Love Hina
Chapter 2
Forced Acceptance
Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.
Same great story, now with half the cussing.
I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave.
If you like, please review, as well as let me know of any spelling errors. I will then re-upload this chapter when I do my next upload.
If you like, check out my other stories.
I find that if I let things sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000 words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.
I also plan to start sending these out to have someone else proofread them before I post them. Volunteers are welcome.
Also, it may be a while before my next update. I just lost my father Monday, and need to deal with that first. Thank you for your patience.
Now, on with the show.
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Shinobu was busy preparing dinner, trying to make it as appetizing as possible. She knew that Keitaro had been through a lot, and wanted to try and make him feel better. She wanted to talk to him, anything to make him feel a little less lonely in this world, but knew that if she even got near him, he would immediately freak out, fearing she would enter his zone. She knew she wasn't good at talking to people. She was still too shy. But she could express herself through food, and hoped it might make Keitaro a little bit happier.
But judging by the words coming out of his aunt's mouth, I'm going to guess he needs all the help to feel better that he can get.
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Dear Grandson,
If you are reading this, than you have already been informed of my little deception. But I want to let you know it all.
Your parents weren't the only relatives of yours I sent away. There isn't another blood relative; with the exception of Haruka, not for lack of trying, within 150 miles of Hinatasou. So you can forget about trying to go to them. I have also made certain that you cannot contact any one of them. But they will be receiving letters from you, stating how much fun you are having, and telling them not to worry about coming back early. The earliest one of them may return is about four months from now, since I made certain they won't have any money troubles.
Why am I doing this? I am tired of you and your damned excuses. You know as well as I this demon curse is just a load of bull. You may not like it, but I believe it is time for you to grow up, and I took the time to discover the best way how.
I am placing the future of Hinatasou in your hands. You are now the new landlord, so take care of the place. I will expect it to be in better condition than I left it in, as well as you to know many facts about the tenants, as well as mannerisms, something you can't get them to write down for you to study. I also expect you to live in the landlord's room, until I return.
If you refuse this job, lose one tenant, or die for some reason during the process, I will immediately close down the dormitory and send the girls home. I don't need to tell you that each has an excellent reason for staying there, and sending them home would almost certainly ruin their young lives. I will also remove the financial assistance I am giving your relatives, leaving them stranded where they are and their homes and businesses up for sale.
Also, I remember a promise you made fifteen years ago to some very cute little girls, and believe it is time you kept it. You will proceed to take the entrance exam for Tokyo U. I expect you to pass the first try, seeing how all you do when you aren't helping your parents is study.
Well grandson, it would appear you have no more excuses, no easy outs. I will check with you on occasion, and if I discover you have broken my terms, well, you know what will happen. And believe me; I will know if you are keeping your side of this deal.
And as an interesting bonus to my plan, I have sent you two new tenants. You know them already. One is your sister, Kanako. The other is Mutsumi Otohime, one of the promised girls from fifteen years ago. The other promised girl is already staying there. So I'll be interested if you find her.
I'd wish you luck grandson, but I know you won't need it. I know you will succeed.
Hina
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"Man, I knew Hina was a little weird, but I never thought she would do this." Mitsune was looking over Naru's shoulder, who was holding the letter everyone had just finished reading.
Kaolla was jumping around. "What's this about two promised girls, am I one of them?"
Motoko was sitting down. "I can't believe she knows what happened between him and his sister and she is still sending her here."
Naru looked at the stairs. "I can't believe that she is basically holding him here. If any of us leave, we all get punished. If he tries to avoid us, the same thing happens. He can't win, and he can only lose more than he has left."
Mitsune was walking around, grabbing her half finished bottle of sake and beginning to down it again. "Naru, you know what my home is like, you know I can't, I won't, go back to it."
Motoko looked at her pacing friend. "None of us will go back there. This is our home. Hina knew that, she has trapped us here as much as Keitaro. Without her money, even Haruka's Tea Shop couldn't support her and Keitaro, let alone us."
