Disclaimer: "Love Hina" is the creative property of Ken Akamatsu and his associates. Any new characters not included in the original manga or the anime (written by Shō Aikawa) are my own creative property.

Transformation: A Love Hina Story

Chapter One (Revised):

It was a beautiful mid-December morning in the town of Hinata Hot Springs. The early morning sun slowly burned away the last grey, tattered shreds of sea-fog, exposing a high, treed hillside overlooking the small coastal suburb of Tokyo. As the mist dissolved into the warming air, Hinata House appeared. The normally white walls with purple trim glowed with a beautiful rose color in the crisp morning light. As the sunlight crawled down the structure and finally struck the entryway, the front door suddenly slammed open and a terrified Keitaro Urashima came bailing out of the building, closely followed by a figure dressed in red and white.

"URASHIMA!" yelled an angry Motoko Aoyama. "You disgusting pervert! How dare you yank my clothes off!" She raised her katana above her head and then, with a flashing glint of sunlight on steel; she swiftly slashed the sword downwards again. "Secret technique: Air Splitting Sword!" Motoko yelled.

Keitaro screamed, "Wait! It was an accident. I can explain!" Abruptly, an almost invisible, rolling ball of ki energy slammed into him. It picked him up, shook him like a rag doll, and then it launched him in the general direction of downtown Hinata Hot Springs.

"Motoko!" said an arriving Naru Narusegawa. "Did you catch the pervert?"

Motoko nodded her head. "Yes, and he has been properly punished for his transgressions. Urashima needs to be taught that he cannot abuse the residents here!"

"Good! Let's head back… Shinobu should have breakfast ready shortly."

…In other words, it was the start of a normal day at Hinata House.

"Aw, Crap!" Keitaro muttered as he landed in a heap on the sidewalk in front of the train station. He sat up and then shook his head. A small bandage had mysteriously appeared on middle of his forehead. After resting for a moment, he picked himself up and then dusted himself off. With a sigh, he began walking back towards the dormitory. Why do these things keep happening to me? he thought unhappily. It's always the same. I trip. I fall. A skirt comes down and I go flying again. Sometimes, I could just scream.

As he walked along the winding street, Keitaro rubbed the back of his head while pondering his situation. He had been the manager at the Hinata Inn for a while now, but he was not seeing much in the way of an improvement with how the girls were treating him. Granted, they were no longer actively trying to get rid of him and Naru was actually helping him to study, but they still seemed pretty "hair-triggered" when it came to pounding on him. It didn't help that he was naturally clumsy, which he figured was responsible for about half of the incidents. The other half was a combination of either misperception or active sabotage by a certain foxy lady or by one of her blond associates.

The trouble was that he just didn't know how to change things for the better. And while he wasn't always happy about the ways things often happened, he at least understood the way they worked and he had learned to live with it… no matter how painful it sometimes could be.

He glanced up as a barely visible shooting star streaked across the morning sky, a narrow trail of dark smoke following along behind it.

I wish that I could find a way to improve my lot in life, and my relationship with the girls!

When he finally arrived at the base of the long flight of stone steps leading up to the old inn, Keitaro noticed a figure wearing dark clothing, which seemed to be sneaking through the wooded area near the front of the property. Before Keitaro could call out to the figure, it hopped down on to the sidewalk and hurried away.

Keitaro watched the person rapidly vanishing down the street and then he shook his head. Whatever! he thought to himself. He took a last look over his shoulder and then he started the long climb up to the inn.

When he finally made it back to Hinata House, he found that the young cook, Shinobu Maehara, had finished preparing the breakfast and was starting to lay it out on the dining table. Naru and Motoko were already seated in their usual places, and Mitsune Konno (a.k.a.: Kitsune – the Fox) was stumbling into the dining room, followed by a sleepy-eyed Sarah McDougal.

He was just taking his seat at the table, when Kaolla Su came bounding into the room.

"Hi ya's, everyone! She called happily as she landed on her chair. She was just reaching for the food when Motoko lightly tapped her on the head.

"Su, you know you have to wait for everyone else before you begin eating," Motoko reminded her.

"Awww, but I'm hungry and everyone's already here," Su whined. "Let's eat!"

