*eyes welling with tears* I'm SOO grateful for your support! Luv ya all so
much!!! THANKU SOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS!!! I've never gotten that many
for one chapter!!!!You guys are the VERY BEST!!!!!Here comes the next
chapter of Spring's Gift! Please pour your hearts into reading this one
just the same!
Spring's Gift
Chapter Thirteen: Excuses Excuses!!!
"Oh god!" Keitaro mindlessly repeated as he saw Shinobu running away from his sight. Seeing Shinobu's eyes tear made his heart ache with pain, guilt and care visibly illustrated on his face. He had never meant to hurt Shinobu!!! How was he going to explain himself now?! He had already broken her heart when he told her he only loved her as a friend....and there he goes again, breaking her heart one more time for lying.
"What should we do now Keitaro?" Naru whispered, her eyes watching Keitaro's astonished visage. Keitaro cringed as he contemplated the consequences, which might occur, and without even announcing what he was going to do next to anyone, he hurriedly dash to the direction in which Shinobu had just rashly left.
Eyeing her friend mischievously, Kitsune humorously joked, "Your heart's aching eh? Why don't you go chase after your boyfriend?" giving Naru a few elbows.
Naru's face burned with embarrassment as two patches of red slowly made themselves visible on her pale face. "I'm NOT..." Naru began, but stopping midway in her sentence, realizing that she was indeed Keitaro's GIRLFRIEND...she had accepted his ring! Hadn't she?
"Never mind..." Naru bluntly replied in a quiet voice, heaving a sigh. "You guys can continue your spying game if you want...but I'm going if you don't mind." Slowly she made her way back to Hinatasou, leaving her two gossipy friends staring agape at her retreating figure.
"So you still up for spying business?" Kitsune asked Su.
"Ummm.....no...I'd rather have a banana buffet...All this spying business is making me hungry!"
"Count me in!" Kitsune said, pulling a yawn, "I want SAKE!"
All happy again, the two joyous tenants of Hinatasou made way to their daytime partying.
Meanwhile.......
*********
Shinobu kept on running, her heart pounding fast against her chest. However, the pain accumulated from her intensive running was no match to how painful her heart had felt when she saw sempai propose to Naru. It had felt as if she was drowning, drowning deeper and deeper in the unforgiving seas. She couldn't believe that she had actually fallen for someone who had been lying to her the entire time. All those excuses he had made about not being ready...all those lies....He could have just told her that he didn't like her! At least that wouldn't have pained as much as having someone you loved so dearly lie to you. She felt betrayed; she felt dirty; she felt cheated.
Her legs were beginning to tire out, draining all the energy from her with every step ran. Her vision blurred as the sun caused light to deflect at abnormal angles, producing vague images. Pictures of Keitaro proposing to Naru redisplayed themselves before Shinobu's tear-filled eyes as she continued on running. She wanted to collapse on the floor she was running on at the moment, but voices of Keitaro calling out for her pursued her from behind, urging her to run faster and farther. She didn't want to talk to the selfish man. Finally, time wore her endurance, and her pace slowed. Keitaro, being highly determined to catch up with Shinobu, finally caught up to her and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to a halt.
"Let go of me!" Shinobu cried out, unknown emotions falling over her like a wave.
Startled by Shinobu's sudden emotion eruption, Keitaro took a step back, hands still grasped tightly against Shinobu's wrist though.
"Shinobu-chan, we got to talk! Look, I think there was a misunderstanding ...I wasn't..." Keitaro tried explaining, tears slithering down his head due to exhaustion from running.
Bearing distaste to the familiar timbre of Keitaro's voice, Shinobu quickly cut in, "I don't want to hear about your excuses anymore!" After having that said, she continued wriggling out of Keitaro's grip, struggling pulling Keitaro's strong grip away from her petite hands.
