Yo, here I am again. Once again, I have nothing to say except: YES. Summertime weather is back again. Yay… And oh, did I tell you about the broken window already? If not, some punks threw a rock through our living room window for no reason a few weeks ago. We had to put cardboard and duct tape on the window, so we looked like 'Ghetto House'. Anyway, we got it fixed… But eh, what am I bothering you about it for… You don't wanna read about my problems, you want to read about other peoples problems… Mainly the characters in here… And that you shall…

--- Kouji Tamino (Windows!!!)

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"Today is the day… The Center Exam." Rikina sighed. "The first step in… the rest of my life…" She glared. "I swear, if I don't make it in this time, I'm quitting! That's it! No Tokyo University for me!" She suddenly took out a long, gleaming knife, lifted up her shirt, and aimed for her stomach. "If I fail again, I shall commit seppuku as punishment!"

Shima quickly grabbed the knife from her. Rikina, Shima, and Tokimi were in goth girl's room, having another study session before the Center Exam. "Rikina, I really don't think that is necessary! Calm down!"

Tokimi sighed, then smiled at her friend. "Rikina, you've worked the hardest out of all of us… If anyone can get in, you can…" She looked to the lone boy in the room. "Right, Shima?"

Shima nodded, looking to Tokimi. "Right!" Tokimi stretched out a bit and took a deep breath. Shima could see her breasts rising a bit. He blushed a bit, then regained his composure and cracked a smile. "Hey Tokimi, I think your tits are getting bigger…" He was soon hit in the face with the nearest item Tokimi could get her hands on, which just happened to be Rikina's patented 'Male Face Muzzle Punisher'.

Tokimi watched in satisfaction as Shima writhed in pain on the ground as the muzzle continued to clamp onto his face the more he struggled. "That's what you get, you pervert! Sometimes I wonder why I even like you!"

Rikina calmed down and giggled a bit. "Actually, I think he was complimenting you…" She swung a key chain, which just happened to be the controls for the muzzle, on her finger. "Tell me when I should let him go… Don't wanna permanently ruin that cute face of his…"

Tokimi huffed angrily. "But still, he had no reason to say something so vulgar! We've barely known him for even half a year, yet he says things as if I were his girlfriend!" She crossed her arms. "He is really starting to piss me off…"

Rikina sighed. "I know what you mean… It's kind of pointless to crush on someone who only sees you as a friend… I think we should just forget about him…"

Tokimi growled. "Yeah, maybe you're right…" Meanwhile, Shima was still screaming in the background, busy with the muzzle.

Rikina raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what's with you?…"

Tokimi twitched. "I'm still a little peeved at that breast comment…"

Rikina chuckled evilly. "Poor little Tokimi wants breasts like these!" She tauntingly squeezed her own much larger breasts. "Oh well, you're young… You just need some time to grow…"

"Damn you!" Tokimi screamed, tossing a pillow at the other girl. It hit Rikina right in the face. However, she did not retaliate. Instead, she sadly looked to the ground. Tokimi frowned. "Rikina, what's wrong? I didn't throw the pillow too hard, did I?…"

"No, it's not that…" She muttered, whimpering slightly. "But… what if I fail again? I… I don't know what I would do…"

Rikina was suddenly 'Super-Glomped' from behind by Nina. "Calm down, gothy girl! It's just a test!" She giggled a bit as Rikina gasped for air.

Tokimi sweat dropped as Rikina turned purple and Shima ran into the wall.

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Love Hina Next

Chapter 17: Run! Center Test! Again!

Ami, who had been listening to this interesting exchange outside of the room, whimpered and stared at her flat chest. She squeezed her little 'bumps', then glared at the older girls through the door in jealously. She huffed and walked away. "Boobies…"

Meanwhile, Rikina was getting the muzzle off of Shima. He rubbed his aching face, then looked to the girls. "…I heard the whole thing…" The girls gasped, then flinched. "Does it really bother you that much that I don't like you two the way you like me?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Look, to tell the truth, I do like you both a little… You're great girls…" He smirked, staring at their shapely bodies… "…and you've got some nice bodies, too…" He chuckled as he was bashed in the head with a metal bar. "Ow!" He rubbed his head. "But seriously, I like you both a lot… But I can't choose right now, plus I don't want to end up hurting the other girl's feelings…" He smiled. "And like you said, we've all just met less than a year ago… Give it some time… I promise that I will choose one of you by the time the one year anniversary of when I arrived passes, okay?"

