Back again! Um, don't have much to say…
---Kouji Tamino
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Love Hina Next
Chapter 16: The Dawn of Yet Another New Year…
11: 59 P.M.
December 31st, 2025
The current residents of Hinata House, sans Rikina, all watched the clock in excitement as it counted down the final seconds of the year. "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1! Happy New Year!" The date was now January 1st, 2026.
Shinobu looked around. "Hey, where is Rikina?"
Shima rolled his eyes. "Studying alone in her room, as usual…"
Ema shrugged. "Well, that's her problem!" She scratched her head. "Hey, anyone noticed that I and a few other characters fell out of the story for a while?"
Kaolla sweat dropped. "Um, that's enough breaking of the 4th Wall for now, Ema…"
Ema giggled. "Oh, okay… Sorry!"
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Meanwhile, upstairs, Rikina was busy studying, as expected. She listened to the partying going on downstairs and frowned. "Tokimi and Yamato can party all they want… That's fine with me if they don't get into Tokyo U…" She quickly returned to her studies. "That's just fine with me…"
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"Poor Rikina…" Tokimi muttered to herself. "She's really pouring her heart and soul into this…" She looked to the stairs and sighs. "If she fails again, I don't know how she'll take it this time…"
Ami, her arm still broken, was no longer sick, and was trying to serve tea by psychic powers, but failing… "OW!!" Sarah screamed after getting tea poured into her lap. "That burns like a bitch!" Ami gasped and ran away in in embarrassment and a bit of fear.
Shima flinched. "Glad it wasn't me…" He ran over to Sarah to see what he could do to help. Unfortunately, Sarah began to wild flail her arms around. She smacked Shima in the face, then backed up into the TV…
Kimomo was happily watching the last minutes of the final episode in a mini-series about a now master-less Samurai, a ronin, searching for his long lost love. One of the characters was about reveal a huge secret about themselves. Kimomo leaned in as close as she could on her spot on the couch without falling off, totally into the show, when click!, the TV went off. As soon as Shima backed up into the TV, he had accidentally turned it off. "Um, oops?…"
"Mr. Urashima…" Kimomo growled under her breath. "Turn that goddamn TV back on, NOW…" She grabbed the handle of her sword and threatened the unfortunate young man. "… or I am afraid that I will have no control over my next few actions…"
Shima chuckled nervously. He may have been a good fighter, but he did not want to cross someone with a sword. "Yes, Miss…" He turned the TV back on and quickly got out of the samurai girl's way. Sadly, the show had ended. Shima looked to the TV. Then back to Kimomo. "Oh shit…"
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A while later, they all began to get ready to head down to the temple. Jin and Static decided to come over to the place to see how everyone was doing. Jin smiled and waved to them as he came into the building. "Hello!" He looked around curiously. "Where is everyone?"
Sarah, dressed in an odd, orange kimono with maces on them, looked to Jin. Her hair was wrapped up. "Oh, hey… Well, Yamato is tending to his wounds, and the girls are all dressing up in kimono…"
"Ah, I see…" Jin nodded. "I think I'll go check up on Shima, then…" He looked to Static. "You coming with, Brother?"
Static nodded, and suddenly got a grim look on his face. "I have heard horrible stories off this place… The former landlord, a kind man with bad luck, was brutally beaten by crazy women…"
Sarah sweated heavily, tugging on her collar. "Um, I see…"
Static quickly smiled. "Of course, those are just legends…" He looked back to Jin. "So, shall we go upstairs?" Static began walking towards the steps.
"Eh?" Jin began. "Oh, sure…" He followed his brother, but stopped and looked back to Sarah, winking. "By the way, nice kimono!"
Sarah smiled. "Thanks… Haruka had them specially made for us and sent us them 3 days ago." She watched them go upstairs, then rubbed her chin. "I wonder where Ami is?" She went off searching for the girl. "I think I want to get some more target practice in later today… Maybe she can make me some more 'targets'…"
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Once upstairs, they went into Shima's room. They looked at Shima, who was curled up in a fetal position on the ground. Jin raised an eyebrow. "Um, Shima? You okay?"
Shima suddenly sat up. "What?! What is it?!" He looked up to see his two friends. "Oh…" he said, calming down. "So, what's up?"
