AN: Back to work, back to work...
As always, Love Hina and its characters belong to Ken Akamatsu.
Lineages
Chapter 6: Celebrations
Dressed in a simple black and white dress, Kanako walked out of her room and immediately raised an eyebrow at a trail of machinery leading from the bottom of the stairs to a room that she surmised could only belong to one specific tenant of the Hinata-sou. True enough, Kaolla Su exited the room clad in a mechanic's overalls and a tool pouch seconds later and greeted her.
"Hiyas Kanako!" The young inventor grinned as she shoveled up some of the machinery outside her room. "Wants to help me out with my latest project?"
"Perhaps later, Kaolla. Thank you for the offer." Kanako replied politely, to which the inventor shrugged with a smile and disappeared into her room once more. She has learned in her short stay and watching the helpless landlord that turning down Kaolla while showing fear would only result in becoming her guinea pig in the long run.
As she made her way towards the stairs, she noticed Naru and Kitsune pouring over a stack of magazines, and soon saw that they were all manners of gift catalogues. Furthermore, she also noticed that they were gifts designed for men in mind. Deciding that she would look into that issue later, she made her way downstairs for a drink of water.
Upon entering the kitchen, she noticed that Shinobu and Motoko were hovering over a cookbook and cutting board, and several dishes were in the process of cooking or baking. Curious, she walked up to the pair as they talked to each other, unaware of her presence...
"Well, the meat has been sealed with the aluminum foil as instructed..." Motoko spoke, as she placed a giant brick-like substance covered in foil onto the cutting board. She then looked over at the young cook. "Now what?"
"Now, according to the book..." Shinobu replied, and pulled out a wooden mallet. "It says to pound the meat with a mallet throughly to tenderize it, minimum of thirty minutes. Shrugging, the swordswoman made to grab the mallet, but both froze as Kanako's fist smashed down into the meat with thunderous force, the foil being the only thing preventing it being plastered all over the walls.
"Tenderized." Kanako stated calmly, then looked at the two. "Someone want to tell me what the special occasion is? Everyone seems to be working on something special, what am I missing out on?"
"No one told you?" Shinobu asked with a surprised look, to which Kanako shook her head.
"It's Urashima's birthday, sister." Motoko whispered, as if afraid someone would overhear. "Everyone is pitching in to make it special, as Haruka informed us that he never really celebrates it." Kanako nodded with a look of understanding, and was looking at a cake in progress when...
"Wow! Smells great, what 'cha all cooking up?" Keitaro asked as he suddenly entered the kitchen, his dirty clothes made apparent that he was cleaning the hot springs earlier. The three tenants froze for a moment before hiding as much of the cooking as they can behind them. Both Shinobu and Motoko struggled with a reply, before they looked at Kanako pleadingly. Rolling her eyes, the younger Aoyoma walked up to the landlord.
"Say, Keitaro..." Kanako smiled, knowing some of his hobbies from their chats during training. "You interested in checking out that new Jet Li film?" This drew surprised looks from the other three present, and the landlord was only able to work his mouth wordlessly, as he was never asked out by a woman before.
Deciding to add a kick to her plan, Kanako put on a slightly sad face. "But if you don't want to..."
Immediately, Shinobu picked up what the younger Aoyoma was doing, and put on a sad face as well. "Aww... You're so mean, Keitaro..."
"Urashima!" Motoko growled, looking furious as she inched her sword out with her thumb. "Are you insinuating that my sister is not worthy of your time...?"
"Yes! No!" Keitaro quickly recovered and waved his hands in front of him. "I mean that I'd love to! I just have to change into some clean clothes, is all!"
"Good, then run along!" Kanako replied with a smile as she walked out of the room behind him. "And if you don't hurry, I'm going to make you pay for my pass as well!" As the two were out of sight, Shinobu and Motoko both breathed a sigh of relief, before turning to each other with a surprised look, both with the same thought on their face...
Did I just help set the two of them up on a date...?
"Wow, I never realized how nice it is outside these days!" Keitaro smiled as he and Kanako made their way through a park. "I guess I never got to really appreciate it when I'm stuck at the dorm 24/7."
"Of course." Kanako nodded, taking in the scenery with a smile. "Perhaps you should pull away from your chores and books once in awhile, it would do some good."
"Yeah, but then the dorm would become a mess, and Naru would definetly kill me if I slip in my studies..." Keitaro sighed, drawing a raised eyebrow from Kanako. Just as quickly, he beamed a smile at her. "Speaking of studies, you've been doing just as good as Naru on your practice exams! What are you thinking of majoring in?"
"Philosophy or history, I think." Seeing the landlord's face, she grinned. "What? It happens to be subjects I'm good at, okay?"
"No, it's not that!" Keitaro chuckled. "I just would've assumed that you'd be interested in studying law like Motoko, that's all." Kanako merely shrugged in reply, and the two continued walking in silence for a bit before she decided to bring up a touchy subject in her mind.
"Say, Keitaro..." Though her face betrayed no outward emotion, she had to mentally push herself to continue. "Even being a manager of a girl's dorm, how come Kitsune tells me you're still a bachelor?" The question seemed to startle Keitaro, but he continued walking beside her.
"Well, it's kind of hard when everyone seems to have it stuck in their head that I'm a pervert for being the only guy there..." He then smiled at Kanako. "Present company excluded, of course." This also brought a smile to her face as he continued. "Plus, I feel like they're all slave drivers there, even when I get all the chores done it never seems enough..." He then sighed. "Then there's all the science experiments and violence..."
