Disclaimer: There really should be a stamp or something for this, but once again, I do not own Love Hina...but if I did..._

Chapter III – Meeting the Girls

Slowly opening the doors, Keitaro walked into the lobby, adjusting his duffel bag and Yawarakai-te so they wouldn't catch on the door frame. Immediately, the young man was hit with a powerful feeling that reminded him of home, as if the building was an old friend welcoming him back after a long absence.

'…well that was weird…guess the stories I heard were kinda true…'

Taking his sandals off in the foyer, he spotted several other pairs of shoes lying on a set of shelves, and his eyebrows rose when he noticed something peculiar about them.

'They're all women's shoes…strange…'

Deciding he'd ponder the reason for that later, Keitaro walked further into the inn, until he came upon a set of stairs, along with a counter and a few cushioned love seats and sofas next to a large potted plant. Setting his bag down on one of the chairs, the young man looked around and spotted a map depicting the layout of the inn. From what he saw on the map, there were two wings, north and south. To the west of the main building was what appeared to be a separate annex, and further north was an outdoor onsen with a forest behind it, complete with a small river. A temple at the absolute rear of the land marked the boundary before the forested area of the hill that Hinata-sou rested on began.

Keitaro whistled as he finished examining the map of the complex, "Damn…this place is HUGE…but the floor plan doesn't list where Hina-obaasama's room would be…"

Sighing to himself, the young swordsman took a seat as he figured out his next move. Before he could get too comfortable, he heard the soft padding of footsteps coming his way. Turning to his left, Keitaro saw a young girl that looked to be around twelve or thirteen years of age, with short midnight blue hair and garbed in a yellow and green sweater with a short green ruffled skirt, carrying a large basket filled with freshly picked laundry. While he couldn't make out her face, as it was hidden by the tall stack of clothes, the young swordsman could tell she was having a bit of a difficult time.

"…almost there…just a little closer…almost the-KYAH!"

The young girl tipped forward and was about to fall, dropping the basket in the process, when the agile swordsman quickly ran to her front and held the basket in place, stopping the young girl short.

"A-ah…th-thank you," the girl said with a shy, meek voice. Finally able to see her face, Keitaro felt a pang in his heart when he noticed her large, innocent blue eyes, and the familiar face of another girl superimposed itself over the bluenette's.

'…Saya…'

The young homemaker, on the other hand, widened her eyes in shock as she fully noticed the stranger that helped her, 'W-wait a minute…a-a-a m-m-m-man?! I-In Hinata-sou?!' she then noticed the sword bags on his hip and across his back, 'Oh no…h-he's armed too?!'

Keitaro noticed her backing away slowly and raised his hand in a placating gesture, "Uh, I'm sorry for the intrusion, but could you tell me where to find the manager's room? Her name's Hina and-"

Before he could finish, the frightened middle schooler took several more steps back before turning around and dashing off, leaving a dumbfounded Keitaro in her wake.

"…What the hell? Hey, wait a second!" he yelled before running after her. Unfortunately she'd gained quite a head start, and the young man lost her after several turns down the halls. Cursing to himself, he took a glance at his surroundings and figured his location to be somewhere in the southern wing of the inn.

"She's a lot faster than I thought…do I look scary or something?" he said lowly to himself as he walked down the hall to continue his search for the timid middle schooler. Turning another corner, he noticed another young girl coming from the opposite end of the hall.

'…a foreigner?' was his first thought as he noticed the girl's light blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail, dark skin, and vibrant green eyes that held a child-like naiveté. She was dressed in a typical middle school sailor fuku, but didn't wear anything on her feet, leaving them bare against the hardwood floor. Seeing her stop in the middle of the hallway, Keitaro decided to try his luck, "Hey, excuse me. Could you tell me where to find the room that belongs to Hina Urashima?"

The girl gave him a puzzled look, before a large smile came across her face, "Sure! I can tell ya! But you gotta play with me first!"

"Huh?" the young swordsman blanched, question marks appearing over his head before he shrugged and answered the girl, "Uhh…sure? I'm not in a rush, so I guess we could…play. Sounds fair…"

"AWESOME! I've been wanting to test out these new attack drones I made!" said the foreign girl excitedly as she withdrew a strange looking controller that was tucked into the back of her school uniform skirt, "The others always run away when I ask them to play test dummy! Suu doesn't get why…"

"Wait…hold up. Did you just say 'attack drones'?" worry lines appearing on his forehead, the young man backed away a couple steps as his question was answered in the form of several flying disks floating from around the corner. They were about as big as a dinner plate, and had what looked to be some type of dual mini-guns mounted on top, "Aww, you gotta be KIDDING me!"

Keitaro turned and ran down the hall as the drones chased him, spitting rounds at his retreating form. Dodging several of them by a hair, the Mononobe heir ducked behind another corner and tore Ginōkami from the sword bag on his waist. Quickly drawing the blade, he ran down another hall and turned to face the first few drones that followed. Three of them began shooting him as soon as he was in sight, but using unprecedented speed and precision, Keitaro deflected the bullets as he ran towards the hovering drones.

"Can't believe I'm actually doing this inside an inn…oh well," Keitaro chambered his blade arm to the left before channeling ki into his father's sword, covering it in an ethereal orange light that shined like the morning sunrise and covered the blade, extending it to about double its original length, "Hinode (Daybreak)!"

With a single swipe across the width of the hallway, Keitaro managed to cut down the three drones effortlessly. Cutting the flow of ki, he knelt down and observed the destroyed drones with a careful eye.

"Ok…looks like they're down," he whispered to himself before looking up to see an army of the drones slowly advancing on him, led by an ecstatic looking Suu.

"Wooow! You use funny moves too?!" her grin threatened to split her face in two if it grew any wider, "Show Suu more!"

"Gods above, not again!" Keitaro jumped to his feet and ran back in the direction of the lobby, all the while ducking and dodging weapons fire from the drones, "Hina-obaasama's gonna be pissed at all this damage, ya know!"

"s'ok! Granny always said to Suu that as long as she cleans up after, she can play inside!" The energetic girl's answer almost caused the swordsman to trip, but luckily he regained his balance and ran into the lobby.

'And that proves it! Hina-obaasama's mental!' Keitaro shouted in his head before noticing that in his slight moment of distraction, the drones had blocked off the exit to the outside as well as the other hallways and stairs, "…dammit…"

Suu gave the trapped man an innocent grin, one he thought didn't belong on the face of a child about to kill him, "Yay! You're the best test dummy ever! Let's play some more!"

Keitaro sighed before activating Hinode once again, "…well, this is gonna be interesting," he shot a sharp glare towards the drones before lunging towards them in the blink of an eye, "try not to cry when I break all of your toys."

Meanwhile, out in the onsen behind the main complex, two young ladies were enjoying an early afternoon soak…or at least one of them was trying to. Her company was making it a bit difficult, though.

