A/N: I am not dead, I'm just really busy during the day, and late night writing doesn't work for me. Please enjoy and let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading. P.S. Mutsumi may be a bit (a lot) OOC.

Disclaimer: Love Hina is not mine and never will be because Akamatsu-sensei owns it.

My Turn

Chapter 5: Melon Melancholy

Whatever joy Shinobu had felt after her date with Keitaro quickly melted into insecurity as she watched her newly official boyfriend carry Otohime Mutsumi up the long stairs to the Hinata-sou. 'Great,' she thought sourly. 'Why couldn't the other Promise Girl give me a couple of more weeks to get my relationship with Kei-kun more firm? I guess it cannot be helped. I just need to keep him looking at me.'

She quietly sidled up with the Kanrinrin and asked, "Are you okay, Keitaro-sempai? We can take a break if you need to. These stairs are tough enough to walk up on your own."

The Todai student smiled through his effort, "I'm okay, Shinobu. I'll just need a shoulder rub from my girlfriend when we get back to the Sou." Keitaro readjusted his childhood friend after she started to slip and he inadvertently touched her round bottom, causing his face to flush with embarrassment and Shinobu's heart clench a bit. "Sorry Mutsumi-san. I hope I didn't offend you."

This made the petite chef feel a bit better. He did not seem to be enjoying being so close to his Okinawan friend. Shinobu thought that Mutsumi was a strange girl, to say the least. She had minimal boundaries as far as her body was concerned. In the past, she had kissed both Naru and Keitaro. Shinobu would have been mortified to know that Mutsumi was Keitaro's first kiss. Mutsumi was also quite intelligent, only missing out on Todai due to her tendency to faint at the most inopportune times. Her anemic spells were not even her biggest quirk. That honor was split between her ability to speak with turtles and her obsessive love for watermelons.

"Sempai, I would love to rub your shoulders or anything else that is hurting," Shinobu replied, taking the flirtation to a new level. She was quite willing to follow through on her suggestion, admitting to herself that she too had no boundaries when it came to her beloved Keitaro.

Just then, Mutsumi stirred, "Ara, Kei-kun, why are you carrying me?"

"You fainted, Mutsumi-sempai," Shinobu answered. "And Sempai and I were just coming home from our date when we found you. Sempai decided to carry you home."

The melon lover looked confused, "Why would you be on a date with Kei-kun, Shinobu-chan? Isn't he Naru-chan's boyfriend?"

Taking a moment before answering, Shinobu considered whether or not to tell Mutsumi everything because she knew that the older girl was devoted to the idea of Keitaro and Naru being together. She had mediated a few of the rough patches that the former couple had been through. Shaking her head, the violet-haired teen decided to go on the offensive, answering, "Naru-sempai and Sempai broke up. Keitaro-sempai is now my boyfriend."

Keitaro quickly made move to stop her, but the words were already out of his girlfriend's mouth. In that instant, he saw Mutsumi's face change from confusion to crestfallen. He hurt for his childhood friend to hear things this way, but it was too late, and she slid off his back, dropping slowly to her knees, looking between Shinobu and Keitaro, hoping that what the young chef had just said wasn't true. In Shinobu's eyes, she saw determination. Keitaro's shown with regret. "I am so sorry that this news was broke to you in this manner. I was hoping to tell everyone at once," Keitaro said apologetically.

"So it is true," Mutsumi said slowly. Suddenly, her face contorted with an un-Mutsumi-like rage, "You worked quickly, didn't you, you thieving little cat? Naru-chan and Kei-kun just broke up and you swooped in and stole him from me? If he and Naru-chan didn't stay together, he was supposed to mine! If I had known that Naru-chan would blow it like this, I never would have stepped aside for her!" Beginning to cry, Mutsumi grabbed Keitaro, kissed him hard. When she noticed Shinobu moving to stop her, the Okinawan released him and wheeled around to face the younger woman. "Enjoy being Kei-kun's girlfriend while you can, but ultimately it's not to be because I am his Promise Girl, not Naru-chan. He is destined to be with me!" With that Mutsumi ran up to the Inn, sobbing.

Shocked, Keitaro scratched the back of his head, remarking, "That went well, didn't it?"

Shinobu was panicking. Was Sempai having second thoughts about accepting her confession? It had gone so well, too well perhaps, and the ache in her chest was telling her that her dreams were on the precipice. She snuck a glimpse at her love, who seemed to be studying her face intently. As if he was reading her thoughts, Keitaro gently lifted her chin and kissed her with a tenderness that took her breath away. She slumped against him and whispered, "Is it really okay for me to be by your side, and not Mutsumi-sempai?"

"Of course it is. I wouldn't have accepted you if I wasn't sure that I wanted to be with you. Mutsumi is a friend. She torpedoed her chances when she kept pushing Narusegawa and me together. There was a time before Naru and I got together that I considered giving up on Narusegawa, and asking Mutsumi out. Luckily for you, Mutsu-chan had to smooth out the problem that Naru had with me and we started dating." He kissed Shinobu on the forehead. "You don't have to worry about Mutsu-chan. You only have to worry about Motoko killing me when we tell everyone that we are dating," he finished with a self-conscious laugh. The high school senior laughed and they continued up the insanely long staircase to the Hinata-sou.

Meanwhile in the inn, Motoko was pouring herself a glass of orange juice when Kitsune walked into the kitchen with her laptop under her arm. The young samurai asked, "Writing break?"

Kitsune nodded and asked, "Did ya see Melon-girl run upstairs? I'd a thought she wouldn't be able to run with those flotation devices attached to her front, but she booked it up the stairs like her ass was on fire."