"Your blood pressure, apparently…" Jin joked. "So, what's wrong with you?"
"Kimomo…" Shima he managed to gasp out, shuddering. "She is freaking crazy! She almost killed me over a television show!" He rubbed his sore head.
Jin looked confused. "Kimomo? No, she's cool…" He chuckled. "You sure you just didn't do anything stupid?"
"Yes, I'm sure…" Shima muttered. "Unless getting pushed into a TV and accidentally turning it off is stupid…"
Jin got a very serious look on his face. "Of course it is…" He grinned sadistically. "I would have cut your head off if you did that when my favorite show was on…"
Static and Shima sweat dropped. Shima cleared his throat. "So, you like Kimomo or something?"
"Of course! She's just great…" Suddenly, as if on cue, Kimomo walked past the room. Jin's 'Kimomo Alert' went off and he stuck his head out into the doorway. He stared at Kimomo walking off, his eyes softening. He began to quietly sang to himself. "You are the love of my life--"
"Ooohwee!" Static shouted, standing right behind him.
Jin's eyebrow twitched, a huge vein protruding from his forehead. "That's it!" He shouted, grabbing Static by the face. "I'm going to have silence you… permanently!"
Shima sweat dropped. "Um, don't you think that's a little… harsh?" He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, sure that thing he does annoys the hell out of me, too, but…"
Jin, ignoring Shima, spun around, still having a hold on Static, and tossed his brother through the hole that leads to Tokimi's room. "FINAL DESTINATION!!" He watched as his brother soared into Tokimi's room, where the girl was still changing…
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Tokimi, who was beginning to change into a red kimono with tiny cherry tree blossom designs on them, was down to her bra and panties when Static came flying into her room. Her eyes widened at this invasion of her privacy by a man that she barely knew. Fire seemed to blaze within her eyes as her anger rose.
Static blushed as a stream of blood came out of his nose. He stood up and waved his arms in front of himself defensively. "Miss Matsuda, this isn't what it--"
He was quickly interrupted by Tokimi's scream. She quickly grabbed her nearby wooden sandal and bashed him on the head with it over and over again. "EEEEEK! You perv! Get out, get out, get out, get out!!" With every scream of 'get out', she gave him another good crack in the head with the wooden footwear. She then spun around and gave him a spinning kick to the face, knocking him out of her room, smashing her own door down in the process. She quickly grabbed her bed sheet and nailed it to the top of the doorway as a temporary privacy keeper. Finally, she yelled to him from behind the 'curtain'. "And STAY OUT!!"
Static was bend over head first, his head having slammed into a nearby wall. Completely shocked from that uncalled for act of violence, he simply sat in the uncomfortable position he was in. Soon, Jin and Shima ran to his side. "Static!" Jin yelled. "You okay? Sorry bro, got a little carried away there…"
Static, wide-eyed, looked to his brother and friend. "Good lord, the legends are true!"
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But soon, they were all ready to leave. Even Rikina decided to take a break, after some convincing from Tokimi and Shima, that is. She ran downstairs in a black and white kimono, her hair wrapped up similarly to Kaolla's in situations like this.
Shima, who decided to go in his regular winter outfit, sweat dropped. "Er, don't you think you are over doing the whole 'goth/black' thing?…"
Rikina innocently answered him, a curious look on her face. "Hm? What do you mean?" She quickly went back to her bitter self. "Now can we get this over with? The sooner I get back to my studying, the better…"
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And so, they finally arrived at the temple. Ami was wearing a pink kimono with light blue ducks on them, her hair tied up in a pony tail. She smiled and ran up to Shima. "Yamato-sama!" she yelled, twirling around to show off her outfit.
Shima smiled. "Very cute, Ami… It suits you." He suddenly got a very odd chill up his spine. 'That's funny…' Shima thought. 'I could have sworn I felt some malicious thoughts towards Ami… Nah, couldn't be…'
Ami became dizzy from all the twirling, and began to dizzily wander over towards a crowd of people. In her dizzy-ness, she accidentally set some peoples clothes on fire. After regaining her composure, she wondered why there were people on fire, running around and rolling on the ground. She walked back over to the others.
