Chapter 1: New Days Ahead
Disclaimer: I don not own Love Hina, or any of it's characters. But I do own Seiichi Urashima, Ran Tachikawa, Nazo Aomori, and Hato Yonoe. They're mine and you can't have 'em, so back off jack!
My name is Seiichi Urashima, I am nineteen years old and graduated from high school last year. Just recently I recieved a letter from my cousin Keitaro. He said he needed someone to run his house while he was gone, but I could of sworn he lived at Granny Hina's house. I loathe Keitaro though, he has always been a sucess, made me look like a fool in front of my parents. Maybe he lied and cheated, and this is my chance to uncover all of his wrongs.
A speaker chirped on and announced "Next stop Hinata Hotspring Apartments, Kanagawa Prefecture." Seiichi closed his notebook and gathered his duffel bag and suitcase. The bus came to an abrupt stop, knocking him over. He quickly got his luggage and stepped off. The young man looked up the long stairs to the address label, and sure enough it matched the one in the letter. Cherry blossoms blew around his long black hair in the late afternoon light as he gazed upon the stairs. It was pulled back into a ponytail. His outfit consisted of a white shirt and tie, worn over it was a black vest. Covering his legs were a set of black dress pants and black dress shoes. As the sun shone down upon his emerald eyes they parkled gloriously. Little did Seiichi know, something of the same sort happened seven years ago.
Slowly at first, but quickly accelerating up the steps he went. It didn't take long for him to reach the top of the steps and look at the main portion of Hinata House. He noticed a small tea house and walked in. He remembered hearing from his mom that his aunt Haruka used to manage it, but she went to work with her friend Seta Noriyasu. A voluptuous woman with nearly auburn hair and chest that would make pirates drool, walked out from behind the counter. "Why hello sugar, and welcome to the Hinata Teahouse. What can I get for you?"
Seiichi got back to his senses and asked "Um nothing, but can you tell me where Keitaro Urashima is?"
The tall vixen squinted her eyes suspiciously at him. "What do you want with Keitaro?" Seiichi calmly replied to her.
"I'm Keitaro's cousin Seiichi, he sent me a letter saying he needed me to take care of his place while he's gone." Tall foxy woman began to laugh loudly as she lit a cigarette and took a pull from it. She exhaled slowly as she calmed down.
"So your the one Keitaro suckered in to take care of the Hinata Apartments."
He reeled back at the statement."What do you mean suckered, all I'm gonna do is take care of his place while he's gone right?" She smiled before she spoke.
"Keitaro is the manager of the Hinata Girl's Dormitory. He just got hitched three days ago and left with his new wife, Naru Narusegawa. He said he'd get someone to take over, but I didn't expect this." She continued talking as she walked behind the cafe's counter and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "This is definitely be some fun. I mean a new manager, even if your only temporary, and the new girls are coming to." She pulled the tab and drank the beer. "By the way my name is Kono Mitsune, but just call me Kitsune, okay sugar? I'll show you a tour of the Hinata House."
Kitsune finished her cigarette and beer before she headed out, with the new Urashima in tow. They came into the foyer of the main building and slipped off their shoes as a turtle flew up to Kitsune. She looked at the turtle and grinned before she spoke. "Hey Tama, you'd better run before Su finds ya." The little turtle seemed scared and flew off as fast as it could.
Seiichi looked puzzled, "That was a turtle right? I mean turtles don't fly!" Kitsune held her chin in the palm of her hand.
"Well I suppose your right, but Tama has always been able to fly. I'll take ya through the main floor first." She led him into an adjacent room. "This is the dining room, and the room through that door is the kitchen." Then they doubled back through the foyer and into a room with lots of washing machines. "This, as you can tell, is the laundry room. Oh my" She bent down and picked up a piece of cloth with a string or two attached to it. "I wondered where those went to." She jammed them into her back pocket, and walked through a few doors and unused hallways.
They stopped before a door cloth and she smiled. "This is the pride of Hinta..." As she threw the cloth back "..the Hinata hotspring." Seiichi beheld a beautiful steamy spring, and as he peered he saw the silouhettes of....Two girls? One of them had a fit, but beautiful body with long black hair. The other had short black hair, but a supple and delicate body that spoke of kindness.
"What are people doing in it Kitsune?" She turned around quickly and saw the two.
