Keitaro's condition gets worse by the day, but what is really wrong with him? What's really causing this change in him? I know the series has reached a very dark point and will only get worse, but I hope you'll stay with me on this and give your comments as I continue to tell this tale. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu.
You Have Me
Chapter 6
The next day, beyond the back courtyard, among the trees stood Keitaro. It was late morning with the sun shining brightly from a cloudless sky. He wore nothing but pair of black sweatpants. The steady wind that blew against his chest was cool, but not unpleasant to him. The brushing of the grass under his bare feet gave him a feeling of stability as he practiced his martial arts. His movements were fluid and fast. He couldn't say what school of style it was. The techniques that he brought forth were not of that taught at Motoko's family dojo, neither were they that of Seta's teachings. The movements just came to him and he demonstrated them with perfect form.
As he continued to practice, Naru came running up to him from the house, having noticed him from a second floor window a few minutes before.
"Hey, Keitaro! I need to tell you, the lights in the first floor bathroom aren't working again."
"I'll get to it later." He said, never ceasing his continuous movements.
"Aren't you cold out here? Anyways. So, what are you doing home? Don't you have classes today? Oh, and by the way, why weren't you at dinner last night?" She asked in kind as she watched him.
"You ask too many questions. Hey, I know. How about a question for you? Why don't you go pester somebody else?" He said.
Naru almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. She stood there, stunned at his tone of utter disdain towards her.
Then, it didn't take long before she completely erupted.
"Well, Fine! Excuse me for caring! Jerk!"
She turned around and stormed back towards the house. As she walked through the door, she said,
"What an asshole!" loud enough so he could hear it.
Keitaro watched her with apathetic eyes until she was gone.
"Such an irritating girl." He said with a look of disgust. He then looked at the five trees closest to him and formed a devilish grin.
He jumped up into the air. His form became transparent as his movements were almost too fast for the eye to see. All you could see was a blur bouncing from one tree to the next. The five tree trunks split, sending pieces of wood flying in all directions. Keitaro landed back on his feet. The five broken trees fell down and away from him. He stood still for a few moments, listening for his heartbeat. It was the strong and steady beat of a world-class marathon runner. No pain came. Keitaro gave a quick laugh.
"Good, my body is finally getting used to this."
Motoko came home from her day at school. The long hand of the clock hanging on the lobby wall, just hit 3:05pm. In her hand was her briefcase, containing her textbooks. Senior year in high school does not give an easy workload. The amount of books in her case showed this. Her eyes were a little reddened, having cried all night long. She took off her shoes and walked into the lobby. She stopped and took a moment to let down her hair from the ribbon it had been up in all day. As she did this, she looked over and saw Kitsune sitting there on the couch, reading a copy of Tokyo Monthly. She peaked up from her magazine and said,
"Hey, Motoko. How was your day at school?"
"It was alright." Motoko said, sounding drained as she placed the ribbon in her pocket.
Kitsune opened her eyes a little wider as she started to speak with seriousness.
"You know, Keitaro hasn't been acting like himself lately, has he? He just walks by us as if he's too busy to talk to us. Plus, Naru said she and him had a run-in this morning."
"Really? What happened?" Motoko asked, now deeply concerned.
"Don't know. Naru was too angry to say anything else." Kitsune said with a shrug. She then started to rub her chin. "I wonder if something is seriously wrong with him."
Motoko looked at her and then up at the stairs.
"Honestly, Kitsune, that's what I'd like to know." She said, her features now hardened. "I'll talk to you later, Kitsune." Motoko started up the stairs.
"Alright. See ya later, sugah."
Motoko walked steadily up the stairs to the second floor. Keitaro's door was open and loud music was coming from the inside. She walked up next to the door and paused. She set down her briefcase, straightened her clothes, and walked in. Inside, she saw Keitaro lifting weights as she saw him before. Only this time, 50 lb. weights were fastened to both ends of the barbell. She looked at him silently for a moment, to which he seemed to ignore her.
She walked over to his stereo and turned the music down. He looked to the stereo and then to her as if to say, 'what do you want?' He then put down the barbell and folded his arms as he looked at her, waiting for her to speak.
She glanced at the two CDs sitting on the stereo. One read 'Rammstein' and the one on top of it read 'KMFDM'. She started carefully, with light conversation.
"I…didn't know you listened to German music, Keitaro. I didn't know you listened to music at all."
"Yeah, it's been gaining my interest lately." He said, looking away, seemingly growing more irritated.
"It sounds kind of…harsh, doesn't it? I mean, with those rasping electric guitars and heavy beats playing. Not to mention those weird electronic noises. And that singing sounds more like screaming." She said.
"Actually, I think it sounds beautiful." He said, still not making eye contact.
