belatedly, Kitsune remembered how she looked and she slowly reached a hand down to the cover and lifted it. Her prayers were answered in the forms of a tee shirt and panties. It wasn't what she had on yesterday. Someone was kind enough to change her clothes. She expelled the breath she was holding as she released the hold she had on the cover and her head fell back on the pillow in complete relief.

"My clothes…"

"Shinobu washed them for you." He could tell by the tone of her voice that something bothered her. "I folded them up and put them back in your room… Do you want me to go and get them for you?"

"No, I just…" She was unusually quiet as she trailed off into a pause. "I didn't want you to see me like that."

She never wanted anyone to see her like that.

If she had any sense she would have cleaned herself up before running off into the night, but the concept of vanity was lost to her the moment she found out his dreams were in jeopardy. She didn't regret chasing after him. She'd do the same thing if given another chance. It was just that she'd prefer if he never saw her looking so bad.

"We're not going to make fun of you or anything because you got sick." The landlord looked at the swordswoman that nodded in agreement before turning back to Kitsune. "I would never make fun of you for doing something for me."

"Oh…" She said dismissively, too absorbed in thought to be grateful that he missed what was really bothering her. "Thanks…"

It wasn't that simple.

The truth was that she was shallow and she knew it. She cared about how she looked and she prided herself on being attractive because it was her only good point. At her best, she was at least a pretty failure but, at her worst, she was…

"Kitsune…" The man that accepted both the best and worst of her returned to her side. She met his eyes with her own as he kneeled. She was expecting him to say more and waiting for him to do so until he plucked her in the forehead.

Motoko looked on in confusion and Kitsune quickly raised a hand to rub to stinging spot. It hurt, not enough to make her mad, but it definitely hurt and she was about to tell him as much until he broke into a laugh.

"You're definitely an idiot."

His girlfriend was silenced as he reprimanded her for the second time. Motoko was stunned, an insult from Keitaro enough to make her jaw drop. Keitaro never flicked someone between the eyes and, as far as she knew, he never insulted anyone before, either.

"There's someone that told me not to be sad by myself so I don't want her to be sad by herself, either." Keitaro stood again, still grinning as he looked down at the woman that rested on his futon. "I don't always know how to make her feel better, but I'll try my best to be happy so she can be happy, too."

Kitsune closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of his affection. She was already hot on account of the fever, but his feelings still warmed her. The basis of their relationship was in the words he returned. He wouldn't leave her alone if she was sad and he'd do what he could to make her happy. It was the closest he ever came to a confession so it was the closest he ever got to her heart.

"I'll be really happy when I pass that test then…"

She didn't get a chance to tell him yesterday that he won the bet.

"Test?" Again, Motoko felt like she was prying into something private. "What are you talking about?"

"It's a bet." Keitaro was in front of her with his hand out so she gave him the medicine. He twisted off the cap and he shook out some capsules. "If I won she'd try the entrance exam for Tokyo U."

"You mean the actual university? Her?" Motoko watched him nod and only became more confused than she was before. Why would someone as clumsy as Keitaro make a bet with anyone? How would her taking the test benefit him? "What kind of terms did she set? No," There was a more important question to ask. "What if you lost?"

"No accidents for a week…"

Kitsune didn't look away from the ceiling as she said it. She was too amazed to note the glare Motoko shot at her. It wasn't until she said it out loud that she thought about how crazy it really was that Keitaro did it. The most unlucky, accident-prone guy she knew did what he said he would and…

He did it for her.

"Keitaro wanted me to take the test so he made a silly bet he should have lost." Kitsune was all smiles and unaware of the clouded expression of the girl that stood to her side. "Ha…" She dragged a hand down her face as she thought back. "You know, if I won, it would have been a free month for me, Keikei."

"W-What?" He almost dropped the pills he was counting. "I thought you said half off!"

"Hmm?" She hummed, smiling as she thought to remind him of another promise he made. "Didn't you say something about easing up on the rent before then?"

