Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Well it is official folks, this story is now my ORIGINAL LOVE HINA STORY. The other one never existed (wink, wink. nudge, nudge.). I hope you all will enjoy reading my fic, as much as I will enjoy writing it.

And now, I will be going on to the reviews;

ftayoa- MY FUTURE PLANS ARE SECRET! Also Kenshin's sword is a regular katana, it wouldn't do him much good to try to kill Enishi with a sakabato now would it?

Infinite Freedom- Please do be patient, I am very overloaded right now so please do be patient.

Raenef the 6th- Or do you? I hope he will, or do I?!

Alright then, now onto the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!!

Chapter 6: Heated Studies, And Shinobu's Party!!!

Keitaro and Naru ran into their first period class, I followed them in, seeing as how I didn't know which classes they went to. As it turns out, Naru and Keitaro had the same first period, they even sat next to each other, funny as how you could be next to someone you'll get to know, without even knowing it. Anyway, the first period... I didn't know, I was just sitting behind Naru and Keitaro. Eventually the man who appeared to be the teacher walked in, Keitaro, Naru, and I were sitting pretty far back so I couldn't make out to many fine details about him. Heck, I couldn't even hear his name.

After a while I finally figured out what class this was, English, and the teacher had apparently handed out a book for them to read and then tell what it was about. This was actually a good way to teach people to learn to read English and translate it to Japanese, that's actually how Hiko taught me. Eventually the teacher was going to call on someone, since I technically wasn't in the class I figured I was in the clear... until. "You there, the red-head wearing the kimono, please tell us what the first few chapters were about!" The teacher said singling out me. I froze for a second before regaining my composure.

"Umm, I'm afraid you're mistaken sir, for I am not.." I began until the teacher cut me off.

"'I am not capable of reading English' that is what they all say whenever they don't read the assignment! Now I'm going to give you a chance to redeam yourself. Can you tell us about the first few chapters in the book written by Stephen King, 'It'?!" The teacher yelled, as everyone soon centered their attention in on me... but I didn't notice them, I was too busy with the shivers going up and down my spine, and the goosebumps, the size of insect eggs, on my arms.

Oh yeah, I had read Stephen King's 'It' before, in fact, Hiko thought that would be the best novel for me to read, since he was such a big fan. And let me tell you something, before 'It' I was a big fan of the circus, clowns, I didn't hate spider, I could stand them, and balloons. But after 'It' that I was afraid of the circus, clowns, spiders, balloons, and even the English Word dairy just because it sounded like Derry. Needless to say, after reading it, my hatred of and need to kill Enishi was replaced by my fear of and need to kill clowns. In fact, it was that fear of clowns that ended up getting me banned from most birthday parties...

A Birthday Party: 7 Years Earlier

It was a delicate scene at a little baby girl's birthday party. The name of the girl being... I actually can't remember much about her. All I can remember is that her dad and Hiko went to college together... and I don't really remember much about him either... Anyway, the little girl's father had a lot of people over for her birhtday party, most of them being old friends of his like my father, but unfortunetly I, Kenshin Himura, age eight, was dragged along because Hiko didn't want me alone. This was not the first special occasion having to do with other kids my age, or with Hiko's friends for that matter, but it would certainly prove to be the last... The party was going along great as the few other kids actually at the party and I enjoyed games like pin the tail on the North Korean (LOL) and other various games.

It was a half-hour later when they brought the biggest birthday cake I had ever seen into the room. I thought that it was big enough to fit an entire person inside... and I was right. All of a sudden a clown just ripped through the top of the cake, the icing and cake parts all over his face. I stared, completely afraid of this clown. He looked at me and started to come towards me. With my sword at my side, also, great idea dad, give a sword to a kid you just scared to death with 'It' and then took him to a birthday party that's going to have the wierdest clown in the world pop out of a cake, I knew what I had to do...

It was quiet for a few minutes at the birthday party till... "Hey kid something wrong? Your eye is all twitchy... AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The clown shouted as he ran out of the house and onto the street, with cut marks on his butt. I soon followed him, swinging my sword like a crazy person at him. "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO YOU KID?!??" The clown shouted at me as I caught up with him.

"You aren't going to eat me clown!!!" I shouted as I took a swing at him, and caused another cut to form on his rear.

"OW! FOR THE LAST TIME KID, I'M A VEGITARIAN!!!" The clown shouted as he kept on running.

"You aren't going to fool me with that, everyone knows that vegitarians are just a myth! And I'm not going to let you eat another person as long as I live!" I shouted as I took another swing, producing another cut on his ass.

"OW!!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!" The clown shouted as I continued chasing him down the street. Meanwhile Hiko and the father of the little girl ran out of the house, both of them sprinting to catch up with me.

"What in God's name did you do to your kid Hiko, train him to attack clowns on sight?!" The father of the girl said, as he ran beside Hiko.

"Well... you could say that I did it on accident..." Hiko said while the man raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" The man asked while Hiko scratched the back of his head.

"I... kinda had him read Stephen King's 'It' so he could learn English... hehehehe." Hiko said while chuckling nervously at the end while the other man sighed.

"Honestly Hiko, if I weren't as bad a father as you I would've reported you." The man said as Hiko's head dropped.

"Yeah I know..." Hiko said as he and the man continued to chase after me.

Back To The Present

A few hours, and a couple tranquilizer darts later, I was caught by Hiko and the other man and the clown was sent to the hospital before his ass could get infected. Fortunetly the clown didn't press charges after he figured out I had read 'It' but I did get sent to the Funny Farm for a couple of weeks, where I met several ex-yakuza thug members that helped make me stop wanting to kill clowns, and make we want to kill Enishi again... how they did it... I don't really want to think about it. I looked the teacher in the eye and nervously began trying to speak. "O-oh yeah, I read 'It'..." I said as the teacher raised his eyebrow.