Kaolla sat down next to her kendo friend, grabbing on to her arm. "Keitaro is too nice for this. He can't even be my new play buddy."
Naru sat down in the seat vacated by Keitaro. She could still hear Haruka yelling at Hina for what she had done, truth was Naru wanted to yell at her just as much as Haruka. His parents had sent Keitaro here, all because Hina promised the boy would be safe. Instead, he nearly ends up raping one of the girls not even three hours into his stay; girls who had not even been warned that he was coming.
She wanted to hate Keitaro for what he had done, but could only find reasons to hate Hina. She had seemed so nice and trusting, offering the girls all the help they needed, becoming like a second mother to them.
And then she did this, and it felt as though their new parent had just told them she never wanted them, that they were worthless to her.
And Keitaro was suffering more than they were. If they left, they would have their lives ruined yes, but they would survive. They would have happy memories to help them, and each other's friendship.
But what did Keitaro have? His life had been nothing but misery for the past decade at least. Everyday for him was a reminder of a life he would never have, of the sins it forced him to commit, as well as how often he had tried to end it, even with death. If he were forced to leave, they knew he would stay in the woods and die rather than have anyone else bear his shame.
And I thought he was just a pervert.
She turned to Haruka, who had finally put the phone down, her fist raised in the air to strike it, hoping Hina would feel it. But she settled down, and took the phone into the dining room. The other girls soon followed, hoping Shinobu's meal would help ease their minds.
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"Are you out of your mind, you know what could happen?" Haruka was talking to Hina on the phone, using the emergency number she had been given before the old woman had left.
"..."
"No, it is very real. You know how afraid of it he is."
"..."
"It is not just an excuse. We know of three incidents already and considering how long it has been happening, there may be more he is hiding from us, or we are very lucky."
"..."
"You can't be serious. Yes, I read the letter, but come on, you are gambling with the futures of these girls."
"..."
"Are you out of your mind, you act like you don't have a fucking clue as to what is going on?"
"..."
"Yeah right, like I honestly believe you are doing this for his own good. What's the matter, did you run out of fun things to do you have to pick on my nephew?"
"..."
"I will not calm down. You promised him he would be safe, you swore to his parents he would be safe, and you lied to everyone. Do you know what happened when Naru got too close?"
"..."
"No, you won't be having grandkids in nine moths."
"..."
"That isn't the point. You deliberately set him up, and you knew he would rather kill himself than put them in danger. You even brought Mutsumi and Kanako into this. No matter what he does, he won't survive. Stop this now."
"..."
"I swear if he does kill himself or harm one of the girls, you will be dead before you ever set foot in Japan again." She then hung up the phone, and was prepared to smash it. But then she remembered Keitaro needed it, so she carried it into the dining room, to wait for Shinobu to bring out the food.
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Keitaro had been in his room, crying and writing a letter since he arrived. He checked his phone book to make certain he had the numbers right, and had been waiting for Haruka to bring him his food. But she wasn't the one to bring it.
"Hello, I have your food and I wish to bring it in."
Keitaro nearly screamed out loud, frustrated that the gods still continued to mock him. But his hunger was too much to yell at the girl, so he made his way to the back corner and sat down. "Come in, and remember to stay away from me."
A young girl with bluish-purple hair entered. "Hello, I am Shinobu; I brought you your food. Haruka said to give you the letter and the phone. Where would you like them?" The young girl was barely keeping her own stomach settled, more nervous that she was talking to a boy rather than a cursed man.
"Thank you; please put it over there." He indicated to a small table he had pushed against the wall. He noticed that as she put the tray down, she didn't leave, she just stared at him. "Is there something else?"
She proceeded to sit down, she was still at least ten feet away from him, but he still felt nervous.
The girl took a deep breath, trying to be brave enough to talk. If you can talk to him, you can't be shy anymore. He needs you to be brave. "I wanted you to know that I am OK with you staying here. I want you to be happy, and I will risk you being here. Please don't be sad."
