Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Pride and Honor ❯ The Beginning ( Chapter 1 )
The girls of the Hinata always thought they knew their manager quite well, but the arrival of his son changes things...
Anime/Manga: Love Hina Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.16.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Work In Progress
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A /N: Okay, this is a re-posting of my first fic. I have it on FF.net now, but this version is for those of you that prefer MediaMiner. Anyway, it was received pretty well over there so I hope that you folks will like it as well.
I do not own Love Hina. Don't sue me for this.
Oh and // mean thoughts.
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Pride and Honor: Prologue - The Beginning
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It was a rather peaceful day at the Hinata Inn. Keitaro was finishing up his tasks, and it appeared that all of the other inhabitants had retired to their respective rooms.
Deciding this was a golden opportunity, the resident manager decided that he should gather his materials and clean the woman's section of the hot springs out back. No matter what time of day, it always seemed that the hot springs were occupied by one of the other tenants, which in turn prevented him from cleaning it as often as he should.
Walking towards the hot springs, whistling to himself, Keitaro allowed himself to daydream a bit. Images of the few months he spent as kanrinin of the Hinata-sou flashing through his head. Naru punching him through walls. Motoko hitting him with her bizarre sword techniques. Suu attacking him with her mecha tamas. Having to clean up the mess after taking these painful trips through the ceiling. Shinobu crying. Mitsune scamming him out of his money. //Man,// he thought nearly chuckling to himself, //my life stinks.//
Of course, his heart was in a split decision about all of this. More images passed through his head. Studying with Naru. Motoko showing him a sword technique on the roof. Suu playing with him. Shinobu smiling at him and blushing (As she normally did when near him). Mitsune sharing a drink with him. Yep, these were definitely the moments that kept him going. All of the girls had a good side.
All of the images from earlier began to go sour. Naru deciding she had had enough of him and throwing him through the hole in her bedroom. Motoko insisting that they spar with each since they were both practicing on the roof. Suu whipping out another one of her mecha tamas while they were playing. The other residents misinterpreting Shinobu's blushing and mauling him. A hung over Keitaro realizing that Mitsune may be too good of a drinking partner. Keitaro merely shook his head and continued on. //That's the price I pay...// he thought. As it stood, the residents were his new family and he resolved to stick with them as long as he could.
Opening the door to the hot spring, Keitaro found that were, in fact, not empty. Quite the contrary.
To his surprise (and dread) he found that not only were the hot spring in use, it seemed that all five of the tenants were there. Keitaro turned away, trying to hide his nosebleed.
The fact that they were no longer alone was not lost on the girls. "Keitaro! What the hell are you doing here!?"
"I-I'm just cleaning! Honestly, I thought you all went back to your rooms!" Keitaro stammered, retreating from an irate Naru.
"Well, we left! Didn't you see me? I walked right by you, baka!" She advanced on him slowly. "You must've been daydreaming again."
"Um..."
"Enough of this! Today you die, pervert! Rock Splitting Sword!" Motoko unleashed a devastating attack sending the young manager flying.
Whilst traveling through the sky, the young kanrinrin considered staying wherever he landed as he blacked out.
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"Hey, has anyone seen Keitaro-sempai?" A nervous Shinobu inquired during dinner. He had not returned as of yet, and it seemed that the boy would, in fact, not be coming back.
"The baka? Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up," Naru replied in an off-hand manner. Though the fact that her study partner had gone AWOL was slightly bothering her as well.
"Shall we go find him? He could be running away again," Motoko suggested.
Everyone seemed to consider this a moment. "Nah..." came the unanimous reply. As they returned to their meals.
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In Tokyo a black shadow leapt from rooftop to rooftop. He was wearing Ninja garb, with a sword stuck in belt and a variety of other weapons hidden away from view. He stopped and looked around.
"Is he here...?" he said, smiling to himself under his mask. "No, he's close, but not in this area."
Continuing on, even faster than before, the lone ninja continued his search.
"I will find you, Urashima Keitaro!"
Little did he know, that yet another ninja was shadowing his movements. From his vantage point he could hear the other ninja's declaration. He instantly recognized the voice behind the mask.
"No... it can't be..." The other ninja said as he trailed him.
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~~
*Flashback*
A small boy trains in a dojo. Keitaro watches with mild curiosity.
