Disclaimer: I dont own Love Hina or the characters, this is just for fun.
A/N: Hi everyone, im so sorry. Its taken me almost a month to write out 5000 words... thats not acceptable really. Things have been really busy for me recentely, and I kept putting this chapter off. When I wasnt, I was reading it and wasnt happy with it, so apologies to all of those who are angry at me.
Thank you to all of you who reviewed chapter 3, I know I had a few problems with the chap. setup but they should be fixed now. Erm, CrossEyedButterfly, thanks for the review, 'A different life' is amazing btw, but I intended the flames will make me cry thing to be sarcastic. To be fair I didnt make that too well known did I? Again thank you for the review, and to everyone else who told me im not screwing things up, yet.
Right, ill be quiet now, please enjoy this long in the making chapter 4 of 'No second chance'.
No Second Chance - Chapter 4
Keitaro lay in bed. A week had passed since he had come to the decision that he had nothing to live for, he had existed for a week without purpose. He felt like a zombie, a ghost, a being that didn't deserve to be in this world but not worthy of being in the next.
He shifted his eyes to the empty half of the bed, the half that had been a source of warmth and security and purpose, a purpose that he had destroyed.
The young man's gaze moved back and he stared at the ceiling, his mind punishing him once again by remembering what he had done. How he had given up on Toudai for his own selfish dream, and that how she had come with him, willingly, to help his false dream come true.
He cursed his phoney dream, his anti-dream. Keitaro wished he could have cut away the part of him that had deceived him into leaving Hinata-sou, the part that took not only his dream but that of Narusegawa's as well.
'I was so selfish, I took Naru away from everything that was important to her, and I brought her here, to where there's nothing for miles around and nobody to talk to but stupid, selfish me.
'We never should have left the inn, we had friends and family there, and most important of all, Naru was happy there.'
Keitaro sighed as he decided to get out of his bed; he was only getting himself depressed again staying here anyway, 'not that I shouldn't be,' he thought as he brought his feet out of the relative warmth.
Touching his toes down on the cold floor, he pulled the cover away with a free hand and sat up. He immediately started to feel dizzy; the blood rushed towards his brain to tell him that he had stayed in bed for far too long.
Once his head had cleared and he put on his glasses Keitaro headed to the bathroom, his morning autopilot guided him instinctively to the mirror as he looked upon his own face. He hadn't bothered shaving in the past week, and it showed, the stubble on his face was beginning to look worse than his mentors.
'Seta-san… I had thought that doing what he did was my dream, but it never was, was it? Is that why he suggested that I begin my own study? So I could learn this? Did he know all along?
'Well, I know now, but it's too late. Naru has left and I didn't go after her, I was still confused by what it was that I wanted for a dream, but now that I've figured it out, it's too late to do anything about it.'
Keitaro finished in the bathroom and headed into the kitchen, the smell of unwashed pots and pans from the past week greeted him as he entered, but he simply ignored it, it didn't seem to matter whether or not they got cleaned anymore.
He managed to gather some breakfast cereal together, sitting at the kitchen table he poured on the milk that he had found at the bottom of the fridge onto the strange shapes that occupied his bowl.
Keitaro gave a sideways look at the box that the strange cereal had come from as he began to shovel the crunchy food into his mouth. His gaze settled upon the figure on the front of the box, a sort of leprechaun looking cheery as he ate some of the colourful pieces.
He let out another lifeless sigh as he thought again of his and Naru's life here. 'I hope Narusegawa is okay.'
"Oneesan?" The small but sure voice called out again. "Oneesan, may I come in?"
Mei Narusegawa was asking permission to be let in her sister's room, but was yet to receive her answer.
"Oneesan, I have some food for you, can I come in?" She called out to her again.
'Oneesan has been back for three days now, but she hasn't even come out of her room once. I'm really worried about her…'
Just then the door cracked open ever so slightly, the young girl could just hear her sister's voice whisper, "C-come in."
