-Ten-Faced Paldain
Love Hina Redux By Ten-Faced Paladin Chapter 4: Prep School Surprise.
The sun rose over Hinata House as the new day approached. The tennants all awoke in their own ways and began their mornings in their own ways. Keitaro had woken up bright and early so that he could get ready. He also caught some breakfast which Shinbou made for him since she had waken up the same time he did.
"Thanks Shinobu," Keitaro smiled as he gathereed up his books. "I appreciate this."
The young woman blushed with an embarrassed smile on her face, "Th-thank you Sempai. G-good luck with your studies today."
Keitaro nodded and he headed to the door. As he pulled on his jacket, a sleepy Kitsune made her way down the stairs. She was only wearing a white button up shirt and her panties. She was also brushing her teeth.
"Why are you up so early?" she mumbled in her half-asleep daze.
"I gotta go to cram school," Keitaro replied as he tried not to stare at her legs. "I am applying for university remember?"
"Oh yeah," Kitsune nodded."Where was it again?"
Keitaro pulled on his shoes and took a moment to adress Su who was also leaving for school before replying, "Where? Sagasi. Why?"
Kitsune shrugged as she continued brushing her teeth, 'Sagasi? Where have I heard that name before?'
Keitaro finally got his shoes on and grabbed his books despite Su's jumping around him in curiosity. He then opened the door and headed out with a goodbye.
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Keitaro sighed as he went over the notes that he had missed for the past while. He had missed almost a week of school because of his getting thrown out of the house and subsequent ownership of Hinata House. He glanced over his English notes again as he felt a hand land on his shoulder.
"Well if it isn't our favorite second year ronin," one voice spoke.
"Think you can really cut it after skipping an entire week?" a second snorted.
Keitaro turned in his seat and looked up to see his two friends Shirai and Haitani. They were both ronins like Keitaro. Haitani was a second year ronin while Shirai was only a first year ronin. Together they made the self-named Ronin Trio.
Haitani was the taller one. He had short hair and small glasses that he wore on his nose. He was generally the best looking of the three. That was exampled by the chocolate he got on valentine's day every year. Shirai was a bit more plump than the other two. He had longer hair that he had tied back and large circle glasses.
"Well if it isn't my favorite fellow ronins," Keitaro smirked. "Don't start with me about skipping Haitani. If I recall, you ditched school to meet up with some girl you met on the way here."
"Ouch," Haitani smirked while holding a hand to his heart. "Straight through the heart."
"Nice one Keitaro," Shirai laughed."You know we got the results back from the last practice test."
Shirai took a folded bit of paper from his pocket and put it on Keitaro's desk. he quickly unfolded it into a long sheet of paper. After a few minutes of scanning the paper, he found his name. It was on the upper half of the sheet. Number fifty-two.
"Hey, not bad!" Keitaro grinned. "Out of everyone in the school I'd say that's pretty good!"
"It could be better when compared to the nation," Haitani smirked. "You're borderline acceptance there for Tokyo U."
"It could be worse," Keitaro grinned. "I could be third from the bottom or something."
"He's got a point there," Shirai nodded, he then smirked at Keitaro suspiciously. "By the way,I managed to catch you talking to the braided girl over there."
He pointed over to another student who was studying dilligently. She had two large braids in her hair and glasses as thick as coke bottles. She was also wearing a sweater and a skirt. Her eyes didn't leave the paper.
"Oh, her?" Keitaro asked. "More like I bumped into her on the way in and when she took a look on my face she panicked for some reason and bolted." Now that Keitaro got a good look at her, he seemed to think he had seen her before. The only problem was that he wasn't sure where. He'd seen her in class, but he felt as if he'd seen her outside of class.
"Ooooh, I see how it is," Haitani smirked. "Keitaro, she's got a crush on you."
Little did they know that the girl in question could hear them. Her hand started to tremble in agitation at their little conversation.
"Right," Keitaro smirked. "I'm not lucky as you are Haitani. I doubt many girsl like me in a romantic sense."
