Love Hina

Chapter 2

With Motoko entranced in a deep sleep, their victory is almost impossible. The group of friends quickly devise a plan in which includes someone being used as bait. This time though, it would be a unanimous decision that Shinobu would be used as the bait. This is not the way she wanted to spend her day, especially because her food was burning in the kitchen since they rushed out in a hurry. Their plan seemed to be flawless, but they would sure find out that their thoughts and hopes would go down the drain in a hurry.

Shinobu stepped in front of the group, shaking and shivering at the idea of her possibly getting hurt. Keitaro was also shivering because he knows how weak and fragile the young Shinobu is. Kaolla quickly grabbed a device out of her pocket that looked as small as a locket, and as violent as a nuclear weapon. The thing is, this was neither a locket nor a nuclear weapon. This was just an ordinary trapping device like those she created in the past. She whipped the device at Kitsune, and it landed right next to her feet. The tracking device turned out to be a dud. They were doomed. All of this was just a simple plan, and it still failed.

The gloves, and the spirit that possessed Kitsune, were growing more and more angry at the group. Without missing a beat, the gloves ripped off Kitsune's hand and fled the scene. Where had they gone? They flew towards the Hinata Inn, but disappeared in the distant fog. The gloves were no where to be found, or so they hoped.

Motoko awoke from her slumber and gazed at the rest of the group. She never felt so embarrassed in her life. She felt like she had failed the rest of them, and so she went back to the stream. She sat there with a faint, shameful stare on her face. The waterfall streamed water down the rocky slope as she slightly wept in her hands. This was unlike Motoko. What had happened to her? Had the spirits aura dismantled her in some odd way? The only thing that made her happy at that point was a bird that landed next to her as she sat upon the rock.

Back at the group, Kitsune had risen from the ground, scratching her head. Amongst all the confusion, she didn't realize anything that had just happened. When Keitaro told her the story, she didn't believe a word he said. Then again, who could have believed such a story? They walked back to Hinata Inn and Keitaro spoke with Kitsune. He had warned her not to touch anything that was not hers. She seemed to be paying attention, but who can tell with Kitsune?

Keitaro and Shinobu went back into the kitchen and started on their dinner again. Luckily, nothing burned while they were out. The food was almost finished, to be exact. Keitaro put the final touches on their fried rice as Shinobu tended to the meats. With all of the confusion, Shinobu forgot to turn on the oven for Kaolla's banana pie. She quickly turned it on, but the pie would have to come out later than expected. They both sat down and had a drink of Green tea.

All seemed calm within the inn. All of the girls, excluding Shinobu and Motoko, were out in the bath relaxing from the stress they had endured earlier in the day. They were all chatting and giggling like normal teenager girls would do. Tama joined them in the fun and dived into the bath, splashing everyone a second time. They shook their heads and got back to relaxing and chatting with one another.

Motoko returned to the inn, sword lowered in her hand. Keitaro grabbed her attention and pulled her off into his room. She still was irked about the fact that he had become manager of the inn, but she listened to him because it was her duty to respect higher authority, besides, she felt weaker than normal. They started to chat and Keitaro made her feel better for a change by telling her that everyone has bad days and this was just one of those times that it hit her by surprise. She blushed and went to her room. She sat in the middle and meditated until dinner was ready.

The girls dried off and changed into their clothing. They came back in the inn and sat down at the dinner table. Motoko stopped her meditation early to join the other house members. They were all sitting around the table waiting for Keitaro and Shinobu to bring out the food. As Keitaro came out of the kitchen with the fried rice, he placed a spoonful on everyone's plate. Next Shinobu came out with the roasted duck. Keitaro stuck his pointer finger in the air and ran back into the kitchen. He had forgotten the Miso soup that Shinobu had made for everyone. They all ate their duck and rice, and most of them had finished all of their soup. Next came the second course to the meal. This was truly a feast.

As the friends had received their second course, Kaolla gasped. It was noodles made with a lot of curry! Kaolla loved spicy foods, but this wasn't as spicy as she had liked, so she had added almost a whole bottle of hot sauce. They all turned to her and rolled their eyes. As they were eating their noodles, the timer on the oven had gone off. Shinobu receded back into the kitchen.

As Shinobu went back into the kitchen, Keitaro followed her. She took the hot banana pie out of the oven and placed it upon the cooling racks. Keitaro then proceeded to place his cherry pie he had made into the oven, and then he set the timer. Knowing Kaolla, she smelled the bananas. She jumped to her feet and tried to get into the kitchen, but she was being held back by Motoko.

Shinobu and Keitaro came back out to finish their meals as they saw Kaolla have an energetic expression on her face. They laughed and then got back to eating their noodles. The pie had cooled down enough to bring out for their dessert, but they had wanted to wait for the cherry pie to get done as well. Finally, the timer on the oven had gone off for the cherry pie to come out. Kaolla was excited because this meant that she could eat her banana pie now!

As they brought out both of the pies, Haruka entered the inn and sat down at the table. Keitaro forgot that cherry pie had been her favorite. He quickly cut her a piece of the pie and sat down and ate a piece for himself. They all finished their meals and dessert, and then proceeded to the living room. They were chatting amongst themselves, and then something they wished never happened, happened. Haruka pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket and said, "Look at these gloves, they flew into my window earlier… how do they look on me?" Then she slipped them onto her hands.