It was a start, although Mei could pick up the shakiness of her older sister's voice. 'She has been crying again… Naru-oneesan I wish you had come back home with me before this all started.'
The small red head walked in through the gap her sister had made, being careful not to catch the tray of food she had brought on the side of the door as she strode into her sisters room. Mei walked slowly into the bedroom and carefully placed the tray of food on the bedside table before turning to speak to Naru.
"Oneesan, I've got you some miso-soup and…"
Mei stopped mid sentence as she looked at her sister's face for the first time since she had entered the room. The young girl had to stifle a gasp from her lips as she looked at the almost vacant stare she received from her half-sister.
"Oneesan, I know that I can't make you feel better but if there is anything I can do please ask…" The red head suggested, trying to sound as supportive as she could.
"Hmm? N-no I'm fine really, I'm fine." The older girl replied, briefly looking at the girl before staring off into the distance once more.
A few moments passed without either girl speaking, Mei could feel herself becoming more and more uncomfortable, she had intended to come in and try and help her sister, but now she had seen the lost look upon her face, she wasn't sure what to say.
'I need to say something, anything, to get her mind off of him for just a minute.'
The eerie silence continued for what seemed like forever before Mei's brain finally produced a possible solution.
"Oneesan? I was wondering if maybe you could help me with some of my homework. I need it for Wednesday but I can't figure out this particular equation."
Mei looked on in hope that the request would maybe bring out some of the old Naru, that maybe she would help with the homework and get her mind off of what had happened. Her hopes seemed to be dashed before Naru even replied; the brunette barely responded to Mei's request as she continued to stare straight through her.
"Not… not tonight Mei-chan… thank you for the food." Naru said, unintentionally closing off the conversation again.
"But… you've been in here since you got back… I thought…" Mei trailed off. Half way through her sentence Naru had focused her eyes on the young girl; she could see the tears welling up, ready to stream down her face.
"P-please, not now Mei-chan…" Naru managed to get out before she gently began to sob.
Mei could see the pain in her sister's eyes; she felt tears of her own forming as she closed the gap between them and hugged her. To the young girl's relief, her half sister managed to embrace her back.
"I'm sorry Oneesan, I never meant… sniff… to upset you. I'm just glad your home."
Naru, who was now holding her younger sibling in her arms and still sobbing, just whispered in her ear,
"I…I know… me too."
"Huh?" Keitaro blinked and looked in the direction of the front door; he could have sworn he had heard something. The young man waited until he heard the knock again before he reluctantly got up from his place at the kitchen table, the same seat that had been his for the last two hours, and headed towards the front entrance.
He began to think of who it could be, faces flew through his head and scenarios came to bear with each one, making Keitaro slightly anxious and nauseous at the same time.
'What if it's Narusegawa?! Maybe she's come back to kill me!! …no, that's probably just wishful thinking. Naru would just smash the door down, come in here shouting extremities and knock me into orbit… Part of me wishes that she would, it's only what I deserve. But... Narusegawa wouldn't knock and wait, patience was never her strong point.
I can't see it being any of the others from Hinata-sou either; they probably all hate me now so they would probably just invite themselves in before killing me.'
The former Karinin stopped, 'That only leaves one option… and I'm not in the mood for him right now either…'
Keitaro attempted to ready himself before he started for the door again; he could see the door shake slightly as the persistent knocking continued.
After reaching the entrance to the house, Keitaro took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Hiiiiiii Naru, how are you… oh."
The lopsided grin vanished as quickly as it had appeared on the man who stood on the doorstep.
'Our… I mean my only visitor, and he has great timing as usual.' Keitaro thought as he inspected the guest, a blonde haired man who stood a good three inches more so than Keitaro, he was wearing a pair of stonewashed jeans and a tight-hugging t-shirt with a baseball cap on his head.
'Not exactly uniform for a postman… hopefully he'll leave once I tell him.'
