Author's Note: Before I start, I would like to thank everyone who was supported my story so far, especially the people who have taken the time to leave a review.
mr-winkie: Perhaps. I write mainly because I wish to contribute something to Love Hina, which I love so much. Reviews make it worthwhile, so it's a tad disappointing when they're in short supply. Glad you like the fic so far.
Baka-Alaskan: What can I say? You've supported me since the prologue and I'm very grateful for it. I /will/ start up another fic that will primarily focus on just Keitaro and Shinobu, but I want to plan some stuff out before I start writing and posting it. I'm very flattered by the invite too, I'll definitely consider joining. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you too.
SuOrd: Glad you like the story. I'll try to cut down on the Japanese somewhat, but I'm still going to leave in the suffixes and some other small things that people should be okay with. I will probably proceed with this story as a Koji/Motoko and Shinobu/Keitaro fic. The reason I thought of ending it was because the story seemed to be straying so far off the original premise, as well as my summary, but I suppose I could make changes to that.
Anyways, I hope you all will like this next chapter.
Love Hina Fanfic - Invisible
Maehara Shinobu was lying in her room, fast asleep. The sun had risen now and the sunlight filtered through the window in her room. Slowly, the presence of the sunlight on her lovely face caused her to stir. A low moan escaped her lips as her eyelids started to flutter, before they slowly opened.
She blinked a couple of times, to try to clear her vision, before she finally sat up. Lifting her hand up to her face, she gently rubbed her eyes. She turned to look over at her desk, which was covered with books and stationery. That's right...I was up late studying last night. At least I was finally able to solve those problems...but at this rate, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to get into Toudai. In an attempt to take her mind off of that subject, she took a glance at the clock. When she saw what time it was, her eyes widened and she started flailing her arms around. Oh no, it's so late already! And I haven't made breakfast yet! Everyone must be starving...
Shinobu practically leapt out of bed. She literally tore off her pajamas and then threw on the outfit she felt most comfortable in. (A/N: the one she's wearing when we see her in episode 1.) She then ran down the stairs and made a bee-line for the kitchen. As she entered the foyer, she saw Keitaro fiddling with something. He looked up and gave her a smile, which caused her to blush.
"Ohayo Shinobu-chan."
"Ohayo gozaimasu sempai!" she said as she bowed. "Gomen nasai, I overslept a bit. I bet everyone must be starving! I'll get started on it right away!"
"Actually Shinobu-chan..." started Keitaro, but Shinobu had already ran off towards the kitchen. When she threw the door open to the dining room though, she was surprised to see that everyone was already seated and eating.
"Hooooooeee?" (A/N: Blatant rip-off from Card Captor Sakura.)
"Hm? Oh, ohayo Shinobu-chan."
"Ohayo gozaimasu Naru-sempai," replied Shinobu, who was still in a bit of shock. "Ano...did you make breakfast?"
"No. It was..."
Just then, the culprit emerged from the kitchen with another plate of food.
"Hooooooeee?! Koyabashi-san?"
The young man looked up upon hearing his name, and he promptly greeted Shinobu with his trademark smile. "Oh...so Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken! Ohayo gozaimasu, Shinobu-chan."
"O-Ohayo..." replied Shinobu, who was staring at the floor, her cheeks now a deep shade of crimson due to Koji's remark.
"Come, sit down. You must be hungry, have some breakfast."
Shinobu nodded, before making her way over to her seat. She sat down, and Koji placed the plate of food down in front of her. I-It looks good thought Shinobu, as she picked up her fork. She took a tiny piece of fish and plopped it into her mouth.
"Hope it's satisfactory," said Koji. "I seriously doubt that my cooking can hold a candle to yours, but I hope it's edible at the least."
"Don't be so modest Koji," replied Kitsune. "It's a lot better than what the rest of us can do." Su nodded, obviously fully agreeing with what Kitsune had said.
"Hey..." started Naru, before Kitsune looked over at her with a grin. "Well, your food might /taste/ good Naru, but it certainly doesn't /look/ very appetizing," teased Kitsune.
Naru blushed, Kitsune grinned, and Su begged for more. Only Shinobu had remained silent, and Koji was beginning to worry a bit. "That bad huh? Gomen, gomen. Maybe I should get you something else to eat..."
"No. It...it's really good."
"Now now, no need to patronize me. If it's bad, just tell me."
"I-I really mean it though, Kobayashi-san..." said Shinobu with feeling. Koji smiled that smile of his and performed a little bow. "Arigato gozaimasu."
