AN: Hello to all! First off, I don't plan to do AN's all that often, as I feel they should be avoided whenever possible.

Anywho, I have had this idea for a story in my head for a very long time, but could not ever think on how to begin it. I know where I want it to go and have written many sections of it, that I'm sure I will have to change for continuity, in flashes of insight, but I could never get the things started from the beginning, so I said, the heck with it.

I wrote this part because it begins the events that lead up to the first major turning point in the beginning of the story, which kinda gets the whole thing going and decided to post it to get some feed back.

Quick note on that point. Yes, I realize that I don't describe Keitaro of Aiko at all, or very little. The point for this being, the place in the story that this scene would take place in would be toward the end of the beginning, if that makes any sense. As such, I would have already, and recently, described them, so the descriptions would be fresh in your minds. If you absolutely must know what they look like, email me and I can tell you, but don't leave reviews saying "You didn't describe the characters!" As they will be ignored. Other then that, comments and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated, as are reviews.

And now, on to the story...

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Keitaro made his way out to their secret spot, a light blush already staining his cheeks. He and Aiko had been spending more and more time together, leading to the other boys teasing that he had a girlfriend. Strangely enough, to Keitaro's thinking at least, the thought did not bother him as much as it used to. He could remember a time, not so long ago, when he had stood back and let his friends pick on Aiko, afraid that they would pick on him too if he told them to stop. Now, none of his friends picked on her, but, he suspected, were jealous of him spending time with one of the cuter girls in the small village.

One boy in particular, named Ryushi, seemed to have a big frown on his face every time he saw Aiko with Keitaro. Ryushi was big for his age, though he was admittedly older than any of the other boys in the village. Standing proud at age 14, he found himself between worlds, not quite accepted by the men, but too old to play with the boys. Caught in this awkward place, he decided to make himself the leader of the younger boys. He ruled by sheer strength. As the son of the town blacksmith, he was much stronger than any of the other boys. Any who stood before him were found to be missing a few teeth later on.

The exception to this rule was Keitaro. Whenever Ryushi tried to pick a fight with Keitaro, he would simply shrug at whatever the older boy said and walk away. The few times Ryushi tried to stop him, Keitaro would simply run and loose them in the woods. This led to him being called a coward by the other boys, but Keitaro shrugged it off, as he always did, repeating in his mind, Words cannot hurt me.

It was actually on one such an occasion that he had found the small clearing by the stream that he was now headed toward. It was a long way off any of the paths or game trails that most people stuck too. As such, it was almost untouched when Keitaro stumbled into it, trying to lose the boys that pursued him.

Keitaro spent a great deals of time in the woods, and so he knew better than most in the village how to move through the forest, unseen and unheard, leaving no trace of your passage except to the trained eye.

When he had stumbled into the secluded shelter, he was surprised to find Aiko sitting by the stream, trailing her fingers in the water as the remains of tears glistened on her face. She had been startled by his sudden intrusion and quickly wiped her face, not wanting to reveal her weakness. When he asked what she was doing here, she replied that she was hiding from the boys who teased her and pushed her around. He stayed and talked with her awhile, and since then they had become fast friends.

It was only recently, in the last 2 or 3 weeks, that they had been using the hidden little spot for more than just talking and enjoying the outdoors. The adults all smiled knowing little smiles as they saw either of them headed for the woods, making Keitaro blush whenever they looked at him. He strongly suspected that the adults in the community knew exactly what they were doing far from the sight of prying eyes, but he couldn't imagine that they other boys did. The teasing he received would be much worse if they did.

Already lost in his thoughts of sneaking a few kisses with Aiko, he didn't really notice the unusual quite in the forest, or the soft, muffled whimpers coming from the clearing.

When he pushed aside the branches of the trees and stepped through the bushes hiding the stream from view, the sight that greeted him was enough to make him pause in shock as his blood ran cold.

Ryushi stood, or rather knelt, before the prone form of Aiko. She was stripped naked, her torn and tattered clothes tossed aside, and Ryushi held his left hand across her mouth as his right roughly caressed her flesh. His hand paused as he turned his head to look at the intruder to his grand scheme. He smirked as he saw Keitaro standing there in shock.

"Come to watch the show, have you? Fine by me. You can watch as I claim your precious little Aiko for my own." He grinned wickedly down at Aiko, "It's not like you or your boyfriend can stop me. That coward couldn't help you, even if he wanted to..." His right hand left her flesh and began working at the fastenings on his pants.

It was at that moment that Keitaro regained control of his body. White-hot rage replaced icy dread, fueling his limbs as he leapt forward, flinging himself into Ryushi. His momentum was such that it carried both boys over the naked girls body and into the stream.

Keitaro rolled so that he would not land underneath the hulking 14 year old, and quickly sprang back to is feet. He was on Ryushi again in a moment, pounding the boys face, even as it lay beneath the water.

Aiko rushed over to him and desperately pulled at his arms as the stream ran red with Ryushi's blood. She begged and pleaded with him to stop, but the words fell on deaf ears. Righteous rage flooded Keitaro's mind. This boy had attempted to take what did not, what would never belong to him, and Keitaro would not be appeased until he had paid. He continued to pound at Ryushi, ignoring the splashes as his hands hit the water, staining his clothes an angry red.

Finally, Aiko slapped him as hard as she could, screaming at him, "You'll kill him!"

Keitaro looked at her as though she were daft, "So? He tried to... to... He deserves to die!"

She glared at him, tears streaming down her face, "And what will I do when the village banishes you for killing him? Who will protect me when his friends decide to have their revenge? What then?"

Her words finally got through to him and he pulled Ryushi out of the water. With a strength that his belied his spry form, he tossed Ryushi to the bank, where he hacked and coughed, spitting out both the water and blood that had started to collect in his lungs.

Ryushi cringed as Keitaro stepped up to him, squinting through the blood from his broken nose at the image of the righteous defender. "Please don't hurt me anymore! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please!"

"If you ever lay a hand on Aiko again, I will kill you." So calm was the icy threat, that it left no doubt the judgment would be carried out.

Ryushi nodded quickly. He stood as Keitaro turned away and rushed for the path. He paused at the exit to the small clearing, "You'll pay, Keitaro. You'll pay for denying me my right!"

By the time Keitaro turned back to him, Ryushi was gone. He shrugged and turned back to Aiko, "Are you alright?"

She was shivering with cold and fright, but managed to nod as she removed herself from the small, but cold, stream, "I think so... You got here before he did anything much..."

She quietly stood before him, using her arms to try and preserve some of her modesty. Keitaro quickly went and retrieved the blankets he had dropped at the entrance and placed them around her shoulders.

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AN: Short, I know, but I wanted to end it there for now because if I didn't, this thing would go on for ALOT longer (like another 10-20 pages.) Anywho, next update will be big, so watch for it. Till then R&R!