Note: I do not own Love Hina, or any other intellectual properties. They are all copyrights of their respectful owners. The rest, however, is MINE, BEE-YOTCHES!
(This chapter has been revised a bit, so the pacing would slow down a little, like it really needed to.)
Thanks to everyone for reading and to those who dropped by to review. I'm already at fifty-five reviews and eighteen hundred and twenty-five hits. It's on the favorite list for eighteen people and on the alert list for eleven. Thank you all for stopping by. I consider you all co-authors, as your comments helped shape this fic to what it is, now.
that man – Really? Thanks. That's just the ending I was talking about, but thanks.
j6girl - …
pyrotechnic – Why, thank you.
Miamaru the Shadowslayer – You have a good point there; I thought that one over. Well, sometimes I plan it, and other times it just comes to me. It's a little of both.
Lee3 – Thanks, dude. I appreciate the comment.
BigFics2 – I'll be sure to drop by and read it, my friend.
Dimitri Plabato of the Dark Icon Writers – Wow! Thanks!
de bombz – Oh my.
Neverwinter – Stay tuned and find out! Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!
Havenoname – Well, let's wait and see.
tomdj1701 – Thanks for the comment.
NefCanuck – That's moral, dialog-based bashing at work.
Hotstreak RMD – Kitsune's theory was something that was stuck in my head; I was originally going to put that joke in an original story. I think I still can. As for Naru, she isn't going to be the only one to be at the receiving end, but she'll be going through the lot of it, though.
Drgnmastr-Alex – Thanks, and good luck to you, also. I didn't say this when I reviewed your fic, but I believe the name of that new System of a Down CD is Mezmerize. Just wanted to help out.
Sorann – It's going to be Shinobu/Keitaro, but I want Keitaro and the others to develop a bit first, before the pairing really shows itself. I'm making this story run at a good pace for the sake of keeping things a bit in character, though the new Shinobu has grown a lot.
oblivionknight7 – She'll have to at this point in time.
bluezone777 of the Dark Icon Writers – Damn! Why didn't I think of that? Oh, well. Thanks so much for the comment.
VoidHawk – Don't worry, my friend. This chapter's going to be all about the magic! So, now you're going to see even MORE of that Negima spice I told you about.
GYRAX Presents…
Awe of She
Chapter 5: Φανταστική Διάτρηση Αέρα!
It's Sunday morning, and the sun is only a glimmer of a light that is peeking over the Earth. Shinobu gets up and off of the bed and stretches, her arms high in the sir as her body goes stiff from the stretching. She puts her arms down and looks at Keitaro's sleeping body, limp and delicate under the satin sheets. She starts to feel slight tingles all over her body. After a brief pause, she walks over to his side of the bed and puts her hand on his shoulder. She gently rocks him. "Sempai. Wake up." She whispers, but no response. She rocks him a bit harder. "Wake up, Sempai." She says, a little louder this time.
Keitaro shifts his body around and pulls the covers further over him. Shinobu then turns him over on his back. "Sempai. Please wake up."
His eyes open and turn towards her. "Good…morn…nobu…" He says, his speech a little off due to his currently half-asleep state.
"Good morning Sempai." Shinobu answers, her soft voice toying with a few nerves in Keitaro's spine. He blushes. Then, he looks at the clock and sees that it's 5:45 AM. He looks back at the girl beside him. "It's pretty early in the morning, Shinobu." He murmurs. "What do you want?"
"Sempai." Shinobu says. "We need to talk."
"Okay." Keitaro replies. He then gathers up his energy and sits up.
"Can we do it outside, though?" Shinobu says.
"Why?"
"I guess it's because I just want some fresh air. I'm going to get dressed, first, ok?" She picks up an outfit and goes to the bathroom.
Keitaro gets out of bed. He looks at nothing as he wonders what Shinobu's intending.
(O)
Naru wakes up; she had a hard time sleeping last night for two reasons. One is that Kitsune has her arms and legs just flopped all over the place, spreading across the bed with one arm on Naru's pillow, making it difficult for her to find a comfortable position. If you have to share a bed with someone, pray to God that it isn't Kitsune. The second reason Naru didn't get much sleep is because of what Shinobu said to her yesterday. Even now, she's pacing in her mind over it. Shinobu did apologize, or at least that's what it sounded like, but Naru couldn't get over the fact that quite possibly, she may be right, not only about the promise girl, but about Naru herself.
