Talking: "Talking"

Thinking: 'Thinking'

The Love Hina Parameter

Chapter 1: Misfortune

It was a quiet morning of the Hinata Sou. Birds chirped softly in the distance and dew dripped from the edges of the rooftops. The air was thick with morning fog and the wind carried a slightly warm breeze. The sun barely peeked its way through the trees and buildings, but managed to find its way into the dormitory windows. One window belonged to a man of 19 years named Keitaro Urashima. He was sleeping rather roughly on his futon mattress with the covers splayed over his torso in an uneven fashion. His snore was light but noticeable and his face moved ever so slightly as the sunlight peered onto his face.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Keitaro groaned as he looked to his right with half lidded eyes. His brain still trying to fall back asleep but the person wanting to wake forced the body to move. He moved his hand groggily to the clock at his bedside as he pressed the button to shut the alarm off. His eyesight slowly came into focus as he looked around his room.

'Another day, another load of work.'

Thought the freshly appointed Dorm manager as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. To be honest, he didn't want to wake up because he was normally a late sleeper anyway. But unfortunately for him, ever since he arrived at the dormitory, he had to study daily and work on the Inn when he wasn't studying. Not only that but to always have to constantly watch his back while two certain females were patrolling the halls didn't really make situation any better. It only added paranoia to his list of concerns. He also had to deal with the fact that he was getting knocked around for accidentally touching people in the wrong way or even just opening a door.

He wanted a break. A break from all of the nonsense and annoyance. The constant pinballing between the females and the forever concentrated aggression that was built up around him only because he was forced to go along with a lie that his Aunt Haruka had told everyone else just so he could stay in the dorm was driving him crazy. He wasn't mad at his Aunt because she at least had his back, but he was more or less mad at the tenants for abusing him just because he went along with it which he honestly felt wasn't fair.

He got up and readied himself for another day of torment and work. Just as he went to reach for his glasses to his right, all he felt was ground. This startled him as he looked around to try and find them in his blindness, until he slowly realized what was really going on, "That's right. I broke them yesterday."

A feeling of happiness rose in his eyes because that meant that he could actually use the time to go buy another pair instead of doing chores all day. That would at least give him a couple of hours to buy a new pair and be on his way back home. With his newfound determination, he got up and walked to his closet. Looking around for his clothes, he found a good selection of a thinner plaid button up shirt with a pair of blue jeans. He hummed softly as he finally put on his shoes and tied them before he opened his door and walked out onto the hallway. He thought mindlessly about how he broke his glasses unintentionally. It was only a minor fall, but apparently, his glasses were only immune to the damage when the tenants punched him around or when other things cause damage to him like cars or random falling rocks. The floors creaked as he kept walking down his path to the kitchen. He really wanted to eat a meal and lucky enough for him, Shinobu had already been active and finished the breakfast. He walked through and sat down for a meal while she served him some food. He was actually excited today and it showed on his face. Shinobu didn't really say much, although her face looked a little more embarrassed than usual as she served him. After he ate, he left the Inn and drove downtown via trolley. His intention was to drive to find a good eyedoctor that would give him a good prescription and a decent frame. After riding for a little while, he finally arrived at a station that took him to a deep part of town. He looked around and saw many shops littered on each side of the street, but nothing really caught his interest, "I shouldn't have lost that address, Damn it."

Annoyed, he walked to a bench and took a breather. He had been searching for the past 30 minutes, but with no luck. He had been going by memory with the road name, but that's all he could really remember, "Sigh, I'm never gonna be able to get another pair of glasses today at this rate. Why does my luck always suck so badly? Naru and the others hate me and what's more, I can't even properly pass my tests. Could this possibly get any worse?"

"Uh, excuse me young man, but are you perhaps looking for a pair of new glasses?"

The unfamiliar voice caught him off guard as he looked behind to see an older man with a short length of brown hair that was slicked into a hairstyle. He wore gold circular framed glasses and a pasty yellow button up shirt. His smile seemed normal, but lurked a strange sensation that didn't go unnoticed by Keitaro, 'This guy is strange.'

