Disclaimer: "Love Hina" is the creative property of Ken Akamatsu and his associates. Any new characters not included in the original manga or the anime (written by Shō Aikawa) are my own creative property.

Chapter Seven (Revised):

Adam saw Haruka step out from behind a tree, holding a black Sig Sauer P220 handgun in a combat cover-down position. He watched as she carefully stalked over to where the second turtle demon that Adam had crippled was trying to crawl away. She fired two more rounds into the turtle, double-tapping it in the back of its head. As the demon's essence swirled darkly around her, Haruka calmly performed a tactical reload of her pistol; casually dropping the still partially filled magazine into a pocket of her apron.

Damn, she's good! Adam thought to himself. He again released some of his energy and scouted the area, looking for other possible threats or intruders. He noted a multiple human source that seemed to be fleeing the area, but nothing else.

He bent over and picked up the serpent's tooth. It was a foot long and had a diameter of about three inches at its base. As he held it in his hand, he concentrated for a moment and visualized a golden energy field surrounding the tooth and purifying it. In his mind's eye, he could see a vaporous darkness being dissipated by the glowing energy. After sanitizing the sharp piece of ivory, Adam held it up for Haruka to inspect.

"Would you like a souvenir?"

Haruka looked at it oddly for a moment. "Why didn't it disperse with the rest of the remains," she asked.

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but it does happen occasionally. I've salvaged some really odd items that were left over after a demon battle. Do you want this? All the tissue has disintegrated, so just the ivory is left."

Haruka shook her head. "No thanks. Why don't you add it to that weird collection of yours."

Adam smiled and tucked it into one of his back pockets. He then turned around and walked over to where Keitaro was waiting, with Haruka close on his tail.

Keitaro was standing near the warding stone looking like a stunned bullock: his eyes were blank and staring, his hands were hanging loosely at his sides and were making funny little grasping motions, and his mouth was making little puffing movements, almost appearing fish-like in appearance.

Adam stopped in front of Keitaro and bent over and peered into his face. He then stood up straight again and shook his head. "I don't think anybody's home right now," he said while giving Haruka a wink. He held his hand in front of the blank face and snapped his fingers.

Keitaro startled and some awareness made its way back into his eyes. He slowly looked up at his uncle and then his eyes became alert again. "Oh, Uncle Adam," he said. "I was just having the strangest dream. Monsters were attacking Hinata House and we had to fight them off before they captured our flag. And then Haruka rode in on a big white horse and slew the dragon!"

Adam heard a snickering sound coming from Haruka. He reached over and grasped Keitaro on the shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Actually, Kei," he said quietly. "That wasn't a dream – at least it mostly wasn't a dream," he revised, while visualizing the image of Haruka sitting on a big, white charger and swinging a large broadsword over her head. It was his turn to snicker. "Monsters - actually they were demons - really did invade the property. You did a very good job in getting the ward wall working again. I'm very proud of you."

Haruka nodded her agreement over Adam's shoulder. "You did real well, Kei," she said.

"You also just got a good example of why it's important to keep the wards in good condition. Why don't you go back up to the inn and rest for a while. You've had a very eventful morning, so far. You also might want to avoid mentioning this to your residents – they might freak... plus its 'Family' business."

Keitaro nodded and headed back up the hill. Adam collected the abandoned cleaning supplies and glanced at Haruka.

"What do you think?" he said as they headed down the path and towards the stairway.

"He did much better than I thought he would," Haruka replied. "You do know that he started out running away before he found his courage, don't you?"

"I figured as much. But the important thing is that he did find his courage. We may have more to work with here than we thought. Hopefully, he'll be able to draw upon this strength faster the next time that he needs it."

Haruka blew a long line of cigarette smoke thoughtfully into the air as they stepped out onto the stone stairway just above her tea house. She glanced at her kid brother. "Mom was hinting that the Elders are going to require that Keitaro resume his training, now that he has accepted such an important position," she tossed out.

Adam gave her a sideways glance from the corner of his eyes. He could see where this conversation was heading. He shook his head and said, "I'm very hesitant about taking Keitaro on," he said. "I tried to help him before when we were teenagers, sort of as an unofficial tutor, but he either couldn't or wouldn't concentrate or apply enough effort to get much of anywhere. He had the ability but not the interest. All he would do was daydream about some little girl that he couldn't even remember, and getting into Toudai. He was obsessed with it. It got to be too frustrating and was a waste of my time and effort. You can't help someone who won't help themselves. It's good to have dreams and goals, but you also have to live in the real world, at least part of the time."

"You've said that you think he has potential…" Haruka said as she unlocked the door to her shop and flipped the "closed" sign to "open."

"…and he does. He's always had some really great potential, but he's so far refused to develop it. I'm not interested in twisting his arm. He's a big boy now… with big boys' pants and everything. I like Keitaro, and I'd like to see him be able to keep the inn, but ultimately that's up to him."

He thought about it for a moment, "While I'm here, I'll be glad to help him out with suggestions, and if he shows some interest I'm willing to teach him some things. But unless he shows some definite commitment to learning the family arts, that's as far as I'm willing to go. Besides, I'm still learning things myself."

She blew another puff of smoke. "Maybe so, but you're good enough to be instructing part time at the Gods' Cry School for Tsuruko," she replied. "She told me once that you had a gift for taking students that weren't doing well and turning them around in a short time."

He stopped and looked her in the eyes. "That's because I use a different teaching style and approach. The Shinmei-ryu still think of themselves as full-fledged samurai and are pretty hard core with their training, which is not a criticism. All of the instructors at the Gods' Cry School are members of the Shinmei-ryu, but only a small percentage of the students will be recruited into the organization. Most students are just there to learn swordsmanship from an excellent training school. So the dojo instructors concentrate on mental discipline, physical training, standard kendo training, and only some relatively simple ki handling techniques. Gifted students and family members are recruited into the Shinmei-ryu and then given special training that includes their secret techniques. They also get various amounts of training from the metaphysical facility, which primarily is a school for training priests, priestesses, and magical users, which is also why they are primo demon fighters."

