Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Fuyuoka ❯ Entry: The Beach ( Chapter 5 )

Beware a ticked-off Kryptonian.

“Hey pal, you gonna buy something or what?” Keitaro looked up from the cheap, mostly seashell-based jewelry laid out under the tarp. The proprietor of the shack glared at him.

“I'm thinking, I'm thinking,” he muttered, his eyes roaming the jewelry again. In truth, he'd been looking for a present for his aunt Haruka. During the summer months, Haruka would open up the beachside tea house and serve beachgoers ramen, hot dogs, and (of course) iced tea. To Keitaro however, on this trip, she seemed to be more, well… “Haruka-ish” than usual. More prone to slapping him, even when he didn't call her his aunt, and much colder and withdrawn.

Maybe something to do with Seta showing up? Keitaro mused. In any event, he was determined to find her a good gift. To try and cheer her up. His eyes locked onto a bracelet of small, red stones, and he picked it up.

He gasped slightly at a rush of heat to his head. It seemed to fill his skull with a pleasant warmth. He felt himself begin to smile.

“Hey, kid, you gonna buy that or what?” Asked the shack owner. Keitaro turned and smirked.

“It's the only thing you've got that isn't total trash,” the ronin replied smoothly. “Where did you find this stuff, a dumpster?”

The owner's face turned red in anger. Keitaro grinned devilishly at him, before slipping the bracelet on and shoving it underneath his short sleeves to conceal it.

“I'm not paying squat.”

“Yes you are! You miserable punk!” The owner reached across the table and tried to grab Keitaro's neck, but the younger man grabbed his wrist and shoved him back.

With a crash! the owner smashed through wooden cases of assorted sea shells. He groaned in pain as Keitaro casually strode away.

“Hey idiot! Where have you been?” Naru demanded as the familiar form of Hinata's manager rounded the corner. She stalked up to him, ready to whop him right back where he came. Keitaro merely smirked.

“None of your business, cockroach,” the ronin cooly replied, walking past her. Naru blinked awkwardly, before her face turned scarlet, her eyes narrowed in fury.

“YOU SON OF A-!”

Keitaro caught Naru's punch as though he wasn't trying. The redhead gaped at him, as he turned around and began to squeeze her knuckles together. White-hot pain burned in her hand, making her gasp in shock. When did he get so strong?

“Listen, you stuckup whore,” Keitaro whispered angrily. “I'm the manager. I say who stays and who goes. So unless you want me to throw you out on the street without a penny to your name, shut the fuck up and do as you're told. Got it?” Naru clenched her teeth and fought back tears. Keitaro's grip tightened a little more, making Naru's bones pop painfully. She whimpered, the tears finally rolling down her cheeks.

“Why am I even bothering with you?” Keitaro asked, letting Naru go and kicking sand in her face. She cried out, clutching her tightly closed eyes, as the ronin turned and stalked off. Her eyes red and burning, Naru looked up, shivering in shock and disbelief.

Who was that guy?

Keitaro smirked as he smashed yet another car from the cliff top-parking lot on the surf-worn rocks far below. He giggled like a child as he grabbed yet another and threw it over, watching it fall and finally crunch like an aluminum can.

“Sempai? What are you doing?” Keitaro turned and saw a worried-looking Shinobu standing before him. He smiled pleasantly at her.

“Just having some fun…” Shinobu walked over to Keitaro's side, and peered over the edge of the cliff. She gasped.

“Sempai! What have you done! Those aren't yours! And the people who find them will-”

“Will think that the cliff gave way,” Keitaro shrugged. Shinobu gaped at him.

“Wha… Why would they-Auuuuuuu!” Keitaro stomped as hard as he could, making the cliff crumble and shake under their feet. He took the screaming Shinobu into his arms and ran at full speed out of the parking lot, before the entire cliff (and the parked cars) collapsed into the angry surf below. Shinobu shivered violently in his arms, clutching him for dear life, as Keitaro grinned over his handiwork. Dozens of people were running towards the disaster, shouting and screaming. The ronin shrugged. It was their problem now…

He sped off, appearing right next to the Hinata Beach Tea House. Haruka looked up from a table she was scrubbing, a deeper frown than usual on her face.

