This particular story is potentially going to be quite Alternate Universe in its nature, so please take that fact in mind here before you comment here, people, okay? Try to see if you can guess the intended primary pairing that will be in question here, as the story actually develops, everyone. It might not be who you might actually expect it to be, in truth, but we'll see, just the same. As for the way that a certain character in this Prologue talks, her presented manner of speaking is that way deliberately, for reasons that will be revealed later, as necessary and as appropriate, in fact.
As is quite obviously required here and now, per now-established global copyright law, I must therefore state, in some sort of disclaimer, people, "All known characters, settings, et cetera, that are not obviously of my own creation are the property, et cetera, of their respective owners and/or creators, et cetera. As such, I will not claim them as my own here, of course. For instance, Love Hina, and the known settings and/or known characters presented in its related forms do not belong to me, and I most likely never will own them all by myself. However, any original characters and/or settings, et cetera, that I might create and use in this story are most definitely mine, and I certainly will not tolerate their theft and/or use in other people's work without my permission contrary to their past, present, and/or future established facts and circumstances in this story and/or related ones to it, quite obviously enough." So please remember that, for I really don't want to have to get after any of you for claiming my work as your own, you see.
Until later, then, I'll close this introduction, and hope that each of you come to greatly enjoy this particular story and/or any potential sequels, prequels, or side stories to it, you know. With no further ado, then, people, this is The Universal Storyteller signing off!
Prologue
The day of THE PROMISE:
Several children of assorted ages were playing in a particular playground in Hinata City sometime in June 1975 under the quite watchful eyes of several other people there, among them being Hina and Haruka Urashima, to name just two of them. As they and many others were then watching all those children playing in that playground, a cloaked and masked woman approached Hina and Haruka from another part of that playground. That so-attired woman was then armed with a sword on her left hip under her mostly black cloak. And its outline was sufficiently hidden from view as she then approached both of the two aforementioned ladies.
When Hina and Haruka eventually saw that woman approaching them, without a doubt, well enough here and now, they soon asked, "Who are you, and what do you want?"
"I am a warrior bound to seek justice for those who are mistreated and unjustly accused of supposed crimes and offenses, Hina-tachi. I seek out numerous foolish cowards who quite often execute unjust mistreatments, punishments, and penalties against the innocent and the weak and the otherwise undefended souls in this Universe. I am here to inform you that there will eventually come into your lives certain people who very likely will unjustly use such hopeless people in their lives as often and as cruelly as they possibly can. There is one particular young girl here in this exact playground who is quite right indeed for one of the latter sort of people. But there still will be much heated and much unwarranted opposition to such an idea, among the former people. If things ultimately do go a certain way, though, her future will be filled with much bloodshed, without a doubt, often shed by her very own hands. I am her perhaps far-future self, in truth. I therefore have come here to attempt to prevent that very same kind of disastrous future from ever happening somehow for her to the best of my ability."
Hina said, "And you believe you can actually prevent that from happening somehow, I take it, if I'm understanding you well enough here and now, Cloak-san."
The masked and cloaked woman said, "I do not know for a definite fact whether I will be able to do that just yet as best as I can, Hina-sama. But I will still do whatever I possibly can do here in order to do so, just the same, if you actually do allow me to try to somehow do just that. My beloved husband said just before I came here that my attempt might fail, and fail quite abysmally, but that I must still attempt to prevent that from happening, for the good of all involved."
Haruka, the roughly 12-year-old brown-haired girl now standing next to Hina, soon said, "I don't understand, Cloak-san."
"The soul in danger who the protector will seek to protect in the future against those who would vilely use them is your cousin Keitaro, Haruka-san. I know your name quite well in my life from much personal experience with your own future self, in fact, so do not be surprised about how I know your name very well indeed here. And your still youthful-looking grandmother here is the quite well-known Hina Urashima of the Urashima Group, a major business conglomeration, for that matter. In my time, however, she is still touring the world often seeking out hot springs if and whenever she possibly can do just that in her life."
