When Naru puts her glasses on in the hot springs, that first day, she recognizes Keitaro. No, not from when she was two, that would be silly. She recognizes him from photographs Granny Hina showed her (optionally, she showed them to all the girls, but that's not the point). See, the Narusegawa clan owes the Urashima clan some old honour debts (the Urashima might be the Narusegawa's hereditary lords, which would be even more important), and Naru's father wants her to clear the debts by becoming either Keitaro's wife, or mistress.
Naru is less than pleased with the idea, but not enough to ignore giri - plus, Keitaro isn't bad looking, she's had time to get used to the idea before they meet, and she actually knows right there in the onsen that he could have a good reason to be where he is. This Naru may also be a bit more kuudere than tsundere, at least toward Keitaro. Either way, she's less inclined to beat him up than in canon.
Poor Keitaro, meanwhile, has no bloody clue about any of this, as Granny Hina hadn't bothered to discuss it with anyone else in the family, until Keitaro got to Hinata (she called his parents from Hawai'i). When Keitaro calls his parents about it, they give tentative approval, instead of what he was hoping for, which was a way out - they think that some responsibility will force him to grow up, and Granny did tell them that 'mistress' was an option, so there's less pressure, as far as they're concerned.
Not sure how all the girls would react. I could see Motoko being pretty calm about this, as she's a traditional girl, Mutsumi might see it as an opportunity to have them both, and Suu has a daddy and at least two mommies, so she probably won't find it that odd. I'm less clear about the rest, though.
You could have one of the others be the girl with the debts, or maybe have more than one (e.g. Kitsune's gambling debts being owed mostly to Keitaro's father), but while a harem ending is certainly plausible, its not required.
So, any takers?
Naru is less than pleased with the idea, but not enough to ignore giri - plus, Keitaro isn't bad looking, she's had time to get used to the idea before they meet, and she actually knows right there in the onsen that he could have a good reason to be where he is. This Naru may also be a bit more kuudere than tsundere, at least toward Keitaro. Either way, she's less inclined to beat him up than in canon.
Poor Keitaro, meanwhile, has no bloody clue about any of this, as Granny Hina hadn't bothered to discuss it with anyone else in the family, until Keitaro got to Hinata (she called his parents from Hawai'i). When Keitaro calls his parents about it, they give tentative approval, instead of what he was hoping for, which was a way out - they think that some responsibility will force him to grow up, and Granny did tell them that 'mistress' was an option, so there's less pressure, as far as they're concerned.
Not sure how all the girls would react. I could see Motoko being pretty calm about this, as she's a traditional girl, Mutsumi might see it as an opportunity to have them both, and Suu has a daddy and at least two mommies, so she probably won't find it that odd. I'm less clear about the rest, though.
You could have one of the others be the girl with the debts, or maybe have more than one (e.g. Kitsune's gambling debts being owed mostly to Keitaro's father), but while a harem ending is certainly plausible, its not required.
So, any takers?
