A/N: Before we get this story started, I should probably explain a few things.
Ken Akamatsu, the author of Love Hina, has shared a lot of his initial ideas for the series before it started being serialized. Many things changed between the initial conception and the final product. For example, pretty much all of the main characters had vastly different personalities compared to what we are familiar with. Additionally, the initial premise was somewhat different. I found these differences to be rather interesting and I thought, "Why not try to go through the story with these different personalities and see what changes?"
So, it should come as no surprise that many characters will be vastly OOC. Additionally, I will be mixing and matching plot elements from the final product and the initial conception. Though admittedly, there isn't much of the initial conception to work with. Basically, this is an AU.
Some characters had different names during the prototype stage, like Naru was initially named Midori and Keitaro's last name was originally Akaishizawa, not Urashima. However, I will not be using their original names as I find it unnecessary and it would likely be confusing.
Keitaro will not be invincible in this. He can take real damage just like everyone else.
Su and Shinobu are aged up in this story. They are both 16. Su was originally planned to be older than she was in canon. Even though Shinobu was set to be her canonical age (12-13) fairly early on, I'm aging her up mostly so she can have a reasonable chance to be with Keitaro, since the rest of the girls are closer to his age.
The initial opening will be similar to how it plays out in canon, but not exactly the same. The story will quickly deviate off of the original canon.
With that all out of the way, let's begin!
-Hinata Town-
You know, why do I do this to myself? I've been trying to get into Tokyo U for 2 years now just so I can fulfill a promise to a girl who's name and face I cannot remember. I've failed to enter the university twice now, and now my parents are kicking me out because of it. Isn't that just great? They've been saying that I'm stupid for pursuing and fulfilling a promise with a person I barely remember. I wonder if they're right. Well, it doesn't matter. They said until I enter some college, whether that be Tokyo U or another college, I am not allowed to live there anymore. Shouldn't be a problem, even if I've failed twice, I'm still fairly smart! I can totally enter if I try again! Just wait and see, mom and dad! I'll show you what I'm capable of!
These are the thoughts of Keitaro Urashima, a 19 year old 2-time ronin who is currently on his motorcycle, making his way towards Hinata Inn. He's hoping that his grandmother will graciously let him stay for a little bit while he tries once again to enter Tokyo U. Originally, he was wanting to enter the prestigious university to fulfill a promise he made with a girl when he was 5 years old. After failing twice and being disowned by his parents because of it, he has come to care less about that stupid promise and he now mostly wants to prove his parents wrong and keep his pride intact.
-Hinata Inn-
After riding his motorcycle for about 30 minutes, he soon comes upon the inn that he hasn't visited in well over a decade. Looks similar to how I remember it. He thinks as he gazes upon it from the base of the giant hill that it sits upon. Parking his motorcycle in the parking lot, he begins to make his way up the steps, ignoring the teahouse that he passes by, he soon comes right in front of the giant building in all its glory.
It feels bigger than I remember. He thinks as he knocks on the door. Not hearing a reply, he slowly opens the door to find no one inside. Taking a look at his surroundings, he finds the place to be much larger than he ever remembered it being. The staircase is in front of him and a little to his right. The living room is to his full right. To the left of the stairs is a hallway leading further into the inn. Finally, to the left is the entrance to the kitchen.
As he explores, he finds that while the size is impressive, the architecture and overall state of the inn is rather depressing. Finding stains on the walls, dust piled up on counters and on the floor, as well as a few holes here or there, the inn has certainly seen better days.
It's clear that this isn't well taken care of. Isn't this an inn? Why in the world is no one maintaining it? Are they wanting to drive customers away? Keitaro cannot comprehend why the inn is in such a deplorable state. If granny doesn't intend to keep it in an acceptable condition, why doesn't she just tear it down?
"Granny? Are you here?" He calls throughout the first floor of the inn. The only reply he gets is complete silence. Eventually, he stumbles upon the hot springs. Unlike the rest of the inn, the hot springs appears to be kept up rather well. Seeing nothing particularly grimy, gross, or destroyed, he suddenly decides to take a small dip to rest his body after traveling here.
Finding a nearby changing room, he takes his clothes off and wraps himself in a towel that the room provides. Entering the hot springs, he ooh's and aaah's as he lowers himself into the water.
"Man, there is nothing like soaking yourself in a body of pure, clean hot water. It feels all the stress from trying to enter Tokyo U and getting along with my family is washing completely away." Smiling to himself and leaning himself back in the water, he intends to enjoy this pleasant feeling as much as he can.
Suddenly, Keitaro hears the door open and feels like his heart stopped for a brief moment. Who just entered?
"Heya Mitsune, did you already make it here before me? It's not nice to run ahead me you know!" A voice, obviously a girl's, says once she enters the room.
