Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.
-oOoOoOo-
Motoko and Keitaro left the train station and headed for his parents' shop. Motoko was carrying a bag with a few items in it.
"Nervous, Motoko-chan?" Keitaro asked, giving his fiancee a loving smile.
"Nervous? Why would I be? I'm only meeting my fiance's parents and trying to get their approval!" Motoko quickly said before laughing.
"Deep breaths, Motoko. Just like you taught me during training," Keitaro said, doing his best to sound supportive. After Motoko did as he suggested and appeared to calm down, Keitaro asked, "They'll love you, Motoko. I'm sure they'll accept you."
Oh, how Motoko wanted to throw the fact that Keitaro was kicked out of his home by his parents the first time he failed the test. But she wanted his support. So after swallowing her first response down, she said, "I hope you are right. Any last minute warnings?"
Keitaro thought about it before he said, "My mom is a bit of a drill sergeant, but dad's kinda the opposite."
"I'll keep that in mind," Motoko answered as they entered.
"Welcome to-Keitaro! Is that the young lady you told us about?" Urashima-papa said. "I'm Keitaro's father!"
Motoko was a bit pleased to see that Keitaro seemed to inherit his looks mostly from his father. Although the man seemed to lack a certain fire that Keitaro had. Whereas Keitaro had the feeling that he was a dependable as a rock, his father gave off the feeling he was like water, always going with the flow and not trying to make any big pushes. In fact, the man looked so laid back, he seemed like he was about to fall asleep.
"Hello, I am-" Motoko said as she began to bow.
She was interrupted by a woman quickly entering from the back. The woman eerily looked a lot like Haruka, save for the fact the woman was a bit taller and looked quicker to anger. She stopped right in front of Motoko.
"I am Keitaro's mother. Going by what my husband said, you're the girl who's engaged to my son and wants to get our approval?" Urashima-mama asked, looking down at Motoko.
Not wanting to back down, Motoko replied with a touch of anger, "Yes, I do. I am Motoko Aoyama, heir to the Shinmei-ryu. Here are my gift to you, since Keitaro gave my family a few gifts."
Urashima-Papa was pleased to receive several artworks. He held up a Shinai that was in the bag and Motoko quickly explained, "That is a Shinai that I carved, just for this family."
Urashima-mama pointed at a woodblock that Motoko had placed on the floor and asked in a slightly annoyed, "And this?"
Motoko's response was to quickly slice the woodblock, letting some wooden parts fall off until all that remained was a wooden maneki-neko.
Urashima-Mama stared back at Motoko for a few moments before smirking. "I like you, but let's see how strong you are."
.
"Where shall we-" Motoko uttered before Urashima-Mama quickly began to feel up the Samurai. Both Keitaro and Motoko were stunned by the woman's actions. Urashima-papa merely went back to manning the counter, putting the gifts behind it.
"Breast size is good, if large for her height. Hips pretty good for birthing. Arms and legs tell a great amount of training," Urashima-Mama muttered as her hands felt up and groped Motoko's body. When she was done, Urashima-Mama noted that Motoko was too stunned to move or speak. So she did the first thing that came to mind. Urashima-Mama grabbed one of Motoko's boobs, squeezed it, and said, "honk, honk."
Quickly backing away and trying to shield herself, Motoko cried out, "Pervert!"
Urashima-Mama's smirk turned a bit dangerous. She put her hands on her hips and asked, "Aoyama-kun, Now I'm sure you don't know much about my family's history. Hell, Keitaro's doesn't. That's why I'm not mad as hell he's learning your family's swordsmanship."
"Mom, stop," Keitaro said, getting between his mom and Motoko. "We came here to get permission from you and dad."
"Oh, you have your father's permission. We all know that," Urashima-Mama replied, looking at Keitaro as she gestured to his father.
"Yup, you two sure do!" Urashima-papa answered with a wave.
"But mine? I'll need to spend some time with Aoyama-kun. Sure, she has a good body for being a wife, having kids, and fighting. But I need to make sure of her personality. I don't want you to be in a relationship where you wind up being a punching bag from a tsundere. Sure, you inherited the ability to take a decent punch from your father, but I'm your mother and care about you."
