Author's Notes: Finally, holidays are over, and I can write in peace, heh ;-) anyway, thanks for all the reviews, I like as much varied feedback and ideas as possible, because I find myself missing things. Sometimes I just have a one-track mind, and I need a little help expanding my horizons. Also, just a note, but even though Kei/Naru is my personal favorite, nothing is set in stone. As several reviewers have said, with Highlander there will be OC's a-plenty, and I have not decided yet how things will turn out. So, stay tuned, and let me know how you'd like things, or if I'm getting any of the characters OOC, or whatnot.
Enjoy...
Love Hina: Watcher
Chapter 1 -- Identity Crisis
A solitary pigeon slowly winged its way through the bright blue sky over Hinata-Sou on this picture perfect Spring afternoon. The sun appeared to be fixed in the sky, and the idle breeze barely rustled the branches of the Sakura trees. In short, it was a perfect day for a good long nap, if one was so inclined.
"What are you doing? AAAAH!" A piercing female shriek broke the silence, and the entire front wall of the all-girls-dormitory shivered slightly from some kind of impact inside. One end of a piece of ornamental wall paneling came loose, swinging comically for a few moments before falling to the ground with a soft thump. Two people, it seemed, were not so inclined.
It would be easy to assume at this point that a certain male manager had accidentally walked in on a certain brown-haired tenant and had, as usual, caught her in some state of half-dress. In this case, nothing could be further from the truth.
"...haha, sorry, I didn't mean to catch you like that..." Naru's cheerful face was pink with embarrassment as she finished tying a bow around the middle of Tama-chan, Keitaro's pet hot-springs turtle. By way of apology, she had brought a bottle of her favorite spring water down to his room for them to share, and she sat at the table trying to hide her shame as she dressed up Tama-chan.
I'm the one that's always telling him to knock first, she thought with a touch of sadness. Still, as often as he does this to me, I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.
"Well, we live under the same roof, so this kind of thing just happens sometimes, right?" he asked, his back to her as he adjusted his shirt. "But why did I get hit?" He turned around, giving her a wry grin that was deformed by the hideous bruise on his left cheek.
"That... that was just my reflexes," she answered, her face flaming as she looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
He sighed as he picked up the glass of water she had poured and took a drink. Her apology and her presence made it impossible for him to stay mad at her, and in any case he could feel the bruise disappearing even now.
"Okay, I'm done." She turned back to Tama-chan, eager to change the subject.
"What did you do?" He walked over to the table where she was working, and she held the turtle up towards him.
"See for yourself!" she chirped. "Haha, cute isn't it?"
In a move that probably violated several codes of conduct in different areas of the world, Naru had put makeup on the turtle, and had attached a small rose to its head. All in all, the creature looked adorable, as well as a little perturbed.
"Aww, have pity on the poor turtle," Keitaro said with a laugh. "What did he do to deserve that?"
"Actually I think it's a 'she,'" Naru commented, turning Tama-chan over and looking up the back of its shell. The animal sweat-dropped.
"Hey, hey!" Keitaro exclaimed, several strands of hair sticking up on his head as he realized what she was doing.
Both of them paused in their verbal skirmish as Tama-chan stretched its neck towards the small watch on Naru's left wrist.
"Huh? She likes this watch, doesn't she?" Naru murmured, taking the timepiece off of her wrist and fixing it onto Tama-chan's right front flipper. "You want to wear this...?"
"Aww, hey now..." Keitaro said, putting his hands on his hips.
"Oh yeah, have you figured out a name for her?" Naru asked, looking back at him. Something about his appearance made her pause, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She tried not to be rude as she stared, and eventually gave up, looking down at Tama-chan's usual blissfully peaceful expression that so mirrored Mutsumi's.
"Not yet," he answered, scratching the back of his head. "Right now I just call him 'turtle-bird.'"
"Turtle-bird?" she exclaimed, eyeing him critically. "Jeez, can't you find a cuter name for her?" She once again took a moment to look at his face, wondering what it was that drew her attention.
He's not wearing his glasses...
"What is it?" he asked, looking at her questioningly.
"...n-nothing..." her cheeks turned slightly pink as she looked away.
He really is more handsome without his glasses... Gyaah! What am I thinking?!
The uncomfortable silence was broken by a glomping sound, and the two of them looked down to see Suu's head poking up from the other side of the table. Her expression was joyful, and the back half of Tama-chan was sticking out of her mouth, it's rear flippers waving madly.
"...waaa! Suu, what are you doing! Let her go!" Naru and Keitaro both yelled, their expressions frantic.
"Myuh! Myuh!" Tama squeaked, as Suu dropped the turtle, a happy grin on her face.
"I was just tasting... I mean greeting her!" she explained. She turned to the turtle, a string of drool hanging from her mouth. "Pleased to meet you... tasty turtle-bird!"
"Mi...?" Tama sweat-dropped, then turned and bounced off the table, soaring out the open door and into the sunlight outside.
"Huh? Wow!" Suu bounded out onto the porch and shielded her eyes as she searched the sky for the turtle's retreating form. "Nice flying!"
"My watch!" Naru suddenly exclaimed, worry in her tone. "Now what? She got my watch!" She glanced at Keitaro, a stricken look on her face.
"Let's go get him!" Keitaro ran for the door, and Naru followed behind him. "He could get hit by a car or something!"
They jogged down the hall in opposite directions, but as he looked around searching for any sign that the turtle had reentered Hinata-Sou, he felt a tingle and heard a distant wind.
My sword, it's still in my room...
The instant thought surprised him, and he slowed momentarily.
What am I thinking? I can't carry it around with me, the others will ask questions. Why am I even thinking about this?
The feeling intensified as he turned the corner of the hallway, and he almost ran into Naru.
"Did you see her?" she asked, breathless from her exertion.
"No, and you?"
Slitted eyes watched the two of them from around a shadowy corner.
Keitaro looked around, scratching the back of his head in frustration. This seems to happen whenever I run into... certain people. Is it that strange visitor that saved the drinks back during the Festival?
