Hey all, DarkHeart here once again. And like I said before in my apology, I am really sorry for not updating in a while. But now I am back and ready to create. So without further ado, Chapter Seven!! BTW, I would like to thank K and M for the personally sent email. Thank you, my friend, and this chapter will be written in honor of you.

Disclaimer: You all know the drill. Ken Akamatsu owns Love Hina, as well as my newest fovorite manga, "Negima". Lucky stiff.....

A Samurai's Heart and a Ronin's Love

Chapter Seven

Hinata-Sou

It had been several weeks since Keitaro became the manager of the Hinata-Sou, and already he has gotten to know the residents a little bit better. And if anyone from the outside knew about his situation, they would think that he was the luckiest bastard ever. And Keitaro would have agreed with them, but it wasn't like that in the beginning. First he had to get to know each one of the girls individually. So he decided to start with the oldest resident, Mitsune Konno.

Mitsune seems to be a very kind person, even when she's drunk. Keitaro found out that she and Naru have been best friends ever since Mitsune's time in High School. It seems that all she ever does with her life is drink Sake. That, and trying to cause mischief to her friends and playfully seducing Keitaro just to get money for more Sake. The results of said seduction usually backfires, but Keitaro does keep her well stocked in her liquor heaven. But deep down, Keitaro knows that Mitsune really cares for her friends and will do anything to help them.

Next is Naru Narusegawa. At first, she and Keitaro didn't get along very well, bacically since she thought of him as a pervert after the Hot Spring incident. But ever since that day with that demon, she started to gain respect for him. She then periodically invited him to study with her and a new aquaintance of theirs, Mutsumi Otohime.

Mutsumi Otohime, a native from Okinawa, is more close to Keitaro's age. She is a third year ronin, not because of grades, but because of her illness and all-around forgetfulness. Still, she tries very hard to get accepted to Todai every time despite the circumstances. She has told both Naru and Keitaro that she has a reason for getting in, but hasn't as yet disclosed the details of the reason. So they decide not to pry that information out of her and let her tell them when she's good and ready.

Next on the list is Hinata-Sou's resident genius, Kaolla Su. Su is, for lack of words, very energetic and very, very eccentric. She has a real knack for science and technology, most often with disastrous results. But even with that, she is a very sweet person. Keitaro also found out that she really loves to eat bananas and anything curried. She's also very playful, but has a strength that is not measured on any charts. She can usually be found hanging around Motoko when she isn't training.

Then there's the newest resident of the Hinata-Sou, Shinobu Maehara. At first, she was very shy around people, especially around Keitaro. But due to the compliments given to her when she cooks for everyone and the help and encouraging words given by Keitaro, she slowly started to break out of her shell of shyness. Ever since then, she started calling Keitaro her Sempai. He doesn't mind. He could also tell that she started to have a crush on him, and he still doesn't mind. In fact, deep down inside, he feels very flattered to be the girl's very first crush.

And finally, the one girl that he actually grew up with so long ago, Motoko Aoyama. She is very dedicated to her art of the sword. She has been declared the successor of the God's Cry School. She works so hard to try and impress her family, especially her sister. But now that her former sensei is back in her life, she tries doubly hard. She even went so far as to ask him to train with her in the very early morning time. Keitaro, of course, agreed. He wanted to see how much she has improved over the years. And in his heart, he felt a closeness to her more than he had with anyone else in his life, even his aunt and grandma.

And now, Back to the present time.

Hinata-Sou: Rooftop--A few minutes before Dawn

Keitaro and Motoko, both clad in the God's Cry School gi and hakama, were in deep meditation, and had been in meditation for about a half hour. After that, they both got into their battle stances, their wooden boken swords at the ready. Then they charged each other. Several minutes flew by and each move known to them from the God's Cry School were flung to each other. This kept up until both of their ki reserves were getting low. So they decided to finish this battle with sheer strength. However, this battle ended like all the battles they had when they were younger, Motoko missing a strike and Keitaro capitalizing by legsweeping her and getting his boken at her neck in her prone position.

