Love Hina 1. Confusing Beginning

Welcome to my second fanfic, Running From Yourself, a LH story with in an alternate unierse.

Everything belongs to Ken Akamatsu, except my story.

Enjoy.

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Keitaro staggered down the barren road. Anyone who would have seen the twenty-two year old would have thought he had just gotten his ass kicked in a real heavy fight. He had no shirt and his torso was covered in lacerations and bruises while what he had left of pants well the only body covering item he had on was his ragged pants, Keitaro walked the road shoeless as well. It was more like all the crap that the young man had piled on his back in life had finally hit him full force and yet the boy still stood on his own two feet, not for long though.

Kietaro had been walking for what he guessed was at least four weeks. In his traveling he had not come across any kind of vendor or place of business thus not eating anything for the whole four weeks except what little he had left of what he had with him. He continued on despite the feeling like his stomach was eating itself for nourishment and that his spine might break before he took another step.

The brown haired man stared into the empty sky. He felt so strange so alone; he hadn't had that emotion in a long time. Maybe it was the fact that the sky was only three colors during the day, blue, orange, and pitch black, and that there never seemed to be anything else in the atmosphere not even the sun. The only sound he heard was the wind constantly blowing against him. The lonely feeling, a thing that had not been in his life since that day he talked to his aunt.

It was funny he had never expected for a person like him to have had such good friends. If he ever saw them again he would thank them for all that they had done for him. Especially Nyamo who he had not known that well but she had definitely been a big part of Keitaro's reasons for changing for the better. He remembered the swords woman who he had known as a friend possibly a love interest and respected even more but whatever had been there was now gone, so much for it because Keitaro was either going to die of starvation or go completely insane.

Reflecting on it all made him feel old, he had experienced too much too early in his life. There were things he had seen that he wished he had not and would not wish upon anyone else. Yet there were times he would cherish forever even after he was worm chow, despite the hits he took which relatively were not as bad as a normal person might think. Naru may have hit extraordinarily hard for an average girl but he would rather have that then the other pains that had riddled his youth. Besides it not like his invincibility couldn't handle it.

The young man was taken from his thoughts as he heard a new sound make its way to his ears it was the sound of something being rattled within a piece of metal and rather loudly at that. "Son of a bitch."

It was all Keitaro could mutter as he watched Seta's van fall from out of nowhere land rolling on the ground. It hit the ground and performed an impressive display as it continued to head towards Keitaro without the use of its wheels. It rolled for about several minutes until it hit a shift in the earth that formed a natural ramp where it flew off from and landed rolling again until it just about landed on Keitaro who had to leap out of the way because it appeared the thing might tip over on top of him.

The van didn't however, as it regained its balance and rested on its four tires. The weary traveler was surprised to see it was still intact. The side door opened to reveal Seta and Sarah staring back at Keitaro who stared puzzled back at them. "Phew, good thing I wore my seat belt this time."

"What are you guys doing here?" Keitaro managed to whisper out of his dry, dry throat. It felt like he had swallowed sand and it was still making its way down through his esophagus.

"Haruka ordered me to come find you or she would kill me, she sounded serious this time." Seta replied with a cheerful smile. He was referring to the many times Keitaro's aunt had threatened such things.

"Plus we can't expect a loser like you to survive out here alone." Sarah added in.

"Get in kid we got a long way ahead of us." Seta commanded emotionlessly.

"You know you didn't have to do this." Keitaro said not getting into the van.

"I know, I didn't, but there's some women back home would disagree now get in." Seta replied with the same emotionless tone. He was not acting like his usual happy-go-lucky self and Keitaro knew he was the reason. Not that it mattered to the young man, but Seta was his friend and if he was truly that angered by what he had done then Keitaro would try to fix things. He would not apologize for his actions however, what he had done could not have been avoided.

Keitaro shrugged and climbed into the back seat as Sarah and Seta made their way to the front. Seta revved the engine and began driving again away from the barren desert. Peering outside the window Keitaro realized he had no real idea where he was going, the only land formation had been rocks and dying shrubbery, that and the smoldering machine parts from the now destroyed factory that had stood in the desert several mile s from the group's location.

"Hey Seta," Keitaro called still staring out the window.

"Yeah Kid," Seta would be referring to him as kid for the time being, because the archeologist was trying to be demeaning, as he was still angry for the decision Keitaro had made.

"Why'd you bring the van instead of the plane?" Keiataro asked.

"Sorry kid, plane's in the shop for now." The archeologist replied.

"Oh," Keitaro simply responded.

"Hey loser you plan on trying to apologize for all the shit you pulled?" Sarah inquired turning around in her seat to look at the wearied young man in the backseat.

"Sarah what have I said about using that word?" Seta scolded watching the paved road he had finally found.

"Oh right, sorry daddy, let me rephrase my previous question." Sarah apologized. "Hey loser you plan to apologize for that stupid crap you pulled?" she asked smiling evilly.

Seta just sighed his daughter would be as mean as possible when she wanted. Well to anyone but her own father. Keitaro thought that their relationship as parent and child was interesting. Whoever had cared for Sarah before Seta was obviously not in the girl's heart however one wouldn't expect Sarah to be very trusting towards other people, especially strangers. It often seemed that Sarah's real parents had been abusive, due to a strange marking on her back that Keitaro had accidently got a glimpse of before and that the blonde girl would become angry if anybody brought up her real parents.

So one would assume that at the beginning Sarah was not at all ready to accept Seta as her father, but it appeared as though overtime their bond had become strong once Sarah realized that Seta was someone who was big and strong willing to take care of her. She must have not experienced such a thing with her biological parents.

The part that Keitaro found odd and somewhat humorous is that to Sarah, her 'daddy' was superman yet it often looked like Seta was willing to do almost anything for her, and Sarah often took full advantage of that. An intelligent man fulfilling every whim of an eleven year old girl it was like those American cartoons with the big dog and the tiny dog that looked up to him but depended on the big dog for protection.

"So kid tell me was it all worth it?" Seta asked before Keitaro had a chance to answer Sarah's question. 'All worth it?' What exactly was all? He would have to think through the answer to that one. He would also have to consider Sarah's because well he hadn't expected to be alive after 'all' of it was over.

"You know what you guys are going to have to give me a moment to think those answers over." Keitaro replied after a few minutes.

"Take all the time you need kid, like I said we have a long way ahead of us. You take all the time you need." Seta replied as he continued to concentrate on the road.

Too honestly answer if it was all worth it, Keitaro would have to think back to that day in Shirai's restaurant as he discussed their lives with his old friend. Both were trying to escape what they had done what they were. It was the day after he had gotten the call from his Aunt Haruka. The day before he stood in front of the inn that he had not been told was now an all girl's dormitory. It was the day he would try to be a normal person for once.

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Confused yet? I was expecting that, if your curious enough to find out why things are this way keep reading. Please leave a review. 


	2. A Little Light On The Situation

Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu.

A young man sat in a booth next to a window waiting for his friend to show up so he could eat. He looked out the window and watched the people walking by. The brown haired young man did not see them as a common person would, no; he watched them for anything suspicious. He supposed he would never be able to truly lose that survival characteristic that had kept him alive in his profession. The young man could not stare at another adult without wondering if they were a potential threat even if they clearly were not. He would look at every part of their body for a concealed weapon or their weakest point. Inanimate objects were no different; he stared at every building corner, shadow, mailbox, ledge, car they were all potential hiding points for a would-be assassin.

"Harder then you thought Kei, eh?" Shirai remarked as he sat in the opposite side of the booth and placed a smorgasbord of meals in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Keitaro asked as he turned from the window and stared at the pile of food where he should have seen his friend.

"I mean trying to be normal if that's possible for you." Shirai answered frankly as he bit into a piece of squid.

"I don't see why you think I can't do it. You seem to have no trouble being normal." Keitaro riposted.

"My case is different Kei, you see I wasn't the top rated gunslinger within the agency nor did I keep wielding a gun as long as you have." Shirai countered with his mouth full.

"That's not a very fair argument."

"It isn't but it is the truth and if anyone needs to hear the truth right now it's you. You know I've been wondering what is it that made you finally holster your gun."

"Do you mean from the agency or for good."

"I know you refuse to tell me about what made you quit the agency which is just as well because I don't feel like telling my reason. So I meant what got you to finally quit the bounty hunter biz." Shirai explained his question.

"Well I've wanted to quit for a while." Keitaro said.

"Five years of a while." Shirai added.

"Five years since you quit, it was three years ago for me." The brow-haired young man corrected.

"Anyways, go on."

"Just yesterday I got a call from my Aunt Haruka offering me a job at the Hinata inn.

"Oooh Haruka," Shirai exclaimed. "How's she doing?"

"Watch it." Keitaro warned.

"Heh, my bad." Shirai apologized holding his hands up defensively.

"Well as I was saying Haruka's got this job set up for me at the old inn, I start today."

"Your grandmother hasn't forgiven you yet." Shirai inquired carefully.

Keitaro's eyes kind of shifted at those words. "I don't know, she is the one who wanted me for the job so she must be ready to accept me again."

"I can't see why she's still mad at you it's not like the agency gave our parents much of a choice. We were ten and had no idea what they were going to do with us." Shirai tried to reason still stuffing his face.

"That's not why she's angry with me. I never told you this but I had a chance to quit being a gunslinger." Keitaro explained his grandmother's disappointment in him.

"You what?"

"Yeah when I was fourteen I displayed an astonishing growth in my skill and talent so the heads of the agency were a little worried I might be come to powerful plus that's when my invincibility became very apparent. They were considering just letting me go and erasing my memory you know I would just be a normal guy with the impossible ability of not dying." Keitaro explained.

"You actually had a chance to leave?" Shirai was still stunned by the news.

"Yeah but I pleaded with them to keep me on. At the time I truly believed we were doing a good thing and I convinced them that no matter how strong I got my loyalty would always be to the agency."

"Yet here the all powerful gunslinger Keitaro sits in my diner waiting to start his job offered to him by his begrudging grandmother. Your life is truly a surreal one." Shirai remarked with a burp as he finished his meals.

"Yep that's just about the best way to summarize it in one word." Keitaro concurred as he sipped from his mug of tea.

"So have you heard anything from the others on our squad?" Shirai inquired as he slumped in his chair.

"Well I know Haitani got promoted to a division director."

"So I've heard anyone else?"

"Motoko quit six months before I did but I haven't heard from her since I said good-bye to her when she was packing her things in the locker room." Keitaro answered nostalgically.

"Motoko actually quit? Miss big bad samurai quit?" Shirai asked almost as stunned as when Keitaro admitted he had had a chance to quit the agency.

"Yep." Keitaro simply replied.

"Now that is a surprise. I guess it's a good thing the Yakuza was falling apart when we all felt like quitting." Shirai remarked finishing his sake.

"You don't think the agency would have let us leave?"

"I know they wouldn't have let any of our team leave. We were too good, too experienced, and put simply we were into deep." Shirai stated passionately.

"Do you ever wonder if they still keep tabs on us?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Shirai replied cynically.

"Hmm…"

"Well I got to get back to work Kei, it was nice catching up." Shirai said looking at his watch.

Keitaro nodded and got up from his side of the booth and dusted the crumbs off his shirt. Shirai got up as well and dusted himself off. "Really man I'm glad you're finally done with being a gunslinger. It'll be good for you, it may not be easy reforming and all, but hell it's got to be worth it."

"Thanks, Shirai, and I hope your restaurant does well for a long time." Keitaro said as he shook his old friend's hand. The former gunslinger left the diner and walked to his new life.

The young man came to the other side of the bridge that led to the historical district of Tokyo. He decided to rest for a while and sat on the middle bench of three benches at the rest area. The other two were occupied by a young blue-haired teenage girl on his left while the other had a strange looking pale man wearing a black business suit on it.

Keitaro pondered his new future as he pulled out his sketch book. Drawing was Keitaro's relaxation form the many horrific events in his life. What would it be like to have a normal job, to wake up not worrying who you were going to have to kill or who might kill you, to live a life not tainted by another's blood. He would be able to have normal relationships. Maybe he could even finally have a girlfriend? The ideas amused Keitaro as he sketched the sad looking girl sitting a few feet away from him.

Keitaro glanced in the direction where the strange man sat. The former gunslinger was surprised to discover the albino man was side glancing at him as well with a creepy grin on his face. Keitaro turned his head to fully see the man who turned his head to face the brown-haired boy. He still had that creepy grin on his face. Keitaro glared at him menacingly and offered a stare-down, the albino only continued to smile.

Thinking of the girl who seemed to be the only other person in the vicinity Keitaro got up from his bench to confront the man. You can never be too certain about what kind of freaks crawl into this world out of Satan's ass. As he strode over to the man a thick fog developed put of nowhere that temporarily blinded Keitaro. Once it cleared he stopped in front of the bench to find it empty. "What the hell?"

Acting quickly Keitaro scanned the whole area and found nothing. Keitaro grabbed at nothing in the waist of his pants, the hiding spot for a concealed gun while in public. The young man shook his head, reforming would not be easy as he thought. Keitaro looked around a bit more and found no one. Satisfied he could leave the girl alone and not worry about harm coming to her, Keitaro grabbed his luggage and started off towards the Hinata inn, leaving behind his sketch book on the bench.

Keitaro stood in front of his aunt's tea house and knocked for about the fifth time that day. There was no answer for the fifth time that day. Keitaro cursed and sighed in defeat, she wasn't at the tea house. He decided he might as well check out the place he'd be working at. Keitaro climbed the large amount of steps to the traditional building that sat the top.

"Haven't been here in a long time," Keitaro remarked as he stared at the enormous inn. "Feels like ages."

The young man entered the inn and inspected his new surroundings. The place was a little different from what he remembered but not really, main and most notable difference was rearrangement of furniture. Keitaro walked upstairs and set his things down; he gazed down the nearby corridors to see if any of the tenants were there. Nothing, Keitaro sighed and walked back downstairs.

He found the kitchen, hot spring, living room, and dining room. Keitaro grabbed an apple and proceeded back upstairs where he grabbed his luggage and searched for a vacant room. He found one down stairs after he found the sign above it that said "MANAGER". He had walked in hoping to find Haruka but he found an empty room instead which one of his objectives was. He placed his stuff in the closet and turned back to exit, Keitaro wondered why he had not seen anybody.

As he stepped out of the room he came face to face with an almond-eyed, almond-haired girl. He almost bumped right into her but years of reflexive training aided in him halting himself. Keitaro took a glance at the beautiful brunette and was at peace for a while; it was one of the few times he did feel at peace in his life. That ended shortly.

"What are you doing here? And more importantly, who the hell are you?" The brunette requested in a heated tone as she raised a fist.

Being a gunslinger of the agency did not just mean weapons training, Keitaro was versed in several martial arts but being a reformed gunslinger and a born again pacifist meant he raised his fists as little as possible.

