Pain
Disclaimer: This will be a dark story, if talking about death or psyche after a death disturbs you, please don't continue to read. All characters and locations within LH belong to Ken Akamatsu and TOKYO POP. My writing is not for monetary gain so please don't sue me.
Prologue.
It was a perfect day outside, a fine example of a beautiful fall day. Birds chirped and sakura blossoms fell, their time left on earth was short. Leaves on trees turned color, shades of orange and blood red. The image would be breathtakingly stunning.
The scene outside sharply contrasted what was happening in a certain church in Hinata city. The feeling was of grief that permeated throughout the air, grief that someone dear to them was no longer here to ever witness that beauty with them, never to see the glory that was Mother Nature.
"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spirtus Sancti, Amen." The priest concludes the Latin part of the sermon.
"Amen," the rest of the people at the funeral followed the priest's last word.
"Now, I would like to say a few words about this young man who had been taken away from us at the prime of his life." The Priest started after the ring of Amen's subsided in the church.
"Urashima Keitaro was a good man and God shall be happy to take him into the kingdom of heaven and into the bosom of our lord and savior Jesus Christ."
"He was a caring man who put others before himself, he would defend the weak and punish the wrongdoers and never allow others to be harmed."
"He loved and cared for all of you in here and would not like to see tears but smiles and push this sorrow aside."
"He will be in each one of your hearts, let not you forget him and he shall remain with you and watch over you from the heavens."
"Let not you forget him, and he will never truly be gone from your side."
The priest finished his speech about Keitaro amongst the silent tears and sobbing from the whole church. He himself never knew the man, but could not help but feel sorrow. He had conducted many funerals, and all of them etched on his memory forever. This funeral was no different.
"Now, you all may have seen Keitaro one last time before he was taken to his final resting spot among his ancestors." The priest lightly choked on his words.
The whole processions rose in unison and lined up to see the beloved face that would never be seen again on this Earth.
Kyoko and Hiroshi Urashima peered into the casket at their only son. Kyoko was sobbing loudly and clutching her chest, while Hiroshi tried to be strong for his wife but failing miserably.
"S-ssson... I...I am sorry," Kyoko found the words through her tears," I... I am so sorry that we were so hard on you... only if... only if we weren't so hard you wouldn't have moved out to that horrible place... and you would be still alive and well, what I wouldn't give to see your smiling face once more...!"
She let out a cry of anguish that pierced through the heart of everyone at the funeral. Hiroshi tried gently to pull his wife away from the casket, while she resisted with all her might, crying that she wanted Keitaro back.
When he was finally able to pull her away, he peered back at his son, "Well son," Hiroshi whispered, he tried to find the words to speak to son, the last words he would hear. He could not find any words to say and his resolve failed on him. The tears he tried to hold throughout the funeral ran down his miserable face. He walked away, sharing his sorrow with his wife.
Kanako passed him, her normal goth clothing was replaced by a black dress. The dress was something she swore never to wear when Keitaro gave it to her as a sixteen-birthday gift. It was absolutely hideous, and when she got it opened, she swore that day she would only wear the gift was when Keitaro died. He laughed then saying since she wore only black; she should have a black dress. He found it an antique dress shop, and want to gibe her on her special day. He took out a box that was behind him the whole time, and revealed a beautiful silver cross necklace.
"This is your real gift Kanako," Keitaro whispered as he helped her put on her neck. The gift made Kanako felt like she receiving the most precious object in the world. She ran up to and gave him a bear of a hug, nearly killing him. "Hey, loosen up!" Keitaro laughed in his special way and it brought a blush to her face…
She was currently wearing the dress, the only dress she ever gotten. And her cross necklace.
She walked up to the casket, her usual stoic face soaked with tears.
"Oh, onii-chan," Kanako whispered, she stroked his cold face, "I loved you so much, now what am I supposed to do?"