Shinobu was placing a final platter of scrambled eggs on the table. She looked at Su and stated, "Haruka will be joining us for breakfast today, Su, and she isn't here yet. Be patient." She looked around at her other roomies and said, "Haruka said that she has something important to discuss with us this morning."

"Did Aunt Haruka say what she wanted to talk about," Keitaro asked. He jumped as a voice suddenly spoke behind his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Haruka!" Haruka Urashima stated in an annoyed tone of voice.

He sweat-dropped as a folded fan suddenly appeared before his eyes. It shifted back and forth menacingly a few times in front of his face before re-vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Rubbing the back of his head, he said. "Heh, sorry about that!"

As soon as everyone was seated and the food was passed around, Su immediately started shoveling food into her face; while the others began eating at a more leisurely pace. After finishing a bite of rice Keitaro said, "So, Au-… I mean Haruka... What did you want to talk about?"

"I had a long talk with Grandma Hina on the phone last night," she replied after setting down a piece of the toast that she was nibbling upon. "She wanted me to tell you all that my younger brother is going to be staying here at Hinata House. Grandma didn't say when he will be arriving."

"Huh?" Keitaro exclaimed. "Uncle Adam is going to be staying here? I just talked with him on the phone a few days ago and he didn't mention anything about it."

"I don't think he knew about it then," Haruka replied. "From what Grandma was saying, I gather that it was a sudden decision."

Of course, this news ignited a firestorm among some of the female tenants (the usual suspects). There was much yelling and waving of hands, mixed with comments about "more perverted males!"

CRACK! Haruka slapped the palm of her hand down on the table. "Enough!" she shouted. Suddenly there was a shocked silence. "This is one topic that is not open for debate. I understand your feelings and concerns, but Grandma Hina wants him to move into here for a while, for reasons I won't go into right now, and she won't be changing her mind. He also has every right to be here. This is his family home. You'll just have to deal with it."

"I still don't see why Grandma Hina would allow a man to stay here!" Naru grumbled quietly to herself.

Shinobu raised her hand. "Um, Haruka," she said hesitantly. "I don't think I've heard of the name of Adam before. Is it a foreign name?"

Haruka nodded at the young girl. "Adam was adopted into our family," she said. "It is an Urashima family tradition that when a married couple has produced all of the natural children that they want, they will often adopt a carefully selected child. This adds new blood to the line and keeps the family strong. For instance, Keitaro has a younger sister who was adopted by his parents. This is a tradition not only in the Urashima family, but in some of the other older families as well. Right, Motoko."

Motoko nodded her head in agreement. "I have a younger cousin named Setsuna, who was adopted into a sept of the Aoyama clan. There are others as well."

Haruka continued, "In this case, Grandma Hina had been very good friends with Adam's family and she was also his godmother. When his parent's died in a traffic accident, Grandma adopted him. He is an American by birth, but his natural family's name also happens to be Urashima. One of his great-grandparents was an Urashima from our branch. So he is a member of our family both by adoption and by blood."

"I still don't like the idea of having a strange male living here," Motoko grumbled under her breath.

Haruka smiled at her. "Actually, Motoko, he isn't a total stranger to you. You may not remember it, but you've already met him."

"I don't recall the meeting," Motoko said in a puzzled voice.

"You met him last summer: on the morning after we performed that play at the beach. If you will recall, there was a young man who came into the beachside teahouse and sat at one of your tables. You talked with him for several minutes, then you came and got me and I talked with him for a while," Haruka said. "Do you remember? That was Adam. He has a tendency to appear in unexpected places."

Motoko thought back to that day. She remembered the incident very well. A tall, young man with brown hair and hazel eyes (of mixed Japanese and Western descent) had entered the café, his eyes tracking around the room. Su, who was acting as hostess, had seated him in Motoko's section. When she asked him for his order, he had requested an iced tea and a pastry. He told her that he had seen the play the evening before and that he had enjoyed it very much. He then told her that he had especially enjoyed her performance as the Water Demon (causing her to blush) and asked her if she would please pass his complements on to the other cast members. Then he asked to speak with Haruka. He and Haruka had talked happily together for about twenty minutes. After they were done, the man had quietly disappeared, leaving a nice tip behind. So that was Adam, she thought.