"I am not here to fight only to apply for a job." Keitaro stated raising his hands defensively with palms out.

"Why would, a man be applying for a job in an all girls dormitory?" inquired through clenched teeth as she inched forward her fist still raised.

"I would assume because he is broke and needs the money." Keitaro replied plainly standing his ground. "And for the record I had no idea this was an all girls dormitory now, I was under the impression it was still an inn."

"Or may be it's because he's a vile pervert!" Naru growled ignoring his answer and swinging wildly at him.

"Okay seriously lady, you're going to have to calm down." The former gunslinger said as he held Naru's fist inches away from his face.

Naru was shocked to see such a thing for most perverts she could knock out without much difficulty yet here this guy simply caught her fastest punch possible. "How…how…is this possible?"

"Hey Naru we're back…" Su, Kitsune, and Motoko entered the inn and saw their quick tempered friend being over powered by a strange man.

"Motoko?" Keitaro said bewildered as he saw the girl enter the lobby. Naru glared at him and ripped her arm away while he was distracted and tried to hit him again but Keitaro was too fast for her, he had her fist again. Naru screamed in frustration.

"Naru is in trouble we must help her." Su exclaimed as she ran upstairs. Keitaro stared after the strange blonde until his attention was brought back to the other two girls on his left.

"YOU! PERVERT!" Motoko hollered as she aimed her katana at the young man. Keitaro wanted no part of that without a katana of his own he had seen what the samurai was capable of, not very pleasant memories.

"Mo, what the hell?" Keitaro said angrily as his old friend went for him. Naru readied for another power shot as well. What the hell was it everyone picks on the reformed gunslinger day?

"Motoko, Naru, move for I have brought my bazooka." Su shouted as she stood at the top of the staircase with the giant firearm on her shoulder and pointed at Keitaro.

Keitaro pushed down Naru and Motoko quickly but he was not fast enough to dodge the oncoming shell. "Oh fuck me."

The young man coughed and waved smoke out of his face as he came out of the thick smoke. He rubbed his eyes out and looked up to see four very unhappy women. He realized two things one, all four even his once good friend Motoko were angry to see him before them and two, he could not take them all on without hurting them, he needed a miracle to get out of this one.

"Alright let's everybody calm down now and I will tell you a little about myself. My name is Keitaro Urashima, I am here to apply for a job that was offered to me by your manager, Granny Hina, who is also my grandmother." Keitaro said in a slow calm voice.

The women's expression did not change but Keitaro continued. "It would be also interesting to know that I am not a pervert, thief, stalker, killer, rapist, and or, psychopath that would do harm to any of you."

His explanation fell on deaf ears as the women advanced on him. "Motoko," Keitaro still no answer from the dark-haired woman. All the reformed gunslinger could do was sigh and surrender as they closed in. If he died at least he died a gentleman, he had yet to hit the opposite sex.

Keitaro was tied to a wooden post outside which amazed him because he didn't remember seeing a post outside and he was usually so observant. The former gunslinger was bound to the post with rope where he watched Su cheer a few feet away from him; Kitsune teasing a red faced Naru, and his own friend, Motoko, sharpening her sword with expert precision.

So this how it ends cut in two by a girl he considered his best friend as a bunch of crazy girls watch and bound to a tree no less. The most top rated assassin within the agency and here was being slain in such an embarrassing manner. If this is what reformation was going to be like then he might have to consider picking up the gun again.

Motoko was finished with sharpening her sword and faced Keitaro. "You die now you disgusting excuse of a man!" Oooh that stung and from a friend too, ouch.

The other girls saw that it was feeding time and joined Motoko. "Really you guys know how to make a guy feel special." Keitaro remarked as they stared up at him, the former gunslinger showed no signs of fear however, just annoyance.

Motoko was about to swipe when someone stopped her. "Do you girls mind explaining to me what's going on here?"

Good old Aunt Haruka stood at the top of the long staircase to Hinata inn with groceries in her hand halting the little excecution.

"Okay let me get this straight. My nephew, Granny Hina's grandson, comes in here with a reasonable explanation and you guys try to kill him." Haruka said tiredly as she massaged her temples with one hand. The four girls looked down shamefully.

"We weren't going to actually kill him we were just trying to scare him away." Motoko reasoned for their actions.

"Keiatro didn't seem very frightened when you had that sword to his throat. Were you going to go through with killing a defenseless man if he was not frightened?" Haruka inquired staring down at each of the girls.

"It would serve the pervert right." Naru huffed with her arms folded.

"Whoa okay, for the last time I had no lecherous intentions when I came here. I was under the impression that this place was still an inn and not a dormitory." Keitaro now took his own ground in the discussion.

"You have no room for talk, how do we even know you have the credentials or experience to be a manager." Naru countered.

"Wait a minute, that's what the job is; Granny Hina wants me to care for her whole inn." Keitaro was expecting a janitor or a maintenance man. It appeared he was given the big place cleaning, maintenance, and management in all.

"Well you got me there; I have no experience as a manager. Although I was once the captain of an elite squa…" Keitaro did not finish his sentence because his Aunt Haruka had punched him in the back of his neck; you know where the brain stem is located. The girls may not have known what a gunslinger was, except Motoko, but Haruka did and she did not want the agency breathing down at her and her nephew's necks if they found out they were responsible for revealing the agency to the general public.

"Keitaro here has the perfect credentials to manage this place." Haruka stated as she stood behind her nephew.

"How so?" Naru queried.

"He's an avid student at Tokyo U." Haruka replied as if it was nothing.

Keitaro wanted to turn around and ask his aunt what in the hell was wrong with her. But he hid his own surprise at the excuse. Keitaro had never attended the highly acclaimed university, but he certainly was no idiot. The agency would not allow idiots to be working for them so from the beginning age of ten, agents were evaluated as to what their mental capacity was and from there they were taught with the correct methods that would increase their intelligence and comfortably but effectively educate them. Keiataro was a college graduate by seventeen.

All of a sudden Kitsune was in his face and apparently overjoyed that a young man from Tokyo U was living in the dormitory. Naru was yelling reasons as to why a man could not manage an all girls dormitory at a bored Haruka. Motok was busy having a hard time explaining to Su what a Tokyo U was; the girl seemed to think it was a type of food.

Eventually Su got bored and started hugging onto Kitsune, which gave Keitaro a moment to escape the demented amazons. He was glad at the moment for the stealth he had obtained from years as an assassin. As he sneaked around a corner he practically ran into his Aunt Haruka.

"What the, how did you? I didn't even see you…" Keitaro was baffled as to how Haruka had beaten him in sneaking out of the mess in the living room.

"Did you already forget that at one time I too was a gunslinger?" Haruka asked a little annoyed.

"No Aunt…" the young man was wacked in the head with a fan. "Right, right I mean no Haruka I just didn't know you had the skills of a demon ninja."

Keitaro was hit by the fan again. "What was that for?"

"Do not use the word demon to refer to me." Haruka scolded. "Come on Kei, let's do some catching up."

Keitaro followed his aunt outside and back down to the teahouse where the two relatives sat at a table in the empty place of business with tea in front of them.

"You ready to manage this mad house kid?" Haruka solemnly joked with a sip from her cup.

"I'm not sure. I've dealt with psychotic killers, master thieves, ruthless communists, and throngs of angry thugs but I don't think I'll survive this place." Keitaro replied jokingly.

"Well the promise of death hasn't stooped you before."

"This is true."

"So are you out for good Keitaro?" Haruka inquired of Keitaro's past.

"Yeah I am out permanently. I will not be wielding a gun again for a long time to come." The reformed gunslinger replied staring into his tea.

"Granny will be glad to hear it."

"Has she forgiven me yet?" Keitaro asked hopefully.

"I really can't say although she did seem rather cheerful this morning when she left."

"Where did she leave off to?"

"She has this crazy dream vacation of circling the globe and visiting every single hot spring known to man." Haruka answered with a slight but warm smile on her face.

Keitaro chuckled at that. "If anyone deserves a vacation it's Granny."

"What makes you say that?"

"If anyone made their living off of those girls, then they should be considered a saint." It was Haruka's turn to chuckle.

"Haruka, can I ask you something?"

"Soot kid."

"How come Granny holds no grudge against you for being a gunslinger?"

"Because I was the lucky one," Haruka replied with a chortle. "I was partnered up with the rookie on our squad and he gave away our position in a covert operation. When I pushed him out of the way of a bullet my wrist was hit by a very strange chance, I survived but my hand was never the same again. I was discharge as unable to survive in the field."

"Too bad I have this damn invincibility. Could've just died by gunshot and the world would be a better place." Keitaro remarked solemnly.

"Don't you dare say things like that Keitaro. You are more than what the agency made you, and you your self are more than just a gunslinger." Haruka declared angrily.

"Haruka, since the age of fifteen I've been killing people, evil people, but it was blood spilling none the less, I really don't deserve this second chance." Keitaro argued.

"Keitaro, you know you are not a killer. When you were a bounty hunter did you not make certain that you only incapacitated and not kill? Did you not leave the agency because you could no longer bring yourself to spill blood?" Haruka questioned angrily.

Keitaro did not answer because those things were true. To kill another person sickened him and when he had been a bounty hunter no matter what the criminal had done Keitaro made certain not to fatally injure him or her.

"You can be a real idiot sometimes kid." Haruka sighed.

"Forgive me Haruka, sometimes I focus too much on the negativity in my life." Keitaro apologized ashamed of his self.

"Forget it Kei, it's just that you are truly a good guy and if you want to change for good you have to stop living in the past." Haruka said as she calmed down.

"I understand, if I want to change I got to stop believing that I'm just a gunslinger, I have to remember that I am human not the hand of the agency." Keitaro stated in a sincere tone.

"I'm glad you do, try to remember it eh." Haruka remarked with a smile.

"I guess I might as well get to know my tenants now that I'm going to be a manager and all." Keitaro said finishing his tea.

"Couldn't hurt,"

"You know I think Granny set a trap for me here." Keitaro commented as he walked towards the door of the teahouse.

"What makes you say that?" Haruka inquired.

"She invites me for a chance to be normal but it's in a place that should be considered an asylum." Keitaro said with a grin.

Haruka laughed in response to his joke. It was good he was joking it was one small step to escaping his violent past.

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My thanks go out to Nysk and Makokashi22. Enjoy the new chapter. 


	3. Meeting New People

Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu.

Shinobu glanced at the strange boy's sketchbook that sat abandoned on the bench. The blue-haired teen could not help but be curious as to what might be in there. She looked turned away quickly admonishing herself for even thinking about going through someone else's belongings. Still he had been drawing something and it was obviously making him feel very happy, because of the peaceful look on his face. Shinobu turned back and slowly reached out. She inched closer little by little thinking to herself that this was wrong. But her fingers were just about to touch the cover.

"You know it isn't nice to touch other people's things." A gentle but playful sounding voice startled the teen as she reared her hand back automatically. Shinobu turned to see the strange albino man from earlier. He was definitely somebody that would make you want to walk the other way if you saw him coming. He was about six foot three with long white hair that was pulled back in a pony tail, he wore a completely black suit that had a black tie with purple shirt underneath, and creepiest of all features was that his skin was snow white with his eyes being an unnatural purple hue.

Shinobu locked her entire body and tried to show no fear as the creepy man came closer. The creeoy man however did not touch her in any way instead he walked past the blue-haired girl and picked up the sketchbook. "I think you know where this belongs, why don't you be a good girl and return it to its owner?"

The pale man handed Shinobu the sketchbook with a cheerful smile and walked off. Shinobu stared down at the sketchbook and then back up to where the creepy man had been going, he wasn't there anymore. All the teen could see was an eerie white mist that had appeared earlier when both the albino and brown-haired man were both in the rest area. Shinobu supposed she had sometime on her hands as she looked down at the sketchbook in her hands.

Keitaro walked down the corridor of the Hinata Inn with the Manager's log open in his hands. Before leaving the teahouse, Haruka had given it to the new manager. It would help him find the rooms of his tenants and it also gave a little information on each girl. Keitaro got a sick but familiar feeling in his gut. The process he was going through to get acquainted with his tenants was almost very similar into the way he used to take care of Yakuza soldiers.

He tried to fight the memory but it was useless. Any time the gunslinger was assigned a high profile member to kill, he was given a special report that included a picture of the hit, description, hang-outs, hobbies, friends, family, and status. Every possible way to get close to the Yakuza member was on that piece of paper. Just like the tenant profiles in the notebook he held out in front of him. The former gunslinger tried to shake the thought off.

In an attempt to break away from his memories, Keitaro looked down at the profile he had been staring at blankly for the past couple of minutes. Motoko Aoyama, he read mentally, Room 302, sixteen years old. The last part made Keitaro cringe somewhat. Had she really been that young? Sixteen years ago the poor girl was taken from her family and re-educated to become an emotionless killer, just as he had become. The new manager found himself in front of Room 302.

Whether it was due to subconscious intention that Keitaro stood at the door or by mere coincidence, the young man didn't care. It would undoubtedly be an awkward reunion but there were a few things that the former gunslinger felt needed to be cleared up with Motoko. Better now than never, they were both people trying to forget what they were capable of and it was more than likely that Motoko had not told any of the other girls about who she had been.

The brown-haired man knocked on the door and waited for a response. The female modern samurai sat in a peaceful but concentrated position on a matt in the middle of her room. When Motoko heard the knock coming from the other side of the door she creaked one eye open and growled when she heard the offensive sound. Hopefully it wasn't important and the visitor would come at another time, preferably when she wasn't in the middle of meditation.

Keitaro listened for movement but he heard nothing. He was reminded that even back then Motoko tended to be difficult about people being in her room. It made Keitaro chuckle when he the vision of Shirai running from the younger gunslinger's room as Motoko chased him with katana in hand passed through his head. Motoko was and had always been stubborn when it came to her personal space, but Keitaro didn't put up with it then and he wouldn't put up with it now. He simply knocked again but in a way that he knew would piss her of. Keitaro knocked to the tune of the Mexican hat dance.

Motoko's eyes shot open when she heard the irksome tune being tapped out on her door. No, Keitaro wouldn't, would he? He would not actually invite Shirai over here. Please, Lord no. Only her old captain would be so cruel, as to allow that annoying dork near her, and in her own home. Meditation be damned she would skewer them both once she opened the door. Motoko raised herself to her feet and made her way across the wood floor.

Keitaro stood out the door and if one was to study the man's position they would imagine he was readying himself foe something. The sliding door slipped open but no one who could have opened it stood within the room. Keitaro smiled and stepped into the room; his hand shot up and stooped the blade between his fingers that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Damn it!" Motoko muttered as she held her katana rigidly from her hiding spot near the door.

"You should know better than to sneak up on me Mo." Keitaro scolded as he gently pushed away the sword into a disappointed Motoko.

