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 once I get the chance to buy them. Hey, I'll buy them when I have the money to, okay? Good, cause I said I would buy them and I will. I promise.



Different Promises
Chapter 4:
Opening Affections


As the bright rays of the early morning sun illuminate the room of the only male tenant, Keitaro Urashima is seen already awake and changing into some comfortable clothes for his training session with Motoko. He puts on a pair of khaki shorts and a black and blue pullover hoodie. Last night after he came into his room fresh from his dip in the hot springs, he noticed a note on his dresser in very fine handwriting. After reading it, he found out it was from the resident swordswoman, telling him both the time and place of their training session. After grabbing a wooden sword out of his duffel bag, which he used while training with Seta, he slides his door open and makes his way upstairs and outside.

He reaches the chosen spot, a somewhat small area that is usually used for drying clothes outside since a clothesline is situated there. Motoko uses this area for her daily training since it is quaint and isn't used too often so she can usually train in peace. Since the young woman is not present yet, Keitaro begins to do a few warm-ups, stretching his body to prepare himself. After a few minutes, he hears the soft padding of footsteps coming upstairs. He pauses and turns to see Motoko on the top of the steps, clutching a wooden training sword in her right hand. She nods slightly at him. "Good morning Urashima."

"Good morning Motoko," he greets, walking up to her. "Do you need to warm- up too or do you just want to start this?"

"I would like to do some warm-up exercises first." Keitaro backs up and leans against the railing, intent to watch Motoko's moves to judge what kind of a fighter she is. After watching her movements, both with and without her sword, he calculates that her speed and agility make up for her slight lack in natural strength, whereas Keitaro is the direct opposite. Her one main weakness is her reliability on her sword. Without it, she is practically defenseless and her movements are slightly awkward, as if she has trouble adjusting to not using her sword. Motoko stops moving and faces the Tokyo U student. "Okay, I am ready now."

Both combatants take their respective stances, each holding a wooden training sword. A crisp breeze suddenly passes by, going unnoticed by Keitaro and Motoko, who are completely focused on the other and whoever makes the first move. The younger of the two notices that her training partner has stopped moving completely, his body not even moving with each breath he takes. Knowing that he will wait for her, being the gentleman that he is, Motoko charges.

Keitaro's eyes widen as he watches the girl charge, moving much faster than he thought she would. He barely brings his sword up in time to block the overhead slash that was directed for his head. The young man is surprised once again when he is pushed down a bit by the force of the blow. 'Whoa!' he thinks to himself, 'What's going on?! I misjudged her! All of her skills have doubled! She suppresses her 'ki' amazingly well! Where did she learn her skills?'

Motoko allows a small smile spread across her face. 'Good, I have surprised him. He will quickly learn not to underestimate me!' She follows with a midsection swipe, which Keitaro dodges by jumping back, though the tip of the training sword catches his shirt, scratching it slightly.

The Tokyo U student smirks a bit. He goes in for a sideways slash for her left shoulder, but as she brings up her sword to block it, he quickly stops and swings over to her right side, which she left open by blocking. He goes behind her and reaches under her arms and places his hands on her shoulders, restricting her arm movement slightly so she can't attack him directly.

"Wh...what are you doing?" she questions at his odd fighting technique.

Keitaro leans in closer to her head. "You have to be prepared for all attacks, whether they are offensive or defensive," he plainly states. "My mentor taught me that."

Motoko's body stiffens as she feels his breath on her ear, a deep shiver running down her spine. "P-P-Please do not speak near my ear!" she hurriedly says, her voice coming out in a strange squeak.

The young man is about to ask why, but then he notices that her body shivers ever so slightly with each breath he is taking near her ear. Raising an eyebrow mischievously, he leans in even closer and breathes, "Why Motoko? Is something wrong?" The reaction is instantaneous. The samurai girl shivers again, only much deeper this time, while her breathing quickens and she slowly closes her eyes. Keitaro's eyes widen. 'No way!' he thinks in surprise. 'I think that's her hot spot! I...I can't believe I found a girl's hot spot...and Motoko of all people! Seta once told me that finding a girl's hot spot is like finding the Holy Grail! This is...incredible!'

