I really like my story, and although I still don't have many reviews, I greatly appreciate the ones I do have. Thank you all who have reviewed. Now just a few words before I begin…

Havenoname, all this Naru bashing is healthy for her. I am attempting not to go overboard and ruin her life. I've seen too many fics like that and I want mine to be original.

Oh, and on a side note, the name Shigawan doesn't mean anything that I know of. I just needed a Japanese name so I put some random Hiragana (Japanese letters) together to find a cool name. If anybody finds out it, by some random circumstance, does mean something, please let me know.

Now, on with the show!

It was well past noon when the newly acquainted duo arrived at the Hinata dorm. The post-noon sun now shone in their eyes as they climbed the steep staircase leading to their destination. It was then that Keitaro, taking a deep breath, decided to give Shigawan a warning.

"Uhh, Shigawan…" he began, looking overly nervous. "About your new job…"

"Yes," Shigawan urged, a curious look overcoming his previously unemotional features.

"Well, um…you see…the girls at the inn, I mean dorm, are rather…temperamental. I've been having some problems myself, you see and-"

"What kind of problems?"

"Well, I kinda do something and that something goes wrong and I do something to fix it and that action gets misinterpreted as-"

"They accuse you of molesting them or something?" he interrupted.

Keitaro nodded his head.

"Do you?"

"Of course not!" he replied in a hurt tone of voice.

Shigawan shrugged. "Then where's the problem?"

Keitaro looked at the ground as he leaned up against a tree. He sighed. "They don't believe me."

"So what, you're the manager, right?"

Keitaro nodded.

"Then I ask again, where's the problem?"

Keitaro took a deep breath and let out what he had meant to say the entire time. "The girls will take it upon themselves to punish you if they find you in any compromising situation. They don't want us here; you're probably only going to end up staying because I said you will. I just wanted to warn you about them, they all can be kind, but they are always unmerciful in their punishments."

"What are their punishments like?" Shigawan asked in an airy tone of voice.

"I'm warning you not to take it lightly. Do you remember my falling on you from a drop of, like, fifty thousand yards?"

"Of course, what did you think I had forgotten that already? I may be slow, but I'm not that slow."

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Keitaro whined, waving his hands in front of his face. "I was only trying to point out that that was done by one of the more dangerous tenets."

"What, did she push you out of an airplane?" Shigawan asked with a small smile forming on his face.

"No, she hit me."

"Really, now that is interesting, but not unduly bothering."

"Wha-" Keitaro started before Shigawan cut him off.

"All in good time. Now, don't we have some tidying up to do while I get myself acquainted with my new neighbors?"

Keitaro nodded in agreement, so they turned and faced the majestic form of the Hinata Sou. The old inn towered over them as they approached it. Shigawan felt a tug at his stomach as he saw the inn. He was impressed and wondered what lie in store for him for the future. He found out rather quickly.

A red haired girl that looked at least eighteen stood in the doorway, her foot tapping. She looked decidedly unhappy about something. When she spotted Keitaro, her eye began to twitch in annoyance. She frowned at Shigawan, who frowned right back.

First impressions are important when meeting someone for the first time. This girl had just screwed hers up. Her first impression would be a bad one.

"Keitaro," she started in a falsely sweet voice, "I wanted to take a dip in the hot springs, and guess what?"

"…oh no," was all Keitaro could muster, his eyes getting wide.

"The water is green, the floor is nasty…why haven't you cleaned it yet? Are you shirking your responsibilities again!"

"Actually, he was busy helping me with something. I hope I didn't detain him for too long…" Shigawan intervened quickly.

The girl spun around from Keitaro to Shigawan. She eyed him up and down, noting his appearance, her eyes only lingering on his strange looking jacket and his hazel eyes. She nodded and replied, "Keitaro should know to put the needs of the inn before anything else. Why he was helping you, I don't really know or care but-"

"Naru…" started Keitaro.

"Shut up," Naru snapped. "As I was saying, I don't know why he was helping you, but as you must know, this is a girls dorm, and since you're younger than me, I'll let you off with a warning. We don't like men here."

"As for you," Naru continued, turning back to Keitaro, "you should be punished for your lax attitude." She drew her fist back and brought it back with blinding speed.

Naru Punch

Her fist connected, but not with Keitaro. It connected with something hard.

"What the-" she cried, rubbing her hand and opening her eyes from their instinctively closed position. She gasped at the scene. In front of her stood that boy, Shigawan, shielding a shocked Keitaro. In his hands he held a steel mallet. It looked rather heavy, and it was hard as rock, as she had already confirmed.

Keitaro stood up from his fallen down position, brushing himself off and reprimanding the teen. "Shit," he said in a feeble voice, "be careful."