"Alright then, could you please tell the rest of the class what the first few chapters were about then?" The teacher said in a more demanding tone than that of a questioning tone. And even though I knew I shouldn't, I couldn't help but simply nodd and give the man what I could remember of the first few chapters of that terrifying, and traumatizing book. After I was done the teacher looked at me with raised eyebrows yet again. "That... was the most detailed description of the first few chapters of 'It' I have ever heard!" He said as the bell rang and the students got up. "Wait, red-head, need to talk to you!" He said as I shugged and walked down to his desk.

"You wanted to see me sir?" I asked as he nodded.

"Tell me son, why did you come here?" He asked as I shrugged.

"Well you see, I was bringing..." I began unti he finished.

"A new view into my life, and knew I needed a education! That is one of the best answers I have ever gotten!" He said as I sweat dropped.

"Umm sir, that's not..." I began saying till he interupted... again.

"All that great? Nonsense! That is by far one of the greatest things that can happen!" The teacher said as he smiled. "Tell me, how old are you?" He said as I sighed.

"I am fifteen sir." I said as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"Oh, so you graduated high school early?" He asked, excitement in his voice.

"No I was hone schooled but you're not letting me..." I said as he almost leapt out of his chair.

"Tell me how truly gifted you are?! My apologies, if I had known you were home schooled I would not dare group you with the public school kids!" He said as I sweat dropped again. "So, I did not see your name on the list..?" He said as I nodded.

"Kenshin Himura." I said as he nodded.

"Right, I did not see your name on the list Himura-san." The teacher said as I tried to speak again.

"Well that's because I am not..." I started off.

"Currently enrolled because you first wanted to check out the school to see if it were suitable for an inspiring young genius such as yourself. Well Himura-san here at Jah-Jah-Moh Prep School people like you have gone to there choice colleges for years, so no need to worry about the quality of the education here." The teacher said as I just began sweat dropping like crazy.

"Umm sir, that's nice, but..." I began saying till he slammed his hand on the table.

"Now you would like to enroll in the school! Great, I'll take you to the principles office right away!" He said as he grabbed my arm and began pulling me along with him. He pulled me outside the room where I saw Naru and Keitaro waiting for me. They looked at me being pulled with raised eyebrows.

"Kenshin-san?" They both said as they watched me get pulled away.

"HELP ME!!!" I screamed as Naru and Keitaro began running after me. I was dragged all the way to the pricipal's office, and the teacher slammed the door shut, and then locked it before Naru or Keitaro could get in. He then threw me in the seat in front of the principal. "Look I don't think you two..." I began saying till the principal interupted.

"Know what we're doing? Of course we know what we're doing, afterall we're about to enroll you into this school aren't we?" He asked as he got out some paper work. "So, which school will be your first choice?" The principal asked as I scratched the back of my head.

"Well my friends are heading to Tokyo U but..." I began saying as the teacher interupted again.

"You want to go there for the great education they can give a genius like you. What a good decision you're making!" The teacher yelled as the principal started writing it down on the file. "And who would you..." He began saying until I interupted him.

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST LISTEN TO ME!!!" I yelled causing the teacher and principal to freeze in place. "I've been trying to tell you, I don't go to this school, I don't plan on it, I was just giving a friend of mine his lunch!" I yelled as those two gave me a more serious look.

"So... you're not going to enroll?" They asked as I got nervous all of a sudden.

"Ummm... well, no." I said as the teacher picked me up and walked over to the door.

"THEN GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!!!!" He yelled as he threw me out of the room, causing me to land face first in front of Naru and Keitaro.

"What happened?" They both asked as they picked me up.

"Well..." I began as I dusted myself off. "I don't think I'll be allowed into this school ever again." I said as I smiled at them, and they smiled back, albeit a bit nervously.

"And... you're happy about that... cause your smiling and..." Keitaro said as Naru nodded.

"It is kinda strange how you smile so much when bad stuff happens Kenshin-san." She said as Keitaro nodded in agreement.

"Well... I don't know, I guess I think it is always best to just move on from..." I said, stopping myself from finishing that sentence as my eyes darkened a bit.

'If I believe that to be true then... why can't I move on from Enishi.' I thought as Naru and Keitaro snapped their fingers in front of my face.

"You alright Kenshin-san, you kinda blanked out on us there for a second." Keitaro said as I sighed and began smiling again.

"Yes I'm fine, just a bad memory is all, that it is." I said as I began walking down the halls. "I'll wait for you two at the front of the school, after school, afterall I don't have much to do today, that I don't." I said as they nodded and smiled back as I walked through the halls of the school. I eventually reached the front of the building and I looked around for a place to sit, I saw a wooden bench and sat on it. I then got into a meditation position, and began waiting for the end of the school day.

I sat there for what felt like hours when the bell finally rang out, bringing me out of my 'strance', and back into reality. I looked around for a while and noticed how late it was getting, we probably wouldn't get to the train till nightfall at the rate those two will be moving. I sighed as I stood up and waited for Naru and Keitaro to come out of the school building, which after about thirty minutes they did. "Hey you two, what took you so long?" I asked jokingly as they walked up to me.

"Well Keitaro here forgot one of his books." Naru said as Keitaro rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Oh really? Which one Keitaro-san?" I asked as Keitaro reached into his bag and pulled out... 'It'. I froze there, staring at the book of evil with wide eyes, my hand on the edge of the handle of my sword, trembling. They both stared at me for a second, and then looked at the book. He put the book away, I relaxed, brought the book back out, I began panicking again. In, good, out, bad, in, good, out, bad. They raised their eyebrows as he finally put the book away again and I relaxed.