'Then why hit me when you get mad?' Urashima-papa said under his breath, showing that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Urashima-Mama looked at him for a moment and sweetly asked, "What was that?"
"Nothing!" Urashima-papa quickly answered.
"We aren't going to be like that, are we?" Motoko asked Keitaro.
"I hope not," Keitaro muttered, sounding a little unsure.
Returning her attention to the two fiances, Urashima-Mama asked, "So, will you spend the day with me, Aoyama-kun? I'll like to see how well you can bake."
Feeling a specter of fear behind her back, Motoko recalled the last few times she tried to make something. Her dishes were utilitarian, healthy, and nutritious. At best, acceptable for a meal anywhere else. In a candy shop, where the focus is on colorful sugary food? She feared either she would upset the parents for wasting ingredients or her attempts would be seen as mediocre.
"I'd… rather not," Motoko said, feeling as scared as she would if Tsuruko asked for a duel out of the blue.
"Oh, I insist!" Urashima-Mama answered, dragging Motoko with her to the back.
"Cease this at once! Couldn't you have an easier challenge, like having me defeat all the delinquents and perverts in the city before nightfall?" Motoko asked, trying to free herself from Urashima-Mama's iron grasp.
"Oh, you're one of those girls! I'll have so much fun with you!" Urashima-Mama said with a gleeful laugh as she and Motoko disappeared into the back room.
After a few moments, Keitaro began to head to the back room, but was stopped by his father.
"Look, son. Your mom won't harm her unless she strikes first. At worse, Motoko might have an upset stomach, In the meantime, clean the floor and go deliver these," Urashima-Papa said, handing over a number of packages. "I was going to ask the neighbors to do it, but you came here… You can handle with with those casts on, right?"
"Yeah, it's nothing," Keitaro said as he grabbed a broom and quickly swept up the wooden pieces. He then asked, "So… where's Kanako?"
"With your grandma traveling the world," Urashima-papa answered. "I did give her a list of places to visit, after she gave me permission to marry one of her daughters."
"Huh… Well, I'll be back soon," Keitaro said as he began to head outside to the store's bike.
-o-
Past the doorway to the back was several shelves various judo and jujitsu trophies, all with Urashima-Mama's name on them. There was also various pictures of Urashima-Mama, seemingly celebrating her victories with her friends and teammates.
Urashima-Mama shoved a bundle of clothes to Motoko and said, "Put it on."
Motoko went into the back and looked it at it. She was a little surprised to see that it was similar to the Maid uniform she picked up a while back. However, whereas that was more of a western style, this was the Japanese styled maid uniform, though it appeared to be a few years out of date. Motoko noted that the skirt was shortened a bit and the store name was embroidered colorfully on the apron. After shrugging, Motoko quickly put on the uniform, even putting her hair in pigtails, and headed back to Urashima-Mama.
Urashima-Mama looked at Motoko before circling around her. "Adequate. Hair style a bit childish, but works for our store."
Motoko felt like getting mad, but held off.
"So you're good with swords. How about spoons and stirrers?" Urashima-Mama asked.
"Whatever the task may be, I shall overcome it," Motoko said with stern pride.
With a Haruka-ish smirk, she said, "We'll see. Let's start off with something that a customer wants for their astronomy meeting. It's called 'Starry Evening'. I'll get the edible glitter and prepare the fruit slices, you get the aspic."
Motoko looked around for a few moments, but was able to find a jar of aspic.
Looking over at Urashima-Mama, Motoko saw that the older woman was able to chop a large number of fruit into quarter-moon slices in a manner of moments.
"Have you found it?" Urashima-Mama asked without looking as she began to lightly shake the bottles of edible glitter.
"Yes," Motoko said, holding out the jar.
"Put it on the counter. I'll get the pan," Urashima-Mama said, gesturing to a spot nearby her.
So Motoko did. She watched as Urashima-Mama quickly poured the aspic, put the fruit slices and edible glitter in, and poured more aspic. All her movement were precise and quick. While she was aware of Motoko, it appeared that Urashima-Mama was completely focused on her task.