"You were the only one to bring me happiness after my real parents died, only to comfort me during when I needed love the most, Now what am I supposed to do without you onii-chan?"
She screamed for her brother, hoping that the heavens would bring him back. Tears flowed from her eyes; tears that would not crease long after Hiroshi helped her to her adopted mother's side.
"W-well kiddo..." Haruka croaked with Seta at her side, "Hey, there part-timer..." They had finally married, finding out that they loved each other. That was just before Keitaro had died. Happiness and sorrow are one, the sages say. If you find one, you also find the other.
They had tried to bring Sara along, but she flat out refused to see the dork. Sara tried to hide the fact that she begun to care about Keitaro but Haruka and Seta understood what she was going through. She was last seen crying in the hotel room, just coming back from Toudai, their honeymoon. They had received the phone call that no one ever wants hear. Someone had passed away.
"S-sorry for all those times I hit you for you calling me aunt..." Haruka tried to talk to her nephew. "What I do just to hear you call me aunt again..." She remised about the many times when she had slapped Keitaro with her paper fan; beginning with when he was almost bare naked from "meeting" all the crew at the Hinata house. He had reached for her, looking for safety. He had called her aunt then…
Haruka laughed softly then remembered the comic scene.
'She would never have those scenes ever again' her mind told her.
Haruka's heart tanked and she brawled into Seta's lab coat and soaked it.
Seta tried to say his comments while hold his wife in comfort. He was trying to give her some strength to get over the sorrow of her never seeing her favorite nephew again.
Nothing but time would cure the anguish, felt by everyone there.
"What adventures we had eh, Keitaro...?" He also was flooded by memories of Keitaro.
The day when Keitaro signed on as his 'page' to travel to America to explore for ruins there. They did indeed find majestic ruins of the Native Americans who had disappeared hundreds of years ago. They found that the ancient turtle civilization was even reached to America. They found the drawings etched inside the caves and dwellings. They even found a shrine, a two-story tall turtle that they happily submitted as their own findings and made them famous in the archeological field in America.
"I-I will make sure you receive most of the credit Keitaro… You would like that right?" Seta was never for tears, but he couldn't stop the few that flowed from his eyes. He helped Haruka back to their seats, holding her close and whispering to remember the better times.
Out of all the girls at Hinata-Sou, Su had changed the most since Keitaro's death, both mentally and physical. With Keitaro's passing, Su was now stuck in her adult form and her normal eccentric lifestyle disappeared. She never spoke to anyone and never replied when spoken to.
"Keitaro, you were like my big brother, caring for me when I was all alone," Su spoke quietly, her first words since the incident, "With you I could remain the child I was, you told me that I didn't have to grow up fast since others wanted it."
"Here Keitaro, I want you to have this." Su placed a small photo of the group at Hinata-Sou when they were at the beachside cafe. In the middle was Keitaro surrounded by the smiling faces of each girl and Su looking the happiest on top of Keitaro's head.
She slowly walked back to her seat, not ever looking back at the casket. She had her eyes drawn down and did not speak for the rest of the funeral.
The next girl in line was Shinobu, she was dressed in the formal attire that was required at a funeral but on her dress was a brooch that Keitaro had once given her for her hard work during junior-high. She wore it proudly when she first got it, that with her beloved sempai's help, she had gotten into an excellent high school. Now that entire brooch reminded her was the emptiness that Keitaro left behind.
She had strengthened her resolve and got up to the casket and said the words that she never ever had the courage to say.
"Sempai," she whispered into his ear, hoping that somewhere in heaven he could hear the words, "I regret that I never had the chance to say this earlier... but I love you."
Such simple words, three words that could express everything in the world for another. It was words from the heart, nothing else in the world could match its intensity or its honesty.
Shinobu felt a tear rolling down her cheeks and it fell on Keitaro's face. It was a picture of heartbreaking proportions, which a single tear fell from one eye to another. Its sadness shared by both parties.
