Okay just so we're clear on this, this fic IS a yaoi which means the pairing will be between two guys BUT don't just pass up this story just because of that. There will be NO guy on guy action (I know some of my friends and editors are a bit pissed about that but so what) though in much later chapters there will be a bit of kissing but nothing much and like I said not for a while. So PLEASE read on and tell me what you think. Oh and the title might not be permanent.

A Penchant For Alternatives

Chapter 1: A Different Keitaro?

It's a beautiful autumn day in the small hotsprings village of Hinata. The leaves have all fallen all fallen and now litter the ground as a young man with shoulder length brown hair pulled into a loose pony tail and a pair of small glasses by the name of Keitaro Urashima looks up the daunting steps that lead to Hinatasou and sighs. The now two year ronin has just received a message from his grandmother the owner of said building. Holding up the letter, he reads it out loud,

"Dear Keitaro, Please come over to Hinatasou as soon as possible, I have a special job for you that might suite your little predicament"

You see right before he had received this letter his father had kicked him out after he had found his son in a compromising situation with a friend from his cram school. And while under normal circumstances such act wouldn't have drove him to such lengths, this was a little different seeing as how his friend was another guy this posed a bit of a problem. Claiming that the only way to avoid the dishonor of having a quote unquote FAG for a son would be to disown him and kick him out.

He was glad that at least his mother was a little more accepting of his preferences then his father, giving him some money and wishing him luck in life. Afterwards he had got the letter on his way out along with the quite insulting offer from his dad that he could come back home if he ever decided to not be gay, which just pissed Keitaro off.

So here he was standing at the bottom of the steps thinking about the letter and how granny Hina could have possibly known about his situation before it even happened and what kind of job could possibly apply to his life. As he started up the steps he decided to head to his aunt Haruka's tea shop first to see how she was doing and see if she has any idea what granny could want with him for.

As he walked through the door he looked around for Haruka and saw her attending to a few customers at one of the tables. She noticed him immediately and told him to take a seat while she finished serving their food. She came up to him and sat down beside him and asked "so that brother of mine finally found out you're gay did he?"

Keitaro's eyes became the size of saucers as he gasped "does everybody know about that" to say he was surprised was a major understatement, "how did you find out?"

Haruka took a drag of her ever-present cigarette before she replied "Keitaro I've know for years just from the difference from the way between the way you act around boys and girls, you're always so comfortable talking to the most attractive girls around but when a cute guy's around you become a stuttering fool especially around a certain archaeologist friend of mine" Keitaro blushes at this. "And then there's the fact your mom told me about Playgirl magazines she found under your bed a couple months ago" this made him slide under the table, his face now as red a tomato.

"Is it really that obvious" he asks and Haruka nods. "Well anyways I just came by to say hi and see if you knew anything about this letter granny sent me" he asked and handed the letter to Haruka.

She looked over it once and looked back at him "I've got a bit of and inkling, give me a minute" She looked around the shop and saw the last customers leaving and turned back to Keitaro "I'll close up here and then I'll go up with you, ok?"

Keitaro nods and thanks her then waits outside for her until she finishes up inside 'I wonder meant by 'an inkling''.

5 minutes later in front of Hinatasou

"Wow aunt Haruka I forgot how big this place is Oww" Keitaro rubbed the back of his head.

"It's just Haruka" she replied as she put the paper fan away. "Now come on, the girls should be home by now"

Keitaro snapped his head towards his aunt "what do you mean 'girls' I thought this was a inn" he asked in an exasperated tone.

"Sorry Keitaro, a lot has changed since your last visit here, just come in and I'll explain, ok" Haruka said in a slightly irritated voice.

When they walked in Keitaro noticed that the place looked relatively the same save a few minor alterations, really just moved furniture and all. Haruka called him over to sit on the couch before she spoke "about couple years ago granny Hina turned this place into an all girls dorm because the inn wasn't making much money anymore and it's been that way ever since then"

From his reaction Keitaro seemed more confused than surprised and she asked why "well I'm just wondering why this has anything to do with me being gay" he asked.