"Kenshin-san... something the matter with you and this book?" Keitaro asked as I shrugged.

"Well... let us say that it was because of that book that I was banned from going to birthday parties back at home." I said as I began walking as Naru and Keitaro kinda stared at me with wide eyes. "Well are you coming? If you don't hurry we'll miss the train, that we will." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded and then began running along with me, I myself hoping to whatever God was willing to listen that we'd get there in time so I wouldn't have to carry these two to Hinata Sou.

We made it with only a minute to spare before the train would've left, Naru and Keitaro squeezed in, and I tried to get in, only to find I wouldn't fit. "Something wrong Kenshin-san?" Naru asked as I stood outside the door.

"It would appear as though that I cannot fit into the train, but don't worry I'll think of something!" I yelled in as they nodded and the doors closed. The train began moving as I tried to think of what to do. I finally got an idea as I looked at the top of the train cart, and jumped on the top of it. I sat down, satisfied with my 'Last Class' seat, watching as the train moved through the city. I had a great view, watching the city lights pass by. I began wandering how Naru and Keitaro were doing so I looked over the edge of the train, and I smiled at what I saw.

Keitaro was standing, holding onto rail hanging from the ceiling, with a huge blush on his face. Why? Because Naru was sleeping against Keitaro, using his shoulder as a pillow. I smiled as I continued watching them... "ALL PASENGERS PLEASE BE CAREFUL AS THE TRAIN COMES TO A STOP!!!" The conductor yelled over the intercom as the train suddenly stopped, and I nearly fell off. Fortunetly I had a good grip on the side of the train, preventing my fall. When I was able to get myself reset I looked in again to check on Naru and Keitaro...

Let's just say what I saw wasn't what I was expecting... Thanks to all the passengers in the car Naru and Keitaro were being squished together. I felt the heat rise to my face, and saw the heat rising to Keitaro's and Naru's face, as they were being squished together. Any other guy would've probably been excited about that chance, but Keitaro and I knew... that one wrong move and it would be a death sentence. I watched as the people finally stopped pushing Keitaro and Naru together as they were able to seperate. Naru turned away from Keitaro for a moment... a minute later all three of us would see it was a bad move.

The train once again came to an abrupt start, causing almost everyone to fall backwards. This time I was prepared for the sudden stop and I was able to hold on... the sight I was treated to though made me wish I had fallen off. I saw Keitaro fall against the wall, and Naru fall soon after him... and landed on a spot of his that made blood spurt out of my nose. I watched as Keitaro grimaced in pain and Naru, who was too busy trying to pull her skirt down, not noticing where she landed.

She looked out the window and saw me, staring at them with widened eyes and blood creeping out of my nose. She kinda got this angry look on her face and mouthed "What". I began thinking of a way to tell her that she landed on Keitaro's manhood. So I brought one hand down , and straightened it, and pointed to it with the other hand and mouthed 'Keitaro' and she nodded. Then I brought the other hand into a fist shape and pointed to it and mouthed 'You' and she nodded. Then I slammed my fist into the palm of my hand and then made a face of agony.

Naru blushed as she seemed to get the idea, she slowly turned to Keitaro, and saw the looked of shear agony on his face, and also saw that he was beginning to cry a little bit. I couldn't hear but I watched as Naru began to panic a bit and appear to be saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again. As she did she squirmed around and Keitaro looked like he was about to die. Naru finally stopped squirming and they both just sat there till they could get up again. Naru looked at the window I was looking through and motioned for me to kinda go away, which I did after realizing that it was either that or a Naru Punch.

We finally arrived at Hinata Sou, after what felt the strangest train ride of my entire life. I jumped off the top of the train, and Naru walked out of the train, trailing behind her was Keitaro, who was limping slightly from the pain he still felt in his groin. We began walking up the stairs, until Keitaro stopped suddenly. "Hey, you think it would be alright if maybe we studied with you sometime?" Keitaro asked as I nodded along with him.

"Yes, I could only help him so much. I t would be a great help Naru-san, that it would." I said as Naru turned around and tapped her chin with her finger.

"I'll think about it, but first." Naru said as she walked down a few steps. "Why do you want to get into Tokyo U?" Naru asked as Keitaro blushed a little bit.

"Why..." Keitaro said sounding a bit dazed. "Well why do you want to get in?" Keitaro asked as we all got to the top and Naru took a few steps ahead.

"Me? It's..." Naru said as she looked up at the sky and took the, I think they're call 'scrunchies', out of her hair as she turned around and stuck her tongue out at us. "It's a secret." She said as she grinned, getting a laugh out of me and a slightly thoughtful look out of Keitaro. We walked to the courtyard out front and saw Motoko and Kitsune waiting for us there.

"Aaawww. You three walked home together, how sweet." Kitsune teased as we all sweat dropped.

"I trust that neither of you two did anything to Narusegawa." Motoko said as Keitaro and Naru blushed and I felt blood start to creep out of my nose as I thought of what happened on the train. Keitaro and I rushed foward passed them to hide our faces, and my blood.

"O-of course not Motoko-san don't be ridiculous." I said nervously as we were almost to the door...

"HEY RUROUNI-KUN AND RONIN! Time to play!" Su said as she kicked both Keitaro and I in the head, causing us to fall on the ground. The blood in my nose freely flowing now.

General POV

"Aww Su, look you kicked Kenshin so hard that you caused his nose to bleed." Kitusne said as Naru sighed in relief.

