I don't own Love Hina. Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu. The story though is a pigment of my weird imagination. I apologize in advance for all spelling and grammar mistakes.

The U Project: Supremacy

The Final Series

12

O Lord, O Lord

Where were you when we needed you the most?

I cry, I cry

Where were you when Lazarus gasped his last word?

I shiver, I shiver

Our nights became colder

For days I prayed for your return

My only hope, my only saviour

Where were you O Lord?

Lazarus died

He has been dead for three days

---

"You know you're walking into a trap,"

Keitaro looked up in surprise.

He has been walking aimlessly for hours. He knew where he needed to go. But his heart was aching, his soul broken, his mind wandering in space. He has been on this lonely road before. For some reason, he felt lonelier now than he had ever been in his life. And he knew why.

Hinata Apartments.

Everything was simpler back then. Before the fateful day he answered his grandmother's request. Before he stepped inside the Hinata Apartments. Before he met the girls.

His life was – ordinary – normal. He only had one aspiration that kept him moving. Yes, he was alone but somehow he felt comfortable living alone. No one to worry about, no one to think about, nobody else to please. He was just like any other guy trying his best to pass the entrance exams. Nothing else mattered.

He only had one thing in his heart. One girl. One memorable kiss. One promise.

Let's make a promise…

We'll meet again at Tokyo University.

But now. He felt pain he never knew existed. An unbearable pain eating his heart, mind and soul.

Would it have been better if I never met them at all?

Would it have been better if I never answered Grandma Hina's call?

Would it have been better…?

It was so simple back then.

So simple.

Keitaro listed. His world swam in and out of him. A hand in his chest, a grimace in his face, he knelt to the floor. Eyes closed, brows screwed tight. He was trying to breathe but could not. Fighting that emptiness that was threatening to overcome him. Fighting that overwhelming fear.

Is it really this hard to fight for someone you love? To die, giving up your life for the one dearest to you.

No.

It's hard to live alone. It's hard to fight and face the unknown alone… it's hard to die alone.

Looking up, Keitaro heard that familiar voice. That oddly familiar face looking down on him with cold merciless blue eyes full of contempt.

"What do you mean?" Keitaro asked.

"I said you know you're walking into a trap," Her voice savagely unemotional. Empty.

Silence.

"Karen?" Keitaro knew. He had seen her before. Another image from his missing six years. Another unknown memory hidden deep inside the recesses of his troubled mind.

They would never stop haunting me. Never… no matter how hard I try to forget… that's why I have to end this. No matter what.

A pause.

Keitaro slowly stood, his head low, "It doesn't matter… I will end this one way or another,"

Silence.

"Idiot… the man you will be facing is the most feared assassin in the world. It has taken us two years to finally track him down. We're even lucky to finally discover his name… Mikael…"

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for what happened to your friend… I really am… but throwing away your life just so you can justify your own failure is nothing more than a stupid waste…"

Silence.

"My life IS a waste… it always has…"

A sigh.

Karen approached Keitaro, placed a hand gently on his face, stared deep into his eyes, and whispered, "I understand now. I understand what you've been trying to do for the last four years… Keyu… you were trying to bring Keitaro's life back… aren't you?"

A pause.

"You knew that you won't last long… you were living on a borrowed time… you were trying to give Keitaro what was rightfully his… his life… that's why you couldn't… that's why you left me… we didn't stand a chance… it wasn't yours to give…" Then Karen's eyes became cold, her touch forceful, "Keitaro listen to me… Keyu sacrificed everything for you… he prepared everything for you… the letters, the money… even your own safety… he fought hard to stay alive so that he can live on protecting you even though he knew… he knew all along that his own identity will disappear… that he will perish within you… he wanted YOU to stay alive Keitaro… so you can live the life you missed… HE SACRIFICED EVERYTHING FOR YOU!"

Silence.

A pause.

"Then what should I do? I don't know what to do,"

"Fight… and live,"

"I don't know how… I don't know if I can do this…"

"I will be here beside you… like old days…"

Keitaro gingerly touched Karen's hands.

"Why are you doing this Karen?"

