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May/December	By : thewriterwhocameinfromthecold Category: +G to L > Love Hina Views: 14880 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina or its associated characters. I am not profiting from this in any way.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Part 3: Natsumi
The world breaks every one
and afterward many are
strong at the broken places.
- Ernest Hemingway
Naru slept late that day, and they let her. Neither of them wanted to leave her alone, so they sat on the balcony that morning, sipping tea as they tried to decide what to do.
Keitaro laughed as the morning’s first birds flitted among the trees, seeking breakfast. “We were at the same hotel the whole time and missed each other. Life’s funny.”
“It makes a certain amount of sense,” Motoko replied, picking at some sakura petals that had fallen on the railing. “My family owns the hotel, I recommended it to Naru. You met my mother, and she recommended the hotel to you. Two people with different sightseeing plans and sleep schedules?” She shrugged. He was right, life was funny.
As impossible as it seemed to him, Motoko had forgotten to be angry when it came out that he had visited her family. The shock of the situation had driven away, for the moment, her suspicions of him. With Naru in the state she was in, there was no time for it. They were not opponents, but people with a friend in trouble.
“Maybe we should just go home?” Keitaro wondered. “Perhaps getting back to routine would be best.”
Motoko sighed and nodded. She looked exhausted. Had she slept a wink all night? he wondered, discreetly rubbing his back. The tatami mats had not been kind after he gave Naru and Motoko his futon.
“Why are you even here?” he asked when they were nearly done their tea.
Motoko looked away. “Family matters.”
He smiled. “That’s great!” he said, startling her. “You went to the memorial after all. Your mother must be so happy to see you.”
Her eyes turned hard and he recoiled back, certain he was about to be launched into orbit.
“Who told you that?” she demanded. “Who?”
“Well…” The lump in his throat blocked the rest. He fought to clear it. “They all kind of, well…I…”
Motoko came to her feet in an angry huff. “It’s none of your business.”
“Where are you going?”
“Out.” Only Naru’s sleeping presence kept her from slamming the door behind her.
Keitaro shut the balcony door and slid down the wall to the floor. “Me and my big mouth.”
“Keitaro?” Naru’s voice was thick with sleep as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked, coming to her side. “Do you need anything?”
“Some water?”
He filled a glass from the tap and gave it to her. As she drank, he sat there, fidgeting. Was it safe to ask? As long as he lived, he never wanted to see her crying the way she had last night; but the not knowing was eating him up inside. What little Motoko had known wasn’t much; and he couldn’t stand not knowing what was hurting her. Who was Yumi Ichihara?
Naru set the glass aside and laid back down. “Where’s Motoko?”
“She had to get something,” Keitaro lied. No reason to burden her with his fight on top of everything.
“Oh.” Then after a long time she asked, “Are we friends?”
“Of course,” he said, surprised, leaning over to look her in the eye. “At least I hope so.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. “I’m glad. After the way I talked to you, I wasn’t sure if you’d ever want to speak to me again.” She sat up and gave him an imploring look. “I didn’t mean what I said that day, please believe me.”
He risked taking her hand and felt glad when she squeezed it back. “I know you didn’t. We were both upset that day.”
Her face crumpled. “You’re so good to me. I hate it. It makes me feel like such a bitch.” She gritted her teeth and shook her head as if trying to loose something clinging to her. “God, I feel like I’m in pieces. I just…I just can’t control…” She trailed off and looked at him to see if he understood.
He thought of the morning after Ritsuko left and that night in Haruka’s apartment and nodded. Boy, did he ever. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She turned away. “No.” Then as if pained by losing the sight of him, she turned back, her eyes fixed on him. “I will. I promise, but if I do it now, I think I’ll burst into tears again.” She looked down at her knees. “I probably don’t have a right to ask this, but…”
“But what?”
She sucked in a hissing breath and looked up at him, putting all her courage into the question. “Would you hold me for a while?”
A pang of nervousness struck at him before he shoved it to the side. There was no time to worry about being hit. He shuffled beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. She rested her head against his chest. The position made him think of Sachiko and Kamina as they sat together in the silence. Her breathing became slow and deep, and the corners of her mouth turned up just a little.