'Oh thank you God for Su's welcome kick...' Naru thought as she walked foward and entered Hinata Sou.

A Few Days Later

Kenshin POV

It was a few days since the train incident and the house had been running normally... as normal as Hinata Sou could get. Over the past few days Keitaro and I have been studying, trying to get him ready for the big Exam. The progress has been going at a slow, yet steady pace, and Keitaro has a slight chance of being able to get in under my guidance. But there's only so much I could do for Keitaro, soon we may want to try to ask Naru to help us with Keitaro's studies.

But that's not to say that was the only interesting thing going on in Hinata Sou. Every morning I have been able to train my body, and my sword skills. I've been trying to get Motoko to spar with me, yet still she believes me to be nothing but a dishonest lecher... sad really. Su and I have been hanging out a bit more recently too, though now she has developed the habit of calling me Rurouni-kun as a nickname. Not that I mind.

Anyway, Kitsune seems to be cooling off as well. In fact just the other day she and I had a drinking contest. I knew she never stood a chance, with all the drinks Hiko used me as a test subject for, I would be able to outdrink hher any day of the week. So it started off, both her and I going at an even pace, but around the fifth drink she began slowing down considerably, while I continued at the same brisk pace, but I began to notice a tingling sensation in my finger tips. Around the tenth drink Kitsune began actually looking like she was about to go any second, while I only started feeling slightly drunk. It was the eleventh drink that knocked Kitsune out, and gave me the title of the greatest drinker in Hinata Sou!

Shinobu and I began switching shifts for cooking, we both agreed not to cook the same type of meal as each other. So every day she would cook she would bring out a delicious foreign meal I had learnt to cook during my time as a cook at a bar I had worked at that was owned by, what I could only presume, were Irish 'tourists' they called themselves, but I could tell they were in the witness protection program. Anyway, one night Keitaro asked me to tell them where I got the knowledge of all this foreign food, so I leaned back in my chair, and gathered my memories.

"Well it began oh about a year ago, a year after my travels began I think, I was in Nara and I had run out of money... again. So I began looking around for a job to get me enough so that I could continue my travels. I eventually found this neat old bar that had a help wanted sign on the window and I went in. Imagine my suprise when I found out that this bar was actually owned by a foreign married couple. So they told me what they needed, and they apparently needed a cook." I said, as the tenants became captivated by the story.

"Now I wasn't all that great of a cook, I had learnt how to cook minor meals for myself whenever I would travel through wooded sections of Japan, but nothing major. But what they would pay me, and the fact that if did work there I would also get a room to stay in I just couldn't say no (basically employees got to live at the bar). So I began cooking, cooking foreign meals, both simple and complex, both ordinary and exotic. I had learnt how to cook so many meals that I could have been a cook on the Iron Chef without any problem." I said as the girls nodded.

"But one day I finally had the money to leave, but I considered staying at the bar, it was a nice place to stay. But one thing, on event forced me to leave!" I said as the tenants leaned in. "You see, on the day I was to leave the owner of the bar told me to have a drink before I left. So I tried to order Sake, but the bar owner told me (clears throat) 'You don't want that Sake crap, that stuff's for queers' (basically imagine a heavy Irish accent whenever Kenshin quotes this guy). And then told me to 'Drink the house beer ' cause it was 'Freakin' great' and I told him... okay." I said as everyone nodded.

"So he got out this vile looking concotion, it looked like the most evil thing on the planet. It was pitch black, I could've swore I saw hair in it, and finger nail clippings. And I swear I saw a fish jump out of it!" I said as they started grimacing. "So I picked up this beer, and he looked at me and said 'Drink up queer' so I brought it to my lips, and the second it touched my lips, I threw up, I swear, I vomited all over the counter. I was so disgusting. And let me tell you something I had bad drinks before, but that was the worst. I just had to leave, I had to get out of there. So I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and by the time they were done cleaning the vomit I was in Osaka." I said as some of the girls started laughing while Motoko just muttered 'liar'. "I'm not kidding." I said seriously as they all kinda stared at me the rest of the meal.

But that was yesterday, today wasn't much different except tonight Naru was cooking. Keitaro and I decided to skip out on dinner tonight so we could focus on his studies, but I had brought up a plate of Naru's cooking for both of us, so we could at least have a slightly good meal. We studied hard in Keitaro's room, I was trying to drill information into his head, but that was about as easy as getting Haruka to stop smocking, or to get Hiko to stop testing Sake on me.

"NO! I DON'T GET IT!!!" Keitaro shouted as he flipped the table over and I stared at him with widened eyes for a second.

Hold on Keitaro-san let me take a look real quick." I said as I picked up the book Keitaro was studying from. I looked it over before my eyes went wide, as I repeatedly reread, and reread the information. I lowered the book, Keitaro staring at me with hope in his eyes while I smiled nervously. "Sorry Keitaro-san, Trig really was never one of my strong points..." I said as Keitaro face vaulted.

"Well just great, if you can't get it how are we supposed to study..." Keitaro said as he sighed. "I bet this would be easy for Narusegawa though..." Keitaro said as he got a dreamy look on his face and began blushing and drooling. I hit him over the head with a fan and he snapped out of it. "What was I doing?! I don't have time to day dream like that! I gotta do this for Shinobu-chan..." Keitaro said as he got the same look in his eyes as before and I just stared wide-eyed, beginning to wonder whether or not he was a pedophile or not.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!!!??!?!?" Keitaro shouted as he began slamming his head on the table. "THAT'S WHY WE MADE HER CRY, AND SHE'S STILL IN 9TH GRADE FOR GOD'S SAKE!!?!!?!??!" Keitaro shouted as blood started coming out of his head, and I just stared with amazement at him. After he was done getting that thought out of his head we sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what the hell were going to do next.

