And Life Goes On

by Irritus185

Chapter 11 Up! Sequel to Holding Hands. Volume 8 has finally started! Pararakelse Island, giant turtles and...Nyamo! It's a tropical paradise! But for Keitaro, it's just an escape from his fourth failed test! Poor Keitaro...no one likes him, huh?

10. Livin' and Lovin' in Pararakelse, Part 2

A/N: Hello, readers! I'm finally back with a new chapter of "And Life Goes On!" Sorry it took so long but I've had a lot of problems lately so I haven't really had the time to do it. For more details, read the author's notes from my new story, "Forsaken Memories." In fact, go read the story too. I really hope that you will enjoy it! Anyway, I will continue to keep popping out new chapters for my story "A Moment Worth A Lifetime" for the next couple of weeks. Also, stay tuned for a brand new area of fanfics from the game "Threads of Fate!" Hope you like that one also. I'll talk to you again at the end of the fic but now...a word to my reviewers!

lilbsbllstar10: thank you so much for the wonderful review! After reading volume 10, I'm pretty sure you can figure out just where I'm going to put the lemon, huh? (laughs) anyway, thank you for the praise on my mushy interludes of the plot. : thank you so much. And yes. It is a lemon, in fact, after the first one, every chapter afterward will have one............Pysch!!! But really, there will be a couple of lemons but nothing too graphic as I don't want to be thrown out of but thank you anyways

Blueramza: Yayy! Another satisfied reviewer! Thank you for accepting the personality change, and also, don't worry about the girls appearing; they do in this chapter. Since I'm following the manga and also in Keitaro's POV, the girls won't show up until after him and the others are stranded for a while. Thank you!

Aledeth: wow...best five? That's an awesome compliment...thank you! Nice to know people like my writing style and don't worry, I'm trying to tone down the fluff. Still not doing a good job but I'm trying anyway (laughs)

notonereally: okay! I'll update...like right now! Just please, don't lose your sanity...it's not a pleasant experience. I should know, I lost mine in a poker game

Hanku Royiaki: (laughs) thank you so much for the review! I've always been a sap for romance as you can probably tell, but it's nice to know that people appreciate my love of it also. And chaos adding coolness to the fic? Yeah, right! He's a total dork!...Just kidding, chaos!

Black Demon567: thank you so much. Here's your new chapter!

sexybish666: strange...I was pretty sure I had responded to your review...I'm sorry! Anyway, thank you for the sympathy from my hand; it's all better now! And thank you for the review on the chapter. It was so sweet...and also, about Gidget...Keitaro might have said Gidget was a girl but he also said Tama was a boy, so I really don't trust his judgment when it comes to genders. Plus...I don't like the idea of lesbian turtles...it's a bit a creepy (shudders)

Rainer Aquarias - Sage of Time: thank you so much for the review! I'm sorry about the update times but I can't help it! This is just something I do for fun between school and work! I'm sorry. And please...please forgive me for this one. I don't like it when people are angry with me... WAAAHHHH!!!!

GC-eva-fan2.0: thank you for the great review! Best Love Hina fic...such an honor! And please, please don't send your French chipmunks after me...that's just too scary for words...oooooohhh, nightmares...

G.A.S.A.M: nice run-on...anyway, thank you for the review and saying that you like my chapter and also the end-fic-interview. I like it when people say they like the extra work I put into my fics. So thank you

Lahmikhara: you pervert... (laughs) anyways, thanks for the review. And Miroku won't be inserted into the fic but a person that resembles him quite well will. Hurrah for groping! Just...don't get caught or your ass is toast. I don't know this from personal experience though...I'm just too shy around girls...and I'm also an idiot (sighs)

Shadowed-Moon2525: a literary masterpiece? That's really cool of you to say. Thanks! Sorry about the rockets though...but they do come around in this chapter! Anyway, my grammar still sucks but it is getting better. Maybe it meet your approval

Boombubble: hey! Thanks for the review! And you really like those moments between Naru and Keitaro, don't you? You letch! Anyway, thanks for being understanding for my update time and I hope that your story updates itself as well...c'mon, I'm waiting! Update, update, update!

NefCanuck: thanks for the review and the compliment! Yes, I am definitely on a hot streak now. Two chapters in two weeks? That's almost a record for me!

petran: I've had a lot of problems lately, so I'm sorry! But I'm so glad you actually look forward to my stories, makes me so happy! Thank you for enjoying Naru's soft side...it's a nice change from her violent one!

Android K: Android, Android, Android...forgive me for not sending you a copy first. How 'bout I do one now? Yep, I finally introduced you...chaos! Anyway, kudos for the review and try to update your own fics also...before I scold you also!

Doctor Emmit Brown: thank you, thank you, and thank you. I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as you have the previous ones.

Gothmog: yeah, I kinda made it obvious it was a two-parter, didn't I? Oh, and don't worry about the friend-insert. He won't have amazing powers or become the centerpoint of the story, that's Keitaro's job. But beware...he does like to steal the spotlight...and please don't kill me for being late...

Knight's Shadow: thank you for the review and concern. Here's the new chapter now

Niak: thank you for the review and for also patiently (hoof, that's an understatement) waiting for my new chapter to come out. I love it when people actually anticipate what I might write next. Makes me all tingly

anonymous: yep, south jersey, that's where I live. Thank you for the review and I will keep writing, so don't worry

im an idiot: thank you for the review. Stapling yourself? I've done that too. But an even more extreme version is when one of my classmates to who stapled his entire arm, just to show us he could. He's scary that way but also a really cool guy

Vivi239: thank you so much for the wonderfully detailed review! I find it very nice to see that you find my fic good enough to help with your own stories. I feel like a literary hero or something...maybe not, I still only get B's in my English class. Then again it is AP...anyway, may you enjoy this brand new chapter!

Thank you to all of my reviewers!

Disclaimer: I have never, do not, nor probably will ever own Love Hina. (sob) So please don't sue me. I'm poor, I could never afford an attorney, and I'll probably end up in the streets if you do.

And Life Goes On
By Yamiga'sLight
Chapter 10: Livin' And Lovin' In Pararakelse, Part 2

I woke up when the sun's rays hit me smack dab in the eyes. Ahh, damn it. Don't tell me I was back on that blasted island. I thought Seta had rescued me I was working with him. I tried to cover my eyes with an arm but discovered that something strange was weighing it down. Blinking stupidly, I looked over at the object...only to find a sleeping Naru curled up beside me.

My eyes widened in shock. Oh shit...if she found us like this she would kill me! I frantically tried to escaped from my accursed position, but found myself dragged back down by Naru's firm grip. She murmured my name along with the word "idiot" as she tightened her hold on me. Her grasp on my shirt became unbreakable and one of my legs was trapped between the two of hers as she nuzzled her face deeper into the realms of my chest, sighing in what I hope was contentment.

I groaned in resignation when I realized that I wasn't going anywhere soon. Giving into my fate, I gazed upon the young woman who was currently using me as a pillow. Her long auburn hair, pinned up by a couple of small ribbons, was spread all across my chest. Her eyes were closed, (obviously) but they weren't clamped shut. Instead, they had a relaxed look tothem, so it seemed like she was enjoying herself. This was only confirmed even more by the giddy smile that was on her face.

I chuckled softly at her joyful expression. God, she was so precious to me. Sometimes I wondered how I got through much of my life without her. Not that I needed her to exist; no, that wasn't true. It was just that...if I had to choose between a life with her and a life without her...I'd much rather choose the life with her – beatings, misunderstandings, mood swings and all.

I sighed as I removed my arm from its job as my headrest and shook it for a moment to regain some of the feeling it had lost during my slumber. I put it on Naru's head and then idly began to run my fingers through her hair. The reaction was immediate. Her lips curved into a pleased, feline smirk. She sighed happily as she cuddled closer. I chuckled again at the content sounds. Nice to know that she was enjoying this as much as I was. Even out in the middle of the desert her hair still managed to be so silky and smooth.

The two of us lied there, Naru snoozing peacefully on me as I continued to stroke her hair. Many thoughts bounced around in my mind, not really staying on anything in particular. It was just nice to relax and stare up at the sky that was slowly gaining more and more light as the sun rose higher and higher.

"(Good morning, Keitaro.)"

I started slightly before looking off to my side to see an amused Nyamo who was crouching down and staring at us. I got a bit flustered when I realized the situation she had caught Naru and me in and tried to explain it, albeit the fact that I sounded like an complete idiot. "(Urm, N-Nyamo! Good...morning! H-how are y-you?)" I glanced at Naru, who was now muttering darkly at my unwanted movements. "(This...this isn't what it looks like! R-really!)"

Nyamo giggled, a sound that had taken me a while to get used to after first meeting her. It soon blossomed into full-blown laughter as my expression became even more embarrassed. A small part of my mind was surprised to witness Nyamo laugh like that; it was the first time I had actually seen her do it. Strange, but true. However, this part was easily ignored as I tried to salvage whatever dignity I had left after my hurried explanation. Nyamo's laughter trickled back to giggles and then nothing as she watched the embarrassed look on my face slowly change to sheepish and then one that matched her own humor.

