Love Hina: Once Again

Chapter 23

Keitaro Urashima smiled as he and his wife Naru Narusegawa got off the plane at Tokyo airport, walking together down the ramp. "It's nice to take a vacation," Keitaro sighed, the brown haired young man pushing up his square framed glasses.

"Too bad we're only getting a few days," Naru chuckled softly, her long brown hair flowing down her back. Almost unconsciously the teacher reached out to take her husband's hand, squeezing it softly in her own.

"Well, the kids at the island would miss you," Keitaro pointed out reasonably, "and Seto needs me at the site, too."

Both Keitaro and Naru were employed on the same remote tropical island, one which contained several major archeological sites of a rumored 'turtle' civilization. Naru was a teacher at a small school there, handling students from pre-school to high school, and Keitaro was a high ranking assistant archeologist and digger alongside the students.

"Hey, Keitaro!" a familiar voice called, "Naru!"

Mitsune 'Kitsune' Konno was standing in the busy airport, waving a arm as the boyish sandy haired woman beamed. Beside her was a stranger, a tall woman with long white hair, a gentle smile on her handsome face.

"Kitsune," Naru hugged her, the two old friends beaming at each other.

"Hello," Keitaro bowed slightly to the stranger as he politely introduced himself, "I'm Keitaro Urashima, nice to meet you."

"Tennyo Masaki," the woman bowed back as she added teasingly, "I've heard a lot about you."

"I hope you'll disregard most of it," Keitaro smiled wryly, scratching at the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"Looking good, Keitaro," Kitsune clapped him on the back so hard she nearly knocked the slim man right over.

"Miss Misaki," Naru smiled while Keitaro was talking to Kitsune, "it's nice to meet you. Several of my friends have mentioned you in their letters."

"I've made several friends at the Hinata Dorm," Tennyo acknowledged as she bowed slightly. "Have you picked up your luggage?" she asked practically.

"We probably should," Naru agreed, glad to have someone a bit more practical around. "Where's Kanako?" she asked.

"Ms Urashima wanted to come pick you up," Tennyo said mildly, "but something came up at the dorm and..."

"She's always taken running the dorm pretty seriously," Kitsune shrugged as they made their way to the luggage pick up.

They collected the luggage and headed out to the parking lot, Keitaro breaking into a smile as he saw the old van waiting for them. "I'm glad to see it's still running," he noted, patting it on the side as fond memories of death defying rides crossed his mind.

"Yeah, we're taking good care of her," Kitsune nodded cheerfully. "Dibs on shotgun," she cried as Tennyo got behind the wheel.

"Excuse me, but why is Miss Misaki driving?" Naru had to ask as they got in the back. Interestingly two new rows of seats had been installed, making it into a six seater.

"Call me Tennyo," the woman smiled as she inserted the key and started up the old van and explained, "and I'm driving because Kitsune nearly lost her license crashing this thing right through a police barrier."

"What?" Keitaro blurted as they drove off.

"This is that Phantom Quest Corp stuff you told me about, right?" Naru asked curiously.

"It was an emergency," Kitsune pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest and continued, "besides, no one was hurt."

"That's true, but the cops were not pleased," Tennyo said as she efficiently drove, "they suspended her license for a month and told her they'd take it away for good if they caught her driving."

Kitsune was still pouting as she added, "I wasn't driving any worse than Seto used to."

"He was a professor at Tokyo U," Naru pointed out mildly, "that gets a lot of eccentric behavior excused, I think."

"Point," Kitsune conceded.

The trip to Kanagawa Prefecture was a entertaining one, Naru and Keitaro remarking on familiar sights. Tennyo was still somewhat new to the region, and the two entertained her with stories of their various exploits.

They reached the small hot spring town by late morning, the van cruising through town slowly. Tennyo exchanged a look with Kitsune and smiled then looked back at the two, "Do you want to get your fortune told?"

"Fortune?" Naru raised her eyebrows.

"You really should," Kitsune jumped in with a grin, "I went to that stall, she's very reliable."

"You two know her, I bet," Keitaro guessed, knowing Kitsune pretty well, even if Tennyo was still pretty much a mystery.

"Spoil sport," Tennyo smiled as they parked the van on a side street. "Come on, it might be fun," she encouraged them.

"Well, why not," Naru chuckled, her and Keitaro getting out as the old men from the hot springs shuffled by, mumbling things to themselves.

