La la la, next chapter, here we go! Yay! Geez it's hot out, though… Isn't it great? XD
---Kouji Tamino
XBlade: I was here. .;
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Love Hina Next
Chapter 23: Operation: Save Urashima the Second!
And so, the day that the exam results were to be posted. Shima was still missing, and everyone began getting worried. Kimomo began talking to Jin on the video-phone. "And you're sure that you haven't seen him lately?" she asked, a sad look on her face.
Jin nodded, sighing. "Yeah, I haven't him since I came down there for that game of Truth or Dare…" He scratched his eyebrow. "Sorry… I'll keep looking out for him, okay?"
Kimomo nodded. "Alright… Take care, now!" She blew a kiss to his video image on the screen. "Bye bye!"
Jin, on the video screen, blushed slightly, waving back. "Seeya…"
Kimomo hung up, then looked over to the others. She looked down to the ground. "Jin still hasn't seen him…"
Tokimi and Rikina, having small smiles of hope earlier, frowned upon hearing this news. Rikina glared. "That's it!" She stood up from her spot on the couch. "I can't take this anymore! I am going to go searching for him, myself!"
Sarah, shook her head. "Nah, forget about it… Shima's tough… He'll probably show up soon, all beat up, and then we can kick the crap out of him for making us worry…"
Shinobu smirked. "You, worry about Yamato? What's this world coming to?" she said, jokingly.
Sarah chuckled. "Hey, I may not act like it, but I care about the brat, too…"
Tokimi frowned and shook her head. "No, we just have to find him… He could be hurt, or--"
"Hey", Sarah began, "don't the results of the entrance exams get posted today?"
Rikina and Tokimi looked to each other, then to Sarah. "Well, then again…" Tokimi began.
"…maybe he can wait a little longer!" Rikina finished the sentence off. They quickly began putting on jackets and their boots, then ran out the door. The others sweat dropped. "Well, well, well…" Sarah began.
"… aren't they fickle girls…" Shinobu finished, sighing. She looked to the other girls. "Well, let's get going…"
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Meanwhile, back at the unknown location…
Shima looked around, bored. He stared at the gang members surrounding him. If he could escape from the ropes, he could probably beat them back and escape. But whoever tied these ropes was really good. He could barely move! He looked to his former friend, Amuro, who just walked into the room, and glared. "Amuro, just tell me what your deal is…"
Amuro laughed. "Please don't tell me that you are that dense, Shima-boy… You've known me long enough to know that I absolutely hate to lose…"
Shima's eyes widened, then he smirked. "So, ever since I beat you in that tournament, you've been out to get revenge on me?" He began to laugh.
Amuro growled. "What is it? What's so funny, you bastard?!"
Shima stopped laughing. "You are really pathetic… You're still holding a grudge over something that happened all those years ago? That is just sad…"
Amuro gritted his teeth. "Shut up!" he slugged Shima in the face. He grinned as Shima jerked his head to the side from the force.
Shima chuckled. "That's it? That only tickled…"
Amuro growled. "What?!"
Shima stuck his tongue out. "The girls at Hinata House have put me through Hell, but I've had the time of my life in these past couple of months… Thanks to them, I'm slowly learning to be kind… And erasing the crap that you put in my head!"
Amuro clenched his fist. "You ungrateful little-- Who let you join a group that you could sympathize with, after your father abandoned you?!"
Shima spit on Amuro's shoe. "My father is a great man, and he loves his family!" he looked to the ground sadly. "Too bad it took me so long to realize it…"
Amuro kicked Shima in the stomach. "Shut up!! Shut up!! You always were a little pussy! I can't believe I even pretended to be your friend! Remember, it was my parents that bailed us when we got caught trying to graffiti that school!"
"Yeah, just like a spoiled little rich boy, crying over just one loss…" Shima chuckled again, smiling slightly.
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At around the same time, the girls were checking out the results of the exam. They began looking at the list of names. "I don't see Yamato-sama's, Tokimi's, or Rikina's names…" Ami said softly.
"That's because their names either aren't on here," Kaolla began, "or we aren't looking hard enough…"
Rikina sighed. "Maybe they just aren't on here," she said sadly. "Maybe we just failed… again…"
Nina looked at Rikina's ticket. "Gothy-girl!" Nina yelled. "I see your name!"
Rikina shook her head. "No, don't try to cheer me up… I'll just go home and eat a whole bucket of ice cream by myself…" She began to walk in the direction home.
