"End of the Treasured Ones"
A Love Hina fanfiction by Ben Woo
Disclaimer: See Ch.1
Ben left for Motoko's room first, so that when he arrived at the other two he would get medical aid if needed. He knocked on the door and called 'Motoko'.
"Come in, Woo-san." So he came in.
"Hey Motoko, how's it going?" he started.
"Everything is well enough, given the circumstances. I would like to discuss some things with you, however," she said while sipping green tea.
"I understand that. In fact, I came here to clear some things up myself. Why don't you start?"
"Hai. I ponder why is it you need Keitaro's help. Although I can wager that he is good at fighting from our earlier view, I cannot see why you would need his help. You seem powerful enough to defeat anyone or anything."
"Well, I can pretty much sum my reasons to two: Keitaro is my friend and both of us found the passages, which is reason enough. Anything else?"
"Yes, could you teach e to manipulate my ki into those forms?"
"Sorry, but that move took five years to learn, and we certainly don't have the time. Now for my end. We didn't reveal everything in our conversation earlier, and we plan to tell everyone. We're actually telling everyone personally, which should be a good thing."
"Okay, now continue."
"Alright. Too clear up some things, Keitaro and I are both human, just incredibly powerful and hard to kill. We can manipulate ki to the point in which we can distort reality to an extent, cause hallucinations, and make things like muscle denser or more spacious. We make our muscles dense when we fight to get more power and take less damage. The truth about the upcoming battle is that both Keitaro and I have a 9:1 probability of death. I'll do my best to keep him alive, but those efforts may not be enough. Besides, if both of us are about to die, we'll just use the last resort."
"What would that be?" inquired Motoko.
"I call it the 'Glorifying light' and Keitaro calls it 'seppuku ki-blast'. I believe it's glorifying because c'mon, you're sacrificing your life to save the world's. Of course the blast'll take about half the city but hey, there's always gonna be some destruction. With Keitaro unleashing the same blast, most likely all of Tokyo will be gone. I think that's good though, because Naru won't study as much and the others won't have to worry about school, including you."
"I see.. Interesting thoughts on how to achieve victory. I think that I've heard enough. You may go." Said Motoko. She was still in shock, but it wasn't to the point that a good bath wouldn't sooth.
"Ok, time to go to Haruka." said Ben as he left. He wasn't sure what to watch out for when he talked to Haruka. It didn't even make sense as Haruka was Keitaro's relative but he was the one talking to her.
"Maybe it has to do with her ability to use a--"
"Use a what? Can I help you, Woo-san?" said Haruka, who had mysteriously popped up.
"Yes, I've come to talk to you about the upcoming battle. If you have questions feel free to ask."
"Alright, what'll happen if you lose, and how do you plan to keep that from happening?" she spat out.
"Well, if we lose then the being will kill everyone. This is assuming it's a being that is. If it's a some disease then we can't help it. However, to keep from losing to the being, Keitaro and I plan to fight to the last breath. If we have to we'll use our last resort." Said a serious Ben. Haruka could tell that no joke would lighten the mood or help it.
"What is this last resort?"
"We plan to use our ultimate techniques. They're the same in nature, the very essence of our ki. It is the ki that normal people never tap for power. It can be use multiple times, but depletes the person, eventually killing them too. Keitaro and I don't need to fear the depletion as compared to the blast radius. I would roughly estimate that if either of us fired one, half of Tokyo would become a crater. Imagine two of those blasts going off. We tried blasting them into the ocean, and boy did we regret it. The blasts turned to steam on contact, but the impact from the blast parted the water so we could see the bottom, dry as the desert. We also saw the burnt bodies of animals, which undoubtedly died when the waves crashed on them. It was an amazing and terrifying sight."
"I don't doubt you could produce such a blast, and I'm sure that you won't use it unless necessary, but I still have one question. What will you do if you live?"
"Well, it's a 9:1 chance that we will live. This is the chance for just one of us, okay? Anyway, if we do live, we'll most likely live our normal lives. I might ask to move into Hinata Sou, assuming the girls would let me."
"Of course they will. They wouldn't disagree for fear of your prowess and the fact that your going to probably save their precious Keitaro."
"Haha, yeah, Keitaro always did have the luck. Well, I still have to talk to Shinobu, and it's getting late. Are we done?"
