Okay, this chapter is going to be a little late. Oh well, at least it's going up. Mwahahaha…
---Kouji Tamino
P.S. ('Name', 'Age')
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Love Hina Next
Volume 3
Chapter 27: …and So, Life Goes On…
And so, 4 months passed… It is now the month of July…
Ami and Nina ran up the stairs, coming home from school. "Yaaay!" Nina cheered. "Yucky school is over!" They were both wearing the school uniform, the same one that Kaolla wore in her high school years. They ran up to Rikina, who was sitting on the ground, working on something. (Ami ???, 15 Sophomore in high school) (Nina Chase, 16 Junior in high school.)
Rikina looked up and waved at the younger girls. "Oh, hey! How was school today, you two?" (Rikina Su, 23 Freshman at Tokyo University after a Hinata House record of 4 failures.) Rikina's hair was once again dyed with black streaks, her hair a bit blacker than before. Her hair was done in two short pig tails that seemed to float in the air. She was wearing a tube top, with a net shirt over that, a short skirt, and boots, all black. To finish it all off, she had lightly applied some black eye shadow and lipstick.
Ami sighed, sitting next to Rikina as Nina went inside the house. "Oh, it was fine…"
Rikina got a suspicious look on her face. "It doesn't sound like it was fine…"
Ami bit her lip. "Well, kids at school are still making fun of my hair and eyes… Calling me 'freak', and stuff…"
Rikina frowned. "Ami, you don't have to take that kind of crap from anyone!" She grinned evilly. "Just zap them while no one is looking!"
Ami smiled a bit. "I would, but… My powers still don't work…"
Rikina raised an eyebrow. "You mean that your powers still don't work, even after all this time?"
Ami nodded. "I think that someone has been putting a block on them… Every time that I try to access them, something or someone seems to stop me… It is very strange…" She smiled. "Oh, well! I have a new outfit that I want to show Yamato-sama once he comes home! I'm going to go try it on! Bye!" Ami ran inside, leaving Rikina alone.
Rikina sighed, as she continued to fiddle with the device in her hands. She was soon joined by Tokimi, who sat down next to her.
"Hiya, Rikina…" Tokimi muttered. (Tokimi Matsuda, 19 Freshman at Tokyo U) She was wearing a red tank top, a blue sleeveless denim jacket, blue shorts, and white tennis shoes. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, just trying to fix this piece of crap…" Rikina replied. She looked at her friends sad face. "So, what's with the long face, huh?"
Tokimi looked away. "Oh, I just miss Shima…"
Rikina sighed deeply. "Well, at least the last things you said to him weren't completely malicious and filled with misguided anger…"
"Hm?" Tokimi titled her head, confused. "What do you mean?"
Rikina sniffled a bit. "I… I said some really rude things to him last time I saw him… I got him so angry that he picked up by my collar and then threw me to the ground… I deserved it, too… Yet I continued to yell at him and curse him out… With my sister gone, I was so sad and angry that she had been taken away from me… I wanted to be angry at someone, and Yamato was the first person that I saw…" She began crying. "God, I'm such a bitch… I don't deserve to even be Yamato's friend, much less his girlfriend…"
Tokimi gasped, surprised. "You still like him?"
"Of course I do…" Rikina muttered, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's just… I put my feelings aside in order to completely focus on getting into Tokyo University, and now that we're in…"
Tokimi looked away. So, her best friend would once again be her rival in love, once Shima returned.
There was a bit of awkward silence between the two girls as they sat at the spot. Rikina would occasionally fiddle with her device. They looked to each other, took a deep breath, and… coughed up dirt as Ami ran past them quickly. They looked at each other, then at Ami, who was running to the café. They shrugged and began to talk again.
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Down at the café, Sarah raised an eyebrow as Ami ran up to her and tripped, falling on her face. Ami quickly got up and dusted herself off, blushing. She twirled around, showing off her new outfit. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt, long gloves that went a few inches above her elbows, a long flowing skirt, and slip on shoes, all white. She smiled. "Sarah, look at my new outfit!"
