Here's the next chapter, guys. I've been doing my best to tweek the plotline to get it just right. I hope you like this chapter and look forward to the next one, which I've already started by the way. Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu, Xebec, Bandai, etc. Enjoy!
You Have Me
Chapter 3
Keitaro walked through the front doors of the Hinata apartments with all his bags in hand. He was so glad to finally be home after the long train-ride. He walked up to the center of the lobby, set down his bags and called out,
"Hey, everyone. I'm home!"
First, Shinobu stuck her head out from the dining area. "Keitaro!" Her face immediately lit up with happiness and excitement. "Everyone! Keitaro is home!" she called. Within seconds, Keitaro was almost overwhelmed with hugs and eager questions about his trip as all the girls seemed to come out of everywhere at once. Then Motoko came running down the stairs.
"Keitaro!" She said with a bright smile. All the girls cleared a path for her as she ran right into Keitaro's arms.
"Welcome home, Keitaro!" Everyone said in unison.
"I'm home." He said with a big smile.
"Okay, guys. I brought gifts for everyone." Keitaro happily said as he led all of them to sit down on the lobby couches.
Keitaro opened up one of the bags and started handing out the gifts. Bananas for Su, Sake for Kitsune (big surprise), some Kyoto-style cookbooks for Shinobu, a CD for Naru from her favorite pop idol, a new Kendo uniform for Motoko, a new cardigan for Kanako, and a book for Haruka that was from Seta.
Haruka opened the book and as she read what was written for her on the first page, she blushed to the point where her face was a deep red. Noticing this, Keitaro said,
"You okay, Haruka?"
Haruka looked up at him quickly and said, "No-No! I'm fine! Oh! Look at the time! Gotta get going! Bye!"
And she ran out of the room, covering the redness on her face as best she could. Everyone else paused as they watched her disappear from their sight.
"Oooooooooooooooo-kay." Keitaro said, puzzled.
He then turned back to the girls and started telling them all about his trip. The girls hung on his every word as he described all the cool artifacts he found, where he stayed, and how Seta has been. After all was said and all the girl's eager questions were answered, the crowd dispersed. Everyone had things to do and places to go. Keitaro and Motoko left the lobby last and walked up the stairs together.
A few moments before that, Kitsune, who dispersed with the rest of the group, ran up to her room with her bottle of Kyoto Sake. Sliding her door shut behind her, she took a moment to admire the bottle's label. The label's design was very traditional. It was all white and in the old style brush stroke Kanji. It read
Bi-shojo Sake KyotoKitsune then cheerfully trotted over to her liquor shelves and placed it on the shelf which held all of her other brands of Sake. For a moment she heard Keitaro's and Motoko's voices pass by outside her door.
'Hmm, they must be headin' for the balcony.' She thought, her attention being distracted by them for a moment. After their voices faded, she looked back at the fine bottle of Sake.
'It was nice of Keitaro to get me a bottle of the good stuff. I would have settled for just any old brand. I should thank him properly, next chance I get. He's so kind to me, even though I tease him so much. He's like that to all of us. I think any tenant should be so lucky to have an apartment manager like him. He's even more than that. Over time, it seems that all of us have become one big family.' She gave herself a few quick nods, in congratulation of her own wise observation. Then she looked up at the new bottle of Sake. With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the bottle and said,
"Oh, I can't wait any longer. I'm gonna try it now."
She reached for the bottle and then a few raps came at her door.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." She said, turning around. "It's open! Come on in!" She said, facing the door.
The door opened and in walked Naru. She closed the door behind her and said,
"Kitsune, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Naru. What do ya need?" Kitsune said.
Naru turned to the side and said, "I got a run in my last good pair of panti-hose. Can I borrow a couple pairs from you until I can go out and buy some new ones." as she pointed to the run going up her left leg.
"Sure, no problem." Kitsune said, walking over to her dresser drawer.
"Great. Thank you so much, Kitsune." Naru said as she took off her slippers and started pulling down her hosery.
"Hmm, now I think I have some extra pair in this drawer that might fit you. You're a size smaller than I am." Kitsune said, looking through the drawer. "Ah, here they are!" Kitsune then handed Naru a few pair of black stockings.
"Thanks, Kitsune. You're a lifesaver. It's so embarrassing, walking around with a big run like that." Naru said, rolling one of the pairs up her legs. "You know, I'm glad Keitaro made it back safely. I had a feeling that something bad might happen to him." She said.
"Ya don't say. Yeah, I'm glad to see him back alright too. It's just not the same around here with out him, you know?" Kitsune said, her Osaka accent showing through.
"Yeah." Naru said with a smile.
Keitaro and Motoko, just passing Kitsune's room, talked together as they walked down the hallways of the second floor.
"So tell me, did you have any fun while you were there?" Motoko asked as they walked along.
"Yeah, I did. Seta and I went to this nice bar for a few nights. We didn't have enough drinks to get too drunk, but we had a really good time. Seta can be quite a riot after he gets a few drinks in him." Keitaro said.
"I'm glad things went great while you were there. Thank you again for the Kendo Uniform. My old one was getting so worn." She said, while still holding it under her left arm.
