Love Hina: Everything has a beginning
Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina, Akamatsu Ken does. Nor do I own the gods and beasts whose names are used in here, they are the property of... well the Shinto religion I suppose.
Now, before we start this, close your eyes and... hey open them again, you gotta be able to read this.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, imagine that the air rushing it becomes like a cleansing wind. All your worries, all your troubles and irritations is like a muddy dross lying at the bottom of your lungs. Take this deep breath and imagine how the wind whirls through this dross, kicking it up and making it swirl through the air. Exhale and imagine how all the dross is expelled out of you and all that is left, is peace.
Now, feel how you slowly change, you are no longer sitting in front of your computer, but on a pillow inside a Japanese shrine. It is a quite sparse one but still well kept, it gives you a sense of calm. Your clothes have been replaced with a Yukata and you feel alert but still at peace. Far in the distance you can hear the soft knock of bamboo hitting rock every now and then.
The man sitting on the pillow in front of you is old, nearly ancient. An old shinto priest, bald and with long beard, the man smiles softly and he sees you. Now, imagine that he starts speaking, his voice is hoarse but it still spills forth from his lips easily. Now, listen to his story, and be at peace.
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"In the oldest of legends there are tales of a titanic monster. A terrible being, capable of razing nations and destroying armies. A spawn of darkness, in front of which even the mightiest stood powerless. When it rose from its' slumber humanity trembled, for it was a certain sign that thousands would die. It fed upon entire cities and left a blighted wasteland in its trail. This monstrous being, serpentine, with eight heads and eight tails, was known as Yamagata no Orochi. Against this monster no mortal could prevail. The mightiest of samurai couldn't even approach it without being struck down by the poisonous fumes that stood around it. The only ones capable of slaying this monster were the gods themselves. The one thing the all too mortal humans could do was pray that the divine rulers would deliver them from this beast. A shallow, faint, hope; one that few truly believed would come true."
"But fortunately, improbable does not mean impossible. In the end, a god really came. According to the legends, Susanoo, god of the sea and of the storms, banished from the heavens for the destruction he had wreaked in his sister's, Amaterasu the sun goddess, home, one day came to know of this beast. A couple of farmers beseeched him to save their daughter, who had been chosen by the great serpent as its next victim."
"Susanoo eagerly rose to the challenge, longing for the thrill of battle. The wily storm-god went to the local brewer and bought every last drop of the man's sake. This he poured into eight large vats which he placed in the vale outside the village. When Orochi came to claim its prey it felt the smell of sake. The gluttonous beast's eight mouths started drooling as it descended upon the vats, its filthy hunger having temporarily forgotten the girl. With loud, disgusting slurps the beast begun to gorge on the sake, copious amounts rushed down its throat as it savored the brew. Meanwhile Susanoo stood a distance away, quietly waiting behind a rock. Soon the sake had its' effect of the beast, it started to sway as it became more and intoxicated. Soon it was too drunk to even move properly and it was then that Susanoo struck."
"The storm god rushed into the valley and struck the serpent down. The ground shook as the storm-god and the titanic monster fought in the valley. Even drunk, the monster was an implacable foe capable of epic feats of chaos and destruction. However in the end Susanoo wouldn't be denied. With a mighty heave he cut off the last of the serpent's heads, finally ending its wicked existence. By all rights, this should be the end of the legend. The hero had triumphed, the demon was dead, the farm girl was even taken by Susanoo as his mortal bride, thereby even giving the tale an equivalent of how the hero married the princess. All is well that ends well as the stories say. Susanoo eventually was forgiven by his radiant sister and returned to heaven. His union with the mortal girl gave birth to a daughter. A beautiful baby that would grow up and become known as Otohime, the princess of the sea."
"If only it had ended thus."
