Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.
-oOoOoOo-
Back when Kitsune left to go check up on Naru…
Kitsune opened Naru's door and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Naru was quickly walking around her room, picking up and studying whatever she could grab. If it seemed to pass her panicked inspection, she tossed it onto her futon. If it failed, she placed it back down a bit too harshly for Kitsune's liking.
"Hey, Naru… It's a dumb question, but I gotta ask," Kitsune said, flinching a little bit when Naru glared at her. "How are you feeling?"
"How am I feeling? how am I feeling?" Naru asked as her body tensed up in anger for a few moments. Then her shoulders slumped as she said, "I should have suspected something was up when he seemed to be less of a pervert…"
"Hey, you did think something was up. But you eventually were pleased as punch after awhile when he seemed to make less mistakes around here," Kitsune stated as she sat down in Naru's computer chair.
"Guess it means all good things come with a catch, eh?" Naru sadly muttered.
Kitsune pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance upon hearing that. After letting go, she looked at Naru and said, "Don't be like that. Look, I don't think anyone thought Keitaro would go after the honey who waves the oversized cutting knife at him."
"What about all the times you teased him and her about getting together?" Naru dryly asked as she turned around to look at her friend.
"Hey, that's all it was, just teasing. If I had known that either one had taken it as advice, I'd have never have said any of it!" Kitsune said as she put her hands on her hips, which was a bit difficult because of the chair's arms. Before Naru could respond, Kitsune quickly said, "And you know me! I never teased you when you were feeling down!"
Naru made an annoyed huff as she looked away for a few moments. Her shoulders slumped as she looked back at Kitsune and muttered, "Yeah, guess you're right…"
"Right. so let's see if we can think of a possible time where Motoko fell for him and became your rival," Kitsune said as she rubbed her chin. "Maybe it was around that time where Mutsumi left your room and entered Keitaro's room?"
Naru rubbed her chin as well.
"Yeah… She was really focused on trying to find out the truth. To think, we all thought it was because she wanted to become a lawyer when she yelled 'objection' when I was about to hit him... " Naru said, making a dark chuckle. "Maybe she didn't really want to find out the truth and just wanted to protect her boyfriend."
Kitsune rubbed the back of her head as she replied, "I dunno… I got the feeling that she really did want to find out the truth, considering how much she grilled him for exactly what he meant when he said some stuff and she also grilled Mutsumi to clarify what she said."
Naru took a sharp breath and held it for a few moments before asking, "Do you have a better suggestion?"
Kitsune thought for a few moments. She muttered. "Well, On the day Keitaro came home from the hospital, Motoko came home late from her school… Maybe Keitaro put the moves on her then?"
Naru made a dismissive noise before she said, "That seems far too soon. She was in a nurse costume, one with a short skirt! No way can he talk her into that so soon…"
"Yeah, guess you're right…" Kitsune muttered before she tried to remember another incident. She smiled when she came up with a possible time.
"Remember when we all thought Keitaro failed and you passed? She did seem the most active in trying to find him, never even gave us a reason why. She even disappeared with him for a few moments!" Kitsune exclaimed as she pointed a finger up.
Kitsune's smile faded and she put her hand down when Naru's whole body twitched in anger before sinking into depression once again. Not only did her shoulders slump, Naru fell to the floor, landing on her rear.
A depressed chuckle came from her before she muttered, "If that's the case, then it wasn't what Mutsumi said… He wasn't focused on classwork and passing, he was focused on Motoko…"
"Did he ignore you at any point?" Kitsune asked. A part of her hoped that he did, so she wouldn't have to bother holding back when she confronted him later, preferably without Motoko anywhere nearby.
It took Naru a few moments before she answered, "No, he's been the same kind idiot, but he's been more like that time where he was studying so hard, that he somehow became cool enough that we all were like giggling schoolgirls crushing on him…"
"But with moments of being that lovable perverted idiot that first came here…" Kitsune finished.
"Like I said, nothing good comes without a catch…" Naru muttered as she looked at the floor.
"Naru, if you say that one more time. I'm gonna slap you silly until I knock those words outta your head!" Kitsune said in an annoyed tone, her eyes angled in a bit of anger.
"I had a rival for Keitaro and I never even suspected it… All this time I thought that if Musumi tried, she'd be my biggest rival…" Naru muttered.