He paused for a moment and then continued, "The special students that I get are those recruit students that have excellent potential and motivation, but for some reason aren't fully connecting with their potential. I usually find that it is a ki handling difficulty that is the root. The Shinmei-ryu generally teaches that ki is formed within your body and through the use of certain mental techniques and discipline that you can slowly train your body to produce higher quantities of ki, which can then be used by channeling it through a focus, such as a sword. What actually happens with their mental technique is that eventually out of boredom and desperation, the subconscious will quietly open a backdoor channel into the environment and begin sucking in outside energy which then appears to be a significant increase in the body's ki energy supply. After a while, this extra channel remains permanently open and accessible, giving the student large amounts of ki energy to use. This can take years to finally occur. What I do is teach the student a different technique to do exactly the same thing. I show him how to deliberately open the channel into the environment and then to patch it into his ki center, from which he was previously taught to tap the energy from. By doing this exercise frequently for a month or so, it's easy for the student to automatically open the channel whenever he needs the extra energy. Its also easy to hide your ki level by leaving the channel closed when you don't need it. The Shinmei-ryu technique results in the fully-powered ki level being turned on all the time, generally making their members easy to detect at a distance."

He shrugged. "There's benefits to both techniques. My family taught me the method that I use, which is why I was able to learn what are considered to be advanced techniques at a relatively early age. Of course, I still have to do the kata repetitions so that I keep from losing the years I spent building up my muscle memories."

Haruka nodded and pointed towards a counter. "You can drop that stuff behind there. I'll get you some tea while you read over whatever's in that packet that Mom left for you. It's on the table in the corner."

"Thanks," he said while taking a seat and carefully opening the large manila envelope. After glancing over the first page, Adam closed his eyes and carefully leaned back in his chair. A soft sigh escaped from his lips and he slowly rubbed his hands over his upper face trying to erase some of his tiredness.

A bell tinkled as a customer opened the door and took a seat nearby. There was a soft thump as Haruka set a steaming cup of tea on the table in front of him.

"That good, huh?" she commented.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Sure," she said as she headed for her customer.

Over the next ten minutes, the tea house slowly filled with customers. Adam quietly enjoyed his cup of tea while he chewed over the information contained in the envelope. He definitely wasn't pleased with the situation, and his first gut instinct was to get on a plane and head back to California for a few years. Maybe it will have blown over by then.

Yeah, right, he snorted to himself. With a shrug, he scooped up the papers and his nearby bag and headed for the inn.

OOO

Keitaro was relaxing in the men's hot tub. He could feel the soothing heat relaxing his over-stressed body; to the point where he had started to drift off into a warm, comfortable sleep.

Almost.

Two things struck him almost simultaneously and destroyed his mood. The first was a face full of hot water as his sleeping body slipped bonelessly beneath the surface of the water. He suddenly erupted back out again like a broaching baby whale, spewing and blowing hot liquid all over the place. The second killjoy was the memory of what had happened earlier that morning.

Demons had attacked Hinata House! They really had! It wasn't some weird nightmare. It had really, really happened. He had seen it with his own eyes.

What should I do about this? he asked himself. I'm a nobody. Why should I have to deal with demons? I just wanted to get into Tokyo U, so that I can meet my promise girl and we can live happily ever after – just like the stories claim.

He slapped at the water in frustration and sighed. The trouble is that I've accepted responsibility for the inn and the girls living here. That's like making a promise, and I always keep my promises. I can't run away, even if it's scary. Scary! That's an understatement. The girls have become a second family to me and I don't want to see them hurt. My promise girl is probably also living here. I don't know anything about fighting demons or magic barriers or anything like that. I guess I'll talk to Aunt Haruka again; maybe later today after I've done my chores.

Now that he had some sort of a temporary game plan, Keitaro felt comfortable enough to relax again for just a few more moments. Shinobu would be serving breakfast shortly.

After drying off and putting on some fresh clothing, Keitaro wandered into the dining room. Shortly thereafter, Motoko wandered into the room. She suddenly stopped and gave a large yawn before carefully sitting at her usual place at the western-style dining table.

"Good morning, Motoko," Keitaro said as he took his seat at the table.

Motoko gave him a neutral look and then yawned again. "Morning, Urashima. I'm not sure that there's anything good about it though."

"Rough night?"

She just nodded and looked away; not inviting any further comment.

"Good morning, Sempai... Motoko," Shinobu said as she carried a large pot of miso soup to the already set table.

"Good morning, Shinobu."

"Morning," Motoko grumbled.

Shinobu gave her a curious look and then glanced at Keitaro as he said, "Oh, you might want to make sure that there is another table setting. Uncle Adam is back."

She smiled in return. "I know. He stopped by the kitchen on his way upstairs to say hello to me."

Motoko immediately perked up, her tiredness forgotten. "Urashima is back?" she said, making sure that she had heard correctly. Now maybe I can get some answers, she thought.

"Yes, he is," Keitaro said. "I… talked with him earlier."

Shinobu came back with a platter of grilled fish and a small bowl of pickles, which she added to the growing collection forming on the table. She was about to ask Keitaro if he would mind calling the others, when a whole troop of residents descended on the dining room. Mutsumi and Naru had bed-heads and they yawned as they entered the room. As usual, Mutsumi was wearing her trademark smile. Behind them, Kitsune dragged herself into the room, staggering like a zombie, with an uber bed-head and morning breath to die for (literally). Next came Sarah, rubbing her eyes and glaring at the morning light; until she smelled the food and then she hurried to her seat. The trailer of the pack was Adam, bringing up the rear with Su riding on his shoulders. When he came to a stop, she leaped into her chair and started to reach for the food.

