Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina or any of the characters, but if you find any character here that is not in the Love Hina character list, that one is mine (this includes all the talking Mecha-Tama and the Big Mecha-Tama, since they're not in the real Love Hina anime).
The Turtle Empire of the Underworld was at
its usual chaos. Mecha-Tama running everywhere. The Big Mecha-Tama sat silently
on the middle of the room, watching the five glass cubes in front of it. The
only one still operating was the last cube, with Naru and Keitaro in it. The
Mecha-Tama which was operating the panel was pressing some buttons, generally
working hard. "Continue operation of Love. More data gathering is
imperative to acquire this emotion."
"Operation continued." The Mecha-Tama replied.
"N-Nani kore wa (What's this)?" a whisper came from behind a wall, next to the hole which was created when Keitaro 'entered' the room. It was Sarah. "Minna (Everyone)..." She whispered again before running away.
LOVE HINA Special Episode! #2
The Empire Underneath
Chapter 2: Reasons
"Nani (What)?" Seta looked
surprised. "Kame no Teikoku (Turtle Empire)? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, Papa." Sarah insisted. "I've seen
it with my very own eyes. They're all there."
"Hmm, that explains why Hinata-sou is empty."
Haruka said. Her trademark unlit cigarette swayed as she talk. They were
gathering in the living room, just next to the open entrance under the
stairwell.
"We should rescue them, Papa!" Sarah exclaimed.
"I remembered the route like it was the back of my hand!"
"Hai (Yes), we should do that." Mutsumi appeared
suddenly by the door. Next to her was Amalla.
"Mutsumi-san!" Sarah exclaimed. "And you...?"
"I'm Amalla. Kaolla's sister." Amalla replied.
"I sensed that Kaolla's in trouble, so I came."
Sarah slammed a fist to her palm. "I remember you."
she said.
"And I was trying to find my way back to my lodge
when Amalla found me." Mutsumi said, smiling, tapping her head in her
unique pose of innocence.
"Then, we should all go and rescue them, Papa! Come on!
This way!" Sarah exclaimed as she went to the opening under the stairs.
"There is a faster way." Mutsumi suddenly
said.
"Eh?"
"Koko (Here)." Mutsumi pointed down
to a hole behind the Hinata-sou Tea House.
"B-But...the roof was destroyed the last time we're here
because of Motoko-san's attack." said Sarah.
"Daijobu (It's alright)." Mutsumi said. "Ja
(Well)," She said before jumping down into the hole.
Sarah, Seta, Amalla, and Haruka looked at each other. Amalla
jumped down first. Seta took Sarah and put her on his shoulder before jumping
down. Haruka raised both shoulders before jumping down as well.
"See? It's blocked." said Sarah.
"Ara ara (ah)," Mutsumi said her favorite sigh.
"It seems so. But here..." Mutsumi went to the right wall and ran her
hand on the wall as if looking for something. Eventually, her hand pushed a
secret button. A trap hole opened right under the slide, and the rocks fell
right into it, clearing the path.
Everyone was astounded. "Mutsumi-san, how do you know
about this?" asked Sarah.
"I don't exactly know myself." Mutsumi replied.
"Even I don't know there're things like this here."
said Haruka.
"Let's continue!" Amalla exclaimed.
"Hai!"
After a while, they came onto a fork on the
road. "Which way?" asked Haruka.
"I can feel Kaolla's presence from both sides."
said Amalla, her eyes closed.
"I think it's the left one." Seta said.
"It's where we came running from when we found the huge door."
"That's right, Papa!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Anoo, wouldn't it better to go there unknown?"
Mutsumi asked.
Everyone turned to her. It seemed that she knows A LOT about
these ruins.
"Huh?" Keitaro returned to reality
with a snap. He tried to figure out where he was THIS time. But the room was so
dark. He tried to move and realized that he was under a blanket. Also that he
wasn't wearing his glasses. He reached for his glasses and wore it, then
frowned. He took it off and was surprised. "Hey, this is Narusegawa's...ACK!"
"I told you to call me Naru." Naru mumbled from
somewhere. Her hand was on Keitaro's side, pinching him.
