I will admit: this chapter took much longer than it should have. Other than the usual "job and other stuff" excuse, I was struggling to come up with a good sense of wording for the latter part of the chapter, the part of the chapter that every fan of the manga has been waiting for. Welp, wait no longer, guys; enjoy.

Heads up, guys. I don't own Love Hina or its characters. They belong to Ken Akamatsu. Man, though, have I ever wanted to meet the dude…

Chapter 3: Flight to Fury

~N.N.~

Naru couldn't believe what was going on in front of her-okay, she actually could. She just didn't think the pervert would give in to his lecherous desires this early in the day. Here he was, with his arms around Shinobu, obviously groping her. Honestly! How low would this male go with his perversions?! Keitaro, upon noticing her approaching him, flinched, his eyes momentarily widening in shock and fear before returning to a normal size. He raised his hands above his head and spoke in a tone too calm for her likening. "Naru-san, I realize this looks incriminating, but I can explai-" "You don't need to!" Naru snarled, interrupting his obvious lie. It was pretty easy to figure what Keitaro was doing. "You were taking advantage of Shinobu!"

"No, I wasn't." Keitaro's voice slightly rose in tone, though the voice's range was lost on Naru. He was a pervert, and he needed that irritating habit pounded out of him. One way or another. "Don't you dare try to talk your way out of this one!"

~S.H.~

Sanza's eyes widened in horror as Naru reared a fist back. This is bad. While Naru was so focused on what she thought Sanza was doing, she had failed to realize that the girl she was "defending" had frozen in shock and/or fear from Naru's outburst...and her arms were still latched around Sanza's waist. Keitaro (and Sanza, hopefully) could survive a Naru Punch. Shinobu, on the other hand, would not. Seeing as Shinobu had yet to move, Sanza hurriedly detached Shinobu and pushed her out of Naru's range, while trying to put up a defense for his face.

While he was successful in removing Shinobu from harm's way, his meager attempt to reduce damage failed miserably, as Sanza was launched through the roof with a scream.

~~場所の変遷~~

During the entirety of his flight, Sanza was plagued with many thoughts. Some about the girls and what he would do with them. Some wondering if and how he would be able to return to his life. ...But mostly him wondering how much the impact would hurt and if he should tuck and roll to reduce the amount of pain he was guaranteed to suffer. Then again, wouldn't that-

This thought was sadly interrupted by the pain of hitting the ground. Pain. Sanza mentally groaned/whined. So much paaaaaaaain. I should've realized being unkillable would hurt this bad. Upon learning he could at least move his arms, he went to check his pant pockets. Finding what he had been hoping to find, he struggled to stand in what seemed like a park. As he slowly started walking in the direction from which he was launched (not noticing the many shocked stares sent his way), he was comforted by a small thought: At least I won't arrive at the Hinata House too hungry. It wouldn't do to arrive with three headaches instead of two.

~~場所の変遷~~

It took awhile, but Sanza was able to find his way back to the Hinata House. Sure, he had to ask a few people around in a café during a quick meal, but here he was, at the steps. I can't believe that Naru- Sanza shook his head in correcting himself. No, actually. I can believe that Naru would forego letting me explain my case. I mean, I am Keitaro Urashima, lowest of the low in her eyes until who knows how long. Inclining his head upward, he took notice of the two girls he was expecting, yet simultaneously hoping not to see: Naru and Motoko. And while Naru was still sporting her scowl when she noticed him coming up, Motoko, surprisingly, kept a strangely neutral, somewhat calculating gaze on him. This didn't keep Sanza from narrowing his eyes and donning a frown of his own as he continued up the stairs, hoping to just pass by the two girls without conflict or conversation. He wasn't counting on that happening, though.

