Here is chapter 4. To all who have been reading and sending their reviews so far. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu! I deeply appreciate it. So the story continues to unfold. Keitaro is definitely under some strange affliction. I basically wrote this entire chapter while listening to nothing but Filter's 'Title of Record' CD. Strange, yes I know. Anyway, enough of my yammering. I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think so far. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu. Enjoy!

You Have Me

Chapter 4

Keitaro awoke from a dreamless sleep. His head was facing toward the window. Taking in a few deep breaths, he watched the outside world for a moment. The sun had already set long ago. By the moonlight, he could see the swaying of the trees in the cold September wind. He could hear the soft distant hiss as the leaves rubbed against eachother. The days may still be warm, but the nights become so chilled this time of year. Reminding us that winter is not far off. He realized this as the breeze flowed in through the open window, causing goose-bumps to form on his skin.

The sound of a woman's quiet breaths drew his attention. He looked up and next to him there was Motoko, sitting in her chair, fast asleep. Her head was tilted down as her hands were folded in her lap. Keitaro smiled at this.

'She watched over me the whole time, didn't she.'

Keitaro sat up and gently rubbed her ankle to rouse her. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and lifted her head.

"Hey there, sleepy head. You'll get a stiff neck if you sleep like that." Keitaro said to her, quietly.

She looked at him and her features brightened.

"How are you feeling? You gave me a real scare when you collapsed earlier."

Keitaro looked down at his hands. He moved the fingers and closed them forming a fist and then opened them again.

"Actually, I feel great. That nap must have been just what I needed, because I feel like I just got a super-charge." He then hopped out of his futon and started walking around his room.

She stood up from her chair and said, "Keitaro, you shouldn't get up so quickly. It's-"

"I feel incredible, Motoko! I've never felt this good." He said smiling, becoming more and more excited. "I feel like I can run a hundred mile marathon and still do a two hour sword practice!"

"That's all well and good I suppose, but maybe you should just sit down for a while and-"

"Oh, that's right!" He said, interrupting her again. "I found something while I was on the Dig that I wanted to show you. Wait right there!"

"But Keitaro!" she said, but he was already out the door, heading for the lobby. With a sigh, she simply sat back down and waited.

After a short minute, she heard the thumping of his stomping feet coming back down the hallway. In Keitaro came with all his bags. He plopped them down next to Motoko and then opened his small suitcase. On top of his folded clothes was the knife, which he had cleaned off the best he could while still in Kyoto. Keitaro took it out and said, "Here, Motoko. Take a look." as he handed it to her.

"Wow, what a splendid traditional knife, Keitaro. A little worse for ware, but it might make a good display item." She said, looking at it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He said, kneeling next to her and looking at it with her.

With a little effort, she removed it from the cover and looked at the blade.

"The blade is in pretty bad shape, though." As she said that, she began to feel uncomfortable holding it.

"Well, I figured if I kept the cover on, it would still look good on display." He said.

The longer she held it in her hands, the more she felt as if it were bearing some burdensome weight on her very soul, carrying with it a weak sense of danger. She had to get it away from her. Quickly she sheathed it and handed it to Keitaro.

"Please! Take it away from me!" she said.

Keitaro took the knife from her trembling hand and looked at her curiously.

"What? What's wrong, Motoko?" he said, laying the knife at his side, opposite of Motoko.

"I…I just don't like it. I get a horrible feeling from that knife, Keitaro. I think you should get rid of it." She said, taking his hand with a pleading look in her eyes. She was obviously shaken by it. She realized that she both hated and feared it at the same time.

"What do you mean, Motoko? I never felt anything from it."

"I just get a bad feeling from it. Please, get rid of it, Keitaro." She said, sounding ever more apprehensive of it.

Keitaro laughed in dismissal of her warnings.

"Motoko, I'm not just going to throw away a valuable artifact. You're being ridiculous."

"Please!" she started. Keitaro then stood up.

"The answer is no, Motoko!" he yelled with an authoritative wave of his hand. The look of anger flooded into his face.

Motoko was taken back by this. Keitaro had never raised his voice to her before. Nor had he ever lost his temper. Keitaro saw the shocked look on her face and immediately realized he made a mistake.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." He said.

