Author's Note: Perhaps I should provide a legend of sorts. Generally italics are reserved for Japanese words and suffixes such as sempai, -kun, -san, -chan, etc. However, occasionally I will use italics for a character's thoughts. This is first used with Motoko. Having the forward slash characters around a word like /this/ indicates that the character speaking is putting emphasis on that particular word.
Disclaimer: Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu. I'm just infringing on copyright.
Love Hina Fanfic - Invisible
Everyone witnessed Motoko unleash her attack at Koji, but no one would have ever guessed that Mutsumi would come looking for them, much less get right in the line of fire. Everyone from Keitaro to Naru watched helplessly from the side as the ever dangerous chi blast made impact with the spot where Mutsumi and Koji were standing, causing dust to fly up all over the place.
"Mutsumi!" yelled Keitaro.
"Mutsumi-sempai!" cried Shinobu. The others also screamed out her name. The majority of them could only stand there, the reality of what had just transpired not quite sinking in yet.
---
"I...I have harmed an innocent. I...I am no longer worthy to wield this blade..." Tears began to form at the edge of Motoko's eyes. She closed her eyes and lowered her head in a respectful manner and kept it there for a moment. As she opened her eyes and raised her head, the smoke was already thinning out. And within that smoke, she swore she could see a form standing up.
And indeed, that is what she saw. As the last of the smoke cleared away, everyone was quite surprised, for they saw that Koji was unharmed, or so it seemed. But more importantly, he carried Mutsumi in his arms. Though she was unconscious, thankfully she appeared to be unharmed. Koji then made his way over to where Keitaro and the rest of the Hinata-Sou residents stood.
"Do not worry. I believe the shock of the impact merely knocked her unconscious. I don't believe she was physically harmed in any way, but...I cannot say that with the utmost certainty."
"Well...Mutsumi has a history of being very frail..." Keitaro offered, a bit shocked, but relieved that Mutsumi at least appeared to be unharmed. It was a bit harder to tell if Koji was hurt or not though. Dirt covered his face and his clothes were torn in several places, though no physical injuries could be seen.
"Might I suggest you take her to a place where she may be able to rest and recuperate then?" Keitaro nodded his agreement. He turned around and Koji helped him get Mutsumi on his back. He then started back for the Hinata-Sou, with Shinobu and Naru accompanying him.
"Well, Mutsumi seems to be okay. But what about you Mister Big Shot?" asked Kitsune.
"A little worn out, but I'll be fine," was his reply, before he made his way back out to the battlefield. Motoko was staring down at the ground, and it looked as if she was still in shock, for she seemed oblivious to everything around her. It was at this time that Koji, for the first time since arriving at the Hinata-Sou, actually frowned.
"Are we going to continue this duel? Or are you just going to stand there feeling sorry for yourself?" Motoko remained quiet. "You're pathetic. You claim to be true to the sword arts, but after one little incident you lose your nerve? You are a disgrace, not only to yourself, but to your family as well."
"Urusei!" snapped Motoko. She wanted to hear no more. Though she knew that he spoke the truth, she didn't want to hear it. What could she do? Though an accident was avoided this time, who was to say that it would not happen again? And what if she wasn't so lucky next time... "I...I can't. What if I really hurt someone next time? I wouldn't be able to live with myself..."
"Deal with it, you weakling." Motoko's eyes widened. She looked straight at Koji, right into his eyes. But her eyes were not filled with rage...instead, they were filled with confusion and sadness. "It may be a burden upon you, but it is a burden you should...no, that you /must/ bear. This is the proof of one's strength...the ability to face adversity and still retain the will to go on. I know that you possess this strength deep within you. But I cannot unlock that strength, only you have that power. The question now is not can you, but /will/ you? Will you show me your true strength?"