She let out another giggle as she wiped away a few tears of mirth. "(Ohhh...)" Another fit of giggles. "(I haven't...)" More giggling. "(Had a laugh like that...)" Light giggles. "(In a long time.)"

I smiled wryly. "(You're welcome. Nice to know my misfortune causes others joy.)"

"(Sorry...)" I looked at her dryly. Did she really think I found her at fault for my own problems? Such an apologetic girl...Then again. I really can't say that; I'd apologize if it were raining if I though it would make others feel better. Nyamo must have understood as much because the sorrowful look dispersed and more tranquil one took its place.

I smiled at this better look until I remembered what had caused this strange little conversation in the first place. My eyes snapped to Naru and then back to Nyamo, showing what could only be termed as "deer in the headlights." I didn't know what to say and thus only went as far as, "(Urm, well you see...this...her...not to say that I...we...didn't...Urgh!)" I gave up around that part, my head slumping forward in defeat. I wondered if I could receive a tongue lashing from as sweet a girl as Nyamo was. Luckily, there was nothing to worry about.

"(It's okay, Keitaro.)" Nyamo said as my face registered in relief. "(I'm sorry if I bothered you but it's not like I've never seen two people sleep together before. I see mother and father sleep together all the time. But I don't think I've ever seen mother sleeping with father in a leaf bikini before.)" Her face became pensive as she tapped her cheek with her finger. "(Although there was that time when I came home from grandfather's early and found mother and fa-)"

At this, her face flushed enough to show on her tanned skin. It seemed that she had just divulged some information that was not meant to be shared, and was now facing the punishment of embarrassment and shame. "(In...in any case, I-I'm sorry I bothered you! Please forgive me!)" I barely had time to nod before she responded, "(Thank you! Err...goodbye!)" And with that, she was off.

I watched Nyamo rush off before returning my head to its former position of looking up at the sky. Yes, if it weren't for the age difference between Shinobu and Nyamo, I could've sworn they were twins. The physical appearance, the personality, even the tendency to flee at any humiliating point in time – all were quirks that both of the two young girls held.

My thought were diverted from the two young girls to the young woman who now beginning to stir in my arms. Her head rose and blinked sleepily a few times before her eyes focused on me. Emotions flashed through them, varying from surprise to anger to disgust to delight. They finally settled on pleasant affection. Her eyes melted into half-lidded ones and her mouth curved into a seductive smile. I felt her fingers creep their way up my neck and tangle themselves in my mussed-up hair, effectively keeping me in place. She craned her face so that it was directly above mine. Her smile turned into a grin, not unlike the ones Kitsune wore daily.

"Good morning..." she cooed huskily. "And how's my little Kei doing?" All the while her face was getting lower and closer as she leaned in towards me. She stopped a little more than an inch from me, her breath easily mingling with my own.

"F-fine..." I stuttered out. A small gasp escaped from my lips when Naru slid a hand into my short-sleeved shirt and began to trace circles on my chest. I swallowed back the lump in my throat as I noticed the hungry glint in my girlfriend's eyes. "And g...good morning to you, t-too." I know I musta sounded like a retard but come on! What was I supposed to do? Leap on her and take her there right in the middle of nowhere? Sounds more like a frickin' porno movie than an actual relationship.

"No..." she murmured. She moved her lips away from mine and I sighed in relief from the lessened proximity. Unfortunately, (at least for me) the feeling of calmness earned from her retreating movements was swiftly shot down by the puff of hot air she blew into my ear. Her voice was silken...husky...loving...and just the tiniest scratchy because she had just woken up. "It's not a good morning. It's a great morning...Because I get to wake up just like I wanted, in your arms." She nibbled on my earlobe right after, instigating a small groan from me.

Needless to say I was highly enjoying these actions she was performing. It wasn't like I woke up every morning next to a beautiful woman, or that that same woman showed such affectionate gestures towards me the minute she woke up. However, I did not have the pleasure of thinking like that considering it was happening in the middle of the desert!

Naru whined in disappointment when I forced her to stop. She pouted at me, her arms crossed on her chest and her bottom lip jutting out slightly. After her little wake-up call, I was feeling rather swayed to just latch onto it and kiss her for all my worth. I shoved the thought away as I laid my hand on her head. Her displeased look reversed as I ruffled her hair playfully and gave her a quick smooch on the forehead. These chaste movements were sufficient enough to diffuse the initial lust she seemed to have woken up with.

"Jeez, you're pretty frisky in the morning for someone who's always calling me a pervert."

She waggled a finger at me in mock anger. "So what? You can't expect me not to be affected at all after waking up in my boyfriend's embrace. And besides..." She pulled an eyelid down as she stuck her tongue out at me. "You're still a pervert no matter what way I act."

I put a hand to my heart. "Aww, now that hurt."

Naru giggled and shook her head. "Idiot." She gave my forehead a small flick with her finger before turning so that she faced away from me.

I grinned as I rubbed at the small mark created. Like I had said earlier, I was no longer offended when she did things like that. It no longer held any of the ill feelings that originally went with them. They were just one of the only ways Naru could show affection towards me in public. Something told me I would have to get used to it when we got back to Japan.

I sighed at the irony of it all and propped myself on an elbow to look over Naru's side at her face. Her eyes were open, gazing across the oasis, obviously daydreaming as the absent smile she owned attested to. I smiled at her before kissing her shoulder. She broke out of her daze, a startled look on her until she saw me. Then she reflected my mirth before rolling over onto her back and gazing at me.

My hand reached out to cup her face, and she caught it between her two hands, putting it against her cheek to nuzzle it. She looked so peaceful, but something had been tugging at the back of my mind. I wanted to talk to her about it, wanted to see how she would react. Would she take it well, badly, or just be indifferent? While I was still debating it, it managed to sneak its way out, conveniently via my vocal chords. I hated the way my body betrayed me like that.

"You remember how last night you said you didn't care if someone found us?" She merely nodded. "Well...Nyamo did."

She tensed up, her nervousness and anxiety clearly showing through. Uh oh...that usually wasn't a very good sign at all. "I...I see." She then released my hand and turned back onto her side again. "And what did she do?"

I moved my elbow and fell to the sand. I scrunched forward just enough so that my nose barely brushed against the nape of her neck. "Well, she laughed for one thing." Naru turned around to face me, an eyebrow quirked in disbelief. I laughed internally at the look on her face. "As hard as it is to believe, she did. Course it was more along the of me looking like a complete jackass trying to explain why you were clinging to me that made her laugh but..." I trailed off as I saw and heard Naru trying her not-so-best to not laugh not succeed as her eyes were screwed shut, a constant string of snickers exploding from her mouth every so often.

I sighed at the perverse events that had occurred within the last 24 hours and decided that I might as well ride it all out. It wasn't like I was ever going to have a normal life so I had better not get too upset over every little thing. I waited for Naru's demeaning happiness to subside before continuing.

"Then she said it really wasn't that big of a deal because she had seen her parents sleep together all the time." Naru narrowed her eyes. "Not like that! Just sleeping together, nothing else." I grinned slyly as something had come to mind. "But she did also say she caught her parents in the middle of foreplay once..."

Her jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. At least that's what I gathered from her reaction after she realized what she had said."

Naru remained silent for a second before rolling on her back. "Oh God, that's gotta mess you up; walking in on your parents while they're getting it on."

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you've done that before."

"Well, maybe once or twice right after my dad got married to my step-mom but that was about it."

I snorted. "You're lucky. When I was just beginning high school mine went through an early mid-life crisis. They were like a couple of dogs in heat. It was a like weekly mission not to catch them in one of the most obvious places in the house." I wasn't kidding; they were everywhere. Uhhhh...so many disturbing images...

"Ewww! That's so gross! I don't want to hear things like that!" She shot up to a sitting position as she looked down on me in disgust.

I shot up to the same position. "Hey, it's not my fault they were acting like a couple of horny teenagers!"

"Ewww, stop it! That's probably why you're such a big perv! They introduced you to sex at a very young age! They probably did it in the same room as you when you were still in the crib!"

Now it was my turn to be appalled. "Aww, now that's just sick! And you say my mind is deranged. Look at what you're thinking up!"

"Well, more than likely it's true! That would probably explain why you try to grope all of us any time you can! And I'm your girlfriend! You big, stupid letch!"

My face contorted in rage and I stuck it right into Naru's, fuming to the very roots of my hair. Now that isn't true and you know it!"

It being Naru's nature to never back down from a fight, she thrust her face right back into mine and scowled fiercely. "Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Liar!"

"Bookworm!"

"Pervert!"

"Tomboy!"

"Four-eyes!"

"Demon!"

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

I immediately regretted saying that but it was too late, the word was now floating viciously in the air. I was shocked at my own ruthlessness. My anger almost never boiled to the point in which I would use some curses. Maybe once in a while like back on Valentine's but that was an extreme case. So why would I...?

Naru's eyes teared slightly as a look of loathing took over her features. She wound back a fist and tore it at my face.