An awkward silence passed between them.

"Listen, how about this. I'll just put it in the basement storage room. How does that sound?" He said, softly, showing her an apologetic smile.

"O-Okay." She said, still a little shaken by his earlier words.

"That way, you won't even have to be near it." He said, slowly reaching out.

He gently took her by the hands and helped her to her feet. She looked slightly away from him, avoiding eye contact, still a little uneasy. She looked as if she were holding back tears. Keitaro saw this and took her in his arms, holding her close as she yielded to his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Motoko. I didn't mean to yell at you. It won't ever happen again."

All she could say was, "Okay." As she laid the side of her face on his shoulder.

After a while of holding her in this tender way, he slowly drew back and said,

"Hey, we haven't been to the shopping district in a while. How about we go there tomorrow? We could window-shop like we used to. Would you like that?" he said.

Bringing herself to smile as she looked in his eyes, she said, "I would like that."

"It's settled then. Tomorrow it is." He said. They shared a kiss and then left the room together, leaving the knife on the floor.

Early the next morning…

"What did you say? Keitaro collapsed!" Naru said, as she sat at the dining room table, having a cup of tea with Motoko.

"Yes. He seemed fine enough when we left the balcony, but then he felt weak and collapsed right in the hallway." Motoko said.

"I see. So that's why neither of you showed up for dinner. How is he now?" Naru asked, anxiously.

"He's fine now. He's upstairs, still sleeping. It's strange. When he woke up last night, he had so much energy. It's as if his dizzy spell never even happened." Motoko said, looking off as she ran through the event in her head. Then she remembered his angry outburst, causing an obvious change in her demeanor.

"Is something wrong, Motoko?" Naru asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Motoko said.

Motoko finished off the last of her tea. She set the cup down and stared at it for a moment. She still could not forget the look in his eyes. The fiery anger, the lack of emotional restraint. She felt as if for that one short moment, he was a completely different person.

The sudden silence made Naru uncomfortable.

"Motoko?" Naru said, snapping Motoko out of her daze.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Naru."

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Naru said carefully, reaching out and touching Motoko's shoulder.

Motoko simply shook her head and said, "No, everything is fine."

"Because if there were something wrong, you can talk to me anytime."

"I know, Naru. Thank you."

Motoko stood up from the table and said,

"Well, I'd better start my practice. It's already 6:30am."

"Do you have any plans for today, Motoko?" Naru said, standing as well.

"It being Saturday, Keitaro and I don't have any classes. So we're heading to the shopping district later. Did you need anything while we're there?"

"No thanks. I'm good." Naru said.

They both walked into the kitchen, put their cups by the sink and then walked up the stairs together. Naru was on her way to her room to study as Motoko was off to hers to get her sword for practice. As Motoko and Naru passed Keitaro's room on the second floor, Motoko stopped and said,

"I'll see you later, Naru."

"Okay, I'll to you talk later, Motoko."

Motoko gave a few quiet knocks to Keitaro's door and entered his room to see how he was doing. She gently closed the door behind her and walked towards Keitaro who, was still sleeping on his futon.

'I won't bother him with practice today. I'll let him sleep. He probably needs it.'

Then she looked over along the floor and saw the knife still lying there. It gave her chills, even to look at it.

'Hopefully he'll put that thing in storage today. It would be such a mood-killer.'

Then she noticed the writing on its side. She knelt down and looked at the knife closer without touching it.

'I never noticed this before.' Then she noticed the name inscribed there.

"Ichiro Akume…Why does that name sound familiar?" She said out loud.

She pondered it for a moment and was then distracted by Keitaro rustling in his futon. She stood up, walked back to the door and thought,

'Maybe it's nothing.'

Then she looked at Keitaro's still sleeping form.

'Sweet dreams, my love.'

Motoko walked out into the back courtyard with her sword. She tied a band around her forehead and started doing her warm-up stretches. As she did this, she became aware of the sound of footsteps moving over the short grass from behind her. They were coming towards her. She turned and there was Keitaro with his sword in hand. With a smile he said,

"Didn't I tell you I wanted to catch up on practice. You should have woke me up."

"Well, you looked so cute sleeping, I didn't have the heart to." She said, teasingly.

