Early Return PG-13
Niklas "Hawk"
Jonsson
Summary: What if... What if Motoko's training camp was unexpectedly cut short? What if she returned to the Hinata Sou at about the same time as Keitaro does in the first episode of the anime? What if the other girls aren't home at the time?
Disclaimer:
Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly
wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine. This story deals
with some very unpleasant things. If this disturbs you, don't
read.
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing,
you're probably reading the quickedit-mangled version of this fic on
ff dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on
hawksgalaxy dot com or something.
Feedback/Flames: Yes,
please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit
that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)
I can be found on ICQ
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existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty
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above.
"speech"
emphasis/shouts/Kindred
Domination/post-hypnotic
triggers
/thoughts/
/telepathy/
translation
+soundeffect/radio/telephone
conversation/TV+
Previously, on 'Early Return'
"If you so desire, I would be willing to provide you with the training you need. I have need of a good sparring partner, and would be willing to provide instructions for you in return." Motoko offered. "Thus, we would both benefit."
"If you can teach me how to balance the Art and my studies, I will spar with you from dusk till dawn, if that is your wish." Keitaro promptly responded.
"That would be highly counter-productive, Urashima-san. The key is, as you say, to find a good balance between training and studying. Too much of one, will have a detrimental effect on the other. I have also found that undue training, hampers the training itself. As well as undue studying, hampers the study itself, which might be what has happened to you. Too much of a good thing, isn't necessarily a good thing in itself." Motoko responded. "I can show you how I do it, teach you how I manage the two. Though that might not necessarily work for you, it will at least give you more insight into the matter and enable you to work out your own system."
"Wow. I really appreciate this, Aoyama-san. Or perhaps, Aoyama-sensei, would be more appropriate?" Keitaro said.
"Aoyama-san will do just fine, Urashima-san." Motoko serenely responded, before readjusting her thinking. If she was attempting to get closer to him, get under his skin, to ascertain weather or not he was decent or merely play-acting, a different approach might be more suitable. "Or if you so desire, Motoko-san." she offered, a faint blush covering her cheeks as she realized that she had just given him permission to use her first name.
"Motoko-san it is, then. And if it is to your liking, Keitaro." Keitaro responded.
"In that case, pleased to meet you, Keitaro-san." Motoko responded.
"As am I, to meet you, Motoko-san." Keitaro announced.
Roll credits
Chapter Two:
"Wow! Motoko, talking to a guy without beating him up at the same time? I never thought I'd see the day." a cheerful voice interjected, causing the heads of the two conversationalists to swivel around, their gazes focusing on a group of women observing them. "So, Motoko. Who's your boyfriend?" one of them inquired, peering curiously at the two between squinting eyelids.
"Ack! Kitsune!" Motoko gasped, clutching her chest, desperately willing her wildly beating heart to calm down. "He's not..." she began to deny, then thought better of it. It wouldn't do her any good to protest anyway, it was better to just ignore the matter and hope that Kitsune would let the subject drop. If she protested, she'd just keep on teasing and taunting her about it. "Hrm. Everyone, this is Urashima Keitaro, Hina's grandchild and Haruka's nephew."
"Pleased to meet you all." Keitaro announced, standing up and bowing to the group, before he spotted a familiar face amongst them. "Aunt Haruka. It's good to see you."
"Good to see you too, nephew." Haruka stated with her usual aplomb. "I see that you're already getting to meet the tenants." she observed with a sly look directed at Motoko as she walked closer to Keitaro, separating herself from the group of girls she had been standing amongst.
"Yeah, we met at the train station. Where's grandma? Do you know why she asked me to come here? Motoko-san said that grandma was leaving the country." Keitaro responded while nearly all of the girls blinked at the fact that Motoko didn't protest against this guy's use of her first name.
