A/N: Thank's everyone, I really didn't think this fanfic would be any good, and I do have to admit that it was the fanfic Keitaro the Fighter that sparked my interest in the concept of what would happen if Keitaro could fight, but in my opinion it was way too violent to be like Keitaro at all, I'm trying to keep him as much in character as possible. Arigatou, minna-san! (Thank you, everyone!) Oh yes, I must add that from now on I'm no longer following the anime, except for a few things, I feel that a lot of it wouldn't fit very well with Keitaro's new fighting skills.
Oh yeah, words in ['s are places and speech in 's are thoughts! So without further ado, the second chapter, to Keitaro's Hidden Abilities!
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The Hina Blade: Keitaro Posessed!
[Hinata Inn]
It had been a week since Keitaro had discovered his...abilities....and since then they had returned to Hinata-sou, and everything appeared to be getting to normal, except for the fact that Keitaro had stopped having his little accidents. Everyone was pleased at this, they all assumed that it was because of his new abilities. Everyone was completely shocked, most of all Naru, when they figured out from Haruka why he could fight so well.
Naru sat in her room studying with Keitaro, she couldn't seem to concentrate as well as she normally could, she looked over at Keitaro who was working hard on a math problem, she sat there looking at him, images rushing into her head of when she had learned why Keitaro could beat Seta.
~FLASHBACK~
[Hinata Beach Tea House]
Haruka sat at the end of the table, the residents of Hinata-sou crowded around, they all wanted to hear where Keitaro learned to fight so fast. Everyone was there except for Keitaro, who they sent to load up all their luggage into the van they used, Seta, who had gone on another one of his excavations, and Sara, who had gone with her papa.
Haruka was sitting cross legged, her arms crossed and her lit cigarette protruding from her mouth, she would explain it to them as best as she could, "Whenever a person in the Urashima family feels that his or her life is threatened, they summon a hidden power to defend themselves, but they summon in unconsciously." said Haruka calmly.
"That would explain why he could survive so many attacks from both Naru and Motoko without a scratch, but what does that have to do with his being able to fight well?" asked Kitsune curiously, she sat with a small glass of sake in one hand and her free arm slung over the back of the chair.
"Well, whenever that same person is put into a situation where the dire need to fight arises, he or she subconsciously pumps all of that power into his physical ability, thus allowing them to fight at an unimaginable level of power," stated Haruka, still in her calm mood, she took a drag of her cigarette, "Usually the females in the family can harness this power and use it whenever they want with very long, strenuous training that most never take up, but the males tend to be clumsy and can't do so if they tried, however, if the need is dire enough, a male can aquire the power."
"So you're saying that this is a one time happening?" Asked Motoko, she was still sore that Keitaro had beaten Seta and she had not. She had taken a seat opposite to Haruka, she was dressed in a red shirt with spaghetti straps and denim shorts, her sword as usual was right by her side.
Haruka looked to Motoko, still calm as ever, "Usually, it would've been, but because Seta had held off against Keitaro for so long, he inadvertantly aquired the technique he was using, no one really knows why, but that technique is used whenever an Urashima calls upon their hidden power, it was so different from any other fighting style that it became known as the Urashima Fighting Style."
Motoko looked down, So he can fight like that all the time... she thought to herself, she wanted to beat him very badly, she trained with twice the ferver she usually did, her only goal was to beat Urashima, no matter what.
Haruka went on, taking another drag from her cigarette, "Of course, without harnessing the power he won't be able to fight with so much offensive might or as much stamina, but the fact remains that he knows a very dangerous technique that doesn't require a lot of stamina or even offensive might." Haruka remarked.
Motoko's face brightened, So there is hope, I can still win! I just have to find some way past that technique! she had just begun to replay Keitaro's fight with Seta in her mind, but her thoughts were cut short.
"Ano...Haruka-san?" asked the shy little Shinobu, she was the only one not seated. Haruka turned her head to the timid little 14 year old in acknowledgement, "Ano..you haven't explained what sort of 'dire need' suddenly made senpai fight like that..."
Haruka smiled, she knew this question would come sooner or later, "Well, in Keitaro's case, it would be fear." they all looked at her questioningly, "Keitaro had to have believed that something, or someone very precious to him was going to be taken away from him, Keitaro's not the type who would fight for any other reason."