"Did I, now?" he said, walking up and giving her a kiss.

They took their positions, finding their proper stances. Motoko formed a devious smile and said,

"Are you ready for this, Keitaro? Because I won't go easy on you."

"That's exactly what I want. My body feels restless. I need to release this energy boiling inside me." He said, lifting his sword and slicing it through the air at the word 'release'.

"Very well." She said.

Holding their swords in the proper form, they faced eachother. Still like statues, they read eachother for a moment, trying to anticipate the other's first move. Motoko narrowed her eyes, then yelled,

"HAJIMERU!"

At this, they both dashed forward as fast as they could. Motoko then leapt into the air.

"Wind force blade, Second form!" she yelled as she created a powerful wind that blasted toward Keitaro.

Keitaro jumped up and said,

"Silver Dragon Counter Technique!"

He swung his sword upward, creating a powerful force that dispersed the wind as he flew through it. Their swords met, connecting with strike after strike of metal on metal. The nature around them seemed to shudder and sway in reaction to their fighting as they continued to perform their lightning fast movements in midair. They both gave their best, bringing forth all of their knowledge of the sword.

Motoko pushed him back with a forward counter and landed on her feet. Keitaro touched down as well. Motoko took a moment to catch her breath. They were both smiling. They were enjoying this to the fullest.

"Not bad, Keitaro." She said, still breathing heavily.

Keitaro, who was not even winded, said, "Yeah. I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it."

"Then I hope you'll like this as well!" Motoko dashed at him, almost faster than the eye could see. Keitaro's body then floated up into the air, giving off a powerful wind force in all directions, knocking Motoko back. Keitaro, with the blank look now returned to his eyes, raised his sword high and yelled,

"Kuroi Tsubasa Ken, Nikatachi!"

The blade of his sword turned black as onyx. He swung it down, sending a powerful dark wave for Motoko.

She barely dodged the wave in time as it crashed into the ground next to her, sending rocks and dirt flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, she saw Keitaro still floating in the air. His blank stare gave him the look as if he were transfixed. After a short moment, the glassy fog disappeared from his eyes and he slowly descended to the ground.

Keitaro, feeling a little woosy, sat down on the ground. Motoko dropped her sword and ran to him. Holding him steady, she said,

"Keitaro! Keitaro, are you alright!"

Keitaro looked up at her as if just coming to his senses.

"Oh…Motoko. I'm sorry, I must have blacked out."

"Keitaro, where did you learn that technique! You were hovering in the air, Keitaro!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Motoko? What technique? Wait, I was hovering?" He said.

Motoko helped him up and said,

"Keitaro, that was the 'Black Wing Blade' technique. That technique was banned by our school, over two centuries ago. And you demonstrated the second form, which none of us even knew existed. Where did you learn it?"

"I honestly don't know, Motoko. I don't even remember doing it." He said, putting his hand to his head as the dizziness slowly dispersed. Then he looked over at the fresh crater in the ground.

"Did I…do that?" he said.

Looking at it as well, she said, "Yes."

They stood silent as they looked over and stared at eachother, puzzled by what had just happened. Then Shinobu's voice called out from behind them.

"Hey, guys! Breakfast is ready!"

As she ran up to them, she noticed the big hole in the ground.

"Oh my goodness! What happened here?"

Motoko put on a pleasant face and said,

"Sorry about that, Shinobu. I guess we sort of got carried away."

"Oh…um, okay. Well, you best hurry before your miso soup gets cold. I'll see you inside, okay?" Shinobu smiled uneasily as she stepped backwards. She then bowed and ran on into the house.

Keitaro watched Shinobu go back into the house. Then he turned back to Motoko.

"This is starting to worry me, Motoko. I blacked out in Kyoto, too, while I was on the Dig." He said.

Motoko held him close. Keitaro then put his arms around her.

"Don't worry, Anata. We'll figure this out." She said softly.

Later that day…

Having just returned from their afternoon at the shopping district, they decided to just relax for while in a soothing bath. They enjoyed themselves very much and purchased a few items here and there.