"Not yet, Su," Motoko said. "Shinobu is still bringing the breakfast out. Have some patience."

"Awww, Motoko!" Su whined. "Adam told everyone that breakfast was ready! I'm really hungry."

Adam had walked up behind Su as she was protesting the unfairness of having to wait on breakfast. He placed a hand on her head and said, "Now, Kaolla, you know that I told you that breakfast was almost ready. You're not going to starve in the next few minutes. Shinobu-chan has cooked a nice breakfast for everyone and you should show her some respect by waiting for her to join us.' He ruffled her hair and then he took an empty seat at the table between Sarah and Kitsune.

There was a series of light thumps as Shinobu reappeared and placed cups of coffee in front of Naru, Kitsune, and Sarah. "Anyone else want coffee?" she asked. "Nobody? Alright, I'll be back in a moment."

As Shinobu returned to the kitchen Adam looked over at Sarah and Su, and said quietly, "Well ladies, a little birdie told me that you both had an adventure in my room a couple of days ago. It's not a lot of fun to come back from a trip and find that your home has been burglarized and your things gone through and trashed."

Sarah gave him an innocent look, pretending that she didn't know what he was talking about. Su looked up with surprise and said, "I didn't see any birdie. I'll bet that it was really some super-cool, secret spy device that identified us by sniffing our DNA. Can I see it? Please!" she said while giving him the "puppy dog eyes."

"No, Kaolla," he replied. "It wasn't a spy device. It was a little white birdie with a bright, red head."

Motoko suddenly choked as her swallow of tea went down the wrong way. Adam glanced at her and winked, and then he looked back at the girls.

"Anyway, the little birdie is a friend of mine. She was very annoyed when she saw you two burglarizing my room. In fact, she was so annoyed that she put a little, tiny curse on you that brought you a bunch of bad luck yesterday. The curse has worn off now, but the next time she will probably put a real whopper of a curse on you that might last for weeks. That wouldn't be a good thing for you. So here's the deal: you stay out of my room unless I invite you inside, and my friend won't curse you again. Is it a deal?"

Sarah had gone pale at the mention of curses, and she quickly nodded her head in agreement to Adam's offer. Su thought seriously about it for a moment, and then said, "I'm not sure. Are curses good to eat? I don't want to miss out on anything that might be tasty?"

Sarah immediately fell off her chair. "No, Su!" she yelled. "Curses are not good to eat!"

Adam almost face-faulted himself over Su's response; apparently her grasp of Japanese wasn't so hot. "Kaolla," he said. "In your language, the word for curse is ishmar, and you know that ishmarin are not tasty."

"Oh," she said in disappointment. "Well, why didn't you just say so to begin with? I don't want a… curse?... put on me, so I'll stay out of your room."

"Good enough," he agreed. "I'm sure my little friend will be happy as well."

Shinobu returned with a large bowl of rice and a second teapot and then joined the group for breakfast. After the food was passed around and everyone had begun eating, the usual friendly chatter started. Keitaro, being preoccupied with his thoughts over that morning's events, was quiet. Motoko, as usual, mostly kept to herself, although Keitaro did notice that she was throwing occasional glances at his uncle. Adam, he noticed, was speaking quietly to Kitsune and casting curious glances at Naru, who was focused on a conversation that she was having with Mutsumi. Keitaro looked down at the remainder of his food and decided that he wasn't very hungry anymore. It would be at least two hours before Haruka would be free enough to talk with him. As far as studying went… it wasn't going to happen. Maybe there was something he could do around the dorms, such as waxing the floors.

He was about to get to his feet when Su, having finished her meal, suddenly leaped onto his uncle's back and hung her head over his shoulder. She said something in a language that Keitaro was unable to understand and was answered by his uncle in kind. He decided to wait and see what was going on. Motoko also watched the scene curiously.

Adam was enjoying his conversation with Kitsune which, for her part, consisted mostly of flirting and innuendo, much to Naru's disgust. He was about to ask her some specifics about her writing career, when Su pounced on his back. He looked up at her as she peered over his shoulder.

"Hey, Adam," she said in her native language. "How did you know that I am from Molmol? That's supposed to be a secret."

Adam replied in the same language, "Grandma Hina, of course, knows about you and she occasionally sent me on errands to your family there. Besides your father and mothers, I've met your sister Amalla, and your cousin and adopted brother Lamba Lu, who looks a lot like my cousin Keitaro sitting over there. I picked up some of the language while I was visiting there.

"So you know my family?"

"Yes, I do. I was sorry to hear about your father passing last year. I think that Lamba will make a good king. Don't worry, Kaolla, I won't tell anyone your secret - unless you destroy my room again."

"Aye aye, Captain!" she said in Japanese with a salute and a big smile. "I've got you covered." Jumping off of Adam's back, she grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her away from the table. "Come on Sarah. I've got a new mecha I want to show you," she said as she dragged her friend up the stairs behind her. Sarah grumbled something about not having finished her coffee yet.

"Well, that was interesting," Keitaro said quietly to Motoko as his uncle got up from the table and started collecting some of the dirty dishes. As he headed into the kitchen, Keitaro grabbed an arm load of dirties and followed him. When he arrived, he saw a stack of dirty dishes on the counter near the sink, but his uncle had vanished.

Shaking his head in confusion, Keitaro went back into the dining room and looked at Motoko and Shinobu, who were finishing with their tea. "Did either of you see Uncle Adam come through this way?" he asked them.

"No, Sempai," Shinobu said. Motoko shook her head negative.

"Well," Keitaro said, "He seems to have vanished from the kitchen." He shrugged his shoulders. "I've got some chores to do so I'll see you later."

As Keitaro left the room, Motoko and Shinobu collected the rest of the dirties and the leftover food and took them into the kitchen. Motoko looked around the room carefully, but there was no trace of Adam Urashima. That sneak, Motoko thought. And I was waiting around to talk to him about the last few days. I guess I'll have to catch him later.

