"Lady Aoyama, can I hold the baby?"
"Keitaro! I don't think -"
"Yes, you may. Would you like me to show you how?"
"Yes!"
"Here... Like this."
"She's so pretty... What's her name?"
"Motoko."
"Motoko... She's so pretty! She's a princess, right?"
"Of course."
"Good. Motoko... I'm gonna marry her someday!"
"KEITARO!"
"He he~! Make her a beautiful and happy queen, Keitaro."
"I will. I promise!"
-------------------l----------l--------/------l--------/----
Keitaro Urashima had spent most of his life chasing a dream. Whether it was one dream or another, it was something that defined his character straight to the core. From his desperate attempts to make a happy ending with the girl of his dreams to his desire to never hurt someone. It was arguably his best and most outstanding trait.
So, it should come as little surprise that Keitaro clung like a madman to the beliefs instilled in him despite how over time his memory of such things became foggy. However, things had changed in this world, even if only slightly.
This was why that young man, Keitaro, was now gazing up at the Hinata House, smiling in remembrance even as he stepped inside.
-----------------l---/----/----/---l—l----l---------------l---------/----l
“Hello!†Keitaro called out, settling his bags aside and removing his shoes as he entered the living room of the large place. “Granny Hina? Motoko?†He looked at the world through his glasses, confused why the place wasn’t far more busy. It can’t be that out of business, can it? He thought to himself, trying to come to terms with the possibility that maybe he’d gotten the wrong address. Just as he was considering leaving, a noise caught his attention.
"Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you, um..." Keitaro looked quietly at the young looking blue haired girl, somewhat surprised that the girl was working here, from the sight of her carrying a basket of laundry that she sat down after fumbling it, just barely keeping it in her hands. The girl's eyes seemed a bit wide, like a doe heading straight into an oncoming semi-truck, it almost felt to Keitaro like he'd scared the daylights out of her just saying hello.
"U-m-hello. I'm Shinobu," She paused, looking from side to side and Keitaro -really- felt like he'd scared her at this point, deciding the sooner he spoke up why he was here the sooner she'd calm down, so he decided to interrupt her.
"Shinobu, would you happen to know where Hina Urashima or Motoko Aoyama would be at this time? I've been looking for them for the past few minutes but you're the first person I've run into." Keitaro explained, and seeing the girl visibly relax eased the burden on his shoulders. I definitely don't want her to scream or start crying. That'd look -really- bad! He thought with a grimace before listening to the girl's reply.
"Oh! Grandma Hina left yesterday on a trip around the world-" Keitaro's shoulders slumped, wondering why she'd sent that letter to him saying to come here in such a rush if she was leaving! "And Motoko is... I think she's running an errand in town, she should be back soon." Keitaro perked up; happy at least that he'd get to see Motoko after so long. I bet she's even cuter than before! Keitaro felt himself smiling, and he was glad it didn't seem to bother Shinobu.
"Do you mind if I stay here for a little while and wait for her? I've been waiting a long time to see her, even if Granny isn't here." Keitaro said, which brought Shinobu's eyes back to him away from where she had been looking aside, face softly pink. Huh, I must've given her a fright after all, she looks a bit flushed. The brunette male thought to himself, when a noise from behind caught his attention and despite Shinobu's gasp of warning, he turned around.
---l-------/---l---/---------------l----l----/
---l-------------l-------------l---------------l---------l
A random idea I had earlier while sitting bored at work. Instead of having the promise to get into toudai with Naru/Mutsumi when they're much younger, Keitaro visits the Aoyamas with his parents for (ghglsnglnabln) reason and basically falls in love at first sight with Motoko. Being a kid, their parents think it's just cute and nothing too serious, but Keitaro begins spending time around the Aoyamas (maybe once every year) and he tends to watch over Motoko very seriously and Tsuruko just -loves it-.
Obviously, for rule of funny, the parents by this point have just taken a hands off approach to it (Because even if they wanted to force the issue, they don't want to.) But Tsuruko? Tsuroko -wants- the two of them to end up together, and she is all too happy to show her devious and meticulous side in making sure the two of them -do-. Which leads to a modification of the original Promise, Tsuruko is the one who tells Keitaro that going to Toudai together leads to a happy life together, and he (falling utterly for the bait) promises to go to Toudai with Motoko. A little after this point the two families lose touch due to (mrhspaglhal) reasons and the kids lose touch with one another save for occasional letters.
Now, moving into the series proper, Keitaro obviously still gets kicked out and goes to Hina to have a place to stay to study for Toudai (which he remembers a little -better- why he wants to go there, even if it still kind of registers to him as "I promised to go there with a girl.") Though this time he gets a little more warning because in his last back and forth with Motoko (Or Tsuruko I suppose), he's told she's -staying in Hina but not that it's been converted into a girl's dorm.- So, instead of ending up sharing the hot springs with Naru (yet) he looks around to try and find (what he expects to be) cute little Motoko.
