Disclaimer: I own no part of Love Hina, but Sean is me.
Well, after a slight case of writer's block, I'm back with yet another chapter in my epic story.
Chapter XLVII: Home Again, Home Again
Tuesday, 7/1 7:14 AM
Of the three people who shared the room, Shinobu was the first to wake up that morning. She quietly got out of bed and walked out onto the balcony. "What a beautiful morning," she thought, looking out at the ocean. "And a great view. I'm certainly going to miss it when we go back to Hinata-Sou." She went back into the room and saw that both Kitsune and Sean were still sound asleep. "Might as well get my shower done while I still can." In her experience sharing the hotel room, she knew that if she was third in line for the bathroom, she could be in for a bit of a wait; especially if the other two were in there together.
Shinobu entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. "Enjoy it while you can, Kitsune," she thought as she removed her nightgown and admired herself in the mirror. "When I come of age, I'll give you a run for her money, just you wait and see." Shinobu stepped into the shower. "Meeting Sean was the best thing that ever happened to me. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be as shy as I ever was. Outside of my cooking, I'd have almost no self-confidence, my grades would be horrible and I'd still be overly jealous of the other girls' bodies. Well, maybe I still am a bit jealous, but I know that my time will come and I'll be just as mature-looking and developed as they are. To think, my transformation began with Sean running into Mutsumi that one day. If that never happened, I might have never gotten the courage to approach him and my uncertainty would be tearing me up inside because of it. I should really thank her next time I see her."
Shinobu's happy self-reflection was interrupted was she heard the bathroom door open. Poking her head through the shower curtain, she saw who her visitor was. "Good morning, Kitsune," she said.
"Well," Kitsune said. "Somebody's cheerful this morning."
"I was thinking of how Sean has changed my life for the better."
"He's had an impact in all our lives. Want me to get your back for you?"
"Sure." Shinobu handed Kitsune her washcloth. "Thanks."
"No problem," Kitsune said as she started washing the younger girl's back, staying outside the shower in doing so.
"Kitsune, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"I couldn't help but notice that ever since we got here, you and Sean have been more… active than usual; more than you ever were back home."
"I think I know where this is going," Kitsune said. "And it's a pretty simple explanation."
"I'm listening."
"You remember the last time you two shared a bed, right?"
"How could I forget?"
"Then you also recall the effect it had on him. I had a feeling that it might happen again while we're here, and I just wanted to keep his hormones in check."
"Don't you think that he'd come to you if he was feeling that way?"
"You know as well as I do that he hardly ever voices his problems to anyone. Think about it; back then, he only brought it up when he was at wit's end and after Motoko and I tried to force ourselves on him. Him keeping his troubles bottled up inside is also why we're out here in the first place. If I didn't take some preventive measures, who else would?"
Shinobu didn't respond; she knew Kitsune had a good point.
"You may not believe me when I say this," Kitsune said. "but I actually envy you."
"You're right," Shinobu said. "I don't believe you, and why should I? You're older than me, you've got the looks, not to mention the fact that you're screwing my boyfriend."
"Yes, but at least you have a boyfriend. What Sean and I have is a purely physical thing, not matter how I wish it wasn't true. You have that little extra something with him I'll never have, and when you feel the time is right, I'll step aside and let you take over. I can only imagine what will happen to me when that time comes. I don't know what came over us back on Valentine's and that last lust potion incident, but I can assure you that none of us have any intentions of taking him away from you."
"Thank you." Kitsune had long since finished with Shinobu's back, and she moved to rinse herself off.
"You looking forward to going home today?" Kitsune asked.
"Yeah. This place is nice, but it's not quite like home."
"You said it. As soon as we get back, I'm hitting the hot spring."
"I think I'll join you." Shinobu stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. "Alright, I'm all done." As she dried herself off, she watched Kitsune get ready for her shower. She found her eyes being drawn to the older girl's chest; this didn't go unnoticed by Kitsune.
"Like what you see?"
Shinobu quickly turned away, blushing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"
"Don't worry about it," Kitsune said with a laugh. "I'm used to it. If I'm not mistaken, you've been growing a bit lately."
Shinobu's eyes lit up. "You really think so?"
"I'm sure of it. I've known you for a couple years now, and I can definitely see a difference."