Naru noticed his unusual behavior. "Is something wrong?"
"No, just a headache," he answered offhandedly. What's going on? he wondered, trying to make sense of the weirdness of the past few days. The various events seemed to have some connection, but he just could not fit them together in any logical way.
"There she is!" Naru pointed past him, and he looked to where she was pointing. "She's heading towards Mitsune's room!" She took off after the fleeing turtle, and Keitaro followed her reluctantly.
No, it doesn't feel like that guy. This feels almost familiar, like...
"Open up!" Naru's fist pounded against the door, and her insistent knocking was soon answered by a rosy-cheeked Mitsune.
"What? ...t-turtle-bird?" the woman slurred. "Isn't your turtle-bird right here?" Mitsune pulled the elastic band on Keitaro's sweatpants away from his waist and looked inside with glazed eyes that danced with merriment.
"...waaa!" he panicked, hoping Naru didn't get the wrong idea.
"Don't talk like a dirty old pervert!" Naru yelled, caroming a trashcan off Mitsune's head.
"You two make yourselves at home and search anywhere you want!" Mitsune said happily, rubbing her head and winking at Keitaro, who sweat-dropped.
"Look, I'll search this side of the room, and you search that side, alright Keitaro?" Naru said, exasperation in her voice. She was too worried about her lost watch to get angry at the two of them.
"...o-okay..."
Mitsune tottered over to a corner to refill her glass, but just as Keitaro passed the doorway, he felt a hand yank his collar, and he found himself out in the hallway with cold steel kissing his neck.
"What are you doing in this place, Urashima?" a cold feminine voice purred in his ear.
"...waah! Motoko, I'm sorry..." He slipped out of the choke hold and turned to face his nemesis, but it was not the swords-mistress who had grabbed him, atleast not the one he was familiar with. The young woman facing him was slightly shorter than he was, and her long red hair was gathered into a single ponytail that trailed down almost to her waist. Her clothing was loose and billowy, and completely black.
"Don't tell me I caught you without your sword..." she exclaimed disbelievingly, lowering her own katana. Keitaro did not have time to notice anything else, for as he skipped backwards to get away from this stranger, he came to a stop against something soft but unyielding. He caught a hint of perfume as he looked over his shoulder, and his eyes bulged out of his head.
"WAAAAH! Don't kill me!"
He had fallen against Motoko, and he felt her bindings through the gi-top she wore. The kendoist's face was red with embarrassment and anger as she held the boy up to keep him from falling.
"Urashima, how dare you!?"
"No! It wasn't me! She..." he looked back down the hall, but the red-haired intruder had vanished.
"No excuses, lecherous male!" Her hands against his back began to heat up alarmingly.
Inside Mitsune's room, Naru looked towards the door, wondering at the racket outside and was rewarded by the sight of Keitaro flying past the open doorway, his back on fire.
That idiot, she sighed to herself in resignation. Can't he go one hour without an incident?
Keitaro picked himself up off the ground and dusted his hands against his clothes, looking back towards the hole in the second-story wall of Hinata-Sou.
Who was that girl? Damn it, gotta get to my sword... He turned and jogged towards the side entrance, the image of his previous attacker flashing across his mind. So that fight wasn't a dream? Who are these people?
As he slid aside the door to his room and crossed over to his dresser, he began to wonder what he was doing. I'm no fighter... but...
The memory of his final decapitating move against his nameless attacker rose in his mind as he touched the hilt, and he hesitated for a moment. He felt a slight tingle and drew the katana in one smooth motion, turning to block the killing strike.
Motoko's head whipped around at the distinctive ring of steel against steel.
Kami-sama, what's going on around here? That came from the Manager's room!
She pushed off against the floor into a run towards the steps, drawing her katana as she ran.
"EEEK!"
Naru turned at the high-pitched shriek. That's Shinobu-chan...
She reversed her course and headed for the steps to the downstairs area where Shinobu's room was located.
Keitaro found his surroundings fading slightly as he entered a kind of battle-trance. The woman's sword flashed dangerously towards him, and he parried the intense flurry of strikes, each one punctuated by a sharp ringing sound when the swords met. The sheer fury of the woman's attack drove him backwards as he desperately defended himself.
"Seventy-three years!" the woman spat, her long red hair beginning to escape from where it was gathered into a pony-tail against her back. Her sword-strokes matched her words. "Didn't call..." (ching!) "...didn't write!..." (ring!) "...your skills are slipping... and now I find you in a place like this??" She kicked him in the chest, causing him to stumble out the open doorway into the hall. "I'll have your head!"
"...d-do I know you-AACK!" Keitaro's question was cut off as Shinobu barreled into him, her arm winding its way around his neck.
"Sempai! Th-there's something... something..." she pointed up into the rafters, and he couldn't help but follow her arm, his head being locked in place by her panicked grip. As he stumbled in her grasp, his foot flailed, accidentally kicking the sliding door closed. He did not notice (he was more concerned about his impending lack of oxygen), but the door vibrated rather harshly as his red-haired opponent slammed into it at full speed, unable to stop in time.
"Oh!" he croaked, "Sh-Shinobu, relax a bit, that's just Tama-ch-WAAAH!" He found himself flying through the air, sent on his way by an angry Naru, who had just delivered a vicious open-palm strike to his chest.
"Can't you keep your wandering hands off the residents for one minute?!" she yelled, her face contorted with anger. She did not notice the sword he was holding, because Shinobu chose that moment to grab her arm and point a shaking hand towards the ceiling. She followed Shinobu's arm and gave an exclamation of surprise. "Oh, the turtle! My watch!"
Naru took off after Tama-chan just as Motoko came around the corner of the hallway at full speed. The kendoist paused before the Manager's door, looking in confusion at Naru's retreating form, and Shinobu chasing her.
"Turtle-bird, please give back my watch...!" Naru's distant plea could be heard as Motoko tried to figure out what was going on. She shook her head, putting the questions aside as she readied her sword and faced the door. She (and the red-head on the opposite side of the door) reached out and flung the door open at the same time, almost charging into each other.
