Mirrors: A Life Long Forgotten

A quick foreword

I don't own Love Hina or the rights to any potential material I use from other franchises in this fic

Prologue Part 1: Losing New Friends, Gaining Old Ones

Keitaro sat there and continued to stare at the drink long emptied and asked the bartender for another. It was his fourth…fifth…sixth…he didn't even know how many drinks he had gone through. He felt slightly nauseous and a little dizzy, but it was better than what he would always feel in the months following the incident which had ruined his whole life.

In what felt like years ago, he had been given a job that most men would probably kill for, being the manager of an all-girls dormitory, formerly owned by his grandmother, filled with some of the most beautiful girls anyone had ever seen. For anyone who truly knew his situation though, they would probably believe that some deity truly hated him as each and every girl in the dorm wanted to make his life hell. There was Shinobu, the nicest girl you could ever meet, who cooked his favorite meals for him when he was down and always was there to encourage him. The trade-off was for some reason whenever he was around she would run away crying for some reason which would cause him to be punched into the stratosphere a second later. Then there was Mutsumi, his "other" promised girl who was also kind though a bit ditzy at times. The problem Keitaro had with her was that she would get him into compromising situations with her fainting spells due to her anemia, proceed to make said situation worse, and then whenever he came back from whatever crater he had created from his landing she would comfort her best friend instead of him the boy she helped send into low earth orbit.

Then there was the mad genius known as Su, who took delight in blasting him with missiles, cannons, plasma, one time even with bullets just to see if he would survive, not to mention kicking him in the face on a daily basis so hard it was a miracle he still had teeth. Next was Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno, the resident fox who stole his money, forced him to "molest" her so she could get out of paying rent, and regularly set him up to be punched with her comments about certain situations. Finally there was the two girls that were the worst out of all of them. Motoko Aoyama was an "honourable samurai" who enjoyed using him as a practice dummy for her sword attacks, even if said sword attacks put him in the hospital, who would claim he was always at fault for any sort of situation. Mutsumi faints on him, his fault, one of the girls walks in on him while he is in the bath, his fault, someone sneezed too loudly, it was always "that pervert's" fault.

Finally there was Naru, a violent, self-centered, anger-filled tomboy of a girl with a mean left hook and a hatred of anything with a Y chromosome, which usually meant him. Keitaro had fallen in love with her once upon a time ago, willing to give up his dreams of finding his promised girl in order to be with her. Keitaro didn't know why he had chosen to fall for her, maybe it was her kind side that he wanted to see more, or maybe he fell for her for the same reason girls fall for the bad boy types, believing he could fix her and show her that there were boys out there who didn't think of girls as just fuck toys for their own amusement.

Regardless of the problems he had when he first came to live at the Hinata-sou, he had tried his hardest to overcome them and become friends with the girls, potentially more with Naru. While the trials were hard, he had succeeded in most of them, becoming worthy of a place at both Hinata-sou and in the girl's heart. Then just as things finally started looking up for the first time in his life, just when he had started to feel hope for the future, fate had thrown him a curve ball in the form of one of Su's inventions. A blaster, which had destroyed him and left in his place 6 doppelgangers that each represented a side of his personality: Nice, Evil, Shy, Confident, Fun-Loving, and Smart. While he was gone, the 6 clones had destroyed everything he had worked for with the girls, to the point of which that when he returned he was immediately forgotten by the others. Thanks to Evil Keitaro, the happy meals he had once shared with Shinobu and the others became cup ramen all by himself. Thanks to Shy Keitaro, the busty anemic girl he had once known never fainted onto him again. Thanks to Smart Keitaro, laser blasts and explosions were kept in the confines of Su's room. Thanks to Fun-Loving Keitaro, the resident fox no longer hit him up for money whenever she needed a bottle of booze, she even paid her rent on time thanks to his double…err sextuple's job. Thanks to Confident Keitaro, he was never sent into the stratosphere by sword attacks.

Worst of all, his self-proclaimed Nice side had stolen the girl who had captured his heart. Never again would he have his study group with Mutsumi and Naru, never again would he be pelted to China for looking through the hole that connected his and Naru's rooms. In fact, he had boarded up the hole because the sounds of his former crush and a man that was essentially him making love to each other every day was too much to bear.

Keitaro had learned a hard lesson in the long months he had spent alone, watching everyone eat five star dinners while he ate microwaved crap, while watching all the happy couples coo at each other while he sat in his room alone. What had really driven the point home was the incident where on his birthday every Keitaro got a party except him. The girls never liked him, only certain parts of him, that much was now clear.

