A Monster Within Me
by Joshua Falken

Inspired by "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson and "The Incredible Hulk" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Thanks to David for beta-read this fic :-)

Disclaimer: Love Hina and its characters are property of Ken Akamatsu. No copyright infligement is intended. This is a fanfiction work, written for fun.

Chapter 1 - The Unexpected Call

One month before

"... And the book "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" was written in 1818 by a 15 year-old young girl. Could anybody tell me her name?" The teacher looked around the classroom, waiting until a student lifted their hand. Meanwhile another 15 year-old girl didn't pay attention to the class, busy with daydreaming while she drew in her notebook the picture of a young man wearing glasses.

"Sempai..." she murmured, still daydreaming.

In a corner of the class room, Mikuki Kim, one of the most popular girls in the entire school, looked at Shinobu as a cat looks at its prey. Stealthly, she caught an elastic among her fingers and she shot it against the back of Shinobu's neck.

"OUCH!" the shy girl screamed in pain, massaging the aching place with the right hand.

The teacher, thinking that Shinobu had offered to answer, said:

"Very well, Miss Maehara, who is the author of "Frankenstein"?"

"Well... ahn... well..." The poor girl was lost: she don't even knew what he was asking! "The author of "Frankenstein"? Well... Anne Rice?"

That answer was received with the laughs of the students, that contrasted with the serious face of the teacher. "I'm sorry, but the answer is incorrect. It was Mary Shelley. I think that you need to pay more attention in class!"

"Yes, teacher." She murmured, looking down, totally embarrassed.

An irritating laughter came from behind her. Mikuki and her friends laughed, while they looked with scorn to the shy girl. For just one moment, fury appeared inside of Shinobu and a part of her mind over which she did not have any control, thought:

"I would love to erase that superior smile off that idiot's face! I would love give a Naru-like punch to shut her mouth! I would love to..."

Shinobu immediately repressed those thoughts. She didn't want to be angry, she didn't want to be like her parents..

Later, she was leaving the school, when suddenly she fell over a puddle of mud. After she stood up, she saw that her uniform was all dirty.

"But how...?"

She heard the irritating laughter of Mikuki and understood what had happened. She closed her eyes, caught her things and ran with all speed to the Hinata Inn. She cried all the way there.

======

Later, the manager of the Hinata Inn, Keitaro Urashima, was repairing the chandelier of the main lobby while Motoko Aoyama held the stairway.

"I just need to isolate this wire, and it will be repaired." He informed. "Pass the insulating tape, please."

"It is here."

"Thank you for helping me, Motoko."

She just shrugged.

"You are welcome."

At that precise moment, the main door opened with a creake and they saw Shinobu, with her uniform all dirty and eyes that were red from crying so much.

"What happened, Shinobu?" Keitaro asked, concerned.

"Sempai..." she thought, blushing, when she noticed her own state. She ran from the room, crashing by accident into the stairway with a great deal of force.

"Shinobu!" Mokoto exclaimed to the girl, forgetting about the stairway. Keitaro began to fall. When she saw that Naru Narusegawa was entering in the lobby in that moment, Mokoto just closed her eyes. She knew what would happen. In the fall of the stairway, Keitaro tried uselessly to hold onto something and by pure accident he grabbed and ripped Naru's blouse.

"Narusegawa... Excuse me!" he still tried to explain.

"You perverted beast!" Naru screamed at the same time that her fist connected with Keitaro's face. He flew against the roof of the lobby, fell, struck the sofa, turning over the piece of furniture in the process.

"M-Motoko... could you see what happened with Shinobu?" he asked, while he got up.

"Sure, Urashima." The swordswoman agreed, cautiously. In the corner of her eye, she saw the angry face of Naru. She didn't want to be the next victim of her atomic punches... Motoko found the young student in the bathroom of the inn.

"Shinobu? Can I enter?" The new ronin of the inn asked, after placing her head through the door.

"Huh... Yes, Motoko."

The swordswoman approached Shinobu, who had just removed her mud-spotted blouse. Motoko leaned in the sink of the bathroom and tried to assume a deliberately casual attitude. She had already learned that in this way people opened up more easily and she kept cultivating such behavior, ever since she had defeated her older sister for the second time - it helped her to relax and to really work on her problems instead of entering in a crisis every time that something unexpected happened.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." she answered, looking down.

"Shinobu..."

"Well...some girls at school are bothering me!" She confessed. "I don't know what is wrong with me that they..." Tears began to flow.

"Shinobu, there is nothing wrong with you! If they act like idiots, it's their problem!" Motoko lifted her friend's chin. "Did you understand?"

"Yes..." she murmured.

"And who are candidates for the Nobel Prize of Stupidity?"

Shinobu, in spite of herself, laughed. "Motoko, you are spending too much time with Kitsune... you are starting to speak like her!"

The older student smiled. "Thank you for the warning." The observation that she did of Kitsune for one of her histories had its advantages - with that Shinobu smiled. Then Motoko became serious. "Who are the idiots that upset you?"

Shinobu sighed.

"Mikuki Kim and her friends, mainly Megani and Marin. They are the most popular girls in the whole school. They picked on me since I first came there, but I don't know why! I hate them! Hate them!!!" Then, Shinobu noticed her own explosion. "Excuse me, Motoko!"

"Don't worry, Shinobu. It's ok." Motoko affirmed absently. What had surprised her was the shine of rage in the eyes of her shy friend. It was the first time that she had seen anything like this in Shinobu... "Don't worry about such dishonorable girls." Motoko affirmed categorically, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yes, Motoko. Thank you!"

"You are welcome. Just a question: why did you run from Keitaro and I when you arrived here, at the Inn?"

The high school student blushed.

"Well... I didn't want Sempai too see me in that state and..."

Motoko sighed, understanding the obvious: Shinobu had a crush on Keitaro. With that there were four candidates for the manager's heart: Naru, that was the official girlfriend, the enigmatic Kanako (unfortunately for Keitaro's peace of mind), Motoko herself and now the shy Shinobu... the only people missing from this list were Kitsune and Kaolla who had not as of yet declared their love...

"Keitaro Urashima, serial heartbreaker!", she thought ironically.

======

The inhabitants of the Hinata Inn had just eaten the excellent dinner made by Shinobu when the phone rang.

"Hello, Hinata Inn Girls Dorm. This is the manager speaking... I understand, sir. One moment, please... Shinobu, it is for you. It is your uncle."

Surprised, she took the phone. "Hello, uncle Sanosuke? Any problem with aunt Akane?" She listened for one moment before exclaiming, totally stunned, "Do they want me to visit them?!" More a pause. "When?" She asked weakly. "I-I understand... I will go..." She ended the call.

Kitsune and Naru observed the scene.

"What's up, Shinobu?" The party girl asked.

The girl breathed quickly, trying to control herself. She was pale as a paper leaf.

"My parents want me to go see them in Osaka."

======

Later, during the night, one of the inhabitants of the inn rose and went to the center of its room, knelt down and removed a board from the floor of the room. From within that secret compartment, the person pulled out a small notebook. After turning the machine on, the person opened an e-mail program.

From: Observer
To: AugRad-Kymera
Subject: Test subject MS-17

Test subject MS-17 received message and it will leave tomorrow to the required place. Awaiting new orders.

The message was sent and the computer was turned off.

In the shadows, there was a cold smile.

To be continued...