"I've met him too," Sarah chimed in. "He's knows my Daddy. He's not a dork like Keitaro," she said while giving Keitaro a mean little look.

Haruka finished eating her breakfast while the girls talked quietly amongst themselves. When she was done, she excused herself and left to open her teahouse for the day.

After breakfast the girls headed for the hot springs. Keitaro decided to get a jump on his studying. There would be a practice test held at the prep school in a couple of days and he wanted to be ready. He managed to get in several hours of studying before it was time for lunch. He did pretty well with his history and science questions, but the math and English were still a struggle.

Keitaro was the last to arrive in the dining room. He wasn't usually the most observant person in the world, but he could definitely feel some extra tension in the air. As soon as his butt hit the seat of his chair, the residents began quietly eating their lunch.

"This curried rice is delicious," Keitaro commented to Shinobu after a minute or so. The silence was starting to get to him.

Shinobu looked up from her meal and began to blush. "Thank you, Sempai."

"But the next time you should use more curry powder," Su chimed in with a big smile. Everyone chuckled at the foreign girl and the mood was broken.

Slowly conversation started to pick-up amongst the residents.

Shinobu looked at Sarah. "Hey, Sarah," she began. "You said this morning that you've met Keitaro's uncle. What is he like?"

The room suddenly got quiet again.

Sarah put a finger on her chin and thought about it for a moment. "Well, he's a friend of my Papa. He's tall, just like Papa. He's an American, just like me, and he's from California, just like me. Papa and Adam talked a lot about history and archaeology. I remember Papa looking at some books that Adam had written. They also excavated an old Spanish shipwreck together off the coast of Texas. That was a couple of years ago." Sarah shrugged and started eating again.

Shinobu looked at Keitaro. "Sempai," she said. "Would you tell us about your uncle?"

"Yes, Urashima," Motoko added. "Since this… male… is going to be living here, we would like to know something more about him."

"Um, I can tell you a little about him, but I haven't seen him in a few years," Keitaro began, "although I've talked to him a couple of times recently on the phone since I've taken over management of the inn." He gathered his thoughts for a moment. "You already know that he is Haruka's adopted brother. He's about my age, or maybe just a little older; I don't remember his exact age. Adam has a photographic memory and is very smart, so he was really good in school. He was always getting skipped in grades. I think he was taking some university classes when he was twelve years old. Anyway, Grandma Hina met his grandfather after World War Two, when the Americans were here, and they became lifelong friends. His family often visited Japan. Adam spent many of his summers here. When we were small, I remember us training together in the Urashima style of martial arts, and we were initiated… Never mind that."

Keitaro paused to take a bite of his food, and then he continued. "His parents died in an auto accident when he was thirteen or fourteen. He was their only child and I think he inherited some lands in California. Grandma Hina adopted him and brought him to live in Japan. I remember he used to oil paint and he was beginning to write, but I didn't know that he was a published author," he nodded at Sarah. "I know that he has been running errands for the family for a few years, sort of like a troubleshooter."

He scratched the back of his head. "Now that I think about it, I seem to recall Dad mentioning that his brother Adam was getting married last year. I think it was supposed to be an arranged marriage. Since Haruka didn't mention a wife moving in here, I would guess that he didn't get married after all. Sorry. That's all I can tell you right now."

Motoko seemed to be considering something. "You said something about an Urashima style of martial arts. What is that?"

Keitaro scratched his head again. "The Urashima family has a samurai background. The family has a unique style of martial arts that has been passed down for generations. Most family members are exposed to it when they are young, but not everyone continues with it. I was never that interested in it, nor was my father. Haruka and Adam were good at it. So is my little sister," he shrugged. "I'm certain that Adam must have had some sort of martial arts training before he began learning the Urashima style. I don't know if he ever kept up with the training."

"What is this initiation that you mentioned?" Motoko pressed.

"Oh, that's nothing important. Forget that I said anything about it," Keitaro replied nervously. He quickly finished his food, and said, "Well, I need to do some chores, so I'll see you all later."

The girls looked suspiciously at Keitaro's back as he hurried away.