"Say, has anyone seen Motoko today?" asked Naru in an attempt to get Kitsune to stop talking about her cooking.
"Now that you mention it, I haven't," replied Kitsune.
"What about you Su-chan?"
"She was next to me when I went to sleep last night!" exclaimed Su. "But...when I got up today, she was gone already. I was kinda sad, 'cause I had no one to play with. Luckily, I found a new play partner!" Su then jumped out of her chair and lunged at Koji, wrapping her arms around his neck. She hung onto him as she normally did to Motoko, and Shinobu was half expecting Koji to cry out in pain or wince or something. But he never did. She could only wonder how he withstand Su's bear-like hug, especially since his injuries had not yet completely healed.
It was just then that Keitaro walked back into the kitchen and sat down next to Naru. Secretly, Shinobu wished that he would sit next to her, but she knew it more than likely wasn't going to happen. However, at least this way she could look at him all the time without having to turn her head, which might invoke a comment from the others, especially Kitsune..
"Oh right, that reminds me. Shinobu-chan?"
"H-Hai...sempai?"
"Do you have any plans for today?"
"N-No..."
"Well, I was thinking that maybe everyone could take a trip up into the mountains behind Hinata-Sou, kind of like a hiking trip. Autumn's coming soon so it would be nice to enjoy this weather before it goes away. So...do you want to come with us?"
"Demo...don't you have to study?"
"The mock exams are still a while from now," answered Naru. "And we can't study all the time, right?"
"Yeah. We've decided to take it a bit easier this year, so we don't blow it again." added Keitaro.
"Come on Shinobu, it's going to be a lot of fun! There will be a lot of booze!" added Kitsune, who was obviously very excited about the idea.
"Ahem, I think she's a bit young to be drinking Kitsune. But anyways, would you like to come along Shinobu-chan?" asked Naru.
After taking a moment to think about it, Shinobu nodded. "I'll make my special lunch boxes for everyone. I'll get started on them right now!" she exclaimed as she literally leapt out of her chair and ran into the kitchen.
"Yay, Shinobu's special lunches! They're delicious! Actually, I want one right now..." complained Su, her stomach growling.
"But you just ate five servings..." said an astonished Naru.
"That wasn't enough, I'm still hungry!"
Koji handed Su a banana, which caused a gasp of delight to escape from the lips of the foreign exchange student. She gave Koji an extra tight squeeze before she picked the banana out of Koji's hand and started peeling away the skin, desperate to get to the tasty insides.
"Well, at least she's peeling off the skin. There have been times when she was so hungry she didn't even do that!" joked Kitsune.
This caused everyone to laugh.
---
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the whole world just seemed at peace. As the residents of the Hinata-Sou, minus Motoko, trekked up the mountain, Shinobu could not help but marvel at the beauty that surrounded her. She stopped momentarily and kneeled down to look at a patch of flowers that were growing just off to the side of the trail.
"Hmm? Oi, Shinobu-chan! If you keep doing that, there's a good chance we might not notice one time. Then you'll end up out here all by yourself."
"No need to worry Narusegawa-san, I won't let that happen," replied a smiling Koji. "Why don't you guys go on ahead, we'll catch up."
"Are you sure?"
"Hai, hai. We'll be fine, you guys go on. We'll meet you at the campsite."
"Well...okay. But you better take care of Shinobu-chan...and don't try anything perverted on her. Or else you'll live to regret it. Understand?"
"Hai, hai," replied a nervous Koji.
Naru felt that Koji probably got the message, and so the others started making their way to the campsite. Kitsune was trying to get Naru to talk about how she felt towards Keitaro, which obviously perked the interest of the extremely clumsy kanrinin. The energetic Su was running all about; climbing a tree here, chasing a squirrel there. And when she wasn't doing that, she was hanging off of Keitaro, at times even choking him, accidentally of course.
Koji watched them disappear behind a bend with a smile, it was refreshing to see a bunch of people in this day and age get along so well. He turned around to find that Shinobu had picked some of those flowers she was admiring earlier, and had now made her way over to his side.
"Ano..."
"They chose to leave us behind, said we were to slow. Some friends eh?"
He chuckled a bit, but when he stole a glance at Shinobu he could see that she was on the verge of tears. He started to panic a bit, and tried his best to keep the grade schooler from letting loose with the waterworks.
"I'm joking, seriously. I told them to go on ahead. You seem to be having a good time just admiring everything around us, so I thought you might like it if we moved at a slower pace, so you would get a chance to do what you want without having to be rushed. They didn't desert us, honest! Please don't cry..."
