'The Hands of a Man'
'Love Hina' is by Ken Akamatsu

Writer's notes: As you see below, I am going to use most of the same introduction as the original writer.

Too many stories I have seen written about Urashima Keitaro being a weak and shy man who is not that much on the ball, so to speak. I want to try to come up with a different characterization of Ken Akamatsu's main protagonist from Love Hina.

This version of Keitaro will be older than in either the anime or the manga (age 24).

Bright, articulate, strong, and afraid of absolutely nothing are some of the changes to his character. Along with this, our hero is 1.83-meters tall and weighs in at about 88-kilos of solid muscle.

In addition, he is a workaholic, very quiet, willing to meet any challenge head on and someone who will not put up with crap from anybody. But, like the Keitaro we do know: he will still be friendly, loyal to his friends and tenants, one to keep his promises religiously and works on things until he was satisfied that the task is complete in a timely manner.

This will be his story and about his dream of turning the Hinata Hill into his home. So as you can see he will be very much OOC.

Japanese surnames are always first.

Story notes about the other characters: Kitsune will be very OOC as she works hard with Haruka, falls extremely hard for Keitaro at first sight and is a successful author, as we will find out.

Motoko will be OOC the most, as she has had a crush on Keitaro since she was a little girl.

Haruka and Tsuruko will surprise everyone with a story of their own.

Naru, as with the two mentioned above, will have a very different take on her part in this story.

New characters added for continuity, as they will enhance the main storyline.

Time of this story begins in the spring of 2014 just after the new school year begins, so let us say about the first week of April just as the Sakura are peaking.

Chapter 1: Plans, Introductions and Getting to Work

Sixteen-year-old Aoyama Motoko is on the roof deck of her home at the Hinata Sou. As such, she is out here this early doing her Katas with an ancient blade called Shi-sui (Still water).

Workouts such as these always leave her with a lot of energy and keeps her in great shape.

Second in line to inherit the Shinmeiryu Dojo and Aoyama Clan properties in Kyoto, she moved here because of problems within the family.

Before starting school each day, and even on the weekends, Motoko gets out of bed early because she is very fastidious about doing her daily exercises. So zealous is she about this, you sometimes can set your watch by her.

Nevertheless, most the time Motoko finds that she is not always the first one up.

All she has to do is take one whiff to smell the wonderful breakfast one of her roommates is cooking. The wondrous aromas emanating from the old manse's kitchen sometimes interferes with her meditation, which it does when she tries to center herself.

Uncharacteristically for her, Motoko giggles when she hears her stomach growl, as it exacerbates the trouble she has in trying to get into the proper mind frame on this particular morning.

Nothing distracts her concentration though as hearing a large helicopter, whose roaring twin engines and its whirling rotors passes overhead at this very moment.

Looking up, Motoko sees the large aircraft with a cargo net suspended underneath carrying a square-bottomed load.

'Nothing like the JSDF to unsettle one's morning,' thinks the teenage Samurai.

With her morning meditation already shot, Motoko gets up off the deck, gathers her belongings and hurries down to shower before breakfast.

Forty-five minutes later…

"That's the second time this morning," says Maehara Shinobu to herself looking out the kitchen window. This is, after hearing and feeling the vibrations of a large army helicopter go overhead of her home.

Meaning nothing to her, she just dismisses this event as just another flight event by the JSDF.

This petit miss is only fourteen years old, a culinary genius and domestic wizard. In reality, this shy young ninth-grader is the heart and soul of this generation of Hinata residents.

Without her, this place would look like the pigsty it was before she moved in. In lieu of rent, she does the majority of the chores around the Hinata, willingly and with great skill.

The other residents say that if it were not for her, the Hinata would implode from all of the clutter and mess that they generate.

Right now though, she is just waiting for her Senpais to come down for breakfast.

Third time, forty-five minutes later…

"Hey, that's a Boeing™ CH-47D 'Chinook'. I wonder if that's yummy?" asks a young wide-eyed foreign fifteen-year-old Princess by the name of Kaolla Su hailing from the island nation of MolMol in the Indian Ocean.

Along with three of her housemates, she sees the flying behemoth go overhead as it has already twice before on this particular warm and sunny morning.

