Love Hina


Disclaimer: This episode of Love Hina is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of Love Hina. "Love Hina" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1999-2004 Ken Akamatsu/Mixx Entertainment Inc. Love Hina is a trademark of TOKYOPOP®. All rights reserved.

Note: This series takes after the "Love Hina" manga, since I haven't watched any of the anime, though I will watch them all. Oh yes, tremble in fear, I am about to say those two deadly words that will change everything: I promise.



Different Promises
Chapter 3:
Mixed Confrontations


A couple of hours later, Keitaro is relaxing in the Landlord's Room, which used to be his grandmothers. Everyone agreed that the room would suite the new resident well enough. He just finished unpacking all of his clothes and personal items. After the Tokyo U student was welcomed into the Hinata House, he was introduced to all of the girls properly, since he knew only a few of their names. "What a colorful bunch," he chuckles out loud.

The young man stretches and looks up, only to pause as he notices a good sized hole in the ceiling. "Now that's a big hole!" he remarks, standing up and eyeing it while shaking his head. He moves a table underneath it and places a stool on top of the table. "I can't believe grandma would leave something like this. Then again," he adds, stopping for a moment in thought, "I noticed a lot of run-down spots here and there. Maybe I can fix some things up. I did do a lot of work like that back at home with Dad." Carefully, he stands on top of the stool and inspects the hole.

Keitaro reaches up and his hand raps against a soft piece of plywood. "Hmm...someone put a lid on here..." he raps his knuckles against it to check if someone's on the other side. He waits a few seconds for a response, but none comes. He raps on the lid one more time, just to be on the safe side. When nobody answers, he slowly pushes the lid open and peeks in. It looks like just any other room in the Hinata House, and judging by the appearance of little personal knick-knacks here and there, somebody is living in this room. The Urashima male is about to duck back down, when the door in front of him opens and the long-haired violent girl Naru Narusegawa comes walking in, looking upset.

"I can't believe I allowed that pervert to stay here," she mumbles grumpily. "I'm gonna find a way to throw him out on his ass the first ch..." she trails off as she sees the panel with her precious Liddo-kun doll on is lifted up and the 'pervert' is underneath it, peeking in on her. Her entire body seizes up as her fury quickly rises. "You...you...PERVERT!!" Naru shouts as she rushes up to the hole on her floor, preparing to soccer kick that pervert into oblivion.

Keitaro's eyes widen as her watches the crazy girl getting ready to kick him. Thinking quickly, he lets go of the lid and ducks down, just mere milliseconds before the foot-to-head collision. "Yikes, that was close!"

Naru screams for a second as her entire body is lifted off of the ground, the momentum of her leg from missing Keitaro's head forcing her to flip up into the air. The floor shakes slightly as she lands hard on her back. The temperamental girl sits up slowly, a defeated look on her face. She crawls over to her doll, which rolled aside when Keitaro dropped the lid it was on, and hugs it close. "Today is just not going my way Liddo-kun." Naru stands up and walks over to her balcony, gazing out at the lovely view. A sigh below her catches her attention. She peeks down and sees the newest member of the household leaning against the railing, seemingly lost in thought.

"What's her problem?" he asks out loud to no one in particular. "All I was doing was checking out that hole in the ceiling." He jumps up in surprise as a hand rests on his shoulder. He turns around at sees the fox eyed girl smirking at him. "Wha...Mitsune? What are you doing?"

Mitsune Konno chuckles a bit while leaning down. "Boy, you're really jumpy! And by the way, just call me Kitsune, everybody else does." She helps him to his feet and both stare out into the beautiful city and the sea beyond it. She slowly inches her way closer to Keitaro. "You seem a little down. What's up?"

Keitaro sighs again. "That girl in the room above me...Narusegawa, tried to take my head off just a little bit ago."

Kistune leans in closer, a sly smile on her face. "So she caught you peeking and got pissed? I don't blame her. You letch!" She covers her mouth with a hand and giggles.