If she knows that, then she would let it go, but there's one exception, and it's always there in Naru's psyche, and that's her pride. Her logic tells her to let it go and admit that Shinobu's right, but her pride whispers in her ear and tells her otherwise. Naru is now in the middle of another tug of war between her logic and her pride, and it seems like her pride may have another victory under its belt. Such is the case with Narusegawa Naru, with most women, with some people in general.
She gets out of bed and walks to the room across, if effort to talk this out with Shinobu. When she gets in the guest suite, she finds no one there. She looks around the place, in hopes of maybe finding them in the kitchen, or something of the sort, but to no avail. She goes back to her room.
She sees Kitsune sleeping and picks the megaphone off the floor. She screams into it. "KITSUNE! WAKE UP, NOW!"
Kitsune forces herself up, and accidentally smacks Naru across the face. She looks over. "Oh, my God! Naru, are you all right?"
"Yeah." Naru answers. "I think I'm getting pretty used to the whole bashing thing." She pauses for a moment. "Oh, I almost forgot. Keitaro and Shinobu are gone. I looked in their room, already."
"Where do you think they went?" Kitsune asks.
"I don't know!" Naru replies. "We need to look for them!"
(O)
Motoko sits on the floor with her eyes closed, thinking. What was up with Shinobu, yesterday? I can hardly believe that she actually went all out and screamed at Naru-sempai like that. Come to think of it, she's been a lot tougher over the past few weeks, and she and Naru-sempai seemed to be constantly fighting because of Urashima. Urashima didn't even do a damn thing about it. Something just hit me, now: Urashima is the problem; he should be a man and intervene, so this whole thing can just stop. I'll have to talk to him.
Then, she hears the door to her room open, which disturbs her train of thought. Kitsune comes in.
"Motoko. Get Su up. Shinobu and Keitaro are gone, and we have to go look for them." Kitsune says.
"They're gone?" Motoko replies. Then, she walks over to Su and pokes her with her bokken. It does a good job of waking her.
Su jumps up. "Good morning Motoko!" She exclaims cheerfully.
"All right." Kitsune says. "Now that everyone's awake, we need to look for them." Kitsune leaves, with Motoko and Su following her.
(O)
They both stand at the Shonan Beach; Shinobu's hand is tightly clasped on to Keitaro's. To her, the warmth of their hands holding one another is enough to overcome the morning chill.
Keitaro turns to her. "So what is it that you want to talk about?"
"It's about yesterday." Shinobu answers.
"I thought we were already through that." Keitaro replies.
"That's like you, Sempai." Shinobu says. "You're a guy, so it's ok; guys don't have that 'memory' problem. See, after two guys get into conflict, they get over it like it never happened. Not the case with women. After two girls fight, that conflict gets etched into their memories. Something that negative leaves a lasting impression, especially on someone as fair as a woman. We don't forget, and we don't get over it that easily."
"But you apologized for it." Keitaro replies. "You said you were sorry back at the park."
"I don't think that apology has gotten to Naru's head." Shinobu says in response. "She has a strong sense of pride and what I said might have made a dent on her ego."
"I see where you're getting at." Keitaro replies. "But give her some time, and she'll come around. I could even talk to her about this, but I don't know how well that would work."
"You'll help me out with this?" Shinobu inquires.
"Sure." Keitaro answers. "After all, we can't just leave Naru in the dust."
"Thank you, Sempai." Shinobu says. "Thank you so much for helping me get that weight off my shoulders." She lets go of his hand and walks closer to the dancing waves. She looks at the sky, which is a beautiful dark blue, and perfectly clear except for a single cloud, pink from the light coming out of the now rising sun. Her mind is now in a state of bliss. She feels like she's floating in mid-air. She opens her eyes to see that she IS floating in mid-air. She panics and immediately falls back down to Earth.
Keitaro rushes to her. "Shinobu! Are you all right?"
"Yeah." Shinobu answers.
Keitaro helps her up. "How did you do that? You practically levitated."