"Intruder! Die!" the Kendoist yelled as her blade charged with a visibly frightening amount of Ki. Despite her many years of experience, the other woman shied back a step, raising her sword against the strange spectacle of 'demon-eyes' Motoko.
Keitaro sat up, rubbing his chest and wincing as, for the second time that day, he found himself on the front lawn of Hinata-Sou.
Oh well, atleast there's no hole this time, so the clean up will be easier. But why does Narusegawa never give me a chance to explain...
His thoughts were interrupted by a massive bloom of light that expanded out the open front doors of the all-girls-dormitory and into the lawn. A thunderous explosion rocked the entire building on its foundation, and a female form shot out the door, her outstretched limbs (and sword) outlined by the flash of illumination from inside. His eyes bulged as the woman flew over his head, hit the ground, tucked and rolled, and came up running.
That woman attacked me, just like the other guy. Who I killed... he reminded himself with a shiver.
"Hey, wait just a minute!" He got to his feet and took off after her. This one atleast seemed willing to talk. I can't let her get away.
Motoko dashed out onto the porch in time to see two shadowy figures running into the trees around the edge of Hinata-Sou. One of the figures was the female intruder, but she did not recognize the second figure as Keitaro, instead jumping to the only other logical conclusion.
There are two intruders? But what are they after?
She debated following them, but in the end was interrupted by Naru.
"Motoko," she asked breathlessly, "Can we check your room? We're looking for Keitaro's turtle-bird." Naru momentarily regretted her choice of words, remembering Mitsune's drunken joke. Fortunately for her, she had just touched on the swords-mistress's one true fear, and so it didn't matter.
"T-turtle?" A look of pure terror crossed the Kendoist's face as she turned to follow the young woman. "S-sure, let's go."
As the two of them ascended the stairs, Naru looked behind and around the other woman. "Oh, have you seen Keitaro? I think I kind of punched him out the front door.
"You... you what?" Motoko paled. Was that Keitaro? No, it couldn't be, he had a sword, and was chasing... was he chasing that female intruder? "...um, Naru you go on ahead, I have something to take care of." She skipped down the stairs back towards the front door.
The two swords flashed against each other repeatedly, and Keitaro began to question why he had chased the strange woman in the first place. "...wa-wait! I just want to..." talking, however, only served to interrupt whatever automatic rhythm was allowing him to survive, and his sword faltered. The young woman's eyes widened slightly, but she swatted his blade aside and lashed out with her foot, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Well, I guess that's it, he thought sadly.
She moved forward to finish him off, but he saw a slight hesitation in her eyes, and his mysterious training once again took over. He flipped over on the ground, sweeping her feet out from under her, and then reversed his leg, kicking her blade from her hand. Before he knew it, his own sword was at her throat, but with a monumental effort he managed to halt its progress, leaving it quivering slightly at her jugular.
"Do you want to die that badly?" he managed to get out between gasps for breath.
The woman's eyes widened in surprise. "N-no, damn it!" she hissed.
"Who are you people?" he demanded. "Why are you trying to kill me?" The sword was growing heavy in his hands, and he doubted he could kill her now, even with whatever strange training he seemed to possess. Did I actually kill my other attacker? The realization caused him to tremble slightly. Just what am I?
"What... what do you mean, 'who are you,' you know me!" anger flashed in her bright blue eyes, and something else. Sorrow, perhaps.
"I've never seen you before in my life!" Keitaro shouted, growing exasperated with the strange circumstances.
The young woman turned her head away, refusing to meet his gaze. "Don't... don't play games with me. I know you've always been forgetful, but if you're going to be this way, you might as well take my head and be done with it. That way you won't be able to forget..."
With a start, he realized there were tears at the edges of her eyes. Well, this is a risk, but I don't think I could actually kill her anyway. With a sigh, he reversed the blade, bringing it around to rest against the back of his arm as he bent down and offered the woman his hand. "Come on, get up."
She looked at him in disbelief, then took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. "Atleast tell me your name," he said.
"You're not kidding, are you?" her face had become impassive again, but he could still detect a hint of curiosity. He shook his head, and she finally relented. "Mai."
"Just Mai?" he asked.
"For the last forty years or so, yeah."
"And you seem to know mine," he said with a smile, trying to make sense of her words. She did not look much older than he, if that. A hint of exasperation crossed her face for a moment, then she turned and bent down to retrieve her sword. He tensed slightly, but she did not attack. With a flourish she flipped the katana around and sheathed it in a scabbard apparently strapped to her back underneath her shirt.
"The loose clothes do a good job of hiding the weapon," he noted, trying to search for some sort of conversational opening.
She avoided his eyes again, looking back towards Hinata-Sou. "Well, it was one of the first things you taught me," she finally said.
"...um, come again?" he asked, confusion evident on his face.
"Jeez this is awkward," she muttered, but before she could continue, a firmly-built man strode out of the forest into the clearing they occupied. The man's blond hair and features were obviously Scandinavian, and his sleet-grey eyes were dead calm.
"You can run no longer, Mai. I challenge you, and you will stand and fight!" The sword he drew from the sheath at his back was not a katana, but a more traditional double-edged blade with a brass hilt. There was no ornamentation on it, and the cutting surface was smooth without fancy design or insignia.
Keitaro noticed the fear in her eyes, and how her hands clinched in anger. He stepped in front of her, pushing her back with his arm and pointing his katana at the man. "Your fight is with me," he said simply.
"...y-you probably shouldn't do this," Mai hissed in his ear.
The man's face broke into a vicious grin. "I'd listen to her, boy. I've been following her for some time, but I don't care whose head I take, as long as I get a head!"
"He can't beat both of us," Keitaro insisted, though he wondered if that was actually true. He knew nothing about the man before him.
"Idiot! You've forgotten even the most basic rules?" she spat. "This is single combat!"