Hina thought about what the cloaked woman said for a little while, and then said, "Where are those who would vilely mistreat him, and use him so, then, Cloak-san? Show me who they are, if you please, then."
"Very well, Hina-sama. Please follow me here, if you please, then." The masked and cloaked woman soon led the way to the appropriate area of the playground in which several young children were then playing. Several babies and/or young girls were now playing in and around a sandbox or two, and among those young children were two children attempting to make a sand castle of some sort to the best of their mutual ability here and now. One, of course, was a boy, with dark hair, and the other was a dark-haired girl wearing a striped shirt under a pair of what appeared to be overalls at the present time. Near them were two other brown-haired girls, with one of them perhaps being a toddler, at best. Another nearby toddler mostly in red and white was near them, and she was being watched by someone who appeared to be a considerably older sister of hers in similar attire. And a third toddler had light blonde hair that almost looked silvery, perhaps, as she now wore a mostly purple and tan outfit here and now.
The cloaked woman soon picked up the girl nearest the boy, and studied her quite intensely for at least a little bit here and now, before a still-young woman suddenly saw them holding that girl and started to head their way. She noticed that woman out of the corner of her eye, and said, simply, without turning to face the woman in question, "Fog of Memory, make the woman heading my way now forget she ever saw me once and for all, by God's Holy Light. She definitely must not be allowed to somehow interfere with what must likely happen here, without a doubt, or many disasters untold will certainly result! Make her forever come to remember this particular day differently for the good of all on the side of Light, at least!"
The woman who had just been heading their way then returned to where she'd been before Cloak-san began to speak words of forgetting in her direction just now. And she remained there for quite a while afterward, as would perhaps come to eventually be known later.
Once that woman was back where she'd been sitting before she got up to see what was going on between Cloak-san and the others then with her, Cloak-san said, while looking even more closely at the girl in her arms, "You are the one who will most often try to defend those who need defending, without a doubt. However, much bloodshed is in your future, if things go for you enough as they did for me in my life, for sure. That is a life that must be avoided as best as possible, if at all possible, or you will be me in your future, and in my past and present."
"I don't understand, Cloak-san," said Hina.
"Hina-sama, this particular young girl, if her future develops enough like my past did in my own life, ultimately will kill multiple people in a very fierce defense of the one she truly loves within the next fifteen to twenty years or so, at most, if not sooner, without a doubt. And that is most definitely a future no child truly ever deserves to have needlessly in their own mortal life, if it can possibly ever be avoided at all, somehow. This particular girl is about to make a life-altering promise with Keitaro that will help define your grandson's life for a very long time, if not forever. I must therefore attempt to prevent my past self from somehow ever actually becoming me, a woman who is now often a very cold-blooded killer. I killed other people for the very first time when I was nearly 25 years old, if my own memory serves me well enough here and now, after my one true love was quite cruelly attacked by the ones I eventually killed. Almost immediately after that, I then fled with him and a number of others elsewhere, and have been on the run ever since, from many people, all over the world. I have actually killed many other people ever since that time. And I am greatly hating the life that my husband, my children, and I now have to live as a result of my very first kills. I am now 30-something, more or less. And I quite often find myself wishing that many people's lives had developed quite differently from the ways that each of them had ultimately developed in this Universe of ours." She soon set the young girl back down, before suddenly picking Keitaro up and then starting to study him quite intensely as well here and now.
"This young boy ultimately grew up to be my one true love, though we both did not actually know it for quite some time after this day. Do you see the four girls directly behind me here and now, Hina-sama?"
"Which girls do you mean, exactly, Cloak-san?" asked Hina.