I wonder what that was all about? Motoko thought to herself.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Keitaro managed to clean the hot springs without being accused of peeking at anyone. He and Shinobu had also gotten the grocery shopping done without incident. He had even patched the "launch damage" left over from a couple of days earlier, when Naru had taken offense to his accidentally yanking her skirt down around her ankles. The resulting Naru "Iron Punch" had blasted him straight through the attic floor and the roof. He had made an impressive crash landing in Hinata Bay, right next to the old lighthouse.

After dinner, Keitaro and Naru went to her room to study. The evening went well and they had a fruitful session. Keitaro had even managed to avoid getting pounded due to his usual "perversions." When he finally retired to bed that evening, it was with a deep sense of accomplishment. Life was good!

Two Years Earlier:

Adam Urashima down-shifted the blue Mazda pickup truck as he carefully drove around a curve in the narrow road just outside of the city of Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. The pouring rain had finally tapered off into a fine drizzle, with the occasional odd flash of lightning visible off in the distance. The truck slowed as it approached a covered wooden sign posted next to a side road. In the dim and watery afternoon light, Adam read the formal script on the deeply carved sign. It simply stated "Gods' Cry School: Martial Arts Studio." He turned onto the road and was almost immediately swallowed by a dense stand of evergreen trees.

As he cruised down the graveled road, Adam thought about his purpose for visiting the mysterious Gods' Cry School. He was hoping to obtain some information about certain of his ancestors. These were people who had made important and lasting contributions to his family line, including many of its martial arts practices.

He had told Mom Hina that he wanted to track down his Aoyama ancestors, who were said to have come from the Kyoto area. When he had asked her for suggestions on where to start, she had given him an amused smile and a letter of introduction to the dojo. She had told him that most of the Aoyamas from the Kyoto area were associated with the founders of the school. He had then called the dojo and they had set him up with an appointment to meet with one of their council members. He was on his way to that meeting now.

Adam thought back to when he was a small child. His family from America used to visit "Grandma Hina" during the summer each year. At the time, Hina was his godmother: then his parents had been killed and Hina had become his adoptive mother, as per his parents' will. Adam had been an only child and, with the exception of his Aunt Marie, he was the last surviving direct member of the American branch. He had many cousins, aunts and uncles, but none carried the Urashima name. After immigrating to California in the early 1900's, the Urashimas had always run heavily to female children, with only a few males being born to carry on the family name, only one per generation.

In a way, it was sort of ironic. A century ago, his branch of the family had deliberately separated itself from the Japanese branch in a conflict over a marriage: a marriage between an Urashima and an Aoyama. The wheel of time had turned and the two branches were now reuniting four generations later. And that was why he was now approaching the Gods' Cry School: to hopefully learn more about his great-grandmother Nonoko Aoyama and her family.

He could remember, as a child, actually visiting the dojo a number of times with Grandma Hina. She would sometimes visit the school and would take him along on the trip. While Hina was conducting her business or visited with the Elders, Adam would explore the campus grounds or play with some of the resident children. His favorite playmates were two sisters who were the daughters of one of the school Elders: Tsu-chan and Mo-chan. Tsu-chan was the oldest of the trio and Mo-chan was the youngest. Adam was between the two in age. He hadn't thought of his two friends in years. I wonder how they're doing, he thought.

The forest abruptly opened up into a large meadow that contained a few scattered trees and several large clumps of bushes. Adam came around a sharp turn and suddenly locked up the brakes on his truck. There was a large tree branch lying across the road. He managed to bring the truck to a stop just before hitting the fallen limb. As he was preparing to get out of his vehicle and pull the branch out of the road, he suddenly had a nasty, foreboding feeling - one that he easily recognized.

Oh, great! he thought. Just what I didn't need.

He sat back in his seat and relaxed some of the guards that held his ki energy in check. Using just a trickle of his energy, he expanded his awareness outwards and then began to carefully search and probe the area for other beings. He first located a small herd of deer that was quickly moving away from the area (Something has them spooked). Then he spotted a bright source of ki energy that was rapidly moving towards his location. It was still some distance off (Interesting). Then he found what he had been searching for: a pocket of smoldering, dark energy nearby that was slowly creeping in his direction (Oh, look! There's a momma demon and several cute little baby demons. How precious!).

