A Deadly Choice
Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, although Ken Akamatsu may choose to give it to me in the future (well, in my imaginary future). Oh yeah, the age things are the same (i.e. Keitaro is still seven years older than Shinobu), but Shinobu is assumed to be 14 at this point. You guys can use your amazing brains and Love Hina 1 to figure out the other ages.
Leioji stopped laughing. He wiped the tears from his eyes and focused his attention of Keitaro. The response Leioji got was exactly what he had desired. He knew the dilemma he had set upon Keitaro would tear him apart, inside out.
"What's wrong hero? Can't decide whom to save? Now you know why I chose you to free them. I knew that any of the other Hinata residents would save Motoko without a thought. But you are weaker than them. You love Naru Narusegawa. Normally, I could see you freeing Motoko. But remember this; the fight for the remaining hostages is not a fight to the death. If you feel like it, I'll let you go without any hassle." At that, Leioji began laughing hysterically again. His laughter was that of a crazed hyena; a beast closing in for the kill. Keitaro felt like he was pressed into a corner with no escape.
Keitaro quivered with fear and anxiety. He had to choose between the woman he loved and the woman who will die. Why? You know I can't make that kind of choice… Wait a second, this is one of that bastards mind games. Curse him…
"W-Why?" Keitaro's voice was hoarse and wavered like a newborn fawn. This caused Leioji only to laugh harder. Leioji wheezed, and stopped laughing. He stared at Keitaro and spoke.
"Make your choice now or they will both die." Leioji was not kidding. He had a stubbornness in his voice that frightened Keitaro. That fear slowly turned into shame. That shame turned to anger. That anger turned to rage. Hatred poured through Keitaro and he froze.
"What's wrong, mama's not here to save you? Don't worry, their deaths will be painful and tormenting…" Leioji then realized the error in his sentence.
Keitaro caught Leioji in the gut before he could do anything about it. Blood squirted out of Leioji's mouth as Keitaro wrenched his kidney. Leioji retaliated by smashing his huge fist into Keitaro. He did not even budge. Keitaro's eyes blurred, and then turned a bright red. They shone with unholy violence.
Keitaro suddenly span on one foot. His other foot came crashing into one of Leioji's floating ribs. Spittle dripped to the ground as Leioji flew through the air. He caught himself and drew a katana.
"DIE!" Leioji ran at Keitaro with full power. Keitaro burned with an intensity that blinded Leioji as he approached. He averted his gave and Keitaro grabbed his wrist. Leioji resisted for a split second as Keitaro twisted it violently. The katana fell the ground with a clank. However, Keitaro would not stop there.
Keitaro's fist connected with Leioji's chest cavity. The wind in Leioji's lungs was forced out painfully. Blood filled Leioji's mouth as he fought for dear life. Desperation filled him, and he grabbed Keitaro by the neck. The attack caught Keitaro off guard.
Leioji's grip tightened. Keitaro pushed his fingers into the place where he had broken Leioji's wrist. It was to no avail. Leioji lifted Keitaro off the ground by his neck. Now it was Keitaro's time to suffocate. His face turned purple as he flailed, grabbing for air. The mere sight of it was too much for Inspector Anato Karishuma.
He grabbed a rifle from one of the nearby officers. He aimed it at Leioji and fired. The bullet literally blew his guts out. It snagged the flesh on the front of his stomach and ripped a healthy chunk out. The hole allowed Leioji's intestines to spill out all over the ground. Leioji frowned and threw Keitaro into the police car that Karishuma stood behind. Leioji knelt and scooped up his loose entrails and shoved them back in the hole.
"You know, I don't like people interrupting my FIGHT!!!" It was now Leioji's turn to burn with fiery anger. He slapped one of his hands over the opening in his stomach and ran at Anato with the other. Fear gripped Anato, and he stood like a deer staring at an oncoming car. Luckily for Inspector Karishuma, one member of his force pushed him out of the way. Unluckily for that member, she took the attack full blow. Leioji's hand came out of the other side of her chest gripping a handful of ribs.
