Whoa, didn't think that I would upset so many people. You're acting like I killed her! She'll be back, I promise! Sorry that you are upset at Kaolla leaving, but I didn't do it to spite anyone. To tell the truth, I'm a Kaolla Su fan boy, too, so it upset me a bit to write her out! =) Anyway, I did this for a reason… You'll see all see what I mean in Volume 3. Kaolla leaving sets off a chain of events that drastically change things, starting in this two-parter that concludes this volume!

Anyway, I finished reading Negima! last night. It's pretty cool so far. I'm not sure who my favorite girl is, but the character named 'Nodoka Miyazaki' is quickly shaping up to be my favorite. She's so cute!

Back to the topic at hand… Since this is fan fiction, I am not held back by what the publishers or the fans want. (Like Mr. Akamatsu was, unfortunately.) I can do whatever I want with the story, and I am sorry if any of the choices I make upset, offend, or just down right piss you off. But I have the story planned out. I know the basics of what will happen to certain people, I know how this all ends. Trust me, there will be a few plot twists later on, to make things more interesting…

Once again, I am sorry for upsetting you fellow Su fans… Gyah, I knew this was a bad idea…

---Kouji Tamino

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Love Hina Next

Chapter 25: Reliability (Part 1)

Rikina woke up that very next morning, her eyes red from crying all night. She sat up and blankly stared at the wall. She rubbed her eyes and flinched. Her eye area was sore from all the salt water. "Kaolla…" she muttered softly. She watched as Shima stood in the doorway, waving sheepishly.

"Hey…" Shima muttered. "You have to get up… The ceremony is today, y'know…"

"…Why didn't you stop them?" Rikina asked him.

"Huh?" tilted his head, confused.

Rikina glared. "Don't play dumb… I'm talking about Luu and my sister…"

Shima frowned. "Rikina, you know that it would be next to impossible to beat him--"

"So what?!" Rikina screamed, standing up and glaring at him. "Keitaro would have killed himself to protect his friends!"

Shima scowled, crossing his arms. "Well sorry, but I'm not my father, okay?!"

Rikina scoffed. "Yeah, that's for sure…" She looked him right into the face. "You could never be the man your father is…"

Shima punched the wall, making a hole. "Shut up!! You know, that's another reason of why I resented my father! People were always comparing me to him! They were all 'Oh, why can't you be more like Keitaro?' You know why?!" Shima screamed, grabbing Rikina by her collar. "Because I'm not my father, okay?!" He dropped her roughly to the ground. After realizing what he had done, he sighed and put a hand out to help her up. "Rikina, I'm--"

Rikina slapped his hand away, turning away from him. "Leave me alone, you monster…"

Shima sighed again. "Rikina--"

She looked back to him, a look of hatred upon her face. "STAY WAY FROM ME!! Damn you! You may try to be nice, but in the end, you're no better than Amuro! Get the hell away from me!! I fucking hate you!!"

Shima's eyes widened. He bit his lip, turning away. "Fine… You want me to get away, I'll never bother you again…" He walked out of the room. "But if you miss Tokyo U's entrance ceremony, it won't be my fault…" And with that, he was gone.

Rikina sniffled a bit, then got back up from the floor. "I'll go… But I'm not going with him…"

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And so, they arrived at the entrance ceremony. Well, Tokimi and Shima, that is. They looked all around, but couldn't find Rikina anywhere. Suddenly, Tokimi spotted her. "Hey! Rikina, over here!"

Rikina looked over to her best friend and smiled. Tokimi's bright face always cheered her up. But she saw Shima standing next to Tokimi and her smile quickly turned into a glare. Just as quickly as she had looked to Tokimi, she looked away and walked off. Tokimi frowned. "Hey Rikina, wait--" She was stopped by Shima, who grabbed her shoulder gently.

Shima shook his head. "Don't even think about it right now… Rikina is seriously pissed right now…"

Tokimi looked to Shima, confused. "Hm? Why?"

Shima sighed. "My temper finally caught up with me… I grabbed her, yelled at her, then threw her to the ground…"

Tokimi frowned. "That doesn't sound like you…" She sighed. "Maybe we all need some time to cool down… Things have been stressful lately."

Shima nodded. "Yeah, maybe you're right… Maybe I should try to stay away from her for a while…" However, that's easier said than done…

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Shima opened the door to the bathroom. He gasped as he caught Rikina on the toilet. "Oh god, my bad, Rikina…" He muttered, covering his face.

Rikina growled, quickly pulling up her panties and grabbing the nearest item she could find, an umbrella, and chasing Shima with it. "Damn you! First you're mean to me, then you peek on me on the toilet! Sicko! I should have you castrated for that! I'll kill you, you bastard!"

"Honestly, I didn't do it on purpose!" Shima yelled, running from the angry woman.

-----

Shima whistled, carrying some dirty clothes to the laundry room. He opened the door, and gasped as he got an eye full of island princess booty. He had accidentally walked in on Rikina, who was cleaning/changing her lingerie. He gulped, his nose leaking.

Rikina glared daggers at the man. "Don't you ever learn?!" She screamed, kicking him in the face twice, then kicking him a third time to knock him out of the laundry room.

Shima stood up shakily, dizzying from the face kicks. "Why do I keep running in to her, especially in such situations?" He grinned. "Not that I mind, but--"

"I heard that!!" Rikina screamed from behind the door.

