Love Hina – Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
Chapter 3 – "And Love Said 'No'; And Some Of The Places In-between"
"'Kill me', I cried...and Love said 'No'..."
Valo had never talked to one single person about his life this much in ages. He was taken aback at how, after four hours, three changes of scenery, and countless beers later, he still had much to say to his estranged cousin Keitaro. They discussed childhood, schooling, teen years, girls, music, trends, work, family, and gods know how much else. Keitaro was first to take a look at his watch, given the fact that Valo wasn't wearing one, and was a bit amazed that it was already midnight. They had managed to put off a full conversation until after dinner at Hinata House, which wrapped up about 7:30 that evening.
At first it seemed appropriate to begin talking right outside to dorm, on the pseudo-front patio outside the front door...until various residents felt the need to eves-drop and hang around the pair. Then they moved to the bar at the Teahouse, where the drinking commenced, and didn't stop for some time. The final location, seeing as Haruka closed up the Teahouse to ALL visitors at ten o'clock p.m., wasn't really a location...they just decided to walk around the premises.
Now, some may be wondering, how Valo has thus-far avoided the obvious pit-falls of being a male at Hinata. Well, first and foremost, for a few days, as noted earlier, Haruka hid him. And of course, you would think the ladies wouldn't appreciate this, and they didn't really, but once the situation was told in full, it was understood. Secondly, it had been a year or so since Keitaro and Naru had been married, and changes had indeed occurred. Motoko wasn't as harsh on men, especially family. Su had matured a bit...very little, though. Shinobu had matured as well, and besides, she had her eye on a particular guy at school. Kitsune wasn't living there anymore, and visits were more or less few and far between, seeing as her journalism interests had actually paid off recently. Seta, Sarah, and Haruka had been in Japan a few months now, since their trip had been cut short due to legal matters, but Sarah and Su hadn't really been hell-raising as was the usual, since she spent most of her time with Seta, becoming his full-time assistant at Tokyo-U. Keitaro and Naru had actually purchased a house nearer to the University so that it would be easier to travel. Things had changed a bit, and those involved were changing, as well. So it was not much surprise to the Hinata girls to meet a distant relative of Keitaro's. What DID surprise them was his demeanor, which was different for his cousin's, but also made things easier. The young man had a strong sense of character, confidence, and purpose. At his heart, he was an Urashima, but the girls did wonder what else was in his heart. None of them took much from their small inclinations, since they all pretty much figured on his quick departure. So it was with a small amount of hope that they all noticed him talking up a storm with the former 'house pervert'.
Most of the conversation belonged to Valo, since Keitaro was able to pretty much sum up his life in less time than his cousin, who was a year older, and had done more in the time given to him. Not that he had much choice, which was a constant reminder to Keitaro. He was alarmed at how much Valo had done as an afterthought of his father's plans. Valo had, indeed, done much of his living in accordance to his father's plans, which didn't sound as bad as it did. Valo's father never controlled his life, instead Valo merely planned his fun around his dad's work plans. It seemed to be for the best.
Around the second hour of what turned out to be a marathon conversation, the subjects seemed to revolve around things that these two Urashima's had in common. Both had had pretty rotten luck with women, which naturally led Valo to ask about how he had managed to get married. There went a good hour and a half. Towards the end of the evening, it seemed the two were now just making small talk about life again, and about this time Keitaro checked his watch.
"Ah, crap! It's almost midnight!" the former ronin shouted, the shock of the time that had passed helping his sobriety along.
"Well damn." was all Valo could mumble.
"Yeah. This sucks, 'cause I gotta be at the university pretty early." Keitaro complained.
Keitaro noticed Valo not really replying. He seemed to be lost in a world that involved lokking spaced-out while nursing his beer.
"Something wrong?" Keitaro asked. Valo seemed to snap out of his trance.
"No, no. Just...thinkin'."
"About what?"
"Eh, nothin', really. It's just that I realized I have nowhere to be in the next few...well, years, really, heh. Kinda makes you wonder." Finishing his sentence, Valo got the 'gaze' back. Keitaro was a bit worried.
"Hey, everything'll be okay, ya know? Maybe you should just hang out here for a little while, get your head together."
"That may be a good idea, but I just don't want to intrude on you guys."
"But, you're my family, and I own that piece of land, and besides, the girls seem to enjoy you being around. You don't get, um, beat up every day, do you?"
"Huh?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it. Look, stay here tonight, and I'll talk to everyone tomorrow morning about it, but for now, just don't worry."
"Alright, cool. Thanks."
"Hey, no problem. Now let's hurry the hell up and get back to the dorm."
Valo was slightly relieved that Keitaro had taken charge in this situation, and as they walked back, his thoughts turned to his mother, father, all the homes he had known, all the things he had done, friends who had come and gone, and lastly, of a young woman named Karmine, and a life he would never know.
Author's Note: Parts of this story are dedicated to a fallen hero; Darrell Abbott. Thanks for the music, man.