(There are intermixing elements of the manga AND the anime in here so if something seems a little confusing then it's most likely a hodge podge of the anime and the manga being throw together to make the story a little more plausible. As always I don't own MB and all those copyrights blah blah blah

R&R and hopefully I'll finish this sometime before the next Blue Moon :P)

The Last Hurdle – It All Starts…

Koishikawa home…

Everything was quiet, at least as quiet as THIS home could get. Normal families would spend their day doing normal things. Of course THIS isn't what you'd consider your normal family. The Koishikawa's and the Matsuura's were perhaps the most odd of families you'd ever meet. Not only did they re-marry each other's wife/husband and throw everything into chaos for their families. They lived under the same roof AND their son and daughter fell in love with each other further complicating everything. The outside world knows little of this however aside from their immediate friends. This is the final hurdle for a couple that has gone through literally everything. From pushy girls and guys to break ups that nearly threw each other into a state of no recovery. And here is where it all starts…

January…

Miki mumbled her boyfriend's name as she stirred in her sleep. It was a childish mumble but it brought a smile to her dreaming face. Perhaps she was having a good dream, or maybe she was just infatuated with the fact that she and her boyfriend had gone through so much and ended up more in love with each other AFTER everything had happened than before. Some noise downstairs awoke her from her slumber however and she slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them as her morning started. She yawned and looked over at the desk where she spent many days writing about her love, trials, and tribulations over life to her best friend. On the desk sat a picture of Miki and a handsome gentleman. She smiled looking at it and in a soft voice thought, "Good morning Yuu. I know you're still in Kyoto studying, but I can't wait to see you again soon!" Miki smiled giggling a little and flopped out of bed in her energetic way and, as was her new custom, looked at the bright blue sky through the window and said, "Yooooooosh! Today is going to be a GREAT DAY!" She raised a fist into the air laughing happily.

"Miki!" her mother Rumi called from downstairs, "Breakfast is ready! Come and get some!"

"Haaaaiii!" Miki screamed back. Quickly changing into clothes for school and bounding down the stairs with enthusiasm.

"Ohayo Miki," her mother greeted her.

"Ohayo mama, Chiyako-chan," Miki greeted her mother and stepmother.

"You seem awfully cheery this morning," Rumi taunted her daughter, "did you end up talking to Yuu all night again?"

Miki stuck her tongue out playfully and responded blushing, "Gomen gomen! Once I start talking to him I lose track of time."

Miki's mothers laughed and Miki sat down eating some of the toast that had been prepared. Rumi was trying to make breakfast and asked her daughter, "So what kind of omelet would you like this morning?"

Miki, knowing her mother's cooking wasn't the best quickly responded, "It's ok! I'll grab something on the campus!" She laughed hesitantly as Rumi dropped her head with a sigh.

Miki munched on her piece of toast and smiled blushing a little thinking about last night's conversation with Yuu, her boyfriend.

"So you'll be coming home for winter break!" Miki said excitedly.

"Hai. Winter break has already started, but they assigned us some extra homework that I wanted to finish before I came home," Yuu replied.

"Demo…" Miki said slightly pouting.

Yuu laughed and responded, "I'll work twice as fast so I can spend extra time with you hun."

"Yuu!" Miki smiled happily and laughed.

Miki shook her head snapping out of her flashback of last night and looked at her watch. "I should get going," Miki finished, "It's almost time for my first class."

"Have a nice day in school!" Miki's mothers waved as Miki headed to the foyer to put her shoes on. "Yuu is coming home soon!" Miki though happily as she blushed once more. Miki had been through so much just to be with Yuu that most couples would have quit after the first problem. It was such a blessing that Yuu and Miki loved each other as much as they did, and the fact that they had been through so much together made their bond neigh unbreakable. Miki had become so strong through the ordeals as well, and she oozed the confidence it gave her. She couldn't wait to see her loved one again and just be embrace by his tender touch. Just thinking about it made her blush like a little kid and she screamed in excitement, "I can't wait!"

Toryu University…

Miki hummed as she walked toward the university and saw her friend Ginta and Arimi on the way. "Ginta!" She yelled.

Ginta stopped and looked behind him as Miki approached, "Miki-chan!" Ginta said with a smile, "Ohayo!"

"Ohayo Ginta! Ohayo Arimi!"

Arimi smiled and responded, "Ohayo! You seem to be in a more than cheery mood than usual."

Miki blushed a little and laughed, "Is it that obvious?"

Arimi laughed, "So how is Yuu doing then?"