"I'M NOT GOING TO GET MARRIED WITH NARU!!!" Keitaro practically screamed out from the top of his lungs. Shinobu had been making success at her escape and he was loosing his grip; he needed to tell her everything but she wasn't going to give him the chance so he decided to let everything out at once, like a volcano erupting.
Suddenly Shinobu stopped wiggling and struggling. She simply stopped there amidst her struggle, her head looking down, and bangs of hair covering her face. A sudden burst of exhaustion broke, and she felt tired all over the body. Her knees felt like gelatin and she could barely keep her eyes open. All the running and emotion outbursts had exhausted her incredibly. Not for long, Shinobu had collapsed into Keitaro's arms.
"WAH?! Shinobu!!!" Keitaro called out, shaking her slightly to help her regain consciousness.
A few groans and grumbles escaped Shinobu's pressed lips, but very soon, she was unconscious. Keitaro tried patting her on the face, but it was of no avail. Desperate and uncertain of what to do, Keitaro decided to bring Shinobu back to Hinatasou where Motoko could tend to her (although he may have to endure some of her attacks as punishment for bringing Shinobu back like this).
When he got back to Hinatasou, to his surprise, Motoko did not direct a hiken technique, which would normally send him out into orbit. Motoko was acting not like herself. When she saw Shinobu's unconscious state, she plainly told Keitaro to place her onto the futon in her room for her to check on and that made Keitaro feel worried. Keitaro began to wonder if his little incident with Motoko would have to be acknowledged. Nevertheless, he dismissed this problem, and decided to focus his attention on Shinobu first.
Naru had too acted a little awkward when she saw Shinobu's unconscious state. She didn't rage with anger, nor did she direct one of her famed Naru punches. It was almost as if she was trying to avoid Keitaro. She tried moving her glances from him, not looking in his direction; she did not talk to him; and often, she ignored his presence.
Keitaro was getting to be in a heck lot of trouble...before he had too many relationships....now he's going to have no relationships......How come things never worked out the right way?!!! All he had ever wanted was to have one girlfriend....nothing more...nothing less....is this too much to ask for?! How could fate be so cruel?!
"Shinobu has exhausted herself and fainted. She needs rest and people to tend to her with tender hospitality. She shouldn't eat anything at this moment yet, but she still needs her nutrients to regain strength, so I recommend for her to eat liquid foods," Motoko had told everyone after she tended to Shinobu. Everyone was relieved to hear that their friend would be okay in a short while after a little rest. Naru and the others went down to the kitchen to fix Shinobu some congee while Motoko decided to create an herbal solution for Shinobu to drink to speed up her healing. Keitaro and Yukiro on the other hand decided to stay by Shinobu's side in case she needs something.
"Keitaro?" Yukiro began, disrupting the deadly silence in the room. Keitaro had felt awkward being in that room with Yukiro's presence. He would always sense him looking his way but would not dare to look in his direction in case he WAS staring.
"Hai..."Keitaro answered, finally looking up. Surprised, he found that Yukiro wasn't actually looking at him at that moment but instead, at the sleeping Shinobu. Keitaro found himself captivated by Yukiro's eyes. They were the color of burning amber, fires of passion flaring behind void glass. When Yukiro finally looked up to meet his eyes, Keitaro felt Yukiro's sharp eyes pierce through him, frightening him a bit. They had changed from eyes burning with concern to eyes raging with anger. Realization finally struck him when he remembered that Yukiro secretly liked Shinobu.
"Do you like Shinobu-chan?" Yukiro questioned, his voice a bit muffled. "Uh...of course I like Shinobu-chan, "Keitaro said, "I like her as a friend..."
"I don't mean that!" Yukiro practically screamed out, frustrated, "I mean do you love her as a girlfriend?"
"Of course not!" Keitaro exclaimed, waving his arms in protest.
"What did you do to Shinobu-chan then?" Yukiro questioned, his chest heaving from his yelling.
"I don't know....I think there must have been some sort of misunderstanding" Keitaro explained.
"What kind of misunderstanding is there?" Yukiro persisted in his inquiring.
