A/N: This is a one-shot I did on the side from The Gemini Movement so I can get some ideas out of my head. The lyrics belong to KOTOKO, and all characters but the titular mysterious stranger are Ken Akamatsu's, and if he had a problem with fanfics, this site would have over two-thousand law suits on it.

Love Hina: The Mysterious Stranger

Anyone within the city limits of the town of Hinata could always tell when Mitsune Konno (a.k.a 'Kitsune') started a party at the infamous Hinata inn. The speaker system she owned had a way of turning the whole inn into a giant, bass-pumping sub-woofer.

That being said, the locals just rolled their eyes when an extended, whooshing sound like a high wind began soaring across the town. Meanwhile, inside the sou itself, Kitsune stepped back from the refrigerator sized sub-woofer as the lyrics fought for dominance with the bass line.

Please kiss my boy
Hold me baby
Sweet little love boy...yeah!

You can be cheeky (okay, okay)
You can sleep late (okay, okay)
If you've got a problem (open up, that's the way to go)
Just leave it to me
Your kitten face is (love, love, lovely)
Looking at her is a (no-no, no-no)
Like or love? Get sweet time!

"Woo!" Kitsune cheered as she raised a bottle of swirling sake, "Let's get started!"

Su was instantly swinging from any available object on the roof, attempting to catch Tama-chan for some after-party soup. Naru and Motoko, while not as enthusiastic, joined in regardless, each accepting a glass from Kitsune, who had taken on the part of bartender and barfly.

Shinobu, however, didn't join in at all. She simply sat on the middle seat of the couch, occasionally glancing toward the stairs, searching for her favorite kanrinin. Of course, he wasn't there, still repairing a set of holes caused by him going through his ceiling, Naru's floor, Naru's ceiling, the attic's floor, the attic's roof, and the roof itself, all in rapid succession. The cause of this flight was self-explanatory.

Everyone's activities were halted by a knocking on the door.

"Hey, did Keitaro fall off the roof?" Kitsune hollered over the chorus.

"Nah, the baka shouldn't even be done with his ceiling yet!" Naru yelled back, "Turn down the volume so I can answer!"

Kitsune mumbled at this, but obliged, the music going down to mere ear-spiting levels. Naru moved to the door, only stumbling once, over an endtable.

"Who is it?" she half-yelled, yanking the door open, and froze when she saw who was there.

It was a man, roughly Keitaro's age. He had messy black hair, and green eyes, speckled with black. He was wearing a black button-up shirt with a dragon embroidered on his left side, and loose dark gray jeans with a ring of studs along the cuff of each leg. He was holding an envelope in his hand, though Naru couldn't see what was on it. She absorbed this all in a second before she reacted.

"What the hell do you want?" was her elegant greeting.

"Hello, miss. Are you one of the tenants here?" the man asked.

"Yeah, why do you care?"

"Who is it Naru-sempai?" called Motoko from the living room.

"Would it be a problem if I came in?"

"Hell, no!" the temperamental red-head shouted back, "I'm not giving a perverted guy like you a chance to molest the innocent girls in here!"

"Miss, you might want to know-"

"Shut up! Any business you have can be done out here, where you're not near the girls!"

"Miss, I'm gay."

This caused Naru and Motoko, who had been just behind Naru, halfway through drawing her boken, to pause.

"You're..." Naru started shakily.

"Gay, yes. May I come in please?"

Naru stepped to the side, even less steady on her feet then before.

The stranger sat on the couch after taking a look around the living room. "When will Keitaro be back?"

"Um, he should be down in a minute," Kitsune said, "He's in the middle of some repairs now."

"Well, that's the official reason I'm here," the man said, "by the way, my name's Tsusoki."

"Wait, so what is your purpose here?" Motoko asked.

"And aside from your 'official' reason, too!" Kitsune pointed out.

"Well," Tsusoki breathed, "Officially, I'm here for my father, actually. He owns the hardware store in town."

Motoko snapped up at this. "The Tsume hardware store?"

"Yep."

"So my step-brother is your uncle?"

There was a unanimous cry of disbelief around the room from all but Motoko, Su, and Tsusoki, who smiled. "Ah, so you're Motoko! It's nice to meet you! Anyway, I'm here because Keitaro has been running up a tab at my dad's store, which normally isn't a problem, as he's been very prompt in his payments, but recently, he hasn't been making his payments, so I'm here to see why, and collect."

Kitsune's face fell at this. Se had been 'borrowing' money from Keitaro constantly these last few months.

"How much does the baka owe?" Naru asked.

"Well," he held up his hands, counting, "5,700 two-by-four planks of wood, 13,000 nails, 1,500 shingles, 500 rolls of door and screen paper, not to mention various tools and cleaning supplies kitchen hardware and paints. That all comes out to over 200,000,000 yen."

The girls all gasped at this, including Su, who wondered how many bananas that would buy.

"Yeah, that kinda sucks, considering. Especially what with the non-official reason I'm here."

"Which is?"

"I'm here to visit my boyfriend."

Shinobu's eyes were spiraling at this point. "Y- You mean?"

"Yeah, Keitaro and I are dating. Didn't you know? Ever since this one girl he really liked kept putting him down, well... He got curious. I was the same, too."

At this point, even Su realized some of the significance of what was being said. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I liked this girl once, but I never told her how I felt," Shinobu now stood to attention, "I was too immature to get over myself and just ask. So here I am now!" Tsusoki smiled and spread his arms theatrically.

"N- No, there's no way Keitaro can be-"

"I think I know my boyfriend at least that well, you know," Tsusoki deadpanned.

If the girls were anything, confused was at least three of them.

"Oi, who is it?" called a voice from the stairs. Keitaro appeared at the top, still covered in some of the sawdust from his repairs.

"Hey, Kei!" yelled Tsusoki. "Excuse me, madams, but I am needed on business." Tsusoki bowed himself out of the living room and dragged off Keitaro.

4 |=E\|/ |\/|1|\||_|7EZ |_47ER

In Keitaro's room:

"So, what's up, Tsusoki?" asked Keitaro, "I wasn't expecting you to stop by. How's the girlfriend?"

"Same old, same old. My parents are pushing me to pop the question, but I dunno. I still don't know how she feels about marriage. Especially since she'd be marrying into a family like mine."

"Are you kidding? You're the heir to a billionaire company!" Keitaro laughed.

"-that gives away several thousand weekly for repairs on his friend's place. You are friggin' tough on this building, man!" Tsusoki laughed back, "Actually, I can see what you mean about your girlfriend back there. She nearly took my head off when I knocked!"

"Yeah, that's Naru all right... You know, she's not that bad, and she's not my girlfriend!"

"Why haven't you asked her? You think Risu and I'd be together if I was shy to my first crush?"

"Hmm..." Keitasro mumbled.

"Besides," Tsusoki continued, "I think you'll have a mush easier time with the girls soon."

"What do you mean?" Keitaro asked.

"Oh, just a feeling, but I think they'll be reevaluating you pretty soon," Tsusoki laughed at the bewilderment on Keitaro's face.