"When told about the death of Yamagata no Orochi, those people who truly knew the demon would say, "It's not over"."Such evil is not slain just like that", they would say. These prophets of gloom weren't listened to by many though. The world had finally been delivered from the monster. At last they didn't have to fear the titanic monster's hunger and want for destruction. Finally they could stop listening for hissing sounds in the distance. Why should they listen to the pessimistic voices that preached Orochi's return? And thus; mankind lived on, happy in their ignorance."
"This is the time for this legend to be connected to another of the Japanese legends. The legend of Urashima Taro."
"Once upon a time there was a fisherman who lived by the sea. His name was Urashima Taro and he lived with his wife and children in a small hovel built out of wood and earth. Every day he went out in his small boat and caught all the fish he could, sometimes staying out on the sea until it was dark. His wife would then light a fire at the beach, to provide him with a guide back to shore. Urashima Taro was poor man, life was hard and the taxes imposed on him by the feudal lord made every day a struggle. Nevertheless: he was a happy man. Every hardship that came he weathered with an unbreakable spirit and endless optimism. Through sun and rain, summer and winter, he always smiled. His beautiful wife and his wonderful children was all he needed to feel that every day was blessed by Buddha."
"One summer day when he was walking towards the boat he saw a group of children huddling around something. Being curious by nature the fisherman took a look at what they were doing. What he saw sickened him; the young boys were torturing a small turtle. Using sticks and sharp rocks they were inflicting grievous wounds on the poor creature. Taro cried out for them to stop. When the boys turned around he told them yet again to stop torturing the poor animal and took out a few copper coins which he gave to them. With those few copper coins he managed to deliver the turtle from its fate at the cruel children's' hands. Taking up the turtle and doing what he could for its wounds he carried it to the water. He put it down in the wet element it called home but was startled when it spoke."
"The small sea creature spoke to the fisherman with a kind voice. It thanked him for the merciful intervention and wanted to reward him. It said that its mistress would want to reward the brave man who had saved her servant. Intrigued, Urashima Taro got into his boat and followed the turtle out on the sea. He followed it far out on the sea, many times looking back to see how far out they were. Eventually they couldn't see that coast and Taro begun to think about turning back. He had never been this far out and begun to worry. However the turtle soothed his worries and said that they would soon be there. It was then that they came upon a thick fog, a fog so thick that Taro couldn't see the furthest part of his boat from his position at the back of it. However the turtle soothed his worries and said that there was only a short distance away."
"The fog then cleared in an instant and Taro couldn't believe his eyes. Somehow, he had come under the sea. He was now traveling in a large air bubble under the sea. Far above him and to the sides the sea was stopped by invisible walls and far in the distance he could see light. The turtle said something to him but he was too awestruck to hear it. He didn't even realize that his boat was continuing onwards despite him having stopped moving the oar. As he approached the source of the light he saw a castle.
It was a beautiful castle, seemingly growing from the ocean floor, which was surrounded by a golden halo of light. The boat moved, on its own, up to the jade stairs that led up from the water to the castle. The awestruck fisherman absently got off the boat and looked up on the castle, bigger than anything he had seen before. When he reached that castle gate a strange man, blue skinned and with eyes like those of the fishes he used to catch, appeared in front of him and blocked his path. Wearing a strange armor made out of seashells and wielding a spear made out of coral, he nonetheless made the instinctive reflexes that told Taro to kneel kick in. However when the turtle came up by Taro's side, it was the strange man's turn to kneel. The large guard bowed to the turtle and welcomed him back in a respectful tone as he let them in. Taro was guided through the hallways of this fantastic castle, at every turn seeing wonders no mortal man had ever seen. Eventually they arrived at the throne-room, where the fisherman saw something, or rather someone, who very nearly made his heart stop.