"Please STOP!!!" a sudden, shrill yet soft voice bellowed.
Both men turned in the direction of the voice that just spoke and found Shinobu sitting on top of her futon. She had stirred in her sleep when the two men were having their excited argument. Both blinded by anger and frustration, they had forgotten to keep their voices down, and had subtly waked Shinobu up without their knowing. Poor Shinobu...she heard the entire conversation!!!
Tears were streaming down her face. Yukiro tried consoling her by getting a little closer but Shinobu shoved him aback.
"Go away!" Shinobu cried, "I don't want to see or hear from any of you!" With that having said, she promptly buried herself into her futon. Little sniffs and weeps could be heard coming from inside the futon and the little bundle was rising up and down, acknowledging the fact that Shinobu was secretly crying away her pain.
**********
Meanwhile, inside the Hinata kitchen, Su and Kitsune were busy determining what to put in the congee....
"Bananas!!! Bananas are sweet and soft and are just SOOOOOOO good!!!" Su exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"I think we should add a little sake to the congee...I mean, it's tasteless without a zing of alcohol, isn't it?
"It should be something good for Shinobu's health," Motoko said sternly.
"Well alcohol speeds up your circulation right? So that's good for your health!" Kitsune exclaimed. "Yea! Yea! And I think bananas are good for people who are consti....consti...what's that word again?"
"You mean constipated?" Naru said bluntly.
"Yea! That's it!" Su piped up with joy.
After moments of negotiating on whether they should put bananas or sake into the congee, the two finally reached consensus by "putting banana flavored sake" into the congee. Naru and Motoko both simply rolled their heads and continued on their work. After Kitsune and Su left the kitchen to leave the work for the rest of the other two girls to do, Motoko and Naru began to work in silence.
"Could u pass me the soy sauce?" Naru asked.
"Yes," Motoko answered and handed her a bottle subconsciously while she continued chopping her veggies.
When Naru looked at the bottle, which Motoko handed to her, she said, "Ummm...Motoko?"
"Yes? Naru-sempai?" Motoko turned in Naru's direction, wondering what Naru had to say to her.
"Are you feeling okay?" Naru asked, her expression showing concern.
"What made you ask that?" Motoko wondered aloud.
"Well it's just that you haven't been acting like yourself recently..."
"How so?" Motoko asked, wanting to know what had caused Naru to think that way.
"Take a look at this," Naru said, holding up the bottle of detergent Motoko had previously handed to her.
Motoko's eyes widened with surprise, "I thought I gave you soy sauce?! How come it turned into this liquid detergent?"
"It was this way when you handed it to me," Naru replied, "And it's not just that...you've been acting not like yourself lately. You seem to be talking less, and your expressions are even colder than before..."
Motoko turned her body around and looked down. "Naru-sempai has noticed it" she thought.
Seeing Motoko like this Naru spoke out, "Please tell me what is the matter Motoko-chan!"
"Naru-sempai, can you answer a question for me?" Motoko asked, turning back to face Naru.
"Yes, of course, "Naru answered.
"You and Keitaro..."Motoko began.
"Yes I know what you're going to ask me," Naru cut in, "You're going to ask me if I like Keitaro are not....I don't understand why so many people want to know this?!" Naru threw her hands into the air, a little frustrated herself.
"No...No....It's not this," Motoko reassured her.
Naru looked at Motoko surprised, "It isn't...?"
"Yes, what I want to know is WHY you like Keitaro and how you knew you liked him" Motoko bellowed.
*********
Okay that's it for chapter 13. Plz give me your support in reviews !!! PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE!! I was VERY happy last time becuz of your enthusiastic comments. I know it may seem that I'm stalling with the end of this story, but I assure you, it's nearing the end! *sobs and tears* yes I know...it's the end,.....but hey! There's the next book coming up right after this one!!! SUMMER'S GIFT!!!! Hehehe...Okay, no more bs from me...now go on! Press that little blue button down on the page!!! You know you wanna!
