Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Identity Crisis ❯ Regrets and Self Images ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5:

Regrets and Self Images

Four A.M. always seems like a dismal time. A time when only those with self pity and regret would stay awake. It was at 4 a.m. that Keitaro slowly waddled back into the Hinata. The hours before were a blur of drinking games, karaoke antics, and dealing with an extremely amorous benefactor. In the end, Keitaro felt nothing but a hangover with a dash of self-humiliation.

`Damn, I can't even remember half of what happened,' the confused boy thought as he ran his hand on his rumbling stomach. The contents of sake and whatever the heck was served as food at that bar were long gone after a thorough purging two blocks back, yet Keitaro felt Kitsune's stomach still objecting to whatever treatment it got only a few hours ago. The cool wooden floors were a welcome change of texture for Keitaro's sock covered feet, as it appears he lost Kitsune's footwear somewhere the night before. A cool breeze blew in from an air conditioner and over Keitaro's bare legs. Shivering, the boy rubbed both of his arms against eachother, holding them against the brown sweatshirt he was wearing.

`I need some coffee, a shower, and mouthwash at the same time,' Keitaro thought gloomily as he ran his tongue over Kitsune's straight, yet somewhat grimy teeth. However, the need for cleanliness lost over a much greater need- one Keitaro felt as he stumbled slightly from drowsiness. Wearily, Keitaro slid the door open to his room and saw his old body sleeping in the futon he once occupied but a few days ago.

`Oh that's right-` Keitaro thought as he slid the door closed again and took a few more steps to Kitsune's door. But before Keitaro could pull the door open, someone else announced his or her presense.

"Kitsune?" a tired Naru asked from the end of the hallway as she squinted at Keitaro. "Up all night partying again?"

"Hehe, you know me," Keitaro weakly confirmed, "always a party somewhere."

"Kitsune, you shouldn't stay out so late, the other girls get worried," Naru stated as she walked towards Keitaro.

"It couldn't be helped," Keitaro answered somewhat truthfully. "I really don't plan on it. It just kind of happens."

"I know that," Naru said. "You've been like this ever since highschool. You don't have to keep this image anymore."

"What someone expects of you is hard to escape," Keitaro, once again, somewhat truthfully pointed out. "I'm stuck in this role, so I might as well enjoy it." Another half-truth.

"Its just that you're my closest friend and all," Naru continued, her head turned to the side to try and hide her worried expression. "I'd hate to see something bad happen to you." Keitaro wasn't sure why, but he stepped up to Naru and enclosed the shorter girl in a hug. Naru returned the hug and the warmth of their bodies against eachother was reassuring to both.

`Mmm, this feels nice,' Keitaro thought, his mind dazed from the remnants of a hangover and serious sleep deprivation. After what seemed like an eternity of comfort, Keitaro pulled away from the hug and looked down at Naru's reassured, but still saddened face. Then, for no reason or warning, Keitaro bent down gave Naru a soft kiss on the lips, forgetting exactly which body he was in. Naru, half awake, let the kiss occur with no resistance.

A few seconds later, Keitaro remembered just who he was and pulled away from the sweet kiss. "Good night," Keitaro nervously said.

"G-goodnight," Naru, dazed, returned as she walked off to go back to her room.

Keitaro turned around to face the door and sighed. `Why did I do that?' he thought. A good tug and the door slid open and the physically spent Keitaro took a few steps in only to collapse face first onto the futon, only to groan in pain and roll over on his back. "Darn nit, these things always get in the way," Keitaro grumbled as he tried to rub the pain off his new, recently squished bosom. `I should stop this,' the boy thought as the pain quickly subsided yet continued rubbing.

The decision was made for Keitaro by his borrowed Kitsune body, which quickly fell into the realm of unconsciousness.

***

Kitsune woke up just as the sun peaked out over the horizon and dreaded the day ahead almost instinctively. `How the hell could this guy live with so much fear?' Kitsune thought as she got dressed and ready for the day ahead. A feeling of impending doom lurked as she slid the door open and stepped out in the hall. But something was strange this morning of day 4. The floors were clean.

Kitsune quickly walked over to the unoccupied hotsprings. The entire area was just as clean as she left it the day before. A short jog then over to the kitchen then revealed breakfast was already simmering under the careful eye of Shinobu.

"Good morning, Urashima-sempai!" Shinobu greeted brightly. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." The young girl maneuvered around the kitchen like a skilled chef, her careful eye on every pot and pan.

