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. It's an AU from the very beginning so some of the characters may act differently than what they did in the books. I know this chapter has taken a while to post, but with all the fics I work on, its hard to keep good ideas constantly coming in, but I will work hard to do better. I promise.
Different Promises
Chapter 12:
The Past Awakens
Naru, along with the rest of her friends and former tenants stand in the front room of the Hinata House, all getting ready to say their goodbyes to the recently evicted young woman. Shinobu, for her part, cries enough to cover for everyone else, not wanting to see her friend leave. Su, her simple innocence shining through, doesn't quite understand everything that is going on, thinking that Naru is just going away for a few days on a trip and will be back soon, like what Motoko did this morning.
Kitsune pulls her friend away from the two younger girls, unsure what to think at the moment. "What'd you do girl?" she asks. "Keitaro's been here for like two months now and I've never even seen him get peeved at anything. What'd you say to push his buttons the wrong way?"
"I-I don't think I should say anymore…" the long haired young woman softly replies, a stray tear escaping her eyes, "I've already done enough stupid things already. I should've kept my mouth shut right from the start…but I was so angry with him. He-He turned me down…that's never happened before. I just…I just wanted to make him pay…but I went overboard." She sniffs loudly, another tear falling from her eyes.
The Tokyo U aspirant's best friend backs up a step, her entire body now tense. "You came on to him?" The jealousy clearly heard in her voice makes Naru cringe. "Why the hell did you do that? You know how I feel about him."
Naru lowers her head, not wanting to look her friend in the eye. "I don't know. When he was talking to me earlier…he reminded me so much of Seta…I-I just acted without thinking." She pauses for a moment to sniff again. "I'm sorry Ki…Mitsune, I'm so sorry. I know how much you like him. I didn't mean to steal him away from you."
'Like you did with pretty much with any guy I've ever liked,' Kitsune thinks with a near scowl. "Look girl, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is whatever the hell you said that pissed him off so much to evict you." The seriousness in her voice attracts the attention of both Su and Shinobu, who have never heard the fox eyed woman ever sound so solemn…ever. They both cautiously approach the older two women.
"Yes," the youngest girl adds with a small sniffle, "what did you say to sempai?"
"What she said," a cool voice from above begins, "is just between her and me at the moment." All the girls look up and see Keitaro, who's face is hidden in the shadows. "I'm sorry ladies, but I don't want to be reminded of what she said right now, so Naru please just get everything you need to get done finished so we can get back on with our lives." He turns around and walks away, the girls never seeing the tears going down his face.
"Sempai," Shinobu whispers under her breath, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly.
Su stares up at the spot where the landlord was just standing, not really sure what to make of his words. 'Keitaro seemed…different,' she thinks to herself. 'I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he wasn't smiling or happy at all. Maybe I should go up and talk to him…that would also give me the chance to bring my things to his room for the night,' she adds with a cheerful smile. The young foreign girl reaches over and pulls Naru into a crushing bear hug, forcing all the air out of her lungs and possibly bruising a few ribs too. "Bye bye Naru! Seyas later and come back soon!" She leaps several feet away and runs up the stairs, a carefree smile on her face.
Naru smiles weakly. "Well at least someone is taking this whole thing a lot better then I am." Her smile quickly fades away as she turns back to Kitsune and Shinobu. "I really don't want to leave you guys…but I don't have a choice." She sniffs loudly. "Maybe this is for the best right now." She closes her eyes as the two present tenants pull her into a large group hug.
"Don't say that girl," Kitsune whispers, feeling tears begin to form in her eyes as well. "We'll get you back here soon. This is Keitaro we're talking about. I don't think he could stay mad at you forever, he's just too damn sweet to do something like that."
Shinobu nods furiously in Naru's side. "Yes, I…I will talk to sempai later and try to get him to change his mind. We-we're like family here…you can't just leave."
The Tokyo U aspirant nods slightly. "Alright, you guys do that. I'm going back home to my parents. I called them a little bit ago so they're expecting me." She releases her two friends and backs up, her eyes shining with tears. "Well…I guess this is goodbye so…goodbye." With a bow, she grabs her bags and makes her trek down the long stone steps of the Hinata House.
The two tenants still outside watch as their friend slowly disappears out of their lives for the moment. Kitsune places a hand on the emotional young girl's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Don't worry Shinobu," she begins, her face unusually grave, "she'll be back, and don't worry about talking to Keitaro, I'll have a chat with him and see if I can talk some sense into that thick skull of his."
