Spring's Gift
It's spring once again for the residents of Hinata Sou. Cherry blossoms on towering trees were blooming and petals of the pale flower were drifting leisurely down onto the ground; pink winter. Under a bridge, the river water beneath it shimmered against the warm glow of the morning sun. A pair of white doves was sitting happily on a rugged branch of a cherry blossom tree, singing merrily together with one singing the melody while the other summed in with the harmony. Together, they wake early Tokyo up with their chirpy song of love and at the same time, a love song was about to compose itself back at Hinata Inn as well.
"Naru, wake up! You're going to be late for the study session! It's 8:30 already!" hollered Motoko, flying out from about the door, laying foot into Naru's room. She still had her sword carried with her from early practice.
"Huh.? What did you just say? I'm too chubby to be in fashion?" questioned Naru in a mumbled painful voice from having to be woken up from her sweet dreams of.
"NO! Naru! You're going to be late for your STUDY SESSION!!!" the angry Motoko yelled in annoyance while restraining the temptation to pull out her blade.
"Study session?" said Naru weakly, repeating the two stressed words that Motoko had just blurted out. "Oh! Right, sorry Motoko-chan, thanks for waking me up! I was just too tired from staying up until 3 in the morning trying to cram the last math equation into my head to realize that you've been trying to wake me up for so long."
"You've been dreaming haven't you?" teased Motoko, ignoring Naru's excuse.
"Umm.well.yea," admitted Naru, blushing scarlet. "I'm going to get ready now, thank you Motoko-chan for waking me up again.
Motoko gave a weak smile acknowledging the appreciation and left the room. Right after Motoko left the room and that Naru was just about to change out of her pajamas and into her new dress with the sunflowers, Shinobu poked in wearing an apron, blushing to realize that she had just interfered with Naru's changing.
"Oh I'm so sorry Naru-san! I didn't mean for my arrival to become an intervention, I'm very sorry! I was just coming to tell you that breakfast is already served at the tables," Shinobu blurted in haste.
Naru, seeing Shinobu in such an uncomfortable state, flushing with embarrassment, she tried to console her, "It's okay Shinobu-chan, why don't you help run an errand for me and see if Keitaro is up yet?"
"Yes, I shall do that!" Shinobu answered with a screech and raced hurriedly out of Naru's room.
Meanwhile, Keitaro was still dozing off into space, dreaming of Naru.
"Will you marry me?" asked Keitaro with his eyes wet with hope.
Naru stared at him sweetly and replied, "Of course Keitaro, I love you more than anyone living on this planet right now, and further more, I love you even more than I love myself. You are the only one whom I will ever marry."
It was a Saturday morning with lovebirds chirping and he could hear his friends' applause and congratulations. He was actually marrying Naru in front of everybody! He felt the glory of the sun on him and the tug of Naru's arm, crossed tight against his. "It must be real," he thought. (Only did he not know that it was Shinobu who was trying to shake him up from asleep).
"Keitaro-kun, wake up!" Shinobu urged with a gentle shove, "Breakfast is served! Naru is waiting!"
"Naru!" Keitaro wailed, grabbing hold onto Shinobu's arm and tugging it against his face, caressing it over his cheeks, wet with drool.
Shinobu blushed unknowingly, unable to decide whether she should allow Keitaro to continue holding her hands or to yank them away. Momentarily, she had been almost enjoying that moment up until the point when Naru popped her head into Keitaro's room to check on him.
"Keitaro!!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" exclaimed Naru in disbelief. She raged up in anger and pulled Shinobu behind her. "How dare you treat my friends like that?" Naru waved her right hand back as she builds up on momentum and when enough force was harnessed, she swung her hand with so much force that tension built up across the center of her palms. A loud sudden cry of pain echoed through Hinata Su following the thunderous smacking-across-the-face sound. Stuck by the sinking pain of the strong slap, produced by Naru, Keitaro all of a sudden jumped right out of his covers.
"Naru?!" exclaimed Keitaro, still confused, for he had not known what had just happened prior to the slap, "Why did you do that for?"
"For being an idiot!" Naru shot back with fury, and she rushed out of the door.
