DISCLAIMER: I do not own Love Hina or its characters.
Legend of Urashima Naru
"You need practice and I need sake. If you don't buy me more, I will let Naru know about this little sexual misadventure of yours," Kitsune said joyfully, expecting the third-year ronin to fold fast. But instead she looked to see a Keitaro with streams of tears rolling off his face.
"I can't believe what I did. Naru deserves to know what happened. I don't deserve her. She deserves better." Kitsune could barely tolerate the sound of that name anymore. Best friend or not, she could not stand how Keitaro mumbled Naru's name in his sleep. It all seemed so romantic, like a love story destined to have a happy ending, but it upset her to no end.
/But why do I want it to end poorly? Could I.... ?/ Kitsune swallowed her tongue at the idea. But she hide the look of sheer horror from Keitaro as he looked up. His eyes had grown red from crying.
"Ah, don't blame yourself, we had a lot of sake in both of us. Motoko and Tama-chan could have done the same thing with how much we had." The thought of Motoko and a turtle in this position sickened both of them and both struggled to find a different subject. "Besides, Naru, doesn't have to know. She doesn't even know you love her. How could she possibly find out about this?"
Both dressed now, Keitaro lifted himself up and smiled at Kitsune dreamily. "Sorry, if I didn't please you. I had never thought of all the people here, I would share my first with you."
/Me neither,/ Kitsune thought, embarrassed to make her former virginity public knowledge. The events of last night must have taken away a lot of details from his mind. But Kitsune had a higher alcohol tolerance and remembered almost every detail now. She didn't mean to sound condescending, he really did have a lot of potential. He just carries too much emotional luggage with him.... Even drunk and in the arms of another woman, he still remembered Naru and the promise. In an odd way, his undying dedication to Naru brought a soft smile to Kitsune's face.
"What have you done?" Naru asked as she peered down through the hole in Keitaro's ceiling, seeing him in the same bed as Kitsune. Keitaro prepared to answer her, ready to tell her the whole truth and beg for forgiveness, when Kitsune put a clamp over Keitaro's mouth.
"Nothing happened, Naru-chan. And, if anything did happened, why would you care what I did with some perverted ronin?" Kitsune's words cut through Naru's anger as she jumped to the floor and gave her nineteen-year-old best friend a death glare.
"I just don't want this pervert to take advantage of you," Naru replied, looking over at Keitaro, her angry edge gone from her eyes. "But if you say nothing happened, I will believe my best friend."
Naru sprung through the hole and disappeared. Keitaro, barely able to speak, formed a question. "W-w-why d-did y-you d-do t-that?" he demanded choking out the words.
"She doesn't have to know."
"Okay... name your price." Keitaro scrambled for his wallet.
"No price, just don't tell Naru and the next time I need a favor, help me out, okay?"
"I would do that anyways."
"I know you would. Like I said, no price."
[Three Days Later]
"Keitaro, I want to call in my favor," Kitsune asked frantically barging into Keitaro's room without knocking first. Among books and poor sleep, she did not expect him to jump from his chair the way he did. The incident from earlier that week left him a bit rattled apparently.
"I know your favor," Keitaro assured Kitsune. "I will not tell anyone. Not to insult you or anything, I could never have known. I mean, you must had to beat them off with a stick, what with your beauty and personality." Keitaro stuttered all this while ducking for cover. Confused by his words, the realization of the meaning dawned on her. The days had surrendered new memories to him and the incredible pain he put Kitsune through when he took her virginity must have surfaced in his mind early on. But she could care less who knew now. Kitsune had other troubles on her mind. The hidden compliment about her beauty and personality did make this a lot easier for her to say.
"I need your honest opinion." Kitsune took a deep breath. Now or never. "What if you had a friend who loved someone who appeared to already have feelings for someone else? What if this friend had gone through this before and did not want to hurt her friend by admitting her feelings to this special someone?"
Urashima Keitaro scratched his head. "I could not quite follow all that. But it seems like the first friend should let that special someone decide who he wants. The first friend should just tell him.... But don't take my word on it, I haven't had a girlfriend in twenty years."
Except for his prerequisite low self-esteem, Keitaro had given a quality answer. /But, will I act on this advice or just tell him that "my friend" would enjoy this?/ Kitsune decided on an intermediate answer. "You give great advice. My friend and I appreciate it." Kitsune liked the thought that Keitaro saw her as this unquestioned sexual goddess, but Kitsune had a reputation as a slut before she ever did anything with it. And a reputation like that kept all the men she liked away from her, all of them, except Keitaro.
