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A Different Start

Chapter Forty

Coming home late at night, Keitaro with the addition of miss Croft took the steps one at a time up towards the former Inn. Keitaro was lugging a large bag on his back as he climbed up and a worried yet amused Lara watched him as he does.

Lara had carried mostly essentials but a three-month expedition was still too long to only bring a few clothes. She had thought of buying the extra clothes she will need at their destination but purchasing a whole wardrobe would cause a bit of money so she decided to carry as many as she can that would last her a week. Keitaro seeing her luggage and thinking it only right he offered to carry the mammoth of a bag up towards Hinata Sou.

Arriving at the top with a cold blow of the wind that felt nice on Keitaro's face he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Lara smiled at him and walked to his side. Keitaro straightened up and faced the woman with a smile.

"Welcome to Hinata-sou, It's a bit old but homey." Keitaro said and started for the front entrance. Entering the building, Lara can't help but agree that the atmosphere inside indeed felt 'homey' ".

Keitaro wondered where all the others were and his question was answered hearing commotion at the dining area. Keitaro placed Lara's belonging on the floor leaning on the couch, Lara moved closer to him and he gestured towards the direction of the dining area.

"Seems everybody is in there, this will make it a bit easier introducing you to them". Keitaro said and gestured to follow him.

Lara loosened her jacket revealing a bit of her shirt-covered chest that can give Kitsune a bit of competition. Entering the hall, Keitaro was surprised to see everyone there and also two additional familiar faces.

Haruka gave him a quick wave and motioned for him to sit down. Keitaro followed and Lara entered also gaining everyone's attention, which the British brunette found quite unnerving. Keitaro motioned for her to sit next to him and Kitsune raised a brow at who the new bombshell was.

"Keitaro good you're here, I believe you already know Otohime-san and Fujisawa-san?" Haruka asked and Keitaro nodded in agreement with his Aunt, Mutsumi gave him a warm smile and waved, as opposed to Mizuho who looked sheepish and smiled coyly at him and gave a small wave at his direction.

"Let me get straight to the point here, these two employees of mine are in need of emergency lodgings as their current one, went up in smokes." Haruka said casually and Keitaro looked worried and stared at both said women.

"Are you alright, you didn't get hurt did you?" Keitaro said worried for both of them.

"We're fine thank you for the concern Keitaro-kun" Mutsumi said and placed her hand to her cheeks. "Although I did not managed to save extra underwear so I might need to buy new ones." Mutsumi said offhandedly and Keitaro turned red and a shiver rose from his back. Kitsune was smiling and looking at his direction, she was genuinely entertained at how Keitaro could be so weak against the opposite sex. She so much enjoyed watching him squirm under the antics of her female friends.

Mizuho berated her friends for revealing such intimate information. "Mutsumi-san, Keitaro-san did not need to know that." She whispered to her companion.

"Ara ara, but did you not also fail to save any or your underwear Mi-chan." Mutsumi said and Kitsune could swear the Okinawan was doing it on purpose. "MUTSUMI-SAN!" Mizuho blurted out almost standing up from her seat.

Motoko tried to be indifferent but could not help a small smirk form on her lips, she did not approve of such things but it was still amusing to see. Naru beside her just sighed at the antics of her childhood friend.

"Don't worry you two, I like to not wear underwear either so we could be no-underwear-buddies, the young molmolian royalty said with a large smile, beside her the blue haired househelper Shinobu sighed. "Suu-chan, I told you to always wear your panties!" the bluenette told the older girl but Suu just smiled at her and blink "But it's too hot wearing them, besides it'd be easier for Keitaro if he suddenly can't control his manly urges." Suu said and everyone gave him a dirty look except for Kitsune who was holding in her laughter, she was enjoying this too much and she will be able to console him later with a little makeout session if needed. For Kitsune it's a win-win for her, she gets a little laugh at Keitaro's expense and then a little brownie point for making him feel better in more than one sense of the word.

"I can control my manly urges perfectly Suu-chan, so please wear your panties." Keitaro sighed but the blonde piped in "That's what I'm afraid of, I need you to jump and ravage me already so that my brother don't get any funny ideas of marrying me off to someone. If this goes on too long I would have to be the one to jump your bones and get down and dirty but the others might not like that." Keitaro was now a beacon of red in the room as Suu nonchalantly declared her attraction to Keitaro.

