Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina. Its story and all of its characters belong to the greatest manga writer and illustrator ever to grace this earth with his work, Ken Akamatsu.

Chapter 2: Breaking the Ties

-Back at orochi laboratories-

Ran and Yuichi watched the projector screen in front of them intently as the last images of Hayato's visions replayed on it. Ran looked over to Yuichi who was uneasily fiddling with his thumbs, the sweat obviously trickling down the side of his face. The elderly scientist then turned to his laptop as he scanned the information being presented on its screen.

"So..." said Yuichi, breaking the uneasy silence. "Was that what i think it was?" Ran continued to scan the information on his laptop.

"Enhanced reflexes, muscular strength, mental capabilities, cell regeneration and heightening of all 5 senses" Ran thought to himself. "Yes it is" The scientist replied to yuichi's previous question.

"Hayato is remembering"

"Any ideas on how that might be possible?" asked Yuichi, frustration brimming in his voice "Considering you told me that all products would have their memories erased even before undergoing enhancements?!" Yuichi slammed his fist on the table out of frustration. Ran continued to type in his laptop as Yuichi waited on an answer. "Well?!" he prompted. With a sigh, Ran took off his glasses and massaged his temples. "The SPEARs have taken over".

"Well what the hell does that mean?!" said the confused CEO. "It means Yuichi, that Hayato is lost...the SPEARs have taken over whatever rational human part that was left of him." said Radius as he continued to lie back in his chair.

"What we have now is a cold, calculating, killing machine on the loose and absolutely no means to stop it."

"Well that still doesnt explain how the hell he's still remembering the things YOU were supposed to remove!" Yuichi exclaimed as Radius looked at him and enjoyed every muscle on his face that twitched with frustration. The scientist smiled. "I could never remove Hayato's memories, doing so would permanently damage his brain." Ran said "Instead, I inserted surgical barriers in his brain to prevent the synapses from accessing the parts where his memories were stored"

"To make up for the loss of his ability to retain information, I put in cybernetic memory banks where we programmed him with everything he knows now, fighting styles, weapons training, battle tactics, the works." the elderly scientist continued "The SPEARs were designed to seek out and correct any anomalies and malfunctions in Hayato's system."

"They must've diagnosed the barriers as foreign objects then dissolved them once they took over." Ran stepped away from yuichi as he took another look at the projector screen. Hayato was still motionless as Yuichi pulled out his celphone and speed dialed a number.

"Hello? This is mister Shinomori" he said as radius eavesdropped. "Assemble a team of your best men and ready the choppers" the CEO said. "Authorization to use live ammuniton granted" Radius' eyes widened as he heard yuichi say this. "He can't be serious" he said to himself. "Shoot to kill captain" Yuichi finally said as he relayed the coordinates of the target soon after. It was the warehouse Hayato's unconscious body was presently located.

"Don't do this Yuichi" he said to the CEO "I'm doing the right thing" said Yuichi without any sign of hesitation in his voice.

"You're sending lambs to the slaughter!" Radius excalimed. "Last time I checked your ultimate killing machine was unconscious and lying on the floor of that warehouse." Yuichi rebutted. "My men have handled worse"

"This is another mistake you will regret making Yuichi" Radius said as he held the CEO's gaze. Yuichi smiled as he reached behind his jacket and pulled out a silver snub nosed revolver and pointed it at radius.

"The only mistake I regret was not killing you earlier." the gunshot echoed throughout the empty laboratory as Radius staggered back, pain blossoming in his left shoulder. "Dammit, and I was aiming for the heart too." said Yuichi as radius used the table to support himself. The scientist clutched his bleeding shoulder as he caught a glimpse of his laptop on the other end of the table. His brain went a mile a minute as he rummaged through his head for a way to save himself and Hayato.

"That's it" he said to himself as he saw Yuichi's trigger finger squeeze the trigger once more. "That should give Hayato enough time." Radius' eyes narrowed, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he made a leap for the other end of the table. The bullet left the chamber and only managed to graze his left leg as he slid across the steel surface and grabbed his laptop.

He ducked behind the table as Yuichi let loose three more shots. The shots sank into the reinforced table as Radius fingers blurred at the insane speed he was typing in his laptop. Just as he finished typing the commands, he felt the barrel of the snub nosed pistol press itself against the side of his head. "Goodbye Radius" said Yuichi as he squeezed the trigger.

The scientist smiled as he hit the "ENTER" key before hearing the gunshot errupt and have everything fade to black.

