Love Hina - It's Not Enough
It's Not Enough[R]
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson
Summary: In Volume 9 of the manga, Motoko looses the battle against her sister and decides to live as an ordinary woman, only to have the denizens of Hinata Sou belittle her efforts without knowing that she overhears them. Motoko runs away and Keitaro goes after her. After Keitaro finally stumbles across Motoko wet and miserable in the streets, he takes her home and treats her to hot chocolate in his room. During the events that follows, she breaks down and Keitaro has to attach a multitude of clothespins to his head in order to prevent himself from getting too intimate with Motoko. In this fic, he never gets his hand on those damnable pins and things deviates from the manga from that point onwards...
Disclaimer: Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.
Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860 or through e-mail as iamhawk@yahoo.com, more stories are available at my nifty lil' site at or by clicking on my handle up above.
"speech"
*emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers*
/thoughts/
*/telepathy/*
~translation~
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+
*** Previously, on 'It's Not Enough' ***
"You're a good girl, 'oneechan'. Weird, but good." Keitaro commented with a wry chuckle and a shake of his head. His gaze briefly dipped to the ample cleavage she was displaying, before it focused on her face. "Why you haven't landed yourself a wealthy boyfriend yet, is quite beyond me." he added.
"Yeah..." Kitsune responded, her brain working a mile a minute. Keitaro was behaving awfully strange and weirdly confident in the face of her sexuality, something he'd *never' done before. Was it possible... That he'd gotten laid?
She blinked as the notion occurred to her. Had this coward and the skittish Naru both did the nasty and broken up before she left? It seemed an unlikely event. Neither of the two had the guts for something like that. Motoko? Hah! Mutsumi? Well, Kitsune had to admit that it was a possibility. Mutsumi certainly seemed to have a thing for Keitaro and he was a sucker for everything in a skirt that had breasts larger then his own. If Mutsumi got her heads out of the clouds, or watermelons as the case might be, and really got to work on Keitaro, she could have him wrapped around her little finger in five minutes.
Kitsune nodded to herself, wondering what to do about it. She had been prepared to loose him to Naru and bow out gracefully once again, but Mutsumi was a whole other matter. She was Konno Mitsune! She wouldn't loose a guy to that Okinawan watermelon-head without one hell of a fight!
Keitaro carefully edged away from Kitsune and hurriedly left the room, as she started emitting a furious red battle aura where she was sitting on the couch, cackling madly to herself and muttering about watermelons of all things!
He shook his head in bewilderment. He would never be able to understand how the female mind worked!
*** Roll credits ***
Chapter Four:
"Sloppy." Motoko commented herself with a strained expression on her face. Motoko cursed under her breath and lowered her sword. This was pointless. As always, thinking about Keitaro brought a slew of completely unfamiliar emotions to the forefront. She had no way of dealing with them and so, tried to ignore them as best she could.
Though her best, wasn't anywhere near good enough, she had to admit.
Distracted as she was, her form suffered and she found her own moves lacking in so many ways that she scared herself. If her sister had seen her now, Motoko would find herself bent over her knees receiving a solid spanking. At age seven, her form had been better then it had been just now.
These emotions... These feelings... She hated them! Hated them with a passion! They made her weak! They made her loose her prized skills!
This was exactly why she couldn't stand Keitaro, why she let her temper get the best of her despite her training. Thinking about Keitaro made these damnable infernal things appear! Thinking about Keitaro made her weak! So, she vented her anger and frustrations on him.
And still...
She shivered, staring woodenly at her bokken.
Her sword was broken, her sister had declared her a woman, a warrior no longer. What was she doing with a sword, even if it was a wooden one?
She tossed it aside, burying her head in her hands, sobbing her heart out.
+Bonk+
"Ouch."
Motoko's head whipped up from her hands, a sob halted in mid-progress, making her emit an odd croaking sound as her teary gaze focused on Keitaro. He was rubbing a spot on his forehead, apparently where her carelessly tossed bokken had struck him as he walked up the stairs to the roof platform.
"Urashima..." she whispered, her voice just barely audible. Her breath caught. She didn't know what to say. She had avoided him for two days, had barely spoken a word to him and refused to put herself into a position where the two of them could wind up alone.