At this everyone at the table, except for Haruka, who seemed to understand everything about Keitaro perfectly, looked to Naru, who had a slight blush on her face as she looked to the floor.
~END FLASHBACK~
So it was me, after all thought Naru, looking back down at her practice sheet, and starting to fill it in, Haruka said that the need for drawing on his power be dire, am I really that important to him? she soon lost herself in her thoughts.
"Ano...Narusegawa?" asked Keitaro, finally tired of the math problem before him.
But why would I be that important to him? Naru continued her thoughts, looking down at the practice test, he hand absently moving the pencil, filling in the answers.
"Narusegawa?" asked Keitaro, a little annoyed that Naru was ignoring him.
Maybe he loves me, maybe he wants to live happily ever after with me instead of the 'promised girl'! Naru thought hopefully.
"Narusegawa..." Keitaro said again, getting very annoyed now, What is she thinking about?? he wondered, finally noticing the sort of blank look on Naru's face.
No, the reason he's trying to get in to Toudai in the first place is because of that 'promised girl.' So why am I so important? And why am I getting so worked up about this? Naru thought, she had done well at hiding it, even from herself, but the truth was that she really liked Keitaro.
"Hey! Narusegawa!" Keitaro finally exclaimed.
That brought her crashing back down to reality, she looked up, a bit suprised and embarassed, traces of a blush on her face, "Huh? Oh! Um...yes?" she said, looking up.
"Yare yare, Narusegawa, I think you've been studying too long, let's take a little break" suggested Keitaro, Naru put down her pencil and stretched out a bit, "Yeah, you're right, we've been studying for a good 3 hours now." she said, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position.
Keitaro did the same, closing his math book. Just then, Shinobu walked through the door with a tray that held a bunch of cookies and two cups filled with juice, "Senpai, Naru-senpai, I brought some snacks!" she layed them down on the table after Naru and Keitaro cleared some of the books from it.
"Perfect timing, Shinobu-chan, we just decided to take a break." said Keitaro, taking a cookie and biting a piece off, "Wow, Shinobu-chan, these are even better than usual!" he said after swallowing, he popped the rest into his mouth and chewed happily, Naru reached over and got on too, smiling and nodding in agreement with Keitaro as soon as she tried one.
"You really think so? I was trying out a new recipe and I was wondering if it was any good.." said Shinobu, who was slightly blushing at the comment, which was normal whenever Keitaro complimented her cooking, "Yeah, this is really great!" said Naru, reaching for another, "Arigatou!" with that she walked happily out of the room.
Naru took a sip of the juice, it was a commercial strawberry-kiwi juice, then looked at Keitaro, "Ne, Keitaro." she said casually, propping an elbow on the table and using her hand to support her head.
Keitaro ate another cookie and looked to Naru, "Yes?" he asked.
"Haruka told us that your...ano...abilities, that they came out when you were scared of losing something precious to you...I was just wondering what that something was?"Naru said, she had to hear it, she had to know if it was her all along for sure, or if there was something else.
Keitaro nearly choked on his juice when he heard the question, no one had asked him about that yet, they didn't want to pry, besides, they all more or less knew what it was, "That? Oh, well....ano...that is to say..." he still felt nervous getting it out in the open, she looked seriously at him, with a look that just said 'Tell me.' "Well...." he looked at Naru nervously, Now would probably be a good time... "Well...I was afraid that I was going to lose....you.."
Naru's eyes widened, So I was right.... "Keitaro...." she looked into his eyes, but then looked to the ground, "Why am I that important to you..?" Keitaro opened his mouth, but being in Hinata-sou an all, something was bound to happen, they heard a huge explosion from Keitaro's room, they both rushed to the hole to see a charred Su (A/N: no pun intended) lying on the ground next to the remains of a Mecha Tama, Keitaro's room had been blown to pieces, everything was a mess.
"Su-chan! What was that?!" Naru yelled, already guessing the answer, Su got up and dusted herself off, "Well I sorta made a few miscalculations on my new Mecha Tama and it flew off, I grabbed it an it flew around for a bit before finally landing in Keitaro's room!" the little blonde-haired girl said, smiling like always, "Su-chan! You could've gotten hurt!" said Keitaro, as always, more concerned about others rather than himself, he sighed and shook his head, "yare yare...I'm gonna clean this mess up and Su, please try not to blow anything else up today..Narusegawa, you can go study without me" he said, beginning to sort through all the debris, "No, I think I'll help you clean up" said Naru, bending down next to him and also sorting through the debris.
