A/N: Hi again. Thanks again to anyone kind enough to review. Just a little note on this chapter in case it seems odd. I originally wrote this with the idea of it having elements of a song fic, but then I realized what bad idea that would be, and changed it to a normal story again. Plus, I have no idea how to properly pull off a decent song fic. ^-^  However, if you want to know the song that was going to be used, listen to "Last Exit To Eden" by Amanda Marshal as you read the part about Ken singing. That was the general feeling I was trying to get, but it just didn't work in the fic. So that said, on with the story and please enjoy

Love Hina: Healing Hearts

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, so please don't sue. I have no money to give to you.

Chapter Five: Spies and Fighters

"Damn it Su! Give me back my CD!" Ken chased the young girl through the house, quite literally swinging off the rafters at times. "I said give it back!"

Su darted to and fro, always staying just out of his reach. "Oh please! I just want to listen to it a little longer!"

"That's what you said two days ago! Now give it here crazy girl!" Ken lunged again trying to grab Su. Unfortunately for him things didn't go quite as planned, and he grabbed a handful of Motoko's chest instead.

"How dare you!" Motoko gave a powerful swing of her sword sending Ken flying down the hall, through the wall, and tumbling down the stairs.

Ken lay on his back with small stars flying above his head. "Owwie."

Su crouched beside Ken's head and began poking him with a stick. "Hey, you dead?"

Ken flipped himself to his feet and resumed the chase. "Give me that CD!"

"Onii-chan no baka." Hotaru muttered atop the roof deck as she watched Ken chase after Su.

Shinobu laughed as she continued to hang the laundry. "That's not very nice."

Hotaru smiled. "Maybe not, but it's funny and its true."

Shinobu laughed again. "So what CD is he trying to get back anyway?"

Hotaru shrugged and handed the older girl another piece of clothing. "Who knows. But if he's that possessive over it, it must have been a gift he got from someone on one of his trips."

"Hotaru, where does your brother go on his trips?"

Hotaru shook her head. "To be honest, I don't know. He always dropped me off somewhere when he went away."

"You mean you don't stay with your parents at all?" Shinobu questioned.

The younger girl shook her head. "My parents died when I was very little, onii-chan is the only family I've ever had or known."

Shinobu couldn't believe her ears. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Hotaru replied. "Onii-chan­ has taken really good care of us. I think our parents must have set up a trust or something, but Ken works too. He says that it helps to make sure that everything goes smoothly for us."

"But he said that he was only six-teen, how can he do all that?"

Hotaru shrugged again. "He's emaciated or something."

"You mean emancipated?" Asked Motoko as she came up the steps.

Hotaru nodded. "Yeah, that one."

Motoko nodded. "That explains a bit about him."

"But only a bit." Thought Shinobu silently. She remembered the incident from the other day at the hotel. On the way home Ken had asked her not to reveal his secret to the others, and she had honored that request, but she couldn't help wondering about it further. She jumped as a loud crash was heard from the far side of the deck and turned to see Su dashing towards her with Ken in hot pursuit.

"Help!" Cried Su. "He's possessed!"

"Just give me the CD already!" Ken called after her. "I wouldn't care that you have it, except for the fact that you were about to turn it into a component for one of those mutant turtle things you have running around everywhere."

As Su came running past her, Hotaru dropped to the ground and sweep kicked Su's legs leaving her lying on her back. "Ow. Ok! I give up!" She pouted and handed Ken the CD.

"Thank you." He turned and headed down the stairs.

The three remaining girls looked at Hotaru in awe.

Motoko spoke first. "Where did you learn a move like that?"

Hotaru finished putting up the last of the laundry on the line. "From my brother."

Motoko turned to watch Ken's fading form. "Hotaru, who taught your brother?"

The younger girl shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I have to find out more about that boy." Motoko whispered to herself.

Su popped up in front of Motoko just inches from the older girl's face. "I can help you with that!"

Motoko screamed and fell backwards as Su surprised her. "I have a bad feeling about this…but alright. How can you help?"

Su grinned. "I've been saving these for a special occasion to unveil, but this will work just as well." She turned to Shinobu and Hotaru. "Are you guys going to come too?"

"You're going to go spy on my brother?" Hotaru asked.

Shinobu shook her head. "I don't think we should do that, he might get upset."

"Oh, come on Shinobu!" Su giggled. "It'll be fun."

Hotaru nodded. "Well, I'm in."

Su smiled again. "Here put these on." She tossed everyone a jumpsuit and jumped into her own quickly. "These are my new and improved stealth suits version three point zero. With these we can follow Ken anywhere and he won't know the difference!" She cheered happily.

Hotaru quickly donned her own suit. "Cool! It's like a super secret spy movie! Come on! Let's go!"

Motoko looked over the suit. "I detest this kind of action, but…" She changed into the suit.

Shinobu felt her palms become sweaty as the other three girls stared at her intently. "Auuuuuu!"