"Well, we shouldn't be too proud to beg, that we shouldn't." I said as I stood up and picked up Keitaro's books and study guides and started walking out the door. Keitaro took the hint and followed me as we went upstairs and ended up in front of Naru's room. I knocked on Naru's door and waited for someone to answer.

"What?" Naru asked, sounding a little more then annoyed at the moment.

"Naru-san, its Keitaro-san and I, do you mind if we studied with you tonight?" I asked kindly, crossing my fingers as I heard footsteps coming towards the door.

"Yeah sure, don't see why not." Naru said as she opened the door. She blushed as she realized that she was wearing pajamas and track pants as well as her coke bottle glasses. She looked backwards and I looked behind her to see that, despite the cleaning I gave it a few days ago, it was once again a mess. Naru slammed the door on us and we heard rushed footsteps going around the room. "Could you two hold on a second? Maybe get us something to drink?!" We heard Naru shouted from her room as we sweat dropped.

"Uh... sure." We both said as we walked downstairs.

A few minutes later Keitaro and I returned, Keitaro carrying two glasses filled with hot chocolate, and myself carrying a bottle of Sake. We were in front of her door once again, and we stood there for a minute before Naru swung her door open, revealing her in a yellow sweater, and red mini skirt. I looked behind her to see her room good as new. "Welcome!" Naru said as I smiled and Keitaro face vaulted.

"You know we don't mind a little mess." I said as Keitaro nodded.

"Shad'up. I am a girl you know, I get nervous letting a guy in my room, and even more with two." She said as I chuckled.

"Well I'm glad you at least think we're guys, no may we please come in?" I asked as Naru nodded and we came into her room. We both looked around for a second, I didn't need to look too much since I had already been in her room before, so I didn't waste nearly as much time looking around and I walked over to the furnace table and took a seat, placing all of the books and such on top of it. Naru and Keitaro followed shortly afterward. All three of us sat down and got to buisness.

"So what are you having trouble with?" Naru asked as Keitaro handed her the book he/we were studying off of. Naru stared at it for a second before looking at us with a confused stare. "These are simple Trig problems! Even if you couldn't do them, you should be able to explain them to him well enough." Naru said as Keitaro sighed and I waved my hands nervously in front of my face.

"Wel l was never all that great with Trig..." I said as Naru sighed.

"Alright, here's what you have to do..." Naru said as she began explaining the basics of the Trig questions to us. Keitaro picked up on it pretty quickly, but I still really didn't understand it at all. Afterall, if Hiko can't teach it to you, then you basically have no hope of getting it at all, that's my philosophy. It was a couple hours later when Keitaro finally finished the Trig book, he was apparently very excited about it and even became teary over it. After a while Naru finally ended Keitaro's raving.

"Hey, why Tokyo U anyway?" Naru asked suddenly as Keitaro and I looked at her. "I mean there are tons of Universities, why Tokyo U?" Naru asked as Keitaro blushed and got a suprised look on his face.

"Why?" Keitaro asked, as if trying to pry up the answer himself. "Well..." Keitaro said as he looked down. "Could I ask you something first?" Keitaro said as Naru raised an eyebrow. "Would a girl remember a childhood promise she made to a boy she liked over ten years ago... a 'see you there' promise?" Keitaro asked as Naru seemed to understand a little more. "And even if going 'there' is going to be tough... and she isn't sure if the boy still remembers... do you think... she'd still remember? Keitaro finished as Naru seemed to become silent, as I tried to think of the answer to that question as well.

"Hahahaha! There's no one really like that! Why would anyone remember there childhood promise!? I feel really stupid..." Keitaro said nervously as he scratched the back of his head nervously. Naru blinked a few times and leaned over the table till she was mere inches from Keitaro's face.

"She certainly remembers!" Naru exclaimed as Keitaro blinked a couple times.

"You really think so..." Keitaro said as Naru stood up.

"Yeah if she really likes the guy! No matter how many years, or how many days, she'll remember! Even if its those impossible goals!" Naru said as she began crying a bit. "I'm sure she's trying hard! Overcoming all obstacles! OH ITS SO ROMANTIC!!!" Naru exclaimed as Keitaro and I smiled a bit.

"You know Keitaro, she's right." I said bringing both of their attentions to me. " If she really felt that way about you, and if she really wanted to be with you, she'd remember, and she'd still be working so very hard to be there with you. That is what I believe, that it is." I said as Keitaro and Naru smiled. It was a sweet moment... until.

"Hey Naru, are you in there?" We heard Mitsune say from the other side of the door and we all began panicking.

"Oh no that's Mitsune's voice!" Keitaro whispered/shouted.

"Oh no if she sees us like this she'll spread all sorts of rumors!" Naru shouted as I picked Keitaro up by his shirt and carried him over to the closet.

"Keitaro you hide in here!" I shouted as I put my hand on the handle of the closet door.

"NO IF YOU DO THAT..." Naru began shouting as I slammed open the closet door, and just as all the bras, panties, etc. were about to land on me and Keitaro I threw Keitaro in, pushing the garments back, and then slammed the door shut again before they could fall on us. Naru just stared for a moment with widened eyes. "Wow I didn't think you could fit anything else in there." She said as I opened the lid up leading back to mine and Keitaro's room, and did an Olympic dive down into the room. When I landed I reached back up and close the lid just as Mitsune entered the room.

