Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu.

A young man sat in a booth next to a window waiting for his friend to show up so he could eat. He looked out the window and watched the people walking by. The brown haired young man did not see them as a common person would, no; he watched them for anything suspicious. He supposed he would never be able to truly lose that survival characteristic that had kept him alive in his profession. The young man could not stare at another adult without wondering if they were a potential threat even if they clearly were not. He would look at every part of their body for a concealed weapon or their weakest point. Inanimate objects were no different; he stared at every building corner, shadow, mailbox, ledge, car they were all potential hiding points for a would-be assassin.

"Harder then you thought Kei, eh?" Shirai remarked as he sat in the opposite side of the booth and placed a smorgasbord of meals in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Keitaro asked as he turned from the window and stared at the pile of food where he should have seen his friend.

"I mean trying to be normal if that's possible for you." Shirai answered frankly as he bit into a piece of squid.

"I don't see why you think I can't do it. You seem to have no trouble being normal." Keitaro riposted.

"My case is different Kei, you see I wasn't the top rated gunslinger within the agency nor did I keep wielding a gun as long as you have." Shirai countered with his mouth full.

"That's not a very fair argument."

"It isn't but it is the truth and if anyone needs to hear the truth right now it's you. You know I've been wondering what is it that made you finally holster your gun."

"Do you mean from the agency or for good."

"I know you refuse to tell me about what made you quit the agency which is just as well because I don't feel like telling my reason. So I meant what got you to finally quit the bounty hunter biz." Shirai explained his question.

"Well I've wanted to quit for a while." Keitaro said.

"Five years of a while." Shirai added.

"Five years since you quit, it was three years ago for me." The brow-haired young man corrected.

"Anyways, go on."

"Just yesterday I got a call from my Aunt Haruka offering me a job at the Hinata inn.

"Oooh Haruka," Shirai exclaimed. "How's she doing?"

"Watch it." Keitaro warned.

"Heh, my bad." Shirai apologized holding his hands up defensively.

"Well as I was saying Haruka's got this job set up for me at the old inn, I start today."

"Your grandmother hasn't forgiven you yet." Shirai inquired carefully.

Keitaro's eyes kind of shifted at those words. "I don't know, she is the one who wanted me for the job so she must be ready to accept me again."

"I can't see why she's still mad at you it's not like the agency gave our parents much of a choice. We were ten and had no idea what they were going to do with us." Shirai tried to reason still stuffing his face.

"That's not why she's angry with me. I never told you this but I had a chance to quit being a gunslinger." Keitaro explained his grandmother's disappointment in him.

"You what?"

"Yeah when I was fourteen I displayed an astonishing growth in my skill and talent so the heads of the agency were a little worried I might be come to powerful plus that's when my invincibility became very apparent. They were considering just letting me go and erasing my memory you know I would just be a normal guy with the impossible ability of not dying." Keitaro explained.

"You actually had a chance to leave?" Shirai was still stunned by the news.

"Yeah but I pleaded with them to keep me on. At the time I truly believed we were doing a good thing and I convinced them that no matter how strong I got my loyalty would always be to the agency."

"Yet here the all powerful gunslinger Keitaro sits in my diner waiting to start his job offered to him by his begrudging grandmother. Your life is truly a surreal one." Shirai remarked with a burp as he finished his meals.

"Yep that's just about the best way to summarize it in one word." Keitaro concurred as he sipped from his mug of tea.

"So have you heard anything from the others on our squad?" Shirai inquired as he slumped in his chair.

"Well I know Haitani got promoted to a division director."

"So I've heard anyone else?"

"Motoko quit six months before I did but I haven't heard from her since I said good-bye to her when she was packing her things in the locker room." Keitaro answered nostalgically.

"Motoko actually quit? Miss big bad samurai quit?" Shirai asked almost as stunned as when Keitaro admitted he had had a chance to quit the agency.

"Yep." Keitaro simply replied.

"Now that is a surprise. I guess it's a good thing the Yakuza was falling apart when we all felt like quitting." Shirai remarked finishing his sake.

"You don't think the agency would have let us leave?"

"I know they wouldn't have let any of our team leave. We were too good, too experienced, and put simply we were into deep." Shirai stated passionately.

"Do you ever wonder if they still keep tabs on us?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Shirai replied cynically.

"Hmm…"

"Well I got to get back to work Kei, it was nice catching up." Shirai said looking at his watch.

Keitaro nodded and got up from his side of the booth and dusted the crumbs off his shirt. Shirai got up as well and dusted himself off. "Really man I'm glad you're finally done with being a gunslinger. It'll be good for you, it may not be easy reforming and all, but hell it's got to be worth it."