"Oh, thank God." Motoko said as she saw no one follow behind her captain, she checked outside the hall quickly to see if Shirai was waiting to sneak into her room. When she was satisfied she glared back at Keitaro and shut the door.

"What's wrong?" Keitaro inquired about his friend's gratitude to the almighty.

"I thought that you had brought that little troll with you." Motoko replied as she sheathed her sword.

"Now is that any way to treat our old comrade?" Keitaro teased as he scanned the samurai's room. The girl could be so predictable at times, the place was decorated with a set of old samurai armor and different swords and other Japanese weapons.

"Why are you here Kei?" Motoko asked in an almost upset tone. The usually strong girl did not look at the former gunslinger.

"As the new manager I am taking time to get to know all the tenants around here. Me, being here to see you is for an entirely different reason though." Keitaro said in a stern but gentle voice.

"I meant what are you doing here, in society, in my home?" The swordswoman practically demanded all be it in a low and upset voice still not turning around to face Keitaro.

Keitaro moved a little closer to the samurai until he was in arms length of her. "Following the advice you tried to give me three and a half years ago."

"You're a bastard Keitaro, you said you could never leave that life that you were to live and die with a gun in your hands. I don't know if I was acting or actually ready to kill you back there." Motoko stated angrily as she turned but did not face the brown-haired boy.

"I know I am. Motoko, I want to apologize for hurting you back then but even now it's uncertain for me if I can do this." Keitaro apologized and then made Motoko's feelings uncertain all over again without intending to.

Motoko was about to turn away from Keitaro again but the former gunslinger grabbed her by the shoulders and did not let her do so. "Like my aunt said, Granny asked me to do this job and as I see it this is my first real chance to a normal life."

"What made you change your mind?" Motoko asked curiously now looking up at her old friend.

"That's kind of a personal matter, Mo. But I assure you I won't be going back, this is the real thing, I am out and out for good." Keitaro declared smiling. It felt good to tell a friend that they were both able to turn around and look towards the future.

"Do not lie to me Kei."

"You know me, Mo. I suck at lying to people I care about."

Motoko looked into her friend's eyes; she could see the honesty and hope in them. Keitaro truly believed that this was his ticket out of the underworld they both once lived in. "What about the others, what will we tell them about our pasts?"

"How about we don't,"

"You do not wish them to think poorly of you as their manager?"

"Well kind of, yeah the tenants knowing I used to kill people might damage my chances of them being able to trust me. But I like to think of it this way, you and I are starting over now and Haruka advised me that if I truly want to change I have let go of the past. So let's you and me put our past behind us and not worry about it. They don't need to know." Keitaro explained with a hint of happiness in his voice.

"You do realize that this means we can't be chummy for a while." Motoko remarked with an evil smile.

"Yep, they seem to like to beat the man around her. I guess you're going to have to chase me around with that sword a few times before everyone here trusts me." Keitaro said with a half-smile. His old team-mate would more than likely get a kick out of whacking her former captain without a counter strike from the gunslinger.

"Yeah well, I think it's like that because it has just been us girls for a long time. We tend to be very protective of the little family we got here." Motoko said to explain the reason for the recent execution attempt.

"Especially that Naru," Keitaro remarked.

"Hey, watch it, that's my friend you're talking about."

"Listen Mo, don't get me wrong. I give everybody a fair chance but since I ran into her this afternoon she's been nothing but critical and distrusting toward me."

"I know she can be a little hot tempered at times but it's only because…"

"Because what?"

"Kei, if you truly want to understand Naru, then try talking to her and giving her a chance."

Keitaro looked skeptical of his friend's suggestion, but then again Motoko was giving him a second chance, Haruka was giving him a second chance, Even Granny was giving him a second chance. He had actually spilled blood; Naru's only crime had been being overly protective. She was trying to protect the other girls.

"Okay Mo, if you can trust the girl, then I suppose I can too." Keitaro said as he approached the samurai. He smiled and Motoko and she smiled back warmly, it was good to see an old friend she thought she had lost. Keitaro embraced the samurai and Ms. Big bad samurai returned the hug.

"I think the almighty is really giving me a chance at the good life." Keitaro remarked with a chuckle as he held the girl.

"Don't go blowing it, I will fight many entities but a god is something that not even I would tangle with for you." Motoko quipped coming out of the hug. Both friends laughed.

Keitaro came to the closest room next, Room 301, the current home of Koalla Su. Keitaro knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds, but no response. He knocked but this time a little harder. The door gently cracked open a little bit, Keitaro peeked inside and saw no one. What he did see made his jaw drop, despite the many travels of his life never had he seen a jungle inside a room. It was almost perfect; the only thing was that Keitaro couldn't tell if it was real or not.

The former gunslinger reached out and felt the trunk of one of the trees to discover it was in fact real. It amazed Keitaro even more that it was, because of the time it had to have taken to grow and effectively preserve a jungle within a building and away from natural sunlight. Keitaro's amazement was abruptly ended when a metallic dart flew in front of his face and planted itself into the tree.

If ever there was a time that Keitaro's quick reflexes, agility, and trained senses would come in handy in very unusual circumstances this would be it. Keitaro jumped out of the way of several more darts and started to run forward. The manager figured that he had somehow initiated Su's security system, probably by touching that damn tree. How could he be so careless?

Keitaro jumped out of the way of a giant mechanical horse, then rolled out from under a falling net, dodged several missiles, and somersaulted over a rolling spike covered ball. He landed in the branch of a nearby tree. "What in the hell is this place?!"

"Keitaro is very good at not dying." The former gunslinger turned to see the blonde maniac grinning from ear to ear behind him.

"Su, where did you get all this stuff?" Keitaro panted as he stared in disbelief at the girl.

Su only grinned bigger in response, Keitaro could've sworn that if the girl smiled any bigger that her face would split open. "Keitaro, you make playing with you all the more fun."

The blonde foreigner pulled out a remote control and pressed the big red button on it. Seven mecha-tamas rose from out of the foliage and soared towards Keitaro. The former gunslinger ducked out of the way of the first one and watched as it hit a nearby rock; the robots appeared to explode on impact. Keitaro smiled.

The gunslinger jumped up and lightly stepped on the second and grabbed the third as he propelled forward. He threw the third a t the second and fist slammed the fourth into number five. The sixth and seventh tama zoomed towards Keitaro who arched himself backward into a back flip as he was under the robots he sprang himself off his hands and kicked the two turtles into a the mechanical horse where they exploded into smithereens.

"Wow, Keitaro is really fun to play with. Su 's mind made up, Keitaro must stay as Su's new playmate." The blonde foreigner hopped onto the manager and wrapped her arms and legs around his torso. Su grinned again at Keitaro, it appeared that Su was good with the new manager being a guy. He may regret allowing Su to consider him as her playmate but hell, what didn't kill him only made him stronger.

"So same time next week then?" Keitaro quipped. Su only grinned bigger just as before. "I'll take that as a yes. Hey listen, Su, that girl Naru would most likely come in here and get the wrong idea so how about you get down now?"

Su made no move to release Keitaro. The former gunslinger grabbed the girl around her waist and pried Su off of him; it was like trying to rip glue off. Once Su was no longer attached, Keitaro placed her on the ground. The blonde foreigner, although no longer hugging the new manager she remained in a body holding position and still smiling at that. Keitaro scratched his head and stared down at the odd girl. After a minute Su still did not move and Keitaro figured she was okay by herself. The manager walked out of the jungle filled room and went to his next destination.

"This one is Room 205, Mitsune Konno, nineteen years old." Keitaro read aloud as he opened looked down at the information in the notebook. The manager folded the notebook and placed it in his side pocket. He made to knock on the door but it suddenly opened without his assistance.

There stood Mitsune Konno the fox, or so Keitaro would come to find out. "Well if it isn't our new manager." the clever drunk greeted as she saw who stood before her door. The foxy woman smiled mischievously at the new manager and winked.

"Uhh…right, Miss Konno, I am as you already know Keitaro Ura-"

"Oh enough with the formalities sugar, why don't you come on in so we can get to know each other better?" Kitsune was about to pull Keitaro in but the manager was too quick for her; he had his hand back at his side before the fox could get an inch in on him. Kitsune pouted at the response while Keitaro had his reasons for keeping his distance.

The former gunslinger had a feeling that submission to Kitsune would make for an awkward situation and by chance Naru would pop up out of nowhere along with the others and he would be tied to that damn post again with his friend pointing her katana at his throat, and once again he would just be plain pissed for having to waste his time.

"Forgive my rudeness, uh…" Keitaro wasn't exactly sure what to call her.

"You can call me Kitsune, manager. You know what calling you manager is so boring. I'll call you by your first name, what was it again?" Kitsune asked confounded, she had been completely caught up with the scaring of the invading male that the fox had forgotten what the manager's name was.

"Keitaro." The former gunslinger dead panned, he was a little annoyed that the girls beside Motoko, acted like they hadn't just tried to execute him. Of course Motoko knew him long before today.

"Hmm, Keitaro, anyways what is it you were saying?"

"I was saying that I am sorry for my rudeness, but as the new manager I wouldn't want to invade your privacy." Keitaro explained in his most sincere and honest voice, it had some smoothness too, and being able to use the tone that would better influence a person was an effective skill when hunting down a criminal. Keitaro blinked as his past found its way into his head again.

"Well alright then Keitaro, I will see you later then." Kitsune replied in a flirtatious manner.

"See you around. It was nice meeting you Kitsune." Keitaro remarked before leaving the fox on her own. Kitsune watched the young man walk away from her; he was an interesting one all right. Kitsune would try her craft at finding out what was hiding behind that shy exterior.

"Ah, here it is the last room of the day." Keitaro didn't bother reading the name or room number; he had made certain this would be the last tenant he talked to that day. The manger wasn't sure if the fiery tempered girl might lose it or not thus igniting a brand new attempt on his life or 'scare' as Motoko had called it. So now that things were clear with the other three, there was hopefully a less chance of them trying to kill him.

Keitaro knocked on the door and was surprised to find that was all it took to get an answer. He did not have to knock five times, tap out the Mexican hat dance, walk in and be ambushed by a robotic horse, or worry about being accused of sexual harassment. Naru opened the door only to see the pervert standing there; she glared at him and slammed the door in his face.

"Gee, talk about making a guy feel welcome." Keitaro remarked as he knocked again, so much for not having to knock more than once.

"Go away." Naru warned from the other side of the door.

"Listen Naru, I know we kinda got off on a bad foot but like it or not I am the manager now." Keitaro waited for a response but he heard nothing. "So I would appreciate it if you would give me a chance."

The door opened and Naru stared at the manager with an annoyed expression on her face. "And why pray tell should I give you a chance?"

Damn, once again the almond-haired girl had stuck him with a hard one. Why should anyone give him a chance? Why? Because he was taking his own chance, he was taking the big step away from the blood, away from the cold steel of a gun in his grip, away from the pained and haunting expression in a victim's face as he pulled his knife from them.

"You should give me a chance not because I happen to be related to your former manager but because your former manager was a loving and honorable person who trusted me to watch over you and her other tenants." Even if Granny would treat him coldly for the rest of eternity, Keitaro would never deny that he respected and loved the way his grandmother was so naturally apt at caring for others no matter what and he would defend her honor till his last breath.

"Granny Hina may trust you but I will never trust you as long as you are a male living amongst the women here." Naru declared vehemently as her eyes narrowed and her voice rose.

"You're really protective of the people you care about aren't you?" Keitaro asked curiously, he had begun to suspect such things. He could even understand how the girl got all worked up. It had been the reason he had once thought he would die with a gun in his hands, he believed being a gunslinger meant protecting the innocent. Naru could be considered the same except she protected those she cared for. The only problem was that she let her anger control her too much and it made differentiating between actual threats and suspicions a tight wire act.

Naru blushed a little at the manager's query and got redder because she was angered by the fact that the boy had made her blush. She growled and tried to throw a punch at Keitaro again but as before he caught in his palm and held it firmly. The former gunslinger had caught many fists in his life but few matched the strength the seemingly average girl had in her punches.

"Did anyone ever tell you how cute you looked when you're mad?" The manager couldn't help himself. She did look even more attractive when her face was all pink and she was so full of emotion that she looked like she might burst.

Keitaro's comment only further infuriated the Todai hopeful and she sent a power shot at the former gunslinger with her other arm, her speeding fist was caught in Keitaro's other hand just like its sister. Naru's face went completely red as she saw herself being bested by a member of the opposite sex. Keitaro tried hard not to smile.

After a lot of Naru trying to push Keitaro down and then trying to pull herself out, Keitaro decide that enough was enough. Naru never saw him coming. The former gunslinger spun Naru, around so that her back was facing him, without warning Keitaro clamped his hand into the area where Naru's neck and shoulder met.

"You dirty bastard…" was all Naru was able to mutter as she fell to the floor in unconsciousness. Keitaro held her by the shoulders before she could fall to the floor and adjusted her so that the girl rested in his arms. He looked down at her face and almost broke out in laughter. Despite being asleep, Naru's brow was still furrowed in an angry expression and her lips sill held their scowl.

"So we still got a ways to go, well I got all the time in the world kid. How long before you give in?" Keitaro asked thoughtfully as he placed the ill tempered sleeping beauty on her futon.

Keitaro groaned as he walked back downstairs and saw the damage that Su's bazooka had done. At the foot of the stairs there was a large hole that made its bones out of the wall and floor. The manager cleaned up all the debris and pulled out the loose boards that had been heaved upward and outward by the explosion. He was going to need some wood, tools, paint, and a miracle to restore it to the once beautiful space it had been.

So Keitaro set out to the local hardware store after notifying Haruka, to find his supplies and fix the hole before dinner rolled around. Keitaro walked back with the cans of wood finish and paint in his hand as well as the two-by-fours resting on his shoulder. He tried to shake the fact that he was watching all the people around him, subconsciously wondering if they were assassins or if his enemy hid within the every shadow that crossed the former gunslinger's path. Then Keitaro got a chill down his spine, the kind you get when you know someone is watching.

As Keitaro stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, a person from across the street stepped back into their hiding spot. Keitaro made sure no one was too close to him so he could turn with the two-by-fours on his shoulder. He gazed at the other side of the street and saw no one watching him, he saw possible hiding spots, but no one walking the sidewalk paid him any mind. Keitaro shrugged it off and continued on toward Hinata Inn, he noticed that the atmosphere was getting a little foggy.

Upon reaching the top of the white stone stairs, the manager was surprised by the sight of all the girls except Haruka standing outside. Su was grinning at him with a 'you're in trouble' face, Naru was as usual glaring at him, Kitsune smiled evilly, and Motoko looked at him with an 'I really hope you didn't screw up' expression. The only person not facing him was a short blue-haired girl that appeared to be trembling and had what looked like a notebook in her hands as she stood in front of the girls. The former gunslinger was not looking forward to being tied up again.