~M.A.~

Ever since she woke up that day, Motoko Aoyama felt that something was...off. Something in the air felt different, but the young kendoist couldn't put her finger on just what was causing her skin to tingle or the shiver that went down her spine before hearing the news of the manager's latest incident from Naru-san. While the fact that he was up to no good that early in the morning wasn't too much of a surprise (he is a vile male, after all), she was somewhat surprised that she didn't sense this occurring in the first place. Urashima-san generally had an aura about him that couldn't be mistaken from anyone else's, for reasons even Motoko herself was unsure about. This morning, however, she was unable to sense him. It was almost as if he had been possessed by some sort of demon, or replaced by a doppelganger. However, she had no...definitive method of testing her theories, at least at the moment. Plus, if Urashima-san had been possessed, then why…

Motoko's musings were put aside as she noticed Urashima-san walking up the stairs. It looked as if he was just going to pass them by without a word. However, it seemed that Naru-san was intent on getting something out of him, as she loudly cleared her throat before speaking. "Don't you have anything to say to us?"

Pausing momentarily, he slightly bowed to the girls. "Ah, yes. Good morning Naru-san, Motoko-san." Having properly greeted the two, Urashima-san started to walk up the stairs. Naru-san, however, seemingly was not done with the manager. "Not that, idiot! Don't you need to apologize to someone?" Urashima-san nodded. "Yes, I do need to find Shinobu-chan and apologize for pushing her down so roughly." He shook his head. "I really didn't want to be so forceful, but I wasn't in the best of circumstances." By this moment, Urashima-san had started glaring at Naru-san. "On that note, you need to apologize to her as well, Naru-san. You almost killed Shinobu-chan with that stunt you pulled!"

Urashima-san's outburst set both girls back, Motoko especially. Naru-san almost what?! "Look, I get that I generally look like I'm up to 'no good', as 'always...'" Urashima-san rose his hands to air quote "no good" and "always" before crossing his arms in annoyance and, to Motoko's surprise, anger, before continuing his mini-speech. "If you had let me explain myself as I was trying to tell you, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!" Urashima-san's voice had been rising, and at this point it had gotten to an uncomfortable degree. Naru-san opened her mouth to launch a form of defense, but the manager continued speaking-well, almost shouting at this point of time-apparently not finished with her.

"Before you go 'You know what you were doing to poor Shinobu-chan', you would be right that I do know. However, I have a pretty good idea how much you know, or rather, what you don't know of what I 'did to her.' I will hazard a guess and say that you didn't see me wake up screaming due to a nightmare, you didn't see Shinobu-chan go to check out what was wrong, and I most certainly know that you didn't see Shinobu-chan hug me in an attempt to comfort me from my nightmare! Otherwise, you wouldn't have made the accusation that you did!" Knowing Naru-san, Motoko realized that she would probably have instead had Shinobu let him go so that 'the pervert wouldn't get any ideas and try to take advantage of your sweetness,' at least according to what Urashima-san was implying.

"Because of your lack of knowledge, you almost hit Shinobu-chan! Had I not pushed her out of the way she would've been severely hurt, heck more likely disabled, AT BEST! Do you not realize how much strength you pack in your punches?! If I can be sent who knows how many kilometers away by means of Low Orbit travelling, what do you think would happen a little girl if she were hit by that kind of force?" Naru-san, who appeared horrified, tried to answer but was cut off by a livid manager that was clearly on a roll.

"That's right! She might have died! Unlike me she doesn't take a hit like that almost every day. I may be physically used to getting hit like that, but that does NOT make it a good thing, Narusegawa-san!" The formal, clipped tone Urashima-san was speaking in, as well as his change of address to Naru-san had not gone unnoticed by the black-haired bystander. "I get that you are not a fan of untoward attention from men, but if you are going to fend them off, try not to almost kill them in the process of shoving them away because you can't control your own strength. In fact, if you see a guy with a girl and she doesn't look uncomfortable with the guy she's with, mind your own freaking business! What happens is on them, and chances are that if things go awry, she can take care of herself. You don't need to be a hero, Narusegawa-san; nobody asked for you to be one."

~S.H.~

Sanza, having finished the first half of his little speech/rant, waited for the stunned girl to snap back to reality; the next thing he had to tell her would only be effective once she was back to "normal." Thankfully for him, it seemed that life was going to give him a chance, as Naru-no, Narusegawa's eyes began to regain some light...and a glare. Not that he really cared. "Is that all you have to say for yourself, Keitaro-san? Of course you would keep an angry front, Narusegawa. Sanza thought bitterly. Well I am sick and tired of this song and dance. It's time for this to stop.