I kept my ear to the lid leading to Naru's room, listening in on Naru's and Mitsune's conversation. "Weird, it was so noisy here a second ago..." Mitsune said as I heard her footsteps come closer into the room. "Wow a furnace table, mind if I have a seat?" Mitsune said as I heard her sit down.

"No-no of course not! Why would I?" Naru asked as I just sat there, hoping Keitaro wouldn't bust out of that closet.

"You alright Naru? You look kinda nervous about something." Mitsune said.

"Wh-wh-what would make you think I'm nervous?" I heard Naru stutter out as I sweat dropped.

'Naru please, if you keep this up, we'll get caught!' I thought as I put my ear closer to the lid, hoping Mitsune would just leave.

There were a few moments of silence after that, a few random topics of conversation between Mitsune and Naru, before I heard Mitsune finally begin walking away. "Well Naru, I guess I'll see ya later." I heard Mitsune say I as I heard Naru's door open.

"Ye-yeah, see ya Kitsune!" Naru shouted as I heard the door shout and I popped my head out of the lid.

"Is she gone?" I asked as I looked around the room. "Thank goodness, I was getting worried for a second." I said as I climbed into Naru's room. In the next instant the closet door burst open, revealing Keitaro ensnared in Naru's bra's, panties, etc. I stared at him for a moment before I started getting a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. And just as I was about to get down on my knees and beg Naru for forgiveness, I heard laughter. I looked at Naru and just watched her standing there laughing. Keitaro and I shared a nervous glance before I stepped up to her. "Naru-san, are you alright?" I asked as Keitaro untangled himself and stepped up to her too.

"It's just..." Naru said in between fits of laughter. "Everytime I'm with you two... things like this happen!" Naru said continuing to laugh as Keitaro and I continued to stare at her with blank expressions.

"Hey Naru there was one more thing I need to tell..." Mitsune shouted as she opened the sliding door, revealing us to her. I saw her eye twitch for a second before turning to face the outside of the door. "HEY..." She began shouted before I hit her over the back of her head with the handle of my sword.

"Do.. you think that was the wisest thing we've ever done?" Keitaro asked as Naru walked up to Mitsune's out cold form and helped me pick her up.

"Well Keitaro-san, she brought it upon herself that she did." I said as Naru and I began carrying Mitsune to her room. When we reached her room we promptly dropped her on her futon, and then started spreading empty Sake bottles around her room. When we were finished we snuck out of her room and closed the door. "There, now when Mitsune-san wakes up she'll believe that it was all just a Sake induced dream, and that the aching in her head was caused by a hangover." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded and we all went back to our rooms for the night, too much had gone on in one night if you ask me...

November 14

It had been at least a week and a half since that little incident. Fortunely for us the plan worked, Mitsune woke up that morning, and believed that everything that had happened was thanks to all the Sake. Though when she thought about how she didn't remember drinking, I told her that whenever you drink you really don't remember drinking. Though it really didn't make much sense to me, Mitsune seemed to get it, so I was glad. Things had been going smoothly, other than that, over the past few days.

It was dinner time at Hinata Sou tonight, and Shinobu was the one cooking tonight, thank goodness. And the meal she cooked looked like something someone would cook for royalty. Su and Keitaro were practically drooling over it, while I just kept to staring at it with a look of that of a starved dog. We all began eating when Mitsune mentioned how strange she didn't remember drinking that night, this was usually a bad time for Keitaro, Naru, and I because we would get a little bit nervous.

You see dispite never having written anything as a freelance writer her entire life, Mitsune was dangerously good at asking people the right questions to get them to spill their guts. If she ever did interview anyone other than us, I'd give them five minutes, make that five seconds, against Mitsune's amazing gut spilling power. But this time like last time, and the time before she didn't make, too, big of a deal over it and we all continued eating.

"Shinobu-chan, what're you doing tomorrow?" Su asked as Shinbou blushed and kinda looked down.

"Me... uh... I..." Shinbou muttered as I raised an eyebrow and was just about to ask her what was up until...

"What's wrong Shinobu-chan, you look kinda weird." Motoko stated in a matter of fact way and Shinobu seemed to become more flustered.

"Huh... Oh nothing much..." Shinobu said as Su and Motoko nodded and they went back to eating their meals. Shinobu sighed as she continued eating, and I stared at her with a bit of concern. I could tell soemthing was up, something having to do with tomorrow... WAIT! Tomorrow was November the 15th, the date that she had circled on her calendar. If there was ever a time to ask Haruka about that date it would be tomorrow.

But, it would have to wait till tomorrow, Keitaro and I still had some work to do so after dinner he and I headed back up to his room and continued studying. After about an hour he and I got out of his room and started heading down the kitchen, studying made one very thirsty, especially after having to explain something to someone almost over thirty times... Keitaro and I were walking down the hall, talking to each other about his studies, so we didn't see the large tower of clothing coming towards us.

BOOM!

Keitaro and I, tons of clothes, and whoever was carrying them fell to the floor. "Oh I'm sorry we weren't looking!" I shouted as I looked over to see Shinobu, blushing as she looked at Keitaro and I. "Shinobu-chan, sorry about that.. hehehe, deja vu eh?" I said as I knelt down, Keitaro following shortly afterwards, and began picking up clothes. "Here let us help you out." We said as Shinobu shook her head no and began picking up clothes along with us.

"No... no thanks I'll be fine..." Shinbou muttered as we all went for one piece of clothing at once. As our hands touched Shinobu became flustered, which showed up on her face as a blush, and began picking up clothes at the rate I would expect myself to pick up if going at full speed. "I GOTTA GO!" She shouted as she shot off like a bullet. I noticed one piece of clothing on the floor, picked it up, and ran in front of her and put it on top of her pile.