The three of them continued walking toward the university as Miki explained what was going on.

"So Yuu should be home soon?"

"Hai! He'll be home on Saturday!" Miki couldn't contain her excitement.

"That's wonderful! I bet you miss him don't you Miki," Ginta teased her.

"Ginta!" Miki blushed and laughed.

Arimi looked at Ginta slightly annoyed and said, "You wouldn't miss me if I was gone for a long time Ginta?"

Ginta whipped around his face flush and said, "Wha- Of course I would!"

Arimi looked away a little sad and Ginta sat there trying to explain to his g/f Arimi that he'd miss her more than the world. Miki couldn't help but giggle a little watching this spectacle unfold. Suddenly Miki started thinking about how Yuu would always pick on her and the reactions she'd have to his teasing.

Miki's first period class…

English was definitely Miki's most difficult class this semester considering she NEVER used her English except for the time that Michael said hi to her. So she was definitely rusty when it came to using the English language. It definitely was something that needed to change considering there were going to be many times she would have to fly to New York with Yuu on business trips and English is a MUST in the United States. So of course she dreaded it every period it started, but gave it the same enthusiasm that she had with the rest of her studies.

Miki sat at her desk and waited for her class to begin. Thoughts of Yuu still filled her head and she couldn't help but blush again slightly. The rest of the class filed in and the professor walked in holding his folders. "Good day class." He said in clear English.

"Guud deh professah" the students said in their best English they could.

The professor bowed and the students followed as was the customary respectful measures in Japan. The students sat back down and waited for the teacher to start speaking. "Before we begin class today, I'd like to introduce you to someone who will be helping out in class while he's here." The teacher spoke in Japanese. The students looked at each other and conversed a little bit before the professor said, "I'd like you all to meet Aaron Tsukino."

The classroom door opened and in walked a man close to 6 foot, maybe a little taller. He wore laid-back khakis a navy blue sweatshirt and it appeared a white tee was sticking out from under the navy sweatshirt. He wore a hat that had a ND symbol on it which most of the students had no idea. He didn't appear all that strong and looked like he weighed about 145 to 155 lbs and nothing more, but his face was magical. A lot of the students, female especially, started gossiping amongst each other about this new professor and how YOUNG he looked. Aaron simply looked around the classroom and scanned the classroom before saying in clear English, "Word."

The professor sighed and said in English, "Aaron, You have to quit using so much slang around people here. They'll never understand you!"

Aaron shrugged, "Maybe not, but they'll learn." Aaron looked at the confused faces on so many of the people. He sighed and laughed before he said once again, "Hello, nice to meet you all. My name is Aaron Tsukino. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Hallo, Aaron," the students responded in somewhat broken English.

"Aaron here is going to help us out this semester. He's here as an exchange student from the United States," The professor said in fluent Japanese, "And his Japanese isn't the best so be aware you'll have to speak in English with him most of the time."

Aaron shot a glance over to the professor and laughed, "Hey I haven't been able to use what I learned in almost 5 years wouldn't you get rusty as well?"

The professor smiled and nodded, "I can see what you mean, but since it's your first time in Japan and since it's best to get to know your students I figure we'll use today as a Question and Answer day."

The teacher repeated what he said to the class in Japanese and the students started murmuring amongst each other. Aaron simply let out a light chuckle and wrote his name on the blackboard so that the students could see his name. "Almost forgot to do this," he chuckled again.

"So who wants to ask the first question?" the professor looked around. Many of the students raised their hand and the professor pointed to one of the men.

"Konnichiwa, mi name es Akito Mahajimara."

"Nice to meet you Akito," Aaron walked over and held out his hand.

Akito shook it and asked using Japanese, "Where in the United States are you from?"

Aaron kinda blinked not sure what Akito just said and looked at the professor for some help. The professor laughed and said to his students, "I think I should have you ask the questions to me and I'll translate them for Aaron."

"Sorry about that Akito," Aaron laughed.

Akito shook his head and responded, "Et es Ohkeh."

"Akito asked you where in the US are you from?"

"I'm from a large state with a small population. Its called Montana."

The professor translated for Akito and the students who murmured amongst themselves again. Another set of hands went up and this time the professor called upon a girl. "Hallo, mi name es Aya Saatori," she bowed respectfully.

Aya asked the question to the professor who translated, "Aya would like to know how old you are?"

Aaron sort of chuckled internally before he let out a loud laugh and slightly shook his head before saying to the professor, "I'll leave that a secret for them, but I'll say I'm old enough."

