Love Hina #8

The volume begins with Keitaro flashing back to the test he spazzed out on last chapter. After the flashback, it's revealed that a week has passed and Keitaro is on a ship north. He plans to forget all about Tokyo U and Naru. While eating dinner, he overhears some people talking and learns that his ship is actually headed SOUTH. Wondering why he can't do anything right, he tries to throw his exam ticket and print club book overboard, but they fly back in his face. He bumps into a sailor and falls over the side. While in the water, he blacks out and has a vision of Naru marrying Mutsumi.

He washes ashore an island and sees a GIANT tortoise, but no people. Keitaro spends the next four days trying to find food and considering the nutritional value of pocket lint. One day he finds his washed up print club book, and realizing he can't throw it away, he hangs it up to dry. After it dries, he discovers something written on the back of his exam ticket. The Hinata House residents had left him notes wishing him luck. Keitaro starts to despair, when a van comes crashing out of nowhere. That can only mean one thing... Seta! Seta gives him some food and asks him how his exams went. Keitaro stammers, and Seta offers him a shovel. He offers Keitaro a job as his part-time assistant again, and Keitaro accepts.

Two weeks later, and the Hinata House residents are worried about Keitaro. The only information they have is a fax they received from Keitaro telling them not to go looking for him. They decide that he's probably failed his exams. Suddenly, Su comes running in with another fax. Keitaro is on the island of Parakelse in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He tells them that he's doing well and not to worry. Naru storms off, and the gang follows to find her in her room packing her suitcase. She's on her way to drag Keitaro back to Hinata House.

Naru...is...ticked.

It's the day the exam results get announced. The gang heads to Tokyo U to see if Keitaro and Naru have passed. They run in to Mutsumi who has finally managed to pass. They find Naru's name; she has also made it in. They go to leave, but Shinobu manages to convince them to at least look for Keitaro's name. To everyone's shock and awe; they find it. Keitaro has passed! The gang celebrates, and Mutsumi admits she knew Keitaro was going to pass. She had found Keitaro's test booklet on his desk, and he must have pressed so hard that his answers bled through. She tells everyone that they have five days to send in the appropriate paperwork to get into Tokyo University.

Back at Hinata House, the residents search for Keitaro's exam ticket to no avail; Keitaro must have it on him. Shinobu vows to go find Keitaro, but sadly realizes that she has no money and no passport. Su and Sarah interrupt her, and tell her that they're going with her. They form a group called "Puffy Mushroom", and Su uses her counterfeit machines to make fake money and passports. Shinobu decides she can't leave the two of them alone, and declares herself team leader. They try to sneak out through the secret passages, but are caught by Motoko, Mutsumi, and Kitsune. Motoko tells them they're not going anywhere, especially after what happened last year. Su tells Shinobu to hit the button on her stuffed rabbit's forehead. She does so, and the bunny turns into a jet pack. Puffy Mushroom flies off, while Kitsune and Mutsumi get their bags. Motoko decides to go with them.

Back on Parakelse, Keitaro has been helping Seta excavate and has developed a bit of a tan. He goes into a restaurant to grab something to eat. He sees Tama-chan, and wonders what she's doing there. He is shocked to see Naru walk in. She looks rather angry.

Keitaro tells Naru that he can explain. She chases him out of the restaurant, and manages to catch him by throwing a pot at his head. She starts dragging him away, telling him that they're going to go view the exam results. Keitaro tells her that he knows he's failed and that he's given up on the university. She refuses to listen, and Keitaro tells her to drop dead. Naru promptly passes out. Keitaro, worried about her, trips over the pot she had thrown earlier and is knocked unconscious.

When Naru comes to, she's in a tent being taken care of a girl who looks like Shinobu. When she realizes that it's a native girl, the girl runs off. Seta walks in, and Keitaro asks him who the girl is. Her name is Nyamo. Seta was a friend of her grandfather, and she's helping him on his digs. Nyamo doesn't speak Japanese, but Keitaro manages to communicate with her by speaking English. Naru is impressed. Seta tells Keitaro that Nyamo had taken a liking to him. Naru becomes jealous and runs out of the tent. Keitaro goes chasing after her. He's followed by Gidget(the large tortoise Keitaro had found earlier) chasing Tama-chan.

Keitaro and Naru fall down a huge hole that Keitaro had dug, and are now stuck. They see a plane fly by overhead, and Naru tells Keitaro that only one plane a day leaves the island. They try to get out of the pit, but the walls are too steep. They start talking about their exams, and Keitaro tells Naru that he had fallen asleep and then rushed through the rest of the exams. She tells him that if he failed, he still needs to come home because everyone is worried sick about him. Keitaro tells her that he's really enjoyed excavating, and shows her his tools. Naru figures they can use the tools to dig their way out, while Nyamo comes over to the hole to investigate. Naru gets excited and overdoes her digging. Suddenly, a blast of hot water knocks them up and out of the hole. Nyamo points to something on a nearby wall. The hot water had washed over the wall's surface to reveal a painting.