*Flash*
Keitaro spars with a small boy. He beats the smaller kid, but smiles and helps him up, showing him a new technique.
*Flash*
The boy, now a bit older faces off against Keitaro in his Ninja gi. They both bow to each other and then draw their swords...
~~
Keitaro snaps awake. He looks around and finds himself in a dumpster somewhere in the city. "Great," he groans as he pulls himself out. He dusts himself off and looks around. "The girls must be worried. This is the first time I've been unconscious for so long."
Keitaro waited at the bus stop, trying hard to curb his boredom by doing some people watching. This having failed he resigned to fall asleep on the bench.
//Man, I'm tired... huh?//
He snapped awake as he felt a presence. Looking around, Keitaro could see nothing suspicious, but he remained alert nonetheless.
Standing up, Keitaro made his way down the street. //Someone's out there, and there is no way I'm leading him back to the Hinata-sou!//
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Aoyama Motoko searched the streets of Tokyo for any sign of their manager. It was about ten o'clock when Motoko decided to seek Keitaro out, fearing that his bad luck had landed him in yet another bad situation.
//I can sense Urashima... but I sense two others following him as well.// Motoko thought disdainfully as she quickened her pace.
Motoko had only recently mastered early detection of potential threats by sensing their fighting strengths. It was an odd feeling that grew stronger the nearer she was to powerful opponents, but what she sensed startled her.
Urashima had shown incredible strength when she tried to sense him, bringing a slight amount of pain to her body with his powerful feedback. Somehow knowing that she had caught on, Keitaro shielded himself, but it was too late. After this, Motoko insisted that they train together.
She could now feel his energy moving slowly towards her, but two others were following him. Both were incredibly strong as well.
//What have you gotten yourself into now, Urashima?// She thought as she broke into a run.
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Now walking down an abandoned road Keitaro stopped. //Well, now or never...// "Okay, you can come out, now."
A shadow flipped came out of the darkness, standing right in front of the ronin. "Sharp as ever, I see." He bowed, "Good to see you again, Urashima-san."
"Remove your mask, Koji-san, it makes for rather uncomfortable conversation." The man complied, and staring back at him was a Japanese man about his age. His eyes held an almost maniacal glint to them, but Keitaro was unimpressed. Koji was only about three months his senior, but his face seemed aged before its time.
"So, you feel like gazing upon the face of your executioner. What a silly practice..." Koji smiled.
"You aren't handling this like a ninja. Yoshiro-san would be disappointed," Keitaro said matter-of-factly.
"Not when I hand him your head. You are unarmed and easy prey. I do not need to use any tricks to kill you." He said unsheathing his sword.
"Tsk. What a fool... We're not alone, you know?" Keitaro gave an irritated sigh and continued when he saw Koji's mouth twitch slightly. "How pathetic. Your little brother is standing ten feet away, ready to put a poisoned dart into the back of your neck and you didn't even notice? I would've let him kill you, but I detest the thought of someone as young as him taking life." He shrugged, "Oh and a friend of mine from the Shiemei-ryu is approaching rapidly. She's quite tough, and I'm sure you don't want to meet her."
Koji turned his head slightly to the right and spotted his younger sibling putting away his blowdart. He never took his eyes off Koji and he could see the hate burning in them. "You are next, after I kill him."
"Very well," came the quiet reply.
Koji smirked at this, "You are strong, little one. Why did you leave the clan?"
There was no reply to this. The young one's eyes continued to burn behind his ninja gi.
"Humph. There is no escape from the Auron clan." Koji produced a smoke bomb and promptly detonated it. Somewhere from within the smoke Keitaro could hear Koji say, "The 'Dark Fire' will consume you both!"
Motoko came running into the scene then with her hand on her sword, eyes searching for threat. Seeing that he had vanished, she relaxed a bit.
Keitaro smiled, happy to see her. "Motoko-chan! How nice of you to come."
Keitaro gulped as the sword came up to his throat. "Urashima!" Motoko growled in frustration. "Where have you been!?"
"Well, unconscious for the most part..." He said, scratching the back of his head. "Is everyone worried?"
"Yes. Come, we mustn't keep them waiting," Motoko began walking back towards the train station, but halted as Keitaro grabbed her arm.