"Oh…okay. Well…listen, Keitaro. We have to talk. It's about your behavior. You've been…acting so cold to me lately." Her voice started to crack with held back tears. "You…you don't even say you love me anymore. I am to be your wife, Keitaro. Have you forgotten that? And these black outs and irregular heartbeats and sudden destructive bursts of energy. It's almost as if you've been cursed. Do you know how much you worry m-"
"Cursed!" He yelled up starting, throwing her a dangerous gaze. "I have not been cursed! I have been blessed! I am now stronger and faster than any man on earth!"
"But Keitaro! I only-"
He turned away from her and faced the door.
"It's getting stuffy in here. I'm going out to get some air." He then walked out and slammed the door behind him causing her to flinch.
She slowly fell to her knees and broke down into tears.
'Why? Why are you doing this? Don't you know how much this is killing me inside? You made a promise to me, Keitaro. You promised to be my husband, just as I promised to be your wife.'
The tears continued to drop and gather on the floor. Then she looked up at the Knife, which was still on its display. The sight of it only caused her more pain. She had to get out of there. She had to leave.
Motoko threw open his door and ran out into the hallway. She knew of only one place left she could go. The one person left that she could turn to.
Naru sat alone in her room, going over her college Chemistry assignments. She had almost filled an entire page in her notebook, writing down a process for separating and reducing HydroCarbon molecules. Setting down her pencil for a moment, she leaned back from the table and took a deep breath in order to regain her focus.
Suddenly, an urgent knock came rapping at her door. She quickly stood up from her table and opened the door to see what the matter was. Her eyes beheld Motoko who, was a wreck with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh my god. Motoko, what happened?"
"I need…I need to talk to someone, Naru." She said, choking through the tears.
"Well, come in, come in."
Naru helped her sit down at her table, ran to the doorway, looked up and down the hall and shut the door, locking it. She sat down next to Motoko and took her hands in hers.
"Now take a couple breaths and tell me what happened, sweetie." Naru said, being as comforting as she possibly can.
Motoko breathed in and slowly let it out. She repeated this several times until she could talk clearly. She then told Naru about everything. About the first changes in Keitaro's behavior, and how he moved from so close to so far away.
One story down, Shinobu walked up the stairs with a pleasant smile. She has been thinking hard on an important issue for the past few days and has finally come to a decision. As she reached the 2nd floor hallway, she walked hurriedly toward Keitaro's room.
'I've made up my mind. I'm going to tell him how I feel. I haven't seen him in so long, though. He hasn't shown up to any of my meals in almost two days. I hope he's alright.'
Shinobu reached Keitaro's open door and looked inside.
"Keitaro?"
She looked around. No one was in the room. A song was playing on the stereo at mid to low volume. The sound of the voice that sang the foreign lyrics disturbed her. It had a dark and malicious tone as it was set against the foreboding electronic melody.
'Und wenn ich also sterben muss. So will ich erblinden durch deine braunen augen.'
It made her cringe. 'I don't know what he's saying and sure as heck, I don't want to know.'
She turned around to walk out of the room and was startled to see Keitaro's bare chest an inch from her face.
"Oh! Keitaro, there you are. You frightened me. Please don't sneak up on me like that." She said, quickly stepping back.
"Sure." He said indifferently as he walked past her into the room.
Her eyes followed him. She felt a sense of awe as her wide eyes took in all the changes Keitaro had made to his appearance. The dark brown hair slicked back on his head almost seeming black in the light, his face free of his bulky glasses, the definition of his exposed muscles enhanced by the shine of the sweat that clung to them. She almost didn't recognize him. Her stare became fixed on his chest muscles. The way they flexed and relaxed with his subtle movements. Her cheeks began to burn as the deep blush flowed to her face. In her mind, a vision of one of her secret fantasies came back to her.
"Well? Did you want something?" Keitaro said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
This snapped her out of her frozen expression.
"Oh! Sorry. Um, yes. There is something I want to tell you, Senpai."
She paused as she tried to remember the words she made herself memorize in her head.
"Well, what is it?" Keitaro said, growing impatient.
Shinobu gave a swallow, keeping her shy nervousness at bay. She then looked up at Keitaro with loving eyes and a sweet smile.
"Keitaro…I'm in love with you. I have been ever since you first came into my life. I don't expect you to return my feelings, knowing how you feel about Motoko. I just wanted to tell you how I feel. Besides, who knows? Maybe someday…I don't know…we might-"
"We might what?" He said with a laugh, cutting her off. " 'Someday'? What makes you think I would ever be interested in a weak little girl like you?"
Shinobu fell still and silent at the shock of his cruel words. Her sweet smile had instantly disappeared. She then struggled to speak.
"…weak…girl? But, Keitaro…you always said…" Tears began to form in her eyes.
"Why would I even waste my time?" He said.
Shinobu felt as if her gentle heart had been ripped from her chest, thrown down on the floor and stomped on. She could not speak, she could not breathe. All she could do was look upon his cruel, uncaring smile. A smile he showed as if amused at what he had said. A sadistic smile that seemed only to pour more salt on Shinobu's already open and bleeding wound. The tears came forth that she could no longer hold back. She couldn't look at him anymore. She covered her face and ran out of the room.