"Kitsune! Get off already!" Naru yelled as she tried to escape her best friend's grabby hands, which were currently squeezing and prodding the brunette's ample breasts.

"Awww, don't be like that, hun," the mischievous voice of her friend replied back, the grin on her face becoming more vulpine as she continued her 'examination', "I'm just keepin an eye on the competition, ya know?"

As Naru continued to struggle against being violated by the prankster, both of them were startled at the sound of an explosion coming from inside. Slowly turning their heads to the entrance, they sighed as they didn't see any smoke leaking through the door.

"…2000 yen says that was Suu and another of her hair-brained devices again," Kitsune sighed before letting go of Naru and exiting the springs, giving the girl an unimpeded show of her voluptuous form. The brunette looked away quickly, trying not to feel subconscious about her somewhat smaller bosom, "I-I know better than to bet against that one. Let's just go make sure she didn't break anything valuable this time."

Following the older girl out, they both put on yukatas and walked towards the lobby, somewhat fearful of what they'd find.

In a bedroom on the second floor, a tall young girl with long raven-colored hair, dressed in a white gi and crimson hakama, knelt in the middle of the floor, trying her best to meditate and clear her mind. Her soft, silent breathing was the only sound in the room, her eyes closed as she concentrated on maintaining her internal balance.

'…clear as water…still as a breeze…serene as th-'

Her meditative thoughts were interrupted by the loud bang of an explosion coming from the lobby downstairs. Jumping to her feet, the young woman scanned her surroundings, her body tensed as though expecting an attack. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, she walked over to her sword, Shisui, quickly picking it up from its resting place and sliding it into the band around her hakama.

"…It must be Suu up to her antics again. I'd better go investigate."

"…sooo…cooool…"

Suu slowly fell to her knees in awe as she took in the sight before her. Within 10 minutes, Keitaro had utterly destroyed every last one of her attack drones, and now stood above the slashed and burned remains of her inventions. Normally, this would probably make her upset, but it wasn't every day that she saw a stranger, a guy no less, take out more than fifty flying robots with guns.

Wiping a bit of sweat off his brow, the swordsman sheathed Ginōkami back in its scabbard and walked over to the awestruck girl.

"Whew… that was one hell of a workout. You really know your stuff with robots, huh?" he said as he knelt in front of the young foreigner. Her stunned expression gave way to a large grin as she replied, "Uh huh! Suu's a genius!"

Keitaro laughed a bit before gently ruffling Suu's head, unable to get angry at almost being killed by her inventions, "I guess that's one way to put it."

Suu looked up curiously at the stranger's hand in her hair, before closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation of him rubbing her head. It felt good…really good.

"So…now that I've played with you, do you think you could tell me where-"

"My, my, what have we here?"

Keitaro looked up at the interruption and promptly froze in place as he noticed two young women in bathing yukatas enter the lobby. The one on the left he recognized instantly as his study partner and friend, Naru. However, it was the woman next to her, with short, very light brown hair, perpetually closed eyes, and a highly desirable figure, that put the fear of Buddha into him.

"…no way…y-you gotta be kidding…"

Naru looked at the stranger dressed in a grey gi and navy blue hakama with suspicion, before a shocked look came over her face once she recognized his face, "…Keitaro-san? Is that you? W-what are you doing here?!"

Keitaro wasn't even paying attention to the brunette, his wide eyes focused on Kitsune as he quickly got to his feet and pointed at the older woman, "y-you! Oni-Kitsune!"

'Wait a damn minute, I know that voice!' Kitsune stared at the stranger before a large grin came to her face, "TARO-CHAN!"

Keitaro tried to escape, but Kitsune ran forward and tackled the boy back into the sofa, her well-sized chest crushing into his and bringing a prominent blush to the man's face as she rubbed her cheeks against his, "Awww, you came all the way from the other side of the city to see lil ol' me?! Well aren't you a sweetheart!"

"GET THE HELL OFF ME YOU VILE WOMAN!" Keitaro did his best to push the amorous woman off of him without touching anywhere indecent, which was a task much easier said than done. The best he was able to do was get to an upright seated position, with Kitsune hugging his waist, her cheeks still rubbing gently against his own, "Sheesh…I didn't come here for you, dammit! I didn't even know you and Naru lived here!"

"Aww, but Taro-chan~" Kitsune whined as she pulled back a bit and gave the young man her most dangerously innocent pout, "I haven't seen you at all since I graduated last year…I missed you~"

'Who the HELL did I piss off in a past life to deserve this?!' Keitaro thought as he rolled his eyes at the woman's antics. Sighing to himself, he looked over at the other occupant in the room, who was giving him a look of mild irritation coupled with a little amusement, "H-hey Naru-san. Fancy seeing you here…"

Naru narrowed her eyes at the swordsman, "Riiight…mind telling me what you're doing here, Keitaro-san?"

"Well, I was summoned here by my grandmother," Keitaro began as he finally extracted himself from Kitsune's grip, much to her disappointment, "she sent me a letter a couple days ago and told me to meet her here. Her name's Hina Urashima, sound familiar?"

The brunette's eyes widened a fraction, "Wait, you mean to tell me that Granny Hina is your grandmother?"

Keitaro gave the girl a deadpan look, "You've known my family name was Urashima for how many years now? Shouldn't that have given you a hint to some possible relation?"

"You can't really blame her all that much, can you Taro-chan?" Kitsune defended, giving the young man next to her one of her signature grins, "I mean back in school you never really talked about your folks much."

The young man sighed, "…why do you have to be right…"

"Cuz I'm always right, sugar!" With that, she resumed hugging her old friend, who merely surrendered and hung his head in defeat while Naru shook her head at the scene.

"Well, regardless of who your grandma is, it still isn't right for you to be here. Don't you know what this place is?"

Keitaro looked back up at the brunette after hearing her question, a confused look on his face, "…well I heard the place was an inn or something that Hina-obaasama's had in the family for generations…"

Naru huffed and frowned at her confounded male friend, "This place hasn't been an inn for a good while now. It's a girl's dorm, you knucklehead."

The man froze for a couple minutes as he processed the brunette's words, before he gave the most intelligent reply possible.

"What the hell?! A girl's dorm?!" his animated expression almost made Naru break out in a fit of laughter, having never seen such animation on the normally taciturn boy's face before, but she managed to keep her cool.

"That's right, Taro-chan! No one but us gals here!" Kitsune chimed in, squeezing the boy more to emphasize her words. The reddening blush on Keitaro's face only made her grin more, "Although I don't mind you comin to see us all the way from home…"

Keitaro sat back into the cushions of the sofa shaking his head, bringing Kitsune back with him, "Sheesh…figures Hina-obaasama would pull some bull like this…wonder what else she didn't tell me…"

"Is everything alright down here, Naru-sempai? I thought I heard a commotion…"

Keitaro sat back up and turned his head over to the stairs to find the source of the unknown, but strangely familiar voice that had just intruded into the room.

