Disclaimer:
I do not own anything from Love Hina or any copyrighted material. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.
Chapter 7 – Confusion and Denial
Shinobu made her way into the kitchen while Su hauled her mecha tama back to her room. Naru lay on the couch trying her best to nurse the pain away that emitted from under the ice pack placed on her forehead. Just then Motoko appeared in the stairway.
"What happened here Su?"
Su moved her head until she met eye to eye with Motoko. "We had a little accident earlier – but I'm happy to report the field testing was a success!"
"What kind of accident?" she asked.
Su looked at Naru, and then motioned to the wall. Motoko gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head in disappointment. Stepping to one side she allowed Su to pass, then immediate moved to the couch. Seeing the kendo girl coming straight at her, Naru began cursing her rotten luck.
'Great…now I'm not gonna hear the end of it," she thought.
"I advised against spying on other people," Motoko said, "and look what happens."
Naru groaned in annoyance and covered her eyes. She already felt bad about her actions that night – being lectured was that last thing she needed at the moment.
"Motoko I learned my lesson, but what's done is done," Naru replied. "Will you just stop with the sermons already?"
"Well how are you going to explain this," Motoko said, motioning to the wall.
"I'll just tell him what happened – that's all."
Motoko sighed and shook her head, knowing full well of what Naru was gonna leave out the part of her spying on him and Kitsune. Turning toward the stairs, she began to make her way back to her room. As she stepped out of view, Shinobu returned with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.
"Naru," she said, "take this – hopefully it'll help ease you headache."
"Thank you Shinobu."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" the young girl asks.
"No, no I'll be fine," Naru says, removing the ice pack from her forehead.
Popping two tablets into her mouth, Naru lifts the glass to her mouth and swallowed her medicine. Placing the glass back down on the table, Shinobu clears her throat slightly and looks at Naru.
"Naru…how are we gonna explain what happened to the wall to Sempai?"
Naru sighs. "Don't worry about that…that's my problem. Why don't you go and see if Su needs help putting her stuff away?"
"Sure."
Shinobu turned away and went up the stairs. Naru, now all alone, laid back and rubbed her head. Minutes later, the front door opened revealing the third-year ronin and the fox – both of whiched looked as though they had other things on their mind at the moment. Sitting up, Naru half-heartedly waved at them.
"Hey guys…how was your evening?"
"Oh it was…well you know," replied a distracted Keitaro.
Kitsune put on a slight lopsided smile. "Yeah…we had fun."
Naru gave a puzzled look. "Anything else happen?"
"N-No, nothing happened," said Keitaro nervously and walked toward the stairs. "Well, I'm beat so I'm gonna turn in early."
Naru got up. "Wait! Before I forget, I just wanna let you know that the wall has a bit of damage on it."
Kitsune looked at the wall, then looked back at Naru. "What exactly happened here?"
"Su was showing me one of her latest inventions…Unfortunately it still has a few bugs to work out," she answered, and then motioned to her head.
Keitaro glanced at the wall. "Don't worry about it Naru, I'll take a look at it tomorrow. I'm just glad that you're all right."
"Thanks," relied Naru.
Keitaro bid the girls goodnight and headed toward his room. Naru sat back down on the couch and placed the ice pack back on her head. Kitsune sighed and sat next to her. She draped her coat along the armrest and stared off into the ceiling.
"So what are your plans for the rest of the evening?" she asked, reclining in the couch.
"I was gonna study," Naru answered, "but with this headache I doubt it. You?"
"Nothing really…I guess I'll just chill out in my room," said Kitsune.
Naru nodded. "So…anything exciting happen while you two were out?"
She noticed that Kitsune shifted uneasily as a faint blush appeared on her face. A moment later, the fox girl's eyes widened as she turned back to her.
"Nothing happened, Naru," she answered, giving a nervous smile. "Really."
"Oh," commented Naru. "I just though you two would do some more things after going out yesterday."
"Well, there wasn't much to do tonight," said Kitsune, getting up. "Anyway, I think I'll call it a night too, so I'll see you tomorrow okay?"
Before Naru could reply, Kitsune walked rather quickly up the stairs and disappeared, leaving Naru in disbelief. Sighing, she leaned back deep in thought. She had the impression that something did happen tonight. One thing for certain is that Kitsune wasn't ready to tell her what.