"What?" he exclaimed in surprise, but the man's face twisted in anger, and he strode forward purposely, aiming a vicious strike at Keitaro's neck, obviously intending to finish the fight instantly. His own sword rose automatically to block, but the power behind the blow staggered him. The man's style was far different from Mai's quick flurries of strikes, and Keitaro found himself struggling to match the change in rhythm. The man made full use of his power, throwing full-force blows in between feints. His own hands were growing numb from the repeated hard clashes, and he was reminded once again of his situation.
It doesn't matter that I have some kind of hidden skill, my body isn't used to this...
He found himself backed up against a tree, and knew he was near his limit.
Oh well, hope this works...
The man pressed the attack, seeing Keitaro's strength flagging, and aimed another devastating blow towards his head. Keitaro knew that even if he blocked, his sword would likely be driven from his hands, but he didn't. He ducked, and the man's sword embedded itself in the tree. He kicked the man in the stomach, and then took off at a run, hoping Mai was right behind him. He heard the man give a bellow of rage and rip the sword out of the tree, and he looked back momentarily. Mai was several meters back, and the Scandinavian was a couple dozen meters behind her.
"The both of you are cowards!" the man roared.
I wonder if I should take offense at that? Keitaro wondered. Motoko thought pretty much the same of him, he knew.
"And you're just a filthy head-hunter!" Mai yelled back at him. She apparently was unfazed by the insult.
Keitaro broke through the tree-line and almost ran headlong into a wall. What the...? Oh yeah, this is that Shinto Shrine near Hinata-Sou...
He flipped a coin in his mind, and chose left, but before he could start running, he heard the clash of swords behind him. The Scandinavian had caught up to Mai. He was about to go to her aid when he noticed the sky begin to darken ominously, and he looked up at the cloudless horizon in confusion. Another familiar commanding female voice broke his reverie.
"You dare to desecrate this Shrine with your presence?!"
To say that Motoko was furious would be a massive understatement. The horrible welter of strange energies she was picking up with her ethereal vision was beyond belief. Not since her early Shinmei-Ryu training with Tsuroko had she witnessed such things.
Kami-sama, what's with the sky??
She exited the tree-line at a dead sprint, her sword flashing from its sheath as she saw the two fighters pause at her appearance. She recognized the female intruder, but the other man was obviously not her manager.
So it wasn't Keitaro after all... she thought.
Keitaro was some distance away hidden from her view, still frozen with indecision. She brought her sword down in a sweeping arc, and the blond-haired man turned to block. It surprised both of them when his sword shattered in his hands, and her katana sliced into his shoulder. He roared in defiance and pain, throwing away the useless hilt as he turned to retreat. Motoko turned towards the other intruder, but the woman was gone. She looked around, but the energies of the place were returning to normal, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She could sense the two receding into the distance away from Hinata-Sou, and knew that the people under her protection were safe for the moment.
The two erstwhile runaways rested at the edge of the tree-line, Hinata-Sou's main building just visible through the overhanging branches.
"We got lucky," Mai said, her back against a tree as she sat. "I didn't realize we were on Holy Ground. So that was a Shrine back there?"
"...yeah." Keitaro sat on the other side of the tree, so that between the two, they had a full view of the surrounding forest. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, but finally gave voice to the question. "Just... what am I to you? Your teacher? Your... um..."
He felt her hand on top of his, and he jumped, turning his head to find her looking at him, a kind of softness in her eyes. "Would you believe we were lovers?" she asked.
He sweat-dropped as he looked into her eyes, but he could see the hesitation there, and he thought of Mitsune. "...um..."
"...hah." she gave a small bark of laughter as she withdrew her hand, and despite himself, he found that a part of him regretted his hesitation, but the truth was it didn't feel right. "Even in these circumstances, I can't pull something over on you." She was silent for a few more minutes, and he was about to open his mouth when she continued. "You were my First Teacher. The one who taught me about everything I needed to know after my death."
"...aaah, maybe you'd better start at the beginning..." he said, his head starting to hurt. Memories and images tickled the edges of his mind, but stayed just out of reach.
"So the student now has to be the teacher. Ironic, but I guess that's life for you..." She sighed, falling silent for a few seconds before continuing. "You know this isn't easy for me."
"What?" he wondered at her sudden reticence.
"Well, I didn't expect to have to do this for a while. And certainly not to... well..."
"...me?"
"Yeah." She gave a soft laugh. "I guess none of this even makes any sense to you at this point, with no memories." She paused, glancing back at him. "You know, maybe I should just take your head after all."
"You can try," he said, with what he hoped was more confidence than he felt.
"Hah. Well, atleast you still sound like Kei-sensei." She took a breath and continued. "Okay. Damn it, we don't have time to do this like you did with me..."
"Why not?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"Look, try not to interrupt, okay?" she said with some amount of irritation. "It's hard enough as it is."
"...sorry."
"To tell the truth, I tracked you down because I needed your help. This guy who calls himself Alarik, he's started hunting me, and I can't beat him. He's too good. You could beat him, or the old you could have, anyway." She paused, knowing this still wouldn't make sense to him. "Okay, I'll start at the beginning. You're immortal..."
"You mean invincible, right?" he asked, remembering his unusual hardiness in the face of the girls' punishments, and their jokes to him about it.
"No," she said in a measure tone that carried a little warning. "Immortal."
"You mean I can't die?" he asked in disbelief.
"...eh, not quite. You can be killed."
"But that's not the definition of 'immortal'..." he protested.
She gave a small laugh. "Okay, I apologize, I'm having a little fun with this, but really, we are pressed for time. The short version is, you're immortal, but you can be killed by decapitation. As long as you keep your head, you won't age, and you won't die. Still with me?"
"...yeah." It was a shock, but he decided to accept what she said on face value.
"We're all part of this thing called 'the game,' in one way or another. The most popular way of putting it is, 'In the end there can be only one.' In other words, we have to fight each other until one remains, and that one will contain all the power and knowledge of all the Immortals."
