Chapter two here, and my mind feels like it's developing a second personality.

Keitaro sat still as he felt his ki spreading throughout the inn. He frowned as he felt the auras of each of the residents, shock and alarm prominent in each. His frown vanished as he felt Tsuruko's ki mixed with the others.

"Ah, she must have told them about my style. That would explain the shock." he released a light sigh as he pulled his ki back into himself. Standing, he took the opportunity to glance around before taking a sip from his bottle. He didn't turn as he felt a presence behind him.

"Well Haruka? How are they taking it?" Haruka knew that he had felt their reactions, but was simply making conversation to let her know he was aware of her. She let a sigh escape her.

"They're worked up about it. Motoko is fervently denying that you could possibly be more powerful than Tsuruko, who is trying to explain to her that you have a natural advantage, what with males being more prone to aggressiveness. Naru is still attempting to accuse you of perverseness. Mitsune is staying oddly silent for this one, probably trying to figure out where her stash of sake went last week. Kaolla Su is being herself. Shinobu seems to be trying to convince herself that you're a good person, not a hard thing to do." Keitaro nodded as he took another swig of his sake.

"They're going to have to get used to me." Haruka nodded.

"I don't think you'll have a problem with Mitsune, Su, or Shinobu. They all seem to have accepted you right off the bat, though it's hard to tell with Mitsune. Naru and Motoko are the ones you'll have to convince." Keitaro gazed at the horizon for a moment, then turned to the stairs. Haruka followed, unsure of what her nephew was doing, but deciding to trust him for now.

Mitsune Konno was watching the scenery from her room, trying to find some deeper connection that might have given Tsuruko the insight she had just revealed. Finding none, she let a sigh escape her. She had been trying to decipher the puzzle that was their new manager from day one, with little to no success. First he had simply evaded answering any questions about his past. Then, when she had tried to get him drunk enough to talk, he had drunk her under the table. She had noticed him staring at a small picture in his room once, but when he had left and she had snuck in, it was nowhere to be found. The whole thing was rapidly spiraling away from her control, a feeling that she didn't like.

"Ah guess I'll have to ask him directly if I want to get anywhere." She thought. The sake bottle she held in her hand let out a thunk as she placed it on the table. As she opened the door to her room she heard the sound of a guitar coming from the room across the hall.

"Ah didn't know the manager could play guitar." she thought. She stood at the door, listening to the music on the other side, trying to decide whether or not to knock, or just walk away. Her choice was made for her when the music stopped and the door opened to reveal the manager, grinning like he had just caught her with her hands in the cookie jar.

"Enjoying the music?" he asked. Mitsune blushed at Keitaro's state of dress. He wore a simple pair of sweat pants and his glasses, his chest and feet bare. Mitsune's eyes wandered unbidden to his torso, taking in hard abs and a well defined chest. Her blush grew even more as her hand came up in an attempt to cover it. Keitaro seemed to notice her state of embarrassment and turned away to walk back into his room, motioning for her to follow.

"What's wrong with you girl? Your just seeing a man without a shirt. It's not like it's the first time this has happened." she thought as she stepped into his room, her thoughts and feelings betraying her again as she took in his muscular back. "I'll bet he's got quite the ass. No! No, don't go there Kitsune! That road only leads to trouble." Her thoughts were broken through as the mangers back was covered by a simple a-shirt.

"Now what was it that you wanted?" he asked. Kitsune looked around nervously before answering.

""Um, a couple of days ago I saw you staring at a photograph, and I was wondering who's picture it was." Keitaro raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's really none of your business you know. It's also impolite to watch other people in their private moments." Mitsune hung her head, ashamed that she had violated his privacy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think." A small photograph landed on the table in front of her.

"No, you didn't think. But you were attempting to satisfy your curiosity, and I can't blame for being inquisitive." Kitsune glanced at him and picked of the picture. Keitaro's beaming face gazed at her from the picture's surface. Next to his face, the face of a beautiful girl who looked to be just a little younger than him. Kitsune stared at the scrap of paper in her hand, trying to figure out what it meant. The two obviously had cared for each other, and he had seemed so sad when staring at it. Turning it over she noticed a name written on the back. 'Ayame Tsuzuko'.

"Is this your girlfriend?" she asked. Keitaro looked at her for a moment before responding.

"Look at her hand." Mitsune looked back at the picture, focusing more on the girls hand. Ayame's left hand bore a small, silver ring on its finger.

"You were married?" Keitaro shook his head.

"Engaged." she glanced from the picture to the manager.