"No problem. Besides, I can't have my beautiful Motoko not looking her best during a battle, can I?" he said with a smile.
She gave a flattered laugh and said, "Oh, I love you, Keitaro." Then wrapping her arm around his.
"I love you too." He said, giving her a quick kiss.
Once more they found their way out onto the terrace they love so much that overlooked the back courtyard. They stood together and silently admired the vast nature surrounding the apartments. Then Keitaro looked at Motoko with a pleasant smile, as if becoming lost in the serene features of her face. Motoko noticed this. She turned to him and with a smile, she tilted her head in a cute way.
"What? What is it?" She said.
"How did I end up with a beautiful, incredible girl like you? I mean, did I actually do something right in the last life? Did God give me a free happiness coupon?" He said, still gazing into her soft brown eyes.
Slowly she walked up, slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders and moved her arms around his neck. Their noses were centimeters apart. Their warm breath was felt on each other's lips as they looked into each other's eyes. Then Motoko said softly, "Well, let's just say you sort fell into it…" She moved her hand up his neck and ran her fingers through his soft hair. She moved his head closer and kissed him deeply for a moment. Then she broke the kiss and said with a teasing smile, "…and hit your head on the way down."
They both shared a laugh. Then Keitaro said,
"So what are you doing now? Did you have anything planned for this afternoon?" he said, moving back and letting his hands slide down to the sides of her hips.
"Well, I was planning on practicing my sword swings for an hour. After that, a dip in the bath. Then, I don't really have any plans." She said.
"Oh, I'll practice with you." He said. "I need to catch up on my practice anyway. All I've been doing for the past two weeks is swinging a pick-ax."
"Okay, come walk with me then. We can go get our swords." She said, taking his hand and leading him back into the main house.
They walked down the hallway towards Keitaro's room to get his sword first. As they walked, Keitaro suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy, causing him to stop and lay a hand on the wall next to him for balance. Worried, Motoko quickly turned and said,
"Keitaro? Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine. It's just…" He then collapsed on the floor.
Motoko's heart skipped a beat when she saw this.
"Keitaro!" she yelled as she fell to her knees and lifted him up in her arms. Keitaro's half opened eyes wandered the area around them, as if not able to focus on anything.
"Keitaro! Keitaro, speak to me! Can you hear me?" She said, shaking him lightly.
Slowly, his eyes regained focus and then fixed on Motoko.
"Motoko. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." He said, weakly.
"I think you should lie down for a while. You don't look good at all." She said, noticing how pale he'd become.
She helped him up off the floor, holding his arm around her shoulder.
"But, I need to practice-"
"Forget about practice! I want you to lie down, right now." She said, helping him into his room.
Keitaro was sat down at his desk. Motoko found his futon and set it out for him on the floor. Then, holding him to keep him steady just in case, she laid him down on the futon. She knelt down beside him and said,
"Do you still feel dizzy?"
"Yeah." He said.
She moved the hair back from his forehead and felt his temperature.
"Well, you don't feel warm. If anything, you feel a little cool." Motoko said. She then found a thin blanket and pulled it over him up to his neck.
"You can go ahead and practice. I'll be fine." He said.
"No. I want to stay here with you." She said, showing him a tender smile.
"Okay." He said with a relaxing sigh. "Oh! My bags, they're still in the lobby."
"I'll get them for you later. Close your eyes. Rest now, sweetheart. I'll be right here. If there's anything else you want, anything at all. Let me know." She said, touching her hand to his cheek.
Keitaro closed his eyes and fell asleep. Motoko leaned over and kissed his forehead. Then she stood up, took his desk chair, set it next to his futon and sat down. She sat there patiently, lovingly. Like a guardian angel.
'I wonder what could have happened back there. He was perfectly fine up until a few moments ago. Maybe the trip was a bit harder on him than I thought.'
In the back room of the Hinata Tea House, we find Haruka, sitting at a table with the book Seta asked Keitaro to give to her. The blank-covered, black bound book was actually originally hers. It was her journal from when she was still a student at Tokyo U. She took it with her, back when she had went on an archeology dig with Seta in Kyoto so long ago. She opened the book to the first page. In her hand, it read,
'Haruka's Dig Journal'
Underneath it, in the lower right corner of the page, was something written in Seta's unmistakable writing.
'This is something that you forgot. I hope you didn't forget that warm, June night we spent together. I miss you, my dearest Haruka. I hope someday soon, we can get together and remember those wonderful times. Eternally yours, Seta.'
Then she reached over to the small bookshelf on the wall and pulled out a photo album. She laid it on the table and began to look through it. She came to a page containing several photos of Seta and she in their younger days. She looked close at one photo of them in front of Kyoto Tower. Her hand was placed on his chest as his arm was around her waist. Haruka looked at his happy-go-lucky smile and the easy look in his eyes. She formed a pleasant smile as she looked into those eyes. Slowly she ran her fingers over his image, almost longingly.
She exhaled a slow breath and quietly said "Oh, Noriyasu." She closed the book and held it to her chest. "Someday. Yes…I want us to. But…"
She hung her head down. In the light from the small window, you could almost see a sparkle, as of a tear, slowly running down her cheek.