…and almost had a heart attack when he realized who it was.

'…no…no fucking way…Hina-obaasama would NOT be THIS FUCKING STUPID!'

The new girl was tall, only a couple of centimeters shorter than him, with long raven hair that fell to the small of her back, and stern grey eyes that held a hidden strength within them. She was garbed in a white gi that was slightly open at the top, revealing a portion of the bandages that wrapped around her chest, along with a red hakama and plain white socks. Slung on her left hip was what appeared to be a bokken, but was actually a katana without a guard, sheathed in a wooden scabbard.

Naru shook her head at the new girl, "It's ok, Motoko, just a bit of a misunderstanding…that we're still trying to understand," she said as she gestured over to Keitaro and Kitsune on the sofa. Motoko glanced over as well, before her eyes narrowed in thinly veiled disgust.

"What is a male doing here in Hinata House? Is he the reason for the disturbances?" she asked, her voice ripe with suspicion and loathing, "Did he try anything perverted?"

"What's perverted? Does it taste good?" Suu's question went ignored by the other occupants, who'd long since grown used to the foreigner's eccentrics.

Keitaro wasn't paying attention any longer, as his higher brain functions had shut down the minute he'd confirmed Motoko's identity. Panicked thoughts flittered about like an angry hive of bees in his head as he tried to rationalize what was happening.

'No…I know for a fact Hina-obaasama wouldn't do something this ridiculous…I mean…MOTOKO AOYAMA?! OF ALL PEOPLE I COULD RUN INTO, I RUN INTO HER?!...wait…did HARU know about this?!'

His brain rebooting and latching onto that question, Keitaro began trembling, alerting Kitsune to his growing outrage.

"H-hey sugar, you ok? You look like you seen a ghost-"

Her inquiry was interrupted when Keitaro began growling before throwing his head up at the ceiling and shouting.

"HAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Haruka was making her way up the stairs, thinking that she'd waited long enough for Keitaro to return, when she heard his booming voice from the dormitory.

"HAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"…guess he finally found out the truth," she smirked to herself before taking a long drag from her cigarette, "or maybe he ran into Motoko…or both."

Finishing her climb up the stairs, the tea house owner walked through the doors to see an irate-looking Keitaro staring at her, with the girls giving him a wide berth. Motoko had a hand on the hilt of her sword, just in case the strange man did anything funny.

"You called, nephew?" she drawled lazily, her smirk widening a fraction as he glared at her.

"Haru…I think we need to talk… right now…" The no-nonsense tone in the young man's voice alerted Haruka to his irritation, and with a sigh she nodded, "Right. One of you find Shinobu and bring her down here. As for you two," she turned to Naru and Kitsune, "you might wanna get dressed in actual clothes before you catch something."

A few minutes later, all the residents of Hinata-sou were sitting on the chairs in the lobby, with Haruka and Keitaro leaning against the stairs. Naru had come back first, dressed in her favorite yellow sweater and red skirt with brown stockings. Kitsune came back afterwards, sporting a tight, violet dress shirt that did little to hide the shape of her ample chest, and black dress pants. Motoko was the last to return with Shinobu, who looked warily at the swordsman standing next to the tea-house owner.

"Well, since everyone's back, I can start," Haruka began as she gestured over to Keitaro, "the one with a stick up his behind standing over here is my cousin/nephew and Hina's grandson, Keitaro Urashima."

The young man with his arms crossed lifted a hand in a lazy wave, "Yo."

The girls glanced at each other quickly, and Naru looked back at the young man and shrugged, "You already know who I am, and the same goes for Kitsune," she ignored how her best friend tried to strike a pose, "so we'll skip the intro."

"U-um, I-I'm Shinobu…Shinobu Maehara," the shy bluenette looked at the ground as she spoke, her timid voice barely heard by the standing swordsman, "I-I'm sorry I ran a-away before Urashima-san."

Keitaro waved her apology off, "Don't worry about it. I would've reacted the same to a strange man in an all-girls dorm if I was in your shoes. Pleased to meet ya." Shinobu looked up at him briefly with a small smile, before blushing and turning her gaze back to the floor.

"I'm Suu!" the rambunctious foreigner jumped in her seat and waved at the Mononobe heir, "Can we play again sometime?! That was fun!"

"Heh…maybe some other time, Suu," Keitaro hesitantly answered as he waved back, before slowly turning to the last member of the group, who was giving him a scathing glare.

"…Motoko Aoyama," was all the tall girl said, still trying to kill the young man with her eyes alone. Keitaro met her glare with a blank stare of his own, although it was only a cover to hide the pain in his chest at seeing his oldest friend after four years.

'…good thing I kept the dark brown hair…to think she's so grown now, she almost looks like her sister…'

With introductions finished, Keitaro pushed himself from the wall, "Ok…now that intros are out of the way, can I please go to Hina-obaasama's room and get this damn letter so I can see what the old bat wants from me?"

Motoko scoffed at his brash words, "Figures…no respect for your elders, typical of a vile male such as yourself." The insult threw Keitaro for a loop, "Whoa, what the hell is your problem?"

The kendo girl walked right up to his face until they were scant inches apart, a deep scowl disfiguring her beautiful face, "My problem, cretin, is having an unknown, most likely dangerous man present in an all-girls dorm, with two impressionable, vulnerable children around," her eyes narrowed further as they locked onto his, "especially when said male has such a foul ki as you do."

Keitaro's breath hitched momentarily, "The hell do you mean my ki feels foul?"

"I come from a family with the ability to sense and utilize ki energy," she began, not looking away from his eyes for a second, "I don't know who you are, or what you've done, but your ki has the revolting feel of someone that's treacherous to those around them. That's why I said it was foul, bastard."

The swordsman's eyes narrowed, his patience being tried to its limit, "…your opinion's noted. Now then, if you don't mind, could you move so I can go to Hina-obaasama's room and get this letter? I'll be outta your hair that much faster," he growled, unable to believe that the sweet, docile Mo-chan he knew was now this hateful young woman standing in front of him.

Motoko lingered for a moment before stepping out of Keitaro's path, allowing the man to head up the stairs to the second floor. Unbeknownst to the two warriors, the rest of the occupants heaved sighs of relief, most of them having been on edge during the brief altercation.

"…hold on, he still doesn't know where Granny Hina's room is, does he?" Naru asked, and after seeing Haruka shake her head, quickly got up from her seat and ran after the hapless swordsman, grumbling all the way about idiots running off half-cocked.

"Sorry…I guess in my rush to get her out of my face, I forgot I still had no damn clue where the manager's room was," Keitaro apologized as he and Naru walked towards the room Hina usually occupied. The brunette shook her head, "Don't worry about it…at least you didn't end up in one of the other girls' rooms…Motoko would skin you alive if that happened."