Cold sweat ran down Keitaro's back as he realized where Naru
was. He uncovered the blanket, and Naru was there, sleeping next to him.
"N-Naruse...ah, N-Naru!" he exclaimed, correcting himself as Naru
pinched again.
Naru went to sit, but from the look of her face, she didn't
seem to be fully awake yet. "Nani (What)?"
Keitaro gulped. "W-Why are we sleeping on one
bed?" he asked.
Naru took 3 seconds to fully comprehend the question. She
then jumped away from the bed. "W-What have you done?!"
"Me?! I haven't done anything!" Keitaro exclaimed,
a stream of water came from his eyes. This is it, Naru's going to punch him away
to Mars.
But to his surprise, Naru didn't do it. Instead, she sat
there, looking down. Her shoulders rocked at times, as if she's... Keitaro gasped. He went to her, sat next to her and put a hand around her.
"N-Naru?" He was right. She was crying.
"K-Keitaro...did...did we do...it?" she asked
between sobs.
Keitaro looked down as he said, "I don't know..."
he said. He then frowned. The dim light and no glasses made his sight worse. He
touched himself to make sure. Then, "Hey! We still have our clothes on! We
couldn't have done it!" he exclaimed.
Naru gasped. She checked herself. He was right. She sighed.
"You're right. We didn't." she said.
Keitaro nodded as he smiled. "Yokatta {an exclamation of relief, its
meaning varies}."
Naru put her head onto Keitaro's chest. "Hai, yokatta. I didn't have to lose the moment."
That put a ripe blush on Keitaro's face. "W-What do you
mean?" he asked.
Naru didn't reply, and Keitaro didn't have the guts to start
thinking what she meant.
"Hai, koko." Mutsumi said as she
pressed a piece of wall. The wall slid inward and an opening opened next to it.
"Let's go, minna-san." she said as she entered the opening.
"She knew these passages better than I do..." Sarah
mumbled, a huge sweatdrop on her head.
The group followed the 'Turtle Girl' into the opening. After
a moment, Mutsumi stopped. "We're almost there. We must be very
quite now." she said.
The rest of the group just nodded. Mutsumi crouched as she
neared a seemingly dead end. A hole was connecting the passage with another
room. Mutsumi peeked through it. "I could see some glass cages. Our friends
are in it. Also a lot of Mecha-Tama around." The hole was on the corner
wall behind Shinobu's glass cage.
"Let's just blast in!" Amalla exclaimed.
"No! That's too dangerous!" Seta said.
"That's right." said Haruka. "We should think
of a plan."
Then, a voice came through the hole. "Data retrieval is
stabilizing at 195% from normal level at 300% bandwidth."
"Continue operation. More data retrieval is imperative.
Start Move Force System."
"Operation continued, Move Force System activated."
Then silence but the voices of scurrying Mecha-Tama.
"What was that?" Sarah asked.
"Seemed like the Mecha-Tama are doing research on our
friends." Seta replied.
"What kind of research?" asked Haruka.
"Let's just blast in!" Amalla exclaimed again.
"Ara-ara..." Mutsumi sighed. "It seemed that
they're doing some research on emotions. I can see Shinobu-chan crying in a
strange glass cage."
"Why would machines research on emotions?" asked
Sarah.
"They..." Seta fixed his glasses. "Are they
going to acquire the ability to experience emotions...? It's the dream of any
robot to become human, and to become truly human, they require emotions."
Keitaro and Naru were still sitting in the
dark room, hugging, when Keitaro felt something very weird.
"N-Naru...I can't seem...to..."
"K-Keitaro..." Naru seemed to experience the same
thing.
Suddenly, Keitaro pushed Naru to the floor and position
himself above him. "Gomen nasai (I'm very sorry), Naru!" Keitaro exclaimed, two streams of water spurted from his eyes. "I-I can't control
myself!"
"K-Keitaro! T-Tasukete (H-Help)...!" Naru tried to
struggle, but she failed, both because of the mysterious force and Keitaro's
hand on her wrist, pinning her to the floor.
"N-Naru...gomen nasai!" Keitaro had time to say
before the mysterious force pushed him to touch Naru's lips with his.