"You... JACKASS! "

Her clenched fist hit me with as much force as a two-ton wrecking ball. I soon found myself being flung across the oasis until I flew through the waterfall and slammed into the rock face behind it. My body peeled off the surface like plastic-wrap and I fell into the lake waiting far below. Whether or not I drowned and someone had to drag me out of the pool of water or I did it myself I do not know. I was absolutely not of the world at that moment and would be lucky to remember my own name afterwards.

It seemed like my good friend Gunderson had returned after a short break and came back with sweet, sweet revenge as his gift. What a world, what a world...

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So it appeared that, once again, I had managed to piss Naru off. I spent a good couple of hours chasing after her and trying to apologize after I had returned to the world of the living, but it was to no avail. Every time I approached her I either received the cold shoulder, super-sized, or an attempted punch to the kisser. Luckily I managed to avoid each of them but their message was clear – Naru was angry with me and she was not about to forgive me anytime soon.

I sighed as I leaned against the many palm trees that were clumped in large groups around the oasis. Great, what the heck was I going to do now? I was stuck in the oasis in the middle of the desert that spanned for nearly a thousand miles in diameter with four other beings, two of which couldn't even speak, and one of the ones that could would not, at least not to me.

I groaned to myself. Unless I wanted to lose whatever amount of sanity I had left after this little excursion, I had two choices to pick. One, I could get Naru to forgive me and lower the tension that currently plagued our surroundings. The odds of that, however, were very slim indeed. Naru could keep a grudge against me for weeks. It was all a matter of how much pride she had versus how much she wanted to forgive me. Nine times out of ten, the former outweighed the latter, so it was usually a long period of time till she would. All I could now was wait.

The second choice I had was create sort of signal, hoping that someone would notice it and come to save us. The odds of that were about the same as getting struck by lightning, but those were still better then getting Naru to forgive me. Also, there was the slightly interesting notion that I had been struck by lightning earlier in my life.

True story. I was in the middle of a thunderstorm with a metal bat after I had gone to the park to play ball. Not very smart of me but then again...I've never been one for common sense. As we all know, metal conducts electricity, storm makes lightning, I'm carrying a large metal rod...Next thing I know my clothing is burnt to a cinder, I making my own smoke clouds, and all of the lights along the street have exploded from the sudden burst of electrical might. Yet another tribute to my amazing ability of immortality.

Well, other than that rather bizarre trip down Memory Lane, the time I spent thing was otherwise rather...pointless! Well, suppose I could make a sign, what kind would it be?

Fire? No, it was hot enough during the day than to add any more heat, and I doubted if anyone would think it other than a mirage caused by the desert.

A mirror to reflect light? Same problem as the fire. Even if they did notice it, they would just disregard it as an illusion or trick.

A flag? Yes, that might work. I doubted people would not notice it if they were looking in its direction or ignore it as if it were imaginary. Only problem was...what would I make it out of? We didn't have much and I hardly thought we had such trivial things as paper, so what...?

"(Keitaro?)"

I opened my eyes and saw Nyamo a few feet in front of me along with Tama-chan and Gidget. I smiled at them. "(Hello, Nyamo.)" I nodded at the two reptiles. "Tama-chan, Gidget." Tama-chan flew over to land on my shoulder and gave me a small salute.

"Myuh!"

Gidget ambled over and idly rubbed his head against the rough denim of my jeans. He let out a throaty growl of affection and then settled down next to me, making sure to keep my feet pinned down with his chin. It seemed like the two turtles had missed my presence. I guess I had been a bit neglectful towards, but at least it appeared that they forgave me. That was good. I showed my apology back to them by sliding down the trunk of the tree, sitting on the ground with my leg outstretched, and allowing Gidget to rest his head on my lap. He myahed in appreciation and quickly dozed off.

Nyamo and Tama-chan giggled (if it were possible for a turtle to giggle) at the scene, and I couldn't stop the smirk from rising to my face because of them. It was funny that such things could happen but what else could I expect? Strange question to most people but some, not at all. Of course a large percentage of those "some" mostly lodge in psychiatric wards while the others are those people you see in the streets carrying a shopping cart full of empty bottles of booze and various broken appliances. The rest, more or less, are just people who either have vivid imaginations or have some sort of link with the paranormal, aka Hinata House.

Damn...I could connect anything to that place, couldn't I? Guess it showed just how much I missed it...and all of the people that it contained. Oh well...

I patted the ground next to me. Nyamo took the hint and sat down at my side, leaning on the trunk of the tree also. No words were spoken for a while, unless you could count the little murmurs Tama-chan made as she snoozed peacefully on my shoulder. Finally I broke the void of sound.

"(So, what did you want to talk about?)"

Nyamo shrugged. "(Nothing in particular. Naru seemed angry, so we decided to get away. She's really scary when she's mad.)"

I smirked again. "(Ha, told you she was.)"

"(I never said I didn't believe you. Besides, the fact she punched you halfway across the oasis kind of removed any doubt that may have been left in my mind.)"

I cringed. "(Crud, you saw that?)"

For the second time since I had know her, Nyamo laughed. Just like before it started as a giggle but swiftly escalated into a tremendous one. It was nice, not too scratchy and not too deep. It was mellow but still kept its feminine qualities. And it was not derogatory; it was the laugh of someone who was just enjoying a joke that had no consequences or had harmed someone's pride. It was just plain...nice.

She trailed off but the same smile as before stayed with her. "(Well, it's kind of hard to notice something being flung through the air, especially when that something is screaming at the top of its lungs.)" I grinned sheepishly, and she let out another short laugh. "(But why was she angry? Did something bad happen?)" She looked at me curiously.

Not knowing what to say, I just did what came naturally to me – told the truth. I've never been a very good liar; only by stokes of luck did no one ever find me out. Usually when the lie crossed the border of my mouth I was found to be fibbing. Never been very good, hope I never have to learn. That's just the way I like to live my life. Naïve? Most definitely, but what can you do about it?

And I've just gotten way off track again. Please forgive my stupidity. Idiot...

"(We had a fight, that's all.)" Just because I didn't like to lie didn't mean I would go into the details of my personal life. Everything in moderation...even if I never actually follow it...Heh, just call me a weird bird. "(Don't worry, she'll forgive me after a while.)" I hoped...

"(That's good.)"

The conversation went on hold right about there, as both of us didn't know what to talk about afterwards. Nyamo reached out and absently began to scratch Gidget's head. He myahed and shifted so that he could Nyamo's legs as a headrest instead of mine. She smiled at his sense of a compliment and went on with her scratching. Tama-chan crawled up the side of my head and lied on top of it. She let out a turtly sigh and relaxed back into her curl. Tranquil was the only word to describe the mood of the air around us.

"(Hey, Nyamo?)"

"(Hmm?)" She looked up from a quite pleased Gidget. A confused frown was on her face as she stared at me, most likely wondering what I was thinking. I don't know why but she looked extra adorable at that moment, like a stuffed animal that was simply irresistible to hug.

"(Have you thought of any way of getting out of here?)"

"(Well...)"

She scrunched her face up in a thoughtful fashion. Again, the urge to just hug her silly came up. There was just something about her that was too cute for words. Nyamo fidgeted with her hands with another as she stared at her lap in deep thought.

"(We could always walk back through the desert...)" She stopped when she saw the vehement disapproval on my face. I wasn't about to go through that again. Immortality be damned! It doesn't stop me from feeling like I'm stuck on the surface of the sun! Nyamo sighed. "I thought as much. I'm used to that kind of heat, but from the way you guys looked earlier, something tells me you'd rather jump off a cliff."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and growled at the mere memory of it. "(You got that right. I never want to go through that again.)" Hell, I'd probably survive the fall off the cliff. I do that enough when I get launched into LEO.

"(Then what are we supposed to do?)"

I sighed as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the tree. "(Well, I thought of making a signal of some sort but the only one that could really work is a flag. Unfortunately, we don't have any materials to make one.)"

"(Why don't we use one of the blankets? I'm sure those would work really well. Their whiteness would show up against the mountain or trees, right?)"

I turned my head to look at her. That actually wasn't a bad idea. Pretty ingenious really. But... "(Only problem is we've only got two, and I doubt any of us want to go without a blanket come nightfall.)"

Nyamo shivered visibly at the thought. Her eyes went blank for a moment before they returned to their original shine. "(Well, can't you and Naru just share a blanket again?)"

I sighed. "(But then you wouldn't have one and I don't like the idea of one of my friends freezing because I was selfish.)" I raised a hand to cut off Nyamo from responding. "(Besides, with the way things are between me and Naru, I don't think she's gonna want to sleep with me. It'd be better if you two shared the last blanket instead. There's nothing wrong with two girls sleeping together, right?)"

It didn't really occur to me just how perverted that suggestion, but at the moment I was much more occupied with how to escape this arid wasteland than living out the finest of male fantasies. Now that I can think about it...Ooh la la, two girls... Ahem, anyway...

She nodded, two innocent to really think about or notice the unintentional implications I had just made. I was just lucky Naru wasn't there or I would have found my head stuck in the sand like an ostrich in 0.2 seconds flat. "(In any case, we better run this by Naru before we do anything else.)"

Nyamo nodded again. "(Yes, sir.)"