Keitaro had fallen into a very deep depression after learning that lesson and he sought to deal with it the way most his age chose to, with lots and lots of alcohol. He would get blackout drunk every night, wake up on the lawn of the Hinata the next morning, walk up the rest of the way, lock himself in his room until night time and then repeat the process. As far as he was concerned, no one worried about his safety so why should he care? His aunt didn't raise a finger to help him, and his sister had helped him at first, but she too had fallen for one of his doppelgangers. He was convinced his Evil side was cheating on Shinobu with Kanako, but he didn't say anything because if they didn't care about him, why should he care about their problems? He didn't feel guilty, he didn't feel angry, in fact thanks to the alcohol he essentially felt nothing anymore.

It was during one of his binges when he had met an old friend of his. Jeice Mccormick, a half Australian Japanese citizen whom he had been best friends with back in middle school. Keitaro was always made fun of for his promise, Jeice had been made fun of for his accent and ancestry, so when they defended each other they had become fast friends. He had been a confident, brown haired, green eyed, slightly tanned guy that most girls would swoon over had it not been for his accent and garbled Japanese. He seemed like the opposite of Keitaro in every way, extroverted and proud, never letting anyone get him down. It didn't seem like they could be friends, but as they say opposites attract. He and Jeice were thick as thieves way back when, but when studying had overtaken his life he had never talked to Jeice ever again, shutting him out of his life along with everyone else. It had been one of Keitaro's greatest regrets, but what he had regretted even more was when he had shut Jeice out, he also lost not one but two of his best friends, the other being Jeice's sister Mia. Unlike Jeice, Mia was introverted and shy like him, with long dark hair which she kept braided, glasses similar to his own, and always dressed simply, refusing to show skin. He had been her first friend besides her brother, so when he had shut her out he had broken her heart. When Jeice had punched him when they first met again and explained how much his sister had cried when he walked out of her life, Keitaro had become more depressed than before. He had never meant to hurt anyone as evidenced by how much he had apologized to Jeice.

"Here again I see," said a voice behind him, and Keitaro broke out of his reverie and looked up. Seeing Jeice in front of him, he motioned for him to sit on the stool next to him.

Jeice moved and sat next to Keitaro, ordering a bottled beer and a glass of water and some bread for his drunken idiot of a friend.

"How long are you going to do this to yourself Kei, you know this much alcohol cannot be good for you," said Jeice.

"Whatsch it to you anyway, I can stop anytime I wanna," Keitaro slurred, drinking his beer and taking a sip of the water.

"Kei this is 5th time I've found you about to vomit all over my favorite pub, drinking enough alcohol to make your liver cry out for help every night is a road you don't want to go down," said Jeice with obvious concern. He and Keitaro had long since rebounded as friends by drinking and talking about each other's lives. Keiaro told Jeice about his trials and tribulations at Hinata-sou, including the "Mirrors" incident and Jeice talked about his life and how he had just lost his job at a big entertainment company and his girlfriend had cheated on him. After hours of conversations, they would bid farewell with Jeice heading back to his apartment and Keitaro heading back to Hinata-sou. Now Jeice felt guilty for encouraging Keitaro's destructive behavior.

"Whaddya care anyway, I'm just a lonely drunk who wants to get hammered without being judged. Besides, it's better than staying home listening to Nice me and Naru going at it like bunnies on holiday. "Oh Keitaro Oh Keitaro, harder, I'm almost there," I can't take that man. She was supposed to be my girl," said Keitaro as his fist slammed into the counter, tears long cried threatening to poke out again.

"Enough! Kei I get that you're sad but doing this won't make you feel better, and I sure as hell will not take you back to Hinata-sou if this is what you're going to keep doing," said Jeice, getting up and grabbing Keitaro by the collar and dragging him out.

"NO, you can't make me go. I am an adult and I'll do what I want when I…I….zzzzzz," Keitaro didn't finish his sentence as he passed out on Jeice's shoulder.

"(Sigh) What am I going to do with you man," said Jeice, as he helped Keitaro into a taxi which sped off towards his apartment.

The next morning

Keitaro attempted to open his eyes as best he could, but the amount of sunlight in the room and the blinding headache he was currently feeling was making it quite difficult. He noticed he was not sleeping on the front lawn of Hinata-sou, but instead on a couch. Keitaro surveyed his surroundings taking in the unfamiliar surroundings until he saw Jeice in the small kitchen making some Banana and Ricotta pancakes, a personal favorite of both of them when they were younger when Keitaro occasionally came over to Jeice's and Mia's house for breakfast.

"Nice to see you're finally awake. Any longer and I would've decided to have a mandatory smoke alarm test," said Jeice.

"Where am I," said Keitaro clutching his head.

"In my apartment, my roommate isn't home so I just decided to bring you here. Though if you decide to throw up please try to do it in the bucket. Come on, I've got pancakes and honey syrup ready if you're up to eat," said Jeice piling the pancakes on a couple plates and walking into the living room.

