Love Hina

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Love Hina. Love Hina and all related characters, names, etc. are ©1999-2004 Ken Akamatsu/Mixx Entertainment Inc. Love Hina is a trademark of TOKYOPOP®. All rights reserved.

Chapter 5

When Keitaro and Haruka entered the lobby, they took off their shoes. Keitaro noticed four other pairs of shoes that were already laid out. As he looked around, he noticed that the inn had not changed, since when he stayed. If Haruka had not told him that it was a girls dorm, he would have mistaken it for an inn. It would have been quite a disaster, for he knew he would have just walked on in.

Haruka led him to the couches and motioned for him to sit. "I'll go get the girls. Stay here and relax." She knew he was still nervous. It was written all over his face. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, they're nice girls once you get to know them." He seemed to calm down at her words. He gave her a reassuring nod.

As Haruka disappeared into the kitchen, Keitaro was stuck in his thoughts. What will they think of me? There's no way they'll accept me as manager. He sighed and shook the thoughts away. Maybe Haruka's right. I'm just worrying too much. He prepared himself to meet the tenants. He felt more confident. He was still nervous, but to a lesser extent.

As he was waited, he was alarmed, when he heard a voice approaching. "Hey Kitsune, are you ready yet?" He turned his head to the direction of said voice. It was a girl, a bit younger than him. She had long, reddish brown hair, with two antennae-like strands sticking out from the middle of her head. She was absolutely stunning. He blushed, as he noticed that she was only wearing a towel over her body.

When she took notice of him, her eyes widened. At first she looked surprised, then she was angry. "What are you doing here?!" She asked, but he gave no response. Instead, he looked down. At that moment, she remembered her state of dress. She blushed, as a thought came to mind. He looked at my body! Pervert! She ran down the stairs. He got up and bowed to apologize. "I-I'm sorry!" He apologized. When he bowed, he felt something soft. His eyes widened, as he drew back. "I-I-I'm s..." Before he could finish his apology, he felt a sharp pain, as he was sent flying. "Pervert!" she yelled. She walked to him and glared at him. "Get out you pervert!"

As he slowly looked up, he noticed the eyes that were staring daggers at him. He was afraid...no, he was petrified. That punch really hurt, and this girl was something else. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" came his automatic reply. Before she could say anything, a voice surprised both of them. "What the hell is going on here?!" The irritated voiced belonged to no other person, except one Haruka Urashima.

Haruka's POV

As Haruka entered the kitchen, her mind wandered to her nephew. I hope I'm right about this. Those girls will probably not accept him as manager. They'd probably do everything they can to throw him out. If that happens...She shook her head. She was not going to allow that to happen to him. She cared for him. They were family. She then thought about her earlier proposal to him. If they did not allow him to stay, then she'd take care of him. She didn't want him to go away again; not while he was still within her reach. She would miss him greatly.

She was so lost in her thoughts, she did not notice her name being called. "Haruka-san? Haruka-san!" The voice came from a young girl. She had short, blue hair. She wore an apron, a sign that she had been cooking. She waved her hand in front of her housemother, but to no avail.

As she was doing this, another girl was walking that way, carrying a basket of laundry and humming gleefully to herself. She was a little older than the bluenette. She had tan skin and light-yellow hair, that was tied into a ponytail. She stopped when she saw the young cook and the housemother. "Hiya Shinobu! Watcha doin?" Shinobu looked at the foreigner with a worried expression. "Something's wrong with Haruka-san, Su. Could you please help me?" Su put down the laundry basket and quickly saluted. "Yes sir!" Shinobu sweatdropped at her. Su jumped onto Haruka. "House Mama! Will you play with me? Su wants to play!"

Haruka snapped out of thoughts, after hearing Su's voice. When she came to, she felt a familiar body on her back. "Hiya House Mama! Will you play with me now?" She shook her head and smiled a little. "Not right now, Su. I will need your help with something, though." Su smiled widely. "Yay! Su will help! She jumped off of her.