I chuckled a little at her formal mockery before standing up. Nyamo, along with Gidget and Tama-chan, followed in my footsteps as we went to find Naru. She was easy enough to track down; she was sitting by the lake, her arms wrapped around her knees as she brought them into her chest. I could not see her face so I did not know what her mood was at the time, but I could still pretty much guess that she was still angry at me. I took a deep breath to ready myself and then tapped her on the shoulder.

Naru turned around but the second she saw me her eyes slanted into enraged slits and her mouth turned down into a scowl. Yep, she was still pissed off at me alright. "What the hell do you wa..." Her voice dwindled when she saw Nyamo behind me. Her eyes softened and she tried to talk to me with a little bit more civility. "What is it?"

"Nyamo and I finally found a way that might get us out of here."

She scoffed. "Oh really? And what would that be?"

"Make a flag."

"A flag?!" she stood up and waved her arms around. "Then what the hell are you asking me about anything?! Go make it already!"

"It's not that easy," I sighed. "The only materials we have to make one are the blankets. And since we only have two, you're going to have to bunk with Nyamo."

Naru's face registered in a little surprise. It was soon replaced by a look of thoughtfulness and then by one of concern. "But if I'm gonna share a blanket with Nyamo, what about you? You won't have anything."

I shrugged. "Like I said before, I'm honestly okay when it comes to staying out in the cold. What happened last night was just a very nice and pleasant surprise."

"But..." She stopped and looked helplessly at me for a moment before regaining the same angry expression she had before. "Fine! Do what you want! Just know that the only reason I'm agreeing to this is because Nyamo thought of it, too. If it were just you, I'd rather stay here than try one of your hair-brained schemes." She turned around and flipped her hair for good measures. "I hope you don't do anything perverted while you're alone with Nyamo...idiot."

I watched as she walked off, contempt obviously radiating off of her. Damn, she was brooding herself into a fine fury, wasn't she? I sighed. "Yes, ma'am..." I turned back to Nyamo, who seemed a little anxious of our small confrontation. I smiled, which calmed her down a bit. Well, at least I had done something right.

"(C'mon, Nyamo, let's get started.)"

She nodded and the four of us walked back to the supplies. With the use of a blanket and a charcoal marker that was often used to indicate certain parts of our excavation sites, we were able to create a crude flag with all of our names and a large turtle on it.

I spread it out on the ground and looked at it. "(Well, it's not exactly art, but it's the best we could do. Now...)" I put a hand to my brow to blot out the sun as I scanned the oasis. "(Where are we going to put this thing?)"

"(How about there?)" I followed Nyamo's finger to see she was pointing at the large rock formation located in the middle of the oasis. "(I'm sure I could climb it and place the flag on top. It would be much easier for someone to spot it from that height.)"

Yes, it would be much easier for someone to see. However, the height itself was a setback. "(That sounds like a good idea, but let me climb it instead. As adept as I know you are to climbing, I don't like the idea of you slipping and falling to your death. At least I won't turn into a human pancake from that height.)"

Nyamo opened her mouth to argue but then closed it again with a sigh. "(Fine, but be careful, okay? Even though Naru's angry with you, I doubt she wants a squish mark for a boyfriend.)"

I let out an impish grin as I bowed formally to her, one hand behind my back, the other laid across my heart. "(As you wish madam.)" She laughed and I grinned again before waving goodbye and heading over to the plateau. Looking up, I gulped when I realized just how tough this feat was. Well, too late to back out now. I shifted the wooden pole I had attached the makeshift flag to between my belt and pants, making sure it was secure so that it wouldn't slip out when I began the climb.

I reached out for an outcrop of rock, feeling the roughness of it underneath my callused hands. It was then that I was truly glad I had performed so many menial tasks back at the dorm. It had given me nice rough hands, ones that were hard to scratch or tear and fitted almost perfectly into the grooves of the mineral. I gave it a slight tug to make sure it would stay firm before putting more weight on it. I picked up a foot and put it on another ledge, making sure that one was steady also.

As I moved, hand over hand and foot over foot, up the rock face, I found it easier to tell whether or not if any of the various tiny ledges could hold me or not. This was becoming fun; I never thought mountain climbing would be this invigorating! It was even more so because I was doing this freehand without any tools whatsoever. There was nothing stopping me from falling to the ground far below if I slipped or something else happened.

Thinking along those lines, I (regrettably) looked down. Later I learned that that was a rookie mistake, but I pretty much figured that out when I saw just how far up I was. I had stopped a good few hundred feet above the ground, the palm trees that normally towered over me on the ground now looking like ferns and shrubs. I gulped, as it was a long way down. What had I gotten myself into? I could not tear my eyes from the sight...It was almost mesmeric, the sand reflecting the light from the sun into swirls and other various shapes.

This proved to be my undoing. So engulfed I was in the natural light display, I did not pay attention to the task I currently had at hand. I reached out blindly for the next hole or outcrop of rock, latching onto the first one I came in contact with. Still keeping my eyes on the desert ground, I put all my weight on that one hand-rest.

It did not hold.

My head snapped to attention when I heard a crumbling sound. I looked up in horrified shock as I saw the outcrop I had my hand on implode in a puff of smoke. I also learned later that what had just happened was that I had a grabbed a part of the rock formation that was made out of sandstone. Sandstone, just like its name suggests, is a type of rock with a very weak structure. Most climbers try to avoid formations containing it, as they tend to fall apart at the most awkward of times. Unfortunately for me, I had to learn the hard way.

As I lost my grip, time seemed to move in slow-motion. Each second turned into an eternity. I watched as the rock gave way, changing into a slide for my hand. My appendage slid down and off of it, and as all of my balance had been placed upon it, I had nothing to stop me from falling. I struggled to anyway, my hands scrabbling for something, anything, to halt myself. But it was too late, I was leaning backwards, and the rock face was now completely out of my reach. I fell, flailing my arms wildly and screaming as though I was a trapped animal.

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

A large thud later and I had created a human-sized crater in the ground, even with the slipping, shifting sand that was beneath me. I groaned when I felt two jagged objects rammed firmly into either side of my back. The pole had shattered in the middle from where I had landed on it. It was painful, but my body was too sore from the impact to remove it or even roll over so that it didn't press into me too much. I groaned again, my ability to speak dashed from my body just as my body had dashed itself into the ground.

"(Keitaro!)"

I turned my head, the small movement feeling as though I was trying I move a twenty-pound lead ball. Through my blurry vision, I saw Nyamo rushing up to me with Tama-chan and Gidget right behind her. She stopped at my side and crouched down, a concerned look taking over every aspect of her face. "(Dear God! Are you okay?!)"

"('llo, 'amo,)" I spoke. My tongue felt heavy and filled my entire mouth, barely allowing any words to exit from the doors of my lips. "(Don't 'eel so 'ood...)" My throat contracted painfully and I coughed. Red liquid splattered on my clothes, and I realized it was my blood. I coughed again and more blood coated my shirt and lips. "(Oh, 'ap...)"

"(Hey what's going on?!)" Another sound, another female, but my head was just as fuzzy and blurry as my vision, so I could not recognize who it was. Of course, my ears could have been faulty too. For all I knew, they were just hearing things. The constant ringing in them was proof enough that they might have been. A flash of colors – white, ginger, and brown, entered my vision.

"Keitaro? Oh God, what happened to you?!" The image solidified some, forming into a frantic-looking Naru. Her eyes were glistening, the overflow trailing its way down her pale cheeks. Was she crying...?

"'aru...?" I coughed, my throat ragged and crusty. More blood spurted from my mouth; I turned my head so that it wouldn't hit her. It looked wet...and sticky...in the sand. Speaking of wet and sticky, I could feel the same sensation spreading throughout my back. Warm...blood.? Was I bleeding? I managed a silly grin at the thought. "'urts..."

"Keitaro...?!" I felt small fingers probe my back and then retreat. "Oh no, he's bleeding..." I felt those same fingers grab my shirt and roughly yank me up. "Keitaro don't you die on me! If you do, I'll...I'll never forgive you!"

Die? Now why would I want to do a foolish thing like that? All I wanted to do was go to sleep and get some rest. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like someone had crammed me into a vice-grip and tightened the handle all the way. I just wanted to sleep.

Just...

Wanted...

To...

Slee-

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My eyes opened and the sun wasted no time in blinding me. I shielded them with an arm, my eyes dilating and shrinking to accommodate the sudden change in light. My body felt sore all over. How long had I been asleep...or was it unconscious? I did not know, but the sun had risen considerably in the sky since the last time I had seen it. It had to have been at least a couple of hours, that I was sure of. What I was not certain of, however, was the current state of myself in particular.

My tongue felt like it had swelled up to three times its original. I stuck a finger in my mouth and felt tiny indentations across my tongue. When removing my finger I saw the tip of it was few shades darker than the rest. I spit, and a glob of saliva with a pinkish hue hit the ground. It was blood. I must have bitten my tongue when I fell. The taste of bile and salty-sweetness that filled my mouth also hinted to that conclusion.