"Good afternoon, Ben. What can I do for you?" Keitaro asked, hiding none of the unhappiness in his voice, the taller mans presence was doing little to help the former Karinin's mood.
"Well, I got some post for you… but where's Naru at? She normally answers the door." Ben answered, the whole time peering beyond Keitaro into the house trying to catch a glimpse of Keitaro's ex.
All Keitaro could do was sigh in response, it had been like this since Ben had delivered their first lot of mail. Naru had answered the door in just her bathing suit and the letch had been coming back any time he could, one time he even delivered someone else's mail 'by mistake' in an attempt to spend time with her.
Keitaro had trusted Naru not to let anything happen, after all she had beaten him up countless times for so much as looking at her, so he had doubted anything unsavoury would have been going on whilst he was working.
It had occurred to Keitaro sometime during the last week, that the reason Naru hadn't beaten Ben to a pulp was because he was someone other than his stupid self that she could talk to, and of course Ben had always been more than willing to listen. But Keitaro doubted that the man at his door would like what he was about to tell him.
"Narusegawa is not here, and I doubt if she is coming back." He said, letting the last part come out of him slowly, it hurt to talk about it, especially to someone like him.
Keitaro watched as he tried to gauge the taller man's reaction, and the nicest way he could describe it was, 'not well'. Ben hadn't said anything up till then, but he had begun to turn a rather deep shade of red as the news seemed to sink into him. He then started to perform a sort of high pitched stutter, making him sound like some kind of toy machine gun before he finally spoke, or rather screamed.
"WHAT?!!!!!" He seethed in Keitaro's direction.
"Naru left over a week ago; she… said she couldn't stand being here any more…" Keitaro replied, taking a deep breath at the end of the sentence. He wanted to add '…or me', but Keitaro just couldn't get the words out.
"Well ain't that great?! She leaves and you stay?!" Ben said, holding his arms wide as if he were asking him why it couldn't have been the other way around. "Aww man I don't believe this!"
Keitaro had a slight urge to remind him that he was stood no less than four feet away, but the urge quickly faded, it wouldn't do any good to have a go at him now, Naru was gone and he had done nothing to stop her, it was something he was probably going to regret for the rest of his life.
'My life… it was going to be our life…'
Keitaro was reminded of all the things that he had wanted to do with their life together, how they had talked about marriage, children and growing old together and everything in between. Despair hit him like a gunshot as Keitaro realised how none of those things would ever going to happen, and now that Naru was gone, his whole future seemed so uncertain.
The thoughts of growing old alone stewed in him for a moment or two before he saw the passing hand over his vision. Keitaro blinked and saw a slightly bored Ben before him.
"Hey Keitaro, you in there?"
"Yes…? Oh, yes sorry." The shorter man replied distractedly.
"S'alright, but I'm going now, no need for me to hang around any longer than I have to… here's your post," The blonde handed him a bundled collection of letters. "Right then, I'll be off, cya."
Keitaro mechanically waved goodbye to the postman, not taking his eyes away from the letters he now held in his hands. The first thing he had noticed when he had been handed them was the stamp on the letter at the top of the pile; his thoughts went a million miles in different directions upon recollection of what the stamp meant.
'The letter is from Japan!! Maybe Naru has sent me a letter saying she misses me!!! Maybe there is hope yet, I could come home and work a steady job, be together again and forget all about what happened here!!!'
The former Karinin excitedly rushed back into the house and into the kitchen, his body filled with more energy than it had been in all of the last week. He carefully placed the letters onto the kitchen table and sat down before taking off the rubber band that held the precious pieces of paper together.
Keitaro steadied himself as he came to opening the envelope of the top letter, he didn't want to tear the valuable words that lay inside but he also couldn't wait to read what could be a second chance for himself and Naru.