"Well, what about all the romantic things you and Keitaro did? Maybe reminding him might change his mind back to you?" Kitsune asked as she stood up and walked over to Naru. A few moments of silence passed. Kitsune then got on her knees to look Naru in the eyes. "Please tell me that you did something romantic with our glasses-wearing landlord…"
Naru made a nervous chuckle before she said, "Is going out for Beef bowls romantic?"
Kitsune face-vaulted a second after hearing that.
Kitsune sat up and rubbed the back of her head as she answered, "No. No, it is not…"
Naru made another nervous giggle as she replied, "Doesn't hurt to ask, right?"
Kitsune sighed before she said, "Let's go see what the two have done so far. Today might've been just an attempt to leapfrog stages in their relationship. You might still have a chance!"
"Maybe…" Naru muttered. Kitsune let out an annoyed huff before grabbing one of Naru's arms and dragging her to the living room.
-oOo-
After putting Shinobu in one of the comfy chairs in the room, Tsuruko turned around to check on Motoko and Keitaro.
Going by how Motoko was blushing less, Tsuruko thought, 'Either Urashima is skilled at calming her down or Motoko is denying what she had learned a few moments ago.'
When the sound of someone loudly eating a cookie surprised everyone, Tsuruko, Motoko, and Keitaro looked at the coffee table.
Sitting on the floor was two blonde girls. One had american features and the other had a skin tone that sort of reminded Tsuruko of Caramel. Both of the girls were eating the cookies that Shinobu had brought out.
"I am Tsuruko Aoyama. Who are you two?" Tsuruko asked.
"I'm Sarah McDougal," The Blonde American answered with a mischievous grin.
"I'm Kaolla Su and Shinomu's cookies are delicious!" The other girl answered.
Tsuruko grabbed one and ate it. She nodded for a moment before she said, "They are quite tasty."
"So are you Motoko's sister or something?" Sarah asked as Tsuruko sat down in a chair..
"Yes, I am her older sister. She and Keitaro were telling me a few stories about themselves," Tsuruko answered.
"You mean about when they became a couple or some stuff that led up to it?" Su asked before she ate another cookie.
"The latter, though I would like to hear some things about the former sooner or later," Tsuruko said. She took a quick glance at the couple, who were shocked and surprised at what Su had said. Sarah seemed a bit bored at what Su had said. 'It seems like my Imouto-chan and her boyfriend were trying to keep their relationship a secret from everybody here. The young ones seem to have taken it well, but Ms. Narusegawa didn't.'
Tsuruko quietly chuckled for a moment as she shook her head while she thought, 'Then again, I could be taking it the wrong way and the only reason Ms. Narusegawa never found out about it was maybe she never paid that much attention around here. I should ask my husband to take a few days off from Mahora Academy if reading romance novels are affecting me like this...'
"Is something amusing, Ane-ue?" Motoko asked, all traces of her blushing earlier had faded. The slightly annoyed look on her face was a sign that she might be thinking that Tsuruko might be laughing at her.
"Oh, nothing more than laughing at myself for almost jumping to conclusions, Imouto-chan," Tsuruko answered. She became puzzled when Motoko looked shocked for a moment and then went into a depressive slump. In a concerned tone, Tsuruko asked, "Imouto-chan?"
"I wish back when Keitaro first came here, I had your reaction… Instead, I chased after him, ready to do whatever it took to remove him from the Hinata…" Motoko muttered.
While watching the way Motoko's shoulders continued to slump a bit more, Tsuruko replied, "I apologize for bringing up old issues, Imouto-chan."
Keitaro placed his arm around Motoko and put his head near Motoko's as he said, "Motoko, I keep telling you, I forgive you and you should stop beating yourself up about the past like that."
"I know, but-" Motoko muttered before getting interrupted.
"Because if you keep on beating yourself up like that, I'm gonna have you cosplay as Reimu from Touhou," Keitaro said as he let Motoko go and backed away a little. Motoko's shoulders went back up and she glared at him. going by the grin on his face, Motoko's response was what he wanted.
"Tell Tsuruko about New year's when you wrapped your legs around his head and when you gave him a massage!" Su cheered. Motoko's glare quickly turned into an embarrassed grimace.
Tsuruko looked at Motoko with a raised eyebrow. Motoko waved her hands in front of her in a panicked manner as she said, "It's not what you think! We didn't do anything perverted back then!"
"As opposed to a short time ago?" Tsuruko asked, enjoying the blush returning to Motoko's face.