"On a large plateau in the large room, resting upon large pillows and dressed in the finest silks, was the most beautiful woman the man had seen. She was divine in her beauty and seemed to radiate light. Taro couldn't help but gawk, the poor fisherman, who had lived all his life as a simple person only concerned with surviving, now stood in front of someone fairer than any mortal woman. The turtle crawled up to the throne and bowed its head to the beautiful woman who, when she saw the turtle's wounds, rose from her resting place and hurried down to it. She gently took it up in her hands, with motions graceful beyond belief, and a golden light enveloped it as its wounds healed. The beautiful woman rose up and looked at him with a kind expression on her face as she bowed to him. She thanked him for having saved her old friend, the turtle, and introduced herself to him. She was Otohime, child of the sea god Susanoo and princess of the depths. Yet again Taro fell to his knees in front of her and showed his submission to her by putting his forehead to the floor. His surprise was therefore even greater when the woman told him to rise. She smiled at him with a beautiful laugh and told him that he would be rewarded for what he had done, Otohime valued her friends highly and she would always repay those who had helped them."
"For three days Taro stayed in this palace, he drank of the finest sake, was entertained with the finest music, played by Otohime herself, and was given all the luxuries only the gods could offer. However as the third day came he started to think of his family. Realizing that they were waiting for him he decided to leave. As he bid Otohime farewell he saw how confounded she was, why did he not stay? She could offer anything he wanted, he'd never lack for anything. The fair princess did not understand. Taro apologized and said that he couldn't abandon his family. He was grateful for these days but he had to think of him family. Otohime eventually yielded and allowed him to leave. Before he got into his boat, however, she presented him with a gift. A beautiful casket covered in mother of pearl was presented to him by the fair maiden. She told him, however, that under no circumstances could he open it."
"With this gift Urashima Taro got into his boat, bowed again to the fair princess, and left for his home. Steering through the mists yet again he held his head high and did not fear, remembering the turtle's words. Not even when the mists darkened and rocked his boat did he fear, certain that things would work out. Soon he reached the familiar waters of his home bay and steered towards his village. What met him was something that made his heart grow cold though. Where there had once been the most precious village in the world to him there was now nothing. Not a single hovel could be found, it was as if they had never been there. Taro got ashore quickly and started to run along the beach, crying out the names he knew from the village. No one responded and he grew more and more desperate."
"It was not until a week had passed that he came across a merchant, one traveling to witness the new Emperor's ascension to the throne. This confused Taro, he knew little of the world but what he did know was that a new Emperor had been ascended only a few years ago. As he mentioned this to the merchant, saying that emperor's name, the merchant had laughed. When he had calmed down he told Taro that that emperor had ruled over three centuries ago. Those words had made Taro's heart freeze and he had refused to believe the man. The merchant had told him that he spoke the truth and then left, claiming that the road was long and the day would soon be night. Taro had absently nodded and when the man had left he had started to run. For hours he ran in blind grief, screaming at the world. He eventually ended up deep in the forests, lost and alone. He sunk down by a pine tree and cried until he fell asleep, never wanting to wake up."
"When he woke up the next day he had found himself in the wooden cabin of an old hermit who had found him during his morning walk. The hermit, an old man of great wisdom and greater power, had asked Taro what his story had been and Taro, still in grief, had told the man everything. The man had listened silently, his face growing darker and darker for every word Taro spoke. It was when the fisherman had finished his story that the old hermit told Taro what had happened. He knew the gods, knew their nature, and said that Otohime's castle was an enchanted place where time flowed differently. Each day there had been a century in the real world. When Taro had wanted to leave Otohime had allowed him to, she was forbidden from forcing her will upon any man. Her maliciousness could only spread to not mentioning this to Taro, sealing away his mortality in the casket and letting him reap the fruits of abandoning her. Taro's heart darkened that day, as the old man explained what the goddess had done to him he grew more and more angry. Was this the reward for him sacrificing his last coppers to save Otohime's servant? Was this the justice of the gods? He had always been a compassionate man, one who lived a good life. And this was how he was rewarded? That day, Urashima Taro swore vengeance on the gods."