OOO

Several hours later, Haruka finished emailing her last encrypted report on the demon battle that had occurred earlier in the day. A copy had been sent to the Elders and another to a secure site accessible to Hina. For Hina, she had included her notes on Keitaro and also about Adam's reservations about taking on Keitaro as a pupil.

As soon as her last breakfast customer had left the shop, Haruka had locked up and begun typing up her report. She wasn't too happy about having to take credit for slacking off on the inspections after Keitaro had arrived as manager, but fair was fair. The Council needed to be informed about the attempted break-in so they would be watching the other storage sites for similar attempts. Maybe they could catch the culprits – the humans responsible for summoning the demons.

After finishing her emails, Haruka opened a large safe that she had secreted in a back room and pulled out a notebook. She flipped open a divider to the section where she kept her notes on the spells used for the warding stones. After spending about twenty minutes in refreshing her memory and considering possible ways of strengthening the spells, she began to randomly flip through other sections of the notebook, hoping to find some inspiration.

Finding a section dealing with novelty and prank spells, Haruka suddenly found herself slapped in the face by the inspiration for which she had been searching. Staring at the page for a moment, she began to giggle. Haruka hated it when she giggled, because she sounded just like a school girl. Nevertheless, she giggled and felt justified in so doing.

"Let's see," she said with a big smile on her face. "If I combine that security spell from earlier with this prank spell here…" Her smile got even wider. "And if I supercharge it with the earth tap spell…"

OOO

Keitaro found himself trudging down the stairs towards Aunt Haruka's teahouse for the second time that morning. Now that he had had some time to think about things, he was hoping that Haruka could give him some insight into what his options might be. He supposed that he could talk to Uncle Adam, but he hadn't seen him in a couple of years and he had always been closer to Haruka.

When he arrived at the teashop he found the front door locked, so he went around to the side door and knocked on it. He had to knock twice before he got a response. When the door opened, Haruka stared at him for a moment and then she sighed. "How did I just know that you would be back again so soon?"

Keitaro flushed in embarrassment and said, "After this morning, I definitely need some more advice."

"Alright," she said. "Come on in and have a seat. I'll get us some tea."

After fetching two cups and a teapot, Haruka had a seat at the table with Keitaro. "I assume that this has something to do with the demon attack this morning?" she said.

"Yes, it does," Keitaro replied.

"Are you planning on quitting the Hinata Inn?" she asked.

Keitaro looked at her for a moment as he organized his thoughts. "I thought about it for a few minutes," he said quietly. "I'm just a regular guy who had maybe a little bit of training about fighting demons years ago that I can no longer remember. Having what happened this morning occur… well, it was never part of my plans or my world view. Why would I even consider dealing with demons? So, this morning was a major shock to me. And yes, I did consider quitting… for about three minutes."

Haruka took a sip of her tea and watched him carefully.

"But," Keitaro said while looking her in the eye. "I agreed to take care of Hinata House and its residents – and I've become very attached to the girls, even though they aren't always happy with me."

Haruka chose to ignore the blatant understatement and instead lit up a cigarette.

"This morning has thrown me into a hard spot," he continued. "I have responsibilities here, so I can't just run away; yet I don't know how to handle this new… world?... that I've suddenly been tossed into. I really don't know what to do right now. I was hoping that you would have some suggestions for me."

She blew a plume of smoke as she thought. "So," she said. "If I understand you correctly, you are not planning on leaving Hinata House and you're intending to take your responsibilities seriously. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," he replied.

"Are you certain about this? The Family will be depending on you and will expect you to do your best. They don't expect perfection, but they do expect your best effort."

Keitaro gathered his resolve and looked her in the eye. "I'm certain."

"Okay, then," she said. "First off, today was a very unusual day. While you should always be vigilant, it is highly unlikely that there will be another attack any time soon. If our warding shield hadn't been compromised then there probably wouldn't have been an attempt today. You should have more than enough time to get some adequate training under your belt before any kind of a repeat performance is needed. However, that is a guess only."

Keitaro nodded his head in understanding.

"As you've been told, maintaining the wards is of primary importance. It is your first line of defense and it is a very powerful one. I will also be working on strengthening the wards in a few days when I have the patterns and mechanics arranged adequately."

Keitaro nodded again.

"As far as training you goes, for the moment it's going to be rather half-hazard. We really can't afford to send you away for formal training right now; and if we did it would screw up your chances of getting into Toudai for some time. It's best if you receive any training here. I can teach you a few things that will help but, frankly, I'm a lousy teacher. My patience is limited. I might also be able to teach you about firearms later."

Keitaro quietly sweat-dropped; he wasn't too sure about weapons training.

"Adam happens to be an excellent instructor and I believe that he was approached about taking you on as a student. The thing is: Adam will only teach people who want to learn and will put forth the required effort. If a student isn't interested in learning, then neither is Adam willing to teach him. No exceptions. Zilch. None. I understand that he has already attempted to teach you in the past."

Keitaro hung his head at the memory. "Yeah, he did," he admitted. "I wasn't interested in learning the arts at the time and I'm afraid that he finally gave up in frustration. He did manage to work me through the initiation, for which I'll always be grateful. Without it subconsciously harnessing my ki energies, I would have been killed several times already, especially after moving here to Hinata House."

"Well, he's currently your best bet as an instructor. Unfortunately, you already have a poor history with him that you're going to have to work around. Why don't you just ask him if he would be willing to instruct you, and then explain to him that this time you are willing to put the required effort into the learning. I'll bet that he'll be happy to take you on as a student."

Keitaro rubbed the back of his head as he thought things over. "I guess that makes sense. What things will I need to learn, so I know what questions to ask and what to expect?"