Keitaro starred after the door where Naru had just left through mindlessly and after the events were carefully sort out through his mind, he turned to Shinobu and asked, "What has just happened?"
Shinobu's eyes sparkled with tears and hastily she muttered "I'm sorry Keitaro, I'm so, so sorry!" and then left.
Keitaro sat on his covers, looking disordered, and still wondering why the two girls had reacted in such an outraged way. He still had a swollen red handprint on his face.
Naru rushed down to the breakfast table, grabbed a steamed bun, and quickly stuffed it in her mouth to prevent the bun from handicapping one of her free hands. With her left hand, she reached for one of the long brown cloaks that hanged down from one of the coat hangers and with her right hand she positioned to grab for her books. Kitsune, leisurely slouching on the sofa and reading the daily Tokyo Press, turned her head in Naru's direction and queried, "Hey girl, what's the big rush?"
"Oh I'm late for my study session with Seta," explained Naru, "I have to hurry before he leaves. Oh yeah, and by the way, can you help me tell the others that I might not be back for dinner?" She added that just to rouse Keitaro's curiosity.
"Sure Naru, yeah.. em.Have fun with your study session with.. err.Seta!" Kitsune called after, trying to hide her emotions for Seta for she had always been secretly admiring him.
In the instant of a few seconds just after Naru's departure, Keitaro hopped across the living room, still trying to put on his socks, to look for Naru and plea for her forgiveness for whatever he may have done.
"Where's Naru?" he directed the question at Kitsune who had continued to read her newspaper after Naru left.
"She left for a date with Seta," Kitsune teased as she added in more spice to pique Keitaro's interests, "And she said that she won't come back for dinner too!"
"What!" screamed Keitaro with shock, jumping off his toes as if an electric charge had just past through his body. "A date?! Why is she going on a date?! And with Seta?!"
"Chill, Keitaro," soothed Kitsune, enjoying the full attention and amused by Keitaro's overreaction. "They're just going to study together," said Kitsune with her eyes closed in an it's-not-really-that-big-of-a-deal tone of voice. As she opened her eyes again, Keitaro was nowhere to be found.
The beginning of spring also meant the beginning of another school semester for many young teenagers. This was apparent by the number of young heads that filled the available spots on limited wooden benches; one was either burying their nose in a book or flipping through a catalogue of some sort. Some even had a towering mountain of books stacked beside them. Out of the sea of young teenagers was a defect towards the entire picture as a whole. Something destroyed the unison among the crowd of one similarity: youth. It was like picking the tomato among the stack of carrots: easy by first sight. A man, seemingly in his late 20s, was sitting peacefully on one of the less crowded benches, peering over an indigestible book, thick in volume. He had on a light brown jacket and was dressed properly (which distinguished him from the rest who were mostly in sneakers and t-shirts). He had a neat tie tucked under a wooly brown sweater and was wearing pants that hanged STRAIGHTLY down to his feet (most teenagers were wearing ruffled jeans). A pair of glasses tipped over his nose as his eyes rolled along the lines in his book.
"Seta!" called out Naru as she tries to catch her breath after racing to catch up with any missed time.
The man turned to the voice's direction and gave a slight smile at the sight of his friend rushing up to him.
"Naru, it's been long since the last time we met!" greeted Seta with the utmost eagerness spread across his face.
"Yeah," Naru agreed, "How's it been for you since our last departure?"
"It was okay, but I like studying here more," admitted Seta after a brief instant of thinking.
"That's nice," Naru complimented, still looking driven out by that morning's awkward incident. For some reason (Some reason.), she didn't even understand herself, she had reacted much highly than she usually would. Her thoughts were soon disturbed when Seta next spoke.
"So, I hear you need some help on reviewing page forty-seven in your math textbook right? So lets get to it!" Seta bellowed.
"Yeah.thanks for your time Seta"
"No problem, anything for my favorite girl."
Keitaro raced through the streets, heading towards Naru's usually studying place: the public library. Some people on the streets stared at him as if he was some crazy lunatic racing to nowhere while others grabbed their purses away from him, as he raced past, thinking he's a thief. And there were always the ones who would look behind him to see if there were any police chasing him after, hoping to retrieve a handsome reward if they caught the culprit. Little kids on the streets would yell out "Hey mommy! I want to race too" and their mothers would quickly hush them up with a "If you don't study more, then you will become a lunatic like him/her" speech. That usually does the job since little kids don't want to question more when Homework is added into their conversations.
