DISCLAIMER: See previous chapters for disclaimer concerning the fact that I do not own Love Hina and/or Ichigo 100. And just in case, I don't own My Sassy Girl.
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Nishino, Aishiteru
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Chapter Two: Meeting Nishino
Keitaro kept walking, trying with all his might (or lack of it) not to turn around to look back at Hinata Sou. But he still had one person to talk to before leaving Hinata Sou completely.
"Haruka oba-san!"
A harisan (paper fan) suddenly came out of nowhere and whacked him on the head. Keitaro's aunt stepped out of the shadows and, cigarette in mouth, said, "Don't call me 'aunt', what do you want, kid?"
Keitaro rubbed his head as if the paper fan that struck his head was a tennis racket, "Owww, sorry Haruka-san." he took a deep breath, "But I have something to tell you. I am-"
With a monotonous tone, "You're moving out of Hinata Sou, aren't you?"
Keitaro looked up at his aunt and stared for a while, the cigarette could be heard burning and crackling a bit, "How did you know?"
"It's obvious with your overstuffed duffle bag, with clothes sticking out in some parts. You're still teary eyed from your encounter with the girls and you're wearing travel clothes." she said, naming each reason with a count on her fingers.
'I wonder whether he'll come back or not, if not, I better give him the money that Grandma Hina put away for him.'
"Oh, right…" was the only response that he could manage at the moment. After a few seconds, he said, "Then I guess I'll be leaving now."
"Just wait there for a second."
Keitaro could only see Haruka walk over to the counter, bend down behind it and look for something. He just hoped that it wasn't a bigger paper fan. Haruka walked back to him with a rather large paper envelope filled with what looked like money.
"Here kiddo, it's around 600,000 yen for you to use." Haruka quickly saw Keitaro's bulging eyes, "It's just some savings that were available after Grandma Hina gave you the deed to Hinata Sou."
The shocked man nearly screamed out, "Why didn't you tell me that we had this money?"
"Because they were savings, not money for you to spend on whatever you please. Now that you're practically broke, here's some money so you can actually survive."
"Just some money? That's twice my salary at my last job for 2 months!"
"Baka, just take the money and leave. Why are you even arguing?"
"Oh, right, sorry Haruka."
Keitaro took the large wad of money from Haruka and said his thanks. She could only watch as he went down the steps and away from Hinata Sou.
'That idiot better not loose that money by the time that he gets to his destination.'
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At the train station, Keitaro was wondering what would happen if his life was a love story.
'First, after the guy gets mad with the girl, the girl will chase after him no matter where the guy goes. -sigh- Too bad my life isn't a love story, its just pain after pain everyday. Hey, come on, cheer up Keitaro. You're on vacation now, with lots of money to spend. Do whatever you want to, you're a free man for the moment, don't spoil it.'
While his inner thoughts kept on ranting endlessly on how he should spend his money and work out a plan for the time being, he failed to notice that his train to Kyoto had already passed. But that was okay, he also failed to notice that the tickets that he bought were for Tokyo instead of Kyoto.
The PA system announced "Train Number 24 ready to depart, all passengers please board."
Keitaro looked up at the speaker above him and noticed that the train was ready to leave.
"Gah! Hurry hurry hurry, don't miss the train!" he said to himself as he sprinted towards the train and got inside it just when the doors were about to close.
Keitaro let out a deep breath while leaning against the now closed train doors. He looked around the train and found his seat. Exhausted, he collapsed onto his lone train seat and looked out at the passing scenery through his window.
'I'm finally away from Hinata Sou, and I'm going to Kyoto.'
There, Keitaro slept peacefully until…
A chime sound rang throughout the train, signaling for an announcement by the automatic system. "Thank you for riding Japan Rail, we will be arriving at our destination, Tokyo, shortly. Please prepare for arrival at Tokyo, thank you."
'Tokyo? Tokyo? When did I board a train for Tokyo? Well, it's not that bad, it's Tokyo, lots of more things to do in the city than Kyoto. Make things better, yeah, that should be my attitude from now on. Be happy, make the most of things, you have plenty of money to spend.'
Keitaro got out of the train and was pushed and shoved quickly as people rushed to get out into Tokyo. He soon, along with many other people, was pushed into the bright daytime Tokyo. It was like New York, multiplied many times over and pushed into a small square. Everywhere he moved was like he was pushing through a solid piece of gelatin.
'I need a place to stay for the night, ah, that place seems nice and cheap. Ha, I made a joke.'
Keitaro chuckled at his failure of a joke and made way to the small motel in an alleyway. After purchasing his room, on the 4th floor, he made way to the room and quickly unpacked, ready for a daytime nap.
He was ultimately stressed out by the day's events and was at the moment of collapse after being put through his paces when navigating to the motel.
'Just a…yawn short nap for now…'
He quickly fell asleep on his comfortable, even if it had a tad bit of a sanitized smell, bed.