Cloak-san soon indicated the two brunettes and two other toddlers near all three of them here and now. She soon said, "The one in the faded green-striped outfit is from Okinawa, and her name is Mutsumi Otohime. You both will, however, forget her name and several other names for at least a little while here, if my attempt at changing history works well enough, I guarantee, Hina-sama. The girl next to her in a very similar outfit to the girl that I just held is Naru Narusegawa. Near her, and obviously being watched by her older sister here and now, is Motoko Aoyama. And somewhere somewhat near Naru is another girl by the name of Mitsune Konno, but in a yet-future time, you may quite often indeed refer to her as Kitsune, for reasons that will become quite evident later. Haruka-san, the young woman who is now watching Motoko is her older sister Tsuruko. You both quite will often encounter each other in the future, I am quite sure. Also, I would respectfully request that you very seriously consider not ever smoking and/or not ever drinking in the future. Even if a rather handsome guy might perhaps have already gotten you interested in such crazy things in your own mortal life. Believe me, it is really not all that fun potentially having to live without your own natural lungs. You were at my side, as were at least a few others, when I first killed anyone. And you had to eventually have a double-lung transplant not long after I first killed others in my life, due to what happened when things ultimately blew up and a battle royale resulted then where they finally did. I too am not entirely organic in my own life, in the interest of full disclosure. I have periodically lost some of my own natural parts due to my battles since my very first kills, due to the greatly-unwanted life that I have had to lead ever since then in this Universe of ours. Including both of my own natural lungs, by the way."
"Are these all the girls who will potentially cause trouble for him in the future?" asked Haruka.
"No, there are at least two other girls, but they are not yet born, if my memory serves me well enough here and now. I did not actually come to kill them, but I did still kill three of the young girls near Keitaro here, many years from this day in time, at a time I am not going to reveal the exact date to you or to Hina-sama, Haruka-san. I will still say, however, that from this time, within the next twenty or so years, at most, if not sooner, three of these girls will most certainly be dead, if the promised girl's future is enough like my past, she will become me, ultimately."
"Why are you cloaked and masked, if you don't mind me asking, Cloak-san?" asked Haruka.
"Because I am here trying to prevent many enemies from knowing who I am and where I am now in the Universe's known histories. I and many others with me now have numerous enemies who would not like us to be able to do what we now must in our lives. And I barely escaped from many of them in the process of coming here. If they somehow come to know that I am here, or that I was here, they then will seek me and/or those with me, and perhaps attempt to hold them hostage or kill them in order to try to get me to then do whatever they might then want me to do in my life. So I must remain masked and cloaked to the best of my ability here and now, you see, Haruka-san."
Cloak-san soon set down Keitaro back where he had been before being picked up. But not before she said, "So young, and so innocent, my dear love. I wish we had not been parted not long from now for many years. But we were, it seems. May you ultimately achieve the dreams that you will eventually have in your life, and may you find the one that you were meant to be with again someday yet in the future, once you are parted from each other not long from now."
Moments later, THE PROMISE was made that would considerably define Keitaro's future for a very long time, if not forever. Both Keitaro and the yet-unidentified girl made that promise with each other, and did so quite willingly indeed, in fact. [AN: Of course, you all know what the Promise is now, if you've read the manga or watched the anime enough, people.]
A few more minutes later, several people collected several of the other children near Keitaro and the yet-unidentified girl, and left the playground in very short order, until only about a dozen or so people were still left in it quite well enough. Among them being Hina, Haruka, Cloak-san, at least two children, and at least one parent, if not more than one, for all the obvious reasons here and now.
Once the playground had cleared out enough, as necessary, Cloak-san then had Hina and Haruka sit in the sandbox near Keitaro and the still-unknown girl. They complied, not yet knowing why she wanted them to do that here. When they did, Cloak-san then stood near Keitaro and the girl, and proceeded to reach into her cloak, as needed and as appropriate, and to unbuckle the belt from which a sword in a scabbard then hung, with her right hand. From within the folds of her cloak, she then pulled out that belt with the sword-containing scabbard still attached.