And now here they were... Alone...
"Motoko..." Keitaro responded. He hadn't known what to say either and had only made a few half-hearted efforts to round her up for a talk. But now, the two of them were alone. Both of them knew that they'd have to talk about it sometime. Neither of them were ready to talk, but both of them also knew that they'd probably never be ready for a talk like the one which loomed ahead of them now anyway, so perhaps it would be better to put it behind them despite not being ready for it. "Uh... You all right?"
A stupid question, but Motoko had to admit that she probably couldn't have thought of anything better if she had been in his stead. /Stupid!/ she cursed. She had no experience in matters of the heart and soul, she hadn't been ready to... Take the step that she'd taken... And she was even less ready to tackle this conversation.
But she knew, *knew*, that it had been she who had forcibly taken that step, dragging Keitaro along with her. It was her doing, her fault. She owed this talk to him, she owed him an explanation.
"I feel better then I deserve." Motoko morosely observed. "How are you, Urashima... San? Are you... Hurt?" she added, worried that she might have hurt him. She had been a bit... Out of control and her memory of the event was partly somewhat hazy. But she did remember drawing blood, cutting him, clawing at him and at one point, biting him.
"No. I... I heal fast. I'm all right." he observed, a wry smile adorning his lips for a split second, before it vanished. "I... Uh... I'm sorry, Motoko. It's all my fault. I should... I should have stopped things before they got too far." he continued, scraping his feet on the ground, his gaze directed downwards, unable to look her into her eyes.
"No..." Motoko croaked, shaking her head. It would be so easy, so *easy*, to shift the blame to him. She had a lot of experience doing that, but she didn't want to, she *couldn't*! Not this time. No, the fault was all hers this time. She had... She had raped him.
"No... It wasn't your fault." Motoko stated, a little more firmly. "I was... I was in a bad place and I... I needed... I did... I... It was my fault. You are not to blame." Motoko added, shaking her head, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I'm *so* sorry, Urashima-san. I know... I know you didn't want this... You tried to stop me, you did... I know you and Narusegawa... I know... You... You want her. Her, not me. But still I... I... I took this from you. I'm so sorry, so sorry!" she wailed.
She tried to push him off, as she suddenly found herself wrapped in a comforting embrace, her head resting against his chest. But he was surprisingly strong and she was... Weak. She sunk into him, her arms hanging loosely down. She lacked the strength to push him off, she lacked the strength to embrace him in turn. All she could do, was lean into him and cry as he gently rocked her back and forth.
The memory of what they had done returned with a vengeance and Motoko found the bile rising at the memory of it, at the memory of what she had done with him...
No. What she had done *to* him.
"No!" she protested and somehow managed to wrench herself away from him. She staggered off a few steps, then ejected the contents of her stomach with a very unladylike sound. "BleeeeeeergHHhh!" She fell to her knees, holding herself off the ground with her hands as her body ejected what little she had managed to eat and drink. She absently noted gentle hands moving in, holding her hair back, supporting her, as her own body betrayed her.
Tears splattered onto the ground, mixing with the foul reeking mess she'd just puked out and she felt even more miserable. Even after what she had done, despite how awful she had treated him, Keitaro still didn't hesitate to comfort and support her. Her tears flowed even faster and she didn't even notice being pulled away from the scene of her little 'accident', nor did she notice Keitaro pulling out a hankie to wipe her mouth with.
She sobbed against his chest, her hands having moved up to grasp his T-shirt. He constantly offered his unconditional support to everyone around him and how had she rewarded him for his saint-like unselfishness, for his endless generosity? With violence. With contempt. With rape. Her sobbing grew even more violent and a wail of despair escaped from her lips, making Keitaro jump at the unexpected loud sound.
It also caused Shinobu, who had wandered up onto the roof to hang the laundry and thus stumbled across the unexpected scene of Motoko crying in Keitaro's arms, to drop the laundry basket.
"Sempai's!" she exclaimed, scurrying closer to them. "Wha-wh-wha-wha-wha-what is going on? M-mo-Motoko-sempai, why are you crying?" she stuttered, not sure if she should be upset because Motoko was crying or because Keitaro was hugging her.
