Disclaimer: I would love to claim Love Hina as my work, but it's not. Ken made his money bed and now he must lie in it.
Author's note: Here comes the first story arc. I was hoping when I'd get to do one. Please review.
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For three days, three whole days, Ryusei holed himself up in his room. He refused to eat, to play, to do anything. This was starting to take it's toll on the girls, without a amle to balance things out, it got just too unbearable in Hinata-sou.It was decided that a meeting would be held, in order to come up with a plan to cheer him up. The meeting was held in the kitchen after breakfast.
"So what do we do? Three days of moping is enough." asked Naru.
"Whatever we do, it better be fast. I don't know how much more I can take." Kitsune said as she fiddled with a kitchen knife. "This is just like what happened to Sempai." Shinobu mumbled. Mutsumi walked in with a watermelon and a kotatsu. "We could give him these. They always cheer me up." None of the girls had the energy to sweatdrop. Su raised her hand high into the air. "Ooh, ooh! How about if one of us takes him on a date?" Kitsune ruffled her hair. "Attagirl! Why not take him out? It makes sense to me." Naru concurred. "But who do we get to go out with him?" Everyone stared at Motoko with a grin on their faces.
"No way! I refuse to go out with him!" Motoko yelled as she swung her boken in the air.
Kitsune grabbed Motoko's arms and held them behind her back. "Naru, would you do the honors?" Naru walked up to Motoko and cracked her fingers. "My pleasure." Motoko struggled to break free, but Motoko had a fantastic grip. "Nothing you can do will change my mind. My body is trained to undergo any kind of torture, so there." "Oh really? Is that so?" Naru asked as she prepped herself.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah ha ha ha ha! Alright alright, I'll ha ha ha I'll do it!"
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Ryusei looked up at the ceiling, wondering if he was truly any good to begin with, if he was really meant to be a writer. He tried to figure out what went wrong in his life, why they wouldn't accept him, how he could ever keep his promise now.
"Maybe I should just pack up and go home. I'm just making things harder on the girls." he sighed.
Slowly, he got up and began to go through the closet, hoping that there would be a suitcase. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise." he said as he fought back tears. "Knock knock." the door slowly opened, revealing Motoko dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a pink tank-top with a blue butterfly on it. "Tanaka-san, could I ask you a favor?" Ryusei decided that he could at least make up for blowing off on the party. "Of course, what do you need?"
Motoko tried her best to keep from blushing. "Would you go out with me?" Ryusei scratched his head. "What was that?" Motoko decided she may as well get it over with. "W-will you go out with me?"
The room was silent.
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"So where would you like to go?" asked Ryusei. The two had been on the trolley for a good ten minutes before he could finally work up the nerve to talk to her. "I don't know. Why don't you pick?" Motoko said as she studied from a pocket dictionary. "That seems fair. So, Naru tells me you're shooting for Toudai as well. Is it because of this "Keitaro" I hear so much about?" Ryusei realized what he said and prepped himself for a beating. "Calm down, I don't intend to hurt you today." Motoko said calmly.
"That's a relief. Hey, I think this is our stop." Motoko put away her book and followed Ryusei out of the trolley.
"I think we should stop for lunch. Don't you agree?" Ryusei asked as he pointed to a fancy restaurant. Motoko nodded and followed him inside.
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The inside of the restaurant was much like any other. The tables were decorated with tall candles, there were famous works of art on the walls, everyone seemed to have plenty of money to throw around...maybe it wasn't like other restaurants.
"Sir, Madaam. May I help you?" asked the waiter.
Ryusei pulled out a couple of large bills and handed them to the little man. "We'd like a table, the best you've got." The man placed the bill into his pocket. "Right this way." Ryusei signaled Motoko to follow.
The two had managed to score a seat next to the lobster tank.
After they had ordered their meals, Ryusei attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, How have you been?" Motoko took a sip from her tea. "I have been fine. And you?" He tried to force a smile. "Not so good, but I'm sure you knew that." There was an akward silence for a while. "May I ask what your favorite book is?" he asked nervously. Motoko blushed. "I-I would rather not." Ryusei grinned goofily. "Come on, I'm just curious." Motoko looked down at the table. "Romance under the Sakura. That one is my favorite."
Ryusei blushed. "Really? You like my story?" Motoko looked embarassed, so Ryusei decided to change the subject. "I heard of a good movie we could go see after lunch. Would you like to go?" Motoko nodded. "Yes, I would like that." Another akward silence. But not for long.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah! It is him! It's Ryusei Tanaka! He's in here girls!" yelled some random girl who had snuck into the restaurant. Ryusei grabbed Motoko by the hand and ran into the kitchen. "I didn't think anyone would recognize me. I had hoped that I could relax here." he said as he looked for the emergancy exit. "Wouldn't it just be easier to get your fan-attacks over with?" Motoko asked as she looked for the exit as well. "You'd think that, but no. We have to leave."
"He's in the kitchen! Follow him!" yelled the fangirl. Motoko and Ryusei ran to the back of the kitchen and through the emergency exit.
"Kitsune, Naru, you owe me one." Motoko said to herself.
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It had been a close call in the restaurant. So close that the two decided to eat at a beef-bowl restaurant. Ryusei waited in the corner of the restaurant while Motoko ordered.
"I'm so sorry about that, Motoko. I honestly thought no one would recognize me." Motoko continued to eat. "I hope that we can do this more often. I'm really enjoying hanging out with you." Motoko nearly choked on a pice of beef. "Would you please refrain from making me gag on my food." Ryusei smiled. "You like me, don't you?" Motoko nearly choked again. "What did I just say? I swear, if I had my sword." Ryusei laughed hysterically. "I'm just checking."
Motoko took a sip of the tea she ordered with her meal. "You know, we've been worried about you. All of us. I can understand how hard it can be to try your best and fail miserably. But you can't give up just because things get bad." Ryusei could only nod.
"You know, It's alright if you hold my hand. This is a date after all." Motoko said, blushing. Ryusei slowly grabbed hold of her hand and held it gently.
"So, are you ready for that movie?"
End Chapter 6