Leioji stuffed the ribs in his mouth and chewed. His metal teeth quickly ground up the ribs, and he swallowed the sharp pieces of bone. This action appalled everyone who watched. One of the camera crew who watched on reeled. Leioji cared not. He snatched the gun from the dead officer and shot Anato repeatedly. Anato fell with a dead look on his face. With that prey out of the way, Leioji now turned his attention to the person he truly wished to kill: Keitaro Urashima.
However, Keitaro had not merely looked on as Leioji killed the officer. He now labored with one of Leioji's massive katanas. Keitaro raised it to eye level, and pointed it at Leioji. As he did, his right arm strained to support the weight alone.
"You'll die here Leioji." Keitaro did not yell. He merely spoke. This added a certain feeling of inevitable terror to the battle. Leioji did not know why, but he feared Keitaro Urashima.
"No, please, don't kill me… SHINOBU!!!" Leioji stumbled backwards, and Keitaro charged.
Meanwhile, at the Hinata-sou
Shinobu jumped from the couch when she heard her name. She now recognized the broken form that she saw over the TV. It was her brother Ejichima Maehara who now fought against Keitaro. Shinobu could not let Keitaro kill her brother.
"Excuse me? Haruka-san?" Shinobu spoke with a bow. Haruka looked slightly dismayed.
"Don't need to call me that, Haruka is fine." Shinobu merely nodded.
"I need to get out there and now." This startled Haruka. Shinobu wanted to go to where her brother had gone on a psychological and physical rampage. Why do you want to go to that slaughterhouse, Shinobu? You saw what Leioji did to that police officer and what he's doing to Keitaro.
"Why? Why do you want to go out there?" Haruka demanded.
"Because, you cannot simply watch as your only brother dies." If the other sentence left Haruka confused, this left her dumbstruck. However, she knew that Shinobu knew what she was doing, so she tossed her the phone.
"Call the helicopter company. I have a connection there that will be quite useful…"
Back at the apartment
Keitaro swung the gargantuan katana. He was unused to using such a heavy thing, and with one hand even, so Leioji easily evaded the attack. He attempted to counter attack, but Keitaro intercepted Leioji's punch with his shin. One of the knuckles in Leioji's hand snapped out of place as the two body parts crashed together full force.
Leioji cursed and smashed his thick skull into Keitaro's face. A vein in Keitaro's nose broke and blood mixed with Leioji's ratty hair. Keitaro reeled from the blow and Leioji found familiar ground. Keitaro was grabbed by one of Leioji's gauntlet sized fists and shaken violently.
"Like a wolf killing it's prey, I will shake you until your neck is broken," Leioji said with particular sadistic glee. Leioji's mind spiraled into a frenzy and sank his teeth into the tender injured shoulder of Keitaro's. Keitaro screamed but still fought on.
Keitaro's fist made contact with Leioji's temple. Leioji's body twitched as the force of the blow restarted his nervous system. Leioji's teeth relaxed on Keitaro's shoulder, and Keitaro tossed Leioji to the ground.
"Leioji… I'm going to make sure you never haunt us again," Keitaro panted. Leioji's eyes were rolled back into his head, but his chest still rose and fell indicating he was still alive. Keitaro limped over to where Leioji lay and raised on foot in the air, poised to crush Leioji's skull. As the foot came down, Leioji disappeared.
Keitaro's foot met hard earth and he collapsed. The stress of the battle had finally gotten to Keitaro, and his body could not hold out. Keitaro's eyes closed as he slipped into unconsciousness. The police looked around, searching for any trace of Leioji, and then ran to Keitaro's form.
"He's still alive! We need a stretcher over here! Call an ambulance! GO!" Inspector Anato Karishuma ordered his team. The police were efficient at their work. The ambulance was called within seconds. All seemed right. That was, until Leioji appeared in the foyer of the apartment building not more than a minute after he disappeared.
"THOUGHT YOU COULD KILL ME SO EASILY?! YOU'LL DIE FOR DISRESPECTING ME, URASHIMA!" Leioji's nostrils flamed. He was furious. No one had ever given him such an unpleasant beating. He would kill Keitaro for what he did.
Anato would not have it though. As Leioji charged out of the foyer, limping as he ran, Anato whipped out a pistol. He pulled back the loader and slipped a bullet into place. Then, running out from behind the police car, he charged back at Leioji. This sudden movement startled him, and Leioji was caught off guard. He had not noticed the inspector slip off behind the car. Never the less, Leioji charged on. He would kill Keitaro Urashima, no matter what it cost him.