The two girls stared at him in wonder, reminded of why they liked him. While he was no Seta or even Keitaro, he had his own certain style of charm to him, in that perverted lunk-head type way…They both smiled at him. "Okay!" So things calmed down, and they went back to studying.

They studied for most of the day before stopping around dinner time. They rested their brains for Round 1, which was tomorrow. Shinobu smiled as she watched the residents scarf down the food as if they hadn't eaten all day. Sarah looked up. "Hey Shinobu, dinner is great today! Especially the rice!"

Shinobu giggled mischievously. "Well thank you, Sarah… But the rice wasn't cooked by me…" She smiled widely, her hands in her lap.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "…Who made it, then?" Everyone suddenly stopped eating, except for a certain young girl, who resisted giggling.

Shinobu put a hand over her mouth, resisting the urge to laugh out loud. "Our dear Ami did. I'm quite proud of her, actually."

Everyone else's eyes widened. They blinked several times before breaking out into applause. Ami blushed as she was praised with shouts of 'Good job, Ami!' 'Congratulations!' 'This is really great!' She sunk into her seat and hid under the table.

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Nighttime at Hinata House. A storm makes it's way toward the now peaceful building. Rain begins as tiny lightly pelting the roof, the residents unable to hear it. The amount of rain quickly grows, soon it is pounding on the roof like millions of drumsticks on a gigantic drum. It is soon accompanied by rolls of thunder, as if it was a bass drum supporting the giant drum the roof had become. Lightning flashed like a lightshow, and soon Hinata House was being treated to a show by the weather. But one resident did not like the show at all. In fact, she was downright frightened. That person was Nina.

Nina was awoken by the sounds of thunder. 'Mama…' Nina thought to herself as she sat up in bed, her knees curled up to her face. 'She died on a night like this…' She suddenly heard a booming clap of thunder and shrieked, running all the way to Sarah's room. She ran over to Sarah and shook her awake. "Sarah! Sarah!"

Sarah awoke, pissed that her sleep was being disturbed. She was in a light green nightgown. "What the hell do you want, Nina?" She could barely open her eyes, but she heard Nina's voice and could recognize her form, even in this darkness.

"Sarah, the boom storm scared me…" She looked to the sides, trying to muster up the courage to ask her request.

Sarah, wanting to get back to sleep soon, shouted a bit. "Well? What is it?!" It wasn't very loud, as to not wake up anyone else, but it shook Nina up a bit.

Nina finally spoke up. "Can I sleep with you? Please?"

Sarah glared, now a bit more awake. "What the hell? What are you, 16 or 6?" She sat up. "Grow up! It's just a little storm, you big baby! You're too old for this crap now… Go back to bed…"

Nina got a very hurt look on her face. She whimpered, stood up, then walked back to her room.

Sarah sighed and lay down, trying to get back to sleep. However, Nina forgot to close both Sarah's and Nina's doors, so she could her Nina's sad cries of 'Mama…' each time the thunder was heard and light from the lightning flashed in the window. Sarah cursed to herself. "Damnit…" She got up and headed over to Nina's room.

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"Mama… Miss you…" Nina whimpered, tears running down her face. She saw Sarah walk into the doorway and she gasped, thinking Sarah was angry at her for crying. "I… I'm sorry, Sarah… I… I'll be a big girl now. I'll stop crying…" She curled up under her blanket.

Sarah's face softened and she slightly smiled. "Just shut up and make some room for me," she said sarcastically. Nina smiled and scooted over a bit. Sarah laid down beside the girl and wiped her tears. "Dry your eyes, Nina…" She smiled again. "But sometimes, it's okay to cry…" Her eyes widened a bit as Nina hugged her. She shook her head and snuggled up closer to the girl, hugging her back. After a while, they both fell asleep, their warmth comforting the other.

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The next morning…

"Oh my god, we are going to be late if we don't hurry!" Rikina ran down the stairs, almost tripping as she also tried to change into her clothes. Tokimi and Shima quickly followed. "How could you over sleep?! You both promised to wake me up since I'm working on repairing my alarm!"

"Well you're also fixing my alarm that was damaged in that fight that you had with your sister!" She finished putting on her shirt, then worked on her shoes as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"…I don't need an alarm…" Shima muttered, putting on his reading glasses. "Urashima intuition…"

Rikina frowned. "Well your 'intuition' did crap for us this morning! If we miss the test, I am going to kill you!"

Shima growled. "Why are you acting like it's my fault?!" Shima shouted, jumping the rest of the steps.

