A/N: Hey, people. I'm back. Sorry I haven't posted in a while.
Su: Hey, everyone! I brought smartphones!
Motoko: What are smartphones?
Chris: Oh, they're like a mixture of a cell phone, portable gaming system, and social device.
Kitsune: Oh, I've heard of these! I call dibs on the gold one!
Sarah: Yay, a phone! I get the red one!
Naru: Oh, can I try one?
Motoko: Interesting. Perhaps I'll take one.
Mutsumi: Ooh, can I have one, Su?
Shinobu: M-Maybe later.
Haruka: I already have one.
Keitaro: No thanks. I've heard that these things aren't really as good for talking as talking.
Chris: I already have one, too.
(While everyone is checking out their smartphones, Keitaro, Haruka, Shinobu, and Chris look at each other)
Chris: You know, I'm hungry. Anyone want lunch?
Haruka: I should be asking you, but sure. You're the author after all.
Keitaro: Oh, sure.
Shinobu: Oh, okay.
(everyone else is on their phones)
Chris: Let's just go. After all, they'll be fine.
Haruka, Keitaro, and Shinobu: Okay.
-Six months later-
Kitsune (texting): Hey, has anyone seen Haruka?
Motoko (texting): What about Urashima?
Sarah (texting): Hey, where'd Shinobu go?
Mutsumi: (looking around, sees a note) (texting) Hey, look over there. A note.
(Everyone reads the note in silence)
Su (texting): WHAT?! They've gone on a world tour? How did we miss it?
Naru (texting): I think we were on our phones.
Keitaro, Shinobu, Haruka, and Chris: WE'RE BAAAAAACK!
Motoko (texting to Chris): Where were you guys?
Chris (out loud) Really, Motoko?
Keitaro: See? This is what I meant when I said smartphones were a horrible way to socialize.
Shinobu: Yeah, I can see that. Oh, I have an idea. How about I smack them in the heads with a frying pan?
Chris: Okay, that's good. Comical, yet doable. How about you get one of them and I'll get the rest?
Shinobu: Okay.
(Chris hits everyone except Naru with a frying pan, Shinobu hits Naru with the frying pan)
Everyone that was on a phone before: OWWW! What was that for?
Chris: Missing six months of adventure.
Naru: What are you talking about? We were on the phones for two hours, not six months!
Chris: No, it was six months. You want proof? Here's a newspaper from the day you got your phones. Look at the date.
Motoko: What?! It can't be! This can't be the newspaper from the same day we got our phones, but I remember that the rug store around the block went out of business that day, and it was in this newspaper. And here it is!
Haruka: Yep. And while you were on your phones, we became a famous rock band, part of the basketball team in America, Shinobu became a Chopped Champion on Food Network, another show in America, I took out an international criminal with a pistol, and Keitaro became a famous carpenter. Plus, we got to see the Seven Wonders of the World, met some of the world's most powerful leaders outside of Japan, eat a hamburger, and met Motoko's sister.
Kitsune: You could do all of that in six months?
Chris: Well, I may have helped with travel and expenses, but yes, we did. Look, we have a scrapbook!
(Chris takes out a large and thick book)
-Five hours later-
Sarah: We really missed that much?
Chris: Yep. Now, are we going to get back to the story? You know, where you girls found Keitaro, Mutsumi, and Shinobu at the amusement park? You sat down with him for lunch.
Naru: Oh, yeah.
Chris: Disclaimer. I don't own Love Hina, Ken Akamatsu does. You should be able to have figured that out by now. If you didn't, either read back or get that concept down now. Also, for those of you who don't know, I do these weird pre-story sections for cheap laughs, not to tell people anything. If I actually have something to say before the story, It would be after the disclaimer. Now, STORY START!
|/\/\|
From last time:
The girls had just arrived inside the gate when Su's Keitaro tracker went off as planned.
"Oh, no. Su-chan, what did you bring with you this time and how far do we have to be before it blows up?" Naru asked.
"That's just my Keitaro tracker. It's going off like crazy. That means he must be nearby," Su said excitedly, taking out the blinking device.
"Su-chan, that's impossible. Out of all the places he could be right now, why would Urashima pick this one? He might as well be in America for all we know," Motoko responded.
