Disclaimer: Borrowing the characters, setting and scenery from the owners, any Original Characters that spawn from here are mine, tho probably inspired by others from other fandoms. I'm not making a red cent off this belligerent attempt at writing, so don't bother getting the lawyers. Comments and constructive critiques are always welcome and encouraged, flames and troll bait will be recycled for future use.

As always, many thanks to Ordo (sorry that I took your original idea and drove it so far off the intended course) and also to the great and injustice dispensing Lord Raa. Thank you both and the crew at TFF for your comments, questions, concerns and feedback. My gratitude to all the readers on Fan Fiction dot net for your gracious comments and reviews, I hope you all keep enjoying reading as much as I am enjoying writing.

And now, on with the show.

A Plight of Fancy

Chap. 2 – The Shadow Proves The Sunshine

Professor Noriyasu Seta's monthly Turtle Civilization site excavation events were one of UCLA's more popular school events this semester. The content was fairly easy to digest, even if the mythos was a bit out there, seriously, who prays to turtles? Access to recently unearthed sites was readily provided to the American University System as the sites usually fell on private properties where the owners dabbled in archaeology or beach sites that belonged to the State or Federal Government.

Today's session though, was the Holy Grail for the students of UCLA's Anthropology and Archaeology department. Located a little over a dozen miles off the Santa Monica pier and literally on an almost picture perfect private beach. Riddled with easy to access caves containing various wall carvings, weathered wall paintings and what seemed like a few sea water damaged rock sculptures. It was like someone decided to mount a small, yet dedicated, Natural History Museum that wasn't open to the public; as visitors needed to be School sponsored to be allowed on site.

As the students attending today gathered near the teachers and assistants in charge, Keitaro was going through the attendance list and confirming the work groups for today's session while doing last minute equipment checkups with his mentor.

"Another full roster, plus volunteers to help with the logistics. How do you do it, Seta-sensei?"

"I know my audience…" responded the older gentleman, as he took a proud drag off his cigarette "and a little positive re-enforcement doesn't hurt a bit".

"Did you get any requests from the campus newspaper or communications department this time?"

"Yeah, had to turn them away this time… today's session was technically overbooked and I know barring any incidents, we're gonna have a bit of an issue with the After-session cleanup."

"Hah! After-session" Doing a quick headcount, Keitaro noticed a few of his frat brothers chatting up some of the female students and saw another group seemed to be crowding around someone wearing a safari hat. 'Odd… wonder if that's someone from another department.'

"Okay Part-time, you know the drill" getting his student's attention "make sure to do the rounds around the groups and feel free to call out people that are detracting from the learning."

"Definitely, the sooner they finish with notes and planned exercises the sooner we can start the Debriefing session." Already used to his teacher's unorthodox teaching style, he did his best to help his peers adapt and keep up the pace "once everyone's good, we pack up and let them cut loose at the public beach a few miles off site."

"You got it!" he smiled at his protégé scratching his head "Man, I should have approached you with projects like these years ago!"

"I would have gladly helped, but well… it did take me a while to finally get into TouDai" answered the ex-ronin sheepishly.

"Well, no sense in dwelling on what ifs Part-Timer" picking up a clipboard with a small stack of papers affixed on to it, he nodded toward the teams "how about we get the show on this road?"

An hour into the dig, Keitaro had begun rotating among the teams. Checking up on their advancement in their tasks, sharing a laugh where the teams needed a break and sharing tidbits of knowledge where he felt they needed assistance. On average, most teams were on track to finish by the scheduled time, except the ones with his frat brothers who seemed to be advancing faster than the norm and the group with that person with the safari hat which had not reported anything yet.

"Come on guys, work with me here…" directing his attention to the former group "I know this is cake walk for you Ben-san, but you gotta double check some of the information for the whole team's benefit"

"Didn't I tell you he'd catch on to us Mike?" elbowing his fellow frat brother and expedition novice as Keitaro went through their notes with a discerning eye. "Sure he tutors me, but he worries about the team not just the individual."

"We're getting the job done and in record time, shouldn't that count for something?" responded the bigger non Archaeologist toward Keitaro, getting a few nods from his team mates.

"It does count… but we also have a Q&A slash debriefing session at the end of the expedition" with a knowing smile, getting a few groans from the senior-expedition team members.

"A What?" Earning startled shouts from Mike and other new attendees to the monthly event that were in earshot of the ex-ronin's comments.

"Pop Quiz from Hell!" answered Ben with a laugh, getting a nod in thanks from Keitaro, as he was avoiding a well practiced speech "Professor Seta loves to make students and attendants earn the after-expedition party".