"Oh yeah…"

She watched him hand the capsules to Motoko on his way out the room. "Heh, kind of caught you in a lose-lose situation?

"Nope." He looked at her over his shoulder, pushing his glasses up as he found his smile again. "I would have been happy either way. I already know you can pass the test and I don't mind you having some extra money. I'm actually thinking about lowering the rent a little so-"

"That's irresponsible. That money, our rent, is your livelihood." Motoko was tired of watching the exchange she barely knew anything about. She balled her hand, forgetting about the pills she held as she sought to remind them of her presence. "You can't decide things like that on a whim. You can't go around trying to secure our wants by neglecting your needs."

"I know. Don't worry about me." He flashed the smile that settled any argument as he stopped at the door and she knew there was nothing she could say to change his mind. "I can't afford to make it permanent, but I want everyone to have fun since Christmas is coming up and everything."

Unable to retort, she looked towards Kitsune hoping she would be able to persuade him.

"Good idea, Keikei!"

Motoko sighed, barely lifting her head in time to see the landlord leave. With a wave of his hand, the man she adored was gone and she was left alone with the woman that took her place. "He wanted…" She cleared her throat, the uncomfortable tension that set in with Keitaro's absence started to become dense. "He wanted to me to give you this medicine."

"Okay…"

It was horribly awkward.

Women that hated each other just yesterday had another relationship forced upon them. The instigator was being taken care of by the person that nearly punched a hole through her stomach. The hatred was replaced with deep empathy, the fact that former friends did their worst to each other strengthening the fragile bond between them.

They weren't friends, but they would never be mean to each other again. They certainly weren't enemies, though. Instead of the extremes, they found middle ground. They didn't know exactly what they were, but one thing both of them could understand was that they didn't want something like that to ever happen again.

One thing they could both see was that the other was sorry.

"Hey… I'm sorry for-"

"Mitsune, I apologize-"

They spoke out at the same time, shy voices coming out in unison as they sought to apologize. Motoko had her back to the gray-haired woman as she gazed down into the glass of water she left on the desk and Kitsune stared at her back. It was hard to believe things could get any more embarrassing.

"Oh… Gone go first."

"No, I… You first."

They felt like they were back in grade school trying to settle a playground argument, but what they did to each other was way worse than kicking down a sand castle or staying on the swing too long.

"Why did you tell Shinobu to interrupt me?" Motoko asked the question that burned in the depths of her heart, the question that plagued her since the little cook effectively killed her chances to be with the landlord. "I'm not mad anymore… I just want to know why."

"Huh?" It was Kitsune's turn to be confused. "I didn't do anything like that… I thought you were the one that told her to go on the date with him."

"Are…" Motoko cracked a grin for all the wrong reasons. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," She was unsure of what to say to the accusation, but she figured the truth would be the best thing to say. "Shinobu doesn't like me anymore, Motoko…"

"This can't be real." The swordswoman shook her head in disbelief, both of her hands on the desk as she suppressed the bitter laughter that dared to come out. It was ridiculous. The reason why she didn't feel fit to keep her sword at her side was because she hit the woman behind her and the reason she hit her was specifically because she felt Mitsune did something unforgivable by using Shinobu to do such a thing. She jumped to a conclusion and was paying the price for it. "You're telling me that Shinobu…"

She trailed off and let the incomplete thought remain as such.

It didn't matter what Shinobu did or what she planned to do. What was done was done and there was nothing she could do to change the past. Motoko sighed before grabbing the glass of water off the desk and turning towards the futon.

It was too late to right her wrongs, but it was never too late to make amends.

"I'm sorry…" The person she wronged beat her to the point. "You know… For doing things the wrong way…" Kitsune didn't move when Motoko set the glass down next to the futon. "I went behind your back and put him on the spot. I took advantage of his kindness because I…" She swallowed hard, just the thought by itself stealing the warmth that filled her. "I didn't want him to leave me behind after I admitted to myself that I wanted to be with him."

