1# Unamed - Love Hina Loop/SM
Keitaro briefly considered going to the hot springs and reliving things like he had the very first time, for old time's sake, but quickly dismissed the idea as unworkable. Too much time had passed and he'd changed too much to pull it off without altering things. Besides, while he was a little nostalgic about the ever repeating past he wasn't masochistic enough to want to try and repeat his first life... often. Generally about one out of fifty resets gave him a choice at this stage, so he might as well make the most of it.
Humming cheerfully he skipped up the steps and knocked on the door, knowing no one would be there, but being polite anyway.
Entering, he set his bag by the couch and sat down, pulling out his letter from his grandmother and placing it on the table. He found that having the letter out where they could read it prevented a number of misunderstandings from developing. Having nothing to do until the girls got there he decided to take a nap. He knew what came next and dealing with Naru and Motoko when he first arrived was usually draining.
He awoke with a start surrounded by girls he didn't recognize, but looked vaguely familiar.
"It just says he's supposed to meet Setsuna here," a girl with long black hair said.
"Yep," Keitaro agreed, sitting up and startling everyone. "That's all Granny wrote. So... anyone seen her?"
The girls laughed at Setsuna being called Granny, before introducing themselves.
"I'm Rei Hino, sorry about reading your letter," she apologized.
Keitaro waved it off. "I left the letter out so, everyone would know why I was here. I figured it would cut down on misunderstandings."
"Minako," a blonde girl said suddenly, sitting as close to Keitaro as possible.
"Makoto," a well-built brunette said sitting just as closely on Keitaro's other side.
"I'm Ami," a blue haired girl said extending her hand to shake.
"Keitaro, grandson of the absentee granny," he introduced himself, causing the girls to laugh again.
"Dinnertime!" a girl with violet eyes and dark hair called out nervously from the dining room.
All the girls paled at once and Keitaro knew what was coming. Apparently the girl who'd replaced Shinobu couldn't cook as in Naru-in-the-kitchen couldn't cook.
Well he'd eaten worse he was sure.
"Oh god, we finally meet a nice guy and he's going to die before I can kiss him!" Minako sniffled.
Ok, he was almost sure he'd eaten something worse before.
Keitaro sat down at the table as the girl nervously spooned him out a portion of something that looked and smelled like Hungarian Goulash. Hopefully that's what she'd been trying for.
After the first bite he knew what she'd done wrong. It had way too much salt and oregano, or possibly eucalyptus leaves and there was the faint but familiar aftertaste of rat poison.
He quickly finished his plated and then scarfed down the whole pot, before someone else could poison themselves with it.
"Not bad, not bad, a few mistakes in the recipe but overall a decent effort," he said smiling at the young girl.
Hotaru beamed.
"How about next time I work with you and show you how to improve it?"
"I'd love that!" she beamed.
2# Traditions - BtVS
It was a privilege to be in charge of assigning missions, one which Johansen was uniquely suited for, despite being almost completely human. A quick glance at the list of active agents reminded him that they were still down three and those three were The Traditions.
The Traditions were a trio of assassins who were the 'public face' of the Terakan Organization. They were three extremely well known agents whose occasional appearance showed the Terakans were still active.
(It was hard for a secret organization to make money if they were so secret clients couldn't find them after all.)
The Traditions were commonly known as Skill, Strength, and Strangeness, as even demons had found the bug guy bizarre, but officially they were: hand, fist, and claw.
Normally they'd have recruited whoever had killed the three to replace them within a week or two of their deaths, but the seers had predicted bad things unless they waited.
As the three names turned green he smiled; the waiting was done. A simple nod to a subordinate sent the message to the mage on call, the ring's enchantments were authorized for activation.
The Hand
In LA Cordelia Chase stopped running and spun around, catching and flinging Russell Winters, a well connected vampire, through a table with a perfectly executed throw. One of the broken table legs made a serviceable stake.
It would be several hours before she even noticed the ring she was wearing or the 100K in her account for the completion of a minor contract.
The Fist
Buffy Summers, former Slayer, noticed the ring appear on her finger instantly, but she also noticed the increase in her strength and durability, since she was fighting a pair of Pologara demons and ignored it for now.
She wouldn't notice the 3.4 million dollars in her bank account for half a dozen contracts, major and minor, for nearly a month.
The Claw
Xander snored loudly as the ring appeared on his finger and he dreamed the Triffids had landed, but naturally since he was the Borg he simply assimilated them.
The hive entity that normally suppressed its host's consciousness found itself absorbed into Xander's collection of possessions as he rolled over and started snoring.
3# Free lance, no it still costs.- BtVS
"I thought you'd already given me all the rings," Giles said as he saw Xander wearing a Terakan ring on his hand.
"We did," Xander said, slipping the ring on his finger as he leaned back in his chair.
Giles stiffened in shock and his eyes darted about the library checking for possible weapons and exits.
"The Terakans made me a deal," Xander said.
"No amount of money is worth betrayal," Giles said mentally preparing himself for battle.
"What betrayal?" Xander asked. "My deal is to keep Buffy safe, not kill her."
"I'm listening," Giles said hoping the boy hadn't sold his soul or done something equally foolish.
"They were impressed with how I took out Norman," Xander explained. "Apparently they get some difficult contracts where standard methods don't work and a little outside the box thinking would come in handy."
"Killing people for pay is still morally reprehensible," Giles said.
"People?" Xander asked. "No, they want me to kill demons."
"Pardon?" Giles asked.
"Evil demons often hire assassins to kill one another," Xander explained. "Since I kill evil demons anyway, they offered me money and support to kill some specific ones as well, and as a bonus while I am working for them the Slayer and her staff are off limits."
Giles sat down. "I can't fault your reasons, but have you considered the danger?"
"More dangerous than fighting vampires?" Xander asked. "I'm not required to take more than one contract a year and they provide a complete dossier on the target."
"I suppose we'll just have to see," Giles said.
"We?" Xander asked.
"If it helps protect Buffy of course I'm going to be involved," Giles said. "I'll probably have to start a second journal just to deal with your exploits separately, considering how much trouble you get into."
4# Transfer Student – Daria/?
"Got a good seat, I see," Jane said as she joined her friend who was leaning against a tree in front of the school reading a book.
"Seat for what?" Daria asked.
"Seat for a front row view of the Principal's latest attempt to show how progressive Lawndale High is by hosting a problem student from another school," Jane replied with a smirk.
Daria looked at Jane for a second, "Ok, I'll bite, how is it entertaining?"
"Because she tends to overreact. The last disadvantaged youth she accepted had several shoplifting charges on his record, so she had the teachers inventorying the classrooms everyday and the sheriff arranged for a patrol car to escort him to school," she replied amused. "Of course the real fun is seeing how everyone else responds."
"This is going to reduce my faith in human nature, isn't it?" Daria asked.
"Most definitely," Jane agreed cheerfully.
A pair of squad cars squealed up and blocked off one end of the street, the police inside diving over the hood and drawing their weapons like they expected to be in a shootout.
Daria stared wide eyed before turning to Jane. "That would be an extreme overreaction to shoplifting."
An armored car drove up with four riot cops who stepped off the running boards and brought up their riotguns to cover the rear of the car.
Two more squad cars and the sheriff's followed, completely blocking the street. The sheriff was stopped by one of the riot police while the other covered him as they checked his ID.
Once they were satisfied the sheriff was who he said he was, they went back to guard positions and allowed him to approach. It took three keys, one eye scanner, and a breathalyzer to open the rear door.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel