Here's my continuation;...hope ya'll enjoy it!! ^_^ I've been very busy with school work, so I know that it's been awhile since I last updated. Please give me some feedback though, so I know how I'm doing and whether I should continue or not.
Disclaimer: No one really bothers to read this, but I feel that I must include it. I do not own Love Hina, Ken Akamatsu does. Although, I wish I did. Oh well, life goes on and so does my story. (heh)
Sacrifices For Love
By: KiMitsukai
Chapter 2: Secrets Revealed...and Confessions Told.
A week has paced since that one day when Keitaro confessed to Naru why he continues on at Hinata. However, Naru still hasn't figured out the meaning of his answer. It was an uneventful week, as uneventful as one can get at the Hinata Apartments. Keitaro stayed in bed for three days, claiming that he only had a sinus cold. Naru was acting as his nurse, though she only claimed to be doing it because she pityied him.
Motoko went on another training retreat. She claimed that she felt that she was losing her touch, because of her boarding at Hinata. However, everyone pretty much knew that she felt at least "something" for their clumsy klutz of a landlord and that that was the reason that she felt she needed more practice.
Su and Shinobu have gone to school everyday, except for weekends of course. Su, has on the side, created more gadgets and machines. One of them being a Super Mecha Tama-chan 3--Special Edition. Shinobu has cooked wonderfully tasty meals and done the laundry. She even made special dinners for Keitaro while he was sick in bed.
Kitsune,....well, Kitsune is still just Kitsune. Drinking a lot of sake each day and basically being a freeloader at the Hinata Apartments. Aunt Haruka remodeled her cafe and employed Naru there as the Assistant Manager. Mutsumi has come by to check on Keitaro, bringing with her some gifts; 3 whole watermelons. She came one day to tell Naru the results on their lastest entrance exams, however, she forgot to actually go check the results. Seta has also come by, and left them a new resident for awhile. He said that he had to go on an expidition in Cairo, Egypt and he couldn't take Sara out of school for 6 months. So, for six months, another female resident will get their shot at terrorizing the weakling landlord.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning, the sun shining in through the windows, warm light cascading across Keitaro's bed. The bright light caused him to stir, slowly opening his eyes. He yawned and stretched only to feel that he had hit something, or rather, someone. He rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses, he then turned over to get a better glance at what he had hit.
"Why you!!!!! PERVERT!!!!! First thing in the morning too!!!!!" Keitaro's eyes shot wide open when he got a glance of Naru's angry face. But, for once she only verbally hurt him, not in the physical form of a power punch.
"I'm sorry!!! I didn't mean to!!! Hey, wait a minuet!! Why are you in my bed?" He stared at her, the spotlight now on her.
She looked down and a brillent shade of red crept across her cheeks. "I-I um,....I must have been sleep walking and ended up in here....." She lied.
He nodded, not seeing any need to go further with this. It was clear to him that he would never get the truth out of her anyway. "Naru? Do you mind leaving?"
She was shocked. Not once, even when she was abusing him, had he ever pushed her away. She got up out of the bed and left the room, too shocked to even speak.
Keitaro noticed that she looked a bit suprised at his request, but he needed to change out of his pajamas and he didn't want her to watch. He changed into a pair of old faded jeans and a worn sweater, he put on some socks also, the hardwood floors can be quite cold at times. He walked over to the window and looked outside.
"Maybe Tokyo U is just too faraway for me. A dream that will never become a reality. I've already failed the entrance exams three times, I think I should just give up. I know I would be letting a lot of people down, but I just can't meet this goal. Besides, I haven't got much longer,......" He then turned from the window and went downstairs for breakfast.
Little did he know, that someone had overheard his conversation to himself. Mutsumi was walking past his door. When she heard him talking to himself she stopped to listen, even though she knew it was wrong to listen in on his private thoughts. She was coming from the hotsprings, and now she was a bit bothered by this newly attained insight into Keitaro's life. She heard him leaving and jumped into a closet. When he was gone she walked out and stood in the middle of the hallway, her right hand in a small fist placed over her heart.
"Oh my!! Poor Keitaro,......he's dying. I never suspected. What am I going to do?"
Keitaro walked into the dining room looking as healthy as ever, but if you got up close to him his face looked pale and his eyes a bit bloodshot. He sat at the table next to Naru, she didn't look at him. He continued to stare at her.
"What's wrong Naru?"
"......."
"Are you mad at me? What did I do now? If it's about this morning when I accidently hit you I already said I was sorry....."
"It did happen this morning!!! Did you already forget?!!!!" She turned her head and looked right into his eyes. Only then did she realize that he looked unwell. "Keitaro, are you feeling okay? Have you still not recovered from your cold?"
He was a little shocked by her sudden interest in his health that he blushed and that only made Naru put her hand up to his forehead, which in turn made him turn a brighter shade of red. He looked into her eyes and gave her a sheepish smile. "N-No Naru,....I'm fine."
"No your not. Well, your not burning up, so I'm not quite sure what's wrong with you. Why don't I take you to the doctors, okay?" She put her hand on his arm, as if to reassure him, but at the same time calm herself.
"Um,...no that's okay. Anyway,...I've already gone." He looked at the ground, then at the tabletop, avoiding Naru's gaze.
"Oh? Well, what did they say?" She studied him carefully.
"I-I,...just have the begining symp-......." He stopped mid-sentence.
"What? What do you have Keitaro?" Her eyes becoming a bit watery, hoping that it wasn't anything serious.
"Nothing. If you'll please excuse me." He got up and walked out of the room. He put on his sneakers and walked through the front door out into the fresh air. He needed some time alone, to sort out his thoughts. To decide how and when to tell them. He roamed around the streets of Hinata aimlessly lost in his thoughts.
Naru looked at the rest of the Hinata Inn residents. "What did I say?"
"You pushed the issue too far. It was obvious that Keitaro wasn't ready to tell us anything. Just give him some time Naru,...he'll tell you what's wrong when he's ready." Haruka patted Naru's shoulder and then walked away, puffing on her cigarete.
"But what if he never tells me? What if he tells me when it's too late to do anything about it?" She mumbled to herself as she made her way to the hotsprings for a bath. She met Kitsune in the hotsprings and they chatted there for awhile.
Keitaro stopped in front of a medical treatment building. He stared at it, it had the recognizable look of a medical building. He stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the sign "Hinata Health Care Treatment Center" "I'm going to need to start going there soon. The doctor said that very shortly I'll need to go on a dialaysis machine to help with the functions of my failing kidney. I can't let the girls worry about me. I'll just go away, find a donor for a transplant-which will be very hard to do, and then come back and pretend that nothing happened. Yeah, that's what I'll do. No need to worry Naru,...I'll be fine, maybe I won't even need a transplant, maybe the doctor was joking when he said that I did, anway I can live without one kidney." He shook his head and continued down the street.
"Shinobu, what are you doing?"
She jumped in her seat and turned around to stare at Su. "Did I scare you Shinobu? Didn't mean too. Well, whatcha doing?"
"Um, nothing." She hid the piece of paper that she was writing on underneath her desk.
Su grabbed it and tried to read it. "Whats it say?"
"You can't read English Su?"
"No,....what's it say?"
"Its,.....It's....a get well card for Keitaro."
"He's sick?"
"Well, we're not sure, but it seems so. I'm just making this so that it won't be true."
"Huh?"
"Well, sometimes when you do something that is meant for one purpose the other alternative will happen instead."
"Huh?"
"What I mean is,...I'm writing this in hopes that Keitaro doesn't get sick."
"Oh! Why didn't you just say so?"
Shinobu shook her head and sighed, exasperated and Su left the room to try and find someone to play with since Motoko was on retreat. Su found Sara and they went into Su's room. Huge load crashes could be heard coming from behind her door. It was evident that they were up to something.
Evening came around and still no sign of Keitaro. Everyone was begining to worry, especially Naru. Even though she abused him all the time, deep down she felt this special feeling towards him, a feeling that she's yet to deal with.
"Where is that idiot? When he gets back......"She waved her fist in the air, making her point.
"It's already after 11:00, maybe we should go look for him..." Shinobu suggested.
"No!" Mutsumi walked into the room and everyone turned around to look at her.
"Why not?" Kitsune asked her.
"Keitaro's left us."
"Again?" Everyone stared at Su and gave her the expression of 'shut-up'.
"How do you know?"
"Well, I found this note on the refrigerator Naru."
"Another note?" Everyone glared at Su again.
"What does it say Mutsumi?" Naru walked over to her.
"It reads:
Dear Everyone at Hinata-Sou,
I am afraid that I must leave you all once again. I will be back some day, but not very soon. I'm sorry if I have worried any of you, that was not one of my intentions. However, I do ask that none of you look for me. I have to deal with something and then I'll be back. Don't worry, I'm fine.
From your faithful landlord,
Keitaro
See, he'll be fine." Mutsumi folded up the note.
"What do you mean "he'll be fine"? I have no idea where he is. How am I suposed to make sure that he takes care of himself?" Naru blushed when she realized what she had just said.
"Well, I think that we should listen to him. It sounds like he knows what he's doing." Kitsune said while she fell onto the couch, sake bottle in hand.
"Actually,....I think you all should know something, but you have to promise that you won't do anything about it." Mutsumi looked at everyone.
"We promise." Everyone echoed.
"I overheard Keitaro talking to himself this morning on my way from the hotsprings. He said that he didn't have much time left.......From how he said it,......I believe that,.....Keitaro's,....dying."
Everyone gasped and stared at Mutsumi. This was very unexpected. He never said anything and no one had really paid any attention to their landlord's health. Naru was hit the hardest by this news. That feeling inside was growing stronger and the thought of losing Keitaro, without ever telling him how she really feels, was a devasting blow to her.
"How could I not have forseen this?" Then Naru's eyes closed and her mouth was partly open. She started to fall backwards, unconscienceness seeping in. Haruka caught her and laid her on the other couch, the one facing the one that a drunk Kitsune was lying on.
"You didn't look past the surface Naru...." Haruka looked down at the sleeping form of Naru.
Okay, sorry readers, that's it for now. I'm kinda at a fork in the road, I can't decide what should happen next. So if any of you have any ideas for me, I'd love to hear 'em. I'll try to update soon, but I'm entering the busiest part of the year, so I'll see how it goes. Thank you for reading and reviewing. 'Bye! ^_^