The Tokyo U student covers his face with his hands, moaning loudly. "Is that what all you girls think I do? Peek and grope every woman I see?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Keitaro face faults onto the ground with a dull 'thud' while Kitsune giggles merrily at his expense. "Just joking!" she laughs. The young man stands back up and rubs the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. For a second, the fox eyed girl's breath is caught in her throat and her eyes open slightly at his behavior. 'Wow, just then he reminded me of Seta! Must be the glasses.' Kitsune pats Keitaro on the back. "Cheer up! I know you're not that bad of a guy. So tell me, what happened with Naru?"

"Well," he begins, "I noticed that hole in the ceiling and went to check it out. I didn't realize it went all the way up to her room. She had a lid over it so I knocked a couple of times and nobody answered and I pushed it open a bit since I was curious. Narusegawa chose that exact moment to walk in, and then she completely freaked out on me and tried to kick my head off! I just barely dodged it!" He sighs again and closes his eyes. "Why is she being such an ice queen to me?"

Above them, Naru growls at the pervert's words. 'Ice queen?!' she thinks while squeezing her doll tightly. 'How dare he!' the grip on Liddo-kun tightens so much that if the doll were alive, it would have been crushed to death.

Back down a floor, Kitsune waves her hand dismissively. "Ah don't worry about Naru. She's still a little pissed that you saw her totally nude. Naru's a really good girl once you get to know her."

"I guess so," Keitaro shrugs. "I mean we haven't really gotten off on the right foot."

"Now there's the spirit!" the fox eyed girl exclaims. She suddenly opens her eyes, letting out a slight blush and a shy smile. Kitsune moves a bit closer, deliberately brushing her arm against Keitaro's. "Say Keitaro...do you have a preference...when it comes to girls?"

The young Urashima backs off a bit, looking uncomfortable. "N-No. Not really."

"That's good." She takes her hands in his. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Keitaro frees his hands and turns around to gaze back out at the view, his smile not quite meeting his eyes. "No, I don't." His smile quickly fades. "To tell you the truth, I've never had a girlfriend, and not too many friends either. For eight years, I didn't do much else but study to get into Tokyo U, so I never had any real time to go out and enjoy myself."

Kitsune, and Naru on the floor above, both place a hand over their heart's looking shocked. The long haired girl upstairs sits down and leans against the railing, hugging her doll tightly. 'How could somebody just waste eight years of their life like that? I could never have that kind of determination.' She holds up Liddo-kun and looks at its happy face. "He must have been so lonely studying all by himself for all that time."

Back down one floor, Kitsune is still shocked at Keitaro's words. "Why'd you do that? How could you just study all the time? You're still young! You should be out and enjoying life."

"I never had much of a life to begin with," he calmly responds, like it is nothing. "And when I'm in school, all I do is study even more so I can graduate with a degree." He stops for a moment in thought. A genuine smile plays its way across his face. "Before I got here today, I was with my archaeology instructor...well he's more like my mentor...and we were off on a professional excavation. I haven't had that much fun since...well I can't even remember when."

Kitsune moves a bit closer, gently placing a hand on his in a pure honest manner, no flirting or deception involved. "But why? Why'd you do it?"

"I made a promise to someone ten years ago." He looks the fox-eyed girl straight in the eyes, and she blushes lightly under his penetrating, yet calmly inviting dark brown eyes. "And I always keep my promises."

Just then, Keitaro's door slides open and the samurai girl, Motoko Aoyama, takes a step in with the hyperactive foreigner, Kaolla Su, hanging on her shoulders. "I am sorry to interrupt," she pointedly looks at Kitsune's hand on top of Keitaro's and her eyes narrow while raising her sword up slightly. The Urashima male blushes slightly and backs off. "Better," Motoko replies. "As I was saying, dinner will be ready soon, so I suggest you two come downstairs soon." She turns around and leaves, Su cheerfully waving goodbye to them.

Keitaro turns to the girl in his room and rubs the back of his head, seemingly snapped out of his reprieve. "Well I am getting hungry." His stomach rumbles in response. After they both chuckle for a few seconds, Keitaro levels Kitsune with an apologetic glance. "Listen...you're a really great girl...but I'm not quite ready for a relationship right now. I...I'm sorry." He steps back and bows to her.