***

The four stealth suited tenants crept up behind Ken. He had set up a make shift garage for his motorcycle in an old shed near the back of the complex grounds. Ken sat on ground with a handful of tools scattered around him as he adjusted the various valves, gears, and other mechanisms within the engine block. A small radio was nearby as well playing softly.

"So what are we looking for anyway?" Whispered Hotaru into her suit's small microphone.

"I'm not sure." Replied Shinobu. "Motoko?"

Ken turned and looked around. "Is someone there?" He shrugged and went back to his work.

Su bopped Shinobu over the head. "Use you microphone or you'll blow our cover!"

Shinobu nodded as she rubbed her head. "Hai, gomen nasai."

Motoko watched in silence. "I had thought that if he was indeed a martial artist he would be training back here, but he's simply playing with that bike." She thought disappointedly. She was about to suggest that they leave him to his own devices when she heard him singing again. She remembered that he had been singing during there duel, maybe this would give her some insight to his fighting style.

Ken reached back and changed his tools. His voice was soft and in time with the music that came from his radio. He heard something rustle, and turned off his radio. He looked back again, but there was nothing there. "I think hanging around Keitaro for the past two days has made his paranoia rub off on me." He resumed his singing and reached for the spare bolts next to his bike.

Shinobu leaned over to Hotaru. "What is he singing?"

The other girl shook her head. "I have no idea, I didn't even know that onii-chan could sing like that."

An upset look crossed Su's face. "It sounds so sad though."

Motoko nodded in agreement.

Shinobu remembered the conversation that she and Ken had had on the roof the night of his arrival. "I wonder…"

Ken turned suddenly. "Ok! I know I'm not imagining things now! If someone is here, come out already! And Su, if I find one of your flying turtle cameras I'm going to make you eat every single circuit!"

Hotaru suddenly looked nervous. "Kuso! We're busted. We need to leave, like, now." She grabbed Shinobu's hand and started to tug her in the opposite direction of Ken.

Motoko followed behind. "What's the matter?"

"If he finds us here we are dead." Hotaru explained. "He hates when people spy on him." She looked around. "Where's Su?!"

They looked back to see Su crouched next to Ken and the bike.

Hotaru's face turned even paler than even she had thought possible. "Run…" Too late.

Su reached out to inspect the gears of the engine, and in turn knocked the system out of alignment. This caused oil that had been within the engine to suddenly spurt out striking Ken in the face.

"What the hell?" Ken gasped. He put up his hand to block the gusher.

Su gasped as the oil hit the control module for all the suits invisibility settings. In seconds the girls were visible again, and Ken saw them.

Ken stood slowly, his right temple was enlarged and throbbing. He looked them over one by one.

Su laughed nervously.

Shinobu looked at the ground guiltily.

Motoko held her breath.

Hotaru stood wide-eyed.

Ken turned and walked away slowly. "Please excuse me."

The girls watched as he moved away. Once he was out of sight, they heard a large crash. They chose to wait to investigate the sound and made a hasty retreat back to the main building.

***

"I don't trust him Keitaro." Naru stated she and her fiancé studied for their upcoming mid-term exams.

"Give him a break Naru." He replied. "I'm sure that he has his reasons."

Naru glared at him. "What possible reason could he have to scare the others like that?"

Keitaro shrugged. "Don't forget he scared Hotaru too, and he cares about her more than anything."

Naru frowned and went back to her studying. At last she looked up at Keitaro again. "I'm worried about Shinobu."

"What? Why?" Keitaro asked.

"Come on, you mean to tell me you haven't noticed how her behavior has changed since Ken arrived?" Naru sighed.

Keitaro finally looked up from his textbook, and gave her a sly smile. "You mean like the way you changed after I had been here a while?"

Naru blushed deeply. "Baka! What are you talking about?"

Keitaro leaned back and smiled. "Shinobu isn't the same scared little girl that we all met back then, maybe she's having her first crush."

Naru stared at him. "How is it you can be so dense and so insightful at the same time."

"Huh? What do you mean 'dense'?" he demanded.

Naru shook her head. "Never mind, but what about Ken? I don't want to see Shinobu get hurt because he does something stupid. I mean, did you see how upset she was after that thing by the back shed?"

Keitaro nodded. "But from what Hotaru told me, things could have been worse."

"And that's supposed to be comforting?" Naru growled.

"Look, I don't like the fact that he ran off again, but I like that better than him taking out his anger on the girls." Keitaro admitted, but he saw that Naru was still unsettled on the situation. "If it will make you feel better, I'll talk to him when he gets back."

"If he comes back." Naru amended.

Keitaro smiled. "Oh, he'll be back."

***

Shinobu felt like a complete and total loser. Not only had she gone along with the others to spy on Ken, but she had been caught too! When Ken hadn't shown up for lunch she had gone back to the shed with a tray, and the hope that she could apologize as well. All she had found however was some tools strewn about the yard and fresh tire tracks. When he hadn't returned by dinner, she couldn't help but think that he might not come back, and that upset her.