"Shinobu, I thought you were out grocery shopping. And Motoko weren't you out training in Kyoto?" The two stood there staring, then Shinobu screamed as she noticed Seiichi behind Kitsune.
"There a peeping tom behind you Kitsune!" Shinobu yelled. Motok's warrior instincts kicked in. She leapt out of the water and went after him.
Kitsune tried to speak. "But he's not-"
Motoko grabbed her sword as she leapt out of the spring and unseathed it in one fluid motion. She stood, still naked, pointing her katana at him. "Foul little man, how dare you come into our home and try to look upon us?" He held his mouth open in reply but she cut him off with an attack "Cutting Evil Sword Second Form..... Single Flash!" A gust of energy blew Seiichi back into the hall and through the foyer. His clothes and luggage was scattered everywhere. He recovered and ran up the stairs to look for a suitable escape from this carzed killer. After a while of running, he ducked into the next door, which used to is Keitaro's room. He could hear the padding of Motoko's balanced steps, closing in for the kill. As he he closed the door he saw a hole in the roof. Seiichi threw a few stacks of books on the table and climbed up through it.
I don't care if there is another girl in here, just get me away from the psychopath! he thought to himself. Still, the sounds of Motok's pursuit could be heard from the floor below. Seiichi quickly ran out into the hallway and into the next room, the plate above the door read "Room 303, Ema Maeda" As he closed the doors behind him he noticed a girl, she couldn't have been any older than fifteen years old. She sat there reading a book in solmen peace. She must be really absorbed in that book not to notice all the commotion. Seiichi continued to look at her, she had long black hair with a ribbon on each side. Upon her delicate face sat a set of glasses, her expression was unreadable as she wore a typical schoolgirl uniform. She seems plain, but innocent.
Ema finally looked up from her book, but it took her a moment to register the enormity of a strange man to be standing in her room. She finally let out a scream of fear, which alerted the master samurai. The poor and misunderstood Urashima quickly felt that his life was at an end. As if on que, Motoko crashed through the door, her eyes set ablaze with the hunger to right this most terrible wrong. Kitsune and Shinobu were hot on her heels and they all quickly had Seiichi pushed up against a wall. They formed a semi-circle around him so he had no possible way of escaping them.
"Are you ready to pay for your wicked crimes scoundrel?" Motoko readied her katana after she said this. Seiichi gulped before he made his last plea, his face flushed of all color.
"Please, you've got it all wrong, my cousin Keitaro told me to come here and take care of something for him while he was away. Honest, just don't do anything drastic!" Kitsune decided to interject before tomorrow's headlines read "Crazed samurai girl kills innocent youth."
"He's telling the truth Motoko, I was showing him a tour of the place. You and Shinobu were supposed to be out." Motoko sheathed her katana.
"Ugh....So another Urashima is going to take over while the other is gone, and Kitsune why should it matter if myself and Shinobu were out?" Kitsune smirked a little and talked as sweetly as she could.
"Well I figured if he is something like Keitaro, then I should snag him for myself. And what a better way than by taking a dip in the hotsprings with me?"
The others face looked as if they had stepped in something, and not sure of what it was. "Kitsune that is possibly, no wait, that is the lowest thing you have ever concocted inside that liquored up head of yours." Kitsune smirked and blushed.
"Why Motoko that's the sweetest thing you've ever said. Or is it just the fact that you're upset that I thought of bagging Seiichi since none can have Keitaro. Wait you're still not over Keitaro?" The normally unbreakable expression the Motoko Aoyama, heir to the God's Cry School, turned red and embarrassed. Shinobu looked up at Motoko with a mix of betrayl and horrific comprehension. Then it went from from the mixed feelings to to angry. As quick as light itself she unsheathed her katana and screamed.
"Boulder Splitting Blade!". Which quickly sent Kitsune flying out the window. She smoothed out her robes and gathered herself. Motoko decided it best to get them off the subject of her unrequited love for Keitaro. "So your the new landlord? You had better get one thing straight, I don't care if your Urashima's cousin or not. If you do anything that I see as wrong or step slightly out of line, you are gone, understand?"
Seiichi quickly shook his head up and down, he even began to wonder if it would fall off. "Well since this minor misunderstanding has been resolved, I am going to my room to study some scrolls on sword techniques. Shinobu, why don't you show him where everyone's rooms are located, and some of the work he'll be doing as the manager of Hinata House? Oh, yes make sure you show him where he bathes, so he never gets confused as to that." Silently, but diligently, Motoko padded off to her room. Kitsune looked around.