PS I'm sorry, I didn't have time to check over the spelling and grammar! GOMEN!!!!!
Spring's Gift
Chapter Thirteen: Excuses Excuses!!!
"Oh god!" Keitaro mindlessly repeated as he saw Shinobu running away from his sight. Seeing Shinobu's eyes tear made his heart ache with pain, guilt and care visibly illustrated on his face. He had never meant to hurt Shinobu!!! How was he going to explain himself now?! He had already broken her heart when he told her he only loved her as a friend....and there he goes again, breaking her heart one more time for lying.
"What should we do now Keitaro?" Naru whispered, her eyes watching Keitaro's astonished visage. Keitaro cringed as he contemplated the consequences, which might occur, and without even announcing what he was going to do next to anyone, he hurriedly dash to the direction in which Shinobu had just rashly left.
Eyeing her friend mischievously, Kitsune humorously joked, "Your heart's aching eh? Why don't you go chase after your boyfriend?" giving Naru a few elbows.
Naru's face burned with embarrassment as two patches of red slowly made themselves visible on her pale face. "I'm NOT..." Naru began, but stopping midway in her sentence, realizing that she was indeed Keitaro's GIRLFRIEND...she had accepted his ring! Hadn't she?
"Never mind..." Naru bluntly replied in a quiet voice, heaving a sigh. "You guys can continue your spying game if you want...but I'm going if you don't mind." Slowly she made her way back to Hinatasou, leaving her two gossipy friends staring agape at her retreating figure.
"So you still up for spying business?" Kitsune asked Su.
"Ummm.....no...I'd rather have a banana buffet...All this spying business is making me hungry!"
"Count me in!" Kitsune said, pulling a yawn, "I want SAKE!"
All happy again, the two joyous tenants of Hinatasou made way to their daytime partying.
Meanwhile.......
*********
Shinobu kept on running, her heart pounding fast against her chest. However, the pain accumulated from her intensive running was no match to how painful her heart had felt when she saw sempai propose to Naru. It had felt as if she was drowning, drowning deeper and deeper in the unforgiving seas. She couldn't believe that she had actually fallen for someone who had been lying to her the entire time. All those excuses he had made about not being ready...all those lies....He could have just told her that he didn't like her! At least that wouldn't have pained as much as having someone you loved so dearly lie to you. She felt betrayed; she felt dirty; she felt cheated.
Her legs were beginning to tire out, draining all the energy from her with every step ran. Her vision blurred as the sun caused light to deflect at abnormal angles, producing vague images. Pictures of Keitaro proposing to Naru redisplayed themselves before Shinobu's tear-filled eyes as she continued on running. She wanted to collapse on the floor she was running on at the moment, but voices of Keitaro calling out for her pursued her from behind, urging her to run faster and farther. She didn't want to talk to the selfish man. Finally, time wore her endurance, and her pace slowed. Keitaro, being highly determined to catch up with Shinobu, finally caught up to her and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to a halt.
"Let go of me!" Shinobu cried out, unknown emotions falling over her like a wave.
Startled by Shinobu's sudden emotion eruption, Keitaro took a step back, hands still grasped tightly against Shinobu's wrist though.
"Shinobu-chan, we got to talk! Look, I think there was a misunderstanding ...I wasn't..." Keitaro tried explaining, tears slithering down his head due to exhaustion from running.
Bearing distaste to the familiar timbre of Keitaro's voice, Shinobu quickly cut in, "I don't want to hear about your excuses anymore!" After having that said, she continued wriggling out of Keitaro's grip, struggling pulling Keitaro's strong grip away from her petite hands.
"I'M NOT GOING TO GET MARRIED WITH NARU!!!" Keitaro practically screamed out from the top of his lungs. Shinobu had been making success at her escape and he was loosing his grip; he needed to tell her everything but she wasn't going to give him the chance so he decided to let everything out at once, like a volcano erupting.
