Author note: Sorry for a long wait – guess I'm a bad writer because my writer blocks usually last for months… Anyway here I am with the fifth chapter – the third 'strange' ending of my story. Some of the reviewers told me things concerning Shinobu's great role in this ending and they were right – it was the original idea of it. Anyway enough of this ranting lets start with the story:
Completely confused Shinobu didn't resist and soon she was sitting in around a small lamp with all other tenants listening to their conversation. And the conversation just was not going to end constructive.
Everyone wasn't listening to one another, Motoko and Naru insisted that Keitaro must be dealt with, Su and Kitsune wanted to leave him alone, Shinobu tried to say something but was ignored. Girls shouted and quarreled for an hour but still they couldn't come to any conclusion. Shinobu at last got tired of it and decided to go and speak to sempai alone. She felt herself very guilty for hitting him and saying all bad words so she tried to undo some damage.
Cautiously she sneaked away from the council and headed to the Kanrinin's room. Her fears left her for a bit after staying with her friends and now she could at least to try to talk with Keitaro not crying and running away instantly. Now there she was – in front of her sempai's room and she didn't want to retreat. She forcefully opened the door and took a step inside… completely frozen by the looks of the room! Broken furniture, fire marks, damaged walls, spilt liquid on the floor and lying in a rather uncomfortable position near a wall Keitaro's figure… I think it's enough to scare a 15 years old neat and polite girl. But something (or someone?) helped Shinobu to fight her fears, she bravely made a step, then next one, next one… and then she was frozen again – she felt a smell of blood in the air and sudden realization hit her mind – sempai was really hurt and bleeding and she needed to help him somehow. She was torn apart between desires to go get a first aid kit and to try to go comfort Keitaro, and eventually the latter won (with some help from her inner voice though). She made last steps, kneeled near young boy's lying form and put her hand on his shoulder as lightly as she could.
Her footsteps were so light that Keitaro didn't actually know someone was in his room until this gentle touch and was a bit surprised. He didn't know how to react at first, but then his pain and negative emotions instructed him:
"Whoever it is you'd better get the hell out of here! If you don't leave at once I'm gonna get up and kick you out using some FORCE!"
Shinobu was now scared to death and her legs were completely frozen so she couldn't "get the hell out of here" even if she wanted. She had nothing to loose so she decided to start a conversation:
"Sempai, it's me, Shinobu, don't you remember me?"
Keitaro's memory immediately showed him all the humiliation he has gone through this morning, especially Shinobu's part in it, so he answered sarcastically:
"Ah, Shinobu? A small crying girl, who beat the hell out of me for trying to comfort you? Well I do remember you very good. The question is what will I do considering the facts I remember?"
Saying this Keitaro began to stand up. He wanted to drive her away and rest some more – he really needed this. Meanwhile Shinobu was fighting with herself once again – she wanted to run away but something deep inside didn't let her do it. She needed to explain everything to her sempai and beg for his forgiveness. So she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back on the floor, then took a deep breath and began:
"My dear sempai, please forgive me for my actions, I didn't want to hurt you, honestly, I was just lost and I didn't understand what I was doing! I've got some really bad time because I was caught in the middle of my parents' fight! Please, believe me I didn't want to tell you anything like that or hit you, it just… happened like this! I didn't mean anything! Please sempai, forgive me!"
With each word Shinobu became sad more and more, then she began to cry and cried to the end of explanation. It brought some unpleasant memories from the morning in Keitaro's head, but this time everything was not like before: Shinobu really felt sorry and she tried to apologize. Suddenly this pleads achieved some success: her image as a damned witch was erased in Keitaro's mind (well, he could never be really angry with her, especially for a long time), the other images of his torturers faded also (though not disappeared), and generally Keitaro felt himself a bit more forgiving, thinking that girls weren't THAT bad after all…
Some signs indicated that original Urashima Keitaro, shy, clumsy, kind-hearted and slow-minded person who never hurt a living being was returning to his body, everything must have been ok now – but there came the reality. Let's not forget the fact that Keitaro was damaged really heavy and his pain was incredible; his only tool to oppress it were his rage and fury. With these tools gone, poor Kanrinin could fully feel every single bit of this huge amount. He began to scream like he was tortured in hell (well, he was… he's got his own small hell inside his body), he was bending in insanely ways and if only many bones in his body weren't broken until now, they would have been during these crazy movements. The situation was getting worse every second and no possible cure could be found nearby… or could it?