"Yes, we are. Thanks for this talk." Said Haruka.
"See you later then."
Ben looked around for Shinobu, but couldn't find her at all. He decided to go and get something to eat around town instead of leeching off of Shinobu. He didn't want to impose and create more work for the frail looking girl.
*She's strong, that's for sure, but she's a girl nonetheless. She deserves a lot.* he thought.
A scream rang out in a nearby alley. At first Ben didn't want to check it out, but the sound of the voice seemed familiar.
"Wait, that wouldn't happen to be...OH $#!%!" he said as he bolted towards the sound.
He turned into the alley and to his fears he saw two men holding Shinobu. A third was in front, saying something, but Shinobu's screams muffled the words. Without thinking, Ben concentrated on his ki and seemed to melt into the floor. He became part of the environment. By now the three men had dragged Shinobu into a car and were driving. Unbeknownst to them, Ben was following them as their car's shadow.
*I'll make sure everyone of those bastards get their @$$ beaten. I can't kill though, not without a cause. I only wish that I didn't take that oath!* he thought as we followed the kidnappers.
The kidnappers came to an abandoned building. The surroundings weren't familiar to Ben, so he couldn't place the area, but that wasn't the subject on his mind. All he was seeing was red and all he could feel was rage. Ben found out the kidnappers were actually yakuza while listening to them. He didn't just charge in because even a fighter of his mettle could die from being shot.
"Hey boss, we got this young thing near the market. No escort, not even a concealed weapon! Bleh, kids these days don't even know to fear the yakuza!" said one of them. Ben decided to label each man. He called this one '#1'
"Yeah, didn't even put up much of a struggle. This one is from that girls dormitory too! I heard they all knew how to fight. Well, this one must be the peacemaker." Said another man. Ben labeled him '#2'.
"Stop chatting! We need to make this video quick! There's only three of us here, and I don't want to get caught!" said the third one. Apparently this man was the brains of the operations, so Ben labeled him '#3'.
"Hehe, right. Now girly, just sit tight!" said #1, as he held out a knife and reached to cut Shinobu's dress. Then the dim lighting in the room suddenly cut.
"What happened! Get the lights!" cried one of the men.
"Ah! Ambush! Get the guns!" said one of the others, who was frantic. The lights flickered back on, much to the delight of the three yakuza.
"Whew, just a power outage. Let's get back-WHAT! Where's the girl!" said #3.
"You shouldn't worry about her while I'm here. I'll have some fun while I'm here," came a haunting voice.
"Ah! It really is an ambush!" cried #2, who had gone crazy earlier. The three began firing randomly at the walls, which left the already shabby room in an even larger mess.
"Pathetic, you guys didn't even look in the right direction once. Prepare to suffer for hurting an innocent girl!" cried the voice as a figure fell from the ceiling and made a graceful landing.
"Die!" the yakuza cried in unison, emptying their clips into the figure.
None of the bullets made it to the figure however, as 'clinks' and other sounds of metal meeting metal were heard. When the bullets stopped, the object meeting them stopped too. It turned out to be a Chinese straight sword. It was about 40 inches in length and the blade was black. The figure was revealed to be Ben, but unfortunately for the yakuza they didn't know that this 'boy' would be the one to beat all of them. Ben charged at them, holding both his sheath and his sword. The sheath was completely black and looked like it was made of steel, but the yakuza weren't paying attention, they were just concentrating on reloading and shooting. Ben was holding the sword upright in his right hand and the sheath upside down (he held the base end with the point close to the ground. Imagine a ninja holding a ninjatou). He slammed #1 with the side of the sword as to not kill but to incapacitate. Ben blurred and reappeared right next to #2 and hit him with both a kick to the back and a sheath slash to the legs. A sickening crack was heard as the sheath broke the bones where it hit.
"Interesting moves, boy. Try me though." Said #3, pulling out a pair of tonfas.
"Good, a duel for the last two fighters." Answered Ben. The smile on his face unnerved the remaining yakuza, but he wouldn't tell this to the 'boy' standing in front of him.
