Love Hina Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades Chapter 08 ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Twine Hearts and Blades

Time flowed regardless of the feelings of those subject to its power, much like a mighty current that no fish can fight against. Months passed swiftly as summer came to an end, and soon after the chills that foreshadowed winter began, bringing the hopes of snow and the warmth of a fireplace to the residents of Hinata-sou.

Life went on just like it always had, once again stating how their actions and activities were all part of a greater picture. Naru and Keitaro were still studying for the Toudai entrance exams, not willing to fail it once more, since each had a promise to fulfill. Otohime Mutsumi's unannounced visits became something that added some life to their many days of studying, and also kept both ronins on their toes. Kitsune did what she always did during this time of year: lounge and drink sake, using the need to get warm as an excuse, yet kept a watchful eye over the relationship between Keitaro and Naru, which had obviously developed despite their constant protests. Kaolla and Shinobu remained the same, though they were acting more like friends rather than two strangers that happened to live in the same building. The sudden decision to have Sarah McDougal live at the inn had caused some commotion, though it mostly involved Keitaro getting the tar beaten out of himself by the energetic ten-year old.

Then there was Aoyama Motoko, who had been keeping to herself a lot during these last few months. Her sudden change did not go unnoticed by the fox lady, who still wanted to know all the details involving Motoko's sudden change of heart towards men, but decided to not press on the matter since she pretty much knew where it all stemmed from. Of course, one would have had to be blind to notice that the amount of training journeys the kendo girl took increased near the end of the summer, only to return at night without uttering a word to anyone. Keitaro's air trips had decreased significantly as well, since she had also become more tolerant to the kanrinin's "accidents"; rather than label him as the enemy of all women, she merely whacked him on the head until he was unconscious.

All in all, things had remained close to what was known as 'normal' at Hinata Onsen. Christmas time was nearing, though Keitaro seemed to be the only one of the ronin trio that noticed. He silently hoped that Narusegawa would call a break soon, for his mind was getting tired and he had to report to work later in the evening. Working during this time of year seemed like something undesirable, but if it helped him make Narusegawa happy, it was worth it.

Glancing at the calendar, his bored expression brightened, as it was December 20th. "It'll soon be Christmas, won't it?" He asked in an attempt to bring life to the silent atmosphere inside Naru's room. Neither her nor Mutsumi moved at his question; instead they continued to write into their books, never looking up from their endless scribbling. Keitaro sighed in defeat as he returned to his studying. 'Narusegawa at one side, Mutsumi-san at the other...this is torture!'

Chapter 8: Amidst the falling snow...

Aoyama Motoko groaned as she crumpled yet another piece of paper, cursing her daydreams and her feelings once more. She had been assigned to write a paper on 'The Confessions of Lady Nijo' and the language used at the time it was written. The assignment itself wasn't hard, since she herself used an old speech pattern; the problem was that every time she would let her imagination do the work for her, in her hands would appear a romance story, not the analysis of context that she had to hand in on the 30th of December. The last one she had written was fifteen pages long, and for some reason told of a torrid affair between a rich heir and a girl that was to succeed her clan.

She tore her eyes from another potential romance story, her gaze falling on the wrapped rectangle that lay inside the closet. The memories of the dates she had with Tatewaki in the past couple of months began to surface, recalling the fun times she had with him, and how hard it was to keep their relationship a secret. It wasn't out of fear of their reactions, but more of how they would treat him if he ever set foot at Hinata-sou. She could picture Kaolla kicking him in the head, Kitsune in her drunk mode, Naru-senpai giving him speculative looks along with Haruka-san, and Urashima would most likely say something stupid to him. In short, it was the type of scene she preferred to avoid at all costs.

Trying to get back to business, her hand went to a necklace that was tucked under her shirt. It was a simple gold chain that held a miniature tsuba with the design of a crane, the present Tatewaki had given her for her birthday. The fact that he even knew her birthday was a little astonishing, but she accepted it with much gratitude. Though she never had a taste for jewelry, it had become something she always wore, only taking it off when she went into the bath.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Motoko-chan? It's Narusegawa. Can I come in?"

Quickly hiding her necklace, Motoko opened the door and noticed that Naru was dressed to go out. "What can I do for you, Naru-senpai?"

"I'm going out to buy some books. Want to come along?"

The kendo girl looked over to the pile of crumpled papers on the floor, many of which were failed attempts at her report, while others were random romance stories she didn't finish. "I accept. I need paper to finish my report." She quickly grabbed her coat and headed out with Naru to the shopping district. Kitsune surprisingly had come along, saying she ran out of sake, but pouted when her companions refused to loan her the money.

