Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Tsuriai No Ha: Balance Blade ❯ Prologue: Who Are You? ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

~Prologue~

As the train left the station, and Grandma Hinata along with it, Keitaro gretefully slumped onto a bench. The old lady had only dropped in for the day before rejoining Kanako in Antarctica. Her only explanation was that she "wanted to be sure everything was in order."

Keitaro heaved an enormous sigh, saying to himself, "She was just here two months ago, caused all that trouble scaring the hell outta me and Naru, then she just comes right back to "check up on the place..."? She must be plotting..."

Grandma Hinata had kept Keitaro running all over Hinata House doing matinance, with the excuse of, "The old place should be able to handle anything if it's in good repair." Aside from that, she merely requested that her grandson take a breather before returning home.

"No argument there," Keitaro muttered, leaning his head back. Just then, the intercom announced, "Six-ten from Tokyo; please stand back from the doors." This was followed by the swift arrival of said transport.

The passengers began streaming from the cars almost as soon as they had stopped and the doors had opened. Keitaro sat at ease, glad he hadn't gotten caught in the crush of bodies. 'Geez, even L.A. wasn't as crowded as this,' he thought.

As the crowd diminished enough to mark out individuals' faces, Keitaro decided to do a little people watching. 'There's a fuw highschoolers, I wonder if they know Motoko, or even Naru... Is that guy a Yakuza?!... No, wait, he's got three kids with him... Hmm?' Keitaro had just spotted a foreigner, one that stood out more than not.

She stood roughly one hundred-seventy one centimeters by his best guess, had reddish-brown hair that fell in waves down to her waist, and was as slim in face and body as any of the girls Keitaro knew. Though she made it obvious that even a pretty girl could be, for lack of a better term, flat as a brick with hips to match. Regardless, her expression was one of searching confusion. Keitaro, knowing what it was like to be a foreigner, decided to go see what he could do to help.

"Excuse me, are you lost? Oh, wait, you probably don't speak Japanese, huh? Umm... Are you lost?" Keitaro queried, once more putting his English to good use. She slowly turned to face him, and locked her eyes onto his.

'URK! What the hell?! I- I can't look away!' Keitaro thought, panicking as he struggled to free himself of the hold that those vividly green eyes had on him. He had begun to sweat when she blinked, releasing him from whatever had bound him. Up close, she looked no more than seventeen, though there was something odd about her that Keitaro just couldn't put his finger on.

As he attempted to regain his composure, the girl searched through her pockets, finally pulling out an envelope and a picture and shyly holding them out to him.

"Ehh? What's this?" He wondered aloud, taking them, "What the- This is a picture of me! And the letter is addressed to me, too!" He tore open the envelope and whipped the stationary from its sheath. "It's from Grandma Hinata...

Dear Grandson,
I thought you could use some more excitement at the House, so I took the liberty of extending an invitation to stay there to Aoitsuki-chan, who is preparing for the university exams. I knew you'd understand, but be careful, Aoitsuki-chan should be treated with as much respect as Motoko-chan.
Love,
Grandma
P.S.: Have fun, hyo ho ho!"

Keitaro wasn't sure wether his grandmother would be getting a Christmass card this year, but that remained to be seen. He sighed and pocketed the letter and photo. All in all, he was only slightly apprehensive about having another set of hands to potentially wring his neck.

"Well," he began, "You're lucky I was here, there arren't many English speakers here in Hinata Springs. Did Grandma tell you about me? I'm Keitaro, the landlord of the dorm, or inn, or whatever we are now. It's nice to meet you, Aoitsuki-san."

She responded with a bow, giving no other sign of communication besides picking up her dropped luggage. This consisting of a rucksack and a meter long tube, which she slung over her shoulder by its strap, it didn't take long. She then stood nearly at attention while managing to look shy.

Keitaro was about to question this when his watch beeped rather insistently. "Ah, hell! I promised Seta I'd help him unload the van! Please follow me quickly, I'm late and I need to get you to the House first." Recieveing a nod, he turned and headed for home at a brusque pace.
~end chapter~

A.N.~

Hey there, everyone, I hope you liked the prologue to Balance Blade. After re-reading Shinobi Invasion (my first Love Hina fic, for those of you who were spared it) I decided that it needed to be scrapped in favor of something with an actuall storyline. Right now I'm working on this, my Teen Titans fic, and a black ops project which I'll mention again at a later date, but I'm trying mostly to recover from my loss of internet for several months, to be specific.

To those of you who may have liked Shinobi Invasion: Lay off the booze, leave the drinking to the professionals. But seriously, I had to scrap it because of time demands and I just ran dry of ideas. If I get enough requests or suggestions on it, I may restart it, but we'll see.

Disclaimer:
I do not own, in part or entirety, Love Hina or its characters, they are the property of Ken Akamatsu and Tokyopop. The story, however, is mine and, for the most part, original, so please do not use any part of it without my consent. The R-rating is there because I always rate my fics at the highest they will reach. If a chapter goes over R, I'll be sure to warn you before hand. This fic contains: Mild violence, mild language, suggestive themes, and alcohol consumption, and may contain other contents which will be noted in the chapter summary if applicable.

"This is speaking in Japanese."

'These are thoughts.'

"This is speaking in English."