"Hey mommy! This boy has different colored socks! I want them too!" a little kid on the street cried out. Keitaro stared down at his socks and returned a quick glance at the little kid, which kind of startled him a bit. Taken aback, the little boy hid behind his mother's skirt.
Keitaro felt embarrassed, but he was desperate to meet with Naru and apologize, in hope of maintaining their "relationship". Hopefully nothing has altered between them.
"I don't get this equation," said Naru, scrunching her eyebrows with confusion.
"Oh, this one's not that difficult actually. Would you pass me the calculator?" Seta asked as he fingered for the calculator across from Naru.
"Here," Naru said as she handed the calculator to Seta with her hands open.
Just when Seta grabbed the calculator out of Naru's hands, he noticed that it was swollen and red.
"What happened?" he asked, staring at Naru's hands.
"Oh, it's nothing serious," replied Naru shamefully, turning away from him.
Seta grabbed hold of her hands and stared into her blue eyes meaningfully as if he was really worried.
"What happened?" Seta demanded almost like an order.
At that same instant, Keitaro had just arrived in time to see the pretty sight of Seta holding Naru's hands. He didn't dare to move upfront. He felt awkward, he felt scared, he felt angry, but he didn't know what to do. He hid behind one of the nearby trees; just close enough to keep him well out of sight and able to see, but unable to hear their conversation. Keitaro bit his lips as he strained to eavesdrop in their dialogue.
Naru finally gave up to Seta's persistence, seeing there's no way out but to tell the truth, and quietly admitted, "It was Keitaro."
"Keitaro?!" Seta spitted with disgust, "Did he beat you?"
"Oh no, NO! You've mistaken!" Naru quickly said, knowing the wrong wording of her words have caused some red misunderstanding. "What I was intending to say is that my hands are swollen because of my slapping him today."
"Oh," Seta answered stupidly. The muscles from his puffed chest, angled arms and clutched fists all relaxed after those words. He had almost looked like a hero just a while ago, but now he was back to being the normal Seta, the same old professor, Seta. . "Why did you punch him?" he asked lastly, unsure of what else to say next.
"I don't know," sighed Naru, "I really don't know. I have no idea why I had reacted so excitedly today. He was just holding Shibobu-chan's hand and I was already blowing my tops!"
"Holding your hands?!" exclaimed Seta in disbelief, "Well I don't blame you for giving him a big smacking!" Seta had once again looked strong and ready to fight.
"But he was asleep when he was holding her hands," grunted Naru, "It seems if though my emotions today are those of a teen's in the beginning of his or her adolescence period. So unpredictable, and scary too!"
"It's alright," Seta consoled as he patted Naru on her back. He had once again returned back to the old Seta state.
"What?!" Keitaro thought as he hastily covered his mouth with his hands before the words blurted out. "How could that buffoon lay his dirty hands on MY girlfriend?!"
Keitaro felt the rage to run up to Seta and give him a nice punching in the face, even though he usually tells other people that 'violence is not the solution to problems'.
Unable to decide whether he wanted to go back to Hinata-sou or to dash over to Seta and punch him, Keitaro walked off aimlessly. He felt the world darkened even though the bright sun continued to shine in the warm afternoon. For some reason, Keitaro happened to conceive a heavy rain cloud just conveniently above his head only. The grass looked ugly, the doves turned to crows and the flowers withered under his eyes. Everything was not right. He walked and he walked, and unsure whether it was by chance or by force, he was driven to a stop at a jewelry shop. He peered over one of the showcase windows. The first thing that had caught his eyes was a beautiful golden diamond ring. A large heart shaped diamond was embedded in the center with a twisting pattern of smaller diamonds garnishing it on its side. It was beautiful. "It would be the perfect ring for Naru," he had thought.
"That's right!" he cried aloud, "For Naru! The dream today must have been an omen for me to make a proposal to Naru! Oh why am I so stupid?! I should have known earlier! I hope I wouldn't be too late!"