With dinner concluded Shinobu retired to her room and flopped down on to her futon. She removed her sketchbook from its spot on the shelf along with her pencils and started to work. Her hand was steady and with deft movements the picture began to quickly take shape. She looked down at her work and sighed. The first shot was of Ken working on his motorcycle, and next to it was one of Ken looking very angry. Shinobu stared at the two drawings, that was when she noticed his eyes. They were upset, but not angry, at least not with her and the others. "So who then?" she whispered.

She placed the pad on to the shelf and rolled onto her back. The clock beside her read ten fifty-seven, much later than Shinobu had thought. It wasn't uncommon for her to lose track of time when she drew, but she never lost that much time before. On top of that, she wasn't tired. She could just lie there until sleep took her, but she felt it might be a very long time until that happened. She rose from her futon and opened her window. She smiled. "The sky is clear tonight. Maybe I'll just watch the stars for a while." Something caught her eye on the roof across the way. The door to her room was left open as Shinobu ran for the stairs. In moments she was climbing to the top of the roof. "Ken?"

The young man didn't turn to her. His face was hidden in the shadow on the evening. "Hey there Shinobu."

Shinobu ran over to him. "Where have you been? We've been worried about you."

Ken remained facing away from her. "Sorry. Come on, sit down." He waited until she was seated before he continued. "Sorry about before too."

Shinobu shook her head. "Please don't. I should be the one to apologize to you."

"Nah, I acted like jerk losing my temper before." Ken sighed. "It's a bad habit of mine unfortunately."

"That was losing your temper?" Shinobu was surprised by this given how restrained he seemed. "Maybe you should give Motoko some tips on losing tempers, I'm sure Sempai would prefer your way to Motoko's. Anyway, I'm sorry that we were spying on you."

Ken laughed and smiled at the joke. "I'll see what I can do. Hey, can I ask you something?"

Shinobu nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Why were you guys spying anyway?" A slight flush came across Ken's face. "And how long were you guys there?"

"That's two questions. Which one would you like answered?" Shinobu teased.

Ken stared at her, then smiled. "I only get one? Alright, the first one then."

"Motoko was curious about you." Shinobu replied.

"And let me guess, Su wanted to test her newest invention?" Ken asked.

Shinobu nodded. "Yeah, and I think Hotaru just wanted to play. And I…I guess I was a little curious too." She paused a moment. "We were there long enough to hear you singing."

Ken sighed. "You heard me singing huh? Oh well."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

Ken lay back on the roof and stared out into space. "I guess not, just kind of embarrassing."

Shinobu looked back at him. "Why is it embarrassing?"

"No one has ever heard me sing before." He replied. "It just feels weird having other people listen I guess."

"I see. What were you singing anyway?" She asked quietly.

Ken shook his head. "Just some ramblings I put to music one night."

Shinobu stared at him in shock. "You wrote that? Wow, that's amazing."

Ken turned slightly. "Th-thanks." He pulled back quickly as he realized that the light was on him.

"What happened to you?" Shinobu practically demanded. She moved closer to Ken and pulled him in to the light. His lip was split and he had matching bruises on each cheek. "Who did this?"

Ken jerked away from her grip. "It's nothing. I just had to go blow off some steam before."

Shinobu pulled him forward again. "I don't understand."

Ken sighed and allowed Shinobu to look at his bruises. "I said I lost my temper before, you guys just didn't see the full force of it. After you guys left I headed to this place over in Tokyo. Once you pay your entrance fee to get in they don't let you out again until there's only one guy left standing. It's the only safe way I know to cool down when I get that steamed. I just got a little careless is all."

Shinobu felt a few tears well up in her eyes and roll down her cheeks as she realized that he was hurt again because of her. "I'm sorry, I won't upset you further, but please don't go back to a place like that again." She rose and tried to leave, but Ken was holding her hand, keeping her in place.

He reached out and gently brushed the tears from her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you by telling you that. You're not to blame for this, I chose to do this to myself."

"But…"

"No. You're too good a person to feel bad over someone like me, so don't." His voice was gentle, but firm at the same time. The wind kicked up about them and Ken saw Shinobu shiver. "You should head back in before you get sick."

Shinobu nearly took his advice, but another part of her wanted to stay with Ken for as long as possible. She remembered something she had seen Naru do on occasions similar to this one, but could she make use of it?

"Maybe in a little while, it's still so pretty out here. Do you think, maybe you could help me stay warm until then?" She felt her face turn hot and she knew that she was blushing fiercely, but hoped that the dim light would hid that fact from Ken.

Ken blinked in surprise for a minute. "Um, yeah, sure, I guess." He scooted a bit closer to her. "Kuso!" He thought silently. "What do I do now?"

"Auu! What do I do now?" Shinobu thought nervously. She tried to remember what it was she had seen Naru and Keitaro doing, but was so nervous that her mind was a blank. She relaxed as she saw that Ken seemed just as nervous as she was. At last she decided to make a move, and leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. She smiled as he placed his arm around her shoulder. The wind blew past her again, but she didn't even feel it.

Ken smiled despite the pain it caused from his bruises. Together, he and Shinobu watched the stars.

A/N: Good? Bad? Other? Drop me a line on what you think. 'Till the next, live well everyone.