A/N: Oh god! It was horrible! Hurricane Isabelle came and knocked out our power! No electricity! No running water! Melting frozen foods! The horror... the horror... Oh well. It came back in 18 hours, so... Anyway, thank you reviewers, and here's each of your special thanks.
Cheshire Cat5: yes, I am 16. I do not lie. Thank you for the detailed analysis, and I hope I never write anything that you want to criticize. BTW, how do you get HTML tags?
Urashima Keitaro: I did what you said. Thank you.
Turtle Lady: yeah, so do other people. Heh...
John McCoy: thank you very much for the review. I also thank you for the bracket idea. I'll use it later on
SolarFire2: you okay? Don't want to get sued for bodily injuries. Yeah, those self inserts I don't like. Just keep it to the storyline
Shadowed-Moon2525: thank you for such a wonderful review! But as heads up, Naru isn't as much OOC as Keitaro is this chapter. Whoops...
Drake Dragon: I'm sure you do. I'm not so sure about the bomb... wait there was one so... YES IT IS!!!
Jihi: thank you! But I'm sure you're just fine. It's just that I've written for a while but I've never had the guts to put any of them out. Stupid coward!
jenniviennai: yeah, things are getting stranger, but like you said, it's Hinata House! Thank you
Anyway, thank you all!
Disclaimer: I have never, do not, nor probably will ever own Love Hina. (sob) So please don't sue me. I'm poor, I could never afford an attorney, and I'll probably end up in the streets if you do.
Holding Hands
By Yamiga'sLight
Chapter 3: Background Check
"..." – talking '...' – thinking
All of the girls gathered around Keitaro to listen. It wasn't like they were violating his thoughts, they just wanted to make sure he didn't have any perverted dreams. If he did, they would punish him for it.
Right... As if they never had naughty thoughts that contained various unmentionables that I shall not discuss at the moment. They just didn't care about any of that at the moment. Anyway...
Keitaro's lips slightlt moved to form unreadable words and every once in a while he muttered out some weird phrase.
"I didn't know Sempai talked in his sleep," Shinobu said.
"Sure he does," Kitsune replied.
"And how would you know that, Kitsune?" Naru growled.
"Let's just say I need some extra sake money." Everyone just stared at her, mouths agape. "Not like that! I didn't do anything physical. I just did what we're doing now."
"You blackmailed him?" Giggled Sarah. "What did he say?"
"He's already paid me in full not to disclose that information." Kitsune said in a business-like tone. Sarah fished out some money. Kitsune just laughed. "Trust me. He paid a lot more money than that."
Everybody had the same thought. 'What the heck did he say?'
"Little me...princess...?" Keitaro mumbled.
They all quickly diverted their attention back to Keitaro.
"Ostrich...big egg..."
Su giggled. "That would have been by me."
"Su!...you're little...funny..." Keitaro chuckled.
"Strange," Motoko said. "Very strange."
"Toad...too big...can't eat..."
Motoko gulped in embarrassment. "Mine."
"What did you do?"
"Mashed up essence of toad and gecko."
Sarah looked disgusted. "Eww...that's just gross!"
Motoko looked down. "It's an old family remedy. It's supposed to work. Though I have to admit, all he gained was a lost of blood through his nose."
"Didn't make...cry" Keitaro said irritated. His facial features then softened and turned into a very good resemblance of despair. "Sorry...don't cry... Shinobu..."
"He's right. You do cry a lot Shinobu." Su said.
"No, I don't!" Yelped Shinobu with tears in her eyes.
"Bunny girl..."
"Pervert! That's it, he's dead!" Motoko was about to drop him when Keitaro burst out laughing. "What the...?"
"Kitsune?!...so cute!...so funny!..." The mentioned person's eyes opened slightly and a tint of blush appeared on her cheeks. "Everyone...so little...so cute...like chibis..."
"You know," Mutsumi said. "For your so-called 'pervert', he sure seems to have very innocent dreams."
"She's right there," said Haruka through a cigarette. "In any case, I noticed that Keitaro hasn't mentioned Naru, Mutsumi, or me yet in his dream. Wonder why?"
"Don't know." Kitsune's face lightened into a light grin. "Maybe he's saving something special for Naru and Mutsumi, hmm?" Her face then split open into a full-blown fox one.
"Kitsune!" Naru yelled.
"Oh my! Something special with Urashima?" Mutsumi clapped her hands together and smiled. "That sounds like fun."