"Oh, what happened?" Sarah asked before chomping a cookie in half.
"Nurse's uniform and-" Tsuruko answered, knowing she'd be interrupted.
"Time-to-tell-another-tale!" Motoko said, her blushing face turning as red as her hakama."It-takes-place-at-a-temple-where-I-work-part-time-as-a-miko!"
-oOo-
Around new years, shortly after Keitaro came to the Hinata…
Keitaro was doing his best to hold Motoko up as she tied his fortune to a tree, so the bad luck would be warded off.
"Easy job," Motoko muttered as she reached for the closest branch.
"Thank you, Motoko…" Keitaro quietly said. At the moment, he realized what situation he was in as his eyes looked off to the side, at Motoko's legs. At that moment, all he thought was, 'Wow... legs.'
A cold chill went down his back and his smile fell as he thought, 'Huh?! Wait! This must be considered 'Getting near girls'.'
'Oh no! If this continues, something will happen!?' Keitaro thought as he began to lift up Motoko.
Once Motoko felt Keitaro begin to lift her up, she began to struggle as she tried to hold onto the tree while she cried out, "Woah! Keitaro! Stop!"
"WAAAH!" Motoko cried out as they fell to the ground. Keitaro would have cried out as well, but Motoko's shapely legs had squeezed around his neck.
After Motoko crawled away from Keitaro, he began to cough as air entered his throat once again.
'How dare he… After I tried to help him and...' Motoko thought she began to stand up. As her hands curled into fists, the crinkle of paper got her attention. She looked down and saw that she was still holding onto his fortune. ' Might as well look at this point…'
Better to be alone. Stay away from the opposite sex. Might bring misfortune to both.
Motoko stated at it for a moment before she chuckled a little. With a slight blush, she thought, 'So after everything here, he thinks of me as a woman, rather than a warrior.'
When she saw that Keitaro was about to run away, Motoko quickly produced a bow and shot an arrow in front of him. Once he stopped in fright as he stared at the arrow, Motoko cried out, "Urashima, I will give you a second chance, but not if you run like a coward."
"But the-" Keitaro said before he was interrupted by Motoko firing another arrow near his feet.
"For this, think of me as a warrior first before anything else. I know I've given you plenty of examples since you've arrived at the Hinata," Motoko said before pointing at the ground besides herself. "Stand there."
Keitaro dumbly nodded in fear before he did as Motoko ordered. She then shot four arrows, each with talismans on them besides Keitaro's feet. when he looked at her, all Motoko would say was 'Incentive to stay still."
So Motoko climbed on Keitaro's back and tied his fortune to a tree, while Keitaro stared at the four arrows. After she climbed down, she patted him on the shoulder and said, "I apologize, Urashima, but it was the only way I could get you to stay still long enough to put that fortune on the tree."
"It's… It's alright, I guess," Keitaro muttered as Motoko dragged him away from the tree and the arrows in the ground.
"Let's go find the others before they start looking for us," Motoko replied once Keitaro started walking besides her.
A part of Keitaro wanted to put his arm around Motoko's, but fear of getting punished stopped that urge.
-oOo-
Present day…
Tsuruko drank some of her tea before she said, "Huh… For a moment, I thought for sure that you would have punished him for panicking and making you both fall on the ground."
"If it counts any, my urge to punish him lasted for an hour or two afterwards," Motoko stated.
"She calmed down a lot when I apologized to Shinobu for making her cry when I didn't let her see my fortune, though," Keitaro commented. Motoko smiled and nodded a little.
"And what of Naru's reaction back then?" Tsuruko asked.
Keitaro thought for a moment before he answered, "Well, she was getting an examinee's talisman. When Motoko was chastising Kitsune for getting drunk and passing out on the grass, Naru made me go get one for myself. After we got back to the Hinata, Naru showed off her Kimono to me."
"Yup! Naru got all jealous when Kitsune teased her about Keitaro seeing everyone dressed all fancy but her, so Naru walked away and said she had stuff to do," Su said. She then reached for another cookie, but found none. "Aw rats…"
"And who looked better back then, dork?" Sarah asked. Motoko slowly turned her head towards Keitaro with half-lidded annoyed eyes, seemingly demanding 'You better say that I was.'
"Well… Uh…" Keitaro stammered as he looked around the room to avoid answering.
His savior was the awakening Shinobu.
"What happened?" Shinobu asked as she began to rub her eyes.
