This story and the idea inspiring it are mine. Love Hina is not.

The rain made a grim backdrop against vast graveyard where a young man stood, staring at a large, grey stone. His hair was plastered to his head by water and his clothes were soaked by the deluge. If one looked closely, it could be seen that his hands were clenched into fists, and his jaw was tense with unreleased emotion. His eyes betrayed no emotion, seemingly dead to the world. Underneath the sleeves of the dark suit that he wore one could have seen arms of strength, that had seen hard work in their relatively few years. The broadness of his shoulders was a testament to the power his body contained, yet those very same shoulders were now trembling with a burden that was not physical, but emotional. As he walked away from the grave, the young man refused to look back at the stone, nor did he look at the crying men and women that had gathered just outside the graveyard after the service. He looked straight ahead, as if he could see some goal that no one else could. Anyone who followed him after he left would have been extremely surprised at where Keitaro Urashima had gone after the funeral of his fiancé.

Keitaro slumped over the bar, his empty drink rolling away from his fingers. The bartender caught the glass at the edge, and sighed as he looked at the young man.

"What happened to you? What drove you to this" he motioned to two large, burly men in the corner, and they walked over.

"Get this poor guy into a bed somewhere. Or better yet, find out who might know him, try to get him home." The two bouncers nodded quietly, looking from the barkeep to each other, then down at Keitaro.

"Fella sure is a mess, ain't he?" the first one asked.

"Yea, he couldn't have had less than a few bottles of the high proof stuff." both men shook their heads at the limp figure between them as they carried him to a bed in the back.

/

Haruka Urashima sighed as she looked over the papers that made the man in front of her the manager of the Hinata girls dormitory. Her nephew was, to put it mildly, drunk.

Again.

"What are we going to do with you Keitaro." the man in question looked up at her.

"Who caresh. Sh'not like anyone really unnershtandsh." Haruka stood. "Oh mom. If only you could see what a mess your grandson has turned into." she walked over to the fax machine and pulled out a sheet of spare paper. Glancing back into the tea area she scribbled out a quick message.

Mom, I know I've trusted your judgement in the past but I can't on this. Keitaro has turned into a drunk and I don't think it's wise to have him managing a dorm full of girls. Especially with Naru and Motoko around.

She watched Keitaro mumble and groan into his drink as she waited for her mothers reply. It came sooner than she expected.

Trust in Keitaro daughter. His gold has yet to shine through, and it will only shine all the brighter for his difficulties. And don't worry about Naru or Motoko, he can handle them easily enough.

Haruka sighed again as she read it. "I can't believe what mom has gotten me into." she turned and walked into the tea area only to be met with the sound of Keitaro snoring with his head on the tabletop. She groaned and picked her nephew up, carrying him upstairs to the guest bedroom. At least she would have some time to prepare the girls. She put Keitaro into the bed and pulled the covers over his sprawling form. "How can guys possibly sleep like that?" she wondered absentmindedly. Leaving Keitaro on the bed, she left the tea shop and made her way up to the inn. Once through the doors she prepared herself for what she had to do. She walked into the kitchen to find Shinobu Maehara at the stove. Shinobu turned to her, jumping in surprise at seeing her.

"Haruka, I didn't see you there." Haruka nodded.

"Shinobu go get the rest of the girls. I have an important announcement to make." Shinobu nodded and ran off. Haruka sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing her temples in preparation for the bomb that she was about to drop on these poor girls.

Keitaro woke up, still drunk, and somehow managed to stand. Spotting the sake bottle he had come in with he scooped it up and took a deep swig. Stumbling out of the teahouse he went in the direction most likely to get him into trouble. Hinata Inn.

"WHAT!" Haruka sighed, the response of the girls being no better than she thought it would be. "But Haruka-san, this male could be anything. He could be a pervert, or a pedophile, or..." WHACK. Haruka's fan came down on Narusegawa's head.