Naru turned to her. "You know, Mutsumi, sometimes I worry about you."
"Why?" Mutsumi said tilting her head.
"Never mind."
"Sandbox..."
"Hush guys!" Kitsune whispered.
"...girl..." Keitaro's face turned into a happy smile.
"Must be my nephew's promise girl," said Haruka through a puff of smoke.
Naru turned her head and looked at Mutsumi. 'Mutsumi...' She thought sadly.
Keitaro's face then turned into a look of confusion. "Wait...two?"
All of the girls looked shocked. "What!?" They shouted.
Keitaro's look of confusion soon turned into recognition. "Wait...I know you?...-chan?...-chan?..." The beginning of the girl's names were lost in Keitaro's incoherent mumblings.
Motoko was the first to recover from her shock. "This is an interesting twist," she remarked at the revelation. Everyone just simply nodded.
"Wonder what this means," Kitsune said.
Naru then remembered something. The picture that had led her to believe that Mutsumi was the promise girl. She was in it too, wasn't she? Maybe he was just remembering her from that photo. Yes, that was all that she was. Just an extra person from his memories of his precious 'promise girl.' Her reverie was cut short as a scream of terror was heard from Keitaro.
"Oh shit!" He yelled. "Grown up...don't hit!..." He threw his hands in front of his face as if to protect himself from some unknown force. The girls looked at him with concern and shame as they though they knew who was pummeling him. Keitaro's frantic shudders began to stop as he slowly lowered his arms. His eyes slowly opened.
"Oh man. That was scary. Weird too. Huh?" Keitaro blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Motoko? What are you doing?" Motoko blushed as an answer. He look around and blinked again. "Guys, why are you all crowded around me?" They all look down sheepishly.
Keitaro's face changed quickly from befuddled surprise to neutral with a hint of anger. He looked at Kitsune; she didn't meet his eyes. "You did it again, didn't you?" He questioned. Silence.
Keitaro's warm brown eyes turned ice cold. He shook himself out of Motoko's arms and landed on the floor. He picked himself up and looked at everyone. "I don't believe you guys!" He shouted. Malice and anger laced his every word. "I am really pissed!"
The Hinata House tenants whipped their heads up. Never before had they ever seen Keitaro act like this. He never got angry, no matter what they did. In fact, most of the time, he was the one apologizing afterwards. He was the most caring and forgiving of them all. To see him like this showed that they might have hit a rather large nerve this time.
"I don't believe it," he repeated. "I don't believe it." He stared at Kitsune. "I'd expect this from you, Kitsune." His gazed switched to rest of them. "But the rest of you...I thought you knew better." He looked down. "I am truly disappointed..." A shudder passed through his body and he collapsed.
"Keitaro!" Naru said as she rushed over to his side. Keitaro looked up and she gasped as she saw hate in his eyes. Hate, directed towards and the others.
"And you, Naru..." He panted. "I thought that you knew the value of privacy most of all. Or was I wrong?"
Naru flinched. She remembered how horribly she had treated him when she found him looking into her diary. She had ignored him, didn't let him study with her when he so needed to. She had even refused to talk to him when he had tried so hard to apologize to her. This had gone on for two weeks.
"I'm sorry, Keitaro," she said. "Here, let me help you up." She sucked in air as he harshly slapped her arm aside.
"Don't touch me!" He snarled. "I don't want your help." HE slowly got up. "I am disgusted by all of you," Keitaro spat out. "I take abuse from day after day from all of you for the tiniest mistakes. I am beaten, bashed, pummeled, smashed, shot, blown up, and blackmailed every day of my life here, and frankly, I'm tired of it."
He let out his breath as he shakily leaned on the banister of the stairs. "A normal person would have either left or had thrown you all in jail long ago for the abuse you've given me." He put his face in his hands and started to shake. The others thought he was crying until they realized that he wasn't. He was laughing.
"But I love you all too much. I love you guys so much." He giggled. "And that's why...that's why..." Keitaro burst out laughing. "That's why it hurts so much when you do this to me."
He bent over, holding his sides. "You'd think I let you hit me otherwise? You really think I can't defend myself? How else do you think I survive your attacks? I'm able to minimize the damage." He looked up, wiping tears out of his eyes. "But you guys hitting me is the only way I can forgive myself. The only way..."
He looked at the girls. "You don't believe me, do you?" They shook their heads, all except for Haruka, who was the only one who knew the truth. She knew, not only from Keitaro's blatantly telling her once, but also from the way his trainer was. The old bat was crazy, but she trained very well.