"The navigator must be using the Hinata as a reference point because it had banked off a little when it flew over us," adds Kaolla offhandedly. She steps out into the front courtyard and joins her Senpais.

The quartet descends the ancient stone stairs that will take them to the bottom of the hill so that they all can catch their tram to school.

Last time, about an hour later…

The owner of the Hinata Tea Shoppe, at the bottom of Hinata Hill, steps out the back to catch her breath after the early morning rush.

The proprietor of this place is one Urashima Haruka, who along with her assistant Konno Mitsune aka 'Kitsune' has turned the place into a raging success.

The Shoppe was a gift that she had received from her Hina Obaa-san after graduating from college as her inheritance.

One this lovely morning, she is glad that she quit smoking when she did after getting her degree. Inhaling cigarettes as she used to, it almost affected her health. A little meditation with help from the family Martial Arts, a couple of anger management classes and a large punching bag later, she has finally kicked the habit.

"Shit, again!" growls the Urashima woman.

The same helicopter once more flies low over the Hinata.

Almost anything sets her off in the morning before she has her first cup of coffee.

"The fucking Army must be doing some big things around here to fly over a small town like this that many times, eh Haruka," says Kitsune having come out the back of the shop just in time to see the aircraft fly overhead.

"Maybe, Kit," Haruka says after the noise of the helicopter fades off into the distance, "Although, I would have heard if something were up around here."

After a few minutes, one of the wait staff tells Haruka that a customer needs to know the prices on some of tea blends that the shop sells, so both of them know their break is over.

Later that same morning…

The traffic on the main highway into the western part of Kanagawa Prefecture is almost non-existent at this time of morning.

'Good thing I could get all of my stuff moved as I did, or it'd be kind of tough transporting the big shit,' muses one Urashima Keitaro.

Sitting on the wrong side behind the wheel of a brand new Nissan™ Titan© crew-cab pick-up truck imported from the USA, he is driving out to his new home and has more than a few people staring at him because of it.

Ignoring it, he drives on.

The vehicle is a graduation gift from his Tou-san, who almost getting him a BMW™ or a Porsche™ for his graduation gift instead. Knowing better than to do that, what would his son want with a high performance sports car anyway?

As a very practical young man, Keitaro can be a workaholic and now at twenty-four, he is a holder of a Master's Degree from Tokyo University. A very prestigious accomplishment, which he completed a year early.

The truck however is more in-line with his personality and he can store his more personal items in the back.

He has dual Degree in Mechanical and Applied Engineering along with his Master's Degree sitting on the passenger seat next to a tin of coffee, and his favorite work jacket. He took this particular course of study so he could learn the theories behind the practicality of how things work.

This is how his mind works too.

"Just glad that is over with so I can get back to working full-time again," he whispers wanting to flex his muscles again.

Not really needing a job, he is the heir to one of the richest families in all of Japan.

Getting to opportunity of a lifetime, he has just found out from his Obaa-san's lawyers that he has just inherited a substantial amount of money and land from her.

Now, with this presented to him, he is going to work to make the Hinata Hill and its environs his home.

Keitaro looks forward to the challenge.

Outside of Chigasaki, (Writer's Note: real city SW of Yokohama and Tokyo) he turns off to get onto the main road that leads to Hinata City.

Crossing a familiar bridge before entering into Hinata City proper, Keitaro looks over to see the well-worn building that is his cousin Haruka's Tea Shoppe at the base of his new home.

It has been a while since he last visited the ancestral hometown of the powerful Urashima clan.

For the last nine years, except for school and helping out his father out, Keitaro has pretty much led a vagabond life.

Since turning fifteen back then, he has been learning different construction and industrial skills all over Japan. In addition to this, he still maintained top marks in high school and at Tokyo University.

Pulling his truck into the lot aside his cousin's place, he parks close to the front door.

"Shit, this place is going to need some major renovations soon," says Keitaro making some quick mental notes about the exterior condition. Seeing that the place will need a minor fix-up very soon, he knows that the Tea Shoppe is close to four-hundred years old.