Nina jumped on Rikina's back. "No, I really mean it! Look!!" she turned around a bit and pointed at a spot on the list.
Rikina turned around, stared at the board, and gasped. "It… It's my name… My god, it's really there!" She smiled, tears running down her cheeks. "I did it… I really made it in after all these years…"
"Hey!" Shinobu yelled, pointing at the board. "Tokimi, look!"
Tokimi looked to where Shinobu was pointing and raised her arm into the air into a fist. "Yes! I did it! We both made it in!"
"Hey, I found Yamato…" Sarah said, looking near the end of the list of names.
Shinobu raised an eyebrow. "How? He had his ticket on him…"
Sarah smirked. "Simple… I memorized his number…" She looked at his name again. "Heh, little punk managed to make it in on his first try… Unlike some people…"
Shinobu pouted. "Hey, that's not very nice… Keitaro, Naru, Mutsumi, Motoko, and even Rikina tried their hardest to get in, and they eventually did! Besides, it took you 2 tries until you got in, so you have no right to criticize them!"
Sarah blushed. "Hey, shut up…" She crossed her arms defensively and walked off somewhere.
Tokimi frowned. "If only Shima was here…"
"Alright, time to go find him, where ever he is!" Rikina yelled. "Don't we only have a few days until we have to send in the paperwork to verify all this? If we don't find him soon, he'll have to take the exam all over again!"
"But how?" Ami asked quietly. "We have no idea where he is!"
"Simple…" Rikina replied, smiling. "I planted a mini tracking device on one of his hair roots!" She pulled out a small screen that seemed to display where Shima was.
Kitsune and Kimomo giggled. "Which hair?"
Rikina glared, blushing. "That's enough out of you two…"
Kaolla cackled. "Alright, everyone! Let's get going!"
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Back at the unknown location…
Amuro paced back and forth. "Now, what should I do with him?…"
Shima smiled at Amuro. "I know! How about you let me go! Or at least get me something to eat! I haven't eaten in a while!"
"Shut up! Just freaking shut UP, okay?! How can you be so damned happy at a time like this?!"
Shima happily bobbed his head back and forth. "Because, I might as well make the most out of this and annoy the hell out of you!"
Amuro stomped his foot. "Argh, stop being happy! You're supposed to be suffering! You are completely ruining my plans!"
Shima grinned. "That's good!"
Amuro screamed, tearing out some of his hair. "Ugh! I can't stand this! I'm going to go get something to eat!" He stomped over to the door and opened it.
"Oh, that's good!" Shima yelled. "Could you go get me something? Maybe some sushi, or something from the beef-bowl… Hey, even a simple cup of noodles would do!"
Amuro jerked his head back in Shima's direction. "Not for you, jack-ass!" He walked out of the room, slamming the door. Cracks appeared in the walls.
Shima looked towards the door. He looked to a random gang member. "Well, that was rude… Wouldn't you say?"
The gang member, we will call him 'Gang Member #1' or 'GM1' for short, glared at Shima and spit in his face. "Shut up…"
Shima glared at the gang member, throwing away the 'annoyingly happy' act. "You just keep spitting in my face… Because once I get out of these ropes, I'm gonna kick your ass for every time you do that…"
Gang Member #2 (GM2) laughed, walking up to Shima. "And who said that you were getting out, huh?"
Shima smirked. "Eh, I've got a hunch…"
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Meanwhile, outside, Amuro was walking across the street. As he reached the other side, he looked at his watch. "Eh, I think I'll have an early dinner…" Little did he know, however, that he was being spied on by our favorite slightly psycho gothic island princess.
The girls were all hiding behind some conveniently placed bushes. She smiled as she spotted him, then looked across the street at the building that he came out of. A warehouse. "Bingo…" She smiled to the other girls. "We've found him!"
Ami frowned. "B-but… How are we going to get in there?…" She held her arm, still in fear of what Amuro did to her.
Rikina chuckled, pulling out a suitcase. She opened it and her entire arsenal of disguises popped out. "Leave that to me… It may be a bit hard to pull this off with my limited supplies, but I always welcome a challenge…"
The others looked at her huge wardrobe, sweat dropping. Ema raised an eyebrow. "Limited supplies?!" She sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
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A half an hour later, there was a knock on the door of the huge abandoned warehouse. GM2 walked up to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Amuro…" Amuro's voice muttered.