"Oh come on Keitaro," Shirai laughed. "Look at her. I think she's your type. Quiet and unassuming. She's the top in the nation too."
"Top huh?" Keitaro whistled in awe. "I gotta envy her for that. Tokyo U is just a matter of time for her."
"Uh-huh," Haitani shrugged. "Why don't you just ask her out? She's a nerd like you anyway. It's a cute couple."
They didn't notice the girl's hand clench so hard that the pencil she was holding suddenly broke.
"Hey," Keitaro frowned. "I'll bet you guys anything that if you take off the glasses and she lets her hair down, she's probably really cute, perhaps even beautiful. We don't know if she isn't."
The girls face then turned crimson. She looked to her paper a she fished out another pencil. She worked even faster while not looking up. She didn't want anyone to see her face and how red it looked.
"Point taken, "Haitani shrugged. "You could probably snag a girl like her if you tried. The good looks wagon didn't short-change you when it passed by."
Keitaro laughed, "I think it did. I'm just average. I don't really think that any girl would be very attracted to me. I'm no one special. Heck, I'm a ronin to boot. That lessens my appeal even more."
The girl sighed in irritation before standing up from her seat. She then made a beeline for Keitaro and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him out of the classroom.
"That was wierd," Shirai muttered.
Haitani sniffed like a proud parent, "She made the first move, but he's heading for his first date. I'm so proud."
Keitaro was feeling somewhat in the dark about why this girl was acting so wierd. She dragged him up a few stairs before coming out onto the roof. There she finally let go of him and took a few steps ahead of him.
"Uh, look," Keitaro began. "If it's about what my friends, or even something I said, uh..I'm really sorry."
"It's not about what they said that's bugging me," The girl replied. "What you said about me was really sweet too. What I'm upset about is what you said about yourself. How can you think those things about yourself?"
"Well, I," Keitaro began, but he stopped when he recognised the girl's voice. "Naru? Is that you!"
"Well,at least you aren't clueless about people around you," the girl muttered while removing her glasses, revealing Naru's brown eyes, "Now back to what I'm upset at you for."
"Well, It's true isn't it?" Keitaro shrugged. "I'm no one special and I'm not even that good looking. I doubt that any girl is attracted to me."
"I can't believe you!" Naru growled. "You are your own worst critic! Where's your self-esteem?"
"I'm just not socially active,"Keitaro replied. "What's wrong with that?"
"Ugh, no wonder you've never had a girlfriend," Naru growled as the first bell rang. "Nevermind, we'll pick this up later."
With that, Naru put her glasses back on and left in a huff. Keitaro watched he leave for a moment before shrugging and following her.
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The day had continued pretty much normally for Keitaro. He actually noticed that Naru was in all his classes. Whenever she saw him she shot him a glare. Not like the one's when she thought he was a pervert. These glares seemed more like disbelief and perhaps a bit of pity.
Lunch finally came and Keitaro sat himself in the cafeteria. He was starving and needed to eat soon. His only problem was that he was so wrapped up in getting ready that morning, he had fogotten to get a lunch ready or even bring some money to buy it.
"Life is full of humor," Keitaro grimaced, his stomach gurgling loudly.
"Why are you just sitting there?" someone spoke. Keitaro glanced and saw Naru standing next to him. "Shouldn't you be eating something?"
"I forgot to make lunch and I didn't bring any money," Keitaro muttered.
Naru sighed but couldn't help but smile slightly, "You are such a dork sometimes. I had Shinobu whip up something for me last night so we can share I guess."
"Thanks Naru," Keitaro grinned.
Naru sat opposite of Keitaro and unwrapped some sandwiches. They had noodles and a kind of filling in them. They looked wierd, but Keitaro wasn't going to refuse someone's kindness.
"Why do you think so little of yourself anyway?" Naru asked. "Way I see it, you are kind of cute and being a ronin doesn't really hurt that."