#3 made the first move and tried slamming his tonfas into Ben in a pincer attack. Both tonfas were blocked by Ben however. He had used the ends of his sheath to meet with the sides of the tonfas and stop them. With his sword arm still free, he slammed the yakuza into the wall with a slash to his chest. The yakuza flew into the wall with enough force to form a dent. Ben followed up with a last attack, slashing both his sheath and sword at the same time. The movements were hard to follow, but if they were, then the person watching would say that he say Ben slash with both the sheath and sword at the same time and then follow up with the same attack three more times. Ben finished his attack and looked at his handiwork. He had knocked two of the three into unconsciousness without major injury, but the third one would need medical attention. He took a moment to smile at his deed and left. Outside, Shinobu was laying against the front wall, curled up crying. Ben decided to talk about the past moments before taking her to Hinata Sou.
"I'm not going to ask if you're alright because I can see that you aren't after this. I'm sorry that you had to experience such an offense. If I had been here earlier then it wouldn't have happened. Tell me though, why didn't you ask someone to come with you? It would have guaranteed that you wouldn't have been kidnapped."
"I know. Gomenasai, Woo-san. I'm sorry that you had to get involved. I thought that a small trip to the market wouldn't hurt and I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I just left without thinking. I can't believe how dangerous it is!" Cried Shinobu. She was crying desperately. Ben hugged her and felt her ease a bit.
"It's okay that you did what you did. Personally I'm surprised that this happened. I thought Japan was the place where things like this never happened. Well, we should get back now, neh?"
"Hai, we should. Thanks again." said Shinobu.
They walked home with Ben telling Shinobu the details that He had told to both haruka and Motoko. Throughout the conversation Shinobu remained quiet. Both of the teenagers did not note the fact Shinobu was clinging to Ben's arm as if it was a life line. They didn't seem to mind, which was a good sign, until they reached Hinata Sou.
"WOO-SAN!!!!! How could you take advantage of Shinobu and keep her out this late! I thought you were a gentleman and I find out that you have kept our Shinobu out this late!" ranted Motoko, who was acting like a crazed tiger that has broken out of hits cage.
"You should've at least told us! WE are starving, UNLIKE you guys. You probably went to that fancy Arpeggio's restaurant. You should be punished for making tenants of a dormitory starve!" complained Kitsune.
More complaints were yelled at Ben by all the people present except Haruka who was absent, Ben and Shinobu because they knew what really happened, and Keitaro who had seen the look on the former twos' faces. Ben and Shinobu went inside along with Keitaro. The three decided to go to the kanrinin's room to discuss what happened.
"So, Ben, what happened? I can guess where ever you went you didn't have fun at." He said matter of factly, pointing at the sword (in the sheath of course) Ben was holding.
"Oops. Well, it's pretty long, but I think we have time. Before I start, did you talk your half of the dormitory?" asked Ben.
"Yeah. I didn't get hit once. Naru just stared and hugged me, Kitsune took huge gulps out of her bottle, and Su just kept bouncing around as if nothing happened. Please start now." Said Keitaro with a noticeable gesture.
"Well, Shinobu went to the market, but was kidnapped along the way. I hadn't told her about the other details yet and I was getting something to eat. I heard her scream and followed it to her being held by three yakuza members. I just followed them to their little hideout and busted in on them. It wasn't much of a rescue though. We walked home and discussed the details as we walked. Pretty uninteresting except for the kidnapping and the saving." Said Ben casually.
"Well, I'm glad you did what you did Ben. I'll go tell the other tenants." Said Keitaro. He got up, bowed, and left.
"Uh, Woo-san, I--"
"Please just call me Ben. I'm really annoyed with this 'Woo-san'. It sounds as if I'm going to be evicted or something."
"Hai, I will then. I would like to thank you again." Said a blushing Shinobu.
The two looked at each other and saw something special in each others' eyes. Slowly they moved their heads forward and their lips met. The kiss was light, but moved into a more involved one. The two only stopped to take a breath.
"Arigatou, Ben. Goodnight," said Shinobu with a wave.
"Yeah, g'night," replied Ben. Needless to say, the two teens didn't sleep very well that night.
Author's Notes: Man, no one is e-mailing about the titles. Well, the thing'll go until the end of November as I said. The chapter naming will continue to go on as usual too. Once again, look on my AIM profile for more updates. My screen name is TheCrimina1 and my e-mail is benjoewoo@yahoo.com. Ja ne!