"Su-chan! Get back here!" Naru yelled after the brown blur.
Motoko sighed. "That girl hardly listens to me when it comes to that pathetic man," she said to herself out loud, causing Tsuruko to sigh an annoyed sigh.
The girls followed Su into the restaurant Sakana, which had four rooms; the entrance room and three dining rooms, two for small tables and one for big tables. There was a wall separating the entrance room from the room the romance suite group was in.
"Su-chan, come back here! He can't be here! Are you sure that thing's even got the right person targeted?" Naru asked. As they finally got to the door to the last room, they had caught up to the hyper-energetic little child.
"I'm sure he's here. I worked out all the bugs last time, so he should be here. This thing's going off like crazy. Oh, there he is!" Su said happily.
"Oh, hey, Su-chan!" Keitaro replied.
"Y-You're here?" Naru asked rhetorically.
"Whoa. Déjà vu," Sarah said, putting her hand on her forehead.
"Why don't you girls come and have a seat?" he asked them. Everyone except for Naru and Motoko went to take a seat, who were still dumbfounded that they found their other manager here, of all places, plus the girls who went with him. Finally, though, they took the remaining two seats at the table.
"Wow, this is a real coincidence. I did not expect to see Kei-kun here!" Su started cheerfully. And by 'started', I mean 'started a conversation'.
"Yeah, what are the odds?" Sarah added incredulously, still smiling.
"Apparently, the odds are very good. I must admit, Keitaro-san, I did not expect to see you here," Tsuruko said in surprise. Only four of the people there that weren't her knew that it was fake surprise, though. After all, one of them suggested it to her, one of them was her husband, who she told all of this to, and two of them were the friends he chose to take with him, not to mention they were the only two people other than him in that romance suite.
"Yeah. By the way, I'm her husband, Yoshio Aoyama. Nice to meet you," Yoshio introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Yoshio-san. It's nice to finally meet the husband Tsuruko-san has spoken so highly of," Keitaro greeted, smiling.
"Thanks. Tsu-sama has spoken highly of you, too, Keitaro-san," Yoshio greeted back, smiling like Keitaro.
'Wow. Sister was right. Urashima-san is very gregarious indeed,' Motoko thought.
"So, Tsuruko-san, what brings you and the girls to Kanagawa Neverland?" Keitaro asked. 'Even though I already know the real reason and the excuse we planned for her to tell,' he mentally added.
"Oh, well, we were just taking a trip to have fun," she responded.
"Wow, that is a real coincidence! So were we!" Mutsumi pointed out.
"Oh, my. You seem real happy. You know, we haven't had time to catch up. So, how are you? How is it living with Mutsumi-san and Shinobu-san?" she asked.
"Oh, it's good. Nothing like spending time with friends, right?" he answered.
"That is true, old friend. Now, where are you staying?" Tsuruko asked.
"Oh, just some hotel. Remember, we agreed not to tell them?" Keitaro said.
"Hey! We're right here, you know. We can hear what you're saying!" Naru protested, eye twitching.
"Oh. Whoops," Keitaro replied sheepishly.
"What 'hotel' would that be?" Naru asked, eyes turning red.
"Narusegawa-san! It's not what you think!" Keitaro said.
"Oh, yeah? Then why are you a nervous wreck?" Naru asked. She was getting louder and attracting attention.
"Relax, Naru-chan. We're staying in a two-bed hotel room. Kei-kun usually gets the couch. He's so nice!" Mutsumi said in his defense.
"Really?" Naru asked, still skeptical.
"Yes, Naru-sempai," Shinobu responded.
"Alright, I believe you, Shinobu-chan. I know you wouldn't lie to me," Naru said. Keitaro turned to Mutsumi, then Shinobu. They both winked at him.
"So, how is it at the Hinata-sou with Tsuruko-san there?" Keitaro asked.
"Oh, it's okay, I guess. You know, she treats us well," Kitsune answered.
"Well, she abuses me," Naru said sadly.
Keitaro looked at Tsuruko with a cocked eyebrow. 'Abuse her?' he asked.
