DISCLAIMER: I don't own Love Hina nor The Place Promised in Our Early Days. These are owned by Ken Akamatsu and Makoto Shinkai, respectively. I only own most of my internal organs that I possess.

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Kumo no Mukou, Keitaro
By SK-superpower

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Author's Note: My second story ever! Anything that you might not understand will be included in the ending notes (at the end of the chapter, for those who don't know) and feel free to ask any questions. PLEASE READ & REVIEW! "Kumo no Mukou, Keitaro" roughly translates to "Beyond the Clouds, Keitaro".

This is a Love Hina and Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days) crossover. If you haven't watched Kumo no Mukou, WATCH IT! It rates as the number one anime movie in my list. Makoto Shinkai is an amazing man that many people believe to be the next Hayao Miazaki, also watch his 30 minute movie Hoshi no Koe (Voice of a Distant Star) that he created and rendered both 2D and 3D CG all on his PowerMac G4 (400 MHz) by himself! (For those who want to know what's number on in my anime series list, it's Last Exile)

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Chapter One:

Keitaro could hear a machine gun in the distance firing. A few tracers from the weapon could be seen in the night sky.

rat tataatatattatattatatata

He was squashed in his foxhole, sharing it with a soldier that got lost from another platoon when the invasion began. Water was dripping into the foxhole, there was a small puddle forming at the bottom. Artillery could be heard firing in the far distance.

Keitaro felt as long as he was in his foxhole, he was safe. Safe from the pain of watching other people die, safe from the pain of being wounded, safe from the torture of killing someone.

A noise could be heard outside.

Keitaro called out the signal word to the intruder, "Faia" (Fire). He waited for the response, "Kemuri" (Smoke), but it never came. Being as nervous and anxious as he was, Keitaro groped in the dark for his rifle. He felt part of the stock of his assault rifle, but it was currently buried under some dirt, it probably got buried under some loose dirt after the rain fell.

Keitaro got out his officer's pistol from his side holster as quietly as he could, and peeked out of his foxhole. Once again, he said "Faia." He was rewarded with a cicaida buzzing on a tree, one of the few trees left in his area due to the fire bombing.

The former ronin decided it was just a fox or some other animal, looking for food. He leaned back into his foxhole and closed his eyes. Trying to bring back memories of his past, before the whole war with the North started.

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/Starting Flashback Sequence\
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"Be careful Keitaro!"
"Bye Urashima-sempai!"
"Make yourself a real man for once, Urashima."
"The uniform makes you look sexy!"
"Bring me back some bananas!"
"See ya Keitaro!"

Keitaro waved back at the voices in the taxi. He smiled, but felt sad inside. He didn't know how long he would be gone. A month? 3 months? A year? The taxi was beginning to feel a bit more uncomfortable and he shifted around in his seat for a bit.

The JSDF draft got him, when he got the letter he didn't know what to do. The residents of Hinata Sou took it well, sort of. Of course there was some crying, tears were shed and then hugs exchanged after his announcement. He didn't know what he was assigned to, maybe as a supply person or something non-threatening to his life. How wrong he was.

When he arrived at the camp, he was instructed by a sergeant to state his name, purpose for being there, and to give any identification he had. Keitaro did so, and the officer stared at him for a moment. Then he saluted and said "Welcome to Kanto Japanese Self Defence Force Base 246! Sir!"

Keitaro, unaccustomed to the military practices, wasn't sure of what to do. He said, "Umm, eto, thanks. But do you know where I should go?"

"Go down that path and enter the building marked '46'." The sergeant replied with a strange look on his face.

"Arigatou"

Keitaro walked down the gravel path, his feet crunching on the loose pockets. Little did he know that he and his explosives team would be blowing up buildings and bridges, people being crushed by chunks of rock and building material.

He entered the building with a large "46" spray painted on the right side of its door. Obviously meant for security, there was a retina scanner above where the door handle should have been. Not knowing what to do, he looked into the retina scanner and almost jumped out of his pants when it said in a robotic tone "Urashima, Keitaro. Rank: Second Lieutenant. Permission to enter granted."

'How did it know my name? And since when was I a second Lieutenant?' He thought. The door clicked and swung open. Keitaro apprehensively walked inside and saw a group of people sitting down in front of a few large LCD displays that showed weapons, maps, and other information he couldn't see from his viewpoint.

Everybody in the room turned around to look at him. The speaker rose his head and said, "Good to see you Urashima-san. Please take a seat and listen closely, you may put your belongings beside you. This is orientation about you and your only current purpose. To serve the Republic of Japan."

Slightly confused, Keitaro took a seat in the second row and set his belongings beside him. The speaker was apparently a Colonel from his insignia, he looked around his middle 30s with a slightly receding hairline. He was a tad bit shorted than Keitaro, but much more intimidating. He resumed speaking.