I sat up, wincing as a streak of pain ran through my side and grasped at it. Lifting my shirt, I noticed a larger bandage wrapped around my mid-section. It circled me several times before tucking back into itself to hold itself in place. Large red stains both sides of me, almost connecting into one giant one on my back. I prodded it and winced again as another bout of pain wreaked itself through my body. I gritted my teeth as I gently peeled some of the bandage away, revealing the damage done.

I gasped at the gash in my flesh. It was literally ripped to shreds. What the hell could have caused this? My perpetual vision caught something. I twisted my neck, trying to ignore the searing pain as I spread the wound open. A shard of some sort stuck from out of the flesh. I pinched it between my fingers, took a deep breath, screwed my eyes shut, and ripped it out. Tears rose to my eyes unbidden as the wound began to bleed again. I put the bandage back on and applied pressure to try and stem the flow.

When I was sure that it had stopped bleeding, I examined the shard that I had plucked from my side. It was wooden and stiff...It hit me then. It was the pole I had used in making the flag. Didn't it break when I fell from the mountainside? It must have gone into my side after it splintered. Funny, I've fallen from much higher altitudes but this was one of my more serious injuries. Guess I never really landed on anything that could severely harm me before.

Now knowing what had happened, I finally decided to take in my environment. In looked around to see I was back at the temporary campsite, a blanket lying on top of me. I guess Naru and Nyamo had put it on me after I had gone into shock or whatever. But now that I was awake, all it did was make me sweat like a pig. I pushed it off me, feeling smelly and dirty. What I needed was a bath...badly.

I found my glasses lying right next to me and put them on, everything coming into focus as I did. I was startled a little when I noticed the others were crowded around me. Gidget and Tama-chan were at my side, Tama-chan in her customary position on Gidget's back. Nyamo was sitting down and leaning back on Gidget's shell. A frown was on her face – a sad, worried frown. I must have given her a real bad scare.

I grunted as I tried to move, only to find that my legs had gone numb by some unknown force. This unknown force just so happened to be the last person I expected to see. Naru was sprawled over my legs, her head resting just above my kneecaps. She was also wearing a frown, but unlike Nyamo's, which was merely concern, Naru's features bordered on the edge of anguish. Tear stains streaked their way down her face and her skin looked even paler than usual. I suppose I must have scared the hell out of her too.

I sighed. No matter what I did I always managed to cause trouble, didn't I? Damn my bad luck, and damn myself for letting my bad luck take control of my life. I should have at least tried to not be such a klutz, but I was just too frickin' incompetent to even bother. What the hell was I going to do with myself?

I shook myself to release my thoughts from their current path of self-chiding and loathing. Right now I needed to wash myself. After all, it felt like I had just swam through a sea of garbage. Urgh, did I feel like shit...

I carefully lifted Naru's head off of my legs and placed it back on the ground. After a moment's thought, I folded the blanket and put it under her head as a pillow. She murmured something quietly and her expression became even sadder. She must have missed the sudden lost of warmth...

"Keitaro..."

Or it could be she was just worried about me. I smiled softly before reaching down and caressing her face. The frown lightened a bit and her features relaxed. Something told me I would have to do this a lot more. She really seemed to enjoy it. And everything was right with the world as long as my Naru was happy.

Err...that sounded a little too obsessive. Couldn't help it, I still thought that she was best thing that ever happened to me.

I slowly stood up, careful not to strain my injury too much. I took one last look around to make sure everyone was okay and then walked over to the lake. It wasn't very easy, however, as every step I took resulted in a fresh flash of pain. I knew it would be worth it when I got there though. The water would help cool down my body and would also help to wash my wounds.

I finally made it to the lake after a short while. Well, it wouldn't do any good if I washed myself with all my clothes on. Could catch a cold when night came. And I doubted that the girls would want to see me naked. Would sort of confirm the misbelieved perception that I was a pervert, now wouldn't it?

I found a good medium between the two, removing my shirt and putting it on the ground. I eased myself into the water gradually. The second it touched my wounds, I sighed at the soothing sensation that came with it. God, it felt so good...I carefully removed the bandage and brought it to my eyes. It was thoroughly soaked in my blood. Oh man, this was a hell of an injury...Speaking of injuries, how was mine doing? I craned my neck to look at it. The skin was a good inch over it. Ahh, it was healing quite nicely. It should be healed by the end of the day. I loved my immortality...

Well, even though it was gonna heal, that didn't mean I would leave it to its own devices. I didn't want to risk the chance of it getting infected. I submerged the bandage into the water, scrubbing it furiously with my hands. Luckily, most of the blood hadn't dried yet, so I was able to get a lot of the bandage clean with only a little of my caked blood on it.

Finishing the job, I glanced it over to see if it was clean enough to wear again. It was enough, at least to the satisfaction of a man stranded in the middle of nowhere. I wrapped it back around my mid-section, the recent moistness making it easily stick to me and not fall off. I sighed, glad that that part was done. I could finally take the bath I wanted.

I didn't have any soap but that was alright, I had plenty of water. I was glad for that too. Dirt and sweat coated my body like a glove to a hand. My hands and arms looked like they had turned black due to the filth on me and my tan combined.

I took a deep breath and dunked my head underneath the water's surface. The rush of coldness was exhilarating on my heated skin. I could have sworn steam rose from it when the two came in contact. I slowly raised my head back up, the water dripping off of me to join back with its multiple brethren. Shaking my head to rid my bangs of the excess, I sighed. I liked this, it was...fun. I continued washing myself, falling into the water and rising again to rub my flesh of the grime on it.

After I finished, I looked back into the water. It was an amazing transformation. With myself now clean, I looked like a totally different person. It was then I noticed something interesting. I looked like a different person because, in fact, I was a different person. I lifted my wet bangs, spitting the droplets that collected on my lips. My eyes widened. No, it couldn't be possible. This couldn't be me; it couldn't possibly be it?

What caused this reaction was what I saw being reflected on the water's mirror-like surface. A young man, tanned all-around with no shirt on was staring back at me. His boyish face had a look of puzzlement on it, only to be enhanced by his innocent-looking chocolate brown eyes. Unlike me, he had no glasses to block the sight of them, which usually made me look rather plain. His hair was damp and messy, but it had a style to it that was anything but ordinary.

Now, I have never considered myself attractive, and by such never bothered in taking care of my appearance. This created a never-ending cycle of me thinking myself ugly and then thinking it wasn't worth it to try and better my look. This led to me looking even worse and losing even more hope and then so on and so forth. So of course I didn't trust my eyes to be telling the truth about how I looked. I'm not vain in the tiniest sense but, as I saw my reflection, I thought that, to some people, I might actually be considered...handsome.

I shook my head. No...I wasn't handsome. Seta was handsome; that was one of the reasons Naru had such a huge crush on him. But I...I was definitely no Seta. I wasn't handsome or cute or anything. I wondered what my girlfriend saw in me. It certainly wasn't my physical aspects, no one could be pleased with that...Great, now I was slipping into self-pity/self-hatred mode. It was a favorite of my inferiority complex, no matter how much I wanted to be rid of it. I was such a moron.

I realized suddenly that I had been standing still for several minutes. I didn't spend the time doing much good. My body posture had taken on a depressed state with its usual hung head, clenched fists, and eyes that threatened to begin leaking at a moment's notice but never did. Negative thoughts ran rampant through my mind, the memories of last night banished to be replaced by all of the derogatory comments ever sent my way in my lifetime.

Loser. Liar. Pervert. Idiot. Jackass. Bastard. Jerk. Retard. Stupid. Useless. Slime. Son of a bitch. Vile. Every single one was like a sword slicing into the deep recesses of my soul, uncovering memories that I wished had been buried forever. Painful memories, spiteful memories, memories that made me want to throw my head up in the air and scream at the world and all of its inhabitants for the misery they had sent my way without any hesitation at all.

The insults circled over me, like the harpies of Greek mythology, mocking me, telling me that I was worthless, nothing, a waste of flesh and blood posing as a human being. And it was true. Oh god was it all true. I couldn't do anything, nothing, not a smidge of activity that could qualify my existence. But why? Why?!

I slapped my hands over my ears, trying to blot out the assault on my dignity and self. But my invisible assassins were not part of my surroundings; they were a part of me, of my mind. And there was no one to protect me from those demons contained in the realms of my consciousness. They were unseen, unheard, unknown, but not any less deadly. As if to punish my insolence, the voices intensified, reaching a state of being where it almost became a living organism. It slowly began to devour me, devour my essence, leaving only a gaping void in its wake.

Please.

Worthless.

Please stop.

Weak.

Leave me alone.

Spineless.

Let me be.

"I hate you!"

Go away.

"You disgust me."

Go away!

"Dork!"

Go Away!

"I...I loathe you!"

At this I snapped. My wish of raging at the world that had abandoned me was granted. My head whipped back, my eyelids fused shut, my mouth opened, and all of my anger, my hate, my pain, my despair was unleashed in a giant blast. I screamed, screamed like I never screamed before, like I would never scream again. My voice shook the heavens, breaking the celestial beings from their stations to witness an insect of their creation vent its insignificant yet boundless sorrow.

"JUST...GO...AWAY!"

...Nothing. No call from a higher dimension. No divine retribution for my impertinent behavior. Not even a rustle of wind or ripple of water. No reaction at all. Nothing.