"Right..." that part fit with his experiences, or atleast it was one possible explanation as to why the nameless attacker had tried to behead him a week ago during the Spring Festival.
"So the most important rules you need to remember are, single combat, keep your head, and never fight on Holy Ground."
"Oh, you mean what happened back there with the sky?" he asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I guess that's one manifestation. I don't think I've ever seen it happen quite that way, but it's not something that we just go try out for fun, if you know what I mean..."
"...y-yeah..."
She gave a disgusted sigh. "You know, this whole thing sucks, but I might as well not waste any more of your or my time. It's obvious you can't help me. I'll either have to find someone else, or just do my best on my..."
"I want to help."
"How??" she demanded, rising to her feet.
He rose, katana in hand. "A week ago I couldn't hold a sword without possibly de-limbing myself. Then I beheaded this guy that attacked me. I know that was mostly luck, but..."
"...tell me about it. So you really beat someone?" she asked, incredulous. "I mean, no offense, but you've really fallen off, from what I could see from our fight..."
"Every time I use this," he indicated his katana, "I seem to remember more. I hate it, because I'm no fighter, but if this is what it takes to reclaim whatever past I have, well..."
She gave him a wry smile. "Yep, same old Kei-sensei. Don't worry, that part's still the same. You never did like fighting, though you were so damn good at it..." she took on a wistful expression. "You were always looking for some way to avoid the Game. There are Immortals who have successfully gone into hiding, or used various deceptions to escape. You yourself told me most of what I know about that, but none of it was good enough for you. The last I heard, you were on some crazy scheme, and then you just dropped off the face of the earth. I couldn't find you, and nobody I knew could tell me anything..." Her eyes narrowed as she took a closer look at him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you looked younger than I remember." She took a hesitant step forward, reaching out and touching his face. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Good God, you actually did it, didn't you? You found a way..."
"For all the good it did me..." he muttered.
She leaned in closer, looking at his face, and his heart beat hammered in his ears. Their faces inched closer, until her lips softly touched his, and she closed her eyes, though the kiss stayed chaste. After several moments she pulled away, and they both were blushing slightly.
"...ah, sorry about that." Mai blushed a deeper red. "I guess that was always a dream of mine. I always found that 'innocent' look of yours so attractive, but it's not really an act at this point is it?"
He shook his head, and she took on a pensive look. "Okay, I'll train with you." She pursed her lips. "I've got no choice, really. No one else to turn to, so it's either you, or I just go out with a bang." She looked out into the forest. "Or I could go into hiding, like you did. But however you did it, I guess that knowledge is lost, huh?" She gave him a small grin, which he returned.
"Yeah, for now atleast. I don't remember..."
She reached over her shoulder and drew her katana from its hidden sheath. "Well, Alarik won't wait forever. He just has to get another sword, and then he'll be back. Let's get started."
All the girls of Hinata-Sou sat around the dining room table, varying expressions of worry on their faces. It was not often that Motoko called meetings, and when it did happen, it was usually for some serious reason.
"Motoko-sama, what's wrong?" Suu was the one to ask the question, and everyone else was inwardly grateful to the vivacious young Molmolian, who as usual seemed unfazed by the serious atmosphere.
"Two dangerous intruders, one male and one female, have disturbed the peace here, and I caught the female in the Manager's room..." she began.
"AAAUUUUU!" Shinobu wailed, jumping up from her seat with tears in her eyes.
Poor choice of words, Motoko thought as she placed her hand on the troubled girl's shoulder to keep her from fleeing. "The Manager was not in the room with her."
"Say, where is Keitaro?" Suu asked, her finger touching her mouth as a worried expression crossed her face. The possibility of losing her prime playmate and test subject was one of the few things that could trouble her.
"He is not attending to his duties?" Motoko asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Oh, I kind of punched him out the front door," Naru admitted. "He was assaulting Shinobu..."
"That... that's not true, Naru!" Shinobu exclaimed. "I was afraid of the turtle..."
"Shinobu-chan, you can't let him use excuses to take advantage of you!"
"...but, that's not..."
"Does anyone know where he is now?" Motoko asked firmly, trying to bring the conversation back on track. None of the girls said anything, shaking their heads after a moment of thought.
"He'll come back." Naru crossed her arms. "He hasn't apologized to Shinobu-chan yet. Or to me..."
"Shouldn't you be apologizing to him?" Suu asked with a mischievous smile.
"What?? Why?"
"You caught him changing, and then you hit him for it!" Naru's cheeks went pink as Suu bounced out of her seat and began jumping around the room. "Naru's a pervert! Naru's a pervert!"
"Th-that's not true!" she yelled, chasing after the troublesome Molmolian, who happily avoided her grasp.
I'm sure there is a logical explanation for this, but now is not the time... Motoko sighed to herself. She was about to call for order when Mitsune did it for her.
"If our manager is missing with two intruders on the loose, that's bad!" her normally cheery disposition was gone. "We've gotta find him!"
That got Naru's attention. Suu stopped running long enough to hold up a small round scanner with two knobs on it. "Keitaro tracker!" she yelled gleefully. No one was surprised that she would have such a device.
Naru snatched it from the young girl's hands, stomping off towards the front door. "I'll go find that idiot myself!"
Mitsune smiled to herself as she got up to follow her friend. Despite Naru's sometimes-harsh words, it was obvious to those who looked closely that she did seem to care for the boy in her own way. Now if only he'll survive her 'care' long enough for me to get them together... Damn it Naru, I hope you finally come to your senses and get together with Keitaro so I can finally get a boyfriend of my own! This is the last one I'm letting you steal from under me...
"Naru-sempai, wait!" Motoko rushed after her. "These two are dangerous! I'll go with you..."
"Alright!" Suu had somehow instantly changed her clothes, and now looked like a miniature Indiana Jones. "Let the Keitaro Rescue Expedition begin!" She carried a sign which unfurled behind her that read (oddly enough), "Keitaro Rescue Expedition."