Moments that seemed to last forever passed and the letter was open, he reached inside and pulled out the folded piece of paper that lay within, being as careful with it as if it were a small child in his arms. He slowly opened the piece of paper, his heart doing back flips at the thought of being forgiven and being able to be with Narusegawa again, Keitaro tried to steady himself as he slowly read the words before him.
Hey Keitaro!
How are the dirty things over there?
"Huh?" He exclaimed. Unsure of what he had just seen exactly Keitaro read the first sentence again, but he was still none the wiser once he had scanned through it once more.
'What the hell is this? What is Naru talking about? I don't have any dirty things with me; she threw them all out once she found them…' Keitaro thought, still dumbfounded by what it was he had read.
Unconsciously he took one hand away from holding the letter and brought it to his chin, he assumed the thinkers position, not that it was doing him any good, as the sentence still didn't make any sense…
But the former Karinin suddenly noticed something; over the stench of the unclean kitchen he could smell something very familiar, something that made him feel almost nostalgic, tentatively he brought his hand to his nose and gently smelt it, letting the aroma enter his senses before he quietly spoke.
"Bananas, the letter smells of bananas."
Keitaro looked at the bottom of the letter just to confirm his suspicion, he noticed the name signed at the footer and slumped back in his chair slightly, he had gotten his hopes up and as always he had paid for it.
'I should have known better, Naru would never say that she misses me, after all, she is the one who left, if anything I should be the one telling her I miss her.
'Thinking about it maybe I should tell her that I miss her and I'm sorry, it might not do any good but it will remind her that I still think about her, and Naru deserves to know that I've given up on archaeology, just like I gave up on Toudai…'
Keitaro felt a twinge of anger at himself; in giving up Toudai, the one thing he had wanted for so long, for something else that he had recently decided he didn't want, he no longer knew what he wanted to do with his life. A million times worse was the fact that he was alone and everyone who knew him probably hated him for being so horrible to Naru.
'Yet, if Su-chan hates me, why has she sent me a letter?' Keitaro thought, 'Maybe Naru couldn't tell me herself that she misses me, and Su-chan has written to tell me how she feels… yes that's got to be it!'
The young man sat back up straight in his chair and began to read the letter again, he could hear his heart pumping through his chest, he didn't want to get his hopes up but he wanted so much for Su to tell him that Naru missed him.
Hey Keitaro!
How are the dirty things over there?
I don't understand why you like playing in the ground so much, I tried it here and all that happened was I found a lot of worms, they were yummy!!
I did a bad thing today, old lady says that we need a manager "so that nothing else happens", so I was wondering, did you wanna be manager again?
Its boring here without someone to try out my inventions on, Motoko has been studying so she aint playing with me, so if you come back will you play with me?
So, do you wanna?
From Su,
p.s. bring me some bananas back with you!
Keitaro finished reading and put the letter down on the table, the words continued to ring inside his head until he managed something he hadn't done since Naru had left, he smiled, it wasn't a grin of any kind, but it was a smile, and a start.
'Su-chan misses me! She didn't outright say it but I know that's what it meant!' The young man thought as he wore his contented half smile.
'I'm so glad that Su doesn't hate me, I still have a friend even after everything I've done. She might even have given me a purpose again, being Karinin wasn't always perfect but it was the only time I was ever truly happy! But…' He thought suddenly as the smile faded, 'That was because I was there with Narusegawa, and the letter didn't mention her at all, I hope Narusegawa got back all right.'
Keitaro sighed and leaned back in the chair. As they had been for the past week, his thoughts were clearly centred on Naru.
'Su didn't mention Narusegawa once, maybe she didn't go back to Hinata-sou… maybe she didn't make it back at all?!?!?!'
The young mans face turned to white at the thought of Naru's flight crashing in the middle of the ocean, the helpless young woman face down in the freezing water.
He shot up from his seat and ploughed into the side of the table throwing the remaining letters and his forgotten breakfast all over the floor.
"OH MY GOD!! NARU'S DEAD!!!! AND ITS ALL MY FAULT!!!" Keitaro screamed at the top of his voice.
