Again Love Hina does not belong to me.

The Quiet Man

Chapter 2 Out of the Frying Pan

As Keitaro exited the street, He found himself looking up at the tall set of stairs stairs that led to the Hinata Sou. With a slight sigh, he stepped up onto them and started his climb. As he was going up, he could feel the tension set in his shoulders. The strangeness of the place and the beautiful setting of nature just a few yards from the suburban setting of the Hinata district, was such a sharp contrast from his last seven years, he stared to feel a little lost and unsure of himself.

As he walked up the steps a feeling of insecurity manifested in him. Around his feet the dust and a few of the leaves around him were gently pushed back by a small breeze that seemingly emitted from his body. It was as if an arua of 'Do Not Touch' radiated from him. Unknown to him that feeling was picked up by two others in the immediate area.

Motoko Aoyama picked up on this strange ki while meditating in her room. The feelings of 'do not bother me' were strange to her and she quickly rose to investigate the source. The second person to feel this was Haruka Urashima. She, unlike Motoko, knew this feeling and the source, and she definitely did not like it. Being of the Urashima clan she had trained in the family arts and as such easily recognised the familiar traits of her clan.

"What is he doing here?" she thought to herself as she quickly finished cleaning the counter top before making her way outside. She hadn't been close to Keitaro before the killing, but she had taken the families side against him seven years ago. While she didn't like what he did, she did not hate or despise him as some of the clan family members did. He had taken a life and in her opinion he should pay for it. 'Pay for it he did.' she thought to herself. 'Seven years. I didn't even think about him till now, when I felt that ki.'

As she left her little shop, she saw him slowly making his way up the stairs. Looking at him, she studied the young man, about 5'6", 150 pounds, brown hair, wearing a pair of grey slacks, white t-shirt, grey jacket, sandals on his feet and carrying a small tote bag. Standard prison fare for recently released inmates.

'He looks lost and a little unsure of himself.' Haruka thought to herself. She had started to make her way to him to try and find out why he was here when she spotted Motoko at the top of the steps.
'This ought to be good.' she thought to herself as she watched Motoko make her way down the steps.

Motoko stopped on the first landing to await the young man coming up the steps. As Keitaro looked up he saw her standing on the landing poised and waiting for him. Her stance and demeanor as well as her style of dress made a simple statement of 'I don't like you and I can easily take care of you should it become necessary.' The bokken in her hand just added credence to her unspoken claim.

"Who are you and what do you want here?" Motoko asked in a demanding tone.

"My name is Keitaro Urashima and I am here to see my grandmother." came the quiet reply. "I don't want any trouble I just want to see her." With that being said Keitaro started on his way again only to be stopped by Motoko's bokken.

"I am sorry to tell you this but she has not returned yet and I must insist you wait out front." she told him.

"Why?" he asked slightly confused by her tone.

"If you have not been told yet, the Hinata Sou has been turned into an all girls dormitory. And as such you being a man are not allowed inside." She answered with a haughty smirk.

"When did my grandmother do this?" he asked in that same quiet voice 'and why didn't she tell me?' he thought to himself.

"I have lived here for almost five years, when she changed it before then I do not know." came her terse reply.

"Grandmother never mentioned this before, why would she say I had a place to stay if no men are allowed?" Keiaro mused to himself out loud. Thinking to himself about the situation he did not see the angry look that crossed Motoko's face at his comment, but he did hear here reply.

"I am not sure what your grandmother has in mind, but I will not allow you to stay here. It would not only be improper, it is an affront to me as well." Motoko answered him coldly.

Looking at her, Keitaro saw the stance she was taking up and quickly stepped back dropping his bag he took up a defensive stance. "WHOA easy there miss. Did I wrong you or yours before? If I did I'm sorry. I'll just go and wait for my grandmother I don't want any trouble." As he was saying this the air around him cooled and started swirling faster. The dust and leaves whipping faster.