"No Narusegawa-san, I am not. I just needed to ensure you were listening to this final bit, as I believe it is in your best interest to hear this final point clearly." Motoko-san, seemingly interested in where he was going, quirked an eyebrow. "And what would this point be, Urashima-san?"

Looking Narusegawa in the face, Sanza spoke up, finally getting to the crux of the matter. "Narusegawa-san, while I was in a barely compromising position with Shinobu-chan, the truth of the matter was that the atmosphere was one of familial comfort before you arrived. When you saw Shinobu-chan hugging me, however, you failed, or rather, refused to obtain all the details of the situation and, as a result, assaulted an innocent without hearing the full story. Additionally-" "W-wait a sec, pervert!" Narusegawa interrupted him, trying to regain a toe hold of where this was clearly going. "You were the one that was-"

"Additionally…" Sanza cut her off with a silencing tone. "A third party was almost injured as a result of your actions. Had I not acted quickly enough, things might have ended differently. Narusegawa-san, you must control that temper of yours. Shinobu-chan may have lucked out in evading death's door, but I cannot guarantee that I will be so lucky with saving her a second time, Narusegawa-san. That is not a threat, mind you, but a mere statement of facts. I will tell you this, though: I am not going to endanger a tenant's life due to the actions of a person who should have matured by now. I am responsible for the safety of everyone in this house, Narusegawa-san, and like it or not, you will respect Granny's decision. So if I find that any-and I mean ANY-of the girls have been threatened, whether it be physically or verbally by you in the future, I will personally throw you out. And then I will call the police. Do I make myself clear, Narusegawa-san?" The girl in question nods numbly.

"Good." With all that said, Sanza continued marching up the stairs to the house, rubbing his temple with two fingers. While he was grateful to Motoko-san for not interrupting him and complicating things for him (In fact, she had been eyeing both him and Narusegawa throughout the entirety of the case), her overall silence made him feel uneasy...and really confused. It would have been logical of her to try to leap to Narusegawa's defense, being a fellow hater of degenerate males and all...so why didn't she? He did remember that while the two of them were similarly hot-blooded, Motoko always did strike him as the more meticulous one. Does she suspect anything? Is she planning to-

Ugh. My head. ...He should probably stop with the speculations, because MAN, was he experiencing a killer migraine of a headache. If he was lucky, he might be able to keep the headache count at one. ...Though if he were being honest with himself, he wasn't counting on it staying that way.

Aaaaaaaaaand that's one girl down! As well as another chapter. …Wow. Over 2k words. I think I might be getting the hang of this. Maybe I should start putting replies to reviews to previous chapters in the post-notes. …I think I'll start doing just that.

Cred1988: Weeeeeeeeeeeeelp. That happened, a dude erupted, and, well, now he goes inside to nurse a headache. I seriously hope no one disturbs him. I don't think such a situation will end well…

Karlos1234ify: Well durrrrn indeed.

PasiveNox: I'm glad you like it so far. Thanks for the support! :)

James Birdsong (Guest): Glad to see you're enjoying the story! :)

GaredBattlespike: Painful indeed. Yike.

Delos-Solon: Wow. Not bad of a guess. A pity Sanza didn't jump up in rage. That probably would've looked cool. :P

Architecturally Sound: Yup. It has begun.

warrior of six blades (1): Well, he has something of an idea of his immediate future. And I am doing my best to keep this from becoming a bash fic. I personally dislike bash fics as the ones I find generally come off as, well, very OOC for the characters, and my goal is to keep all of the characters…well, in-character as much as possible.

warrior of six blades (2): Yeah, that would be problematic for Sanza if his secret were to come out. As for Motoko…I think she might be suspicious of the change in atmosphere. And Sanza's outburst here may or may not have warranted further investigation on her part. And as for Sanza, it appears that Keitaro's body still has its immortality, so he survives. For now, at least.

POKE47: Glad to see you're liking it so far! I hope you enjoy future chapters of this story! :)

Welp, that'll do it for now. Again, let me know if I made any of the characters seem out of character; this is something I'm trying to avoid, but mistakes are possible.

Also, major thanks to zodiac38352 for proof-reading this chapter.

'Till next time! This is WitsWithMe, signing off. See ya!