"Data retrieval increased by another
75%, now at 260% normal level. Warning, data retrieval nearing critical
zone." The Mecha-Tama which was operating Naru and Keitaro's panel
reported.
"Create new data retrieval lines. Increase to
400%." The Big Mecha-Tama ordered.
The lot of Mecha-Tama scurried faster, taking various
electronic stuff somewhere.
"N-Naru..." Keitaro whispered
softly when the force let him go. He quickly sat up, and moved away a bit.
"G-Gomen nasai, Naru." he said, bowing repeatedly.
"Daijobu, Keitaro." Naru said, surprising Keitaro. He looked at her unbelievingly. Naru was blushing. "It wasn't
your fault...I know...you wouldn't do that..."
Keitaro sighed in relief. "I wouldn't dare..." he
whispered. But then he looked around, his face showed suspicion. "This is
weird." he said. "First, we're moving from places to places without a
trace of memory, then this mysterious force..."
Naru looked up to him. "You're right. Something fishy is
going around here." she said.
Keitaro stood up. "Let's find out!"
Naru stood up next to him. "Yeah! Let's!"
But right then, the force took them again, and they were
forced to lie down. "Aaah!" Both Keitaro and Naru screamed as they
hit the floor. They have totally no control to their bodies as they rolled onto
the bed. After a second, they found themselves having their hands around each other.
"G-Gomen..." Keitaro began to say.
"Iie (No), it's not your fault." Naru quickly cut
him. "We must fight this force."
Keitaro nodded. He then accumulated all of his strength and
tried to break free of the force. And...
"Love Sample One has managed to release
himself from Move Force System." The Mecha-Tama reported.
"Reconfigure Move Force System. Force Move as soon as
possible." The Big Mecha-Tama ordered. "No, wait!" Suddenly it
countered its own order. Its eyes began to flash. "Double power on Force
Move on Sample Two: Act #4158."
The Mecha-Tama's eyes flashed as well. Its mouth seemed to
form a smile. "That's a good one, boss." it said.
"Ara ara..." Mutsumi watched the whole scene.
"They're integrating the emotions already." said
Seta. "If they're not built for it, it will destroy themselves."
"Let's just blast in!" Amalla exclaimed again.
"Yes! I think we should go now! Come on, Papa! Obaa-san
(Old lady)! ACK!" Sarah exclaimed.
Haruka bit her cigarette as she rubbed Sarah's head with her
knuckles *hard*. "It's Haruka-san! And we need a plan!" She then
looked at Seta. "Gomen, ne." she said.
"Ahaha, no problem." Seta said, smiling.
"Papa!" Sarah objected.
"I did it, Naru!" Keitaro exclaimed. He turned to Naru and shrieked.
"K-Keitaro...I c-can't..." Naru was moving slowly
but sure. It was evident that she was fighting the force, but it was also clear
that the force is winning.
Keitaro couldn't believe his eyes. Right in front of him,
Naru was reaching for the buttons of her shirt. Just as she began to unbutton
the toppest, Keitaro took her hands. He pulled them away and pinned them on the
floor. "Naru! Yamete (Stop)!" he exclaimed.
"T-Tasukete, Keitaro..." Naru begged. Tears began
to swell on her eyes.
"I won't let you do anything stupid." Keitaro assured her. "Or do anything that will make me do anything stupid."
"K-Keitaro..." Naru whispered. "Arigato
(Thank you)..."
Keitaro smiled. "You can count on me." he said. He
then laughed uneasily as Naru's face turned into a face of pessimism.
"Love Sample One managed to get over the
Act. Rats! What should we do now, boss?!" The Mecha-Tama asked.
"Now you configure the Move Force on Keitaro.
We'll see if he can keep his words when he's pinned as well." The Big
Mecha-Tama replied.
The Mecha-Tama went back to operating the panel. Its eyes
flashed, and it made a noise: "Heh, heh, heh..."
"Ara ara...they're beginning to be able to laugh."
Mutsumi reported.
"This is not good..." Seta said. "And we don't
have a plan yet, too."
"That's because we're always peeping and don't even try
to think up a plan." Haruka said calmly.
"Let's think of a plan!" Sarah exclaimed.