"I do know." Haruka responded and pulled out a few papers from one of her pockets, handing them to Keitaro with a very faint smile. A smile which rapidly vanished as she applied a bit of speed and her right palm to the back of his head. "Call me Haruka." she rebuked him and cleared her throat before she continued. "You're the new live-in manager." she announced then, much to the surprise of the people around her.
"I'm what?!" Keitaro exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head which still smarted after Haruka's slap.
"He's what?!" a tallish brunette exclaimed.
"Is manager good-to-eat?" a short tanned blonde inquired, a statement which caused Keitaro to blush furiously as his mind took a distinctively perverted route for a few moments.
"But he's a ma..." Motoko started, then trailed off with a thoughtful look on her face, her mental gears slowly shifting.
"Man? Well... He's not that much to look at, but... What the heck. It might be fun with a guy around the place." the squinting one ventured. "Might live things up a bit." she added with a nearly feral smirk.
"A set of rules, restrictions and regulations will have to be agreed upon, of course. But as he is a Todai aspirant and a Martial Artist, I believe we can trust Keitaro-san to behave in a proper and honourable manner." Motoko ventured, causing quite a few stares and raised eyebrows in her direction due to her uncharacteristic behaviour.
"But... But... But..." the tallish brunette stuttered. "This is a girl's dormitory! We can't have a male living here!" she protested, then blinked as something Motoko had said clicked in her mind. "Todai?"
"Yes, you ought to be in your second year now, right?" Haruka commented with a look at Keitaro, who blinked and stared at her in shock.
"You did not know that he's a Ronin?" Motoko who recovered more quickly then Keitaro, asked.
"Ronin?" Haruka asked, blinking in surprise.
"Yeah..." Keitaro grudgingly admitted, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.
"Well..." Haruka mumbled and cleared her throat. "He is the manager. Mom was quite adamant about that." she continued with a faint shrug. "Without one, the dorm would have to be shut down until she returns." she added firmly, which caused an outbreak of surprised gasps.
"I like it here. I don't mind having a guy around." squinty-eyes quickly announced, pondering the future Todai students net worth.
"I believe I have stated my opinion in this matter." Motoko said. "As long as a set of regulations can be agreed upon, I have no other objections."
"I won't mind having big brother around." the tanned blonde said with an uncaring shrug.
"But..." the brunette said, then trailed off with an uncomfortable look on her face. She clearly didn't want to leave either. "Fine, whatever. He can stay." she groused.
"Well, welcome to the Hinata Sou then, Manager Keitaro!" squinty greeted him. "I'm Konno Mitsune, but everybody calls me Kitsune." she introduced herself.
"Su Kaolla." the tanned kid cheerfully announced.
"Narusegawa Naru." antennae brunette reluctantly introduced herself.
"Urashima Keitaro. I'll be in your care from now on." Keitaro responded and bowed to them, then looked around the small group. "Uhm... Is this... Everybody?" he asked as he looked around them, his gaze finally coming to rest upon Haruka, wondering how the finances were if they only had four tenants.
"Maehara Shinobu also lives here. She stopped to buy some groceries on our way back from the airport." Haruka replied and whipped out a fresh cigarette for herself. "Other then her, yes."
"Five people? Shouldn't be too hard, then." Keitaro commented with a relieved smile, greatly relieved that he'd have some time left for his studies, though he still worried about the finances with so few tenants.
If he'd only known more about just what sort of tenants they were, he'd have known just how absurd his ignorant comment truly was...
"Hi-ya!" Motoko cried out, launching a lightening-fast sweep which knocked the Bokken out of Keitaro's hands, following it up with a thrust at his neck, stopping just as she made contact with his Adams apple.
"Wow... You are good, Motoko-san." Keitaro commented, swallowing nervously with his gaze sealed at the Bokken pointing straight towards him. Which had yet to be pulled back, he noted. "Eh, you are aware that I didn't mean to fall down into the hot springs? That it was all an accident? That I had no plans whatsoever of seeing Narusegawa-san naked?" he added hopefully, seeing the wild look in Motoko's eyes which made him fear for his continued health.