* * *

I'm guessing some of you still might be confused, hopefully you're the patient type. Who's the albino? Will Keitaro get into the swing of the normal life? Don't ask me about pairings. My thanks go out to every one who has read and enjoyed this story so far. 


	4. This One Got Good Responses

Love HIna belongs to Ken Akamatsu

The blue-haired girl heard someone approaching from behind her so she turned and saw the young man whom the sketch book belonged to. Shinobu became immediately embarrassed and ran past him as fast as she could. The manager watched her run past him and could not help but wonder what she was so flustered about.

Keitaro made to go after her but he still had plywood on his shoulder and paint in his hand plus there was that evil presence he felt behind him. Things could not go well for the reformed gunslinger. Naru most likely woke up remembering that he had been the last one near her before she was unconscious she would most likely jump to conclusions. And now there was this middle-schooler with his sketch book running away at the sight of him with tears in her eyes.

Oh Granny, how evil can you truly be? "Now listen girls, whatever it appears that I did, I swear it's not what it looks like."

"Explain this! Why are you drawing pictures of teenage girls?" Naru commanded the information from him, rather than asking. She held the sketch book open In front of her to show Keitaro his handy work.

"Okay, that's a new one." Keitaro had already been misjudged several times upon entering Hinata Inn, but this was an accusation that had solid evidence to it. "Alright if you will give me a chance to ex…hold on a sec,"

Keitaro stepped to the side and placed his home maintenance supplies away from the stairs. If the girls planned to swarm him again then the manager would appreciate not having to clean up paint off the pearl white stairs.

"Anyways as I was saying, the reason there's sketches of a girl in there is because I use drawing beautiful sights as a way to relax, and at the time the girl was the nicest thing to draw." Keitaro explained plainly. The girls did not find it very reasonable.

"GET THE PERVERT!" The women of Hinata swarmed the former gunslinger. Not wanting to hurt them as before, all Keitaro could do was slump over in surrender as they picked him up and carried off to his punishment.

Keitaro swung lightly suspended by a chain link above a boiling pot of a strange green liquid. Where in the hell did they get acid?! Su displayed a freakishly happy smile as Keitaro figured she had something to do with it.

"Are you prepared to die for your perverted sins?" Naru asked menacingly as if trying to entice him into fear.

"Seriously, do you girls rip your executions out of old comic books or what?" Keitaro inquired with a deadpan expression on his face as he hung from his feet.

Naru was ready to start yelling at the sarcastic young man but Motoko stopped her. "Excuse me Naru, may I have a moment?"

"Of course Motoko," The Todai hopeful's demeanor suddenly changed from hell-bent to delightfully cooperative.

"Naru, I regret to inform you that there are a group of perverts running about Hinata." The samurai reported with the utmost seriousness.

"Really, Motoko could you do me a favor and watch our resident pervert until me and the others get back." The pervert slayer requested from her sword wielding friend.

"Of course Naru, the pitiful male will not escape me." Motoko replied with a bow of her head.

Naru and the other two females ran off to rid the town of perverted males, really the other two just thought it would be funny to see their angry friend beat up a bunch of guys.

Motoko turned to the chain bound manager above the boiling pot of acid. "I am very surprised that worked." As she saw her former captain hanging so helplessly there she couldn't help but giggle.

"You mind telling me what is so funny, Mo?" Keitaro asked unimpressed as he continued to hang upside down, not of his own will of course.

"Nothing, it's just that if the rest of the squad saw this, well I don't think you could ever live it down." Motoko explained with a giggle.

"Haha, alright fun time's over get me down from here." Keitaro commanded, Captain Urashima was showing himself at the moment.

"Hey calm down Kei, remember I have a choice on whether or not to help you out of the jams you seem to so easily get yourself into." Motoko riposted as she covered the acid filled pot and climbed the ladder toward the top of the chain.

Keitaro plummeted toward the ground and landed directly on his head. The former gunslinger unraveled the chain around him and thanked Motoko for assisting him in surviving the second attempt on his life within a day.

"Hey Motoko, we didn't find any perverts in the town. They must have run off before we could get to them." Naru stopped in shock as she saw something she thought she would never in her lifetime, her sword master friend stood next to the lecher as if they were friends. Not only that, but the lecher was not chained up any more.

The samurai quickly realized her and her former captain's dilemma; Motoko used the best plan she could come up with. "Urashima! How dare you sneak past me?"

"So I guess we're acting again huh?" Keitaro remarked as Motoko drew her katana and pressed it against the manager's throat.

"You lecherous worm you have dishonored me! The only way to regain my honor is for me to defeat you in a duel." Motoko snarled at Keitaro who tried not to smile because it was now very clear to at least him that she was acting.

The rest of the females were immediately enthralled with the idea of the pervert being slain by the resident samurai. They began to cheer and egg Motoko on. Naru began to stare oddly at Keitaro, somehow this guy wasn't what he claimed to be. Naru knew Motoko well enough to know the average person had no chance against the swordswoman, something was up.

Keitaro and Motoko stood at opposite ends of the Hinata Inn roof. The manager had been given his own katana to defend himself with although most of the women doubted that it would make much of a difference, the ones doubtful of a slaughter were Motoko because she had sparred with Keitaro in the past and knew he would not be one to go down so easily, she was hoping that her former would go along with the act and throw the match. The other girl who wondered if Keitaro would actually lose was Naru, already on several occasions the male had proven himself to be an above average person. The bazooka, quick enough reflexes to catch her atomic punch, and escaping Motoko were all on the list of impossible skills.

The two combatants stared each other down anticipating the first move. Motoko was surprised to find she was actually nervous, it had seemed like ages since the last time she had faced off against her captain. She ignored her nerves though and drew her blade, Keitaro did the same. Their eyes locked and the battle began. Motoko raised her sword and unleashed her ki attack that Keitaro was already familiar with; the gunslinger ran head on and hopped to the side as it nearly missed him.

Motoko quickly released another wave of energy as her opponent closed in; in response Keitaro swung his own sword into the blast and used the motion to reflect the energy back at her. Keitaro used ki in his sword fighting as well but he used his focused his ki with in the power of his body making his motions stronger and quicker. He only used this however when in battle with Motoko.

Motoko anticipated that Keitaro would do that so she dove at him away from her own ki attack, sword out and tried to punk him into dodging. The gunslinger caught the tip his friend's blade with his own as he flicked his wrist downward. Keitaro flung his blade upward in a diagonal motion that practically forced Motoko off the roof, but Keitaro acted quickly and swung his blade at Motoko, which the samurai caught with her katana and used the blade to fling herself back onto the roof where she landed gracefully on her feet. Although in reality Keitaro had been actually helping Motoko the duo made it appear as though Motok was countering the manager in midair.

Motoko raised her sword again and slashed downward at Keitaro who blocked with his sword horizontally. The two grazed off each other's steel and spun around so that their swords clashed in an slender x. Both gunslingers grinded their blades against one another as neither could effectively force their will upon the other.

"What are you doing? You should let me win; it will make the average guy thing more believable." Motoko panted as she held her blade solidly against Keitaro's.

"Come now Mo, we both know you're enjoying this. Besides how long has it been since you've had any real competition?" Keitaro teased also panting; his team mate had gotten a lot better. Once again the combatants slid off each others' blades and regained position before going after one another again.

"This guy must be pretty good if he can keep up with Motoko like that." Kitsune commented as she and the girls watched from the other side of the roof.

"Keitaro is really good; he's almost as good as Motoko." Su concurred with the fox. Keitaro almost face faulted at Su's words because he thought he was more than almost as good as Motoko.

Naru sat along with the others but did not express her thoughts on the match. How was it possible that Motoko actually had to defend herself against this loser? It didn't make sense to the almond haired girl. The most kick-ass girl she had ever met, and here she was sweating against this worthless male.

Motoko unleashed another blast of ki at Keitaro, the gunslinger doged it by hopping to the slope of the roof from there he leapt towards the samurai prepared to pounce on her. Motoko caught the attack in time and slammed her blade into Keitaro's blade as he brought it down fiercely. Now was the time for a little acting, Keitaro let himself falter as if Motoko's counter had stunned him and so he fell to the earth. Motoko jumped down to the ground after him.

"Hey now we can't see them anymore!" Su whined as both fighters fell behind the building and out of the audience's sight.

Motoko and Keitaro grinned at each other as they regained their fighting stances. Even though they were no longer being watched by the other tenants, this match was not over. The two gunslingers ran at one another and clashed once again but scraped off each other and spun into an attack. Keitaro took the low position while Motoko had the high position both released and slashed at each other again. Motoko bounced off a few inches and Keitaro took his advantage, he went for Motoko's legs trying to trip her but she reacted quickly and jumped over his blade and tried to kick Keitaro as she landed this forced the gunslinger to leap backward. Keitaro waited for Motoko to regain her balance and the two were back at it.

Motoko ran and lunged at Keitaro and rained five raging slashes upon him in such a fast manner it was hard to see each movement. Keitaro blocked each one with just as much speed and parried her last attack so that she was forced off of him and flung back a little. Keitaro moved in and let loose his own flurry of blinding steel with the same lightning quick speed that Motoko had used. Motoko blocked each of the gunslinger's seven hacks and parried his last cut.

Keitaro's katana was forced away from him down to his side and Motoko went for a slash at his head but Keitar flicked his blade up back quickly and held it there to stop Mptoko from beheading him. "Boy these two are really getting into it."

The two opponents heard Kitsune commentating a few feet away from them, both side glanced to see that the other two girls were there as well even Haruka watched as she took a puff on her constant accessory. Motoko and Keitaro faced eachother with bewilderment in their eyes, hadn't they lost their spectators?

"I guess it would be time to take that fall eh?" Keitaro queried in a low tone as he grinded his sword closely with Motoko's .

Keitaro backed off Motoko's katana with a swift juke and went at her with a wild jab. Was Keitaro was actually going to throw the match or was he trying to trick his old friend? Motoko prepared for an assault as if she was really going to have to worry about defending herself from such an undisciplined attack, she wasn't stupid.

Keitaro ran at her and Motoko stepped to the side swiftly. With Keitaro out of balance with his momentum his opponent would try to impale him as his flank was unprotected, which the samurai did attempt. Just as the girls gasped and Motoko's blade went forward, a beat up old tennis shoe shot up ward and held the blade within the ridges of its sole.

Although the audience could not see it Keitaro grinned. Releasing Motoko's blade the gunslinger dropped his foot and sent the other forward in a roundhouse kick that was aimed for Motoko's sword wielding hand, acting quickly the samurai hopped backward and dodged the offending foot, as Keitaro brought his foot down Motoko charged him with an detectable horizontal swing of her blade to only cut a butterfly down the middle that had mindless floated into her path.

Motoko felt a presence above her and looked up to see Keitaro coming down upon her with his katana above his head. Still in a crouch position from trying to swing down upon her former captain, the samurai charged her ki and waited for the right moment. Keitaro came closer to the earth and now was the samurai's chance she unleashed a torrent of ki just as both their swords clashed. The force of energy caused Keitaro to be flung into the air and crash into the ground skidding for a few minutes.

"What an over actor," Motoko muttered as she sweat dropped at the way the gunslinger forced threw himself forward. Keitaro got up with his sword still in hand and raised it in front of him to find nothing more than a shard of steel sticking out of it. "Damn."

"I am going to hate myself in the morning for this." Keitaro muttered to himself as Motoko approached him like a lioness closing in on her prey.

"Time to use what little acting prowess I have…" Keitaro looked at the fragmented blade like it scared the hell out of him and he tossed the hilt away like it was a scorpion in his hand. The once proud warrior fell to his knees and pleaded with Motoko to spare his life as tears rolled down his face.

"No, please, please miss demonic swordswoman. Please spare my life!" The samurai did not hear him; she certainly heard the 'demonic swordswoman' part though.

"She's really going to kill him, shouldn't we stop this?" Kitsune asked as she pointed to the pathetic sight in front of them. Motoko's face was unable to be seen and unreadable as she raised her katana above her head.

"Yeah I guess." Naru replied in a kind of 'do we have to?' manner. The Todai hopeful was beginning to get a suspicious feeling about the supposedly average male that was now her manager.

"Wait Motoko you can't kill our manager, not yet." Su called out as she scampered over to the samurai.

"And give me one good reason why I shouldn't slit this walking scumbag's throat?" Wow she had a new insult every time they were in front of the other girls, Keitaro noticed.

"Motoko you can't kill the pervert just yet because he has to fix the damage he caused." Naru reasoned as she motioned with her thumb at the inn. There was a rift in the roof where Motoko had unleashed her ki, there were several holes where Keitaro had bounded from, and there was still the explosive damage inside the inn. Yay, for living the normal life.

Keitaro bid everyone farewell as he trudged back onto the hardware store and brought more supplies to repair all the damages at Hinata Inn. Somewhere in Hinata a certain blue-haired girl thinks of a brown-haired young man as she lays awake with insomnia and wonder.

The sun slowly came up as Keitaro finished off the outside paint of the dormitory. Keitaro glanced at his watch that informed it was just about to be five-fifty in the morning; the sleepless manager hung his head as he hung from the secured rope that kept him suspended near the tall reaches of Hinata Inn.

Keitaro walked up the stairs glad that he had finally repaired everything but exhausted from doing it all in one night. The manager walked into his room and laid himself down after discarding his clothes except for his boxers. He looked at his clock to see it read six in the morning. The former gunslinger laid his head down and was about to close his eyes.

"Hey manager, time to get up!" Su yelled as she pounced on top of the poor young man.

"Wha…What's going on?" Keitaro grumbled as he was forced up by Su landing on his stomach.

"You are the manager correct?" Kitsune appeared.

"Correct."

"Well then it is time that you acted out your duties as manager." Kitsune declared as she and the other girls pulled Keitaro from his bed and forced him into work clothes.

"Now first you must clean the hot springs." Kitsune commanded as she handed Keitaro a push broom.

Despite being tired, the manager was not one to disappoint he made sure the place was spotless within ten minutes of running back and forth. The girls were stunned to see him finish that quick. Kitsune pulled out a walkie-talkie and whispered something into it. Su leaped from a window in the building and cannon balled into the springs splashing water everywhere.

"It would appear you are not completely done here Keitaro." Kitsune remarked with a smirk.

"It would appear you are all full of shit." Keitaro muttered as he began sweeping again.

"Hurry now Keitaro you have to finish all the windows and repaint that side of the inn by this afternoon or you won't have time for lunch." Su warned as she sat perched on the peak of the roof where she could see Keitaro climbing the wall with a cloth in one hand and bucket in the other.

"Doesn't that seem a bit excessive?" Keitaro questioned as he looked up from the window he was working on.