Shinobu bit down on her lower lip. She was starting to calm down now, although tears still remained in the corner of her eyes. Koji felt like punching himself, but he doubted that it would have helped the situation. So he did the only thing that he thought would make Shinobu feel a little better: he apologized.
"Gomen nasai, I shouldn't have made that dumb joke."
"I-It's okay. It's not your f-fault, I'm just t-too gullible."
Koji didn't have a comforting response for that. "Well...how about we get going? I mean, we can't stand around here all day...or can we?"
Shinobu smiled lightly, and shook her head.
"I guess not," he replied with a chuckle. "Alright then, off we go."
Koji led the way, but Shinobu stuck close to him. She walked right beside him, but she remained silent. Actually, neither of them said much after that, and for the most part they just kept walking. Shinobu would stop occasionally to admire the flowers or comment on how cute one of the animals were, but that was about it. The silence was kind of driving Koji stir-crazy though, so he decided to try to initiate some sort of conversation.
"So...how long have you been staying at the Hinata-Sou?"
"A little over a year." (A/N: I'm going by the anime here...that she took up residence in the Hinata-Sou /after/ Keitaro came to Hinata.)
"You like it there?"
"Hai, everyone's really nice to me. Especially sempai." Upon just mentioning his name, Shinobu could not help but think about when he brought her to the Hinata-Sou for a going-away party. Even though she was rather rude to him before, he still did his best to try to help her. He was so nice to her...and there was one thing that he said to her that she would always remember. "If I could eat food like this everyday, I would be a happy man." Her gaze fell to the ground near her feet and her cheeks were stained a light shade of red.
Koji noticed this, and his smile grew. "You like him, don't you?" he asked.
Shinobu's eyes widened and she turned to look at Koji. Her blush deepened and she shook her head furiously. "N-No. It's not like...he doesn't...I don't...there's nothing..." stumbled a flustered Shinobu.
"Whoa there, calm down Shinobu-chan. No need to get so excited now. I was just teasing."
Shinobu nodded and took a deep breath. Why was I so embarrassed? Talk about overreacting. I made such a fool of myself, he must think I'm a complete weirdo now. Not to mention, he's probably figured out that I really /do/ like sempai from my reaction just now. Shinobu sighed. How come I'm such a klutz?
Shinobu was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was meant to comfort her, she knew that, and she was grateful to Koji for that.
"Arigato, Kobayashi-san."
"Think nothing of it. Let's just drop the subject. Anyways, we should keep going."
Shinobu agreed, and they continued to follow the trail that would lead them to the campsite. Koji figured the others probably made it there already, if Su's antics didn't slow them down too much.
"Ano...Kobayashi-san?"
"Hai?"
"I was just kind of wondering...didn't you mention before that you were trying to get into Toudai?"
"Come to think of it, I did, didn't I?"
"Then...does that mean you're the same age as sempai?"
"I dunno, how old is he?"
"Ano...twenty, I think."
"He's a year my senior then. And actually, it's my first time trying for Toudai. Because of my line of work and uh...certain /incidents/ that took place, I was unable to take the entrance exam until now. So...he's twenty huh? So I guess he should be in his what...third year at Toudai now? Maybe I'll ask him for some tips."
"Ano...actually, sempai hasn't made it in yet..."
Koji had taken out his bottle of water and was taking a drink from it. Upon hearing that Keitaro was a third year ronin, he promptly spit out the water that he was drinking.. "You mean...he's still trying to get in?"
"H-Hai. But...I know he'll make it in this year! Sempai is working so hard this year! A-And he's getting help from Naru-sempai. I know he'll get in this year, I just know he will!"
She cares about him a lot...more than she's willing to let on. And judging from what I've seen, I doubt Keitaro would know anything about it at all. He's pretty clueless...heck, that's probably why he hasn't been able to get into Toudai yet. But...Haruka-san's smart, she's probably got it figured out by now...wouldn't surprise me if Kitsune suspected something too. Unfortunately, the one that /should/ know this is completely oblivious. Poor Shinobu...
Koji was brought out of his trance by a scream, and as he looked around to see where it had come from, he saw that Shinobu had taken off.
"Oi! Shinobu-chan, come back! It's too dangerous by yourself, you could get hurt!"
It was obvious that Shinobu probably had not heard him, and so he had no other choice: he began to give chase. He ran after her but it was difficult to keep up with her, since she was running at full tilt when he saw her last.