Later, Keitaro and Naru both sit sorting through the debris, while everyone else tend to the other damages throughout the house, it seemed that Su's invention not only totalled Keitaro's room, but also flew through Kitsune's room, Motoko's room and, of course, Su's room, Shinobu
They had managed to find most of his belongings under the rubble, but his futon and kotatsu were completely destroyed, he would have to get new ones later.
While cleaning, Keitaro's eye caught something odd looking, he lifted it out of the rubble, it was a sword inside a black sheath with a purple piece of cloth tied near the hilt, he examined it carefully, "funny...I don't remember having a sword..." he put his hand on the handle and was about to draw it when Naru noticed the sword, "What have you got there, Keitaro?"
Keitaro let go of the handle and looked up to Naru, "It looks like a sword...but I don't remember ever owning a sword..." he felt a very strong urge to pull the sword from the saya, "Maybe the Mecha Tama Su made picked it up from Motoko's room" suggested Naru, "yeah, maybe, let's go check"
Naru entered Motoko's room first, it was a mess, everything was out of place, scattered across the floor, but it wasn't all singed like Keitaro's room, "Motoko-chan, could we talk to you?" Mtoko was by her samurai armor set, putting it back in place, "Sure" she said, sitting on her mat, she saw Keitaro walk in behind Naru holding a sword, her eyes narrowed, something's not right about that sword...
Keitaro didn't notice, however, "Motoko-chan, is this one of your swords? We thought that maybe Mecha Tama carried it into my room." he said, "It's not mine," she said, I sense something bad about that sword..
Keitaro felt the urge to draw the blade again, he put his hand on the handle once more and wrapped his fingers around it, "maybe there's a name on the blade" he drew it partially, an immediately his eyes turned red and he began to grin and laugh like a maniac.
Motoko stood up and tried to take the sword from Keitaro, but it was too late, he had drawn the sword entirely, she stopped and watched as Keitaro was surrounded by an aura swirling black energy, his eyes still red, he chuckled darkly, holding the sword in front of him like he would a staff, the blade protruding from the bottom of his fist instead of the top where his thumb was (Think how Naru held the sword when she got possessed.)
Naru backed away, frightened, "Keitaro?" she tripped and landed on her bottom as Keitaro turned his menacing look to Naru, chuckling coldly, "Naru-senpai! The sword has taken control of him! get away!" Keitaro's head snapped to the new voice, as Motoko armed herself with her own Katana, Keitaro suddenly jumped up through the roof, landing gracefully on the tiling, Motoko hot on his heels, she had her Katana in her hand, unsheathed, she landed opposite Keitaro, they faced each other, Keitaro chuckling coldly, Motoko a look of determination on her face.
I hope that his technique hasn't carried over... thought a worried Motoko, she had been planning on having a duel with Keitaro the whole time, but this was too early, she hadn't trained enough, and she wasn't quite finished examining his technique.
Motoko and Keitaro stood like that for a good while, Keitaro must be fighting the demon...usually any demon would have attacked by now... thought the young swordswoman, by now Naru had found everyone and had told them what was happening, they all looked up to the top of the building from the hot springs, all had worried looks on their faces.
Finally, demon Keitaro attacked, he flew at her at top speed, Motoko prepared for the attack, but then adjusted herself as Keitaro jumped to the right, and parried the blow from the dark blade, she felt every vibration of her own sword, Keitaro had pushed Motoko's sword down to the roof quickly, the momentum of her swing carrying the blade down to the roof, he flipped over her and swung the blade at her back with a quick slash, Motoko managed to block the blow and counter with a slash of her own, it was blocked and Keitaro jumped back, kicking off the ground he landed on to burst at her again.
Everyone else watched as the two warriors fought, split between worrying for Keitaro's getting better or Motoko facing Keitaro with his abilities, as the two flew at each other, it was Su who piped up, "Motoko can't do this alone! come on everyone, let's help out!" Su yelled, pulling out a remote control, summoning a Mecha Tama, "Yeah, none of us are real martial arts experts, but we can help!" said Naru, punching her open palm hard.
Motoko was having trouble keeping up with Keitaro and his ever changing technique, she could hardly get a blow in, let alone have enough time to use one of her Shinmeiiryu moves, all she could do was deflect the blows and try to counterattack before the next move, Keitaro brought his sword up, she blocked the blow and barely had time to raise her defense for the next which came from high above, How can he change the angle of his attack so quickly!!?? thought a frustrated Motoko.