Instead, he (not literally) runs into Shinobu and asks her where his grandmother is, and if she could also tell him where Motoko is as well. Shinobu, not freaking out (because if he knows both Hina and Motoko, he must at least be somewhat on the up and up) tells him that Hina left shortly before on a vacation. Depressed, Keitaro asks hopefully after Motoko, and finds out that she's out running an errand. Feeling a little better, Keitaro asks if it's alright if he waits for her here.
Of course, this is where the proverbial shit hits the fan, as Naru (not seeing a reason why it'd be an issue) goes towards the springs with only a towel on, which leads to massive nosebleed on Keitaro's part which of course sparks a scream from Shinobu and leads into the near canon chase sequence, though this time Shinobu stands up for Keitaro ("H-he was only waiting for Grandma Hina and Motoko.") which sparks everyone's interests, making them needle him about why he's waiting for Motoko, since him being her grandson is reason enough for him to see Hina.
At that point, Motoko walks in, looks surprised at the male in the dorm (hand on bokken, ready to strike, Motoko-fare) when Keitaro looks like he's seen a ghost, practically spitting out that Motoko has grown up as beautiful as her sister, which triggers Motoko's memory and the other girl's collective jaws crash through the floor when she all but hugs him and -doesn't flip her lid-, although she admonishes him for "not knowing this is a girl's..." before realizing that she -didn't- warn him herself when she could have, making her act shamed and get -even more frazzled by Keitaro when he laughs it off.-
To everyone else, it looks like she's practically his girlfriend (because they can't reconcile the Motoko they know with the Motoko who didn't just Rock Splitting Sword Keitaro into the next continent), but it's not that simple. Motoko is even more nervous around Keitaro than regular males -because- she's known him for so long and she -does- remember both promises (because Tsuruko is all too happy to -remind her- if she does forget.) And while she's not sure if she loves Keitaro, she definitely gets that "I have a cold" feeling around him.
A slight change from canon is Keitaro picked up a little bit of kendo at Tsuruko's urging, wanting him and Motoko to have something in common to share, but Keitaro (still being in utter geek and two left feet mode) is just not any good at it.
Thoughts?
"Keitaro! I don't think -"
"Yes, you may. Would you like me to show you how?"
"Yes!"
"Here... Like this."
"She's so pretty... What's her name?"
"Motoko."
"Motoko... She's so pretty! She's a princess, right?"
"Of course."
"Good. Motoko... I'm gonna marry her someday!"
"KEITARO!"
"He he~! Make her a beautiful and happy queen, Keitaro."
"I will. I promise!"
-------------------l----------l--------/------l--------/----
Keitaro Urashima had spent most of his life chasing a dream. Whether it was one dream or another, it was something that defined his character straight to the core. From his desperate attempts to make a happy ending with the girl of his dreams to his desire to never hurt someone. It was arguably his best and most outstanding trait.
So, it should come as little surprise that Keitaro clung like a madman to the beliefs instilled in him despite how over time his memory of such things became foggy. However, things had changed in this world, even if only slightly.
This was why that young man, Keitaro, was now gazing up at the Hinata House, smiling in remembrance even as he stepped inside.
-----------------l---/----/----/---l—l----l---------------l---------/----l
“Hello!†Keitaro called out, settling his bags aside and removing his shoes as he entered the living room of the large place. “Granny Hina? Motoko?†He looked at the world through his glasses, confused why the place wasn’t far more busy. It can’t be that out of business, can it? He thought to himself, trying to come to terms with the possibility that maybe he’d gotten the wrong address. Just as he was considering leaving, a noise caught his attention.
"Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you, um..." Keitaro looked quietly at the young looking blue haired girl, somewhat surprised that the girl was working here, from the sight of her carrying a basket of laundry that she sat down after fumbling it, just barely keeping it in her hands. The girl's eyes seemed a bit wide, like a doe heading straight into an oncoming semi-truck, it almost felt to Keitaro like he'd scared the daylights out of her just saying hello.
"U-m-hello. I'm Shinobu," She paused, looking from side to side and Keitaro -really- felt like he'd scared her at this point, deciding the sooner he spoke up why he was here the sooner she'd calm down, so he decided to interrupt her.
"Shinobu, would you happen to know where Hina Urashima or Motoko Aoyama would be at this time? I've been looking for them for the past few minutes but you're the first person I've run into." Keitaro explained, and seeing the girl visibly relax eased the burden on his shoulders. I definitely don't want her to scream or start crying. That'd look -really- bad! He thought with a grimace before listening to the girl's reply.