Keitaro glanced at Motoko. She stepped back from the slightly crazed look in his eyes. "Motoko, attack me." He simply stated.
Motoko was taken aback. "Urashima?"
"Attack me."
Motoko shook her head. Obviously, the cold was making him delirious. He wouldn't be acting like this otherwise. She smiled hesitantly, trying to calm him down. "But Urashima, you are sick. You wouldn't be able to survive if I did," she reasoned.
Keitaro dropped the smile and his face contorted into anger. "Damn it, you worthless ronin! Attack me!" He shouted.
Motoko's face darkened. "What did you call me, Urashima?"
Keitaro smirked. "You heard me; you heard me you unfemine, unattractive warrior," he sneered. "Attack me."
"Urashima!" She yelled. "You're dead! Rock-splitting sword!" Motoko drew her katana and lunged forward. She raised he hands above her head and slashed the katana down onto Keitaro's head.
Keitaro lifted up his right arm.
And caught the blade between his fingers.
Everyone was shocked. They had only seen him do this once, and he swore that it was nothing but a fluke. They never thought that he would be able to do this voluntarily. Motoko was even more shocked. She never though that this sorry excuse for a man would ever be able to stop her.
"Now do you believe, Motoko?" Keitaro's other hand shot out to knock Motoko's grip off the hilt and flipped the katana into his hands. He gently twirled it through his fingers. "Such a beautiful blade Motoko. Too bad it is handled by such filth as I." He extended it back, hilt first. "Here you go."
Motoko silently took the katana back. The second she did, Keitaro's eyes changed to the sad, lonely look he had whenever he was unusually depressed. "I am very sorry, girls." He bowed. "I did not mean to say anything hurtful or spiteful. This will hopefully never happen again. But you must understand that even though I am physically immortal, I still have a very much human heart."
He sighed. "I love each and everyone of you so much. So it hurts me whenever you beat me or call me names. I can only take so much. I hope you will be able to forgive me for these past transgressions." He turned and started to head up the stairs. "I think I should go back to bed for now. Bye."
He quickly disappeared and they heard his muffled paddings on the floor above them. They heard a door slide open and then his voice. "Aww, crap, my room's ruined. Damn it, Su." Su flinched. "You went too far this time." The door slid shut and they heard a thump which was Keitaro falling onto the floor. "Oww, think I overexerted myself. Painful...so very painful."
They all jumped when they heard him calling them. "Hey girls, I know you're listening. There is a gigantic hole in the ceiling after all." A wracking series of coughs interrupted him. "Oh, crap, that can't be good." His voice raised in volume. "Anyway, think one of you could get me some pain killers?" I'd really, really appreciate it." More coughing. "Or of that doesn't work, just bring me the largest blunt instrument that we have and I'll bash myself into unconsciousness." Manic laughing was heard. "Oh man, I am so out of it. Sleepy time..." Another thump, then silence.
Haruka took a deep, long drag of her cigarette. "I think he's asleep now." She sniffed and turned around. "I think you guys really hurt him this time. This wasn't your usual cruelty."
"What do you mean by that, Haruka?"
"What I mean is that you girls treat him bad enough for the various mistakes that he does. You really are too overly ecstatic when it comes to his punishment. But this...this is different. You guys invaded his deepest privacy, his dreams. Nobody deserves hat, especially not Keitaro. And that is for two reasons. One, that was a story about his 'promise girl,' and you know how sensitive he gets about that subject.'
She took the cigarette out of her mouth and dropped it on the floor. Immediately after, her heel came up and then down again to crush the cigarette underneath it. Her heel continued to ground it into the floor as the ashes from it spread around. Her normal stoic face seemed to have a look of disgust etched around the edges as she stared at the newly obliterated object.
"Nasty thing," she muttered under her breath. "Becoming a bad habit of mine. Wonder if I can stop eventually."
She lifted her head to look at the girls. "And two, Keitaro is the kindest, gentlest, most giving soul in the world, and I'm proud to have him as my relative."
"Despite his klutziness, lack of high intelligence, and so-called perverted ways you are so fond of naming him of, he still does his best. No matter what life has thrown at him, he still has the persistence to plow through it all and keep going. And trust me, Keitaro has never had an easy life. He has been teased constantly because of his 'hopeless' dream to get into Tokyo U. Even his parents gave up on him.