Adam reached into the storage bin under the left side of the dashboard and removed a sheathed tanto dagger, which he quickly attached to his right ankle. I wish I had something bigger to take on the hunt, but this was only supposed to be a social visit. Mental note to me: always have your sword handy! he thought to himself. He shut down the engine and then slipped quickly from behind the steering wheel and out of the right side of the truck.

He had only moved about forty feet away when he heard some leaves rustling and suddenly a black form charged at him from out of a large bush. It was a "lesser" demon in the shape of a large wolf with red, glowing eyes and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. As the demon dashed at him from his right side, Adam glanced at it then raised his right arm so that it was pointed directly at the pseudo-wolf. When his hand came on target, it was shaped into that of an ancient evil warding sign: the first and little fingers were held straight out, the two middle fingers were folded inward and held against the palm by the thumb, and the palm and folded thumb were facing the creature. The demon immediately slammed into an invisible ward wall, the force of the impact driving it back onto its rear haunches. As the demon rocked backwards, off balanced and stunned, Adam fired a burst of "hard ki" light energy down his right arm and the demon's upper torso exploded. As the creature died, its body disintegrated into a dark sand-like substance that swirled around for a moment and then quickly faded away.

Adam felt more dark energy approaching from his left. His left arm was already coming up even before he had glanced at his next target. SLAM! CRACK! Another pseudo-wolf came apart…

OOO

Megumi Aoyama was enjoying a peaceful afternoon tea with her Aunt Erena. They were sitting comfortably on a low sofa and were quietly discussing the photographs that Megumi had brought back from her recent trip to Hawaii, where she had met with some Huna Elders and practitioners. Occasionally a flash of lightning would light up the picture window that looked out over one of the many formal gardens contained on the school grounds.

Megumi was currently substituting for the head of the Shinmei-ryu School, while Tsuruko was on vacation with her family. Tsuruko Aoyama was considered to be the school's most powerful swordsperson for her generation, and she was the current head of the school, which position she was holding in trust until her younger sister, Motoko, was ready to take over as the headmistress.

Megumi was usually the administrator in charge of the metaphysical part of the school that trained the students in things dealing with spirit: gods, demons, ghosts, possessions, exorcisms, etc. This was an extremely important position, as one of the school's primary purposes had always been to protect the world from demons and other evil beings. She was also the liaison between the school and the various temples in Japan and elsewhere.

Both ladies were wearing the white gi and red hakama that was the standard uniform worn at the Shinmei-ryu School. In appearance, they very closely resembled each other. Both were taller than was the average for Japanese women. They both had dark gray eyes and long, black hair that fell to the small of their backs. The major difference was that Erena was about twenty years older than Megumi.

They had just opened a fresh packet of photographs when there was a quiet knock at the door.

"Yes, what is it," Megumi called out.

The door slid open and a young student named Ako peered nervously around the edge of the doorframe. "Megumi-sama! Chisaki-sensei wanted me to tell you that some demons have appeared on the grounds near the northeastern drive. One of the passive wards sent an alarm. There is also a vehicle approaching the area."

Megumi paused for a moment in thought, and then said, "Go tell Takaya-sensei that he is to mobilize whatever forces that he feels are necessary to protect the compound. I will go examine our unexpected guests."

"Yes, Megumi-sama," replied Ako as she hurried off to carry out her instructions.

Megumi and Erena walked through a sliding glass door and into the formal garden. Megumi suddenly sprang onto a nearby wall and from there she leaped into the branches of a large tree. She then began bouncing rapidly from tree to tree, speeding towards the contact area. As she approached the target zone, she slowed her speed and then came to an abrupt stop, hidden upon a large tree branch overlooking a field of wildflowers and scattered stands of bushes.

Looking through the concealing leaves, she could see the road as it cut through the large meadow. There was a small, blue truck stopped in its center. As she watched, a young man got out of the truck and walked out into the field. He hadn't moved very far when suddenly several wolf-shaped demons charged at him. Megumi was surprised when the stranger managed to destroy the evil creatures with barely a pause in his steps. The man then proceeded to carefully stalk towards a thick copse of small trees. With her enhanced hearing she could hear him speaking quietly to himself. "Here, fishy fishy fishy!"