"Gomen nasai, Motoko-chan, but give me a moment. Bandit," The boy in the shadows tensed at the sound of his nickname. "You can come out now."
Slowly, the small shadow made his way out into the open. He was looking down at the moment, possibly shy. This was the first time they had seen each other in nearly two years. Keitaro placed a hand on the child's shoulder, reassuringly. "Come on, little Bandit, remove your mask so I can introduce you to my friend."
Reluctantly the boy complied, revealing a rather young face. His brown eyes glanced around warily. A black bandana keeping his spiky, black hair in order so it fit under his mask. //That's right, he's turning 14 in December...// Keitaro thought with a pang of sadness. //So young, but nowhere to call home...//
"Urashima, who is this?" Motoko asked. The boy bowed to her politely, but didn't say anything.
Ignoring her, Keitaro addressed the kid directly. "Do you have all of your stuff?" He nodded and showed Keitaro the backpack he was wearing. "Good. Come with me," he said, heading off. The kid leapt after him, sticking to the shadows. He was unwilling to walk out in the open.
"What in the blazes!? Are you bringing this ninja back to the dorm?" She spat out the word ninja like it was a dirty word. //Not a surprise,// Keitaro thought to himself. //Samurai hate ninja, and I guess Motoko-chan would be no exception.//
"Relax, I know him," Keitaro replied, sill walking away.
//When did he become so decisive? I'll set him straight later...// Motoko thought angrily as she followed Keitaro.
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"Why didn't you let me kill him?" The question came by on the wind. Keitaro almost missed hearing it, but he replied anyway.
"Like I said, I detest the thought of one so young taking life. You shouldn't be dealing with things like this at your age," Keitaro shrugged.
The boy narrowed his eyes, //But I am. Wishing that things were different changes nothing. If I could've killed Koji there, then one of my most powerful enemies would be gone.//
//....//
//Why am I here?//
//Is this what you wanted, Okaasan?//
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*Flashback*
"Okaasan! I'm coming, okaasan, hold on!"
"Bandit... It's good to see you..."
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"We're here!" Keitaro said, coming up the steps of the Hinata-sou. Glancing back nervously he noticed that his two companions didn't share his enthusiasm. Both, in fact, seemed lost in thought.
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"Go Bandit..."
"But, what about you? I can't leave you here, okaasan!"
"You must..."
"Why, okaasan? Why does everyone hate us? We didn't do anything bad..."
"Do not worry Bandit. You just don't belong here..."
~~
Now inside, the boy could see an odd group of young girls sitting around the house. It was late, but everyone seemed restless.
Standing up from her seat, Naru stood up and faced Keitaro sternly. "Where have you been?" She asked, crossing her arms. "We thought you had landed in the sea or something."
"I had some trouble when I was making my way back. Sorry, Naru-chan," Keitaro said. This earned him a slap in the face.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming in here past midnight with nothing but 'Sorry, Naru-chan'! Who gave you permission to call me that anyway!? You had me... uh... Shinobu-chan worried!" During her rant she noticed the boy leaning against the wall near the door. "Huh? Who's this?"
Pushing himself away from the wall slowly, the boy made his way towards the center of the room.
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"Bandit... go with Kei-kun..."
"But I belong here, helping you! I can't leave... I'm an Auron clan Ninja!"
"To me you were never a warrior, never a ninja, and never a weapon... To me, you were my son... My pride and joy..."
"But-"
"Listen to me. You don't belong here, living your life in the shadows. You are destined for great things, my son. Your place is not here with the Auron Ninja. It is not here with your dying mother..."
"Okaasan!"
"Find your place in this world, Bandit. You can not find it if you stay here..."
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"My name is Urashima Sora," he said quietly.
Everybody froze at the name. //Urashima...// Naru thought. "So you're his brother?"
Sora shook his head.
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"Be strong, Sora..."
"Okaasan?"
"..."
"...Okaasan...?"
< br>
"..."
"OKAASAN!!!"
...
"But... where do I belong?"
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Sora walked further into the room until he was sure everyone could hear him clearly. Then he spoke quietly. "I am not Urashima Keitaro's brother."
"Then why do you have his family name?" A curious Shinobu piped up.
"Because," Keitaro broke in, "He's my son."
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A/N: Well, that's done. I should probably be able to finish re-formatting another chapter before I get to work on my other fics
--Stizzo Out