Note: I do not own Love Hina, or any other intellectual properties. They are all copyrights of their respectful owners. The rest, however, is MINE, BEE-YOTCHES!
GYRAX Presents…
Awe of She
Chapter 13: Cram Session
"We're finally back home!" Naru shouts with unbridled enthusiasm. She and the rest of the crew are finally back at their oh-so-beloved apartment complex. They both march to the lobby, so glad to be home.
"The trip to Kyoto was fun," Keitaro replies. "But it's just good to be home again." Everything about the Hinata Sou at this moment is a pleasure to the manager's senses. He feels refreshed as even the funny odor from the hardwood floor smells welcoming to him. He feels like taking a nap on the couch in the lobby right now, but he knows there's some unpacking and a little work to do first.
Naru gorws a concerned face all of a sudden, which makes Keitaro wonder. He directs himself towards her to see what the problem is, as is natural. "Something wrong, Naru?"
"Looks like she's regretting the decision she made a few hours ago." Kitsune remarks.
"Actually," Naru replies. "I was thinking about how sad Maehara-san was when she found out we were going to leave."
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"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME, SHINOBU! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITHOUT YOU HERE!" Aethra holds Shinobu's ankles, practically begging for her to stay, all the while kicking her feet and throwing a temper tantrum like a five-year-old. "PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE! I NEED YOU GUYS HERE!"
"Don't worry, Mommy Dearest." Ayumi says assuringly. "I'll keep a good eye on them."
"BUT I WANT THEM HEEEEEEEEEEERE!"
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"She'll get over it." Keitaro replies calmly, but deep inside he is trying too hard to push that memory out of his head.
Naru sighs. "After we unpack, we go straight to studying for the exams, got it?" She looks back at Shinobu, who is standing behind her. "And that goes for you too, Shinobu. In fact, we have extra work tutoring you. We'll have to get you up to speed if you ever expect to fulfill that promise with Keitaro." She does not regret saying that. She does not want to.
Shinobu is caught a little bit off guard by that statement, but a second later, she feels good after hearing that. She seems to be glad that Naru is acting so encouraging towards their goal. A smile crosses her face. "Of course, Naru-sempai. I intend on seeing this through to the end."
"Then let's get unpacking. We're studying in my room." She looks at Keitaro for a second. "And don't you try anything stupid on me."
Keitaro could just nod his head.
"I'm a sucker for sappy stuff." Ayumi remarks, as she leans over towards Kitsune, who is standing at her left.
"You're not alone." Kitsune pulls out a hankerchief.
(O)
"Let's start off with this problem over here." Naru points one of the various books scattered across the floor.
"Oh God," Keitaro sighs, obviously not having a good time here. "Why did we have to do Math first?"
"To get it overwith." Naru replies. "I know you hat Math, so we need to get that one done first, so you don't have to deal with it later. It's better for you."
"Whatever." Keitaro sighs again, not liking Naru's logic, though he hates to admit that she could be right.
"First off," Naru continues. "We'll review simple equations."
"Are you trying to mock me?"
"I just want to help."
"Well, you're not helping!"
"Don't be ungrateful! I'm doing this for your own good. It's called 'Tough Love'."
"Sempai, could you help me with this problem?" Shinobu hangs over Keitaro's shoulder, drawing a centimeter closer every second.
"Umm, sure. Point it to me." Keitaro starts to feel uncomfortable about how close she is to him. He start to sweat bullets like a glandular shotgun.
"Right here." Shinobu points to her specified problem, but at the same time, she has her left arm wrapped around him, and she's practically breathing down his neck. Poor Keitaro is practically feeling a steam engine blowing on him. You can say he is really feeling the heat.
And needless to say, Naru is not liking it. "Will you give him some personal space, please?"
"Sorry, Naru-sempai." Shinobu quickly backs off from Keitaro, complying with Naru's order. Proximity is no longer an issue for the ronin, at least for now. Keitaro goes back to studying, but he remembers that he has to help Shinobu with a problem, so he turns his head towards her for a second.
"Alright Shinobu. You wanted me to help you with this problem, right?"
"Sure." The bluenette looks over his shoulders again. She forgets that she is breathing on his neck again. The poor ronin feels the steam engine's full blast again.
"Shinobu. You're touching me again."
"Cut it out, Shinobu!"
"Sorry, Naru-sempai." The bluenette backs away again. Naru feels that it is up to her to take this little problem under control, so she calls to her.
"Shinobu, can you come here, I'll help you."
"Okay." Shinobu approaches Naru, giving Keitaro some breathing space again. Once the bluenette is looking over her shoulders, Naru turns her head towards her.
"What's the problem?"