"I'm a bad, *bad*, bad person, Shinobu!" Motoko wailed, then wrenched herself away from Keitaro and stumbled over to Shinobu, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm *so* sorry, Shinobu!" she continued, splattering the confused girl with tears. "I know you like him. Feh, I know you love him! And yet I... Yet I... I'm *so* sorry, Shinobu!" Motoko blubbered, while the confused youngster hesitantly wrapped her arms around Motoko, trying to comfort her.
"It's okay, Motoko... It's okay..." she mumbled, wondering just what it was that Motoko was so sorry for. It appeared to have something to do with Keitaro, but what? What had she done? Whatever it was, it had upset her terribly. Shinobu was so worried about that, that she hadn't even noticed that Motoko had 'outed' Shinobu's love for Keitaro. Shinobu thought back, then recalled the event which had changed it all. Motoko was so torn up over having punched Keitaro out of the building a couple of days ago?
Shinobu didn't know weather to be sad for Motoko, or happy for Keitaro. If Motoko had finally realized how unfairly she treated Keitaro and stopped hurting him all the time, she was sure that things would become much better for her beloved sempai. If that happened, it was worth the undeserved beating he received from Motoko earlier.
"I know... It's all right... I forgive you..." Shinobu assured her crying friend, but didn't expect the reaction her simple words resulted in. Motoko instantly stopped crying, flinched, yanked herself out of the embrace and took several steps backwards, staring at Shinobu with shock and fear in her eyes.
"Y-y-yo-you know?!" she exclaimed in a shrill voice, then her head swiveled around to glare at Keitaro. "You told?! You told everybody?!" she demanded, her hands clenching into little fists.
"No!" Keitaro insisted, backing away. "I wouldn't do something like that!" he protested indignantly and Motoko had to reluctantly admit that it seemed out of character for Keitaro to have blabbed about his 'conquest', especially to the other girls of the Hinata Sou. So, whatever Shinobu thought she knew, had to be *dead* wrong.
Motoko turned back to Shinobu, plastering a neutral look on her face. She was grateful for the scare, it had scared her right out of her crying spell and cleared her mind. She could think again and one thing her now cleared mind instantly realized was that it would be a *BAD* thing if the other girls found out about this before she knew what to do about the situation.
"Shinobu... You can't tell anyone." Motoko insisted.
"B-b-but why?" Shinobu inquired. "Isn't it a good thing that you've finally realized that it's unfair to just hit Keitaro when he hasn't done anything wrong? If the others find out, perhaps they'll stop being so mean as well..." she continued.
"Uh... I don't want them to think that I've grown weak?" Motoko hesitantly responded, so hesitantly that it nearly sounded like a question. "If they find out that I was crying over something like this... Kitsune will tease me to the end of my days for it." she continued, sounding a little more sure of herself.
Shinobu seemed hesitant, but had to admit that Kitsune would do just that if she found out about it. Perhaps if Motoko lead by example, things would still turn out all right?
"Okay... Perhaps the others will get the idea when they see that you've stopped hitting him." Shinobu ventured, then nodded to herself. "I won't tell anyone, Motoko-sempai." she swore.
"Uh, thank you, Shinobu-chan." Motoko responded, completely bewildered at how Shinobu managed to reach the odd conclusion that she had decided to stop hitting Keitaro.
"Thank you, Shinobu-chan." Keitaro offered as well, then the two of them helped Shinobu hang up the laundry, then waved her off as she headed downstairs. "She... Loves me?" he asked, once she was gone.
"You didn't know?" Motoko asked, a surprised note in her voice. "How could you not know?!" she demanded. "It's so obvious that the girl has a crush on you and had it from the very beginning. Even *I* could see it."
"Shinobu? I never knew... ... ... Wow... ..." Keitaro mumbled to himself, then shook his head. "Never mind. Motoko. You are *not* a bad person and it's not your fault." he continued, grasping her shoulders and looking her straight into her eyes. "Do you hear me? You are not a bad person." he insisted.