'No, I just hit her in the gut with a bokken. I don't even hit her very hard. She's just being melodramatic. Here, this is me the other day hitting her as many times as usual: one,' she responded mentally, showing him the image in her mind.
'Oh,' Keitaro thought. Out loud, he elected to comfort her. "Well, if you're here now, I'm sure it was nothing," was the 'comforting' comment.
"'Nothing'? She grilled me!" Naru said, eyes red with anger.
"Oh. I'm guessing you're mad now," he guessed.
"OF COURSE I'M MAD! WHY DID YOU STICK US WITH HER?! WHY?" she yelled. Of course, everyone in the restaurant heard her, and everyone in the room turned to look at her. Luckily, she cooled down enough to see that she had violated societal convention; she made a scene in a fancy restaurant.
"Whoops. Sorry. Heheh," Naru said sheepishly.
Then the table fell into an awkward silence. Or, rather, so it seemed. But, as nobody else was talking out loud, Mutsumi took the opportunity to ask Keitaro a question.
'Hey, Kei-kun, can we show them our new powers with ki?' she asked telepathically.
'Sorry, Mutsumi-chan. We can't show these powers to anyone. Not even them. I want to tell them, but then they might be in danger of bad people,' he responded.
'Aww,' Shinobu said mentally.
Meanwhile, Motoko was in her own train of thought. 'There it is again. That very same ki signature from before...and Sister said that the same ki signature meant that she was talking to Urashima-san. Is she talking with him now?' she wondered.
Eventually, though, the whole table decided to engage in some small talk. You know, such as some of the crazy stuff that happened over the week, crazy laughs, and some weird looks at the different attitudes of the four tenants that had stayed behind at Hinata-sou.
"Hey, where's Tama-chan?" Su asked.
"Oh, we left her at the hotel room," Mutsumi answered.
"Oh, you mean that Tama-chan?" Su asked, pointing to the turtle that was floating right behind a certain someone.
"GAH! Turtle?! Where?!" she asked frantically, jumping out of her chair and causing herself to be another subject of attention in a restaurant. Only, unlike the first time, her spotlight moment of awkwardness was short-lived as everyone stared in awe at the flying turtle making Motoko look like the Kami were after her and wanted her dead for being alive.
"Tama-chan? How did you get here?" Keitaro asked incredulously.
"Myuh!" she responded.
"What was that, Tama-chan?" Mutsumi asked.
"Myuh myuh myuh!" she responded.
"But, Tama-chan, I already know the secret," Mutsumi said out loud.
"Wait, what 'secret'?" Naru asked, the fire already moving into her eyes.
"Oh, we slept in the same bed as Kei-kun here," she responded, absolutely ditzy and sort of drunk.
"No, Narusegawa-san, it's not what-" Keitaro started.
"What?! YOU PERVERT!" Naru screamed, punching Keitaro straight into the kitchen. When he came back, his hair was literally on fire, as was his back and arms. However, this image was more comical than gruesome because the actual man looked like he was okay, not on fire. "I'll pay for the damages," he said to one of the surprised staff before walking out of the room, leaving some yen on the table to pay for the meal. Then, five seconds later, he came back, still on fire, and said, "Forgot my wallet."
...
"Okay, how did you survive that?" Naru asked. The entire Hinata gang was travelling around the park as a group now. After all, what are the chances you find your manager and two friends while they are on vacation with sheer luck? At least, that's what they figured. Right now, Su and Sarah were catching up with Shinobu while Naru was catching up with Mutsumi and, to a lesser extent, Keitaro.
"Yes. I did not know you were fireproof," Motoko added.
"Well, um...I really don't know," Keitaro lied, sounding very believable. 'Well, I've had a few years of practice,' he thought gratefully.
"Idiot," Naru said, smacking him in the back of his head.
Meanwhile, Motoko was in thought. 'Hmm...something seems different about Urashima-san today. He seems...I cannot place the difference! His presence is mixing up my thoughts! How did he even get here the same day we did? Wait...now that I think about it, I bet she planned this little "coincidence" meeting. But how would she contact Urashima-san? Maybe she used the phone while everyone was asleep? Hang on,' she thought, going over to Su.
