Hello all! This is a new multi-part Love Hina fanfic, and the story will probably take an AU direction. I hope that everyone enjoys it, and constructive criticism is of course welcomed. All such commentary will be responded to in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

-lumosinsempra

Love Hina: Together Again
Prologue

'Turtle Trouble'

Alendrasati Island, Pacific Ocean

Norisatu Seta's pick-axe fell once more on the rocks that lay in front of him, the tall, slender male throwing all of his weight against the digging tool. The stone shattered harshly in the wake of the blade, falling around and about and splintering, and the hole in front of the Tokyo University professor widened just a little more.

All of the force he had contributed had had so tiny an effect on the progress of his digging.

The beads of sweat grew and continued to grow as he repeated the motion, breaking the rocks down in front of him under the strong heat of the sun, surrounded by very little other than water and a few huts; a number of other diggers worked nearby, but this was not the large-scale excavation team he was used to.

Many people had said that Seta was more than a little extravagant to pursue this particular venture. Alendrasati had long been regarded as worthless. Recent evidence that one of Seta's contemporaries had uncovered suggested, at least to this professor, that there was something of value to be found here, but very few would support the venture, and only his most valued friends had agreed to contribute.

He hadn't even spoken to Sarah of this, for she'd only want to come along, and Seta didn't want for her to be part of a potentially pointless venture, love the Californian girl as he did.

So she'd stayed at Hinatasou while he'd departed with his team and his trademark white van, which he'd already smashed up several times. Naturally Seta's indestructible form had survived again and again, and here he was, back at full strength, fighting the rocks to see if the majority of the archaeological field were indeed correct.

Still, it was the start of the Todai summer holiday, which gave him a little time to indulge his desires. It was his time to waste, after all, and if he was wrong... well, he'd still had some good times digging.

His indulgent thought however led to a badly-aimed strike of the axe, and the entire dig collapsed.

Seta wiped his brow, and after a moment, shrugged it off, and started again.

Shinkansen

Shinobu Maehara's locks of black hair followed her on the journey today. She sat in the direction inverse to the motion of the train, her gaze dancing over the scenery that passed them by. It elicited in her particularly fond memories of the past, as it did every time she took this journey.

The black hair had grown lengthier and thicker over the years, naturally, and her confidence had become similarly voluminous; although Shinobu was by no means an extrovert now, she had gained a little in confidence and her friendship with Kaolla Su had, progressively, brought the youngest Maehara some happiness. And Su had so much of that to give - a little had proven the perfect balance for Shinobu.

The train rushed on, the sunlight growing lesser as the vehicle thundered toward its destination, and Shinobu took out a small bag of cookies that she had produced for the trip, nibbling at one, and gazing over at her bag, in which she carried similar bags for the people she was travelling to meet.

No doubt, she missed them. Everyone at Hinatasou did. Since Naru and Keitaro had moved (term-time only) to Tokyo, only coming back to the Hinata during holidays, the house had seemed empty. The remaining residents had kept the buildings together, but it didn't make their absence any easier.

But now they would be back for several months. And everyone was in high spirits at Hinatasou as a result.

Shinobu met them each time they were to come home at Tokyo and accompanied them on the journey. The others prepared for their arrival back at the dorm. It had become something of a tradition. Shinobu loved her role in this. It always brought a rush of joy to her heart when she saw them at the station, waiting for her as much as she waited for them at home.

The light glinted off of the window near to Shinobu, and then, outward, over the silver body of the train as it raced on.

The Next Step Café, Tokyo

Some twelve minutes previously, Keitaro sat in the Next Step Café, his head resting on the pages of an old textbook. He'd gotten rather used to the mass amounts of study that university entailed, but even so... today he was simply exhausted. Lucky Naru wasn't here, she wouldn't want him sleeping like this.

"Congratulations Keitaro, you have graduated with honours..." a voice came from in front of him. "In fact, a perfect score! Superb!"

Keitaro, grinning, turned to each side of him to find Naru one side and Mutsumi the other, both holding his arm and both giggling too, and he turned back to receive his degree. "Thank you very mu-AHHHH!"

For the presenter had turned into Motoko. "Did you honestly think you could pass Keitaro? Secret Technique - Rock Splitting Sword!"

Apart from being blasted into a nearby wall and falling to the ground, when Keitaro looked up again, he saw Naru's dark face looking down at him. "Keitaro you haven't been studying hard enough have you? Well?"

So next he found himself on the receiving end of a punch that shattered his glasses and sent him flying through the roof of the building and off into the sky...

"Keitaro?" Naru's soft voice roused the man from his idle sleep.

"No, Naru, don't punch me!" Keitaro muttered, waving his hands vaguely in front of him.

"I won't if you hurry up," she told him. "It's ten minutes to five - we've gotta go!"

As the sleepy man rubbed his eyes, then brought his watch to his face, his eyes bulged. "Oh no! We've gotta be at the station in ten minutes! Shinobu will be so upset if we don't get there and it's half an hour away from here and no, Naru, don't..."

"Will you calm down?" Her words rode the tail end of a punch that shattered, once again, his glasses, and this time very real. "We can still get there, let's go!"

And with that, he grabbed everything - or everything, he thought - from the table and rushed off, dragged by Naru all the way to the station.

Just a few minutes later, someone passed what had been his table, and when they had gone, that table was once again empty.

On the streets as they made their way to the station, Keitaro rubbed his face to try and make it swell less. He had no idea how he survived so many of Naru's kicks and punches, but somehow, he did. Was it for a promise? For love? Or just because he, Keitaro Urashima, was invincible? He really didn't know. "Oh well..."

"Stop mumbling, Keitaro, we've gotta get to the station!" Naru considered one of her trademark kicks to get him there faster, but ruled it out in favour of the walk. It was nice to be out in the air - the both of them spent so much time couped in classrooms and in their rooms during the term. As such, Naru had grown to appreciate the value of nature much more than she had previously. And those hot springs... it wasn't an overstatement to say that Naru was really looking forward to getting back home, where the hot springs would be waiting for her...

Hinatasou

"You did WHAT?" Motoko screamed, as the shadow of something enormous covered her form.

Su jumped up and down on the spot, smiling happily. "I turned the hot springs bath into a nice little turtle preserve for Tama and her little friends! Complete with a minature water park, look!"

Motoko's expression, a mixture of disgust and fear, was the dominant force in the room. "More... turtles?"

"Yeah! Tama brought a whole flock of them home! I couldn't just leave them out in the cold so I converted the bath so they'd be all nice and warm! Don't you like it Motoko?"

Haruka, in the background, sighed. "Oh, brother..."

Alendrasati Island

As he continued to dig, Seta's tired body began to grow weary. He'd done a lot of work today, and that would undoubtedly mean he'd ache in the morning. Lucky he could stay in and catch up on some of his paperwork; although, like Keitaro, he was largely indestructible, he did, on occasion, need to take a break.

The paperwork would be a nice change; unlike many, Seta didn't despise it, both for its value in relaxation, and because he loved his work. He had once told Keitaro that it wasn't a big deal that he was a professor at Tokyo University - there was good reason for this. He enjoyed the work he did so much, and Tokyo U facilitated that. The prestige the post he held afforded him was a bonus, but it wasn't his primary reason for being there.

His primary reason then showed itself.

His axe clanged on something hard and metallic. Something that glinted in the light.

Putting the tool to one side carefully, he moved closer and adjusted his glasses as he focused carefully on it.

"Whoa..." was all that he could say at what he saw...

So, that was it... what did ya think? Please feel free to leave your comments, and I'll post the next chapter soon!