I've been waiting a long time to post this one. It'll be a while before chapter 37 comes out, so I hope this will keep you guys sated until then. I also went back and updated all the chapters with correct dates. Everything now lines up chronologically for 2011 even if canon events don't. This is, after all, AU. :)

I used the Kamiya dojo from the first ""Rurouni Kenshin" movie (live action from 2012) as inspiration for the Satonaka Dojo. This should help you picture the environment.

Thanks again to everyone reading this. :) I hope you've been enjoying the way I'm developing Yu's history.

36st SCENT: A TEST OF HEART

September 2th. Friday. One week later...

Early September brought with it the last brutal heat wave that kept many people sprawled out in front of their fans and air conditioners. The lazy days were filled with the sounds of cicadas. The weather forecast said colder days were soon ahead, and to prepare for fall in as soon as 2 days.

Chie had called Yu that afternoon to see if he could help her train for an upcoming Kung Fu tournament in early October. By the sound of his voice, he was reluctant to leave the blissful cool of his uncle's house, yet he agreed to help her anyway. That illness had really kept her down, and now that her health was fully restored, she had to make up for lost time. She'd have even less time once school began that Monday.

Both entryways to the Satonaka Dojo were pushed open so the daylight could fill the old, wood-panel room. The heat pulled out the blended aroma of musk and wood oil of the old building. Although the traditional architecture showed its ancient age, it was very well cared for. The two worked up a sweat at the punching bag, and running drills across the room with Yu holding a hand pad for her to practice her aim.

"Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Yeah. Having your soul shredded by a magical virus really puts things into perspective." She pushed him to the edge of the room with a series of front snap kicks and spinning back kicks. She trusted him to switch the pad between striking ranges, so she didn't hold back her strength or power.

The heat soon began to get to her. She wiped the moisture from her face and neck with a towel. "Let's take a break. Can you go get a couple of waters from the 'fridge? There's one in the storage shed we keep for students so they don't go into the house."

"Sure." Happy to rest for a little while, and parched, he set the pad down, stepped down out of the dojo, put his shoes on, and walked across the courtyard to the shed.

Chie's fists added new lumps to the old workout equipment while he was gone. She gave it a good right, left, and uppercut. The sudden light from his phone caught her eye in the corner where he'd stashed his shoulder bag. She ignored it and kept up with her routine. Why should she care anyway? It went off again a minute later. Curious, she walked over just to glance at who it might be. Maybe it was Yosuke –it usually was. The urge to answer back with a prank text was almost too much to withhold.

The number displayed said 'Nakajima'. Could it be a girl? If so, it wasn't her business. As she turned away, the phone went off a third time. This time, it said 'Nurse Uehara.' Was he dating two different girls at the same time? Maybe three if that first text had been from someone else? What a player! She'd have to ditch the punching bag their next go-around and give him a good pounding. And yet the phone had the audacity to actually start ringing in the middle of her mental rampage. Without thinking, she picked it up.

"Hello, Yu's phone." It hit her as she was speaking that she should have just let it go. She cursed her inability to think before reacting.

"Who's this?" The woman's voice on the other end asked. The loud commotion of bamboo clacking against bamboo amid battle cries in the background forced her to raise her voice to be heard.

A fourth girl?! Her fist trembled. Why that four-timing little— "I'm a friend of Yu's," she said, trying not to sound disgusted.

"A friend? Really? That's great!" the voice seemed to smile on the other end. "This is his mother. Can you tell him to call me back as soon as he can at this number, please?"

His mother?! Oh great. Chie's instant guilt made her feel like she wanted to crawl into a dark hole. Yu was going to kill her. "Oh, uh, yeah. Of course I will."

"Thanks. Oh, I'm up soon. I have to go. Bye!"

She ended the call and put the phone back. That woman sounded far too boisterous to be his mother. Now she had to give him the message and confess to breaking a friendship code by answering his phone. She cringed. Maybe he'd just see the number and call back on his own to figure out who it was... No, that was a lousy idea. His mom would say a girl answered, and she'd have to admit to invading his privacy, though by that time, the situation would be worse. Her assumption and anger might cause her to lose a friend. What was she going to do? "Oh man," she hissed through grit teeth.

"Who was that?"

A cold spike of dread speared through her core at the sound of his calm voice. Guess she wouldn't have to entertain any of these theories at all. She turned around with the grace of a robot. "Um. Sorry. It was ringing. I know I shouldn't have picked it up."

