Heyo! I made it! So yeah… Anyway, I was originally going to be at this program from late June to late July, but now I'm not, which means I have more time to focus on my story! So yeah, hopefully I can improve on this thing more…

---Kouji Tamino

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Love Hina Next

Chapter 22: Falling into Place…

A few days had passed since that game of Truth or Dare… Ever since then, Tokimi has been intentionally ignoring Shima. As they passed each other in the hall, Tokimi looked at the ground, Shima looking at her sadly. "Aw, Tokimi…" he muttered to himself.

And so, this continued until the day before the first day of the Entrance Exams. Tokimi walked downstairs, bumping into Ema. "Oh, sorry Ema!"

Ema chuckled nervously. "That's okay… I almost fell down the stairs, though…" She looked down the stairs with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh!" Tokimi said, putting a hand to her mouth. "In that case, I am very sorry, Ema!" She ran down the stairs and bowed to the woman. "I will try to be more careful…"

Ema nodded. "Make sure that you do…" She sighed. "This whole house is a bit of a hazard… Both the building and the people in it!" She smiled. "But I wouldn't have it any other way!" She looked around to see that Tokimi was already gone… She huffed, a bit upset. "How rude!"

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Meanwhile, outside, it began to snow again. Shima, up on the balcony, looked up at the sky. "Well, what should I do now?" He looked down to see Meiruuna sitting on the balcony. He gasped, then glared at the girl. "What are you doing here?"

Meiruuna smiled. "I just came here to check up on my sister…" She pouted in a playful manner. "I hope I wasn't too rough on her the other day… But you see, I must protect myself and my sister…"

Shima frowned. "What do you mean? We all care about Ami!"

Meiruuna glared. "Yes, but how much? There is no way in hell that you could ever care for her in the way that I do!" She clenched her fist, red energy surrounding her. "I am the only one who can protect her if something happens!! What if people that aren't as 'understanding' as you discover her or me? I'll tell you what! They'll treat us like shit, maybe even try to kill us!"

Shima pointed at her angrily. "Well I won't let that happen, damn it!"

Meiruuna calmed a bit, the red aura disappearing. "Think what you will…" She stood on the railing of the balcony, facing Shima. She smiled cruelly. "But I am the only one that can truly protect her, and I will take her away from here!"

"Like hell you will!" Shima screamed. He watched as Meiruuna leaned back, falling off of the railing. "Wait!" He yelled, running towards her. Too late, when he reached the railing and looked down, she was somehow gone. "Damn…" he scratched his head. "She's creepy…" He sighed and began to walk back inside.

"She is, isn't she?…" a voice said over from Shima's right. "What?…" He looked over to see Kimono, who was slicing snow flakes in two. He sweat dropped. 'She sure is something…' He raised an eyebrow. "Kimomo, how long have you been there?"

Kimomo smirked. "Long enough to know that things are going to get very interesting around here, soon…" She sheathed her sword and walked up next to Shima. "… wouldn't you say so, Yamato?…"

Shima shook his head, smiling. "Despite the fact that we could be doomed at any moment, you manage to find the good in all this…"

Kimomo smiled. "Yamato, don't you, Tokimi, and Rikina have that exam tomorrow?"

Shima nodded. "Yeah, that's why I want to make things up with Tokimi as soon as possible… He frowned. "I'm worried that we won't be at our full potential with everything that's happened lately…"

Kimomo nodded. "Yes, but you shouldn't have lied to her like that…" She glared, slowly unsheathing her sword. "In fact, I have half a mind to cut off your tongue, so you can never lie to anyone ever again…"

Shima gulped nervously. "Um, I really don't think that is necessary…"

Kimomo quickly changed her expression, smiling and sheathing her sword. "Of course, I have a whole mind, and I know that doing such a thing would land me in jail, and I don't think that my mother would like that very much…" She frowned. "Even if she doesn't believe that I'm her daughter…"

Shima sighed in relief. "Whew…"

Kimomo smiled again. "Oh well, see you later, Yamato! And good luck in making out-- er, up with Tokimi!" Kimomo quickly ran off, almost plowing into Shinobu, who was carrying a plate of cookies.

Shinobu blinked, a bit surprised, but then walked over to Shima. "Yamato, would you like a cookie?" She held the plate up to him.

