DISCLAIMER: Neither I nor Animedude owns Love Hina. We own Love Hina manga and anime, but that's not the same thing.


Keitaro walked into the kitchen. Shinobu was nowhere in sight, but there was a big bowl of pickles on the counter. Hm, pickles, he thought. He grabbed one and munched it on his way to study. He thought he'd read somewhere that pickles helped to boost brain activity.

Shinobu climbed the stairs to hang the laundry on the clothesline. She loved doing laundry, and the solitude helped her think. She turned with her empty basket to go back inside, and spotted a bowl of pickles at the top of the stairs. Hm, pickles, she thought. Su must have left them for me as a snack. She picked one and munched it on her way to make dinner. She thought she'd read somewhere that pickles helped to boost culinary concentration.

Su bounced through the living room on her way to bother Motoko. "Hey, pickles!" she yelled as she spotted them on the coffee table. The bowl was empty when Su hopped out of the room. She thought she'd read somewhere that pickles help with mischiefing.

Motoko finished her hundredth strike for the day and headed back to her room. Tama-chan was on her table, stealing a pickle from the bowl that was there. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" she yelled, and with the turtle threat gone, monched on a pickle. She thought she'd read somewhere that pikcles heightened martial arts awareness.

Tama-chan munched on her pickle, and Kitsune yelled at her TV. "Come on, go!" she yelled, horse tickets flying everywhere. "Lost again," she mumbled. "Whatcha got there, Tama-chan?" Kitsune asked, but her attention was instead drawn to a bowl of pickles sitting on her table. She grabbed one and munched it, and after finding a bottle of her favorite sake, headed off to join Naru in the Hot Spring. She thought she'd read somewhere that pickles helped to reduce hangovers.

Naru relaxed in the Hot Spring until she spotted a rather strange bowl of pickles, of all things, sitting next to the door. Keitaro must have been snacking on them while he cleaned out here earlier, she thought. Oh well. She munched one and went to wash her hair. She thought she'd read somewhere that pickles were good for split ends.

"HEY NARU, I FINALLY GET IT!" Keitaro yelled as he flung the door open. "Cos(pi) equals 1!" Naru glared at him, her right eye twitching slightly. She didn't know whether to punch him for his stupidity or for peeking in on her bath again. Either way, Keitaro was in orbit by the time Kitsune and her bottle of sake arrived on the scene. Motoko appeared soon afterward to cleanse herself of the toils of her training, and Su bounced in after her.

Keitaro fell from the heavens and made an undignified splash in the Hot Springs right next to Tama-chan. She didn't mind. However, Keitaro was obviously still unconcious. "Maybe we should flip him over," Kitsune observed.
"Nah," Su said, waving her hand in his general direction, "Keitaro's invincible!"
"Oh, Sempai!" Shinobu declared as she stepped through the door and surveyed the scene. She ran to his aid. "S-should I give him mouth-to-mouth?" she asked, her face reddening.
"That pervert will be just fine," Naru said callously.
"What does everyone want for dinner?" Shinobu asked after flipping her Sempai on his back to avoid death when he awoke. "I was thinking of making pickles and curry." "Not pickles," said the Hot Spring in unison. After blinking at one another, Naru began to explain.
"It's just that I ate a pickle just now, out of that bowl by the door." Everyone looked.
"What bowl?"

Meanwhile, at Hinata Tea House:
Haruka stepped outside and lit up, leaving Mutsumi to finish closing up shop. As she wiped off the front counter, she spotted a bowl sitting at the end. Hm, pickles!

The End a joint production by CatrinaSL Animedude February 13th 2005, 5:15 AM


Author's Note: We were hanging out on the phone, and I said "Let's write a fanfic!" and he said "Of what?" and I said "Love Hina!" and he said "Okay!" and I said "What should it be about?" and he said "Pickles!" So now you have the masterpiece before you,the director's cut and commentary. Review if you want to see the special features. :3 CatrinaSL