"I assure you he is neither a pervert nor a pedophile. He is an upstanding young man with a few bad experiences in his past. I trust you know how to handle delicate situations Mitsune?" Mitsune Konno loked at Haruka like she was crazy.

"What ya mean Haruka?" she asked. Haruka looked pointedly at Naru and Motoko.

"I mean if these two decide to go overboard you'll be able to handle them right?" Kitsune looked at both Naru and Motoko before shrugging. But before she could say anything. BONG! They all looked at the glass door. A figure lay outside, obviously having run into the glass door. As the person stood up they realized it was a man. Haruka rubbed her forehead in frustration as her nephew stood.

"Girls, that is my nephew Keitaro and your new manager." as she spoke Keitaro made another valiant effort to make it into the room, not realizing that the glass door was still in the way. BONG! He hit the floor again. This time as he stood up Motoko happened to notice the clay sake bottle in his hand.

"Haruka, why is he holding that clay bottle." Haruka looked out at him for a moment before gritting her teeth.

"Damn idiot, he's still drunk." Naru stared at him as he finally managed to find the door and make it through. As he staggered into the room everyone stared.

"Whash ya'll lookin at huh, 'hic' ain't polite to shtare at a fella. 'Hic'" Shinobu walked over to him, much to the horror of Naru and Motoko.

"Um, are you alright?" she asked. Keitaro's face swivelled to look at her.

"Never be...'hic'..ter. 'Hic', jush can't sheem ta shtay ashleep. 'Hic'. Yer a nishe girl. 'Hic'. Remind me of my shishter 'hic.'" Naru and Motoko decided they had had enough and decided to make their move. Haruka slapped her face as the pair charged at Keitaro before Kitsune could do anything about it.

Keitaro noticed the two girls coming at him and turned to face them. He pushed Shinobu out of harms way and stood, a pronounced sway making him look unbalanced. But as Naru threw her punch she found it redirected and felt the man roll over her back. Motoko was caught off guard as Keitaro landed from the roll and fell right into her arms. Naru had recovered and was turning to deal death to the man. Keitaro simply placed his foot on her hip and pushed, causing her to fall away from him. Motoko pushed him off of her and prepared to cut him with her sword, but when she swung at his chest, he leaned back so far her swing passed over him. As Naru, who had recovered her feet by now, prepare to plant a fist in his face, he stood up and fell flat on his face. He pushed himself over his shoulder and came down on his back just as Motoko preformed a rock-splitting technique where his back had been. Keitaro swung his leg and came up in a handstand, preforming the splits while rotating his body, forcing Naru and Motoko to back off. As he stood up, he assumed a strange stance, he was still drunk, as evidenced by the stupid grin he wore and the occasional hiccups. But Motoko noticed that something seemed off about him. She dismissed it as Naru charge in swinging again, only to have Keitaro spin to the outside of her punch and lean on her shoulder while he drank from his bottle.

As Naru pushed him off Motoko swung at his legs experimentally. He jumped, but rather than landing on his feet he landed on his side, almost immediately rolling onto his chest to avoid the punch that Naru aimed at his head. He then pushed his body into a headstand and flicked his feet forward, going into a series of headsprings. Motoko stopped Naru as he finally stopped the headsprings and pitched forward onto his face.

"Enough Naru, while he is in this state we will never hit him." Naru looked as if she was about to protest until both of them heard a snort coming from the main room. They both looked at Haruka, who was attempting, and failing, to hold in her laughter. Mitsune had her hand covering her mouth, attempting to suppress her giggles. Su was rolling on the floor howling with laughter, and even Shinobu was giggling.

"What's so funny?" Naru asked. Mitsune managed to stop her own giggling long enough to answer.

"You two looked so funny fighting him, he just kept flopping and falling all over the place and you two couldn't even touch him. Motoko turned bright red at this, and Naru looked like she was about to blow up in Mitsune's face.