The saké expert waves her hand around, dismissing his apology. "Hey, it's alright. I understand, and I'm a patient girl...so just let me know when you're ready, okay?" She gives him a slight wink then turns around and leaves his room, her mind moving a mile a minute. 'What the hell just happened?' she thinks to herself. 'I wanted to go in his room and seduce him into getting with me so I could get set for life...and I wind up starting to really like the guy. He's really one of a kind. I think I'd like to really make a genuine boyfriend out of him.'

Keitaro stares outside, watching as the sun slowly begins to set on the horizon, basking the entire area in a warm, reddish glow. "Funny," her remarks, looking down at himself, "I didn't feel all that uncomfortable around her when she got close to me. Come to think of it, I feel...strangely happy around all of these girls." He rubs one of the walls of the girls dorm with a smile. "Granny always used to tell me that there was a special kind of magic that ran through these halls. I guess she was right. I'm starting to get over my fears...I'm finally getting over Kanako." He sighs deeply and leaves his room.

On the floor above him, Naru silently places her beloved doll back on its spot on the lid covering up the hole in the floor. She too slides her door open and makes her way downstairs for dinner, though one question remains on her mind, 'Who is Kanako?'

______

At dinner, Keitaro sits at the table, gushing out compliments to the resident cook, the young purple haired girl, Shinobu Maehara, who blushes deeply and meekly says her thanks. He also takes glances here and there over at Su, who is eating very large quantities of the meal at an incredibly fast pace. 'I wonder where all of it goes,' Keitaro thinks with a smile. Motoko eats in relative silence, not being one for much casual chatting. Naru also stays silent, occasionally steeling looks at the male resident. Kitsune, who is sitting in between both Naru and Keitaro, takes only a few sips from her saké bottle, her mind in too much action to want to be dulled by the alcohol's soothing effects.

After they are finished, most of the group separates to do their own things, while Keitaro and Shinobu take care of the dishes. At one point, they both reach for the same dish and their hands touch. The oldest member of the house moves his hand aside, letting the youngest member take it, acting as if nothing has happened. Shinobu, on the other hand, blushes furiously upon contact. Naru, who has been spying in on them, smiles warmly at the young girl's cute innocence. Soon, the dishes are nearly done and Shinobu turns towards Keitaro. "Urashima, um...er...I was wondering if you could check my homework for me...when we're done?"

"Sure," he kindly responds. "I'd love to help you. Go on and grab your work and meet me out in the courtyard, I'll finish up here."

"Okay!" she places the dish she was holding back into the sink and rushes out of the kitchen, on her way to her room.

A short while later, both are sitting down at the entrance to the courtyard, Keitaro holding the young girl's homework with a pencil and occasionally leaning over to show her how to do one of the formulas she doesn't understand. He finishes up with the last one and hands the book over to her. "There, that's how you do it."

"Thank you so much!" she beams, taking her homework back. He looks back up at him, stars in her eyes. "Can...can I call you sempai?"

Keitaro rubs the back of his head again. "Sempai? Well...I guess I don't mind. Are you sure you want to call me that?"

Shinobu nods vigorously. "Yes sempai, I'm sure." She looks down at the ground, suddenly looking a little down. "I wish I were as smart as you sempai. I'm terrible at studying and my grades have been pretty bad. I could never get into Tokyo U like you did." She pulls her legs up close and hugs her knees to her chest. She looks back up as Keitaro wraps an arm around her, a warm smile on his face.

"Hey, don't say that," he calmly replies. "Never give up before you even start anything. Look at me, I'm not really all that smart and I used to have a horrible time studying, but I just dedicated myself and did the best that I could...and I passed! All you have to do is apply yourself and never give up and I'm sure you can get into Tokyo University just like me!" He reaches up and rubs the top of her head.

The young girl giggles as she stands up, a glorious smile on her face. "I feel a lot better now! Thank you sempai, thank you so much!" She then happily skips back into the house.