"Because once… I met a decent man… a real man. A man with honor. A man who would stop at nothing… I met that man in you Keitaro… because a long time ago, in another lifetime… I met you,"

And because for the first time in my life… I fell inlove. I fell inlove with you… Keyu.

---

"You'll be safe here… the council have abandoned this church when the project was completed… they won't bother looking for you in here,"

"Thank you Keyu… we wouldn't have survived without you,"

Lightning.

"I better go… the CIA is launching an all out assault against the council… if we're lucky we can stop them before they hit another one of their targets. I want you to stay here and keep watch. The dungeons downstairs can be useful in case the council send one of their soldiers. I will visit you whenever I can,"

"Bless you Keyu. Bless you. May God's strength be with you,"

"Thank you father… I guess I'm going to need that more than anything… and I have one favor to ask you if it's alright…"

"Certainly my child… please… I'll do everything I can,"

Lightning.

Thunder.

Sound of torn paper.

"Someday… in the future… somebody will start looking for a man… for me… she could be any of these names… any of these pictures…"

Lightning.

"She?"

"Yes… I want you to give her this… this is the only proof of my own existence… if I… if I don't make it back… please… make them understand… my sincerest apologies for the delay of Keitaro's return,"

"Keitaro… Keitaro Urashima?"

"Yes… my original name… my original identity… my original soul,"

"You… father Piyad was merciful all along! You found them Keyu! You found the girls!"

Lightning.

The priest stood, grabbed the young man's shoulders, "We can bring Keitaro back! We can merge him with you! We have the right equipments in here Keyu! You can finally live!"

Thunder.

"I can't"

Lightning.

"I'm sorry but I can't… the holy council will stop at nothing to destroy me… Keitaro won't have a ghost of a chance to survive… I'm sorry… but I can't turn my back at the crimes of the holy council… they have to be stopped,"

Thunder.

---

Father Reniel woke with a start.

He groaned. His back was aching, wet with cold sweat. Blamed himself for falling asleep on the hard wooden bench outside the open courtyard facing the well-tended garden. A porcelain fountain in the center and ancient carved rocks lined the outer circle. The sun was shining brightly that morning. Cold winds gusting through. Flowers in bloom. Green grass trimmed, soft and lush. A flock of birds flying overhead.

He had dreamt of that night again. The night they first arrived in this abandoned church. Their sanctuary from the cruel inquisition of the holy council. Only three of them survived from the original twenty researchers and scientists. All martyred priests and ministers, men of God.

They were labeled dregs of the catholic faith. Men who could not ignore the allure of science. And so they were used in a massive project hidden from the pope and church councils all over the world. Code-named – The U Project. When the project was completed, their faith was questioned, their allegiance tested, facing tortures and brutal executions, many died. In silence, in the dark, forgotten.

Father Reniel never blamed the council. He had resigned himself to this fate. Playing God, is there anything more deserving than his sin? He deserved nothing more than a painless death.

But one thing held him. A glimmer of hope. Of salvation.

Keyu Unetvicesima, the twenty-first.

Keitaro Urashima.

He promised himself that he would see things through the very end. Keyu Unetvicesima was the embodiment of the project's success. If he could bring him back, if he could bring the soul Keyu had lost, everything would be worth it.

And the woman's sudden appearance, a sign. After four long years…

"Father Reniel," A soft call.

Father Reniel turned and found his companion looking down on him. A sad smile. Grey hair and brows, deep lines in his face. Old age finally catching up with him, with both of them.

"It's been too long my dear friend, father Marcus,"

"Yes, father Reniel… and I feel the winds of change… it will all be over soon,"

Father Reniel turned towards the sky.

"Our guest has finally awakened,"

---

Mutsumi felt out of place.

She found herself inside an ancient looking room. Soft mattress, white sheets, four post bed, stone made walls, classic wooden furniture, high wooden ceiling. She felt like she was on a completely different world. Everything looked foreign. English.

On the right side, she could see a tall hole, exquisitely designed as a window.

Am I on a castle or something?

"I trust that you have rested well,"

Mutsumi gasped and quickly turned towards the door, grabbed the sheets and covered her shivering body. Looking at her from the high mahogany door on the far corner of the room were two brown robed old priests.

Silence.

