First of all, I would like to thank everyone for all the great reviews for Compassionate Swordplay. To tell you the truth, I was surprised that so many people liked it. This is the sequel to that story that many of you have requested. It's going to be split into chapters because it's way too big to be a one-shot. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as you did the first story and don't stop the reviews. I need input on what you think. Anyway, enough yammering from the boring author. On with the story!
Love's Sharp Blade
Chapter I
Motoko and Keitaro walked down the sidewalk of the market district, window-shopping and greatly enjoying each other's company. Hand in hand they went from store to store looking to their heart's content, checking out what was new, hot and fresh on the product shelf.
Motoko very much enjoyed looking at the beautiful designs and colors of the kimonos that were displayed in a traditional Japanese clothing store. Keitaro wooed and drooled over the new video game releases in the electronics store. After growing impatient, Motoko finally dragged him away from the 128 bit titles so that they could continue their day together.
As they walked down the sidewalk holding hands, Keitaro gently massaged her hand with his thumb. Noticing this, she looked over at him to see him smiling pleasantly. A smile which Motoko returned immediately.
Leaning on his shoulder, she said,
"You'll have to forgive me, Keitaro. I'm still getting used to this relationship thing. I've never had a boyfriend before. I've never even been kissed before last night, but you knew that already didn't you?"
"That's alright, Motoko. To tell you the truth, this is my first relationship as well. So we're both learning. And that kiss last night? I can't say that it was my first. As you know, that was taken away by Mutsumi. But I have to say, that first kiss with you was the best I ever had." He said, giving her hand a light squeeze.
Motoko blushed. Then she started to giggle.
"What? What is it?" he asked curiously.
"Actually, that wouldn't be true." She said, covering her big smile. "A few days ago, the day when you woke up from your unconscious state in the hospital, before you woke up I leaned down and kissed you. So that would have been your first kiss with me." Motoko said, the blush growing deeper in her cheeks.
"Oh, I see. So it was like sleeping beauty in reverse, where the beauty kissed prince charming." Keitaro said. Then they both started to laugh.
"Um, Keitaro?"
"Yes, Motoko?"
"I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Ask me what, Motoko?"
"Well, how are we going to tell everyone else at the apartments about, you know, about us? What will they think?" Motoko asked, feeling worry.
"I'm not sure, Motoko. I can kind of picture how Auntie Haruka might take it. It'll probably have something to do with me going through a couple walls, not to mention Naru's reaction." He said.
Motoko was taken back by the mention of Naru's name. She then shook it off and allowed herself a light laugh.
"What? What is it?" Keitaro asked.
"You're right. Miss Haruka probably will take it out on you pretty hard." She said.
Motoko then turned slightly away.
'But Naru…what about her? She still hasn't told me for sure whether or not she has feelings for Keitaro.' She thought, her eyes becoming distant.
The two continued to walk along down the shopping district. Motoko turning her head to something that appealed to her in a passing window now and then, Keitaro doing the same.
Then, their attention was drawn from window shopping to a familiar fat and thin duo standing in their path.
"Hey, Keitaro! How is it you picked up that babe when we tried and got our butts kicked."
"Yeah, what makes you so special, huh?"
"Shirai, Haitani. Uh, hi guys. What's going on?" Keitaro said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, anyway, what say we all go do some Karaoke together? We can pick up some more babes on the way. Come on, Keitaro." Haitani said.
"Well, I don't think that's such a good idea…" Keitaro said, not knowing how to get out of this situation.
Motoko just glared at them with squinted eyes and an angry look. She then slowly eased into a martial arts stance. Seeing this, Haitani started to get very nervous, remembering the last time she glared at him and Shirai like that.
"Um, come to think of it, we have to be somewhere right now." Haitani said, grabbing Shirai by the shoulder.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Shirai questioned.
"Just shut up and come on. It's for the best, trust me." Haitani said to Shirai as he took off, dragging him with him.
"Hmm, that was strange. I wonder what that was all about?" Keitaro said, watching them disappear around the corner.
"Why do you even talk to those two? They're nothing but a couple of rude perverts." Motoko said, crossing her arms.
"Oh, come on Motoko. Shirai and Haitani aren't so bad once you get to know them." Keitaro said, trying to ease up her mood.
"Well, I don't like them. That's that." She said, turning her head to the side.
"Okay, I understand." Keitaro said, sensing the tension starting to build between them.
He looked around for something to break the ice.
"Hey, look Motoko. There's a Ramen Noodle stand over there. Are you hungry?" Keitaro said, pointing to the stand across the street.