"I'm going to my room." she said as she turned and stomped up the stairs. Motoko remained silent, deep in thought as she watched the man stretched full length on the floor.

"What was that fighting style? It's like nothing I've ever seen." without a word she turned and marched to her room. Mitsune turned to Haruka.

"Looks like I won't have to deal with either of them. He will." Haruka nodded. "By the way Haruka, what kind of fighting style was that?" Haruka stared at her nephew, who was starting to snore.

"I don't know Kitsune. I don't know."

/

Keitaro woke with a splitting headache and a dry cotton like feeling in his mouth. As he stood and pulled on a pair of pants, he began to recall the events of the previous evening. He groaned as he recalled the discussion that had led to that nights drinking binge. He had only stopped in at Haruka's tea shop to talk, and Granny Hina had decided to send that fax that turned his world upside down.

"Man , she just had to drop that bombshell on me right then. If she had come and said it in person maybe it wouldn't have been so bad." he sighed as he started to pull a denim work shirt over his shoulders. He turned and walked to the door, and made his way downstairs. Once there he walked into the kitchen. Looking at the clock he shook his head and set about making a concoction that would have made most people gag just at the sight of them.

"Five-thirty, it's no wonder no one else is up. I might as well get myself familiarized with the place." he didn't see the figure that was watching as he prepared the mixture. The girl walked in and looked at his back before speaking.

"What ya making, hon?" Keitaro winced at the question, his headache throbbing with the voice. He turned to see one of his tenants standing there.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there. What was your name?" he asked, not trying to ignore the question, but legitimately curious. The girl looked past him at the liquid in the shot glass.

"Mitsune Konno, but you can call me Kitsune. Now mind answering the question?" Keitaro glanced back at the counter before answering.

"Prairie Oyster. Helps with hangovers. Works better than coffee." Kitsune wrinkled her nose.

"It looks disgusting." Keitaro grinned.

"Tastes worse, but I can't argue with its effectiveness." He picked up the glass and slugged the mixture down.

"Are you sure it's effective?" Mitsune asked on seeing his face scrunch up in disgust.

"Yea, I've used it before." Mitsune decided to take his word for it, and left the issue alone as she walked away. Keitaro turned and went upstairs, thinking to find the way onto the roof to sit up there like he used to. He stopped by his room and picked up his sake bottle but didn't take a drink as he made his way up to the roof. Once outside he placed his bottle next to the rail and stepped away from it.

Motoko was woken up by the feeling of a strong ki passing her door. She unconciously reached for her sword, but paused when the feeling faded. She got up and got dressed quickly, and made her way in the direction she could still feel the ki, faint though it was. As she approached the exit to the roof the feeling grew stronger. There was a warrior outside. She thought it might be Naru, but something was off. There was none of the anger radiating from this warrior that was always mixed with Naru's ki. This strange ki radiated calm, with a hidden sadness to it. But it was no less powerful than Naru's or hers. Motoko could feel that ki washing away her own troubles, yet this warrior seemed to feel none of its comfort. As she made her way onto the roof and caught her first glimpse of the warrior, she nearly stumbled back in shock.

"How can this be?" her thoughts were answered though as she watched Keitaro, shirtless, moving through a series of what looked like katas. But his movements were like no kata she had ever seen. His movements were fluid, striking from unusual angles. His body contorted with his movements, never looking quite in balance. As she watched the fluidity with which he moved she was mesmerized by the softness and strength with which he moved across the roof. His sudden stop brought her out of her stupor as his ki abruptly disappeared, leaving her feeling cold.

"What are you doing." he asked. She stared at him for a moment.

"What was that? That was amazing!" Keitaro remained silent, his expression seeming to scold her for trying to change the subject. She didn't answer, instead turning and fleeing down the stairs. Keitaro watched her go, his eyes betraying no emotion as he walked over to his bottle and picked it up, taking a deep gulp of the liquid.

"Now is when things start to get complicated."