Shinobu giggles slightly. "Okay, but make sure he promises to let Naru back here."
The fox eyed girl nods in response, thinking, 'I will, and I'll find out exactly what the hell Naru said to get him so worked up…one way or another.'
A couple of floors up, Su bursts into the Landlord's Room, shouting, "Heyas Keitaro! Why didn't you go and say byes to Na…" but trails off as she notices that she's the only one in the room. "Keitaro? Where'd you go?" The young foreigner starts to search around Keitaro's room in search of him, looking under his futon, behind his dresser and every little nook and cranny she can think of while tossing around everything in her way.
Several minutes and one very dirty room later, Su leaves the landlord's room with a light frown on her normally cheerful face. "Hmm…how did he get out?" she wonders out loud. "I woulda heard him if he came downstairs, some of those steps are really squeaky." The hyperactive girl reaches behind her and pulls out a detective cap, putting it on her head. "Dis looks like a case for Detective Su!"
Naru silently walks down the old stone steps, her mind replaying her conversation with Keitaro earlier…the one that got her evicted. She is about halfway down when someone appears in front of her, emerging from the forest on her right. Her eyes widen as she quickly realizes that it Keitaro, though he is currently facing away from her. "Look," he bluntly begins, still not turning to look at her, "I didn't mean to explode on you like that, it…it's not something I usually ever do. You just touched…well it's more like you pounded on a very sensitive subject to me." He pauses for a moment to look up at the sky while scratching his cheek. "I'm not mad at you, I'm just upset that you spoke so much about something that you know nothing about."
The Tokyo U aspirant drops the bags on her shoulders and rubs her arm uncomfortably, not sure what to say. 'He's right again,' she thinks to herself, her head drooping slightly. 'Damn it! How'd I mess things up so badly? All I wanted…was to be happy with someone…someone like him.'
"You're…not evicted." Naru's head shoots up in shock. "My decision was brash, stupid and made when I wasn't thinking clearly…I should never had made it."
"I…I've got most of my stuff here with me," she softly replies, "and I called my parents already. They're expecting me to come home today."
Keitaro nods in understanding. "Yeah, that's actually for the better right now. You're not kicked out of the Hinata House, but I'm not quite ready to be around you right now…I'm still pretty tense about earlier." He sighs lightly. "I was going to see if Haruka would let you stay with her, but going to your parents' works out better for you. If you have a little extra time, go to Haruka and talk to her…maybe afterwards you'll learn to watch what you say." Without another word, he turns and walks back into the forest, still intent on distancing himself from the temperamental young woman.
Tears begin to falls from Naru's eyes again, only these are tears of happiness and relief. "Thank you," she mutters before hoisting her bags back up and continuing her walks down the stone steps, now planning on making a pit stop at the Café Hina.
Back up at the Hinata House, Keitaro clumsily climbs a tree just outside his room, trying to get back inside without alerting all the tenants inside. He stops on a branch closest his room for a quick breather, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Man," he sighs, "it was a lot easier getting out of my room than it is getting in!" Suddenly the distance between his balcony and the branch he is standing on looks a lot larger than it looked a little bit earlier, and even then he almost didn't make it across, he luckily managed to grab onto a branch just before he fell. "I can't believe how stupid this idea is! I could've fallen and gotten seriously hurt!" For some reason, he feels a slight snort of amusement in the back of his mind, but dismisses it as nothing.
Listening to the more logical part of his brain, the landlord starts to climb down the tree. He is just a couple of feet down when the branch he is holding onto cracks loudly. Time slows down as he watches the limb break off from the tree. Keitaro's eyes widen as he falls backwards, she sky directly coming above coming into his vision. He lets out a small grunt as he hits the earth, the fall somehow being a lot easier on his body than he expected. He is about to get up when his senses alert him to someone coming near. Closing his eyes, the Tokyo U student focuses on the person's aura, quickly deciphering that it is Mitsune. With a sigh, he raises an arm and waves it around. "I'm right here."
Kitsune walks directly over to Keitaro and stands next to his head, smirking slightly. "Nice place for a rest." As the landlord rubs the back of his head with a sheepish grin in response, Kitsune's smirk fades, being replaced with a serious expression. She moves to his middle and sits down on his stomach with her elbows resting on his upper chest, her face resting in her hands. She feels a small victory in the fact that he didn't flinch when she sat on him and that he's not trying to get her off of him, given the somewhat romantic position they're in. "Look stud, we've gotta talk…now. I've got a lot of questions, and you've got the answers."