"I'ts over there." Shinobu points to the same problem, but at the same time, she has her left arm wrapped around Naru, and she's breathing down the poor girl's neck. Naru's face turns blue with discontent, and deep inside she begins to freak. However, this is Shinobu, not Keitaro, so she has to maintain her composure.
"Shinobu, please stop that."
"Sorry Naru-sempai."
(O)
"What's her problem?" Kitsune could not help but stare. She is puzzled as to what Ayumi could be up to, as the good doctor just stands there in the lobby, staring directly at the front door without even blinking. The way she stands there irritates the hell out of Kitsune.
Motoko approaches her, wondering what on Earth has Kitsune's goat. Instead of asking her, the samurai takes a close look at Kitsune and figures out what direction she is staring at. She then looksa in the same direction and she too notices Ayumi, standing there like she died and someone was trying to play "Weekend at Bernies" with her lifeless body. What Motoko really asks herself is why Kitsune does not just go over to her and ask her what the deal is. She gets over it quickly and just saves fox-eyes the trouble by asking the good doctor herself.
"What's the problem?"
"I sense a disturbance in the force."
"Come to think of it, me too. It wouldn't just go away, so I was going to investigate it."
"Who do you think it is?"
"Don't ask."
"I already did."
"Never mind that. Should we just leave this one alone?"
"Hell no."
"Exactly waht I was thinking."
"Luckily, I have a magic defense system I bought from Ebay. I beat the highest bidder, but I had to use AuctionSniper to do it."
"That was my money you used, too!" Beardie protests from Ayumi's left shirt pocket.
"Hush up. At least now we have a use for it. I'm installing it on the roof."
"You sure it's necessary?" Motoko simply asked. "I could just fend them off with my Rock Splitting Sword."
"Nah," Ayumi replies casually. "They say we live in a lazy generation, so act like it." And with that, she leaves the household.
"She speaks my language." Kitsune mutters from the background.
(O)
"Why me?" Shinobu whines. Now, the poor girl is tied up to a chair; apparently, her little "close encounters" have Keitaro and Naru at wit's end, so they are forced to take extreme measures to ensure she does not do it again. At the same time, they feel so sorry for her. Surely, God above is enjoying his share of slapstick humor.
"It's for your own good, Naru answers. "You shouldn't be breathing down our necks like that. We're deeply sorry."
"Why did you tie me up, though?"
"Good way to kick a habit. Now Keitaro and I will be tutoring you while you're tied up-"
"But I can't move my arms."
"That's ok. Once we're done, you can use our notes."
"Sure that will help me? Can't you just help me out-"
"It'd be better if we taught you the ins and outs of the Tokyo U exams."
Naru stands in the background as Keitaro stands in front of her in the foreground. Both of them wearing business suits of sorts.
"The exams are split into different groups," Keitaro recites. "They're English, Math, Japanese History, Goegraphy, and Japanese Literature. These exams are taken at various times before the actual semester starts. Of course that is to determine who gets in and who doesn't. They ain't easy that's for sure. Naru standing behind me can tell you that. She was number one in the mock exams, but she flopped like a mudskipper."
"Hey!"
"And I failed for three years straight. So, there's no guarantee we may even make it this time around."
Keitaro pulls out a Walther P22 compact pistol. "And now, Naru will attempt to catch a bullet with her teeth."
"WHAT!"
Keitaro aims it at Naru's mouth. "Now remember what we practiced."
"WE PRACTICED NOTHING, DIPSH-"
BANG!
Naru now lies on the floor, petrified. All the while Keitaro scolds at her instead of checking to see if she is injured in any way, because chances are she could have been. This infuriates her.
"Naru," Keitaro syas. "That wasn't part of the act. Why'd you flinch?"
Naru just about had it, now.
"ASSWIPE!"
And off goes our favorite ronin, straight up through the roof and into the sky. His graceful flight among the clouds, however, is stopped short by a barrage of lasers. Blue, green, and violet beams of light fry him to a potato chip crisp.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Naru screams in shock.
"Did Su set up a security system?" Shinobu asks, still tied to her chair.
(O)
"Thanks, Keitaro!" Ayumi yells from the front porch. "You just saved me the trouble of looking for a guinea pig!"
"Are you sure that this is a necessary measure?" Beardie asks, still residing in her jacket pocket.
"We're on terror alert red, my friend. Extraordinary measures are to be taken to ensure the safety of this household. We don't want our dear step-sister to fall into the wrong hands, do we?"
"Of course not!"
"Then just trust me on this." The good doctor pushes up her glasses. "Now let's go to the market get a snack."
"God, you're hopeless." The lizard partner sighs in defeat. Sometimes, that woman can be such a moron.