"The old man had smiled when Taro proclaimed this and offered his service. The old man had too lost to the gods and hated them as well. He offered to teach all that which he knew about onmyou magic and talismans to the hateful man. Taro accepted without hesitation and for five years he remained in the forest, learning all he could from the old man. When he five years later sat out on his quest for vengeance he was a changed man. Where there had once been a pleasant smile there was a grim frown. Where clear eyes had watched the world with happiness there were two black orbs devoid of life. His wiry body was hardened by dark magic and unnaturally powerful. Taro set out into the world, for a decade he wandered, never stopping at any one place for long, always seeking for kindred souls that had suffered due to the whims of the capricious gods. He found many, people who had lost everything, all of them blaming the gods for it. Taro's words were like sweet nectar to them and they all followed him, even taking his family name as theirs."
"With this army he traveled deep into the darkest forests of Japan and there, hidden from the world, he started to forge an army from what he had. From the exiles from the shadowy ninja clans, he spread speed, stealth and ruthlessness to him people; from wandering ronin and cast out samurai he spread martial skill and fearlessness to them. From the unclean burakumin, lowest in Japan's society, he spread the knowledge of the body to them. Everything was mixed to form what he needed, terrible murderers and fiends without a heart."
"In the depths of the forest of Aokigahara the Kirei no Kage, the "Shadow of Hate" was born."
"These terrible warriors, proficient in battle as well as magic, tempered in their own hate and Aokigahara's horrors, now prepared to unleash their wrath upon the gods. After a hundred years they came out of the forest again, Taro being the only one left from the beginning thanks to his accursed immortality. However this was only the beginning of Taro's dark crusade. Over the centuries the Kirei no Kage spread their shadowy tendrils over Japan. They sought out every secret group of mages, every hidden monastery and every wandering sword master, seeking their knowledge. To reach the gods they would need power beyond what had ever been seen before and they set out on this task with a terrible zeal. For centuries Japan lived in horror of these people, mages were abducted, monasteries plundered, no one could escape the hateful shadows that constantly hunted for more power and more knowledge. Deep within Aokigahara hell itself reigned in their citadel. Their mages delved into the most terrible of arts, forging alliances with the ruinous powers of darkness and evil themselves. Outside the forest their assassins and shadowdancers ever chased those who held even the faintest secrets of magic and gave them one choice, surrender or die."
"The clan's power only grew, as did their mysterious reputation. No one knew anything about them, only their name, "Kirei no Kage", and the thousands of atrocities they had committed. All that people knew, that people came to fear, was the sight of men wearing wide and colorful clothes, wearing shikami, hannya and tengu masks. Men armed with both wicked blades that brought swift and painful death and paper charms that summoned terrible demons and curses. They became the bogeymen of Japan, a constant horror luring on the outskirts of their awareness, never tangible but always present."
"It was due to their dark deeds that the emperor himself, fearing their blood-thirst, gave his support to a group of wandering samurai and mages that had fled the Kirei no Kage and allowed them to settle deep in the Kyoto mountains. Hoping to create a defense against them he dubbed them the Gods Cry and tasked them with defending Kyoto from all threats that normal blades couldn't turn aside. This order of exorcists grew quickly and secretly, preparing for the task that had been given to them."
"At this same time the rapacity of the Kirei no Kage reached its apex, they were ravaging Japan unchecked, taking all they could and leaving nothing but death and destruction behind. There was a terrible method to this madness, at the beginning they had only done singular raids only to step up the butchery when their power grew. This culminated during the Night of Grieving Snow when the Kirei no Kage assaulted Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's islands and home to the Ainu people. This indigenous people had managed to hold back the Japanese armies for decades thanks to the Niseta huntsmen, the "Tree Hounds" which had stopped any Imperial attempts to attack their people. Entire armies had fallen to their bows and the very forces of nature which stood under the Niseta's command as they defended their people and their freedom."