"Of course." Motoko agreed, though he didn't think she sounded all that sincere.
And the Bokken was still held against his throat!
"It was that crazy kid! She knocked me through the wall! If I had wanted to peek..." Keitaro started. "WhichIdon't!" he hastily added, as the wooden sword was suddenly pressing into his Adams apple, instead of having stopped right at it. "I wouldn't have jumped through a wall to do it! Trust me!" he gulped.
"Well, perhaps not..." Motoko agreed after a few moments, pulling the Bokken back. "I guess there are better ways to go about it, are there not?"
"Uh, I guess? I've never tried it, so I wouldn't know." Keitaro responded, drawing out a small smile from Motoko.
"Good answer." she complimented him, before stepping back and nodding for him to reclaim his sword. "Again and this time, remember to relax somewhat. If you're all stiff and tense like that, you'll fight at less then your full potential."
"I'll try." Keitaro replied hesitantly, not at all sure how to go about that, what with the near demonic look Motoko had directed at him throughout their entire spar. When she rushed into the bath with her Bokken raised after that Narusegawa-chick had started hollering bloody murder and pummelling him with her towel after he crash-landed in the water, he'd thought that her look alone could have ended his life right then and there. But instead of flattening him to a bloody Okonomiyaki, she'd merely ground her teeth together and demanded an explanation for what was going on.
When Narusegawa claimed that he'd popped up all of a sudden, no doubt to peek and/or molest her, Motoko had taken a few steps forward, before pulling to a halt and directing a disapproving glare at Keitaro, demanding to hear his side of the story as well, though doing so instead of pounding him obviously took all of her self-control. She had listened intently, nodded tensely at the end, then 'suggested' that he'd join her on the roof for a light spar before Kaolla decided to 'play' with him again.
The tone of her voice and the expression on her face revealed the 'suggestion' for what it truly was, however.
It was the moment they started sparring, when Keitaro saw the look in her eyes and started to wonder if he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life in joining her for a spar.
"Hey, Motoko'n Manager! The grub is ready." Kitsune announced from the stairs leading up to the roof platform. "So if you can stop flirting with each other, we'd appreciate your presences in the kitchen so we can start eating."
"Flflflf-f-f-f-f-fl-fl-flirting?" Motoko stuttered and hastily backed off several steps, creating an impressive distance between herself and Keitaro in the blink of an eye.
"Konno-san! We're doing no such thing." Keitaro protested, then gulped with bulging eyes as Kitsune slithered over towards him, her hips swaying back and forth in a very hypnotising manner. She slid right up to him, draped herself all over his front and raised her hands to his head, her left playing with the bangs hanging over his forehead while her right gently caressed his neck.
"It's Ki-tsu-ne..." she purred in a seductive manner, very nearly causing Keitaro to faint at the unexpected shock of having a girl flirting with him like that. He just barely managed to avoid it and instead took two quick steps back, almost dumping Kitsune to the ground as she unexpectedly lost her support and balance.
"Kitsune, right, right..." Keitaro croaked with a hoarse tone of voice. "We're doing no such thing, Kitsune." he repeated, then took another step backwards as Kitsune took one towards him.
"Riiiight." she drawled and directed a smile towards Keitaro, before it widened as she turned to face a furiously blushing Motoko. "Anyway, supper is ready, so you'd better come on down before Kaolla sends out a search party." she informed them, before she turned around and with her hips swaying, headed downstairs.
"Was she... Drunk?" Keitaro inquired after a couple seconds of uncomfortable silence, having smelt the scent of sake on the teasing girl's breath.
"Nearly always." Motoko promptly replied. "Though that sort of behaviour is to be expected from Kitsune no matter her state of sobriety." she added after a moments consideration. "You handled that pretty well, Keitaro-san." she offered, impressed in spite of herself that Keitaro hadn't succumbed to Kitsune's womanly wiles and turned to perverted putty in her rowing hands.
