Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.
-oOoOoOo-
As Tsuruko, Keitaro, and Motoko entered the living room, the elder Aoyama noted the overall feeling that the Inn was giving off. Tsuruko sat down on one couch, while Keitaro and Motoko sat down on another. A coffee table separated the two couches.
"This place feels very peaceful, Motoko is so lucky to spend her student life here," Tsuruko commented with a smile. Keitaro blushed a little as he looked at Tsuruko. Motoko noticed this and slightly growled a little as she hugged his arm. That shook him a little out of his blush.
"Ane-ue, What are you doing here?" Motoko asked as she turned her attention back to Tsuruko.
"Aren't we missing an important step of decorum?" Tsuruko asked as she tilted her head a little.
Keitaro's eyes widened. He stood up, getting out of Motoko's grasp and said, "Ah! I apologize! I'll go get us some tea!"
After he left, Tsuruko asked, "Is he always like that or is it because I and your fellow tenants interrupted you?"
"A little of both really, but he does have a good heart," Motoko answered as she frowned and narrowed her eyes.
"That is good to hear. I wonder who is luckier for finding each other, you or him?" Tsuruko asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
Motoko looked down and crossed her arms as she pondered Tsuruko's question. "Considering he broke his leg a little while ago, I suppose he is."
Tsuruko covered her mouth and chuckled a little. "Fu fu fu… Are you sure? When I was coming here, I was expecting you to be very nervous in my presence and yet you aren't."
Motoko looked up at Tsuruko and asked, "Did you expect me to be like that forever?"
Tsuruko shook her head and smiled, "No. It pleases me that you've grown up."
Motoko opened her mouth to respond, but Keitaro and Shinobu appeared. The latter was carrying a tray that had several cups of tea and some food, because the former still had crutches.
"Sorry about being a bit late, but here's the tea," Keitaro said.
"Are you Motoko's sister?" Shinobu asked as she placed the tray on the table.
"Yes. My name is Tsuruko Aoyama," Tsuruko answered as Shinobu stepped away.
"Now that we have tea, please tell me why you're here, Ane-ue," Motoko stated as Keitaro sat down beside her.
Tsuruko picked up a cup of tea and drank some of it.
"That can be discussed later. I'm actually more interested in your relationship with him," Tsuruko replied as she gestured at Keitaro.
"Ah! I'm Keitaro Urashima," Keitaro answered. He was surprised by Tsuruko making an interested 'Hn' noise. He asked, "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, merely remembering that Ms. Narusegawa told me a little bit about you, mostly about how unlucky you are and how herself, you and someone by the name of Mutsumi Otohime have gotten into Todai," Tsuruko answered. Keitaro let out a slightly received sigh.
He rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Yeah, we studied together to get into Todai and we achieved our goal."
As Keitaro and Shinobu sat down, Tsuruko drank a little bit more tea. she waited until Motoko and Keitaro started drinking to ask a question. "So, do I need to start the marriage ceremony or am I overreacting?"
Both Keitaro and Motoko almost spat out their tea. Shinobu's eyes widened as she kept looking at Tsuruko, Keitaro, and Motoko.
"Ane-ue! We-you-argh!" Motoko loudly said.
"How far have the two of you gotten in your relationship?" Tsuruko asked as she tilted her head a little.
"That's… That's something you could be a bit more subtle in asking about…" Keitaro grumbled until he saw Shinobu's surprised and about-to-cry expression. "Oh crap…"
'But-but-but Sempai and Naru-sempai are the ones in a relationship! Aren't they?' Shinobu thought. As she took a step back, she had gotten the attention of the Aoyama sisters.
Motoko was able to tell what the younger girl was thinking about. "Shinobu, whatever you are thinking about Keitaro, it most certainly is wrong."
"But-but-but you and Sempai and Naru-sempai-" Shinobu uttered before Motoko sighed.
"He might have gone after her for a few months when he first came here, but everyone has their limits," Motoko replied.
"So I take it you stalked him like a love-sick puppy?" Tsuruko asked. She was a bit surprised when Motoko hissed in a manner that exclaimed, 'I wish I did'. "My oh my! This sounds interesting! Just how did the two of you meet?"
"I came here after I was kicked out of my parent's, thinking Granny Hina would let me live here. but she never told me or my parents that she changed the place to a girls' only dorm," Keitaro explained. "After getting on everyone's bad side, Granny Hina sent a fax that made me the landlord."
Tsuruko raised an eyebrow as as she asked, "So when did my Imouto-chan change her mind?"