“I like your aftershave,” she said. “Have I ever told you that?”
“No.”
“Well, I do.”
He turned his head slowly and inhaled the sweet floral scent of her shampoo. He wanted to ask her what she had done while in Kyoto, but it had taken so much just to calm her down; and even if that weren’t the case, he wasn’t sure how to answer if she asked him the same. Still, the silence frightened him, and he went with the first thing he could think of.
“Did you see Kiyomizu?”
“Hmm?”
“Kiyomizu, did you see it?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Yep, I went and bought a charm for next year’s exam, but I think I lost it somewhere going back to the hotel.”
She giggled. “You have no luck at all, do you?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Guess not. Still, it’s not all bad,” he added upon reflection, “If I’d gotten into Toyko U the first time, we probably would never have met.”
“I’m glad too,” she said. “I think I’d have had a hard time calling you upperclassman.”
“Gee, thanks.” He affected a scoff. “Maybe I take it back.”
She rolled her eyes, so natural a Naru gesture that his heart leapt to see it. “I’d say you look cute when you’re pouting, but I hate to lie.”
They said nothing for a long time. Long enough for Keitaro to wonder where Motoko had gone.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“Did you want to stay here or did you want to go home?
Naru shivered. “I don’t know if I can stay here, but I don’t know if I want to go home.”
“Why not?”
“If I go home to the same four walls, I think I’ll just keep thinking about it.”
“So what do you want to do?” he asked, craning his neck to look at her.
She bit her lip. “I don’t know.” She turned to face him. “Take me away, Keitaro. Take me far away from here.”
Motoko returned a while later, bearing breakfast from downstairs. She thrust Keitaro’s plate into his hands without looking at him and came to Naru’s side. When Naru told her that she wanted to keep travelling, Motoko frowned.
“Are you sure that this is the best idea? You don’t even know where you’re going.”
“It would only be for a few days. I just want a little time to process.”
Motoko flicked a suspicious eye Keitaro’s way. “He is going as well?”
“Yes.” Naru looked down at her quilt. “If he wants to.”
Motoko nodded. “Then I want to come as well. It would not be right to let you travel with him.”
So they were back to that again, Keitaro thought. She’d earned a little good will bringing breakfast when she didn’t have to, but if she was going to start treating him like a sex offender again…
He was just about to object when Naru said, “I guess if you want to. I don’t really want to be alone right now. So if you both want to come with me, that would be fine.” She ran a hand across her cheek. “I think I’d better freshen up,” she said and left for the bathroom.
Once the door was shut, Keitaro turned to Motoko giving him a baleful glare.
“Don’t you think that there’s somewhere else you should be?” he asked with a jagged voice.
She crossed her arms. “I told you it’s none of your business.”
Oh, no, he wasn’t leaving it like that. Not after seeing Sachiko cry.
“How long are you going to avoid them? Satomi…”
“Shut up!” The words hissed out in harsh whisper as she lunged for him, her face a mask of rage so terrible that he shrank back in fear for his very life. She seized him by the lapels and leaned into him until they were nose to nose. “You know nothing of me or my family. Stay away or, so help me, I’ll run you through.” She turned on her heel and strode over the to the bathroom door to knock upon it. “Naru, I’m going back to my room to pack. Will you be all right with him if I leave you alone?”
“Of course,” Naru’s voice sounded through the wood. “Don’t be silly.”
He smiled. How far had he risen in her estimation for her to say that? Motoko gave him a look that could kill and left the room.
“Me and my big mouth.”
“Where do you want to go?” Keitaro asked as they stood before the departure board, with an eerie sense of déjà vu. Hadn’t he been in this position only a few days ago? After the last two days it felt like a lifetime.
Naru shrugged. “Anywhere that’s not here. Oh, sorry,” she added as someone bumped past her.
“My, it sure is big in here,” the someone whispered. She was a girl with brown hair down to her waist, tied back in a ponytail, and wearing a brown dress held by suspenders over a green shirt. She looked back at the trio with a glassy eyed expression. “Oh, hello,” she said, and fainted dead away.