-back at the warehouse-

Hayato's crimson eyes shot wide open as he heard the sound of chopper blades coming from outside. He sat up and scanned his surroundings like a newborn. The platinum haired boy's head snapped upward as he heard the glass break and four heavily armed men rappelled down on thick black cords. Hayato squinted as his vision zoomed in on the insignia stitched onto their sleeves. It was a red dragon eating its own tail with the kanji "orochi" at its center.

"Orochi..." Hayato read as his SPEARs flashed the memory of the firing squad back in his head. The boy's eyes narrowed as he spotted his twin pistols lying on the ground. "Orochi..." he repeated as the men touched down on the ground and trailed their M4A1 assault rifles at him. "Take him out" the captain ordered as he turned off the safety on his assault rifle and open fired. Hayato responded by dashing towards his gold plated .45's as the gunfire kicked up the dust in his wake.

Hayato rolled on the floor as he picked the twin pistols up and proceeded to dash towards cover. The boy leapt behind some crates while firing at the hit squad. He managed to nail one with 4 shots to the chest before he landed on the floor at the same time as the soldier's body collapsed. Hayato could hear the man gasping for air but the holes in his lungs made that pretty hard to do. The gasping stopped and Hayato peeked out of his cover to empty the remnants of his last two clips onto two more men.

The top halves of the his pistols locked themselves backwards as four more men rapelled down to the warehouse floor. Hayato holstered his pistols as he dashed towards the men sent to kill him. The men open fired as they saw the silver haired boy approach.

Only silver streaks could be seen as Hayato moved at inhuman speed, digging his left fist into the abdomen of the man closest to him. He followed that with an elbow to the back of the head just as the soldier leaned forward due to the impact of Hayato's previous blow. He smiled as he heard vertebrae snap.

Hayato caught the man's assault rifle before it hit the ground and did a dive roll out of the remaining four men's line of fire. The silver haired boy ended up on his back as he emptied his M4A1 on the remaining four, the 5.56mm NATO rounds making quick work of their kevlar vests. Hayato stood up as everyone else around him fell and began to collect magazines and grenades for the attached M203 grenade launcher from his fallen enemies. Stuffing all of them in his jacket pockets and reloading, he slung the rifle on his shoulder and made his way out of the warehouse.

Outside, blinding gusts of wind met the silver haired boy as 2 choppers hovered low and aimed their search lights at him. Hayato's silver hair reflected their light as the boy dashed towards the streets. The choppers pursued their target along with their 60mm vulcans mounted underneath. Dust and shattered pieces of pavement kicked up in Hayato's wake as the boy zoomed in on the road before him. In the distance hayato saw a motorist riding a black Ducati 749.

Hayato burst into a full sprint towards the motorist with the choppers and their 60mm bullets in close pursuit. As the bike reared into view, Hayato smiled as he reached out his right hand at the approaching motorist. Because of the present speed both Hayato and the motorist were moving at, the biker did not notice that Hayato had grabbed onto his leather jacket and had slung him onto the back seat of the roaring black motorcycle.

"Holy shit!" the biker exclaimed as he saw the two choppers coming at him. He was even more shocked to see a crimson eyed boy sitting behind him. "I need your vehicle" the boy said. "Huh?!" the biker replied as Hayato grabbed onto his jacket and tossed him off the bike. The biker tumbled on the pavement behind Hayato as he took control of the handlebars and twisted it full throttle.

The bike rocketed towards the two choppers as Hayato reached behind him for his M4A1, bullets whizzing over his head all the while. Hayato passed through the gap in between the two choppers and immediately squeezed the brakes just as he was about to pass them. The bike powerslided and made a 180 degree turn as Hayato immediately emptied his clip onto the tail rotor of one chopper. Not having done enough damage, the rotor simply wobbled but stayed on.

Hayato quickly pulled out a grenade from his pocket and loaded the attached M203 grenade launcher. Without hesitation he fired the grenade at the tail rotor, the resulting explosion causing it to break off completely. The chopper's body started to spin without its tail rotor to balance it. It ended up slammming into its companion and exploding into a giant fireball of twisted metal.

Hayato sped away in his newly aquired bike as explosions rocked the road behind him. The boy glanced to a fleeting street sign which said "HINATA HOT SPRINGS TOWN 7KM". The bike rocketed forward as Hayato twisted the throttle to its maximum.

"WELCOME TO HINATA HOT SPRINGS! ENJOY YOUR STAY!" read a sign as Hayato sped past it. The town was sound asleep as he made his way down the streets. And while the SPEAR nanomachines were busy keeping their host body safe, deep inside his subconscious, Hayato sat down in a black void as he examined the area around him for the hundredth time.