Then she removed the scabbard from the aforementioned belt, and handed it to Hina and Haruka, with the soon-to-be open end facing Hina, as she held it above both young children still in the sandbox here. Next, she took out a thick book from another place under her cloak, and soon set it on the edge of the sandbox. A few moments later, she had it opened to a certain page, and then said, "Hina-sama, I must now withdraw this sword, it seems, and mark both of them multiple times with the sign of true love, in the very fervent hope that it somehow will alter the future sufficiently to keep her future from ultimately developing exactly as my past ultimately did for me. I must, unfortunately, draw at least some blood, from each of them to do so, much to my regret."
"Why must you do so?" asked Hina, as Cloak-san suddenly called forth a misty fog somehow out of thin air, so to speak, without any prior warning at all here and now.
"Because if I do not do just that, her future will most definitely be exactly like my past was, I am quite sure, Hina-sama. And then we all might have to meet again like this in this place in order to try still another way to keep that from happening somehow, I feel, for some yet-unknown reason to me here and now. It is unfortunately quite unavoidable here and now. But only through the blood of innocents might I be able to protect these innocent ones and/or many others from a disastrous future for them in each of their respective lives. I have rarely attempted this particular kind of thing, in the interest of full disclosure. And I am not always successful in my attempts whenever I make them with certain people. But still, I must most definitely attempt to protect them both, at least, if not others as well. Also what I must do, in terms of my attempt to positively alter history here and now, may possibly still somehow adversely affect both of these innocent souls, just the same. Yet, you two, I must do what I can to protect them both to the best of my ability, in truth."
"What must we do, then, Cloak-san?" asked Haruka.
"Hina-tachi, I will have to first mark Keitaro. Then I will have to mark this girl. You must do exactly as I say, or what I do may not work exactly as it will need to do, it seems. Do either of you have any blindfolds, by any chance?"
Hina thought for a moment, and then said, "I do, as a matter of fact, Cloak-san."
"Then blindfold them both, in very short order. They must be blindfolded while I do what I must do to the best of my ability here. Hina-sama, you must blindfold Keitaro. Haruka-san, you must blindfold the girl."
Five minutes later, at most, both children were blindfolded. Not only that, but both of them had their respective shirts up around their necks, and the girl's overalls were down to her waist, for that matter. When Cloak-san saw that well enough here and now, then, she suddenly withdrew her sword, and had Hina hold Keitaro very still and very quiet, so that she might be able to mark him as needed, where needed, on his torso, at least. She studied Keitaro's skin for his torso, hands, and forehead for a little while, before she said, "Keitaro, do not hate me for this, if you somehow remember me and this day well enough, but I do this now in hopes that you will live the life that you are meant to live, and not the life that I know you have lived for as long as I know of in my own life. Hold still, say and do nothing, and forget me, if you can, once I do this. Do not fear my blade, for it is a blade meant to protect those who need protecting in this Universe of ours, from its creation to its potential future destruction. Know that you are loved, though, if you must somehow ever remember this day!"
Keitaro listened quietly to Cloak-san, and thought briefly after she had just spoken to him here, before finally saying, "Do what you feel you must, then, Cloak-san. I do not know you, but I still somehow know that you truly mean me no unnecessary harm in your own life. As you wish, so shall I do, as sure as I am Keitaro Urashima."
"Very well, then, prepare yourself, and please close your eyes. Sleep, then, and forget who I am, if at all possible, Keitaro, until the proper time comes for you to fully remember this day, if it ever does, in your own life, if not the lives of any others as well." Cloak-san then quietly sung him to sleep here, before he relaxed well enough in Hina's arms here and now. When he was sufficiently asleep, then, Cloak-san suddenly sketched a canopy of flowers in the air somehow, and made the canopy surround them all as they remained in or around the sandbox now in question here. With that done, Cloak-san then began touching Keitaro's skin with her sword, forming certain marks on it as necessary, starting with the skin on his chest and abdomen. This continued for several minutes, before Cloak-san said, "Springs of Physical Near-Immortality, shower this young boy with your waters of healing, through the flowers that surround you, and protect him as best as you can from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune!" The flowers around them all soon let loose and sprayed their naturally-occurring liquid salves all over Keitaro's then-exposed skin. And those very same salves quite quickly made all the now-showing marks that Cloak-san had just made on it totally vanish somehow, much to Hina and Haruka's great surprise, of course.