Koji stopped several meters later upon noticing that the nearby grass had been disturbed, probably due to Shinobu straying off the trail. This is bad...this is very bad. Koji knew that he had to find her soon, and so he took off at full speed, praying to Kami that he would find her before any misfortunes might befall her.
Unfortunately for him, by the time he found Shinobu, she was in a precarious situation. A very old wooden suspension bridge that looked like it might fall apart at any moment stretched from this side across to another side, spanning a total of at least fifteen meters. A river ran about twenty meters or so underneath the bridge She was down on her knees near the middle of the bridge, and he assumed that she had collapsed due to exhaustion...and perhaps fear.
"Shinobu-chan!"
She looked around when he called her name, and she spotted him. She took one hand off of the rope which held the bridge up, and tried to wave at him. However, the bridge started to rock right about then and so she quickly grabbed on to the rope with both hands.
"Stay there Shinobu-chan. I'll come and get you!"
It seemed as it Shinobu didn't hear him though, because at that moment she was trying to stand up. When she appeared to have established some sort of balance, she began to make her way towards him. She moved slowly, carefully making sure that the wooden boards would support her weight. It was when she took her fifth step that Koji sensed something was wrong.
As Shinobu placed her foot on the wooden board, it initially held. But the wood was rotting and it did a good job of fooling her, because a second later when her full weight was on it, it gave way. The board she was standing on shattered and she started to fall. When the board gave way, she felt a sharp pain in her right ankle. However, she really did not have much time to dwell on that because a moment later she hit the water.
The water was cold, /freezing/ cold. It felt like she was being poked by hundreds and hundreds of tiny little pins. She did her best to get her head above water, and when she broke the water's surface she could hear someone calling to her. It was hard to hear over the rushing water, but she assumed that it was Koji.
"Koji!" she screamed as she tried to stay afloat. She managed to get a mouth full of water for her troubles and she coughed, nearly choking on the water. The strong current then pulled her under, but she managed to struggle to the surface for a second time. "Please, help me!" Shinobu received another mouth full of water and heard a loud splash before she was dragged underwater once again, but this time she no longer had the strength to fight to the surface.
Am I...am I going to die here? Kobayashi-san...Kaolla-san...Motoko-san...Haruka-san...Naru-sempai, I'll never get to see them again. Shinobu squeezed her eyes shut and a single tear escaped, though it was promptly washed away by the water. Sempai...I'll never get to see you again either. And I'll never get a chance to tell you how I feel. To tell you that I lo...
Her train of thought was derailed when she was no longer able to hold her breath. She opened her mouth and bubbles of air escaped. No...I don't want to die. I want to live...I want to be able to cook for sempai everyday...I want to make him happy. The cold was starting to affect her now. That, working in combination with her lack of oxygen, caused her to start to drift off. Her eyes were starting to close, but she swore she could make out an image of Keitaro making his way towards her. Sempai, is that you? Have you...come to...save me? Please hurry sempai...please. She closed her eyes and a moment later, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her. She tried to open her eyes to see who it was, but she was too tired. Shinobu finally gave in, and the world around her went dark.
---
Shinobu knew that Keitaro and Naru were studying hard, and so she decided to make a snack for them. When she reached his room, she knocked on the door lightly before sliding it open. What she saw shocked her.
Keitaro and Naru were kissing. It wasn't an accidental kiss or anything, she knew it was a kiss that both of them wanted. When they finally separated, they looked at each other with that special kind of look that lovers give each other.
"I love you Naru."
"I love you too, Keitaro."
Shinobu dropped the tray she was holding. Cookies and tea spilled all over the floor, but she didn't care. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Upon hearing the tray hit the floor, Keitaro and Naru looked over to see Shinobu standing there, crying her little eyes out.
"Gomen nasai." was all she managed to say between muffled sobs, before she turned around to run. She felt stupid, really stupid. Keitaro would never love her, the only person he cared for was Naru. She was happy that he was happy, but still it broke her heart to know that she no longer had a chance with him. She heard Keitaro and Naru call after her, but she really did not want to face them right now; so she ran. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, but she didn't watch where she was going. She ended up slipping on a part of the floor that was wet. She crashed into the railing and flipped over it, before falling into the hot springs. The fall disorientated her, and so she lacked the frame of mind to swim to the surface. I'm glad that you're happy sempai. I guess this is...good-bye...