The younger woman manages to slip from his grasp and holds her training sword in front of her, albeit rather shakily. "Y...you'll pay for that...Urashima!" she stammers out.

Keitaro goes back into his battle stance, although he now has a goofy grin on his face. "You look a little hot under the collar, are you okay?" he jokes. His smile fades as he senses the 'ki' from the girl in front of him contort with rage. 'Uh oh, I think I overstepped my boundaries.' He holds his hands up and begins to back off. "Now Motoko..."

"Silence!" she shouts, advancing menacingly. "I cannot believe that you did that to me and made me feel..." she trails off as a heavy blush adorns her face. Motoko quickly shakes it off. "You will pay!" she then charges, holding her sword overhead for a furious strike.

The young man begins to back off, but his natural clumsiness kicks in and he trips over nothing, falling to his back just as Motoko swings at him. She too looses her balance, mainly from putting all her strength into a swing that missed, and she falls on top of Urashima, their foreheads colliding painfully.

After the colorful spots clear from their eyes, both Keitaro and Motoko notice that their faces are mere inches from each other, and they blush deeply. "I...I'm sorry Motoko," the Tokyo U student apologizes. "Are you okay?" He makes sure to avoid her ears this time around.

"Yes I am." She begins to push herself up, but pauses as she realizes that both her hands are on his chest and she can feel his lean muscles through his pullover. 'He is quite fit,' she absentmindedly thinks to herself. 'Whatever training he has gone through has made him quite masculine. It does help that he is rather cute and...OH MY GOD! What am I thinking?!' Her eyes widen as she scrambles to push herself up. Unfortunately, she is still holding her training sword and she accidentally pokes it down hard on his...*ahem*...area. Keitaro yelps and jumps up quickly. Motoko turns her head towards him just as his face reaches hers, their lips suddenly crushing against one another.

For a few seconds, both Keitaro and Motoko are too stunned to do anything, both wide eyed and red faced. Then as they both get to their senses, they quickly separate, holding a hand to their lips, with this being the first kiss for both of them. The young Urashima hops to his feet and bows to the girl in front of him several times. "I am so sorry Motoko! I didn't mean to kiss you! You stuck your training sword in my...um...well you poked me hard down there and I jumped up! It was an accident!" He falls to his knees and bows down heavily, where his head is touching the ground. "Please forgive me." The sound of soft footsteps rushing away gets him to look up, just in time to see Motoko's retreating form going down the stairs. He sits back up and rubs the back of his head, muttering, "Did I miss something?"

______

Breakfast is it's usual adventure, with Su consuming much more food in one meal than her tiny body should be able to take in a single day, Shinobu constantly blushing at the compliments thrown her way, Kitsune holding a small bottle of saké and taking a few sips here and there, talking to Keitaro, who changed into a regular shirt and jeans after his training, and Naru. Motoko is the only one who is acting somewhat differently. The samurai girl is normally very quiet and reserved while around a group of people, but she is even more quiet and demure than usual. She keeps her eyes downcast and isn't speaking to anybody. She finishes her meal and places her chopsticks down over her bowl, standing up and getting ready to leave the table.

"Motoko," Naru begins, "is something wrong? You're acting a little funny?"

The young woman stops dead in her tracks, feeling the eyes of everyone at the table on her. She slowly looks up and her gaze falls onto Keitaro. Her cheeks burn red and she turns around and sprints upstairs to her room. All the residents who are still seated around the table sweat drop at Motoko's actions. Kitsune, ever the clever one, slides over next to Keitaro and wraps an arm around him. "Well, well, well. Motoko got awfully red when she looked at you! Did something happen between you two at your little 'training' session? What exactly were you two doing this morning?" She laughs merrily at the heavy blush that is now adorning the young man's face, completely embarrassed at her implications.