"What's excessive is it yummy?"

"Uh, never mind."

"Here comes the fun part of the day, Keitaro." Kitsune said with a wink as she pulled the manager forward.

"And that would be?" Keitaro asked unenthusiastically.

"If Su's trees don't get a good trim every now again this place can get messy. So here are your clippers and oh yeah watch out for the birds, good luck." Kitsune yelled as she pushed Keitaro into the room and closed the door.

"Seriously man, fuck me." Keitaro dead panned as a flock of rather unhappy birds flew over him, the manager leapt out of the way in time before becoming the target of white shower.

Keitaro swaggered into the kitchen looking for nourishment. He had never felt this tired since gunslinger training. "Hey is there any of that rice I made left?"

Naru opened one eye as she heard the young man. "Sorry we ate it all, have fun with that microwavable ramen over there though." Naru pointed to a cup of ramen with her chopsticks.

"Well don't I feel special." Keitaro said sarcastically as he picked up the ramen and swaggered off. Naru turned to stare after him when she was sure he wasn't looking, the fiery tempered girl was actually quite impressed that even though the boy was clearly exhausted he did not let it stop him from fulfilling their commands.

Keitaro fell to his mat and fell asleep without changing, he was out like a light. The former gunslinger drifted off into a deep sleep that had not happened to him in a fairly long time.

"You will be the guardians of Japan, the heroes of the public, and the pride of all that is right within our great nation." A hardy voice declared. It came from a tall and fierce looking man who was dressed in his military uniform.

"You are young and simple but with our training you will become the greatest heroes of your time. Welcome my children to the next step in the Japanese government's triumph against evil." The military commander announced with overwhelming pride. The military officials cheered and clapped but the many youths within the crowd were unsure what to make of what they were hearing.

Keitaro stared down at his hands. They were not the calloused large ones he knew, neither were the short legs under him. The boy realized he was ten years old again and sitting in the large conference room where his life as a gunslinger began. He may have been reliving a memory but it was also his dream he could do what he wanted if he felt so inclined to.

"You worthless liar!" nine year old Keitaro shouted in his high pitched voice, it would appear no one heard him not even those next to him. "You disgusting bastard you destroyed me and my friends. You took away the innocence of so many undeserving children."

Still no body heard him. The young Keitaro rose from his seat and began to force his small body through the crowd to where the large man stood. He moved forward until he was face to knee with the large man. Keitaro looked up at him with a glare full of blood thirsty hatred.

"You bastard you took my life away from me!" Keitaro jumped from his spot and soared towards the head of the officer. Everything went white, and then cleared up again. Kieitaro landed in a pitch black surrounding, he felt like himself again like he was in his own body until he looked down at his hands again. He held two blood splattered pistols in his hands. The young man flung them out of his hands in disgust. He looked at his arms and front they too were blood stained, looking into a puddle of water Keitaro saw that his face was covered in fresh blood.

Keitaro screamed angrily but he did not wake up. The gunslinger slapped his hands against his face and tried desperately to wipe away the blood. The movement caused him to disorient himself and slam against a wall. Keitaro began to sob; he hated this he thought it was over. He had left that life behind; he no longer spilled another man's blood. What was the message of this dream, no this nightmare.

As Keitaro held his face he heard a sound somewhere off in the distance. He wandered toward the noise of two people conversing. The gunslinger ducked behind a nearby pillar as he witnessed a boy and the military officer from the first dream standing next to a small large animal cage. This seemed so familiar.

"Do you see what I hold in my hand Keitaro?" the officer inquired as he held something small and white in his hands. The boy nodded in response as he looked up at the little rabbit in his commander's hands. The twenty year old Keitaro looked on in anger; the memory was becoming so clear now.

"Good, Keitaro now watch." The commander held the rabbit in one hand so that it its upper body stuck out the top of his hand and the lower part hung loosely. The officer reached out closing his palm onto the head of the rabbit and twisted its neck in one swift motion. Little Keitaro screamed out in shock at what he had just seen. Somebody from behind whacked Little Keitaro in the back of his head, the officer's assistant.

"Remember my words, Keitaro. You will witness death with no emotion; it must be common to you if you are to truly accept it as your tool as a guardian." The officer commanded sternly. Keitaro could only nod with tears in his eyes. Adult Keitaro punched the pillar he had ducked behind and walked toward the demented commander.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Is this how you get off? Huh?!" Keitaro shouted into the still taller man's ear, apparently the man did not hear him. Keitaro tried pushing the man but his hand went right through him. "Damn visions."

The image disappeared and another reappeared behind the frustrated gunslinger. Memories recreated themselves as Keitaro's mental conditioning came back to him. The same event happened in front of him; Little Keitaro only flinched at the sight. "Good Keitaro, you are becoming stronger."

The rabbit's head was snapped once again. This time eleven year old Keitaro did not even flinch. He just stared at the sight with no emotion in his face like it was just something that happened every day. "Very good, Keitaro, very good."

The officer tossed the lifeless mammal into the cage and walked away. The younger Keitaro went up to the cage and stared at the body as tears welled up in his eyes he didn't seem to notice though.

Adult Keitaro approached the forlorn boy and paused a few inches behind his younger self. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. "You have forgotten haven't you?"

"What?"

"You have forgotten the promise that you made so long ago?"

"What promise?" Keitaro had no idea what his younger form was trying to remind him of.

"You let that bastard twist your mind. You gave in, and that is why you lost yourself."

"What does this all mean?" What did Little Keitaro mean by telling him all this.

"You want to escape? You want to change?"

Keitaro put his hand on his younger self's shoulder and turned him around; it appeared things were not made of mental vapor anymore. "Well do you want to truly escape?"

"Ye…Yes," Keitaro replied as he stared into the cold face of his younger self.

"Then remember the promise and fulfill it!" Keitaro shot up from his pillow and clenched his sweat covered forehead.

Keitaro grabbed his watch and stared at the digital numbers on it. "Three-thirty," Keitaro panted.

Keitar woke up again to feel the warmth of the sun's rays hitting his face. He stared at his clock to see it was eight in the morning, but what had woke him up was not his internal clock but the sound of his phone ringing. The manager looked at his caller id, it read unknown.

"Hello?" Keitaro answered in a yawn.

"Would I be speaking to a Mister Keitaro Urashima?" A gentle man's voice inquired on the other side of the line. Keitaro took a few minutes to answer; he hoped the agency hadn't found him. "Hello is anyone there?"

"Depends on who's asking." Keitaro replied sternly.

"Ah, so you must be Mister Urashima. Well then I would like you to meet me in the center of Hinata Park as soon by eleven-thirty today, thank you for your time." The other end cut off before Keitaro could respond.

"Hey wait a minute." The dial tone was the bewildered manager's only response. Keitaro growled and slapped the flip phone shut, because it was a new day Keitaro decided to shower off and spend some time in his heated bathing tub.

A strange pale hand hung the black pay phone back onto its resting place and disappeared as the sound of hard-soled wingtips walked away from the area.

"Did anyone hear Keitaro screaming last night?" Kitsune asked as they all sat at in the dining room eating breakfast. "It sounded pretty creepy."

"Maybe he was having nightmares about Motoko." Su joked as she chewed down some bacon.

"No I don't think that was it." Naru said thoughtfully as she stared out the window. Something was not right about this boy.

"I agree, something is deeply troubling Urashima." Motoko concurred in her usual cold manner.

"Well then what do you suppose the kid's having nightmares about then?" Kitsune wondered aloud. None of the girls could really answer. "I guess the kid's not use to hard labor then."

"That's not it either, Kitsune." Motoko said with a sigh.

Naru didn't say anything but she was worried about what her best friend could be cooking up inside her head. Kitsune could be very crafty when she wasn't busy lounging or partying. Especially when it involved snooping into other people's lives.

Keitaro walked into his room as he dried himself off. He considered whether or not he should meet with who ever called him an hour ago. Something told him he should, so Keitaro followed his instinct and dressed himself. Keitaro snuck out of the inn and walked toward Haruka's tea house. It was not that he didn't want to eat with the girls but he wanted to visit his friend Shirai and well in all honesty they weren't very good cooks.

"Hey Auntie?" Keitaro hollered as he walked in front of the teahouse. A book flew from out the door and nicked the gunslinger right in the head.

"What did I tell you about using that word?" Haruka asked as she leaned over the porch's railing to greet Keitaro.

"Right, right sorry Haruka." Keitaro apologized in a sarcastic tone.

"What can I do for you Kei?"

"I have some errands to run, I was wondering if you could just make sure the girls don't tear the place apart." Keitaro replied with a smile.

"You know they seem to have more fun when you're around." Haruka observed taking a drag from her cigarette.

"You think so?" Keitaro asked unaware that the tenants were not as energetic without him around.

"It sure looks that way." Haruka replied with a half smile so that her Marlboro stuck out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well I got to get going so can you watch out for the inn while I'm gone."

"I got it kid, don't you worry about it." Haruka replied flatly.

Keitaro sat with his friend Shirai who had a few minutes before it was time before he had to get back to caring for his restaurant. "You know I feel kinda guilty about my place doing so well now."

"What makes you say that?" Keitaro inquired.

"Well, one of the main reasons business has been getting better is because the Maeharas closed shop because of family problems, you know they have a daughter and everything." Shirai explained.

"That would damper the fortune in your success." Keitaro agreed as he finished his breakfast.

"Of course it would man. You know one part of me is happy with the success but how it came about just don't sit right with me." The sundered cook explained again.

"Hey man I got something for you." Shirai pulled out a green shirt with the words Bounty Hunter boldly and largely printed on the front of the shirt along with a crescent moon.

"Ah man that's a fucked up joke." Keitaro remarked as he stared dumbfounded at the offending shirt.

"C'mon man, one of the best gunslingers who ever lived was a bounty hunter. It's pretty funny when you think about it." Shirai countered with a grin.

Keitaro sighed. "I'm still not exactly sure why I took that up. I guess thought I was doing some good."

Shirai laughed because in the entire system of law enforcers. A bounty hunter in these modern times was right above a meter maid. Maybe when man finally settled the endless frontier of space by creating colonies on other planets and mastering intergalactic travel then there would be a need for bounty hunters to chase down criminals that could run to other galaxies. Then perhaps a bounty hunter would be relied upon but that was a long time from now.

"So how's the Hinata Inn job going?" Shirai asked.

"It's interesting so far." Keitaro said of his experiences at the dormitory. "Oh yeah the job I got was as a manager and you want to hear the kicker, turns out it was changed into an all girls dormitory."

"No way Kei, you lucky dog!" Shirai exclaimed. "And here I thought I was living the life."

"Well it's not as great as it sounds." Keitaro stated.

"How so?" a bewildered Shirai asked.

"Well…" Keitaro thought back to the two executions, Naru, Su, and then the manager's day from hell. Shirai would undoubtedly never let him live it down. "Uh let's just say that I'm making an uneasy transition to civilian life."

The former gunslinger said good-bye to his friend as he stepped outside of the restaurant and walked on to the park. Keitaro entered the central area of the large park where the voice on the phone had said they'd be waiting.

Keitaro froze in his tracks as he saw who sat there. The purple-eyed albino sat there in a comfortable manner with one leg resting over the other as he read a book, The Art of War. Keitaro walked forward and for once in a long time he was unsure if he should kill or not.

* * *

Well I'm sick and I'm not getting any better. It's really pissing me off but anyways I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and of course thanks to every one who has read and enjoyed the story. 


	5. Unrelated

This has nothing to do with the Running From Yourself story. The following is just me trying to cure my writer's block for this fanfic. Hopefully you guys will not kill me and enjoy this short story.

Paranoid...A semi-original story.

I stared at the door one last time before I worked up the nerve to finally turn off my TV, and allow myself to sit in the darkness of my room. I shifted a little in my bed and pulled the sheets up to my chin, I rolled over to stare at the gleaming door knob again. I know I have to, if I let my guard down once they will get me, I just know it. It's well past twelve and they will come soon. I continue to stare at the golden circle as I wait for the white door turned blue from the dim lighting from my window to creak open just enough for someone to peep through.

Mom and Dad are clearly asleep now; I can hear them sawing logs from here. As I lay in my bed still watching the door I can hear the clock in the kitchen ticking off each second, the creaks and groans of the house's plumbing, the swaying of the wind, all this combined with the snoring of my parents causes the sounds to be very unnerving. I have tried to tell them but they just tell me I have a vivid imagination. Mom says to quit reading the horror books because they give me nightmares and Dad just teases me to make sure I'm still alive in the morning.

Suppose I am just paranoid and it is all in my head, would that be better. I'm going insane because I see things that scare the living crap out of me, how do I know what is real and what isn't? I take a deep breath and close my eyes and then quickly open them again in case I miss it. The door's position hasn't changed and I didn't hear the door scrape across the floor so perhaps I'm safe.

Half an hour passes and nothing happens it's three in the morning and I'm fighting to stay awake. I try focusing on the door knob but my eye lids refuse to stay open for more than a second. Then as darkness slowly enclose around my sight I notice the glare from the door knob slowly move around the circular perimeter and my eye lids shoot open. No sound of the metal clicking is heard in fact all previous noises have ceased and time seems to slow as I watch the knob turn.

The handle finally completes its revolution and the wooden rectangle slowly opens. It creaks open just enough so I can see the solid bluish-black of outside. Even with my eyes adjusted to the dark, I can make out no figure, no hand, and no face. It's as if the door opened on its own. Then I see it just as I have the previous nights before. The eye, an animalistic looking eye but to what animal it belongs to I have no idea it stares at me for what seems like forever as I stare back at it. Hunger and hatred radiates from that eye, it feels like there's a force that presses against me pushing my soul from my body.

I do not blink the whole time we stare each other down. Mercifully the door shuts faster than it had opened and I try to stop my body from shaking as I feel somewhat relieved. My t–shirt is wet all over from my own perspiration and I take in a few quick breaths. When I finally calm down its half past three and I can allow myself what little sleep I have left. I know they won't come back again for tonight, I know from experiences of the first time it happened and I was so scared I stayed up the whole night.

What it is that continues to taunt me I have no idea and am too frightened to actually investigate, I once thought of opening the door and trying to see what was out there but quickly decided against it. All I know is that if ever I am not awake to watch for it or if I allow myself to close my eyes in front of it then it will indeed get me. Whatever the damned thing is?

* * *

I say semi-original because the idea came from a paranormal experience my mom had when she was young. My mom was sleeping at a friend's apartment that was in a building that had been in a fire a few years before. A mother and her son had died in, if I remember correctly in that apartment or in the area near it. So my mom is sleeping in her friend's room and as she turns over to go too sleep she sees the accordion closet nudge open enough for her to see someone peeking out of the opening. Not very scary and probably neither is this story but I thought it would be interesting. As for my fanfic It'll be updated as late as this sunday, thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed this story, and a bigger thanks to those who reviewed. Honestly I didn't expect the eight reviews or even being faved, thanks to my small number of fans. 