Most of the people in the room was tinged red even Yuu-san who was quite used to lewd conversations because of her affiliation with her gang was feeling quite embarrassed and hot under the collar.

Too much innuendo in one room full of young girls and one guy was just not a good mix. Kitsune was starting to have trouble breathing from holding in her laughter. Naru kept quite and held herself from exploding into a tirade of how Keitaro was becoming a bad influence for Suu. She understood that she might be impressionable but Suu was smarter than she let on and was seemed to be doing it on purpose, whether for amusement or seriousness it was still a mystery.

Lara who was beside Keitaro and had been watching the whole spectacle could not help giggle, she might not fully understand their conversation but bits and pieces of it that she could get and Keitaro's body language told her enough of what the conversation was about and she found it funny and entertaining.

"Anyway getting off topic, these two need a place to stay and the teahouses spare rooms are not really in any state to be used so I figured they can have a room here until I can get the tea house's fixed or they find a place to stay at." Haruka finished and looked expectantly at Keitaro, The young manager sat back in his chair and quickly replied, "Of course you're welcome here, we still have plenty of room to spare, and I don't mind you two deciding to stay here indefinitely I can give you a really good deal." Keitaro finished and the two beauties were clearly grateful to him.

"There you have it, you two pick your rooms and get settled in, with all what has happened with you today it's reasonable you're tired." Haruka said digging in her pocket and to the surprise of the girls she took out a lollipop instead of a cigarette. "Moving on, who's the girl there with you?"

Haruka asked, everyone had been keeping quiet about it since they entered the room, as they were more worried about Mutsumi and Mizuho. But now that that ordeal has been resolved, they were now able to address more pressing matters. Who was the beauty beside him and why did she come in with him.

Keitaro laughed sheepishly and then stood up and Lara confused also stood up and Keitaro gestured to her with both hands "This is Croft-san, she's a new addition to our expedition and she needed a place to stay so I thought I would not hurt to give her a room for a few days before we go." Keitaro explained

Lara remembered it was courtesy to bow and introduce herself and so she did, " My name is Lara Croft, pleased to meet you" she said after rising from a bow. Everyone then crowded her immediately introducing themselves and wanting to get to know her. Keitaro was relieved that everyone easily accepted her and moved towards the kitchen but was surprised that Kitsune was suddenly infront of him.

"Hey there handsome, I see you brought another addition to your harem." Kitsune joked and Keitaro almost choked. He stuttered at first and saw Kitsune giggle and he slowly relaxed as Ktisune wrapped her arms around his neck not before making sure that everyone had their attention towards Lara and not at them.

Quickly she gave him a peck on the lips and released Keitaro, but not before whispering something into his ear. "Same time up on the roof deck, I got a little surprise for you" Kitsune gave her little mischievous smile at him and Keitaro felt really warm and his heart was beating excitedly. "S-sure, gotcha" the young man replied lamely and watched the ashen haired woman walked towards the guest.

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Lara let out a sigh as she entered the room she was being lent. It was sparse but a futon had been laid out, Keitaro again was the one who carried her belongings. The young man let out a deep breath and gave the room a once over.

"It's not much but you can use it, and the view here is quite good." He said wiping sweat from his brow.

"Thank you, Keitaro" Lara said and stretched her back, she had took off her jacket earlier and with only the form fitting shirt she had on stretching on her body Keitaro got a good look at how athletic and shapely she was.

"Like what you see?" She said mischievously her words giving off an exotic sound with her accent. Keitaro suddenly felt very warm and needed to fan himself. "I uhmm-uhhhh" Keitaro replied oh so eloquently.

Lara gave off a giggle and Keitaro sighed, again another woman that seem to like to tease him. "Your very easy to have fun with as the girls put it and I couldn't help but see and try it myself" Lara laughed a bit and stood infront of Keitaro her arms crossed under her bossom her posture relaxed as she can be.