Shigawan merely shrugged, glaring at Naru. "You really don't want to do that, unless you want to be seriously hurt, as such I can help you," he said softly in a low voice. "It would be my pleasure."

"Why you little punk!" Naru said, pulling her fist back once again. "I otta-"

She never finished that sentence. Before she could bring her fist forward, Shigawan disappeared, reappearing behind her. He lightly tapped the back of her head his mallet, then heaved her into the grass in the front yard. He turned away with an uncaring appearance, walking over to Keitaro once again.

"Umm, thanks…"Keitaro managed to get out. This was the first time anybody had lifted a finger to help him like this.

"No problem, so where's my room?"

Keitaro nodded and lead Shigawan upstairs.

Although Shinobu had gotten up a little early to cook breakfast, she still put to use two rules that she had made herself for cooking morning meals. One was to be sure to cook plenty of extra food, Kaolla ate so much that if you only cooked enough for each person, she would be the only one to eat.

Her second rule was to remember to keep at least some of that meal in a heated position in the oven. Due to Keitaro's almost routine morning accidents, he was often late to breakfast. By utilizing these two rules, Shinobu was able to make mealtimes work. Today was no exception.

After cleaning up the previously used plates (leaving out a set for Keitaro, as the residents had been informed by a rather biased Motoko about his whereabouts) the curiously blue haired cooking wonder went to begin the laundry. She was beginning to hang some clothes up to dry when she heard a commotion out in the front yard. Rushing over to get a good vantage point from the roof, she arrived too late to see what it was all about. She had overlooked Naru's still body in the grass.

Wondering what in the world had happened; she puzzled about it until she heard somebody coming up the steps to the roof, sounding rather close by.

Starting, she realized that one of the voices was that of her beloved sempai, Keitaro. Shinobu looked up to Keitaro in every way. She was probably the nicest girl in the dorms, as the never hurt him in any way. In fact, it was believed that she had a crush on him.

While she blushed at Keitaro's voice, she was surprised to realize that she couldn't recognize the second voice. In fact, it sounded like another man was in the dorm. Was that even possible?

Apparently that was proven to be true, as it was then they came into sight on the stairs. When they reached the top, Keitaro tripped on the top step and began to stumble forward towards Shinobu with his arms waving about in a futile effort to regain balance.

Shinobu closed her eyes, realizing what would happen next. Keitaro would stumble into the drying laundry, and when he got up he would be, in some way shape or form, touching a pair of one of the girls unmentionables. It happened without fail.

She took a step back, waiting for the inevitable crash.

It didn't come.

Shinobu slowly opened her eyes to find herself staring straight into the eyes of that strange man. She was enticed by his eyes. They seemed to draw her in, to read her soul then to release her. She tore her gaze away to see what had happened to Keitaro.

He was being helped to regain his balance by that man. That man was helping Keitaro. Maybe Keitaro had finally found a friend. She had to find out.

"Excuse me, erm, S-sempai? Who is this?" She stammered quickly.

"Oh, him? Shinobu, I'd like you to meet Shigawan. Shigawan, meet our resident angel of the kitchen, Shinobu."

While Shinobu blushed at the praise, Shigawan faced her and bowed. She had made a very good impression. "Good morning Shinobu. I hope to sample your cooking very soon," was his gentle reply.

"Shigawan is going to be staying with us for a while, to help me around the dorm," Keitaro said cheerfully.

Wait, staying? "What about Naru and Motoko? Don't you think they will try to stop this?" Shinobu asked uncertainly.

"Naru," interrupted Shigawan, "had a few minor disagreements, but we sorted them out. I am looking forward to negotiating with Motoko as well. I've heard so much about her."

"Yes, well, Shinobu, Keitaro's room is going to be between yours and Kaolla's. And I hate to ask, but I gotta run. The hot springs are still in need of being cleaned. Could you show him the ropes while I sort that out?"

"Wait, don't you need any help?" asked Shigawan.

"Naw," Keitaro smiled. "Just get yourself acquainted with the tenants. This is your fist day here so you should do some exploring of your own after Shinobu shows you around. So how about it, Shinobu?"

"Of course, Sempai! I would be happy to show him around."

Keitaro shook both their hands one last time before almost taking a nosedive down the stairs. Luckily he was caught once again by Shigawan.

"Good job Keitaro," thought Shinobu, "You found yourself a good friend. You certainly needed one."

"So," Shigawan said turning as finished helping Keitaro up, "Where to first?"

Sorry it took so long for this chapter, but as I said before, I write when I feel like it and not a second before. If I force out the material, the story turns into shit. Thanks for reading this story; I hope you look forward to the next chapter!

I dream of one day making my dreams a reality,

But for now, I enjoy just dreaming about that reality.

-B