Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina. This story is merely a fantasy that got blown way out of proportion. You have been warned.
Authors note: I don't intend to get any premature flaming by the Naru+Keitaro fans, just know that I haven't decided who will end up with who. You can of course expect some internal conflict from whoever it is though.
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The next morning, Ryusei awoke to a splitting headache. As he reached for his aspirin he mumbled something about "bad sake". Upon staring up at the ceiling again, he noticed the hole again. "Huh. I wonder why nobody's fixed that yet. I guess it would be generous of me to do some repairs around the building." Ryusei then headed for the closet, his head still throbbing. "Let's see now. How about this?" Ryusei had pulled out a pair of cargo pants and a grey t-shirt which read "Sex Goddess" across the front. "Hey, this looks great on me." Ryusei said looking into the mirror. Just then his face went pale as he remembered something very important.
"Nooooooooo! Now I'm really late! What am I going to do?" Ryusei yelled frantically as he searched acroos the room looking for his shoes.
"Just what are you doing? It's too early for this crap." said a familiar voice. Ryusei looked around to see where it was coming from. "Up here moron." said Naru, her head poking out of the hole in the ceiling. "I have to go! I'm late for a meeting, two days late!" Ryusei said as he looked deeper into the closet. "Then what's the point? Whoever you were gonna meet would have left long before now." Ryusei realized this and calmed down.
"What's this meeting about anyway?" Naru asked quizically. "It concerns my new contract with "Kokusho Publishing", they wanted to meet with me and talk about hiring me. But now it's too late now, I'll never find a company willing to have me." Ryusei said with a distressed look on his face. Naru seemed confused by this. "But if what the others say is true, then you should have no problem getting a new publisher." Ryusei plopped down onto his futon. "It's not that simple. I can't just go to anyone. It has to be Kokusho Publishing."
Naru had already made her way through the hole in order to get in a better conversation.
"Why does it have to be one or nothing? Why can't you just go to another company." Ryusei sat up and looked at his feet. "Because I made a promise. That I would become a famous author and work at the world's greatest publishing company. I can't break this promise, not now, not ever. If I did then I could never look her in the eyes again." Naru could barely keep from crying. Here she was with another person who knew just how hard it is to keep a promise to someone you care about. She remembered how she and Keitaro would study all night just to get into Toudai. She remembered how nervous they were that something would go wrong, that they might fail, but when they finally saw their names on the Toudai acceptance boards they knew that all their prayers had been answered.
"Naru? Are you alright?" Ryusei asked in a concerned tone. Naru merely grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled. "Don't you worry. You will keep your promise, I guarantee it." Ryusei returned her smile. "You're right! I have to keep this promise! Thank you Naru, thank you, thank you!" Naru didn't expect this much enthusiasm. "Hey, let's go join the others for breakfast."
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"Soooooooo. What does everybody think of our guest?" asked Mutsumi.
"I think he's just a little too comforterable around us." said Motoko as she served herself.
Shinobu blushed upon the mention of Ryusei. "Shinoooobuuuuu. Do you like Ryusei?" asked Mutsumi as she fed Tama-chan a piece of celery (Tama-chan being a hot spring turtle, of course). "Wh-what are you talking about? I like Keitaro, I like him as my Sempai, I mean, Awooooo!" Shinobu said, shaking her head violently. Kitsune placed her arm around the frantic little girl before she had a coniption fit. "It's alright if you like him, I mean you are a big girl now. Just promise me you won't give it all up on the first date." "Kabong!" went Motoko's boken as it collided with Kitsune's head. "I don't see how you have this much energy after you drank so much last night."
"Yeah, but the noob drank more than I did." said Kitsune, who apparently didn't feel a thing.
"I think he would taste better with curry, but that's just me." said Su. The other girls sweatdropped, except for Mutsumi who just nodded in agreement. "What about you Mutsumi?" Su said as she leaned over the table to get ahold of the soy sauce. "Ara, I think I like him. He seems like a nice person, and quite the looker." She said as she took a sip of her tea. Kitsune just laughed. "Of course you'd say that. You like everyone." Motoko took this opportunity to change the subject. "Do you think it is a good idea to let him stay here? Even for a couple of months, that's just too long."
"What's too long?" asked a new voice.
Ryusei stood in the doorway with Naru. Su was the first to respond. "Motoko thought that you should lea..." "Kabong!" "What Su meant to say was that the school year seemed too long, right Su." Motoko said poking her in the ribs. "Yeah, there's too much school. Maybe I can invent an "Anti-School Missle" or something." Naru ruffled her hair. "You silly girl. You just need to be patient."