Haruka grinned which made Keitaro a bit nervous "hold that thought for a minute" Keitaro was now even more nervous but kept quiet as Haruka stood up and whistled very loudly and shouted "GIRLS, COME DOWN HERE, HOUSE MEETING" this made Keitaro flinch.

Keitaro watched as five girls came down the steps and stopped in front of Haruka before they noted him sitting on the couch. A girl with long auburn hair wearing a yellow sweater and orange skirt was the first to remark of his presence "Haruka what is a guy doing here, this is an all girls dorm" the auburn haired girl shouted.

Then a girl with long black hair wearing a shrine maiden's outfit and carrying a samurai sword stepped forward "yes Haruka-san I must agree with Naru-sempai, this man could be a pervert here to try and peek on the young girls residing here" said the girl in a rather loud voice.

'That's what you think' both Keitaro and Haruka thought amusingly at the same time.

"This is my nephew and granny Hina's grandson Keitaro," Keitaro got up and bowed to them politely "and trust me you couldn't be more wrong about him" Haruka said with a smirk. "Keitaro, this is Motoko Aoyama and Naru Narusegawa and the girl with the ash short ash colored hair is Mitsune Konno but everyone just calls her Kitsune," said girl winks at Keitaro which he just brushes off which in turn confused the fox girl. "The girl with short blue hair is Shinobu Maehara" she blushes and waves to Keitaro which causes him to smile much to Kitsune's annoyance. "The tanned blonde girl is Kaolla Su" she doesn't really say much, just jumps around saying something about a new playmate; this for some reason scares Keitaro more than that Motoko Girl and her sword.

"And Keitaro here is the new manager of the Hinatasou" Haruka said with that same smirk plastered on her face as she watched everyone's including her nephew's reactions.

"WHAT" was the general response of the group.

"He can't be the manager; he'll try and force his perverseness on the young ones and who knows what he'll try and do to us older girls" Motoko shouts in anger.

"Yeah, he could peek in on us while we change or while we bathe or even try and cop a feel when we're not looking" Naru put in.

Kitsune on the other hand was thinking otherwise 'if this guy is Hina's grandson then one day he'll get this place and be pretty loaded plus he's pretty cut with that long hair and those glasses make him look like Seta." Kitsune was practically drooling over her thoughts.

"Umm… well…I" Shinobu wasn't really sure how to react to all this and was quite nervous though this was slightly due to the fact that Keitaro kept smiling at her and she wasn't sure why.

"Yaaay, a new person for me to play with" Su said as she bounced around and again Keitaro felt nervous for some reason around this girl.

"What do you mean manager, is this what granny meant about a special job" Keitaro asked still a bit uneasy from some of the girl's reactions.

Haruka interrupted everyone's comments and questions and spoke firmly "Keitaro was requested to be the manager by granny Hina herself and believe me girls I am absolutely positive that Keitaro has no interest in any of you girls in that way.

"What is that supposed to mean and how do you know he won't try anything perverted on us" Naru demanded.

Haruka looked over to Keitaro as if to ask permission for something and upon receiving a nod in return she turned back to the girls and said "because he has no interest in women altogether, at least in a sexual way.

This caused most of the girl's jaws to drop "y-you mean h-he's g-g-g-g" Naru tries to stutter out but is failing miserably.

"Gay" Haruka finishes and nods as does Keitaro smiling slightly at their reactions and trying to stifle a giggle. All the while Haruka was thinking 'this aught to liven things up around here a bit'.

End of Chapter 1

Authors Note: Well what do you think and be honest, I'd like to know what you think of the whole thing and just remember flames, bad reviews, and/or lack of reviews altogether will not make this story go away and will NOT make me stop writing more of it, I'm a tenacious fother mucker and can just tune out that kinda stuff. Now constructive criticism is highly welcome and greatly appreciated so feel free to do so. Also I'm looking for a beta for this other Love Hina Fic I'm working on write now so if anyone's interested send an e-mail my way or say so in your review. Now updates may be a bit slow since I start college in a couple weeks and will be a bit busy but other than that it shouldn't take too long for chapter two to be up. So leave those reviews and tell me what you think.

Peace w/ chicken grease!