"Surrender, Motoko-chan," Keitaro said, "you have lost."

"H-Hai, Sensei," Motoko replied. "I yield. Thank you for sparring with me, Keitaro-sensei. I, I really appreciate it." My god, Motoko thought, he has really improved since I saw him last. I wonder if I will ever be able to defeat him....wait a minute. Why is my heart beating this fast. It's like this every time I am near him. Is it true? Can this be love??

"Motoko-Chan??" Keitaro called out, breaking Motoko's chain of thought.

Upon hearing her name called out, Motoko snapped to her senses and responded. "Yes, Keitaro-sensei? What is it?"

Keitaro cleared his voice and said, "Well, Motoko-Chan, first things first. You don't need to continually call me Sensei. I think during our training that title will suffice. And quite frankly, as friends, it seems so out of place anywhere else. And secondly, it's about time we get ready for our respective schools, don't you think?"

"Hai, Keitaro-Sen...I mean, Keitaro," Motoko replied. "Besides, I am getting a little bit famished. If we hurry, we might just get some breakfast before Su devours it all." And with that, they headed downstairs.

Streets of Hinata City--In the afternoon

Keitaro had just finished his classes at the prep school and was making his way back to Hinata-Sou. He was thinking about the chores that had to be done, when his sixth sense kicked in. He felt a small chi force that had an aura of being in trouble. He turned around and saw a little girl fallen down in the middle of the crosswalk with the light being a stale green. He managed to get out there before the light started to change colors. He managed to get the girl out of the way and onto the safety of the sidewalk, when all of a sudden, the light turned red. Realizing that he was stuck, he quickly threw up a barrier of ki as protection, scrambling to make his way to his own safety. Unfortunately for him, he was almost in safety's reach, when a truck with the driver asleep behind the wheel came barreling down the road in his direction. Damn it, he thought, I don't have enough time to draw my sword to stop this thing. And even with my barrier in place, this is gonna hurt, a lot.

Just as he braced himself for the impact, he heard a very familiar voice call out, "BOULDER CUTTING BLADE!!" Just then, he saw a humongous ki blast slice the truck in half. Fortunately for all that were near the truck(Keitaro and the truck driver included), the attack was so surgically made that the truck wouldn't explode. That same voice then appeared next to Keitaro. "Tell me something, do things like this normally attack people?"

Keitaro looked up at the person and saw they were wearing a gi and hakama that only masters of the God's Cry School would don their appearance with. Immediately, Keitaro recognized who that person really was. He said, "Oh Kami, it has been so long since I have seen you last. How have you been--Tsuruko-Neesan??"

"Na-nani??" Tsuruko blinked. "How do you know who I am? Only two people call me Tsuruko-Neesan, my sister Motoko and my adopted brother...." She trailed off after she felt the familiar ki signature that belonged to the one person that left the school long ago to pursue his own destiny. "Kei-kun, is that you??"

Keitaro smiled one of his heart-melting smiles that he is very well known for, and said, "You've got it, Tsuruko-Neesan. Come, let's go to my new home. I am sure Motoko-chan would be thrilled to see you again. We can even catch up with each other's lives."

And with that, they started to make their way back to the Hinata-Sou, both of them talking and laughing with each other, remembering all the good times they had in their youths. But little did they know, they were being followed by someone or something that would impact the lives of everyone at the Hinata-Sou.

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And there you have it. What will happen next? Will this new presence(Not Tsuruko, mind you) end up being friend or foe? What will Tsuruko's presence bring to Motoko and Keitaro personally?? Is it going to rain at all today? And where the heck is that waitress with my ice water with lemon?? This and much more will be answered in the next chapter, so stay tuned!!

And as I always say, Please Read and Review!!

Thanx--DarkHeart P

DON'T GET ELIMINATED!!