"Against the Kirei no Kage it was a totally different matter though. The entire clan had entered Hokkaido in greatest secrecy, only revealing themselves when it was too late for the Niseta to fight them on their conditions. When the Ainu hunters fled into the forest the mages unleashed terrible firestorms and the hunters became hunted as they were chased through ash and death by the assassins. Step by step they were driven further and further north, never yielding but still unable to successfully oppose the terrible prowess of the Kirei no Kage. Even if Taro's fanatical servants paid dearly for every step they took the battle was already won. The Niseta, who had never exceeded a hundred, were unable to combat the hundreds of murderous killers and the thousands of demons following them. Taro himself plunged his blade into the Niseta chieftain's heart, ending all hope for the Ainu people. The Kirei no Kage took what they needed from the Niseta, pillaging their villages and torturing their secrets out of their prisoners. After that, they left, abandoning the Ainu people to their fate at the imperial army's hands."
"With the imperial army, though, came the Shinmei-ryu. The exorcists came in force to finally avenge all that which the Kirei no Kage had taken from them and managed to surprise the murderers. A terrible battle now took place, the Shinmei-ryu were just as skilled, if not more, in the chaotic close combat the Kirei no Kage thrived in and their opponents were still exhausted from the final battle against the Ainu. In the end the Kirei no Kage was utterly defeated, only Taro surviving thanks to the dark magic that lived in him and managing to flee back to the shadows of Aokigahara to lick his wounds."
"But the loss of all that which he had come over in the north and almost all of his servants was nothing but a setback to the immortal man and he begun to rebuild his army with a patience that came out of his knowledge that he had eternity to complete his vengeance. It took centuries but just like how a weed will always return if the roots are not pulled out the Kirei no Kage was rebuilt. When Taro finally turned his eyes on the world again he smiled at what he saw. Japan had forgotten him, remembering the Kirei no Kage only as a dark legend of how the world had been back when the empire's might were incomplete. The Shinmei-ryu had become the dogs of the emperor, enforcing his will with ruthlessness worthy of the Kirei no Kage, the irony was overwhelming and Taro set out to resume his quest for vengeance. The empire was frail at this time and the Kirei no Kage moved subtly amongst the classes, searching for the seeds of discontent and fanning them wherever they found them."
"They had learned from their humiliating defeat and now they moved with divine subtlety, foiling even the best investigators that tried to follow the scattered clues left behind from their activities. The Kirei no Kage finally managed to fan the flames of discontent so far that the entire country fell into war. A conflict started, slowly spreading across Japan and after a few decades the entire nation was in full war."
"Now the real plan started. In the cover of great battles and large armies the Kirei no Kage marched on Kyoto and the Shinmei-ryu's home. The Kyoto exorcists had retrieved the secrets Taro had uncovered from the Niseta and now guarded them deep in their mountains. With almost all of the Shinmei-ryu's warriors out in the great wars the Taro's dark army went unopposed into the mountains, burning the villages and robbing them of everything. Only the old teachers and the apprentices were there to oppose the Kirei no Kage's hunger for vengeance and the Kyoto Mountains burned at their touch. As a final insult the ancestral sword of the Aoyama family, finest amongst the God's Cry's samurai, was stolen, being replaced with a defiled blade imbued with a powerful being of death and rage, forever cursing whomever wielding the blade to become a berserker seeking only death."
"With the secrets of the Niseta reclaimed Taro sent his men all over Japan with one command, kill the warriors of the God's Cry. Sending all of his men, except for nine of his deadliest shadowdancers and four of his mightiest summoners, to combat the Shinmei Samurai who had defeated him centuries ago, Taro returned to Aokigahara. The men he had sent to die in battle were useless; the battle that started now didn't need hundreds of warriors, only the thirteen he had chosen."