Keitaro couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked but quickly berated himself, as he remembered that a certain ashen head girl was waiting for him. "I should be going now, if you need anything just give me shout" he said lamely backing towards the door. Lara suddenly tried to say something and took a step forward but her foot caught on a loose tatami mat and she fell forward to Keitaro acting quickly he caught her but lost his balance and both fell down on their side. Keitaro's right arm was caught under Lara's torso and her left hand caught under his head. Both cringed from the fall and took a moment to realize their position. In the moment both caught each others gaze and stared at each other.

"Are, you alright?" Keitaro said and tried to move his arm, Lara moved her hand and caressed his cheek. "This is nice." She breathed out and Keitaro instantly flared up like a lamp. He panicked and jerked his arm from under her and he stood up abruptly

"Itsbeenanicenightseeyouinthemorningbye!" Keitaro spoke in a flash and was out the room before Lara could get up. The woman sighed and put a hand on her cheek feet crossed.

"Just my luck, I think I scared'em off?" She blew on a loose strand of her hair then dropped on her back.

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Keitaro breathed deeply and tried to catch his breath. His heart was beating excitedly and he was very confused at what Lara did. The way she touched his face made him shiver, in a good way. He shook his head getting the image of her out of his head. After calming himself Keitaro straightened himself and searched for Kitsune at the roofdeck area.

He spotted her far off the side wrapped in a blanket and seemed to be busy with something. Keitaro moved towards her, his steps light, he then noticed what she was fiddling with and was surprised at what he saw.

"Well this certainly is a surprise." Keitaro said and sat next to her, Kitsune looked to him and smiled, she offered to share her blanket and Keitaro accepted happily. Huddled under the fabric and sharing such intimate warmth Keitaro pointed out the surprise.

"A telescope?" Keitaro asked and Kitsune smiled.

"Yeah but the surprise is at the end of it, here come on look." Kitsune motioned for him to peek in the instrument and he saw a bright cluster of stars that seemed to be swimming in the night as their light sparkled. The stars seemed to dance with the light shining from them.

"That…" Kitsune pointed towards the direction of where the stars were "is the surprise, I forgot what they called it but I figured it would still be nice to show it you. Even though were apart you just have to look up and remember I'm looking at those stars just as you are." She smiled warmly and leaned her head on his shoulder. Keitaro relaxed and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"I never thought you do cheesy…" Keitaro joked.

Kitsune looked up to him and smiled, "Are you kidding, I've been waiting for the right guy to cheese it all up." Kitsune giggled and kissed Keitaro lightly on the lips. The ashen head girl then gave a small sneeze and Keitaro couldn't help but smirk.

"It's really cold…" She said and reached for a thermos she had prepared and poured hot tea for both of them.

Cupping the beverage in both hands, she savored the warmth it provided and again leaned her head on Keitaro's shoulder. "This is really nice." She whispered and Keitaro nodded and turned towards Kitsune.

He slowly leaned down and in a moment that seemed longer than it should have been, he caught her lips and both passionately shared their feelings, hands traveling over each other's body, the cold forgotten as the warmth they shared engulfed them, and a moment that they would never forget.

Unbeknownst to them a certain auburn who was looking for her bestfriend was at the stairs, hidden in the shadows, her mouth caught in her hands with all her strength holding something back. Her body shook and warm tears dared to spill from her eyes.

She knew she was the one that chose to abandon that ship and let it sail, but it still felt horrid to see what she chose to let go.

A/N2165126591252865 A/N

Authors note:

I have no knowledge of stargazing so yeah that part wasn't really what you would call a very informative moment.

HOOHAA! An update that didn't take a year hahahahhahammmmmmmmmmssssssss. I got into the groove after binge-ing on kim possible fanfics. Yes I said it.

Now if only I could find some sickeningly-cutey-romantic-funny-fanfics to keep my inspiration up, I could probably write more.

Anyone know a good

SpideyXShe-hulk fanfic(what, it's funny and kinda cute)

(It was almost canon)

SpideyXSable(I remember reading this was canon)

Maybe a good Kim Possible fanfic (something funny preferably with Ron as a main)

And if you could throw in a Batman X Supergirl(I know it seems wrong with the age difference and all but meh) or Zatanna it would really be appreciated. Heck even a wild card of a Bat X Ivy or Quinn is welcome.

Oh and funny SG-1 fanfics are welcome…indeed.

Just PM me and advance thanks for anyone with any suggestions.

Thanks for the read and I hope you enjoyed it.