Naru gasped as Keitaro lunged and shouted to catch her, but Motoko was fastest. In an instant she was behind the girl holding her steady by the shoulders.
“Get some water,” she ordered, carrying the limp girl to a nearby bench.
Keitaro and Naru took off in the direction of the nearest vending machine.
“Damn it.” Keitaro dug through his pockets. “I don’t have any change.”
“Here.” She thrust a bill into his hands.
“Thanks.” He paid for a bottle of water and raced back, leaving Naru to retrieve her change. He thrust the bottle into Motoko’s waiting hand. “Will she be all right?”
“You know as much as I do,” was the terse reply as the samurai cracked open the bottle, wet her handkerchief and dabbed at the girl’s forehead. “Miss? Can you hear me?”
The girl winced against the cold. “Yes?” she asked, eyes flickering open.
“Don’t try to sit up,” Motoko said. “You’ve had a faint.”
“Oh, have I?” the girl asked in a wondering voice.
“Yes. Just rest here until you feel you can sit up. Would you like some water?”
The girl said she would and Motoko handed her the bottle.
“Do you have anyone we can call for you?” Motoko asked.
The girl shook her head. “No, I’m here on my own. I’ll be all right in a minute. With my anaemia, this happens all the time.”
Motoko’s jaw tensed. “A girl with your ill health should not be travelling alone.”
“Oh?” The girl gave her an incredulous look. “Really?” she asked without a hint of irony.
Naru giggled, then said, “Hey, haven’t I seen you before? Weren’t you in my exam hall at the Toyko U entrance exam?”
At this, the girl seemed to find some wellspring of strength. “Yes,” she said, sitting up. “I was there. I didn’t get in, though.”
The airy statement made with an indifferent shrug caused Naru and Keitaro to tense.
“Um, well, I’m sorry,” Naru said, not knowing what else to say.
The girl shook her head. “It’s fine.” She turned to look at Keitaro. “Do I know you?” Before he could say anything she shrugged. “Thank you all for helping me. Are you all travelling together?” When Naru confirmed this, she gave childlike smile and clapped her hands. “Wonderful. Where are you going?”
“Well, we were just deciding that,” Keitaro replied, scratching the back of his neck.
“Oh. Well, I’m going…” She gave him a quizzical look. “Where was I going?”
Keitaro goggled at her. Who was this girl, so unlike any other he’d ever met? Pretty as Naru, and as erratic and scatterbrained as Su.
She snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right. I was going home to Okinawa.”
At the mention of the tropical island, Naru’s sighed. “It must be so nice there at this time of year. I’ve always wanted to see it.”
If possible, the girl’s sunny countenance brightened even further. “Then you should come with me. You said you hadn’t decided where to go, right?”
Naru smiled. “That would be…”
“I’m sorry,” Motoko interrupted, “but I don’t see how we can just make a trip to Okinawa without making any accommodation plans.”
The girl waved this off. “I’m sure my mother can accommodate you. We’ve got lots of space.”
“You would do that?” Naru asked, almost tearing up. “Just take us in? You don’t even know us. We don’t even know your name.”
“Oh?” The girl scratched her head. “Didn’t I say?” Off the shake of their heads, she said, “My name is Mutsumi Otohime. Pleased to meet you.”
“Mutsumi.” Naru’s voice warbled as her lips quivered upward. “And you’d really take us in just like that?”
As Keitaro stared, astonished at Naru’s display of emotion, the girl nodded. “Of course I would.”
Naru suppressed a sob. “I didn’t know people like you still existed. Thank you, I’d love to go.”
Everything was moving too fast for Keitaro. Now they were going to Okinawa with a girl that they’d just met? They didn’t even know her name.
Motoko leaned in to whisper, “Urashima, a word.” Though Keitaro was reluctant to give Motoko anything – words included – the two of them sidled away from the two girls, blissfully talking unawares, and affected to be examining some travel brochures. “We can’t just accept a stranger’s invitation like this. What do we know about this girl?”