"Let's just blast in!" Amalla suggested.
"Huh...?" Keitaro actually felt
when the force began to take control over him again.
"N-Naru...I...I..."
"K-Keitaro..." Naru knew it would come up to that.
In front of her, Keitaro slowly went on his knees next to her. He then lowered
himself on her. "K-Keitaro! Y-Yamete!" she exclaimed.
"Gomen nasai! I c-can't...can't control myself!
N-Naru!" Keitaro shrieked. He was forced to put one elbow on Naru's side, and
another on the other side, making him right above her. "N-Naru..." he
sighed. He blushed when he realized just how close they were.
His blush made Naru realized it as well, also making her
blush. "K-Keitaro..." she sighed back.
Unconsciously, they began to loosen their muscles and gave in
to the force.
LOVE HINA: The Empire Underneath...not for sale or rent :)
"Hah, hah, hah! They've given up,
boss!" The Mecha-Tama exclaimed.
"Good. Continue!" the Big Mecha-Tama exclaimed.
"They?" Sarah asked.
"I can see Motoko-san, Kitsune-san, Su-chan, and
Shinobu-chan." said Mutsumi.
"You don't mean...They're putting Naru and Keitaro together?" asked Amalla.
"And 'give up'?" Haruka raised an eyebrow.
"What does that mean?"
"C-Could be...that..." Sarah began to say. Very
unlike her, she began to blush. "I-If they're collecting emotions...Then...
then Naru and Keitaro...And they did mention about
Love Samples..."
"Ara ara..." Mutsumi sighed. "Very
possible." she concluded.
Keitaro opened his eyes and found that he
was kissing Naru. The back of his mind struggled to be free, but neither his
mind, his heart, nor any of his muscles were responding. "Naru..." he
sighed between kisses.
Naru opened her eyes. She looked at him gently, then smiled.
"Keitaro..." she sighed back. Then they returned to kissing.
Keitaro could feel his hands went about Naru's body. He knew
it was wrong, he knew that he shouldn't be doing it, he wanted to stop, but he
couldn't. 'N-No! I don't want it like this!' he thought. 'If I'm going
to...to...have her...I want it to be her own will...'. Despite that, they
continued kissing.
"I can't stand this any longer!"
Amalla exclaimed. She ran towards the hole and broke through it. It was a thin
rock wall, so she went through it like a breeze. "Anyone dared to challenge
me?!" she exclaimed.
All the Mecha-Tama were stopped in their tracks as their
sensor eyes scanned her. Then, the Big Mecha-Tama gave an ultimatum: "Get
them!"
The Mecha-Tama began to fly towards Amalla. She evaded them
swiftly and took out her flute. She began to play a melody (the melody she
always played in the anime). Out of nowhere, her white crocodile appeared and
began to stomp on the Mecha-Tama. Then a fight between hundreds of small
Mecha-Tama against a huge white crocodile followed.
"Papa! Let's rescue minna-san!" Sarah exclaimed as
she ran to the glass cages.
"Hai! Let's go!" Seta ran after his adopted
daughter. He jump-kicked and shattered the glass cage that had Motoko in it.
Motoko fell flat onto the base of the cage. Seta went to her
and tried to waken her. "Motoko-chan! Wake up!" But he only got
responses like: "K-Kame (Turtle)...doko ni mo (everywhere)."
Sarah took some pebbles from the debris created when Amalla
'entered' the room and threw them at the remaining glass cages, breaking them
all, except the last one. Naru and Keitaro's.
"Increase Love Sample Memory Virtual Reality Cage
Defense by 500%!" Big Mecha-Tama ordered. "All Mecha! Attack all
intruders! You stay where you are, Mecha!" The Big Mecha-Tama ordered the
Mecha-Tama operating Love. "Continue data retrieval!"
"Understood, sir!" The Mecha-Tama held its
right...hand? Fin? Well, it held its limb over its eyes, giving a salute.
The Glass Cage which held Naru and Keitaro turned gray and
lost its translucence.
Naru sighed as she felt Keitaro's soft lips
on hers. 'If it has to come to this, I...I might as well not fight it, since I
don't think Keitaro could... do things like this in his own will.' she thought.