	6. Long Overdue

Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu. 

Here's a few things to clear up before we continue;

Nysk- I hope your not as confused as before.

Hayn Quiksilva- Thank you and I have yet to cop out.

Melancolygeneral23- I didn't think I was off to a good start, but thank you. And I haven't stopped yet.

sangkun-Thanks for both of your reviews and encouragement. 

takeshikovacs987- Your review means alot. I had no idea people would like a drastically different Keitaro.

Halo expert- I've read some stuff of yours before so I appreciate getting reviewed by a fellow writer. 

airstep- Not sure if you meant to be sarcastic or not but if you wound have paid close attention, you would know that I mention Keitaro running out of rations a somewhat before he meets up with Seta. Thanks for commenting on it as thrilling. 

* * *

A brown-haired man with bangs long enough to cover his eyes stood in a long trench coat as he walked into a deserted park of Tokyo. He looked up to see a man sitting hunched over on a bench in front of him. The young man stared at the man for a few minutes and then walked over to the bench and sat down. 

"This would have been a lot easier if you would just accept your fate." The young man said staring off in front of him and not at the man who held his stomach as if in pain. 

"You bastard…uh…what gives you the right to do this to me?" The man asked through a groan of pain. 

"You should feel rather proud most criminals don't get away from me after the first strike." Was the aloof response from the young man. 

"I am no criminal! Arrgh…I do not kill men like you, you…disgust me…uh…thinking that you have the right to kill people." The man spat through his pain. 

"Am I supposed to believe that you did not willingly sell your soul to the Yakuza? How many men did you send to their deaths?" The young man countered. 

"…That…uh…that was…do you think I had a choice in the matter?" 

"Yes." 

The man looked at the younger to his right but the other continued to stare into the distance. "You wouldn't understand I had a chance to be on top. It all seemed so simple back then, I sold their product and it got me places. I was friends with celebrities, women waited on me among other things, and I was rich beyond my own comprehension." 

The young man only listened. 

"…But I'm clean now…uh…I'm a family man…I do business in stock…so why this, why me gunslinger?" The man seemed to plead. He pulled his hands from his stomach and stared down at the blood stained palms. 

"Am I wrong in believing that you still supply your 'friends' with money for their lucrative business?" 

"They said they would kill my family if I didn't continue paying them." 

"You shouldn't worry about your 'friends'." 

"Why not?" 

"They're dead." 

"How do you know for sure?" 

"…….I killed them." 

The dying man was silent for a while. "…Would you please, please let me go?" 

"Why would I do that?" 

"Listen, I promise I'm done. No more gang activity from here on out, I walk the straight road." 

The young man finally turned his head toward the man. Keitaro stared emotionlessly at the man. "That's good to hear." 

The man stared nervously at the silencer extension of a pistol pointed at his chest. "But…but…."

"I really hate liars. You have no family and although your extravagant apartment was not filled with drugs, there was no sign of documents containing records of clients interested in stock exchange. The papers I did find had the time and dates of several drug exchanges throughout most of Japan and Asia." Keitaro said with hate in his eyes.

"How did you find those!" The man practically yelled." 

"Trust me your cozy little home won't be the same without a couple thousand dollars and a few men with building experience." Keitaro replied with a toothy smile. 

"You bastard…" The bullet tore through the man's sternum and into the lungs which caused the air sacks to fill with blood. Keitaro walked away from the scene, the Agency would clean up the mess. 

Keitaro woke from his nostalgia and stared at the strange albino who smiled at him from where he sat. The former gunslinger walked over to the bench and sat down. "Who sent you?" 

"If you must know I sent myself." The albino answered casually. 

"Don't toy with me; you are here for one of two reasons to deliver a threat or to kill me." Keitaro explained as he stared into the foggy surroundings. 

"I don't toy with people Kei I am no child. I do not threaten people, for that is the way of a coward, as for killing you. Well you wouldn't be of much use dead now would you?" The albino answered with no hint of being offended in his voice it was more of an amused tone. 

"You said that I wouldn't be much use dead. What did you mean by that?" Keitaro asked. This man could not be from the agency.

"Kei it is not I who needs your services rather it's the innocent people of Japan who will need you." The albino suit replied still with a nonchalant tone. 

"That speech sounds somewhat familiar; if you are from the agency I am not interested in returning." Keitaro stated with vehemence. 

"Ha! The agency, you have just demonstrated a perfect example of irony. I have no connection with the agency except that I loathe them and everything they have done to this world." 

"I suppose you have a good reason for feeling that way…wait how do you even know what the agency is?" 

"When I said you were demonstrating an example of irony I wasn't kidding Kei. I have a proposition for you." The albino said in a more serious tone. 

"What would that be?" Keitaro asked. 

"It's time for you to stop hiding what you truly are, gunslinger." The albino replied smoothly. 

"Who the hell are you?" Keitaro's voice slightly trembled from anger. 

"You can call me Dave." The albino answered just as calm as he had throughout the entire conversation. 

Before Keitaro could retort he was halted by the ring of his cell. He took the phone from his pocket and answered. "Hello Mom?" 

"He is why what happened?"

"Yes I understand. I'm on my way." Keitaro closed the phone and turned to where the albino was sitting. The spot on the bench next to the gunslinger was empty and all the fog that had seemed to have surrounded them was gone. 

Naru sat studying in her room as, or at least she made it appear as though she was studying. The Todai hopeful's mind was currently on the strange new manager she seemed to despise for no reason at all. Something about him made her feel like he wasn't what he made himself out to be. Besides the fact he could effectively face off with Motoko, perform acrobatic sword skills, and survive a bazooka to the face. So maybe hewasn't exactly your average joe. 

Naru stopped on the equation she was working out and looked at the floor before her. She already knew what was beyond the wooden planks, insulation, and electric wiring. Naru lived right above the manager's room, where Granny Hina had once lived. But now Granny was gone, all the girls called her that without being blood-related. Granny just made them feel like her family, Naru admired that, Granny was able to touch people with her sincerity and kindness. There wasn't a resident of the small town of Hinata who did not know and respect the owner of the Hinata inn. 

But now the person who made Naru, feel so comfortable, who Naru looked up to was gone. A kind and charming little old woman replaced by her dumb, perverted grandson. Maybe he wasn't so bad, he had already demonstrated that he was focused on his duties as manager, still he was a male. Naru would never tell anyone this, but the only two men she had ever been close to were her father and her tutor when she was young. Her father had betrayed her and her mother then Seta came along and she let her guard down but not again, never. Naru could not forgive her father. 

By this time the student realized that she was wasting time with memories of the past. Naru tried to concentrate on the equation but she couldn't as her focus was gone, eaten up by her emotions that she had yet to completely organize. Study time was over for now, Naru stepped out onto her balcony and admired the beautiful view of the city. 

Naru remembered that Haruka had said Keitaro would be out running errands. What those were, the brunette did not care nor wonder about. She scanned the cityscape wondering where the pervert might be off to, probably at some…Naru stopped that thought after all she did not care nor wonder about what it was Keitaro was doing. 

Keitaro hopped off the bus and ran up the steps of the large off-white building and rushed through the glass doors. He stopped when he found the ran into a nurse making her way to the lobby. 

"Excuse me; I'm looking for a Mr. Kenji Urashima." Keitaro said as he skidded in front of the nurse in teal scrubs.

"What relation are you to him if I may ask?" The nurse asked in neutral tone. 

"I am Keitaro Urashima , his son." The former gunslinger replied without skipping a beat. 

"Oh right this way sir." The woman said as she turned and walked back the way she came. 

Kitsune tiptoed her way down the hall and stopped at the corner she peered around it to see if anyone was nearby, no one. Smirking the fox continued her stealth until she heard a noise, Kitsune turned to see Su standing there in a tiptoe position both legs supported by the toes with her knees bent and one leg slightly in the air. The master of mischief and con almost shrieked but she stopped herself as she covered her mouth with one hand. 

Su smiled broadly still in stealth mode. "Su, what do you think you are doing?" 

"Su wants to find out more about Keitaro like Kitsune." Su replied she remained in her tiptoe stance without faltering. 

"How did, oh never mind just don't get us caught, you hear." Ktisune figured if she let Su play along it would be easier to get dirt on the new manager. Su always had a weird habit of coming up with something out of nowhere. 

The pair of investigators were close to their target, just one more corner and…"Su would you stop that noise." 

Kitsune turned to see Su was not there, Kitsune turned back to face Motoko with her arms folded staring suspiciously at the fox. Su stood hung from seemingly nowhere right beside the samurai. "You mind telling me what you're up to Kitsune?" 

"Motoko, I'm hurt to think that you would suspect me of having bad intentions." Kitsune said as she put her hand to her face and tried to look pitiful in front of her. 

"I didn't say you were." 

"Ah but do not lie and try to tell me that you weren't thinking that I was up to no good." 

"Well are you sneaking around just for the hell of it then?"

"That Motoko is not the point. Besides what are you being so protective of? You know I am mostly harmless." Kitsune gave a cheeky grin. "I wonder if you're worried that I'll find something I'm not supposed to, may be something between you and Keitaro." 

"Don't be so ridiculous Kitsune, I don't care if you're after dirt on Urashima or not." Motoko protested.

"Heh," Motoko was sharper than Kitsune had hoped. "Motoko are you catching a fever or something?" 

"No, why do you ask." 

"I was just wondering why you got a little pink in the face all of a…" An evil grin formed on Kitsune's face. "You seemed to blush when we were talking about Keitaro." 

"What? I could care less about that worthless excuse for a man!" Motoko argued her anger seeming to rise. 

"Well okay then Motoko no reason to get all flustered." Kitsune replied as she walked away with Su following her. Kitsune smirked, she had found a little tidbit of information that might lead to something interesting in the near future. 

Motoko watched them for a few seconds before going her own way. What could they possibly find in his room that would get Keitaro into any more trouble? It's not like he kept anything from his gunslinger days. 

"Now remember Su don't make a mess in here." Kitsune warned as they snuck into the manager's room. "Use the utmost care when digging through someone else's things for interesting info." 

Su nodded in agreement and made her way too what very few of Keitaro's belongings there were. After several attempts the duo could not find anything interesting to blackmail the manager with to get out of paying rent. Su was just there because it seemed like fun to her; the tanned teenager was currently tossing aside a strange leather booklet that made no sense to her. Su had tried to make sense of it for the past half hour but to no avail. 

"Kitsune, why would Keitaro be going to Tokyo U and another school at the same time?" Although Motoko had yet to be cured of the headaches, she had taken the time to explain what a Tokyo U was to Su thoroughly. 

"Why would you ask a question like that?" Kitsune asked as she turned to see Su pointing at the small leather booklet. The fox picked up the booklet and read the ID inside it. "This is certainly interesting." 

Keitaro entered his father's room and looked over to the bed to his father laying there with his mother sitting next to him holding his hand tightly. "Hi Mom." 

"Oh hello Keitaro," His mother replied as she stood up from her chair and hugged her son. 

"So what happened, Mom?" Keitaro asked as he sat down next to his father and stared into his unconscious face.

"Keitaro, I wish I knew. Your father was outside working in the yard and when I came to check on him there was…there was…" Keitaro's mother could not finish what she was trying to say. 

Keitaro got up from the chair and held his mom with one arm to try and calm her. "Mom I know it isn't easy but I need you to tell me what happened." 

"I went outside to check on your father and there he was on the ground with his front stained with blood and he was trying to breathe but he couldn't, it was like he was suffocating without having any one putting force on his throat or chest." Keitaro's mom replied holding back her tears. 

The bastard stabbed him in the lungs or at least was aiming for the respiratory system. If he was aiming for the heart at least he missed that. Keitaro pushed the thoughts away for now. "Anything else, Mom?" 

"I did see foot prints that were obviously not your father's." Keitaro's mother said with suspicion in her voice. 

"Thank you Mom, uh is he able to talk in his condition?" Keitaro asked as he looked over to his father. 

"No, not yet but they are saying there's a chance he might make it after the emergency surgery they did for him when he got here." She replied looking over at her husband. 

"Thank you again Mom, I'll be back tomorrow." Keitaro said as he headed toward the door. 

"Keitaro," 

"Yes Mom." The young man replied as he stopped with his hand on the door knob. 

"Whatever you end up finding don't kill anyone." Keitaro turned the knob and stepped out of the room.

"I can't promise anything I know I can't fulfill." With that Keitaro closed the door and exited the hall to the stairs. 

Naru heard shuffling in the room underneath her for the fifth time that day. Why would Keitaro be trying to keep so quiet if he was in his own room? Finally out of frustration Naru lifted Liddo-Kun from its place on the wooden plank covering the hole in her floor. "Would you keep it down I'm trying to study!"

"Huh…" Naru looked into the room to see that the room was empty. "That's strange I could have sworn that I heard someone down here." 

Confused Naru sealed the hole and went back to her studying. Probably just creaks and groans from the old inn, the student decided. 

Kitsune held Su's mouth shut as the two of them peeked out of the closet in Keitaro's room. The fox turned Su to face her and sternly made the shoosh face with her index finger to her lips. Su saluted with a childish smile in response. Kitsune lead Su out of the room and once they were out, the older woman breathed a sigh of relief. "We have to be more careful next time; I can't believe I forgot about that hole in the ceiling." 

"At least we got this." Kitsune said smiling as she held the brown leather booklet containing Keitaro's ID. Su nodded happily, causing a little chaos was always fun. 

Haruka sat in the lobby also used as living room as she read the newspaper. She was stopped in the middle of an article about how men were more likely to be prone to violence then women; it had given the seemingly harmless tea shop owner a good chuckle or two, when she heard the sound of the door bell. 

The retired assassin placed the paper down and walked over to the door, opening it to see a blue-haired girl standing there obviously she was a bit timid. She had her arms hands up clasped together and stared wide eyed at the older woman. 

Haruka gave a slight grin as she adjusted the cigarette in her mouth so that she could form a sentence. "How can I help you?" 

Keitaro climbed out of the taxi after paying the driver and stared at his old home. Keitaro remained on the other side of the street observing the police cars parked outside of his parents' residence. Now the former gunslinger wished he had brought his old agency ID with him, being that the agency was owned by the government, it allowed him to get into restricted areas like this. He would have to come back later; Keitaro began his trek back to Hinata. 

Two hours later Keitaro entered the house hearing the sounds of commotion and the some God forsaken smell that Keitaro's brain could not register. Had they let Su cook again? Keitaro's answer was the ring of the lobby phone. 

"Hello," Keitaro said as he answered the phone. 

"I thought I saw you walking up here, hey uh Keitaro…what's your policy on new tenants?" 