He quickly rushed in into the jeweler's shop and used up all the credits in his credit cards to afford the ring. It had been one expensive ring, but to Keitaro, it was worth it if it meant that he would get Naru back.
"Hey it's getting late now," announced Seta for he had heard the grumbling noises coming from his stomach. Hoping to settle the dispute in his stomach he quickly suggested going to a nearby restaurant for a quick lunch.
"We can continue our little study session after lunch," said Seta, "and after that we can have dinner together! My treat!"
Naru forced a weak smile and the two of them quickly gathered their materials and headed for the nearest restaurant nearby.
It was getting late at Hinata Sou. The sky had already blackened to the extent that the only source of light came from the half illuminated moon. Little bright stars dotted the black blanket and created constellations from every direction you looked. The weather was getting cool and all the residents of Hinata Sou were already safe and sound in bed early, all except for Keitaro and Naru. Naru had still haven't returned home yet and Keitaro was growing worried of his loved one. He wore his puffy green jacket and waited outside the doorway. He stuffed his hand into his right pocket and patted lightly against the ring case and thought about what Naru will say to him when he proposes to her. He felt nervous and scared.
He waited and waited in the cold, and soon he saw a head approaching, no TWO HEADS!!! Naru was with Seta!!! The two of them were walking towards him together!!! He felt angry and nervous at the same time; his emotions confused. Naru caught sight of Keitaro and waved her hand at him.
"Keitaro!" Naru called out, eager to talk to him.
Keitaro blushed as he heard Naru's voice and confused of his complex emotions, he started to run away towards the back of Hinata.
Naru was perplexed about why Keitaro had run away so suddenly and decided to pursue after him. Very soon, she caught up with Keitaro and took grip of his left shoulder.
"Hey!" Naru shouted after Keitaro.
Surprisingly, he turned to face her with eyes glimmering with hot tears. "What?" Keitaro shot back.
Naru eyes met Keitaro's and knew that she had probably upset him with that morning's earlier incident. "I'm sorry, Keitaro," Naru consoled looking concerned.
"It's nothing," Keitaro said with a helpless sigh, "I was just upset about something else I had on my end, that's all." He lied. That moment, the ring case fell out of his pocket.
"What's this?" Naru wondered aloud as she reached down to pick up the case. She opened the wonderfully decorated ring case, which revealed a beautiful diamond ring. On the brim of the ring were the gorgeously etched letters that spelled out her name: Naru.
"Wow!" Naru exclaimed, "Is this for me?"
At that moment, Keitaro fell to his knees and looked up at Naru, who seemed like a goddess at that minute, and begged for her hand in marriage. "Will you marry me Naru?"
Shocked by Keitaro's sudden words, she quickly answered, "Keitaro's what's wrong? Are you okay?" She had not wanted to answer his question.
Keitaro looked disappointed, he had wanted Naru to jump with joy and accept his proposal, but reality never went his way.
"It's not you Keitaro," explained Naru, "It's just that I'm not ready to give my hand in marriage, I still have dreams and wishes I yet need to accomplish. Besides, you and I are still both young and we still haven't been able to make it to Tokyo U. yet!
Keitaro still looked disappointed, it was easy to tell that Naru had not been very convincing. He turned his head and stared up at the moon, which seemed to glow brighter than ever right then. While he was lost gazing that the moon, Naru gently pressed her lips against his cheeks. He felt her soft lips pressed tight against his cheeks and he felt warm despite the freezing temperature. He stared at her in the eyes and realized what a fool he was to think about marriage so early.
"I'm sorry Naru, I didn't mean to scare you with my abrupt proposal," Keitaro apologized.
"No, it's me who should be apologizing. If it hadn't been me giving you such a hard time today in the morning, then you wouldn't be thinking about marriage. It's all my fault, would you forgive me?"
The two of them smiled at each other, feeling a bit stupid about apologizing to each other one after another.
In my opinion, Spring was the culprit of this entire act.