"But I rape..." Motoko started to protest, only to wince in pain as Keitaro's grip suddenly hardened.
"No." he insisted, with such conviction in his voice that she couldn't bring herself to oppose him. "You did not rape me. It didn't happen under the best of circumstances and I regret that. But it wasn't rape. I could have stopped you, had I wanted to." Keitaro informed her, then sighed. "I regret the circumstances and would have changed that, if I could. But never think that I didn't want it, that I didn't want you or that you took something from me." he continued. "Just because I didn't agree with the color of the wrapping paper and type of bow, doesn't mean that I didn't appreciate the gift itself."
"Gift? That's a laugh." Motoko snorted. "You don't want me! Don't try to fool me, Urashima. You want... You want Narusegawa." she spat out. "I'm just an obstacle, a violent uncute maniac 'Kendo-girl' who clobbers you every chance I get."
"Motoko... I want... I wanted Narusegawa, that much is true. Perhaps, in a way, I still want her. I'm not sure..." Keitaro ventured, trailing off for a few seconds. "But I wanted you as well. You are a beautiful desirable woman, Motoko. Trust me, I wanted you. I was scared of you too. I'm still scared, to some degree. What happened... It wasn't because you were in need of something... Or... At least not entirely because of that. Part of the reason, was because I found myself in a position where I could no longer deny my desire."
"You want... Naru *and* myself? You... You... You pervert." Motoko grumbled, but without her usual fire. After what they had done, she'd never be able to proclaim him a pervert with her usual gusto. Now she knew, she was just as much of a pervert as him. Perhaps even more so.
"Want is not the same as going for, Motoko." Keitaro replied. "I wanted you. I wanted Naru. I wanted Mutsumi. I wanted Kitsune. I wanted your sister. But I only ever acted upon my want for Naru. At least until..."
"Kitsune? My sis..." Motoko responded, only to fall silent mid-statement, glaring at Keitaro. "My sister?" she repeated coldly.
"She's a beautiful woman, nearly as gorgeous as you are." Keitaro responded with a nervous look on his face, leaning back from Motoko's fierce glare. "Aren't there many men whom you've been interested in?" he inquired.
"No! Never! There's never been anybody but yo..." Motoko began her protest rather vehemently, but trailed off as she realized just what she was saying, what she was revealing.
"Me?" Keitaro squeaked, surprised at the revelation.
"Never you mind, Urashima." Motoko grumbled, terribly embarrassed by that horrible slip of the tongue.
"Me?" he repeated.
"Just forget about it, okay?!" Motoko demanded, clenching her hands into fists again.
"Me?" Keitaro repeated again.
"Yes! You! Naru, Shinobu, Mutsumi, Kitsune, Su and Me. All of us! All of us are interested in you for some unfathomable reason. Never you mind that!" Motoko groused, then strained to regain some slight measure of calmness.
"You... Shinobu... Mutsumi... You... Kitsune... Su... You..." Keitaro muttered, blinking his eyes several times as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. "Me?!" he exclaimed in a girlishly shrill voice.
"Urashima..." Motoko growled warningly, then realized that his distraction offered her an unrivaled opportunity to sneak off. While she did realize that she owed him an explanation, she wouldn't mind putting it off a bit.
She wasn't sneaking off! She wasn't running away from things! She was no coward!
At least that was what she told herself as she snuck towards the stairway down.
"Me?" Keitaro repeated, before his mind returned to the present and he noticed Motoko about to leave. "Uh, Motoko?"
"Yes, Urashima... San?" she inquired, one foot in the air, just inches away from the first step.
"Uh, there's... Well... I... Eh... We... Eh... We, really should, eh, y'know... Talk?" Keitaro stuttered out.
"And we will, Urashima-san." Motoko replied. "I'll just... I'll just take a bath and then we can..." she said, then swallowed nervously before she continued. "Talk."
"All right." Keitaro agreed, to nervous and skittish to do anything but agree to her suggestion.
"Your room in..." Motoko started, then recalled that his room was where *the event* had taken place. "Eh, my room in, half an hour? Will that work for you, Urashima-san?" she inquired.