"We just trained," he plainly answers.

"Uh huh, I'm sure" Kitsune replies disbelievingly. "Poor little Motoko," she begins, shaking her head sadly. "She asks you to do a favor for her and train with her and you go and take advantage of her. How could you?" The fox eyed girl smiles happily as Keitaro rolls his eyes and sighs deeply.

Shinobu watches their interaction with a mild blush, knowing that her sempai wouldn't do such a thing, but wishing that she could get very close to him like Kitsune is claiming he was with Motoko. Next to her, Su finishes her plate and pats her stomach with a small burp. She then jumps up and holds her hands out while running upstairs, making airplane noises. Naru shakes her head and leaves the table, off to do her own thing.

Kitsune chuckles again and stands up. "Hey, I just got some really good saké from Matsue not too long ago. Wanna open the bottle with me upstairs?

Keitaro nods with a small smile. "Sure, I'd like to, but after I help Shinobu with the dishes, okay?"

"No prob. I'll be waiting for you." She gives him a slight wink and then heads upstairs herself.

So now only Shinobu and Keitaro remain downstairs, so they both get up and begin cleaning off the table and then doing the dishes.

Ten minutes later, the Tokyo U student is in front of Kitsune's door and knocks on it slightly. "Come in," is the reply he gets.

Sliding the door open, the sight that greets his eyes is the slightly younger woman sitting down next to a small table, waving the bottle of saké back and forth temptingly. With a small chuckle, Keitaro makes his way next to the beautiful fox eyed girl. She already has a cup set up for him. With a sly smile, she opens the bottle and pours a bit into the cup. The young man is about to take a sip when he notices that Kitsune doesn't have a cup. "Hey, where's your cup?"

The younger woman takes a large swig directly from the bottle, a sigh escaping her as she pulls back. "What cup?" she asks with a giggle.

Keitaro shakes his head as he takes another sip. "You really are something else, you know that Kitsune?"

She slides next to the older male and wraps an arm around his shoulder. "So you finally noticed huh?" She places the bottle down onto her table and uses her free hand to rub up and down his chest. Kitsune is pleasantly surprised at the amount of muscle she feels through his shirt. He quickly becomes tense at her nearness and the way she is touching him, tightening his muscles and widening the smile on the young woman's face. "What's wrong? You shouldn't be this tense around girls. You'll never get a girlfriend like this. Here," she grabs the bottle again, "drink some more and loosen up."

"You're right," Keitaro agrees. "It's just...well I'm still not all that used to getting close to girls. You remember what I told you yesterday?" He waits for her to nod before continuing. "Well you're the first girl to actually come up to me and start a normal conversation. I know how to be polite and all, it's just a matter of knowing the right things to say and my level of comfort, which isn't too high." He finishes off his cup and then grabs the bottle and takes a large chug, impressing the girl next to him. "This is pretty good," he offhandedly comments.

"I've got plenty more," Kitsune replies, moving a rug aside and pulling up a panel in the floor, revealing a rather large cooler. She opens it to show off her good sized stash of numerous different alcohols. "I like to be well prepared for any situation."

The Tokyo U student snorts in amusement. "I can see that." He takes another drink from the bottle, only not as much as last time.

The fox eyes girl gazes at him thoughtfully. "You know, I would've never thought of you as a drinker." She smiles a bit at him. She's been touching and rubbing up against him shortly after he came into her room. At first he was quite tense, but now he's all relaxed and enjoying himself allowing her to continue without complaint. 'I'm just what the doctor ordered,' she thinks with a mental laugh.

"Well I sorta got into it a couple a years back," he answers with a shrug. "I was getting really tense around the time I had to take my entrance exams. I wasn't sleeping, I was barely eating and I studied so hard that I was getting constant headaches." He sighs as he takes another sip. "My parents were worried that I was gonna have a breakdown or something if I didn't relax. That's when my Dad gave me some saké. My Mom hated the idea of me drinking, but it was exactly what I needed. It helped calm me down enough where I was back to normal so she didn't complain about it...too much." Both chuckle a bit. "I've gotten into the habit of drinking a bit once in a while afterwards."