Keitaro then stepping in to better explain before the crowd got restless "Seta-sensei explained it to me by misappropriating a phrase that some of the football team players love to use…" getting odd looks he smiled and misquoted "Work hard, Party hard"

This netted him a round of cheers from the momentarily annoyed attendees, before they went back to work. "Kei, how come YOU guys get the cool teachers?" Mike couldn't help but firing one parting shot as the young archaeologist was heading toward the last group.

"That's easy…" getting a few pre-emptive laughs from the senior archaeology students "we Archaeologists and Anthropologists don't get Nobel Prizes, Super Bowl Rings or Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame".

Meanwhile at the Hinata-sou, partial hell had been released and quickly controlled in the iron fist of one Kanako Urashima. Keitaro's adopted sister had always dreamed to join him and take over the Hinata Inn as landlords… possibly more. Alas, after talking with her parents and been taken on the road with Granny Hina, she had found solace in one of her dreams replaced by a new calling; helping her family find her brother a special someone that would treat him right and cherish him as he so rightfully deserved.

Granny had previously explained her plan to encourage Keitaro to follow his dream of getting into TouDai, but had foreseen his inability to develop deep relationships with women his age, thanks to his childhood promise to a little girl on their estate many, many years ago.

So, Granny did what she does best, she meddled and had brought him into her beloved Hinata Sou as the live in manager-slash-handyman for a group of different young ladies who's personalities, qualities, defects and talents would help bring Keitaro out of his shell by somehow centering him as their emotional anchor.

"I know you've always been sweet on Onii-chan Granny, but you put him in danger with those harridans at the Inn just so he could get finally into Toudai" fumed the younger Urashima at her matron's orders "Why wasn't I sent to keep them on a tight leash on them from day one? Why now?"

"If you had been there, YOU would have been his sword when he didn't need one" effectively stopping the younger ones silent rage understanding the elder's cryptic words. "You know he had the talent to heal their wild hearts… but now they need to realize he isn't a toy to be played with."

"You sound make it sound like he's a prize to be won" sniffed the young woman, a bit of frustration in her words at her inability to 'play the game' her grandmother had set into motion.

"You could be surprised Kana-chan, a few clans out there find him quite the catch" sighed the playful matron "if only their daughters would have given him half the chance the girls at Hinata Sou did."

One couldn't possibly say Hina Urashima's plan was a booming success, the elder Urashima had been glad her schemes had begun to pay off in spades. Hearing about her beloved Grandson's deeds from second parties and contacts had appeased some of her regrets about meddling so much in her only male grandson's life.

His triumph at finally getting into TouDai had brought a happy tear to her eyes, comments from the Aoyama house in Kyoto at the young mistress' successful challenge against the current head instructor (with the support of a certain Urashima male) male made her cackle with glee, calls from the Su family of Mol-Mol always ended in a gracious and thankful note from the esteemed parents; even the off and on reports from her unsuspecting mole at the old Inn turned Dorm had made her both wince and smile.

Only one outcome had been left undecided, who would eventually find that special place in her grandson's heart and gladly occupy it? This is where Kanako came in. She would be her right hand woman to separate the wheat from the chaff. If there was anyone that could be cold, practical and methodical enough to open their eyes and see what she had intended for them and her grandson, it would be her adopted grand daughter.

She could only hope the girls would both forgive her over-reaching actions and thank her well-intentioned but forceful means. Being a clan head sometimes meant making hard if not ugly decisions and taking measures to get things done.

Four months into her indenture as the temporary Manager of the Hinata Sou, she had become to bristle at the tenants ideas of what she was supposed to do, often comparing her to her brother and his way too lax ways of dealing with things.

The whole contest she had set up to win her support, by using her Onii-chan's supposed affection stats had sown discontent once she had ramped up the level of stress. Even more than that time they had disguised Mutsumi-san to look and act like her brother had been both a good measuring stick to gauge their affections and fuming excersise in frustration at certain responses.

"I'm glad Onii-chan decided to leave them alone and not call in often while on his trip" sighed Kanako late one night, in her room/office going trough her daily notes "I'm starting to run out of patience with all of them... but I just don't want to give my Onii-chan away to any of them".

She thumbed through older notes from both Keitaro and Granny about the tenants, whom she was currently testing as possible maids/attendants, in her attempt to turn the Dorm back into an Inn. "Narusegawa and Aoyama seem to be more accepting of my conditions… Konno and Su are rebelling just because they can… and Maehara seems to sway toward the pair has the most momentum at the moment."

"Knowing your brother, he's probably playing hard to get, nya?" responded her faithful black cat as she looked up to her mistress from her bedding "or he's already bedded one of the girls here?"

"Hardly, Kuro… Oniichan is not the type of man who would shirk his responsibilities because of his hormones" remembering her brother fondly then taking another hard look at Granny's latest fax, she seriously wondered if she should just let proverbial the cat out of the bag and have them deal with it themselves "today is one of those days I wish I wasn't adopted."

