Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Winter Rose ❯ Fifth Petal: Standing Up Again ( Chapter 4 )

Winter Rose

Fifth Petal: Standing Up Again

Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu. All copyrights and legal papers are belonging to him ^_^.

I just recently got to know Love Hina. I read the first manga volume, watched a few episodes, and gathered as much info as I can from the net. If I make tons of mistakes about the girls and Keitaro, please forgive them and please tell me the problems in a very constructive way…

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Chapter 3 Summary: After hearing Vincent's story as to why he chose to go to Japan, Keitaro and the girls, save Motoko, agreed to let him stay, even if just for a few weeks. However, Motoko thinks otherwise…

Fifth Petal: Standing Up Again

Vincent woke up the next day, staring at the blank ceiling of his `room', trying to focus on his thoughts.

Hinata Apartments... I'm in Hinata Apartments… and it's almost the end of August… he thought. The school year's about to begin… Keitaro and the girls accepted me here… well almost all of them…and I'll have to make myself useful to repay the favor, something I'm not really good at… He then got up from his futon, and then dug his pack for some clean clothes. He picked out a plain white shirt and a navy blue pair of shorts that hung to his knees. After suiting up, Vincent got out of his room, feeling a bit hungry. Figures, he thought. He skipped dinner last night because he was busy repairing the busted door that led to the balcony.

I guess, I'll go get something to eat first, he thought. With that, he walked down the steps silently towards the kitchen.

Expecting it to be empty at that time of the morning, he went and opened up the refrigerator to look for food when he heard a young girl's voice behind him.

"Yes, may I help you?"

Vincent turned around to see one of the girls he met yesterday. She looked very young. Probably somewhere in between junior high and first year high. Remembering that she asked him a question, Vincent said "I'm just looking for some breakfast…"

"Alright… please just wait a bit… I'll be right on it. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"But, I…"

"It's okay… I usually do the cooking here…"

Vincent then watched on as the young, violet-haired girl began to take out pots and pans, and then proceeded to the stove. In a few minutes, the aroma of bacon, fried eggs and maple syrup filled the air. Vincent looked on with wonder, as the young girl worked her little body in preparing the table for eight people. She then gasped and looked at him.

"Oh my gosh! I forgot about you! I'm sorry… "

Vincent was very surprised. "It's okay. I can eat anywhere as long as there's food."

The girl let out a sigh of relief. "Oh… it's okay, then." She then gave him a plate piled with French toast, eggs and bacon. "Here you go." She said with a sweet smile.

Vincent nodded as a sign of gratitude, walked up to the kitchen counter, and took a sampling of the meal. "Tastes good…"

The girl blushed and asked him, "Excuse me, but we haven't been formally introduced, if you don't count yesterday… I'm... Shinobu… Maehara. May I please know your real name?"

Vincent remembered Keitaro telling him to pay huge respect to the girls. He stopped eating and answered Shinobu in a very polite tone. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Miss Maehara. As you may know, I'm Keitaro's cousin. My real name's Hiroaki Urashima. You may call me anything you want, but I'd prefer `Vincent' over anything else."

Shinobu blushed again. "I'm also pleased to meet you… Urashima-san…"

Vincent waived a hand in front of him. "Please, just call me `Vincent', okay? Besides, I'm the loafer around here with nowhere else to go."

"Well, I guess… but I just want to…"

She stopped suddenly, and Vincent didn't have to ask why. Four other tenants were coming over to the dining area.

"Mornin' Shinobu! What's for breakfast?" said the tall, foxy-eyed woman as her eyes trailed from the junior high to him eating off the counter. "Well, hello there sweetie. You're pretty early today. How's your sleep?"

Vincent then faced the girls and said "Fine, just…"

The black-haired girl then aimed her sword across Vincent's neck.

"You didn't just happen to get up early to hit on Shinobu-chan, did you?"