"You missed something." I said as she nodded and ran off again. I sighed as I walked back to Keitaro, who was sighing a bit as well. "Well Keitaro-san, looks like Shinobu-chan still isn't one hundred percent over everything yet..." I said as he nodded.

"Yeah, that entire lie about me going to Tokyo U kinda started it off, but us seeing her naked must've finished it..." Keitaro said as we sighed and went back to our room.

'Tomorrow.' I thought. 'Tomorrow I'm figuring out what's so important about November fifteenth.' I thought as Keitaro and I entered our room for the night.

November 15

"Did you two make Shinobu-chan cry again?" Naru asked us at Haruka's Tea Shop. The reason all three of us were there at the moment was because after breakfast, Naru apparenly found it very important to follow us, telling us that she could study with us at Haruka's tea shop, she said she wasn't ready with the other tenants knowing about Keitaro's study sessions with her, believing Mitsune would blow it our of proportion. And the weird thing was... all three of us knew that would be true.

"Well Naru-san, it was just an accident, we just bumped into Shinobu-chan in the hallway and she just got flustered and left..." I said as Keitaro nodded and Naru sighed as she held her head.

"Man, what are we going to do with you two." She said shocking both Keitaro and myself. "Shinobu-chan has been pretty quiet recently, and I have a feeling it was because of you two... YES YOU TWO ARE THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL!" Naru shouted as Keitaro and I face vaulted.

"Naru-san, I thought we were passed that point..." I said as Naru chuckled a bit.

"I'm kidding..." She muttered. "But anyway we should find out what's going on with Shinobu-chan..." Naru said as Haruka walked up.

"Well it might have something to do with these two." Haruka said as she took a drag on her cigarette and all three of us looked at her. "Shinobu's just a young teenager, you do enough stuff to her and lose her trust it's going to be pretty hard to get back." Haruka said as Keitaro and I lowered our heads in defeat and sighed while Haruka pulled a book out of the pocket of her robe. "Anyway here, you two might be needing this." She said as she handed us the book. "Its border info, you two'll be needing it since you two are the manager and grounds keeper." Haruka said as she walked away and left Keitaro and I with the book.

"Well... how do you think we should make this up to her?" Keitaro asked as Naru nodded as well, both looking at me with hope in their eyes, but lost it slightly when they saw me staring at the page with Shinbou's information. I was looking over it again, and again. Looking for the today's date, hoping that would tell us what was wrong. I looked over the entire page until I eventually saw it...

'How... could I have not guessed sooner...' I thought to myself as I collapsed by into my chair and looked at Naru and Keitaro with a concerned look.

"We messed up big time guys." I said as they raised an eyebrow. "And I'm not talking about lieing or seeing someone naked messed up, it is something bigger than that this time, that it is." I said as I took the book and pointed out the date of Shinobu's birth to them. Keitaro's and Naru's eyes widened as they looked at the book, and looked at me with the same concerned look. "We're going to have to pull off something big this time." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded, and got in close so we could discuss the preparations for the big bash tonight.

Later That Evening

It was late, almost time for the party, and I was looking around for Shinobu. The jobs had been split up among the three of us, Keitaro and I went shopping for the supplies, while Naru told all the tenants at Hinata Sou, minus Shinbou, about the big party. When Keitaro and I had gotten back from shopping everyone was outside, waiting for us. Naru then told me to go in and get her to the annex, telling me that she and Keitaro would get everyone ready for the party. I was running around Hinata Sou looking for Shinobu, looking everyone, wandering where she would be. Imagine my suprise when I found her at the annex where everyone would meet us soon.

I smiled as I walked towards Shinobu, she jumped a bit and turned around, a couple of tears in the corners of her eyes. "Hello there Shinbou, I've been looking for you." I said as she blushed a bit. "Mind if I join you?" I asked, and this time suprisingly, she didn't run away. I took a few steps till I was beside her and looked out at the view of the city with her. "Nice looking isn't it..." I said as she just nodded, crying lightly. i decided that while we were waiting for the others, I might as well try to help her out a bit...

"So I read you're information." I said as she turned to look at me. "Don't worry I am the grounds keeper afterall." I said as she nodded and looked back out towards the city. "So you're here because your parents are having a few problems at home?" I asked as she nodded and a few more tears welled up into her eyes. "You know... my parents were going through the exact same thing..." I said as I heard her gasp and as she turned to me, eyes widened with shock.

"You see, for the first few years of my life I can remember my life with my parents was.. happy. We were all happy for a while, you know?" I asked as she nodded. But around the time I turned four..." I said as I lowered my head and Shinobu looked at me with even more shock, apparently she wasn't expecting it to have happened while I was so young. "My mother and father began arguing a lot, it even got to the point where they wouldn't even try to hide it from me and argued right out in the open..." I said as I lowered my head further.

"I hated them for it..." I muttered as Shinobu began crying some more. "I couldn't understand it at that age, I couldn't understand why they just kept on arguing, why they just couldn't make up and let us live as a family, you know?" I asked, Shinbou nodding with more tears in her eyes. "I just wished it would all stop, that it would all end... you know what Shinobu-chan... it did." I said as Shinobu practically began balling her eyes out at my story. "One day I walked into my parents bedroom.. it was late in the day and they were supposed to be up... and..." I said my head sinking even lower, Shinbou crying freely know.

"...How..." She muttered weakly.

"Cholera..." I muttered as her eyes widened more so, and she continued staring. "I just wanted to say something Shinobu-chan." I said as I stood and turned to her, a smile on my face. "I understand what you're going through." I said as I put a hand on her shoulder and she blushed quite a bit. "I understand how you feel, the feeling your parents have practically forgotten about you, that you aren't more important to them than their fights..." I said as Shinobu lowered her head, but I lifted it back up. "But there's something you have to know, and that's that your parents love you, that they do." I said as her eyes widened.