"Answers to what?" he asks, feigning stupidity in hopes it will throw her off.
Unfortunately for him, Kitsune is too clever to fall for his trick. "You know what I'm talking about," she responds, moving her hand off of her face to poke him roughly in the chest. "Naru did or said something to push you in all the wrong places and as both her best friend and fellow tenant, I wanna know exactly what she did." She smirks slightly. "I'm very good at finding out information, so whether or not you tell me, I will find out. I just wanted to be nice to you first and not be sneaky about this, since I like you so much."
Keitaro sighs again, but nods slowly. "Alright, I guess I can tell you a few things…but I don't want you telling anyone else, okay?"
The eldest tenant leans in dangerously close, her face almost touching his. "Baby, my lips are sealed."
Naru slowly enters the Café Hina, shifting her luggage around so she can get in without having to drop anything. She takes a couple of steps inside and quickly halts, coming face to face with Haruka, who looks unusually upset and tense. "Stay right here," she firmly commands. "I've gotta take care of the last customer, then we really need to talk."
The younger woman visibly gulps at the dangerous tone Haruka is using, but doesn't move a muscle. 'I have the feeling that I'm in serious trouble,' she thinks as a few beads of sweat from on her face.
Haruka escorts the last customer out of her café with a light wave as he goes, glancing at the quickly darkening sky for a brief moment. She closes the door, locks it to prevent and means of escape and swiftly turns around, staring Naru down for a brief moment before slapping the younger girl hard across the face. "Now you really crossed the line," she hisses, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Keitaro called me earlier and we had a little chat. He had some very interesting things to say, very interesting."
Naru is about to open her mouth to say something when Haruka roughly grabs the front of her shirt and shoves her back into a seat directly behind her. "Sit down and shut up. It'd be really smart for you to let me have my word. I promised Keitaro that I wouldn't do anything drastic to you…but I'm a very pissed off woman right now, so keep in line and I won't do anything…drastic." She lights a cigarette and inhales several times, letting the nicotine help cool her down a bit. Her eyes narrow at Naru as the young woman nervously raises her hand straight up in the air, asking permission to speak. "Yes?"
"I-I just have a question I want to ask…one that's been bugging me for some time now: who is Kanako…and why is she so important to Keitaro?" To her surprise, Haruka smiles after she asks her question.
The older woman walks to the counter and reaches behind it, pulling out a large clear bottle with reddish brown liquid in it down on the table, followed by two cups and two cans of soda. "I'm glad you asked me that question, so now I can get straight to the point."
She looks up as Haruka walks over to her and places the items on the table in front of her. Upon closer inspection, she realizes that the large bottle has American writing on the black label of the bottle. "Wh-what is that stuff?"
"A drink I found out about when I was traveling with some friends several years ago," she calmly answers, her face still grave. "This…isn't exactly an easy thing for me to talk about, but this will help get everything out a little easier." She opens both drinks and mixes them together in both cups, grabbing one and taking a large drink from it. "This brings back memories…not all of them nice."
Keitaro slides open the door to his room and turns on the light, cringing at the destruction inside. "What the hell happened here?"
"Looks like Su finally decided to explore your room," Kitsune replies, walking in after the landlord. "She's done it to everyone here at least once. She never does any major damage to anything so we just let her have her fun. At least it keeps her occupied for a little while." A sly smile spreads across her face as she reaches behind her back and pulls out a bottle of saké and two small saucers. "Now hurry and clean up so I can have a place to sit and drink." The young man gives her a patronizing look, and gets a wink and a mild giggle in return. "Come on now stud, I don't have all day." She then blows a kiss at Keitaro, smiling widely at his slowly reddening face.
The Tokyo U student mumbles, "Women," under his breath while cleaning up around his table. After a couple of minutes, he has the table all set up and ready for he and Kitsune to sit down, drink and discuss a few things. "So," he calmly begins, politely pouring the fox-eyed girl a drink first before him, "where do I begin?"
"Just tell me exactly what happened earlier between you and Naru and we'll work from there."
So for the next ten minutes or so, Keitaro tells Kitsune everything that occurred after the young temperamental girl came in his room. He takes a large chug of saké, his cheeks lightly flushed from the effects of the alcohol. "So that's what happened."
