Love Hina Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades Chapter 05 ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

*From the top of a mountain*
Love Hina, Ranma ½ and their characters belong to Akamatsu Ken and Takahashi Rumiko respectively! I'm not making any money out of this, and do this for fun! Please enjoy...
*Howling winds*

Twine Hearts and Blades

Summer break had finally started, and as usual, every teenager was outside enjoying what would become yet another memorable season full of love, excitement, and discovery. Hinata Onsen was still following routine, having many people in the local cafés and ice cream shops. Near a certain locale on Kobayashi Drive, two women sat on a bench, trying to look inconspicuous to the walking couples and children on the street. One was reading a newspaper, which conveniently had two holes where the person's eyes would be, looking back and forth between the crowds and the café. The other one was holding a book, yet her camouflage was the baseball cap that hid her hair and the pair of thick glasses she was using.

"Ne, Kitsune...what time is it?" The girl in question put down her newspaper and looked into her watch. "It's gonna be 12:30 pretty soon...they're both late..."

Naru closed her book and looked up at the sun. "I'm hungry...do you think it's a good idea to follow them? I mean, Motoko-chan can take care of herself, right?"

Mitsune opened her eyes and stared at some high school kids that were at the tables laughing. "I wouldn't be so sure. Some boys can be very forceful..." her eyes closed again, becoming the all-seeing slits that she was known for, "Besides! It'll be fun watching Motoko on her first date...they grow up so fast!" Naru sweat-dropped and picked up her book again, trying to forget the hunger she felt, which was nearly impossible due to their closeness to the café.

Chapter Five: Outing day is a very dangerous day...

The morning had not gone as planned for Aoyama Motoko. Breakfast had been a little hasty because she woke up late, a first for the kendo girl. Things got worse when Naru-sempai and Kitsune decided to help her get ready for this outing, a task that was incredibly difficult to conceal since Urashima and Shinobu were still around. The real kicker came when Kitsune decreed that the dress Motoko had planned to use was not really appropriate for the type of weather, and produced a blue summer dress to replace it. The younger girl paled when she saw the garment, since it obviously showed more skin around the shoulders and the bottom hem of the dress was noticeably higher.

Thus here she was, in the middle of Tokyo, looking for the restaurant where her ordeal would begin. Glancing at the watch she borrowed from Naru-senpai, she was beginning to lose hope since the time was 12:45. 'I have fifteen minutes...where is that restaurant?'

"Excuse me, miss?" a voice suddenly called out.

The owner of the voice appeared to be a policewoman with short brown hair. "You seem lost. Is this your first time in the city?" When the girl nodded, the officer perked up. "Well, I can tell you need to get somewhere by the look on your face. Gonna meet a boyfriend in the city?"

As Motoko gasped and blushed, another voice was heard. "Natsumi! I thought you were going to get us lunch so that we can continue with our patrol."

Natsumi sweat-dropped as she turned to her partner. "Its not that, Miyuki! I was just...um...helping a citizen in need! Right, miss?" She once again faced Motoko, changing the expression on her face from one of confidence to a pleading look, begging the younger girl to play along.

"Y-yes...I-I'm meeting someone at the Ni-Juubashi Restaurant..."

"See? She's gonna meet her boyfriend at the Ni-Juubashi!" She ignored the fact Motoko's face was as red as it could ever hope to get, and went on. "Now, miss, from where we're at, you can walk down two blocks down there, and make a right. The Ni-Juubashi should be on your left." She then turned heel and walked to the patrol car, her partner frowning at her.

"You know, you just embarrassed that poor girl. Though what surprises me is how you know where that restaurant is."

Natsumi grinned at Miyuki's comment. "Well, Yoriko told me about that place...and how you usually go there with 'Ken-chan' when we're off-duty..." Miyuki blushed at what her partner was suggesting and silently cursed Yoriko's big mouth.

Kuno Tatewaki, in his usual manner, looked indifferently at the crowds as he headed to the appointed meeting place. The thought of picking up Motoko in the limousine had crossed his mind, but he somehow felt that she wouldn't take that gesture very well. Despite the fact he was looking forward to today, he didn't know what to think of the girl. The few instances they had seen each other were so brief that nothing was able to transpire between them.

Oddly enough, the interest he felt for this girl was completely different from the interest he felt for Akane and the 'pig-tailed girl'. If categorized, they would be under "Chasing after Rainbows"; Aoyama Motoko, however, was different. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, her air of elegance, or even the flare and passion she displayed during battle...

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a girl of fair skin wearing a blue summer dress standing in front of the Ni-Juubashi Restaurant. His initial reaction upon seeing her was to admire her beauty, the dress making her look mature and sophisticated, complementing her natural elegance and even enhancing her figure. 'Kawaii...'

Motoko felt a pair of eyes on her, and looked around to find a boy in a black summer shirt with matching black pants looking at her. 'He looks better in the hakama...Ahh! What am I thinking?!?' She fought down a blush, not wanting anyone to see it. "K-Kuno-san..."