"I levitated?" Shinobu repeats. She holds her chin and thinks it over for a few seconds. "Well, I looked up into the sky. My mind was at ease, and I thought of flying. And then, I actually lifted off of the ground. Wait. That's it!"
"What is it?" Keitaro inquires.
"I think I know how to control my powers." Shinobu replies. "I just have to clear my mind and focus. Let me try it again." She closes her eyes. Again, she floats off the ground. She opens her eyes and looks down at Keitaro. "Sempai! Look!"
"I see it!" Keitaro replies. "That's awesome, Shinobu!"
"It really is!" She says. "We need to go back to the hotel and show the others. They'll flip out!"
"Well," Keitaro says. "Let's go back to the hotel."
"Ok." Shinobu lands back on Earth.
Before they head for the hotel, they hear voices calling out for them. They turn around to see the others coming right for them.
"Keitaro!" Naru cries out as they approach him.
"Oh, hey Naru." Keitaro responds.
"We've been looking all over for you, where have you been?" Naru says.
"Shinobu and I were right here at the beach the whole time." Keitaro answers. He turns to Shinobu. "Hey, Shinobu. Do that floating act."
"Right now?" Shinobu says. "Ok." She lifts off and hovers into the air again, and needless to say, the others' are quite astonished; this isn't something they see every day.
"My God." Kitsune says. "That kicks ass!"
"How the hell did you do that?" Naru asks.
Shinobu turns to her. "It's easy. I put my mind into a state of ecstasy, and then I focus. It's really a great thing, and it feels good too, Naru-chan. Ha-ha!" She laughs heartily as she pats Naru's head.
"Naru-chan?" Naru asks, pushing her hand away. "I'm not a child!"
Shinobu lands back on Earth. "Well, you sure act like one. I'm just teasing with you. Anyway, it's good to see you back in your normal, irritable self. Welcome back, Naru-sempai."
A small vein pops up in Naru's forehead.
"I'm just saying I'm glad to see you're back to normal." She smiles at her. Naru slowly smiles back, finally seeing what Shinobu's intent is.
Keitaro walks up to Naru. "Let's go, Naru." They all head back to the hotel.
(O)
The doors to the hotel open, and the group walks through to the lobby.
"I'm just going to hang out here if you don't mind." Kitsune says.
"Well, ok." Naru replies. With that, everyone else leaves.
Kitsune flops on one of the lobby's couches and looks up at the ceiling. Thoughts run around her head like a cockroach infestation. Shinobu can fly? That's kick-ass! I wonder how I could exploit that. I didn't know Dick Cheney had a big white pepperoni stick between his legs.
"I heard that." A voice says. Kitsune looks around to see Shinobu sitting right next to her.
"What are you talking about?" Kitsune asks.
"You were thinking on exploiting my ability to fly, and the US vice president has a big white pepperoni stick."
"Nuh-uh!" Kitsune reacts. "But how did you know?"
"I think I may also be telepathic." Shinobu answers.
"So, you can get into people's minds?" The fox inquires. "Cool! I have an idea!" After hearing that, a bead of sweat runs down Shinobu's head.
(O)
The phone rings in Naru's room. Naru goes to answer it; she picks it up and holds it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Naru." An ugly voice says from the other line.
"Who the hell is this?" Naru says.
"None of your beeswax." The voice answers. "And stop drumming your fingers on the nightstand; it's getting obnoxious."
Naru stops drumming, and that's when it hit her; whoever it is knew exactly what she was doing, even though the door to her room is shut. She freaks. "Where the hell are you?"
"I am everywhere," The voice answers. "And nowhere." Naru sweat drops. She pulls out a Chap Stick and holds it.
"All right then," She says. "If you're so damn omnipotent, then what am I holding?"
"Chap Stick." The voice answers.
Naru freaks. "No, I'm not! I'm holding a #2 pencil! Ha-ha!"
"Don't lie to me!" The voice retorts. "I know you're holding a Chap Stick. Don't be delusional. Now, I'm going to kick the door open!"
Suddenly, the door flies open and Naru screams her head off. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Just then, Shinobu walks in, holding her gut and laughing her ass off. "BWA HAHAHA! Naru-sempai! That was great! BWA HAHAHAHAHA! I can't take it! Naru-sempai, you should've seen the look on your face! BWA HA! It was absolutely priceless! BWA AHAHAHA!"