Soon everyone down below had their own forms of weapons ready, Su had her Mecha Tama, Naru was ready to do some punching, Kitsune was holding a sake bottle like a baseball bat, even Shinobu was holding up a frying pan with a determined look across her face, "If we go up there we'll get killed, Su, lure him down here!" said Kitsune, who had always been the best with planning, "Roger!" yelled Su as she flew Mecha Tama up to Keitaro and let loose a barrage of beams.
Motoko finally saw an opening and took it, she smiled joyously as her sword sailed to his abdomen, his sword was up high, both hands on it, she was very suprised when he jumped up and used her blade like a spring board, vaulting into the air, he twisted and turned his body to dodge all of Mecha Tama's lasers as Motoko pried her sword from the roof, following him.
By now Haruka had gone to expect the noises, she came in time to see her nephew twisting and dodging lasers, Motoko hot on his heels, she gasped as she saw the jet black blade in her nephew's hand, "It can't be...."
Keitaro deflected the last laser harmlessly off into space with his sword, he landed crouched on one of the natural rock pillars protruding from the hot spring, Motoko landing adjacent to him in her usual fighting stance. He stood there on one knee, holding the sword in front of him in the same fashion as before, he took in the sight of the Hinata-sou girls and smiled, beginning to chuckle coldly, then he kicked off the rock high into the air, he flipped the sword and held it high above his head with both hands as he came down at the girls, Su shot at him with Mecha Tama, but he brougt the sword down on the beam, splitting the beam into two, Motoko was up next, she jumped at him and slashed, he parried, hooked the curve of the sword around her back and sent her flying into the hot springs.
All the other girls were too stunned to do anything, Haruka ran to the girls as Keitaro landed right in front of Naru, but she knew she wouldn't make it, even if she summoned up all the powers within her, she began to shed tears, "No! Keitaro! STOP!" she yelled, hoping to reach him, but it was too late, she saw the blade coming down.
Keitaro grinned at Naru and raised his sword to slash her, Naru closed her eyes, preparing for the blow so this is the end... she thought, when the slash didn't come, she opened her eyes to see the blade, shaking violently, about 3 inches from her face, she looked at Keitaro and for the smallest moment, saw Keitaro's real, determined eyes focusing on the sword, then his eyes went to red and he jumped back, landing on one of the stones in the hot spring, Motoko charged him and they began fighting again, soon Mecha Tama joined in to their fight, launching missles and laser beams, each either dodged or deflected by Keitaro.
Naru had fallen backwards onto her bottom again, looking at Keitaro, he could've killed me...but he didn't.... thought Naru, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, "Naru!" came Haruka's voice as she knelt next to her, "Are you alright??" she asked worriedly, "Y-y-yeah, I-I-I'm a-alri-ight..." she managed to stutter, she was trembling horribly, He didn't kill her...he must be resisting the sword's influence...
Keitaro blocked the blow that came in from his side and stabbed at her stomach, it was deflected to the side, he went into a spin slash to the side of her head, which was also blocked by her, Mecha Tama fired a missle, Keitaro jumped up, hearing the the propulsion of the rocket, he kicked down on the back end, sending it into the air, where it blew up after running out of fuel, Motoko took this chance to use one of her Shinmeiiryu techniques, "Shinmeiiryu Ougi! Air Splittting Sword!!" she said, slashing down, the ki wave travelling towards Keitaro fast, he responded by sending a wave of dark ki, which cancelled out the attack, he landed crouched in front of her and stabbed upwards at her throat, she managed to move aside before the blow made contact.
Everyone watched in horror as Keitaro fought against Motoko, only Su could fight against him as well without the chance of getting killed, and that's only because she wasn't directly fighting, Haruka looked up grimly, "It's as I feared...the spirit inside the sword has possessed him..." she stated, keping her mood somehow calm, "Aaaauuuu! Senpai!" exclaimed a crying Shinobu, Kitsune just watched, "Wait a second...isn't that the sword that Grandma Hina hid from us?" she said, Haruka turned to her, "Yes, the Hina blade, it posesses the wielder to do it's will, she kept it hidden in the Kanrinin's room so that none of you would find it" she said with a hand on her hip.