Shinobu felt her heart singing, she saw that Urashima-sempai, her dear sempai was returning from prolonged nightmare, set up by his tenants with her help. She was a bit proud of herself, but it was acceptable – she really helped him after all. And then, when everything was going to be ok Keitaro suddenly began screaming and bending. Shinobu was really scared, she couldn't understand what was going on, but then realized that it was pain from all his wounds he was feeling. Moreover it seemed that the pain would kill him, so Shinobu tried to do the best she can to help her sempai – she hugged him as strong as she could to prevent him from hurting himself more and began whispering soothing words of comfort coming straight from her heart into his deaf ears. She couldn't think of doing anything else (and thanks god she couldn't) and just continued to comfort Keitaro putting more and more of her soul into it. Meanwhile young man's organism was trying to survive, overcoming all the damages, and his soul was fighting to continue staying on the Earth. Alone these factors weren't enough to help in the situation, but their combination, supported by growing mental bond between Keitaro and Shinobu (and a great deal of her own soul energy too) managed to overcome the crisis and then eliminate it. Now Kanrinin's well known invulnerability mechanism could turn on and heal the remaining wounds. His life was safe and it was all because of and thanks to his dear Shinobu-chan! Keitaro understood it and wanted to thank her somehow but couldn't – he was too weak at the moment. Young girl wasn't feeling energetic either, so completely exhausted they both fell asleep – Keitaro in young girl's arms - and rested for some time.
Meanwhile still debating Hinata Sou high council discovered Shinobu's absence and decided to go look for her. So they did – and soon found her in Keitaro's room, moreover she was dangerously close to the beast of the house, so the only idea that came to their mind was – free the innocent girl from his clutches! Operation "Shinobu's extraction" commenced. Trying not to awaken young one, girls surrounded sleeping pair and began to pull her away, but… Suddenly they were greeted with a not-so-welcome stare from the room owner. His swollen, red and at the same time icily cold eyes examined them for a bit, then he snorted and said with a tinge of a threat in his quiet voice:
"What the hell are you doing here? Leave now before I get angry again!"
Before girls were able to answer him, Keitaro added:
"And don't you dare to wake up Shinobu, I promise I'll make you very sorry about it!"
Saying this Keitaro closed his eyes and went to sleep again, hugging sleeping girl and caressing her hair a bit:
"Sleep well my dear… Sweet dreams." – Saying this Kanrinin relaxed and limped on the floor again.
Girls were really confused at his behavior – they couldn't understand how the boy they were living with for a year already could act so differently in one day. First he became insane and fire-breathing, now cold and ice spitting… They hesitated for some time and then decided to leave for their own good. The look of the kanrinin wasn't especially welcome and his wrath wasn't pleasant. By the way Shinobu was safe with him – however angry and annoyed girls were they could easily recognize concern and care in Keitaro's voice when he was whispering to her.
The rest of the day was uninteresting. Lovely pair slept until next morning and girls were counseling again – this time they tried to understand what to do with resident manager and how to treat him further. Their questions were answered by young man himself later.
He woke up in the morning, gently holding young fragile girl and admired her beauty for a while. Then he tried to extract himself from her embrace but failed waking her too. Stares that boy and girl exchanged spoke better than thousands of words – care, concern, love – all of this was included… This very moment Keitaro and Shinobu understood that they are destined to be together and liked it very much. Some nagging thoughts about Naru, Toudai and together appeared in Manager's head but were dismissed without any doubt. Almost for an hour young pair was pleasuring themselves holding each other, kissing and whispering words of love. Then their stomachs simultaneously growled indicating lack of food inside.