"Hey, Su-chan?" she said.
"Yes, Motoko-chan?" Su asked back.
"Did your security cameras catch anyone using the phone late at night?" Motoko asked.
"Hmm. Well, I would have to check!" she responded. She pulled out a tablet that had the royal insignia of MolMol on the back and turned it on. She tapped on an icon that was marked Hinata Spy Cams. She tapped on an icon that looked like a roll of film and was brought to the footage.
"Well, let's see..." Su said, scrolling to the footage at night on every day during Keitaro's absence while walking with the group to a bench near a Ferris Wheel. Finally, they came to Friday, where Motoko's sister was on the phone, just as Motoko had predicted.
"Okay, that is all I needed, Su-chan. Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome, Motoko-chan!" Su said, putting away the tablet.
'I must confront her about this,' she said, referring to her sister.
Meanwhile, Keitaro was trying to keep conversation from becoming boring when it occurred.
"Hey, no harm, no foul, right?" he said.
"Dude, she hit me!" Naru protested.
"I'm sure it was nothing," Keitaro dismissed.
"Oh, how would you know?" she asked indignantly.
"Well, she told me that all she did was smack you in the gut once a day with the blunt end of a wooden sword," he explained.
"Oh, of course she would say that!" Naru responded, turning her head away in indignance.
"Well, I-" Keitaro started. He didn't get to finish, however, as a member of the staff had just yelled, "Oh no, there's a kid stuck up there! Someone go call the police!" quite near the group.
"Hmm?" Keitaro hummed, moving so that he could see the little child that was stuck up at the top of the broken Ferris Wheel. He was hanging for his life on one of the metal bars that made up the structure of the ride. There was a crowd gathered around the broken ride, screaming for someone to help like one of those old, cliche superhero movies.
'Oh no! I have to do something! If I don't, that kid's going to die!' Keitaro thought. 'I know! I'll put up a camo dome around me and lift the kid out of that mess he's in!' he thought. He reached his hands to the side, arms outstretched, and an invisible dome appeared around Keitaro.
That's when Motoko suddenly sensed a spike in kienergy in front of her. 'What? A spike in ki energy? How?' she wondered. Then, she stared in awe at the floating kid that was slowly floating downward towards the ground. 'What? The kid is floating down? Impossible! There's no way that someone could float down like that! Not even ki could do that! Wait...I found a spike in ki at the same time I saw the floating kid...hmmm...wait, I have to check.' And, with that confused thought, she closed her eyes and imagined good emotions, something she realizes she hasn't done in a while. She opened her eyes again and her pupils were blue. 'Okay, now let us see what that spike in ki was all ab-OW! My eyes! There's so much ki right here! What could be causing all of that?' she thought, covering her eyes at the very bright light that signaled that there was an overwhelming amount of ki from a source.
Meanwhile, everyone was staring in awe at the kid that was slowly floating down to the ground.
With some effort, she got used to the big blue glare and saw its source. What she saw surprised her. 'U-Urashima? Shinobu-chan? Otohime-san? These three are the ones that almost blinded me with their ki energy? If I wasn't seeing it, I wouldn't believe it,' she thought in wonderment. To find that the one you considered the weakest person you know out of a whole half a species you don't like very much can use ki energy, something only a couple people you know would know about, and has more than you is something too surprising for one person to handle. Plus, to top it all off, Shinobu, one of the youngest girls at the Hinata-sou, and Mutsumi, the frailest-seeming girl at the Hinata-sou (what with all the anemic fainting spells) were also producing much more ki energy than herself. This surprised her to no limit.
As they say, after the surprise, her shock set in. Of course, she recoiled from the glare of all that ki energy at once, which her friends noticed. In her shock, however, she could not answer nor hear their concerned inquiries. They sounded all echo-y and far-away in her current daze. Even with all her training, she was physically unable to hear their questions or see their faces. Then, the shock became too much for her and she fainted.
...
Motoko awoke in a room that one could only know as a hospital recovery room. She was lying on a bed and there were nurses all around her sleeping figure (A/N: in this story, Motoko only has women as nurses and a female doctor). She recognized her regular doctor, Yukie.