OOO

As the third pseudo-wolf disintegrated, Adam changed his direction of travel and headed towards a dense stand of trees in which he knew the other demon was concealed. As he stalked towards his target he sent his ki energy scouting ahead of himself. He sensed that last demon was a mid-level denizen.

Adam was nearing the clump of trees when a humanoid creature covered with grey and black reptilian scales stepped out of its concealment. The demon gave off a foul, bitter odor and he could hear a rasping sound as it breathed. It paused to contemplate one of its hands for a long moment, seeming to admire the length and sharpness of its black claws, and then it began to giggle in a high-pitched voice.

And there's Mr. Mediocrity, playing his little mind games, Adam thought to himself.

Suddenly the demon charged at him and began swinging its deadly claws. Adam dodged the swipes and then rolled between the creature's legs. This is really stupid, he thought to himself. He came out of the roll behind the demon and was now holding onto his dagger. The creature tried to quickly spin around, but Adam rapidly stabbed it twice in the lower back, where its kidneys would be if it were human. The demon screamed and paused briefly in its movement. After Adam yanked the knife out from the second stab, he spun his body around a half turn and backhanded the tanto into the creature's chest. As soon as the knife was embedded in the demon's body Adam said, "Cutting Evil Blade: First Form" and released a bolt of condensed ki energy through the blade. The energy detonated inside of the demon and it came apart in a burst of blackish, sand-like particles, which swirled around briefly and then vanished.

"Splash four!" Adam stated happily, and then he glanced at his watch. "Damn, now I'm going to be late for my appointment!" He disgustedly brushed away some bits of grass that were sticking to his now damp clothing.

Megumi watched as the strange young man finished off the last demon. When he used the "Cutting Evil Blade" technique a look of surprise crossed her face. That was a secret Gods' Cry School technique he just used, Megumi thought. I wander where he learned it from? I don't recognize his aura. Well, let's find out who he is.

When Adam arrived back at his truck he found a lovely lady waiting for him in the drizzle. From the strength of her aura and ki signature, he decided that she was probably the incoming bogie that he had spotted earlier. He figured that she was from the school, as she was dressed in the red and white hakama and gi that he remembered from his youth. She was also carrying a sheathed katana.

"Good afternoon," he greeted her with a small bow.

"Good afternoon to you too," she answered him. "Might I inquire as to who you are and what your purpose is for being here?" she asked politely.

"My name is Adam Urashima. I have an appointment with Kazuyo Taikono-sama at the Gods' Cry School." He glanced down at his watch. "It appears that I'm going to be late for that meeting."

"My name is Megumi Aoyama, and I am the acting head of the Gods' Cry School."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Adam replied.

Megumi had been examining his aura carefully while she was talking with him. She noticed that he kept his ki energy in check and locked down so that it appeared to be that of a normal human. Yet she had seen it flaring brightly during his fight. Someone had given him some excellent training. She noted that even though his ki energy was damped down, he was still radiating a high level of personal magnetism. Physically, he was an attractive young man. He appeared to be about twenty years in age. He had medium brown hair and hazel eyes; he stood almost six feet tall, and was quite muscular. He was also obviously of mixed Japanese and Western descent. As he was speaking, she could detect a very slight American accent.

"I was watching your fight with the demons. Where did you learn the technique that you used to dispatch the last one?"

"It is one of a number of martial techniques that have been passed down through my family line. In fact, the reason that I am here is to try to find out some information about some of my ancestors, whose family name was Aoyama."

Megumi lifted an eyebrow at this revelation. That sounds interesting, she thought. I'll have a talk with Kazuyo after their meeting is over. She gestured at his truck. "If you don't mind, Urashima-san, I'll ride along with you and show you where to go."

"Please. Just call me Adam, and I would be happy to have you escort me."

"All right, Adam-san," Megumi replied.

Current Time:

The next several days went by quickly.

During this time, Mutsumi Otohime had moved into the dormitory, and was now staying in room 305, right next to Naru. Mutsumi had been staying in Haruka's guest room since her apartment had burned down to the ground, in exchange for helping out at the teahouse. Eventually, the building's insurance had paid on her losses and she had decided that it would be more comfortable living in the dormitory, though she still helped Haruka out when the teahouse was extra busy.