"K-Keitaro..." she managed to say between kisses.
"Hmm?" Keitaro hummed as they were already
kissing. His eyes were closed, savoring the sensation on his lips.
"Mmmh...T-Take...me...Mmm...P-Please..."
That opened Keitaro's eyes. He began to fight the force.
"N-Naru! I...I don't want...to..."
Naru looked at him, her eyes were a mix of sadness and anger.
"Y-You...don't want me?"
"C-Chigau (N-No {and one of a few desperate way to say
it})! That's not what I meant...I...I don't want to take advantage of this
strange force on you...I...If I'm going to have you..." Keitaro stopped
for a moment. He loosened his muscles and their faces met again. "...I want
it to be your own...free...will." He ended his line in a kiss.
'K-Keitaro...'
"Hiken Fuujin Ranbu!" Motoko, who
had woken up from her 'shock' swung her sword and the produced gust of wind
swept most of the Mecha-Tama to the wall, breaking them into pieces. But their
space is quickly filled with another batch of them.
"It's no good!" Seta exclaimed. "We must
destroy the leader!"
"Wai! You mean that big big Mecha-Tama?!" Kaolla
exclaimed. "That's too bad..."
"Su-chan!" Mitsune exclaimed. "Stop them! Hack
their system or something!"
"Will do! Will do!" Kaolla jumped onto one of the
glass cage panels and began to fiddle with it. After a while, she raised one
eyebrow. She then pressed something and took a big piece of glass from the glass
cage. As she pressed a button, she looked through the glass.
"Kaolla!" Shinobu went to her. "What are you
doing?" she asked.
But Kaolla didn't respond. She seemed to be in a trance. A
moment later, she dropped the glass, and it gave out a reflection of a red moon
before it dropped onto the rock floor and broke into pieces.
"What's wrong with her?" Sarah asked Shinobu.
"We have to fight these pests."
Shinobu knew what was happening. She took a few steps back as
Kaolla began to glow.
Sarah, who have no idea that Kaolla can change under some
circumstances, watched with bulging eyes as Kaolla turned into her adult form.
Kaolla jumped and landed next to her sister, her...musical
instrument...on her hand. "Let's do this together, onee-chan (big
sister)." she said.
Amalla looked at her, then smiled. They then began to play a
joint melody. The white crocodile went berserk, and the real Tama appeared, in
the hundreds, attacking their Mecha counterpart.
"What about the hacking?!" Mitsune exclaimed, her
face desperate.
"K-Kaolla can change?!" Sarah exclaimed
unbelievingly. "Boy, you do have strange people here at Hinata-sou, obaa-san.
ACK!"
"It's Haruka-san!" she said, her knuckles on
Sarah's head.
Seta fought side by side with Motoko in trying to reach the
Love Sample Cage, which wasn't of glass anymore. "We have to get Naru-chan
and Keitaro-kun out of here!" he exclaimed as he punched some Mecha-Tama
onto the wall.
"I know that!" Motoko exclaimed. "Hiken
Fuujin Ranbu!" The blow took out some Mecha-Tama, including the one
operating Naru and Keitaro's cage.
"Ara ara...What a good fight..."
Naru and Keitaro opened their eyes in unison
as they realized that the force was gone. "We're free!" Keitaro said.
"Something must've happened. Come on. We have to..."
But Naru didn't budge. She kept on holding him.
"K-Keitaro..."
Keitaro gulped. He looked at her eyes. "N-Naru...come
on...we..."
Naru closed her eyes as she shook her head. She then snuck her head into
Keitaro's
chest as she swept his back with her hand, making Keitaro tensed. "This
is...my own free will..." she whispered.
Keitaro gulped.
Kaolla jumped high and landed as her normal
form in front of Naru and Keitaro's cage's panel and began pressing buttons
while the others tried their best to keep the Mecha-Tama from getting near her.
But they were surrounded.
"Give up, puny humans!" The Big Mecha-Tama ordered.
"Never! Ougi Zangan Ken!" A flash jumped from
Motoko's sword as she swung it towards the Big Mecha-Tama. It struck it right on
the middle, but it only did it minimal damage.
