A/N: You all pretty much know what I'm going to say so I won't say it again. This is a slightly longer is a reference to the videogame 'Prototype' as well, so if you have a problem with it, tell me in your review. I appreciate the honesty…oops! I said it again *clears throat* On with the show…

(OOO)

CLANK! That sound filled the night air as the two warriors battled on the roof of Hinata Sou. Keitaro and Motoko circled each other, never taking their eyes off the other.

Motoko had an evil toothy grin as did Keitaro. Motoko charged again and her bokken was raised, ready to strike, but was easily blocked by Keitaro who raised his bokken and stopped the incoming strike and he quickly swung his bokken and hit Motoko in the back, knocking her right past him.

Motoko quickly recovered and faced him wide-eyed. 'How could he strike me?' she thought. Keitaro smirked and said, "I thought you were a great warrior, Motoko." His smirk gave way to a glare and he yelled as he charged her, "FIGHT ME!" Motoko barely managed to block the strike that followed and she quickly rolled away and blocked another strike that was aimed for her head.

While she was on the defense, she noticed as she checked his aura, 'what the hell? He's actually trying to kill me! His aura is showing homicidal tendencies! Why is he trying to kill me? I won't let him succeed!' Her face went from surprise to angry determination as she finally gained advantage and began to push Keitaro back.

Keitaro was thinking, 'what the hell is she waiting for! Why doesn't she go ahead and finish me?' CLANK! Bokken struck bokken again and both held their ground with fierce determination. Keitaro, with a fierce glare at Motoko asked, "What are you waiting for, Aoyama? How are you supposed to be a good warrior when you can't kill someone who's trying to kill you?" He gritted his teeth and yelled out, "NOW FINISH ME!"

He tried to swing for her head again, but Motoko saw it coming and ducked before giving him a powerful kick that sent him flying back toward roof entrance and instead of hitting the door, Keitaro hit the wall with such force, pieces of the wall itself fell around him. When he hit the ground, there was a Keitaro shaped indention from where he impacted the wall.

Motoko slowly walked toward him as he began to slowly sit up and looked at her with a malicious grin and he said, "Now that's what I'm talking about! But you're going to have to do BETTER THAN THAT!" He got to his feet quickly. This time he raised his bokken and shouted, "CRITICAL PAIN!"

He pointed his bokken at Motoko and she was caught by surprise as a powerful burst of energy shot from Keitaro and she couldn't evade in time and was sent flying toward the other side of the roof. It was so powerful; Motoko went all the way through the wall and into her own room.

Motoko slowly got to her hands and knees and coughed up a good amount of blood. She looked up and gripped her bokken when she noticed Keitaro walking towards her.

He stepped in with his bokken over his shoulder and said emotionlessly, "Look at you. It's pathetic. It's too bad really. I was hoping you would finish me first, but I guess you're just not good enough."

He gripped his bokken with both hands and raised it above his head, ready to finish her off. But he froze when he noticed Motoko was changing form.

Her hair started to turn a dark blue and it shortened to just above her shoulders. Her face and even her clothes changed until the apparition rose to her feet and Keitaro slowly lowered his bokken and whispered, "Rika?"

He noticed she was sending off a glow of light blue around her. Rika looked at him and smiled sadly with a tear in her eye. He whispered her name again when he noticed her look, "Rika?"

He dropped his bokken and she was suddenly engulfed in the blue light and Keitaro was about to call her name when the blue light hit him and he was sent flying back out onto the roof and slid forcefully to the other side, damaging the roof itself.

Keitaro slammed into the wall again and this time, didn't get back up. Keitaro was out cold.

Motoko watched as Keitaro raised his bokken and he froze. She watched with confusion when she noticed he was in some sort of trance.

Taking advantage from his obvious hallucination, she slowly stood and with a glare. He then furthered her curiosity when she heard him whisper, "Rika?" and sent her most powerful attack toward him, "ROCK-SPLITTING SWORD!"

The blast sent Keitaro back out onto the roof, slamming onto it and sliding to the other side before hitting the wall on the far end. Motoko let out a let out a shaky breath before collapsing to the floor and passing out.

The other tenants as well as Haruka came rushing out to the roof and noticed that most of the area had been destroyed. They looked to their right and noticed Keitaro lying unconscious with rubble lying around him.

Haruka went over to check on him and the others noticed a hole in the wall on the other end of the roof and knew it was Motoko's room they raced over and noticed Motoko passed out and had various cuts as well the blood dripping from her mouth.

Kitsune shook her head slowly and asked, "I wonder what happened here?"

Upon further examination, the girls noticed a small puddle of blood right next to Motoko. Naru kneeled down next to Motoko and said, "It was probably that pervert's fault. Didn't you see him out there, Kitsune? He looked banged up too."

Shinobu replied timidly with a blush, "I didn't think Sempai could hurt Motoko like that. I mean, he doesn't look as banged up as she does."

Suu, clueless as ever, replied energetically, "YAY! NOW I CAN PLAY WITH KEITARO NOW THAT MOTOKO IS DONE PLAYING WITH HIM!"

She raced off in a blur to get some of her inventions to test on Keitaro. Shinobu ran after her saying she should wait until tomorrow or when he feels better.