****
As Kitsune left the room, Keitaro froze up, snapping the pencil in his hand in two. "What the heck? Kitsune, please don't go!" Keitaro planned to chase down Kitsune and correct his advice. /How could I have fallen for the old "my friend has a problem" routine./ Keitaro wondered as he ran to Kitsune. /Because you have idiot written all over you,/ an angry voice in the back of his head replied smugly.
But would he have changed his advice if he had known the truth? This got Keitaro thinking and stopped him dead in his tracks. He really did feel something for both Naru and Kitsune. Mostly given to Kitsune's handy interpretation of "raging hormones," Keitaro felt comfortable knowing that he could root his feelings for Kitsune in sheer biological attraction. But what if it went deeper than that? Would he pick Kitsune over Naru? Apparently, several painful memories of orbiting the earth on an uppercut from Naru cast "yes" votes in his mind.
Perhaps, he should take a Kitsune policy to life. "If it hurts none, do what you want." This strange turn of events really hurt no one if Naru had no feelings for him, like she always said. But, it would kill Kitsune if he did not make his feelings for her plain because he knew, underneath it all, Kitsune had a fragile heart. Plus, Kitsune lived a simple life that Keitaro quietly envied. No pressures to fight, no promises to keep. Granted, she might not make a great wife, he would admit, but perhaps he could try his best to make a good husband out of himself. Stopping in the middle of his internal monologue, he understood that these thoughts had entered his mind only recently as he remembered the events of that fateful night. Whether Kitsune remembered or not, the condoms they wore during their indiscretion had torn and he might have made her pregnant.
/Me? Making someone pregnant? You have the wrong boy, right?/ Keitaro laughed to himself as he contemplated the thought. /But, I need to live out the consequences of my actions and figure out exactly how I feel about Kitsune and fast./ Plus, the presence of the condoms made him wondered if Kitsune had planned this from the beginning. She did have a higher alcohol tolerance than he did.
[One Months Later]
"You did what?" Her hardest punch barely moved him this time. Keitaro would not go anywhere. He had made a serious mistake and Naru needed to know everything, having realized Kitsune's growing belly and morning sickness.
"I think I love her and will not let her raise the child on her own."
"How could you?" Naru asked, breaking her hand on an ill-formed punch as she fell to her knees.
/Narusegawa rarely acted this way,/ Keitaro told himself as she shuttered. If he hadn't seen it with his own two eyes, he would not have believed that a tear had rolled down from Naru's left eye.
"Narusegawa, you said a lot of nasty things about me in your day." Keitaro paused to catch his breath and looked Naru in the eye. "You told me once that I never acted like a man, never took responsibility for my actions. Well, I want to do the right thing for Kitsune and take responsibility for my actions."
Sobbing, Naru replied. "You could have done the right thing by never sleeping with her."
That made Keitaro seriously pondered what they could have had together, but he resolved to close off that part of his mind once and for all. He had a child on his conscience and needed to affirm his feelings for Kitsune.
"How could you?" a voice shouted as Motoko broke down the door and raised her sword to slice him in half.
Keitaro caught the sword for the second time in his life, calmly saying, "If you kill me, a child will never know her father." Keitaro marched away from Motoko and Naru as the two girls exchanged confused looks.
****
"How could you, sempai?" Shinobu cried as Keitaro told her the truth. Urashima could not let her find out in the hospital eight months from now, so he told her the basics.
/I made Kitsune pregnant,/ he remembered saying. He wanted her scorn, but it never came. Instead, Shinobu looked up at her sempai.
"Promise me something," Shinobu choked out between sobs. "Take care of your family, so it does not end up like mine did."
"I promise," Keitaro said as he departed from the kitchen.
****
"You will not name the child that."
"I thought you had a friendship with Naru, I just want the name to live on in this child."
"Do you love me?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Keitaro, you know what I said."
Keitaro sighed deeply, as if searching for an answer deep inside himself. "I do love you," Keitaro discovered. "I just don't know how that makes a difference right now."
"It makes all the difference...." The hand of Kitsune held onto Keitaro's, "....because I love you."
Their lips met as everyone in Hinata-sou watched from a secret tunnel. "A grandfather's sister at such a young age, I feel so old."
"What about me, Haruka-san? My best friend just stole the love of my life away from me." Everyone in the tunnel turned to looked at Naru upon that revelation. Naru smiled nervously and fell into a somber tone. "What can I say? Too little, too late."
Too late, indeed. Six months later, the residents of Hinata-sou held a small civil ceremony in front of the Hinata-sou for Konno "Kitsune" Mitsune and Urashima Keitaro. One month after that, Urashima Mitsune gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The birth certificate read [Urashima Naru].