“I know. I don’t much like it either,” Keitaro replied, “but we’d save a lot of money if we stayed with someone rather than a hotel. And look at Naru. You can’t tell me that this isn’t an improvement.”
Motoko looked past Keitaro, towards her friend. Naru’s condition as she talked with Mutsumi, wearing one of the first ghosts of a smile she’d shown all day, was incomparable to the emotional wreckage of last night.
“Besides,” Keitaro said, bringing her back to the present, “You’ve got that, haven’t you?” He pointed to her bokken. “We’ve all seen how you handle yourself,” he said, unable to contain a derisive note. Before she could react, he stepped out of reach and rejoined the others.
Naru had disengaged from Mutsumi long enough to plan the trip with Keitaro, and they had agreed to take the train from Kyoto to Osaka and to take the ferry from there. It was the quickest way to get to Okinawa beside the cost-prohibitive visit to Japan Air. Strangely, Mutsumi had been almost no help in this area. Despite Okinawa being her home, she seemed to have an impenetrable ignorance about where it was. When asked the first time how she intended to travel, she had launched into a convoluted, zig zagging series of train rides, which Naru – once she’d managed to shake off her confusion – realised would land them on the northernmost point in Hokkaido! So, Naru and he decided to plot the course themselves; with occasional contributions from Mutsumi which would send them off course to Sendai or Nagano or Nara.
Keitaro spent the train ride to Osaka staring out the window watching the scenery fly by. He didn’t feel like talking, and was grateful that Mutsumi and Naru seemed more interested in each other than him right then. Motoko made a point of looking wherever he wasn’t. He rolled his eyes. If she wanted to sulk, fine. Every time he began to think that he might be being unfair, he saw Sachiko’s tears and Satomi’s confused face and decided fuck fair. Motoko didn’t know the meaning of the word. He didn’t know what bothered him more, the idea of Motoko cutting off her family or the fact that she had never – so far as he could make out – told anyone at Hinata about even having a family. What kind of friend did that?
He wanted to ask Naru what she thought, but the girl was too enamoured of her new friend. It was amazing the therapeutic effect that this Mutsumi had on Naru. Already, Naru seemed to be forgetting her troubles, if only for a moment. He almost fooled himself into believing that she was completely on the mend until he got up to go to the bathroom and met her in the hallway, returning herself from the women’s room. He started to greet her until he saw the paleness of her cheeks and minute tremors of her hands as she passed him without a word. It would take more than polite conversation to put Naru Narusegawa back on her feet. Not that he blamed her. He could scarce imagine something as terrible as what Motoko had told him.
When Keitaro had been eight, he remembered, his parents had taken him on a road trip to the mountains. He’d pressed his nose to the glass to watch the evergreens as they flew down the highway. Practically bouncing in his seat, he’d craned his head one way and the next as if determined to record as much of the journey into memory as possible. Then he’d looked ahead to see a thrush swoop across the highway and collide with the window of the car ahead of them. His heart had leapt to his throat as he watched the bird bounce off the glass in a sickening flip and crash into the pavement.
“Oh dear,” he’d heard his mother say. “Do you think it’s all right?”
“Yeah,” Keitaro had said, leaning forward to look at his father. “It’s all right isn’t it?”
Keitaro’s father hadn’t said anything, but gave his son a quick glance before turning his eyes to the road. Keitaro had shrunk back into his seat with a whimper. Even at eight, he understood the meaning of silence.
It must have been like that for Naru, he thought. To be at the top of your happiness one minute only to be reminded that tragedy waits around the corner and comes for us when we least expect. He knew it well. So did Sachiko. And if he hadn’t been so angry with her, he might have realised Motoko knew it too.
“Keitaro?”
He looked up to find them all gone, save for Naru who looked down at him with the same sad smile.
“What is it?”
“We’ve arrived. We’d better hurry if we’re going to make the ferry.”
A weariness borne of long hours sitting down washed over him as he struggled to his feet. He shook himself.
“You okay?” Naru asked.
“I’ll be fine. I could just use a coffee I guess. Lead on,” he told her, gesturing down the aisle.
- 11
- 12
- 13
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May/December