---
As air reentered her lungs, Shinobu turned over onto her side and began to cough out the water that had filled her lungs. Every breath that she took hurt. After a few moments her coughing stopped, as most of the water had been purged from her lungs. She rolled back onto her back and she just laid there for a moment before she finally willed herself to open her eyes. At first she had no idea where she was, and she felt extremely confused. But then it all came back to her: the bridge, falling into the water, and then blacking out. Am I dead? was the first thought that came to her mind. She quickly dismissed that idea when the pounding in her head became too much for her to ignore.
She tried to sit up, but that only served to make her headache worse. A moan escaped her lips and the next thing she knew, a familiar face was helping her to sit up.
"K-Kobayashi-san..." Her voice was very weak, no doubt due to all that water she had swallowed before.
"Shinobu-chan, you're okay! You had me worried, for a while I wasn't sure if you were going to make it. How are you feeling?"
"Terrible, but anything is better than being dead, so I can't complain. Wh-Where are we?"
Shinobu thought that she had seen a small frown form on Koji's face, but it was replaced by his usual smile so quickly that she simply assumed that she had imagined it.
"Can't say that I really know. The river washed us downstream a ways, but it shouldn't be too much trouble to find a way back to the Hinata-Sou."
She watched Koji try to remain optimistic, she knew he was doing it for her sake. But she just couldn't do it. Her lower lip began to tremble, and the tears just started coming out. They rolled down her cheeks and she threw her arms around Koji's neck.
"I was so scared!" she cried in-between muffled sobs. "I thought I was going to die! I thought I would never be able to see you or sempai or anyone else ever again!"
Koji remained silent and allowed Shinobu to get all of it off her chest. He put his arms around her and did his best to just try and comfort the young girl, who was obviously distraught over her near-death experience. After a few minutes, she finally began to calm down. She began to pull away from him and he allowed her to. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and eyes and did her best to try and smile.
"Gomen nasai Kobayashi-san. I-I still haven't thanked you...I owe you my life. Arigato gozaimasu."
"Douitashimashite Shinobu-chan. Don't dwell too much on it though, it was no big deal. Try to rest, you've had a long day. We'll start back to the Hinata-Sou as soon as you get some rest. Everyone must be worried sick by now."
Shinobu nodded her agreement. She hated to think that everyone was worried sick about her when it was her own fault that she was in this position, but there was nothing she could do about that now. All she could hope to do was to apologize to all of them after they got back. She found it odd that Koji didn't ask her why she suddenly just ran off like that, but after thinking about it, she assumed that he was trying to respect her privacy. She smiled, he was really thoughtful. She laid down and a few minutes later she drifted off due to pure exhaustion...
After about an hour, Shinobu awoke from her slumber. Koji asked if she wanted to rest a bit longer, but she shook her head. She wanted to make it back to the Hinata-Sou as soon as possible. When she attempted to stand, she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. She cried out in pain and began to fall, though Koji managed to catch her before she hit the ground. He asked her where it hurt, and she told him that it was her ankle. He inspected her ankle by getting her to roll her foot, which caused her to wince in pain.
"Well...from what I can tell nothing's broken. Probably just a sprain. All the same, you should try to keep off of it for a while. I'll wrap it right now to try to keep the swelling down."
Shinobu nodded her understanding. "But...how are we going to make it back to the Hinata-Sou then?"
"I'll carry you. But first..." he said, before ruffling through a bag. He tossed a long sleeved shirt, a pair of shorts and a jacket to her. "I know they're a bit big for you Shinobu-chan, but it's better than those wet clothes that you're wearing right now. Plus, it's getting dark, so it's going to get colder. Don't want you catching a cold, now do we?"
Shinobu nodded. Koji stood up, turned around and put some distance between himself and Shinobu to allow her to change in privacy. She called him when she was done, and he returned to her side. He took her wet clothes and stuck them in his bag. With his bag in tow, he then kneeled down next to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, locking both of her hands together, before Koji stood up. It was like he was giving her a piggyback ride. She couldn't help but think how nice this was, and how warm he felt. She felt so safe and secure...in a way she felt that he was the older brother she never had.
As Koji carried her, she kept trying to work up the courage to ask him something. And yet, she could never bring herself to ask him. When she opened her mouth to speak, she would always end up having second thoughts, and so she never did say anything.
"Is there something on your mind Shinobu-chan?"
"Ano..."
"What is it? You know you can tell me anything."
"It's just...you're so nice. I don't have any brother or sisters and..."
"I think I know what you're trying to say Shinobu-chan. You're kinda like a little sister to me, I don't know why. I hope I didn't offend you."
