Anime: Love Hina

Genre: Romance/General

Rating: Pg 13

Chapter Fourteen

Melting Ice

By Fanficzgrl

Arrival

The brilliant tropical sunshine shone on the tired group as they stepped off from the plane, having exhausted all their energy in dodging Motoko's violent outbursts. Palm trees swayed in the summer breeze while our travelers tread along the sandy shore towards the hotel where they would be staying. As the dizzy swordswoman (dizzy from her frantic ki blasts on the plane…thank goodness they all survived) walked along with everyone else, a cute native "animal" slipped out of the bushes to point its yellow flipper up at her as a greeting.

It was a horrible greeting indeed…

"Myuuu?"

"Kyaaaah!"

Boom…clang…clang

"What is the matter with you, Aoyama?"

"Motoko-chan, sensei is angry now…"

(someone faints…as if you don't know who…)

Due to the sudden onset of Motoko's "medical condition," she was unable to attend the welcome tour that was planned for them, not that the welcome tour was interesting anyhow. All that the others did while Motoko and her friends rested at the hotel was to visit the Turtle Observation Center, which really was more of a Turtle Merchandise Observation Center. Besides a tank of turtles plopped at the front entrance, with a sign that said three dollars each, there wasn't a single sign of turtle research besides the wonders of marketing skills. The undoubtedly "Made in Ceramia" bottles that smelled of cheap rubber were selling for ten times the price of ordinary bottles just because there was a puke-green, cross-between-a-dinosaur-and-fish animal stamp plastered on its semi-transparent surface, not to mention the expensive sweaters that was designed with such little creativity that its only pattern was the Times New Roman "Hanabishira Island" text across its fuchsia fabric. One would wonder why they didn't at least magnetic lasso a random Love Hina cover art and pasted it onto the shirt design, a feature that was readily accessible on the palette of almost any Photoshop versions, but putting a bit more thought into the problem, we can come to the conclusion that 1) Hanabishira residents do not use Photoshop because it is too expensive of a program to buy or 2) Paying off copyright fees to Ken Akamatsu would be too disadvantageous from a financial standpoint. A third reason regarding their different sense of art would be invalid, because it is quite clear they don't have any.

Therefore, Motoko didn't miss out on any fun although I'm sure it would have been more interesting had she been to the welcome trip. Just imagine the smashed turtle tanks and the flying bottles that would magically hit the security guard's heads…

When Motoko woke up, she was again terrorized. Recognizing that she was being covered with an uncomfortably green blanket, with hexagonal patterns that did not resemble any cyclohexanes, chair conformers or not, she was sent into a panic attack. Hoping against all odds, she peels off the blanket from her body and took a look!

"KYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Motoko yelled.

"What's wrong!?" Keitaro asked as he hurried into the room through the semi-open door.

SLAP

"What did I do?" Keitaro whined only to be met with Motoko's glare.

"You know full well what you did!"

By then, Naru and Shinobu, who had secretly spied on Keitaro who was waiting outside as Motoko slept although they fell asleep from boredom as well, rushed into the room. Their hearts were filled with the impending feeling of doom, beating fervently as adrenaline pumped through their arteries. How could he? They had given him so much, but how could he!?!

But the moment they stepped into their room, they toppled over from ridiculousness instead.

"YOU WANT ME TO DIE FROM SHOCK!?" Motoko screamed, pointing at the bed with a finger while her other hand shielded her eyes from the sight, only leaving a crack for her to glare at Keitaro. From the Urashima point of view, the bed was shaped like a turtle, the single, attached pillow forming the head while the blanket formed the shell. On either side of the turtle bed were yellow drawers that could be pulled outwards like the turtle's flippers.

"I think it is cute though…" Keitaro muttered, using the same argument for the nth time, earning a ki attack that sent him flying into the skies like a star.

"I think THAT is cuter!" Motoko retorted as he was launched in flight.

Once again, Keitaro wondered about Motoko's amazing physics skills. How can she project a perfect mixture of forces to initiate Keitaro's uniform circular orbit, sending him back to his starting point every single time he flies? It is a mystery indeed. While plummeting back towards the closed hotel window, Keitaro wondered if Motoko was the reincarnation of a rocket scientist.

Night had finally set in on the tired group of students that had arrived at Hanabishira just a few hours ago. It was an exhausting day, first the nightmarish plane ride, then the souvenir shop tour that undoubtedly squeezed out every single cent from their currently deflated wallets. After a loud explosion from their classmate's room, the sound of someone crashing through the window, and the resulting bickering between two females, an innocent bystander, and the victim who had just survived the collision, the group can finally start their dinner in peace, their eyes wandering at the source of it all.

Aoyama Motoko, the single student who had quickly made it to the top of every black list on Hanabishira; the greatest terrorist on the face of the nation…

Beside her sat Urashima Keitaro, his head bandaged so heavily that it seemed like he was wearing a turban. A somewhat artificial smile was plastered on his face…his only defense against the two who sat beside him.

On the other side, of course, was Narusegawa Naru, the one who had become second on every black list on Hanabishira. Her glowing, red eyes were definitely an indication of her jealousy towards Motoko's fame.

Far away from them, though her eyes had never left them, was Maehara Shinobu, her fingers twirling rapidly while her pale face sweated profusely. She was definitely in shock. Poor bystander…she seems to require first aid as well.

So they sat there, Shinobu dazed, Keitaro stuffing his smiling mouth with pasta so that he had an excuse to dismiss the questions fired at him, and the two females who were in a staring…or rather, glaring…contest.

"Didn't you know that only I have the right to send Kei-kun on a lower earth orbit?" Naru asked in a challenging voice. Shinobu couldn't help but wonder if inflicting pain was necessary for displaying affection.

"So? Are you jealous?" Motoko challenged back. Steam started to escape from the top of Naru's head.

"Why would I be jealous of a whiney little girl who is scared of turtles?" Naru taunted. With that, she stuck a piece of turtle-shaped bread in Motoko's face, but was intercepted by Keitaro's mouth.

"That was delicious. Thank you, Narusegawa," Keitaro said with a smile. Motoko didn't know what to say. She was happy that he had defended her, but the thought of him eating the food Naru offered was enough to send chills down her spine.

"I'm full. I'll be at my room," Motoko grumbled, realizing what she had just been thinking. She really needed to get down some meditation.

Since when did she care so much about what he did?

Fanficzgrl: a quickly jotted down chapter between fervent last minute cramming for April finals. The references to cyclohexanes were definitely a result of this. Sorry for the lack of content in this chapter. I've tried my best, but too much science has certainly decreased my creativity. Please review and give me some feedback! Anything is appreciated.