To say Keitaro was stunned would be an understatement. She is willing to risk it so I can be happy. Why? "What do you mean Shinobu, why are you doing this?"
"You deserve to be happy as much as anyone. You aren't a bad person, we saw that when you broke down in the living room. We know what Hina did, and we don't want you to suffer because of us. So we are going to try and make it nice for you here. We'll try and avoid your zone, and you can help us stay here."
"She wasn't lying about us not wanting to go home. My mom and dad got a divorce a few months ago, and before that the fighting was terrible. I tried to run away, but Hina found me and said I could stay here. When you said she was a bad person; that is why it was so hard to believe. She was always nice to us, helped us with whatever our problems were. But to do this to her own grandson..."
"I just wanted you to know we want you to succeed and be happy. So please stay. I can make your favorite foods all the time." Shinobu looked at the floor, trying not to show any embarrassment. Great, now he thinks I am a freak. But instead of hearing his laughter, she heard him crying.
"Thank you Shinobu, you have no idea how much what you said means to me. It is the first good news I've heard all day."
She wanted to run over and hug him, but then she remembered his warnings. "I'll let you eat and make your calls then." As she was about to shut his door, she thought of one more thing that she could do to help him. "By the way, I am having some problems with my school work, could I get your help with it. I promise to stay far enough away so you won't need to worry."
Keitaro looked at the girl. First she had asked him to stay, and now she was asking him to tutor her. Tutoring won't be a problem, I've studied so much these last ten years, I probably know more than her teachers. "Sure, I would love to. How about tomorrow after you get back from school. I'll try to figure out a way I can help you? Deal?"
"Deal, thank you sempai." With that, she left, leaving a slightly happier Keitaro in the room behind her.
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Shinobu returned downstairs as Haruka was setting out the food. She had a large smile on her face from being able to help Keitaro feel better. Every part of her yearned to help the cursed man; knowing that he was going through something very similar to her. Because of her parent's constant fighting, she herself had shunned away from other people, afraid that they would hurt her. Even coming here, she still preferred to be quiet, to not try and shake things up.
But Keitaro was different. His life would be much worse than what her life ever could be. He had managed to hold on for so long, despite all the bad things happening to him. He had never once said he blamed his sister for his curse, though no one had even bothered to ask him that. He never even blamed the curse entirely for what had happened, and she knew he blamed himself just as much, the way she had blamed herself for her parents fighting.
"Ok girls," said Haruka. "Neither I nor Keitaro will hold you here. If you wish to find somewhere else to stay, that will be fine with us. I know my nephew wouldn't intentionally hurt you, and you know what he is capable of thanks to that demon. But if you are going to stay here, I'll have to tell you the ground rules."
The girls put down their utensils and looked at Haruka. They knew that their new landlord was at least a decent guy, all things considered. They had all been a little worried when Shinobu had volunteered to take Keitaro the tray, phone, and letter; but she said she needed him to know he wasn't alone and that she didn't think of him as a freak. Haruka had commented after they left that the little girl most likely had a small crush on her nephew, but stopped everyone from talking about it. She informed them in no uncertain terms that Keitaro would never go after her.
But Shinobu had returned with a smile on her face, and everyone settled down, knowing that the blue-haired girl had just made a new friend, and Keitaro had gotten her to come out of her shell.
Haruka thought about lighting a cigarette before she began to speak, but decided it would just prolong what she needed to tell them. "First off, if you aren't currently on it, tomorrow morning we are going to the clinic to get you on birth control pills. I don't think my nephew would like to be a father quite yet, and I think its best we prepare for another incident like this afternoon."
All the girls at the table nearly face-faulted. They were about to yell out at Haruka, but quickly became quiet as each realized that she was right. Naru, who is usually avoids men, had fallen for his charm, and her story of how she felt made each one realize that if you got caught in Keitaro's zone, you would willingly go all out, as would he.