Motoko shared her discoveries with Naru, who agreed that she had felt a calming aura surrounding the inn, but had not believed it to be the manager. Motoko affirmed that it was.

"So what do we do? He can't stay, he might make some perverted move on one of the younger children." Motoko looked at her.

"I'm going to send for my sister. She has a better understanding of these things than I, and may be able to come up with a solution." Naru nodded, remembering Motoko's stories about her sister. Unknown to either of them, Tsuruko was already aware of the situation.

/

Haruka put her tea down as the woman across from her sipped hers.

"So you think his tragedy may have had an impact on his spirit?" Haruka looked at the master of the Shinmei Ryuu.

"Yes, early yesterday morning I felt a strange aura coming from the direction of the inn. I believe it was Keitaro." Tsuruko Aoyama put her tea on the table.

"And you said he uses a strange style of fighting?" Haruka nodded her affirmation. Tsuruko looked out the window, pondering her next course of action.

"I think it would be best if I saw his fighting style firsthand. That way I could possibly recognize it and possibly even find what is wrong with his spirit." Haruka looked up at the inn.

"We'd best get going, he should be starting into whatever he does at this time of day."

Keitaro was just starting his workout when Haruka and Tsuruko arrived at the roof. His ki was already starting to spill out as he began the form. Tsuruko had to hold in a gasp as she watched him. She was already feeling the effects of his ki, and could see why Haruka had called her, not to mention the letter her sister had sent her. As she watched she began to focus more and more on certain aspects of his ki. The deep sadness that seemed to flow in harmony with his spirit, and the fierce rage hidden so deeply that only a master ki reader would have been able to pick it up. But something else held that anger at bay. Something that the sorrow she could feel permeating his ki came from. Something embedded far deeper than even the rage. She felt a tear creep down her face as she watched him. Haruka saw but made no comment. When Keitaro stopped and walked to the rail, pointedly ignore both women, Tsuruko motioned for Haruka to follow. They gathered the girls in the main room to talk about their concerns with the manager. Motoko spoke first.

"So sister, now that you have seen him, what do you think?" Tsuruko looked up at her.

"He is far more powerful than both of us combined." Motoko was shocked. Surely no one could be more powerful than sister, especially not a male! Tsuruko sighed as she watched the disbelief and anger run through Motoko's ki.

"Motoko you must accept that there are men out there far more powerful than you and me. Warriorhood is something that comes more naturally to men than to women. Yes, women can surpass men as warriors, but men are the ones who have the natural inclination to fight, and the natural instinct to be protectors." Haruka nodded before she spoke.

"Men have always been protectors of their families, for as long as time has existed. Yes there are famous women warriors, but they often settled down later and raised families. Men have always fought to protect what they see as precious to them, and they always will." Tsuruko stood and walked to the window.

"In Keitaro's case, he is strong because he has to be. If he were not, what he has gone through would have destroyed him." Motoko and Naru looked at her puzzled.

"What do you mean." Naru asked. Tsuruko turned to them, taking in the curious gazes that occupied every face.

"The loss of a loved one. I do not know the details, but there is great sorrow embedded deep in his spirit that only comes from such a loss. The source of this sorrow is a wellspring of love that holds back a great rage buried deeper than any I have ever seen. As for your concerns about his potential for perverseness, his soul is as pure as a mans can possibly get. I assure you Motoko, Naru, that you have nothing to worry about in that category." Motoko looked at the ground before asking the one question that had been burning in her mind since the first day she found him practicing on the roof.

"But sister, what style does he use? It's not one I recognize." Tsuruko sighed.

"That is because it is not taught at the Shinmei Ryuu, where alcohol is forbidden. Keitaro Urashima is a master of a powerful Shaolin fighting style known here as the way of the drunkard." Naru looked at her, irritation beginning to form.

"Could you explain it a little better please." Tsuruko looked at her before obliging.

"It is called drunken fist."

Give me an idea as to what you think about the story, please review.