After Naru got her notebooks and Motoko bought some paper, the three headed towards the station when they noticed a rather peculiar sight: Keitaro, dressed as Santa Claus, was standing out in the snow advertising for a local restaurant, with Shirai and Haitani right behind him, dressed as reindeer. The three looked silly to Motoko, though it seemed like something Urashima would do. Naru frowned at the sight, not very happy at how he was wasting his time when he could have been studying.

Though Keitaro had seen her, Naru ordered Kitsune and Motoko to keep walking, ignoring the calls from the ronin/kanrinin. "If he's got that kind of free time, we should leave him to his work," growled Naru in a low voice, causing Kitsune to raise an eyebrow at her while Motoko just held on to her paper.


The morning of December 21st was chilly for some reason. The weather had been cold recently, but on this morning things were even colder, as if it were an omen of sorts. Not taking this into consideration, Motoko walked down the stairs, hoping the breakfast Shinobu was making would give her the energies to finish her paper. She never made it to the dining room, as a voice caused her to freeze in her tracks.

"Mokarimakka, Motoko-han!"

The girl in question literally froze at the two visitors that were currently sitting in the living room. "A-A-Ane-ue! K-Kazuya-san! What are you doing here?" Before she knew it, the rest of the tenants arrived at the scene, ogling at the newcomers.

Tsuruko was sipping tea next to Haruka, and Kazuya somehow ended up with Su on his shoulders, but made no big deal about it when he realized she meant no harm. Both rose from their seats and presented themselves, then sat down once again as Tsuruko got to the point. "The promised time is nearing, Motoko-han. Soon it will be time for you to take over the dojo."

Motoko blanched as her mind tried to think of a way out of this situation, but Tsuruko interrupted her.

"That time is not now, though." Everyone face-faulted. "We came here to ask you if you wanted to spend Shogatsu (New Year's) at the dojo. You also have to pay your respects at Chion-in Temple while you're there, and since you're old enough, you can also help out with Susuharai." Though it was worded as an invitation, one look at her sister's eyes told Motoko that she was not going to take 'no' for an answer.

"I have an assignment due on the 30th, so after school I will take the next train to Kyoto. Is this acceptable, Ane-ue?"

Tsuruko sipped from her cup again and slightly nodded. "It is acceptable. Until then, Motoko-han." She then bowed to Haruka and the other tenants. "Thank you for your hospitality. I hope we were not a bother. Shall we go, anata?"

Kazuya was currently busy trying to get Kaolla off his shoulders; the mad scientist girl was currently playing with his hair, calling him spiky hair as she giggled like a giddy child. When she finally got off in order to rummage through her machines once more, the couple bowed again and left.

Outside of Urashima falling off the roof and Naru-senpai suddenly leaving, the rest of the day had been rather calm. These sudden events had not affected Motoko as much as Tsuruko's visit, which somehow made it even harder for her to concentrate on her assignment. The invitation had started to cloud her mind, but what shook her was the announcement of the promised time. In her heart, she didn't feel ready to take over the dojo; after all, Tsuruko was still a much better warrior. There was also the matter concerning Tatewaki. Even though her feelings for him were clear now, some doubt remained. She did feel very comfortable around him, but curiosity had been her reason for dating him. In a way, the old Motoko, the one that hated every man on the face of the earth, was still trying to crush all the new feelings she was experiencing.

Shaking her head as an attempt to clear her mind, her eyes once again turned to the blank piece of paper on the desk. 'Enough is enough.' She told herself as she began her work.


December 24th started off with the usually calm morning, but the atmosphere around Hinata-sou lacked the great amount of energy and life it had most of the time. Naru had not returned, and Keitaro lost a lot of his enthusiasm partly because Naru was gone and partly because of his sprained ankle. Kitsune seemed to be worried the most out of all the residents, secretly hoping that Naru would just speak her feelings rather than keep them inside. Kaolla was busy playing with Sarah and Shinobu seemed to have an agenda of her own. Motoko had nothing to do at the moment, having finished her paper, but felt that this was a mere calm before the storm. She had heard from Shinobu and Kaolla about some superstition that if you confessed your love to someone on Christmas Eve, all your wishes would come true. This of course meant nothing to her, but for some reason she couldn't help but wonder what was so special about Christmas Eve that such a superstition would emerge.

As she pondered further into this matter, Kitsune came running with Sarah and Kaolla in tow. "Motoko! We're gonna wait for Keitaro at the seminar place. You coming along?"

The kendo girl considered going with them, but declined the offer; this wasn't the type of thing she would want to get involved with, since it usually lead to some type of mess that involved all of them going around looking for them.