Motoko's demeanor started to relax and become more positive again. As Keitaro took her hand and led her across the street, a little bit of blush arose in her cheeks. Then a slight look of guilt touched her face. They sat down and ordered their food. Keitaro ordered King Crab Ramen, while Motoko ordered the special of the day, which was Soy Beef Ramen with Green Onion. When their orders were placed steaming before them, they were amazed at the amount of food they had received.
"Wow, they certainly give large portions here, huh?" Keitaro said, as he looked down at his large bowl of noodles with eight whole steamed crab legs reaching out of it and bending over the sides.
"Yeah." Motoko replied as she looked over the many good-sized chunks of beef floating among fresh chopped green onions in her large bowl of noodles.
"Well, let's eat." Keitaro said, picking up the chopsticks. Motoko did the same.
"Thanks for the food." They cheerfully said to the chef behind the counter.
As they enjoyed the tasty bowls of Ramen, Motoko then paused. She looked over at Keitaro as he ate and then looked back down into her bowl.
"Um, Keitaro?" She said, the same look of guilt returning to her face.
"Yes, Motoko?" Keitaro said, turning from his chopstick full of steaming noodles.
"I'm…I'm sorry." She said.
"What for, Motoko?" He asked curiously.
"For what I said back there about those two friends of yours. I think that I tend to be a little judgmental sometimes and I apologize." She said, looking back down into her bowl of noodles.
Keitaro took a moment to look at the expression on her face. It was the look of sincere guilt.
"It's okay, Motoko. Don't worry about it. You know, it's like my grandpa always said, 'sometimes we all learn our lessons in tolerance'."
A warm smile returned to her face.
"It sounds like your grandfather is a wise man." She said as she started eating again.
"Yeah, he was." He said, his gaze falling slightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize he had passed on." She said.
"Yeah, Granny Hina's husband. He passed away when I was very young. He always enjoyed playing games with me whenever I visited. He was always so positive, you know, as if he was content with life. Nothing ever surprised him. He would just smile his smile and it would seem to have the power to make everyone else happy around him." He said, a smile forming on his face as he recalled the warm memories.
"You probably still miss him, don't you?" She said, placing her hand on his.
"Yeah, I do. But lets not talk about that now. Where would you like to go next?" He asked turning his hand over and holding hers in his.
Giving him a quick excited smile, she looked around. Her eyes stopped on the movie theatre down the street.
"Do you feel like seeing a movie, Keitaro? 'Samurai's Destiny 2' is playing." She said, pointing to the movie posters out front. The movie immediately caught her interest because of the samurai beliefs and teachings that run strong inside of her.
"Yeah, that sounds great." Keitaro said, who absolutely loves action and fighting movies. After quickly finishing their bowls, Keitaro paid the bill and they both walked into the movie theatre.
After the movie was finished, they both walked out of the theatre talking about the film they had just seen. The sun had just ducked over the horizon, giving the sky an orange twilight. Motoko talked about how she loved the romantic plot and momentous storyline. She also commented on the many different sword techniques used throughout the movie and how she was impressed on their proper execution. Keitaro talked about how cool the villain looked and how great the action scenes were.
As they started walking down the street once more, Keitaro attempted to put his arm around her, but hesitated in fear of embarrassment and maybe a few bruises. So he pulled his arm back. After seeing all of this out of the corner of her eye, Motoko reached out, took his arm and wrapped it around her waist. Blushing just a little, she leaned against him.
"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" She said with a smile. Then they both gave a light laugh.
Naru walked out of the supply store carrying a few notebooks, a pack of pencils and some square erasers all in a plastic bag.
'This should be enough to hold me for a little while. I'm surprised how quickly I go through notebooks.' She thought.
A quick gust of wind blew through her hair and caused her to shiver slightly. Since it is early in May, it still gets very cool at night. Straightening her hair, she caught sight of a couple walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. There was something about them that grabbed her attention, something familiar. Putting on her glasses, she looked again. Her heart skipped a beat at what she saw. It was Keitaro and Motoko, holding each other as they walked.
'W-What the…Usually Keitaro would be laying on the ground, hardly breathing for even being that close to Motoko. A-Are they…No! It can't be true!' Naru thought as she continued to watch them. Keitaro then turned his head as Motoko turned hers until their lips met.
Naru gasped as she raised her hand to her mouth. "A kiss?" she said to herself. Tears started to form in her eyes. "Keitaro, you big idiot!" She said out loud before running off.
Motoko broke the kiss and turned around, looking across the street.
"Did you hear someone calling your name just now, Keitaro?" Motoko asked, looking up and down the street.
"I didn't hear anyone." Keitaro said, looking with her.
"Must have been my imagination." She said as they started walking again.