Disclaimer: See Ch.1
Ben left for Motoko's room first, so that when he arrived at the other two he would get medical aid if needed. He knocked on the door and called 'Motoko'.
"Come in, Woo-san." So he came in.
"Hey Motoko, how's it going?" he started.
"Everything is well enough, given the circumstances. I would like to discuss some things with you, however," she said while sipping green tea.
"I understand that. In fact, I came here to clear some things up myself. Why don't you start?"
"Hai. I ponder why is it you need Keitaro's help. Although I can wager that he is good at fighting from our earlier view, I cannot see why you would need his help. You seem powerful enough to defeat anyone or anything."
"Well, I can pretty much sum my reasons to two: Keitaro is my friend and both of us found the passages, which is reason enough. Anything else?"
"Yes, could you teach e to manipulate my ki into those forms?"
"Sorry, but that move took five years to learn, and we certainly don't have the time. Now for my end. We didn't reveal everything in our conversation earlier, and we plan to tell everyone. We're actually telling everyone personally, which should be a good thing."
"Okay, now continue."
"Alright. Too clear up some things, Keitaro and I are both human, just incredibly powerful and hard to kill. We can manipulate ki to the point in which we can distort reality to an extent, cause hallucinations, and make things like muscle denser or more spacious. We make our muscles dense when we fight to get more power and take less damage. The truth about the upcoming battle is that both Keitaro and I have a 9:1 probability of death. I'll do my best to keep him alive, but those efforts may not be enough. Besides, if both of us are about to die, we'll just use the last resort."
"What would that be?" inquired Motoko.
"I call it the 'Glorifying light' and Keitaro calls it 'seppuku ki-blast'. I believe it's glorifying because c'mon, you're sacrificing your life to save the world's. Of course the blast'll take about half the city but hey, there's always gonna be some destruction. With Keitaro unleashing the same blast, most likely all of Tokyo will be gone. I think that's good though, because Naru won't study as much and the others won't have to worry about school, including you."
"I see.. Interesting thoughts on how to achieve victory. I think that I've heard enough. You may go." Said Motoko. She was still in shock, but it wasn't to the point that a good bath wouldn't sooth.
"Ok, time to go to Haruka." said Ben as he left. He wasn't sure what to watch out for when he talked to Haruka. It didn't even make sense as Haruka was Keitaro's relative but he was the one talking to her.
"Maybe it has to do with her ability to use a--"
"Use a what? Can I help you, Woo-san?" said Haruka, who had mysteriously popped up.
"Yes, I've come to talk to you about the upcoming battle. If you have questions feel free to ask."
"Alright, what'll happen if you lose, and how do you plan to keep that from happening?" she spat out.
"Well, if we lose then the being will kill everyone. This is assuming it's a being that is. If it's a some disease then we can't help it. However, to keep from losing to the being, Keitaro and I plan to fight to the last breath. If we have to we'll use our last resort." Said a serious Ben. Haruka could tell that no joke would lighten the mood or help it.
"What is this last resort?"
"We plan to use our ultimate techniques. They're the same in nature, the very essence of our ki. It is the ki that normal people never tap for power. It can be use multiple times, but depletes the person, eventually killing them too. Keitaro and I don't need to fear the depletion as compared to the blast radius. I would roughly estimate that if either of us fired one, half of Tokyo would become a crater. Imagine two of those blasts going off. We tried blasting them into the ocean, and boy did we regret it. The blasts turned to steam on contact, but the impact from the blast parted the water so we could see the bottom, dry as the desert. We also saw the burnt bodies of animals, which undoubtedly died when the waves crashed on them. It was an amazing and terrifying sight."
"I don't doubt you could produce such a blast, and I'm sure that you won't use it unless necessary, but I still have one question. What will you do if you live?"
"Well, it's a 9:1 chance that we will live. This is the chance for just one of us, okay? Anyway, if we do live, we'll most likely live our normal lives. I might ask to move into Hinata Sou, assuming the girls would let me."
"Of course they will. They wouldn't disagree for fear of your prowess and the fact that your going to probably save their precious Keitaro."
"Haha, yeah, Keitaro always did have the luck. Well, I still have to talk to Shinobu, and it's getting late. Are we done?"