"'Why do you ask Haruka?" Keitaro replied as he saw Kitsune catch sight of him. He was slightly disturbed by the smile she displayed when their eyes met. 

"Hmm, well I got a girl here who seems to want to rent a room. She looks a little young to be doing that sort of thing so I took her to the tea shop to try and talk her out of it." Haruka explained. 

"I'll be right there to talk to her." Keitaro said as he tried to shake off Kitsune's gaze. 

"Alright Kei, I'll be here." Haruka hung up the phone and looked over at Shinobu who was staring down at her tea. "Don't worry kid, I think he might let you stay." 

Haruka got up from her spot on the floor and let Keitaro in. "So where is this new tenant?" 

"Over here." Haruka replied simply as she nodded her head toward the shy girl looking up from her mug. 

"Hello there," Keitaro greeted as he stood next to the girl so he could help her up and shake her hand. The girl trembled as he took her hand. This girl was definitely shy. 

"My name is Keitaro." The manager said as he shook the blue-haired girl's hand. 

"Uh Shinobu." The girl responded feeling the warmth of his hand. 

"Well Shinobu, Haruka says you'd like a room here." 

"Umm, yes…" Shinobu replied.

"Well any particular reason, if I may ask?" Keitaro slightly pried with a smile. 

Shinobu ran a few lies through her head. She was an orphan, she came from a broken home, she had an abusive parent, they were all too much for her to go through with. Forget the fact she had a hard enough time telling a white lie. 

"There are some problems at home." It was the best she could come up with and it was the truth although not all of it. 

"Okay then, let me show you around the place." Keitaro suggested. The manager decided to leave it at that, anymore pushing and Shinobu might try to run away. Keitaro felt he couldn't risk this girl getting into any more trouble then she might be in. 

Keitaro led Shinobu outside to Haruka's porch and asked her to wait there. He went back inside to talk to Haruka while Shinobu began to panic a little about the decision she had made. Surely her parents would come looking for her, maybe. 

"She didn't tell you anything else did, she?" Keitaro asked hoping that Shinobu had felt more comfortable around Haruka and had told her anything else important. 

"Nothing other then what she told you. She would like to rent a room and her family was going through some problems at the moment." Haruka replied shifting her cigarette. "To be honest I don't think she has any way of paying rent or any idea of what she's doing for that matter." 

"I know but I can't just throw her out on the street." Keitaro said staring out at the young girl standing on the porch looked at the inn in the distance. 

"And you think you're not a good person." Haruka remarked with a smirk as she leaned against the wall again. 

"Yeah, yeah…" Keitaro brilliantly riposted as he walked back out on to the porch. 

"Welcome to Hinata Inn now a girl's dormitory." Keitaro said as he held the door open for Shinobu with one hand and her backpack in the other. 

Shinobu walked in gingerly and scanned the lobby seeing no one there but she could hear people somewhere further inside the inn. 

"Alright Shinobu if you'll wait here I can go get the inn's map from my room and find a good room for you." Keitaro said handing her, her bag.

Shinobu nodded in response and Keitaro ran upstairs to find the map. The timid girl looked around wondering if she should wander over to where that horrid smell and racket of clearly unpleased people was coming from. 

Su hopped over to the chair where Kitsune was seated still trying to recover from what she had tasted from the mad genius's cooking. "Is it time now to show Keitaro's secret?" 

"Not yet Su," Kitsune glared at Su for almost letting out the secret too soon and glanced over at Motoko and Naru who were preoccupied with cleansing their tongues from the horror of Su's cooking. "We'll wait till we got Keitaro right where we want him." 

All the commotion was halted by the sound of a very gentle voice floating through the room. "Uh, umm, hello my name is Shinobu."

Both Motoko and Naru put down their cups, Su hopped over to where Shinobu stood, and Kitsune smiled at the new comer. Was this a new tenant? What was Keitaro thinking? She looked so young for being on her own. She could be a lot of fun? First few days on the job and the idiot was already screwing up! All the girls had their own opinions of the girl's sudden appearance. 

"Shinobu, there you are, I found the…ah crap." Keitaro had walked in four very curious girls. This just keeps getting better and better. The manager thought for sure he would be forced to succumb to the girls once again, but a certain young girl interrupted the tension. 

"This is an interesting spread." Shinobu commented about the meal that was on the table. 

"You could say that." Naru said as she rubbed her stomach now feeling the effects.

"Could I try some?" Shinobu asked. Naru gave her a slight shake of her head, Motoko looked at her like Shinobu had asked someone to punch her in the face, Kitsune being behind Su made a cut throat motioning with her hand to her neck. Su of course said yes excitedly and even handed her a fork. 

Every one waited in anticipation as Shinobu picked out a piece of sauce covered meat and bit into it. Even Keitaro watched for Shinobu's reaction, it could be anything from a sudden need for mass amounts of water to vomiting to possibly fainting. Shinobu got a little pink in the face and fought to keep her food down as her eyes watered; she finally gulped down the food and looked over to Naru. 

"Could I please have a drink of your water?" Naru looked down at her cup and then realized what she was being asked. The student couldn't bear to see someone suffer like that and wasted no time in handing over the cup. 

Once Shinobu had gulped down both Motoko and Naru's water she saw that no one was mad at her but surprised that she had made it through better than they expected. "That was…spicy. But would anyone like me to cook something not so spicy?" 

Everyone looked at each other and decided to let her try, they did need to eat. They turned to the new tenant and showed their approval including Su. With that Shinobu was directed to the kitchen and she took command like Keitaro never would have expected. The former gunslinger obliged to bringing any ingredients the cook asked for as did the others. 

After a couple of hours there was a new meal on the table that had every one's mouths watering instead of their hands on their noses. Everyone dug in and ate the amazing cooking of the new tenant. During the dinner the tenants learned more about Shinobu, she went to the same school as Su, was the daughter of the owners of a very productive restaurant in town. That was all she was really willing to talk about after a while and the conversation resumed to daily events that weren't very interesting but filled up the silence. Kitsune ventured to ask what Keitaro had been up to who lied that he had just been out restocking supplies for the upkeep of the inn. 

Keitaro was glad for Shinobu's cooking because it had taken the girls' minds off of the fact that she shouldn't really be there. After helping Shinobu settle into her new room and bidding her good night, Keitaro walked back down to the lobby to check on everyone when he ran into a certain almond-haired girl. Oh Naru, how you never missed a beat.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Naru asked as she stood in front of the manager with her arms folded. 

"About what?" It was always interesting to act stupid around Naru. 

"You know what I 'm talking about. How can you allow such a young girl to live here, she can't even get a job to pay for rent." Naru argued as she looked astonished at how Keitaro's head was breaking down. 

"Naru, how can you expect me to throw her out with no home or shelter!" Naru stepped back a little unnerved. 

Naru's confrontational nature got the better of her. "Well what about her parents what are they going to say?" 

"Shinobu obviously left for a reason and when she's ready to tell us she will. As for how she'll pay for her room she is a pretty good cook." Keitaro remarked with a smile. "Don't give me that look if you could cook then you wouldn't have to pay with money either." 

Naru obviously took that as an insult by raising her fist and growling. Man had angered the ferocious lioness. A game of tag would lift Keitaro's spirits for now as he chuckled while he took off for his room. 

Keitaro stood in front of the man who was gasping for air. "That's all I know, I swear to you." 

The gunslinger hated interrogation, it was such a brutal and demeaning way of treating your enemy it wasn't particularly fair. At least Keitaro felt like that, his partner Haitani didn't share that sentiment. The taller young man enjoyed viciously pounding the wounded man's head into the cement housing for the entrance up to the roof top of the sky scraper. 

"Haitani! We've got what we need out of him, that's enough." Keitaro barked as Haitani backed off and let the blood covered man slump to the floor. 

"He's all yours buddy." Haitani said as he brushed past the other gunslinger. 

"You never can finish them off yourself can you Haitani?" Keitaro remarked as he walked over to the bleeding man. 

Even for someone as vile as the thug in front of him, Keitaro felt some form of pity. Not even he deserved the thrashing Haitani put him through, especially after Haitani had already shot him in the leg. Keitaro raised his pistol and stared the thug directly in the eyes. The blood chilling sound of a bullet being released from a barrel was heard in the cold, lonely night. 

Keitaro opened his eyes to the dark room around him. "Damn memory, flashback, dreams." Keitaro turned on his side and shut his eyes again.

* * *

I hope this makes up for the long wait and again thanks for thehits, reviews, and faves.Thanks to everyone who hasread and enjoyed this story. 


	7. Kind of Back

Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu.

I have been gone a while, but I am back now. Hope this satisfies the 3 of you still interested.

Two men walked alongside the relatively empty road that led just outside city limits. They both were dressed in long pitch black trench coats which were obviously meant only for nighttime activities for they would have stuck out like a sore thumb in the morning light of the city underneath their coats they wore a plain white button up long sleeve collared shirt with a blood red tie around their neck. Their slacks, shoes, and belt's were just as black as their coats with the belt buckle being a metallic onyx in color.

The taller of the two was a young man with light brown hair tied into a small pony tail and black sunglasses on his face, the other a man of about the same age with dark brown hair that was just long enough to cover his downcast eyes walked behind him. Although it didn't seem like it Keitaro was completely aware of his surroundings, he had been taught a long time ago to depend on more than just his eyes.

"Haitani," Keitaro called out as he stopped, the other gunslinger turned to see what his friend wanted. "We need to get moving."

Haitani looked over Keitaro's shoulder, Keitaro himself turned to look into the distance behind them. There they were a few tiny black specks but on the horizon but hostile enemies headed for them at blazing speed none the less.

Haitani pulled out a radio from his coat and began barking orders into it. "Hey Quintanilla whenever you feel like getting your ass over here would be great!"

There was static from the other end and then a voice very much unlike that of a native of Japan. "Yo boss, give me a minute would you. It's not like you're the only gunslinger with heat on your tail!"

"Now would be one of those moments when stereotypical action music plays in the background." Keitaro simply said as he continued to keep his eyes on the four black cars headed towards them.

"Huh?" was all Haitani asked before green pick up blew past the middle of the four cars at record speed and its doors popped open. Two cars identical two the first four were behind the truck with men sticking outside the windows armed with guns rammed right into two of the other thug mobiles and they immediately flew off the road and into the ditch beneath leaving only two remaining black cars.

With the truck's doors opened, the gunslingers hopped into the backseat and shut the doors. Both Haitani and Keitaro drew their guns from their holsters and made sure they were armed before leaning out of their windows and firing off at the two remaining cars.

Haitani aimed his gun at the back window and waited, it wasn't long before a thug in a gray suit leaned out of the window with his arm cocked and a pistol in it. Haitani shot the man in the head causing the thug to fall dead on the road and the car to lose balance as the corpse rolled for a few seconds before stopping, the gunslinger then shot the windshield on the driver's side causing blood to splatter on the glass. The frightened young man on the passenger side fell out of the vehicle and scrambled to his feet, he was rewarded with his brains staining the asphalt.

Keitaro took the other and shot out the wheels of the black car causing it swerve off the road and into the ditch as it fell off though, the gunslinger shot five times into its engine sending it down into a fire ball of flesh and metal.

"So aside from catching heat on your asses how did the rest of the reconnaissance go?" The question was asked by the darker man in the driver's seat, he was not Japanese but as he liked to call himself Chicano. The two Japanese gunslingers still weren't completely sure what that meant but they did know that Freddy Quintanilla was a transferred member from the Agency's foreign cousin, the American gunslinger program.

"I'd say we got the info we needed for now." Haitani replied smugly. "Wouldn't you say Keitaro?"

"You could say that, went about it in an overaggressive way but we got what we were looking for none the less." Keitaro replied watching the road.

"What is that supposed to mean eh, Kei?" Haitani inquired with his tone becoming somewhat condescending.

"You should know better than to treat your enemies like a punching bag for your sick enjoyment." Keitaro said without hesitation.

"Who do you think you're talking to, second in command?" Haitani snarled not at all liking how his assistant squad leader was defying him in front of one of the squad members.

"I don't see what you're getting all flustered about; I'm merely pointing out where you made your mistakes. It's not like you don't make mistakes, squad leader or not." Keitaro riposted as calm as ever.

"I guess I'm going to have to show you some respect Kei. As soon as we get back to base we're going to the cage." Haitani said angrily as Freddy drove on toward the hidden base.

As soon as the three gunslingers were safely in the base Keitaro was ordered to strip down to only his pants and report to the training grounds also known as the cage. The cage just as it name let on was a ring surrounded by a large cage, it was where the hand to hand combat of a gunslinger was beat into a younger Keitaro.

The ceiling lights flashed on revealing to a Keitaro with his hands bound tightly behind him that there was an audience of rookies, officers, and fellow gunslingers around the cage watching, why they were? Keitaro didn't know. In the crowd he saw some familiar faces, the dark haired swordswoman known as Motoko who had just become a part of his team as well as the rookie Hanzo whose brown wild unkempt hair stuck out amongst the others then closer to the front were his trusted friends going by Shirai and Freddy.

The brown haired shorter man had a grin on his face not because of what Keitaro was about to go through but it was one of support because Shirai knew that whatever Haitani did to Keitaro, the gunslinger would find a way out of it. Freddy's face on the other hand was unreadable as his sunglasses covered his eyes and his mouth was a straight line.

Haitani stepped into the cage placing spiked brass knuckles on his fists with a malicious grin on his face. He walked up to the handcuffed Keitaro who stood in the center of the cage.

"Your defiance has gone on long enough." Haitani growled as he punched Keitaro in his bare abdomen. "It's obvious that General Ryuzaki's lessons didn't go through your head well enough." Keitaro received a punch between his eyes that caused him to stumble but not fall to the ground.

"You still punch like a girl Haitani, is that really the best you can do to a man with his hands behind his back?" Keitaro grinned returning to a full stand. The rookies, officers, and even gunslingers wondered why Keitaro put himself through this. Most knew he was practically immortal, didn't mean he couldn't feel pain.

What very few of the agency members did know or rather realized is that Keitaro had a mental advantage over Haitani. Keitaro knew he was better than Haitani and that pissed his superior off to know end. It was more like it intimidated him.

Haitani punched rapidly into Keitaro's gut before sending one power shot into him causing the gunslinger to stumble backward. His captain would not give him time to recover as he tackled Keitaro into the cage wall and delivered a series of fierce powerful punches to his chest and stomach. Haitani ended this one by punching Keitaro across the jaw but the gunslinger refused to give in still smiling through the blood in his mouth.

"Come on Haitani, are you still holding back on me?" Keitaro sneered.

Haitani growled and sweep kicked Keitaro forcing him to fall to the ground. Once on the floor Keitaro was stomped on by the heavy boots Haitani wore.