Haruka took a puff off of her ever-present cigarette, and then she gave him a direct look. "You're going to need to learn more about the family history and traditions, and something about its political alignments with certain other families. You're going to need some basic knowledge about simple magic to begin with, and probably get a better understanding down the road when you have more time. You'll need to know something about demons and other magical beings. You'll also need some weapons training so you can defend yourself and others against these beings."

"That's a lot to learn, Keitaro complained.

"Get used to it," Haruka said without any sympathy. "You'll be learning new things for the rest of your life. When you stop learning, you die. Did you think that you were somehow entitled to receive the Family hotel and grounds for nothing in return? The price you pay is in having to protect and to improve it. To do this you need specialized knowledge. Acquiring that knowledge and putting it to use is part of that price."

Keitaro wilted a little as he listened to his aunt. Then he gathered his resolve again and sat up straighter. "If that's what I need to do, then I'll do it," he said.

"Good enough," she replied. "Now… if you will kindly get lost, I have to get ready for my lunch customers."

He smiled as he got to his feet. "Sure. Talk to you later."

OOO

Adam dropped his light shield after he had sneaked out of the kitchen area. Apparently Mo-chan hadn't yet learned that the same technique that she sometimes used to conceal her katana could also be used to conceal a person. She had been just as easy as Keitaro was to get around.

He was very disappointed in Motoko at the moment. According to the information that he had gotten from Mom and Haruka, and the little that he had seen for himself since moving into the dormitory, Motoko had turned into quite the bully where males were concerned. He hoped that she developed some better self-control before her sister found out. Tsuruko would probably give her a few good lumps over it. In the mean time, it wasn't really his business to interfere.

But he still wasn't very happy with her and he was intending to avoid her for the time being. Niiko had said some interesting things about her and he knew that Motoko was planning on seeking him out. He figured he'd have some fun with her by frustrating her attempts to talk to him. He'd always enjoyed "hide and seek." He hoped that Motoko still did. Adam solidly locked down his ki energy so that Motoko couldn't use it to track him.

He decided to check on the two bridges that were supposed to have been repaired. There were actually four bridges on the property for which he was responsible. One crossed the river behind the dormitory and led to the twelve hundred and eighty-odd acres of woods, meadows, and mountain property that he had inherited, along with their secrets. The second was a covered bridge that crossed the river and ended up against the mountain, where a wood-covered tunnel entrance existed. These were the two bridges that were to have been repaired.

The third bridge crossed the river and led to the old hotel annex building that was now totally off limits to everyone. This building was considered to be too dangerous and unusable, not because it had been condemned as structurally unsound, but because there was a curse upon it that forced people to fall in love with each other. The curse also preserved the building and the bridge leading to it from any kind of decay. This was one of the structures that had been placed into Adam's hands for safekeeping.

The fourth bridge was an older foot bridge made of stone that was still in excellent condition. It crossed the river near the annex bridge and led to a narrow mountain hiking path.

He left the dormitory through the side door that he had used earlier and headed behind the garage building to the northeastern side of the hotel property.

The river looped around the dormitory coming in from the west side and curved northwest and north around the complex before falling into the larger river that flowed through the town of Hinata Hot Springs. On the north side of the river was a mountain side that abruptly climbed above the residential complex. The mountain rapidly descended to the northwest until it vanished into the woods and meadows on the west side of the river.

The first bridge that Adam came across while walking westward, was the freshly repaired one that led directly up to the mountainside and the sealed tunnel there. The next one was the annex bridge. The annex building sat on a wide shelf and was almost nestled up against the mountain, right where the river began curving towards the west and southwest. He could easily feel the curse as he walked by the end of the bridge, which was blocked by a chain and a warning sign. He stopped for a moment and gazed at the old structure.

Niiko suddenly appeared next to him and looked suspiciously at the building. "There is some serious creepiness there, Master," she commented. "What's wrong with that place?"

Adam glanced at her then looked sadly back at the building. "This used to be the most beautiful part of the Hinata Inn, up until about thirty-five years ago. It was a special hotel section that was used to house very important guests. The Family doesn't know when it happened or who did it, but a very powerful curse was placed upon the building. Nobody noticed it at first, other than sometimes guests would seem to fall madly in love with each other. This was generally considered as a good thing… at first. Eventually the annex's reputation for finding love mates spread, and many powerful people came just in the hopes of finding their 'soul mate.' Apparently, each time the curse successfully united a couple, its power and ability increased. Soon it was creating same-gender couples out of people who had been 'straight' up until then, causing personal and political difficulties for the victims. When it was finally realized that a curse was involved, the Family closed down the annex. They were never able to find a cure for its illness. So now a beautiful building sits empty; not even allowed a peaceful death in its sleep."

He looked away from the structure and noticed that Niiko was now looking intensely at the building. "You know, Master," she began. "There are many unhappy spirits wandering through that building?"

"Yes," he replied. "I expect there are. I've never been in there; it was closed off before I was even born. However, I can sense some of them even from here. You see, the curse was only interested in forcing couples together. It didn't care what the respective genders were or if the victims were already happily married to other people. This led to some soul shattering experiences; some ending in suicide or of some people just giving up on life. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the curse has somehow enslaved its victims and forced them back to itself upon their deaths, however that may have occurred. I wish it were possible to cleanse the building and to release the spirits to be on their way, but it's too dangerous to enter."

He shrugged his shoulders and then started walking again. Niiko fell in beside him. Shortly, they passed by the stone foot bridge. They walked quietly together until they got to the fourth bridge, which had also been repaired, and began to cross it.

"What are you going to do about the kitsune spirit, Master?" Niiko asked quietly. "I know that you've sensed her."

"Nothing for now," he replied. "You know that I don't usually go out of my way to bother yōkai unless there is a very good reason. I'll observe this one for a while to see what her intent is. If she is hazardous, she'll be removed. The Family doesn't tolerate dangerous beings in its territory."

"What about me, Master?"