Sweat ran down Keitaro's face, stinging his eyes, and he winced as he barely managed to block a strike that, while not deadly, would have caused him a great deal of pain for a short time. Mai was not showing any signs of distress, and pushed her attack for a few more seconds before relenting.
"Take a break, we don't need you exhausted." Seeing the puzzled look in his eyes, she explained. "There's no way you'll get your body in shape in time, we just need to recover as much of your natural ability as we can."
"I... see." he panted, gasping air into starved lungs. He had easily matched her, even scoring hits against her more than once at the start of their training session, but this did not last. Unfortunately, the skill he had started to regain was not matched by his current bodily condition. He simply did not have a sword-fighter's physique, and there was no way to remedy that. As he fingered the katana lying across his legs, he considered the past hours. The blade no longer felt alien to him, but his skill still felt illusory, as if he could not fully grasp it, or make use of it.
"You know, you're going to have to break out of your defensive thinking if you want to have even a chance of beating this guy." Her voice no longer held any of the former coldness, and he found himself more at ease with her as well.
"I guess defense just feels more natural..." he began, but was unsure of how to continue. "It's like a pattern that's easier to fall into."
"It probably has to do with your memory loss," she said, drawing her knees up and leaning back against the tree under which they were resting. "Offensive combinations require thought and planning, because you have to choose between different attacks, but defense is almost instinctive. The only way to break through this is to push yourself to attack," she insisted, looking over at him. "You might as well do it now, in practice, against someone who probably isn't out to kill you, rather than in a real battle."
"'Probably'?" he asked, his face cracking into a tired smile.
"...eh, I'm still wondering whether it would be better to just take your experiences directly. The only question is whether your memory loss would affect the Quickening..."
"...the Quickening..." Keitaro murmured, closing his eyes against a sudden pain in his head.
Flashback
He fell to his knees as a jolt of electricity coursed through his body. His arms and legs felt like they were immobilized as he stared at the headless attacker on the ground before him. His vision blurred as the corpse seemed to disintegrate into a storm of electricity that grounded into his own body. He felt the man's anticipation at what was supposed to have been an easy kill. The man's experiences flashed through his consciousness and were absorbed, assimilated into his own being. One particular memory stood out. The man, talking to another man he did not recognize.
"Don't worry, Urashima is no longer fully Immortal. He apparently succeeded... ...if you're lucky, you'll still get all his experiences and skill. ...is a completely unique situation..."
The memory was hazy and incomplete, and he felt his consciousness slipping away as he sank down into the soft grass.
End Flashback
For several seconds the silence was only broken by the normal forest wild-life, and then Mai spoke again.
"It may be better for you to take my experiences."
Her tone was casual, but he imagined that he could hear the slight tension underlying the offer. Even so, it stunned him. "What?!" He was afraid to glance over at her, wondering at what he'd see. This strange world he had been thrust into was getting more and more bizarre, and he was beginning to see why he had run from it in the first place.
"Look, if it comes down to it, I'd rather you have them, than have him take them, and the way things are going, neither one of us can beat him..."
"No!" The resignation in her tone tore at him. Is this the kind of mindset that comes from living for so long? Hell, what am I talking about. I underwent some kind of experimental something-or-other just to get away from all of it.
She looked at him steadily until he met her eyes. "Don't reject this out of hand, or atleast leave it as a possibility. Maybe another death is all you need to regain your memories fully."
He sighed, looking out into the forest and trying not to think about what it was she was offering. "There's got to be another way."
Do I even want my memories back?
Well, it's not like I have a choice, at this point.
He got to his feet, hefting the sword. The world into which he had stepped might be ugly, but whatever was happening, it was better to face it with full knowledge, than the alternative.
It was far more taxing, and Mai got quite a few punishing blows past him, but Keitaro was beginning to develop a kind of offensive rhythm.
"You're doing better, but at this rate we'll both be dead before you improve enough!" Mai 'encouraged' him as they circled each other. Their swords came together again with a clash, and he managed to bat her blade aside and begin an almost-successful attack when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. She halted his blade with her own and saw that he was no longer paying attention.
"Hey!" she snapped. "You're starting to get sloppy, maybe we should take a..." she was cut off with an indignant snort as his free hand grabbed her and flung her to the ground using his body as a pivot point. He ended up on top of her, his hand over her mouth, his sword at her throat, but he did not notice this immediately, for he was scanning the forest.
"He's this way, I think," Suu's sing-song voice drifted through the trees. "Really near, just a few more feet... oh, hey! A banana..."
"Suu-chan, focus..." Motoko's strong voice chided the Molmolian.
"No, I remember dropping this banana yesterday, now it's ripe." Most of this sentence was barely intelligible, probably because Suu had stuffed half the banana into her mouth before speaking.
After making sure they were not in immediate danger of being discovered, Keitaro glanced down to Mai, who was looking at him wide-eyed. "Oh, sorry about that..." He lifted his hand off her mouth.
"Don't be," she said, a wicked smile on her face. "That was an excellent attack. It's obvious your instincts are still there... Um, could you get off?"
"...Ah haha..." His face turned red as he scooted off of her and they rearranged their positions so they could both see the Keitaro Rescue Expedition which was slowly trekking through the forest somewhere in front of them.
"AAACK!" Motoko's screech carried through the forest, and they saw the flash of a katana. "Turtle!!"
"Nyahaha!" Suu laughed cheerfully at her best friend's antics. "It looks like Naru reset the Keitaro Locator to 'turtle' when she grabbed it from my hand! Hold on, I'll fix it..."
The swords-mistress was apparently beyond comfort, and a blast of light illuminated the forest.
"Die, evil beast!"
Keitaro flinched at the wave of heat that rolled over him as the trees near where they lay swayed slightly.
"How did you get involved with such a strange bunch anyway?" Mai asked him, and he sweat-dropped at her puzzled expression.
"Long story. Really long story..."
The two of them moved away to continue their practice in a more secluded area of the forest.
Keitaro's normally low confidence grew as the two of them continued practicing.
Amazing that only a few days ago I couldn't walk in a straight line without tripping, but now I'm doing sword-katas...