"Oh! Grandma Hina left yesterday on a trip around the world-" Keitaro's shoulders slumped, wondering why she'd sent that letter to him saying to come here in such a rush if she was leaving! "And Motoko is... I think she's running an errand in town, she should be back soon." Keitaro perked up; happy at least that he'd get to see Motoko after so long. I bet she's even cuter than before! Keitaro felt himself smiling, and he was glad it didn't seem to bother Shinobu.
"Do you mind if I stay here for a little while and wait for her? I've been waiting a long time to see her, even if Granny isn't here." Keitaro said, which brought Shinobu's eyes back to him away from where she had been looking aside, face softly pink. Huh, I must've given her a fright after all, she looks a bit flushed. The brunette male thought to himself, when a noise from behind caught his attention and despite Shinobu's gasp of warning, he turned around.
---l-------/---l---/---------------l----l----/
---l-------------l-------------l---------------l---------l
A random idea I had earlier while sitting bored at work. Instead of having the promise to get into toudai with Naru/Mutsumi when they're much younger, Keitaro visits the Aoyamas with his parents for (ghglsnglnabln) reason and basically falls in love at first sight with Motoko. Being a kid, their parents think it's just cute and nothing too serious, but Keitaro begins spending time around the Aoyamas (maybe once every year) and he tends to watch over Motoko very seriously and Tsuruko just -loves it-.
Obviously, for rule of funny, the parents by this point have just taken a hands off approach to it (Because even if they wanted to force the issue, they don't want to.) But Tsuruko? Tsuroko -wants- the two of them to end up together, and she is all too happy to show her devious and meticulous side in making sure the two of them -do-. Which leads to a modification of the original Promise, Tsuruko is the one who tells Keitaro that going to Toudai together leads to a happy life together, and he (falling utterly for the bait) promises to go to Toudai with Motoko. A little after this point the two families lose touch due to (mrhspaglhal) reasons and the kids lose touch with one another save for occasional letters.
Now, moving into the series proper, Keitaro obviously still gets kicked out and goes to Hina to have a place to stay to study for Toudai (which he remembers a little -better- why he wants to go there, even if it still kind of registers to him as "I promised to go there with a girl.") Though this time he gets a little more warning because in his last back and forth with Motoko (Or Tsuruko I suppose), he's told she's -staying in Hina but not that it's been converted into a girl's dorm.- So, instead of ending up sharing the hot springs with Naru (yet) he looks around to try and find (what he expects to be) cute little Motoko.
Instead, he (not literally) runs into Shinobu and asks her where his grandmother is, and if she could also tell him where Motoko is as well. Shinobu, not freaking out (because if he knows both Hina and Motoko, he must at least be somewhat on the up and up) tells him that Hina left shortly before on a vacation. Depressed, Keitaro asks hopefully after Motoko, and finds out that she's out running an errand. Feeling a little better, Keitaro asks if it's alright if he waits for her here.
Of course, this is where the proverbial shit hits the fan, as Naru (not seeing a reason why it'd be an issue) goes towards the springs with only a towel on, which leads to massive nosebleed on Keitaro's part which of course sparks a scream from Shinobu and leads into the near canon chase sequence, though this time Shinobu stands up for Keitaro ("H-he was only waiting for Grandma Hina and Motoko.") which sparks everyone's interests, making them needle him about why he's waiting for Motoko, since him being her grandson is reason enough for him to see Hina.
At that point, Motoko walks in, looks surprised at the male in the dorm (hand on bokken, ready to strike, Motoko-fare) when Keitaro looks like he's seen a ghost, practically spitting out that Motoko has grown up as beautiful as her sister, which triggers Motoko's memory and the other girl's collective jaws crash through the floor when she all but hugs him and -doesn't flip her lid-, although she admonishes him for "not knowing this is a girl's..." before realizing that she -didn't- warn him herself when she could have, making her act shamed and get -even more frazzled by Keitaro when he laughs it off.-
To everyone else, it looks like she's practically his girlfriend (because they can't reconcile the Motoko they know with the Motoko who didn't just Rock Splitting Sword Keitaro into the next continent), but it's not that simple. Motoko is even more nervous around Keitaro than regular males -because- she's known him for so long and she -does- remember both promises (because Tsuruko is all too happy to -remind her- if she does forget.) And while she's not sure if she loves Keitaro, she definitely gets that "I have a cold" feeling around him.
A slight change from canon is Keitaro picked up a little bit of kendo at Tsuruko's urging, wanting him and Motoko to have something in common to share, but Keitaro (still being in utter geek and two left feet mode) is just not any good at it.
Thoughts?