Anato wanted to make sure it cost Leioji his life. Anato pulled the trigger to the shaking pistol, and the bullet raced towards Leioji. He took the bullet full blast. Leioji's reckless charge stopped as blood and bone flew in the air. The force of the bullet threw Leioji's head back. Anato expected Leioji to then drop to the ground, dead. Leioji was one to disappoint.
Instead of dropping like a dead fly, Leioji whipped his head back into place. The bullet had dug a nice tunnel through Leioji's brain, starting at the bridge of his nose. Still, Leioji somehow lived. And instead of crying out in pain and grabbing the wound, Leioji simply smiled. A cruel, malicious spine-tingling smile.
Leioji bent over and picked up one of his katanas. He surveyed it with a glance and nodded.
"This will do nicely. Now you will learn disciple, my gun-totting friend." Leioji tossed the katana in the air and caught the blade with his index finger and thumb. He grabbed the handle with his other hand and roared his battle cry.
Just as Leioji roared, Keitaro sprang back to life. The suddenness of Keitaro's recovery startled the officers who had been tasked with guarding him. Keitaro leapt off of the stretcher before the officers could do anything and ran to intercept the blade. Just as the killing blow fell, Keitaro appeared in front of the katana. He caught the blade with both hands and twisted. The blade snapped in half and clattered to the earth.
"You anger me, Urashima," was all Leioji could get out before Keitaro attacked. Reinvigorated by some otherworldly presence, Keitaro fought with the power and grace of one thousand demons. Leioji was thrown back against the hard bricks by the force of Keitaro's attacks. Leioji was soon at Keitaro's mercy.
Keitaro appeared in front of the crawling Leioji. The pathetic sight of Leioji licking his wounds was enough to make any of his acquaintances wretch. Keitaro, however, did not. He looked on with rage.
"Where-Are-THEY?!" Was all Keitaro managed to get out before he smashed the wall behind Leioji.
"Please… hurt me not… they are upstairs on the fifth level in room 528," Leioji whimpered. The sad sight of Leioji only angered Keitaro more.
"YOU PRESENT ME WITH A COWARD? YOU DID NOT SHOW THEM ANY MERCY LEIOJI!" Keitaro still burned with anger. However, Leioji did not recognize the name that Keitaro called him. This angered Keitaro even more and he prepared to strike Leioji down. However, something stopped him.
"NO!" It was Shinobu Maehara. Keitaro had not noticed the helicopter fly in during his battle with Leioji. Shinobu ran now with her arms outstretched with tears in her eyes. She ran up to Leioji's broken form and embraced him.
"I'm so sorry Ejichima-san. Please, forgive me…" Shinobu's voice trailed off. Ejichima stirred at his name. He strained and pushed off the ground with Shinobu's help. He glanced around with a slightly frightened look, but then saw Shinobu. At the sight of his little sister safe, Ejichima broke down into violent sobs.
"No… forgive me," was what Shinobu could make out from Ejichima's sobs. Shinobu hugged her brother tightly, clinging to his torn shirt. Ejichima fell into her embrace, melting at her touch. All the pent up agony inside Ejichima spilled forth in one moment as he knelt with his sister.
Keitaro did not recognize Ejichima. He had never presented himself like this. To see Leioji so happy yet so sad at the same time confused Keitaro. But no, this is not Leioji. This is Ejichima Maehara, the elder brother of Shinobu who she loves so dearly, Keitaro thought to himself.
"Please Shinobu, forgive me for anything I have done to you." Ejichima had stopped sobbing so powerfully that he could now speak clearly.
"I-I, but I don't," a finger pressed to her lips cut off Shinobu.
"Yes, you do. Please, Shinobu, forgive me," Ejichima insisted.
"I-I forgive you Ejichima-san." At this, tears of joy flooded through both Ejichima and Shinobu Maehara. For the first time in over six years, Ejichima and Shinobu shared happiness.
AN: Dun worry, there's plenty more after this. There's the aftermath of this book, as well as three other guys I'm planning out right now. Oh yeah, sorry for not using Kanako. I just think she's too goofy to work well here. :P