"You did need the training, even you realize that." Kanako replied, raising an eyebrow at him.
"True..." Keitaro chuckled.
"He WHAT?" Naru's eyes were wide with rage as she gritted her teeth. "Do you have any idea what that pervert is going to do to your sister?"
"Aside from being a gentleman, absolutely nothing." Motoko replied calmly, her arms crossed. "And quite contrary to your beliefs, I have trained with our landlord and gotten to know him." She then turned and began walking away. "And to be honest with you, he would be the only man I'd trust with my sister."
"Have you gone mad?" Naru seemed on the verge of exploding as she grabbed Motoko's sleeve. "Has he brainwashed you and Kanako or something?" As the swordswoman turned to look over her shoulder, Naru immediately shrunk back at the intensity of fire in her eyes.
"Never question my judgement, or that of my sister's." Motoko replied with narrowed eyes, then walked away from a stunned Naru and the rest of the tenants.
"Five hundred yen says you can't do it." Keitaro grinned at Kanako, who glared at him before grinning back.
"You're on!"
Standing back, the landlord watched as Kanako plunk a coin into the machine and began manuevering the crane into position over a stuffed Kenshin doll. As she pressed the button to drop the claw, the smile on her face grew as they clamped perfectly around the doll's head, but her face fell as it let go of her prize just before it cleared the pile.
"Ouch, so close." Keitaro was trying to stifle his laughter as Kanako struggled not to simply put her fist through the glass. "You mind if I give it a shot?"
"Go ahead, as a matter of fact..." She grinned and crossed her arms. "A thousand yen says you can't do it either."
Chuckling, Keitaro plunked his coin in and moved the crane into position. As the claws dropped, Kanako smiled to herself as it merely latched onto the doll's sword arm, but her smile instantly faded as the claw maintained a vice grip and lifted the doll to the trapdoor, and dropped it into Keitaro's waiting hand.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kanako fumed. "That was so..." Her sentence was cut off as Keitaro gently pulled her hands forward, then placed the doll in her hands.
"Come on, the movie's going to be starting soon!" Smiling, the landlord headed off to the ticket counter, while Kanako remained where she stood, a blush forming on her cheeks as she hugged the doll to herself.
"Food?" Kitsune asked, holding what appeared to be a checklist in her hand.
"Check!" Shinobu replied cheerfully, while at the same time trying to keep Kaolla from raiding the carefully prepared dinner table.
"Presents?" Kitsune asked, while checking off the word 'food' on her list.
"It may take a moment, but check." Motoko replied calmly, while Naru was cursing under her breath trying to cram a variety of wrapped boxes into a closet.
"Party favors?" Kitsune continued.
"Check!" Kaolla replied, riding on top of what appeared to be a confetti firing tank and causing everyone to sweatdrop and back away nervously.
"Drinks?" Kitsune asked, then peeked over her shoulder to a mountain of various beer and liquor bottles...
"Check." The resident fox grinned mischieviously.
"That was a great movie!" Keitaro smiled as the two began climbing the great steps towards Hinata Sou, mere weeks ago the landlord would've had to pause halfway up to catch his breath, but after rigorous training with the Aoyomas the trip was like a casual walk to him.
"You should get out more often, Keitaro." Kanako smiled. "I can see drastic improvements to the state of your ki from yesterday, it's definetly good for you." She then shivered involuntarily from a cold breeze, but blinked as the landlord draped his jacket around her. Blushing slightly, she held onto his arm until the reached the dorm.
"That's odd, why's it so dark...?" Keitaro blinked as he stepped in first, and fumbled for a moment before he found the light switch.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITARO!" The tenants of Hinata Sou cheered, causing Keitaro to freeze like a deer in headlights. With a grin, Kaolla fired her confetti cannon, but surprised everyone when the shot threw the poor landlord out of the building with a fiery explosion.
"Oops, how did a live round manage to get in there...?" The young inventor peeked down into the barrel, while the other tenants gave each other nervous looks.
Opening her eyes, Kanako didn't move for several seconds as she slowly realized that she was in the living room of the dorm. As she stood, she marvelled at how clean the place had become after the party, especially with Kaolla's inventions and Kitsune's drinking. As she extended her senses, she noted with relief that the younger tenants were already in their rooms asleep, while the others were covered with warm blankets.
A worried look then crossed her face.
She didn't sense Keitaro anywhere inside the dorm.
Curious, she stepped out of the dorm and closed her eyes, allowing her mind's eye to scan the surroundings. Finding what she was searching for, she made her way to the top of a hill overlooking Hinata Sou, and found the landlord sitting by himself watching the stars.
"Even on your birthday, you're still the ever responsible landlord..." Kanako chuckled as she sat beside Keitaro. "You didn't have to do all that, you know."
"Well, I didn't want any of them to catch a cold..." The landlord replied quietly, to which Kanako simply smiled and give him a kiss on his cheek, making him blink in surprise.
"You're a good person, Keitaro." Kanako whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise..." Blushing slightly with a smile, the landlord put his arm around her as well, and the two simply watched the stars in silence together...
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To those of you following the story, my thanks for your continued support! I apoligize for the lapse in updates, but work slave-drives me during the holidays! Stay tuned, as more is along the way!