"Well... ... ... I just hope she doesn't do it again." he commented and swallowed nervously. It had been a close call. If he hadn't put some distance between the two of them, he might have burst a vessel or fainted into her bosom. He shook his head to clear his mind and get his mind off its current perverted direction. "Shall we go, Motoko-san?" he inquired and nodded at the stairs.
"Let's." Motoko agreed and the two of them headed downstairs, where they parted ways and quickly freshened up a bit, before they headed for the kitchen.
"Does that kid cook often?" Keitaro inquired, sipping from a bottle of chocolate-flavoured milk as he tried to get the powerful taste of this evening's meal out of his mouth.
"Her name is Su Kaolla." Motoko reminded Keitaro. "No, we try to keep her away from the kitchen as much as possible. Her dishes tend to be a bit... Overly spicy." she added by the way of explanation as she sipped from her own peach-flavoured milk.
"P-hew. That's a load off my mind! I don't think I've ever had anything quite that strong before." Keitaro commented, then took another sip before depositing the empty can in a recycle bin.
"Indeed. During the times that granny Hina isn't present, we take turns at cooking, though Shinobu-chan does it most of the time as she's the best cook out of all of us. Narusegawa-sempai produces the most awful-looking meals, but the taste is surprisingly good considering the appearance. Kitsune orders out whenever it's her turn and Kaolla produces exotic dishes that while tasty, are spicier then I'd prefer." Motoko explained, then put her own empty can into the recycle bin. "My own efforts lean more towards traditional Japanese meals, though I have been told that my efforts fall short of the expected results, winding up mostly bland although beautifully presented." she admitted with a faint sigh.
She and Naru were each others opposites in cooking. Naru's looked like something straight out of the city dump, but tasted marvellously. Her own looked like the work of a professional chef, but while it was edible, it seriously lacked in flavour.
"I make passable food, I guess. Nothing special." Keitaro admitted. "I've got quite a knack for desserts, though." he continued with a smile. "My parents run a bakery, so I guess it comes from learning about it from them over the years." he revealed and shifted his grip on the heavy bag he was carrying.
"My father died when I was very young." Motoko revealed with a far-off look in her eyes. "Mother is one of the teachers at the Shinmei Ryu Dojo in Kyoto, but she also has a side job as a tour guide to the city to break the monotony." she continued. It was also because the Dojo had been doing worse in recent years, as the demands for exorcism lessened and fewer and fewer people were willing to devote the amount of time and effort that was required for students of the Shinmei Ryu, which meant that most practitioners of the school were forced to seek additional means of income. "My older sister used to teach the arts full-time, but she's now an accountant, only returning on very rare occasions to hold a class or two."
"I told you about my younger sister before. Well... Adopted sister, actually. When I called my parents to tell them that I was now the new landlord of the Hinata Sou, they told me that she'd run off to travel the world with grandma!" Keitaro revealed and shook his head. "Dunno what she was thinking, that Kanako... Sure, she's always talked about wanting to see the world, but I always thought that she'd wait until she'd finished her schooling."
"I never imagined my sister giving up the arts either." Motoko said after a few moments, suppressing the familiar sense of pain and betrayal she felt whenever thinking about how Tsuruko had surrendered her place as Heir to the school in order to marry and take a regular job to support her husband who was still in university at the time. She'd been the sole breadwinner of the family for two years, before Ryoji was done with his studies and got a job as a lawyer. At that point, she'd taken a liking to her job and still worked as an accountant instead of becoming a housewife or returning to teach. "I guess we can't control the actions of those we love, no matter how much we may occasionally want to. In the end, it's all up to them to decide what to do with their lives..." Motoko mused out loud, for the first time ever realizing that she may have been a bit harsh on her older sister over the years.
She instantly resolved to call Tsuruko and have a little heart-to-heart with her at the earliest convenient opportunity. She had an apology to give for being so cold towards her and her husband over the years.