"I guess it started after my first duel with him. I thought I was in love with him. So I decided to fight him. The terms were that if he won, I would forget about the whole thing. If I won, he would have to leave. He won by his bokken hitting me on the head," Motoko explained. She looked down with a wistful smile. "I just wish he had been holding it when it happened."
Before Tsuruko could ask, Motoko answered, "He had thrown his bokken up in the air to avoid an attack of mine. A moment or two later it fell and I was knocked out by it."
Tsuruko covered her mouth to chuckle, "Heh heh heh! That really does sound embarrassing!"
"It was discovered that I had a cold," Motoko continued as Shinobu sat down away from the two couches. "I guess it was worse than I thought, as it lasted for a few days…"
-oOo-
The day after the duel…
Motoko was still lying in her bed in her room.
"Someone… Anyone… Could anyone get me a glass of water?" Motoko uttered in a low volume.
Her door slid open, getting her attention. However, her hopes were dashed as Keitaro walked in, carrying a tray that had Okayu and a few cups of Shogayu. (1)
"Where is everyone?" Motoko asked as Keitaro placed the tray besides her.
"They're out. Shinobu and Su are at their school, Naru had a study group, and Kitsune…. Kitsune is somewhere," Keitaro answered.
"And… Haruka…?" Motoko asked as she was doing her best to suppress a sneeze.
"Tea shop," Keitaro answered. "So should I leave? Or do you want me to... stay and talk for a while?"
He looked away as she slowly sat up. When she sneezed, he jumped a little bit.
"I'd… I'd like a tissue…" Motoko uttered before she noticed the box of tissues on the tray.
"They're on the-" Keitaro said.
"Found them," Motoko said before she used one. "And if I need you, I'll call out for you."
"Oh… Okay…" Keitaro uttered before he left her room.
About half an hour later, he passed by her door and hear her weakly call out, "Urashima…. Are you out there?"
"I am, Motoko-san," Keitaro replied.
"Is the offer to talk still available?" Motoko asked.
"It is," Keitaro answered as he prepared himself to open the door.
"Then come in," Motoko called out. Keitaro slid the door open and walked in. He noticed that she had eaten the rice porridge and had finished the tea.
"Want me to get you something to drink before we talk?" Keitaro asked, pointing at the tray. Motoko nodded, making Keitaro smile as he picked the tray up. "Water or tea?"
"Doesn't matter…" Motoko answered before Keitaro left the room.
He soon came back with several cup of water and said, "Figured you wanted to talk more than you wanted tea."
"So what should we talk about?" Motoko asked.
Keitaro shrugged as he said, "Anything you feel like talking about…"
After a few seconds of pondering, Motoko asked, "Why did Granny Hina put you in charge?"
Keitaro rubbed his chin as he thought about it. "I guess I'm her only relative that was free to. Didn't she tell you about me or my parents?"
"I never met her. She left on her trip before I even came here and I never bothered to talk to her on the phone when she called," Motoko answered before she drank some water.
-oOo-
Modern day
"And we talked a bit more. I wish I had taken a bit of time to ask her about her family, but I felt it was a topic that she was a bit sensitive about…" Keitaro said.
Motoko nodded before she said, "It was back then and still a bit now. but I guess the event that further changed my opinion of him was a few days later, when I came back from my Kendo training camp..."
-oOo-
In the past…
Keitaro and Su were waiting outside the Hinata. Su was leaning on Keitaro's back, hugging him from behind.
"So how long until Motoko comes back?" Su asked, her shifting side-to-side letting Keitaro know that she was getting ready to bounce all over the place from sheer boredom..
"Soon…" Keitaro answered as memories of a sleeping Su putting heavy strain on his back kept coming back to him. 'Please come back soon, Motoko!''
"How soon is soon?" Su asked.
Before Keitaro could answer, Su noticed Motoko was almost up the stairs. "Motoko!"
Su then used Keitaro's shoulders to vault over to Motoko and slightly surprised the Swordswoman by landing in front of her.
"Motoko!" Su cheered as she hugged her.
"It is good to see you, Su. I hope that Urashima didn't do anything perverted with you or anyone else," Motoko said as she hugged Su back.
"Well, I read his ecchi novels, found his porno magazines, learned that he doesn't have a girlfriend, discovered his face was as smooth as a girl's, offered to become a couple with him and Naru, and slept with him and Naru. Does any of that count?" Su asked.
When Motoko slowly turned her head to look at Keitaro, he let out a nervous whine when he saw the furious glare on her face. His whine got louder when Motoko stopped hugging Su and began to slowly walk over to him. He began to mentally pray when Motoko brought out her bokken.