"Oh, okay…" the gang member opened the door. "So boss, what'd you get?"
Amuro smirked. "Why should it matter to you? I didn't get anything for you guys…"
GM2 smiled. "Well, that's just rude…" he looked to the others. "Right, guys?" The other gang members nodded. Soon, they were all ganging up on Amuro.
Amuro raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what the hell is going on?"
They all laughed, pulling off their masks. Amuro was surrounded by the gals of Hinata House. Rikina smiled. "Game over, Amuro! Your boys have been hauled off to jail, and you're about to join him!"
Kitsune cackled evilly. "Nah, that's too good for him! Send him to an insane asylum! This guy is twisted in the head!"
Amuro chuckled. "You think you scare me? You all caught me off guard last time! I don't care if you're all girls, I'll beat you all up myself!"
Tokimi smiled evilly at Amuro. "Hey, did you forget about Ami?" she stepped out of the way, revealing a glowing, glaring Ami.
Shima stood up, now untied. "And me…"
Jin stepped out of the shadows. "Hey, don't forget about me!"
Static stepped up next to Jin. "And myself… Thanks for alerting us, Rikina…"
Rikina winked at Amuro. "So, Amuro… Do you dare take us all on?"
Amuro thought to himself. "Um, no…" He quickly ran toward the door, but it suddenly opened, slamming him in the face and knocking him to the ground, unconscious. The person at the door was Keitaro. He waved, smiling. "Hey Yamato, Rikina, Tokimi! I heard about you getting into Tokyo U! Congratulations! Oh, and Kaolla called me and said that Yamato had been kidnapped, but it looks like you resolved things already…" He sighed. "Darn, I'll never be a big hero like Seta…"
The others sweat dropped, not knowing how to tell Keitaro that he had already accidentally single handedly taken out Amuro twice, saving Shima and Tokimi in the process in that first time. Shima smiled. "Um… Yeah, dad… We already have it handled," he said sarcastically.
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A few hours later, they were back at Hinata House, celebrating Rikina, Tokimi, and Shima getting into Tokyo U. Shima smirked, nudging his father over and over. "Hey, dad… I got in earlier than you!"
Keitaro continued to smile. "Yeah, yeah… Heh heh…" 'Must… resit… urge to beat up son…' He ruffled his sons hair. "Congrats, son… It took me quite a while to get in…"
At a table of snacks, Nina stared at the food, drool running down her mouth. She slowly reached for a handful of chips, when suddenly, a whip was cracked between her hand and the snack bowl. "Whaaaa?…"
Sarah smirked, holding a whip. "Nuh uh… No junk food for you tonight…"
Nina whimpered, her lip quivering, her eyes becoming big and glossy. "Please?"
Sarah shook her head. "Nope, that won't work…"
Nina's eyes became bigger. "PWEEEAASE?…"
Sarah's expression softened, and she sighed. "Alright, alright… Just a few, though…"
"Yay!" Nina yelled. She grabbed 2 handfuls and inhaled them. Suddenly, she began pounding her chest, choking.
Sarah gasped, and whacked Nina on the back. A chip flew out of Nina's throat. The girl sighed in relief. Sarah sighed and shook her head.
Shima walked up and laughed. "Looks like you're softening up to Nina, huh?" His eyes widened as Sarah grabbed him by the throat.
"Yes, but I still treat you the same way…" She let go, Shima falling to the floor, unconscious. Everyone, even Sarah, gasped. "Oh god, I didn't mean to kill him!!"
Jin took held Shima's wrist. "He's not breathing, but he's still got a pulse! I will have to do mouth to mouth!" He put his lips on Shima's and blew tons of air.
Shima sat up, coughing. He looked to Jin. "Augh, why did it have to be you?!"
Jin patted Shima on the head. "I have breathed life into you… You are now my slave…"
Shima stared at Jin. "Alright, who the hell spiked the punch?!"
Kimomo began walking away slowly.
Ami hiccupped, then giggled, her face turning red. "Hee hee…"
Nina's eyes widened. "Ooh, candy!" She grabbed a handful and ate some.
Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh, no… We are screwed…"
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If you were outside Hinata House this evening, you would hear screams of horror and pain, the results of a hyper 16 year old getting a hold of some sugar…
End of Chapter 23
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Yay, today's chapter is finished. 3 more chapters, and we arrive at the end of Volume 2! See you tomorrow!
---Kouji Tamino