"I guess." Keitaro agreed with another shake of his head as the two of them reached the stairs up to the Hinata Sou. Keitaro sighed as he stared up at the imposing sight, before he squared his shoulders and started walking. "Thank you for keeping me company, Motoko-san."
"Nonsense. It is we who should be thanking you for going to buy the supplies for your own welcoming party." Motoko replied with a shake of her head.
"It was no bother..." Keitaro mumbled as the two of them ascended the stairs, heading for the Hinata Sou and the welcoming party for the new resident landlord Kitsune had persuaded all of them to throw.
"Party-poopers!" Kitsune yelled as Naru forcibly led her from the room, keeping a firm grip on the blanket she had wrapped around the bikini-clad woman when she paraded into the room and announcing that the party would be held in the hot springs. Motoko dragged an unconscious Keitaro towards the couch, while Shinobu was mopping up a puddle of blood on the ground from Keitaro's earlier nose bleed. Kaolla was hovering around the table, hands darting out to transfer various snacks and treats from their bowls and platters into her constantly hungry mouth.
Motoko considered just throwing Keitaro onto the couch for a few moments, before she thought better of it. /The bikini was very indecent.../ she thought in his defence, then gently lowered him to the couch. /Extremely indecent!/ The white top was made out of some nearly translucent material and very little of it, it actually just barely managed to cover Kitsune's dark nipples and areolas, but the translucency of the material revealed them none the less to anyone offering her more then a swift casual glance. The high-cut bottoms was a less transparent and covered a larger area, but Motoko assumed that after Kitsune got into the water, that would change as they too would become more or less transparent.
So she supposed that Keitaro was somewhat justified in fainting at the sight of them, even if she was still disappointed in him for even looking at Kitsune when she entered the room, yelled 'Look!' and threw off the towel she'd wrapped around her body.
"No helping it, I guess." Motoko sighed and rubbed her right temple.
"Helping what?" Kaolla inquired as she left her place at the table and clambered onto Motoko's back, resting her head on Motoko's left shoulder.
"It is a matter of no consequence, Su." Motoko insisted with a faint blush, turning her gaze away from Keitaro.
"Oh?" Kaolla inquired with a curious hum.
"Indeed. Pay it no heed." Motoko stated.
"Kaolla has a question, Motoko. Will you be sleeping with the manager tonight?" she inquired, a question which very nearly caused Motoko to faint herself!
"W-w-w-w-w-what?!" she stuttered while her face swiftly changed colouring.
"I heard that boyfriends and girlfriends sleep with each other sometimes." Kaolla explained and looked over at Keitaro. "We're girlfriends and we sleep together. So now when you have a boyfriend as well, Kaolla wanted to know if you'd be sleeping with him tonight." she continued and climbed upwards, sitting down on Motoko's shoulders and leaning forward, looking Motoko in the face upside-down. "Mommy, poppa and my step-mother sleep in the same bed, most of the time. Sometimes, two of them want to be alone. So, Kaolla wanted to know if you were going to sleep with the manager tonight and if you were, if Kaolla could still sleep with you or if Kaolla should go sleep with Kitsune instead?"
"I will not be sleeping with Keitaro!" Motoko hissed.
"Great! Kitsune is nice, but she smells of beer." Kaolla revealed in a conspiratoric manner. "But if Motoko wants to sleep with the manager and have some privacy, Kaolla will sleep with Kitsune instead. It's no problem." she offered again.
"Keitaro will sleep in his room and I will sleep in mine!" Motoko growled angrily, though she was still blushing.
"All rightie." Kaolla replied with a shrug, then looked forward and tilted her head as she considered Keitaro. "Do you think Kaolla can sleep with the manager sometime? The manager looks cuddly!" she chirped happily and this finally became too much for Motoko, who gently pried Kaolla off her shoulders, put her down on the ground next to the table and then stoically walked outside, carefully shutting the door behind her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she bellowed into the evening skies so loudly that the windows of the Hinata Sou vibrated in their frames as she vented her frustration.
The End! ( For now... )