Shima looked to Shinobu. "Yeah… Thanks, Shinobu…" He reached for a cookie, but Shinobu yanked it away from him. "Hey, what's the deal?!"

Shinobu giggled. "No cookie for you until you fix things…"

Shima sighed. "Fine, what do you need fixed? Cuz I am NOT going on that roof today! It's snowing again, and--"

Shinobu laughed harder. "No, silly… I mean, I want you to fix things up with Tokimi!"

Shima growled. "Argh, is everyone against me today?! I'll apologize when I am good and ready!" He looked around, hands in his pockets, whistling. "Which just happens to be right now!" He quickly ran up the stairs. He was about to knock on the door, before sighing. "I can't do it… That look she gave me that day… It was too much…" He turned around and punched the wall behind him. "Damn it! Why is it so hard for me to just be honest about some things?!"

"For crying out loud!" Rikina yelled, walking up to him. "Will you be quiet? I can't concentrate with all that noise you are making!" She sighed. "Look, I'm only doing this because you are both my friends, but come on!" She yanked Shima over to her room, which was across the all and a few doors away from Tokimi's.

"Hey wai--" he couldn't even get a sentence in before Rikina closed the door.

The woman stared at Shima. "Okay, you obviously need more practice in apologizing to girls, so I'll help you…" She sighed. "Okay, now pretend that I'm Tokimi…"

Shima rubbed the back of his head. "Um…"

"What?" Rikina growled. "What's wrong?…"

Shima chuckled. "Sorry, but I kind of find that hard…"

Rikina's eyebrow twitched, steam coming out of her ears. "Fine… I'll make it easier for you…" She took out a changing curtain, walked behind it, and began changing. After a few minutes, she finished. When the changing curtain was removed, Tokimi was standing in her place. She winked. "Ta-da!"

Shima's eyes widened. "Whoa! How did you do that?"

Rikina, disguised as Tokimi, smiled. "Kanako-sama was a master of disguise… She taught me a few things…"

Shima nodded. "That's really good…" He walked up and poked her slightly smaller bust. "...But how did you do that?" bonk!

"Pig…" Rikina raised her fist up after socking Shima in the head. "It's none of your business…" She sighed, annoyed. "Now are we going to do this or not?"

Shima rubbed his head. "Alright, fine…"

Rikina nodded. She cleared her throat and glared at Shima. "What do you want, Shima?" she said, in a perfect impression of Tokimi.

'Whoa, that was good…' Shima thought to himself. He looked to Rikina, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Look, Tokimi… I… I um…" He began stuttering, and he looked away a bit. "Uh…"

Rikina growled, then ripped her mask off. "Oh, forget it! You are so pathetic!" She growled, stomping off, not caring that she still had the rest of the disguise on.

Shima sighed, walking out of the room, closing the door as he left. "… What am I going to do?"

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The next day, 'The Day of Reckoning, as Rikina called it, had arrived. In the lounge, Ami, Shinobu, Nina, and Sarah held up signs and banners. 'GOOD LUCK!' 'WE BELIEVE IN YOU!' 'PASS THIS EXAM, OR I'LL KICK ALL OF YOUR ASSES!'

The three 'neo-ronins' sweat dropped. Shima smiled nervously. "Um, we'll do our best!" He looked to the other girls. "Right?" He sweat dropped again as Tokimi looked away from him and Rikina didn't really seem to care. She was too busy getting in some last minute studying in.

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And so, they arrived at the exam area. As Rikina walked into the building, Shima thought to himself. 'Alright, it's now or never!' He took a deep breath and grabbed Tokimi's arm. Tokimi glared. "What are you doing?! We're going to be late!"

Shima frowned. "Tokimi, please hear me out, now! Otherwise, I don't think that I'll be able to tell you this again…"

Tokimi growled. "Fine… But make it quick!" She gasped as Shima gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Tokimi, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have lied to you like that… I don't know who this 'mystery boy' is, but it wasn't me…'" Shima sighed, letting go of her arm. "There, I said it… Hey, that wasn't so hard!" His eyes widened as Tokimi gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Thank you… I forgive you, Shima… I was overreacting, anyway…" She smiled. "Now come on! Let's not be late!" She grabbed Shima's hand and dragged him into the building. They're fate would soon be revealed…

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Later that day, they arrived back at Hinata House. "Hey everyone, we're back!" Shima yelled. "And Tokimi isn't mad at me anymore!"