Actually come to think of it, I'm only really clumsy around girls, like Narusegawa.
Predictably, at the thought of Naru, his foot slipped and the katana left his hands as he fell on his back. The sword thudded into the ground two inches from his face, sticking into the dirt.
"Gyaaah!" He jumped up and back, rebounding off a tree, grabbing the hilt of the sword as he flailed, and Mai scrambled out of the way, trying not to get lacerated in the scuffle.
"Jeez! Watch where you're..." she stopped, noticing that he'd managed to catch himself, and had ended up in a proper stance.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "that went better than usual! Maybe all this is really starting to pay off..."
Hmm, something strange is going on here... Mai considered the boy, who stared back at her, scratching the back of his head and smiling. "What were you thinking about just then?" she asked.
"Oh! Umm, Narusegawa is one of the tenants in the all-girls-dormitory I manage, and... hey, what's this got to do with anything?"
"Actually..." She was about to explain when she tensed suddenly, turning away from him towards the other side of the clearing. He was about to question her strange behavior when he suddenly felt a wind flow through the center of his being, and he followed her gaze. The mental pressure did seem to be coming from the direction she was facing, and moments later Alarik pushed his way through the branches of the trees on the far side of the clearing, a grim smile on his face.
"If you two were trying to hide, you should make less noise. Not that it would help, of course," he said, tapping the side of his head. "Now where were we, boy? Oh yes..." he drew the sword strapped to his back. "This isn't my regular sword, but from our last battle, it looks like you need all the handicap you can get!" His roaring laughter set Keitaro's teeth on edge, and he looked back towards Mai. Unfortunately, she had vanished.
What the... Did she leave me? I know this is single combat, but she could've atleast stayed to watch, or something...
"Looking for someone, boy?" The blond-haired Immortal aimed a crippling strike towards Keitaro's sword-arm, and he noticed the man was no longer trying for an immediate kill.
I guess I've earned his respect from the last fight.
He met the blow head on, and their swords locked together for a moment.
I can't keep up a direct fight for very long, but I'm still not confident I can even beat him. But what else can I do? Mai left, and I'm his only target...
"I'm afraid your girlfriend couldn't take the heat!" the man taunted as he circled, feinting with his blade every few steps. "Don't worry though, I'll take her head as soon as I have yours. Two for one, eh?" His words and laughter were obviously meant to be part of a routine to throw his opponents off their game. It was one of Keitaro's advantages that he didn't anger easily, but the man did not know this. He saw the boy's look of determination and assumed his taunts were having the desired effects, and moved to attack. The two fighters' swords clashed, and Keitaro made sure to angle and deflect the man's strikes so he never took the full force of the hit. He could see the man's face growing red as he realized the fight would not be as quick and easy as he had hoped, and he began to see the subtle rhythm the man followed. With a quick flurry of strikes, he drove the man backwards, and managed to drive a blow underneath the man's guard. He felt the blade bite into his opponent's shoulder, and he watched in triumph as Alarik staggered backwards, holding his limp sword arm.
"I don't want to have to kill you," he said earnestly. The blond-haired head-hunter glowered back at him in hatred.
"Fool!" he hissed through clinched teeth as he hefted his sword again. "You won't get such a chance again!" It was obvious he wanted nothing more than to charge in sword swinging, but he began to circle Keitaro, sizing him up once more.
Damn it, I forgot about the regeneration. He's invincible, just like me. I really will have to kill him...
He shifted his stance lower, looking at the man over his sword point.
He's being more careful now. This is definitely not good. I should've taken that opportunity...
Motoko looked over Suu's shoulder, and the other girls gathered around in a circle where the young inventor was tinkering with the Keitaro-tracker.
"It's busted." Suu's expression was sad as she looked up at her mentor. "Right now it'll only find him if he's within fifty feet or so..."
"Really? That's not too bad." Motoko looked around the darkening forest.
"No, he's really fast, this won't do any good at all!" Suu smiled wistfully, remembering a particularly fun play session she had shared with the durable manager.
"But you can fix it back at Hinata-sou, right?" Motoko said. "Maybe we should take a break, it's getting dark."
Shinobu looked into the fading twilight. "Aww, but what if Sempai is in trouble? He wouldn't rest if one of us were lost!" She clinched her fists in front of her as she stood. "We can't just leave him..."
Motoko walked over to the troubled girl and put her hand on her shoulder. "Go back with Suu-chan. We'll keep looking."
"...b-but..."
The swords-mistress looked at her sternly though her words were kind. "When we bring him back, he'll probably be starving. You know how he is, and he loves your cooking..."
"Yes!" Shinobu's eyes glistened. "I won't fail you, Sempai! I'll make you a good supper. Come on, Koalla..." She grabbed the other girl's hand and began dragging her back to Hinata-sou. Suu gave out an 'eep!' and pulled her hand free, desperately gathering together all the pieces of the Keitaro-locator before following her friend. She stopped, noticing a small blip on the device's blank screen.
"Hey, I'm detecting movement, and it's coming from where Naru is!" She pointed the device back towards where the brown-haired girl had been leaning against a tree, only to see that she was gone. "Oh. False alarm, I guess..." Shinobu was too intent on getting back to her kitchen, and the others did not hear Suu's short monologue. None of them saw the shadowy figure moving off back into the forest with Naru over her shoulder.
"Okay, everyone else stay close and keep an eye out." Motoko looked around to see that everyone was still with her, and noticed that Naru was missing. She must have gone back with Suu-chan and Shinobu-chan. I don't blame her, but I feel responsible for that lecherous male's well-being, if only so that we will still have a manager when this is all over...
Keitaro's strength was flagging, and his opponent knew it.
"You've put up a good fight, boy!" he gasped, blocking an attack aimed to injure. "I'll admit, you're better than I thought, but you can't win, you have to see that." Their swords clashed together, and he bore down on the weakening Keitaro, who desperately pushed back against the other's greater weight.
This is no good, but I'm too tired to escape. I guess...