Vincent used two fingers of his right hand to distance the blade from his body. What!? What'd I do? Why is she so angry all of a sudden? Well, I'd show her a thing or two, but… "I beg your pardon, Miss…"

"Aoyama. Motoko Aoyama. Never forget that name, Urashima. One of these days it shall be name that will bring upon your death."

The heck did I do!? "Yes, um Miss Aoyama… I just came down here to eat, nothing else. Now I'm sorry if that's a crime for you, but letting a person starve to death is by far a crime worse for me." He let go of the sword, of which Motoko sheathed back into its scabbard. He then motioned to leave, but the foxy-eyed woman grabbed him by his right hand.

"C'mon, sweetie, you haven't formally introduced yourself to us yet. You just gave us those two ID's and took off like a shot. So, like, is Vincent your real name?"

Vincent sighed. What now? He introduced himself again, and urged them to call him `Vincent'. Afterwards, he added "There, are you happy? Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"Hey, wait up! We haven't told you our names yet, you jerk!" said the spunky young blonde, who seemed to be younger than Shinobu.

"Well," Vincent kneeled down to the girl's height. I'd easily ditch these guys, but then… "Okay, so tell me…"

The little blonde addressed herself as Sarah McDougal, the foxy-eyed woman introduced herself as Mitsune `Kitsune' Konno, and their dark-skinned friend who once asked him if he liked turtle stew was named Kaolla Su.

"I'm very pleased to meet you all.' Vincent said with a bow, though it was more of a bow Westerners use. "But I really have to go now. I told Keitaro I'd help him out when it comes to cleaning the dorms. By the way, where is he anyway?"

As if to answer him, they heard a loud crash, followed by Keitaro's shaking voice.

"N-N-Naru-chan, I didn't mean too, I'm s…"

"GRRR!!! WHY YOU PERVERT!!!"

What followed was another loud crash, followed by Keitaro's scream, which got fainter and fainter by the second.

"What just happened?" Vincent asked Kitsune.

"Well it I think Keitaro made Naru-chan mad again, and now he's been blasted up the stratosphere as we speak." Kistune replied with a wink.

Vincent then understood how exactly one woman can send his cousin flying from one side of Japan to another.

"So, why exactly does she send him flying anyway?"

"Well, it may be one of two things… Either he tried to kiss someone again…"

"Or, your cousin once again manifested why he's a pervert." Motoko continued, with a hint of sheer coldness in her voice. "I'd steer clear of me or Narusegawa-sempai if I were you. You wouldn't exactly want that type of punishment now, do you?"

After finishing her meal, Motoko left the room in a state of eerie silence.

"What's with her?" Vincent asked as Motoko left the room.

"Oh, some serious issues with men. By the way, do you have 2000 yen I can borrow?" Kitsune said.

"What for?"

"Oh, a little of this and a little of that…"

"Fine…" Vincent took out his wallet and gave a wad of bills to Kitsune. "Don't spend that all up, okay? And pay it up soon."

"Okay…" said Kitsune in her usual foxy smile. Hehe, this guy must be loaded…PERFECT.

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Keitaro returned to the Hinata Apartments area about two hours later around ten o'clock in the morning. Vincent was in front to greet him.

"Hey."

"Hey…" Keitaro was massaging a bump on his head.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. You'll be when you get used to it…"

"So, what exactly do you do here?"

"Well, apart from being occasional cannon fodder, I usually do all the cleaning. And these girls are the worst slobs in the history of the world. Well, it's a bit tiring, but what can I do?"

Vincent looked at his cousin, unsure of what to say. He felt a sort of pity, but quickly brushed it off. Well, what can you do? How about being more assertive? How about showing everyone who's boss? You're the landlord for crying out loud! "Well, it's all up to you, I guess. But let me tell you something… you've got to make them stop treating you like that."

"Well, possibly." Keitaro said with a smile. "By the way, I haven't introduced you to the girls, right?"

"I think I met some." Vincent said, counting them on his fingers. "So, excluding Aunt… I mean Haruka, there's Kitsune, Su, Sarah, and Shinobu. Anyone I miss?"