The professor gave a light chuckle before explaining in Japanese to his students. They murmured to each other as well and a lot of the girls giggled like high school students. Aaron laughed at the professor and said almost joking, "Hopefully I'm not too popular with the girls."

The professor chuckled and responded, "Trust me I think you're safe." Another couple of students raised their hand and the professor picked Miki.

Miki stood up and said, "Hallo, I am Miki Koishikawa." She bowed respectfully and spoke to the teacher her question.

"Miki would like to know what you like to do for fun," the professor translated.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, "Fun. Hmmmm. Well let's see here, I LOVE basketball as well as being an avid Video Game addict, definitely love sports.

The professor translated for the students and they murmured to each other once more. "You'll have to play with the basketball team or at least see how good they are Aaron," the professor said.

"Of course Wakashi-sensei. I'm looking forward to it actually."

"Oh?"

"Definitely." Aaron cracked his knuckles and finished, "I look forward to showing these people how basketball is REALLY played!"

The professor chuckled and said, "Hopefully you get a good challenge out of our team."

"Hell yeah!"

Koishikawa home…

Miki walked through the gate to her home, worn down after a long day of school and tennis practice. She opened the door to her home and yelled, "I'm home!" No answer came and she thought to herself, "Everyone must still be working." She giggled remembering how Yuu and herself had to keep their relationship secret and usually when their parents were gone, they able to express their affections for each other. She entered the living room and stopped when she saw someone sitting on the couch. She was a little afraid considering she had no idea whom this guy even was or how he even got into the house. "Maybe he hasn't seen me yet!" Miki thought slowly inching her way back toward the foyer.

The front door opened and Miki's mother Rumi appeared, "Ahhh! Miki-chan! Welcome home," her mother smiled.

"Mama, who's that person sitting on our couch over there!" Miki pointed to the man still sitting on the couch.

"Ahh? Didn't anyone tell you? He's an exchange student from America!"

Miki looked rather annoyed realizing these ARE her parents after all and that this was very commonplace in the house when it came to IMPORTANT things. "Mama you really need to let me know these things more in advance."

"Gomen gomen Miki!" Rumi said laughing, "I thought someone had already told you. I did tell your father to tell you but he must have forgotten! You should go introduce yourself to him. He can't speak a lot of Japanese but he knows enough to get by I from what it sounds like. Oh and by the way he'll be staying in Yuu's room so we already set up the bunk beds again."

Miki nodded slowly not sure what to make of these new revelations. Michael had left back for America only a few months ago so it was odd that ANOTHER exchange student had come. "Hopefully he doesn't fall in love with me like Michael did," Miki thought as she sighed. She shook her head and smiled realizing it didn't matter, as long as she had Yuu, nothing could force her to anyone else. No matter how much they pursued. She blushed again thinking about Yuu and giggled a little. The man on the couch got up, stretched and yawned before turning around to see Miki in her own world giggling. Somewhat surprised, but interested he raised an eyebrow and let out a slight laugh of his own. Miki snapped out of her own world and looked at the man before in a shocked voice said, "Aaron-sensei!"

"Word," Aaron gave his usual unexplainable greeting that left Miki confused.

"Wurd?" Miki blinked confused.

Aaron laughed and shook his head lightly taking the headphones off his ears and in somewhat broken Japanese said, "It is a greeting that I use when I see people." He smiled and Miki stepped back somewhat taken aback by his smile. It reminded her of Yuu's smile. It was so warm and calming that she seemed a little shocked that someone ELSE could smile that same way that Yuu could and get nearly the same reaction that Yuu's smile would have on her.

"I see," Miki responded in her native tongue.

"Hai," Aaron looked at Miki again and pushed a couple buttons on his watch. His watch seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie with more buttons on it than a conventional watch. "Miki," Aaron pointed to his watch and finished, "I'd like you to say something to me in Japanese, please. Something simple."

Miki pointed her index finger at her chin in thought and replied, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Enable translator," Aaron said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Aaron heard quite clearly.

Miki looked surprised and in her native tongue again, "Cooool, what is that?"

The translator translated it into English and Aaron laughed. "It's a translator. Basically I can translate what people are saying and have it converted to English so I can better understand what it is they are saying."

Miki was awestruck with such a cool device and she laughed. "Can it translate English into Japanese?" She asked.

Aaron nodded and replied in English, "Yes it can."

The watch translated it back into Japanese, "Hai."

Miki was totally taken aback by the fact the watch could do that and laughed again.

"I'm still kinda new to Japan, is there anyway you could show me around sometime?" Aaron asked Miki.