"Yes. Thank you, Motoko." Keitaro responded, wondering just how long she were going to keep up with that 'Urashima-san' business she started with after they... He didn't like it, not one bit. He liked it better during those few occasions when he startled her or she forgot herself and just called him Urashima.
"Right... Until then, then..." she responded, then hurriedly made her way down the stairs, leaving behind a very confused and nervous young man who felt as if the apocalypse was rapidly approaching and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The End! ( For now... )
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson
Disclaimer: Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.
Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860 or through e-mail as iamhawk@yahoo.com, more stories are available at my nifty lil' site at or by clicking on my handle up above.
"speech"
*emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers*
/thoughts/
*/telepathy/*
~translation~
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+
"You're a good girl, 'oneechan'. Weird, but good." Keitaro commented with a wry chuckle and a shake of his head. His gaze briefly dipped to the ample cleavage she was displaying, before it focused on her face. "Why you haven't landed yourself a wealthy boyfriend yet, is quite beyond me." he added.
"Yeah..." Kitsune responded, her brain working a mile a minute. Keitaro was behaving awfully strange and weirdly confident in the face of her sexuality, something he'd *never' done before. Was it possible... That he'd gotten laid?
She blinked as the notion occurred to her. Had this coward and the skittish Naru both did the nasty and broken up before she left? It seemed an unlikely event. Neither of the two had the guts for something like that. Motoko? Hah! Mutsumi? Well, Kitsune had to admit that it was a possibility. Mutsumi certainly seemed to have a thing for Keitaro and he was a sucker for everything in a skirt that had breasts larger then his own. If Mutsumi got her heads out of the clouds, or watermelons as the case might be, and really got to work on Keitaro, she could have him wrapped around her little finger in five minutes.
Kitsune nodded to herself, wondering what to do about it. She had been prepared to loose him to Naru and bow out gracefully once again, but Mutsumi was a whole other matter. She was Konno Mitsune! She wouldn't loose a guy to that Okinawan watermelon-head without one hell of a fight!
Keitaro carefully edged away from Kitsune and hurriedly left the room, as she started emitting a furious red battle aura where she was sitting on the couch, cackling madly to herself and muttering about watermelons of all things!
He shook his head in bewilderment. He would never be able to understand how the female mind worked!
"Sloppy." Motoko commented herself with a strained expression on her face. Motoko cursed under her breath and lowered her sword. This was pointless. As always, thinking about Keitaro brought a slew of completely unfamiliar emotions to the forefront. She had no way of dealing with them and so, tried to ignore them as best she could.
Though her best, wasn't anywhere near good enough, she had to admit.
Distracted as she was, her form suffered and she found her own moves lacking in so many ways that she scared herself. If her sister had seen her now, Motoko would find herself bent over her knees receiving a solid spanking. At age seven, her form had been better then it had been just now.
These emotions... These feelings... She hated them! Hated them with a passion! They made her weak! They made her loose her prized skills!
This was exactly why she couldn't stand Keitaro, why she let her temper get the best of her despite her training. Thinking about Keitaro made these damnable infernal things appear! Thinking about Keitaro made her weak! So, she vented her anger and frustrations on him.
And still...
She shivered, staring woodenly at her bokken.
Her sword was broken, her sister had declared her a woman, a warrior no longer. What was she doing with a sword, even if it was a wooden one?
She tossed it aside, burying her head in her hands, sobbing her heart out.
+Bonk+
"Ouch."
Motoko's head whipped up from her hands, a sob halted in mid-progress, making her emit an odd croaking sound as her teary gaze focused on Keitaro. He was rubbing a spot on his forehead, apparently where her carelessly tossed bokken had struck him as he walked up the stairs to the roof platform.
"Urashima..." she whispered, her voice just barely audible. Her breath caught. She didn't know what to say. She had avoided him for two days, had barely spoken a word to him and refused to put herself into a position where the two of them could wind up alone.
And now here they were... Alone...
"Motoko..." Keitaro responded. He hadn't known what to say either and had only made a few half-hearted efforts to round her up for a talk. But now, the two of them were alone. Both of them knew that they'd have to talk about it sometime. Neither of them were ready to talk, but both of them also knew that they'd probably never be ready for a talk like the one which loomed ahead of them now anyway, so perhaps it would be better to put it behind them despite not being ready for it. "Uh... You all right?"