Suddenly Shinobu stopped wiggling and struggling. She simply stopped there amidst her struggle, her head looking down, and bangs of hair covering her face. A sudden burst of exhaustion broke, and she felt tired all over the body. Her knees felt like gelatin and she could barely keep her eyes open. All the running and emotion outbursts had exhausted her incredibly. Not for long, Shinobu had collapsed into Keitaro's arms.
"WAH?! Shinobu!!!" Keitaro called out, shaking her slightly to help her regain consciousness.
A few groans and grumbles escaped Shinobu's pressed lips, but very soon, she was unconscious. Keitaro tried patting her on the face, but it was of no avail. Desperate and uncertain of what to do, Keitaro decided to bring Shinobu back to Hinatasou where Motoko could tend to her (although he may have to endure some of her attacks as punishment for bringing Shinobu back like this).
When he got back to Hinatasou, to his surprise, Motoko did not direct a hiken technique, which would normally send him out into orbit. Motoko was acting not like herself. When she saw Shinobu's unconscious state, she plainly told Keitaro to place her onto the futon in her room for her to check on and that made Keitaro feel worried. Keitaro began to wonder if his little incident with Motoko would have to be acknowledged. Nevertheless, he dismissed this problem, and decided to focus his attention on Shinobu first.
Naru had too acted a little awkward when she saw Shinobu's unconscious state. She didn't rage with anger, nor did she direct one of her famed Naru punches. It was almost as if she was trying to avoid Keitaro. She tried moving her glances from him, not looking in his direction; she did not talk to him; and often, she ignored his presence.
Keitaro was getting to be in a heck lot of trouble...before he had too many relationships....now he's going to have no relationships......How come things never worked out the right way?!!! All he had ever wanted was to have one girlfriend....nothing more...nothing less....is this too much to ask for?! How could fate be so cruel?!
"Shinobu has exhausted herself and fainted. She needs rest and people to tend to her with tender hospitality. She shouldn't eat anything at this moment yet, but she still needs her nutrients to regain strength, so I recommend for her to eat liquid foods," Motoko had told everyone after she tended to Shinobu. Everyone was relieved to hear that their friend would be okay in a short while after a little rest. Naru and the others went down to the kitchen to fix Shinobu some congee while Motoko decided to create an herbal solution for Shinobu to drink to speed up her healing. Keitaro and Yukiro on the other hand decided to stay by Shinobu's side in case she needs something.
"Keitaro?" Yukiro began, disrupting the deadly silence in the room. Keitaro had felt awkward being in that room with Yukiro's presence. He would always sense him looking his way but would not dare to look in his direction in case he WAS staring.
"Hai..."Keitaro answered, finally looking up. Surprised, he found that Yukiro wasn't actually looking at him at that moment but instead, at the sleeping Shinobu. Keitaro found himself captivated by Yukiro's eyes. They were the color of burning amber, fires of passion flaring behind void glass. When Yukiro finally looked up to meet his eyes, Keitaro felt Yukiro's sharp eyes pierce through him, frightening him a bit. They had changed from eyes burning with concern to eyes raging with anger. Realization finally struck him when he remembered that Yukiro secretly liked Shinobu.
"Do you like Shinobu-chan?" Yukiro questioned, his voice a bit muffled. "Uh...of course I like Shinobu-chan, "Keitaro said, "I like her as a friend..."
"I don't mean that!" Yukiro practically screamed out, frustrated, "I mean do you love her as a girlfriend?"
"Of course not!" Keitaro exclaimed, waving his arms in protest.
"What did you do to Shinobu-chan then?" Yukiro questioned, his chest heaving from his yelling.
"I don't know....I think there must have been some sort of misunderstanding" Keitaro explained.
"What kind of misunderstanding is there?" Yukiro persisted in his inquiring.
"Please STOP!!!" a sudden, shrill yet soft voice bellowed.