Damn, thought Kitsune. Oh well, I guess since she's offering, I can go and get a refill. More money for sake, and I think I'll need it after today.
Haruka continued, seeing as how no one objected. I guess they are still shocked by this. They'll be yelling at me tomorrow after the clinic, I know that. "The second rule is that if anyone is going to talk to Keitaro, it would be best to have a second person nearby. Naru was lucky that Kitsune stopped her. If we work in pairs, I am certain we can both avoid his zone, and help him feel safe, knowing one of you will stop the other before it's too late."
The girls each nodded their head in agreement. "Third, if you are alone, be careful, announce yourself loudly before entering a room, and for the love of god, knock loudly. If we let him know we are around, he will worry less about accidentally running into one of use."
"Fourth, do not attack him in any way, shape or form. If a girl is caught in his zone, do not try and remove him, remove the girl only. Naru, Motoko, I know the two of you have some strong attacks that I have seen you use, but do not use them on my nephew. I shudder to think what could happen if he landed in a populated area."
Both Naru and Motoko had a quick vision of Keitaro landing in a local market, but quickly shook it out of their heads once it began to get too perverted. Mitsune on the other hand let it continue to play on in her mind, before she was interrupted by Haruka.
"Fifth, and finally for now, be nice to him. He needs friends right now, not intolerant people. Think very carefully before you speak to him, and be certain you try and understand the message he is trying to send. My nephew had grown up a lot, but still had an occasional case of the 'foot-in-mouth' disease."
The girls each shook their heads, agreeing to the terms, before eating their meals.
Haruka was joining them, taking small bites of her food, as she began to think.
The old bat really did it this time. But my nephew at least made up for his first impressions. I know he won't fail the girls, and each one seems to not wish him any more pain. Now I just have to figure a way for him to take the entrance exam to Tokyo U. Fortunately the old bat never said he had to go, just only pass the test. The girls will feel safe at least talking to him, and I'll have to send Kitsune to pick up the supplies for the repairs, which gives her something to do, and hopefully keeps her from playing around with Keitaro. Of all the girls, she is the one most likely to go after him, especially after hearing how Naru described her feelings from when she was in the zone.
After all, even Keitaro knows what emotion the zone forces onto him and whatever girl he is with; total, unconditional, love for each other.
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Keitaro put down the phone and removed the letters from the fax machine. Akiri, the young miko who had sealed the demon in him, had always kept in touch with him, offering him guidance and even teaching him some techniques to gain a better control over the demon urges. Her research had removed many fears from his family, as she had discovered an incident involving the same type of demon about 400 years ago. They knew what to expect and could prepare, and since the demon never mated with another demon; only humans, family members were safe, as the demon would see them as demons like it.
They talked about once or twice a week, and a weird friendship had developed between the two. Keitaro never blamed her for what happened, as she never knew they were there until it was too late. At one point, the priestess had even offered to serve him for the remainder of his days, to make up for the grave situation she had put him in. But he turned her down, saying that he would rather have her as a friend, that it was his decision to save his sister, and that she was not to blame.
She had informed him that one of her teachers, an elder monk by the name of Hideki, was returning from China tonight, where he had spent the last few months studying some ancient scrolls. It was hoped that the two would be able to put up a combination attack to forever silence the demon inside of Keitaro, and allow him to live a normal life.
A normal life. I've heard those words so often, they have lost all meaning. I won't get my hope up. The last time they tried, they barely dented my zone. But I have faith that they will try their best, win or lose, I will be thankful for that. If it wasn't for them, my parents would have cracked a long time ago. But at least we have their help. At least I know they will never give up.
Besides, Akiri is too cute now. I might just take her up on that offer, if I was perverted.
But now, now I have to make on last call.
Keitaro dialed in a number he had spent the last few minutes looking at, making certain he was doing the right thing. It has to be done. I've run away from this for far too long.
The call was finally answered by a young woman, who Keitaro instantly recognized. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and began to talk. "Hello Rei."
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If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.
Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.