A stupid question, but Motoko had to admit that she probably couldn't have thought of anything better if she had been in his stead. /Stupid!/ she cursed. She had no experience in matters of the heart and soul, she hadn't been ready to... Take the step that she'd taken... And she was even less ready to tackle this conversation.
But she knew, *knew*, that it had been she who had forcibly taken that step, dragging Keitaro along with her. It was her doing, her fault. She owed this talk to him, she owed him an explanation.
"I feel better then I deserve." Motoko morosely observed. "How are you, Urashima... San? Are you... Hurt?" she added, worried that she might have hurt him. She had been a bit... Out of control and her memory of the event was partly somewhat hazy. But she did remember drawing blood, cutting him, clawing at him and at one point, biting him.
"No. I... I heal fast. I'm all right." he observed, a wry smile adorning his lips for a split second, before it vanished. "I... Uh... I'm sorry, Motoko. It's all my fault. I should... I should have stopped things before they got too far." he continued, scraping his feet on the ground, his gaze directed downwards, unable to look her into her eyes.
"No..." Motoko croaked, shaking her head. It would be so easy, so *easy*, to shift the blame to him. She had a lot of experience doing that, but she didn't want to, she *couldn't*! Not this time. No, the fault was all hers this time. She had... She had raped him.
"No... It wasn't your fault." Motoko stated, a little more firmly. "I was... I was in a bad place and I... I needed... I did... I... It was my fault. You are not to blame." Motoko added, shaking her head, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "I'm *so* sorry, Urashima-san. I know... I know you didn't want this... You tried to stop me, you did... I know you and Narusegawa... I know... You... You want her. Her, not me. But still I... I... I took this from you. I'm so sorry, so sorry!" she wailed.
She tried to push him off, as she suddenly found herself wrapped in a comforting embrace, her head resting against his chest. But he was surprisingly strong and she was... Weak. She sunk into him, her arms hanging loosely down. She lacked the strength to push him off, she lacked the strength to embrace him in turn. All she could do, was lean into him and cry as he gently rocked her back and forth.
The memory of what they had done returned with a vengeance and Motoko found the bile rising at the memory of it, at the memory of what she had done with him...
No. What she had done *to* him.
"No!" she protested and somehow managed to wrench herself away from him. She staggered off a few steps, then ejected the contents of her stomach with a very unladylike sound. "BleeeeeeergHHhh!" She fell to her knees, holding herself off the ground with her hands as her body ejected what little she had managed to eat and drink. She absently noted gentle hands moving in, holding her hair back, supporting her, as her own body betrayed her.
Tears splattered onto the ground, mixing with the foul reeking mess she'd just puked out and she felt even more miserable. Even after what she had done, despite how awful she had treated him, Keitaro still didn't hesitate to comfort and support her. Her tears flowed even faster and she didn't even notice being pulled away from the scene of her little 'accident', nor did she notice Keitaro pulling out a hankie to wipe her mouth with.
She sobbed against his chest, her hands having moved up to grasp his T-shirt. He constantly offered his unconditional support to everyone around him and how had she rewarded him for his saint-like unselfishness, for his endless generosity? With violence. With contempt. With rape. Her sobbing grew even more violent and a wail of despair escaped from her lips, making Keitaro jump at the unexpected loud sound.
It also caused Shinobu, who had wandered up onto the roof to hang the laundry and thus stumbled across the unexpected scene of Motoko crying in Keitaro's arms, to drop the laundry basket.
"Sempai's!" she exclaimed, scurrying closer to them. "Wha-wh-wha-wha-wha-what is going on? M-mo-Motoko-sempai, why are you crying?" she stuttered, not sure if she should be upset because Motoko was crying or because Keitaro was hugging her.
"I'm a bad, *bad*, bad person, Shinobu!" Motoko wailed, then wrenched herself away from Keitaro and stumbled over to Shinobu, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm *so* sorry, Shinobu!" she continued, splattering the confused girl with tears. "I know you like him. Feh, I know you love him! And yet I... Yet I... I'm *so* sorry, Shinobu!" Motoko blubbered, while the confused youngster hesitantly wrapped her arms around Motoko, trying to comfort her.