“Keitaro… Where have you been? And what did you do to Naru? The girl's a nervous wreck.” Keitaro smirked and set the frightened Shinobu down, before walking right up to Haruka and kissing her deeply. His aunt's eyebrows nearly shot up off her forehead, as he pulled away and grinned at her.

“Happy birthday, Haruka-chan,” he purred. “I got you the only thing on this beach worth my time.” He slid the bracelet off and handed it to her. The moment her shakig hands took it from Keitaro, he blinked and looked about.

“Uh… Shinobu?” The paler-than-usual girl stuttered.

“Y-Yes, Sempai?”

“What… Happened?”

Keitaro's face was buried in his hands, as Suu studied Haruka's necklace underneath her multi-purpose scanner she'd brought along for fun. The foreign blonde looked up from the screen and smiled cheerfully.

“This is kryptonite! No doubt about it!” Shinobu, also in the shade far away from the tea house, frowned.

“Red? But, isn't kryptonite green?” Keitaro groaned again. Suu shook her head.

“This is a different variety! A different form of kryptonite! Like coal and diamond! Look different, but made of same things.” Suu frowned thoughtfully.

“This kryptonite seem to mess with your head, rather than body. Stimulates production of adrenaline and a few other hormones in your body. Makes you… Amoral, maybe a little-”

“Psychotic?” Keitaro asked glumly. Shinobu patted his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

“It wasn't your fault, Urashima-Sempai…”

“No, but I… I hurt Naru. Haruka's, well… And none of the other girls will ever trust me again,” Keitaro sighed. “And I can't exactly tell them that a little bracelet made out of red meteor rocks made me do it, can I?” Suu rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Shinobu opened her mouth, then thought better of it. Suu snapped her fingers and grinned.

“Suu has got it!”

“MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Pitiful monkey man! You'll never defeat the forces of darkness!” Keitaro cackled atop the hill of plaster in the ancient arena. The audience of children gasped and clapped as brave Goku and his companions the Pig and Turtle, attempted to rescue the Guardian, who now lay in a tasty white bikini and with a collar at her neck.

Naru really did make a good slave girl, Keitaro reflected. She still glanced up nervously at Keitaro from time to time, but the story that he'd only been getting into character seemed to be holding.

“You'll never defeat me, Dark King! I never give up!” Seta challenged from below, his grin still evident underneath the face paint. At his sides were Suu and Motoko, all ready to do battle with Keitaro (who was alone, save for Kitsune).

“Oh Keitarooo…”

Speaking of which… “Yes, Kitsune?” The foxy blonde draped herself around his shoulders and purred.

“I must say, you make a very sexy Demon Lord,” she murmured seductively. The children in the audience started giggling and blushing at the spectacle. Keitaro coughed nervously.

“Er, yeah… Thank you… Excuse me…” Keitaro took a deep breath, and focused. Suu assured Keitaro that she could convince everyone that his use of his powers would be passed off as simple special effects. Naru fumed at Kitsune's actions, but said nothing as Keitaro stepped away from her embrace and put on his evil smirk.

“Allright Goku, prepare to die!” Keitaro leapt from the top of the fake-stone steps and landed, unharmed, at the base of the hill. The audience cheered as Seta lunged forth with his wooden staff. Keitaro, decided to put on a good show for the kids, grabbed the staff and swung Seta over his head, pitching him to the other side of the arena. Motoko lashed out with one of her more potent wind-based attacks, and he easily dodged, before grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her into the same corner as Seta. Suu launched herself at his head, but he simply ducked and she crashed into the dirt, her eyes swirls.

“Ha ha ha! Your resistance is futile!” Keitaro cackled, standing imperiously. The kids couldn't help but cheer and laugh. The amazing “special effects” that Keitaro had employed easily made up for the fact that he was the bad guy.

Seta lanced out, easily moving five times faster than a normal human was supposed to. Fortunately, Keitaro wasn't human.