It was also convenient for studying with Naru and Keitaro. The ronin trio had formed what they tentatively called the "San Rose Study Group." Mutsumi was a third year ronin, the same as Keitaro. They were surprised to find out that Mutsumi was extremely smart. The only reason that she had failed to get into Tokyo University, up until this point, was because she had always messed up during the center testing. She would faint just before taking the test and be taken to the hospital, or she would absent-mindedly forget to write her name on the test.

The arrival of Mutsumi had also added a new twist to the underground competition for Keitaro's heart.

Naru was very much attracted to Keitaro, although she would rather die than to admit it - especially to herself. One of the reasons that she kept hitting him was to keep him at a safe distance until she could figure out her true feelings for him. She also would not tolerate him getting close to the other girls, for the same reason. Punching him for his alleged "perversions" against the other girls was her way of reserving him for herself. And of course, she just KNEW that all men were perverts and who knows what Keitaro might do if he was allowed to get close to any of the other dorm tenants?

Unlike Naru, Shinobu knew and accepted that she was in love with Keitaro (or was it only a crush?). The trouble was that she was much younger than was her Sempai. She knew that Keitaro didn't think of her as a potential romantic partner but as more like a younger sister. She understood this but it didn't keep her from secretly hoping that someday things would magically work out and they would become a pair.

Then Mutsumi had arrived on the scene and had stirred up a hornets' nest. She had never been shy about her attraction for Keitaro. In fact, Mutsumi often steered the conversations around to the topic of who might be interested in him. Earlier, and to Naru's distress, Mutsumi had managed to kiss Keitaro before even Naru herself had gotten the chance. Of course, Mutsumi had kissed Naru soon afterwards, as an apology [the Okinawa incident].

Mutsumi had also gifted Keitaro and Naru with an odd little hot springs turtle by the name of Tama. Tama was able to fly, or rather glide through the air. The little reptile had promptly fallen in love with Motoko who, unfortunately, was terrified of turtles. Having Tama around was giving Motoko a serious case of the heebie-jeebies.

Su, on the other hand, loved turtles - to eat. She spent a lot of time trying to catch Tama, sometimes using some very extravagant plans and methods. She had even created a line of flying robots that she called "Mecha-Tamas," in honor of her grand nemesis.

Keitaro was busy cleaning room 303, where Adam would be staying when Motoko knocked on the doorframe and entered the room. As she glanced around, she noted a stack of boxes that had been delivered earlier in the day. Apparently Keitaro had begun emptying some of the cartons. She saw that there was a small shrine in the common area and a sword stand that held several sheathed katanas, one in red, one in green, and a longer one in purple. In one corner there stood a large, empty painting easel.

"Shinobu wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready," she said.

"Thank you," Keitaro said with a smile. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

She had just turned to leave when Keitaro said, "Oh, before you go; do you happen to know what kind of a sword that is?" He pointed at a wall.

Motoko looked to where Keitaro was pointing and then walked over to it. Mounted upon pegs attached to a vertical wooden plaque with a blue felt background was a hand-and-a-half broadsword. On its side there were some intricate engravings and runes. "That is an old European-style broadsword. I think it's sometimes called a bastard sword," Motoko stated.

As she was turning away, Motoko's eye caught a better view of the racked katanas. She walked over and then bent down to look at them. The top sword was contained in a polished, green-stained wooden sheath; and the grip was wrapped in a woven, moss green chording. Motoko grasped the sword and carefully slid the blade partially out of its sheath. On the side of the blade was the graven image of a Chinese dragon. The sword's name was engraved in kanji. It said Sea Dragon. She replaced the sword and grasped the second, which was similar to the first, but dressed in red. The blade was engraved with a phoenix and its name was Fire Bird. The purple sword (a nodachi) was longer than the others and was engraved with a peacock but it bore no name. These blades have interesting auras. They also appear to be very old. Hmm, this Peacock sword especially reminds me of a Shinmei-ryu blade. It even has a tassel similar to my own, she thought to herself. "Let's go eat dinner," she said out loud to Keitaro.