"Another thing, as you probably have found out from him already, is that he's never had a girlfriend before either. That means that he's never had anyone to care for him and visa versa. He's always been alone. But since he came here, he's had people to care for. Seven people in fact, you guys. He now has seven people to care for and for them to care for him. To laugh with, to cry with, to do knows what with.
"And so he does everything he can to make sure each and every one of you are happy. You guys are his everything. You may not realize it, but you made him into what he is today. You are as intricately woven into his life as he is in yours. And all he asks for is a little kindness in return. Now you may give him a little, some more than others, but you still treat him very cruelly."
"You know that Keitaro is very emotional to most things, and he becomes depressed rather easily. Take for example after his third examination or when Seta finally came back. Now I don't know exactly what happened, but I think I have a good idea of why he acted that way." With that, her eyes landed on Nary. Naru instantly blushed and looked down at the floor. She also had a good idea of the cause of Keitaro's behavior. Before everyone moved their attention to her, Haruka began to talk again.
"In any case, Keitaro has a very kind but very fragile heart. He does the best to make you guys as happy as possible, but it always seems to backfire on him, doesn't it? Still, he does have his heroic moments, even if they have a somewhat strange ending."
She turned to Shinobu. "Shinobu, what about when he first got here? You remember what he did?" Shinobu shook her head in puzzlement. "He was able to make up for his lie when he found out about your birthday when nobody else remembered. I can still see the look of joy on your face that evening."
Shinobu's eyes teared up at that memory. "Sempai..." She sniffled.
Next was Su. "Su, how about that time when Motoko left for camp ad Keitaro was your playmate? I'm surprised that you didn't kill him throughout the day and night, but he put up with you and I haven't seen you that happy for a long time."
Su's eyes closed and a grin spread across her face. "Yep," she smiled toothily. "Keitaro's just like my big brother, only funnier. I love him!"
On to Kitsune. "Kitsune...I don't know about you, Kitsune. I'm just surprised that with the amount of money you extort and/or he gives you for your lavish, slacker lifestyle, he hasn't evicted your ass out of here yet."
Kitsune just grinned. "Yep, Keitaro's just nice like that I guess." She said as she held out a thumbs up.
Then came Motoko. "Motoko, what about when you were having those identity crisis? Keitaro was the one who helped you through them. And if I remember correctly, you were rather serene for a while after. Not to mention Keitaro was your personal emotional and physical punching bag for those periods in time."
The corners of Motoko's mouth turned up into the tiniest of smiles. "Yes," she murmured. "Urashima was rather honorable at those times wasn't he?"
Then Sarah. "Sarah, Keitaro has taken very good care of you since Seta left you in his care, right? He's been trying his best to make sure that you enjoy your time at Hinata House, and enjoy it with the other members as well."
Sarah scowled, but there was a glint in her eye. "Yeah, I guess that dork did all right."
Mutsumi. "Mutsumi, I can't even count the number of times Keitaro's saved you from dying from your fainting spells. Or the way he helps you around so that you don't get lost or hit by a car or something other."
Mutsumi clapped her hands together and smiled warmly. "Yes, Urashima is a very nice and sweet person. I really like him."
Finally, she came to Naru. "And Naru, Naru...you know all of the things he's done for you so we'll leave it at that."
The only thing Naru could do was look down and softly whisper, "Keitaro."
"In any case, as I said before, Keitaro does his best to make you girls as happy as you can possibly be while he's manager. And all he wants is that you respect him as he respects you, and tryst me, he holds you all very high in respect. But what you just did was not only disrespectful, but also very hurtful. And that's all I have to say about that."
With her insightful speech ended, Haruka walked back to the chair she fell asleep in, sat down, crossed her arms, and promptly fell silent again. After this, a curtain of silence descended upon the room. The girls just stood there, deep in though, each contemplating on what had just been said. Haruka was right; Keitaro did do his best to make sure none of them were ever sad. And all they ever did in return was punish him.
So what if he had some perverted tendencies? Any male who lived in close contact with so many fine specimens of females would undoubtedly act that way sometime along his life. And Keitaro wasn't even one of the worst-case scenarios of perverts. He almost never deliberately tried to grope them or peek on them in their various day events. Most were more or less due to his extreme klutziness or horrible bad luck at timing. Sometimes it was due to the antics of the other Hinata House tenants that caused his unfortunate 'accidents.'
In short, Keitaro had never purposefully hit on them, groped them, or peeked at them. It was mostly due to unfortunate circumstance.
