Disclaimer: Yep, one of these every chapter. Don't own Love Hina, any of its characters, and all that stuff, nor am I making profit from this garbage I write. That all belongs to Ken Akamatsu and Tokyo Pop.
A/N:: I'm so sorry everyone who is reading this. Totally my bad but I've been putting off all of my works no longer! Least I hope I won't. Thanks to those whom are still sticking with me on this fic, and thanks to those who have bothered to read this. Been having some errr...social problems to deal with and not to mention a massive writers block and constant strive to overachieve on chapters I did crappy on. So just keep the constructive criticism going please, and no flames.
Stop These Voices. . .
Chapter 3: What's His Issue?
Everyone in the Hinata inn was down. Not because Naru was in the hospital, but because Keitaro was down. For some reason, Keitaro just emanated an aura of depression that affected everyone, even the thick-skulled Mutsumi. Keitaro sat in his room silently, blaming himself for Naru's current condition.
'Why did I kiss Mutsumi!? Why must you do this to me god!? Why why why. . .' Keitaro slammed his head down onto his desk, ignoring the pain in his forehead, 'Naru would have never gotten hit by that car if she never ran away . . . and she wouldn't have ran if I didn't kiss Mutsumi!' Keitaro's mind was like a broken record, it kept skipping back to when he saw Naru struck by the car. His mind was doomed to stay on an endless replay of that night. Over the course of the evening, many of the Hinata members tried their best to cheer him up. Even Motoko attempted to find some way to cheer up the depressed Keitaro. No one succeeded though, and they all went back into a depressed stupor that engulfed the entire building. There came a knock at Keitaro's door later during the evening. At first, Keitaro didn't answer, but the knocking still commenced.
"Go away. . .stop bothering." Keitaro mumbled, expecting one of the girls to come in and try and cheer him up.
"Urashima I just want to talk, that's all." Mutsumi's soft voice came from the other side of the door. For some reason, Keitaro got up and opened his door for Mutsumi, who walked in and took a seat on his futon.
"Urashima you never answered my question about Narusegawa." She said, looking right at him.
"Mutsumi, I don't really want to talk about Nar. . ." Keitaro was cut off by Mutsumi, which was very uncharacteristic for her.
"Urashima, you're tearing yourself apart, I can see it. Just tell me how you feel about Narusegawa. Perhaps that will ease some of your pain?" Mutsumi made it obvious she wasn't just going to give up and leave.
". . ." Keitaro closed his eyes and thought, and deeply. The first time he met Narusegawa was in the hot springs . . . and it wasn't a very pretty encounter. He recalled the trip they took to Kyoto, the printclub photos he had of both he and Narusegawa, their first "date", his near kisses with her every so often. . . only one distinct word described Keitaro's feelings for his violent and stubborn counterpart.
"I love her. . ." He mumbled, nearly inaudible. Mutsumi only nodded.
"It shows, Urashima." Mutsumi smiled warmly at him. Keitaro had to admit, Mutsumi's smile did cheer him up a bit, "Urashima, you really should stick by Narusegawa, whatever happens with her, whatever her reaction is towards you, good or bad, stick with her, and love her." Keitaro was mildly stunned to hear such wise words coming from Mutsumi. He sat there at his desk, mouth agape staring at Mutsumi. She just smiled back at him.
"Oh my. . .look at the time, I really must be going Urashima, remember what I said about Narusegawa, because if you really do love her, you'll stick by her forever, even if she doesn't realize you love her, or if she loves you back, but I have a feeling that she does." Mutsumi started heading out the door, "Oh, I almost forgot Urashima! Here is the picture Narusegawa dropped." Mutsumi handed the picture over to Keitaro and left. Keitaro just stared at the picture again. He couldn't help but get a churning feeling in his stomach looking at the picture. Keitaro couldn't help the feeling that Mutsumi was his promised girl, a lot of evidence pointed to that . . . but he loved Naru. Keitaro gripped his head and rested it on his desk. Keitaro couldn't help but wonder what was going through Naru's mind, or what her feelings for him were. There were those brief seconds where Naru showed a more sensitive side that Keitaro learned to treasure, because he knew that after those brief few seconds, Naru would be back to her usual brash and violent self. Mutsumi was always there for him, though, and she does love him, but Mutsumi just want Keitaro to be happy. Keitaro's mind was becoming even more jumbled at that moment, not being able to choose from Naru or Mutsumi. He had developed feelings for Naru, strong ones at that . . . but his promise girl was Mutsumi.
"What am I thinking!? I love Naru, okay, I LOVE NARU!" Keitaro shouted at the top of his lungs, causing all the resident girls to hear him and rush to his door. They were all about to barge in, but Kitsune blocked the door, saying they best listen in, since Keitaro did have a tendency to think aloud anyway. In all due time they'd find out what he was thinking.