Kanako:

Thanks to Haruka's words during her last call, I am forced to disclose the following information to you. While she's not a bad candidate, Keitaro's reactions in the past were very unfavorable toward her aggressive attentions. We pretty much forced their clan to rein her in by threatening to press charges as she was pretty much stalking him, bless your brother's huge heart as he unknowingly used his dream of getting into TouDai as both an excuse and a condition for him to be considered husband material for her.

Love Granny

PS: I leave up you to the matter of discussing a possibility of an engagement in the near future… that is, if anyone of them seems interested before the alternative decides to show up eventually.

Himawari Kanzaki

Date of Birth: August 5th, 1977
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Red
Height: 172 cm (information out of date)
Weight: ? Kg (information unavailable)
Vital stats: 88/63/89 cm (information out of date)
Blood Type: AB (Rh+)

Body Type: Very Healthy
Western Zodiac: Leo
Chinese Zodiac: Snake

Occupation: Zaibatsu Heiress/University Student (taking year off)
Likes: dark chocolate, leading people, haute couture, Keitaro Urashima*1
Dislikes: being ignored, showing weakness, indecisiveness

Guys want to be with her, Girls want to be her. Crown jewel of the Kanzaki Zaibatsu.
Daughter of current CEO Karin Kanzaki. Declared official heir by her Grandmother,
and current head of the family, Sumire Kanzaki at the tender age of 13.

A statuesque young woman, often sought for modeling and public events due to her good
looks and strong independent character. Her family has given her carte blanche to
determine who her significant other (read as: husband/consort) shall be, as long as
she produces an heir by the age of twenty seven (27). Often surrounded by young men
of prominent families, she has rebuffed many of her suitors' advances commenting on
their lacking of certain qualities she finds important, if not necessary to influence
her eventual decision.

A student of International Business and Management at Yokohama National University,
she has her sights set on improving on her family's ideals, adapting them to an ever
changing world and maintain them at the top echelons of society. Currently enjoying
a one year hiatus/sabbatical to assist with family business and living the jet-set
life a young woman in her financial and political position can afford. Last seen in
Southern California, frequenting various high class establishments and attending social
galas as expected of a maiden of her social standing.

*1 Granny Note: She met Keitaro over ten years ago, when he used to accompany me to
various clan events where she had also attended. She developed an almost unhealthy attachment
to him and would often request his presence at any event her parents would force her to
attend. Being his kind self, he suffered under her attentions at more than a few events,
although she eventually self-styled herself as his fiancée without consulting with her clan
or ours.

Toward the end of the team activities, Keitaro walked up to what he ha dubbed the "safari hat" team. He couldn't help but feel something was slightly off about this team, while they had not sent reports in the last few hours, they seemed to working like a well oiled machine 'I wonder who their team leader is, these guys usually goof around more often or pester other teams for help'.

Noticing a couple of team members away from person with the safari hat he saw earlier, he decided to walk over to the person that seemed to be their leader today. "Excuse me, does your team have any questions about today's activities? They haven't sent in the expected periodic advance reports during today's session"

"None whatsoever" answered happy voice belonging to a smiling blonde responded. "although they did not inform me we had to check in often… Kei-sama"

Himawari Kanzaki strikes again, this time dressed in what would look like authentic mid 1900's Safari clothing: a British khaki shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into tasteful khaki cargo shorts, light brown work boots at her feet, while her golden mane done up and hiding under a fancy Pith Helmet "safari hat" covering her head; a few loose strands of blonde hair framing her face.

"What are YOU doing here?" responded the young archaeologist, looking somewhat upset, in-between concerned and angry at the non student's shenanigans.

"A friend of mine called in sick at the last minute and called me up to make use my Management skills to keep her team from flunking" smiling sweetly, trying to calm him down "I only took her up on the offer…"

"Okay, I'll let it slide this time" sighing in slight defeat he let her continue, as she had effectively curved most of this specific team's bad habits "give me a quick run through of your team's operations and activities today, they are the only ones that haven't checked in."

And she did more than a creditable job, considering this was not her area of expertise. Quicky clearing up areas of difficulty with her myriad of skills had been a boon for her team "although getting to see my favorite archaeologist in action was more than worth waking up early on a weekend."

"I'm not that good" blushing at the not so thinly veiled compliment and deciding to return fire, since she had been professional during this meeting "besides, I know leading teams like these can be as bad as herding cats, but you're doing a great job, keep it up!"

"Thank you Kei-sa… Keitaro-san" she smiled back with a light blush on her cheeks, acting a bit more reserved that she normally would. 'baby steps Himawari, this is his turf, and there's no sense in ruining the moment' "Um… if you have some time later, after today's activities that is…" looking around feeling a little brave she continued "would you spare me some time? I'd like to talk, no strings attached, just two acquaintances catching up."