"It's okay, Motoko... It's okay..." she mumbled, wondering just what it was that Motoko was so sorry for. It appeared to have something to do with Keitaro, but what? What had she done? Whatever it was, it had upset her terribly. Shinobu was so worried about that, that she hadn't even noticed that Motoko had 'outed' Shinobu's love for Keitaro. Shinobu thought back, then recalled the event which had changed it all. Motoko was so torn up over having punched Keitaro out of the building a couple of days ago?
Shinobu didn't know weather to be sad for Motoko, or happy for Keitaro. If Motoko had finally realized how unfairly she treated Keitaro and stopped hurting him all the time, she was sure that things would become much better for her beloved sempai. If that happened, it was worth the undeserved beating he received from Motoko earlier.
"I know... It's all right... I forgive you..." Shinobu assured her crying friend, but didn't expect the reaction her simple words resulted in. Motoko instantly stopped crying, flinched, yanked herself out of the embrace and took several steps backwards, staring at Shinobu with shock and fear in her eyes.
"Y-y-yo-you know?!" she exclaimed in a shrill voice, then her head swiveled around to glare at Keitaro. "You told?! You told everybody?!" she demanded, her hands clenching into little fists.
"No!" Keitaro insisted, backing away. "I wouldn't do something like that!" he protested indignantly and Motoko had to reluctantly admit that it seemed out of character for Keitaro to have blabbed about his 'conquest', especially to the other girls of the Hinata Sou. So, whatever Shinobu thought she knew, had to be *dead* wrong.
Motoko turned back to Shinobu, plastering a neutral look on her face. She was grateful for the scare, it had scared her right out of her crying spell and cleared her mind. She could think again and one thing her now cleared mind instantly realized was that it would be a *BAD* thing if the other girls found out about this before she knew what to do about the situation.
"Shinobu... You can't tell anyone." Motoko insisted.
"B-b-but why?" Shinobu inquired. "Isn't it a good thing that you've finally realized that it's unfair to just hit Keitaro when he hasn't done anything wrong? If the others find out, perhaps they'll stop being so mean as well..." she continued.
"Uh... I don't want them to think that I've grown weak?" Motoko hesitantly responded, so hesitantly that it nearly sounded like a question. "If they find out that I was crying over something like this... Kitsune will tease me to the end of my days for it." she continued, sounding a little more sure of herself.
Shinobu seemed hesitant, but had to admit that Kitsune would do just that if she found out about it. Perhaps if Motoko lead by example, things would still turn out all right?
"Okay... Perhaps the others will get the idea when they see that you've stopped hitting him." Shinobu ventured, then nodded to herself. "I won't tell anyone, Motoko-sempai." she swore.
"Uh, thank you, Shinobu-chan." Motoko responded, completely bewildered at how Shinobu managed to reach the odd conclusion that she had decided to stop hitting Keitaro.
"Thank you, Shinobu-chan." Keitaro offered as well, then the two of them helped Shinobu hang up the laundry, then waved her off as she headed downstairs. "She... Loves me?" he asked, once she was gone.
"You didn't know?" Motoko asked, a surprised note in her voice. "How could you not know?!" she demanded. "It's so obvious that the girl has a crush on you and had it from the very beginning. Even *I* could see it."
"Shinobu? I never knew... ... ... Wow... ..." Keitaro mumbled to himself, then shook his head. "Never mind. Motoko. You are *not* a bad person and it's not your fault." he continued, grasping her shoulders and looking her straight into her eyes. "Do you hear me? You are not a bad person." he insisted.
"But I rape..." Motoko started to protest, only to wince in pain as Keitaro's grip suddenly hardened.
"No." he insisted, with such conviction in his voice that she couldn't bring herself to oppose him. "You did not rape me. It didn't happen under the best of circumstances and I regret that. But it wasn't rape. I could have stopped you, had I wanted to." Keitaro informed her, then sighed. "I regret the circumstances and would have changed that, if I could. But never think that I didn't want it, that I didn't want you or that you took something from me." he continued. "Just because I didn't agree with the color of the wrapping paper and type of bow, doesn't mean that I didn't appreciate the gift itself."