She could not take it anymore and Shinobu's determination not to cry broke. She ran back to her seat and let the tears flow.
Mutsumi had flown in from Okinawa; she was away at home visiting her extended family. Her Kei-kun was forever gone. She was heartbroken when he chose Naru over her, but she thought they deserved to be together. She even told the lie, the one that Naru was his promise girl to Naru on that night. She couldn't break the heart of the girl who had become as special to her as her Kei-kun was. She thought as long as she was near Kei-kun, she would be all right. She held a spot in his heart, she knew that he held a spot for everyone but Naru and she would have the ones from his past. The most special of them all.
"Kei-kun…" Her usual cheerful demeanor was gone. Like Su, she had changed dramatically. She was no longer the klutz and she was withdrawn. She was greatly distraught that she wasn't there to protect her Kei-kun.
She remembered the events fifteen years ago; she was playing in the sandbox with Keitaro and Naru. She sang the children's rhyme song with Keitaro, Naru barely two years old trying to sing as well. Naru had gotten livid that she couldn't pronounce the words nor follow along. She ran and tried to steal the Liddo-kun doll from Mutsumi. Keitaro tried to quell the fighting, and then Mutsumi said the fateful word, Toudai. "Toudai?" All of them tried to say the unfamiliar word. Grandma Hina took Naru away; as she saw the little girl trying to take what was not hers. Mutsumi was saddened, and decided to give away her doll as repentance for getting her new friend in trouble.
"Kei-kun…" She related a story she heard from her mother, "Do you know what happens to people who go to Toudai together?"
Keitaro shook his head.
"They live happily ever after!" She smiled and gave a kiss to his cheeks. Both of them blushing as they experience a first kiss together.
Mutsumi placed her hands to her lips, and blew a kiss to the same spot on Keitaro's face. "W-we were happy together, all three of us Kei-kun." Mutsumi was crying, "We all got into Toudai… why couldn't it remain that way?"
She didn't notice her feet moving as she reached her seat, 'the wish never said there would be sadness…' Her thoughts kept on repeating.
No girl was unaffected, and Kitsune was no exception. She had fallen in love with the guy, and she never noticed it till he was gone. She felt jealous whenever she found Keitaro with the other girls, but she had passed off as never allowing other men into her heart. They all wanted one thing from her, and she would never give that away, only to the man who would was worthy. That man was now gone.
Kitsune remembered the hundreds of times she allowed Keitaro see her semi-nude, he always thought it was an accident and got blasted into the atmosphere for it. She was actually really shy among men, but Keitaro made her safe. She knew that he would never take advantage of her. She blushed whenever Keitaro helped her, but was careful never to allow it to show to other girls. Keitaro thought she was just being whom she was, too dense to never notice her guards were completely down whenever he was around. She loved that about him, whenever she touched him, Keitaro ran away in embarrassment rather then making a move back on her.
"Keitaro, remember all those times I was drunk and you helped me to my room, and you looked out for me." Kitsune said quietly, she had wanted to get this off her chest and did not care at the scandalous looks she was getting from the people who did not know her. The other girls of the Hinata house who heard her, nodded, "I never got to say thank you did I? Well Keitaro, thanks for never taking advantage of me when I was so vulnerable, I know that no other guy would have done the same."
She berated herself in her mind that she could not think of anything else to say, she wanted to express her love for the now gone landlord, attraction that she was too cowardly to say out loud. Kitsune went back to her seat, crying that now that the one guy she could depend on was truly gone.
Motoko felt naked without her sword, but she had thrown it away when she could not protect the innocent, especially the man that had taught her so much. She vowed that until she knew that she was ready again to protect the people around her, she would not dare touch her sword.
"Urashi... I mean Keitaro," Motoko looked at the man that was a source of conflicting emotions, "I could not save you that day, and I am truly sorry..."