"Yes, we are. Thanks for this talk." Said Haruka.
"See you later then."
Ben looked around for Shinobu, but couldn't find her at all. He decided to go and get something to eat around town instead of leeching off of Shinobu. He didn't want to impose and create more work for the frail looking girl.
*She's strong, that's for sure, but she's a girl nonetheless. She deserves a lot.* he thought.
A scream rang out in a nearby alley. At first Ben didn't want to check it out, but the sound of the voice seemed familiar.
"Wait, that wouldn't happen to be...OH $#!%!" he said as he bolted towards the sound.
He turned into the alley and to his fears he saw two men holding Shinobu. A third was in front, saying something, but Shinobu's screams muffled the words. Without thinking, Ben concentrated on his ki and seemed to melt into the floor. He became part of the environment. By now the three men had dragged Shinobu into a car and were driving. Unbeknownst to them, Ben was following them as their car's shadow.
*I'll make sure everyone of those bastards get their @$$ beaten. I can't kill though, not without a cause. I only wish that I didn't take that oath!* he thought as we followed the kidnappers.
The kidnappers came to an abandoned building. The surroundings weren't familiar to Ben, so he couldn't place the area, but that wasn't the subject on his mind. All he was seeing was red and all he could feel was rage. Ben found out the kidnappers were actually yakuza while listening to them. He didn't just charge in because even a fighter of his mettle could die from being shot.
"Hey boss, we got this young thing near the market. No escort, not even a concealed weapon! Bleh, kids these days don't even know to fear the yakuza!" said one of them. Ben decided to label each man. He called this one '#1'
"Yeah, didn't even put up much of a struggle. This one is from that girls dormitory too! I heard they all knew how to fight. Well, this one must be the peacemaker." Said another man. Ben labeled him '#2'.
"Stop chatting! We need to make this video quick! There's only three of us here, and I don't want to get caught!" said the third one. Apparently this man was the brains of the operations, so Ben labeled him '#3'.
"Hehe, right. Now girly, just sit tight!" said #1, as he held out a knife and reached to cut Shinobu's dress. Then the dim lighting in the room suddenly cut.
"What happened! Get the lights!" cried one of the men.
"Ah! Ambush! Get the guns!" said one of the others, who was frantic. The lights flickered back on, much to the delight of the three yakuza.
"Whew, just a power outage. Let's get back-WHAT! Where's the girl!" said #3.
"You shouldn't worry about her while I'm here. I'll have some fun while I'm here," came a haunting voice.
"Ah! It really is an ambush!" cried #2, who had gone crazy earlier. The three began firing randomly at the walls, which left the already shabby room in an even larger mess.
"Pathetic, you guys didn't even look in the right direction once. Prepare to suffer for hurting an innocent girl!" cried the voice as a figure fell from the ceiling and made a graceful landing.
"Die!" the yakuza cried in unison, emptying their clips into the figure.
None of the bullets made it to the figure however, as 'clinks' and other sounds of metal meeting metal were heard. When the bullets stopped, the object meeting them stopped too. It turned out to be a Chinese straight sword. It was about 40 inches in length and the blade was black. The figure was revealed to be Ben, but unfortunately for the yakuza they didn't know that this 'boy' would be the one to beat all of them. Ben charged at them, holding both his sheath and his sword. The sheath was completely black and looked like it was made of steel, but the yakuza weren't paying attention, they were just concentrating on reloading and shooting. Ben was holding the sword upright in his right hand and the sheath upside down (he held the base end with the point close to the ground. Imagine a ninja holding a ninjatou). He slammed #1 with the side of the sword as to not kill but to incapacitate. Ben blurred and reappeared right next to #2 and hit him with both a kick to the back and a sheath slash to the legs. A sickening crack was heard as the sheath broke the bones where it hit.
"Interesting moves, boy. Try me though." Said #3, pulling out a pair of tonfas.
"Good, a duel for the last two fighters." Answered Ben. The smile on his face unnerved the remaining yakuza, but he wouldn't tell this to the 'boy' standing in front of him.