"Yes sir, I've broken my last pair yesterday, but I've been searching for the past half hour to find the eyestore but I can't find it. I know it's on this road somewhere."

"Are you perhaps looking for my store?" Asked the man with the smile never leaving his face.

Keitaro looked up and noticed a sign that did indeed match the same name of the store that the address had on it. Keitaro blushed a little as his head went low, "Y-Yeah, your store is what I'm looking for actually. Heh heh." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, come on in," The owner said as he showed the young man inside, "I'll give you a pair of glasses that you really need."

[1 Hour Later]

Keitaro sat in the trolley and looked out into the day. It was very surprising to see clear after having been blind for most of the morning. He was relieved but also a little perplexed at the strange man that offered him the glasses for cheap. He was thoroughly surprised at the quality of the frames and noted in the back of his mind that the man gave him two cloths. The man said that if he needed to clean his glasses, then wipe with the blue cloth. If his glasses are cloudy, then wipe with the red cloth. Keitaro didn't really understand what the man was telling him, but he was a little curious why there were two cloths instead of just one. He assumed that both cloths were made a little differently and just didn't bother worrying about it for now.

He arrived back at Hinata sou a little before 12pm and noticed the sun beaming highly in the sky. Walking up his steps to the dormitory, he was feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach the further he went. He realized that he was going to have to study and work again. His happiness was thwarted just as quickly as it came, "I wish this little vacation could have lasted longer." His hand slapped against his forehead as he sighed. Pulling his hand away, he now saw prints and smudges all over his lenses from the sweat. It annoyed him and he pulled out the blue cloth, "I guess now is a better time than ever to use the cloth." He moved his thumb and index finger cleaning them thoroughly before putting them back on. Satisfied at the cleaning, he continued walking back upstairs. He reached the top and walked inside the old inn. He noticed no one was around and shook off his small coat. Walking into the kitchen, he went and made himself a glass of water before sitting down at the table. Taking a big gulp, he sighed in content. The man had been thirsty for a while and didn't have any way to drink anything until he came back home. He didn't have any money to spend either, so he was really out of luck.

His eyes eventually closed as he daydreamed about his promise girl. It still ran through his mind as he remembered her. She was his only form of comfort even through difficult times. He told himself many times before that he didn't know what he was going to do about Tokyo University, but he was trying his damn best to get in. He could only imagine seeing her at the University for the first time in years and both of them smiling at each other.

"Keitaro? Are you in there? Hello?"

Woken from his stupor, he was surprised and a bit frightened to see Naru leaning over and waving her hand in front of his face, "Ah! Narusegawa, Uhm, what is it?"

"Nothing really," Naru replied slightly annoyed, "I was just coming to the kitchen to make some tea and you were in here in lala land."

Naru looked at Keitaro and noticed his strange face that he was making. It kinda creeped her out, "Hey! What are you making that unusual face for, Huh?"

Keitaro was flabbergasted. He looked above Naru's head and saw something very peculiar. It was something that should not have been there.

'What is that thing?' Keitaro questioned himself, 'Some type of Stat counter?'

Up above Naru's head was a white stat sheet that read out several different attributes. They were bars that filled up green depending how high you were in that attribute:

Education: 76

Kindness: 51

Charm: 80

Dissatisfaction: 15

Wealth: 17

Honesty: 40

'What is this? A videogame? I c-can actually read stats above her head. It isn't just some fluke is it?' He took off his glasses and noticed the stat sheet disappeared. He rubbed his eyes and put them back on and saw the stat sheet again, 'No, this isn't just my imagination. It has something to do with these glasses.'

"Keitaro, are you just going to stand there like an idiot or are you going to explain yourself?"

"Ah, I'm sorry Narusegawa. I just realized something in my head and I realized that I have to do my chores now. See ya!"

Keitaro bolted out of the kitchen with wind blowing everything around from his immediate escape. He couldn't believe what was going on. He could actually see Naru's stats, 'Most of them were pretty high, especially her Intelligence stat.' He wondered just how smart Naru really was as he rounded a corner.