Shinobu looked at herself in the mirror. Her breasts were still quite small--especially in comparison to Kitsune's--but there was something there. "I wonder how big they'll get."
"That, I can't say," Kitsune said. "We'll see as you get older."
"I look forward to it." Wrapping herself in the towel, she left the bathroom to give Kitsune some privacy. As she headed for her suitcase, she noticed Sean sitting at the edge of the bed, talking on his hand-phone.
"Yeah… Well, she probably just misses me 'cuz she doesn't have anyone to beat up on… Hmm, is that right?… Well, I look forward to meeting her… Alright, we'll be there around 8:00… you too. See you then."
"Who was that?" Shinobu asked.
"I was just letting Haruka know when we'll get back. As it turns out, there'll be a new girl waiting for us when we do. Haruka let her move in already."
"Did she say who it was?"
"No. I wonder what she'll be like. After being around you girls for so long, I've come to expect the unexpected."
"I certainly pays to be open-minded."
"No kidding." Sean got up and walked toward one of the doors that connected rooms and knocked a few times. "Naru? Keitaro? You awake in there?" The only response he got was some unintelligible nonsense from the other side of the door. Without thinking, Sean opened the door to a somewhat startling, somewhat amusing sight. "Oh man," he thought, unable to wipe the grin off his face. "Methinks I've walked in on something I shouldn't have." Naru and Keitaro were in the same bed. From his vantage point, he couldn't tell if they were clothed or not, but one can assume.
"SEAN!!" Naru yelled, throwing a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face. "How dare you barge in like this!"
"At least I knocked first."
"That's not the point! Why are you here?!"
"I was just going to tell you two something, but I think it can wait. Um, should I bother asking why you're wearing each other's glasses?"
"I'd rather you didn't," Keitaro said. His face was as red as a tomato.
"I figured as much. I'll leave you two alone." Sean tossed the pillow back to them and returned to his own room, closing the door behind him.
"What were they doing?" A half-dressed Shinobu asked.
"Don't know, don't care." Sean walked to the door on the other side of the room. "Let's see what's behind door number two." He entered the room shared by Motoko and Suu to find neither of them present. "I wonder where they're at," he thought. His question was quickly answered when the bathroom door opened and Suu came out, a towel wrapped around her.
"Hey, Sean!" Suu yelled, as she tackled him. This was hardly different from any other day, and it wouldn't have been cause for concern if it wasn't for her current state of dress. "What brings you here this morning?" she asked, sporting an innocent look. "You gonna try and take advantage of poor defenseless me?"
"Very funny, Suu," Sean said, obviously not amused. Apparently, he found the idea of Suu being defenseless very hard to believe. "Could you get off, please?"
"Alright," Suu said with a giggle as she half-bounded to her suitcase. "Seriously, did you need something?"
"I was going to tell everyone when we're going to head back home." Sean looked around as he got up. Motoko was still nowhere to be seen. "Motoko out with Jimmy again?"
"Probably."
"Only one way to find out for sure." Sean quickly dialed a couple numbers on his hand. "Good thing I have Jimmy's cell phone number on speed dial." The phone would ring a couple times before someone answered it.
"Hello?" Jimmy said on the other line.
"Hey, Jimmy," Sean said, ignoring the fact that Suu was changing right in front of him.
"How you doin'?"
"Pretty good. Is Motoko there?"
"Yeah; you want to talk to her?"
"No, that's alright. Just tell her that we'll be heading for home at quarter to six."
"You're finally heading home, huh?"
"Yeah. We'll meet you at your place."
"Alright, see you then."
"You too." Sean hung up his phone. "Well," he thought as he retreated beck into his room. "At least that's all taken care of. I'm sure Motoko's in good hands."
"Sean?" Shinobu asked. She was now fully clothed.
"Yeah?"
"I just want to say that I loved the time I spent here."
"I did too."
Shinobu quickly hugged Sean. "If we hadn't come looking for you, I don't know how long I could have waited for you to come back on your own."
Sean returned the embrace. "To be honest, I probably would have come back in a few days' time; a week at the most."
"Why's that?"
"Even after everything Suu and Sarah do to me, I couldn't stay away for long. I would have missed you all too much--or assumed the other way around. Besides, knowing me, I wouldn't have done nearly as much by myself as I did with all of you. Probably the most entertaining thing I might have come up with on my own is to go to a club as a girl and see how many guys hit on me or something like that."