A vein pops up in Naru's forehead. "All right, Shinobu! What the hell is this about?"
"Well, Naru-sempai," Shinobu says, trying to suppress her laughter. "It turns out I'm telepathic. I can go into people's minds."
"Well," Naru retorts. "You could've had a better use for it than scaring the hell out of me!" Naru walks towards her, but crashes into a barrier. She shakes it off and looks back at Shinobu. "What the hell?"
"A barrier." Shinobu says. "I guess I have to just think about protecting myself and I can make one."
"Shinobu!" Naru cries out, holding her nose.
"I'm sorry, Naru sempai!" Shinobu says. She looks around and sees Kitsune. "Besides, this was all Kitsune's idea!"
"Wait a second!" Kitsune reacts. "As I recall, you wanted to do it!"
"No I didn't!" Shinobu replies. "It was your idea, and you MADE me do it!"
"You're just crazy!" Kitsune retorts.
"She's right." Keitaro interjects. "It was your idea."
"Well," Kitsune says. "You're all crazy! You're all mental patients who escaped the asylum because you were supposed to have electroshock therapy, and you didn't want to, so you got out…"
"Cut it out." Keitaro says. "We all know you're guilty as hell." Kitsune storms out.
"One thing." Naru says. "Make sure you tell Su and Motoko that we're packing; we're going to leave around noon-ish."
"What?" Kitsune says. "Why can't we stay a bit longer?"
"Fixed budget." Shinobu answers.
"I wanna stay!" Kitsune complains. "We can still hang around the beach, and have sake parties, and…"
"We're packing, now." Shinobu demands.
"But the summer festival…"
"WE'RE PACKING!" Shinobu screams, with her arms in the air. Everyone looks at her funny. Shinobu notices quickly and laughs nervously.
(O)
The Hinata crew puts their luggage in the train and they find their seats, except for Su, who's creating quite a ruckus.
Keitaro takes a seat next to Naru, who' sitting at the window seat. This makes Shinobu a bit irritated. Keitaro looks around and sees Motoko looking at him with an accusing stare. He looks at Naru.
"Why is Motoko looking at me like that?" Keitaro asks.
"Well, think about it." Naru replies. "You're a man. Remember all men are vile, nasty perverts?"
A vein pops up in Shinobu's head. "Why don't you type that up in a forum, where people actually listen to you? You know that's why God made the Internet, so people can slander one another anonymously. Just leave Sempai out of this."
"All right." Naru sighs. "I'll leave him alone, if you insist."
"And that goes for you too, Motoko." Shinobu says. Motoko looks at her, now.
Keitaro thinks to himself. This vacation has gotten us nowhere. It was meant to put Shinobu back at ease, but instead, it made her more uptight about having me. Still, it's not often someone tells Naru off like that. Ever since Shinobu changed, she and Naru were always fighting one another. I understand the fact the Shinobu wants to protect me, but she seems to approach it from the wrong angle. I just wish I could find a way to resolve this conflict without getting anyone hurt, especially myself. It's not like I don't want her to take my side, but I think she's being too aggressive about it. The fact of the matter is Shinobu seems to be acting just like Naru in a way. Like they say, two of the same personalities don't coexist well.
Naru looks out the window, thinking about Shinobu's new behavior as well. In a way, she reminds her of herself, and it's hitting her like a metal baseball bat. "Am I really like that?" She wonders, as she takes in the sights just outside the window.
(O)
After the train stops at Hinata, the first one to go out is the same balding chubby guy from the last trip, who's pointing back at the train in anger. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THAT KID? I SAID TO GET THAT FREAK AS FAR AS YOU FRICKIN CAN AWAY FROM ME! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" He runs off screaming his head off. Naru and the others get out of the train next.
Naru scolds at Su. "What did I tell you about playing 'Chimpanzee' during the trip?"
"I have to say she really got into it, he-he. Funny as hell it was." Kitsune remarks.
Naru turns to her. "It was your fault for encouraging her!"
Keitaro speaks. "Let's just put this behind us and go back home."