Rikina ran up to him and stuck her face into his. "Because it is your fault, god damnit!"

Tokimi sighed. "As nice as it is to see you two fighting again, can we go now?"

Rikina and Shima looked at their watches. "Right!" They ran toward the door.

Shinobu frowned. "Wait! Don't--"

"Not enough time, Shinobu!" Shima yelled. "We'll grab something to eat on our way back!" He quickly opened the door.

"That's not what I meant!" Shinobu yelled.

As soon as Shima opened the door, he ran smack into a wall of snow. "…What the hell?!"

Shinobu sighed. "… The temperature was a record low late last night… The rain turned to snow and we're snowed in…"

"I will not except that!" Rikina screamed. "We have gone too far for it to end like this!" She suddenly pulled a strange contraption from seemingly out of nowhere. "Super Thaw! Do your stuff!"

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As they arrived at the testing area, Tokimi looked around, confused. "Anyone else finding it odd that Hinata House was the only place snowed in?"

"Hmmm…" Shima rubbed his chin in thought. "The snow plow trucks must have gotten to these places in time…"

"Not enough to think about that!" Rikina screamed, literally dragging them into the building. "We have a Center Examination to take, now!!"

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A little while later, they came back home. "Yo!" Shima yelled. "We're back!"

Shinobu greeted them, smiling. She clasped her hands together. "Oh, good! How did you all do?"

Tokimi shrugged. "Dunno… We haven't scored ourselves yet," she said with a smile. "We will soon… I'm pretty sure we all did well!"

Rikina silently made her way up to her room. Tokimi watched as she walked up the stairs. She frowned and followed her. Shima sighed. "Shinobu, please excuse us…" Shinobu nodded, understanding the situation. She watched as they all went upstairs.

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Rikina ran into her room, closed the door, and curled up into a corner. "Rikina?" A voice from behind her door said. It was Tokimi. "May we come in?"

Rikina glared at the door. "No!"

"Rikina…" Shima sighed. "You haven't even scored yourself yet…"

"And why should I?!" Rikina screamed. "It's just going to be the same thing again! In all my attempts to get into Tokyo University, I've never made it past the Center Examination! I'm just an idiot! I may have my sisters skills at machines, but I'm an idiot at heart!"

Tokimi clenched her fist. "Rikina, we are coming in whether you like it or not!"

Shima shrugged. "Eh, why not? People have been going into people's rooms without asking since I got here…"

So they came into Rikina's room. Rikina glared at them. "Get out!"

Shima suddenly grabbed her wrist. She gasped. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pencil, and shoved it into her hand. "You are going to check that exam…" Rikina nodded.

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"Hey, what's the deal?!" Shima said jokingly. "You did better on this thing than I did!"

Rikina looked over to Shima. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah! Your hard studying finally paid off."

Rikina looked over to Tokimi. "I bet Ms. Perfect got a great score…"

"Yep!" Tokimi shouted, smiling. "Hee hee!" She smiled at Rikina. "Good job… Now, let's see how we do tomorrow…."

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The end of the second day of the Center Exam…

Shima yawned and smirked. "Well, I'm pretty confident that we aced it…" He took off his glasses and looked at them a bit. He cleaned them a bit and put them away.

Rikina nodded, but slightly glared at him. "Yes, but do not get over confident… Even if we make the cut-off, we still have the actual exam in a month…"

Tokimi looked to them both. "Yes, but I have a good feeling… I'm sure we'll make it in…" She walked in between them and put her arms around them. "Don't give up! Let's fight, fight, fight!"

Shima's eyes suddenly glazed over. "Fiiiight…"

Rikina raised an eyebrow and waved a hand in front of his face. "Um, Shima?…"

"Eh?" Shima muttered, snapping out of it.

Tokimi stared at him. "… Weirdo…"

Shima shook his head. "No, I'm not a weirdo… Rikina this morning, that was weird…"

Rikina broke up the little friendship chain and cracked her knuckles. "Oh, really now…"

Shima backs up. "Now, Rikina… I didn't mean it! Tokimi, save me!"

Tokimi giggled. "No, I think I want to watch…"

Shima runs off, Rikina chasing him. Tokimi watches in amusement. She smiles. Yes, this setting would do just fine. All three of them, best friends trying to get into Tokyo University. Yes, that would do… For now, that is…

End of Chapter 17

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Annnd that's it for today… It's done! It's a little late, but the chapter is done! Now I can rest… Yay… See you all on Monday!