"Thanks, Shirai, and I hope your restaurant does well for a long time." Keitaro said as he shook his old friend's hand. The former gunslinger left the diner and walked to his new life.

The young man came to the other side of the bridge that led to the historical district of Tokyo. He decided to rest for a while and sat on the middle bench of three benches at the rest area. The other two were occupied by a young blue-haired teenage girl on his left while the other had a strange looking pale man wearing a black business suit on it.

Keitaro pondered his new future as he pulled out his sketch book. Drawing was Keitaro's relaxation form the many horrific events in his life. What would it be like to have a normal job, to wake up not worrying who you were going to have to kill or who might kill you, to live a life not tainted by another's blood. He would be able to have normal relationships. Maybe he could even finally have a girlfriend? The ideas amused Keitaro as he sketched the sad looking girl sitting a few feet away from him.

Keitaro glanced in the direction where the strange man sat. The former gunslinger was surprised to discover the albino man was side glancing at him as well with a creepy grin on his face. Keitaro turned his head to fully see the man who turned his head to face the brown-haired boy. He still had that creepy grin on his face. Keitaro glared at him menacingly and offered a stare-down, the albino only continued to smile.

Thinking of the girl who seemed to be the only other person in the vicinity Keitaro got up from his bench to confront the man. You can never be too certain about what kind of freaks crawl into this world out of Satan's ass. As he strode over to the man a thick fog developed put of nowhere that temporarily blinded Keitaro. Once it cleared he stopped in front of the bench to find it empty. "What the hell?"

Acting quickly Keitaro scanned the whole area and found nothing. Keitaro grabbed at nothing in the waist of his pants, the hiding spot for a concealed gun while in public. The young man shook his head, reforming would not be easy as he thought. Keitaro looked around a bit more and found no one. Satisfied he could leave the girl alone and not worry about harm coming to her, Keitaro grabbed his luggage and started off towards the Hinata inn, leaving behind his sketch book on the bench.

Keitaro stood in front of his aunt's tea house and knocked for about the fifth time that day. There was no answer for the fifth time that day. Keitaro cursed and sighed in defeat, she wasn't at the tea house. He decided he might as well check out the place he'd be working at. Keitaro climbed the large amount of steps to the traditional building that sat the top.

"Haven't been here in a long time," Keitaro remarked as he stared at the enormous inn. "Feels like ages."

The young man entered the inn and inspected his new surroundings. The place was a little different from what he remembered but not really, main and most notable difference was rearrangement of furniture. Keitaro walked upstairs and set his things down; he gazed down the nearby corridors to see if any of the tenants were there. Nothing, Keitaro sighed and walked back downstairs.

He found the kitchen, hot spring, living room, and dining room. Keitaro grabbed an apple and proceeded back upstairs where he grabbed his luggage and searched for a vacant room. He found one down stairs after he found the sign above it that said "MANAGER". He had walked in hoping to find Haruka but he found an empty room instead which one of his objectives was. He placed his stuff in the closet and turned back to exit, Keitaro wondered why he had not seen anybody.

As he stepped out of the room he came face to face with an almond-eyed, almond-haired girl. He almost bumped right into her but years of reflexive training aided in him halting himself. Keitaro took a glance at the beautiful brunette and was at peace for a while; it was one of the few times he did feel at peace in his life. That ended shortly.

"What are you doing here? And more importantly, who the hell are you?" The brunette requested in a heated tone as she raised a fist.

Being a gunslinger of the agency did not just mean weapons training, Keitaro was versed in several martial arts but being a reformed gunslinger and a born again pacifist meant he raised his fists as little as possible.

"I am not here to fight only to apply for a job." Keitaro stated raising his hands defensively with palms out.

"Why would, a man be applying for a job in an all girls dormitory?" inquired through clenched teeth as she inched forward her fist still raised.

"I would assume because he is broke and needs the money." Keitaro replied plainly standing his ground. "And for the record I had no idea this was an all girls dormitory now, I was under the impression it was still an inn."

"Or may be it's because he's a vile pervert!" Naru growled ignoring his answer and swinging wildly at him.

"Okay seriously lady, you're going to have to calm down." The former gunslinger said as he held Naru's fist inches away from his face.

Naru was shocked to see such a thing for most perverts she could knock out without much difficulty yet here this guy simply caught her fastest punch possible. "How…how…is this possible?"

"Hey Naru we're back…" Su, Kitsune, and Motoko entered the inn and saw their quick tempered friend being over powered by a strange man.

"Motoko?" Keitaro said bewildered as he saw the girl enter the lobby. Naru glared at him and ripped her arm away while he was distracted and tried to hit him again but Keitaro was too fast for her, he had her fist again. Naru screamed in frustration.

