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...
______
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