"But . . . If I choose Naru, I'll be taking back my promise to Mutsumi, wouldn't I?" Keitaro sighed, thumping his head down hard onto the floor, "But how does Naru feel about me . . . other than me being a worthless baka who can't even study for his entrance exams alone. Or a lech who only wants to feel up every girl in the dorm. Or some serial rapist! Oh wait, well, she never said that about me yet. . .but she might some day if given the chance . . . Ah! Why am I thinking about this in the first place? I should listen to Mutsumi . . . She seemed fine with me loving Naru than her . . . but Mutsumi is my promised girl! GAH! I need to keep my promise . . . don't I?" Keitaro dropped his head onto the ground for one final time, making a loud thud resonate through the apartment. He knew the inhabitants were all listening in, was only typical. Hell, something would be seriously wrong if they DIDN'T listen to him think out loud. Kitsune stepped away from Keitaro's door for a second to contemplate. She knew Keitaro was quite fragile emotionally and that he'd held Naru close to his heart for quite some time, especially during the "Seta incident" when Keitaro was, perhaps, at the lowest point emotionally. Kitsune was also one of the few people to see how hurt Keitaro was when Naru had yanked her hand from his, as if he'd been rejected by her. As much as Keitaro could mask how he was really feeling, it wouldn't get by Kitsune. For once, she was truly concerned for both her friends. 'Maybe Keitaro was overreacting . . . I mean, Naru was probably embarrassed that Keitaro was holding her hand in front of all of us. She's always like that when they get lovey-dovey in public . . . something just doesn't seem right though. He shouldn't be all depressed about that, it's happened before. Could it be something that happened before Naru got hit? That's probably it . . . He had mentioned Mutsumi. . .'
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Everyone stared at Kitsune intently as she sat and thought. Even Su managed to hold still long enough to glare at Kitsune. It was like everyone was awaiting orders from her. At that exact moment, Keitaro opened his door and almost ran into everyone, since they were all piled up in the hallway directly in front of his door.
"Guys, what are you doing in front of my room?" He asked, more confused than depressed at the moment.
"Sempai we were all worried so we came to um . . . see if you were okay!" Shinobou said quickly, covering for everyone. Everyone but Motoko and Sarah silently nodded.
"I'm fine guys, don't worry about me okay?" He forced a smile and trudged off down the hall, trying to seem like he was normal, but couldn't. Rather than dragging his feet along, he made a futile attempt to actually walk, which turned out looking rather awkward, so he just chose to shuffle the rest of the way to his "contemplating spot" on the roof.
"There is defiantly something wrong with the dork." Sarah chimed in, breaking the silence pointing her thumb back at Keitaro.
"Yeah, Keitaro isn't being hisself!" Su broke from her stupor. Motoko and Kitsune remained silent and Shinobou watched Keitaro's retreating form.
"I don't get it . . . There's no reason for Keitaro to be this depressed is there?" Shinobou turned to Kitsune, who was still thinking, trying to divide up different theories and ideas in her mind.
"No, there isn't, but there's something." Kitsune said quietly, still thinking, trying to sort out what was going on inside of Keitaro's mostly absent mind. Shinobou gave Kitsune a slightly puzzled look, not understanding fully what she just said.
"Kitsune means that Urashima is overreacting about something obviously stupid" Motoko said to Shinobou.
"No no no . . . If you're thinking of the holding hand thing in the hospital, that's not it . . . this is probably something involving Mutsumi." Kitsune said, waving her hand to quite Motoko's assumption.
"Mutsumi left a while ago too, and I saw her come from Sempai's room." Shinobou sounded nervous. Usually Kitsune's brain would register it a perfect time for a witty comment, but it never came. Shinobou's "testimony" just puzzled Kitsune more. All she could assume though, was that Mutsumi was defiantly a large part of what was going on.
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'Mutsumi, or Naru, Mutsumi, or Naru . . .' Keitaro thought to himself, staring off into the sky while sitting on the roof. There was something about Mutsumi that just seemed so familiar . . . like he had known her previously . . . which just made it more possible that she was the promise girl. Naru, on the other hand, there was just something about her. Sure, he had been bewitched by her beauty when he had first come to Hinata House, but after a while, he got to know her, and she slowly opened up. Sure, at first glance she was stubborn, arrogant, violent, and naïve, but Keitaro had learned to see past those traits to the real Naru. She really was a nice girl, caring, smart, proud, sweet, cute . . . she just didn't want it to be known that she was that way, so she covered up with a violent attitude and quick judgment. Those rare few moments that Keitaro got to spend with her when she wasn't beating the crap out of him were absolute bliss. Being able to see the real Naru for even a brief second was enough to make Keitaro feel like he had known her forever, even though it was only two years since he had come to Hina. It was like he had known Naru for all his life. It hurt him to see her crying, it made him happy when she smiled . . . Keitaro knew it could only be love, absolute, utter love for the girl who repeatedly decked him for tripping accidentally, yelled at him for being stubborn, and got the harem's lynch mob assembled to beat the crap out of him. 'But what about my promise girl . . . I can't love two people at once . . . can I? No! It's not right! Naru . . . even if you're not my promise girl . . . '
Keitaro was knocked from his thoughts when a flying-kick came in contact with the back of his skull, knocking him off the roof.
"Ewe, I think I put too much power into that kick." Su said from atop the roof, looking down at Keitaro plastered to the ground.