~~I'm sorry if this story was kind of long but I had to take some time to build up on the characters and setting.I promise the next chapter will be much shorter! Please review thank you ~~
It's spring once again for the residents of Hinata Sou. Cherry blossoms on towering trees were blooming and petals of the pale flower were drifting leisurely down onto the ground; pink winter. Under a bridge, the river water beneath it shimmered against the warm glow of the morning sun. A pair of white doves was sitting happily on a rugged branch of a cherry blossom tree, singing merrily together with one singing the melody while the other summed in with the harmony. Together, they wake early Tokyo up with their chirpy song of love and at the same time, a love song was about to compose itself back at Hinata Inn as well.
"Naru, wake up! You're going to be late for the study session! It's 8:30 already!" hollered Motoko, flying out from about the door, laying foot into Naru's room. She still had her sword carried with her from early practice.
"Huh.? What did you just say? I'm too chubby to be in fashion?" questioned Naru in a mumbled painful voice from having to be woken up from her sweet dreams of.
"NO! Naru! You're going to be late for your STUDY SESSION!!!" the angry Motoko yelled in annoyance while restraining the temptation to pull out her blade.
"Study session?" said Naru weakly, repeating the two stressed words that Motoko had just blurted out. "Oh! Right, sorry Motoko-chan, thanks for waking me up! I was just too tired from staying up until 3 in the morning trying to cram the last math equation into my head to realize that you've been trying to wake me up for so long."
"You've been dreaming haven't you?" teased Motoko, ignoring Naru's excuse.
"Umm.well.yea," admitted Naru, blushing scarlet. "I'm going to get ready now, thank you Motoko-chan for waking me up again.
Motoko gave a weak smile acknowledging the appreciation and left the room. Right after Motoko left the room and that Naru was just about to change out of her pajamas and into her new dress with the sunflowers, Shinobu poked in wearing an apron, blushing to realize that she had just interfered with Naru's changing.
"Oh I'm so sorry Naru-san! I didn't mean for my arrival to become an intervention, I'm very sorry! I was just coming to tell you that breakfast is already served at the tables," Shinobu blurted in haste.
Naru, seeing Shinobu in such an uncomfortable state, flushing with embarrassment, she tried to console her, "It's okay Shinobu-chan, why don't you help run an errand for me and see if Keitaro is up yet?"
"Yes, I shall do that!" Shinobu answered with a screech and raced hurriedly out of Naru's room.
Meanwhile, Keitaro was still dozing off into space, dreaming of Naru.
"Will you marry me?" asked Keitaro with his eyes wet with hope.
Naru stared at him sweetly and replied, "Of course Keitaro, I love you more than anyone living on this planet right now, and further more, I love you even more than I love myself. You are the only one whom I will ever marry."
It was a Saturday morning with lovebirds chirping and he could hear his friends' applause and congratulations. He was actually marrying Naru in front of everybody! He felt the glory of the sun on him and the tug of Naru's arm, crossed tight against his. "It must be real," he thought. (Only did he not know that it was Shinobu who was trying to shake him up from asleep).
"Keitaro-kun, wake up!" Shinobu urged with a gentle shove, "Breakfast is served! Naru is waiting!"
"Naru!" Keitaro wailed, grabbing hold onto Shinobu's arm and tugging it against his face, caressing it over his cheeks, wet with drool.
Shinobu blushed unknowingly, unable to decide whether she should allow Keitaro to continue holding her hands or to yank them away. Momentarily, she had been almost enjoying that moment up until the point when Naru popped her head into Keitaro's room to check on him.
"Keitaro!!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" exclaimed Naru in disbelief. She raged up in anger and pulled Shinobu behind her. "How dare you treat my friends like that?" Naru waved her right hand back as she builds up on momentum and when enough force was harnessed, she swung her hand with so much force that tension built up across the center of her palms. A loud sudden cry of pain echoed through Hinata Su following the thunderous smacking-across-the-face sound. Stuck by the sinking pain of the strong slap, produced by Naru, Keitaro all of a sudden jumped right out of his covers.
"Naru?!" exclaimed Keitaro, still confused, for he had not known what had just happened prior to the slap, "Why did you do that for?"
"For being an idiot!" Naru shot back with fury, and she rushed out of the door.