"Yeah I could use some good food after eating nothing but cup ramen for a few months," said Keitaro, digging into his plate of pancakes.

The two sat in silence as they ate until Keitaro finally spoke a question he had been meaning to ask, "Why am I here?"

"Because like I said last night I was not about to let you go back to the dorms if all you're going to do is lock yourself in your room during the day, and help turn your liver black during the night. So you are going to stay here today where I can keep an eye on you," said Jeice.

"Why do this," said Keitaro.

"Because you're my friend that's why," said Jeice, finishing his pancakes while Keitaro finished his, "Now while handle the dishes go to the bathroom and take a bath. You smell like a skunk's butthole, and quite honestly your breath smells like a distillery, head down the hall and it's the first door on the right," said Jeice.

Keitaro lifted his arm, took a whiff, and nearly threw up. He decided to take Jeice's and he got off the couch, momentarily staggered, and continued his trek to the bathroom. He ran the water, stripped down, and sat in the bath, letting the hot water sooth his aching head and upset stomach. As he sat there he thought about everything that he had gone through. The pain he had gone through, the loneliness he constantly went through, no one to confide in, no one to make him feel better.

"Is it worth it," thought Keitaro, "Should I continue staying there if no one even acknowledges my existence? Maybe if I talk to Jeice's roommate I could stay here for a little while. The food is a heck of a lot better and this bath feels better than my barrel that's for sure. Maybe Aunt Haruka can take over, Evil me has already taken over most of my former work and there's nothing wrong with a small vacation. And this time the girls won't come after me, so I can stay away as long as I want.

Keitaro's musings were interrupted when he heard the door open. He just assumed it was Jeice leaving a towel for him until he heard humming that definitely did not sound like Jeice. Then the doorto the bath opened revealing a very beautiful girl. She had blond hair down to her shoulders, green eyes similar to Jeice's, and she was only wearing a thin towel.

Keitaro and the girl stared at each other for a few seconds before becoming fully aware of their current situation. Keitaro looked away and tried to cover himself while the girl screamed pervert at the top of her lungs. Jeice came in and surveyed the situation, awkward as it was, before yelling at the girl, "Mia, calm down! It's not a pervert, it's just Keitaro," said Jeice.

"MIA," Keitaro screamed in his mind.

"KEITARO," Mia screamed in hers.

Sometime later

Jeice, Mia, and Keitaro all sat at the table in the living room, Keitaro and Mia both having blushes adorning their faces, Mia also having a glare pointed at a certain former ronin.

Keitaro couldn't believe this was now Mia, she had changed so much since he had last saw her.

"Now, that the reintroductions are over, I think Keitaro has something to say," said Jeice.

"I'm sorry Mia," said Keitaro.

Mia's glare softened a bit and she replied, "Whatever, I accept your apology."

"Mia, be nice," said Jeice.

"Why, how can you be so quick to forgive him after he outright forgot about me…err us," said Mia.

"He's had it rough that's why," said Jeice.

"I don't care about how rough he has it, I'm not just going to forgive him like you did," said Mia in a huff.

"Sorry Kei, I should've explained that Mia is my roommate. She's goes to Tokyo University so she decided to stay with me for the time being," said Jeice, "Even if she does grind on my nerves sometimes."

Mia smacked the back of his head for the comment and once again turned away in a huff.

"Well I was going to ask if I could stay here for a couple days, but I guess that's out of the question," said Keitaro.

"You're darn right it is," said Mia.

"Mia can I talk to you for a moment," said Jeice.

Jeice and Mia turned away from Keitaro and began having a quiet, albeit angry conversation, trading points back and forth.

"Well we've talked about it," started Jeice.

"And we've decided you can stay…but only for one week," said Mia, albeit through grinding teeth.

"Thanks you guys," said Keitaro.

"It'll be nice to have a break from the girls, and maybe I can reconnect with Mia like I did with Jeice. I certainly hope so," thought Keitaro.

"Now maybe I can convince Keitaro to let go of the girls so he can move on," thought Jeice.

"I can't believe that after all these years, I have to deal with Keitaro again. That selfish, inconsiderate, low-life jerk. How could he just abandon me and just expect me to forgive him. Then again, maybe it won't be so bad," thought Mia, with a forced smile.

Author's Note

This will be a mutli-chaptered story, but I don't know how often I'll be able to update so any help will be appreciated.

This chapter is mostly a test of the concept, any reviews on whether or not you want it to continue are appreciated

Please leave a review, even if you just want to point out any mistakes I made.

Until next time,

Peace in the Middle East, Stephen Colbert for President, write a song about something other than relationships Taylor Swift, and so on.