Both women thought for a moment and their stomachs started to ache, and they asked in unison, "You don't think that…?"

Just then they heard Keitaro's usual cheerful, "I'm home!" They rushed quickly to the entryway, hoping that their suspicions were unfounded. Shinobu's pensive face bolstered those hopes until they saw the peace in their Kanrinrin's eyes. Kitsune took a deep breath as she exhaled, and said a single word, "Shhhhiiit."

Motoko's face was back to its normal mask. This was the face that she showed the world when she tried to hide her feelings. "I guess that's it then," she whispered stoically.

Hearts breaking, they watched as Keitaro flirted, joked, and coaxed a smile out of his date. It hurt like hell to watch the new couple touch each other lightly, whisper, smile, and glow as only a newly-formed couple can.

As Keitaro was about to greet them, Kaolla Su came flying through the air and wrapped herself around his head. "Hiya Keitaros, did you have fun with my Shinomu? Is she your girlfriend now?" He nodded, and Kaolla smiled, "Great! Now I can marry my two favorite people in the world!"

Keitaro spluttered, embarrassed, and Shinobu moved to corral her hyperactive best friend. "Su-chan, Shinobu and I just started dating. I want to enjoy dating a girl before I think about marriage," he explained.

Undeterred, Kaolla hugged his head between her thighs and said, "You can date me too. I can date Shinomu, and then we can go back to Molmol and get married when the time is right. Kaolla loves Keitaros and Shinobu so much!"

While Keitaro was flailing, trying to dislodge his head from the island princess' thighs, Shinobu tried to get her attention by saying, "I would share anything with you, Su-chan; anything but Sempai. I thought that we covered this last night. Japan is not Molmol. Polygamy is not only frowned upon, it's illegal."

No sooner were those words out of her mouth than Keitaro collapsed from being asphyxiated by the teen inventor's secret place. Kaolla bounced off unhurt, and gave her friend a hurt look, "Keitaro's breath made me tingly. Now, he has to marry me! Shinobu should share. There's enough of him for two. I'll just cut him in half so we both can have him!"

"That will kill even him, Su!" Shinobu yelled starting to lose what was left of her composure.

The foreign genius thought a moment, and then snapped her fingers, "That's it! I can clone you both so I can have you and Keitaros, and you will not have to share!" She cart-wheeled down the hall to her room/lab, leaving an unconscious Kanrinrin and an exasperated chef.

Shinobu sat down on next to Keitaro and tenderly brushed his bangs out of his eyes with her fingers. 'Why did I get so desperate with Su? It's not like Kei-kun would agree to her hare-brained scheme to marry us both anyway. I feel kinda bad that I didn't consider the other girls' feelings. I only thought of myself and my feelings for Kei-kun. Well, sitting here isn't going to get him to his room, now is it?' Aloud, she called, "Kitsune-sempai, Motoko-sempai, Su choked out Sempai. Could I get you to help me get him to his room please?"

Kitsune and Motoko walked into the entryway slowly. Kitsune spoke up first asking, "Would it have killed you to give us a chance to take him out once before you made the kill?" Motoko said nothing, but the pain was evident in her eyes as she helped the Fox pick up their landlord.

The young domestic's violet eyes widened. "No, I suppose that it would have been more fair if I had, but he accepted MY confession, and not anyone else's. This isn't some silly harem manga where the main character goes out with all the girls before picking one. I have been waiting for Sempai to see me as a woman since I was 13. The two of you had the advantage of being closer in age to him, but neither of you did anything with it. By the time that you realized your feelings, he was with Naru-sempai. I'm sorry that you are hurt because I love you both like sisters. However, I will not step aside nor retract my confession."

"We had hoped that those sisterly feelings would have inspired you to give us an opportunity to win his heart," Motoko stated stoically. "My heart tells me that nothing is permanent until you are Urashima are married, but my honor tells me to step aside. It's vexing."

Kitsune paused at Keitaro's door and motioned for Shinobu to open it. After placing him in his futon, she looked the younger girl in the eye, and said quietly, "I'm not honorable like Kendo Girl. I love you, Eep-chan, but I want your boyfriend, and I'm not giving up. He's the only man that I can trust and I want to be the one by his side."

With her first real smile since before finding Mutsumi, Shinobu grabbed Kitsune's hands and kissed them, "Well, Mitsune-sempai, I guess that I'll have make Sempai so happy that your attempts to seduce him will come to nothing."

The Fox gasped at her young friend's action and her cold words, and thought, 'Damn, I can't keep thinking that Shinobu is the same meek Eep-chan that we all know and love. She's taking this so seriously. But really, is there any man this girl can't get when she turns on the charm? That man ain't been born yet.' Composing herself, Kitsune smiled mischievously, "We shall have ta see 'bout that won't we, Shinobu-chan?"

"We will have to see about that, Fox-san and Thieving Cat-san," said voice from the top of the stairs. Red-eyed from crying, Mutsumi descended the stairs. "I've cried all I'm going to, and I'm sorry to say that it will be my goal to make the two of you cry because Kei-kun is MINE. He just doesn't know it yet."

The two-longtime Hinata-sou residents looked in the wild eyes of the normally bubbly Okinawan and in unison thought, 'Oh shit, she's lost it.'

To be continued…

A/N: There you have it. There were some unison lines because I believe that these women have lived together so long that they could have the same thoughts at the same time. I've got ideas for about four more chapters before the end. I hope that you all enjoyed. Let me know, okay?