Magnus: Here is an interesting crossover I had to write, I thought that Keitaro was bound to be more important to the universe that only being Naru's punching bag, and Motoko's training Dummy, so, I sent him to a place where his Immortality will be tested and put to a good use. A piece of warning too, there will be some bashing on the Hinata's girls, not too much, but there will be, that said, enjoy, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Love Hina, as well as anything you believe is being mentioned in this fanfic.
Keitaro: The Divine Crusader
Chapter 1
Out of the Picture
Keitaro was tired. After two years of working his ass off, of trying to stand as worthy, of being the most attentive (even if often clumsy), this is what he had gained, being ignored. His leg was till sore (although after being crushed by an entire building that would be counted as miraculous), and his heart felt like a broken vase. In all the inn, his depression was felt like a suffocating fog, result of confessing his feelings to Naru, just for the violent girl to simply turn around and walk away, not even a Naru-Punch, not even a verbal rejection, as if he was not worth the time... And to make it worse, it was not a secret
"Hey, suga, why are ya still brooding? There are more fishes in the pond, ya know?", Kitsune's wise drunken words made Keitaro to come out of his stupor, he had been sitting on the steps outside the inn for a while, just like everyday. And just like every day, Kitsune had to see him in that depressing state, today it had been too much, she wanted her clumsy manager, she wanted to tease him again, and maybe this time getting him to take advantage of the situation for once
"It's the same, all the fishes will bite me, and if I manage to catch one, the others will swarm me to let the fish go", Keitaro replied, trying to return to his brooding
"Maybe this time they won't bite, maybe this time they let you catch them, you won't know until you try, sempai", Shinobu said, coming from behind Kitsune, from day zero she tried to take him for herself, to save him from the depression, and the evil clutches of the rest of the tenants
"Still, they will swarm me, more if I try to get one of the smaller fishes", Keitaro replied, smiling so slightly, to a deeply blushing Shinobu. The cook didn't wailed, the way he accepted the possibility, raised her hopes just so much... perhaps if she poison the dinner...
"Are we going fishing?, I like fish, but I want a turtle, when are we going?", Su suddenly said, coming out of nowhere, and making Keitaro laugh with her seemingly innocent comment
"If the fishes of your pond are so aggressive, try to take the strongest, so the others will not attack you out of fear", Mutsumi said, coming from inside the inn
"The strongest? But I already...", Keitaro stopped himself in mid sentence, he was about to name Naru, when he remembered something, Naru was NOT the strongest, just the most violent, there was someone stronger, someone he had come to like too
"Thank you, Mutsumi, that really helped me, now I can go fishing, although this fish can actually kill me, but it's better than nothing", Keitaro said, and then went to the inn, much to the puzzlement of the rest of the girl
"I didn't know that there was a fish so dangerous in the pond of the inn... do we have a pond in the inn?", Mutsumi suddenly asked, and everyone decided to ignore her
"I'll go for the first aid kit", Shinobu said, sadness in her voice, although there was some relief too, her sempai was coming to his senses again
"That idiot... going after Motoko... he has a death wish...", Kitsune saddly said, she was hoping that he would look after her for an easy way to forget about Naru, not going to hunt lions
"Actually, that's pretty smart, Motoko will not hurt him, not now that she knows the truth behind his shattered heart. Even if she rejects him, he will receive a morale boost that will help him to overcome his previous rejection, and maybe he will take one or more of us for his happiness", Su explained, her voice sounded so mature and full of wisdom
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?", Kitsune shouted in disbelief
"I WANT A BANANA!", Su shouted randomly, making Kitsune face fault
Hinata-sou roof, a moment later...