This event broke the mood and reminded about outer world at the same time, so Shinobu had to go cook and Keitaro began cleaning procedures to insure that his room had at least a presentable view – it was really scorched after the 'battle'. Soon delicious flavor of nice cooked breakfast spread through all the Hinata Sou and sleepy tenants crawled into the dining hall. They've already almost forgotten about yesterday and started this new day like always – the only missing thing was Keitaro's usual beating because he was still repairing his room. Girls sat at the table and began usual morning chatting but suddenly two questions passed in their minds – was yesterday real and where is Keitaro? Both were answered when Kanrinin entered the hall sparing them a wary look and taking his seat wordlessly. However, when his eyes met with Shinobu's they became a lively and warm again. Young pair shared understanding glances and started eating. The rest of tenant joined them. The breakfast continued in complete silence and when it ended Keitaro stood up, thanked the cook and left the room without paying any attention to other tenants.
This startled girls – Kanrinin wasn't able to hold a grudge for a long time. Moreover he wasn't able to hold grudge at all! They decided to find him and have a conversation – he still didn't apologize for yesterday. So they did – found him in his room and began accusing and demanding apologies, but the conversation went in a totally another direction. First Keitaro tried to drive them away, then understanding that it's impossible he refused to apologize, blamed them for all the destruction and abuse excluding only Shinobu and stated that she was the only one real human in all their group. Girls wanted to get at him for this remark but a death glance from his ice-cold eyes changed their mind. His fire fury was quite enough for them – they didn't want to know what his ice fury could be like. What if he had frozen all of them? So girls left Keitaro alone and resumed their daily activities.
After this incident the live in Hinata Sou became stable again, but there were some serious changes – Keitaro refused to talk to anyone except Shinobu and the girl herself became less and less friendly to other girls. At the same time young pair spent much time together and was really mushy then. Even when Mutsumi entered the Hinata Sou again things became like that. Keitaro usually talked to her but was always polite and reserved. It upset woman very much but when she learned about the incident she understood everything and vanished. She, Naru and Keitaro saw each other sometimes in the Toudai but never really talked – only exchanged their greetings. However funny it is, but anyway after the incident young Kanrinin lost all his 'pervertness' and clumsiness.
After approximately a year of such lives girls couldn't bear the cold ignorance of Keitaro any more and tried to apologize understanding him at last. But they were too late – his trust was lost forever and though he wasn't so cold any more he never became friendly like in good old times. The lives of Hinata tenants continued anyway – Suu went to her home country and became a princess. Motoko graduated from school and went to Kyoto to inherit Shinmen Ryu. Mitsune finally found a job and engaged with a nice young man, and moved to him. Naru graduated from Toudai and returned to her family afterwards. They all had nice lives but one thing was always nagging in their minds – the incident with Keitaro and his lost trust in them. Were they wrong? Was he wrong? Whose fault was it? And why did Shinobu receive the gift of his life and care while they were claimed as enemies (or neutrals afterwards) rather than friends. And this thing didn't let them live to the fullest.
Speaking about Shinobu – when she was old enough to engage she immediately did so and then married Keitaro. They ran the Hinata Sou together – great cook and skilled manager - and had nice happy family with lots of kids. They lived long and happily, had many grandchildren and passed in the same day.
This ending wasn't meant to happen also. The destined ones didn't get together – the destiny of several people was rewritten because of one incident… Was the effect good or bad – anyway it still was…
Never push a person over the edge – or deal with consequences.
AN: Ok here we are again – Shinobu got the boy, she and Keitaro are happy, everyone else is quietly jealous of them, he no more loves Naru and KEITARO IS NO MORE CLUMSY PERVERT!!! Isn't it strange for the world to be like this? Anyway this is the end of Hinata Sou's story in this universe. Hopefully I'll post the next ending soon… Ja ne.