"Yukie-sensei, what happened?" the raven-haired patient asked.
"Well, after a short diagnosis, we discovered that you fainted from shock. Don't worry, Motoko-san. It's a very common reason to faint," the doctor assured her. Yet, it did nothing to ease her worries.
'That glare...so much ki energy! How-how-how is there more ki in Urashima than normal? And why was there a lot of energy coming from Otohime and Shinobu? And what was that blue energy field surrounding Urashima? I must ask them! There's no way Urashima could produce that much energy! And the other two girls' abnormal energy production is also very odd. They had more energy than normal before, but they seem to know how to use their extra energy. How come I have never detected Urashima's massive amount of energy before?' she asked herself incredulously. She tried to remember back to the last time she turned on her ki vision. That was when Mutsumi was staying home instead of going to cram school. She was a little sick that day, as was Shinobu. Motoko had used her ki vision to see if there was any problem with their ki. She could remember that Keitaro had been out of the room at the time.
'Well, that could explain why I never knew Urashima had all that ki energy,' she concluded in her head.
"-but, anyway, you should be free to go," the doctor finished.
"Huh? Oh, okay, thank you, Yukie-sensei," Motoko thanked distractedly, not really sure what the doctor said. She got up and out of the bed and grabbed the piece of paper telling her she was released from the hospital from her doctor as the nurses filed out of the room.
Meanwhile, the Hinata gang was waiting in the waiting room of the hospital nearest to the theme park. All of them looked worried. Well, then again, who wouldn't be concerned for a friend? They were visibly relieved when Motoko came out into the surprisingly empty waiting room.
"Why is this waiting room so empty?" Motoko asked.
"Oh, well...the doctors moved them to another waiting room. Good thing we could tell them that before you woke up!" Kitsune responded.
"Well...thanks, I guess. Urashima-san, can I talk to you in private, please?" Motoko asked.
"Uhhh...sure," Keitaro said.
"Could all of you give us a moment?" Motoko asked, turning to everyone else.
"You got it, Motoko-san!" Kitsune said in her usual manner, snickering as she left the two to be alone.
As they left the emergency room, Kitsune snickered louder, allowing everyone else to hear her.
"What's so funny, Kitsune-san?" Naru asked.
"Oh, Naru-san. She said, 'Can you give us a minute?' I think it's pretty obvious that she's going to make a move on him," she explained, smiling.
"Oh, please. Why would she make a move on him?" Naru asked skeptically.
"Well, he is kind of cute...and, besides, it's just a question," Kitsune replied.
Meanwhile...
"I have a question, Urashima-san," Motoko said.
"Okay, Motoko. What is it?" Keitaro asked.
"Did you save that kid that was about to fall from the Ferris Wheel?" Motoko asked.
"WHAAT? How could I have saved him? I was on the ground," Keitaro said.
"Don't lie to me, Urashima-san. I detected a spike in ki energy when that kid was about to fall, but started floating towards the ground. Then I used my ki-vision to see what was causing that when I saw all the ki emanating from you and Otohime-san and Maehara-chan. I saw the field of ki around you that looked like a force field of sorts. I saw the trail of ki that was coming from you towards that kid as he was coming down to the ground. So...is it true? Do you have extra ki energy inside you?" she asked again.
Keitaro hesitated.
"Urashima-san?" Motoko asked firmly.
"...Yes, Motoko-chan, I was born with extra ki energy and faster ki production," he answered.
"What? How could you not tell us this? Wait, you did learn how to control it, right?" Motoko asked.
"Yes, I learned how to control it. And I knew that it would put everyone in danger if I told them. That's why I decided to keep it a secret. I was keeping the secret hidden from everyone until recently," Keitaro answered hesitantly.
"Why? What happened?" Motoko asked, now sounding curious rather than like a girl demanding answers.
"Well, that's when I noticed that Mutsumi-chan and Shinobu-chan started producing almost as much ki energy as you. Then, when I decided that I would take a break from trying to tell you girls what you were missing, I figured that Mutsumi-chan and Shinobu-chan would not need to learn any lesson. What they did need to learn was how to control their ki energy before something bad happened," Keitaro explained.