(O)
"Are you ok, Sempai?" Shinobu asks, standing beside his smoking carcass. Oh no, she cannot let him die now. Of course, she is worried.
Something else gets Naru, however. "How'd you get out of those ropes, Shinobu?"
"Magic, Naru-sempai."
A long pause fills the air, with smoke still escaping Keitaro's ash-ridden body.
"You're supposed to be tied to a chair while we teach you the ins and outs of the Toudai exams!" She points to Keitaro. "But this fool had to pull off a Pen and Teller on me and he almost shot me dead!"
"Come one, Naru sempai! He's sorry, isn't he? Maybe i should tie myself back up to the chair you you two can continue."
"No need. I think we're done for the day. Now we have to wait for this ash pile to recover, the idiot." She looks at Keitaro. The ronin is still crispy, still burning.
Naru looks back up at the hole she made on the roof. "Still, where did those lasers come from?" She shrugs her shoulders, convinced instantly that it could have been Su, as always. She is not phased by it very much.
"Naru? Don't you think we should be helping Sempai? He could be seriously hurt here."
"Don't bother. He's used to it."
Keitaro lies there, just opening his eyes after hearing that remark. "Ouch."
(O)
"What was that I heard?" Su comesrunning downstairs and towards Kitsune and Motoko in the lobby. She picks up a few weird vibes for a second, but only for a second.
"That wasn't you?" Kitsune turns her head towards the foreign girl.
"Why no, it wasn't." Su has had a feeling that Kitsune would not believe her at first. Kitsune apparently has forgotten about something already.
"Kitsune, Ayumi already said that she set up a magic defense grid an hour ago." Motoko informs her, in a calm but slightly irritated tone.
"Crap, I forgot." Not the fox just feels stupid. She figures now that she could have a short-term memory. Really, how could she have forgotten that already?
"Magic defense grid?" Su repeats. She does not like the feeling of this; the fact that Ayumi has something like that installed gives her the impression that she could also be some kind of technical genius of sorts. If she is right, there may only be room for one technophile. This cannot be good for our foreign banana-eater.
Su turns towards the fox, showing a face of concern. Actually, it would be better to say pouty face. "Is Su going to be replaced?"
Kitsune puts on a shocked look on her face. "HELLZ NO!"
"Really?" A feeling of relief now overtakes Su's systems.
"Really. You're our one and only banana-eating techno-maniac! And if she tries to, I'll give her a good 'Sylvester Stallone' right in the kisser!" In sheer excitement, she sccidentally punches Su right in the face. The poor girl collapses, passing out almost instantly.
Now, the fox is really feeling dumb. "Whoops."
"Point well taken." Motoko remarks from the background. She walks out of the lobby, probably to the basement where she can train some more. She cannot do that on the roof because the defense grid would annihilate anything that moves. Ayumi should have tweaked it a bit more. Kitsune picks up Su and carries her off to her room, hoping no one will suspect her.
(O)
"You're saying I'm not welcome?" A lone woman says to herself, as she stands in front of the Hinata House. She sees the defense grid on the roof, and it looks like the magic turrets are aiming directly at her. The woman stands firm, not moving a single inch; she stares back at the gunnery good and hard, examining the very features of the automatic mounted weapons.
"Heat seekers, eh?" She did not even let out a smile. She just reaches in her purse and pulls out what looks like --- a watermelon? And it has a fuse on it?
"Sorry, darling, but at least you'll serve a very noble purpose." She lights the fuse on the fruit and throws it high into the air. The turrets pick up the heat from the fuse instantly and open fire, obliterating the watermelon instantaneously. The woman makes a break for it and quickly opens the door and runs into the house before the turrets get a chance to aim back at her.
(O)
"Ignore that." Naru says, knowing full well that is just the security grid doing its job. Shinobu, on the other hand, feels a little worried.
"What if those guys were visitors?" The bluenette asks. "We may have reduced them to smoldering skeletons!"
"We really need to talk to Ayumi about that defense system." Keitaro adds, also with a hint of uneasiness in his voice.
"All right." Naru replies, sighing in defeat. She can see where he is getting at. "I guess you might have a point there. The thing did fry Keitaro, so we can't take any chances. Let's go downstairs."
All three stand up and head out of Naru's room. They all walk downstairs, looking around to see if the good doctor is in the lobby. Their search is instantly cut short when they realize who's lying on the lobby, seemingly dead. They all freeze in pure shock.
"GOOD LORD! MUTSUMI!"
To be continued.
Tell me what you think. I know that this is not a spectacular chapter by any means.
See you next chapter. Watermelon Paradise
-GYRAX