In the audience, Shirai began to growl in frustration as he watched his friend get beaten. "How the hell is this fair? Who let's Haitani get away with this crap?"

"The General favors Haitani." Freddy replied. "Although Keitaro is clearly superior to Haitani, Keitaro is not as impressionable and would most likely not become a tool for the general."

Keitaro had a choice, allow Haitani to continue beating him, it hurt like hell as much as Keitaro continued to taunt his captain however he was after all 'immortal' as his body quickly recovered from the spiked blows. The other option was to show Haitani how easily he could turn the tables on him and beat the crap out of him.

Although Keitaro's morals were of a higher standard than his captain's, he was still young, and his warped mind made him arrogant as he was kicked hard in the ribs twice. The bleeding young man rolled over grunting before Haitain lifted him and rammed his back against the cage. Keitaro glared as Haitani grinned insanely at him, and spit in his superior's face.

The captain roared at his officer and punched Keitaro hard in the jaw, he coughed and spit again and was ready this time. He bit down into the flesh and muscle of Haitani's fist, sinking his teeth through his own blood and his old friend's hand. Haitani screamed in agony and surprise as Keitaro pushed himself forward and raised his restrained hands over his head bringing them down on Haitani's head as hard as he could.

Haitani stumbled backward as Keitaro charged forward and planted his shoulder in his captain's center and knocked him over, running him over. The bloodied gunslinger kicked Haitani hard in the jaw several times and brought his linked cuffs down on the other man's face down his face. Keitaro looked up as some of his own comrades looked in shock, surprise, anger, and even admiration. Some even cheered, Keitaro felt a shame at the time he didn't understand and looked down at Haitani, kicking him in the head once more before walking towards the gate and having one of the subordinates unlock the door for him so he could be freed of his cuffs and walk back to his quarters to clean off.

"KEITARO!!" Motoko yelled as the manager froze in place with the buckets of mop water in his hands, he cursed under his breath as some of the warm murky water spilled onto the ground from his sudden cause for unbalance. He set down the buckets carefully and turned towards the swordswoman and walked toward her.

"What is it, Motoko?" Keitaro asked calmly, then he noticed the rest of the girls in the house surrounding her. "Ehehe…what I do this time?"

At his age Keitaro, had been in many life threatening situations, but these girls somehow managed to bring a chill down his spine. After being shot at, beaten, almost blown up, tortured at a few points, poisoned, Keitaro thought he had seen it all but these girl's insanity may very well be the death of him…Immortal or not.

"Would you like to explain yourself…liar?" Motoko asked as she shoved the ID in his face that clearly made him a student at a nearby cram school after having just lied about being a Tokyo U student a few days ago. The girl seemed to be actually asking, as her former squad leader had not mentioned this to her at all.

"Well you see…Uh…I am trying to get into Tokyo U…" Keitaro stumbled, he was better at having the upper hand in an argument, when his lies were a bit more concrete.

"So you're just some bum student who lied to us?" Kitsune taunted with a bit of a smirk as she watched having put the new manager in a tough spot.

"Probably just some lecherous perv that got lucky with his grandmother being the owner of an all girl's dormitory!" Naru remarked disdainfully, with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed.

The resident young chef was close to tears as she held her fists to her chest. "Sempai is this true…?"

Su was busy repeating how Keitaro was a liar as she hopped around near her accomplice, Kitsune. "Alright, alright, I'm a liar, I'm not going to Todai…yet!" Keitaro added as both Motoko and Naru advanced on him.

Thinking quickly, Keitaro came up with the reasoning that was most truthful. "Listen, I didn't want to lie to you but you girls were ready to kill me for just walking in here and having a Y chromosome. And Aunt Haruka thought it'd be best to change my current goal into an actual fact so that it would impress you guys enough to treat me with respect and not murder me."

The girls paused long enough for him to continue; thankfully Motoko already looked like she understood why her captain was lying. "Now I know all of you are probably upset and have lost the respect and trust I was already earning but just because I lied doesn't mean that changes anything I will continue to work hard and keep your dorms clean and tidy…and I promise to make it into Tokyo U if it makes lying to you better."

They looked at each other for a few minutes before coming upon some kind of telepathic agreement. How girls did that, the boy would never understand. "Alright, Keitaro…" Naru began as she looked the manager straight in the eye. "But you better hold up to your promises if you hope for us to forgive you any time soon and believe you again."

Keitaro nodded confidently but somewhere in the back of his head there was something he didn't like about that sentence.

"KEITARO!! The toilet's overrun again!"

"Keitaro! The hotsprings need to be cleaned again!"

"KEITARO! Wash the windows!!"

"Keitaro!!! The secondfloor needs to be entirely scrubbed down!!"

"Sempai! I need to run to the store for tonight's dinner…"

Keitaro sighed and relaxed his aching shoulders as he walked in and fell onto his futon with a thud. "Well at least they keep me on my toes." The weary young man chuckled and rubbed his shoulder as he got up again and decided to walk out onto the balcony where his own personal hot tub was located.

His brow furrowed as a thought came back to him. "It'll have to wait for now."

Keitaro pulled on his jacket and walked downstairs and all the way out the door and getting on a train back to his hometown, to find the local police station and get some leads to who attempted to kill his father.

"So they didn't give you much to go on?" Haruka asked as she sipped her tea, for once there wasn't a cigarette in her hand as her nephew sat across from her.

"No…they said I wasn't allowed to look at the evidence." Keitaro replied, irritated that he came back empty. He was missing being a gunslinger at the moment, back then he would have been allowed in, begrudgingly of course but still allowed in.

"Keitaro, would you like some advice?" Haruka asked gently, knowing how closer her brother and Keitaro were. She was kind enough to place her hand on the young man's hand.

He looked over at the action and tried to get his mind off his thoughts of revenge. "Let the police take care of this, your father was on the force as well so they'll do their best to catch the one who tried to kill him. Just go see him, make sure he's alright and forget about this whole revenge thing."

The former gunslinger looked up at the other and stared into her eyes. "…Yeah…you're right."

The woman smiled and patted his hand gently, she was nowhere near convinced though, she knew her nephew too well.

After bidding Haruka good night and heading back into Hinata Inn, Keitaro slumped onto his futon once more. He mentally damned actually getting into the hot tub this late and this damn tired before he was snoring and done for the night.

Morning came as the sun rose over the surrounding hills of the Hinata Inn, Keitaro sunk into the hot water as his arms hung over the barrel. The rest of today was going to be interesting, first he'd be starting cram school and two he would be coming back home to maintain the entire building named Hinata. Cram school wasn't a necessity but at least it'd be something to do for now until he actually got into Tokyo U. Despite his education in the agency, he felt what he learned may have brainwashed him in some aspects, he wanted to learn what a normal person might learn most of his academics at least were enough to get him close enough to something as prestigious as Tokyo U.

That and it was part of that damned promise that only now seemed to haunt his dreams. Keitaro rose from the water and dressed himself in a polo shirt and khakis with a sweater over it before putting on his glasses and making sure his messenger bag had everything in it. At the bottom in a hidden sleeve was a small concealed pistol. In his back pocket was a simple all purpose switch-blade. Keitaro wasn't completely adjusted to normal civilian life.

Shirai walked alongside his friend as they walked towards the center. "So what are you doing in cram school? I thought you were a chef at that little diner."

"True but, I actually need money if I'm going to get into that fancy college." Shirai grinned as he explained. "I worked my way up to being a manager and on days like today, I come here in the morning and take the lunch and evening shifts."

"Ah, so what are you headed for as far as a degree?" Keitaro asked as they entered the linoleum hallways and headed towards one of the many class rooms.

His friend shrugged and then grinned. "I'm not sure yet, but I hear college girls are cure…especially the ones at Todai."

"And the girls at the dorm call me a perv."

"Oh yeah smart guy, what are you expecting out of Tokyo U?"

Keitaro thought for a long moment as he opened the door to his classroom. "I'm not sure yet."

Shirai simply laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder before walking away to find his own classroom.

Keitaro stared dumbfounded at his low score, it wasn't horrid but it wasn't exactly passing or at all on the top of the list of students. Shirai scratched his head as he found his own score a few names below his former captain's.

"Heh, looks like we kind of lost our edge as far as academics go." The young chef remarked feeling embarrassed at how low he scored.

"You can say that again…" Keitaro sighed. "Fantastic, just another thing to add on my plate."

"You always did love a challenge, boss."

"Oh shut up." Keitaro replied as he stood up from his hunched over position to see the low spot on his score and turned right into something soft, warm and rather comfy. Then he heard a strangely familiar shriek.

"Na-" Keitaro didn't have time to finish before he was dropped to the floor hard by a rocket of a punch to his face.

The former gunslinger looked up wearily to look the girl in the face. A strange looking angry young woman with large pig-tails protruding from the sides of her head like broomsticks and circle framed glasses thick enough to distort and hide the girl's eyes while covering most of her face. She didn't say another word but stalked off angrily muttering hateful things.

"Remember when I said you were the luckiest man alive?" Shirai asked as he helped his friend up.

"Yeah, why?"

"I take it back."

"Do me a favor, Shirai."

"What's that boss?"

"Shut up." Keitaro grunted brilliantly before walking down the hallway and out of the testing center.

Half an hour later the former gunslinger was on the train back towards the inn and as he boarded he noticed that the girl in front of him was the very same girl that had punched him at the center, her identifiable bright orange sweater plainly in front of him.

Keitaro was not one to pick a fight but he was fairly certain he knew who this girl was, and had an urge to be sure he mulled over putting her on the spot. He got the sense she probably wouldn't appreciate being called out for punching him, and causing a scene in a public place like this wasn't his style. It was too late however and the girl got off to stop at the nearby stationary supply store. Probably getting supplies for studying, Keitaro shrugged and got off close to the inn and began walking up the long marble staircase before finally getting home.

Once again the manager was saddled with many chores to do all around the inn. Keitaro pushed his rag across the wooden floor quickly and the other way quite quickly, before repeating the process. He stood back up and stretched out his back before turning the corner and repeating the process again. Something caught his attention as he sped across the floor on his palms and toes; he looked around and made sure no one was around before hunching over again and racing down the hallway again before stopping at Naru's open door. This he found strange being that the girls generally kept their doors closed unless they were actually around.

He stood and looked around carefully again, his curiosity taking control as he stepped in carefully and walked over to the bookcase. Amused by the bounty of thick books it held, most of them encyclopedias, study books, text books, even some work books, and several thick multi-subject note books that was not surprised to find weathered and ragged from constant use and pages full of worked out problems and thorough notes.

'If only she was more thorough in making conclusions about someone.' Keitaro thought as he placed the used up notebook back in place. Something caught his eye as he looked down and noticed a slightly smaller book wedged between the used up notebooks. Pulling it out he, studied it over carefully it was small, possibly the thinnest of any other book on the shelves. A small buckle kept it closed, possibly some kind of planner. Though it was the smallest there was something significant about it.

The manager shrugged and slid it back in place, looking at the other books. Unfortunately his eyes slid back to the place between the note books he had found the smaller one in. Keitaro looked around carefully again before looking at the spot again and sliding it out again. He pulled off the buckle gently and opened the book. It wasn't exactly full, but there several pages at the beginning for about a third of what was clearly a diary, but as Keitaro flipped through two words caught his eye 'Todai' and 'promise'.

His prying eyes didn't have time as the sound of several footsteps made their way back down the freshly cleaned wooden inn floor. Keitaro attempted to quickly tried to wedge the diary back into place, unfortunately wasn't quick enough as he looked up and found a stunned Naru facing him.

"Keitaro…How could you?" Keitaro, the fearless leader of his squad of gunslingers, had very few close interactions with girls. Unless you counted Motoko and Haruka, both of whom did not keep a personal diary, he had no idea the very importance of the small book he was trying to stuff back in place. He only knew he shouldn't have been in the girl's room in the first place.

An embarrassed blush tinted Naru's cheeks as Keitaro tried to come up with the right words to explain himself. Instead of her usual blitz and punch toward him, the light brunette stepped forward until she was inches away. She scowled and punched him hard in the face, angry that this boy she barely knew might have found the secrets she kept closest to her heart within the little diary.

"Naru, look I'm sorry but-" Keitaro was as tact as he could be in this unfamiliar situation, he said as he held his cheek, surprised at how sore his face felt from untrained fighter.

"Just get out, Keitaro." Naru said coldly. The manager felt horrible seeing one of the tenants like this, he was already on thin ice with her in particular even if he wasn't sure why. "I said get out!"

Keitaro backed up and walked out slowly until the door was slid shut hard in his face, barely skinning his nose. He was speechless, how could something so simple cause a girl to act that way. He knew enough to know what a diary, granted he had no idea the importance to a young woman, but what could possibly in there she would get worked up like that. The former gunslinger sighed and returned to swabbing the floors.

Naru was quiet as she sat down and ate her food, Shinobu noticed as she picked up the plates from the table. Keitaro helping and following her into the kitchen as the other girl got up with the others. Naru thanked the younger girl and looked at Keitaro with a slight glare before walking out of the dining area.

"Senpai…" Keitaor looked over kindly at Shinobu as he washed the dish in his hand. To see him give her his attention gave the shy young girl enough confidence to continue. "What's wrong with Naru? She seemed to be angry with you."

Keitaro sighed and put up a slight smile to ease the girl in case she felt she was overstepping a boundary, one the manager had clearly already crossed early in the day. He found it very hard to make up a lie to the innocently teen girl before him. "I did something I shouldn't have, not that it was intentional, I just made a mistake and ended up upsetting Naru."

It wasn't a complete lie, and it wasn't the whole truth either.

Shinobu considered the reply for a few moments then nodded. "I hope you both get that worked out soon then, this place is a lot better when the others aren't trying to chase you down for one reason or the other."

She smiled and he smiled back, glad that she didn't try to get more information out of him about it. They continued on with the dishes peacefully, eventually the shy girl felt comfortable enough to ask him questions about how his life was going and the young man in return asked her questions about her own life. Not since before the divorce of her parents had Shinobu actually felt happy speaking with the generous manager beside her.

"Ready to go?" Keitaro asked as he buttoned up his dark orange jacket. Haruka locked the door to her tea café and gave the confirmation before walking down the steps with her nephew while she pulled her leather jacket tighter around her.

She was surprised to find her nephew's arm rubbing up and down her shoulder. Haruka turned to find him performing the action absent mindedly. "You were cold, I loan you my coat if you want."

"No, no that's fine. Thank you though." Haruka smiled as she gently placed her nephew's hand back down to his side.

"You're welcome Aunt Haruka." Haruka's handy fan was drawn across Keitaro's face as they reached the end of the steps before the manager could even finish his sentence.

The two Urashimas walked away into the night headed for the nearest cab. Keitaro, taking the advice of his aunt and going to see his father and simply check in on him, revenge was put on hold for now.


End file.