I began to wonder. Was there no god? No being watching down on us and caring for us? Were we just meant to be alone for all eternity, to live and die with no one by our side? Was our life even worth living? Was...

"Keitaro?"

My head twirled around, my hands falling away from my temples. That voice...it was so kind, so sweet, so...so angelic. I had to see the owner. When I did, I saw the owner matched its voice perfectly. A woman, a woman of incredible beauty stood at the line separating the earth from the sea. The sun was behind her, outlining her with a holy light of sorts. She had to be an angel, an angel that had heard my prayers and came down from its post to aid me.

The angel took a step forward, her dainty foot moving through the water. It raised a hand that seemed to radiate with concern as it reached for me.

"Keitaro, is that you?" Again, that voice. That heavenly voice. "Oh, thank God, you're all right!" The angel sped up, plodding through the water as though there was nothing there at all. When she was only a few feet away from me, she launched itself through the air, tackling me in the chest and knocking me down. Luckily the water was shallow, so I easily kept my head above as the angel sobbed into me.

But wait...angels weren't solid. They were ephemeral creatures, beings of light and air. So how...how could an angel be crying into and putting one of the tightest holds possible on me if they weren't made of flesh. My eyes adjusted enough to see the so-called "angel" clinging to me. I realized then that...it wasn't an angel; well, not the kind with wings and a halo and that plays a harp. But it was an angel of some type...it was my angel.

A mass of red hair shook as Naru clung to me. I lifted a hand to lay it on her head, but paused when her sobs turned louder. No, I better just let her cry. Naru rarely ever allowed her feelings out into the open. Only recently had she begun to open herself up to me, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna stop her. Heh, not like I had much of a choice anyways.

I let Naru pour out her sadness through sniffles and tears. After a while, her crying had subsided and she stopped shaking enough to not show up on the Richter scale. She hiccupped a couple of times before raising her head up to look at me. The water had kept the tears from staining her face even more and washed off some of the previous ones also. Her bottom lip was trembling slightly as she rested her head in the crook of my throat.

"You're okay..."

I smiled. "Of course I am."

"I thought you were dead."

"Why?"

"Because you were bleeding so much! So much blood, so much..."

She shivered. I must have been quite a mess given her reaction. I curled an arm around her, using the other one to support us both. I gave her an unsteady squeeze, trying not to jar my wound as the added weight was already beginning to slowly open it up again. "But I'm okay now..."

"How's your wound?" Her fingers brushed against the mentioned object, and I cringed as pain shot up my side. She instantly retracted and jerked her hand back as she looked at me in horror. Her hand went to cover her mouth. "Oh no, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

I interjected through clenched teeth. "It's...okay. Just..." I opened an eye, straining not to yelp. "Just don't do that again anytime soon, okay?" She bit her lip and nodded. I attempted a grin. Didn't work out that well. My mouth was all twisted and lopsided. "Anyway, it's healing just fine. Should be done by about the end of the day."

Naru nodded again. "Good. In that case..." Her brows furrowed and her mouth curved into a scowl. She flicked me on the forehead and growled menacingly. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

I rubbed at the mark made. "What?! I was just putting the flag somewhere it could be easily seen!"

"And look at what happened!" She clambered to her feet and stood over me before bending over and pointing at me right in the face. "Do you know how worried I was when I found you?! I thought you had died!"

"But I'm still alive!"

Naru stomped a foot like a little child, splashing water on me in my grounded position. "That's not the point!"

"Yes it is!" I sat up and crossed my arms. I eyed her defiantly. "I'm still alive and that's all that matters!"

"But you still got hurt!"

"Who cares?!"

"I do!" By now, we were both standing up, our fists clenched and our faces barely touching each other. The two of us were glaring at each other, daring for each one to keep up this verbal fight. Naru was about to win. "Contrary to any of those stupid beliefs you have that say otherwise, I love you, Keitaro Urashima, and I do care if you're hurt in any way, shape or form!"

I took a step back at this violent confession. A mask of shame overtook my face, and I looked down, not wanting to see the disgust that would obviously be in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't say that!"

I looked up, my surprise evident. "W...what?"

"Don't say that damn word! I hate it when you apologize! That's your way for any confrontation! You apologize, and then you go off and sulk like a five-year-old!"

My temper flared. I took back the step I lost from surprise. "Well if I'm a five-year-old then you're a two-year-old! You throw a temper tantrum if the slightest thing doesn't go your way!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Then what are you going to do about it?!"

"I have no idea!"

The two of us stopped dead in our tracks at my obscure answer. We both remained silent for a second before bursting out laughing, merriment shaking throughout both our bodies as we stood in the pool of water. Naru sighed as she leaned on me, her forehead coming to rest on my shoulder. "We make quite the odd couple, don't we, Kei?"

"Yeah...but you know what?" I let my head fall onto hers. "I wouldn't have us any other way."

Naru drew absent circles on my chest with one hand as she held onto my arm with the other. "You know, just a few minutes I was thinking of a dozen ways on how to punish you."

"Urm, about that..." I laughed nervously. "Is there any way you could forgive me?"

She smirked. "For which offense? Calling me a bitch, nearly killing yourself, or trying to start a fight with me?"

I grinned sheepishly. "All three would be nice."

"Don't get greedy..."

I sighed. "Fine...But first, I didn't mean to call you that. I had no right to and hope you can rind it in your heart to forgive me. Second, you can't be angry with me for almost dying. It was a random occurrence and I can't be found at fault for that. Third..." I grinned devilishly and pressed my forehead to hers, staring her slyly in the eyes. "You need to know you are not all-hearing, all-seeing, and all-knowing. And you are definitely not the boss of me."

Naru's face erupted into an embarrassed blush. She managed to get it under control quickly enough and smirked coyly at me. "Oh, really?" she cooed. I nodded. She giggled, her tone sweet enough to cause a cavity. "Well, I can accept the first two, though I still think you're a complete klutz. But the last one...I believe I am the boss of you. And you wanna know why?" she leaned up whispered into my ear words that chilled my very soul.

"Because unless you obey my every whim, you ain't getting' any more lovin'." She leaned back and winked. "Got it?"

I gulped. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good boy," she smiled. "Then I've decided to forgive you on all three accounts. But until then..." She put a finger to my chest and pushed. I was too stunned by her threat to react and fell backwards into the water. I stared incredulously at her while she smirked. "You'd best be listen to whatever I say...Bye now!" With that she walked out of the lake, adding a little swing to her hips as she did.

I groaned. Would it always be like this? The constant mood swings, the slow but steady loss of my sanity? Maybe it would better if I just drowned myself. I dunked my head but didn't stay under long as my need to breathe overruled my desire to stop the madness. I hacked and coughed whatever water had seeped in. I groaned again.

Or maybe not.

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After that interesting encounter I found out that Nyamo had climbed the mountain and placed the flag on top. Maybe I should have just let her do it in the first place. It would have saved me a lot of pain and suffering. But hindsight's always 20-20 so let's just say that I'm an idiot and leave it at that, shall we?

I sighed as I walked along one of the ledges of the mountain. No, I didn't try to climb the entire thing again, only a few feet above the desert. I absently kicked out at stray rocks as a small ting of pain went through me whenever I strained my injuries too much. Tama-chan and Gidget accompanied me. I was glad to have their company; it was better as they did not have the same sadistic charm most members of the human race did. Sometimes I really wondered how our kind survived throughout the years.

I scratched Tama-chan's throat. She was resting on my shoulders and she purred at the attention I was giving her. "How is it that your gender has so much control over mine, Tama-chan? Is it genetic, cultural, instinct? What causes us to cave in so easily to you?"

She blinked before shrugging. "Myuh myu myu."

I groaned. "Because we're women." Ah yes, the universal answer of women everywhere. Because they're females, they automatically have the upper hand in the relationship. I turned to Gidget to try and get some male support. "C'mon, Gidget, help me out here."

He yawned, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "Myah..."

"Just agree with her." I gave up around that point. It was a losing battle for my side.

I groaned. Even though we were a hundred miles from civilization, and even further away from the girl-ruled Hinata house, the same rules applied here as they would there – I would always, always get the short end of the stick for being a guy. Damn you, God...Make my life into some giant joke...

"Stupid, luck, stupid God, stupid Naru." I muttered to myself. It wasn't that I was angry with my girlfriend, just annoyed that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to piss her off. Who knows, maybe she liked to yell at me just to see me squirm. She certainly did it often enough. Just because she loves me doesn't mean she'd let the habits and ideals she'd held onto for so long die so easily. Mainly that I'm still a pervert and deserve to be punished for doing something wrong...as often as possible.

Of course, due to the fact that I was off in doo-da land and I'm also a severe space cadet, I managed to avoid noticing the fist-sized rock in front of me. Now, you all probably know what's going to happen next but I'll tell you anyway – step by step.

My foot hit the rock...

I fell...

Face first...

Into the dirt.

Well, now that we've seen an absolutely fascinating example of what a total idiot I am, let's return to the actual plot.