Keitaro stands up and stretches slightly. "Well that was my good deed for the day," he chuckles as he begins to walk around the courtyard, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. As he gazes up at the slowly darkening sky, his senses alert him to the slowly approaching figure to his right. His training with Seta has honed his skills as a fighter and he has learned to read the 'ki' of people around him. By the strength of the person's 'ki' that is nearing him, he can tell that it is the resident swordsman...er...woman. "Hello Motoko," he greets, his eyes never leaving the sky.

The samurai girl is momentarily stunned. 'Hmm...he is more skilled than I had previously thought.' Motoko silently walks next to Keitaro, her gaze following his to the brilliant colors of the sky. "I observed over you and young Shinobu," she begins. "That was very kind what you said to her. I have noticed her cheerfulness has been slowly deteriorating along with the decline of her grades. Your small speech was inspiring, I believe it is exactly what she needed, so on behalf of every other member of the Hinata House, thank you."

The Tokyo U student blushes slightly, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed manner. "Please, there's no need to thank me, I was just doing what I thought was right."

Motoko nods her head. "Be that as it may, you have managed to cheer up Shinobu when myself and the others were unable to do so. I am beginning to believe that your presence here is some sort of good omen."

"Good omen?" Keitaro chuckles. "Just a few hours ago you were saying that there was no room for a male in the Hinata House." He raises an eyebrow and smirk at the younger, yet taller girl.

The samurai girl nods again. "Yes, but in this short time, I have learned that there is more to you than meets the eyes, but still keep in mind," she adds while pointing the hilt of her sword towards him, "I will be keeping my eye on you. I will not tolerate any perverted behavior. Tokyo University student or not, you are still a male in my eyes and I know of the foul and treacherous ways of men."

"I'm not too sure where you got that whole 'foul and treacherous ways of men' idea, but I am flattered that someone as beautiful as you will be keeping an eye on me. I've never had such good luck like this before!" He starts to walk away, leaving a flustered Motoko behind.

Motoko is not used to compliments about her looks, especially by men, so his comment takes her completely by surprise. Quickly dismissing the blush on her face, the young woman rushes in front of Keitaro, now scowling slightly. "Though that comment was uncalled for, I will allow it to slide. I noticed your moves earlier when you dodged a 'Naru Punch' from Narusegawa. I assume you have had training in some form of martial arts?" Keitaro nods on reply. "Good, then may I ask, if it is not too much trouble, if you could train with me tomorrow morning? I am interested in seeing your skills as a fighter and it is always beneficial to train with someone else instead of just by myself."

"Sure," the Urashima male answers. "I'd really like to train with you. To tell you the truth, I was hoping you'd ask me that, I wanted to see how good you are too." He raises his left hand and checks his wristwatch. "Hey...it's starting to get late. I think I'll take a quick dip in the hot springs then call it a night." He starts to walk off when a hand on his shoulder stops him in his tracks.

"You cannot enter the hot springs at the moment Urashima. The rest of the girls should be currently bathing at this time, and I am about to join them. Wait until we are finished and then you may use the hot springs." Motoko walks past Keitaro and makes her way back inside to the springs.

Keitaro watches the young woman's retreating form with a small smile. He looks back up at the now dark sky and stretches widely. "I think I'm going to really like living here," he says out loud to nobody in particular.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain fox eyed young woman, who finished her bath early, was listening in. She takes a sip of her saké, slight smile on her face. She opens her eyes a bit and responds back, "I'm gonna like you living here too."


To be continued...

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Author's notes: Well another chapter in the wraps. For pairings, I'm going to lean more towards Keitaro being with either Kitsune or Motoko...or possibly Mutsumi when I bring her into the story. I'm not a big Naru fan, I mean she's pretty and occasionally nice and all, but just too damn violent for my taste, and Keitaro's in this fic.

As for my semi-lemony work in progress, The gang comes back home after Volume 14, but Granny Hina isn't there, deciding to stay on her whole world tour thing, giving her grandson a whole year to sort everything out with his 'fiancée' . Unfortunately, Naru has become increasingly distant, always saying that they should do 'it' but backing out at the last moment and kicking Keitaro out of her room, usually rather violently. With his sexual tensions increasing dramatically, the young landlord begins to notice the womanly charms of the other tenants. What will he do? -- lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon@yahoo.com