Both men turned in the direction of the voice that just spoke and found Shinobu sitting on top of her futon. She had stirred in her sleep when the two men were having their excited argument. Both blinded by anger and frustration, they had forgotten to keep their voices down, and had subtly waked Shinobu up without their knowing. Poor Shinobu...she heard the entire conversation!!!
Tears were streaming down her face. Yukiro tried consoling her by getting a little closer but Shinobu shoved him aback.
"Go away!" Shinobu cried, "I don't want to see or hear from any of you!" With that having said, she promptly buried herself into her futon. Little sniffs and weeps could be heard coming from inside the futon and the little bundle was rising up and down, acknowledging the fact that Shinobu was secretly crying away her pain.
**********
Meanwhile, inside the Hinata kitchen, Su and Kitsune were busy determining what to put in the congee....
"Bananas!!! Bananas are sweet and soft and are just SOOOOOOO good!!!" Su exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"I think we should add a little sake to the congee...I mean, it's tasteless without a zing of alcohol, isn't it?
"It should be something good for Shinobu's health," Motoko said sternly.
"Well alcohol speeds up your circulation right? So that's good for your health!" Kitsune exclaimed. "Yea! Yea! And I think bananas are good for people who are consti....consti...what's that word again?"
"You mean constipated?" Naru said bluntly.
"Yea! That's it!" Su piped up with joy.
After moments of negotiating on whether they should put bananas or sake into the congee, the two finally reached consensus by "putting banana flavored sake" into the congee. Naru and Motoko both simply rolled their heads and continued on their work. After Kitsune and Su left the kitchen to leave the work for the rest of the other two girls to do, Motoko and Naru began to work in silence.
"Could u pass me the soy sauce?" Naru asked.
"Yes," Motoko answered and handed her a bottle subconsciously while she continued chopping her veggies.
When Naru looked at the bottle, which Motoko handed to her, she said, "Ummm...Motoko?"
"Yes? Naru-sempai?" Motoko turned in Naru's direction, wondering what Naru had to say to her.
"Are you feeling okay?" Naru asked, her expression showing concern.
"What made you ask that?" Motoko wondered aloud.
"Well it's just that you haven't been acting like yourself recently..."
"How so?" Motoko asked, wanting to know what had caused Naru to think that way.
"Take a look at this," Naru said, holding up the bottle of detergent Motoko had previously handed to her.
Motoko's eyes widened with surprise, "I thought I gave you soy sauce?! How come it turned into this liquid detergent?"
"It was this way when you handed it to me," Naru replied, "And it's not just that...you've been acting not like yourself lately. You seem to be talking less, and your expressions are even colder than before..."
Motoko turned her body around and looked down. "Naru-sempai has noticed it" she thought.
Seeing Motoko like this Naru spoke out, "Please tell me what is the matter Motoko-chan!"
"Naru-sempai, can you answer a question for me?" Motoko asked, turning back to face Naru.
"Yes, of course, "Naru answered.
"You and Keitaro..."Motoko began.
"Yes I know what you're going to ask me," Naru cut in, "You're going to ask me if I like Keitaro are not....I don't understand why so many people want to know this?!" Naru threw her hands into the air, a little frustrated herself.
"No...No....It's not this," Motoko reassured her.
Naru looked at Motoko surprised, "It isn't...?"
"Yes, what I want to know is WHY you like Keitaro and how you knew you liked him" Motoko bellowed.
*********
Okay that's it for chapter 13. Plz give me your support in reviews !!! PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE!! I was VERY happy last time becuz of your enthusiastic comments. I know it may seem that I'm stalling with the end of this story, but I assure you, it's nearing the end! *sobs and tears* yes I know...it's the end,.....but hey! There's the next book coming up right after this one!!! SUMMER'S GIFT!!!! Hehehe...Okay, no more bs from me...now go on! Press that little blue button down on the page!!! You know you wanna!
PS I'm sorry, I didn't have time to check over the spelling and grammar! GOMEN!!!!!