His eyes suddenly fell on a female form slumped against a tree at the edge of the clearing in which they were battling. Light brown hair, and round glasses sitting askew on her nose.
Narusegawa... How did she get here?
Alarik noticed his expression and glanced over in time to see Naru sit up groggily.
"Kei... Keitaro?" she mumbled, reaching up to straighten her glasses. That can't be Keitaro, he's got a sword, and he's fighting... Holding her throbbing head, she slumped back against the tree and succumbed to unconsciousness.
"Oh, what's this?" The man's tone was biting, but his sword never faltered.
Damn it.
Keitaro's mouth hardened into a straight line, and his stance lowered. Alarik moved to the side towards Naru, but Keitaro leaped forward, his sword flashing to high guard. The man desperately blocked, but was out of position and stumbled. The boy's style had completely changed, and he had somehow gotten an unexpected burst of energy. He tried to regain his balance, but Keitaro's blade never allowed him a moment's rest.
Mai, who was watching from the shadow of the tree-line, smiled. Until now, the boy's fight had been mostly defensive, despite his previous practice, but it seemed the added threat to someone he cared about was all he needed. She hated to use a mortal like this, but she had stayed nearby to intervene in case things went wrong. Keitaro pushed his larger opponent back, and for a moment it appeared that the boy had the advantage. Unfortunately Alarik regained his rhythm even as she watched, and she knew it wasn't going to be enough.
Oh well. I guess that's it...
She slipped over to where the brown-haired girl had slumped over and put the girl over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry to have involved you, I'll just get you to safety before..."
"Mai!?" she looked up at Keitaro's incredulous shout, and saw his sword locked with his opponent's. Alarik looked over his shoulder desperately.
"No! Interference is not permitted...!" He yelled, obviously uncomfortable with Keitaro's renewed vigor.
The lapse in attention was all the boy needed. He slipped around Alarik's other side, using his katana as leverage to throw the man over his shoulder. The Norwegian was forced to let go of his own sword so as not to disembowel himself, and he hit the ground heavily. Extracting his blade from underneath the groaning Norwegian, he flipped it around and decapitated the man. Dropping the katana from trembling hands, he stared at the twitching corpse.
I... did it. I really killed him.
Mai stared at the spectacle open-mouthed for a moment before regaining her composure and giving him a grin and thumbs up. Still breathing hard, he didn't know whether to feel relieved or disgusted, but whatever he was going to say was swallowed by the thunder of the Quickening.
Mai flinched backwards, covering her face as she set the unconscious Naru back against the tree. Electricity roiled around where Alarik had lain, and strands of it grounded into Keitaro's kneeling form. She had seen (and undergone) quite a few Quickenings, but her First Teacher was the only one she knew who made absolutely no sound while under its effects. She waited until the last arcs of electricity had died down, and slowly walked towards where he was crouched, both hands on the ground as he breathed deeply. He looked up at her as he got to one knee and pushed to his feet, his sword his sword in his hands once again.
"Kei-Sensei?" she whispered. He smiled, and she released the breath she had been holding.
"You know I hate it when you call me that," he said. That simple phrase was all she needed to ensure herself that his memories had returned.
"You're back!" she threw her arms around him, and he gingerly patted her back with his free hand.
"...um, haha...." His mind still whirled with the new-yet-very-familiar effects of the absorption of his recent enemy. Several moments later she let him go, blushing slightly as she stepped back.
"We got lucky," he continued, his tone becoming more serious. "Alarik had been fairly indiscriminate in his beheadings, so he was almost completely neutral."
"That's... that's good." Mai looked down at the charred spot on the forest floor, cursing her own sloppiness. She had not had time to research the man, and so she did not know his background in depth. Keitaro's unique situation made it much more likely that if the man had been any darker, his own malevolence might have overpowered the boy's weakened psyche during the Quickening, and she would have been forced to fight him herself. "So, you... have all your memories now?" She glanced over at his face which still had the far-away look he had assumed after the fight.
"I'm still a little muddled, but it's coming back to me."
Mai looked at him, then back at Naru's sleeping form laid up against the tree, and smiled a little. "Hm."
"'Hm?' What's 'hm' mean?" he asked.
"You like her, don't you?" she asked, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.
"Wh-what? No!" he got a panicked look and waved his arms up and down. "I mean... yeah. Or atleast I did, back before..." he calmed down slightly, and looked over at Naru. She mumbled something in her sleep and turned slightly, her light brown hair shifting in the waning sunlight, the two 'antennae' of hair sticking out of her bangs waving gently in the breeze. "I... I guess I still do, kind of." Despite how much experience he had, and how many lifetimes he had lived and shared with others, the feelings he got when being around someone like Naru never diminished or dulled. It was something he found odd, but he had come to accept it. "There's just something about her."
"There always is, with you." She put her hands on her hips and looked out into the forest. "You know, I never got your hang-up with mortals. This is just like that time back in eighteen eighty six with that blond... What was her name?" she feigned ignorance.
"Mai..." his voice held a note of warning, and she smiled at his irritation.
"Ah well," she sighed, looking around one last time, then turned away and began walking into the forest away from Hinata-sou.
"Hey, where are you going?" he called after her.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I've got better things to do than to hang around with you, old man."
Though her tone was biting, he could hear the underlying amusement. "Yeah, well you know where to find me if you run into any more trouble!" he yelled.
Without stopping, Mai lifted an arm and flipped him off, and then turned her head and winked at him. He continued watching until the trees completely obscured her retreating form.
Same old Mai...
Cold dispassionate eyes watched from a distance as Keitaro ran his hand over his katana almost lovingly. She took her cigarette from her mouth, noting that during the fight it had burned almost down to the filter without her even knowing. She snorted softly.
It's been too long since I've done field work.
She dropped the cigarette butt to the ground, extinguishing the smoldering tip with her shoe. Her eyes never left the boy who was her assignment as she calmly reached into her pocket for the half-empty pack she knew rested there.
"What will you do now, Keitaro?" she asked softly.