Kuno nearly jumped out of his skin as she called his name, but quickly composed himself. His voice, however, still trembled. "S-So we meet again, A-Aoyama-san..." The girl shook her head and tried to smile.

"Y-You may call me Motoko if you wish, K-Kuno-san." Both stood there, not sure of what to do next, with only a slight breeze passing by, along with a certain lost boy that happened to walk by them.

"Are? What are you doing in Hokkaido, Kuno?"

Though his face changed to the commonly seen indifference he had, inside he was thanking the gods for breaking the eerie silence. "For your information, Hibiki, this is not Hokkaido, but Tokyo. You should head to one of the train stations if you want to go to Nerima."

Ryoga blinked not at the way Kuno spoke, but how he was not ranting and insulting; just giving plain information without the theatrics. "Umm...thanks, Kuno." He felt like asking about the girl that stood next to him, but finding the right direction so that he could make it to Nerima was more important. In fact, he did find a nearby station and bought a ticket. What he didn't notice was that the gate he had entered read 'Hinata Onsen'.

Hunger had caught up with Kuno and his date, so they decided to have lunch before anything else. Motoko was surprised at the variety of food the Ni-Juubashi served, but still ended up ordering tempura, while Tatewaki had some teriyaki. Every time she looked up from her food, a slight smile from Tatewaki would meet her gaze. How could he enjoy being in the presence of someone unfeminine and uncute as herself was a mystery.

After lunch, Kuno took Motoko to the park, a place highly recommended in the "Guide to Dating" that he was reading the night before. Despite the fact that almost every corner of the park had couples walking hand in hand, some embracing on the benches, and others laying down on the grass relaxing under the sun, both decided to not be influenced by the highly romantic atmosphere. After finding a free bench to sit on, both decided to rest a bit before moving on to the next place of this date. Kuno was racking his brain for a conversation topic, while Motoko tried to keep herself calm, although her heart's rapid beating served as a rather powerful distraction.

"S-Shall we go to a movie next?" Kuno cursed his shaky voice, but deep down he couldn't help but be nervous about this entire thing; after all, he had never been on a date before today.

Motoko fought down the blush that threatened to surface after imagining what might happen inside a dark movie theater. He might try something perverted, but somehow her intuition suggested that it wasn't something Tatewaki would do. "H-Hai, Kuno-san...t-that would be good." She smiled as Kuno's expression relaxed, yet didn't understand what caused her to do so.

The movie chosen by Kuno ended up being a samurai flick that Motoko also wanted to see. She never found martial arts movies to be very interesting, but at least it was better than the alternative, a romance movie that resembled Titanic a bit too much.

Though it was classified as a samurai movie, the storyline seemed to carry themes of a forbidden romance in midst of the wars during the Edo period. A man of the Shinsengumi falling in love with a woman of a clan that sought to overthrow the shogunate. Despite this theme, there was lots of fighting, yet the part that captivated them the most was the big battle scene near the end, which was the only fight in the movie that showed the actors had real martial arts skill. Near the end of the scene, however, things became rather familiar as the man had sidestepped and put the side of his blade to the woman's neck. She in turn dropped her naginata and embraced him, causing Motoko and Kuno to blush madly, while the other movie patrons just groaned at such a bad ending.

By the time the movie ended, it was around 5:00 PM, and Kuno was out of ideas of what to do now. He decided to walk with her before thinking of something else they could do. That was when fate intervened.

"Excuse me, would you like a portrait?"

Both teens turned to an elderly man that was sitting on a small stool, a canvas in front of him and painting tools to one of his sides. "You two look nice together...would you like a portrait to remember this occasion by?"

Kuno was thanking the gods once again for good intervention. Motoko, on the other hand, blushed slightly and could barely crack a smile. "P-Portrait? Actually..."

"Very well. How much is your fee?" Kuno took out his wallet, not noticing Motoko's eyes widen at the amount of money it seemed to have, and pulled out a five thousand yen bill. "Is five thousand enough?" The old man kicked away the small sign that read 'Portraits for 100 yen' and quickly nodded.

"Now then, young lady, could you please sit on that bench? And you, young man, stand beside her." The old man looked at then for a second, and then shook his head. "No...It doesn't seem right. Ok then, young man, sit next to her and slightly turn to your left so that you face her. Young lady, turn to your right so that you're facing him...that looks right...could you hold each other's hands?" The man could barely contain his smirk as both teens turned a deep shade of red at his words. 'Innocent love...I don't see much of that these days.'

After about an hour, the portrait was finished. It was a simple image of Tatewaki and Motoko holding hands on a park bench, though for their sakes the artist neglected to include the heavy shade of red both of their faces had the entire time they were posing. The portrait itself may have been simple in design, but the detail was incredible, making both of them feel that it was worth the five thousand yen Kuno had offered.