---
Legend of Urashima Naru
"You need practice and I need sake. If you don't buy me more, I will let Naru know about this little sexual misadventure of yours," Kitsune said joyfully, expecting the third-year ronin to fold fast. But instead she looked to see a Keitaro with streams of tears rolling off his face.
"I can't believe what I did. Naru deserves to know what happened. I don't deserve her. She deserves better." Kitsune could barely tolerate the sound of that name anymore. Best friend or not, she could not stand how Keitaro mumbled Naru's name in his sleep. It all seemed so romantic, like a love story destined to have a happy ending, but it upset her to no end.
/But why do I want it to end poorly? Could I.... ?/ Kitsune swallowed her tongue at the idea. But she hide the look of sheer horror from Keitaro as he looked up. His eyes had grown red from crying.
"Ah, don't blame yourself, we had a lot of sake in both of us. Motoko and Tama-chan could have done the same thing with how much we had." The thought of Motoko and a turtle in this position sickened both of them and both struggled to find a different subject. "Besides, Naru, doesn't have to know. She doesn't even know you love her. How could she possibly find out about this?"
Both dressed now, Keitaro lifted himself up and smiled at Kitsune dreamily. "Sorry, if I didn't please you. I had never thought of all the people here, I would share my first with you."
/Me neither,/ Kitsune thought, embarrassed to make her former virginity public knowledge. The events of last night must have taken away a lot of details from his mind. But Kitsune had a higher alcohol tolerance and remembered almost every detail now. She didn't mean to sound condescending, he really did have a lot of potential. He just carries too much emotional luggage with him.... Even drunk and in the arms of another woman, he still remembered Naru and the promise. In an odd way, his undying dedication to Naru brought a soft smile to Kitsune's face.
"What have you done?" Naru asked as she peered down through the hole in Keitaro's ceiling, seeing him in the same bed as Kitsune. Keitaro prepared to answer her, ready to tell her the whole truth and beg for forgiveness, when Kitsune put a clamp over Keitaro's mouth.
"Nothing happened, Naru-chan. And, if anything did happened, why would you care what I did with some perverted ronin?" Kitsune's words cut through Naru's anger as she jumped to the floor and gave her nineteen-year-old best friend a death glare.
"I just don't want this pervert to take advantage of you," Naru replied, looking over at Keitaro, her angry edge gone from her eyes. "But if you say nothing happened, I will believe my best friend."
Naru sprung through the hole and disappeared. Keitaro, barely able to speak, formed a question. "W-w-why d-did y-you d-do t-that?" he demanded choking out the words.
"She doesn't have to know."
"Okay... name your price." Keitaro scrambled for his wallet.
"No price, just don't tell Naru and the next time I need a favor, help me out, okay?"
"I would do that anyways."
"I know you would. Like I said, no price."
[Three Days Later]
"Keitaro, I want to call in my favor," Kitsune asked frantically barging into Keitaro's room without knocking first. Among books and poor sleep, she did not expect him to jump from his chair the way he did. The incident from earlier that week left him a bit rattled apparently.
"I know your favor," Keitaro assured Kitsune. "I will not tell anyone. Not to insult you or anything, I could never have known. I mean, you must had to beat them off with a stick, what with your beauty and personality." Keitaro stuttered all this while ducking for cover. Confused by his words, the realization of the meaning dawned on her. The days had surrendered new memories to him and the incredible pain he put Kitsune through when he took her virginity must have surfaced in his mind early on. But she could care less who knew now. Kitsune had other troubles on her mind. The hidden compliment about her beauty and personality did make this a lot easier for her to say.
"I need your honest opinion." Kitsune took a deep breath. Now or never. "What if you had a friend who loved someone who appeared to already have feelings for someone else? What if this friend had gone through this before and did not want to hurt her friend by admitting her feelings to this special someone?"
Urashima Keitaro scratched his head. "I could not quite follow all that. But it seems like the first friend should let that special someone decide who he wants. The first friend should just tell him.... But don't take my word on it, I haven't had a girlfriend in twenty years."
Except for his prerequisite low self-esteem, Keitaro had given a quality answer. /But, will I act on this advice or just tell him that "my friend" would enjoy this?/ Kitsune decided on an intermediate answer. "You give great advice. My friend and I appreciate it." Kitsune liked the thought that Keitaro saw her as this unquestioned sexual goddess, but Kitsune had a reputation as a slut before she ever did anything with it. And a reputation like that kept all the men she liked away from her, all of them, except Keitaro.
