A few words from the author…
- This is a collaborative work. I'm only the writer.
- Sorta takes place after the anime though I may add stuff from the manga...
- To put forward any suggestions, my e-mail address is I would like to thank the ff. for their support, ideas and artwork: Ivik, Renz, James and Raph. ASTIG KAU! Oh yeah, I'd also like to thank mah girl, Cielo... Tnx loads, hon!
- Read, Review and most importantly, enjoy.
Love Hina: Once Again
Prologue: Of Omens Unwanted and Unsaid
Keitaro Urashima, 20, had never been so happy. After years of trying, his efforts have borne fruit. After two years at Tokyo University, he had finally won the love of Naru Narusegawa, the girl of his dreams. Even better, was that he had asked her to marry him. His joy knew no bounds when she had said yes. And here they all were, in the gardens, enjoying the reception. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, falling all over the place like pink rain. Keitaro looked around at all the faces.
On one of the tables, Kitsune and Kentaro were having a drinking contest, with Shinobu pouring almost non-stop and with Su, Sarah, Haitani and Shirai watching. Motoko was having a conversation with Haruka and Seta on a table next to the punchbowl. Kanako, his step-sister, and Naru too were also having a small conversation of their own. Keitaro smiled. He'd never seen Kanako or Naru so happy. He was about to join them when something happened. The sakura petals had stopped falling, only to be replaced by what appeared to be... white feathers. He turned around.
There were six newcomers standing in the center. The kanrinrin looked at the others. They had noticed the newcomers and were waving in welcome. He turned once again to greet them. He couldn't see their faces but each seemed to radiate his own personality. The one in the center was wearing what appeared to be a neko-band. The figure to his right was tall and muscular, like a wrestler Keitaro had seen on T.V. To the left of the first was a boy who appeared to be no older than Shinobu. There was a languid grace in his movements as he gestured his greetings. Next to this one was someone who would have appeared normal if not for the six wings on his back and the cold, emotionless manner he exuded. There were also two others who might have been ordinary twins, save for the flock of small birds (doves?) that flew around one pf them and the bigger specimen (an eagle?) perched on his shoulder. The other had tousled chin length hair with bangs that covered one strangely glowing eye.
When he had greeted each of them, the world around him began to spin. He was about to be sick when he heard a voice.
"This is a sign of things to come..."
There might have been other words... but he didn't hear them, for he was falling into blackness...
He woke with a start and a scream. Warily, he looked around and sighed with relief. When he thought he had fallen into darkness, he had only woken up from a dream. He was safe in the manager's room of the Hinata-sou or Hinata apartments. Keitaro stood up. "What a crazy dream," he muttered. "I mean angels, doves, wrestlers and guys in cat headbands? C'mon. I must've been pretty full last night. I gotta tell Shinobu to stop using old seasonings. They're turning into LSD... Eh?" His attention had been called by the envelopes he had found on his study table.
Naru must have left these here, Keitaro thought as he picked them up. He looked at the back. The electric company, the phone company, the water company... not good signs. Keitaro opened one of the envelopes and read the letter. Chagrined and a little afraid, he threw it down and picked up the next one. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one till all the letters had been opened. Keitaro was completely freaked out by now. They were all bills, and astronomical ones too.
He thought as rationally as he could. Even though there were three new tenants (Kanako had chosen to stay there, Mutsumi's old apartment had been destroyed in a freak plumbing accident and Haruka's had been the victim of one of Su's more dangerous experiments), he still couldn't pay all the bills. He didn't want to raise the rent for fear of his tenants and friends, partly because they would beat the stuffing out of him. Seeing that he was quickly running out of options, he decided to do the one thing compromise to him...
"Are we that behind, bills-wise?" Naru Narusegawa, 17, asked. Keitaro had called an emergency meeting. Though it took a while, everyone had finally made it to the kitchen. He nodded in reply.
"So this is the only way?" asked his aunt, Haruka Urashima, 27, as she ground out her cigarette. Keitaro looked at her, the de-facto matriarch of the Hinata-sou girls, and nodded again.
"You're the landlord. Do whatever you want with the place," she answered.
"Whatever you gotta do to save this place, do it. I'm right behind ya all the way," was Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno's, 20, reply.
"Keep the apartments together, Keitaro!" the permenantly-hyperactive Kaolla Su, 14, Monmol princess.
"I'm behind you too, sempai..." the introverted Shinobu Maehara, also 14, junior high student and budding master chef.
"You dummy, you're the boss. Do what ya want," the rambunctious Sarah MacDougal, 9, orphaned ward of Dr. Noriyasu Seta, 30.
"I don't want to go anywhere else..." the cunning Kanako Urashima, 17, his stepsister.
"You have my support, Urashima. I just hope I didn't waste it," the focused Motoko Aoyama, 16, swordswoman of the God's Cry school.
"We believe in you, Kei-kun..." the anemic Mutsumi Otohime, 21, his and Naru's classmate.
"Thanks everyone." He looked at Naru, the only one who didn't put forward her opinion. She was lost in thought when Keitaro called her attention.
"Huh? Oh... yeah," she trailed off. "If it's for the inn, then... all right. Do what you have to do..."
"If you want to turn the inn into a unisex dormitory then we're going to need to change a few things," Haruka put in. "First, we gotta remake the baths, fix up some rooms..."
And so it was, the tenants of the Hinata-sou, in order to keep things the way they were, were going to convert the inn. As he watched his aunt and friends discuss the physical changes to the building, Keitaro couldn't help but think about that dream.
Was this what that voice was talking about? These changes? The kanrinrin wondered. He looked at Naru and marveled at how the way her eyes caught the light. I guess... Time will tell...