Motoko sat on the side of the hot spring waters. With a peaceful smile, she slowly poured the hot water over her shoulder, letting it flow down the smooth fair skin of her naked body. A cooling rush quickly replaced the hot feeling of the flowing water, as the wind flowed gracefully around her.

Up in the men's bath area, Keitaro sat in his circular, wooden bath. He exhaled, blowing the rising steam from the hot water. He gathered some water in his hands and splashed it onto his face. After a while, he rose out of the waters and walked over to the mirror on the wall. He wiped the glass so he could see his image clearly. He reached for his glasses, but then he realized that he could see his reflection clearly without the glasses.

'Well, that's strange.' He thought, raising an eyebrow.

Then he looked closely at his image. He looked at his hair, which was still wet and not going in any specific direction. "Hmm." He said, looking at his dark brown hair. He picked up a comb and started slicking it back. After all the hair was set straight back from his square hairline, he gave himself a nod and said, "Yup. I like it."

A little later, Motoko, dried and dressed, walked down the hallway towards Keitaro's room. She noticed his door was open and as she drew closer, she heard heavy breathing inside his room. She walked in to see Keitaro working out. He was lifting a barbell, doing bicep curls. There were 20 lb. weights fastened to each end of the barbell. He wore no shirt, showing the movements of his contracting and relaxing muscles throughout his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He gave quick exhaling breaths with each successful curl. Motoko was of course, astonished by this sight. She started to form a slight blush in her cheeks as she looked upon his bare chest on which tiny beads of sweat formed and clung. He noticed her and then put down the barbell.

"Keitaro, have you started working out?" she said, walking up to him and looking at his arms.

"Yeah, I found this weight set in storage when I put the knife away down there. I figured it would be good to keep in shape." He said.

"Of course you realize, if you were out of shape, I would love you just that same." She cracked a smile. "I would just take more pleasure kicking your butt in our kendo matches."

"Well lets hope I never get out of shape, huh?"

"Then again, at that point, I might start dating Kentaro, insteaaaaad." She said, looking up innocently.

"Oooh, you're teasing me now, huh?" He said, taking her in his arms with a smile.

"Uh, huh." She said with a nod as their lips drew closer.

Motoko was a little surprised by his boldness. At the force he used to kiss her and the fact that he moved his hand over the small of her back and held her pelvis close to his. This tantalized her. Her heart began to quicken. Her cheeks began to burn as they became flushed. Not that she wouldn't usually welcome Keitaro's affection, but she became uncomfortable and pulled back from his deep kiss.

She quickly started a conversation to divert his attention away from the awkwardness she just created.

"Your glasses, Keitaro. Can you see okay without them?"

"Huh? Oh, that. Well, for some strange reason, I haven't needed them since earlier." He said.

"But you had a strong prescription. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I can see fine."

"Your hair is different too." She said looking at his slicked back hair, held in place by non-fragrant hair gel.

"Oh, you like it? I found some gel."

"It certainly is different. I think I do like it. It reveals your face better. I like the way it accents your cheek-bones. And without your glasses, it brings more attention to your nice eyes."

"So it's a nice change, then?"

"Yeah. I don't mind it. Although, I would like to see the old look once in a while as well."

"Okay, then. Anything for you, my sweet." He said in a deep voice, imitating a Clark Gable-esk tone.

She laughed delightfully at this and twirled away from his grasp.

"Okay, Casanova. Shinobu will have dinner ready any minute. We should start heading downstairs." She said.

"Alright, I'll meet you down there. I'll just throw a shirt on."

"See you in a little bit, Anata." She said, giving him a quick kiss after he slipped on a black shirt.

Then she turned and left the room. Keitaro leaned down and moved his barbell close to the wall. He stood up. As he stood there, he suddenly felt tingles go up and down his spine, followed by the feeling of the muscles in his arms contracting uncontrollably. A haze covered his vision for a moment. Unable to control it, his balled fist thrust out in front of him. He heard something crumble.

His vision cleared and what he saw shocked him. His hand went straight through his solid, one-foot-thick plaster wall up to his mid-forearm. He carefully pulled it out and looked at his hand. He opened and closed it and then moved his wrist. He felt the bones with his other hand. Nothing was broken. The skin showed not a scratch.

He held his hand out in front of him and stared at it.

"What the hell is happening to me?"