****
As Kitsune left the room, Keitaro froze up, snapping the pencil in his hand in two. "What the heck? Kitsune, please don't go!" Keitaro planned to chase down Kitsune and correct his advice. /How could I have fallen for the old "my friend has a problem" routine./ Keitaro wondered as he ran to Kitsune. /Because you have idiot written all over you,/ an angry voice in the back of his head replied smugly.
But would he have changed his advice if he had known the truth? This got Keitaro thinking and stopped him dead in his tracks. He really did feel something for both Naru and Kitsune. Mostly given to Kitsune's handy interpretation of "raging hormones," Keitaro felt comfortable knowing that he could root his feelings for Kitsune in sheer biological attraction. But what if it went deeper than that? Would he pick Kitsune over Naru? Apparently, several painful memories of orbiting the earth on an uppercut from Naru cast "yes" votes in his mind.
Perhaps, he should take a Kitsune policy to life. "If it hurts none, do what you want." This strange turn of events really hurt no one if Naru had no feelings for him, like she always said. But, it would kill Kitsune if he did not make his feelings for her plain because he knew, underneath it all, Kitsune had a fragile heart. Plus, Kitsune lived a simple life that Keitaro quietly envied. No pressures to fight, no promises to keep. Granted, she might not make a great wife, he would admit, but perhaps he could try his best to make a good husband out of himself. Stopping in the middle of his internal monologue, he understood that these thoughts had entered his mind only recently as he remembered the events of that fateful night. Whether Kitsune remembered or not, the condoms they wore during their indiscretion had torn and he might have made her pregnant.
/Me? Making someone pregnant? You have the wrong boy, right?/ Keitaro laughed to himself as he contemplated the thought. /But, I need to live out the consequences of my actions and figure out exactly how I feel about Kitsune and fast./ Plus, the presence of the condoms made him wondered if Kitsune had planned this from the beginning. She did have a higher alcohol tolerance than he did.
[One Months Later]
"You did what?" Her hardest punch barely moved him this time. Keitaro would not go anywhere. He had made a serious mistake and Naru needed to know everything, having realized Kitsune's growing belly and morning sickness.
"I think I love her and will not let her raise the child on her own."
"How could you?" Naru asked, breaking her hand on an ill-formed punch as she fell to her knees.
/Narusegawa rarely acted this way,/ Keitaro told himself as she shuttered. If he hadn't seen it with his own two eyes, he would not have believed that a tear had rolled down from Naru's left eye.
"Narusegawa, you said a lot of nasty things about me in your day." Keitaro paused to catch his breath and looked Naru in the eye. "You told me once that I never acted like a man, never took responsibility for my actions. Well, I want to do the right thing for Kitsune and take responsibility for my actions."
Sobbing, Naru replied. "You could have done the right thing by never sleeping with her."
That made Keitaro seriously pondered what they could have had together, but he resolved to close off that part of his mind once and for all. He had a child on his conscience and needed to affirm his feelings for Kitsune.
"How could you?" a voice shouted as Motoko broke down the door and raised her sword to slice him in half.
Keitaro caught the sword for the second time in his life, calmly saying, "If you kill me, a child will never know her father." Keitaro marched away from Motoko and Naru as the two girls exchanged confused looks.
****
"How could you, sempai?" Shinobu cried as Keitaro told her the truth. Urashima could not let her find out in the hospital eight months from now, so he told her the basics.
/I made Kitsune pregnant,/ he remembered saying. He wanted her scorn, but it never came. Instead, Shinobu looked up at her sempai.
"Promise me something," Shinobu choked out between sobs. "Take care of your family, so it does not end up like mine did."
"I promise," Keitaro said as he departed from the kitchen.
****
"You will not name the child that."
"I thought you had a friendship with Naru, I just want the name to live on in this child."
"Do you love me?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Keitaro, you know what I said."
Keitaro sighed deeply, as if searching for an answer deep inside himself. "I do love you," Keitaro discovered. "I just don't know how that makes a difference right now."
"It makes all the difference...." The hand of Kitsune held onto Keitaro's, "....because I love you."
Their lips met as everyone in Hinata-sou watched from a secret tunnel. "A grandfather's sister at such a young age, I feel so old."
"What about me, Haruka-san? My best friend just stole the love of my life away from me." Everyone in the tunnel turned to looked at Naru upon that revelation. Naru smiled nervously and fell into a somber tone. "What can I say? Too little, too late."
Too late, indeed. Six months later, the residents of Hinata-sou held a small civil ceremony in front of the Hinata-sou for Konno "Kitsune" Mitsune and Urashima Keitaro. One month after that, Urashima Mitsune gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The birth certificate read [Urashima Naru].
---