The eldest tenant leans back on her spot at the table, digesting all the info she just heard. 'Damn Naru,' she thinks, shaking her head sadly, 'the second she loses her temper, she ups and totally screws herself over…though there is one thing I don't understand.' Kitsune leans forward, opening her eyes to look directly at the landlord. "If everything you just told me is true, then tell me…who is Kanako? Why did you snap when Naru insulted her?" She leans back in surprise as Keitaro suddenly looks right up at her, pain and sorrow practically pouring from his eyes. "Keitaro?"
He takes a deep breath, cradling the cup in his hands. "K-Kanako…"
"Kanako is…was Keitaro's little sister."
Naru's eyes widen in shock. "His…sister? Oh my God! No wonder he got pissed when I said that she…wait," the young woman pauses as she just realizes something, "what did you mean by 'was' his sister?" she feels a deep sense of dread grow inside of her at how emotional Haruka currently looks.
The café owner takes a long chug from her drink, letting the alcohol swirl in her mouth before swallowing it all down. "Kanako…died in a car accident over ten years ago." Naru gasps as Haruka shakes her head, a deep sigh escaping her. "Keitaro…he was right there. He was going to get hit by the car, but Kanako pushed him out of the way at the last second…she took the hit for him…and died in his arms." She quickly stands up and walks to the counter, not wanting the other girl to see the tears in her eyes.
"No!" the young woman whispers, covering her mouth with her hands. 'What have I done?' she thinks in horror. 'God he must hate me now!'
"Kanako," Haruka pauses for a moment before finishing, "Kanako wasn't a real Urashima." At the younger girl's confused expression, she continues, "My brother and his wife adopted her into the family when she was just a little girl, though Keitaro loved her and treated her just the same. He's got one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. He's always been that way."
"I-I can't believe what I said to him!" Narusegawa whispers, pulling her legs up to her chest. "After everything he's done to make the Hinata House…and our lives better…God…I do deserve to be kicked out."
Haruka slides the second drink over to the younger woman, who graciously accepts it, though she doesn't drink any just yet. "Yes, you do, but Keitaro doesn't think so. Despite everything that you've said and done to him, he doesn't place any real blame on you, none whatsoever."
"But…but why?"
The older Urashima gazes down at the drink in her hands, a brief moment of pity flashing in her eyes. "Because he saves all the guilt and blame solely on himself."
Kitsune sits in front of Keitaro with a hand placed over her heart, her eyes fully open and her saké completely untouched. "N-No…" she whispers out, tears in the corners of her eyes, "that's horrible."
The landlord nods solemnly, his cheeks quite flushed now due to the effects of the alcohol. "Right before her last breath, I promised Kanako that I'd make it into Tokyo University just for her, and not for that little girl I had made the same promise to five years earlier."
The fox eyed girl pushes this new info aside for a moment, pressing onto more important matters. "But you did it Kei," she replies, reaching over and gently taking his hand in her own, "you got into Tokyo U and now you're studying to be an archaeologist. You fulfilled your promise to your little sister."
A bitter smile plays itself across the landlord's face. "Yeah, but what good is it now?" At the other girl's confused look, he responds, "The point of making a promise to someone…well to me at least, is to strive forward to do something with all your heart and make the other person happy or proud of you when you accomplish it." Kitsune looks away, now understanding where he is going. "I got in…but now what? I fulfilled my promise to Kanako, but I still feel empty, unaccomplished. I'll never get the chance to walk up to her and say 'Hey Kanako, I did it. I got into Tokyo U just for you.' Do you know how that makes me feel?" He drops his saucer of saké and covers his face with his hands, his body racked with sobs.
Kitsune closes the distance between them and pulls the young man in close. One hand soothingly rubs his back while the other is placed on his face, her thumb caressing his cheek. "You poor guy," she softly whispers. "You've been through a lot of crap, a lot more than anyone should go through…and you've been holding it in all this time. I-I can't change the past…but I wanna help you have a better future." She slides back a bit and takes Keitaro's face in her hands, her squinted eyes boring into his. "I don't know which girl you'll want to stick with, me, Motoko or some other lucky girl, but I can tell you this…as long as you're the landlord here, I'll stay by your side and make sure you never feel alone again." The eldest tenant closes the distance between them and gives Keitaro a soft kiss on the lips.
She starts to back off when he suddenly leans forward and captures her lips in a deep, meaningful kiss. "Thank you Kitsune," he whispers while breaking away, "I really did need to get that off of my chest. You've been…so incredibly nice to me."
The smile on her face begins to retain its normal foxiness as she adjusts her position, now straddling the Tokyo U student's lap. "Cutie," she begins, her voice sounding a bit husky, "I've just begun to show you how…nice I can be."