Motoko Aoyama, heiress of the Shinmeiryu school, swordsmistress, and perhaps the most feared female of the prefecture, was shocked. In front of her, was a man that she previously considered a spineless coward, a scumbag, a pathetic excuse of a male, a man that she later considered as a meek boy, an over-clumsy guy that was actually more scared of hurt the feelings of his tenants than of his own well being, a man that she now had come to respect as her landlord, one that never would take advantage of her or any other female, a man that has just shown enough courage to put to shame most men in Japan
"W-What did you say?", Motoko asked, still unable to believe the situation, she could have used one of her attacks to send him flying as an answer to his daring words, but his smile, that sincere smile, a smile that she had been aching to see for way too long, was more disarming than having her arms and legs broken, she just couldn't hurt him, not at the possibility of losing him again
"I asked you out for a date, I know it may be sudden, I know that you barely tolerate me, but I want to take you out for a date. Nothing too complex, or that requires you to stop being yourself, just a movie of your choice, dinner in a respectable restaurant, and a walk in the park, and we can stop at any moment you want", Keitaro replied, explaining his plan for a date, very simple, giving her full control of the situation, and that alone was scary
"Why me?", Motoko asked, in fact, she wanted to ask why not Kitsune, heck, even why not Shinobu, she was ready to turn a blind eye for the little cook, if that could bring Keitero back. Him choosing her was simply out of her comprehension
"Why not?", Keitaro shot back, it was like challenging her to sent him L. E. O., a challenge to see if everything was a bad as always, or if something had changed for good. The possibilities were endless, but most of the consequences would be horrible to bear, so, Motoko felt herself pressed to respond, should she accept the invitation, she'll be facing the wrath of the other girls, and possibly ruin Keitaro further, for she was still working on her temper against males. Should she decline the invitation, she'll be facing the wrath of the other girls, and ruin Keitaro further due to the quick rejection, resumed, she was just so screwed, that it was not fun at all.
"Motoko?", Keitaro asked, losing his smile with every passed second, pressing Motoko even more. Then, suddenly, she had an epiphany, a way to make him go away, and possibly try his luck with someone better
"Urashima... Keitaro, I will only accept to be your date, if you accept my challenge", Motoko replied with a voice of steel, feeling prideful of her intellect, should he fail, she will turn a blind eye on his moves on the others for a time, in the unlikely case he succeeds, well, he'll be worthy to date with
"Oh, and what is this challenge?", Keitaro asked, there was no hope on his eyes, but a predatory look, for a moment, Motoko felt like using her katana on him, but then again, after all his suffering, even she could see that he was just eager to be worthy to someone.
"Get me a sword, a good sword, that way I'll know you have nothing but good intentions on this date you want", Motoko challenged, not knowing that this challenge would mark the end of the days of the Hinata-sou
Early next day, near the sealed section of the Hinata-sou...
"So, will it work?", Keitaro asked to the energetic mad scientist
"Of course it will!... but, why do you want a meteor fragment? That is not edible", Su replied, actually she was truly puzzled, she knew about the challenge, but for the moment, she could not relate it to her current task, to make her invention work, an invention designed to teleport a small piece of a a meteor to the earth, in a safe way
"Motoko wanted me to give her a sword, but I want to give her the best of the swords, and for that, I need the best and rarest of the metals", Keitaro explained, and Su looked at him with a strange face
"Brother, if you want, I can fuse some alloys to make you a special quality of steel, extracting metal from a meteor fragment is not as easy as it sounds, the fragment could hold very little metal, or none at all", Su explained, using her smart side, not that it really surprised Keitaro, long ago he assumed that she was far smarter than she looked
"That's why I asked you for this to be able to tract specific metals... You'll see, in ancient times, the Highlanders made fearsome claymores, two handed swords that were unbreakable. To forge a claymore, you need to extract the metal from a fallen star, and then hammer it under the most intense heat possible, there are very few of these swords, and even fewer daggers made of this same metal.", Keitaro explained, while handling a strange looking golden dagger to Su
"What in the?... Lighter than Gold, yet it looks like it... harder than steel... very sharp... Keitaro, where did you got this? Not even in Molmol we have this kind of alloy!", Su said, awed by the piece of weaponry
"In an excavation, Mayan ruins, I managed to hide it before the local government kicked us out... we estimate it to be 3500 years old, and I haven't cleaned it, or sharpened it since I found it", Keitaro explained, and Su almost dropped the dagger, but she quickly regained her composure, and put the dagger into a compartment on the machine
"If you make a sword with this kind of metal, Motoko will be the one taking you to bed, and will rape you for days", Su muttered, although loud enough for Keitaro to blush
The machine started to work, and a sphere of energy formed, Keitaro and Su watched from a safe distance, they silently watched the colors of the sphere, which indicated the places were it was looking the same metal, red for a star, black for the empty space, blue for a planet. The waiting was prolonged as expected, due to the rarity of the metal, unfortunately, it was long enough for things going straight to hell.
"SEMPAI! WATCH OUT!", Shinobu's scream was heard all the way to Osaka, strong enough for Keitaro to hear it and know that trouble was on his way, but not good timed out to evade the danger
"KEITARO! YOU GODDAMMIT PERVERT! HOW YOU DARE TO HIT ON MOTOKO WHILE I HAVEN'T GIVEN YOU MY ANSWER!", Naru shouted with much more fury than usual, already at few steps of distance
"N-Naru!... but you... it was so much time!... I thought...", Keitaro tried to answer, to defend himself, but Naru never listen, she only know one way of acting, punching everyone away. The punch didn't act as usual, instead of sailing up to the sky, Keitaro went sailing forward, into the sphere, there was a scream of an unheard level of pain, a bright light, and then... nothing.