They all remembered when Keitaro had first come to Hinata House. Now that they thought about it, Keitaro didn't really mean to do any of the stuff that they accused him of intentionally. To start with, he never really found out that the inn was turned into a girl's dormitory, so he couldn't really be blamed for wanting to study there.
Two, the whole hot spring incident wasn't exactly all his fault. What would you do if some strange, beautiful woman just came into the hot springs naked, sat down next to you, and started to talk and act towards you like she knew you or your entire life? In Keitaro's case, he just froze. Then came the groping. That was the beginning of the chaos, and the pain.
Considering that same random woman decided to grab Keitaro while he was till in his statue state, his reaction wasn't all that uncommon. His little person, (heh-hem) changed. The reaction was that the woman, Naru, found out that Keitaro wasn't of the right gender. Next was very loud screaming and Keitaro scrambling to get the hell out.
Thus came his faithful meeting with the fox. Understandably, Keitaro was look over his shoulder to make sure the girl wasn't following him. So he wasn't looking in front of him and came into contact with two large, squishy objects. You know what happened there.
Anyway, next came his so-called 'panty pinching' part. That means he crashed into Su who was carrying some laundry while trying to escape the two women he had just surprised and/or angered. His headfirst dive into the clothes resulted with questionable pieces adorning him.
Finally came the flashing which I am not even going to try to explain because no matter what I say, it will turn out wrong. I will just say that it was not on purpose, and his fear of the wrath from these women had affected his...Umm...never mind!
All in all, his first trip to Hinata House was basically just a series one unfortunate, unlucky accident after another.
Upon this revelation, the girls finally snapped out of their silence. Kitsune was the first to talk. "Okay, I think we got what you said, Haruka. But I still have one question. Where the heck did Keitaro learn to fight like that? I'd never seen him like that before."
Motoko was the next one to talk. "Yes. Urashima always goes on about how he could never beat anyone of us in a fight. Even when he beat me, he said it was nothing but a fluke. So when did he learn techniques like that?"
It was Haruka that spoke again. "I believe I have the answer to that." Everyone turned to her as she explained Keitaro's past once again.
"It was a while ago when Keitaro came to me to talk about something. What the subject was, was that he wanted to resign as manager of Hinata House." A collective gasp was heard as the girls were shocked by this information. "Oh, don't worry, he hasn't retired yet, has he? Anyway, he was tired about being knocked around by you girls. But the thing the thing that drove him the most to that choice was because he was worried about you girls."
They all had puzzled looks on their faces while Haruka buried her face into her hands and groaned. "C'mon, you guys. He though he was making your lives miserable. You certainly grounded the idea into his head when you punished him all the time. He thought that if he left and hired a female manager in his place like you originally wanted, you all would be much happier."
"But that's not true!" Su shouted. "Keitaro's a part of our lives now! We love him!"
"Speak for yourself," muttered Sarah.
"That's not what he thought," said Haruka. "Think about it, you guys practically told him you hated him every day. Of course he thought that you would be happier if he left."
The boarders hung their heads in shame. They knew that what Haruka was saying was true. They did treat him as though they hated him. But that was another matter and they were focused on something else at the moment.
"So...how did you convince him to stay?"
"I'm not going to go into it right now. Maybe I'll tell you some other time. But anyway, during our talk, Keitaro told me he found it funny that you guys never figured out how he could survived all of those attacks with barely a scratch."
"I though it was because of his immortality," Motoko stated.
"That's partly true," Haruka said. "Keitaro was born with an ability to withstand massive blows to his body. But that's not all of it. He was also trained by a very good, if not crazy, martial artist." She took a deep breath and finished. "To put it simply, Keitaro could have easily stopped any of your attacks, but instead chose to bear it and take the punishment."
Silence was the only thing that was heard. A bird twittering finally broke the void of sound. Suddenly, the girls broke into a rabble of shock, yelling, and questions. "SO WHY DIDN'T HE!?!" They all shouted.
Haruka sighed, stood up, and took a deep breath. "QUIET!!!" Everyone did just that. She sat back down, crossed her arms, and sighed yet again. It seemed that the old lady that she was so afraid of becoming was starting to catch up with her. She wearily rubbed her temples in circles while she repeatedly sighed.
"Didn't you guys hear him? 'I love you guys so much...Hitting me is one of the only ways I can forgive myself.'" Haruka simply stated. "He loves you all so much, and he feels guilty whenever he makes any of you sad or happy. So hitting him is a way for him to feel he was able to make up for it part way."