Kitsune just stared in wonder, and then remembered that Keitaro doesn't spend the majority of EVERY day doing his chores, but usually spreads them out over the week while squeezing in time to study. However, during the summer and with no real need to cramp for the entrance exams, Kitsune realized that she gave the appearance of laziness around the others, which in turn made Motoko work her like a horse. Three days straight of chores left the Hinata virtually spotless, and it appears it would stay that way for at least the course of the day, maybe two if she were lucky and Su didn't break out another mecha-tama.

Shinobu, though, noticed Kitsune's wariness at the door. "Do you want to help me, Urashima-sempai?" the young girl asked sweetly.

"No, that's alright. I'll just get the others," Kitsune replied and turned around to walk out of the kitchen.

"All right, but I think Kitsune should get some more rest," Shinobu requested. "She came home awfully late and its summer, so I think it would be alright if she slept in a little bit."

"I guess," Kitsune said sourly.

***

Breakfast quickly ended and Kitsune washed the dishes with much needed assistance from Shinobu. Kistune sat on the couch and wondered what meaningless task she could undertake to appear busy in the watchful eyes of Motoko. Kitsune glanced at the kendo girl and saw a small blush appear on her cheeks as she quickly turned her head away.

"What is it, Urashima?" Motoko asked pointedly. The fear of agitating Motoko quickly made the need to do something, ANYTHING but be idle a major concern.

"N-nothing!" Kitsune hurriedly answered. "Its just I was wondering where you learned to massage."

"We will NOT talk about that," the kendo girl stated, making the words as solid as stone.

Just then, to save Kitsune's neck, Naru stepped in and sighed in relief. "There you are!" the longhaired girl said as she grabbed Kitsune's arm. "C'mon, Keitaro, you wanted me to teach you trig, so you're coming with me!" Naru dragged the befuddled Kitsune all the way to her room and plopped the confused girl at the table. With an air of great authority, Naru sat down on the other side of the table and slid on her glasses and then opened her textbook. Naru noticed Kitsune still not moving and prodded. "What's wrong, Keitaro?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Kitsune stammered as she opened up the trig book. "This page, right?"

Naru just sighed. "Yes, that page. Listen Keitaro, we still have a few weeks before preparation school begins again. We could just blow off the rest of the day."

"That sounds like fun!" Kitsune agreed with a grin. "So where do you want to go?"

"How about bowling?" Naru suggested. Before Kitsune could reply, however, the door slid open, and Motoko, Shinobu, and Su fell down to the floor in a pile.

"Bowling! Is it delicious?" Su asked with a happy smile. Naru exhaled in defeat.

***

"STRIKE!" Su yelled in jubilation and pumped her fist in victory. Everyone else, however, sweatdropped and looked at the strange foreign girl.

"Su-chan," Naru said, "not many bowl with a bazooka."

"Oh, this little thing?" Su said innocently as she slung the massive cannon over her shoulder.

Kitsune felt the stress returning and reached a hand out to order a pitcher of beer when Motoko grabbed her arm. "Urashima, not infront of Su and Shinobu," the kendo girl warned, even though a t-shirt and shorts replaced her normal kendo garb.

"My turn," Shinobu volunteered as she stood up and picked up a smaller bowling ball. The cautious girl slowly walked towards the line and released the ball. Slowly, but surely, the ball rolled towards the pins and knocked down eight of them. "Yay!" Shinbou squealed in childish delight.

"That was a very good roll, Shinobu-chan!" Naru congratulated. "Its your turn now, Keitaro."

"Thanks," Kitsune said as she stood up and picked up one of the heavier balls. `Bowling with the group isn't bad I suppose,' the transformed girl thought.

***

Evening quickly rolled on and the Hinata group returned back home after endless frames and pizza. "STRIKE!" Suu announced aloud once again as she hung off Motoko's back.

"I hope we didn't stay out too late," Shinobu pondered as she walked lazily to her room.

`Oh well, another evening lost,' Naru thought with a sigh. "Well, I'm heading to bed," the longhaired girl announced as she trudged up the stairs.

"I too have to bid a good evening," Motoko responded as she went her own separate way, Suu still hanging on her back.

Kitsune, now alone, walked over to her old room and slid the door to see Keitaro still snoozing away in her old body. "You have no idea how lucky you are," Konno Mitsune said to the sleeping Keitaro, and then slid the door shut.

***

Day Five crept in, the sunlight shining over Keitaro's eyes, forcing the slumbering boy turned girl to awaken. A groan came from his mouth followed by "Is it morning already?" Obviously, Keitaro was unaware that a full day passed as he slumbered. Weakly, Keitaro stood up and stretched his tired muscles, feeling the different parts of his new body still shifting under the stretching. `I'll never get used to that,' Keitaro thought, then added, `but I must admit it does feel kinda nice.'