"Done it! Done it!" Kaolla exclaimed, jumping in
joy.
Everyone, including Tama, the whole lot of Mecha-Tama and the
Big Mecha-Tama turned towards the cage, which began to return to being
translucent.
Naru and Keitaro stopped on their tracks as
they realized that they were in a translucent glass cage, hugging each
other, their lips together, while outside the glass cage were a grinning Kaolla
and Sarah, a surprised Mitsune and Amalla, an outraged Motoko, Shinobu stifling
a cry, Haruka and Seta with a raised eyebrow, and Mutsumi, tapping her head in
her usual innocence look, sighing, "Ara ara..."
After a meaningless 3 seconds, Keitaro had Naru's foot on
his cheek and he flew through the glass cage, over everyone, and through the Big
Mecha-Tama.
That turned off every single Mecha-Tama around the
vicinity. The Big Mecha-Tama began to budge.
"It's going to crash!" Mitsune exclaimed.
"Everybody OUT!"
"Senpai!" Shinobu exclaimed, she went to get Keitaro.
"Leave him to me!" Amalla said. "Get out!
Everybody out!"
And they got out of the room just as the Big Mecha-Tama
collapsed on the floor, destroying every Mecha-Tama under it.
Keitaro sighed. He was lying on his bed in
his room, looking towards the ceiling. He and Naru had a lot of explaining to do
to all of the Hinata-sou residents, especially Shinobu. Luckily, Kaolla backed
them up, saying that the cage was in fact a kind of Virtual Reality cage,
and also confirmed the presence of the Move Force system. Even though they still don't
believe them, at least they let it go at that.
'What would happen if...' Keitaro began to think. 'If
minna-san came a bit later...the both of us would've been...' he blushed. 'Her last
words...were they true? That it was her own free will? Why would she kick me
afterwards, then?'
His was so lost in thoughts that he didn't catch a movement
on the ceiling. He only noticed it when faint light came through the hole
connecting his room and Naru's. He frowned.
A moment later, Naru jumped down and swiftly put herself
under Keitaro's blanket. She then looked at him, smiling.
"N-Naruse...ACK!"
Naru frowned. "Haven't I told you to call me Naru?"
she pouted.
"Gomen." Keitaro bowed his head a bit, then he
gulped. "W-what are you doing here?"
Naru slid her hands over Keitaro's side and hugged him
closer. "Do you think I lied when I...said that it was my own free
will?" she asked as she began to blush. "I'm...continuing what's been
cut."
Keitaro blushed as he gulped. "B-But...why..."
Naru put a finger on Keitaro's lips. "The others don't
have to know..." she whispered.
"Naru..." Keitaro sighed. They then kissed.
Naru and Keitaro were so 'busy' they didn't realize that someone had been eavesdropping since Naru jumped down. The person sat cross-legged in front of the Kanrinin's (Inn Manager's) room. As she began to hear some very mushy sounds, her foxy eyes flashed as her mouth formed a slick smile. "Naru, Keitaro...way to go!" Mitsune whispered.
Author's notes: WAY TO GO for me too! I don't think I can make a Love Hina fic this long. Being an Aries has its downside in story making, especially long fics, as Aries tend to get bored over anything quickly. Anyhow, I tried to make everything in this story as canon (real to the story's history) as possible, but I admit I made some things on my own. Like Sarah's 'Out-Of-Character'-ness of calling Haruka obaa-san (That's Keitaro's habit), the additional door in the room where Mecha-Tama was feeding itself, the trap doors and secret passageways Mutsumi used. And speaking of her, I realized I didn't say anything on how she could know all those passageways, since in the anime, she did just that once, too (If I'm not mistaken, the ep where Mei-chan came). Also, I've been researching on Adult Kaolla's instrument and found it to have some resemblance to the Egyptian instrument called 'ud. If you make a search on this word in Encarta 1999 above, you'll find it. She did say that she wished from 'the red moon of the desert', and we all know that Egypt is not that far from a desert, so...? ANYHOW, see you in another fic (especially since this Author Note is getting too long).
Arsen Dawn
Storymaster Q
StorymasterQ@icqmail.com
ICQ#: 75282461
