Love Hina Fan Fiction / Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Limitations of Bushido ❯ A Child’s Motives! The Defenses Revealed! ( Chapter 1 )

Hi again, everyone! Here's Chapter 2 of my Love Hina/Digimon crossover. I hope you all like it!

Chapter 2: A Child's Motives! The Defenses Revealed!

The residents of Hinata-sou had all come to terms with their new visitors. They were relieved that the threat of an all-out war had been negated. All of them, except for Naru, who regarded Hugh and his companions with an air of suspicion.

"Great. Just Great!" she thought to herself. "All these perverts here and NO ONE seems to care! Even Motoko! What is it about them? I'll have to be extra careful to protect Shinobu from them…"

Naru's hawk-like eyes darted about until she found the two most perverted males (in her mind, at least) that had accompanied the `floating corpse' (Naru's preferred term for Hugh), snuck up behind them and slammed their heads together. Davis and TK were sprawled on the ground. Although they were still groggy, their eyes widened in fear when they saw Naru staring down at them. She looked as though she was ready to tear them apart, but instead she calmly said, "I know you two have raging hormones right now. And I also know that you were perving on little Shinobu just now. Understand that this is a girl's dorm, and that you are only here on special provision because the other tenants see no problem with it. In case you were wondering, no, the women's bath will not become a mixed bath."

"Damn!" blurted Davis, expressing his disappointment. As soon as he said it, however, he regretted it as Naru brought her foot crashing down on his head.

"I was right! You are perverts! I can't really do anything to you yet, seeing as you haven't really done anything, but one step out of line and…POW!"

Naru slammed her fist into the ground beside them, leaving a massive imprint and shaking the ground nearby. After cracking her knuckles, she glared at them for a final time before walking into the apartment.

Davis and TK had both passed out from shock, and lay immobile on the ground until Haruka splashed a bucket of water on them both.

"Don't worry about her," she reassured them, "She's got a good heart, even though it may be a bit misguided. As long as you don't cross her, you'll be safe."

The boys could only nod in agreement, still fazed from their close encounter with the `Naru Punch'. Haruka tried to calm them down by putting her hand around their shoulders, but they both jerked away in fear.

"What's wrong, you two?" asked Haruka, perplexed by their reaction. "I don't bite. Honest."

"It's not that," replied TK. "It's just that Naru is so scary, and we don't want to take any chances that would give her the chance to…"

"Don't worry about it," reassured Haruka. "If it's clear that I'm the one taking the initiative, then she can't really do anything. She won't mind, either - she only gets mad if it is clear that you're the ones who started it. Come, let me show you to the guest quarters."

They walked into the apartments, the boys much calmer than before, confident that Haruka would make an effort to protect them, or at least to make Naru more understanding.

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Meanwhile, Motoko had noticed the bokken (wooden sword) that Cody had brought with him.

"You study, Kendo, Mr…"

"Iori Codyhira, but they all call me Cody."

"I see. I've been looking for new sparring partners. A samurai can never have too much practice! The recent conflict has proven that tenet of my beliefs beyond any doubt in my mind. But I digress. Would you spar with me?"

"Umm…" Cody was slightly uneasy - he knew that Motoko had a steel katana in that bamboo sheath.

Motoko noticed that his eyes were transfixed on her weapon. "Don't worry. I won't take it take it out - I'll fight you fair and square with the bamboo. The razor-sharp blade is reserved for perverts like Keitaro!" Her voice deepened when she uttered that last word, her head quickly darted to look in the direction of the Kanrinin, who squeaked in fear and ran off to perform his chores. Motoko then proceeded to show Cody to the dojo.

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As soon as Hugh had passed Motoko's test, Kaolla ran up to him and attached herself like a necklace to him, hugging his neck like he were a fluffy toy.

"Hooray! Atarashii tomodachi! A new friend to play with!"

"You'll be…my…friend?" Hugh's tone was thoughtful and slow, deliberate. "Tell me, Kaolla, you like every one you meet, even before you get to know them, is that not so? Why do you feel this way?"