"So why isn't she here, with you?" Keitaro turned to stare out the window.

"She died, six months ago." Mitsune felt horrible, thinking she had unwittingly brought up painful memories. Keitaro didn't seem to notice. "She was never in good health. I had asked her to marry me two just months before the doctor said she was dying. Those were probably the best days of my life, if only for the reason that they were all with her." he looked back to his tenant. "We had another three months together before she passed away in her sleep, right in my arms." Mitsune could only stare at the table. She hadn't thought his life was that sad.

"That must have been painful, to wake up to find that the person you love dead in your arms." she said. Keitaro took the picture from her hand.

"Not particularly. She had such a heavenly smile on her face that I didn't realize that she was dead until I kissed her. It wasn't until after the funeral that I really broke down." Mitsune watched him sadly, wishing there was something she could do.

"And what happened when you broke down?" she asked quietly. Keitaro stared at the ceiling.

"I went out and did something I'd never done before. I drank myself unconscious. It was the only way I could think of at the time to cope with the pain. I still drink a lot more than I should." he chuckled a bit before turning and walking to the door, placing his hand on it. Kitsune started to get up to leave, but he shook his head motioning to keep quiet as he slid the door open, revealing the rest of the tenants listening on the other side. Motoko was silent, ashamed at being caught eavesdropping. Shinobu was tearing up, her emotional side taking full control as Keitaro pulled her into his arms and simply held her as she broke down. Su was silent, and seemed to have no inclination to jump around as she usually did. Narusegawa was glaring at Keitaro as he held Shinobu close.

"Don't think for an instant that I believe your sob story. You probably made it up to fool us into being sympathetic." Keitaro glared at her, releasing a small amount of ki to make her stop.

"Every part of that was the truth, I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm no good at lying anyway." Naru almost retorted, but Motoko's quiet voice stopped her.

"He is telling the truth Naru sempai. There is no deceit in his voice or his spirit." Naru huffed and stalked out of the room. Motoko stood and bowed to Keitaro. "I apologize for my foolishness in assuming you were a mere perverted male. You are truly stronger than I if you survived something like that." Keitaro didn't answer, instead nodding to her and turning to Mitsune.

"Miss Konno, could you take miss Maehara out of here please? She doesn't need to see what will happen soon." Mitsune didn't answer as she stood and took Shinobu from the room, taking Su's hand as she left. Motoko watched as Keitaro pulled a bottle of sake from a large bottle rack.

"Are you really going to do this?" she asked. He stared at the bottle for a moment.

"Motoko, if you think I'm strong, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm not strong enough to stand up to the pain of losing a loved one. I can only run from the pain. I just hope that you aren't so weak." he took a deep swig of the alcohol as Motoko turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Naru fumed as she stalked down the stairs that lead to Haruka's tea shop.

"How dare he make up some story like that to try and deceive us! He may have convinced the others, but I will never trust that pervert!" Her inner rant was interrupted by Haruka.

"Naru, come in here and calm down before you hurt somebody." She looked at the older woman before following her into the shop and sitting down at the table in the kitchen. Haruka came in after a minute with two cups of tea, setting one down in front of Naru, then taking a seat across from her. "So what's wrong this time?" Naru took a sip of hr tea before answering.

"That pervert made up a story about being engaged and how his love died in his arms and the pain drove him to drinking. The girl in that picture was probably just some whore off the street that he paid to put that ring on so his story would be believable." Haruka took another sip of her tea before she put it down. She was strangely calm as she stared into the liquid.

"Naru, don't you ever call Ayame a whore." Naru's eye's widened as she heard Haruka's tone.

"You can't say you believe him!" Haruka looked up at her, eyes smoldering.

"Ayame was one of my closest friends, in spite of our age difference. I was the one who introduced her to Keitaro."

"So your saying he was telling the truth?" Haruka nodded.

"He's had a harder life than anybody deserves to have. He was kicked out of his parents house by his mother simply because he failed the Tokyo U exam once. He's been put down by almost everyone. Finding Ayame was most certainly the highlight of his life. She was the reason he was able to pass the entrance exams. They had three good years together before she passed on." Naru could only stare at the table in shock. Had she really fallen so low as to automatically assume that the man would lie about something so harsh? Haruka took full notice of the look on the girls face, but said nothing.

Wow, is what I would say if I weren't the one writing this. Naru won't change her ways easily, and she will be hard pressed to learn acceptance. For the record I am not Naru-bashing, I think that she is a great character who bears a similarity to some of my friends, but this story does not center on her. Please leave a review to let me know what you think.