"I'm glad we could make your vacation better."
"Me too."
"Get a room, you two," Kitsune said, as she watched the couple kiss from the bathroom door.
"We already have one," Sean said.
"Yeah," Shinobu said. "Why don't you go get a boyfriend?"
"Keep saying it, and I might just do that," Kitsune said, eyeing Sean.
"But I thought you said--" Shinobu started to say.
"Calm down, I'm only kidding."
"That's not something one should joke about," Sean said.
"You're one to talk about having a sick sense of humor. Now, what should we do on our last day here?"
"I'm thinking we should just relax today. Considering we'll be arriving home at around 8:00 tomorrow morning, maybe we should even get some sleep later on."
"Sounds like a day at the beach to me," Kitsune said. "And I'm not complaining. Let's see what Keitaro and Naru think of that idea."
"Wait, don't…!" Sean started to say, but it was too late. Kitsune was already at the door. She opened it and two screams rang out from inside. "Here we go again," he thought, rolling his eyes.
---
While the others were relaxing on the beach, Motoko and Jimmy spent the whole day cruising around town on Jimmy's motorcycle. At first, Motoko was wary of being on such a thing, but a few words of assurance and a couple trips around the block eased her tension. Oh, there also the fact that she was almost required to be in close contact while Jimmy was driving; something she didn't mind in the least.
Ever since the two hooked up almost a month before, they had ridden around town many times. Sometimes the others accompanied them in Jimmy's truck, sometimes they were by themselves, but the fact that they were together was all that mattered to them. Over time, they had become almost inseparable. Unfortunately, the time eventually came for them to part ways, though it was obvious neither of them were looking forward to it.
--- 5:40 PM
A certain motorcycle rode onto a certain driveway with a certain couple riding on it. When it came to a stop, a woman got off and removed her helmet, revealing a certain swordswoman, though there was something different about her. Normally, when around Jimmy, Motoko could hardly keep the smile from her face, but today, it seemed as though all the happiness had been sucked out of her.
As Jimmy got off the motorcycle, he noticed the distressed look on Motoko's face. He didn't have to ask to know what was going on in her mind; any minute, she was going to leave, and neither of them knew if they'd ever see each other again. He knew how she felt; he didn't want her to leave either, but he knew that this wasn't her home. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner. "C'mon," he said. "I'm sure the others are waiting for you."
"I know," Motoko said, barely able to keep from crying. "It's just that…"
"Don't worry," Jimmy said. "I'm sure we'll see each other again."
"You think so?"
"If what we have is real, we'll be back together eventually."
Motoko hugged Jimmy tightly. "I'm going to miss you so much!!"
Jimmy returned the favor. "I will too."
The others watched the scene unfold from inside. "The next few weeks are going to be hard on her," Sean said. "I hope she can pull through."
"As long as she has us around," Naru said. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Or maybe it'll just appear that way."
It was plain to see that both Jimmy and Motoko wanted to stay in that embrace forever, but common sense forced them to separate. Hand in hand, they went inside. "Alright," Motoko said. "I think I'm ready."
"Then let's go," Sean said. He and Shinobu held hands and within moments, they began to glow.
"Later!" Jimmy said. Everyone but the wizards responded in kind.
"I'll call you when we get home," Motoko added.
Before Jimmy could respond, the group was engulfed in a globe of energy. He looked on in awe as the sphere shrank and flew out the still open door. Following suit, he watched the ball rise high into the sky, then shoot off into the western skies. "Amazing," was all he could say.
--- Local time: Wednesday, 7/2 7:54 AM
"When are they going to get here?" Sarah half-complained and she and Haruka stood outside the tea shop. She was loath to admit it, but she had missed everyone since they left for Myrtle Beach.
"It should be any minute now," Haruka calmly said. Like Sarah, she was inwardly anxious for them to arrive, but unlike her daughter, she planned on giving them a serious talking to about going somewhere half a world away without letting her, much less anyone else, know about it, even though she knew the reason why.
All of a sudden, a orb of light appeared from over the tea shop behind them. After it made contact with the ground, it vanished, allowing Sarah and Haruka to see the familiar group of seven. "Well," Sean said. "Here we are."
"And none too soon, either," Haruka muttered.