Koji's words struck a chord deep within Motoko. He was right. She could have hurt Mutsumi, hurt her badly, but that was the reality of it. It was in the past, and there was nothing she could do about it now. All she can do is try her best to prevent something like this from happening again, and to try to atone for her mistake. Running away requires no strength, it is the coward's way out. If it was not for Koji, she might've been prepared to do that. But because of his words, she was able to find the strength to deal with her demons. She closed her eyes and allowed her lips to curl upward in a small smile. Though she hated to admit it, she owed him one.
"Show me. Show me, and the rest of the Hinata-Sou, your true strength, Aoyama Motoko".
"I...I will. Prepare yourself Kobayashi, for now you shall see my true strength."
"Give it your all. Then, no matter what the outcome is, at least you will have no regrets."
Motoko could sense that while Koji was still strong, his chi reserves had depleted considerably. She could only think of one reason why: he had expended a lot of energy to protect Mutsumi from the chi blast. Though the playing field was somewhat level now, she considered holding back, since he should have been much stronger than this if...iie. She knew that Koji would not want her to hold back, he would want her to give it her all.
She couldn't see it, she could only feel it. She knew when Koji made his move. His initial movement was so quick that she nearly missed it, even though she focused all her senses on him. He rushed at her with unbelievable speed. She had trained hard throughout her entire life, and her training allowed her to move even without thinking, acting purely on instinct.
"Gods' Cry School Sword Technique: Hiken Zankuusen!"
Koji was able to anticipate Motoko's action. When he saw the chi blast, it was as it it was moving towards him in slow motion. He evaded the chi blast she sent at him easily and continued towards her. When he was within a few feet of Motoko she swung her blade at him. He ducked under the attack and followed up with a counterattack. Using the palm of his right hand he hit Motoko's wrists, causing her to lose her grip on her sword and send it flying into the air. He then did a small turn to his left and extended his left arm, palm out, towards Motoko. Manipulating his chi, he pushed Motoko back.. She ended up backing into a tree, but Koji was not finished yet. Still moving, he caught the sword as it was coming down from the air. He grabbed it with his right hand, by the hilt, and finished his turn. Right at the end of his turn, he released his grip on the sword. It went flying out of his hand and embedded itself into the tree, about two inches to the left of Motoko's neck.
"It's over," declared Koji.
Motoko was a bit shell-shocked upon seeing her own sword fly towards her and nearly impale itself in her neck. Her legs felt weak and so, while leaning against the tree, she slumped to the ground. Kitsune and Su rushed over to her, obviously concerned about their friend.
"Motoko, Motoko! Are you alright?" asked Su, obviously worried about her play partner.
"That was awfully close," said Kitsune casually, while she stared at the sword that was sticking out of the tree. "You were lucky, /really/ lucky. If he lost his grip or something, we might not be talking to you right now," offered Kitsune, who wasn't really making Motoko feel any better. She looked up at Koji, who had his back facing her. He...he beat me. First Seta...now him. Within a matter of days, I've been bested in combat by two different men. Kobayashi...he's no ordinary fighter. And just as soon as Motoko finished her thought, Koji fell forward and hit the ground face first with a thud.
---
"Minna-san! Dinner's ready !" Within mere moments, every occupant of the Hinata-Sou was seated at the table. "Thank you for the food!" was all that anyone said before the feeding frenzy began. Shinobu, the resident chef, then sat down in her seat and took a look around at all the people who had become such an important part of her life.
Kitsune. She was almost always seen with some sort of alcoholic beverage in her hand, but in a jam she always came through for her friends. She was also very generous with advice, and seemed to have a knack for getting Keitaro in trouble.
Motoko. She had been even more silent and reclusive since her defeat at the hands of Koji. But Shinobu had always looked up to her. She was always so strong and so pretty, and secretly Shinobu wished that she could be as strong like Motoko too.
Kaolla. She was always energetic, always happy. It was hard to be sad around someone like that. Though her antics, such as her mission to try to eat Tama-chan, or defeat the turtle with a robotic version of itself, often caused trouble for them, the Hinata-Sou wouldn't be quite the same without her.