The Machine was broken, the ground where the sphere was, scorched, and no trace of Keitaro...
Unknown location, unknown amount of time later...
The first thing that Keitaro noticed when he woke up, was a sensation of numbness, unlike the usual pain that he felt after a well placed Naru-punch, secondly, that the place where he woke up was dark, damp, and cold, there was also a third factor at play, he lost his glasses
"Ugh!... where am I?", Keitaro asked aloud, unable to properly see, and in his weak state, he could only hope for someone to listen to him
"Oh! The new one has finally awoken! Good, now come near the bars, so I can see you better", Someone called in what Keitaro could identify as English, Keitaro could tell it was male, perhaps mature, although the tone of the voice was not exactly nice. Keitaro moved to the place he thought were the bars, more illuminated, air could pass, and also gave him the feeling of being in some kind of prison, or more likely, a dungeon
"H-Here I am", Keitaro said, thanking all the gods for taking English classes in the Toudai
"Pale skin, snotty expression, you certainly look like a Breton. The masters of Magicka, right?", The man asked, this time Keitaro was sure of it, there was a lot of malice on that voice
"Breton?", Keitaro asked with an unsure voice, not understanding how a Japanese man like him could be confused with a Britain citizen
"Ah! Perhaps you are one of those Mixed races, as nasty as that sounds, it doesn't matter, you'll only leave this place when they throw your dead body into the river. That's right, you are going to die here... Can you hear that? The Guards are coming... FOR YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHA!". The man laughed, filling Keitaro with a sense of dread, soon the sounds of heavy armored steps made him feel worse, the Guards were truly coming
"Baurus, keep that door closed!", A female commanding voice ordered, and the steps came closer
"Yessir!", A deep male voice replied
"My sons... they are dead, aren't they?", An aged and wise voice asked
"We are not sure of the yet, sir. The messenger only said that they were attacked", The woman replied
"No, they are dead, I know it", The aged man said, defeat and pain on his voice
"My job right now is to guide you to safety", The woman said, trying to sound as dutiful and loyal as possible, Keitaro started to back off from the gate, it was common to him to try to avoid unneeded trouble, there was no need to change that
"What is this prisoner doing here? This cell is supposed to be off limits!", The woman angrily shouted, making Keitaro wince, he thought they weren't so close, of course, without his glasses, any guess could be an epic fail
"The usual mix up with the watch, I...", the man with the deep voice tried to come up with an explanation, perhaps an apology, but the woman was very angry, and taking no bullshit
"It doesn't matter, now get that gate open. Stand back prisoner, we won't hesitate to kill you if you stand in our way", The woman ordered, and Keitaro obeyed, walking backwards until he hit the stone wall, where he remained quiet and unmoving
"No signs of pursuit", A third Guard reported, male by the sound of his voice
"Good, now let's move. We are not out of this yet", The woman replied, and then Keitaro heard them entering his cell, as they got closer he managed see that they were dressed on armor, head to toe, and even without glasses he could see the shape of katanas strapped to their waists
"Stay put, prisoner!", One of the Guards said, standing in front of him, while the others approached to wall of his cell
When the people approached the wall, Keitaro managed to see something different on one of them, the older one, he presumed, something that drew his attention, making him try to focus on his features, thing that infuriated the Guard he had in front of him.