Shinobu walked out of the kitchen and into the main room. She looked around to see if everyone had arrived home so that she could begin cooking dinner. As she walked through the room, she caught sight of Kitsune sleeping on the sofa. A magazine was open over her chest while her left hand hung down touching the floor.
'I'd better wake her early so she's not too groggy for dinner, like she always is.' She thought.
Shinobu was about to walk up to Kitsune when Naru came bursting through the front door with tears flowing down her face.
"Oh, Naru! You're home. I…" Shinobu paused as Naru ran right by her and up the stairs, leaving a trail of tears behind her.
"Naru, what's wrong?" Shinobu said before Naru quickly disappeared at the top of the steps.
At that moment Kitsune let out a yawn and stretched out her arms.
"Hmm? What's goin' on?" Kitsune asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"I…I'm not sure, but Naru was crying for some reason." Shinobu said, still looking at the top of the stairs.
"Cryin'? Hmm. I wonder what about. I'll have a talk with her, see what's buggin' her." Kitsune said, looking at the top of the stairs as well.
After taking the train back to Hinata, Keitaro and Motoko walked together until they reached the tall steps leading up to the Hinata apartments. Before he was about to make his way up the steps, Motoko stopped Keitaro.
"What is it, Motoko?" Keitaro asked.
"We should make it look like things are still normal between us until we decide the right time to tell everyone." She said.
"What do you mean? Everything still looks normal." He said. With a smile, Motoko held up her hand that he was still holding.
"Oh, that. I see. It would probably be a good idea if we enter the front door separately too, huh." He said, to which she gave a quick nod.
After giving him a kiss she leaned up and whispered in his ear, "See you inside." Then she ran up the steps and walked inside the apartments. Keitaro began his walk up the stairs and walked through the front door as well.
Kaolla Su skipped and hopped down the halls cheerfully as she usually does, in search of something fun to cure her boredom. Turning the corner, she came upon Naru, who was facing the wall next to her door with her forehead resting against the wallpaper. With both hands on the wall, single teardrops slowly slid down Naru's cheeks.
Su carefully trotted up to her on all fours.
"What's wrong Naru? Are you feeling okay?" Su asked curiously.
Naru looked down at Su. Then she hung her head and closed her eyes, shedding more tears on the polished wooden floor.
"A…A kiss." Naru said softly, futily trying to hold back the onrush of more tears that were coming.
"Kisses? I've always wanted to try those. Do they taste good?" Su said, innocently.
The tears now flowing down her face once more, Naru retreated into her room, shutting the door behind her. Su just sat there, not knowing what to think.
"Did I, perhaps say something wrong to Naru?" Su said to herself. "Hmm, I do hope that Naru will be alright and that whatever is bothering her will go away soon." She said, before continuing her trot down the hall.
Inside her room, Naru sat, resting her back against the study table. Her arms were folded, holding her knees close to her chest. Wiping away the wetness from her cheeks with her shirt sleeves, she looked over to the hole in her floor that was covered with a flat piece of wood.
"It's just not fair." She whispered.
As Keitaro walked in and closed the front door behind him, he saw Kitsune and Motoko talking on the other side of the main room.
"Naru looked really upset? What was she upset about?" Motoko asked Kitsune.
"I'm not sure. Before Shinobu could get a chance to ask, she ran right up the stairs." Kitsune said.
"And she didn't say anything?" Keitaro asked, walking up to them.
"No, not a word." Kitsune said, rubbing her chin as she thought deeply.
"Well, I'll go have a talk with her." Keitaro said, beginning his way up the stairs.
"Careful Keitaro. We don't want to take you to the hospital again, too soon." Kitsune said, with a smile.
"heh heh heh, yeah thanks." Keitaro said uneasily.
Arriving at Naru's door, Keitaro then knocked lightly.
"Naru? Naru, are you in there?" He asked.
"Go away, Keitaro!" Came Naru's voice from inside.
"Uh, Kitsune said you looked upset for some reason. Is something wrong?" Keitaro asked, pressing his ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on inside.
"Nothing's wrong. Everything is fine. Now, leave me alone!" She said.
"Oh. Okay. Well, if there's anything you need, just let me know. It's my job as manager to make sure everyone is happy." He said.
There was silence.
Inside her room, Naru waited to hear the sound of his footsteps walking away. After he was gone, she reached over and grabbed her Mr. Chupi doll. Naru held it close to her chest with both arms.
"Manager, huh? But…that's not all you are to me, Keitaro." She whispered to herself.
Resting the side of her head on top of Mr. Chupi, she closed her eyes and shed a single tear, which slowly ran down her nose and onto Mr. Chupi.
"That's not what you are…to me."