"THE OTHERS?! ONCE THEY FIND OUT THEY'LL KILL ME!!! AAAAIIIIEEEEE!!!"
It was at this point that Keitaro's brain stopped functioning and he began to run around the kitchen like a headless chicken. The young man managing to make one full circuit before his flailing legs contacted with something on the floor that slipped out from under him, sending the panicked man falling to the ground.
Keitaro could see stars appear before his eyes as his head smashed into the corner of the table; only the adrenaline he had received from his previous revelations stopped the impact from knocking him unconscious.
"Ughhh" He managed as he shakily picked up the remains of his body from the kitchen floor. "What did I slip on?"
He sluggishly turned around to see three white objects sprawled out on the floor, each of them having a portion of a large footprint upon them.
"Wha- more letters? I guess I must have forgotten all about them." He said, sheepishly holding a hand to the back of his head.
Naru's 'plight' suddenly forgotten, Keitaro strolled over towards the marked envelopes and deftly picked them up, before stacking them into an orderly pile. Shuffling through he quickly noticed something very strange.
"Another three letters from Japan?" He questioned to the empty room.
Slightly mystified, he decided to open up one of the letters and began to read its contents.
Dear Sempai,
I hope that this letter receives you well. Naru-sempai explained what had happened and I am truly sorry that things did not work out between you, I was really glad when I saw how happy you were with Naru-sempai.
As Keitaro's eyes scanned the message, the tightening in his chest began to let up, the young man could feel the dread dissipating down into the pit of his stomach at what he had just read. He sighed in relief, "Thank goodness, Naru made it home okay… and Shinobu-chan sent me a letter too, she really is a sweet girl." He looked back at the message and continued reading.
I am writing this letter to you sempai, to ask that if you wanted to, maybe you could come home? It has not been the same since you and Naru-sempai left, and everyone wants things to be back the way they were. I know this isn't possible because of what has just happened but I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to, you can come back, I'm sure everyone would like to see you again.
Naru-sempai has left to stay with her mother, so you wouldn't have to worry about upsetting her, the other residents talked about it and they don't have any problems with you coming back.
I am sorry if this letter bothers you Sempai, I just wanted to tell you that you may be able to return to Hinata-sou if you wanted to.
I was wondering if maybe I could ask just one thing? If you were to return from your excavation, would you not tell the others that I have sent this letter, while the residents have agreed that they want you to come back to Hinata-sou, I do not wish them to know that it was I that contacted you.
Yours Faithfully,
Maehara Shinobu
"No one would have a problem with me returning?" He repeated the words that had stuck in his brain. "maybe… I could…".
The former Karinin took his eyes away from the letter and stared out of the kitchen window, the view through the pane showed the remnants of the dig site, the rain had destroyed all of his work, not that it mattered now.
'Well, I don't have anything to stay here for, and Shinobu-chan is as right as ever, it would be nice to see everyone again, even if it was just for a while.' He thought back to Su's request. 'No, I couldn't become the manager again; if Naru saw me around there again I don't know what she would do. I need to apologize to her for everything that I've done… Yes. I'll go home; I need to sort things out.'
He silently thanked Shinobu for her help; she had always stuck by him, even when he was his clumsy, stupid self.
Keitaro sat up a little straighter than before as he looked back into the kitchen, his body agreeing with him for the first time for a while. It seemed that at his core he needed a purpose.
"It's settled then, I'm going back to Japan." He paused as he remembered the remaining two letters, "but before that, lets see who these are from." He said as he grasped the third envelope from its perch upon the table. As he started to read, Keitaro's eyes began to widen, he certainly wasn't expecting a letter from her.
Good day Urashima,
I am writing this letter for two reasons. The first of these, to tell you of how sorry I am that the relationship between yourself and Naru-sempai has ended. Naru-sempai has explained what had come to pass, and although I can understand why she left, I can also sympathise that you had a dream that you had to fulfil.