The young swordsman's eyes darkened a bit at the thought of his former friend, "Yea…riling her up wouldn't be a good idea. Why is she so hostile, by the way?" he asked as he looked over at the girl next to him, "…did you infect her with your 'all men are only perverted devils to be destroyed' mantra too?"

Naru punched his arm, eliciting a small laugh from the man, before answering, "For your information, buster, she was already like that when she first came here. From what she told us, she left home after her sister got married or something…said her parents thought she needed to grow as a person on her own, so they sent her here."

'So Tsuruko-sempai got hitched…meaning that Motoko's the heir to the Shinmei-ryuu," Keitaro thought as he and Naru approached the door to Hina's room, '…that doesn't explain her hatred for men though…guess that's a mystery to solve another day…'

"Here we are," Naru's voice brought Keitaro out of his thoughts as the girl slid the door open. Inside was rather bland, with just a futon, a desk with a flat-screen television, a dresser in the corner, a couple chairs and a large, empty closet for clothes and other belongings. The two walked over to the desk, where a sealed envelope rested under a paper weight shaped like a lotus flower.

"It's addressed to me, so I guess this is it," Keitaro picked up the letter and opened it. As he read, the look on his face became more and more annoyed, until finally he threw it back onto the desk, his patience finally running out.

"What the HELL is that old windbag thinking?! Seriously!"

Curious as to what got the man so frazzled, Naru picked up the letter and slowly read its contents, "Hmm…let's see..."

'Dear Keitaro-kun,

My sincerest apologies for not being able to meet you at this time, but in preparation for my global hot springs tour, I had to head north to oversee a few things that needed my attention. I should be back at the end of the week. In the meantime, I was wondering if you'd mind looking after Hinata-sou as my interim manager while I'm gone. Normally I'd ask Haruka to do it, but she's become so busy with her tea shop, I figured it would be a terrible bother. I know you start school again in a couple of days, but there's a trolley here you can take that'll get you to school faster than you would from your home. Please try to get along with the girls, I know you're a loner at heart, but do give them a chance. They just might grow on you. I'll contact you at the end of the week and we'll meet up to talk. Take care 'til then!

Your loving grandmother,

Hina Urashima

After finishing the letter, Naru looked over at her friend, who was still fuming to himself about his new predicament, "Well I guess I can see why you're a little mad…and this is kinda weird, even for Granny Hina."

"You don't know her like I do, Naru-san, so trust me when I say this is EXACTLY something she'd do," Keitaro spat as he glared at the letter, wishing it would self-combust, "She ALWAYS has to meddle in my damn life…"

"But it's only until the end of the week, right?" the brunette set the letter back on the desk and turned to face her upset study partner, "I mean, things'll be a little off for a bit…and personally I'm not a fan of the idea either, but we just have to endure it for a few days. That shouldn't be too hard."

Keitaro's gaze hardened at Naru's somewhat lighthearted outlook on the matter, "Yea…tell that to the others…or rather, tell that to kendo girl downstairs. That'll go over real nice."

"…Yea that IS gonna suck," Naru cringed at the thought of telling the resident swordswoman about the idea, "but you never know, maybe she'll warm up to it?"

She didn't…at all.

"ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!" Motoko seethed as she slammed her fist on the table. After bracing themselves for the inevitable, Keitaro and Naru returned downstairs to find everyone seated at the dining room table. Motoko threw a nasty glare at Keitaro the minute he entered her line of sight, and instantly the young man knew she'd have a conniption fit over Hina's message. To his misfortune, he was right.

"No need to fly off the handle, Motoko-chan," Kitsune waved her hand dismissively, trying to bring calm back to the table, "Granny said it was only until the end of the week. Nothing to get so upset over…"

"It's still improper! A man has no place living in a girls' dormitory! Even if it's temporarily!" the kendo girl argued, her face already mostly red with anger. Shinobu and Suu glanced back and forth between their elders as they debated the issue, one with an anxious expression, and the other in child-like confusion.

"But why can't Keitaro stay here?" Suu asked Motoko, unable to comprehend the problem with having the man that had played with her and shown her his killer moves staying with them, "He's awesome! He can do strange moves like you, Motoko!"

Keitaro facepalmed at Suu's outburst, while everyone at the table minus Haruka turned to him with intrigued stares, "Good grief, it was just ONE technique…no big deal…"

"Maybe to you and me, kiddo, but these girls just met you," Haruka said as she lit another cigarette, "matter of fact, apart from Motoko, they've never seen anyone else use ki techniques."

"Wait, so you can really use those funny moves like Motoko?" Naru asked, slight shock etched onto her lovely face, 'I swear, it's like the surprises never end with him…'

"Well…not exactly," Keitaro scratched behind his head bashfully, "we're from different schools, so the stuff we learn isn't really the same-"

"Who cares about his inferior skill set?!" Motoko interrupted, both to Keitaro's relief and chagrin, "You're all forgetting the point! He shouldn't be allowed to stay here!" she pointed over to Shinobu and Suu, "Don't you recall that he scared poor Shinobu half to death? Or that he destroyed all of Suu's devices so violently? He's dangerous!"

"U-um…actually," Shinobu interjected, "He s-saved me from falling and h-hurting myself, and even s-stopped the basket of clothes I had from g-getting messed up on the floor," she meekly turned to Keitaro, a small blush forming on her cheeks, "I-if he m-meant to h-harm us, he wouldn't have helped me like he did…"

"Oh, how cuuute~, he was Shinobu's knight in shining armor," Kitsune teased, prompting the timid bluenette to quickly look at the table, her face even more red, "but if what she says is true, then he's harmless! Besides, of all the guys I knew at school, he always had the most restraint, even when I pranked him!"

"…please don't remind me…I still get nightmares about those dark days," Keitaro placed a hand to his forehead, trying his best to shake those awful memories of Kitsune's flirting out of his mind. The coy freelancer laughed and gestured towards him, "See? If he really was a perv like you say, Motoko-chan, then he'd have done something long ago."

The kendo girl refused to budge on the matter, however, "Well just because he didn't fall prey to your feminine wiles back then, Kitsune-sempai, doesn't mean he won't do something in the future! Besides, he's armed! Doesn't that ring any alarm bells?"

"…forgive me for playing devil's advocate, but aren't you armed too, Motoko-chan?" The tall girl blushed heavily at Naru calling her out, unable to make a proper response, "You've carried your sword everywhere for as long as you've been here. We had to put faith in you, and you proved to be harmless. I've been friends Keitaro-san for a while, and even though I don't know him well, I know enough to say he'd never harm anyone that didn't provoke him."

The small smile the brunette sent his way warmed Keitaro's heart. He'd never had anyone outside of his family show such faith in his character before, and if he hadn't considered his study partner to be a valued friend before, he sure as hell did now.