Before stepping inside, Keitaro takes a deep breath because it has been a couple of years since he was last here. Hoping that his cousin Haruka is not too angry with him since he had last called, the man steels himself for the possible 'shit storm'.

Inside…

Kitsune has just finished clearing a table whose former occupant had left her his phone number.

Tossing the number in the trash, she looks up to see the most perfect specimen of a man she is ever seen walk in the front door.

Dropping her table rag, Kitsune's mouth falls open.

What she sees is a tall, muscular young man with bulging biceps, a narrow waist with what could be a washboard torso under his shirt, slim hips and powerful looking legs. To top it all off, he has a well-combed mop of jet-black hair, which to her makes him seem to be an absolute god-like example of what a man should be.

Gob-smacked, Kitsune along with every other woman in the shop can only drool at the young man who has just walked in. With a winning smile, nothing seems to bother him with all the attention he is garnering at this moment.

"Kei-kun!" rings out the voice of Haruka from the kitchen.

It wakes Kitsune and the others out of their reverie.

The young man smiles as Haruka comes into the main room.

However, she surprises everyone by swatting his arm with a paper fan that she keeps in her apron.

After this bit of silliness, the two hug each other warmly.

"Kei-kun," says Haruka hugging him again as tears fall from her eyes, "you had better have a damn good reason why you haven't bothered to call or e-mail me at all in the last two years? I ought to kick the living shit out of you for ignoring me that long, you silly baka."

Seeing an empty booth in the corner, she gestures for them to sit there so that they can talk.

"Sorry about that, Haru-chan," Keitaro says with a sheepish smile.

Nodding to her cousin, she wants to hear what he has to say.

Placing one of his huge calloused-over hands on top of Haruka's, he then continues, "You know how I get when I'm concentrating on something. It seems like I forget the rest of the world sometimes. I wanted to get my degree so that you would be proud of me."

"How can you say that?" asks Haruka smiling and giving him a dubious look, "I've always been proud of you. Shit, I practically raised you because your Kaa-san and Tou-san were so busy. Why would I not be proud of you? Shit, everything you've ever done I've taken pride in."

Smiling at her exaggeration, he knows how much she watched him when his parents' were busy.

"Yeah, I know Haru-chan," says Keitaro in a quiet voice, "But, I'm here to stay now because Obaa-san finally ceded the Hinata to me."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that because we've a lot to catch up on," says Haruka who spies Kitsune heading their way, "and Reiji-kun will be happy as well."

After a few moments, Kitsune sits next to Haruka and places her chin in her hands. Even without a formal introduction, she cannot keep her eyes off him.

Because as strange as it may seem, Mitsune aka the 'Fox', due to how her eyes are when not fully open, cannot help but stare at the man seated across from her. In a world of her own right now, she ignores the conversation happening between the two cousins.

Usually catching the eye of men first, she can be a bit of a flirt as Kitsune is an extremely striking woman…

However, no one, and I mean no one, has ever captured her attention like the handsome stranger who has just walked in and is sitting across from Haruka.

"Kitsune! Earth to Kitsune over," says Haruka looking at the woman seated next to her. Then, she realizes that Kitsune has fallen victim to her cousin's natural charm.

Not getting a response out of the Fox, Haruka gently shakes her until she comes back to this plain of existence.

Laughter from Haruka while Keitaro just sits there with a slightly amused look on his face.

"Wha…. What is it Haruka?" asks the ash-blonde shaking her head trying after failing to compose herself.

The older woman uses her thumb to point at Keitaro.

"Oh I am sorry, suga'," she says extending her hand, "I am Konno Mitsune, but you can call me Kitsune."

"It's my pleasure, Kitsune," says Keitaro matter-of-fact understanding that she is from Osaka, "Call me Keitaro."

With a warm smile now, he kindly takes her hand.

Even though her wits have returned, all she can do is nod her head dumbly. It seems like an unknown strength or power shoots right through her as their skin makes contact.

It almost overwhelms her.

His huge calloused hand has a rough feeling to it, but he is also oh so gentle with hers.

Receiving a tingly feeling, Kitsune experiences something that has never had happen to her before when she has touched a man. This beautiful lady, this charmer who had entranced many men in the past by her looks, has in turn just fallen very hard for a man she had just met mere moments ago.