"I know you can be dangerous, but you also have good control over yourself and you're not a berserker. The only time that I've known you to attack someone unwarranted, was when you were ordered to do so by that disgusting Bon priest that used to own and control you. I'm totally comfortable with having you around."

Niiko stretched up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you, Master… for saving me from that nasty man, and for still wanting me around even though he made me do some bad things."

Adam stopped and put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair for a moment as he smiled fondly at her. "You're welcome." He paused for a moment and then asked, "What are you going to do today?"

She gave him a slightly "off" smile and said, "I'm going to keep an eye on that fox spirit." With that being said, she gave a wave of her hand, turned around, and re-crossed the bridge. When she stepped off the last wooden plank, she faded away and vanished.

Adam shook his head and grinned to himself as he turned back towards the woods. He had only taken a single step forward when he caught a movement out of the upper corner of his eye. When he glanced back and upwards he saw a small, dark object which was growing larger as it sped towards him, followed by the sound like flapping cloth. The thing was obviously not under power, as it appeared to be coasting in on a ballistic course and was rapidly dropping towards him at about a 45 degree angle.

Ah, CRAP!

At the last moment, Adam saw that the object was Keitaro as his nephew plowed into the energetically flowing river just downstream from the waterfall. A huge plume of water jetted from the impact site and Adam had to quickly dance backwards and sideways to avoid being doused by the cold spume.

After a moment, Adam put his hands into his front pockets and wandered over to river bank where a stunned Keitaro was bobbing face-up on the surface like a float attached to a fishing line. Soon, awareness returned to his eyes and he righted himself and carefully swam to shore. After pulling himself up onto the dry land, he stood there shivering and looking woebegone and bedraggled.

OOO

Motoko was royally pissed… to put it mildly. How dare that Urashima… male… push her down and violate her lips! Oh, was he going to pay when she caught up to him. She gripped her katana until her knuckles were white. She was running at nearly her top speed and using her ki energy to accelerate herself past that of any normal human.

Keitaro had been flying towards the waterfall… that's where she'd catch up to him. And then…!

This was the third time that her lips had been assaulted: first by that mechanical contraption of Su's, then by Su herself, and now by that disgusting, perverted Urashima. So much for romantic first kisses; something precious had been taken from her again, and this time the thief would atone for the theft!

Looking upwards, she could just make out the dark shape of Keitaro as he arced over in the sky and began falling towards the river. Motoko redoubled her speed and raced towards the falls.

She arrived as Keitaro crashed into the water just a little south of the falls. She used up her residual speed by skipping across some of the rocks sticking out of the water and landing dryly upon the far side river bank. As she stalked towards the spot where Keitaro had gone into the water, Motoko was so concentrated on her target that she unknowingly put her foot down on a wet, mossy stone. With a muffled thump, Motoko slipped and fell into a clump of bushes, much to her disgust with herself. The impact also stunned her for a moment. When she was able to sit up, she suddenly spotted Adam Urashima approaching the river bank. She decided to remain concealed and to see what this new Urashima male was up to now!

Motoko concentrated on increasing the sensitivity of her hearing as Keitaro climbed out of the river and stood miserably on the bank under his uncle's scrutiny.

"So, Keitaro," Adam said after eyeing him over for any lingering injuries. "Where did you find an artillery piece big enough to launch your ass all the way over here? I didn't think we had any large field mortars left in the armory."

Keitaro blushed and looked down at his feet. "Well, you see… I didn't mean to, you understand," he fudged. "But I sort of … I accidentally kissed Motoko!"

Adam stared incredulously at him, and then he slowly blinked twice. After a time his eyes slowly tracked downwards until they settled on Keitaro's crotch. There didn't seem to be any bleeding there. "Well," he said after looking back up at Keitaro's face. "To use an old nautical expression: she seems to have left your wedding tackle in one piece… at least for the moment."

Keitaro considered that statement for a moment and then his flushed face turned pale. "Uh, you don't think that she'll hold a grudge, do you?"

"This is Motoko Aoyama we're talking about... right?" Adam replied. "A little bit taller than you; long black hair and dark olive eyes; usually wearing a red hakama and a white gi; and likes waving her katana about on occasion? Not too happy with the male gender? That Motoko?"

Keitaro winced. "I guess that was a silly question, wasn't it?"

Adam just nodded at him, and then asked, "What could possibly have possessed you to 'accidentally' kiss Motoko? I thought you were already busy romancing both that Narusegawa woman and cousin Mutsumi. Isn't going after three women at once sort of asking for trouble? I mean, women do have this strange tendency to frown on their men two-timing them or, in this case, three-timing them."

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Keitaro objected. "I was going down the stairs and tripped. Motoko was at the bottom of the staircase and I landed on top of her. Our lips just happened to meet. I never intended to kiss her!"

"According to Haruka," Adam said. "You've been having a lot of these tripping accidents. Now, everyone has accidents; its part of being human. But I don't recall you tripping over everything when we were younger. So what's going on with you now? Why have you suddenly become so clumsy?"

Motoko shifted quietly within her concealing bushes, waiting on Keitaro's answer. Her left ankle was beginning to ache where she had twisted it upon falling.

Keitaro looked at his uncle and then down at the ground. "I'm not really sure," he said after a moment. "It started about two years ago, and it's been getting worse recently. And it's not just the tripping. I always seem to open a door at the wrong moment, or walk into a room and see something that I shouldn't see. I know the girls think that I'm doing it deliberately, and they pound me for it, but I swear that I'm not!"

Adam was observing Keitaro closely and it seemed as if his nephew was telling him the truth, at least as he saw it. "Have you been distracted by anything major during this time?" he asked, already knowing at least part of the answer. Keitaro had been distracted for years.

"Well," he said looking at his uncle. "I'm constantly thinking about my studies for Tokyo U or worrying about an upcoming test. That's pretty stressful and sometimes that's all I can think about. And sometimes I get really nervous around the girls. I've made so many mistakes around them, and been 'punished' so often for them, that I get distracted and then I have an accident anyway."