Sarah smiled slightly. "Cute…" (Sarah McDougal, 35 Current owner of Hinata Café) Sarah was wearing a red and white striped t-shirt, jean overalls, and a blue, backwards cap.
"Thank you…" Ami blushed slightly, stopping her spinning and looking to Sarah. "Do you think… Yamato-sama will like it?"
Sarah rubbed her chin. "I dunno, I don't really know what kind of stuff that he's into…" She began to chuckle. "But if he doesn't like it, I'll choke him out until he says he does."
Ami giggled. "Well, thanks!"
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Kimomo began running up the stairs. "Hey, everyone! I'm back!" (Kimomo Aoyama Sakaseyu, 17 A high school dropout who just recently found her mother and father.) Kimomo was now wearing the familiar shrine maiden outfit that Motoko wears. "Mom and dad will be back soon!" She giggled. "They wanted some 'private' time… Maybe I'll even get a little brother or sister!"
Rikina and Tokimi sweat dropped. "Um…" Rikina began. "Glad that you're back and all, but that was too much info, thank you…" She stood up. "It's too hot out here… I'm going inside." She turned around and walked into the building.
Tokimi stood up and hugged Kimomo. "Great to have you back! So, did you get any stronger?"
Kimomo smiled. "Yes, I did! I could actually sense my mother's moves this time! We will have another match some other day, but for now, it was a draw!"
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Nina began running down to the café. She ran over to an unaware Sarah and hopped on her back. "Sarah-mama!"
"Gack!" Sarah screamed, surprised at Nina's 'sneak attack'. "Nina, what the hell was that?!" She reached back, yanked Nina off of her back, and tossed her over to the side. "And don't call me 'mama'!"
Nina sighed. "But you've been so nice to me, just like my mama was!" She sweat dropped as she remembered all of the times that she saw Sarah play a trick on someone, call them a name, or beat them up. "Er, maybe not exactly, but…"
Ami tilted her head. "Wait, what happened to Nina's mother? And her father, for that matter?"
Sarah sighed. "Well, Nina is an orphan, sort of like me… Her parents were old friends of mine from way back in my child hood…" She smiled as she continued. "I had a bit of a crush on her father, but he liked another girl, Nina's mother… Needless to say, I despised boys for quite some time…" She looked to Nina. "And around last year, I took a trip back to America and found out where they lived." A tear fell down her face. "Unfortunately, they had recently died, leaving their daughter alone. So, after going through all that paperwork and crap, I had legally adopted Nina… She had been living with some lazy-ass guardians, so I let her pack up her stuff and left her a plane ticket before coming back to Japan and waiting for her…"
Nina nodded. "Mama and papa go bye bye…"
Sarah sniffled, wiping tears out of her eyes. She looked to Ami. "I mean, Nina seemed so… alone! Her damn former guardians never took care of her right, so I thought to myself 'Hey, I may not know how to raise a kid, but I bet that I could do a better job than these losers!' Heh, and it looks like I did… Nina and I have become so close, and…" Her eyes widened as Nina hugged her. "Nina?…"
Nina smiled up at Sarah. "Sarah… I love you!"
Sarah smiled, tears running down her eyes. "Thank you, Nina… I love you, too… Nina, you are the most wonderful to come into my life since papa…" She kissed Nina on the forehead. "As long as I live, I will never let anyone hurt you, even when you finally mature and no longer need my help…" She laughed lightly. "Nina, you have given me the gift of the experience of motherhood…"
"Oh my, how touching!" a familiar voice chirped happily.
Nina's eyes widened as she looked up to see Mutsumi, Keitaro, and Naru. "…What the hell are you guys doing here?!"
Keitaro chuckled. "Well you see, we all decided to come down here and make sure that you haven't demolished the place yet… I'm fully aware of my son, the current landlord, running off to Mol-Mol. In fact, I was the one that helped him get there!"
Sarah's left eyebrow twitched rapidly. "S-so… You saw?--"
Keitaro nodded, smiling. "We saw up to the point where you began telling of how much Nina meant to you…" He chuckled. "Wow, Sarah… It sure took a long time, but you finally became a mature woman!"