"Oh yeah, Haru-chan," says Keitaro apologetically to his cousin, "Sorry about the helicopter flights earlier this morning. A friend of mine, Hanabi Matsuo-san helped me by flying in my heaviest tools and equipment out into the back of Hinata Hill. His family owns a helicopter charter business over in Kamakura. They just bought a couple of surplus US choppers from the JSDF, so I helped my friend fix and modernize them. To say thanks, he flew my stuff out to the back of the hill free of charge. I didn't realize that I had accumulated that much stuff."

Haruka knows that he has a habit of doing things himself and not leaving it to others.

"I had my larger equipment and tool boxes stored in one of their empty hangars along with some shed kits. Now that everything I own is up top here, the new choppers have place to call home, as do I," he adds.

"I was wondering what-the-hell was going on so early this morning," says Haruka, "If I had known it was you I would have just said 'that's typical of the workaholic Kei-kun' the man I have known since he was born." Then turning to the Fox, she says, "Kitsune, this man here (pointing at Keitaro) would get up before anyone else I know. He also only goes to bed when needs to and will keep working until he collapses over his work area. You do not know how many times that I have had to put him to bed when he was a kid after I found him sleeping over something he had been working on. It's more times than I can remember."

"Yes you did Haru-chan," says Keitaro with a warm smile on his face, "and I remember many times you'd just lay a blanket over me when I got older. Hey, I just love doing things. You know the old saying about life being short."

Nodding at those memories, Haruka can only laugh.

"Oh, and before I forget, Haru-chan," he adds, "I'm going to head up the old back hunter's road that goes up by the old dilapidated Annex and unpack my equipment. We dropped off quite a few pallets. Then I also have to organize everything and then have use some of the empty rooms in the manse's lower floor to set up my shops in."

"Have you had anything to eat this morning Kei-kun?" asks Haruka remembering how large his large appetite is.

"I'm a bit hungry after all of the shit I had moved already this morning," he says knowing she was not about to let him get away without a proper breakfast.

A growling stomach causes some female giggling.

"Kei-kun, you stay right there," says Haruka who goes to get her cook to fix her beloved cousin a big breakfast.

Still staring at him, Kitsune still feels all mushy inside.

'Shit, this has never happened before,' she thinks feeling her panties getting a little moist.

"Hey, Kei-kun. Did Obaa-san or her lawyers tell you about the old place?" asks Haruka hating to put a damper on his growing enthusiasm. Someone has to tell him the truth about what Hina Obaa-san did to the old place.

She brings out a big plate with many dishes on it for him.

"Yeah, but I hope the girls won't feel too put out by what I'll be doing to the place," says Keitaro, again using a matter-of-fact tone as he wolfs down his cousin's food, "Do you have any info on them, Haru-chan? I want to know who I'll be dealing with later when I head inside to formally introduce myself."

Looking a little startled by his tone and non-chalant attitude about people living in his new home, Kitsune does not know what to think.

Seeing this, Keitaro looks at the ash-haired beauty and says, "Oh don't worry, Kitsune. I am just curious as to why my Obaa-san would have done this, so I will not ask you or the others to leave. As a matter-of-fact, I'll be staying at a camp right out back during the spring and summer months."

Saying that he will not be staying in the Hinata itself, surprises both women.

Getting up for a minute, Haruka goes back to her office to get her cousin the file, which has the information about the residents.

Wondering how he knows that she lives up there, Kitsune is happy to know that Keitaro will be nearby and possibly

"Hina Baa-chan sent me a preliminary list of the residents living up above," says Keitaro after Haruka hands him a manila folder, "Right now only five of the rooms are occupied on one side."

"Kitsune, I'm glad to see you live up there," adds Keitaro making Kitsune feel better because that answers any of her lingering doubts.

Due to his unintended use of innuendo, dirty thoughts then come into her mind.

Downing the last of the delicious Miso that Haruka brought out for him, he opens the folder.

Looking at pictures of the residents, he continues, "I see Aoyama Motoko-chan lives here too. She had developed a huge crush on me when I helped with the rebuilding of the Aoyama Dojo seven years ago."