(O)
Not long after everything's unpacked at the Hinata House, the chaos already begins. Su launches a salvo of missiles at Keitaro, with Naru and Motoko chasing her down. Kitsune laughs her ass off, until a missile blows her up. Then, the fox also chases her down and they all tackle her. That's when all hell breaks loose. Keitaro manages to escape the madness and runs to Shinobu.
Shinobu figures that she's had enough already and she screams. "EVERYONE FREEZE!" Suddenly, the girls turn into giant icicles.
"HOLY CRAP! WHAT DID YOU DO, SHINOBU?" Keitaro freaks.
"Auuuuuuuuuuuu!" Shinobu cries out. Then, she breathes fire to melt the ice covering them. She turns back to Keitaro. "They're all right now, Sempai…"
"THEIR HAIR'S ON FIRE!" Keitaro screams.
Shinobu turns back and sees that indeed, their hair is on fire. "Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! WIND!" She creates a cyclone to put out the fires on their heads, but the cyclone also picks them up and swings them around like a hammer throw. Shinobu freaks again. "Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" She stops the wind, and all of the girls fall back on Earth. "I wasn't aware that I could do that, also! Aaaauuuuuu! I'm sorry!"
Keitaro rushes to them. "Are you all right, girls?" Then, he slips and accidentally falls on Naru's chest.
"PERVERT!" Naru gears up for a punch. Shinobu quickly reacts and rushes in to block her attack; a small shockwave encircles them from the impact of the attack. They both jump back a couple feet.
Naru grows frustrated. "You're still defending that pervert?"
"Didn't you remember a damn thing I told you yesterday?" Shinobu spits back. "Or does your infantile mind still doesn't get it?"
"Infantile?" Naru snaps.
"Your problem is that you have a terrible judgment of character, and you accuse and attack without any provocation!" Shinobu yells. "Your brain obviously hasn't grown enough to figure out that maybe he could've done it by accident!"
"You know," Naru replies angrily. "I'm not going to take any more of this bull crap from you!"
"I'm just trying to make a point!" Shinobu responds. "But obviously, your pride won't let you take it in when you need to; it doesn't want you to accept the facts when they don't sway in your direction! Why don't you throw your ego aside and listen for once?"
Keitaro watches this unfold, but from out of nowhere, he has a sword at his throat. He shifts his eyes and sees Motoko, with resentment in her eyes. "What is it, Motoko?"
"You need to be a man and stop this now, Urashima!" Motoko replies. "You're just watching an looking helpless; you're acting spineless again. I can't take it!"
Shinobu's shoulders twitch and turns to Motoko, now. "If you have a problem with Sempai, then take it out on me. I was going to challenge you to a duel anyway."
"What?" That is all Motoko could come up with.
"We're going outside." Why would Shinobu challenge a master kendoist, even though she has only been familiar with her newfound abilities for a few hours? At this point, only God knows.
(O)
In front of the building, Motoko and Shinobu stand a good distance away from one another. Motoko could only look at Shinobu with bewilderment.
"Why would you want to challenge me?" Motoko inquires. "Do you even know the chances you have of winning?"
"I originally just wanted to spar with you to hone in on my newfound powers." Shinobu answers. "To see how well these powers would work in combat. I was thinking it over during our trip back from Fujisawa, and I assumed that they would serve me well in a fight, seeing as how I was able to beat Naru-sempai. Now, I want to try them on one who is actually a skilled fighter, i.e. you, Motoko."
"I hope you know what you're doing," Motoko replies. "Because I don't. Anyways, are you ready?"
"I am when you are." Shinobu replies. She herself is now feeling a bit unsure as to why she would put herself in such a scenario.
"Right." Motoko says on the outside. On the inside, she says. Finally, I have a chance to put this demon back in its place. I've been waiting for this chance. I might as well seize the moment. "Let me just put my sword away. I wish to fight fair, so I'll use my fists." She throws her sword aside and positions herself into a fighting stance.
"Your move, Motoko." Shinobu says, with confidence hidden in her voice.
"As you wish." Motoko complies. "ESSENCE OF THE SHINMEI SCHOOL CONCEALED EVIL CUTTING FIST, SECOND FORM!" She sends a massive ki attack, which shoots towards Shinobu at breakneck speeds.