"Look's like you catch up pretty fast on the aunt thing. Well, I think you met most of them…" Keitaro counted them up in his own fingers and said, "Hey, wait up… you said five, right? Who's the last one?"

"Hmm… let's see… Oh, yeah… there's this one called Motoko Aoyama…" Vincent sighed.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing… It's just that… that Motoko's only interest is to chop my head off with that rusty iron stick she always carries with her…"

Keitaro tried his best not to laugh. "Ditto here, Hiro-san. Don't worry. She may act like that all the time when it comes to guys, but she's really a nice person. By the way, so the only ones you haven't met are Narusegawa and Mutsumi, eh?"

"Narusegawa, huh? You mean that girl who always sends you flying across the wild blue yonder?"

"Yeah…" Keitaro verified, weeping again in torrents. "She's the girl with the auburn hair and poor eyesight. And Mutsumi, she's the one who always faints. But don't worry; she's not going to die or anything. She just always does that…

"As for Narusegawa, She's really a good person underneath that angry persona… She even tutors me for Toudai… It's just I happen to be always at the wrong place at the wrong time…"

He barely finished speaking when Haruka stepped up to them and joined the conversation.

"So, Hiro-kun, how'd you like the first half of your first day at Hinata? Had enough of the girls yet?"

"Hardly. I didn't talk to them too much. I was busy unpacking some of my stuff and making my room fit for habitat. Anyway, I'm a bit free, so I thought I'd just wait for Keitaro and help him out doing his chores."

"Scratch that off your list, kid. I need someone to watch the teahouse, since I'm going to meet up with someone at around 1:30 in the afternoon. I need you to watch it for me."

"But, Aunt Haruka…" Keitaro interrupted. He then got a quick smack in the head with Haruka's fan.

"Just Haruka. Well, anyway, here's the key. And here are some notes about how I run the shop." Haruka added as she passed a few slips of notebook paper to Vincent. "Just let me see the shop in one piece when I return, okay."

"Agreed."

Haruka left them quickly in silence.

"So… I guess I can't help you out after all today…"

"It's okay, I can handle it anyway…"

"So, wanna take a dip in the hot springs later?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you… don't go into the hot springs… it' a men-restricted area."

"What!?"

"Trust me…"

"Urashima, you lazy pervert!!! Get in here!!!"

"<sigh> Well, I guess I'll see you later, okay?"

"<sigh> Alright..."

And with that, the two parted ways, one towards the Hinata, and another away from it.

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Author: Uh, did it sound dumb? Well, It's me first fanfic about Love Hina, though. Please tell me about it.

Anyway, let me give a character sketch on Vincent.

Full Name: Hiroaki Vincent Connor Urashima

Date of Birth: December 24, 1982

Description: Introverted and Distant

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Blue

Height: 5' 11"

Occupation: Toudai student, second year college.

Strengths: Not really all that much of a loner; Intelligent; helpful especially when it comes to family members.

Flaws: Believes that a person is meant to live alone; Runs away from problems and tries to just wish them away; spends too much time thinking and speaking to himself; Not very good at expressing his emotions.

Hobbies: helping Keitaro; sleeping; speaking to himself.

Likes: coffee; being alone; his dead `soul mates'

Hates: his father; his stepmother and stepsister; Motoko Aoyama(?)

Info: Hiroaki is one of Keitaro's first cousins. He came to Japan only recently from the US to transfer his studies from Harvard to Toudai. He is very introverted, often escaping to his room to be left alone, to think about life and the meaning of his existence, or maybe just sleep, though he occasionally helps Keitaro clean up the dorms. He also has a hard time opening up and expressing himself, which makes him as warm to anyone as ice. In short, he's an exact opposite to Keitaro on multiple accounts. Plus, he's also seemed to lose most of his Japanese tradition due to the fact he spent most of his life in America. But, why exactly did he become such?

If I told you right now, it'd be a spoiler ^_^. If you want to learn more about him, read on, people!

Till next chapter, peace out.

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Love Hina © Ken Akamatsu