"What an annoyance." Keitaro said as he turned away from the doorway.
Naru continued to hold Motoko's hands as she poured her heart out to her. Naru held on to them firmly as if fearing that Motoko might completely fall apart if she let go. She had never seen Motoko this vulnerable before. Motoko, the one with such strong will, such unbreakable composure now reduced to this. Every moment, Naru developed more and more anger towards Keitaro for bringing Motoko to this point: A girl in such emotional shambles she could barely talk straight. Naru slowly released Motoko's hands and stood up from the table.
"Motoko, would you like some water?" she asked softly, to which Motoko nodded 'yes'.
Motoko was calm now, having let everything off her chest.
"Okay, you stay right here. I'll go get you some water, okay?" Naru said, lightly touching Motoko's shoulder.
Naru walked out of her room and gently shut the door behind her. She stood there in the hallway for a moment. Her eyes fell to the ground as her fists became clenched. She began to grit her teeth as her body started to shake with her growing rage.
'Damn you, Keitaro. How could you do this? To your fiancé no doubt. The woman you claim to love with all your heart. How could you!'
Naru flew down the stairs. When she got to the hallway of the second floor, she stopped for a moment to see Shinobu run by her with tears in her eyes.
"Shinobu? Shinobu, wait!"
But she was already gone, the sound of her fast footsteps echoing down the stairwell.
Naru went over to Keitaro's room and saw him standing there in the doorway.
"Keitaro, we need to talk." She said, moving right up to his face.
Giving a laugh of dismissal, he stepped past her into the hall.
"It can wait until later." He said, turning to walk away.
Quickly grabbing his arm, she pulled him back and turned him to face her.
"No, we talk now!" She pressed her finger to his chest as she began to unload.
"Just what the hell is your problem, huh! The way you acted to me this morning was completely unlike you. Just where do you get the nerve, the gall to talk to me that way? Then there's Motoko, calming down in my room as we speak who loves you and would dedicate herself to you totally and completely for the rest of her life. And what do you do? You treat her like SHIT! And what was that with Shinobu, just now? Did you say something to her too? God! What has happened to you, Keitaro? Are you on drugs? Have you completely lost all care?"
Naru stopped and took a moment to catch her breath. Keitaro simply looked at her with unfeeling eyes.
"Are you done or are you going to spout out even more pointless banter?" He said, coldly.
That was the last straw for Naru. He had officially struck her last chord.
"Damn it, Keitaro!" She wound up her right arm and thrust her 'Naru punch' right for his face.
To her surprise, with a series of movements so fast that she couldn't comprehend them, Keitaro caught her fist in his right hand. "What the…" she said, looking at it, unbelieving. He then squeezed her fist tightly and twisted it downward, causing immediate and extreme pain in her wrist and shoulder. "AAAAH!" she called out through the terrible pain as she fell to her knees.
"P-Please…stop…you're hurting me, Keitaro!" She pleaded.
He looked down at her.
"How utterly pathetic." He let go of her fist.
With an "Ah!" filled with pain, she fell on her side against the hard wooden floor. She slowly leaned up. All she could do was watch him turn his back on her and walk on down the hall.
"What's happened to you, Keitaro? Can't you see we're all worried for you?"
She carefully got up, favoring her arm, which throbbed with pain. While she did this, Keitaro walked out of the building, into the back courtyard.
Motoko sat quietly, her thoughts now collected and following their logical paths once more. The door opened and in walked Naru, holding her shoulder.
"Naru! What happened?" Motoko said, standing up.
"It was Keitaro. I got angry and went to face him. I lost my temper and tried to punch him, but he caught it and did this to my shoulder. My God, Motoko. It's like he was a completely different person. The way he looked at me with those eyes…" Naru sat down. "I think he's gone for now, but we have to do something, Motoko."
"It's that knife, Naru. It has to be. All this started when he brought that damned thing home. There's a sort of warning inscribed on it, but its such an old text. I can't read all of it. My Grandmother can probably decipher it and give us some answers. I have to take the Knife. I don't care what Keitaro does. That knife could be the only clue we have in bringing him back to the way he was." Motoko started toward the door.
"Be careful, Motoko. He's in such a state, I don't know what he'll do." Naru said.
Motoko looked away for a second, took a deep breath and looked back down at Naru.
"Naru, I'm going to Kyoto. Tell everyone to stay far away from Keitaro until I get back." Motoko said.
Naru simply nodded in response.
Motoko ran down to Keitaro's empty room, took the Knife and looked at it.
'This has got to be the key to all of this.' She turned to walk out and then stopped. She saw Keitaro's glasses sitting there. She picked them up and held them close to her heart.
"I won't give up on you, Keitaro."
She then slid the glasses into the pocket of her school uniform.
Motoko ran down to the lobby, slipped on her shoes and went out the front door. She hurried through the town, her long hair flowing behind her in the wind. A few blocks ahead of her stood the Hinata Train Station.
'I won't give up on you, Anata. I know you're still in there, somewhere. Please wait for me.'