Adam looked at the sky for a moment, and then he looked back at his nephew. "Would you like some advice?" he asked.

Keitaro nodded. "Yes, I would," he said.

"You know how to drive a car, although you probably don't have much experience driving. Correct?"

"That's right," Keitaro answered.

"Tell me. If you were driving a car down the street, would you just ignore what you were doing and what was going on around you?"

"Of course not," Keitaro replied in a puzzled voice.

"Of course not," Adam echoed. "You'd get into an accident real fast. You'd be nothing but a dangerous 4,000 pound battering ram looking to injure or kill someone, perhaps even yourself. Yet, to a lesser extent, that's similar to what you do when you're walking around not really paying attention to what you're doing or what's going on around you."

Keitaro started to protest and Adam quickly held up his hand to silence him.

"When you trip and fall down, how many times do you involve someone else in your accident?"

Keitaro stared at him then said, "Not always, but probably most of the time." He looked away in embarrassment.

"Using today as an example, you probably weren't thinking about where you were putting your feet and tripped. You likely weigh more than Motoko does. If you had struck her the wrong way with your body, you both could have been injured. You said you landed on her and 'locked lips?'"

Keitaro nodded.

"What if you two had smacked teeth instead of just touching lips?"

Keitaro went pale again.

"The thing is that there's no reason for you to be tripping if you are paying attention to things rather than being lost in your thoughts. That's hazardous to yourself and to the others around you."

"But I couldn't really help myself from being distracted. I kept thinking about those demons attacking this morning and what I should do about it!"

Motoko's ears perked up when she heard about demons attacking. She rubbed her ankle and concentrated more on hearing the conversation better.

"I understand that, but you could still have been paying attention to your feet as you went down the stairs. And when you 'open doors at the wrong time' are you knocking first or are you just opening the doors while your mind is distracted elsewhere?"

"Well," Keitaro hedged, seeing where this was going. "Sometimes I just open the door and sometimes I knock first."

"You do understand that if a door is closed it usually implies that at least one person is seeking and expecting some privacy? Knocking is not a technicality that you just do as you're flinging the door open. You might want to stop at any closed door, knock loudly, and count slowly to five while consciously listening for an answer; even if you think that nobody's there. I'll bet that if you start fully paying attention to what you're doing and to your surroundings that most of your accidents will disappear and your relationship with the girls will also improve. Anyway, that's my advice. You're welcome to use it or to ignore it, as you please."

"Oh, and one other thing," Adam said. "You might want to apologize to Motoko. You may not have intended to injure her but you did knock her down, and you might want to find her before she finds you. If she has to chase you down it will only excite her more. You know how adrenaline rushes work. You're more likely to get hurt if she's on an adrenaline high."

Keitaro nodded. A cool breeze whipped by and Keitaro shivered in his damp clothing.

Adam noticed the shivering. "You did well with the techniques that I gave you at the warding stones this morning. Would you like to try another one that should warm your body up?"

Keitaro shivered and nodded. He wrapped his arms tighter about himself. "That would help," he said.

"This is a discipline called 'Tumo,'" Adam said. "Basically, it encourages your body to produce significantly more heat. Adepts of Tumo are able to sit naked in snow banks, and not only do they produce enough heat to stay comfortably warm but to also melt the snow surrounding them. That takes a lot of practice, but you should be able to produce enough warmth to stay comfortable."

Keitaro nodded his head in understanding.

"The Tumo technique is divided into two exercises," Adam continued. "The first exercise, which the Chinese call 'bottle breath,' is a practice method for learning how to draw the proper energy into your body. Since you are already able to draw adequate energy into your body, I'll skip over this exercise. We'll come back to it later if you're not able to do the second exercise without this preliminary training. This second part is the 'meat and potatoes' part of Tumo. I want you to close your eyes and relax. Visualize your body. Now, imagine that every single cell in your body – every single one, is a small sun radiating heat into your body. Take slow, deep breaths. As you inhale imagine that energy is being sucked into each cell from a source behind it. On each exhalation, imagine that this energy is flowing as heat outward from each cell and into your body. Feel the warmth increase in your body. Now, continue doing this for a few minutes."

Adam continued to observe Keitaro as he worked on the breathing and visualization exercise. After about two minutes, he noticed that Keitaro had stopped shivering and his skin was beginning to "pink up." Very good.

While his nephew was immersed in his breathing, Adam decided to relax for a moment. He let a trickle of his ki energy out to scout the area, which was a survival habit that he had developed years earlier. Almost immediately his energy pinged off of a major life force source concealed in a clump of bushes about sixty feet upriver from his position. It took him a few seconds to recognize the ki signature as that of Motoko.

Adam smiled to himself. I'll bet she was tracking Keitaro. As to how she got into the bushes without my knowing it… I guess I must be getting sloppy! Consider myself slapped. Twice! Hmmm, and add a butt kicking as well.

He returned his attention back to Keitaro. After about three more minutes, he cleared his throat. "That's enough for now," he said. "How are you feeling?"

Keitaro opened his eyes and gave him a big smile. "I'm feeling nice and warm and full of energy!" he said. "I think that my clothes are also beginning to dry. This is great!"

Adam returned the smile. "Since this is your first time, the heat will probably fade away in a little while. If you keep practicing, eventually you'll train your body to produce sufficient heat without even thinking about it. You might want to head back to the inn now while you're still warm."

"Thank you for the lesson and the advice, Uncle… I mean, Adam."

Momentarily Keitaro shifted his weight from foot to foot; hesitating to broach the subject that was on his mind. Finally, he took a breath and said, "Umm, Adam, I'd like to ask a big favor from you."

"What do you need?" Adam asked quietly, more or less expecting what was coming.