Keitaro starred after the door where Naru had just left through mindlessly and after the events were carefully sort out through his mind, he turned to Shinobu and asked, "What has just happened?"
Shinobu's eyes sparkled with tears and hastily she muttered "I'm sorry Keitaro, I'm so, so sorry!" and then left.
Keitaro sat on his covers, looking disordered, and still wondering why the two girls had reacted in such an outraged way. He still had a swollen red handprint on his face.
Naru rushed down to the breakfast table, grabbed a steamed bun, and quickly stuffed it in her mouth to prevent the bun from handicapping one of her free hands. With her left hand, she reached for one of the long brown cloaks that hanged down from one of the coat hangers and with her right hand she positioned to grab for her books. Kitsune, leisurely slouching on the sofa and reading the daily Tokyo Press, turned her head in Naru's direction and queried, "Hey girl, what's the big rush?"
"Oh I'm late for my study session with Seta," explained Naru, "I have to hurry before he leaves. Oh yeah, and by the way, can you help me tell the others that I might not be back for dinner?" She added that just to rouse Keitaro's curiosity.
"Sure Naru, yeah.. em.Have fun with your study session with.. err.Seta!" Kitsune called after, trying to hide her emotions for Seta for she had always been secretly admiring him.
In the instant of a few seconds just after Naru's departure, Keitaro hopped across the living room, still trying to put on his socks, to look for Naru and plea for her forgiveness for whatever he may have done.
"Where's Naru?" he directed the question at Kitsune who had continued to read her newspaper after Naru left.
"She left for a date with Seta," Kitsune teased as she added in more spice to pique Keitaro's interests, "And she said that she won't come back for dinner too!"
"What!" screamed Keitaro with shock, jumping off his toes as if an electric charge had just past through his body. "A date?! Why is she going on a date?! And with Seta?!"
"Chill, Keitaro," soothed Kitsune, enjoying the full attention and amused by Keitaro's overreaction. "They're just going to study together," said Kitsune with her eyes closed in an it's-not-really-that-big-of-a-deal tone of voice. As she opened her eyes again, Keitaro was nowhere to be found.
The beginning of spring also meant the beginning of another school semester for many young teenagers. This was apparent by the number of young heads that filled the available spots on limited wooden benches; one was either burying their nose in a book or flipping through a catalogue of some sort. Some even had a towering mountain of books stacked beside them. Out of the sea of young teenagers was a defect towards the entire picture as a whole. Something destroyed the unison among the crowd of one similarity: youth. It was like picking the tomato among the stack of carrots: easy by first sight. A man, seemingly in his late 20s, was sitting peacefully on one of the less crowded benches, peering over an indigestible book, thick in volume. He had on a light brown jacket and was dressed properly (which distinguished him from the rest who were mostly in sneakers and t-shirts). He had a neat tie tucked under a wooly brown sweater and was wearing pants that hanged STRAIGHTLY down to his feet (most teenagers were wearing ruffled jeans). A pair of glasses tipped over his nose as his eyes rolled along the lines in his book.
"Seta!" called out Naru as she tries to catch her breath after racing to catch up with any missed time.
The man turned to the voice's direction and gave a slight smile at the sight of his friend rushing up to him.
"Naru, it's been long since the last time we met!" greeted Seta with the utmost eagerness spread across his face.
"Yeah," Naru agreed, "How's it been for you since our last departure?"
"It was okay, but I like studying here more," admitted Seta after a brief instant of thinking.
"That's nice," Naru complimented, still looking driven out by that morning's awkward incident. For some reason (Some reason.), she didn't even understand herself, she had reacted much highly than she usually would. Her thoughts were soon disturbed when Seta next spoke.
"So, I hear you need some help on reviewing page forty-seven in your math textbook right? So lets get to it!" Seta bellowed.
"Yeah.thanks for your time Seta"
"No problem, anything for my favorite girl."
Keitaro raced through the streets, heading towards Naru's usually studying place: the public library. Some people on the streets stared at him as if he was some crazy lunatic racing to nowhere while others grabbed their purses away from him, as he raced past, thinking he's a thief. And there were always the ones who would look behind him to see if there were any police chasing him after, hoping to retrieve a handsome reward if they caught the culprit. Little kids on the streets would yell out "Hey mommy! I want to race too" and their mothers would quickly hush them up with a "If you don't study more, then you will become a lunatic like him/her" speech. That usually does the job since little kids don't want to question more when Homework is added into their conversations.