"Naru is in trouble we must help her." Su exclaimed as she ran upstairs. Keitaro stared after the strange blonde until his attention was brought back to the other two girls on his left.

"YOU! PERVERT!" Motoko hollered as she aimed her katana at the young man. Keitaro wanted no part of that without a katana of his own he had seen what the samurai was capable of, not very pleasant memories.

"Mo, what the hell?" Keitaro said angrily as his old friend went for him. Naru readied for another power shot as well. What the hell was it everyone picks on the reformed gunslinger day?

"Motoko, Naru, move for I have brought my bazooka." Su shouted as she stood at the top of the staircase with the giant firearm on her shoulder and pointed at Keitaro.

Keitaro pushed down Naru and Motoko quickly but he was not fast enough to dodge the oncoming shell. "Oh fuck me."

The young man coughed and waved smoke out of his face as he came out of the thick smoke. He rubbed his eyes out and looked up to see four very unhappy women. He realized two things one, all four even his once good friend Motoko were angry to see him before them and two, he could not take them all on without hurting them, he needed a miracle to get out of this one.

"Alright let's everybody calm down now and I will tell you a little about myself. My name is Keitaro Urashima, I am here to apply for a job that was offered to me by your manager, Granny Hina, who is also my grandmother." Keitaro said in a slow calm voice.

The women's expression did not change but Keitaro continued. "It would be also interesting to know that I am not a pervert, thief, stalker, killer, rapist, and or, psychopath that would do harm to any of you."

His explanation fell on deaf ears as the women advanced on him. "Motoko," Keitaro still no answer from the dark-haired woman. All the reformed gunslinger could do was sigh and surrender as they closed in. If he died at least he died a gentleman, he had yet to hit the opposite sex.

Keitaro was tied to a wooden post outside which amazed him because he didn't remember seeing a post outside and he was usually so observant. The former gunslinger was bound to the post with rope where he watched Su cheer a few feet away from him; Kitsune teasing a red faced Naru, and his own friend, Motoko, sharpening her sword with expert precision.

So this how it ends cut in two by a girl he considered his best friend as a bunch of crazy girls watch and bound to a tree no less. The most top rated assassin within the agency and here was being slain in such an embarrassing manner. If this is what reformation was going to be like then he might have to consider picking up the gun again.

Motoko was finished with sharpening her sword and faced Keitaro. "You die now you disgusting excuse of a man!" Oooh that stung and from a friend too, ouch.

The other girls saw that it was feeding time and joined Motoko. "Really you guys know how to make a guy feel special." Keitaro remarked as they stared up at him, the former gunslinger showed no signs of fear however, just annoyance.

Motoko was about to swipe when someone stopped her. "Do you girls mind explaining to me what's going on here?"

Good old Aunt Haruka stood at the top of the long staircase to Hinata inn with groceries in her hand halting the little excecution.

"Okay let me get this straight. My nephew, Granny Hina's grandson, comes in here with a reasonable explanation and you guys try to kill him." Haruka said tiredly as she massaged her temples with one hand. The four girls looked down shamefully.

"We weren't going to actually kill him we were just trying to scare him away." Motoko reasoned for their actions.

"Keiatro didn't seem very frightened when you had that sword to his throat. Were you going to go through with killing a defenseless man if he was not frightened?" Haruka inquired staring down at each of the girls.

"It would serve the pervert right." Naru huffed with her arms folded.

"Whoa okay, for the last time I had no lecherous intentions when I came here. I was under the impression that this place was still an inn and not a dormitory." Keitaro now took his own ground in the discussion.

"You have no room for talk, how do we even know you have the credentials or experience to be a manager." Naru countered.

"Wait a minute, that's what the job is; Granny Hina wants me to care for her whole inn." Keitaro was expecting a janitor or a maintenance man. It appeared he was given the big place cleaning, maintenance, and management in all.

"Well you got me there; I have no experience as a manager. Although I was once the captain of an elite squa…" Keitaro did not finish his sentence because his Aunt Haruka had punched him in the back of his neck; you know where the brain stem is located. The girls may not have known what a gunslinger was, except Motoko, but Haruka did and she did not want the agency breathing down at her and her nephew's necks if they found out they were responsible for revealing the agency to the general public.

"Keitaro here has the perfect credentials to manage this place." Haruka stated as she stood behind her nephew.

"How so?" Naru queried.

"He's an avid student at Tokyo U." Haruka replied as if it was nothing.

Keitaro wanted to turn around and ask his aunt what in the hell was wrong with her. But he hid his own surprise at the excuse. Keitaro had never attended the highly acclaimed university, but he certainly was no idiot. The agency would not allow idiots to be working for them so from the beginning age of ten, agents were evaluated as to what their mental capacity was and from there they were taught with the correct methods that would increase their intelligence and comfortably but effectively educate them. Keiataro was a college graduate by seventeen.