Shinobu quickly reacts. "BARRIER!" She creates a hemispherical shield that easily deflects the attack. Keitaro and the others gasp as they watch in shock and awe, but Motoko doesn't bother to speak, but she too is still amazed as to what Shinobu was able to do. Out of the blue, Shinobu vanishes out of thin air.
Motoko thinks her mind is playing tricks on her. "Where on Earth did she go?" Her answer comes to her quickly. She feels a presence behind her, but by the time she turns around, Shinobu already has her right palm open, and in front of abdomen. Motoko sees her eyes, and notices that there's no glare or shine in them. Just then, Shinobu cries out at the top of her lungs…
"ΦΑΝΤΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΠΥΓΜΗ ΑΕΡΑ!" A burst of wind comes out of nowhere and hits her stomach, launching her clear across the front yard, and on a collision course with a tree. Motoko gets up and holds her abdomen.
Shinobu snaps out of it and rushes to her side, the others following her. "Are you all right?"
"Sort of." Motoko responds.
"Aaaaauuuuu! What was I thinking? I didn't know I would hurt you like this!" Shinobu flails her arms wildly.
"It's all right, I just feel like I was punched in the gut." Motoko reassures her. "How did you do that, by the way? And where did you learn to speak that gaijin language?"
Shinobu looks at her. "Beats me." Motoko sweat drops as a reaction.
Little do they know, someone is watching all of this behind the trees, a woman with brown hair in a ponytail, and glasses over a pair of green eyes, and she getting a kick out of what she just watched. This woman… is Dr. Ayumi Ikeda!
To be continued.
Please review and tell me what you think.
Coming up next chapter… Awe of He
Keitaro agrees to go out on a date with Shinobu, but on one condition: she must refrain from fighting Naru. This means Shinobu has to go through extraordinary measures to stop any future perverted events and monster-scale assaults, as well as keep this proposal of theirs a secret.
Author's Notes:
That is the end of the Fujisawa Arc. Thanks to those who stuck around to read this chapter. I hope this one didn't disappoint.
I figured Shinobu would excel in wind magic, like Negi, though she would also specialize in other magic, like fire and ice, and that sort of thing. And with her new powers, she proved the fact that she could be quite a strong fighter as well. Her attack at the end of the chapter is "ΦΑΝΤΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΠΥΓΜΗ ΑΕΡΑ". That says "PHANTASTIKE PUGME AERA", which means "IMAGINARY WIND FIST". The title says "Phantastike Diatrese Aera", which means "Imaginary Wind Punch", which was originally what I was going to name the attack until I changed my mind at the last minute. I had to go through a lot of crap to convert the Greek letters to English ones. As for the Greek phrases themselves, I used a WorldLingo machine translator to translate English to Greek, so it may not be completely accurate.
As a treat to those who read this fic, I bring you its first omake!
GYRAX Presents…
Awe of She-Hulk: The Omake!
"What's going on here?" Keitaro asks.
Shinobu and Su turn to him while standing next to Shinobu's room.
"Remember when Su kept telling everyone that she always wanted to be like the Hulk?" Shinobu says.
"Yeah." Keitaro replies.
"Well, watch a girls fantasy come true!" Shinobu exclaims, now turning towards Su. "Check this out. Wind Flower! Wind Flower! TURN THIS GIRL INTO A DAMN SHE-HULK!" With one breeze, Su suddenly becomes green and muscular.
Su takes notice immediately. "Aww! Cool! I am The She-Hulk! I shall crush evil! Bad guys everywhere PH34R M3! SU-HULK SMASH…" Suddenly, Su falls through the second floor, due to her own massive weight. She lands on the first floor.
Keitaro runs to check on Su. "You all right down there?"
"I'm fine, sort of." Su answers, back to normal, except for the fact that she's shirtless.
Keitaro panics. "CRAP!"
Shinobu tackles him. "Don't look at her, Sempai!" She now lies on top of him.
"I think Su was too heavy." Keitaro says.
Shinobu replies. "I think the floor needs to be more sturdy."
That's it for the first omake.
Until next chapter, Ciao!
-GYRAX of The Dark Icon Writers