He wasn't upset. He checked the number's source and found that it originated from Los Angeles, California in the United States. He didn't know anyone in the U.S., so that could only be one person.

"Your mom sounds nice." Chie tried to lighten her mistake with a soft chuckle. "Really friendly."

"She's probably between matches." he stated flatly, as if reporting the news, and put the phone back. "She becomes a completely different person when she picks up a sword."

"Wait, really? So she's at a tournament?"

He nodded once. "I'm surprised she remembered phones exist." Or that I exist, he thought.

"I didn't know your mom practiced Kenjutsu. She any good?"

He hesitated. "...A little." And went back to holding the punching bag for her.

Chie concentrated on the magic skill of Bufu she'd discovered in the t.v world to frost over the outside of the bottles. Being able to cool things down in this heat was a blessing. She chugged some water and set the bottle down. "What about you?" She began to pulverize the bag once more.

He held firm against each strike. "I'm ok, I guess," he replied in a non-nonchalant way.

"Well, then I'll have to challenge you sometime." She stretched out her legs and threw a couple of turning kicks with heavy 'thumps' against the fabric. "I know a few moves. My dad believes having knowledge of various martial arts helps to make you a well-rounded person. But, my passion is really Kung Fu."

"Your dad's a smart guy."

"Hey, why not now?" She grinned. "I really wanna test my speed as an animal demon on someone. You up for it?"

He didn't like where this was going. Sadly, he felt his history about to repeat itself. "Uh, I don't think that's such a great idea—" He began.

"What? Are you scared?" She grabbed two bokken from a rack on the far wall and handed him one. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on ya."

His trepidation wasn't about her beating him. Although he knew where the path of saying nothing and taking her offer might lead, he accepted it and stepped back. Chie had been sick at the time he'd gone into the TV world with Kanji, Yukiko, and Rise to find the cure for the illness plaguing her and the other animal demons, so she hadn't seen him fight against the shadows. She had no idea. He'd keep his skill toned down.

They bowed to each other and slipped into their ready stances.

She gave him the sign that she was prepared to fight.

Yu's right foot shifted slightly as he pressed forward quickly. He blocked her wooden blade, barely grazing her torso as he flew by her and turned around. It was a normal point for a dual without protective gear. That was way too easy. Better withhold his ability a little more.

Chie gasped. She'd had enough time to perform a downswing, but he'd appeared behind her when she inhaled in a second. She turned, twisting her palms against the wood. "Lucky shot. Try to avoid this!" She went for a side strike again, which he blocked and scored a point. Then she went for a shoulder –blocked. A knee—blocked. His wrist—blocked. Finally she cried out swinging the blade with as much skill as she held for a neck strike, only to have her weapon batted away. His blade stopped just shy of her neck. Her breath caught in her throat. He was fast; Incredibly fast, and controlled. The wooden practice weapon didn't quiver in the slightest.

Hers, however, did. She clenched her fist around the hilt to quell the jolt of adrenaline. Had this been a real fight against an enemy, she would have been dead at the start.

A muscle in his cheek twitched. Crap. He'd seriously held back, and yet she'd been defeated that easily. She really sucked. As a swordsman, she was an amazing Kung Fu martial artist. He relaxed and backed away.

As he stepped aside, she could suddenly imagine him wearing a traditional indigo kimono and hakama, a sheath secured to his kaku obi, his hair long enough to be tied back at the nape of his neck, but his bangs allowed to brush across his face from the breeze, and those silver eyes hiding both great kindness and incredible skill –a lone warrior, a great samurai protecting the weak. It was an amazingly vivid image that would stick with her for the rest of her life. Chie had to fight to regain her vocabulary. "I...thought you said...you were just... 'ok.'"

He shrugged.

She began laughing. "That wasn't 'ok,' that was amazing! What a rush! You're amazing! You gotta tell me who your sensei is."

He held the bokken downward loosely in his right hand to show he wasn't going to continue the dual, though he hesitated to answer.

"C'mon, I need a name, here. Who taught you those moves?"

"I'd rather-"

"Nope. Not gonna get let you outa this one." She thrust her foot out in a side kick, which he blocked even though she had no intention of hitting him. Her kicking aim was too good. She just wanted to pressure him a little. "Spill it," she threw a jumping front kick, then a turning kick, emphasizing each one with, 'spill it, spill it, spill it.'