"Yeah," Naru said, holding the back of her head. "We're sorry you had to find out about our leaving the hard way, but somebody was supposed to fill you in beforehand."
"I knew I forgot something," Keitaro said after Naru shot him a look. "Sorry, Aunt Haruka."
Haruka rose her fan to smack him, but Sean beat her to the punch, slapping him in the back of the head. "Just Haruka," they both said in unison.
Ever since they got there, Motoko had been increasingly restless. "If you'll excuse me," she said, unable to contain herself any longer. "There's something I need to take care of." She started to make a dash for the front door, but Kitsune's hand taking hold of the back of her shirt kept her from getting anywhere.
"Calm down, girl," Kitsune said. "The phone won't be going anywhere any time soon. Besides, nobody told him how long the trip would take."
"We're going to go unpack," Shinobu said as everyone started towards Hinata-Sou, with Kitsune keeping a tight grip on Motoko.
"Hey, Sean," Sarah said, nervousness apparent in her voice.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I don't know exactly how to say this, but--"
"You know what?" Sean interrupted. "Don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned, it's water under the bridge."
"Thanks."
"No sweat. You know, you're pretty cute when you're blushing like that."
That comment caused Sarah's already red face to grow brighter. Not knowing what to say to that, she ran into the tea shop.
"It's good to have you back," Haruka said with a chuckle.
"It's good to be back. See you later!" Sean jogged a bit and caught up with the others just as they reached the front door.
It seemed as though almost everyone had something planned upon their return. The first one to act was Motoko, who made a beeline for the phone to call Jimmy. Sean shook his head as he passed by. "I'm going to have to set up a hand phone for her so she doesn't run up our phone bill," he thought. He made his way upstairs and was about to enter his room when Shinobu approached her.
"Hey, Sean," she said. "Kitsune and I are going out to the hot springs. Want to come with us?"
Sean responded by tossing his suitcase into his room and turning into Alicia. "Lead the way," she said.
Shinobu and Alicia headed for the changing room, where Kitsune was waiting for them. "So you decided to join us," Kitsune said.
"Of course," Alicia said. "It's been way too long since we've been out in the hot spring."
"I hear that." The three girls stripped out of their clothes, grabbed some towels, walked out into the hot spring area and were surprised by who was already there.
"Hello," the cheery girl said, waving to them.
"Hey, Mutsumi," Alicia said. "What brings you here?"
"Didn't Haruka tell you?" Mutsumi asked. "I'm the new tenant."
"Is that right?"
"Yep. How was your trip?"
---
Keitaro was midway through the task of unpacking when the trapdoor above him opened, but since he was facing away from it, he was unaware of it until a certain girl was inches away from him.
"Keitaro?" Naru asked, startling Keitaro.
"Yeah, Naru?" Keitaro said after his heart rate slowed a bit.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Naru walked over to the closet and, after a bit of searching, found a sketchbook. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Keitaro started to panic. "How did you find out about that?!"
"You know how sneaky Sean can be. He's been looking at your drawings for a while now. He told me about this the day we found him. Now, answer my question."
"I was worried about how you'd react."
"Well, let me see what I'm dealing with, here." Naru started flipping through the book and was amazed at what she saw. "Wow," she thought. "Sean was right. This can't be put into words." Inside the book was a variety of drawings. All of them were of Naru in a variety of poses and outfits, some more revealing than others. In some of them, she even sported angel wings. When she had looked at all of them, she turned her gaze to Keitaro, who looked almost ready to be executed. "Keitaro, I have only one thing to say to you."
"Y-Yeah?"
"If you wanted a model for your drawings so badly," Naru said as she tossed the sketchbook at him. "You should have just asked."
"So you're not mad?"
"Let me put it too you this way."
"Where are you going?" Keitaro asked as Naru walked towards the door.
"Making sure we aren't interrupted," Naru said, locking the door. "I'm going to give you something you draw about." Keitaro was unaware of the sketchbook falling out of his hands as Naru planted a kiss right on the lips. "What do you say we finish what we started?"
---
While Naru and Keitaro were… enjoying each other's company, someone was outside, watching them with binoculars. "Enjoy your time with him while you can, Naru," Kanako thought. "For when the time is right, I will make my move and you will be out of the picture. Mark my words; he will be mine."
End of Chapter XLVII
And so, the group returns home and everything returns to normal... for now. See you next time! Please R&R!