~~
Kitsune slid the door open, stepped inside her room, and shut it closed behind her. Moving toward her bed, she flopped onto it and rested her head on her hands. Tonight was definitely a night to remember in her book…but as eventful as it was, she was now more confused than ever before about Keitaro.
"One minute we were just fooling around…and we…kissed," Kitsune said to herself.
Touching her lips, she blushed slightly as the memory of that intimate moment she shared with Keitaro surfaced once more. She's kissed other guys before, but for some reason it felt different when she kissed Keitaro – it felt more natural. More importantly it spoke volumes of care, concern and…love.
"Love?" she exclaimed, sitting up. "No way! That's not what it is! It couldn't be…could it?"
Kitsune had never been more confused than ever. Ever since Keitaro came to the Hinata Sou, she had always considered him a friend, but nothing more. She never even thought that he was her type to begin with. But she had to admit that he was unlike most guys – he was honest, kind-hearted, and he put the feelings of everyone else before his own.
Kitsune's eyes spotted her bag sitting at the foot of her bed. Picking it up, she unzipped it and pulled out the bouquet from the wedding. The once-vibrant flower arrangement was now wilted and dry – amazingly, it still retained the sense of beauty and prestige since receiving it almost three days ago.
"It can't be love…it can't be," she told herself, burying her feelings. "It was just one of those things that happens."
Placing the bouquet back in her bag, she instinctively reached for an unopened bottle of sake. Before cracking it open, she stared out into the night sky. Taking a deep breath, Kitsune began feeling like she did before the wedding – but this time it felt more intense than ever before.
"Why does life have to be so damn confusing?"
~~
Inside the landlord's room, Keitaro reclined in his chair and ran his hands down his face. His mind began to replay the events of this evening like a slideshow – silent stills of what had transpired. It all soon stopped with an image of him and Kitsune sharing a kiss.
'Just how in the hell did that happen?' he wondered. 'I mean, I know that we drank a couple beers…but neither of us were dead drunk.'
Keitaro's eyes scanned his desk until he found a coffee cup he had out earlier that day. Picking it up he sniffed its contents and took a sip of the cold liquid. Making a face he immediately placed it back on his desk.
"I gotta remember to stop wasting coffee like that."
Sighing, he got back up and walked over to the balcony and stared outside. The night sky glittered as several stars made their presence known. The moon's rays made the world outside glow with a soft hue.
'It's not like either of us forced a kiss on the other,' he wondered. 'It just…happened.'
Keitaro closed his eyes once more, remembering the details of what happened in the park – specifically he thought about Kitsune. Never in his life did he ever imagine he'd be in such a position with her. A small smile played across his lips as he remember how soft and warm she felt against him – the sweet smell of her body, the taste of her lip….
"What the hell am I thinking?!" he exclaimed, then covered his mouth.
The young man looked around him, hoping no one heard him. Satisfied that his outburst wasn't detected, he turned and walked back to his desk. Reaching toward the corner of it, he picked up a small picture frame of himself and the girls; all of their faces smiled back at him, all genuinely happy at the Hinata Sou.
"I can't think like that about one of the girls – especially Kitsune," he said to himself. "I just can't."
Placing the picture back on his desk, he sat back in his chair. Although it pains him to say it, he knew that he couldn't ignore the fact that he might've taken advantage of Kitsune. What if it was a misunderstanding? He'd never be able to forgive himself if what happened that night was just that – a misunderstanding and nothing more.
Grabbing a textbook, he tried to push what had happened out of his mind with an all-night cram session. But for some odd reason, Keitaro felt as if he was denying something…and it was growing by the minute.
***
A/N – Hope everyone enjoyed chapter 7! Well from the way the story is developing, I have to admit that there's a possibility that it'll be longer than 10 chapters for a couple of reasons:
One, I'm constantly getting new ideas how to write certain scenes so I'm trying my best to implement them w/o messing up the story's pacing.
Secondly, I've been trying to make the length of my chapters longer, although it's becoming difficult to do so without rushing ahead of myself.
Well that's enough talk on my part. Please by all means send me your reviews and comments – it really helps me out! I'll try to get chapter 8 up as soon as humanly possible, so stay tuned! ^_^