Naru and Kitsune looked at each other and shook their heads and looked back to Motoko. Naru said, "We should get her cleaned up."

They picked her up and headed for the hot springs.

Haruka, meanwhile, was checking on her nephew. She had a pretty good idea what transpired on that roof, but insisted on worrying about it later. She shook her head and said softly, "Why can't you just let it go, Keitaro? Why do you have to make everybody miserable?"

She picked him up and dragged him inside.

(000)

Six years ago…

Keitaro, Rika and Kaede were sitting around the campfire under the stars. Kaede looked at Rika and they both smiled slyly at each other and looked at an unsuspecting Keitaro, who was roasting some marshmallows for them.

As he was roasting the marshmallows, Keitaro had the strange feeling as if somebody was sitting next to him. He looked up and noticed both Rika and Kaede were sitting very closely on either side of him.

Keitaro sweat dropped and asked nervously, "I-is s-something wrong, ladies?" Kaede put a hand on his thigh and began to rub slowly and replied, "Nothing's wrong, Kei-kun." Then Keitaro felt Rika put a hand on his other thigh and began rubbing slowly and she said, "Yeah, we just wanted you to know how much we love you, Kei-kun."

Suddenly, the marshmallows Keitaro was roasting all burst into flames as he sat motionless and shocked by the girls' actions and words.

Then, Kaede grabbed him and pulled him into a very passionate kiss, tongue and all. After they came up for air, Rika also pulled him into a passionate kiss.

When they could breath again, Rika and Kaede exchanged sly smiles while Keitaro was in a trance after the kisses. They both grabbed one of his hands and slowly stood up and pulled him toward their tent.

They pulled him inside and Keitaro lost his virginity to both girls that night.

Suddenly everything went white and Keitaro was standing in nothingness. He looked around and asked, "Where am I? Am I finally dead? This isn't what I was expecting. Where am I?"

He froze when he heard the voices he never thought he'd hear again. First, he heard Kaede say, "Remember that night, Kei-kun? You were so sweet back then. What happened to the Kei-kun we knew?"

His heart was beating faster and he was gasping for breath when he heard Rika speak next, "Is that how you treat our memory, Kei-kun, with anger and hatred? Do you truly hate us that much now?

Keitaro waved his hands frantically and said quickly, "NO! NO! I COULD NEVER HATE YOU!"

Kaede then asked sadly, "Then, why do you harm yourself and others without regard for the consequences?"

Keitaro lowered his head and fell to his knees and said sadly, "Because it hurts too much. I hate being alive without you guys. I just want to be with you again."

Rika shook her head and said softly, "It's not your time, Kei-kun. You have to live your life."

Keitaro gritted his teeth in anger and finally shouted, "DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU GUYS WERE MY LIFE! I'LL NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN!"

(000)

Keitaro shot up from his futon and immediately regretted it when his head started throbbing and pain shot through his chest.

Haruka pushed Keitaro back down and said, "Don't move. You got pretty banged up in the fight." Keitaro looked at her curiously as she continued, "Of all people, you had to fight Motoko? Why did you try to kill her? I could feel your aura from the teahouse. Are you an idiot, Keitaro?"

Keitaro sighed and said, "I just wanted to see how good she was, that's all. Besides, she's the one who asked for it. She challenged me and I delivered."

Haruka shook her head and replied, "You have to stop pushing people like that, Keitaro. You nearly killed Motoko and yourself tonight. What's happened to you?"

Keitaro sighed and slowly sat up while holding his ribs and replied bitterly, "You know what happened, Haruka." She smacked him in the back of his head and he groaned as she said angrily, "You need to let it go! It's been five years, Keitaro! Just let it go!"

Keitaro's head snapped up and he had tears in his eyes when he started yelling, "I CAN'T LET IT GO, HARUKA! I CAN'T! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR ME, TO GO ON EVERY SINGLE DAY! WAKING UP EVERY MORNING HOPING TO SEE THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW AREN'T THERE ANYMORE!"

Haruka was very surprised by this outburst, but listened as Keitaro continued, "WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, HUH? WALK AROUND AND ACT LIKE I'M HAPPY WHEN I'M NOT? AM I SUPPOSED TO PUT ON SOME PATHETIC ACT OF HAPPINESS WHEN IT'S JUST A FARCE?"

He finally began to lose his intensity and spoke in a neutral tone, "I saw her, Haruka." She looked confused when he locked eyes with her and he verified, "I saw Rika."

Haruka narrowed her eyes in curiosity and asked, "When?" Keitaro looked in her eyes and said, "When I fought Motoko. I was about to do more damage to her when she changed into Rika. She had tears in her eyes and smiled sadly for some reason. Then, she started glowing and was engulfed in a blue light and it hit me and I hit the wall and blacked out. Then, I had a flashback of the camping trip I took with Rika and Kaede. Finally, I heard Rika and Kaede both accuse me of hating them. I never hated them. I just…I just wanted to…"

Haruka had heard enough and pulled him into a tight hug when he started to sob. She knew he wanted to let go but couldn't. She just wanted him to stop trying to hurt himself and others.

She still had him in a hug as she turned to face the door when she heard a sound from the hallway.