'Is he talking about the same Kendo girl?' Kitsune thinks. Having known her for the last three years, that does not sound like the same Motoko to her.

"When we last went to Kyoto, Haru-chan," says Keitaro looking at her, "That girl, though shy as she was, hung around me like a little puppy."

Smiling, he fondly remembers Motoko as a little girl.

Kitsune has something new to tease the Kendo girl about now.

"Thanks for a great breakfast, Haru-chan," says Keitaro looking towards the door.

"Heading out?" asks Haruka with a smile.

"I am heading up and starting right in," says Keitaro handing her a business card out of his shirt pocket, "I will take this folder with me. Please call me on my cell when the others get home so I can formally introduce myself to them. My new number is on it too."

"Kitsune-san, it's been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing you later," says Keitaro getting up from the booth.

As he heads out, Kitsune follows him outside of the shop.

Smiling while standing there in the doorway finger waving at Keitaro as he gets into his pick-up, she fights a wild hair to jump into the truck with him. It would be enjoyable for her to be with him as he tends to his belongings.

Coming back to reality, Kitsune's smile gets bigger knowing that she will see him later in the day.

Liking the good-looking young woman who works for Haruka, Keitaro puts any thoughts about her into the back of his mind as he drives off.

Though not for too long…

Mid-morning, back property of Hinata Hill…

On the way over to the old grassy road up to the top of Hinata Hill, Keitaro has a pleasant memory of when he was a little boy.

Showing him how to build birdhouses, his Tou-san wanted Keitaro to enjoy doing things with his hands. Afterwards, they would come here with Kanako and hang them for the finches, sparrows and swallows. Many times they would also have lunch or fire up a hibachi set up to cook on, so they could watch the little birds as they enjoyed their new homes. Then, the three of them would also have fun swimming in the freshwater lake by the waterfall that cascades down from the higher points on Hinata Hill.

So many great memories of when he was younger.

'Why did I allow the good times in my life to end back then?' he thinks retrospectively missing his Imouto as well.

Frowning before putting it aside, Keitaro knows that he has to deal with that situation as soon as possible.

For now though…

Unloading all of the pallets takes only a few hours.

Breaking the smaller loads down, he organizes everything by priority, size, where they are going and the time of year he will be using them. Keitaro arranges every detail down to the smallest iota.

Then, he has three tractors that need to be untied and driven off their pallets: one that has a front-end loader and backhoe, one for towing medium-sized loads aka a farm tractor, and a smaller garden tractor.

It is also nice having a four-wheel stake-sided flatbed trailer along with a heavier capacity low boy ramp trailer for bringing his possessions over to the manse. On the other hand, wherever it is they will need to be.

Loading the low boy first with his machine shop equipment, which he disassembled for aerial transport into small loads that can easily put back together later, he then secures it for transport over to the manse.

Next is his woodworking equipment: things like lathes, drill presses, saws and shop hand tools. These he secures as well.

They are going to the same place, but into a different room.

After this, he uncrates some resin sheds of different sizes and assembles them quickly. These are for his two smaller tractors, a couple of his small generators, chainsaws, fuel and oil cans, welding equipment, two large and two small capacity air tanks, gardening equipment, masonry and plumbing supplies, plus his nail gun and boxes of nails.

And last for now, Keitaro sets up his large ripsaw: he assembles the table, cradle, pulleys and puts the drive strap back where the medium tractor can back up to run it. This last machine is of his own design so he does not have to buy lumber. A drying kiln for seasoning lumber he will build later for the wood that he will be cutting down when he is ready to start the second phase of his plan.

Then to clean up, he stacks the pallets behind one of his sheds to be recycled into something else or he will cut them up and burn as kindling.

When he stows away all of his possessions, Keitaro begins to build a camp for his temporary summer home.

His camping equipment is in the back of the pick-up truck.

First, up goes an army-style tent. It is a large enough to house six soldiers comfortably in the field.

Next, he opens in a portable bed frame inside the tent and lays an actual mattress on it.