"Hey mommy! This boy has different colored socks! I want them too!" a little kid on the street cried out. Keitaro stared down at his socks and returned a quick glance at the little kid, which kind of startled him a bit. Taken aback, the little boy hid behind his mother's skirt.
Keitaro felt embarrassed, but he was desperate to meet with Naru and apologize, in hope of maintaining their "relationship". Hopefully nothing has altered between them.
"I don't get this equation," said Naru, scrunching her eyebrows with confusion.
"Oh, this one's not that difficult actually. Would you pass me the calculator?" Seta asked as he fingered for the calculator across from Naru.
"Here," Naru said as she handed the calculator to Seta with her hands open.
Just when Seta grabbed the calculator out of Naru's hands, he noticed that it was swollen and red.
"What happened?" he asked, staring at Naru's hands.
"Oh, it's nothing serious," replied Naru shamefully, turning away from him.
Seta grabbed hold of her hands and stared into her blue eyes meaningfully as if he was really worried.
"What happened?" Seta demanded almost like an order.
At that same instant, Keitaro had just arrived in time to see the pretty sight of Seta holding Naru's hands. He didn't dare to move upfront. He felt awkward, he felt scared, he felt angry, but he didn't know what to do. He hid behind one of the nearby trees; just close enough to keep him well out of sight and able to see, but unable to hear their conversation. Keitaro bit his lips as he strained to eavesdrop in their dialogue.
Naru finally gave up to Seta's persistence, seeing there's no way out but to tell the truth, and quietly admitted, "It was Keitaro."
"Keitaro?!" Seta spitted with disgust, "Did he beat you?"
"Oh no, NO! You've mistaken!" Naru quickly said, knowing the wrong wording of her words have caused some red misunderstanding. "What I was intending to say is that my hands are swollen because of my slapping him today."
"Oh," Seta answered stupidly. The muscles from his puffed chest, angled arms and clutched fists all relaxed after those words. He had almost looked like a hero just a while ago, but now he was back to being the normal Seta, the same old professor, Seta. . "Why did you punch him?" he asked lastly, unsure of what else to say next.
"I don't know," sighed Naru, "I really don't know. I have no idea why I had reacted so excitedly today. He was just holding Shibobu-chan's hand and I was already blowing my tops!"
"Holding your hands?!" exclaimed Seta in disbelief, "Well I don't blame you for giving him a big smacking!" Seta had once again looked strong and ready to fight.
"But he was asleep when he was holding her hands," grunted Naru, "It seems if though my emotions today are those of a teen's in the beginning of his or her adolescence period. So unpredictable, and scary too!"
"It's alright," Seta consoled as he patted Naru on her back. He had once again returned back to the old Seta state.
"What?!" Keitaro thought as he hastily covered his mouth with his hands before the words blurted out. "How could that buffoon lay his dirty hands on MY girlfriend?!"
Keitaro felt the rage to run up to Seta and give him a nice punching in the face, even though he usually tells other people that 'violence is not the solution to problems'.
Unable to decide whether he wanted to go back to Hinata-sou or to dash over to Seta and punch him, Keitaro walked off aimlessly. He felt the world darkened even though the bright sun continued to shine in the warm afternoon. For some reason, Keitaro happened to conceive a heavy rain cloud just conveniently above his head only. The grass looked ugly, the doves turned to crows and the flowers withered under his eyes. Everything was not right. He walked and he walked, and unsure whether it was by chance or by force, he was driven to a stop at a jewelry shop. He peered over one of the showcase windows. The first thing that had caught his eyes was a beautiful golden diamond ring. A large heart shaped diamond was embedded in the center with a twisting pattern of smaller diamonds garnishing it on its side. It was beautiful. "It would be the perfect ring for Naru," he had thought.
"That's right!" he cried aloud, "For Naru! The dream today must have been an omen for me to make a proposal to Naru! Oh why am I so stupid?! I should have known earlier! I hope I wouldn't be too late!"