Back at the Café Hina, Haruka has just finished telling Naru everything she knows. The younger woman shakes her head in sadness, a few tears breaking free and falling on the table in front of her. "How can he take all the blame for everything that goes wrong around him? Its not healthy to put that much stress on your shoulders."
"I know, but Keitaro's more…resilient than your typical guy," Haruka answers, reaching over and taking Naru's untouched drink, "both physically and mentally. He can take a lot of crap from anybody, yet still find it in his heart to forgive and forget. What he did earlier with you is a shining example." With a small nod, she downs half of the cup, a large sigh escaping her as she pulls back.
The Tokyo U aspirant suddenly gets to her feet, a determined look in her eyes. "I-I have to go back. I have to apologize to Keitaro. I don't want to go back home with this guilt hanging over me." She starts to walk away when Haruka firmly grabs her shoulder and pulls her back into her seat.
"Not yet. Keitaro's still upset and I don't want you to make him feel any worse right now." She taps her chin for a moment in thought. "When you get back home with your parents, you should write him a letter and explain yourself and apologize profusely. I know he's letting you come back, but it would be nice for your return to be more welcome and happier."
Naru wipes the tears from her eyes, a small smile on her pretty face. "Yeah, that's a better idea. You were always good at thinking these kinds of things up Haruka." She stands up and grabs her bags. "Well I guess I should be going now. I don't want to keep my parents waiting for me too long." With one last look to the older woman, Naru turns around and walks to the entrance. She unlocks it and leaves to return to her real home.
As soon as the door closes, Haruka gets to her feet and unsteadily walks to the door, the alcohol she was drinking starting to kick in a bit. She locks the door and leans her back against it, sliding down to the floor. "What a day," she sighs out loud. "I'm glad the situation with that stupid girl has been slightly resolved, but I'm still worried about Keitaro." She looks up to the ceiling, an unusual display of sadness running across her lovely features. "That was the first time I've heard him mention Kanako's name out loud since shortly after she died." A light sigh escapes her lips. "I wonder how different things would've been if she were still alive."
Two Months Ago…
Far away in Tokyo General Hospital, a young woman sleeps in her hospital bed. The many cuts, bruises, broken bones and other near fatal injuries she sustained many years ago have completely healed, though she still sleeps, and is presumed to never awaken, especially after being in this long of a coma. Only a handful of people outside the hospital know that this young woman is still alive, but they have all decided that it's for the best to let everyone else think that she is gone. They don't want anyone else to go through the pain of knowing that she is alive, but will never wake up…especially her bigger brother.
The still silence of the room is only broken by the monotone beeping of the heart monitor. Suddenly, there is a slight change in the girl's breathing. The heart monitor spikes once, then goes back to normal. Several uneventful minutes pass when it happens again, but this time it continues on. As a sign, her body starts to move as well. Her fingers begin to twitch ever so slightly, and her eyes flutter lightly. All medical devices monitoring her begin to beep and sound off rapidly as a rare, unexpected event occurs…she is waking up.
Her entire body, which has lied perfectly still for about a decade, begins to shift and move as a soft moan escapes her. Suddenly, her entire body goes still again and the monitors slowly go back to normal. For a minute, it looks as if she has returned to her eternal slumber once more…when her eyes snap open. She blinks several times, her eyes adjusting to actually being used again. Her heart monitor begins to increase as she looks around, her confusion and fear quickly growing at the unfamiliar surrounding she is in. She opens her mouth to speak and in a dry, hoarse voice whispers out, "Onii-chan?"
To be continued…
Author's notes: Well, this chapter sure has a lot of emotions and surprises in it now don't it? I know the ending has a bit of a soap operaish feel to it, but this was one of my intentions when I originally started this fic. Pretty soon I'll introduce Kanako into this fic, as well as another Love Hina favorite character. Do you have any watermelon? She sure does!
On other news, I'm like a page or so close to finishing my next chapter of 'Family Affairs.' It should be done soon, as long as I keep focused and don't get distracted on other activities, like drinking. I'm sure some of you might've realized that the drinks Haruka mixed were Jack Daniels and CocaCola, or Jack Coke. It's damn strong and gets the job done, but drink responsibly and only when you're of age! Okay, that's my Good Samaritan act for the year so please wait just a few days or so and I should have the next chapter of FA up and posted, which will eventually be followed by both of my Inu-Yasha fics. – lighthawkdemon
Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon(at)Y!