"I have no reason to hate them, and if I were predisposed towards a stranger in a bad way, they wouldn't like it. So I give them the benefit of the doubt and I act as friendly as I can! But you're right - it isn't special treatment - I'd do the same for anyone."

"I see. So, Kaolla, what would you like to play? Pin the spear on the corpse? I'll be the target, of course."

Kaolla started laughing hysterically, rolling on the floor in fits of jubilation. "You're being sarcastic, aren't you? You have a sardonic but lovable wit about you!"

"Well, I was being serious - you'd be surprised how much I can be impaled without feeling it. Anyway, if you aren't interested in that, I'm willing to play any games you may enjoy. Time is on my side, I'm in no rush."

"Shinigama-sama (Angel of Death), you're my friend, so I'll let you decide what you wanna play, `kay?"

When she said this, Hugh broke down. Tears formed around the edges of his blank eye-sockets, and he embraced Suu with a warming, gentle touch. After a while, he released his hug, and put Suu back in the postion of clinging to his neck.

"Thank you, Kaolla. Now I know that we are friends to each other, because we are both willing to help one another out. I would like to find out how you were able to repel the angels from here. They had taken over the rest of Japan, and your efforts must have been quite substantial for them to give up. I understand how Motoko's efforts would have aided them, and the famous `Naru Punch' that I have heard so much about certainly added to your strength, but you must have had some form of automated defenses and monitoring systems. Perhaps I could help improve aspects of those in the future. I don't know if I can be of much assistance, but I shall certainly try."

"Oh, I know what you mean! Sarah and I worked on a surveillance system to keep that ecchi pervert Keitaro away from our hot springs! We called it the `Anti-Male Razor-Trip-Wire-Land-Mine'! We designed it only to go off when a male such as Keitaro or Seta-kun stepped on it. Although, Motoko has set it off more than once…she is quite masculine, you see! Hahaha! Anyway, let me show you to the War Room!"

Suu climbed off Hugh and directed him to a room beneath the apartment complex, and switched on the light. Inside the room was an array of computer screens, video terminals that covered literally every inch of the Hinata-sou, and several other buttons, whose purposes were difficult to determine. Kaolla pointed to the row of metal turtles that lay in a wrecked heap, buried in an open grave in the center of the room. Her normally chirpy and upbeat tone was replaced by a sad, gloomy voice as she explained, "These were the first and only casualties when we repelled their assaults. I know you may think that I am silly to worry about a bunch of robots, but these Mecha-Tama were Tama's - and my - children. We loved them dearly, even though they may not breathe, think or feel." Kaolla's eyes welled up with tears as she recalled how they were destroyed in order to give Motoko time to launch an attack from the flank.

Hugh merely stood horrified, speechless as Kaolla described the incident to him, and for a while could not react. But when he had recovered some of his composure, he embraced Kaolla once more.

"No, you're not silly to care about such things. You show a great deal of wisdom for your age. Caring about non-living things makes it easier to care for things that do live. By caring so much for them, by default you end up caring for your friends even more."

"Thanks! You really cheered me up!" Suu was back to her usual, chirpy self. The attack by Motoko was meant to lure them to spot X on this map." Kaolla indicated to a map on a table in the room.

"Eh? Where'd that map come from? For that matter, where did that table come from? Oh well, never mind." Hugh thought to himself.

"Anyway," continued, "One of Sarah's brilliant schemes was to use our own sewerage as a weapon. So we gathered all the grime and muck from our sewer and shot it at the invaders using a cannon when they were lured by Motoko to the target X. It seemed to have the desired effect, and they decided that we were more trouble than we were worth. I still have some of the sludge that was left over! Wanna see it?"

"No thanks, Kaolla," replied Hugh, giggling to himself. "It's times like these that I'm glad I don't have a nose! Still, that was a brilliant plan. Very creative."

"Thank you, Shinigami-sama!"

"You're welcome, Kaolla. Oh, and please don't call me Shinigami. Or sama. I prefer not to be regarded as a lord. And I wouldn't want others to fear me by thinking I was the Angel of Death."

"Hai, hai! I shall call you…"

"Just call me Hugh. That's what all my friends call me."

End of Chapter 2

Hope you all like it! I'll start work on the next chapter as soon as I can!