"Black...nothing but black" the boy said glumly to himself as he rummaged through his still jet black hair. "First few hours of my life and i get trapped inside my own head" he said as he lay on his back and gave out a sigh.

"Great...just great!" he threw his arms in the air and let them fall back to the ground as he stared into the black void. A small speck of light caught hayato's eye amidst the blackness of his surroundings. "What the hell?" the boy said to himself as he focused on the light. It started to grow brighter and larger by the second as a familiar ringing noise started to grow louder and higher.

"Oh shit" hayato said as he braced himself for the pain he knew was about to come. The pain shot through his body once more as Hayato grabbed his aching skull. He screamed as the light engulfed him. As quickly as it came however, the light abruplty turned off along with the pain and the irritating ringing noise as Hayato the felt the wind on his face. He could smell the night air; feel his hair fluttering behind him and felt two rubbery handles under his palms.

Still a bit disoriented and confused, Hayato heard a bell that continuously tolled as it grew louder and louder. He opened his eyes and what he saw before him made him realize that more pain was yet to come. The Hinata trolley was making its last trip around town and Hayato, in his present state of disorientation, managed to swerve into its path and was now in a head on collision course with it.

"Damn…" was all he could say as even his enhanced reflexes did little to change his present heading. "Telekinetic shields on!" he screamed in his head as what was left of his nanomachines turned his shields on. Hayato squeezed the brakes as he felt steel crash with steel and himself collide with other people still on the trolley. The shield managed to protect him as he smashed through the now hulking carcass of steel which was once the Hinata trolley but his mind could only take so much. He grinded against the unforgiving pavement with his shields giving in after a few more seconds of brutal punishment.

Without his shields, the boy was left to fend for himself. Grinding against the rough asphalt, Hayato's jacket was left a torn and tattered mess, his ammunition spilling into the pavement behind him, as was his forehead, most of his left torso and left leg. The boy laid there a couple of minutes as he let his regeneration kick in. A few more minutes and the wounds were now healed but still very sensitive. Hayato limped away as he picked up the sounds of sirens coming from the oppostie direction.

The boy managed to slip into a series of alleyways which brought him to a very high flight of steps. Sitting himself down on them, Hayato let out a deep sigh as his vision slowly dimmed. "I cant be dying now, can I?" he asked himself as he looked at the starry skies above him. Visions started to flood him again as he saw the two familiar faces once more, the firing squad, the symbol of the orochi behind him and once more he felt the pain of being shot continuously.

Everything quickly became too much for Hayato as he slowly drifted onto the plane of unconsciousness. His enhanced senses then picked up the smell of nicotine around him and it managed to keep him awake somehow.

"Who's smoking?" he asked as he looked around him, his vision very dim and blurry. "I am" replied the person Hayato couldn't make out anymore. He squinted and only managed to make out the words "Cafe Hinata" on the apron the person was wearing.

"Who the hell are you?" the person asked. "It's a woman" Hayato said to himself as he deduced it from her voice. "Koganei Hayato...who-who're...y.." he couldn't finish as his systems finally shut down after over exhaustion. His body went limp as his head fell back on the stone steps with a thud.

"Hey! You cant die here!" said the woman as she walked down to Hayato's unconscious body. She slapped him several times, causing the gashes on his forehead and face to reopen. "Dammit!" she said as she wiped the blood off her hand. She looked at the boy's pitiful state and took a deep drag from her cigarette. She exhaled the cancerous smoke with a reluctant sigh.

She quickly slung the boy over her shoulder as she made her way up the steps to Hinata Inn. "Guess, my smokes will have to wait" she said to herself. "I hope the girls are up to this though"

-Elsewhere-

"Damn you Aoyama!" Yuichi said as he punched the table with his right fist until several dents were visible on it. The young CEO clenched his teeth in frustration as Radius laptop continued to increase his already abundant supply of annoyance.

"SPEAR TRACKING SIGNAL LOST" the laptop displayed on its screen in bright, bold, red letters.

Yuichi sighed as he Ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, straightening any strand that went astray. "You truly are brilliant radius" he said as he watched his men haul off the scientist's lifeless body in a stretcher. Yuichi looked back at the laptop screen as a new window popping up caught his eye. The CEO scanned the smaller texts as his eyes locked on at the most significant statement from all the seemingly useless other information presented to him.

"MEMORY BANKS ERASURE HALTED AT 85 PERCENT DUE TO EMERGENCY"

Yuichi continued to reread that single line as he thought to himself.

"What were you planning Ran?" he asked himself.

to be continued...hopefully

Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Please leave a comment, review, constructive criticism or even a flame if you want to. I greatly appreciate each and every comment, suggestion and opinion you can give. Thanks for your time!