Mitsune? Who's Mitsune? He can't help but wonder.
Hearing her enter the water, she appears to get closer and closer to Keitaro, who's too surprised to even move. "C-Can't she see that I'm obviously not this "Mitsune" person she's referring to?!"
Finally, he breaks out of his shocked state and tries to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the girl in question grabs him by the waist from behind.
"Haha! Gotcha! You can't run from me! Now, it's time to see if you've gotten a bigger bust since last time!"
Moving her hands upwards, she suddenly pauses once she reaches his chest. He makes no effort to resist, as he is once again stunned due to feeling a girls' touch.
Neither of them moving an inch, the girl slowly says, "Um…Mitsune. Have you gotten…flatter? I don't think that's possible…" Squinting her eyes to try to see who exactly she is touching, she notices that the hair color between Mitsune and this individual are not the same. The hair she is seeing is mostly black, while the hair color she was expecting to see is more silver in color.
"Your hair is the wrong color too…wait a minute! You're not Mitsune!" Swiftly turning him around, she is met with the face of a person she doesn't know. And this person is obviously a male from the looks of it!
Running out of the hot springs and away from him, she screams in horror, "P-P-P-Pervert! There's a pervert in the bath! Mitsune! Save me!"
Keitaro is utterly bewildered at what just happened, but he knows that it isn't good. There's clearly a misunderstanding. "W-wait! I'm not a pervert! I was in here before you! You entered and touched me on your own! It should've been clear at a glance I'm not this Mitsune you somehow thought I was!"
"A-and a complete stranger at that!" She counters. "W-Who even are you?! Did you come to an all-girls dormitory just to molest us?! W-well, I'll have you know we have a kendo warrior here who can punish you!"
"Listen! I'm sorry for my unannounced arrival and this awkward meeting between us." He gets out of the hot springs and faces her. With a bow, he says, "I'm Keitaro Urashima. I've come here looking for my grandmother who I'm hoping will let me stay here for the time being."
"S-Stay here?!" She shouts, quite frightened.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, "Naru! Are you alright?! I heard screaming, just what the heck happened in he-" She didn't complete her sentence before she sees Keitaro clad in just a bath towel.
"Thank goodness you're here Mitsune! This pervert just showed up out of nowhere and claimed that he's looking for his grandmother and is hoping to stay here! Please get him out!"
The girl, apparently known as Mitsune, turns her head towards Keitaro and gives him a scowl. "Either you're the bravest man or the stupidest man on the planet for what just happened. Considering you're a complete stranger and you decided to just get in the hot springs of an all-girls dorm all willy-nilly like that, it's safe to assume the latter. Now, I'm going to report you to Haruka and she'll decide what to do with a filthy man like you."
Keitaro tries to proclaim his innocence, "Listen! I'm sorry for getting in the hot springs like that all of a sudden! I hardly saw any cars at the base of the inn so I figured no one was here except granny. I have no perverted intentions! Really! Also, Haruka-san is here? She's my aunt, she can explain I'm not a perverted stranger!"
Mitsune brushes this off, "Uh huh, sounds like something a pervert would say. You're idiotic just like all the others here are. Now, I'll be turning you in." With that, she begins to chase after Keitaro with the intent to capture him.
"Yikes!" He yelps as he begins to run away. Running into the same hallway he initially passed through. He runs past a dark-skinned girl with blonde hair. Mitsune accidentally bumps into her.
"Sorry about that Su-chan! Just trying to catch a pervert!" She calls back.
Su puts a finger to her chin and ponders for a moment, "Chasing a pervert huh? Well, sounds like something to ease up my boredom. Let me help you!" Suddenly, she begins chasing him as well.
"Why?! Why is this happening to me?! I just wanted to see granny about staying here! I didn't want to get into this giant mess! Who even are these girls?! That Mitsune girl said something about an all-girls dorm? Isn't this supposed to be an inn?!
Taking a quick glance behind him, he notices that Su is now also running after him. "Aw crap!" He shouts as he runs up the stairs, hoping granny would be up here to talk some sense into them.
Instead of his grandmother, he instead runs past a long-black haired girl who is currently walking down the hallway, appearing to be heading for the stairs.
Su's the one to bump into her this time. Sticking her tongue at her while running, she says "Tch. Move outta the way Aoyama-san!"
"Don't try to run into me then!" Motoko barks back. After the three runners turn a corner, she suddenly blushes, "Was…was that a man who ran by just now?"
Having no luck finding his grandmother or aunt on the second floor, Keitaro runs back downstairs, still somehow managing to outrun the two girls chasing after him.
