Hello! It's been a while! Almost half a year, in fact! Yes, I know, I said that 'Second Phase' would be my final contribution to this section for the time being, but hey, it's been long enough, right? Plus, I felt like advertising my new forums. Check my profile for the link.
Don't expect too many updates in this section. It's basically a place to put any occasional 'Love Hina Next' ideas I suddenly come up with that I can't use in a full multi-chapter story since well, I'm done with that. These will all be 'one-shots' unless noted. Think of the chapters in this entry as those OVA's/OAV's that come out after the main series has ended. None of them take place anywhere in particular, but this chapter focuses on the original cast, about one year after the 'Lakuna Island' arc. Enjoy! Sorry to those expecting a new 'romantic comedy with a little action epic', but hey, maybe someday…
-Kouji Tamino
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Love Hina Next: The Mini-Phases!
Christmas Eve, One Year After…
Tokimi hummed a little song as she hung up the decorations, dressed in a slim fitting female Santa Claus dress. "Yamato, could you come in here for a minute?" she asked, yelling into the kitchen. "I need a big, strong man to help me put the decorations up." she replied sarcastically, smirking. "Yamato?"
"He's not here…" Rikina muttered from the couch, reading a book. At this point, she had black streaks in her light blonde hair. She was wearing a Santa Claus dress too, but as usual, hers was black. "He's out trying to start his own fighting dojo, remember?"
"Oh, right…" Tokimi's cheeks puffed up in annoyance. "Damn it. I don't know why he bothers. No one will ever come."
"Hey… You know what would be pretty funny?." Rikina began, chuckling a bit. "If at one point, the only thing keeping him in business was training some rich kid."
"Oh, Rikina!" she shouted, walking over to her friend and hitting her on the head playfully. "Don't say thing's like that! The thought of Yamato making a living off of some snobby rich couple's bratty kid is just depressing to think about!"
The gothic princess rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever… It's not like I really care…"
Tokimi frowned. "Rikina… Don't tell me that you're still sore about what happened…" The only reply she got was silence. Clenching her fist, she growled lightly. "Come on, Rikina! That was over a year ago!"
"Just drop it, okay!" she snapped, finally looking up from her book. Calming herself down, she brought her attention back to it. "I said that I don't care…"
"Fine, just drop it." Tokimi said in defeat. "I'm not in the mood to fight with you." Not yet finished with decorating, she walked out of the room in a huff and into the kitchen. "Rikina has really been pissing me off lately!"
Shinobu sighed, turning away from the food she was preparing. She was wearing a red t-shirt and white pants with a green apron. "What, another fight with Rikina? That's the second one this week!"
"Almost." Tokimi said, correcting her. "I left the room before it could de-evolve any further."
"You'd think she'd have gotten over Yamato by now…" Shinobu shook her head as she cut some carrots into little slices.
"I know!" Tokimi shouted in agreement. "I mean, she keeps saying she's over him, but she's always brooding and moaning and whining about it!"
The older woman sighed. "Don't be too hard on her, now. It must be hard for her to restrain her feelings for Yamato for your sake. It's stressful to love someone when they don't return your feelings, and in turn love someone else." She picked up the chopped carrots, put them in a bowl, walked over to the oven, and tossed them into a pot of stew that had just started cooking. With that done, she turned to Tokimi with a smile. "Especially if that someone is your best friend!"
"You're right…" Tokimi, feeling ashamed for being so insensitive about the subject. "You know what, I'm going to go apologize to her right now!" And with that, she left the kitchen.
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Meanwhile, at exactly the same time, Rikina was moping, dropping her book on the ground with a loud thud. Pouting, she crossed her arms. "Wah… This isn't fair!" The tanned woman raised an eyebrow in confusion as a pair of small pale hands suddenly reached over her shoulders and began to massage her breasts. "Well, let's see… Ami wouldn't dare molest me, so… You must be Meiruuna."
The naughtier twin sister of Ami grinned, wearing a black turtleneck and a long skirt. "Bingo. What's the matter, hottie? Get into another fight with Tokimi again?"
Rikina winced in pleasure. She'd never admit it out loud, but it felt pretty good. "Hey, stop that… Come back when you have your own set of tits and then we'll talk. Anyway… Well, almost. But Tokimi left before it could degenerate into a full-on fight."
"What a coward." Meiruuna began. "She's such an insensitive bitch. I heard the whole thing. She has no idea what you're going through right now."