"Stop staring to your Emperor, you lowly worm!", The Guard shouted with righteous fury, while reaching for his blade, thing that sent Keitaro in a very well practiced defensive pose of curling up and hope for explaining fast enough to avoid deadly damage
"I-I'm sorry! It's just that... I can't see very well... my eyes, my eyes...", Keitaro began to explain but the lack of physical damage told him to calm down, should he had his glasses, he could have seen them pitying his state of semi-blindness
"Let me see those eyes", The older man requested, much to the surprise of everyone
"But, my lord!", the woman tried to interject, although her voice denoted that she was under the service of the man, thus, unable to stop him
Keitaro froze when he felt the aged hands over his face, he heard the aged man mutter something, and then he saw a light, and a warm sensation filled his body, making him tingle inside, as if his own energy reacted in an harmonic way with the energy that this man was infusing him with, then the man took away his hand from Keitaro's face, and the results were incredible
"I... I can see! I can see again! Thank you so much sir! How can I repay you for this?", Keitaro expressed his happiness, he could have hugged the man, but he hasn't forgotten the Guards, who were awed by the show of kindness of their Lord
"I may not be a Breton, but I know a good amount of healing spells... what the?... you... I've seen you... let me see your face", the aged man said, and Keitaro obliged, soon, the face of the elder turned from shock to sadness, and then to resignation and peace
"You are the one from my dreams... Then the star were right, and this is the day. Gods, give me strength...", The Elder said, and even keitaro could see how he seemed to age even more
"What's going on?", Keitaro asked, not to the aged man, or the Guards, but to himself, unable to understand where did he fell, or what was happening
"Assassins attacked my sons, and I'm next. My Blades are leading me out of the city along a secret escape route. By chance, the entrance for that escape route leads though your cell", The Aged Man replied, and now Keitaro was able to notice the fine robes he was wearing, a Lord indeed
"Excuse me, my Lord, but why am I in jail?", Keitero finally asked the sensitive question, addressing the man with a more suitable title, so he could not sound impolite
"Perhaps the Gods have placed you here so we may meet. As for what have you done... It doesn't matter. That is not what you will be remembered for.", The Lord replied, although it wasn't a fulfilling answer, and yet, it made him feel a little better
"Pardon my ignorance, my Lord, but who are you?", Keitaro asked now, much to the amazement of the Guards, but the Lord smiled a knowing smile
"I am your Emperor, Uriel Septim. By the Grace of the Gods, I serve Tamriel as her ruler. You are a citizen of Tamriel, and you, too, shall serve her in your own way", The Emperor presented himself, and to the amazement of Keitaro and the Guards, he also declared him a citizen, a high honor
"What should I do now, my Lord?", Keitaro asked, now more than ever he wanted to be polite and don't screw up, he was in front of royalty
"You will find your own path. Take care... there will be blood and death before the end", The Emperor replied, his ominous words sent shivers through the spine of the Guards, who decided that they have waited long enough
"Please, sire, we must keep moving", The woman, probably a high ranked Guard, said, while pressing a random stone in the wall. Suddenly, the wall started to move, revealing a passage, a cave of sorts
"Better not close this one, there is no way to open it from the other side", The woman continued, as she led the others and the Emperor into the darkness
"This is your lucky day, just stand out of our way", the third Guard, a caucasic man said while passing Keitaro, the other Guard, an Afro-American strong man just sent him a glare that screamed to not do anything weird
As soon as the Emperor and the Guards entered the passage, Keitaro decided that it was safe to move, he also decided that he will be lost without a guide, so, he went after the Emperor. There were a lot of unanswered questions for Keitaro, like, where he was, it was the past?, or was it anther planet? Will he be able to return home? And more importantly, how were faring his tenants...
Hinata-sou, dusk of the first day when Keitaro disappeared...
"What do you mean HE is dead?", Motoko asked, disbelief on her voice, Keitaro had survived what could have certainly killed a Demon Lord, unscratched, Su's inventions where not even closer to that dangerousness
"She (sob) punched him (sob) into the portal", Su said between sobs, no one ever believed she could cry like that, but the fac is, she was berating herself for creating something that could kill the man she loved
"Then he is not dead, he is just being a lazy pervert anywhere else, build that thing again so we can go for him and teach him his place!", Naru shouted, Keitaro had crashed into so many of Su's deadly inventions before, surviving with barely a scratch or a minor burn, there was no reason to think this would be different
"Yo don't understand, bitch, you sent him into the outer space!, how do you expect him to survive there?", Shinobu explained, snapping against Naru, many times before she wanted to explode against her for hurting her beloved sempai, this time, she had gone too far
"What?, why did you build a portal to the outer space?", Motoko shouted, the chances of recovering Keitaro were now abysmal low
"Sorry to break this on you, suga, but I believe it had to do something with that challenge of yours, something about making you a sword from a star", Kitsune said, and in that very moment, Motoko's heart broke
"Well, we are better without him, much better, no longer we will have to watch his clumsiness, or have to tolerate his pervert acts", Naru said, trying to defend herself, although the tears in Motoko's face, and the look of unending rage on Shinobu's, told her that perhaps things would look grim on her near future
"Girls, where is my nephew? And why do you look like someone had just died?", Haruka asked as she entered the inn. As soon as she made her question, Shinobu bolted to her room, Motoko went upstairs in a zombie like motion, Su bursted into a heartbreaking cry, and Naru became petrified
"Haruka, you better sit down...", Kitsune said, hoping to live long enough to drink sake until she knew no more
Magnus: Well, I hope you are liking this, from the next chapter onward, the scenes of Hinata-sou will be minimal, so we can focus more into Keitaro's adventure