Sarah growled. "You!" She let go of Nina and ran over to Keitaro, picking up a nearby barrel. "If you ever tell anyone about this, I will kill you!!" She ran up to Keitaro and whacked him in the face with the barrel, sending him flying into the air. After a few seconds, he landed, hitting his head on a rock lodged into the ground and shattering his glasses.
"Keitaro!" Naru screamed, running to Keitaro. "Are you alright, dear?"
"Oh my, Kei-kun hit his head on a rock!" Mutsumi gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.
Keitaro chuckled, standing up. His head was spraying blood like a geyser, but he was still smiling as if nothing had happened. "Yes. I'm fine, honey! Don't worry about me, Mr. Immortal!" He looked to Sarah. "And Sarah, some things never change, do they? You're still as violent as ever!"
Sarah smirked. "And you're still a dork! Stop trying to be cool like my papa!"
Naru sweat dropped. "Um, Sarah? You do realize that Keitaro acts just like Seta in his younger days, right?…"
Keitaro, his glasses somehow no longer broken, yanked the rock that he hit his head on and held it up into the air. "Hey, this isn't a rock! It seems to be some kind of ancient tablet of some sort!" He rubbed his chin. "Funny, though… It doesn't seem to be from around here, and while this text on it seems similar to something from Mol-Mol's capitol city of Toudai, it has it's differences…" He began to walk away. "It'll take me a while, but I'm confident that I can decipher it…"
"Wait, Keitaro!" Naru yelled, waving after him. She looked to Sarah and glared. "Now see what you've done? I managed to get his mind off of his job for more than a month, but you go and spoil him again!" She huffed, walking after him. "Come on, Mutsumi!"
Mutsumi giggled. "But where to, Naru?"
"To beat some sense into my husband!" Naru began to run, Mutsumi trailing closely behind.
Sarah smiled, watching as they ran off. She crossed her arms. "Well, you're right about one thing, Keitaro… Some things never change…" She looked to Ami and Nina, who had been staring at this whole exchange the whole way through. "What? Stranger things have happened around here, you know…"
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Meanwhile, Shinobu, Ema, and Kitsune were relaxing in the lounge when Nyamo, Kanako, and Nyamo's sister, Kilara walked into the building. "Shinomu!" Nyamo yelled happily, running over to Shinobu and hugging her.
Shinobu sweat dropped. 'She still can't pronounce my name correctly…' Regardless of that, she hugged her friend/tanned clone. "Nyamo! It's so good to see you!" She looked to the doorway to see the others. "Oh, hello! Kanako and um…"
Kanako nodded, waving. "Hello, there…" She blushed. "Big brother said he was coming, too…"
Nyamo smiled, pointing to her sister. "This is my little sister, Kilara!"
Kilara waved. "Hello, Ms. Shinomu…" She smiled at Shinobu. She was wearing an outfit similar to Nyamo's old one, but it was a very light 'pink-ish' color.
Shinobu sweat dropped again. 'Oh crap, she's got it wrong, too…'
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And so, they all began to talk and chatter, catching up on what was going on in other parts of the world. Tama-chan began flying around, looking around cautiously for Kaolla. She wasn't around for Shinobu's explanation of what's happened so far.
Suddenly, Jin walked into the building, kicking off his boots. "Oh, hey everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it?" He suddenly saw Kanako out of the corner of his eye. His head jerked into her direction. "Whoa, and I thought Rikina was hot!" BAM!
Kanako and Rikina pulled off a double team pound in the head. "… Is this the one, Rikina?"
Rikina nodded. "Yes, Kanako-sama…"
Kanako smiled sadistically, rubbing her hands together. "…Perfect."
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Meanwhile, at Jin and Static's apartment, Static was reading. He cupped his ear, as if he had heard someone screaming, then shrugged and went back to his reading.
End of Chapter 27
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Sorry, that this is late, but… Eh, oh well… =)
---Kouji Tamino