"Actually, she does…" Rikina began. "For a couple days, Yamato and I were dating… Sort of. My sister and him made a deal with some of my people to have him marry me and be my king. I'm still pissed at him for misleading me like that…"
A devious grin spread across Meiruuna's face as she let go of . Leaning in, she whispered into the woman's ear. "Then you should get revenge on both of them… Tokimi and Himiko. Get back at both of them…"
"… The hell are you smoking?" Rikina asked quite bluntly. "They're both still by best friends and all. I'm not going to kill them over relationship problems." She then picked up her book, found her place, and continued reading. After a few seconds, however, her attention was once again taken off of the book. "Then again…"
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"Rikina!" Tokimi shouted, walking back into the lounge. "I'm sorry for… saying… all those…" Looking around in confusion, she looked around the room. "Rikina? Where are you?" She screamed out as someone grabbed her from behind, but they quickly covered up her mouth. Her eyes widened as rope began to float in the air, quickly tying her up. A handkerchief showed up as well, gagging her. 'What's going on?' She thought to herself, suddenly losing consciousness.
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Elsewhere, in a cabin in a forest, Ami and Kimomo were having a conversation over some hot tea. "But doesn't it get lonely, training in the forest by yourself?" the ivory haired girl asked, pouring the samurai girl some more tea.
"Thank you Ami…" Kimomo said in thanks, taking a sip of the tea. She was wearing the traditional miko's uniform, just like her mother. "…such a sweet girl. But actually, yes. But it's one of those things I have to do." Taking a look at a pocket watch that her father had given her, she gasped. "Oh my, we had better get going. You have to get back to Hinata House to help Shinobu with some of the cooking, right? And I promised Tokimi that I'd help her decorate!"
Getting off of the ground, Ami dusted off her inverted Santa dress. "Eep! You're right! Let me just gather up all my tea stuff…" Looking around in confusion, she frowned. "Hey, where's Tenshi?"
"Found her." Kimomo replied nonchalantly, holding up the now frozen white rabbit.
"Kyyaaaa!" Ami screamed, hands over her mouth in horror. "Oh god, my poor little Tenshi!" The girl quickly fainted, causing Kimomo to smack her forehead.
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When she awoke, Tokimi was tied up to a wooden pole that had been planted into the ground right in front of Hinata House. "Wh-what the hell!"
"Hello there, old friend…" Rikina said in a calm voice. "How are things up there?"
"Rikina!" Tokimi screamed, no longer silenced. The gag must have had knock out gas on it. "Is this your idea of a sick joke! Cuz if it is, I'm not laughing!"
"It's no joke." Rikina scowled, her tone becoming cold. "This is my final act of revenge against you and Yamato for breaking my heart!"
"But you said you were over that!" the black haired young woman shouted, struggling against her ropes.
"Come on!" Rikina snapped, stomping her foot. "You'd have to be dense to believe that I'm seriously over Yamato!"
"Please, Rikina… Don't do this…" Tokimi put her head down in sorrow, tears running down her face. "You're my best friend. I love you!"
The younger Su sister's eyes widened and shimmered with tears that wouldn't fall. "Tokimi, I… I'm sorry!" Quickly turning away, she ran back into the building. "Meiruuna! I can't go through with it! I've known her ever since she was a little girl! She's like a little sister to me!"
The sister comment caught her slightly off guard, but Meiruuna quickly regained her manipulative composure. "We have to go through with this…" she replied in a dark tone. "Don't worry, it will all be over soon…"
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Yamato yawned as he neared the top of the now infamous long set of stairs, carrying a bunch of wrapped presents. He was wearing a black coat, dark blue jeans, black sneakers, and a matching black winter cap. "What a day… Christmas Eve and I still haven't gotten a deal. What a bunch of Scrooge's. Oh well, at least I didn't come home empty " As he made his way to Hinata House, having now cleared the steps, his attention was directed towards a sight that made him drop his gifts. "Tokimi!" Running towards his crying girlfriend, he made an attempt to untie her.
"Yamato…" she managed to say, sniffling. "Rikina… she…"
"What's that about Rikina?" he asked, too preoccupied with the rope to really pay attention. Yamato raised an eyebrow as a shadow crept over him. "Wow, it sure got dark quickly…" He grunted out a robotic hand smacked him out of the way and sent him sprawling to the ground.
"Kyaa!" Tokimi screamed, horrified. "Yamato!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Yamato assured her, slowly getting up. "It'll take more than a piece of scrap metal to take me down." Smirking, he faced down the mech. It was about twice the size of an average male and was shaped like one, too. It had two rabbit ear-like protrusion's from it's head and huge shoulder's . "So, Rikina… Still bitter about Tokimi and me?"
"I loved you!" Rikina screamed from the mech, tears running down her face. "And you played with my emotions! I could never hurt Tokimi, but I will make you pay, Yamato!" She screamed angrily, swinging both arms down towards him.
"Whoa!" Yamato shouted, tossing him self to the ground and narrowly dodging the attack. "Damn. This one's faster than most." He screamed out in pain as a metallic tail suddenly swung at him and hit him right in the side. He doubled over in pain and fell to his knees. "Tricky bastard, too…"
"Rikina, please stop!" Tokimi screamed, struggling against her ropes to no avail. "You'll kill him! If you truly wouldn't hurt me, then you'll stop this now!"