"But...why? Why would you hide this? What danger would we be in?" Motoko asked.
"Well, you know how you always send people flying? Well, those people go to report the assault to the police. If it weren't for me, your victims would actually remember getting hit before they actually get to the police. I put a special sort of 'spell' on you so that any of the people who had the normal level of ki to forget the assault you gave them. I can use ki, too," he explained.
"What? You can use ki, too?" Motoko asked.
"Yes. When I was younger, aunt Haruka told me that I should learn how to use ki energy to burn off the extra. I learned defense and everyday life, as well as some martial arts," he responded.
"Defense?! So you could have stopped my attacks any time at all?" Motoko asked.
"Yes, I could have. But, I didn't want you to wonder how I defended from your ki attacks, so I elected to use the ki shield to break my fall instead of block your hit," Keitaro explained.
"Whoa," Motoko said, staring off into space while trying to comprehend what she was just told. "Wait, did you get to Kanagawa Neverland before us?"
"Yes. I taught the girls how to geo-leap," Keitaro responded.
"What is this 'geo-leaping' you speak of?" Motoko asked.
"Well, it's like teleportation, only you have to be able to see where you want to go. It saves ki energy compared to actual teleporting," he responded.
After a while, Motoko shook her head. "No! I will believe this insane fact when I see it! When we go our seperate ways, I challenge you to a fight! If you do not show up tonight at ten o'clock in the forest behind Hinata-sou, I will find you and cut off your head!" Motoko threatened.
"Okay, Motoko. If that's how you want to have it, that's okay. I guess you would make me accept your challenge either way, so I guess I accept," Keitaro said hesitantly.
"Good. Don't be late," she commanded, walking out of the room.
Keitaro looked in her direction for a minute. 'Oh, no. I have to fight Motoko-chan now with my real skills. What do I do? I don't want her to feel ashamed when she loses to me, but I can't back off or she might tell the rest of the girls,' he thought worriedly. Then, he snapped out of his trance and followed after her.
...
Keitaro looked troubled the rest of the time at the amusement park. Somehow, though, he managed to hide it from his tenants. The only ones who could sense his uneasiness were the ones who learned how to use their ki over the week he was absent from Hinata-sou. Which is why they asked him what was up when the whole group was at the arcade. Everyone was standing by the racing game, cheering on one of the four racers. Everyone except Keitaro, that is. He was leaning against the wall, staring off into space, wondering what to do about Motoko. 'I can't just obliterate her, but I can't just ignore her challenge. If I ignore her, she will think her honor is insulted, but if I show up, she'll pressure me to go my hardest on her, and then she will feel like her honor is even more insulted when none of her usual attacks are working,' he argued in his head.
'What's wrong, Kei-kun?' he heard in his head.
'Well, Mutsumi-chan, Motoko-chan challenged me to a fight and I don't know how to let her down easy. If I ignore her, she'll come after me, but if I go, she's going to pressure me to do my worst to her, and then she'll feel ashamed that she lost to me,' he explained to her via telepathy.
'Oh, that is a pickle. Hmmm...' she said.
'Oh, man, that was fun! I just got first place! And not a scratch on me! I beat Kitsune-san!' Shinobu's voice mentally shouted cheerfully.
'Whoa, Shinobu-chan! What got you so happy? You got first place in the racing game?' Mutsumi asked.
'Yeah! Everyone kept trying to hit me with missiles and lasers and everything, but I kept dodging them and they hit the other two racers! It was awesome!' she explained.
'Wait, you kept dodging?' Keitaro asked.
'Yeah. I used the dodging controls and then nobody could hit me! It was awesome!' she cheered in their heads.
'Wait, that's it!' Keitaro said, an imaginary light bulb appearing over his head.
|\/\/|
And that's the new chapter. Woo-hoo! Cliffhanger! Also, I am going to do a bit of a poll. You see, I want to know how many of you like the silly author's notes that I do for laughs. Just post a review saying if you want them to stay or if you want me to only add characters like in the author's notes when I have something important to say. Remember, if you don't post a review, I will not know your opinion. I'll only count the reviews I get.
Sarah: Bye, readers!
Chris: Hey, that's my line!
(screen fades to black)