"Right," he said.

As the group was finishing their wonderful dinner, courtesy of Shinobu's cooking skills, Haruka popped her head around the corner. "Hey, Keitaro," she said around her cigarette. I just got a call from Adam. He should be arriving here sometime this coming Sunday. He's finishing up some business in Kyoto right now."

Keitaro waved at her as he headed for Naru's room for a long evening of studying. The practice test had gone well for everyone, except for Mutsumi, but now the center test was less than two months away. There was no time to fool around. He definitely wanted to get into Toudai this year.

Sunday morning started out grey and damp, with a dense fog smothering the village of Hinata Hot Springs. However, by mid-morning the sun had broken through and the heavy mists had rapidly evaporated. Soon after, Keitaro was outside raking and sweeping up the masses of damp, decaying fallen leaves that had blanketed the ground. The cool air was helping his head to recover from the annual potato cooking party that the dorm had held the evening before, out by the waterfall. It had been a wild party to which the whole neighborhood had been invited. He wasn't the only one feeling under the weather. Naru had been really out of it at breakfast and had been avoiding him all morning. He shook his head in confusion, and then returned to raking the leaves.

Early that same afternoon, Kitsune decided to spend some time out-of-doors. The air was crisp and clean. Left over autumn leaves littered the ground and some of them danced and scuttled in the light breeze. Some white, fluffy clouds slowly blew by overhead. Except for the joyful trilling of a lone bird, it was quiet and peaceful - serene.

Suddenly an angry shout shattered the tranquility: "URASHIMA!"

You guessed it: Keitaro had just had another one of his trademark accidents. After lunch, he had gone back to raking leaves off of one of the lawns next to the dormitory. Just as Motoko was strolling by, his foot had slipped on a large, wet leaf and he had tripped and fallen beside her. Unfortunately, as he was falling and "wind milling" his arms all over the place, he had grabbed onto Motoko's red hakama and yanked it down around her ankles, leaving her white, practical panties shining in the afternoon sunlight. . Motoko's face had turned red with embarrassment and then had quickly morphed into scarlet with her anger. She yanked her hakama back up and then grabbed for her sword.

When Keitaro got back up and picked a few leaves off of his shirt, he took one look at Motoko's face and then took off running like a terrified rabbit. "Wait, Motoko! I can explain!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Motoko took off after him. "URASHIMA! Come back here and take your just punishment like a man!" She sent two blasts of ki energy after him, but he managed to dodge both of them. This just made her even angrier.

Keitaro dodged a third ki blast and then ran around a corner of the building. He dashed right past Kitsune, who looked at him in surprise.

"What's the hurry, Keitaro?" she called after him.

"It's Motoko," he yelled back in a panic. "She's going to kill me!"

He had just turned back to look in the direction that he was running when he realized that he was about to run right over the top of Haruka and two men. They were all facing away from him and so they didn't see him coming.

Motoko rounded the same corner of the dormitory and saw her quarry making his escape. "URASHIMA! DIE!" she shouted. "Rock Splitting Sword: Second Form!" she yelled, while swinging her sword down and sending an extra strong burst of ki energy after him. In her anger, she failed to see the other three people standing there.

With a low roar, the ki blast headed straight at Keitaro, the energy wave tearing up the ground as it charged down upon its target. The other three finally heard the sound of running footsteps. They were just looking back over their shoulders at Keitaro, when the huge pocket of energy slammed into them and detonated. The four were picked up by the energy and then launched high into the sky, heading in the direction of the hot springs.

Motoko finally noticed the others just before her ki energy exploded. She stood there with her mouth and her eyes wide open in shock as the four vanished over the roof of the old inn.

Kitsune walked over while shaking her head. "Keitaro will probably survive the fall, since our boy seems to be immortal," she said quietly. "My guess is that the other three are toast. You do realize that if Haruka happens to survive, she probably won't be taking any prisoners?"

Motoko nodded. Her face was very pale.

"I'm pretty sure that one of those men was Seta," Kitsune commented. "I'll bet the other one was Haruka's brother. We better get over there and look for survivors…"

End of Chapter

A/N: Thanks for reading.