"You understand that your mission is to win the war, no matter what the cost. Your secondary missions are to kill the enemy, disrupt the enemy, and make sure that the enemy is as scared as hell. You are the 513th Demolition Group of the JSDF. You have been specifically selected from your other brothers because of skill and endurance you have shown in your civilian lives. To tell you the truth, some of you have been under surveillance to be selected since you were 14."

Now Keitaro was getting a bit worried. He looked around the room, there were some guys that looked like they were pumping iron their whole lives, there were some guys who looked like nerds just like them. All of them pretty much had a worried look in their eyes when the colonel said those words, except one man. He looked like he was in his late 20s, a leader, strong and calm. Keitaro quickly turned back his focus to the colonel.

"Some of you here are the most intelligent minds in your prefecture. Some of you are the strongest. Others show...," The colonel paused and Keitaro thought he looked at him straight in the eye, "some talent that is of interest to the military and of use in your mission."

The commanding officer walked to the center LCD screen. On it was a map of what appeared to be the current military situation. The blue blocks, which appeared to be the South's forces, were stationed near the border and the blocks that were not at the border were moving towards it. The red blocks, which were supposed to be the North's, were moving towards the border and the blocks out at sea that were supposed to be ships were on constant patrols. The map zoomed in onto a part of the border, the ambiguous blocks now became labeled groups, detailing which was which. Now, Keitaro could see various bridges and walls, connecting and separating the North from the South at the same time.

"Your mission will be to destroy bridges like these, to destroy both low and high priority enemy buildings, and to direct missiles and bombs from airplanes to their specific targets. This will, of course, require more intense and specific training than you have received in the past."

Keitaro shivered at the thought of his past training. Although it wasn't all that hard after all the work he had done in Hinata Sou, it was the part of breaking down the soldier to follow orders and to kill when ordered to that really scared him. Keitaro loved life, people, everything, he didn't want to destroy it.

"You must become the sword of the Republic of Japan. You will be thrust into the enemy's chest, and then cause pain to the enemy. You will make the enemy's blood come gushing out in liters. You can be considered the pride of the Republic of Japan, and you will be the most decorated soldiers at the war's end. You all will be immortal heroes to millions."

Keitaro's face drained of blood. He didn't want any part of this, but he knew if he dropped out, he would be tried and killed as a traitor to the Republic.

"My name is Colonel Kitagawa, and I will be your commanding officer for the time being. Do not expect any drinks or food to be served on this flight. You will be expected to finish your intense training in 2 weeks. No questions will be taken, all the information that you need to know will be provided later this evening. You will not bepermanently staying on this base, you will be transported shortly to your training grounds. Assemble at the marching grounds in 2 rows. Dismissed."

The colonel walked out of the room. Everybody sitting down looked at each other. They weren't sure what to do. Except one man.

A tall and intimidating man rose up and commanded, "Get up, we're reporting to the marching grounds."

Keitaro and the other people stood up and followed the man out of the building and walked quickly to the marching grounds. While en route, Keitaro took a bit of time to study the group. There were 18 men, including Keitaro, but this group was anything but the same. One man had a slight limp and it was apparent that he had a prothestitic leg. Another was as skinny and pale as Keitaro, with glasses possibly thicker than his own. The tall and intimidating man that led the group out of the building seemed to be the de facto leader, he looked fit, healthy, and looked like he knew what he was doing. Keitaro made a mental note to himself that he should never aggravate this man, although it didn't really matter since Keitaro made a note to himself not to aggravate any man that would be able toseverely beat him up.

Every man carried his own bag, stuffed with his own belongings. Some were small and some we large, nothing protruded enough to seem like there was anything in the bag besides clothes. But Keitaro knew it was customary to surround things in your bag with your clothes (especially when its fragile or illegal). Most of those who slung the bag over his shoulder were strong looking while those who just dragged their bag were less bulky, but seemingly more intelligent.

Keitaro didn't have enough time to scrutinize everybody before the group reached the marching grounds. The 18 men assembled in 2 rows of 9 men in the center of the marching grounds. They were in the 'at ease' position. All of them waiting, but not knowing what they were waiting for.

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Author's Notes: Well, as you can see, Keitaro already served in the military before. This is something like South Korea's program where there is a compulsory draft for all males aged 18 years and they have to serve x amount of time in the military. After that they can go to college/university and continue a normal life.

Right now, this situation is similar to the situation of the Korean peninsula right now, the only difference is that there is a war (as in fighting, shooting, bombing, etc.) going on. Like the ending of Kumo no Mukou, war breaks out. The only difference is that most of Hokkaido (Edo) isn't eaten up by a tear in the time space continuum, and the border is on the Northern part of Honshu at something like the 40th parallel.

The North (The Democratic People's Republic of Japan DPRJ) is a communistic satellite of the Soviet Union (sound familiar?) while the South is the Republic of Japan (RoJ) which its government is basically a puppet of the United States. Both sides are corrupt, violent, and unstable. And as a politician, you can only trust yourself.

That's pretty much the summary that I'm going to give now, if you want anything cleared up or answered, post your question in a review!