The wall painting that Naru unearthed turns out to hint of an ancient turtle civilization. Keitaro and Seta prepare to set out to the desert for more excavations. Naru admires how hot Keitaro has gotten since he's been out working. Keitaro and Seta are going to drop her off at the airport, but she wants to go with them. As they ride in the van, Seta warns that the road is going to get a little bumpy. Unfortunately, right after he says that, they hit a bump; sending Keitaro, Naru, Nyamo and the turtles flying.

Three hours later, they're exhausted from wandering around the desert. Gidget suddenly dashes off, dragging everyone with him. Everyone is surprised that Gidget has discovered an oasis. After washing off under the waterfall, Naru cooks dinner. Unfortunately, it makes everyone throw up and Keitaro decides to cook. He grills some fish that he caught; Naru is impressed.

Later that night, after Nyamo falls asleep, Keitaro and Naru talk about the irony of it all. Keitaro tells Naru to stay still, and she thinks he's going to kiss her. Actually, he just smashes a scorpion that was near her. When he tells her that it was a scorpion she jumps on him, accidentally causing him to touch her chest. As per usual, she then uppercuts him. A block of text informs us that there's only two days left until the Tokyo U deadline.

Puffy Mushroom has finally arrived in Parakelse. Sarah discovers signs saying that Seta, Keitaro, Naru, and Nyamo went missing in the Desert of Death. Shinobu starts to freak out, but Sarah tells her not to worry, because this kind of thing happens all the time to her dad. As the girls prepare to head for the desert, Su unveils her newest invention: the Mecha-Tamago 4! Meanwhile, Kitsune, Mutsumi, and Motoko are in Parakelse trying to hitch a ride to the desert.

In the desert, the Mecha-Tamago 4 is running out of battery power, leaving Puffy Mushroom stranded. Sarah and Su have passed out, leaving Shinobu the only conscious one. She drags the other two girls, but is frightened when a Parakelse Cobra appears. She starts to run away, but is knocked down by a blast that also destroys the cobra. It's Motoko, and Shinobu is very glad to see her.

Over dinner, Motoko yells at Shinobu about risking her life for a loser like Keitaro. Mutsumi calms them both down, and Su reveals her new turtle detection radar. She had rigged this one to react to chips she'd implanted in Keitaro and Naru. She's shocked when the radar shows many blips. As the gang wonders how there could be so many Keitaros, Kitsune points out that it's probably just an invasion of turtles. Motoko is still turtle-phobic, and is frightened when Kitsune turns out to be right. The gang tries to take the Mechatamago 4 to the river, but Motoko gets left behind. Shinobu goes back for her, only to be attacked by a giant turtle. Motoko comes to and uses the God's Cry School Special Technique: Evil Slashing Sword, Second Form; rescuing Shinobu. Safe from the rampaging turtles, the gang notices a flag on top of a nearby oasis mountain. They recognize Keitaro's handwriting, and immediately rush off.

Keitaro, Naru, and Nyamo are enjoying the dinner that Naru has prepared. Nyamo leaves for a bit, while Naru and Keitaro discuss how she ended up with Seta. They figure it probably has something to do with her continuing her grandfather's legacy. Naru demands that Keitaro go tell Nyamo that he'll help her. Keitaro goes to find Nyamo, and accidentally walks in on her bathing under the waterfall. Of course, Naru shows up and punches him, but she accidentally lets it slide that she was beginning to think he was cute. Keitaro asks her what she meant, but she storms off with Nyamo. Keitaro realizes that the longer she stays there with him, the less likely she is going to be back in time to go Tokyo U. He pounds the ground, cursing his fortune. The ground falls away revealing the ruins of the great turtle civilization!

As the three of them explore the ruins, Naru tells Keitaro that he seems so alive. She tells him that she was sort of scared to go see the exam results by herself, and that's why she wanted him there with her. She's afraid that she might have failed again. She starts crying and Keitaro comforts her. Unfortunately, their tender moment is ruined by a barrage of missiles coming for them. They look to see the Hinata House residents chasing after them, and the residents don't look happy.

Keitaro and Naru run, but Motoko uses a sword technique followed by another volley of Su's missiles. Keitaro and Naru beg the girls not to kill them, but the gang just wants to tell them something. They both passed! After the momentary shock, both Naru and Keitaro are overjoyed. As the celebrate, a block of text informs us that they have one day remaining until the cut off...