Haruka noticed Shinobu for the first time. The young girl had a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay, Haruka-san? You came to the kitchen and didn't move for awhile." Haruka nodded. "I'm alright, I was just lost in thought." Shinobu sighed in relief. "Haruka-san, did you need help with something?" Haruka nodded at the young chef. "As a matter of fact, I do. We have a guest, today. I would like all of you to greet him." Shinobu's eyes widened. Ever since she lived at the Hinata, there were never any visitors. "W-Who is the visitor?" she asked. "You will find out, when you meet him, okay?" Haruka gave her a reassuring smile. She knew that Shinobu, like her nephew, was shy when meeting new people. "O-Okay." she replied with a smile. "I need to make sure things are okay here, first." Shinobu checked the stove, making sure that the heat was set to low. She then proceeded to check on the rest of the food.

Haruka nodded, then turned to Su. "Su, will you please go get Motoko? Tell her I need help with something." Su picked up the laundry basket and saluted. "Yes ma'am, House Mama!" She sped away to her task. Haruka blinked. Where does she get that energy? "I-I'm ready, Haruka-san." Shinobu said, from behind her. Haruka turned to her. "Let's wait on Su and Motoko to get here." Shinobu nodded. There was a loud thump, as the wall shook. "W-What was that?" Shinobu asked, terrified. Haruka had a feeling that she knew. She ran to the lobby, with Shinobu following behind. When they both reached the lobby, the were surprised at what they saw. The brown-haired girl was looming over the young man. Behind him, there was a small crater on the wall...a sign of his impact. Haruka was angry, no, she was furious. Keitaro was hurt. "What the hell's going on here?!" she yelled, getting attention of the two teens.

End POV

The brown-haired girl turned to see one angry Haruka and a frightened Shinobu. She was surprised that Hauka was here. "Housemother, I caught this pervert snooping around! He was probably waiting to to peep on us!" Haruka dropped her poker face and glared at the girl. "Naru...what did he do that was perverted?" Naru was half angry, but also half terrified. She had rarely seen Haruka get angry before. She knew the consequences though. Shinobu stayed quiet, not wanting to get in the way...especially when Haruka was angry.

She felt like prey, under Haruka's gaze. "H-He was looking at me, when I came downstairs!" Haruka's gaze was unwavering. "That doesn't explain what he did that was perverted." Naru pointed a finger at him. "He touched my breasts!" She blushed a little, as she yelled. Naru was about to retort, but her resolve fell, when her eyes met Haruka's. "Naru, did he continue to touch your breasts?" Naru looked down, avoiding the older woman's glare. "He pulled back quickly." Her head suddenly lifted, her resolve returned. "But that doesn't excuse him for doing it!"

Haruka just shook her head. She could not believe what she was hearing. She knew Naru had issues, but she didn't know it was this bad. She turned to her nephew. "Keitaro, is what she said true?" She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from him, anyway. Keitaro was stunned, yet again. He had never seen Haruka angry like this. When she asked him the question, he snapped out of it and answered.

He looked down. "I-I was waiting for you to return. I heard a voice coming from upstairs. When I looked up. I saw her come down. When I saw her, I noticed she was only wearing a towel...so I looked away." Naru smirked, thinking that she was right. "When she came downstairs, I got up and tried to apologize. When I did, I didn't know she was that close to me. It was my fault! I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Haruka nodded and her anger dissipated a little. She went to her nephew and offered him a hand, which he accepted gratefully. "I know Keitaro, it's not your fault. It was just a misunderstanding, however..." She turned turned to Naru. "Naru, you should not make snap judgments like that. You can't just go around hitting people, just because you think they're perverts. I know Keitaro. He's anything but perverted. Besides, I won't let you hurt my nephew."

Naru was about to argue, but was interrupted. "I'm sorry. Naru-san. I should have been more careful." He bowed sincerely. This surprised her. She sighed...her anger slightly deflated. She knew it was pointless to argue further. "It's okay." Haruka gave her another look. "Don't you have something to say too, Naru?" Naru mumbled something. "I'm sorry Naru, please speak up." She sighed. She was never good with apologies. "I'm sorry." Keitaro rubbed the back of his head and smiled at her. "It's okay." When she saw this, she blushed a little, as she felt an unusual warmth from within her. Haruka took notice of this, and an unfamiliar feeling came over her. Naru blinked a few times, as she was trying to process what Haruka just said. "D-Did you say he was your n-nephew?!" Haruka sighed. "Get dressed, Naru. It's a long story."