Tokimi smiled. "Oh, there you are, Ami! Hey everyone, why don't we go check our fortunes?"
Shima crossed his arms and shook his head, frowning. "Sorry, but I don't believe that luck/zodiac/horoscope hocus pocus crap… Whatever happens, happens… There's no 'explanation' as to why things happen…"
Tokimi snuggled up against Shima pouting. "Awww, come on… Please? Just this once?" She stuck her tongue out at a growling Rikina.
Shima sighed. "Alright… Just this once…" So, they all went down there, where they met up with Motoko, dressed in her usual shrine maiden outfit. "Ms. Aoyama!" Shima shouted. "Yo!"
Motoko smiled and shook her head. "No, just call me Motoko…" She looked to the others. "So, how's everyone doing?"
"We just came to draw our fortunes!" Shinobu said, smiling. She was dressed in a dark blue kimono with different gold designs on it.
Motoko nodded. "I see…" She looked to Shima. "Young man, if your luck is anything like your father's, I would suggest that you don't draw…"
Shima laughed nervously. "Nah, my dad was a jinx, I fortunately didn't inherit much of it… I only got hurt once today!"
Motoko laughed a bit. "Alright, then… I won't stop you… Go ahead."
And so, they drew their fortunes.
"We got Best Luck!" Kimomo and Nina smiled.
"I got Medium Luck." Tokimi said, a bit jealous of Kimomo.
"Me too…" Shima muttered. "But what the hell does 'Beware of Islands, or your true identity will become confused.' mean?"
"I got a little bit of luck, it says…" Rikina frowned.
Ami stared at her fortune, whimpering. Shima raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Ami?" He gently took the fortune way from her. He sweat dropped as he read it:
WORST LUCK
DEATH, DESPAIR, AND DARKNESS WILL FALL UPON THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT. CONSIDER LOCKING YOURSELF UP IN A STEEL CAGE FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.
"…Are they serious?!" Shima screamed.
Motoko sighed. "I was afraid of this…" She looked to Ami. "Ami, may I suggest tying your fortune to the branch of a tree?"
Shinobu smiled. "Oh yeah! Shima, could you go help her?"
Shima jumped suddenly. "Why me?!"
Shinobu chuckled. "Because, you seem to have stamina exceeded only by your father and Seta! You're the only one here capable of dealing with any bad karma Ami may give off!"
Shima sighed pitifully and looked down to the ground. "Alright, I'll do it… C'mon Ami, let's--" He looked up to see everyone but Ami and himself in protective suits made of a special material created by Rikina. "Argh, you all look like that breathing dude off of Star Wars!"
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Shima and Ami walked over to the nearest tree, where Shima lifted the girl onto his shoulders so he could tie the fortune onto the tree. Unfortunately, a dog walked up to Shima. It sniffed Shima's leg and barked. "Hey! Dumb dog! Get away!" The dog growled and bit Shima on the leg. "Ow! Damnit!" He accidentally dropped Ami, who fell into a nearby mud puddle. When she stood up, she was completely soaked, her kimono and the fortune ruined. She sniffled and pouted, her eyes tearing up, bottom lip trembling. Shima frowned and walked over to her. "Aw, don't cry…" He leaned down and hugged her. She hugged back and cried on his shoulder. "There there… It's gonna be okay…" When Ami held up her soaked fortune, he shook his head. "Don't believe that crap…"
Ami let go of Shima and pointed to herself. "… Freak."
Shima glared. "Is that what the kids at school call you?"
Ami nodded and looked to the ground. "Yes…"
"Well screw them! They're just jealous!" He held Ami's chin and gently pushed her face back up. "Look at me… Don't let anyone tell you that you're different… You're the same as everyone else, just a little special…" He smiled. "You have a gift, Ami… And one day, you can use it to help people…"
Ami looked into Shima's eyes. She smiled a bit, then hugged him.
"Now that's the Ami I know…" Shima chuckled. "Always smiling…" He looked to the others, who had ran down to find them, no longer in the suits. They all smiled at the scene.
End of Chapter 16.
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Er, I also don't own Star Wars…
Anyway, my arms are sore for some reason… Seeya Friday!
---Kouji Tamino