#3 made the first move and tried slamming his tonfas into Ben in a pincer attack. Both tonfas were blocked by Ben however. He had used the ends of his sheath to meet with the sides of the tonfas and stop them. With his sword arm still free, he slammed the yakuza into the wall with a slash to his chest. The yakuza flew into the wall with enough force to form a dent. Ben followed up with a last attack, slashing both his sheath and sword at the same time. The movements were hard to follow, but if they were, then the person watching would say that he say Ben slash with both the sheath and sword at the same time and then follow up with the same attack three more times. Ben finished his attack and looked at his handiwork. He had knocked two of the three into unconsciousness without major injury, but the third one would need medical attention. He took a moment to smile at his deed and left. Outside, Shinobu was laying against the front wall, curled up crying. Ben decided to talk about the past moments before taking her to Hinata Sou.
"I'm not going to ask if you're alright because I can see that you aren't after this. I'm sorry that you had to experience such an offense. If I had been here earlier then it wouldn't have happened. Tell me though, why didn't you ask someone to come with you? It would have guaranteed that you wouldn't have been kidnapped."
"I know. Gomenasai, Woo-san. I'm sorry that you had to get involved. I thought that a small trip to the market wouldn't hurt and I didn't want to disturb anyone, so I just left without thinking. I can't believe how dangerous it is!" Cried Shinobu. She was crying desperately. Ben hugged her and felt her ease a bit.
"It's okay that you did what you did. Personally I'm surprised that this happened. I thought Japan was the place where things like this never happened. Well, we should get back now, neh?"
"Hai, we should. Thanks again." said Shinobu.
They walked home with Ben telling Shinobu the details that He had told to both haruka and Motoko. Throughout the conversation Shinobu remained quiet. Both of the teenagers did not note the fact Shinobu was clinging to Ben's arm as if it was a life line. They didn't seem to mind, which was a good sign, until they reached Hinata Sou.
"WOO-SAN!!!!! How could you take advantage of Shinobu and keep her out this late! I thought you were a gentleman and I find out that you have kept our Shinobu out this late!" ranted Motoko, who was acting like a crazed tiger that has broken out of hits cage.
"You should've at least told us! WE are starving, UNLIKE you guys. You probably went to that fancy Arpeggio's restaurant. You should be punished for making tenants of a dormitory starve!" complained Kitsune.
More complaints were yelled at Ben by all the people present except Haruka who was absent, Ben and Shinobu because they knew what really happened, and Keitaro who had seen the look on the former twos' faces. Ben and Shinobu went inside along with Keitaro. The three decided to go to the kanrinin's room to discuss what happened.
"So, Ben, what happened? I can guess where ever you went you didn't have fun at." He said matter of factly, pointing at the sword (in the sheath of course) Ben was holding.
"Oops. Well, it's pretty long, but I think we have time. Before I start, did you talk your half of the dormitory?" asked Ben.
"Yeah. I didn't get hit once. Naru just stared and hugged me, Kitsune took huge gulps out of her bottle, and Su just kept bouncing around as if nothing happened. Please start now." Said Keitaro with a noticeable gesture.
"Well, Shinobu went to the market, but was kidnapped along the way. I hadn't told her about the other details yet and I was getting something to eat. I heard her scream and followed it to her being held by three yakuza members. I just followed them to their little hideout and busted in on them. It wasn't much of a rescue though. We walked home and discussed the details as we walked. Pretty uninteresting except for the kidnapping and the saving." Said Ben casually.
"Well, I'm glad you did what you did Ben. I'll go tell the other tenants." Said Keitaro. He got up, bowed, and left.
"Uh, Woo-san, I--"
"Please just call me Ben. I'm really annoyed with this 'Woo-san'. It sounds as if I'm going to be evicted or something."
"Hai, I will then. I would like to thank you again." Said a blushing Shinobu.
The two looked at each other and saw something special in each others' eyes. Slowly they moved their heads forward and their lips met. The kiss was light, but moved into a more involved one. The two only stopped to take a breath.
"Arigatou, Ben. Goodnight," said Shinobu with a wave.
"Yeah, g'night," replied Ben. Needless to say, the two teens didn't sleep very well that night.
Author's Notes: Man, no one is e-mailing about the titles. Well, the thing'll go until the end of November as I said. The chapter naming will continue to go on as usual too. Once again, look on my AIM profile for more updates. My screen name is TheCrimina1 and my e-mail is benjoewoo@yahoo.com. Ja ne!