"You heard something about a kiss and you passed out," Tsuruko answered. Shinobu's face turned a bright red.
"Uh… wah…" Shinobu muttered as she tried to not pass out again.
"Hey, Shinomu! Let's get more tea, everyone's almost out!" Su said before she dragged the young chef out of the room.
"Well, Keitaro? Answer Sarah's question..." Motoko asked as she crossed her arms.
Keitaro took a deep breath to calm himself down before he said, "Motoko, yours and Naru's outfits are different and that makes it too difficult to judge. Naru's Kimono was flattering on her and it had a beautiful print on it. While you really looked cool in your haori and hakama and really pulled off the yamato nadeshiko better than Naru did."
He ran his hand through his hair as he sighed. Then he said, "In other words, you're asking me to judge between an outfit for formal occasions against an outfit that you were wearing for religious purposes. I can't do that. It's like that english saying, comparing apples to oranges."
Motoko stared at him for a few moments, studying his features before she leaned in closer to Keitaro with a slight glare and said, "It sounds like you're stalling. Badly, I might add."
"Let's talk about the second day of the comprehensive exams!" Keitaro exclaimed. Then he remembered what happened on that day. "Uhh… Might not be a good idea…"
"Why? What happened, Dork?" Sarah asked.
"We all thought Keitaro was gonna off himself because he failed!" Su exclaimed as she rushed into the room on all fours while carrying a tray of food on her head. She stopped in front of the table and placed the tray on it. Almost everyone was quite surprised that not a bit of food had been dropped when the tray was on Su's head. "Luckily, it turned out he passed, but we read his reactions the wrong way! Motoko even gave Keitaro a massage in the hot springs while wearing a one-piece swimsuit!"
"Oh! That sounds interesting!" Tsuruko quietly exclaimed as she covered her mouth. Shinobu walked in and placed a tray of tea on the coffee table.
"It's not what you think! The other girls were there as well!" Motoko explained as she waved her hands in a panicked manner.
Tsuruko still covered her mouth while her eyes briefly rose. All she said was "Oh my…"
"And Keitaro was only in the Hinata for only four months!" Su said before she went to eat another cookie.
Motoko slumped a little bit as she looked at the ground. She weakly muttered, "Please don't think this place became a den of debauchery when he arrived here, sister."
A few moments of silence passed before Tsuruko started to laugh. Motoko looked up at Tsuruko with an inquisitive expression. As did everyone else in the room, including Kitsune and Naru, who just walked in.
When Tsuruko seemed to calm down, she said, " Relax, Motoko. I could tell she was over-exaggerating."
"So what'd we miss?" Kitsune asked, getting everyone's attention.
"Nothing much, other than when Motoko told me about when she was sick and Keitaro took care of her and when he had to take care of Su," Tsuruko said. She then looked up and placed a finger on her chin as she said, "There was a short tale where Motoko and Keitaro shared an indirect kiss that she only learned about now."
"Though if you wanna get technical, my kissing machine took her first kiss, though I made it better by kissing her soon afterwards!" Su cheerfully said.
"Was that before or after Mr. Urashima's indirect kiss with my Imouto-chan?" Tsuruko asked.
Su rubbed her chin for a moment before answering, "After."
Tsuruko chuckled for a moment before turning to face Motoko and asked, "So, Motoko, who was better, the machine, Su, or Mr. Urashima?"
Motoko looked down and took a deep breath. "Su at first, but Keitaro eventually was able to surpass her."
Su actually looked amazed at that. It took her a moment or two before she said with a chuckle, "Guess this means more practice for me!"
Motoko then quickly looked around. Keitaro seemed pleased. Shinobu looked at Keitaro with a bit of amazement. Sarah did as well, but looked a bit bored or annoyed. Kitsune looked concerned, but was looking at Naru out of the corner of her eye. Naru seemed to be trembling a little and looked like she had been betrayed somehow.
"Naru, is every-" Motoko asked before getting interrupted.
"I'd like to hear more of how you and Keitaro got together!" Naru quickly said, almost squeaking a little.
Tsuruko's smile lessened a tiny bit as she thought, 'I suspect this won't end well.'
-oOoOoOo-
Author's note -
This fanfic was an idea started by Antimatter of TheFanfictionForums. They are also the planner of this fic.
A thanks to Eagle Ceres and Threadweaver of TheFanfictionForums for looking over this chapter.
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.