The second reason for my writing this letter is an attempt to ask a favour of you. During the time since you and Naru-sempai left many things around Hinata-sou have changed, myself included, but not all of these changes have been for the better.
Haruka-san has told us that a manager is needed for the smooth running of the inn, and I could think of no better person than you.
I have learned that Naru-sempai is no longer staying at the inn, so any problems that would be caused by both of you being in residency have been eliminated.
Even without Naru-sempai staying here I would understand should you not wish to become the Karinin once more, but in truth, nothing would please me more should that come to pass.
Yours truly,
Aoyama Motoko
"…nothing would please me more should that come to pass…" He muttered under his breath. Out of all of the people he had expected to get a letter from, Keitaro never would have thought that Motoko would be one to send him that kind of message,
'Especially in the way she asked me…' The former Karinin thought, he was slightly confused by the words that lay before him.
"I guess Motoko-chan really must have changed, I… have been away for a long time." He said, somewhat solemnly. "Still, I don't think it would be right for me to become the manager again, regardless of what Motoko-chan says."
The young man placed the letter with the other opened messages to one side before he reached for the last. He could still hear himself say Motoko's words in his head, on the one hand, he was happy that Motoko could express herself like that, her message, and everyone else's helped Keitaro to realize that people still cared for him. But part of Keitaro wanted to punish himself for leaving, Motoko had said that not all of the changes were good, and those changes had happened because of him, and Naru, leaving.
The young man shook his head, 'being self destructive isn't going to do me any good' he thought as he banished the depressing judgment he had tried to place upon himself. He was going to go back to Japan and try to put things right, end of story.
He confidently reached out and grabbed the last letter. "Right, ill just read this then ill go pack!"
Keitaro tore open the seal and put his hand in to pull out the contents, to his surprise, a small piece of card with writing on came out of the gap. Looking at the small piece of card he could see that the writing was in Japanese, but it was difficult to understand what the markings meant. The curious Keitaro pulled the card closer to his face to try and read the scribblings, his face turned again to one of surprise as he could suddenly smell alcohol near by. As soon as he had smelled sake he knew who the card was from, Keitaro's face grew a small smirk as he wondered what kind of rubbish a drunken Kitsune would write to him.
Hey Keitaro,
How you doin'? Naru told me about what happened, I'm sorry things didn't work out between you, but she did tell me a few other things too… I always thought you were a bit of a stud but I never would have imagined!!
It must be very lonely out there… all on your lonesome, and you know, things have been really boring here without a big, strong, man such as yourself… I was wondering if maybe you could back and I'll show you how much I've missed you… and don't worry about Naru finding out, your secret is safe with me (wink!)
from Kitsune (your sexy fox)
P.S turn over for a sneak preview!
"…okaaayyy." Keitaro said in disbelief. The young man couldn't quite figure if Kitsune was being serious or not, he never was able to tell, and he definitely had no idea where the "stud" comment came from. He knew he was going to regret it, but he slowly turned over the card to find out what "sneak preview" the conniving woman was talking about.
The newly reinstated Karinin's eyes went wide at the realisation of what the card actually was, it was in fact a Polaroid, of Kitsune, in a bathing suit.
"Holy Crap!!"
A small trickle of blood poured from his nose as he stared at the picture of the woman, she was bent over as if to pick something up, but she looked at the camera with a seductive smile that she wore so well on her lips. Keitaro's eyes inched downwards to the two-piece bathing suit that the foxy woman was wearing, all the while feeling the blood boiling in certain parts of his body.
"Dammit!! Looks like I'll be needing a cold shower before I pack…"
A/N: And thats it for this chapter, if you liked/didnt like it, please let me know. I can guess what most peoples comments might be, in that 'when are we gonna get some motoko/Kei fluff?' Well the answer is it wont be far away, Ive been thinking about the direction of this fic for a while whilst writing this chapter and I can safely say its gonna be coming up.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.