"With the secrets discovered from the Niseta's and the Shinmei-ryu's vaults Taro finally had enough strength to force him and his men past the barriers that surrounded Otohime's castle. Screaming oaths of vengeance his men tore down the gates of the castle and charged inside. Otohime's servants, minor spirits of the sea and all that lived therein, stood powerless against Taro's servants as they, after a thousand years, took the vengeance their master desired. In the end only the throne room remained and Taro himself was at the forefront of the attack, tearing down the doors and stalking inside. At the sight of Otohime his heart faltered for a second as he witnessed her fear. The look of sorrow and fear on the beautiful princess' face could reach into even a heart filled with a millennium of hate and when she asked who he was he removed his mask, stating his full name and his reason for being there."
"Urashima Taro, once a simple fisherman, now a man cursed to never die thanks to the divine cruelty of the princess of the depths. Urashima Taro, leader of the Kirei no Kage, who live only on hate, and killer of hundreds. Urashima Taro, a man who lost everything to the pettiness of a spoiled goddess, and on this day I will have my vengeance."
"Otohime's eyes were wide for she remembered the fisherman and she fell to her knees from the shock. She whispered that she had never done anything like that and she begged him to believe her. Taro wouldn't yield though and he walked up to her, preparing to decapitate her Then Otohime suddenly threw herself at him, pressing her forehead against his and linking their minds."
"Taro was met with the longing heart of a goddess who had fallen in love with a simple mortal when he had saved her best friend. He saw how she had begged him to stay, not wanting to see him leave her but how she eventually had yielded to his requests to leave. He saw her grant him a magic casket that contained the centuries that he had spent there, thereby allowing him to go home to his time, and how she had shed tears at seeing him leave. Otohime was met with hate, a thousand years of hate towards her for her trickery. She saw how he had come home and found that all he had known was gone and that he had been damned to never see his family again. She wept when she saw the atrocities he had committed to gain his vengeance and how he had thrown himself into the darkest of magic and the most wicked of arts, all to get revenge."
"What they both saw, though, was the black mists Taro had rowed through when he had gone home. The fisherman hadn't thought of that then but Otohime saw that memory in fear. She wept when she realized how her gift had been so corrupted and showed him. Those mists had not been created by water, but by blood. Far off in the Japanese mountains, where no one had ever set foot, lay the giant body of the demon her father had slain millennia ago. That demon was still bleeding, not having truly died at Susanoo's hands. Instead it had been slowly healing, reaching out into the world via its pawns it had managed to spill its blood into the waters Urashima Taro had passed, twisting Otohime's gift to what it had become. Even the old man who had taught Taro had been nothing but a pawn of Orochi. In the meeting of minds there was no lie, no deceit, and they both could feel it."
"When Taro got out of the meeting of minds he ordered his men to stand down, his voice hoarse and silent. Taro and his men left the princess without a word and returned to Japan. When they reached the islands again Taro was met with a unified Japan under the control of a new ruler. All of the men he had sent out had been killed, even though they had fought like demons they had eventually been overwhelmed and now only these fourteen men remained of the Kirei no Kage. Taro and his men headed deep into the mountains of Japan and there they found the true culprit of Taro's tragic story. Orochi was still healing but it had regained enough strength to move and was heading towards the coast where it would reestablish himself as the greatest horror Japan knew. Taro faced the demon though, he was still burning with vengeance and in the end he and his men managed, despite great losses and through great heroics, thwart the demon's plans."
"Via the dark arts Taro had mastered they managed to seal the demon away. Creating a large scroll, filled with seals and penned in the blood of Taro himself, they managed to seal the demon into it, imprisoning it for eternity. Taro swore on that battlefield that he would from now on always watch over this scroll, stopping this demon from ever returning to the world. The few remaining assassins and summoners swore their loyalty yet again to him, assuming the Urashima name and swearing that their descendants would continue this duty. Abandoning the dark fortress in Aokigahara, Taro and his men, now people of the Urashima family, traveled deeper into the mountains and settled there. The meeting with Otohime had given the immortal man back some of his sanity and he remade the Kirei no Kage, abandoning that name and merely calling them the Urashima he swore to never act for any other reason than to secure the world's safety from Orochi."