Then in goes a footlocker, coat rack, Franklin Stove®, a small refrigerator (he will run a line to it when he heads over to the Hinata. Using one of his generators for the appliances out here seems a little wasteful to him), his laptop, a military-style clerks folding desk and stool.

The last thing, out of the backseat of his truck, he takes an old antique American oil lamp that was a gift from his Kaa-san. It is one of his most prized possessions and places on top of his desk.

Grabbing one of his chainsaws, he gasses and oils it. At that point, Keitaro proceeds to cut down a few small trees that are already dead for some instant firewood.

Later, he will thin out some of the overgrowth and make woodpiles for seasoning logs to burn this winter.

Finding some old slate and medium-sized stones, Keitaro lays out a good-sized fire pit about five meters away from his tent after clearing away some grass. Then as a lark, he puts up a slotted grate over where the fire will be so he can do some open air cooking.

Looking over the encampment and storage areas, Keitaro is happy at how fast he unloads everything and stows away. As stated before, when he starts a task, he does it efficiently and in a timely manner.

Taking a drink out of the cooler, which he filled with the cold spring water, he is grateful that his clan can truly boast of having of the freshest in all of the empire.

Taking a deep breath, Keitaro sets the cooler on a folding table that he erects as part of his outdoor kitchen. He likes to cook and bake learning these skills from his Tou-san.

Speaking of which, he will call his Tou-san later to let him know that he has taken possession of his inheritance.

Looking at the rear of the manse, Keitaro sees the door that leads to the lower-level storage area. It has six large rooms and connects to a hallway that leads into the main house.

Choosing two rear storage rooms for his shops, he hopes that they are far enough away from the residents. Yes, he wants his shops, but he does not want to interfere with the girls' lives or their daily routines.

Backing his tractor to the loaded trailer, Keitaro connects them together and hooks up the safety chain as well as the rear lights.

Finding a shallow spot in the stream, he drives his tractor across and parks by the door.

"This needs a new door," he mutters making a mental note of its condition.

Heading into the backdoor of his new home, Keitaro hauls all of machinery in parts that he will reassemble as soon as he can.

'At least this place looks decent,' he muses after inspecting all six rooms.

Going up to the second floor where the main junction box is, he open the closet and immediately knows that he has to replace it before either there is, a major blackout up here, or the thing starts a fire. Boxes of old fuses strewn about with a pair of offsets and a heavy-duty rubber glove sits here too.

Since this place is old and the wood is dry, it will go up in flames very quickly.

'This fucking thing should've been replaced a long time ago,' thinks Keitaro with a bit of scorn at how dilapidated, outdated and dangerous this old box is, 'There is no way in hell that this fucking thing support all of my power equipment.'

Going outside for a moment, Keitaro checks his lowboy. Opening a large cardboard box, he pulls out a new large high capacity breaker box, a fire panel and four new chemical extinguishers.

Placing them in the closet where the old fuse box is, he is going to fix this possible problem first before the old place goes up in flames.

Pulling a small well-worn leather covered notebook from his front shirt pocket, Keitaro writes some notes in it (not that he needs to mind you).

"0 for 2 so far," whispers Keitaro walking down to his Baa-chan's former bedroom.

Sliding open the traditional door, the first thing he notices is a hole in the ceiling that has a sheet of plywood sheet covering it from room upstairs. This definitely needs repairing before someone falls through and gets hurt.

Satisfied for now, he steps out of the room and slides the door closed behind him.

Heading downstairs out the old backway, he heads back to tend to the rest of his belongings.

Out of the back of the four-door pick-up's cab, Keitaro grabs some clean clothes and a pair of fresh boxer shorts. The clothes he has on are now dirty and sweat stained.

In need of a break, he decides to take a dip in the hill's pristine lake.

Looking around, Keitaro smiles when he sees that many of the birdhouses that he made as a child are still in use here.

Stripping and draping his clothes over a low branch, Keitaro wades out into the cold, refreshing water that had always re-invigorated him as a youngster.

Swimming over to a shorter part of the falls, he steps underneath the cascade and feels the fresh water wash over his head.

'Wow,' he thinks, 'this place is all mine now.'

However, Keitaro does have one quite large problem to deal with, that is, cold water usually causes his huge cock to become erect. For now, relieving himself is out of the question, so he chooses to meditate under the falls for as long as it takes him to bring back his center.