"I… I…" Mutsumi stammered, trying her best to hide her shock.

"I'm sorry to scare you like this… I guess it never occurred to me that our looks might have strike as outlandish to you,"

"No… No… I've seen the likes of you before," The likes of you? What am I? Some sort of a papist racist? "No… sorry… it's just that foreign friars are quite few in this area, especially a foreign built structure like this," Mutsumi opened her palms.

The taller priest nodded. A smile that seemed to have been carved directly from his face but never lost its radiance became wider.

"True… true… but where are my manners… let me introduce myself. My name is father Marcus Rotherdam, I originally came from St John's Church of Scotland, here beside me is…" Turning towards his companion, "father Reniel Garreitt from Italy,"

Mutsumi nodded then slowly bowed. Japanese formal introduction.

"My name is…"

"Mutsumi Otohime," Father Reniel continued for her, "A Tokyo University Psychology graduate and currently studying marine biology,"

Mutsumi for the second time that day was shocked.

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to scare you. We understand your concern. Two strangers who know everything about you… we're not surprised with your reaction. Although your anemic condition did take us unawares. We thought that with the advancement in medicine your health should have improved,"

Mutsumi smiled, "It's okay. I'm always like this… I've tried but… I guess there's nothing I can do about it,"

A pause.

"Well… I guess I should ask the obvious… how and why?" Mutsumi started.

"As we have told you before, we've been instructed by Keyu Unetvicesima or should I say Keitaro Urashima to wait for your arrival and when you finally arrive we were told to give you this," Father Reniel held out a thick red book.

"What is this?"

"Keyu Unetvicesima's own words, Keitaro's diary…"

"Keyu… who? Keitaro? What's going on?"

A sigh.

"Six years ago, there was a horrific accident in the northern beaches of Japan. A plane on its way to Tokyo airport crashed in the northern beach a few miles from here. The priest stationed here – father Piyad, assisted with the rescue effort. So many died that night. And one of them… was Keitaro Urashima,"

Mutsumi shook. It took her a moment to realize that she was holding her breath. Gasped for air. She heard the story before, although she never heard Keitaro's name in it. But to hear it now, to hear Keitaro's full name along side death made her feel nauseous.

"But… but that doesn't make sense… Keitaro returned to us a week ago. He's alive… how could you say he died?"

Father Reniel turned towards father Marcus, grim seriousness in their faces then nodded.

"We did it," Father Reniel whispered.

"Please… tell us… how is Keitaro's condition?" Father Marcus approached Mutsumi.

Mutsumi was puzzled with the priests' reactions. And so she described Keitaro's sudden return to the Hinata Apartments. His physical condition and lost memory. How she and the local doctor concluded that Keitaro could be suffering from a well-debated dissociative identity disorder.

And it took her a while to finish her story.

Then silence.

"You said there were two brain patterns…"

"Yes… yes…" Mutsumi nodded vigorously, "Yes… the documents we received from Tokyo hospital indicates varying brain patterns…"

"But… now… how about now…"

"Well I remember reading that there was a faint line below the normal or original pattern that has been ruled out as physical anomaly caused by the head injury…"

A pause.

Then father Marcus turned towards father Reniel, his eyes wide, his face a mixture of relief and astonishment, "He's still alive… my God… Keyu might still be alive!"

"Keyu is that kind of man… he would never let go… he would fight till the end… it will all depend on Keitaro now… if he'll let him," Father Reniel nodded in assent.

Silence.

"What… what are you talking about? I'm so sorry… but I'm so confused… what's going on?" Mutsumi asked; her mind in chaos.

A pause.

"Keitaro died the night the plane crashed. Father Piyad did all he could but it was too late. Keitaro has been dead for three hours. Then father Piyad used… the project,"

"The project?"

"Yes… The U Project… and Keitaro lived… he became Keyu…"

Silence.

Father Reniel placed his hand on Mutsumi's shoulders, stared deep into her eyes, his voice a plea, forcing her to understand, willing her to understand, "What science failed to recognize is the possibility of human life to defeat death. Our body is nothing more than a living vessel. Father Piyad tried to save that empty shell but he also did his best to save the most important part of Keitaro's body, an entirely independent entity… Keitaro's soul. For six years we thought we failed… because we thought we lost that entity… but now… now Keitaro has truly returned… he is truly alive!"