Keitaro smiled as his sheeks began to heat up, "You're pretty much the second girl to say that to me. The truth is that I can see so many great things about others, but all I know about myself is things I don't like. You know, stuff I want to change."
"I get that," Naru nodded.
"What about you?" Keitaro asked. "Why does a cute girl like you have to dress up like you do now?"
Naru slumped in her seat a little, the small tinge in her cheeks visible, "It really doesn't matter. I have real short sight so I have to wear these glasses when I go out."
Keitaro nodded. He could understand that. His eyesight wasn't that great either. He'd made his eyes bad by studying too hard.
As he finished his piece of Naru's sandwich, Keitaro glimpsed Haitani and Shirai peering at him and Naru from the door. Shirai seemed somewhat shocked at what he was seeing. Haitani was on the verge of tears. This was probably a warning about how his moment with Naru was going to be examined later.
'I am not going to hear the end of this,' Keitaro muttered in his thoughts.
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Keitaro's prediction had come true when the final bell for the day rang. They immediately pounced him and interrogated on how far he went with the 'super-nerd.' He just told him theat they were friends and that she shared her lunch with him. He left out the part that they lived together and his new job. He'd never hear the end of it if he did.
They hounded him until he got on the tram back to the street where the dorm was situated. He leaped on and soon was crowded into tight spaces. He looked ahead of himself and noticed that Naru was standing in front of him. They even took the same tram and he never noticed. She was also studying some flashcards she had made.
"Flashcards huh?" Keitaro spoke. "Never thought of that one before."
"I'll lend them to you sometime," Naru spoke as she turned to face him. "If you're good."
Keitaro smiled as gthe tram started up. He waited patiently while Naru continued to study her cards. Then quite suddenly, she started to slump and her head landed on his shoulder. Using his free arm, he put it around her waist to hold her steady.
"Woah, Naru?" Keitaro asked slightly worried.
Naru started blinking and looked up to Keitaro again. He could see the dark circles under he eyes. She must have been exhausted through the entire day. He wasn't really sure how she had been standing straight all day.
"Oh, sorry," she mumbled. "I pulled an all-nighter after all that craziness last night."
"Oh," Keitaro nodded. He then remembered his arm around her waist. "So, think you can stay awake or do I have to make sure you don't fall?"
"Sure, no...worries," Naru nodded before she nodded off again, he head on his shoulder again.
Keitaro smiled as he shook his head. He kept his arm around her waist to make sure she didn't fall. He hadn't been this close to a girl before, but he didn't let himself get excited over it. This was just circumstance, nothing romantic. It wasn't easy however when Naru snuggled her face into his shoulder in her sleep.
'Wow, she works so hard to be the top," Keitaro thought glumly. 'With all the studying she did to get there, she must of made her eyes bad. No wonder she need the coke bottle frames.
As Naru slept against him, the entire tram suddenly began jerking wildly, "Emergency stop! Please hang on!"
Everyone was jerked forward and the two Tokyo U aspirants were no exception. Naru collided in to Keitaro and she woke up fully. She blinked a moment before looking at Keitaro.
"What's with the arm around me!" she hissed quietly.
"Making sure you don't fall," Keitaro replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Naaru replied. "Could you let go of me?"
Keitaro quickly pulled his arm away from Naru. With all the people crushing them, it wasn't easy. Just as soon as she was free, the entire tram jerked again. Someone pressed aginst Naru and her entire body was firmly pressed against him.
"Yow!" Naru cried in surprise.
"Ack!" Keitaro gasped.
He could feel the heat from Naru's body and he could also feel Naru's breasts pressed up against him. Most people would have thought that feeling the body of a pretty girl like Naru would be pretty cool. Those that actually knew her would see it as a death sentance for the guy who tried. Keitaro wasn't one to let himself get excited over a situation like this. One was because he did know Naru and what she would do. The other was that this was not the time for that thing.
"If you dare try to feel me up..." Naru threatened.