"Wonderful!" Shinobu squealed, holding out the plate of cookies. "You may now have a cookie…" She smiled as they all took a cookie and ate them. "So, how do you think you all did on it?"

Shima smirked. "Um, I feel confident when I say that we kicked it's ass!"

Rikina smiled a bit. "Yes, even I feel like I did a good job…"

Tokimi nodded. "We still have tomorrow, though…"

Ami smiled. "I… I know you all can do it…"

Rikina smiled, ruffling Ami's hair a bit. "Thanks, Ami…"

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And so, at the second day of the entrance exams…

Rikina began sweating heavily. "Ugh, why do I feel this way? I had no trouble with the quiz yesterday!" She held her pencil tight, so tightly that it snapped in two. "Damn it!!"

The man in charge walked up to Rikina's desk. He glared at her. "Miss, I will have to ask you to please not talk out loud like that… You are disturbing the test takers…"

Rikina whimpered pathetically. "B-but… Sir, my pencil--"

"I'm sorry, but you must be quiet!" the man walked away from her desk.

Rikina stared at her test sheet. Less than a fifth of the questions had been answered and the test time was half over with. She bit her lip, holding back tears. 'Maybe… Maybe I just wasn't meant for Tokyo U…'

"Yo! Rikina!" Rikina looked behind her seat to see Shima a few desks away, standing up. He tossed her a pencil, which she caught. "You can't just give up like that! You're so close!"

The man tapped Shima on the shoulder. "Young man, I must--"

Shima glared at the man. "Quiet, you up-tight old fart! I'm trying to inspire someone here!"

The man gasped in shock. "Why, I never--" he walked away.

Shima looked back to Rikina. "Listen, just do your best!" He gave a big smile. "No one will think less of you, even if you fail again…"

Rikina smiled back, tears running down her eyes. "Thank you, Shima…" She looked back to her test sheet and went right back to work. 'I can do this…'

Tokimi, who was sitting next to Shima, smiled.

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After the test, the girls got up and walked ahead of Shima. Shima waved over to them. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

Tokimi and Rikina looked back. Tokimi yelled back to him. "Um, I gotta, uh, go!" She blushed, not knowing how to appropriately tell him that she had to go pee.

"And I've got to reapply my make-up!" Rikina chimed in. "That crying messed it up!"

Shima smirked as he got a good look at her face. "Hey, you've got those cute little marks on your face like your sister, too?!" He laughed.

Rikina blushed. "Grr, none of your business!" She quickly covered her face, not wanting anyone else to see the pink 'eternal blush' marks on her cheeks. "God, I hate these things…" She followed Tokimi out of the room.

Shima laughed, walking out of the room himself after a moment.

Suddenly, someone walked up behind Shima and bashed him in the back of the head with a baseball bat. Shima instantly fell to the ground, knocked out. The person who hit him smirked, then dragged his body away.

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A few minutes later, Tokimi and Rikina walked back into the room where they took the test. They found a note, Rikina picking it up. She read it. "Funny, this note is from Shima… He said to go home ahead of him, he'll catch up soon…" She shrugged. "Alright, let's go…"

Tokimi nodded, a bit unsure. "If you say so…" The girls walked out of the room, back to Hinata House.

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Meanwhile, in a dark, damp room, Shima awoke, tied up to a chair. He looked around, seeing about 5 big, burly guys standing in front of him. He smiled. "Hey guys, if you wanted to fight me, you could have just asked!"

"Oh, we're not here to fight you…" a familiar voice said. A man stepped out of the shadows. It was Amuro, except he looked a bit different. "So, Shima! What do you think of my little face lift?"

Shima raised an eyebrow. "…Amuro?"

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A few hours later, back at Hinata House…

Nina whimpered. "Shinobu, can we eat now? I'm hungwy…"

Shinobu glared. "No! Not until Shima gets home!"

Everyone else groaned, the people with watches looking at their wrists to check the time.

Tokimi, however, looked outside as the snow continued to fall. She frowned, worry spreading across her face. "Shima, where are you?"

End of Chapter 22

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Yes, yes… Amuro is back. listens to the boos, hisses, and death threats Yes, I know you're probably tired of him, but don't worry! He'll soon get what's coming to him… Mwahahahaha…

---Kouji Tamino