Then Urashima-Mama said, "Normally, I would wait until you leave, but you Aoyama know about the other world."
"Wha-" Motoko uttered before Urashima-Mama made a few hand gestures. An odd glow blew out of Urashima-Mama's mouth towards the candy mix, making it glow for a moment.
"There. That's done," Urashima-Mama said before facing Motoko.
"Those skills! How? How?" Motoko uttered, wishing she had her blade nearby. "While Keitaro told me that your family has a number of ninja skills, I was led to believe that the Urashima family's skills were currently aimed towards tea shops, inns, and candy shops! I had thought there might've been some deterioration of at least some kind!"
"Everyone has secrets, Aoyama-kun. We also have the ability to choose our fates. I chose to become a candy shop owner," Urashima-Mama said. "Besides, you have no idea how cutthroat the candy business can get. Being a ninja merely ensures we can fight back."
"How much did you train Keitaro?" Motoko asked as she slowly began to back away.
"Oh, quite a bit," Urashima-Mama answered. Before Motoko could react, the matriarch added, "He can make any sweet that you can think of, but he doesn't seem to have any interest in the store."
Motoko barely resisted facefaulting. With an exasperated voice, she cried out, "I mean the ninja training!"
"Oh, that. Not much. He doesn't have the heart for it. Kept going into his fantasies about his 'promise girl'. He still can get out of a lot of scraps here and there, but anything supernatural is out of his league," Urashima-Mama said as she began to grab a few bowls and bags. "Alright, let's get the two cakes ready."
"A bit odd he took to learning the ways of the sword, then…" Motoko muttered as she grabbed a bowl, a bag of flour, and water before mixing the latter two. "At least he learned enough to take any attack."
"Oh, he didn't learn much how to take any hits from me. Maybe his father, but I think it might be something genetic the two have," Urashima-Mama said, not really concerned. "As for training, I think little Kanako is probably going to take over our school."
"That's…. His sister, right?" Motoko asked, recalling something Keitaro told her.
"Yup. she's not one for anything sweet, but she loves her brother," Urashima-Mama said before letting a sinister chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Motoko asked, looking over to Urashima-Mama.
"Eyes on the bowl. You're getting sloppy," Urashima-Mama said, making Motoko look back at her bowl. "As for what I'm finding so funny, you'll know why when she appears."
"Care to give me any hints?" Motoko asked.
"If any of your friends start wearing black clothes or anything with a gothic lolita motif, pull on their face," Urashima-Mama said.
"Her training?" Motoko asked.
"Correct, Aoyama-kun," Urashima-Mama said.
"Anything else?" Motoko asked, still stirring.
"Nope… Well, not unless you want to fight for another hint," Urashima-Mama replied.
Motoko paused and sized up Urashima-Mama. Though still preparing a cake, there was a faint aura that whispered, 'go ahead, make the mistake of challenging me.'
It reminded Motoko too much of her older sister. Going by how fast Urashima-Mama chopped up the fruit, Motoko was reminded of Tsuruko.
"No… I… I don't,"Motoko quickly said, returning to stirring the bowl.
"Ah well. I had heard of your match with Tsuruko," Urashima-Mama said, sounding a little disappointed. Motoko felt a shiver down her back. The shiver got worse when Urashima-Mama said, "Especially when I heard my son had to fight with his legs in casts."
"I-I-I-I-" Motoko stammered.
"Don't. I know it was his choice," Urashima-Mama quickly said.
Urashima-Mama picked up a stack of flyers and a basket of small treats from a nearby table. She handed them to Motoko and said, "Keitaro told us we could trust you, so go out front and hand these out."
"I will do my best, Urashima-sama," Motoko said with a bow.
"That's all I ask," Urashima-Mama said.
-oOoOoOo-
Notes from HotelKatz : This fanfic was an idea started by Antimatter of TheFanfictionForums. They are also the planner of this fic.
A round of thanks to everybody at TheFanfictionForums for their help.
I didn't bother naming the Urashima parents, simply because it wouldn't be fair if the Aoyama parents remained nameless to the reader. While I have used Kameya for Keitaro's mother in another fic, it might not be the case here.
I probably should start looking for a beta reader for this fic.