Seeing that Motoko was about to continue the argument however, Keitaro raised a hand to stall her, "Ok…I can tell you're obviously not happy with this situation…and honestly, I'm not a fan of it either," the man didn't notice the slightly hurt looks that came to Suu, Kitsune, and even little Shinobu's faces, "but Hina-obaasama said it was just until the end of the week. If anything, I'll either be at school, cram school, or training most of the time, so you'll barely see me. After the week's up, Hina-obaasama'll be back, I'll go home, and you'll never have to see me again."

'…and my secret won't be facing a loaded gun anymore' he added as an afterthought. Motoko still looked at him sternly, but after a few moments, she rose from her seat and roughly brushed past the swordsman, "Hmph…very well. But mark my words, Urashima-teme, if you commit so much as one act of perversion on anyone in this house…I'll throw you to the curb myself."

"Noted," the swordsman growled at the kendo girl's retreating back. Seeing the mood at the table taking a downward turn after Motoko's departure, Haruka spoke up, "So kiddo, you're taking the college exams soon, right? Saigo-nii told me you're aiming for Todai?"

"Yea, I figured I'd give it a shot…see if I-"

"TODAI!?"

Keitaro nearly jumped out of his seat at the surprised outburst from Suu, Shinobu, and Kitsune, with only Naru not shouting like the others, but still appearing pleasantly surprised.

"So you decided to go for Todai for real? What program are you looking into?" asked the excited brunette.

"Well, I figure archaeology would be a good field to try…I've had a bit of a fascination for ancient civilizations around the world," Keitaro tilted his head forward, his hair shadowing his eyes, "…my dad, when he went to college he studied in that field…said he had a blast and he thought I should try it."

Only Haruka noticed the faint tinge of sadness in the man's voice, as the other girls simply continued to bombard him with questions. The familiar pain in her heart pulsed at the memory of the man that was like an uncle to her.

'Kazuya…he's gonna be just like you, I can tell already…it's terrible you can't be here to see this…'

"Anyway…hate to bail already, but after everything that happened today, I'm bushed," Keitaro let out a yawn to show his fatigue, "think I can take my stuff up to Hina-obaasama's room now and catch a few winks before dinner?"

"Sure, go ahead kiddo," Haruka dismissed as she headed for the exit to the dorms, "I have to get back to the tea shop anyway. Call me if ya need anything, Kei."

"Will do," the swordsman waved goodbye as the tea shop owner left, before turning to the stairs, only to see the remaining girls standing in front of him, "Everything ok girls?"

"Yea, but since you're gonna be living here for a few days, we figured we'd give you a proper greetin!" Kitsune said before she and the rest of the girls gave the now slightly flustered young man a bow.

"Welcome to Hinata-sou!"

After reaching his temporary room and setting his duffel bag on the small carpet, Keitaro quickly set about trying to find the best possible hiding place for Yawarakai-te. Now that he knew Motoko was a resident at Hinata-sou (something he swore painful revenge on Hina for not telling him sooner), keeping the heirloom blade out in the open was a TERRIBLE idea.

'No way in hell am I letting her see that thing…now where can I hide you…' he thought as he checked for loose floorboards, hidden panels in the walls, anything that could hint at a potential hiding spot for the beautiful katana. Eventually, he found a false set of floor boards near the rear of the room, located under the window. Lifting them up, the swordsman grinned at the secret compartment that would be large enough to hide Yawarakai-te until his departure at the end of the week.

'Jackpot! Alright…now I just gotta figure a good time to polish it…' a wry grin came to his face as he remembered the other times he'd tried to polish the blade. The ethereal glow sometimes made it difficult to tell whether his efforts were productive or not.

Gripping the blade in his hands, Keitaro gently pulled it from its scabbard, the room instantly becoming awash with divine white light. Reluctantly, he sheathed the blade again before placing it in the compartment and shutting the lid.

"Alright…one problem down, now to find a spot where I can trai-"

"Hey, Taro-chan!"

Keitaro jumped in surprise, a hand quickly going to the hilt of Ginōkami before stopping himself when he recognized Kitsune kneeling next him, an amused smirk on her face, "Dammit Oni-Kitsune, don't DO that!"

"Now why would you call your nee-chan such a terrible, mean name Taro-chan?" her fake pout and crocodile tears did nothing to phase the young man, who shot her a deadpan look in return, "…because you're a pranking demon who doesn't know the meaning of the word restraint."

"Aww, I didn't get ya that bad back in school, did I?" the voluptuous trouble maker asked innocently, "Besides, it's not mah fault ya had such adorable reactions, I didn't even have to try that hard!"

Keitaro facepalmed yet again (something that was a normal occurrence whenever Kitsune was around him) as the playful woman brought up memories he'd rather forget, "Sheesh…why do you have to be so…so…"

"So…what?" Kitsune asked, leaning in dangerously close to Keitaro's face, making the man blush something fierce, "What do you think of me, Taro-chan~?"

Her seductive voice mixed with the lovely feminine scent she wore nearly drove the poor man insane, the interim landlord barely managing to keep his composure as the woman seemed to inch closer-

"Kitsune…could you please not turn my study partner into a pile of mush with your jokes? I still need him for later."

The two tilted their heads to the ceiling, where they saw Naru's upside down head poking into the room from a rather large hole. Keitaro raised a curious eyebrow at the brunette, "Uhh…has that hole always been there?"

"Mhmm! Me and Granny use it to talk sometimes when she's around," Naru answered before turning to her best friend, "I thought you said you were going back to your room to write some article."

Kitsune got to her feet and dusted her knees off before replying, "I was…then I noticed Taro-chan's door was open so I decided to pop in and say hi!" she engulfed the now standing man in a hug, purposely crushing her sizeable assets to his back, "I haven't seen him in forever, so I thought we'd…catch up a bit."

Keitaro fought hard against the urge to channel his ki and throw the woman off him, instead electing to just let the moment pass. 'If I did, she'd just hop back on anyway…how the hell am I gonna survive a week living with this demon?'

Deciding that she'd seen her friend in enough distress for one day, Naru shot a blank look at the amorous older woman, "…well you can catch up with him later in the week. I figured now would be a good time to get some studying in before dinner."

"Alright, alright, I know when I'm beat," the vulpine-like woman reluctantly released Keitaro from her hold and sauntered out of the room, making a point to sway her shapely hips as she got one last parting shot, "Don't do anything with him that I wouldn't do, Naru-chan!"

The sound of embarrassed stuttering and vehement denials from the two students followed the grinning vixen next door to her room.

"I swear…I lose at least a year of my life when I'm near that woman," Keitaro complained as he sat at the small desk in his room, "Thanks for saving me back there, Naru-san."