"After what happened this morning… well, I now realize the importance of… I mean, would you please teach me what I need to know to take care of this place. I promise that this time I will stick to the training and pay attention to the instructions."

Adam locked eyes with Keitaro and silently studied him for about thirty seconds. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, why not? As long as you stick to the training, I'll be happy to instruct you."

Keitaro returned a big smile to his uncle. "Thank you. I meant it when I said that I'll stick to it this time. Well, I guess I had better head back. See you at lunch," he said as he headed across the bridge.

Adam watched him leave and then his smile became a little lopsided. I wonder what I've let myself in for? Oh well… It's time for the next item of business: teasing Mo-chan.

Motoko had been watching Keitaro as he walked across the wooden bridge. When she looked back, she saw that Adam Urashima had disappeared again. Damn, he's fast, she thought as she attempted to get to her feet. When she put her weight on her left ankle, it collapsed out from under her and she sat back down with a solid thump and a curse.

"Is your ankle sprained?" a voice asked suddenly from right next to her. Motoko almost jumped out of her skin. Her head spun around and she saw that Adam was sitting cross-legged on the ground only four feet away.

"What are you doing there?" she said in surprise, and some anger at the scare that she had just received.

"I noticed that you were hanging-out here earlier," he said. "And I thought that I would be polite and see how you were doing."

Motoko started to blush red with embarrassment over the fact that she had been caught spying. "I'm doing just fine!" she said and attempted to get up. A moment later and she was again thumping her rear-end on the ground.

"May I take a look at your left ankle?" Adam asked; expecting the coming outburst from Motoko.

"I already told you that I'm fine!" Motoko said angrily. "I can take care of myself. I don't need some… male… to help me!"

"I'm sure that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself," Adam replied patiently. "But there is no reason for you to automatically refuse help when it is offered to you, either. You have an injury, and there is no reason to make it worse just to prove to someone else that you can tolerate the pain."

"I'm not trying to prove anything… especially to a male! I told you that I'm fine!"

Adam looked directly into her angry grey eyes. Motoko glared back but she saw that he was neither intimidated nor deceived by her declaration.

"Aoyama-san," he said sternly. "You're a member of the Shinmei-ryu; in fact, you're the 'heir apparent.' What did the Gods' Cry School teach you about warrior ethics where it comes to simple injuries?"

Motoko stared at him. How did he know…? She started to give him an angry reply, but then she paused and thought about what he had just asked her. Her instructors at the school had been very clear on the matter. If a warrior was actively in combat or his/her skills might be needed almost immediately, minor injuries were to receive only basic treatment and then were to be ignored as much as possible. It was assumed that a warrior could deal with the pain. At any other time, minor injuries were to be treated as quickly as possible and were to be protected from receiving any additional damage. More damage meant a longer healing time and the more time that other warriors would have to cover for the injured one. Also, what was originally a minor injury could also become a permanent condition if not treated properly. It was considered both as honorable and required for other warriors to give assistance to their fellow warriors who were injured.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Motoko looked at Adam. "I get your point," she said stiffly.

"Okay then," he said. "Let me get a look at your ankle."

Motoko shifted on her hip and brought her left foot around until it was pointing at him. She looked away as he moved closer to her.

Adam pushed her red hakama up her leg about a foot and then pulled down her sock, exposing her ankle. He could see that it appeared to be quite swollen; which was nature's way of splinting an injured joint. He didn't bother putting any pressure on the ankle or experiment with moving it about.

"I need to see your other ankle so I can compare the two," he said.

Silently, she brought her other ankle around. Adam pulled down that sock and compared them. The left ankle was swollen to almost twice the size of the right one. He pulled the sock back up.

"We need to get you back to Hinata House and get some elevation and ice on this ankle. Here, let me help you up," he said while extending his hand.

"I don't need any assistance getting up!" she said, but she was now just going through the motions. Her ankle was definitely hurting her.

"Stop being silly," Adam chided her. "You just fell on your behind twice just a couple of minutes ago. You were here and watched yourself do it. So let's just get you on your feet so we can get going."

He extended his hand again and this time Motoko quietly took it. Once she was on her feet, with most of her weight on her right foot, Adam bent over.

"Hop aboard," he said. "You won't be walking or hobbling back."

She started to protest the indignity, but then she just sighed instead. She draped her arms over Adam's shoulders and brought them together across his chest. She could feel his muscles as she tightened her grip and rested her chin on his shoulder. Adam had previously retrieved her sheathed katana and had tucked it through the front of his belt. He now stood up straight and supported her thighs with his hands, with her legs sticking out past his sides. He began walking southwards along the river bank and was soon crossing the bridge.

Motoko was very tense at first, but when she saw that he wasn't going to take any liberties with her, she began to relax. The vibes that she was getting from him were comforting and non-threatening. Soon, she had shifted her head so that her chin was no longer resting on his shoulder, but the left side of her face had taken its place. It had been a long day for her. She had started out being short on sleep and then she had burned a lot of her energy while chasing after Urashima… Keitaro. Now that she wasn't moving about it was becoming difficult for her to stay awake… The steady tread of Adam's walking pace; his comforting vibes; the warmth radiating into her where their bodies made contact… Slowly her eyes began to close and her grip about his chest grew lighter. A moment later, her consciousness faded away.

They were almost back to the inn, when Adam noticed that Motoko's breathing patterns had changed. Soon she was making very light snoring sounds near his ear.

Well, I'll be damned, Adam thought to himself.

End of Chapter.

A/N: About the Bon priest that Niiko had served – the Bon "religion" is a pre-Buddhist, shamanistic religion practiced by some of the Tibetans. Unlike most of the various shamanistic groups around the world, the Bon variant delves heavily into demon worship, necromancy, and the darker arts, although not exclusively. They are the Eastern equivalent to the Satanists in the West, and for many of the same reasons: power or perceived power.

Thanks for reading.