Shima then ran/wobbled off to go somewhere else and wash his clothes by hand. Maybe that would be safer…

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Meanwhile, outside, Motoko walked up to Hinata House. She sadly stared at the building. She had gotten a phone call that said Kaolla was to leave the building, possibly forever. She hurried down as fast as she could, but it was too late. She soon got a call that said that Kaolla had already left by the time that she had been called the first time. She sighed. "I will miss you, old friend…" Still, she decided to still come over in order to help comfort those who might need it.

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In the kitchen, Ami was helping Shinobu cook lunch. She sadly watched as Shinobu cried silently, her tears slowly dripping down her face. She pouted. "Shinobu, please don't cry… You'll get the food all salty…"

Shinobu forced her self to smile, making for a very demented looking grin. She 'smiled' at Ami. "Oh, I'm not crying, Ami! See?"

Ami sweat dropped. 'Actually, not to be rude or anything, maybe it would be better if she cried…' Ami heard someone enter the house. She hopped and ran out into the lounge. "Wait a sec!" Ami yelled, running to greet the person. Her powers hadn't been working lately, for some strange reason. She became worried. What if Meiruuna struck during this time of vulnerability? She was already the weaker of the sisters. Without her powers, Ami would be completely helpless against Meiruuna.

Ami was suddenly bonked on the head lightly with a sword sheath, interrupting her thoughts. "Ow!" She looked up to see Motoko, who smiled at the girl.

"Sorry if that hurt, Ami… It's just that you seemed spaced out, as if possessed." Motoko looked around. "Where's Sarah? Besides Rikina and myself, Sarah was probably the closest to Kaolla… She must be really torn up about this…"

Ami thought for a moment. "I think she may be down at the café… Go check there…"

Motoko nodded. "Thank you, Ami…" She wlaked back out, down the to Hinata Caf

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"Aw come on, Sarah…" Nina pouted. "Ya know you wanna cry…"

Sarah's eyebrow twitched. "No, I don't…"

Nina stared at Sarah. "Yes ya do!"

"No I don't!" Sarah screamed, slamming her fist onto the table.

"Hello, Sarah…" Motoko greeted, bowing. "I… heard about Kaolla…"

"Oh, Motoko!" Sarah yelled, bursting out crying. She stood up and hugged the samurai. "I miss her so much already! She was my best friend!"

Motoko patted her on the back. "There, there… Go on ahead and cry… No one will think less of you…"

Sarah looked up and sniffled. "Motoko?"

Motoko gave a comforting smile. "Yes, Sarah?"

"… Can I have a cookie?" Sarah asked pitifully.

Motoko sweat dropped, but smiled at Sarah. "Yes, Sarah…"

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Later that day, Shima got up from the floor, recovering from his 5th beating for accidentally running in on her that day. He flinched, his body aching. "Ow, Rikina sure can hit hard… One of her punches feels like three guys punching me at once…" He decided that he would go outside and get some fresh air. No way to run in on Rikina there.

As he walked outside, he found Motoko, Sarah, Shinobu, and Rikina eating cookies, crying out loud. He sweat dropped. Not wanting to disturb them, he slowly began walking away. Unfortunately, he stepped on a twig, alerting them of his presence. He froze as the girls jerked their heads toward him, Rikina giving him a deadly glare. If looks could kill, he would have been killed ten times over right then and there. He gulped. "Um, hi…"

Rikina gritted her teeth. "How dare you disturb our sacred mourning ritual!"

The other girls sweat dropped. "Um, 'mourning ritual'?" Sarah muttered. "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? It's not like she's dead…"

Suddenly, Kimomo walked outside. "Um… I smelled cookies!"

Shima looked back to Kimomo. "Whew, saved by the samurai girl…" He quickly ran back into the building while Rikina was distracted.

Kimomo spotted her mother, and quickly ran over to her. "Mommy! You're here!!"

Motoko put a hand out, pushing Kimomo away. "I don't know why you keep insisting that I am your mother…" She crossed her arms. "But it is really getting annoying…"

Kimomo whimpered. "But… mother, why don't you believe me?"

Motoko scowled. "Because my daughter was murdered along with her father!"

Kimomo's eyes widened. "They told you that? Mother, that's a lie! I was spared, and put into an orphanage!"

Motoko smirked. "Fine, you think you are my daughter? Let's have a little sword challenge, then… If you can get a hit on me, then I will accept you as my daughter… If you can't, however… you will leave me alone, forever!"

Kimomo bit her lip nervously. "But mother, you know that you are much more experienced than me…"

Motoko grinned. "So, you'll just give up without even trying? If so, then you've already lost--"

"Alright, I'll do it!" Kimomo unsheathed her sword. "Prepare yourself!"

Motoko chuckled, unsheathing her own sword. "This should be interesting…"

The others quietly watched as mother and daughter clashed. Kimomo struck down with her sword, only to hit air. She gasped, turning around to see her mother, smirking. "Too slow…" Motoko stared at Kimomo, who was staring wide eyed. She chuckled. "So, are you just going to stand there? You'll never hit me doing that…"

Kimomo screamed, running towards Motoko and slashing the air wildly. She breathed heavily, not getting a single hit. She stopped, realizing that she would never hit her like that. She calmed down, and looked around. She gasped as her mother appeared behind her. "Sorry, you need more practice…" Motoko jumped back and sliced the air once.

Kimomo raised an eyebrow as her clothes suddenly shredded. Here eyes widened as she began hyperventilating. 'My god, she's on a completely different level than me!'

Motoko stared hard at Kimomo. "Pathetic… You couldn't even sense a single one of my movements…" She glared, gritting her teeth. "You're no daughter of mine…"

Kimomo's lip trembled, tears running down her face.

End of Chapter 25

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And there's Part 1! Hee hee! I'll post Part 2 tomorrow!