"I apologize as well." Motoko took a seat on the floor next to the futon. "I said a lot of bad things about you and I'm… I'm…"

It was hard to say it but…

"Motoko," Kitsune sat up, the cool rag on her forehead falling into her lap with the motion. She extended her hand and laid it on top of the one that trembled. "It's okay. Really. It was my fault… I'm sorry I pushed you that far."

She had to say it.

"N-No…" That wasn't why it hurt so badly. "I'm sorry I… hit you."

The tension in the air was unmasked.

It was nothing but regret.

They regretted the things they said and did to each other from the very moment the conflict started. They lied, cheated, and hurt each other in an attempt to make the other look worse in the eyes of the landlord. Even though that, by itself, was bad, the swordswoman took it too far when she actually hit her.

"You were crying." Kitsune kept her hand on top of hers. "You were crying way before you hit me, Motoko and…" She was tearing up. She wanted to be strong, but she could already feel her eyes watering. "You're not disgusting. I'm really sorry about everything."

"You're not disgusting, either… Kitsune."

Motoko managed a smile even as she blinked away tears. She quietly cried and it was only when Kitsune leaned forward to embrace her that she realized the absence of the sword the girl carried.

Insight hit her like a ram.

Kitsune stopped herself short of asking the question as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl. Motoko never forgot her sword. Instantly, reasons assaulted a mind weakened by fever. Did she leave it in the tea house? Was she scared to hold it after what happened?

Did she feel she wasn't worthy of carrying it anymore?

"Motoko…"

They hugged each other, fresh tears born on each other's shoulder as they connected with each other for the very first time. The differences they had were settled, their wrongs forgiven in a moment that both of them needed.

"P-Please don't tell him…" Motoko buried her head into Kitsune's shoulder as she broke down. "Please don't tell him I hit you."

"I won't." She would never tell another soul as long as she lived. "I swear I won't."

"I'm so…" The guilt was unbearable so just hearing that much made her feel way better than she did before. "I'm so sorry, Kitsune."

She rubbed her on the back as they came to a mutual understanding. The things they did to each other were unforgivable, but they had to forgive each other in spite of that. Being able to put things like that behind them was what it meant to be friends.

"I'm sorry, Motoko."

0

Motoko and Kitsune did not know each other well.

It wasn't because of the clash of lifestyles or because they never spoke to each other. It was simply because they had little in common. Motoko believed her housemate lived in an ill-tempered world of vice and Kitsune felt the swordswoman reminded her too much of the strict family she ran away from. It didn't mean they couldn't be friends, though.

It just meant they weren't exactly quick to spend time with each other, but one of the few things they did have in common changed that.

"Do you remember when that debt collector called and you told him you'd shove all the money I owed down his throat if he even looked at Hinata House?" Kitsune laughed as she pulled another card from her hand and laid it down on the floor.

Motoko grumbled before drawing a card from the deck. "You told me that was your boyfriend…"

"Ha…" Kitsune flashed her friend a guilty smile. "The little details don't matter."

"Oh?" The swordswoman placed a card down. "I'm the kind of person that believes everything matters."

"If you spend too much time obsessing over the small stuff, you miss the big picture." The gray-haired woman drew a card and the guilty smile on her face was replaced by one much more sly. She played a card and took in the sight of Motoko's expression before saying "One."

Motoko drew four more cards and sighed as her turn was skipped. Kitsune played her last card and extended her winning streak to eighteen games. In a fun twist, the swordswoman spotted the pack of cards on Keitaro's desk and they played before, during, and after dinner. It was almost a shame Motoko had school tomorrow, but it was about time they stopped anyway.

"You know you won, don't you…?"

"It's just luck." Kitsune opened her eyes as the girl opposite decided to share the obvious. "It sounds kind of silly, but I'm good at children's games because-"

"No," Motoko stacked the dishes on the floor before she picked them up and started to stand. "I'm talking about Keitaro…"

"I already told you it's not like that, Motoko." Kitsune reached for the cards and started to shuffle them. "I didn't defeat you or anything. I was just lucky that—Oh," She blinked, stopping what she was doing and setting the deck to the side as she looked up at her friend. "I never told anyone about that…"

Motoko piled the dishes on the tray and walked back towards the older girl to grab the cups. "About what?"