The lovely brunette waved her hand dismissively, "It's no big. I forgot how much she liked to mess with you, but then again, you DO make it really easy for her," she smirked at the swordsman from her seat on the rolled-up futon, "I never woulda thought you'd be so afraid of girls."

"I'm not afraid of girls, dammit!" Keitaro yelled comically, sending Naru into a fit of giggles, "it's just her that puts me on edge! Normally I can read people just fine, but with her I have no frickin idea! It's annoying!"

His study partner/friend did her best to settle down, wiping a tear of mirth from her eyes, "Ok, ok, whatever you say, Keitaro-san. So how about we get to studying? Cram school starts the day after tomorrow, but it won't hurt to get ready for it early."

The swordsman nodded, glad to be off the topic of the troublesome Kitsune, "I hear ya. Wanna head to the library?"

Naru giggled again, confusing the young heir, "Silly, we can just study here. I have a kotatsu in my room so we can stay warm, and Shinobu'll call us down when it's time for dinner."

Keitaro's brow creased as he remembered the timid bluenette that stuck up for him against Motoko, "Hmm…I think I'll skip dinner, since I had a big breakfast. While you and the girls eat, I'll go find a spot to train."

"You sure? Shinobu's cooking is top notch," Naru questioned, feeling puzzled at her friend's plans to train instead of eat dinner with her and the others. When he nodded, she simply shrugged the matter off and proceeded to jump into the hole in the ceiling, pulling herself into her room. When she cleared the hole, she turned back to look down at her study partner, "Just gimme a minute to freshen up my room a bit, then you can come on up."

"…I doubt it's that messy," Keitaro quipped, before dodging a stuffed animal that Naru threw at him from above, "Oi!"

"I'm a girl, dammit! I can't just let a guy into my room when it's not clean!" she yelled before sealing the hole with a wooden tile. Keitaro sighed as he sat in the middle of his room and began to meditate in preparation for the study session.

'…why are girls so impossible…?'

After studying for a few hours with Naru, Keitaro bid her goodbye as she headed for dinner. Despite her best attempts, including her infamous 'pout of death', the lovely brunette was unable to convince him to join her and her dormmates.

Heading up the stairs, the young swordsman found himself on an empty deck with a line strung up for drying laundry. Looking around, he took a deep breath of the early evening air, "This place seems more alive than the park at home…perfect to get some training done."

Unsheathing Ginōkami, the swordsman took a few practice swings before setting himself into an attack stance. For the next several minutes, he went through his katas, the blade whistling in the air from the speed of his swings. Keitaro shut out everything on the outside, focusing purely on being at one with his father's sword.

'It almost feels like he's here with me somehow,' he reflected as he began practicing a different set of attack techniques. He was brought out of his reverie by a timid, awed voice.

"So…pretty…"

Pausing, Keitaro turned to the stairs, where a blushing Shinobu stood watching him with a book in her hands. "Oh, hey Shinobu-chan. What's up?"

"Oh! Um," the girl fidgeted in place as she stared at the ground, too embarrassed to look the man in the eye, "Well…you didn't c-come down for dinner so…I-I was w-wondering if you were alright."

The swordsman chuckled, "Yea, I'm ok. Sorry for worrying you," he glanced at the book in her hands, "Hey, what do you have there?"

Shinobu brought the book up to her chest, "Oh, it's just some homework I was going to start. I'm really not that good at math, and I-I figured I'd ask Naru-sempai if she could help."

"Oh, is that so?" Keitaro sheathed his blade and walked over to the bluenette, "Mind if I take a look? Maybe I can help a bit."

"Auuu…you don't have to," Shinobu waved her arms excitedly, swirls appearing in her eyes, "You were practicing and I don't want to be a b-bother!"

Keitaro chuckled and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "Hey, take it easy! I don't mind at all. Consider it my apology for not coming to dinner. I heard from Naru-san that your cooking's awesome, I'll have to try it sometime!"

Shinobu was about to object, but the small grin on the swordsman's face completely disarmed her. Taking a seat on the wooden floor, Keitaro went through the girl's notes and homework, doing his best to explain to her the different concepts and formulas. By the end of the impromptu tutoring session, the sun had almost fully set in the sky, creating a lovely orange hue up above.

"And then you multiply these two to get to here, and you're done," Keitaro finished. Shinobu re-read the process and beamed at him, "I think I get it now. Thank you, you're really smart, Urashima-san!" she blushed a bit and turned her gaze to the ground next to her, "Um…can I call you sempai?"

'How can I say no to that face?' the swordsman thought amusedly as he smiled back at the girl, "Sure, I'm fine with that Shinobu-chan."

The timid girl blushed again before reaching for something behind her, "Oh, I almost forgot, I made these earlier today. Please try some."

Keitaro looked down and saw a small plate of assorted cookies, "Don't mind if I do, thank you." After popping one into his mouth, the swordsman's face lit up, "These are amazing!"

"R-Really? I just l-learned how to make them today," Shinobu giggled, feeling much more at ease with the man next to her, "I'm glad you like them!"

Seeing her smile brought another painful lance through Keitaro's chest as he once again saw the frightening similarities between the bluenette and his deceased sister, 'The more I spend time with this one, the more she reminds me of her…you two would've gotten along perfect together…'

Rising from her spot on the floor, Shinobu walked past the laundry deck and onto the roof, "It's funny I found you here, actually…right next to my favorite place," she began as she ventured further onto the slope of the roof. Keitaro got up and joined her, making sure he could catch her if she fell, "Interesting…you can see the whole city from this place. It's a beautiful view."

"C-Can I ask you a strange question, Sempai?" Shinobu asked from her spot next to him. Seeing him nod, she walked back to the deck and placed her hands at the railing, "How does it feel to shoot for a goal like Todai?"

Keitaro scratched the back of his head as he also returned to the deck, "Well…it's a bit hard to describe really…"

The bluenette smiled sadly, "I-It must be amazing…to aim for such a high place, knowing you'll make it for sure. But m-me on the other hand," her gaze drooped as she hung over the railing a bit, "I'm so stupid…I could study for an eternity, and still never get in."

The swordsman felt his heart ache at the sorrowful tone in the bluenette's voice, before pushing it away and gently grabbing her shoulder, "That's a damn lie. You have just as good a chance as anyone else."

"You don't understand, Sempai. You're really smart so," Shinobu began, but Keitaro interrupted her.

"It's not just about being smart, it's about having the will to see things through, and a strong enough desire to reach for your goals," he said in a warm, firm voice that resonated within the small girl before him, "If you have the right mindset, then almost anything is possible. So cheer up, and go for it Shinobu-chan."

Shinobu looked up at him in awe, a deep blush on her cheeks, before nodding and giving him a wide smile, "I will! Thank you!"

"No problem," Keitaro grinned and let go of her shoulder, the young girl's smile waning a bit as she felt the warmth of his hand leave her. Shaking her head, she turned to the stairs to leave, "To be honest, my grades in school haven't been so good for a while, so I was feeling really nervous about it. But you've given me hope! Will you help me study again?"