After a few more slow, luxurious stretches, Keitaro's stomach rumbled in hunger. "In just a bit," Keitaro said as he patted his new toned abs. First thing on Keitaro's priority list was a nice, solid cleansing.

Minutes later, a still hungry, but considerably more cleaned up Keitaro sank into the hotsprings, feeling the warm water envelope his female flesh, awakening and warming the skin.

`Another plus- not that I'd wanna STAY this way,' Keitaro thought. A moment later, the door slid open and Motoko and Naru stepped out and started cleaning themselves. `Did she remember? Was it just a dream?' Keitaro thought nervously as he looked at Naru's face. Naru made brief eyecontact with Keitaro and quickly looked away with a heavy blush. `Whoops, guess it really happened,' Keitaro thought with a blush of his own.

The two girls quickly joined Keitaro in the springs, although Naru still seemed a bit nervous, and Keitaro, a bit more sure of his control, didn't try to look away from them while keeping his eyes fixed firmly on their faces. Needless to say, his focus slipped occasionally, but for the majority his eyes stayed on target.

"Honestly, Kitsune," Motoko announced out of nowhere and she relaxed in the springs, "I cannot comprehend where your figure comes from, especially after you sleep for a whole day."

Keitaro blinked at that. "A whole day?" he asked. `Surely I didn't sleep for a whole day!' "Well, I was really tired when I got home, that's all," Keitaro answered himself a moment later. "In fact, I hardly remember getting home. Besides, I get some exercises in."

Naru visibly relaxed when she heard who she thought was Kitsune say that. "Well, Motoko-chan's right, Kitsune," Naru asserted. "Its not good for you to be drinking and sleeping all the time."

"I'll try to tone it down," Keitaro said to reassure the girls.

***

Kitsune anxiously awaited Keitaro's return in her old room. A friendly exchange between the three other girls could be heard from outside the room, Keitaro seemingly enjoying his position as confidant and free pass to the hotsprings. The conversation died down as the two girls went their separate ways back to their rooms and Keitaro opened the door.

"How was your nap?" Kitsune asked, looking at Keitaro wearing her body with nothing more than a towel. Keitaro quickly closed the door to avoid anyone seeing them both together.

"Fine I guess," Keitaro answered nervously. "Look, I need to get dressed."

"Ain't nothing I haven't seen before, or owned for that matter," Kitsune pointed out.

"I'm still nervous being alone with this naked body, much less dressing infront of anyone with it," Keitaro pointed out.

"So you've seen it naked a few times, eh?" Kitsune said with a grin and a nudge. "Any good memories?"

"Ye- I mean no, I mean-" Keitaro quickly stammered.

"Relax," Kitsune said, "I'm not here to give you the 9th in what young guys would do in a hot woman's body. Besides, possession is 9/10ths of the law."

"That's not funny," Keitaro said. "Being you is rough. People have a certain expectation of what you act like, not to mention I have your urge for drinking."

"Oh, its not nearly as rough as being you," Kitsune rebutted. "I have to do all the chores and if I ever look at one of the other girls the wrong way, they get all mad. My life must seem like a paradise."

"Then why do you drink so much its hard wired into your body?" Keitaro asked, point blank.

Kitsune sighed. "You're right. I'm being unfair. People DO expect something out of someone else, and even if my life doesn't seem as harsh as yours, trying to act like me must be hell."

"Grass is always greener," Keitaro mused with an understanding smile. "Anyways, where did you hide that wooden statue?"

"Oh its at-" Kitsune began.

"Urashima! Tama's in my room again!" Motoko squealed in fear.

"I'll tell you later. Just relax, okay?" Kitsune said as she left the room.

"Okay," Keitaro answered then sighed in frustration as he opened the dresser. "I hope there's at least one T-shirt left to wear."

***

Kitsune rushed up to Motoko's room and saw the Kendo girl still only in a robe, shrieking and standing on a chair. "Ok, where's Tama?" Kitsune asked the frightened warrior girl.

"He's in there!" Motoko shouted, pointing to her closed closet door. Kitsune quietly crept up to the closet, then in a spring-like action slid it open, only to be bombarded by Tama-chan, flying full speed into her face. Off-balance, Kitsune stumbled and hit the legs of the chair that Motoko was standing on and both tumbled down.

Kitsune's vision got dark and he felt something warm and soft against his face, and then heard in his ears an angry yell of "Urashima, you PERVERT! You shall pay for that!" followed by a left hook to the face, sending her spiraling through the roof.

`Forget that, Keitaro DEFINITELY has the harder life,' Kitsune thought bitterly as she sailed into the air.