Naru. So smart, and so pretty. Shinobu had a feeling that she liked Keitaro, but that she would just never willingly admit it. She wished that she could be as pretty as Naru, so maybe Keitaro would notice her more...
And finally, Keitaro. As she watched him, she felt her cheeks get warm. Ever since the first day she met him, she instantly fell for him. He may not have been extremely smart or handsome, but he was nice and that was all that mattered to her. She knew that he liked Naru and though it hurt her that he didn't like in that way, Shinobu would be happy just as long as her sempais was happy.
"Eh? Shinobu-chan? Is everything okay? Your cheeks are so red," commented Naru.
"Mm-hm. I noticed you were staring at Keitaro too," mentioned Kitsune with a grin.
Shinobu's cheeks were no longer red, her whole face was red now. She looked down at her lap, unable to face the others.
"Red cheeks? Did you eat something spicy Shinobu? No fair, no fair! I want some too!" exclaimed Su.
"Nah. She was just..."
"Sumimasen," was what Shinobu said as she suddenly stood up from her seat. She picked up her plate and brought it into the kitchen quickly, not looking at any of the others. How come they always had to pick on her? As she placed her plate into the sink, she could hear Keitaro talk outside.
"Hey now, stop that. You know how shy Shinobu-chan is."
"For once, I must agree with Urashima," said Motoko.
"Oi, oi. I was just playing with her, I wasn't picking on her," replied Kitsune, a frown appearing on her face.
Making her way over to the counter, Shinobu picked up a tray. She then walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs, which prompted a question from Keitaro.
"Oh, Shinobu-chan. Where are you going?"
"I just wanted to see how Kobayashi-san was doing sempai. If he's awake, I'm sure he must be hungry."
"You're very kind Shinobu-chan," replied Keitaro with a smile.
Shinobu could not help but blush again when Keitaro smiled at her. She then turned back around and resumed her trek up the stairs, stopping when she reached the second floor. She made her way over to Keitaro's room and slid the door open.
"Who's there?"
Shinobu hadn't expected anyone to speak and so she was taken by complete surprise. She lost her hold on the tray and ended up frantically trying to grab a hold of it again before it hit the ground. She managed to grab hold of it, and so she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Konbanwa. I-It's Maehara Shinobu."
"Oh, it's the little lady."
Carefully, Shinobu made her way into Keitaro's room. She placed the tray on the kotatsu before sitting down next to the futon in which Koji laid.
"It's nice of you to come by and see how I'm doing. If it's not too much trouble, would you mind answering a couple questions?"
Shinobu nodded.
"One. Where am I?
"Ano...after your fight with Motoko-san, you black out. But we brought you back to the Hinata-Sou to rest. This is Urashima-sempai's room..."
"Ah, I see. I'll have to remember to thank the others for their help and hospitality when I see them again. Alright, next question: why do I feel like I was run over by a train?"
"Ano..."
"Oh wait, I know the answer to this one already. Motoko-chan sure is something else," he said with a light chuckle. "Okay, one last question...how long have I been out?"
Shinobu thought about it for a moment before replying.
"THREE DAYS?!?!?!"
Koji's outburst startled Shinobu as she gasped and pulled away from him just a bit.
"Huh? Oh...gomen nasai Maehara-san. It's just...I didn't think I would've been out for so long."
It felt weird for someone to call her that. Everyone else either called her Shinobu or Shinobu-chan...he was the first to call her Maehara-san."
"I...I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some food. Would you like to..."
"Food?! Oh, I'm starved." Koji tried to sit up, which only caused him to groan. "Ow...ow. Oh pain, oh pain."
Shinobu couldn't help but giggle, he was kind of funny. She moved closer to him and helped him up over to the kotatsu. When he sat down he began to wolf the food down. In less than a minute, he had already cleared his plate. She could only stare in disbelief.
"Mmm...delicious. Did you make that?"