The swordsman didn't hesitate, "I'll do what I can. It may be a bit tough after I go home again, but we'll work something out for sure."

The shy young girl smiled again and waved before heading down the stairs, completely oblivious as she passed Naru, who'd been trying to find her friend and arrived in time to hear his pep-talk. Looking up the stairs, the bespectacled brunette could barely make out the swordsman resuming his training. Slowly, a smile drew itself on her face.

'Well aren't you a little softie Keitaro-san…'

The next morning, Kitsune stretched as she, Motoko, and Suu walked past the now occupied manager's room. Noticing the door was open, the flirtatious woman peeked in, only to see Keitaro meditating in the middle of his room, his back turned to them.

"Well look at that," the flirtatious woman preened, "Up and meditatin at first light! He really is just like you, isn't he Motoko-chan?"

The kendo girl frowned and took a quick peek into the room as well, "I have nothing in common with that perverted bastard, Kitsune-sempai. Do well to remember that."

"Sheesh, lighten up, will ya?" Kitsune sighed. Suu looked between the two before glancing behind her at the sound of footsteps. Seeing Shinobu and Naru walking towards them, she grinned and waved, "Mornin you two!"

"Good morning!" Shinobu returned the greeting enthusiastically. Noticing the others peeking into the manager's room, the young homemaker walked up to the door and sighed at the sight of her Sempai, "Wow…Sempai's so cool."

"I never knew he was into meditating," Naru mused as she glanced into the room, "he does a lot of the same things you do, Motoko."

"As I just finished telling Kitsune-sempai, me and that monkey are nothing alike," Motoko growled and walked off stiffly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have training to get to."

Suu watched the taller girl walk off, "Suu doesn't get it. Why does Motoko hate Keitaro so much? He's really nice!" she asked the older girls. Kitsune rubbed a hand in the foreigner's hair, "She's just takin a while to warm up to 'im. Give it a couple more days, and she'll start to like him just as much as you do."

Heedless of the others' conversation, Shinobu watched as her Sempai meditated a bit longer before perking up, "Right! I have to do my best too!"

Silence prevailed as Shinobu became the subject of three different stares. Noticing the attention on her, the young girl blushed, "Oh…sorry!"

"Workin hard too, huh? Feelin inspired by your new crush, Shinobu-chan?" Kitsune teased, causing the homemaker to redden and wave her arms about her wildly in an attempt to deny the accusation. Naru sighed as she watched them carry on, "Kitsune, please don't tease her this early in the morning."

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Naru," Kitsune whined before saddling up to her friend's side, "But ya know…despite him bein all lone wolf yesterday, this place seems like it perked up a bit when he got here, ya know?"

Glancing back into the room and briefly recalling the uplifting talk the swordsman had given to Shinobu, the bespectacled Todai aspirant smiled, "Yea…I guess you could say that. Anyway, let's go get breakfast."

As the girls headed downstairs, Keitaro finally came out of his meditation-induced trance. Glancing around questioningly, the young man scratched the back of his head.

"Why do I feel like I missed something?"

That night, Keitaro found himself going over his homework assignments for the next day, the small table he was sitting at strewn with several papers. Going over the problems he'd solved one last time, he let out a sigh of relief.

"That takes care of that. Better pack these away before I forget them in the morning," he said to himself as he began packing away his assignments, leaving the table bare save for his tenchuu journal. Staring at it for a moment, the Mononobe heir picked it up and flipped through the pages until he found the charts and lists of the Tachibana Pillars.

'It's only been a few weeks…I'll have to wait at least a couple more months before I can go after the next one.'

The sound of a plate being set on the table jostled the young swordsman out of his calculative thoughts. Glancing up from his seat on the floor, Keitaro finally noticed Naru as she finished setting down a plate of oddly-shaped rice balls, an additional plate with a small tea kettle and two tea mugs held in her other hand.

"Still hard at work, huh?" the brunette asked as she took a seat next to the young swordsman. Keitaro chuckled, "Actually, I just finished up the assignments for tomorrow a couple minutes ago," he pointed at the rice balls on the table, "I see you still can't shape rice balls properly to save your life."

"Jerk!" Naru playfully punched the man in the arm, eliciting another round of chuckling from him, "I made them for you, but if you're gonna make fun of me, then I'll just take em back."

"I was kiddin, take it easy," Keitaro placated, raising his arms in mock surrender, "Thanks though. You didn't have to do this for me."

Naru smiled at her friend and shook her head, "Yes, I did. I heard what you told Shinobu on the deck yesterday. She's been really upset about her grades lately, and what you told her seemed to get her back to normal."

Keitaro turned his head to better face the girl next to him, "I don't think I did anything special. She's a bright kid that just needs to have a little more faith in herself," he reached for one of the misshapen rice balls and took a bite, "wow…delicious! You're a pretty good cook yourself."

The brunette blushed at the man's praise, "T-thanks…but seriously, she's really starting to get back to her regular self because of you, so," she poked Keitaro's forehead, grinning, "give yourself some more credit, mister!"

"Well when you put up an argument like that," Keitaro laughed, before focusing his gaze a bit more on Naru. She was sitting in front of the balcony, with the starry night sky and slight view of the city below acting as the perfect backdrop. He felt the faint stirrings of something as he took in how the brunette's hair seemed to shine in the moonlight, courtesy of the dimmed lights in his room.

"Huh…can't believe I never noticed before," Naru's voice brought the contemplative man out of his muse, only to start fighting off a blush as he noticed the lovely girl's face was a lot closer to his than he remembered, "Huh? Noticed what?"

"When I look at you up close like this, you're actually pretty cute," her words destroyed Keitaro's final defenses, the man's cheeks coloring instantly, "Heh...I really don't know how to respond to that…thank you?"

Naru giggled before she noticed the journal on the table, "Hey, what's this?"

Keitaro quickly grabbed up the book before she could see its contents, "It's nothing…just a regular old journal!"

"You keep a journal? Lemme see," Naru reached for the book, but Keitaro lifted it into the air above his head. Growing determined, the bespectacled girl tackled Keitaro's chest, laying them both flat against the floor.

"C'mon, hand it over!"

"Not a chance! It's just a dingy old book, no big deal!"

"If it's not such a big deal, then lemme see it!"

This was the scene Kitsune, Motoko, Shinobu, and Suu walked in on only minutes later, the mischievous prankster of the group giggling at the sight, "Why Naru, I didn't know you 'n Taro-chan were so close! I'm jealous!"

Stopping at the sound of her voice, the two grew painfully aware of their current state: Keitaro was lying on the ground on his back between Naru's legs, the girl half straddling, half lying on top of him. Both could feel their chests squished against each other's, and their faces were close enough that they could feel the other's quick breaths.