"But still," Keitaro's voice played in her mind from her memory. "The frequency of their punishments does get annoying after a while." Merry laughing was heard soon afterward.
Haruka smirked. Yes, it would after a while wouldn't it?" She murmured, then let out a small chuckle.
"Hmm? What was that, Haruka?" Naru asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothing, Naru. Just something from the conversation that I though was funny."
"And I'd hate to admit it, but I think that some of them are turning into sadists because they sure seem to like seeing the pain on my face."
Haruka couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Not small chuckles, but full blown-out, hyena cackle, knee-slapping laughter. Needless to say, the boarders were surprised to see their normally statue-faced house-mother rolling around, holding her sides. More than a few eyebrows were raised.
"And that?"
"Ask Keitaro. I never knew my nephew had such a wicked sense of humor." Giggle. That certainly warranted a few surprised looks. Haruka never giggled. Whatever Keitaro said, it must have been funny. They would have to ask him later.
"Anyway, Keitaro was taught in martial arts as a young child for a while by an extremely good yet extremely crazy martial artist master. He's actually quite good, maybe he'll show you sometime. But that's all I'm going to say. If you want to hear the rest, ask Keitaro."
"But he doesn't even want to talk to us! Not including the fact that he's unconscious at the moment!" Kitsune shouted.
"Oh, I'm not too sure about that." Haruka muttered under her breath. Her eyes rolled up to look at the ceiling.
*****
Keitaro smirked and rolled over. As he did, a long series of coughs erupted from his throat. 'Whoops, that isn't good. Anyway, looks like they know about my strange past.' He though silently as a sneeze came out. 'Ugh, damn cold. I wonder how it's all gonna turn out. The plot sure is thickening."
A small chuckle escaped through his cracked lips. "Time to continue the next time I wake up. This will all be very interesting."
He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
A/N: Hooray! The third chapter is done! Only one more to go! If you thought this chapter was long, wait until you see the last one. It's a doozy. I hope you enjoyed this one, and I hope you enjoy the next one. Now, on to the characters.
Me: Well, Glowy...
glowworm16: (shouts out from the distance) I said don't call me that!
Me: I mean, gloworm16...
gloworm16: Thank you!
Me: Right.. Anyway, he finally decided to calm down and is now getting along quite well with the girls. (under breath) Lucky jerk. (normal voice) Ahem, anyway, that's all good and done with, so let's go back to the actual characters. I want to see how Keitaro's doing.
Keitaro: Wow... You weren't kidding when you said I was OOC.
Me: Nope. I've always wanted to write a fic where you finally tell the girls off. (grins) And I guess that's exactly what I did.
Keitaro: (looks nervous) You said that there's only one chapter left... You think you could tell me how it ends?
Me: (strokes chin) Well... as long as you don't tell Naru. I want it to be a surprise for her. Heh, heh.
I lean over and whisper into Keitaro's ear. His eyes get wide as I continue and then finally his head snaps back when I finish. On his face is a look of total ecstasy. With tears streaming down his face, he grabs my hand and begins to pump it up and down.
Keitaro: Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...
Me: (sighs) This is starting to get annoying. (puts free hand into pocket and pulls out giant metal baseball bat; lifts up, then beans it on Keitaro's head)
Keitaro: Thank you... ugh. (falls to floor)
Naru: (walks over) About time.
Me: (scratches head with bat) Yeah, I now see why he gets annoying sometimes.
Naru: By the way, where'd you learn that trick?
Me: (grins) Learned it from Su. I really like her.
Naru: (huffs) Pervert.
Me: (puffs up indignantly) Hey, I'm a guy. I'm allowed to like girls. Su's cute and has a great personality, even if she could possibly kill me.
Su: Really?
Me: (sweatdrops) Ack! Su! When'd you get here!
Su: (giggles) I'm always here Yamiga. Now, what was that about...
Me: (gulps) Well! That's all the time we have for today! Now it's time for me to get going! (runs off)
Su: Yamiga! (giggles) Oh, well... He has to come back eventually. He is the author.
Naru: Yeah, he is. (looks at unconscious Keitaro) Oh, well in any case...
Naru and Su: Please Review!
A/N: Whew! Don't know how I even got into that situation, but... Anyway, I've go the entire story done, all's I got's to do is write the last chapter. Oh, and by the way, I already have a sequel lined up with a few chapters done so I was wondering if any of my reviewers wanted to be my pre-readers as well. Just to get some extra feedback. Okay? Thanks. And remember, no flames!