Shinobu shook her head. "Not at all. In fact, you're kinda like the older brother I never had. Do you mind...if I..."
"Not at all," he replied with a smile.
A smile formed on Shinobu's face, and she could not help but hug him tighter. "Arigato gozaimasu, oniichan." She closed her eyes and she laid her head against his back, and she ended up dozing off again, this time with a smile on her face.
---
"Shinobu-chan. Shinobu-chan?"
"Huh?" Shinobu slowly opened her eyes and blinked.
"We're back."
Looking over his shoulder, Shinobu saw that he was almost finished walking up the long set of stairs that laid before the Hinata-Sou. Within seconds he cleared the final few steps, and they were home at last. When Koji reached the door, he slid it open. To both of their amazement, everyone was standing in the foyer. Kitsune and Mutsumi were sitting on the sofa, the two of them trying to console Naru. Su was running around everywhere, trying to look for Shinobu. Keitaro was pacing the room and you could tell that he was extremely worried. But when the door slid open, everyone turned their attention to the door. It took a moment for the residents of the Hinata-Sou to realize that the person they were looking for had finally come back, but as soon as that face sunk in they all rushed towards the door, nearly trampling Koji in the process.
"Shinobu, are you okay?" asked Kitsune.
"Yay! Shinomu's back! Now we can eat!" exclaimed Su, who was jumping up and down.
"I was about to send Tama-chan out on a search and rescue mission," added Mutsumi. As if to reaffirm what she said, Tama-chan raised her front flipper and gave a salute. It was then that Su spotted the resident hot springs turtle and she seemingly pulled a fork and knife out of thin air. "So nice. Someone left me an appetizer!" Tama-chan started to fly away, with Su in hot pursuit.
"Kaolla-san, Tama-chan's not for eating!" Shinobu yelled, but Su had already gotten out of hearing range.
"I'm glad you're safe Shinobu-chan," said Keitaro. "I better call obasan and tell her that you're back safe and sound."
"What happened Shinobu-chan?" inquired Naru, who was starting to give Koji a dirty look. "He didn't do anything perverted to you, did he?"
"Ara ara. Was that why you two were gone so long?" teased Mutsumi as she chuckled. "Was he good Shinobu-chan?"
"M-Mutsumi-sempai!" Shinobu's whole face was red now, and Mutsumi was giggling. A large sweatdrop formed on Koji's head as he noticed that Naru was now up in his face. "If I find out that you did anything even /remotely/ wrong, you're dead." Why me? thought Koji to himself.
"No! Oniichan didn't do anything like that!"
"Huh? Oniichan?!" were the words that left Naru's mouth.
"Well...he's not my real brother but...it's a long story. I'll tell you guys about it later." Fortunately for Koji, that was enough to convince Naru that he did nothing indecent to Shinobu. And it was a good thing too, because Naru was just about ready to make him the first man to ever go into space without a space suit.
Shinobu could not help but smile. She was glad to be reunited with the people who she cared about so much, and who cared about her. Glancing over at Koji, she noticed that the poor guy now had his hands full with Su, who had apparently given up on chasing poor Tama-chan. She giggled softly to herself, and silently thanked the young man again for saving her life.
She then glanced over at Keitaro, who was on the phone. He was telling Haruka-san that she was back now, and that everything was basically fine. Shinobu could feel herself blush when she looked at him. She knew that her feelings for him were not just a crush, but that it was something more. And for the first time ever, she actually felt like she wanted to tell him that she...well, that she really, really, really liked him. One day sempai, just you wait and see. One day, I'll finally tell you how I really feel. But until then, I'm just happy to be by your side.
"Shinobu-chan, are you okay?" asked Mutsumi.
"H-Hai!" exclaimed Shinobu, before she proceeded to tell everyone what had happened to her.
Author's Note: The next chapter will deal with Motoko and what she's been up to ever since she took leave of the Hinata-Sou. Within the next couple of chapters I'll also be shedding some light on Koji's background, as well as manipulating Motoko's past to suit the idea that I have planned for the rest of this story. Sorry if it was a bit long-winded, I wanted to fit a lot into this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it though! And if I don't update before then...Happy New Year everyone!
Ohayo/Ohayo gozaimasu - good morning
Gomen/Gomen nasai - I'm sorry
Arigato/Arigato gozaimasu - thank you
Hai - yes
Kanrinin - manager
Ano - um
Ronin - student who didn't pass the college entrance exams
Kami - god
Douitashimashite - you are welcome
Oniichan - cute form of "older brother"