"Well, I better get back to the teahouse, have fun kids." Before she left she lit another cigarette and winked at Seiichi. Shinobu smiled at the new guest and began to introduce everyone.
"Hi there Seiichi, I'm Shinobu Maehara, resident cook here. You seem to have already met Kitsune, she works at the cafe and usually gambles and drinks allot, so ignore her sometimes. The one with the sword was Motoko Aoyama, she is a master swordsman and a romance novelist, but her 'romance' novels always come out some horrible fantasy of her and Keitaro."
How can these woman have fallen in love with Keitaro? There must be more than meets the eye. Then she pointed to Ema.
"Like you, Ema is new, she's only been here three days." Ema smiled weakly and turned back to her desk. Shinobu helped Seiichi up to his feet, "Come on, I'll fill you in on everything you need to know over a cup of tea." He smiled brightly and thought.
For such a strange mix of women, the all certainly very pretty. How the hell did Keitaro do this? Oh well, at least I know I could certainly get used to this.
She took him back by the hotspring to gather his bags and led him into the dining room. He sat down and finally relaxed, she continued talking as she made the tea. "There is also another tenant you should be aware of, Kaolla Su. She's off in her room probably inventing another machine or something. Su is also the princess of Mol Mol, but she is studying abroad." Seiichi furrowed his brow.
You gotta be kidding me, a princess? Right, and I'm Jubei Yagyu. he silently told himself. He watched her as she poured the tea very carefully. The aroma of the tea rose into the air, he couldn't help but smell it. It held a lovely scent to him. Carefully as not to spill it, he picked it up and sipped it. Wow, this is possibly the best cup of tea I've had. "This really good tea, thank you Shinobu." She blushed a little and softly said.
"Thank you Seiichi." For a while they sat there and drank the tea silently, enjoying the peace. "So Seiichi, what did you do before you came here?" Seiichi looked sheepish, back home he had never been much of and achiever, he more an average guy.
"I was working at my father's electronics shop.." Shinobu smiled softly as she continued.
"Are you planning on going to a college?" He breathed out heavily as he began, "No, I've kinda never been good at academics, so I decided just to run my dad's shop and continue from there." Shinobu smiled and as she spoke again.
"You should do what everyone here has done, go to Tokyo U." Seiichi laughed hysterically at the comment, he knew that to get into Tokyo U you had to be the absolute best. Seiichi Urashima was most definitely not the best.
"Listen you can't just decide to get into Tokyo U, it takes years of hard work." Shinobu kept on smiling at this point.
"Yes, I realize that, but it isn't impossible either. Everyone here besides you and Ema have all either gotten into or graduated from Tokyo U." Seiichi felt his pressure rise, how the hell could they expect something as momentous as that from him?
"Listen that's you guys not me, got it? So anyone else I need to watch out for?" Shinobu began to think.
"When Keitaro gets back you should definitely watch out for Naru." Seiichi remembered Kitsune talking about a girl named Naru.
"Isn't that the girl Keitaro married?" Shinobu shook her head yes. "Then why should I be watchful for her?" Shinobu began to grimace at every 'accident' that transpired between Keitaro and Naru.
"Because if you have the same bad luck as Keitaro, then you'd better as indestructible as him." Seiichi scrunched up his nose in confusion.
"What the hell does that mean?!" She giggled at him and said.
"You'll see in time, just be patient." He felt tremendously exhausted.
"Can you just show me where I'll be staying?" She quickly gathered up all the tea cups and put them in the sink.
"Sure follow me."
He gathered his bags and followed the beautiful woman. She led him up the stairs and down the hall, and he looked up and read the plate out loud. "Room 204, Keitaro Urashima. Manager." He paused and looked at Shinobu, her soft eyes sparkling gently. "Well thank you Shinobu." Tenatively he pulled back the doors to the room, and peered inside. He feared Motoko would leap out again and end his life.
"You'll just have to stay here in Keitaro's room tonight. Tomorrow I'll show you all the work you'll be doing as apartment manager." She smiled as she slid the door close. Seiichi peered out into the setting sun and sighed. He undressed into a set of pajamas and slipped into bed. I'll do everything tomorrow, it can't be that hard. Can it?