Since she was free for the rest of the day, Motoko picked up her sword and was about to head for the roof when an arrow embedded itself onto her window. Quickly taking the letter attached to it, she read out loud. "Ayasugi Boulevard Overpass, Tokyo at 8:00 PM." Having nearly four hours to prepare, she placed her sword on the stand next to the wall and headed for the bath, reminding herself that Kuno-san's present was still hidden in the closet.


It was sometime in the night that Narusegawa Naru found herself on a train. She was so hurt by the look Keitaro gave her, though she could bet the idiot misunderstood the reason why she was meeting with Seta-san. She suddenly remembered the bag in her hand, which Kitsune had forced on her after Keitaro took off. As she pulled out its contents, her eyes became glassy at the long red coat inside, with a small card that read 'To Narusegawa from Urashima'. She hugged the garment, surprised that he had even gotten a job in order to buy her this, and felt unworthy of it after the way she had treated him.

"Naru-senpai? Is that you?"

Naru looked up and blinked at Motoko, who was suddenly in front of her dressed in a turtleneck sweater and a skirt. "M-Motoko-chan! What are you doing here?"

The younger girl turned away and blushed, trying to hide the package she was carrying. "I...I am to meet someone later tonight." Having noticed the red coat in Naru's arms, she gestured towards it. "That must be a present from Urashima, correct?" Her senpai didn't answer, but the way she held it was enough to answer her question. "If you feel this way for him, why do you run?"

The question surprised Naru a bit, since she would expect this type of thing from Kitsune or Haruka-san, but never from Motoko. "I'm not running...I...I'm just a little confused. The idiot goes and tells me he loves me out of nowhere. What was I supposed to do?"

"A response would have been appropriate. Knowing Urashima, he probably jumped to a wrong conclusion." The train was starting to slow down, a sign that a station was nearby. "I recommend you tell him how you feel. It will make things easier on both you and him in the end."

Naru turned to get off the train as the doors opened, leaving Motoko with a few words. "Motoko-chan, you should also follow your own advice. Give my regards to Kuno-san when you see him." With a smile, the older girl walked out of the train as a confused and surprised Motoko remained on board.


Though it was hard to get through the overpass because of all the people in the area, Motoko finally met up with Tatewaki at the appointed time. He was dressed in what would be considered normal clothes: a black coat with dress pants and a dark blue sweater. They walked for some time, just talking about the new events in their lives and other trivial topics that helped pass the time. They eventually got on the train station, deciding to head to a restaurant to have dinner. That plan was scrapped after a drunk salary man groped Motoko, who raised her hand to strike at the culprit. Much to her surprise, Tatewaki beat her to it and slammed him to the nearby wall, knocking the wind out of the defenseless man. This obviously led to both of them being brought to the nearby police station, which was at Meiji Pass.

"Even if he groped your girlfriend, you can't just attack a person like that!" exclaimed one of the officers, while Kuno said nothing while the policeman lectured him. After instructing him to stay out of trouble, the two kendoists were allowed to leave.

It had already started snowing, and it was pretty late, yet many young people on the streets were anxiously awaiting for midnight. Tatewaki turned to Motoko and apologized for his actions, feeling he might have offended her in some way.

"It's all right, Kuno-I mean, Tatewaki." Truth be told, she knew that she should be offended at how the boy felt that he had to protect her, but she wasn't mad at all. In a way, it felt nice to be protected by someone as reliable as he was. Locating a nearby coffee shop, they stopped to get something to eat in order to warm themselves up again. As they watched the nearby television, a reporter appeared on the screen, next to her stood a very familiar ronin.

"Hi!," squealed the reporter, "I have someone here who is alone on Christmas Eve! What is your name, young lady?"

"Narusegawa Naru"

"Won't you tell us about why you're alone on this eve?" Naru then took the microphone from the woman and looked directly at the camera.

"Keitaro...Keitaro, I'm sorry for not being clear with you...but I know that if I showed my feelings, you wouldn't focus on studying anymore. So unless I distance myself on purpose, you would fail. Even so, I was surprised to hear you confess like that. The reason I went home was so that I could think about it, because I just wasn't able to when you're around. I remembered many things, like the first time we met. You could have lied, but instead you said lying was bad and even tried to leave; it was the first time I had met such a stupid person. I'll confess...I want to be with you forever...I want to go to Toudai with you..."