"Oi Keitaro! What's makin' you all down? You didn't want to play today, and it's a Merry Present!" Su exclaimed again, trying to get a reaction from Keitaro. "I'm just not in the mood Su, and now thanks to you I have to recover from several broken bones." Keitaro said with a groan, getting up to his feet and dusting his pants off.
"Awww but you're immortal Keitaro! You've never broken a bone before during my experiments!" Su yelled back down, but got no response from Keitaro as he walked back into the dorm. Seeing this, Su felt like all the energy was drained right out of her. Silently she walked back to her room, brushing past Motoko and Kitsune who were talking in the hall. Quietly she shut her door. This caught Motoko's attention.
"Was Su actually WALKING to her room?" Motoko changed the subject.
"Looked like it, and come to think of it, she didn't slam her door like she usually does." Kitsune responded, looking curiously over at the door leading to Su's jungle-room, "Something is defiantly going on." She added.
"Yes, it's quite unsettling if you ask me . . ." Motoko's voice faded off.
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Naru sat and stared blankly at the bag Keitaro left on the table next to her bed. It was addressed to her from Keitaro. Inside her mind, it was a war zone. Voices telling her to tear up the bag and it's contents, burn it, smash it, anything to get rid of it, other voices telling her to open it, see what Keitaro had gotten her, and treasure it for life, and a few were even saying just leave it alone, forget that the present even existed. Naru started to reach for the bag, her hand trembling. She abruptly stopped in mid-reach for a few moments, gazing at the bag before finally snatching it up and peeking inside. There was a card among much of the paper stuffing. Naru pulled the card out and tore open the envelope. Inside was a card shaped like a small angel. She gazed at the card, once again her mind racing for no reason. With determination she opened the card and read it.
"Here's a little angel to watch over you during this special day, Merry Christmas! Naru, best of wishes for this years Christmas. I just know that we can both make Tokyo U this year! Merry Christmas Naru, I hope you like your present. –Keitaro"
Naru kept reading over it to the point where she lost count. Absentmindedly she threw the card to the side and dove into the bag, pulling out a lush red coat, much better than the one she was wearing the previous night.
"Tear it up! Burn it! Throw it away! Feed it to dogs!" A voice chimed in from somewhere.
'I . . . I don't want . . . to . . . I like it', her conscious sounded feeble
"Yes yes, it's a nice coat." A smaller voice joined it.
"Who cares, it's from that baka, burn it! He's just trying to bribe you!" The voice retaliated.
Naru's hands trembled again. She was on the verge of tearing it to shreds but instead she wound up crying into the coat, cradling it as if it were her child. She stroked the coat over and over.
"Keitaro . . . Keitaro you . . . baka . . . "she mumbled. The nurse who came in to check on Naru was both puzzled and worried for the girl when she saw Naru stroking a red coat murmuring a name.
"Ma'am are you alright?" The nurse asked in a calm, caring voice. All she got in response was a death-glare from Naru, which caused her to take a step back.
"Yes, I am quite alright, thank you for your concern. And Merry Christmas to you." Naru oddly replied in a normal, non-enraged voice, which REALLY threw the nurse off. Shakily the nurse left the room, eyeing Naru the whole time while she sat upright in the hospital bed, still murmuring Keitaro's name.
"Such a nice coat, such a nice coat." A wee voice in the back of Naru's mind spoke up.
"Yes yes! And from Keitaro. See he does care! He does he does he does!" The previous voice chimed in, sounding oddly like Su.
"No he doesn't! He's just trying to get you off guard! He wants you to be comfy around him so that he can turn around rape you before you can react!" The defiant voice yelled out.
"No no no, Keitaro is not like that. Baka yes, rapist no. He won't have the guts to do that!"
"What if does and is just acting like a spineless dweeb who can barely pass high school?"
"That's kind of hard to fake, we're talking about Keitaro here!"
"Such a nice coat . . . "
"Will you shut up, it's just a coat! It's not a sign of affection, just a gift!"
"But it's a nice coat . . . so nice and pretty . . ."
Soon Naru's head exploded in a riot. Voices erupted into her skull, all arguing over the one guy that she denied having any remote feelings for. Naru slumped back into a laying position gripping her head as if in severe pain. A few hours after the argument in her head had ended, she drifted off into a nightmarish sleep.
End Chapter
A/N:: Neh, sorry if anything seems off, really, I am sorry. It's summer and stuff and my brain is slowly turning back into a vegetable. Riko, I'd just like to take the time to say that I appreciate you taking the time to proofread my chapters . . . but please do a better job on the next ones k? Erm . . . anyways sorry for such a long delay, I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker than it took to put this one up. I've been doing other work on my other Fic so I kinda delayed on this one and was being a insert random lazy-bastad-related comment here for about a month during and after finals, so please forgive me. R&R otherwise I got nothing to work on! Help me strive to make a better fic! Oh, and about that little teaser in the ending A/N, that was a Lie, that'll be coming up in 4 or 5, I swear! It'll get darker in the later chapters, so bear with me and the weird little conversation Naru has with her head. Anyways, need to get some sleep and such, then work on some things. Sayonara!