Disclaimer:

I do not own anything from Love Hina or any copyrighted material. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.

Chapter 4 – Rooftop Encounter

The day dragged on as the residents began their regular routine. The girls were busy soaking in the hot springs while Keitaro was busy trying to fix the roof for the second time in a row. Kitsune sat a few feet away from the others, deep in thought. She felt bad about how her afternoon with Keitaro ended; she really had a great, but it was unfortunate that Naru happened to be there at that particular moment.

Naru moved toward Kitsune along with the others. "Come on Kitsune – we want to know what you two did."

"Nothing happened, okay," answered Kitsune.

"Come on, spill it!" added Su. "What'd you and the ronin do on your date?"

The fox girl blushed lightly at Su's question, but fortunately no one seemed to notice. The moment the others got wind that she went out with Keitaro peaked everyone's interest.

"Awww, please Kitsune?" pleaded Shinobu. "What did you and sempai end up doing?"

"Guys, nothing spectacular happened," Kitsune replied. "All we did was have lunch in the park and walked around a bit downtown – that it."

"So I take it that Urashima treated you well," said Motoko.

"As a matter of fact he did," replied Kitsune, then turning to Naru. "And no, nothing perverted happened the entire time, so don't ask."

"I didn't say anything," said Naru.

"I know," replied Kitsune. "Now of you'd all excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

"What kind of business?" Su asked.

"Oh…the unfinished kind – you know how it is."

 Kitsune got up and began to make her way out of the hot spring. Putting on her clothes, she made her way out into the hallway toward her room. Reaching her destination minutes later, she opened the door to her room and closed it shut behind her. Lazily walking over to her bed, Kitsune flopped onto it. It had been a very eventful day for her, and it took a lot out of her already. All she wanted to do right now is lie in her room and sort things out.

Walking over to her stereo, she turned it on and pressed play. Moments later, her room filled with the music of her favorite CD.

"Maybe this'll help me think a little," she said to herself.

Taking a deep breath, she began to think about her outing with Keitaro. During that whole time, not once did she get the feeling that she was missing something – more importantly, Kitsune felt at ease for the first time in what felt like ages. Although she didn't want to admit it, she liked the time she spent with him. This was a side of Keitaro that the fox girl had never seen before. Ever since she talked to him about her problems, he did more than enough to make her feel better…even if it was for a couple of hours.

The faint sound of a hammer pounding a nail caught her attention. Looking up toward the source of the noise, she got up out and walked out of her room.

"I wonder what Keitaro's up to right now?"

~~

On the roof, Keitaro began to hammer a sheet of plywood into place. He wished that he still had the building material to repair it properly – he used that last of it earlier today. For now, at least, the plywood board would help protect the roof from the elements until he can get his hands on some more supplies tomorrow.

"Next time I get more roofing supplies, I'm gonna buy in bulk."

Driving in the last nail, he placed the hammer to the side and wiped his brow. Placing the hammer down, Keitaro took a seat and stretched his sore back – the sounds of his spines cracking as he did so. A gentle breeze swirled all around him, creating a sense of calm all around him.

Taking the time to relax, Keitaro began to think about all the events that had lead to this point – specifically the time he spent with Kitsune. Despite his lack of experience with girls, he felt really comfortable being with her. He was also surprised how natural he acted as well…that is until Naru made an appearance.

"So how's everything up here?"

Keitaro turned to see Kitsune looking down upon him.

"Well, I have the hole covered up," he replied, "but it only temporary until I hit up the hardware store again tomorrow."

"That's a shame," commented Kitsune, taking a seat next to him. "You know…I feel partly responsible that this happened."

"It's alright Kitsune," said Keitaro. "I just hope you still had fun."

"I did Keitaro," said Kitsune. "Thanks again – you really didn't have to do all of that for me."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "I'm glad that I could help."

The two sat on the roof, admiring the view that Hinata offered once more. For some odd reason, both Keitaro and Kitsune felt comfortable just being close to one another. It was as if an aurora of calm enveloped them, making their surroundings that much more pleasant.

"You know," said Kitsune, "everyone is really interested in what we did earlier today."

