Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

"The Late Results of Stubbornness"

Chapter two: "The Strange Archaeologist?"

Ai was finishing her very late dinner right now. As for man cooking, it was delicious. Actually, it was delicious even as for female cooking! Then again, if you eat only fruits and occasionally some meat, received from some kind people thanks to the begging at the streets, you would find EVERY cooking delicious. She was eating so fast she couldn't probably remember its taste!

"Hey, hey!" she heard. She turned to her companion. "You know, you shouldn't eat that fast, or you will choke." he said with that uncanny smile of his. She blushed a little, and gulped down.

"Um, I'm sorry Urashima-san… I shouldn't eat that much of your food either…"

"That's not what I meant. Feel free to eat as much as you want. I just don't want you to choke to death in front of my eyes!" he laughed, probably trying to cheer her up. Instead, she just dropped her head in depression.

"Yeah… to death…" she said in a depressed tone. He noticed that.

"Uh, sorry… I guess I committed a blunder…" he said with a very serious face this time.

"No, it's okay… I just thought…" she stopped. 'I can't tell him… I don't know if I can trust him… I barely know him, after all… What if he'll take me back to the child's house?'

"About what?" He looked at her with a curious face.

"Umm… never mind." She turned away from him.

"Uh, sorry for asking." he said, ruffling his hair. There was an awkward silence between the two of them for a few minutes. Finally, he spoke again.

"Hey, it's a bit late… Are you going to sleep?" She looked at him a bit unsure with indeed sleepy eyes.

"Umm, I'd like to… but what about you?" He smiled again.

"I'll be watching this place, so you can sleep safely." She was puzzled now. What kind of a guy was he? 'Maybe he's planning to do something during my sleep…' She almost laughed at that thought. 'I'm getting paranoid… He saved me from something like that… Why should he hurt me or my body?'

"So you won't sleep at all?"

"I don't need that much of sleep. Camping and not sleeping much is a part of my job."

"Your job?" she asked with a curious face. "What is your job then?"

"I'm an archaeologist. You know, I'm digging around for some artifacts." Now she wasn't sleepy anymore. In fact, there was much of interest in her eyes.

"Really! I've heard it's very interesting job! Could you tell me a bit about it, please?" He chuckled.

"I thought you're sleepy?"

"I am, but I'd REALLY like to listen about archaeology. I'm very curious about this."

"Okay…" He let a sigh and began. "Well, it's not as interesting as some people think, but definitively not boring. Some people think archaeologists have adventures like Indiana Jones…"

"And they don't at all?" she interrupted him.

"Well, speaking of myself, I did have some adventures like finding lost tribes or almost dying in some traps like falling rocks…"

"WHAT! And you're saying you're not like Indiana Jones at all?"

"Well, maybe I had some interesting adventures, but that isn't a common thing. In fact, that's only a nice change from sitting in a hole and digging."

"But you like your work, don't you?"

"Yes, a lot actually. If I don't, I wouldn't be an archaeologist… It's very important to find your calling."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

"So… when did you realize archaeology is your calling?" He smiled and looked away.

"A long time ago… I think I was 21 back then."

"And how old are you now?" He looked at her funny.

"You know, you would be a good journalist. You keep asking me very professionally." Her face became red as she stared down.

"Ummm… I…" He chuckled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Only women can't be asked about their age. I'm 38 for your information."

"So you're archaeologist from 17 years already?" He shook his head.

"Nope. At first, I was just an archaeology student. And honestly, the studies weren't easy but I enjoyed them a lot. I finished my studies and got my doctorate at the age of 27. Since then, I'm also teaching archaeology at the Toudai…" He was nearly scared when she almost jumped at him, shouting

"WHAT! So you finished studies at TOUDAI! The best university in the whole Asia!" He ruffled his hair again and chuckled.

"I was just lucky. And actually, I didn't get there because I'm super smart, if that's what you meant. It's just that my quote of life is 'If you'll try, there's nothing you can't do.'." She gave him a puzzled look.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, I failed three times before I finally got in." Now it surprised her. She has always thought that if someone doesn't pass the test it means he's too stupid for that university. 'I guess I was wrong,' she thought.

"Well, but you were near passing each time, right?" she asked with a little hope her theory was right.

"Nope. The last time I failed I got a score of 48!" If she was surprised before, now she was totally shocked.

"Then… then how did you manage to raise your score so hard? I've heard that to get into Toudai you need at least 69!" He gave her a very strange look. Was that a melancholy? Tenderness? Or maybe something else? He hesitated before answering her.

"Well… Let's just say I got a marvelous tutor." Her curiosity increased but something in his voice told her to not ask him more about that. In addition, she was really sleepy.

"Um… okay…" She yawned. "Um, I don't want to sound rude, but I'd like to get some sleep."

"Sure." He smiled. "Let's go," he said, standing up.

"HUH? Where to?"

"To my car of course!" he said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. She looked at his white old-fashioned van across the glade.

"Why there?"

"Hey, don't give me that sceptical look! It's actually very comfy inside. I sleep there quite often and I never complain." She still seemed a bit unsure. "Don't worry, I would NEVER let a girl sleep in uncomfortable conditions… and that's exactly why I wouldn't let you sleep on that old mat. It's very unhealthy, you know, and you are definitively too young to waste your health," he said in a strict voice. She looked at him. 'What a kind guy…'

"Um, won't I be any trouble?" He shook his head.

"Not at all." She smiled at him.

"Okay, but you don't need to stay awake for the whole night… If I'll be in the car, I think nothing bad could happen." He smiled back.

"Well then, I'll try to take a little nap."

"Wait a minute… where will you be sleeping, if I will be occupying the car?" She suddenly realized that little problem.

"On your mat of course!"

"But you've just said that's very unhealthy!"

"I'm an older guy… And thanks to my job, I'm not so scared of getting sick… I got used to these conditions, already. I also have some kind of immunity to the physical harm. I became aware of this when I've been getting through some… incidents in the past… very distant past…" he said, looking away and sighing, suddenly getting very sad.

'That's not the first time tonight when he has this look on his face,' Ai thought. 'That's strange. I've got the same look when I think about mother… Maybe Urashima-san also had someone who died? Maybe in these incidents he's talking about…' But when she was about to ask him about that, he already got hold on himself.

"Well, it has gotten really late… Well, you better go already. Come on."

"If you're saying so…" she said and followed the strange, kind archaeologist to his car, hoping she'll get to know him better soon…

Author notes: Well, first of all, I'd like to reply some reviewers:

To darksoulessbody17: Sorry that I made that mistake about Keitaro having blue eyes. I watched anime only once and not very carefully. And from the shades in manga, I thought he has blue ones... Well, guess I was wrong. Sorry for that. However, he doesn't have completely brown ones, too. I'd said they're grey or green... And I always keep confusing green and blue eyes...

And here you are – a bit longer chapter, as you wished. (Actually, I planned the prologue and the first chapter to be quite short before...)

To Hotstreak RMD: Sorry about that 'brutal part' about killing and then raping, but I've heard it's quite common crime… and she wasn't killed or raped after all, right?

To everyone: Sorry for my grammar mistakes, as I said, I'm a foreigner so my English sucks sometimes. But I hope it'll get better since I'm working hard on it. Also, thanks for your nice words!

Until the next chapter! ;) And please review!