In any case, it's amazing how one little trip-up (no pun intended) can really make you snap. After picking myself up and rubbing the dirt off of my face, I glared accusingly at the object that had offended me. "Gahhh! Stupid rock!" It's also quite interesting how humans can blame non-sentient beings as the cause of their misfortune. Mankind has always been like that I suppose, blaming everything else under the sun instead of its own blasted incompetence. Such a sad, sad race...

In fact, to prove this point, I decided to punish my assailant in the same fashion as the girls usually did to me – hit it as hard as I could and hope that it would live to see another day. Looking back, this was a rather dumb choice as rocks can't feel pain (or at least I didn't think so), and hitting it wouldn't really affect them in any way. However, I was too confused and bewildered from all that had just happened to even begin the process of rational thought.

That being said, my usual dormant rage and spite raised its ugly head and unleashed its full power on the miniscule mineral. Cocking my leg back, I kicked the stone for all my worth and sent it zooming through the air.

Now, here's an intriguing fact – rocks bounce. Uh-huh, yeah. I just happened to find this out when the stone I had just volleyed ricocheted off the nearest rock-face and right back into my skull. Carried away by its momentum, I fell backwards and off the cliff I was on. Luckily it was only a short distance that time, and I fell into a shallow stream. But jeez, I might have to scratch the non-sentient aspect of rocks; they certainly enjoy their revenge. Ugh...

I shot back up to my feet only a few moments later. "Ahhh!" I screamed to no one in particular. "Does gravity have a grudge against me or something?! This is the second damned time I've fallen off something! And another thing – what is it, Tama-chan?!"

The smaller turtle stopped bumping my head and jerked hers in front of me. "Myuh."

I looked to see where she was pointing and my jaw dropped. Ancient, vine-covered ruins lay there in front of me. And they just happened to be shaped like a...giant...turtle.

"It figures!" I mumbled in frustration, bathing in the irony of it all. "The Turtle Ruins were right under our noses the entire time!" Damn...I really had the most bizarre streaks of luck...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"(Way to go, Keitaro! To think you'd discover such an amazing find like this, you must really be destined for this kind of work. Impressive!)"

"(Wow, Keitaro. It's so cool that you that were able to find this place!)"

I laughed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of my neck. "(Eh heh, not really, guys. It was more of an accident than anything else.)" I decided not to explain any further as saying that I lost a fight to a rock wouldn't exactly help my pride or ego much.

Patting one of the stone steps beside me, I turned to my companions and grinned widely. "(Yet there is a possibility that these are the ruins that seta and Nyamo have been searching for all this time.)"

Naru's face registered in surprise. "(Are you serious?!)"

"(Totally,)" I nodded. "(These ruins are the reason why we came into the desert in the first place.)" I ran a hand across the smooth surface of the outer wall, marveling at how well preserved the ruins were after centuries of its unused state. Then again, placing it in the middle of the blazing desert would discourage people from looking for it...Unless they were complete nitwits like us, of course. "(And here they are. I'd love to get to work on them but I don't have the proper tools.)"

"(Urm, Keitaro?" I turned to Nyamo, who was tugging on my sleeve. "Didn't Gidget have the reserve supplies?)"

My eyes widened in hopeful delight. "(That's right! Gidget does have the extras with him. Maybe there's something in them we could use.)" I chuckled as I remembered our missing friend. Heh, I could only imagine how jealous Seta would be if he knew where we were at the moment. Ah well...his loss.

After retrieving some minor excavating tools, Nyamo and I proceeded to examine the ruins. It was amazing how well it was carved. From the looks of it, only basic cutting tools were used to make the stones that the building consisted of. But still...the fact that the surface was so smooth and without any type of blemish or other. It made me wonder what kind of intelligence and technology this clan once possessed. And if it was anything like what I saw now then why did they simply vanish from existence and why was there no record of them to begin with? So many questions yet none that I could even come close to answering.

But something was tugging at the back of my mind. I couldn't quite decipher it, but something was telling me that things weren't right. Well, besides the our total isolation. Raising my head just enough to look around, I noticed Naru walking away from us. However, she didn't seem as pleased as I was at my discovery. Rather, she looked kinda sad. What was...?

I stood up quickly, looking down at Nyamo. She was eagerly running her hands over the stones and grinning like a child at Christmas. Would it really be okay if I left her only at the find of a lifetime, even if just for a little while to go console Naru on whatever was wrong? But...Naru seemed like she needed me right now and I couldn't let her down. Still...Nyamo shouldn't be left alone...

"(Keitaro?)"

"(Hmm?)"

"(Don't you think Naru would like to see this?)"

I turned to look at her. "(What?)"

"(I said...)" She jerked her head in the direction Naru had left. "(Don't you think Naru would like to see this?)"

It took me a while to compute what she was trying to suggest. But when I did, my eyes opened in both surprise and gratitude. It was nice of Nyamo to come up for an excuse for me to go after Naru. She didn't have to. But I guessed she sorta sensed something was wrong with Naru. Women's intuition and all that, I suppose.

Simply nodding in thanks, I waved goodbye to her and walked in the direction Naru had gone off to. Finding here at the edge of the lake I stopped for a second, just looking at her. She had a morose, almost remorseful expression. I wondered what was wrong. Taking a deep breath to calm myself and make sure I didn't do anything stupid, I stepped towards her.

"Naru, something wrong?"

She shook her head after a moment's hesitation and removed her glasses. "No, I was just thinking. I must say I'm a bit envious of you." She let out a sad smile as I stood there, totally confused. What did I have that she was envious of. What did I have that anyone could possibly be envious of? "You seem so alive now, more than you ever were at Hinata House. I'm just happy you've found something you want to do."

What in blazes was she talking about? She was a student at the most prestigious college in Japan while I was a four-year ronin for said college. Why would she be envious of that? Besides, she was plenty alive to me. Whether giving me a kiss or punch she always did it with gusto. So why would...?

"Now what are you talking about? You're a Tokyo U student...You've got a future. That's more than I could ever say."

"Are you sure?" What? What the heck was she trying to... "I mean, last year when I was sure I had passed, I still failed." She bowed her head, her hair flowing down in front of her face and hiding her expression from me. "Truthfully, I was scared to go see them by myself. That's why..." Her hand went up to her chest, clutching at the cross-shaped pendant she wore around her neck. "That's why I wanted..." Her hands squeezed. "Wanted you to be there with me."

No...

"I feel like I really don't want to go back to Japan anymore. What if I failed to get in again...? What then? What else is there for me if I can't get into Tokyo U? Nothing, absolutely nothing. I'll be all alone, just like before..." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she made this confession, collecting at her chin before making a long drop down to the sandy beach.

Naru...I had no idea. Failing last year...really tore her up inside. I could never tell how much it had affected her because she had had such an iron control over her emotions at that time. I felt the same way after it happened, like my whole world had fallen down around me. But...if she kept thinking like that she would end up just like me – always second-guessing herself, never sure that the decision she took was the right one. Besides, what did she mean when she said she would have nothing? She had me, right? She had...

Moving to just behind her, I snaked my arms around her chest and pulled her into mine. "Don't worry," I murmured softly. "I'm here for you."

"Yeah, whatever..." she sniffed bitterly.

"I mean it," I responded, tightening my hold. "I don't care whether you fail or not, and neither should you. Last night I promised I would stay with you. And I will, through thick and thin. Just know this..." I lowered my head, whispering as tenderly as I could into her ear. "Even when you think you've lost everything, even when you think it can't get any worse, even when it looks like the world is coming to an end...know that one thing will always be by your side... me." I turned her around to face me. "You will always have me, no matter what. That okay with you?"

The tears in Naru's eyes came faster and harder down her face. It wasn't until she had flung her arms around my neck and pulled me down to hug me back that I realized a stash of my own tears had found their way out. Oh god, Naru. Naru. Did you know what you did to me? She only sobbed in reply to my silent question. Perhaps she did, perhaps she didn't. Nevertheless, all that mattered was the precious bundle in my arms. It was all the better that the tears she shed were those of happiness, not those of sorrow.

Time inched by, seemingly to make that one perfect moment last for as long as possible. I embraced my girlfriend, and she in turn, under the watchful eye of the setting sun. Its glow bathed the entire oasis in a reddish hue, making each of the particles of sand shine like a priceless ruby. Somehow I wondered if it could get any better than this – the beautiful girl held by me...a desert paradise...tomahawk missiles heading towards us on a search-and-destroy path...

Wait...tomahawk missiles?!

WARNING! WARNING! HEAT-SEEKING MISSILES ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH KEITARO SYSTEM! ENGAGE EVEASIVE MANEUVERS! REPEAT! ENGAGE EVASIVE MANEUVERS!

'You know, for once I agree with you! Pick up your ass and freaking run, Keitaro! Run for your life!'

--KABOOOOM!!!--

"WAAAAHHHH!!"

Rolling away from the sudden impact of the explosion, I shakily got to my knees. Naru managed to land next to me so I lent her a hand to help her up. "What the hell was that?!"

Naru coughed, a bit of smoke drifting off her as she did. "I don't know but-" Suddenly she grabbed my arm and tugged on it fiercely. Raising a trembling hand, she pointed a finger off into the distance. "Kei-Keitaro!" she stuttered weakly, a healthy dose of terror in her tone. "L-look over there!"