Before anyone else could comment, the two sprang away from each other as if repelled by a magnet, and stood up from their spot on the ground, "D-d-don't you knock anymore, Oni-Kitsune?!" Keitaro stammered out as he tried to wipe the blush from his face unsuccessfully.

"….What did I tell you about acts of perversion in the Hinata-sou, Urashima-teme…" Motoko growled as she began to unsheathe her Shisui. Shinobu looked at her two sempais teary-eyed while Suu was giving them a playful smile, "That game Keitaro and Naru were playing looked like fun! Can Suu play too?"

"Nothing happened Kitsune!" Naru defended staunchly, her friend staring at her disbelievingly, "Honest! We were just talking!"

"Looked like y'all were doin a lot more than talkin," Kitsune pouted, "Ya shoulda called me over! I wanna 'talk' to Taro-chan too, and you had 'im all to yourself for almost a year!"

As the commotion within the room continued, no one noticed the buxom figure of Haruka standing just outside the door, a smirk on her face as she watched Keitaro's interactions with the residents.

'Well how 'bout that…looks like Kei-chan's fitting in just fine. Hina's gonna love this…'

"Are they always like that?" Keitaro asked his friend as the two walked to the tram across from Haruka's tea house. After the craziness of the previous night, in which the swordsman had to evade a furious Motoko's attacks, Keitaro was beginning to second-guess his choice to stay at the Hinata-sou until Hina returned. Next to him, Naru sighed in exasperation.

"Not all the time…it's mostly Kitsune that gets everyone riled for one reason or another. You just became a convenient target."

The Mononobe heir hung his head dejectedly as they approached the tracks. Spotting something gleaming in the early morning sunlight to his side, Keitaro turned and saw a mini print shop across the street. Immediately, he was bombarded by a long-forgotten memory.

"Hey, Kyo-nii,' a 5-year old Saya pulled on Kyoshiro's hand curiously, 'What's that over there?"

"I think that's a photo booth or somethin," a 9-year old Kyoshiro answered as the two came to a stop next to the booth. "It takes pictures and you can pick really funny or really cool frames. You wanna try?"

"Can we?" Saya asked excitedly. At her brother's nod, she cheered, "Yay! C'mon, Kyo-nii!"

"Ok, ok, let's go!"

"Keitaro?"

"Huh?" Keitaro looked over at Naru, who was staring at him worriedly, "What's up?"

"I was gonna ask you that," the brunette answered, "You looked across the street and then froze for five minutes…"

Mentally, the young man cursed as he regained his composure, "I did? Sorry about that. The booth over there caught my attention for a second."

Naru followed her friend's eyes over to the mini photo booth, "Don't tell me you're into those things," she teased.

"I used to be when I was a kid," Keitaro began, fighting to keep the pain out of his voice as he remembered his old collection of print booth photos he'd taken with his family. The book was one of many precious belongings he'd lost in the fire that night, "but I stopped a while ago. It's kid stuff, really."

Before they could continue on their way, a voice called out to them, "There you two are." Turning to look behind them, the two noticed Haruka walking out of the tea shop, a small packet of papers in her hand.

"Haru? You were looking for us?" Keitaro asked as the tea shop owner stopped within a few steps of the two high school students, "What's up?"

"Huh…didn't know you and Naru were so close," Haruka noted, giving the two an appraising stare. Naru blushed slightly and stammered out a vehement denial, while Keitaro simply countered with a deadpan stare of his own, "Haru…stay focused. Why were you looking for us?"

"Well…not both of you, just you. And something's happened. Something big," the way she spoke sent a tingle down the swordsman's spine. As if something horrible was about to happen and he'd have no way to stop it.

"Something big? Does it have anything to do with Hina-obaasama?" he asked. The serious tone of the conversation brought Naru out of her embarrassed sputtering, the girl now looking on questioningly between the two Urashimas.

Haruka sighed, bracing herself for the inevitable storm, "It'll probably be easier if you just read this letter," she said as she handed over the bundle of papers to Keitaro. The swordsman's eyes locked onto hers for a moment before they shifted down and began reading Hina's latest letter. As he read further into the letter, his skin began to pale, until he was nearly white as a ghost.

"…no…you can't be…SHE can't be…w-what the HELL IS THIS!?"

Curious, Naru peeked over her friend's shoulder and began reading the letter, "Lemme see, dear grandson, yada yada yada," she soon reached the portion of the letter that had caused such a severe reaction in her friend, her face also losing much of its color, "No…fucking…way…"

Haruka simply took another drag on her cigarette as she watched the two, "Yes fucking way. Normally I'd ask you what you plan to do about it, but it's not like you have much of a choice."

"…all my hate Haru…"

Keitaro stood across from the rest of the girls of the Hinata-sou, half of him wanting nothing more than to bolt back home to the other side of the city and never come back, the other half wanting to find Hina and gut her like a fish.

"So you're probably wondering why I asked all of you down here when me and Naru should be in class by now," he began, looking each girl in the eye. So far, he had their attention, "Well, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spill it."

"You and Naru have a love-child or something, Taro-chan?" Kitsune teased, earning a round of sputtering from her best friend and the other girls.

"No, you oni-kitsune," Keitaro continued, fighting the blush on his face, "Haru recently got a letter from Hina-obaasama. She decided to leave on her trip immediately due to…reasons, and as such, has decided to relinquish ownership of Hinata-sou and all of its surrounding lands to her recognized heir and grandson…"

The girls looked at him confusedly, unable to grasp what he was trying to say. It was Shinobu that ended up asking him, "So…what does that mean, Sempai?"

"It means," Keitaro paused for a second, as he felt that somehow, someway, his next words would throw his life, his plans, and his Tenchuu into a direction he'd never planned to go, one that would change everything.

"…It means Hina just made me the official landlord and owner of the girls' dormitory, Hinata-sou."

Author's Note: Hey guys, how's it goin? So, first off, my apologies for the extremely long absence. I thought that I would be able to juggle my novel for NaNoWriMo and this, but 50000 words in a month is a lot harder to do than I thought, and even harder when you try to juggle two stories. Funny thing was, I could've used this fan fiction since that was an allowed story type (you can all laugh now). Anyway, I finished the challenge (got to 50089 words before the deadline), so now I should have time to start writing more chapters here again. I won't be as quick with them since I still have to finish the other novel and the holiday season is coming up, but I shouldn't take a month like before.

So here you have Keitaro meeting the girls. I'm not sure if I got all of their personalities right and whatnot, but I'm pretty happy with how things came out. Not a lot of action in this one, and there probably won't be save for one scene next chapter. It's gonna cover a lot, so it'll be a long one, but I can't wait to start writing it. So until next time, stay frosty!

...actually, screw that, stay warm. The cold SUCKS, and we're starting to feel it where I am now...not cool (pun NOT intended).

- ciph signin out