Seeing Kitsune earlier does not help him since the beautiful is still on his mind.

After his swim and dressing, Keitaro pulls a small snack out from an ice chest along with a can of cold beer.

After finishing his workday, Keitaro usually eats his dinner and packs away as many calories as he humanly.

BRRR! BRRR!

Picking up his cell phone, he sees that it is Haruka.

"Moshi, moshi. Hi, Haru-chan," he responds.

"Everyone is home," she says, "but I have not told them that you are here yet."

"No problem, I will meet you out in front of the Hinata in 30 minutes," he responds before hitting the disconnect icon.

Half an hour later…

Standing at the entrance to the Hinata, Keitaro waits for Haruka to come up from her place.

With the Tea Shoppe closed for the evening, he sees that Haruka is alone and figures that Kitsune must be up here already.

"Well, I hope you weren't waiting too long, Kei-kun," says Haruka seeing her cousin looking up at the walls and roof of the ancient building.

"The old place needs a lot of work, Haru," says Keitaro off-handedly, as the two then go inside together. Taking off their shoes, the cousins go over to the common room.

"Have a seat, Kei-kun. I'll get the girls," says Haruka heading over to the staircase.

A few seconds later, she lets out a loud whistle with her lips and fingers to signal the residents to come downstairs.

Motoko's POV…

In her room up on the third floor finishing her homework, Motoko hears the familiar whistle that only Haruka can produce.

It is loud, shrill, very piercing and will give you a headache if you are not used to it. On the other hand, if you also stand next to her when she cuts loose. That sound means there is to be a meeting in the common and attendance is always mandatory.

The teen Samurai stands and straightens her Hakama. The Samurai checks her Gi before grabbing her Bokken from the weapons rack, which is next to the suit of traditional armor, and places it in her Uwa-obi before stepping out.

As she heads down the hallway, the warrior maiden feels a familiar aura that makes her heart leap out a little out in anticipation. Her pulse races faster as she descends the stairs to the main floor and sees her Keitaro-sama sitting on a couch in the common room.

Liking what she sees, this teenage Samurai usually has a negative opinion of the male half of the species, as the only exception to this rule is her Keitaro-sama.

Centering herself the best she can, Motoko smiles and goes to greet him.

Naru's POV…

Putting on comfortable clothes and looking rather sloppy, a beautiful young woman sits at her Kotatsu with a college study guide in her hand. Ranked first in her particular high school after having just started her third year, she usually wears her coke-bottle glasses and braids to make the boys in her class avoid her.

In addition to this, she also has a Ki-loaded right hand that is her insurance against them confessing to her.

This young woman is not into men as she is gay. With her girlfriend as a first year at Tokyo University, she just wants to concentrate and enter that school to be with her.

With this, Naru has also formed some very negative opinions about the other half of the species.

Drawing Naru out of her zone is a loud whistle that only Haruka can do, and she knows to come down to the common room.

Running down the stairs, she sees Keitaro sitting there.

"What the hell is this man doing here in an all-girl's dorm, Haruka-san," says the bespectacled brunette.

This brings Motoko out of her reverie just before walking up to Keitaro.

"All men do is want to peep on innocent young girls and molest them with their perverted ways," says Naru in a brusque manner.

With the Samurai standing nearby, the temperature in the room mysteriously seems to do a sudden dip.

Before Motoko can respond to Naru's insult, her close young friend comes happily scampering in.

Kaolla's POV…

Sitting in the hallway on the third floor enjoying the late day sun coming in the traditional window of the Hinata, Kaolla is going over the designs of her latest revision of a flying Mecha-tama.

This hyperactive foreign young teen has a penchant for making things before blowing them up. With a truly maniacal laugh, she does all of this with the wide-eyed wonder combined per the innocence of a young girl.

A loud piercing whistle comes up the stairs bringing her back to reality. Wrapping up her blueprints, she puts everything she is working on inside of her room. Running to the common room after literally jumping down two flights of stairs barefoot, the dark-skinned Princess sees the handsome man sitting on the couch.