Following her appendage, I saw what appeared to be a miniature sandstorm. But then why was the ground trembling as if a giant was playing hopscotch? A stampede maybe? "What on earth...?"

"Alright, we found you two!"

"Gangway!"

My blood ran cold at that moment. Ohhh...No...fucking...way...What the hell were they doing in Parakelse, let alone in the middle of the desert and here no less? It was proven now – either I was the unluckiest person on the face of the planet or God took personal pleasure in screwing with my life.

What scared me even more than the proverbial Gates of Hell was this. The tenants of my inn were racing towards us, the fire of Hades in their eyes, and were being followed by what had to be the queen mother of all turtles and her vast turtle army. Had I not been terrified beyond belief, the sight would have made me die laughing. I mean, c'mon...it looked like something out of an anime or manga. But since I was more likely to just plain die, probably from being beaten to a splatter-mark, the scene was just not funny at all.

'He's gonna die, isn't he?'

AFFIRMATIVE! THAT IS THE MOST PROBABLE OUTCOME!

My sub-conscious sighed. 'Well, it was nice while it lasted...'

"Nice while it lasted"?! I was only twenty-one, still in my prime! I couldn't die! Not here, not now! I didn't want to...Oh, who was I kidding?! We were totally and absolutely screwed! But...what did it really matter, huh? All in all...

"We're dead, aren't we, Kei?" Naru's calm and steady voice only managed to unnerve me even more. Then again, looking death in the face tended to make people act quite strangely. The fact that I answered in the same monotone voice as she did readily proved my point.

"Uh-huh."

"We probably failed our exams again, huh?"

I nodded, watching as the girls and their reptilian allies drew closer. "Yeah, and now they've come to steal our souls for all the pain we caused them."

She smiled weakly, her voice cracking as she spoke. "Sounds like a lot of fun..."

Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my mind, a tiny flame appeared. As it grew, components of my mind awakened. Survival instincts came into play, overriding all other parts of my brain, forcing me to reconsider the situation in their wake. Like a light turning on, I saw that my life was about to come to an end. How nice...Now what-

"Oh, shit!" I cried out in horror. What the hell were we doing just standing there?! We had to get out! I grabbed Naru's arm and began to literally drag her away. "Let's get out of here! Run, Naru!" She stumbled a bit but then, as if reacting to my touch, quickly came after me. Of course, our retreat didn't go too far.

"Hundred Flowers Blooming In Profusion!"

Whether it was an illusion of the desert or a trick my fear-induced mind was playing on me, I could have sworn I saw hundreds of cherry blossoms materialize around us. And then, not even a second later, they transformed into pinpoints of light, exploding like a supernova out in space. Naru and I were sent flying by them, barely hitting the ground before another barrage of missiles blew both of us around again.

Sprinting off after we caught our footing, I took a chance look behind us. The sight of more explosive weapons made me immediately regret it. "Damn! They really are trying to kill us!"

"Well what did you expect?!" Naru screeched back at me, tears of fear shining on her cheeks. "We ran away again! Of course they'd be pissed!"

A near miss from the tomahawks flipped me over myself to then smack into the ground. Rolling along it, my head bonked into something and forced me to stop. I looked up; only to find we had ended up right in front of the people we had so desperately tried to escape from. The girls stood before us, and any chance of being forgiven was quickly shot down by the glares they gave us. Could their looks kill, I alone would've died a thousand painful and torturous deaths. It was an unpleasant thought...but that didn't mean we still hadn't tried.

"P-please don't kill us!"

"We'll never run away again!"

"And we promise to pass next year, so please have mercy on us!"

What happened next was completely unanticipated.

Kitsune let out a short laugh through her heavy panting. "What the heck are you guys going on about?"

Motoko followed soon after, the usual exasperated tone in her voice. "You two always make us work for the smallest things."

The next thing I knew, a small hand had reached down and gently clasped my own. It kindly tugged on my hand, causing me to look up to see to whom it belonged to. It was Shinobu. She was crying, but it was surprising because a joyful smile graced her lips instead of a frown.

"Sempai..." she blubbered happily. "I'm so glad I finally found you." She took a deep breath before continuing. "We came here to tell you both that you did it. You both made it into Tokyo U!"

"...Huh?"

Somewhere off in heaven, God was laughing his holy ass off.

A/N: Nyahahaha! Ain't that a kicker? Keitaro made it into Tokyo U after all! Of course, for those who've watched the anime or have read the manga, you already probably knew that. Anyway, volume 8 is coming to a close with only one more chapter left in it. I hope you readers have enjoyed this one and will enjoy the many that have yet to come. The next volume will definitely hold a lot more Keitaro/other character moments in it for those who have read the 9th volume. I don't want to spoil too much so I'll talk to you again after the interview, okay? Till then!

Naru and Keitaro: We passed...We passed...We passed...

Kitsune: (shakes them) Hey, c'mon, guys...Snap out of it, will ya? You're starting to freak us out.

The Hinata family is crowded around Naru and Keitaro as the two keep repeating the same phrase over and over and over again. Yamiga and Chaos are off to the side, looking at the group with amused expressions.

Yamiga: You know, it's funny.

Chaos: (turns head) What is?

Yamiga: The fact that we both know exactly what's gonna happen to them from now on. I mean, as the author, I could do whatever I damn well please. (tone becomes more and more malevolent) Their lives are in my hands, mine to control and mine to destroy! They are my slaves, destined to work for me and only me for all eternity! Ahahahahaha!

Chaos: (smacks Yamiga against the back of the head) Dude, don't start getting a God-complex on me. It just doesn't fit you.

Yamiga: (grins sheepishly) Eheh, sorry about that...

Chaos: Yeah, yeah. Now, the question is...what are we gonna do about that them? (points to the group who by now have begun to slap the couple's faces in order to wake them up)

Yamiga: (sweatdrops) Urm...for one thing, let's get them away from those two before they knock them even more senseless. (whistles) Hey, guys! Leave those two alone and come over here!

The Hinata girls take one last look at the nonsensical couple before sighing in defeat and walking over to the two authors.

Su: Yamiga? What are we going to do about Keitaro and Naru?

Yamiga: Don't worry about those two; they'll come around soon enough. (smiles) But how did you like the new chapter? You guys finally got to show up, and with quite the bang I might add.

Motoko: (frowns) That was a lousy pun you just made.

Chaos: Just ignore him. He's an idiot anyway.

Yamiga: (growls) What did you just say?! You want me to go off on your sorry ass?!

Chaos: (moves into a fighting stance) Bring it on dark boy! I'll show you for making my character a pervert!

Yamiga types a few commands into his dimensional laptop and a giant sword drops out of mid-air. Grabbing onto it, he swings it a couple of times before launching himself at Chaos. Soon the two are in a pointless battle, which only confirms what a couple of morons they are.

Mutsumi: (smiles absently) Oh my, those two seem to be very good friends. Look at how they play with each other!

Yamiga: (screams) I'll kill you!

Chaos: Not if I do it first!

Sarah: (sighs) Ehh, what a couple of dorks...They're acting like such children. (the others look at her in disbelief) What? I may be a child but at least I act more mature than them.

Motoko: (nods head) You have a point there.

Kitsune: (laughs) I'd have to agree with you on that too, hon.

Shinobu: (tugs on Su's shirt) Su, aren't you worried that Yamiga might get hurt?

Su: (grins) Naahhh...Yamiga's just about as hardy as Keitaro is. He'll be just fine...

Taro: He better be. Without him, we wouldn't exist.

Panic: AND OUR TERMINATION WOULD NOT BODE WELL WITH US!

Tama-chan: Myuh myu!

Gidget: Myaaahhh!

Nyamo: Umm...um...guys? (the others turn to her; she whispers anxiously) Don't you think we better do our job before they kill themselves?

Taro: Good idea! That'd stop their bickering!

Su: Okay then! Here we go guys!

Everyone: Please Review!

Keitaro and Naru: We passed...We passed...We passed...

A/N: So, how'd you like that interview? Chaos will now be a permanent part of my interviews from now on, at least in my "And Life Goes On" fic. Hope you learn to love this guy as much as I do! (even if we act like a couple of pre-schoolers fighting over a toy) Anyway, it's gonna be another long while before I can get a new chapter for this fic but I hope that you can wait and instead read the other stories that I have Just check out my profile to find my other works. Hope that you enjoy them as much as you do this! Oh, and by the way...Merry Christmas! Almost forgot about that! (laughs) Please review and remember, no flames! See ya next year!

Preview!

Next Chapter: As Luck Would Have It

Naru squeezed my hand under hers. A teardrop fell from her face to land on it. I looked at her in bewilderment. Naru...is that really what you thought? Did you really think I'd rather leave you in pain to get back to Japan so that I could get into Tokyo U? You silly girl...You were the whole reason I wanted to go there in the first place. And now you expect me to go and abandon that reason? I would never do that...never leave behind the one person that meant so much to me, even if it meant that I had failed to get into that blasted college once again. You're all that matters to me...All that matters...