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3 hours later
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"Ara? Where am I?"
Keitaro groggily woke up from his peaceful slumber to the Tokyo evening. Noticing the time, he decided to take a walk in a park and then go to a bar for a drink.
Outside in the park, the air was different from the bustle of Tokyo streets. No car fumes, no loud noise, no peddlers, just peace. All was well as he strolled through the walkways in the park and stopped ever now and then to gaze and admire the flower arrangements. There were couples about, walking together hand in hand, kissing while sitting on the benches, and only god knows what behind the bushes.
'Arrgh, now I can't stop thinking of Naru, why do I feel so much guilt? I know it's her fault, but it feels like it's more of my fault than hers...'
Keitaro just stopped in the middle of the walkway and thought about it. Guilt started to overcome him and override his senses. He just sunk into a small, but still powerful depression that just couldn't allow him to keep his attention on the flowers. He could only think about the couples, how they loved each other, how he failed to show love for Naru one time, and pretty much lost her there.
'I probably hurt her too much already, she won't love me anymore. I'm just a piece of scum to her now, why did I do that? I don't know why. I shouldn't have hurt her, but if I really did love her that much, I couldn't do anything to hurt her. I feel that I love her, but do I really? Of course, but why did I hurt her?'
Keitaro felt that he had to get to the nearest bar and start drinking, lots.
"Give me another bottle of sake!"
Keitaro looked around and found the loud girl was sitting next to him; she was pretty, blond hair, cute face, like a supermodel. The only thing that disgusted him about her was that she was drunk. She kept yelling at the bartender for more alcohol. All he could do was sneak looks at her while sipping his soda.
The girl was dressed in a v-neck sweater that had a white blouse under it, with a matching creme-colored scarf draped around her neck. Her short skirt had a small design that he couldn't make out at the bottom and was in a dark color, indiscernible in the dim lights of the bar. Her eyes, they were clouded with pain, but dulled with the alcohol.
The girl was, apparently, on her fourth bottle of sake. Although Kitsune could do many more, the girl was looking a tad bit tipsy after the first shot of sake from the new bottle brought to her. She gulped down the clear alcohol like it was the ambrosia of the Greek gods. Keitaro could only stare at her now.
'Wow, she can drink a lot, more than what I could stomach for a whole week.'
After the seventh shot of the sake bottle, the girl was looking a little sick now. She involuntarily made motions that would usually signal someone regurgitating the contents of their stomach. She pursed her lips and it looked like she was trying to swallow down what was being regurgitated. Keitaro visibly was horrified at this and was definitely disgusted.
'What did she do just now? Oh Kami-sama, I cannot believe what I just saw.'
Then, after obvious effort to control herself, the girl threw up over the bar, with visible ramen noodles also being sprayed.
She was now swaying and with as much effort as possible, she saw Keitaro and said, "Honey..."
With that she fell over onto the floor and collapsed, passed out.
The bartender took one look and said, "Hey you! Pay up and take your girlfriend out of my bar!"
Keitaro went rigid, "My girlfriend? Oh no, I don't even know who she is,"
People all around the bar started shouting at Keitaro.
"Shame on you, abandoning your girlfriend just so you don't have to pay the tab. Disgusting piece of worthless trash."
"What kind of man are you?"
"We all know that she's your girlfriend! There's no point in denying it!"
Keitaro went frantic, trying to say that the passed out girl wasn't his girlfriend. But after a few minutes of Shinobu-like overheating, he gave up and paid her bill. He picked up the passed out girl and carried her on his back on the way to his motel room.
'Ahh, my back is killing me. Why does this girl have to weight so much. And what's that pressing against my back?'
Upon realizing the object that was pressing into his back with every step, Keitaro had a large nosebleed. His hands immediately went up to stop the nosebleed, but he also lost grip of the girl, who fell onto the concrete sidewalk.
"Gah! NO! I just dropped a passed out girl on a sidewalk. Oh no, this is bad..."
Keitaro quickly snapped into a position to defend most of the vital areas of his body and waited for the punishment to come. But after a few seconds, but what seemed like hours to Keitaro, there was no punishment.
He peeked through his hands and saw the girl, still in her passed out state, lying on the sidewalk.
'Thank god she didn't wake up.'
Keitaro picked the girl back up and continued his journey to the motel.
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AN: For some reason, I feel that I have failed you all with a horrible Haruka scene. In spite of my constant self-criticism, I feel that my Haruka scene was the most horrible piece of junk that I've fed you all. I apologize in case any of your eyes started to bleed.
Hints of My Sassy Girl? A tad bit, I liked the movie, but I decided not to let Nishino throw up on an old man in the subway.
I've decided to post this chapter and save the motel scene for the next chapter (which will be done during the weekend). I am bogged down with school work and therefore, I need to study first and then write next.
The next person who says "More!" will be properly disposed of. I request that any requests for "more" be switched to "moar" or "moor" or "mor" or "more, please". Thank you.