"Gift? That's a laugh." Motoko snorted. "You don't want me! Don't try to fool me, Urashima. You want... You want Narusegawa." she spat out. "I'm just an obstacle, a violent uncute maniac 'Kendo-girl' who clobbers you every chance I get."
"Motoko... I want... I wanted Narusegawa, that much is true. Perhaps, in a way, I still want her. I'm not sure..." Keitaro ventured, trailing off for a few seconds. "But I wanted you as well. You are a beautiful desirable woman, Motoko. Trust me, I wanted you. I was scared of you too. I'm still scared, to some degree. What happened... It wasn't because you were in need of something... Or... At least not entirely because of that. Part of the reason, was because I found myself in a position where I could no longer deny my desire."
"You want... Naru *and* myself? You... You... You pervert." Motoko grumbled, but without her usual fire. After what they had done, she'd never be able to proclaim him a pervert with her usual gusto. Now she knew, she was just as much of a pervert as him. Perhaps even more so.
"Want is not the same as going for, Motoko." Keitaro replied. "I wanted you. I wanted Naru. I wanted Mutsumi. I wanted Kitsune. I wanted your sister. But I only ever acted upon my want for Naru. At least until..."
"Kitsune? My sis..." Motoko responded, only to fall silent mid-statement, glaring at Keitaro. "My sister?" she repeated coldly.
"She's a beautiful woman, nearly as gorgeous as you are." Keitaro responded with a nervous look on his face, leaning back from Motoko's fierce glare. "Aren't there many men whom you've been interested in?" he inquired.
"No! Never! There's never been anybody but yo..." Motoko began her protest rather vehemently, but trailed off as she realized just what she was saying, what she was revealing.
"Me?" Keitaro squeaked, surprised at the revelation.
"Never you mind, Urashima." Motoko grumbled, terribly embarrassed by that horrible slip of the tongue.
"Me?" he repeated.
"Just forget about it, okay?!" Motoko demanded, clenching her hands into fists again.
"Me?" Keitaro repeated again.
"Yes! You! Naru, Shinobu, Mutsumi, Kitsune, Su and Me. All of us! All of us are interested in you for some unfathomable reason. Never you mind that!" Motoko groused, then strained to regain some slight measure of calmness.
"You... Shinobu... Mutsumi... You... Kitsune... Su... You..." Keitaro muttered, blinking his eyes several times as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing. "Me?!" he exclaimed in a girlishly shrill voice.
"Urashima..." Motoko growled warningly, then realized that his distraction offered her an unrivaled opportunity to sneak off. While she did realize that she owed him an explanation, she wouldn't mind putting it off a bit.
She wasn't sneaking off! She wasn't running away from things! She was no coward!
At least that was what she told herself as she snuck towards the stairway down.
"Me?" Keitaro repeated, before his mind returned to the present and he noticed Motoko about to leave. "Uh, Motoko?"
"Yes, Urashima... San?" she inquired, one foot in the air, just inches away from the first step.
"Uh, there's... Well... I... Eh... We... Eh... We, really should, eh, y'know... Talk?" Keitaro stuttered out.
"And we will, Urashima-san." Motoko replied. "I'll just... I'll just take a bath and then we can..." she said, then swallowed nervously before she continued. "Talk."
"All right." Keitaro agreed, to nervous and skittish to do anything but agree to her suggestion.
"Your room in..." Motoko started, then recalled that his room was where *the event* had taken place. "Eh, my room in, half an hour? Will that work for you, Urashima-san?" she inquired.
"Yes. Thank you, Motoko." Keitaro responded, wondering just how long she were going to keep up with that 'Urashima-san' business she started with after they... He didn't like it, not one bit. He liked it better during those few occasions when he startled her or she forgot herself and just called him Urashima.
"Right... Until then, then..." she responded, then hurriedly made her way down the stairs, leaving behind a very confused and nervous young man who felt as if the apocalypse was rapidly approaching and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The End! ( For now... )