As the rest of the Hinata crew caught up to Naru and Keitaro on TV, the couple walked outside and gazed at the falling snow. The older girl's words seemed to move something inside Motoko, as she heard a very faint echo that reminded her of the advice she gave Naru-senpai. 'Be open with my feelings...can I take such a risk?' She tried to evaluate how she felt about him, but came to no real answer. In the end, she just wanted to be with him because he saw her as a fellow warrior, despite his impulses to protect her, and because she just felt so at ease when he was around. All the pressures in her life seemed to just disappear, forgotten in the moments she shared with him.

"Tatewaki...I...I have something to tell you."

Kuno raised his hand as he held forward a long box from his coat. "Before that, I forgot to give you your present. Merry Christmas." He handed the box to her, and upon opening it, Motoko's eyes widened at the beautifully decorated sword that was inside. The craftsmanship was incredible, the tsuba had the design of a crane, and the scabbard was worthy of such a great weapon.

While she was still examining the blade like a child with a new toy, Kuno sighed in relief; it had been Sazuke's suggestion to give her a masterfully crafted weapon. It hadn't been easy to get, being such a rare antique, but the Kuno family wouldn't miss it.

Motoko suddenly remembered the present she brought along, but felt slightly ashamed of it, since she had tried to knit under the tutelage of Shinobu. Unfortunately, the scarf she had tried to make looked more like a badly-made fishing net. Even so, Kuno smiled and accepted it as if it were something made by the greatest designers of the world; he even put it on right there and then and asked her if it looked good on him.

For some reason, Motoko felt very happy to know he liked the present. It was a type of emotion that was overwhelming to her, and the words from her heart finally worked their way to her mouth. "K-Kuno-san...no...Tatewaki...I...I..." Their eyes met once again, and the entire world seemed to stand still as if awaiting for Motoko to speak her feelings, but he interrupter her once more.

"I love you."

The three words seemed to affect her more than any training regimen she had ever gone through. The look in her eyes softened as he continued.

"I've...I've loved you for some time now...I don't really know how to say it, but your company somehow makes me feel so at ease, as if all my troubles were very far away when I am with you. I know that this is a little sudden, but I just thought that I had to tell you...Motoko-san..."

The look on her face showed complete shock, yet hints of relief were evident. The happiness in her had grown ten-fold by now, as she felt something incredible in every part of her being. 'He...he loves me,' she thought to herself. 'He loves me...and...'

"I love you too."

The words had come out on their own without her noticing it. His face expressed a lot of relief, as well as the same emotion that was running through her body right now. "I've also loved you for some time. I...I..." Something moist slid down her cheek, causing Tatewaki to step closer and wipe it with his finger; it was a tear. Upon seeing it, a million thoughts ran through her mind, yet none of them mattered as she embraced Kuno, who wrapped his arms around her in response. They looked up at the snow fall around them, covering the ground with a pure white layer that erased the prints of the past, as if a new start was just upon the horizon.


The next couple of days seemed to fly by, though Motoko finally got around to introducing her koibito to her friends at Hinata-sou. Their reactions were different from what she expected, since they were all very polite to him, and even Urashima was able to not only maintain composure, but didn't do anything perverted at all. Having agreed to leave for Kyoto on the 30th, she handed in her paper and instead of attending the last kendo practice of the year, she headed for the train station and bought a ticket. More than two hours later, the train finally reached Kyoto. The big surprise of the day came when Motoko arrived at the gates of the Aoyama Dojo. Instead of her older sister, whom she expected to meet with at the door, she was welcomed by the last person she had expected to see.

"Welcome home, Motoko."

The kendo girl stared at the figure with something resembling surprise and fear, since she never thought she would see this person in a million years. "Father?"

Author's Notes:

Yay! I'm back!! I know it took me nearly damn forever to finish this chapter, but that's ok. I think it was worth it. Anyway, I have tons and tons of stuff to explain for this chapter, so stay with me! ^^

First off, this entire chapter is based on the Christmas Special, which was incredibly nice for being an anime-only type of thing. If some of you haven't seen the Christmas Special, let me know and I'll put up a synopsis in with this chapter in my next update.

Mokarimakka: Ok this one is easy. It basically means "How is business?", which is a greeting in Kansai dialect. Since Tsuruko speaks in Kansai dialect, I thought it would suit her for now.

Chion-in Temple: This temple is located in Kyoto, and is one of the very important temples of the Shinto religion.

Susuharai: This is like "Spring Cleaning", but it's done on the 31st of December. The Japanese regard New Years as a chance to start with a clean slate. Businesses finish all transactions on the 31st, and housewives clean every inch of the house in order for it to be pure for the coming year.

Koibito: it means "lover". I tried to be fancy about it, and I wanted to use it. ^^

Let's see...nothing else, I think...anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter. Please direct all questions and comments to Ruisu7@hotmail.com.