"Don't worry," Keitaro replied. "I'm not a pervert, remember."
"Well, you're scoring points as we speak so keep it up," Naru mumbled.
The crowds stopped pressing her and Naru quickly stood up again. She also turned away from him. Keitaro allowed himself a sigh of relief. It came all too soon as the tram jerked again. Keitato fell back against the wall and Naru fell into him.
"Gahg!" Keitaro cried in pain.
From the angle tht Naru had fallen, she had land squarely on Keitaro's manhood, effectively causing a large amount of pain. Naru hadn't noticed because her skirt was hiked up from the fall and she was struggling to pull it back down.
"Ugh," Keitaro groaned from the pain.
Naru finally glanced back at Keitaro and saw him grimacing in pain.
"Huh?" she spoke. "Keitaro, what's wrong?"
"Y-you hit a rather sensitive spot on impact from the fall," Keitaro groaned.
"I did!" Naru gasped, realising what he meant. "Oh I am so sorry Keitaro! We're kind of pinned right now. I can't move."
"Don't worry about it," Keitato groaned. "Just don't squirm or you'll make it worse."
Naru grimaced slighlty in guilt. It took a while, but they were able to stand straight again. Naru helped Keitaro stand while he took several deep breaths to get the pain out of his system. The tram ride from hell finally stopped at Hinata Hot Springs and the two aspirants were able to get off. Keitaro trailed slightly behind Naru because of the slight pain he still felt.
"I really am sorry," Naru spoke while she removed her braids.
"Don't worry about it," Keitaro replied with a small grin. "Nothing you could do about it."
Naru smiled as she let Keitaro catch up to him. They both came to Hinata House and began walking up the satirs. Both of them were silent.
"Hey Naru," Keitaro began. "Do you think it would be all right if I studied with you sometime?"
"Why?" Naru asked. "I saw your scores. They're not bad. You could get into Tokyo U with that."
"Well, even if I do well, I still have problems with some parts," Keitaro explained. "I was just wondering if it would be all right if I studied with you so I could understand it better."
Naru looked up the stairs as she considered it. She then looked to the ground before looking back at Keitaro.
"I'll think about it," Naru smiled. "May I ask why you want to get into Tokyo U so badly?"
"Why?" keitaro asked. "Well how about you? Why do you want to get in?"
They finally got to the top and NAru took a few steps ahead. She gazed the the sky for a moment, "Me? Well I'm..."
Naru then turned around quickly and stuck her tounge out mischeviously,"...not gonna tell you!"
Ketaro laughed as Naru joined him. That was a clever reply. They both came up to Hinata hpouse and saw Kitsune and Motoko sitting outside.
"Well well," Kitsune smirked. "Walked home together did you? That's so sweet."
"I trust you did nothing dishonourable towards Narusegawa?" asked Motoko.
Both aspirants sweatdropped as the recalled everything that happened during the tram ride back from the cram school.
"Of course not Motoko," Keitaro replied. "I thought you all knew me by now."
Keitaro walked for the doors to Hinata House when he recalled something. Usually wherever Motoko was, Su was not far behind so where was she?
"Hey Ronin! Time to play!"
Keitaro the found himself on the recieving end of an airborne kick which Su planted on him when she wung out of a tree next to the door.
"Yerk!" Keitaro crieds as he was knocked to the ground.
Motoko watched the small exchange with mild curiosity. She had long suspected that her landlord had training in the martial arts, but she had yet to see anything to show that he did. In fact, the only thing that really aroused her suspicions was the fact that she heard Naru speak about how he had caught her 'Naru unch' without getting hurt. He was a real mystery and Motoko was determined to solve it.
To Be Continued
A/N: There it is. Chapter four. I know this is mostly Keitaro and Naru at this point but it focoused around her mostly at this point. Not much to do about it at this point. Don't worry, each of the girls will get their own time in the light and I'll try to strengthen romantic bonds between them. I'm gettimg lots of requests for pairings. Thanks everyone!