Still he said nothing. He backed up through the dojo with each attack until he finally caught her side kick. "Ok, you win."

She folded her arms, waiting with a smug grin after he let go of her foot.

The two fatal words he needed to respond with may ruin this friendship, but she wouldn't let up until he agreed. Finally, he took a deep breath, and said, "...My mom."

Chie's grin gradually faded out. Her eyes widened. "Wait... Wait a minute... Narukami?"

He just stared at her and waited for the inevitable.

"THE Narukami?"

His eyes slid closed with a soft breath. Here we go...

She exploded. "Your mother is Yuko Narukami?! The current leading kenjutsu champion of the WORLD?!"

And...there it was. Every time. He moved to replace the bokken on the wall rack. So much for anonymity.

Her jaw hit the floor. "Why didn't I see it before?! I'm such an idiot! That explains why your Persona is a samurai! Yuko is incredible! She won every national competition for six years straight! Not to mention countless regionals, and internationals! Didn't she coach an Olympic Kendo team once?

"Eight years ago."

"And she's till competing!" Chie steam-rolled over his answer in her feverish hype. "Wow! If she's competing now, it has to be to defend her title! I can't believe your mother is Yuko Narukami! That is so awesome!" Being a Satonaka, everyone in her family knew of Yuko's fame in the martial arts world. Her father, especially, was a fan. He admired anyone with the discipline and talent to gain that high an honor. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"It never came up." He set the wooden blade gently on the holding rack with respect for the dojo. He was surprised she hadn't put it together before now. Out of all of his friends, he expected her to be the only one who'd care about his bloodline. It wasn't like he held a very common surname.

"Dude, don't you think that's kinda huge?" She stepped over.

"Not really." He faced her, though tried to keep his voice light. "You still need to train for your tournament, right? You'll win if you just keep trying. Especially with that Galactic Punt you like to use on Yosuke."

"But..." Words failed her as she watched him walk back to the punching bag. At first, she didn't comprehend why he was so reluctant, but the more she watched him, the more she understood that he'd been living in his mother's shadow. Even if she loved him, trained him, and he competed to win his own awards, Yuko still couldn't escape being a giant in comparison, and thus he couldn't escape her. He was probably left with babysitters or family members a lot –hence him even being in Inaba in the first place. If he moved around, he likely made friends on a very rare basis, or avoided connecting with people at all—which meant he was accustomed to being alone, and had adapted to living with the sense of being invisible...like he didn't exist.

A quick exhale left her. Everything suddenly made sense. His bond with the fox demon was so incredibly strong, because—in that regard—they were exactly the same.

Ashamed, Chie moved over to the bag. "Yu...I'm sorry. It couldn't have been easy to grow up with that everywhere you went."

"I'm used to it. It's ok." He shrugged it off and readied the bag for her to practice kicks.

"No, it's not!" She shoved the bag aside, making him step back. "I was a horrible friend just now!"

"Really," he smiled a bit. "It's fine."

"It's not fine! I totally fangirled, and that was rude, and not fair to you at all!"

"Chie—"

She quickly cut him off. "You risked your life to save me. That's not something someone ever forgets. I like you for who you are, you know, and I don't care who your mom is. It won't change anything."

"Calm down."

Chie cringed. Why couldn't she keep her big mouth shut instead of digging a deeper hole trying to get out of said hole? She took a deep breath. "Let me make it up to you. Yukiko's coming over for dinner, so why don't you and Yosuke join us? We're having bbq."

"Thanks, but I—"

"It's rude to turn down a dinner invitation, especially when it's in the form of an apology."

He paused, but gave in with a light 'hn' in a chuckle. She could be very persistent. He was happy to have her as a friend. Besides, she'd said Yukiko would be there. "I guess I am kinda hungry."

"Great! I'll go tell dad to expect two more guests! Don't worry. I'll leave your name out of it." She planted both hands on her hips and walked out of the dojo. "Be here at 7!" She waved back, smiling with the sense that she understood him a little more. Their friendship was a little stronger, now.

Yu sighed heavily as he was left alone in the Satonaka dojo.

He'd run the risk of losing yet another friend to the suffocating influence of his mother's fame, but this time he'd won the battle. She'd permanently earned his trust. He hoped he could always count on Chie Satonaka to stay honest, and to never stop calling it like it is.

Next Scent: TBD