Oh yeah… Not even close, he thought cheekily, dodging with barely any effort. Motoko screamed “DIE URASHIMA!” and lashed out with her brightly-colored stage spear. Keitaro simply dodged it while simultaneously nudging Seta's strike into the samurai girl. When he slowed down to normal velocity, the two crashed into each other violently. Both groaned and shakily got up to their feet.

“Well, part timer… You're a lot better than I thought,” the archaeologist grinned, blood trailing down from the top of his head. Keitaro shrugged nervously.

“Suu's doing it all. I'm just the puppet,” he muttered back, dodging another blow by the now fuming Motoko.

“She's very good when it comes to special effects,” Seta noted, working with Motoko to try and catch Keitaro between their weapons. Considering that Keitaro's reaction times were shorter than the pause between a gnat's wing beats, unless Seta was holding back he was never going to hit the ronin. And neither was Motoko.

“I must talk to Suu about giving you such technology,” Motoko snarled as Keitaro performed a perfect backflip over her deadly thrust. “A pervert like you should not have such power.”

“Yeah. I could blast innocent people through a wall for a simple accident,” Keitaro stuck out his tongue at her, making her scream something in an ancient dialect of Nipponese he couldn't figure out.

“No, I don't think his mother would be into that sort of thing,” Seta grinned and winked at Keitaro. The ronin smiled weakly, but was still able to avoid yet another blow from the archaeologist.

Crud. Haruka's making the “kill it” signal. Better end this fast. Keitaro made to land a punch in Seta's face, before deliberately tripping and falling into Seta's blow. He then threw his head and shoulder back, and backflipped, throwing himself into the base of the fake mountain. It shuddered and rumbled, even as Keitaro weakly flopped out of the hole he'd made.

Wait… I'm not doing that! The ancient arena pillars were collapsing, and Naru and Kitsune were screaming as one fell towards them. Keitaro switched to superspeed, running up to the top of the fake mountain, grabbing the two of them, running back down and placing them out of harm's way, before he ran back to where he was lying before. Too late he realized that the instant the pillar crashed into the mountain, the debris would fall and bury him. He groaned at his stupidity as the plaster and several-ton boulders covered him.

He supposed that the debris covering him would have smashed a human flat. As it was, it felt like he was simply covered in very large, hard pillows. It would be so easy to just smash his way through…

Unfortunately, that would raise a lot of questions he'd rather not answer.

Damn damn damn… I am so dead…Keitaro grimaced, before mentally snapping his fingers. He narrowed his eyes and switched to X-ray vision. The world before him turned into a mixture of glowing blue outlines. He picked out a couple of human-shaped skeletons digging at the rubble in front of him.

Keitaro grimaced, before mentally snapping his fingers. He narrowed his eyes and switched to X-ray vision. The world before him turned into a mixture of glowing blue outlines. He picked out a couple of human-shaped skeletons digging at the rubble in front of him.

Carefully, he wriggled back through the rocks covering him, careful not to shift them too much. He finally found an empty space between the steel girders that had made up the fake mountain, and the real collapsed boulders. He pushed himself up, found a crack, and pushed it up a little-Just enough to let in light from the full moon overhead.

“Hey! Hey! Help! Help!” Keitaro shouted. It was mere moments later that a Mecha Tama's steel claws reached into the parting between the boulders and lifted it wider. A paile face with blue hair and a bronze face with blonde hair flanked the sides of the giant mecha.

“Keitaro! You're allright!”

“Sempai! Thank goodness!” Keitaro grinned a bit self-deprecatingly, as an angry Naru stuck her head in next.

“Stupid idiot! Don't scare us like that again!”

“What, you were worried about me, Naru?” Keitaro asked with a wry smile. Naru blushed furiously.

“Hell no, stupid baka! Seta! C'mon! We've got to check on the kids…” She trailed off as she headed away. Suu shrugged.

“Naru-Naru seems to like you.” Keitaro smirked.

“I don't like her.”

“Poor Narusegawa-sempai,” Shinobu sighed. She then shrugged as well.

“Too bad for her.”

TBC…