"As the years passed the clan slowly begun to grow yet again, the Urashima yet again establishing themselves as a power in Japan, this time though it was not as a murderous army of darkness but as the jailers of said darkness. Taro now took a new wife and, even if he couldn't love her, he took good care of her and the children she gave him. Decades later Taro decided to cut away the final ties with the past. Walking into his chamber he looked at the casket Otohime had given him before he reached out to open it."
"During the millennium he had lived he had sworn thousands of dark pacts with countless evil beings in order to give him all the power he needed. These beings were still out there, demanding that he gave them the blood of gods. Taro opened the box and let his true age come. In only seconds he aged and died, his soul falling down into the afterlife to be torn apart by the thousands of demons that now screamed at him for his betrayal of his oaths. His last thoughts were those of hope that his descendants could live a better life than he had done."
"In silence the Urashima remained, moving quietly and subtly through Japan as they sat about their mission. Death was still their craft, but it was not the massacres of the past, but only singular deaths whenever nothing else was enough. New legends were formed, but this time they were not of death and pain."
"Far to the north a young man of Ainu descendant found an old cave in the mountains in which he discovered countless relics of his ancestors, the Niseta, and soon the Tree Hounds hunted in Hokkaido again. The Shinmei-ryu suddenly found the shrine where they had sealed away the dark blade that had replaced the Aoyama sword breached and the dark sword gone, the Ayoama sword back where it belonged and countless relics of their old days, relics thought lost, surrounding it. When the century turned anew the only traces that remained of Urashina Taro's millennium long crusade of hatred was his second wife, who now had dismantled the clan and buried her husband's past so much that only she knew of it, and the children she bore him. The woman, now old and infirm, had taken over a small inn on the outskirts of Tokyo. Instead of leading her family as killers and sorcerers, she and her youngest daughter waited silently in that inn, the scroll buried deep under the hill and the holy energies permeating it slowly killing the demon that had caused her husband so much grief."
"Only one danger still remained, Taro's firstborn's firstborn, a boy who already at birth possessed Taro's old invulnerability, a boy that could resume the dark crusade, claiming his birthright and seek the death of the gods. But the woman did not fear, she slowly and patiently gathered young girls to the inn, girls that would be his anchors and give him peace. A girl touched by Amaterasu. One of the Shinmei-ryu who had always carried Hachiman's blessing. A child of Inari and one born of his servants, the kitsune. Even a girl from the lands far across the ocean, where Tsukuyomi had given birth to a royal lineage, and a scion of Susanoo, the storm god not wanting to be left out of the final end of Orochi, came to live there. And also, above all else, Otohime herself sent her most beloved daughter to live there, giving her child to become a comfort for the boy and give him a peaceful goal, a good memory to hold on to with all the stubbornness of Taro's family."
"The story of this would be called Love Hina, how Hina's love and her deeds managed to bring about the shattering of her family's final ties to her husband's dark past."
A/N: Whoo-whee, I think I raised my geek levels pretty high there, at least with the start. Still it's a nice experiment, can't be afraid to try now, can we?
As some of you might have read before I wrote a small LH piece called "The reason why I stay." This piece, weird as it is, is in some ways the extended version of that. Originally I was going to write a whole Love Hina story of epic length where this was kinda the background, with Keitaro as the last of the Kirei no Kage and a lot of blood death and angst etc.
However I noticed after a while that I wasn't getting anywhere (I never put anything up before having finished it, not unfinished stories for me think you very much), the story simply would not be written. So instead I decided to use the background, which I wrote down to have it all gathered somewhere. The result was this and I decided to throw it up (not THROW it up, put it up) here. With some fast remakes and some restructuring I think that it actually works pretty well as a one-shot.
As always, read and review, was the experiment a success, do I fail at life, life flamers do? All opinions are welcome.