As the gang enjoys dinner, Keitaro starts to freak out; worried about the exam cut off. The other residents tell him that it's too dangerous travel through the desert, but Shinobu is sure they'll think of something. Keitaro introduces Nyamo to the group, and everybody is astonished by how much she resembles Shinobu. Nyamo is very shy and hides behind Keitaro. Shinobu wonders if that's how she used to act and tries to make friends with her. Unfortunately, Nyamo doesn't speak Japanese and Shinobu's English is very rudimentary. Nyamo runs off, and Shinobu is distracted by Keitaro who has come crashing to Earth. Apparently, Su's plan to use the Mechatamago 4's thermonuclear engine to send Keitaro back to Japan was a failure. Seta's van come bursting out of the water, and he apologizes for being late. Seta explains that his van has submarine capabilities. He congratulates Keitaro and Naru for getting into Tokyo University. They all pile in his van and prepare to leave the oasis, but unfortunately, Seta's van is out of gas.

As they sit around the ruins pondering what to do next, Nyamo gets an idea and runs off. Shinobu follows her; telling her that it's too dangerous. Nyamo draws a map and shows Shinobu that there's gasoline in a nearby cave. As they traverse through the cave, Shinobu accidentally triggers a trap: a giant boulder which almost squishes Keitaro and Naru, who had followed the girls into the cave. Eventually, they come to an abandoned jeep with a full container of gasoline. Keitaro deduces that the jeep must have been her grandfather's.

Now with a van full of gas, the gang heads to the Parakelse Airport.

With three hours to spare, the gang finally arrives at the airport. Keitaro and Naru will get on the next flight, while everybody else will leave the next day. Naru has a bathroom emergency and runs off. Kitsune notices that Naru keeps going to the bathroom, and confronts Naru about it. She asks her if she's pregnant. Naru yells at her, and then whispers that she has diarrhea. Kitsune can't hear, so she whispers it again. Kitsune still can't hear, so Naru blurts it out and then runs back to the bathroom. Keitaro asks Kitsune what's wrong with Naru, and not wanting to "fracture his porcelain image of the female body" tells him that Naru is pregnant and SHE runs off.

Naru, meanwhile, has gone to the infirmary to get some medicine. Unfortunately, Keitaro walks in just as she has to go back to the restroom. He asks if there's anything he can do, and sensing the time is right, tries to tell her that he loves her. Naru just has to go to the restroom, and kicks him out. She decides she can't sit next to Keitaro for the whole plane trip feeling like she does. She tells Keitaro that she can't go back to Japan right now, and makes some excuses about Nyamo and the ruins. Seta and Keitaro try to tell her that they've got it covered, but she demands that Keitaro just get on the plane. She then passes out.

Laying in the infirmary, Naru has a flashback to her sickly childhood. She wakes up feeling better, and with the curtains drawn she assumes that it's nighttime. She hopes that Keitaro got on the plane okay, and is shocked when he wakes up in the chair next to her. Naru yells at him, but he tells her that he couldn't leave with her being in so much pain. He again tries to tell her that he loves her, but the curtains blow open revealing the airplane and the daylight. Naru realizes that she was only out for 30 minutes, when Seta comes rushing in. He tells them the maintenance crew has finished their check earlier than planned, and that the plane will be leaving on schedule. Naru grabs Keitaro's hand and they run off.

They run onto the runway, with Keitaro still trying to tell Naru how he feels. She promises to hear him out AFTER they get on the plane. The other residents come chasing after them, wondering why Keitaro isn't on the plane. Kitsune hijacks Seta's van, and Keitaro and Naru jump on top. They do their best to make it onto the plane, but they're just too late.

The gang stands on the runway, discouraged. Keitaro tells them that he's enjoyed his excavation work, and the fact that everyone would come all this way just for him makes him the happiest man alive. He vows to apply to Tokyo U again next year. Keitaro again tries to tell Naru how he feels about her, but Seta and Mutsumi interrupt. Mutsumi asks why everyone looks so sad, and tells Keitaro that he needs to get his exam ticket in the mail by tomorrow. Keitaro wonders what she's talking about. Mutsumi says she now understands why everyone was in such a rush... she then explains that Parakelse is on the other side of the International Date Line! She mails Keitaro's paperwork off with a day to spare.

The gang has a huge party that night to celebrate. Later, Naru, Keitaro, and Mutsumi stand together talking. Mutsumi tries to tell them about to tell them the secret of their various promises, but Keitaro and Naru silence her. It's time to let the past rest.

Chapter Titles

• Hinata 61: Run Away To the End of the World
• Hinata 62: Sakura Saku?
• Hinata 63: Pursuit To Pararakelse
• Hinata 64: Paradise On Pararakelse Island
• Hinata 65: Shinobu Is Go!
• Hinata 66: Sakura Saku In the Desert
• Hinata 67: Want To Be Friends
• Hinata 68: From Pararakelse With Love (Part 1)
• Hinata 69: From Pararakelse With Love (Part 2)