The shop had been closed when Keitaro had been last been in town, but now it was open and bearing a sign reading 'Fortunes Told.' The front windows were covered by curtains and someone had added roses in planters, the scent washing over them. They pushed open the door to reveal a dimly lit room, a table and a young woman sitting behind it, her purple hair flowing down over her shoulders.

"Welcome," Anthy smiled, her eyes gently amused by something.

"Anthy Himemiya, meet Keitaro and Naru," Kitsune waved as she explained, "brought my friends in for a reading."

Anthy nodded, then looked at Keitaro and Naru and asked, "Which would you prefer, a palm reading or tea leaves?"

"Tea," Naru instantly decided, feeling a bit thirsty after their trip.

Keitaro nodded too as he said, "Tea sounds good."

Anthy removed a tea pot from the cozy and set two cups out, carefully pouring the tea in each. "Drink," she said as she placed the cups before them.

Naru picked up the cup, taking a moment to breath in the warm scent. She sipped cautiously, surprised at how good it tasted. It wasn't English tea, nor did it seem to be a common flavored tea, instead it had a subtle blending of flavors that was pleasing to the taste buds. She finished it much too quickly, putting the cup back in it's saucer with a clink.

"May I?" Anthy asked as she took the cup, Naru nodding. The dusky skinned young woman studied the leaves, her expression thoughtful.

Naru fidgeted, then asked, "Well?"

"You are a teacher, and you will continue to be one," Anthy said calmly, "you are content with that. You teach far away from here, and I see many journeys in your future."

Naru's mouth dropped open a moment. She looked at Kitsune as she demanded, "You didn't tell her what we do?"

"Nope," Kitsune shook her head.

Keitaro was looking at Anthy with his mouth open, then he slugged back his tea. "Me next," he said as he passed the cup over.

"Thank you," Anthy said, taking the cup with a smile. She studied the tea leavings, her expression... oddly annoyed.

"What?" Tennyo asked after a moment.

"It is... very hard to read your future, sir," Anthy admitted, frowning at Keitaro. "You are a focus of chaos and chance, and the patterns of fate bend around you."

"Really," Keitaro blinked.

"Your destiny and the young lady's are entwined," Anthy noted, "you will find each other if parted, and will always accomplish more if you are together." She studied the tea leaves a moment longer then finally shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can read nothing more."

Keitaro tried to decide if she was joking, but in all honesty she seemed dead serious. "Well, thank you," he bowed slightly.

"What do we owe you?" Naru asked, reaching for her wallet. Keitaro seemed oddly shaken by the experience, though he was hiding it pretty well.

"It's fine," Anthy waved her off, "if you want, send a friend to me. That would be more than enough payment."

"Thanks," Tennyo nodded as the group headed back out into the sun.

"That was a bit odd," Kitsune admitted a bit sheepishly as they headed back to the van, "sorry."

"No, it's fine," Keitaro said, smiling faintly. "I guess I was a bit thrown by how accurate it was," he admitted as they reached the van and climbed in.

"Really?" Tennyo asked as she took the wheel.

"He does have the craziest sort of luck," Naru admitted as they drove off. "It's like... anything that can go wrong does, but on the other hand he can literally trip over a rare discovery or something," she said with a smile.

"Must come in handy for a archeologist," Tennyo agreed cheerfully as they took the road up the hill to the Hinata Inn.

"When he isn't accidentally falling down some secret passage or opening a trap door," Kitsune chuckled as she remembered some of their crazier trips.

They pulled up to the inn just as a group of women fidgeted in front of it, then rushed forward as they parked. "Big brother!" Kanako cried as she threw herself at him, her arms closing around him and nearly bowling him right over.

"Senpai," Shinobu smiled, the black haired girl smiling up at him.

"Welcome back," Mutsumi told Naru, taking her hands and smiling warmly.

"It's good to be back," Naru said as Su tried to climb up on poor Keitaro, Ema trying to tell him about her recent academic successes and Motoko smiling at him warmly. Several women she didn't recognize were standing nearer to the inn, and Naru guessed they were the other new tenants.

"Let's get your bags," Tennyo suggested, chuckling as they watched Keitaro get swarmed.

"What do you think of Tennyo?" Mutsumi asked as she helped carry bags.

"She seems nice," Naru shrugged, "why?"

Mutsumi winked, "She's my girlfriend." As Naru stared in surprise Mutsumi hurried off, her long brown hair flowing as she reached Tennyo's side.

To be continued...