A pause.

Then Mutsumi's eyes widened. She finally understood. And she felt hatred rising deep within her, "My God! You filthy monsters! You blasphemous idiots! What have you done! You were playing God… you were trying to imitate God's true miracles – The Resurrection!"

"A true resurrection…"

"Lazarus!"

---

"Where are you going Motoko?" Kitsune was trying to catch her breath. She searched the whole upper floors in haste when she came back to their room and found Motoko's bed empty.

Motoko did not turn. Her right hand was still bandaged, leaning heavily on her sword, trying hard not to show her pain.

"Leave me alone Kitsune…" A warning. A desperate plea.

A pause.

"Tell me Motoko… what are you planning to do?"

Silence.

"I'm going to look for him. I'm going to bring him back… I WON'T LET KEITARO LEAVE US AGAIN!"

Steps.

"Think Motoko… how could you possibly find him. Su left early this morning to return to her homeland because she was the first to see Keitaro leave; I could only imagine what she's going through right now… Shinobu could barely hold on… Naru… Naru just lost all will to live… Motoko, I beg you. We need each other more than anyone right now… please don't break our family again… we need you Motoko,"

Motoko quickly turned, her eyes wet with tears, her face contorted with pure sorrow and despair, "ALL I NEED IS KEITARO!"

Silence.

Kitsune nodded. She did her best to stop her tears but her sadness ate through her, "I… I need him too, Motoko,"

And they both cried.

A meter apart.

Silence.

Steps.

Then Shinobu appeared behind Kitsune.

"Motoko-sempai, Kitsune-sempai… I received a call from Mutsumi-sempai… I… I told her what happened… and… and she told me… she told me she knows where Sempai could be!"

---

It was an abandoned warehouse.

This was the original facility used by the holy council to train the subjects who have been part of The U Project. After the second year, the first phase of the project was completed and so the warehouse was no longer needed.

The priests and ministers who have been part of the first phase have all been hunted and annihilated mercilessly. Burying all evidence of the Project's existence except for several subjects who survived the brutal training. But in the end, the subjects themselves turned to each other; it was inherent in their nature to destroy all other subjects, the sole survivor would be crowned the supreme of The U Project.

Mikael Undevicesimus, the nineteenth.

He believed that with all his body, mind and will. He never believed in a soul, because he never had one. His original identity, his original soul was weak and so he did not bother to look for it. He could not find any sense to it.

There was only the two of them left now. Keyu Unetvicesima, the twenty-first and him.

Tonight they would battle for the supremacy of The U Project.

There should only be one supreme project.

Steps.

A shadow etched the floor below the single luminous bulb hanging in the middle of the empty space.

Underneath a black cloudless, starless sky. The night was getting older.

Mikael smiled, murderous grin, red bloody eyes, "You're here…"

Cold eyes glared back at him in the dark.

"IT WILL END TONIGHT!" Keitaro shouted.

"Yes… yes… let the show begin!"

A flash of metal.

Hei there guys and gals! I'm so sorry for the delay of this chapter. I've already finished half of chapter thirteen, the last chapter of the supremacy series. I am planning to upload it this coming Friday or Monday morning. I assure you this fic will end before August. There's no need to hold something like this and stop the inevitable. It has been a good long ride. And I'm happy that several readers have been with me all these times.

And hopefully, by then, when I finally finish this fic I could concentrate on writing reviews to some very good fics and very talented writers out there that I admire… all I need is time. I couldn't get myself to sit and write long enough let alone read and review. There's just too much work to do with lesser time to do them. And so I apologize again.

Thank you so much for the reviews and for the support. For some reason, I'm beginning to start thinking that I'm writing this story not for myself but to see how my readers would react. I beg you to stay with me a little longer. There are three chapters left – Chapter 13, The Last Chapter; Red Book Entries; and finally – The Epilogue.

Well, I hope I didn't get you too confused with this chapter. I tried answering all your questions, even the DID ones. In any case… if you got any, let me know on the reviews. I'll see you next chapter!

Cheers!

nivremous