Keitaro had almost captured her heart from the beginning; she thought he was her first love, but found out it was just a cold. She wanted to beat him to hell, but could not as she almost fell into the hot springs, and he took the fall for her.
He had chased her to the lodge where she ran away, she had leveled up in her skills and she learned that she didn't have to be always so somber in her training; she began to match her sister Tsuruko's level.
The both times when Tsuruko came to take her away, once for taking her away to take over the God's Cry School and when she didn't get into Toudai. Keitaro saved her both times.
And the last time when she finally admitted her feelings to him, her love. With his pencil, she was able to defeat Tsuruko and given a free reign over her life.
"I should have been the one to die that day," she continued as she saw the past so clearly in her mind, "So why... Why?"
Motoko could not understand why Keitaro had done the thing he had done. He could have just let her taken care of the problem and not jumped into the way as he had done. She wanted to express her fears, and anger onto the man. He was gone, and she would never see him again. Her face became a stoic mask, and she sat back down.
Naru had been keeping a secret from everyone, even from Keitaro, a secret that she knew she could hide no longer. It was a miracle that she was able to keep the secret so long, but now she knew it was time, the people around her had to know what was growing inside of her.
"Keitaro, my love, I don't know how to say this," Naru said in the clearest voice she could muster in front of her love, "I am pregnant..."
There was a rush of cries around her, but to Naru all she could hear was the silence, Keitaro could not answer she told herself.
"I've been pregnant for a month, that is why all those times I have been moody and throwing up." she continued amongst the noise, "I tried to tell you but you were so happy that we were together, I did not want to ruin that, I did not know what you would have done if I told you."
"You would have run away? I would have killed this child for you then, my love, I rather have lost this child rather then me losing you..."
Her thoughts were muddled by all the noise and tragedy. Hiroshi helped her to her feet. He placed her near Kyoko instead of back in her seat, her announcement changed everything.
The rest of the procession went smoothly as the last of the people who knew Keitaro gave the man their last words and prayers to the family members.
"N-now, we shall be going to the Urashima Cemetery where Keitaro shall be laid down with his ancestors." The priest said as the last person sat down.
Hiroshi, Seta, Haitani, Shirai, and Kentaro all lifted the casket onto the awaiting cart that was going to take Keitaro away.
"W-wait a moment, Naru and the rest of you girls," Kyoko motioned the girls over to her, "I heard all that you girls said about Keitaro and now I see, he loved it at Hinata-Sou and wouldn't have it any other way."
All the girls nodded.
"W-well, now that Keitaro is gone and Grandma Hina too sick after her grandson's death, the apartments came into our hands," Kyoko continued, "I was about to bulldoze it to the ground and sell the land."
Kyoko saw the angry looks from all the girls but let them know that their fears were not coming true, "T-that was what I was original planning, but now I decided to hand over the apartments to Naru, you're carrying our son's child, our only connection left with Keitaro on this world."
"Take good care of the apartments, and we will be sending over Kanako to help you until you give birth to the child and are ready to take over such responsibility."
Kyoko walked away to the cart that was now moving. All the girls looked at each other and understood what Kyoko had meant with the apartments being handed over to Naru. She saw them as faults, reasons why her son was taken away, but he wanted it that way and she had accepted them. That was all they asked and what they received.
A/N: I changed the story to accommodate what several wishes of reviewers looking for, Mutsumi. I hope people don't mind. I know a few people might flame me, saying that I am doing this for more reviews. I swear I am not. I thought when I first wrote this, I was being through. Now that I reread over my work, I saw that the characters were sorely lacking any direction. Su and Kitsune story will have to be rewritten now. The time period has been shifted, before there was no time period at all. Now the story is placed on the time period, 14 Love Hina manga.
I have gotten prereaders, PockyGirl-2002, and my favorite mate, Peacemaker! PockyGirl-2002 has gone through and read it the first time, and Peacemaker has gone through again to pick up leftovers. I thank you both.