"They love you with every fiber of their being, and that's probably why they sent you here, so you wouldn't have to be around them when they fight, while they're trying to resolve this. Because they care too much about you." I said as I continued smiling at the young teen, who was practically crying a river of tears now. "And I'm sure that they didn't forget your birthday, they're too busy is all, that it is." I said as Shinobu gasped and looked up. "Oh yes, that's what else I wanted to say..." I began saying as all the Hinata Sou tenants popped up over the edge of the annex, minus Keitaro.

"HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY SHINOBU-CHAN!!!" Everyone shouted as Shinbou jumped from the suprise.

"Happy birthday Shinobu-chan!" Naru shouted as she handed Shinobu a present.

"Hey, we're the same age now!" Su shouted as she handed Shinobu another present.

"Happy birthday!" Mitsune and Motoko said as they handed Shinobu their gifts.

"Everyone... thank you all!" Shinobu shouted as she began crying out of joy.

"Ah no need to thank everyone if it wasn't for Kenshin-san here we probably wouldn't have figured it out till it was too late." Naru said as I smiled and shook my head.

"Oh it was nothing." I said as I scratched the back of my head. "But Shinobu-chan..." I said as Keitaro and I walked up to her. "We're sorry." I said as she looked at us. "Right now I'm studying with Keitaro in order to try to get him into Tokyo U this year, he may or may not make it, but we're still trying hard. We're going to try to make up for everything we've done okay." I said as I smiled. "So please cheer up Shinbou-chan." I said as Shinbou smiled and nodded.

"Okay then, Kenshin-san, what about you're gift?" Naru asked as I nodded and reached into my left robe sleeve and pulled out a small box with a ribbon on it.

"Here you go Shinobu-chan." I said as I gave her the box. Shinobu opened it up and there was a bracelet inside of it. "It belonged to my mother, so take good care of it okay?" I said as Shinobu teared up and nodded vigorously. "Hey." I said as I began looking around. "Where's Keitaro-san anyway?" I asked as Naru chuckled.

"Well... I had to... get him ready... HAHAHAHA!!!" Naru bursted out laughing as she pointed to the steps of the Annex revealing... Keitaro... in a clown outfit...

All of the other members of Hinata Sou began bursting out laughing while Keitaro sighed. "Very funny, hahaha... hey Kenshin-san." Keitaro said as everyone turned their attention to me. I was looking at Keitaro with a panicked look, my left eye twitching and my hand dancing on the handle of my sword. "Hey Kenshin-san... why's your eye all twitchy... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Keitaro shouted as he jumped over the ledge of the annex, with cut marks all over his rear, and I followed him soon afterward.

"Come back here you evil clown! You aren't eating anyone at this party!!!!!" I shouted as I began chasing Keitaro around the Hinata Sou property.

"PLEASE KENSHIN-SAN, ITS ME KEITARO-SAN!" Keitaro shouted as he began ripping off his clown suit. "SEE?!!?!" He shouted as I cotninued chasing him.

"Nice try clown, I know that you all have the ability to change shape!!! And don't try to give me that vegitarian crap either!!!!" I shouted as I swung my sword at him, producing yet another cut.

"OUCH!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" Keitaro shouted as the Hinata Sou tenants just kept on watching.

General POV

"Jeez, what was that all about?" Mitsune said as the tenants nodded along with her while Naru pulled 'It' out of her pocket and began sweating. "Naru, do you know anything about this?" Mitsune asked as Naru froze up and began shaking nervously.

"No-no nothing at all..." Naru said as she put the book away.

"Sh-shouldn't we help Keitaro-kun..." Shinobu said as Mitsune tapped her chin for a bit and then smirked.

"Nah, not yet, this is way too fun to watch!" Mitsune said as Su jumped on top of the rail.

"YEAH! HOLD ON RUROUNI-KUN, RONIN-KUN, LET ME PLAY WITH YOU!!!" Su shouted as she jumped down and joined in the game of cat and mouse.

The Next Day

Kenshin POV

I was taking my lap around the city early that morning as I did every morning. Last night at the party, after about an hour of chasing Keitaro, the girls finally got bored of watching me try to kill Keitaro, and stopped me from further hurting Keitaro. After about three bottles of Sake, two punches to the head, and one Shinmeiryuu ki attack, I snapped out of my clown induced rage and apologized to Keitaro. Though he was stuck in bed, nursing his own cut marks, he accepted my apology, not making a big deal out of it. Everyone in Hinata Sou agreed that from that day foward, there would be no clowns in Hinata Sou.

As I ran I heard a familiar cooing sound coming from above me. I stopped and looked up to see Tsuruko's bird flying down towards me, and what appeared to be another letter tied to her leg. I smiled as I outstretched my arm, and the bird landed on it. I pet it a few times before speaking. "Hello there bird-san, how are you today?" I asked as the bird cooed happily, and then motioned its head to the letter. "For me?" I asked as it nodded. "Thank you bird-san, here's a little payment." I said as I reached into my, what I now call it, sunflower seed pocket, and pulled out a hand full of sunflower seed.

The bird cooed happily as it began eating the sunflower seeds and after finishing them I untied the letter from its leg, and then it flew off, out to who knows where. I shrugged as I opened the letter, and began reading its contents...

"Oh my this is certainly a suprise." I said as I read the letter...

CLIFFHANGER!!!!! Anyway REMEMBER TO REVIEW!!!!