Kitsune pats him on the back lightly. "Well if you ever wanna drink again, just remember that I'm right next door so stop on in anytime." She pauses for a moment in thought. "Oh, but not Monday and Friday nights after one, that's my 'private time', okay?"

"Private time? What do you m..." he stops as what she meant comes to him. His entire face reddens several shades as he lowers his head in pure embarrassment.

The younger woman giggles merrily at him. "Joking! I'm just kidding you!" She waits for him to relax before adding, "You can stop in if you'd like to. I could always use and extra hand or two."

Keitaro dive-bombs over towards the tissue on her shelf, plugging his nose up from the onslaught of blood that comes pouring out. He looks back at Kitsune, but frowns as she rolls back and forth on the floor, holding her sides and laughing hysterically. "Ha ha, very funny." He pauses and closes his eyes as the now funnier sounds of his voice from having his nose plugged bring the fox eyed girl into a new bout of hysterics.

Kitsune gets to her feet after a few minutes, tears in the corners of her eyes. She pats him on his shoulders, giving him a genuine smile. "You're a real sweet guy, but just a little too innocent. You need to get yourself laid, trust me, it'll do you loads of good." She surprises even herself when she leans in close and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. "My schedule's always clear if you're ever interested, now get going." Kitsune turns him towards her door and gives him a pat on the rear to get him moving. After he leaves, she slides her door closed and flops down on her futon, which she never rolled up after waking up this morning, her slight hangover was more important to deal with at the time. "Don't know what it is about that guy," she begins, grabbing her bottle of saké and hugging it tightly, "but I just can't get him out of my head."

______

A somewhat dazed and nicely buzzed Keitaro is about to walk into his room, when a sudden thought comes to him. Changing course he makes his way to the stairs, stumbling a bit here and there on the way. After a couple of minutes, he reaches his intended destination. Knocking lightly, he calls out, "Motoko? Are you there?"

"Yes," she quietly replies on the other side. "You may enter." The Tokyo U student slides her door open and walks in. Motoko's back is facing him, and she does not turn to acknowledge him. Just as he slides her door shut and begins to walk towards her, she halts him. "Please, do not come any closer."

"O...Okay." Something about her voice makes Keitaro want to walk up to her, but he respects her decision for him to not get near her. "Are you...alright Motoko? I'm really sorry about earlier."

The samurai girl sighs deeply. "I am fine. Do not concern yourself over me right now, but I thank you for your concern."

"Are you sure you're fine?" She nods once in response. "Alright then. I'll leave you alone, but if you want to talk or train again or anything, you know where my room is." She nods again and he turns around and leaves her room, quietly sliding her door shut.

Motoko sighs in relief, for if he would have walked in any further, he would've seen her red eyes, the tear streaks down her face as well as the look of both confusion and realization adorning her beautiful features. "How?" she whispers out loud. "How could this have happened? It has been less than a day. I had no idea something like this could form so quickly." She places her fingers on her lips, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "It was not even a true kiss, but I can tell...no...I know that I...I am in love."


To be continued...

______

Author's notes: Well that was a pretty good one. Two girls have already fallen for our favorite soon-to-be landlord, and plenty more will follow! Keep patient and I will update this as soon as I can.

The city Kitsune mentions getting her saké in, Matsue, is an actual city in the south-eastern area of Honshu, the largest of four islands that makes up Japan. It is in the Shimane section of the Chugoku region, which is the same region Okayama is in. Well that's my advanced geography lesson for the day!

Oh yeah, I just posted an alternate ending chapter for my 'The Darkness Within' series. It takes place nine years after chapter 12 and focuses mainly Tokimi and what she is doing after everything that has happened. It's short, yet good and angsty, so I recommend keeping some tissues handy if you're going to read it! -- lighthawkdemon

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