"You have to keep it a secret."

Motoko was never a fan of secrets. She always felt secrecy was for people who acted in the shadows, people who didn't do honest work. It wasn't that she didn't believe in privacy. It was just that evil was rooted in the unknown. Evil was in the gossip old women used to pass the time, slander spread unchecked in the lies told behind people's backs and she wanted no part with them… until she was forced to hold one with the woman in front of her.

She was torn. On one hand, she didn't want to keep another bitter truth in her heart but, on the other, she wanted to know more about Keitaro. She wanted to know what Kitsune saw that made her go so far.

"I was having my morning drink and—Heh… Can you save the disapproving looks until I'm finished?" Kitsune smiled as the girl's face immediately softened. "Anyway, I saw his sketchbook. I left to take it back to his room and then I heard him…" Her smile faded as she looked down into her covered lap. "I heard him being sad by himself and it hurt me. It hurt me that I never noticed. It hurt me that no one was with him."

"When was this…?"

Motoko didn't care about the crude explanation.

It felt like something was crawling on her, the sinking feeling that something was amiss making her flesh crawl. There had to be a reason—a good reason—why Keitaro suddenly started to spend more time with Kitsune and the truth was right in front of her.

"The other weekend. Remember when everyone left with Seta?"

She thought back to the day Su begged her to come and there was no way to deny the girl once she latched onto her arm. Though she did end up having a good time with everyone, she wouldn't have gone if she had known the landlord they left behind was miserable on account of their absence.

"No," She was confused, puzzled as she questioned herself. "I don't—He wasn't… He wasn't sad when we got…" She trailed off as a more horrible thought came to mind. "No… You didn't…"

"I didn't." Kitsune confirmed. "I wouldn't take advantage of him like that…"

"So why?" She needed to understand. She wanted to know why she lost to her. "What did you do that made him touch you like that?"

"Motoko…"

"I'm not mad, Kitsune." She wasn't, but she desperately needed to know what separated them in his mind. "I just want to know what happened. That's all…"

"I cheered him up."

"Huh?"

"Keitaro is really sensitive…" Kitsune pulled away a stray strand of gray before reaching for the cards again. "He puts up a strong front, but he's a pretty fragile guy at heart. I always went around thinking he was the happy-go-lucky type until I really saw him." She started shuffling. "He doesn't have any self-confidence, Motoko."

Their landlord was someone that would silently let all of their troubles fall on top of his shoulders so they wouldn't be burdened, but he never shared his own problems with anyone. One of the reasons she loved him was because he always went out of his way, but she never thought to reflect on how little he did for himself.

"I see." Motoko picked up the cups and headed back to towards the tray she left on the desk. "I wasn't there when he needed me so it turned out like this…"

"Don't be silly." Kitsune laid back down. "I'm saying that we're the same, Motoko. Seeing him cry and seeing him depressed don't mean nothing if we don't do something about it. We stopped sidelining ourselves…" She lifted her eyes to the covered hole in the ceiling. "We saw that he was unhappy and did something about it."

Motoko grinned as she shook her head. The swordswoman lifted the tray, laughing as she stood in place. It was ironic that someone she once deemed scum had better intentions than she did. "I just wanted him to be happy with me, but talking with you proves I was being selfish about the whole-"

"Nothing is selfish about wanting to be happy." Kitsune was adamant as she lowered her eyes from the ceiling. "The reason, the only reason, Keitaro bothers with me is because I'm around. If I didn't make an effort to mess things up for you then none of this would have even happened. I'm sorry about that…"

"We've already apologized enough." Laughter ended. "Let's not go back to that…"

"Yeah…"

"Anyway, he already told me it was over." Motoko turned her attention to the door before she started walking. "Before you woke up, he told me he that he wanted to be with you. I just wanted to see how you felt since I never tried to listen to you before."