Shinobu felt her cheeks grow hot again, and she just nodded.
"Ah. Arigato gozaimasu Maehara-san."
"Douitashimashite. Ano...Kobayashi-san?"
"Hai?"
"You don't have to call me Maehara-san. You can just call me Shinobu or Shinobu-chan like everyone else."
"Are you uncomfortable with me calling with Maehara-san?"
"Just...a little bit..."
"Well in that case, I'll just call you Shinobu-chan from now on then, okay?"
Shinobu smiled and nodded her approval. She heard a groan from him and she noticed that he was trying to get up. She moved next to him and put his left arm over her shoulders to help him up. He smiled at her, obviously thankful for the assistance, and told her he wanted to move over to the window so that he could get some fresh air.
As they made their way over to the window, Shinobu stepped and slipped on the covers of the futon that Koji had been sleeping in. Koji tried to keep her from falling, but he was still weak and so he ended up falling too. Shinobu landed on her back and, ironically, Koji landed on top of her. He had his hands on the ground on either side of her head though, and that was all that kept their bodies from touching.
Though this precarious situation made her quite uncomfortable, she could not help but blush deeply. There was nothing between them, and most certainly she was not trying to start something with him, but being this close to a guy...it was then that the board over the hole in the ceiling slid aside and Naru peered down into the room.
"Shinobu, is everything alright? I heard a noise and..."
"PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
With that Naru leapt into the room and charged at Koji, who was frantically trying to explain what had happened. But it was all in vain as Naru delivered her trademark punch to his jaw, sending him flying through a number of walls. Shinobu could only watch. She was fascinated by Naru's strength, but she also felt sympathetic for Koji.
"Are you okay Shinobu-chan?"
"Hai, Naru-sempai. Demo..."
It was just then that Keitaro appeared at the doorway.
"What happened? I heard a thud earlier, followed by a..." He trailed off when he saw a hole in the wall of his room, as well as a number of other walls.
"Let's just say, you're no longer the only pervert in this house," replied Naru as she helped Shinobu to her feet and led her out of the room.
Meanwhile...
Koji had landed in the hot springs at the back of the Hinata-Sou. He was laying on his back on top of the rocks with his hair soaking in the water. (Note: this was the way that he landed.)
"Ow...that's some punch she's got. Keitaro is lucky that he's never been on the receiving end of one of those," he said to himself with a chuckle. "Huh?"
It was just then that he spotted the resident hot springs turtle, Tama-chan, taking a swim in the springs. It spotted Koji too, and it greeted him with a "Myuh!"
Author's Note: At this point in time, I may end this fic right here, due to a couple of reasons. First of all, it isn't going quite the way I want it to. I wanted to primarily focus it on Shinobu's feelings for Keitaro, but as I write it's turning into more of a Koji/Motoko fic. I may continue it later on with a change to its premise, but that remains to be seen. Secondly, reviews seem to be scarce. I wish to thank all the people who have reviewed so far, but it's somewhat discouraging to see that not many people are reading what you're writing. Granted there may be those who read and don't review...but all the same. Lastly, I had a bit of a brainstorm for another fic. I just recently finished reading the manga series (currently I am unable to purchase volume 11, but I have all other 13 volumes in my possession) and I've got an idea for another fic. This one will /probably/ be the Keitaro/Shinobu fic I was kinda trying for here, except that this time it will actually stay on track. But I dunno...I'm still in the process of deciding whether to continue this or not. I would put it up for a vote...but considering that Baka-Alaskan seems to be my only regular reviewer right now, I don't think the poll idea will work too well. Eh, we'll see what fate decides to do.
Anyways, here's a legend for the lesser known Japanese words that I used.
Urusei! - Shut up!
Iie - No
Minna-san - Everyone
Sumimasen - Excuse me
Konbanwa - Good evening
Douitashimashite - You are welcome
Ano... - Umm...
Hai? - Yes?
Demo... - But...
Nani? - What?