Xeno-man: I'm sorry about the extremely long delay in its release.
I do not own Love Hina and all rights belong to Ken Akamatsu
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Desolation- Case #1
She was Crushed by her defeat, Her sister left her a wasteland. She was shadow of her former self. Her sword shattered, her former life style scattered. There was naught left for her. The next day her new life started. A life of a "woman", of one kind or another. She left the sword behind and her former hopes were gone. She was an empty shell.
Her attempt at being a "Woman" failed. Her maid's outfit ruined and soaked by mud and rain. She wallowed in her failure, wandering the rainy streets. She fell into a muddy puddle ruining her clothes. A man reached out his hand to her. His glasses covered with rain water, "I'll Take you in."
Desolation- Case #2
He saw her lovely smile from across the street. Her long brown hair blew in the wind. He walked across the street to meet her. His smile grew with happy anticipation as he walked with her down the street. "Hey, it'll be faster to get to the train through here." She said while pulling him down the alley. Darkness began to set it... It was twilight.
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Keitaro grabbed his wallet as he ran out to meet Shinobu for their shopping excursion. His glasses had been broken since yesterday. Thusly Su took the liberty of making him a pair of contacts in an attempt to get him to stay. "Hey, Shinobu!" Keitaro called as Shinobu waved to him. "The train is gonna leave soon! Hurry up!" Shinobu ran with him to the train station struggling to keep up. Motoko called out to Shinobu, "Don't forget to take him there!"
The train was crowded, shoulder to shoulder, just like every other day. On the train to Tokyo city. The two pushed their way into the crowded car. The usual business crowd was heading out to work. Another stop came aboard packing the train even tighter. Keitaro moved himself in front of Shinobu to keep the serial gropers away from her. 'You never know what kind of sick-o is on the train.' he thought. The Train began to slow for another stop. The few more people crammed into the train car shoving Keitaro into Shinobu. "Owww!." Shinobu said, as her head hit the window. Keitaro bowed his head a little bit, "I'm sorry. Are you alright?" The train reached the Tokyo business district and most of the train disembarked, Shinobu and Keitaro with them.
Shinobu grabbed onto Keitaro's hand, "Come on, let's go!" she said. They headed down the block toward the main commercial district. They ventured from shop to shop, Shinobu picked out some new clothes and some groceries for the Apartments. Hours had passed along with a lot of window shopping.
An old wrinkled hand grasped onto Keitaro's shoulder, "You, theres something different about you.", an old grandma-esque voice said. Keitaro turned just about to brush off that grasping hand. "Grandma?! What are you doing here?" 'Grandma Hina... it had been so long since her last visit, too long.' She chuckled a bit and took a breathe. "Keitaro, it is good to see you… I came back as soon as I heard about Naru from Haruka." She gave him a pat on his shoulder. "I'll see you back at Hinata-sou… I must be going." Grandma Hina walked away, off into the crowd.
Keitaro's heart ached at the mere mention of Naru's name. "Come on, Shinobu… Lets go…" His voice trailed off. The two walked on just a bit more, in an awkward silence. "Keitaro, look there it is!" She held his hand and gave him slight tug. "Come on!", she encouraged. He sluggishly responded. They continued over to a store, it had no sign and its windows were painted black, as if it was closed down or condemned. Shinobu hesitantly knocked a few times, just waiting long enough to hear a latch clank.
The door slid open, and the two felt almost pulled inside. "Gahh!" Keitaro squealed, as he was dragged, kicking and screaming, by a group of men in blue suits. They pulled and tugged on him. Finally they just dropped him on the ground. "Ara ara!?" 'What the hell?' He quickly gained his bearings and he noticed a pen left behind on a pad. With his further inspection he noticed his measurements on them. 'This is what Motoko wanted? What could she possibly want to fit me for in this place?' he thought. Soon his thoughts turned to fantasizing, dreaming of what she could possibly be trying to get him into, Leather? Chains? Cuffs? If she asked Shinobu here then that could mean... His mind ventured further while Shinobu stared at him curiously. A streak of drool ran down his chin. "Keitaro? Are you okay?" Keitaro snapped out of his dream world. "I'm sorry, I guess… I was dreaming." She extended her hand to him.
He took her small hand into his, and helped himself up. "Thank you." He bowed his head to her. A light knock aroused their attention. "Sir, your clothing is ready." a bowed figure stood just a few feet away from them. His hands motioned to the left through a low overhang. Keitaro and Shinobu headed for the doorway. The room was well lit and cozy, almost like sitting in Hinata-sou's hot springs... almost. A small gift wrapped box was left on an ebon table. A azure gift tag was left on top of the package.
Motoko's handwriting adorns tag. "For Keitaro,"
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Xeno: I'm sorry this isn't very good. I took a 2 year-ish break from writing which I really wish I had not taken. My writing has deteriorated a bit but I'm making a definite comeback to writing.