All of a sudden Kitsune was in his face and apparently overjoyed that a young man from Tokyo U was living in the dormitory. Naru was yelling reasons as to why a man could not manage an all girls dormitory at a bored Haruka. Motok was busy having a hard time explaining to Su what a Tokyo U was; the girl seemed to think it was a type of food.

Eventually Su got bored and started hugging onto Kitsune, which gave Keitaro a moment to escape the demented amazons. He was glad at the moment for the stealth he had obtained from years as an assassin. As he sneaked around a corner he practically ran into his Aunt Haruka.

"What the, how did you? I didn't even see you…" Keitaro was baffled as to how Haruka had beaten him in sneaking out of the mess in the living room.

"Did you already forget that at one time I too was a gunslinger?" Haruka asked a little annoyed.

"No Aunt…" the young man was wacked in the head with a fan. "Right, right I mean no Haruka I just didn't know you had the skills of a demon ninja."

Keitaro was hit by the fan again. "What was that for?"

"Do not use the word demon to refer to me." Haruka scolded. "Come on Kei, let's do some catching up."

Keitaro followed his aunt outside and back down to the teahouse where the two relatives sat at a table in the empty place of business with tea in front of them.

"You ready to manage this mad house kid?" Haruka solemnly joked with a sip from her cup.

"I'm not sure. I've dealt with psychotic killers, master thieves, ruthless communists, and throngs of angry thugs but I don't think I'll survive this place." Keitaro replied jokingly.

"Well the promise of death hasn't stooped you before."

"This is true."

"So are you out for good Keitaro?" Haruka inquired of Keitaro's past.

"Yeah I am out permanently. I will not be wielding a gun again for a long time to come." The reformed gunslinger replied staring into his tea.

"Granny will be glad to hear it."

"Has she forgiven me yet?" Keitaro asked hopefully.

"I really can't say although she did seem rather cheerful this morning when she left."

"Where did she leave off to?"

"She has this crazy dream vacation of circling the globe and visiting every single hot spring known to man." Haruka answered with a slight but warm smile on her face.

Keitaro chuckled at that. "If anyone deserves a vacation it's Granny."

"What makes you say that?"

"If anyone made their living off of those girls, then they should be considered a saint." It was Haruka's turn to chuckle.

"Haruka, can I ask you something?"

"Soot kid."

"How come Granny holds no grudge against you for being a gunslinger?"

"Because I was the lucky one," Haruka replied with a chortle. "I was partnered up with the rookie on our squad and he gave away our position in a covert operation. When I pushed him out of the way of a bullet my wrist was hit by a very strange chance, I survived but my hand was never the same again. I was discharge as unable to survive in the field."

"Too bad I have this damn invincibility. Could've just died by gunshot and the world would be a better place." Keitaro remarked solemnly.

"Don't you dare say things like that Keitaro. You are more than what the agency made you, and you your self are more than just a gunslinger." Haruka declared angrily.

"Haruka, since the age of fifteen I've been killing people, evil people, but it was blood spilling none the less, I really don't deserve this second chance." Keitaro argued.

"Keitaro, you know you are not a killer. When you were a bounty hunter did you not make certain that you only incapacitated and not kill? Did you not leave the agency because you could no longer bring yourself to spill blood?" Haruka questioned angrily.

Keitaro did not answer because those things were true. To kill another person sickened him and when he had been a bounty hunter no matter what the criminal had done Keitaro made certain not to fatally injure him or her.

"You can be a real idiot sometimes kid." Haruka sighed.

"Forgive me Haruka, sometimes I focus too much on the negativity in my life." Keitaro apologized ashamed of his self.

"Forget it Kei, it's just that you are truly a good guy and if you want to change for good you have to stop living in the past." Haruka said as she calmed down.

"I understand, if I want to change I got to stop believing that I'm just a gunslinger, I have to remember that I am human not the hand of the agency." Keitaro stated in a sincere tone.

"I'm glad you do, try to remember it eh." Haruka remarked with a smile.

"I guess I might as well get to know my tenants now that I'm going to be a manager and all." Keitaro said finishing his tea.

"Couldn't hurt,"

"You know I think Granny set a trap for me here." Keitaro commented as he walked towards the door of the teahouse.

"What makes you say that?" Haruka inquired.

"She invites me for a chance to be normal but it's in a place that should be considered an asylum." Keitaro said with a grin.

Haruka laughed in response to his joke. It was good he was joking it was one small step to escaping his violent past.

My thanks go out to Nysk and Makokashi22. Enjoy the new chapter.