"Urashima, why did Su look at your perverted belongings?" Motoko growled as she stared down at him like an angry goddess. Su had climbed onto Motoko back at this point.
"S-s-s-she ran through my room like a tornado!" Keitaro quickly said as he made placating gestures.
Almost a minute passed as Motoko looked down at him. Inwardly, she was debating about punishing him. Most of her instincts demanded it, but she kept recalling the time she had been sick.
Keitaro froze when Motoko walked past him.
"I'll forgive you just this once, but make sure that you do not repeat your mistakes!" Motoko stated. She paused and said, "Su? Could you please leave us? I need to speak with Urashima about something private."
"Really?" Su asked as she moved about to look Motoko in the eyes. Motoko nodded. "See you two soon, then!"
She leapt away from Motoko's back and ran into the Inn to tell the others that Motoko was home. Motoko turned to face Keitaro, but chose to wait until he calmed down enough that he wouldn't flinch when she spoke.
But before Motoko could say anything, Keitaro asked, "How do you do it? How can you keep up with Su?"
Motoko blinked a few times before she said, "I guess the training I underwent at the Shinmei-Ryu may have been a big help…"
"Well, whatever it was, I'm jealous," Keitaro said. "Su's a nice girl, but hard to keep up with…"
Remembering how exasperated she was when she first met with the younger girl, Motoko smiled a bit. "You get used to her antics after a while."
She then walked inside the Inn.
-oOo-
Modern day…
"And then Naru told me about Su and Keitaro's actions when I walked inside," Motoko finished.
Keitaro raised a hand and said "And then there was the incident around Christmas. After Naru and I came back and after the party was over..."
-oOo-
In the past…
After everyone seemed to have gone to bed, Keitaro tried to go to sleep but found himself unable to. So he decided to enjoy a cup of Cocoa while watching the falling snow from the balcony when Motoko appeared besides him.
"I must admit, when I and the others thought you were a thief, We all thought it would be a simple matter to catch you…" Motoko said. her face crumpled a little bit as she then muttered, "Or at least I did…"
"And?" Keitaro asked.
Motoko took a deep breath before she said, "I must congratulate you on being able to avoid us when you were trying to leave, but once again, I ask that you please not be so reckless in the future, Urashima."
He closed his eyes and chuckled. "I'll... Heh heh.. I'll try."
Motoko let out a quiet chuckle herself before she said, "Very well…"
Keitaro listened to the quiet crunch of snow as Motoko walked away. He lifted the cup of cocoa to drink it… only to quickly discover that the whole cup was missing.
-oOo-
Present day
"And shortly after Motoko had taken my cocoa, I decided to go to sleep," Keitaro said. "I guess that would be our first indirect kiss."
Motoko's eyes widened. "W-w-wait… You had not drank any of that cocoa, did you?"
"Of course I did, while I was walking up to the balcony," Keitaro replied, looking curious at why Motoko was so concerned about one little detail from back then.
That curiosity increased a little when Motoko blushed red.
"Motoko?" Keitaro asked.
"Nothing! Nothing to worry about!" Motoko quickly answered as the blush only seemed to increase.
Tsuruko sighed before she said to herself, "I wonder why she is so worried about an indirect kiss from so long ago when I and a few others walked in on her making out with her boyfriend while dressed as a nurse a few minutes ago?"
Tsuruko was shaken out of her pondering when she heard a 'thump' nearby. Looking around, she saw that Shinobu had passed out with an expression that was a weird mix of shock, concern, and lust on her face.
"I hope that there isn't anything contagious around…" Tsuruko said to herself as she got up to go help Shinobu up to a chair.
-oOoOoOo-
Author's note -
This fanfic was an idea started by Antimatter of . They are also the planner of this fic.
A thanks to Eagle Ceres of for looking over this chapter.
A thanks to alansg of for suggesting a good chapter where the nail in the timeline occurs.
A round of thanks to Existential Insanity of for looking this over and giving suggestions. Go check their stories when you've got a chance.
(1) Okayu is Japanese rice porridge. It's mostly made for breakfast, but made often when one is feeling under the weather because of how easy it is to eat.
Shogayu is spicy, hot ginger tea. according to a few articles, it is said to be an excellent Japanese remedy for the early stages of a cold.
Edit on June 13, 2015: Thanks to the advice of Wittmann the Tiger Ace's review, I changed how Tsuruko and Motoko greet each other.
Edit on July 14, 2016 : Deleted a segment that Dragonjek pointed out that wasn't supposed to be there in the final version.