"Ehh, Ummm, well I have a lot of homework to do unfortunately so today wouldn't be the best day."

Aaron looked a little dejected but nodded, "Nah you're right. Best not to interfere with your studies. It's cool. I'll go wonder around and get lost or something."

"Miki!" Rumi said from the kitchen, "We're having this American dish Aaron is going to prepare so maybe you should go to the supermarket with him?"

Miki sighed and replied, "Haiii."

Aaron laughed lightly and said, "Oh come on now it's not going to kill you to help me out is it now? What are you afraid you'll enjoy hanging out with me?" he winked at Miki who started to feel a little uncomfortable almost feeling like she was staring at a Michael look alike in attitude. Miki put on her coat and shoes and headed out of the house Aaron right next to her wearing lighter clothing. Miki looked at him not sure as to why he wasn't wearing a coat considering it was only 5 degrees Celsius out.

"Aren't you going to catch a cold if you don't wear a coat?" She questioned his motive for not wearing a coat.

Aaron chuckled, "Nah this is pretty nice weather considering where I'm from it can get as cold as –10 below Celsius."

"Woah! That's very cold!" Miki seemed a little shocked, "Does it snow a lot where you're from," she seemed more excited to hear more about the different part of the US he was from. "Definitely. We have a saying where we get 8 months of winter and then 4 months of summer."

"Wah! No spring or fall!"

Aaron chuckled again, "the temperatures are so off the wall sometimes that it's like the weather just skips a season."

"Interesting!"

"I heard from Rumi earlier that you had an exchange student in your house named Michael for a couple of years. He hailed from New York."

"Hai. Michael was very enthusiastic and was a lot of fun to have at our home!"

"Hopefully I can match his enthusiasm and make this a memorable time for you and your family as well."

Miki nodded and the two continued to stroll down toward the supermarket.

Koishikawa home…

Wafts of flavor could be smelt coming from the kitchen and the sound of a skillet cooking something could be heard. Miki sniffed the air in her room and could feel her mouth watering. "That smells absolutely delicious!" She thought as she tried to concentrate on her homework instead of the delectable smells that seemed to attack her and rile her ability to work. Suddenly she started to hear music that was coming up through the floor it was so loud. She growled and walked downstairs perturbed looking into the kitchen to see Aaron listening to something that sounded like English music, and head banging like a bad rocker. "Aaron!" She screamed over the music, as it seemed Aaron didn't hear her. She put her fingers in her ears to try to lower the sound and walked over to Aaron. She took one finger out and tapped Aaron on the shoulder; instinctively he turned the volume of the music down. She took her other finger out of her ear and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Cooking dinner, what else?" The aroma flowed its way back into Miki's nose and she forgot about the fact she wasn't happy with the disruption and started asking, "What are you cooking that smells so good!"

"It's a Cajun dish called catfish courtbouillon. It's native to a state called Louisiana back in the US. REALLY spicy, but it's VERY VERY good."

Miki looked at the dish being produced and thought to herself, "Man, I wish my cooking was this good…I wish I could make a meal like this for Yuu."

Aaron looked at Miki and thought he saw a slightly depressed look on her face like something was bothering her and asked, "You want to help? I still have to prepare the rice, and I could always use a natural in the kitchen."

Miki looked at Aaron and laughed holding her stomach, tears coming from her eyes. Aaron looked at her a little shocked and confused. He blinked a few times and could see Miki was barely able to stand she was laughing so hard. "G-gomen Aaron-chan! It's just…ahahahaha…you just…oh…you just don't know…ahahaha!" Miki tried to quit laughing and could see Aaron smiling warmly. Again she was taken aback by his smile and the way it seemed to sooth her similar to Yuu's smile. She shook her head and giggling a little more finished, "Gomen Aaron-chan! It's just; I don't think you know about my famous cooking. Or lack thereof you could say."

Aaron laughed, "Well it's not like I expected you to really do THAT much. I mean the best thing you could do to help is just cook the rice the way I need you too. I mean you CAN cook rice can't you?"

Miki laughed again and nodded, "I should be able to cook rice."

"Awesome," Aaron again gave the warm smile, and Miki just relaxed staring at it thinking more and more about Yuu.

"I almost feel like it's drawing me in," Miki thought as she blushed slightly.

At the dinner table later that night…

"That sure smells good!" Jin said as the family sat at the dinner table awaiting the meal to be placed in front of them.

"Aaron said it's an American specialty. I wonder if Michael knows anything about this kind of food?" Chiyako asked the group.