"Idiot!" Rikina shouted. "I'm doing this for you! Yamato is slime! You're too good for him!" Suddenly, a blue energy ball hit the mech, giving quite a bit of damage. "Ow! What?…"
"Leave Yamato-sama alone!" Ami shouted, glaring. A thawed out Tenshi was floating right beside her. "Please, Rikina… Don't make me do this…" She gasped as Meiruuna and Kai swooped in front of her.
"Sorry, sis." she said with a grin. "I can't let you spoil my fun."
"Fun?" Ami screamed in disbelief. "How is watching our friends fight fun?"
The darker twins smile widened as she formed a crimson ball in her hands. "Because I started it." she replied, sending the ball at her sister.
Filled with rage, Ami's eyes and aura turned pitch black as she grabbed the ball. "Meiruuna! How dare you play with people's lives like that!" She changed the color of the ball black and sent it back at her twisted sister. She then sent a barrage of dark arrows at Meiruuna, then raised her fist. It began to glow black as she focused all her energy into that single point, then flew towards her twin. Ami screamed as she punched her sister right in the face with the amplified blow.
Meanwhile, Kimomo was fending off the mech with her sword, doing quite well at first. But being less experienced than her mother, she could not hold her back for long. The mech's next strike sent her flying backwards. "Gyah!" As she landed on the ground with a thud, she whined and stared at her now broken sword. "Wah…. Mummy and Daddy are gonna kill me…"
"Yamato, you bastard!" Rikina screamed. "You've gone and turned everyone against me! Now I'll really kill you!" The mech's shoulder suddenly opened up, revealing a set of ten missiles in each. Another set of tears ran down her face. "This is the end…"
Tokimi's eyes widened in horror as the missiles were launched. "No, don't!" she screamed frantically, straining against the ropes even more. "Yamato!"
The younger Urashima jumped backwards, dodging each missile as it came down. But as the fifth one exploded, the force knocked Yamato down, and he was at the final 4 missile's mercy. "Well, damn… I screwed up. Sorry, Tokimi… Stay safe." Closing his eyes and accepting his fate, he waited for his impending doom.
Suddenly, a van burst through the air, flying right in front of the missiles and exploding, falling to the ground. Out from the now flaming heap came Keitaro and Naru, waving sheepishly. "Um, yo!" Keitaro shouted. "Sorry we're late!"
"Dad…" Yamato began.
"…Yeah, son?" Keitaro replied with a smile. "What is it?"
"…You have the most fucked up timing ever. But it always seems to save my ass, so thanks."
"Oh, and you forgot this when you came over to pick up the girl's presents!" Naru shouted, tossing her son the infamous 'Hina' blade.
Catching it, Yamato laughed. "Thanks, mom!"
Smirking, Naru, rolled up her sleeve. "Go kick some ass, honey!"
Chuckling, Yamato gave Rikina's mech a cocky grin. "All right. Will do."
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"I can't believe my mech ran out of energy…" Rikina said pitifully, still sitting in her cockpit. She sighed, opening the cockpit. "I'm… so sorry, everyone…" Crying out in anguish, she jumped out of the cockpit and began to run away. She gasped as Yamato grabbed her arm. "But…"
"It doesn't matter." Yamato replied. "Everyone has their bad days… Besides, we already caught the culprit who started all this." He pointed Meiruuna, who was pinned to the ground by Ami.
"But still…" Rikina sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I did and said some horrible things. How can you all think of forgiving me?"
"Because we're friends, Rikina!" Tokimi, now untied and walking towards her. "But please… If you're having problems, just come talk to us." She sweat dropped. "Otherwise, we just get incidents like this…"
"There you are, Ami!" Shinobu shouted, poking her head from the kitchen. "You're almost an hour late, y'know!"
Ami giggled, putting a hand behind her head apologetically. "Yeah, sorry!"
"Oh my…" the cook continued, looking around. "Just what happened out here?"
"Um, just the usual…" Keitaro replied, laughing.
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Later that night, Rikina, Tokimi, and Yamato were sitting on the couch. Rikina sighed. "I'm sorry, I ruined Christmas for everyone."
Yamato gave a big grin. "You kidding? That's the most fun I've ever had on Christmas Eve!" That comment earned him an elbowing from his girlfriend. "Ow! Anyway, just remember..."
"We're your friends..." Tokimi said with a soft smile. "We care about you..." Her smile suddenly turned into a playful frown as she grabbed her older friend in a headlock. "So don't ever do that to us ever again, understand!
"Okay, okay!" Rikina shouted, wincing in pain. Laughing, she sighed. "Merry Christmas, you two..."
Fin
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And there we go! Happy Holidays, everyone!