"Wow." Kitsune muttered blankly. "I know I asked him to be a little assertive, but I can't see him saying—Wait…" She blinked, unable to think straight as the meaning of what Motoko said sprouted in her mind. "He said what?"

"He's serious about you."

"Motoko…" She quickly sat back up, the look in her eyes asking the question before she voiced it. "Are you okay with that?"

"You're not like me, Kitsune." Motoko ignored the question as she headed for the door. She balanced the tray on one arm before sliding open the door. "I admit that I'm selfish. I'm stubborn, too. If there is something I want then I won't relent for someone else's sake, but you… You're not as egotistical as you think you are." She covered her broken heart with a forced smile. "Out of everyone here, you're the one that has the most in common with him."

"Motoko, wait." Kitsune took a deep breath before pulling back the cover. She wasn't going to let her go off and cry somewhere if there was anything she could do about it. "Stay. Let's talk about this some more, okay?"

Her opinion of Kitsune changed in a single day.

Kitsune, the woman that she used to think was lazy and incompetent, did not get up to get a drink or search for her racing ticket stubs. The woman that she slandered stood on shaky legs to tend to the feelings of the girl that put a bruise on her stomach. Without even taking an idle moment to reflect on the fact that Keitaro decided to be with her, the fox-eyed woman tried to make sure her friend was okay.

"I'm fine…" Motoko gave the worried woman an honest smile before stepping out of the room. She finally understood what Keitaro saw in her. "Just try to get some more rest before you worry about other people."

The older girl nodded as she barely made her way to the desk. She was sore and way more tired than she originally thought she was. "Motoko, hold up…" Kitsune leaned on the desk for a while before pushing off and standing up straight. "It's a little late, but thanks… for taking care of me and changing my clothes." She looked down at what she was wearing. "I think I would have died if I woke up like that in front of him."

"You're welcome." It was her fault that she looked like that in the first place. "Just try not to walk around like that in front of him…"

Motoko walked out the door and left for the night. Kitsune quickly pulled the chair out from under his desk and fell into it. She had slept for nearly the whole day and she was still tired. She slumped forward, resting her forehead on the cool surface of the desk as she took the time out to think about the girl that just left.

Motoko was her friend again.

Kitsune rubbed the sore spot on her stomach.

In a way, she was glad that the swordswoman punched her. If taking some hits was all it took to reset some of the relationships she wanted to mend, then she'd gladly let a few punches come her way. She'd let Shinobu kick her if it meant there wouldn't be any more hard feelings. She'd gladly let her mother slap her again if it meant they'd be able to talk to each other.

She would definitely let Naru punch her if it meant they could be friends again.

"It's not that easy…"

Motoko was a special case. It was because the swordswoman hit her that they managed to set aside their desires and accept the reality of what was happening to them. It took her stomach nearly caving in for them to realize what they were doing to each other was wrong, but it was enough to make them truly talk to each other. After it was all said and done, the only reason things went so well was because Motoko didn't hold grudges.

Kitsune sighed.

The woman that finally had what she always wanted lamented over what she used to have as she rested her head on the desk. Keitaro was her boyfriend, but she barely had any friends left. It wasn't supposed to be like that. She wasn't supposed to sacrifice one for the other.

Kitsune wanted her friends, her family, back, but…

"It's not going to be that easy… It shouldn't be."

She ignored and neglected her friends because she wanted Keitaro so it was only right that her actions came back to haunt her. How she acted in the past was catching up to her, but she welcomed it along with the mistakes she made. If she wanted to settle her differences with them then she had to accept that she did wrong. If she wanted to be friends with them again then she couldn't keep avoiding them.

She had to confront them and set things right again.

"Alright!"

Kitsune stood from her chair a little too fast and stamped a hand down on the desk as she started to get woozy. Before she went around knocking on doors, it'd be a good idea to wait to wait until tomorrow and waiting until she felt better wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, either.

Continued…

Next chapter:

Hurt Me So II

"I was waiting on you, Keitaro!"