"I heard Miki helped cook the meal!" Rumi looked at her daughter.

Miki put her hand behind her head and laughed, "Hey it turned out pretty good!"

"To bad Yuu isn't here to try this meal!" Youji folded his arms a little disgusted, "Oh well we'll just have to let him know how it is!"

The parents of the house nodded and looked over at Aaron who was tapping his foot as he waited the last few moments for the oven to finish cooking the sauce. "Can't it cook any faster?" Jin moaned.

"It'll be done when it's done Jin-san!" Aaron smiled.

"But I'm so hungry!" Jin moaned more.

Everyone but Jin laughed and a tone could be heard. Aaron blinked and felt around his back pants pocket and pulled out a cel phone. He pushed a few buttons on his watch and flipped on his cel phone before starting to talk. Miki blinked a few times suddenly unable to understand what Aaron was saying. "He must have disabled the translator," she thought looking at his face trying to perhaps read what it was that was going on.

His face seemed happy, relaxed, content perhaps. Maybe he was talking to someone important to him? A girlfriend perhaps? Miki noticed Aaron turned his head away from everyone for a few moments and it sounded like he said something quietly, like he was trying to hide something. Miki blinked not sure what to make of his sudden change of tone but noticed that when he turned back toward everyone his face appeared as if nothing had changed and his tone was back to it's normal tone. After thanking whoever was on the other end of the phone Aaron hung up and turned the translator back on his watch and replied, "Sorry about that, just a friend from the States."

Youji nodded, "Not a problem, but I think Jin is going to go crazy if he has to wait much longer for that meal."

Aaron laughed and said, "Well thankfully Jin's famine is going to be leaving him since…" Aaron pulled the dish out of the oven and set it down on the table, and then placed the rice next to the sauce, "Viola! We now have what's known as Catfish Courtbouillon! Be careful everyone it's VERY spicy and it WILL burn your throat!"

Aaron put the used dishes into the sink and began to set up everything to wash them himself. Chiyako noticed him and said kindly, "Aaron you don't need to do the dishes as well! You should eat with us!"

Aaron smiled and responded, "I think I'll wait till you all eat and I'll have the leftovers."

"Nonsense!" Rumi said, "You're our welcome guest. Let the ladies take care of the dishes!"

Chiyako nodded, "You just got in today, you should relax and not worry about all these little things."

Aaron smiled and nodded, "I guess your right. No point in being rebellious."

"Come and eat with us. You're family now," Youji smiled.

Aaron walked over and sat down and everyone said, "Itadakimasu!"

Aaron on the other hand removed his hat and said a prayer as was his custom back in the US. The rest of the group looked at him and bowed their heads in respect. Aaron looked up and saw the rest of the people bowing and laughed lightly saying, "You guys don't have to bow when I pray. Go ahead and eat!"

Jin shook his head, "We try to be respectable of our guests no matter their religion."

Aaron nodded, "Well thank you. Hey, let's dig in!"

The ladies poured the rice first for themselves and the poured some of the sauce over the rice similar to what Aaron did. Many of them used chopsticks still while Aaron went with the more conventional fork he was accustomed too. Almost everyone on the first bite screamed it was hot. Even Aaron did maybe more than everyone else, but nonetheless it was DELICIOUS! Jin was so hungry he asked for seconds which Aaron gladly had prepared just in case and despite the tears coming from his eyes from the spice, ANYONE could tell he was loving it. Most of the conversation revolved around getting to know more about Aaron and other little things. After dinner Rumi and Chiyako picked up the dinner plates from the table and Rumi said to Aaron, "Why don't you just continue to relax and let us take care of the dishes?"

Aaron smiled and nodded slowly replying, "Well I can't argue with that I guess. I think I'm going to take a walk…and clear my head a little."

"Is everything ok?" Miki asked.

"Hmmm? Yeah, everything is fine I guess you could say in my case."

"Well don't hesitate if you need to talk about anything," Youji said kindly.

Aaron nodded, "Thank you very much." Aaron got up and stretched and turned and twisted his body loosening it up before making his way to the foyer to put his shoes on. He grabbed his coat from the coat rack as well and made sure he had his CD player and a set of headphones so he could listen to some music. Miki peeked her head toward the door and could tell that something was on his mind as he slipped the headphones on and his coat and walked out the door. His face again reminded her of how Yuu would look when something was on his mind. It was slightly creeping her out how much of Aaron reminded her of Yuu, just in reactions and physical actions. She shook her head and continued to move up the stairs toward her room.