He quickly rushed in into the jeweler's shop and used up all the credits in his credit cards to afford the ring. It had been one expensive ring, but to Keitaro, it was worth it if it meant that he would get Naru back.
"Hey it's getting late now," announced Seta for he had heard the grumbling noises coming from his stomach. Hoping to settle the dispute in his stomach he quickly suggested going to a nearby restaurant for a quick lunch.
"We can continue our little study session after lunch," said Seta, "and after that we can have dinner together! My treat!"
Naru forced a weak smile and the two of them quickly gathered their materials and headed for the nearest restaurant nearby.
It was getting late at Hinata Sou. The sky had already blackened to the extent that the only source of light came from the half illuminated moon. Little bright stars dotted the black blanket and created constellations from every direction you looked. The weather was getting cool and all the residents of Hinata Sou were already safe and sound in bed early, all except for Keitaro and Naru. Naru had still haven't returned home yet and Keitaro was growing worried of his loved one. He wore his puffy green jacket and waited outside the doorway. He stuffed his hand into his right pocket and patted lightly against the ring case and thought about what Naru will say to him when he proposes to her. He felt nervous and scared.
He waited and waited in the cold, and soon he saw a head approaching, no TWO HEADS!!! Naru was with Seta!!! The two of them were walking towards him together!!! He felt angry and nervous at the same time; his emotions confused. Naru caught sight of Keitaro and waved her hand at him.
"Keitaro!" Naru called out, eager to talk to him.
Keitaro blushed as he heard Naru's voice and confused of his complex emotions, he started to run away towards the back of Hinata.
Naru was perplexed about why Keitaro had run away so suddenly and decided to pursue after him. Very soon, she caught up with Keitaro and took grip of his left shoulder.
"Hey!" Naru shouted after Keitaro.
Surprisingly, he turned to face her with eyes glimmering with hot tears. "What?" Keitaro shot back.
Naru eyes met Keitaro's and knew that she had probably upset him with that morning's earlier incident. "I'm sorry, Keitaro," Naru consoled looking concerned.
"It's nothing," Keitaro said with a helpless sigh, "I was just upset about something else I had on my end, that's all." He lied. That moment, the ring case fell out of his pocket.
"What's this?" Naru wondered aloud as she reached down to pick up the case. She opened the wonderfully decorated ring case, which revealed a beautiful diamond ring. On the brim of the ring were the gorgeously etched letters that spelled out her name: Naru.
"Wow!" Naru exclaimed, "Is this for me?"
At that moment, Keitaro fell to his knees and looked up at Naru, who seemed like a goddess at that minute, and begged for her hand in marriage. "Will you marry me Naru?"
Shocked by Keitaro's sudden words, she quickly answered, "Keitaro's what's wrong? Are you okay?" She had not wanted to answer his question.
Keitaro looked disappointed, he had wanted Naru to jump with joy and accept his proposal, but reality never went his way.
"It's not you Keitaro," explained Naru, "It's just that I'm not ready to give my hand in marriage, I still have dreams and wishes I yet need to accomplish. Besides, you and I are still both young and we still haven't been able to make it to Tokyo U. yet!
Keitaro still looked disappointed, it was easy to tell that Naru had not been very convincing. He turned his head and stared up at the moon, which seemed to glow brighter than ever right then. While he was lost gazing that the moon, Naru gently pressed her lips against his cheeks. He felt her soft lips pressed tight against his cheeks and he felt warm despite the freezing temperature. He stared at her in the eyes and realized what a fool he was to think about marriage so early.
"I'm sorry Naru, I didn't mean to scare you with my abrupt proposal," Keitaro apologized.
"No, it's me who should be apologizing. If it hadn't been me giving you such a hard time today in the morning, then you wouldn't be thinking about marriage. It's all my fault, would you forgive me?"
The two of them smiled at each other, feeling a bit stupid about apologizing to each other one after another.
In my opinion, Spring was the culprit of this entire act.
~~I'm sorry if this story was kind of long but I had to take some time to build up on the characters and setting.I promise the next chapter will be much shorter! Please review thank you ~~