It was now six o'clock, and though it was still light outside, things started to calm down around Tokyo, signaling that the date was nearly over. Kuno walked Motoko to the train station, and waited with her for train C-14 to arrive. When the train finally arrived, they both looked at each other as if the were never to meet again.

"T-Thank you for today, Kuno-san. I had a f-fun time walking around Tokyo..." Her voice trailed off as her heart started to once again beat faster and faster.

Kuno held out the portrait that he had paid for, wrapped in brown paper, towards Motoko. "Please accept this as a token of my gratitude...I also had a good time today. Arigato, Motoko-san..."

At that moment, time seemed to stop as both gazed into each other's eyes. Nothing around them mattered except for the odd atmosphere that enveloped them. As Motoko stared at Tatewaki's eyes, an odd impulse was trying to surface. She wanted to get closer and closer to his face, and she was pretty sure he felt the same impulse towards her. Their faces were now centimeters away, but the moment was destroyed when the final boarding call was heard. Motoko blushed madly and turned heel, running into the train before the doors closed. Inside, her mind was incredibly confused, still not prepared to accept what was about to transpire. 'Why do I feel like this...my heart is racing...and I can't breathe...why is this?'

It was 6:45 when the train reached Hinata Onsen, and thankfully no one was there to wait for Motoko's arrival. This meant she didn't have to worry much about hiding the portrait until she got back. People were still walking on the streets, yet her mind was more worried about the events of today. She had gone out on a date. The idea was still quite new to her, yet the word didn't scare her anymore. She looked down at the wrapped portrait and wondered why holding hands with a boy didn't bother her. An initial reflex would be to immediately refuse such an action, yet today her mind had forgotten that. The biggest mystery was still why did time seem to stop like that at the train station. It was a very odd feeling, and the desire to get closer to Tatewaki was just so inviting...just to get closer and closer until her lips...

Motoko shook herself out of the trance, and looked around to see if anyone was looking at her. It was then that she noticed that she was on Kobayashi Drive, as well as the two weary figures that were on a nearby bench. Upon further inspection, she gasped in realization that they were Naru-senpai and Kitsune-san.

Kitsune seemed to be the first one to notice her, as she weakly raised her arm and whispered "You're late...Motoko...God, I'm hungry..." Nearby, Naru groaned in agreement. Motoko held in a chuckle as she dug her hand into the purse she was carrying and took out the left over portions from the lunch she had, which were promptly snatched by both hungry girls and started devouring their would-be meals.

Naru sighed in satisfaction at the nice portion of teriyaki she had and found the strength to stand up. "This is the last time I agree to come with you, Kitsune. I've wasted an entire day just to try to spy on Motoko-chan!" Kitsune just shrugged off the reprimand and got up as well.

"Well, let's go home. I need to take a bath and maybe then Motoko can give us the details of her date, right, Motoko?" Kitsune grinned at the kendo girl, but soon dropped the grin when she noticed the wrapped frame Motoko was clutching. "Say, what's that you're carrying?"

Motoko tried to hold the portrait away from Kitsune, but the fox lady got hold of the frame and tore off the wrapping, gasping in surprise at the picture of Motoko holding hands with an unknown boy on a park bench. "So this was your date...not bad, Motoko. You got good taste, though he looks a little too thickheaded..."

Naru looked at the picture and smiled and how right it looked. The boy also seemed of healthy mind, which was more than what she could say for Keitaro, who will always be a Class 1 pervert. Soon enough, all three girls entered Hinata-sou, and Motoko was finally able to take the portrait away from Kitsune and ran to her room. At least Urashima had not seen it; that would have been the ultimate humiliation for her, but as she looked back at that moment when the old man showed them the finished work, her mind also told itself how right it looked. No explanation was needed as to why. She set the portrait near the window before she prepared to take a bath. It had been a long day, yet it felt like something had changed. She was still confused about some of the feelings inside her heart, yet something told her everything would be all right. As she looked out at the setting sun, the words "Maybe...just maybe..." escaped from her lips.

Author's Notes:

Heh heh...now that wasn't so bad, now was it? I'm actually quite satisfied with this chapter, since it just displays a lot of stuff I've been thinking about, and as always I like playing with the possible reactions of the characters. For those who may not have realized it, Kuno is very inexperienced as far as dating goes. I mean, the guy never gets a date until now, of course he's not going to know jack! Anyway, on to the explanations! First of all, the police officers at the beginning were none other than Kobayakawa Miyuki and Tsujimoto Natsumi from the manga "You're Under Arrest!" I figured that since they were in Tokyo, those two should have had a cameo here. As for Ryoga, his entrance here will lead to a side-story I have planned for him (one that will get me tons of flames), and also to do a convenient interruption. Let see...I don't really know if Tokyo has street painters like we do here near New York city, but I thought it was a nice touch to add, as well as something to set mood. Questions, comments, death threats and insults please direct to Ruisu7@hotmail.com.