"Is that so?" said Keitaro. "Hehe…I didn't think us going out for a bite to eat seemed all that exciting to them."

"Well, you know how girls are," she said. "They wanna hear every little detail."

"What'd you end up telling them?"

"Oh, just the short and sweet version," replied Kitsune. "But they won't be satisfied until I give them what they want."

Keitaro laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't try to 'improve' on it."

"Hehe…I should've," said Kitsune. "But I want to keep them in suspense for a little bit longer."

 "Alright – I have a lot of studying to do for the rest of the evening, so I better get started," Keitaro said getting up.

Kitsune got up as well, and brushed her pant legs. "Yeah…I still have an article I need to work on myself."

The two began to make their way toward the balcony. Before either of them knew it, Kitsune's foot tripped on the hammer that Keitaro had set down earlier. Crying out in surprise, the fox girl tried in vain to regain her balance. Hearing her startled cry, Keitaro turned to see Kitsune about to fall.

"Kitsune!" he gasped, rushing toward her.

Losing her balance, Kitsune braced herself for impact. A split second later she landed right into Keitaro arms, and in turn wrapping her arms around him as well. Time seemed to slow down as they turned their gaze toward each other. Once their eyes met, they both realized that their faces were only a couple of inches away from each other – this caused them both to blush. They stood there for a moment as a thousand thoughts ran through their heads, still in a tight embrace. Gradually the pressure of their arms around each other began to ease until they were just holding each other. After what seemed like an eternity, Keitaro spoke up.

"Are…you okay Kitsune?"

"Y-Yeah," she reluctantly answered. "I'm…I'm fine."

Slowly, they let each other go and began to make their way to the balcony. Reaching it, they both looked at each other timidly once again. A faint blush was still present on both of their faces as their eyes met once again.

"Thanks for catching me Keitaro," said Kitsune. "Who know what would've happened if you weren't there."

"I'm just glad that you didn't get hurt," replied Keitaro.

With that they both slowly parted company, not saying another word to each other.

~~

Back in Kitsune's room, the fox girl began to replay the incident on the rooftop over in her head. She tried over and over again to sort out what just happened up there, but to no avail.

'Okay…I tripped and fell forward, expecting to crash on the roof…all of a sudden …he catches me," she thought.

Her cheeks still felt warm from when Keitaro caught her. From that moment on, all she could think about was how…natural it felt to her. It was as if she was accustomed to being in his arms the whole time. Most importantly, she actually enjoyed it.

'Gee…I never thought that Keitaro could be so…so warm.'

Kitsune suddenly began to think about what his eyes looked like. The feeling projected in them was that of genuine care and concern for her safety. For some reason, this stuck to her the most, making unfamiliar feelings stir deep within her body.

Reaching over to a sake bottle, she cracked it open and took a sip from it.

In the next adjacent room, Keitaro sat at his desk, trying to concentrate at the task before him – so far all his efforts were in vain. His mind began to show images of what happened earlier that day. It wasn't necessarily bothering him…it's seemed that a little voice in the back of his head was trying to tell him something.

'It was just an accident,' he thought to himself. 'But still…'

Keitaro began to feel a little bit embarrassed as he remembered what it was like to hold Kitsune so close to his body. From what he could tell from her expression, she was just as surprised as he was. He had never held a girl like that before – naturally it made him a bit nervous as he pictured himself holding Kitsune in such a way.

'I had no idea how…soft…Kitsune is' he thought, blushing.

Realizing he was no longer on task, Keitaro tried to focus all his efforts on his studies. After ten minutes of intense reading, he gave up once his mind began to fatigue under the stress. Walking over to the window, he turned his attention outside. As the sun's rays made their final appearance in the sky Keitaro took a deep breath and sighed.

"So much for studying today," he said to himself.

Turing back to his desk, Keitaro opened his work planner and made a note to start repairs on the roof tomorrow.

***

A/N – Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed my last chapter – I never thought I'd get so many positive responses. As you can guess, the story is about to enter its high point, so expect to see some romantic twists and turns in later chapters.

Okay people – you know the drill! Read and review, and I'll try to get chapter 5 up ASAP!    ^_^