"No, not as acquaintances…" feeling emboldened by his words, he started to walk away missing her saddening face. Switching to his native tongue, he looked over shoulder at her with a slight smile and declared few steps away "but as two long lost friends, ne?"

"Un!" she nodded happily as he went to see about the next team. Her mind shifting back to getting her team to really shine for the only person that mattered and whom she would consider her superior, if only for today 'thank you Keitaro, for understanding.'

By mid afternoon, the beach near the Santa Monica pier had been mostly commandeered by the majority of UCLA's Anthropology and Archeology Department; after a grueling morning of digging and documentation followed up by a debriefing-slash-examination session of the likes normally seen in professional circles, the young adults in attendance decided to make good with their relaxation time afterwards.

"You sure weren't kidding when you said Professor Seta liked to work hard, Kei" commented Mike while tossing around a football around with some of the attending frat brothers gathered near the cookout tent.

"Be glad this is a School sponsored dig, privately funded ones are even more picky when delivering reports and appraising unearthed artifacts" nodded the ex-ronin as he helped the logistics crew with the cook out preparations.

"Good to know for the future!" replied Ben as his attention became more focused on checking out the local scenery now occupied with some of the cutest college girls in Southern California. "But right now, it's time to enjoy the sights and sounds of the beach!"

"And HE says I'M shameless…" sighed Mike as he walked off toward a group starting up a game of touch football on the sand.

'The difference is Ben-san doesn't have a girlfriend, while you do, Mike-san' shaking his head, Keitaro kept his retort to himself as he went back to the task of helping with the cooking.

A few minutes later, his mentor walked up to the food tents meaning to check up on his protege "Need an extra pair of hands to flip those burgers, Part-timer?"

"The more the merrier, actually need someone to slice up some tomatoes" responded the student "just make sure you dispose of that cigarette properly, we don't want people wondering why their burger is extra 'smoky'."

"Jeeze, everyone's a health nut nowadays!" the senior archaeologist sighed as he was deprived of his tobacco "nice use of diplomatic skills with the non department signups there…"

"I can't take all the credit on that one Seta-sensei, some of the more excitable members of the teams were getting restless" carefully flipping a couple of burgers on the grill "so I remembered what you said about knowing your audience, and put it to practice."

"What about the problematic stragglers that usually team up?" smirking a bit, having withheld information about the more difficult students attending as a personal test for his disciple.

"Ah, that was already taken care of before I got there" glad that a certain young lady had taken control of the situation "I just went in asking for results and got what I wanted".

"Look at you, Mister Urashima" playfully elbowing the younger man as a few of the ladies were getting interested in the master and student talk "how'd you get so cool and in control?"

"Oh you know…" making some shadow boxing moves "gotta learn to roll with the punches, when in the School of Hard Knocks" then swishing his spatula around as if it were a katana "and having a Sensei to share some sage advice doesn't hurt."

"Rub it in why don't you" the teacher responded, as he fondly remembered a certain tea shop owner back in Japan. "Still, good job taking point on addressing the teams; was a huge load off of my plate."

"I'm just glad for this chance to learn and stretch my wings a bit, away from the pressures at home" finishing up another batch of burgers, Keitaro took a good look around the beach, noticing a familiar mane of golden curly hair relaxing under the shade of an umbrella not far.

"Hey Keitaro" looking in the direction of his student's glance, deciding to bite the proverbial bullet, switching to their native language to preserve the ex-ronin's humility "I took the liberty of calling Haruka for you the other day… about that girlfriend all your frat brothers have been teasing you about."

"So, uh… when did you find out she has been… actively searching for me?" wincing a bit as he had not disclosed his recent interactions with the young heiress.

"About a month ago…" returning to the meal preparations "some of the faculty members were curious about the young lady following you around at school functions so... insistently"

"We... met up at a local bar a few weeks before that" remembering that night, smiling at her not so discrete actions "and she's been popping up every so often, I'm sorry if she's being a burden."

"Actually that's what I wanted to ask you, is she being a bother to you?" showing honest concern for the younger man "You know I can make a few calls or we could get Old Lady Hina involved."

Shaking his head, he couldn't help but smile at her earlier actions. "It's okay Seta-san, we're in the process of burying the hatchet, speaking of which" he finished preparing a couple of burgers, then tossed his 'kiss the cook' apron at the older man "we owe each other a long standing heart-to-heart talk, and I intend to make good on that debt."

"Just give a holler if you need anything, ok?" smiling as his disciple walked off with a purpose 'haven't seen him this focused since he said good bye to the girls months ago…' taking his student's place at the grill, he lit up another smoke offering some students some of his extra smoky well done burgers 'I hope you know what you're doing Part-timer.'