Once they had all disappeared well enough to sufficiently satisfy Cloak-san here and now, she said, "Now I must do the same for this young girl, with the appropriate modifications where necessary, of course, Haruka-san. You must do exactly what Hina-sama just did with Keitaro moments ago, in fact. Otherwise, I may not be able to protect her as well as she might need to be protected here, of course. And that is something none of us truly need in our respective lives, for sure."
Haruka soon had the young girl just as Cloak-san required her to have her, when necessary and as appropriate here. Cloak-san then spent a little while leaving the necessary marks on that girl's own skin as well, before finally saying, "Sands of Time, please slow this young soul's physical maturation processes down, but not her mental processes, so that she might hopefully have a happier life and perhaps avoid the mistakes and tragedies that many have had to deal with in their lives, if you so choose! I ask you this, here and now, in the name of God's Holy Light, the Prince of Peace, now and for all time yet to come!" As she said these words, then, the flowers then around everyone then sprayed a countless number of sand-like particles of some sort all over the young girl's still-exposed skin. And most especially over all the marks that Cloak-san had made on it anywhere, for that matter, here and now.
Several moments later, the aforementioned marks had completely vanished from everyone's view here, as needed and as appropriate, of course. Once they were, Cloak-san said, "Hina-sama, I have now hopefully made it much more likely that she will mature physically slower than most others might in her life, just so long as she does not find herself in a too-volatile situation for herself or those sufficiently close to her in her own life. It now remains to be seen sufficiently well indeed whether or not my just-made attempt to change her future for the better was successful or not, quite obviously enough, for sure. If it was, then you will not see me again as I am now, either in this time or in the future. If it wasn't, then you may possibly see me yet again in this particular time and place, somehow."
Hina thought about what Cloak-san had just said here for quite a while, and eventually asked, "And what of us both, who have now witnessed what you have done in an attempt to protect them both, at least, if not others as well, then?"
"I must block each of your own respective memories of this day as well for some time, if not permanently. And do so here and now to the very best of my own ability, for reasons I am not at sufficient liberty to discuss with you at this particular time, if I ever will be, Hina-tachi. You must not be left susceptible to my and my people's enemies, if it can possibly ever be avoided at all somehow in this Universe of ours. Either of you, in fact. So I must therefore attempt to block your respective memories of this day as best as I can, then, as much as I might wish that I didn't actually have to do just that here and now."
Fifteen minutes later, at most, then, Cloak-san had done what she actually had to do at that time with both Haruka and Hina Urashima. After that was done well enough to suit her sufficiently well here and now, she soon vacated the area of the playground now in question for the Hinata City local area, for that matter, before eventually entering a deserted alley somewhere else entirely in the Hinata City local area. She was not seen again in the Hinata City local area again for a very long time, without any doubt to a sufficient enough degree, if ever again in it as she now was, most likely.
This prologue had a lot of long sentences, but such was required here, for the purposes of this story, at least for the prologue. It remains to be seen just how long it will be, and how often it will be, between appearances of Cloak-san, in this particular story of mine here, you see. She may or may not appear often, but the story will ultimately still dictate that as the need then arises for it to do just that somehow, for sure. Will she be a friend or foe to many in the Hinata City local area in the future or not? Only time will tell, of course, people, and you'll just have to wait and see, just like I will, quite naturally enough. And if she is a friend to several, will she perhaps help many find love with others in their lives, whether their true loves prove to be Keitaro or not? What will be the case for any or all of them is not yet clear to me, for your information, everyone. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller now signing off until next time, quite obviously enough!