As they run into the kitchen, Keitaro accidentally bumps slightly into a short blue-haired girl who is delicately pouring some oil into a measuring cup. As soon as Keitaro bumps into her, she jerks the bottle of oil forward and proceeds to dump way more into the pot than she intended to.
Swiftly turning around and seeing who exactly pushed her, she shouts in an angry voice, "HEY! What the heck is wrong with you?! You just ruined dinner!"
"Sorry!" He calls back to her, his voice gradually growing more silent the further he runs away from her position.
Mitsune says as she passes her, "Sorry Maehara-san! He's a pervert so we are trying to catch him!"
She replies irritated, "Well do it already! And don't come barging through the kitchen while I'm cooking to do so! I'm already nearing the end of my limited patience with you morons!" She returns her attention to the pot so that she can attempt to salvage the soup she is currently making.
After another thirty seconds of chasing, the front door suddenly opens and a loud voice is heard throughout the Hinata Inn "Keitaro-san! Are you in here?"
Keitaro, recognizing the voice, makes his way to the front door. Stopping in front of the door, he sees Haruka. Standing next to her is her 8 year old daughter, Misaki. Misaki has brown shoulder-length hair that ties up into pigtails. At the base of each of her pigtails are two giant purple bows.
"Onii-chan!" Misaki shouts as she latches herself onto Keitaro's legs.
"We've got you now!" Mitsune announces as she closes the gap between herself and her target. Right before she grabs him though, she notices the presence of Haruka and Misaki.
"Haruka-san! Naru-san and I found this pervert in the hot springs a moment ago! We need you to punish him!" Then, noticing Misaki who is currently hugging him tightly, she adds, "Misaki! Get off of him! He's a pervert and you don't even know him!"
The young girl hisses at her, "I do know him. He's my onii-chan! Don't take me away from him!"
She is surprised at this response. How does she know him?
Keitaro, going through enough chaos as it is, begs Haruka, "Please Haruka-san! Explain to them I'm not the pervert they are claiming me to be!"
At this point, the three other girls have come by to see what in the world is going on.
Haruka sighs and says, "Girls, you don't need to be so tense. I know him. This is my nephew, Keitaro Urashima. Let's go to the living room and talk about this."
"Are you sure Haruka-san? What about your teahouse?" Su asks.
"It's all good, I've let my employees take over for me for the time being."
Everyone enters the living room and sit down. Misaki sits on Keitaro's lap.
Haruka asks, "So, what exactly happened?"
Naru and Mitsune explain what happened.
Keitaro again tries to protest his innocence, "I had no idea there were five girls here when I entered! I was just trying to find granny to see if she'd let me stay here for the time being."
"Keitaro-san is not the sort of person who would try to intentionally peep on girls, I can attest to that myself." Haruka says in his defense.
"Even if we weren't here, what in the world were you thinking when you decided to just enter a hot springs like you owned it?" Naru asks. "Also, who is this granny of yours that you're trying so desperately to find?"
"I realize that it was a pretty stupid move on my part. I just saw the steaming hot water and gave in to the temptation to take a dip. I'm sorry for doing that. I'll make sure not to something like that again." Keitaro says.
"Well…if you're being sincere. I suppose I can forgive you. It was partially my fault too for misidentifying you as Mitsune-san." Naru replies.
"As for my grandmother, her name is Hina Urashima. She's the owner of this inn. At least, I think she is. This place is an absolute wreck. Why hasn't she done anything about it?"
"You haven't heard?" Haruka starts in a surprised tone, "Granny has been planning to go on holiday for the past several months now. She left last week with Kanako-san."
"Now that you mention it, Kanako-chan did say she'd be going on a trip for a little while, she never mentioned it would be with granny though."
"Who's Kanako-san?" Naru asks.
"My step-sister." He replies.
"I'll never recognize that girl as onii-chan's sister ever!" Misaki frowns deeply and crosses her arms, which most of the people in the room find cute.
"Anyway." Haruka starts, "Before we go any further, you all should introduce yourselves to one another."
Keitaro gets up and bows to everyone, "My name is Keitaro Urashima. I apologize for the chaos that just erupted. It was never my intention for any of this to happen."
One by one, the tenants get up, bow, and introduce themselves.
"I'm Naru Narusegawa. Pleased to meet you. Don't worry about what happened just now. We all make mistakes. Please be more mindful from now on though. I might not be as gracious next time."
"I-I am M-Motoko A-Aoyama…p-pleased to meet you…" Motoko stumbles through her introduction. She is not used to being around males whatsoever and is thus very nervous around them, not knowing exactly how to behave.
"Mitsune Konno. Sorry for perceiving you as a pervert earlier. If Haruka-san trusts you, then I will give you the benefit of the doubt this time. Also, I've had some people try to call me Kitsune before. Please don't do that, it makes me sound like a fox."