Motoko was watching him intently and seeing his ki levels rising, braced her own defenses. 'His ki is expanding at a phenomenal rate. Is he going to attack?' As these thoughts were going though her mind she instinctively started to concentrate her ki for an attack. the bokken in her hand shifted to an overhead strike and without even thinking she suddenly stuck out at Keitaro. Keitaro seeing the strike coming raised his right fore arm to block and to the surprise of Motoko her strike seemed to bounce of his arm. Upon seeing this her concentration faltered for a second, but it was more than enough time for Keitaro to act. With his second and third fingers on his left hand extended he lightly jabbed at Motoko's forehead and upon contact she went limp. As she was slumping to the ground Keitaro gracefully slid around her and caught her before she could hit the ground. Picking her up he grimaced at he pain from his right arm and carefully carried her up the stairs and off to the side laying her in the shade of one of the many trees that graced the yard. Making sure she was comfortable he then went back to the stairs and retrieved his bag. Making his way back to her he sat in the grass and started to meditate, carefully cradling his right arm in his lap. Quickly finding his center, he started to focus his concentration on his right arm. The air suddenly cooled around it and immediately he felt the relief as the pain subsided and his arm started to heal.

'She broke it! She broke my arm.' he thought with amazement. "She really meant to hurt me" he thought out loud." At this time he felt someone else approaching. Quickly coming out of his meditative state he whirled around and saw a woman approaching him. Getting to his feet he backed up to put Motoko and this other woman in his line of sight. "Who are you?" he asked quietly. Seeing her look at Motoko he quickly tried to reassure her. "She's ok. I just put her there to rest till she wakes up." he carefully explained.

Haruka had seen and heard the whole thing from her vantage point on the stairs and started making her way to the pair. As she approached she heard his statement about Motoko hurting his arm. What surprised her was the ki field surrounding him as she walked up. It was large but concentrated on his right arm. As she noticed this she saw him quickly get to his feet and back away while assuming a defensive stance. She heard him explain that Motoko was quietly resting and she relaxed a bit. Looking closely at her nephew she noticed the way he held his right arm, out of the way as if protecting it somehow. She had heard the reports from seven years ago and knew just how dangerous he was then. He was considered a master class martial artist at the young age of eleven. At around twelve to thirteen his masters had noticed an arrogance about him and were trying to find a way to curb it, but unfortunately at that time he was preparing for the tournament in which he had killed the young opponent he was facing. 'The attack he used on her was the same one he killed Kenichi with.' Haruka thought to herself.

"Hello Keitaro. What did you do to Motoko?" Haruka asked in a calm voice.

"How do you know who I am? As for her she's fine. She tried to hurt me and I stopped her. She'll be ok after she rests up for a bit. Now who are you and how do you know my name?" Keitaro asked his voice slightly getting louder. He sill wasn't sure of this new arrival but she wasn't as intense as Motoko was and he slowly stared to relax.

"Just take it easy Keitaro. I'm not going to hurt you I just want to make sure Motoko is alright." Huraka calmly stated as she tried to get Keitaro to relax. She slowly started making her way to the prone form of the young girl laying on the grass.

"She's fine I said. Now who are you? and how do you know my name." Keitaro asked again as he moved back a little ways from her as she came closer.

"My name is Haruka Urashima, I'm your fathers sister. You probably don't remember me since you haven't seen me since you were young." She answered as she knelt down to check on Motoko.

Shock was one of the thoughts going through his mind right now. "My aunt!' he thought as maintained his ready stance for defense while she checked on Motoko. His arm was still hurting him and now with this revelation he was feeling a little weirded out at this point.

"Where is grandmother at? She said for me to come here and when I get here she's gone and I'm attacked. What is going on here? I thought she would have a place for me to stay but that girl says this is an all girls dorm and I can't stay. My arm is broken, I feel dizzy and tired." and with that Keitaro stumbled and fell to his knees.

Noting that Motoko was indeed resting quietly, Haruka look up just in time to hear her nephews rambling tirade and watch him fall. He was still watching her, but his eyes were glazing over. "I'll bet its been a while since you used a ki attack, hasn't it?" Haruka asked her nephew. "If it's as you say and you're arm is broken, I'm guessing you tried to heal it and after you little scuffle with Motoko you are a little tired. You need to relax and calm down. I want you to go down the steps to the small tea house at the bottom. Go in and find a seat and relax. I'll be down when I finish with Motoko, ok?"

"You're one of the family so why are you helping me?" He asked. "The family clan exiled me, how do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. As far as the punishment for you, I agreed with the imprisonment but not the exile from the family. Your grandmother didn't either, and there were one or two others who agreed with her but they were not on the council. It was their decision to exile you not ours." Haruka explained. "Now go down to my teahouse and try to rest."

Keitaro stood up and wobbled a bit but slowly made his way down the steps. Haruka watched him go and then bent down to lift Motoko and carry her into the dorm. As she carried her burden through the door her one thought was that granny Hina had definitely stirred up a hornets nest by inviting Keitaro here.