Ryusei took his place at the table and served himself the rice. As he began eating, he noticed Kitsune staring at him from across the table. "Is something wrong?" Kitsune pointed to his shirt. "You do know what that says, right?" He looked down at it. "Yeah. I like to wear stuff that draws attention, and what better way than to wear something like this." Kitsune laughed her ass off. "Hey, you're all right! So How about later you and I get together and see if I can live up to your title." "Thwack!" This time it was Naru's fist that met the target. "You waste no time, do you? And you, don't think I didn't see that look in your eyes! You had best be good too!"
Breakfast continued, despite two attempted bitings and a concusion.
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After breakfast, Haruka put Ryusei to work on the dorm. He scrubbed, mopped, swept, took a break for lunch, then went back to his chores. By the time he had finished it was almost 5:00. "Wow! Time flies when you're working your ass off." As he put his cleaning equipment up he noticed the entrance to the hot springs. "They have a hot springs? Should I? I have some time before dinner, I guess I could." he thought to himself.
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"Ahhhhhhhh. This is the life. I can feel my troubles just melting away." Ryusei quickly left his little dream world long enough to form his battle plan. "Alright, this is fun and all, but I have to figure a way to get into Kokusho. I guess I could give them a call and set up another appointment. Until then, I guess I can take it easy.
But no, he couldn't just take it easy. For at that moment a series of strange figures entered the hot springs. "Have you guys seen Ryusei? He seems to have just disappeared." said Naru. "Holy shit! This isn't good." Ryusei thought to himself. "What do I do now? I've got it!" Ryusei ducked underwater to avoid being seen.
"Why? Are you worried about him? Have you frgotten Keitaro already?" said Kitsune. Naru slapped her on the back of the head. "Don't start with me. I was just curious." "It does seem strange, I do not think he would have anywhere to be in Hinata Onsen." said Motoko as she removed her towel. "I've gotta get out of here. I can't afford to get caught." he said as he stealthily headed torwards the exit. "Hey Ryusei!" said Su in her normal hyper manner. "Busted." he thought to himself as he ran for the exit."
"Kyaaaaah! What's he doing in here?" shrieked Shinobu. "He's about to get his ass handed to him is what he's doing!" Naru yelled as she ran after him in her towel. "Motoko! I'll handle this one!"
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"CrapCrapCrapCrapCrap!" Ryusei yelled as he attempted to evade his pursuer. "Get back here, you pervert!" Ryusei kept running in the feeble hope that she might get struck by lightning, or something. But it was too late, Naru had him pinned on the roof. "Now you're gonna get it! I'll teach you to spy on us in the bath!" Naru yelled as she grabbed him by his shirt.
"I promise I didn't mean to! I just needed to take a bath! Please don't kill me, I promise it won't happen again! Please don't kill meeeeeeeeee!" Ryusei was prepared for the beating of a lifetime, but all he heard was the sound of laughter. Naru kept laughing for a full five minutes. "You know, you act just like Keitaro sometimes. He used to peep on us all the time. I guess I do miss him." Naru grabbed hold of his shirt again. "And if you tell anyone I said that, I will kill you!" Ryusei nodded his head. "Good, now tell me, do you have a high tolerance for pain?" Ryusei turned white with fear. With a single punch Naru sent him flying into a nearby tree. "Are you alright?" asked Naru. "Yeah, I'll be alright!" Naru sweatdropped. "Just like Keitaro. I knew it."
"Um...Naru? Could you get me down?"
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As punishment for peeping, Ryusei was sent to bed without supper. This turned out to be a problem for him.
"I'm starving!" Ryusei moaned. "I can't believe they'd deprive me of food. I think I'm gonna pass out." At that moment, a strange doll poked it's head out of the "Naru Hole". "Well then maybe you shouldn't have been peeping on the girls, you pervert." Ryusei sweatdropped. "Great, a lecture." Naru made her way through the hole in order to chew him out more effectively.
"Yes, a lecture. If you're going to keep this up the girls are going to get more and more violent. Do you understand how important it is that you behave yourself here?" Ryusei nodded his head. Naru thumped him on the head. "Ow! What the hell!" "You know, nodding your head instead of answering is a little rude. Now wait here." she said as she left his room. Within a couple of minutes , she returned with some riceballs. Ryusei thanked her and grabbed a ball "These look pretty funny." Naru took the riceball from him. "You don't have to eat it you know." "No no no, I'm sure it tastes delicious."
After the rice balls were finished Naru headed back up to her room, but not before warning him again. As Ryusei drifted off to sleep he could have sworn he saw a strange figure in the window, but he just shrugged it off. He merely assumed it was a tree.
Before he conked out he mumbled to himself."Starting tommorow, I have to begin operation "Get into Kokusho"."
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End Chapter 4
Author's note: Reviews are my lifeblood. Remember that. Also, I would like to congratulate my little sister for joining this site.