"I'm Kaolla Su, a princess from Molmol! You seem like a pretty interesting guy. Say," She moves her face towards his face so that they are only a handful of inches apart. "You interested in gambling at all? There's this horse race program I watch every week and I'd love to have a gambling partner with me!"
"Gambling?" He frowns, "Who has time for nonsense like that? It's a scam that promises to give you large fortunes when in actuality you just throw your money down the drain hoping to win the lucky number or whatnot. It's stupid. Don't you know why the government bans most forms of gambling?"
Mitsune's eyes light up, "FINALLY someone with some freaking common sense! I keep telling her to quit wasting her money on that and instead spend it on furthering her education or something else that would be productive to either herself or society, but she refuses! I've tried getting the others to help me talk some sense into her, but they keep saying a little gambling won't hurt. It may not hurt now, but it will most definitely hurt years down the line when you've spent thousands of dollars on it."
Su pouts and crosses her arms, "You two are so boring! The adrenaline rush you get when you win is so exhilarating! You don't know how to have fun."
After she says that, silence fills the room. Haruka takes that as a cue and says, "Maehara-san, why don't you introduce yourself."
Shinobu gives her an annoyed look, "Ugh, do I have to?"
"Yes, you do."
Getting up, but not bowing to him, she says, "Shinobu Maehara. Call me Maehara-san, no more, no less. Things won't look good for you if you call me something other that, alright?" She sits back down on the couch.
"Wow, are you always this rude?" Keitaro asks her.
She doesn't reply and instead glares at him for a moment before turning her head. You ruined my cooking and you jumped into the hot springs like nobody's business! I'm already very agitated with you! Even more than them! She thinks.
Naru answers for her, "Yeah, she is. She started living here last week and has been this way the whole time. Although, she wasn't this rude when she introduced herself to us."
Keitaro just sighs as he looks at her again. She refuses to make eye contact with him.
Haruka says after a moment of silence, "Now that introductions are out of the way, what are you doing here Keitaro-san? You arrived without any warning. You should've at least called me and then I would've properly welcomed you."
He answers, "You're really busy between raising Misaki-chan, working in the teahouse, and studying to get your post-graduate degree. I didn't want to bother you with my own problems. Anyway, as to why I'm here, I was hoping to stay here."
Misaki squeals, "Oh yes please! Please live here onii-chan! Then I can see you every day!"
"A b-boy? Staying here?" Motoko says in a somewhat questioning tone while also becoming flustered.
"Are you absurd?! You can't stay here!" Shinobu shouts, "This is an all-girls dorm! No males are allowed to stay here!"
"An all-girls dorm? Isn't this an inn?" Keitaro turns his head towards Haruka.
She sighs, "It was. However, granny decided to turn it into an all-girls dorm when Naru-san, Motoko-san, Kaolla-san, and Mitsune-san had been staying here for a little while. That was about a year ago now."
"Is that so. I guess that means I can't stay here?"
"Nope, so get out!" Shinobu says.
"He's boring anyways. He doesn't like gambling!" Su frowns.
"Unless the rules change somehow, he cannot legally stay here unfortunately." Haruka says.
"Can't we bend the rules somehow to let him stay? I'd really like him to stay actually. He seems to be someone I can get along with well." Mitsune says.
"Despite our initial misunderstanding, I'm willing to try to get along with you. For some reason, I'm getting a good vibe from you." Naru says. Also, he looks vaguely familiar. Like that boy I made a promise with years ago to go to Tokyo U with. Could he be…? No, I can't jump to conclusions.
"I-I'm not sure whether I'm for or against his staying yet. Please give me some time…" Motoko says while putting her head down.
Haruka shakes her head, "Unless the rules change, no amount of wishing or hoping will allow him to stay legally. I'm personally fine with it, but again, rules are rules. We have to follow them."
Just then the phone in the next room over rings. Haruka gets up and answers it.
"Hello? Who's this? …Granny?"
"Huh? Granny is on the phone?" Keitaro says, sounding slightly surprised.
-Author's Corner-
A/N: Not much to say that wasn't said at the start, but I think you can definitely see how OOC the characters are. Well, at least some more than others. I'll be expanding on their personalities and characteristics in the coming chapters. Misaki's existence will be explained more in the future, most likely the next chapter. For now, know that she was a planned character who was supposed to be Haruka's child, but was ultimately scrapped. Sarah ended up sorta replacing her (but at the same time, didn't). Thus, Misaki and Sarah will both appear in this story.
Unrelated note: I think I'm going to get very familiar with everyone's last names. Not sure how I feel about that yet, since some of their names are kinda hard to spell lol.