"Someone new here at the Hinata, all I want to know is he yummy and can he be my playmate?" asks a blonde dark-skinned blur in rapid succession.

Kitsune's POV…

Still thinking about her earlier meeting with Haruka's cousin, the Fox is going through her closet to find something appropriate to greet that handsome man when he returns.

No one has smitten her before like this in her life, as she had thought that her former boyfriend was a stud, but he is nothing like the man she saw sitting across from her at the table this morning.

Moreover, she just loves how he radiates confidence and has such a good sense of himself. It also helps that he is rich, smart and has a 'killer' of a body. That 'six-pack' torso of his makes the ash-blonde drool causing her to fantasize about him holding her in those magnificent arms of his before she touches him all over.

'I wonder if he's packing too,' she thinks while wiping the drool from her mouth.

Hearing Haruka's whistle, she almost starts to freak because she has not picked out anything special. Sizing up her luscious body in her full-length mirror, she quickly decides that what she has on will catch his eye.

After another moment or so, she heads out to catch herself a new man.

A further interruption in Motoko's greeting comes in the form of the ash-blonde bombshell that makes her presence known into the common room.

Definitely not dressed for work, Kitsune saunters over and sits on the couch in the spot that had Motoko picked out for herself.

An almost audible whimper from the Samurai, as any casual greetings from the taller teen will have to wait until later.

From over by the staircase, Haruka says in a loud voice, "Naru-chan, knock that shit off right now. You will be in a hell of a lot of trouble with me if you ever refer to my cousin, and the new Kanrinin here, as a pervert ever again."

Everyone sees Naru blanch, as she knows to keep her mouth shut from here on out.

No one wants to antagonize Haruka and get on her shit list.

Coming back over to the common room, a petite teenager follows close behind the now former housemother and smiles shyly.

Shinobu's POV…

There must be some magic in this old place thinks a petite bluenette as she begins to prepare dinner.

Giving a small bundle of bananas to Kaolla keeps her foreign friend out of her hair while she cooks.

Having smart Senpais has definitely helped her grades to go up drastically, as she is near the top of her class now.

Nevertheless, that is only the surface of how she truly feels. The thing is that even after her parents' divorce, the two still snipe at each other and sometimes they include her when they bitch at each other.

Unknown to her, Shinobu's life is about to take a drastic turn for the better.

The piercing whistle from Haruka signals some meeting or other so she puts her preparations on hold before heading into the common room.

With it quiet now, it begins…

Standing up and stepping over to the end of the room, Keitaro takes a good look at everyone. Four pairs of eyes just drool at this specimen of a man before them.

After Haruka's admonition, Naru will reserve her judgment towards this man until she gets to know him better.

"I am generally a man of very few words, as I believe in letting my actions speak for me instead. I just have a few things to say before you formally introduce yourselves to me. First, my name is Urashima Keitaro. I am the new owner of the Hinata and all of its surrounding property save the Tea Shoppe. Second, until I have a full handle on the living situation here, I will be staying at a camp that I have set up outside in the back until the end of the summer. Third, I will be making big improvements and modernizing this place, because frankly, it really needs it. For sure, I will be replacing old fuse box and will install a new more modern breaker box in a few days before we have a fire here. Also, if I am working in the onsen or anywhere else on the property, be extremely careful because this place needs a lot of cleaning. I mean to restore the Hinata to its former glory. Lastly, Hina Baa-chan had her office in her room upstairs, but until further notice, the office will be wherever I am. Usually, I work very long hours and it is my wish not to keep anyone awake. If you need me, just want to talk or you want to help me out here, I am going to set up a radio system and post my cell number. Oh yes, there is one more thing, I have converted two rooms down in the old storage area into workshops. I'll be using them mostly during the day, so if you want to see me, need something fixed or want something made, come see me then."

Finishing, Keitaro sits down between Kitsune and Motoko.

Both smile at him.

"Kei-kun, why are you being so modest?" asks Haruka teasingly, "Everybody, this man before you graduated at the top of his class from Tokyo University and has also just received his Master's Degree in Engineering. I called your Tou-san to ask him what you have been doing since you weren't forthcoming."

"WHAT?"

End of Chapter