Su fired a barrage of missles at Keitaro, getting frustrated, Keitaro, equally annoyed at the flying turtle, knocked Motoko's sword aside and used the missles as stairs to get to the Mecha Tama, he jumped from the last missle and cleanly slashed through the turtle, the two halves exploded, the missles hit the water, exploding and soaking everyone, he landed on the edge of the Hotspring opposite the girls who had all ducked for cover.
Motoko had been caught in the blast and was now getting up, using her sword for support there has to be a way to beat him.... suddenly her mind raced through their fight, then her eyes widened as he remembered how he had stopped himself from hitting Naru, Naru-senpai....he couldn't hit Naru-senpai!! she made a mad dash for the girls, who were also getting up, Keitaro saw her destination and dashed for it, trying to cut her off.
Haruka got up an looked at Keitaro making a mad dash for them, she took up a defensive stance, taking twin daggers from the hidden sheaths under her apron, summoning her own power.
Motoko managed to get their first and pulled Naru up, "Naru-senpai, he can't hit you!!" Naru looked up at Motoko, she remembered how Keitaro had stopped just before killing her, "You're right!" Motoko thought hard as Haruka defended against Keitaro, she hoped that Haruka had a lot of that Urashima power.
Keitaro brought the sword down on Haruka, only to meet crossed daggers, she struggled to hold him there, suddenly he let off and sent a slash to her leg, Haruka brought a dagger down and defended against the blow, she raised a dagger to fend off the blow that was already heading toward her head, she pushed the Katana aside and made a slash of her own, making Keitaro jump back.
Motoko could only think of one way to defeat Keitaro...but she wasn't sure she could do it...but it was the only way! "Naru-senpai! I need you to step in front of his blade, and distract him, if only for a moment!" Naru was about to protest, but she nodded, she knew that she was putting her life on the line, but she trusted Motoko, she ran out in between Haruka and and Keitaro, holding her arms out.
Keitaro charged Haruka again, and stabbed foreward, but stopped as Naru stepped in the way, the sword began quivering as her walked foreward, Naru had a determined look on her face, "No! Naru! what are you doing?!" came Haruka's voice followed by everyone elses, "Naru! Don't!" came Kitsune's voice, "Think about this!!" yelled Su, "Aaaaauuuuu!!!" cried Shinobu, Motoko however, took this oppertunity well.
Keitaro walked foreward, sword twitching, every step looked like it weighed a hundred pounds, "Keitaro! It's me, Narusegawa! Stop!" she said and ran towards him, the sword was vibrating violently, she reached him and threw her arms around him, "Keitaro come back!!" she yelled as the sword started to stop twitching as violently and his eyes started to return to normal, "N-N-Naru-se-ga-wa!!" he yelled, then his eyes became red again and the sword inched closer and closer to her back, she didn't let go, she refused to.
"Shinmeiryuu Ougi...NI NO TACHI!!" yelled Motoko slashing through both of them, but not so much as scratching the flesh, the sword flew from Keitaro's hands and landed next to Motoko, who was crouched low, she fell to one knee as the technique took it's toll on her, both Keitaro and Naru were unconscious next to each other, Keitaro was the first to come out of it as everyone crowded around them, "Motoko did it!!" yelled Su, "Senpai!! Naru-Senpai!!" yelled Shinobu helping him up, Naru awoke by now and slowly got up, she felt a pair of hands helping her up and looked up to see Keitaro, the normal Keitaro, smiling at her, she couldn't help but smile back.
Haruka walked over to Motoko and helped her up, Motoko looked at the sword, "I...did it..I sealed the sword..." she said, still somewhat weak, but she forced a smile, she was very happy at her accomplishments, Haruka smiled as well, helping her over to the others.
Naru looked at Keitaro smiling, "Thanks..." Keitaro said to Naru as the others crowded around them yelling happily, he was then attacked by a overjoyed Su, "Keitaro! you had us worried! And you owe me a new Mecha Tama!" exclaimed the small blonde girl as she jumped up and hugged Keitaro "Hey! I wasn't the one who broke it, it was that demon thing in the sword! besides, you're always building a new Mecha Tama!" said Keitaro, smiling happily, "So what exactly happened, Keitaro?" asked Kitsune, eager to know the whole story Keitaro smiled, "Well..." then he launched into the story.
Naru watched as everyone crowded around him and he smiled and luaghed with them, a gentle smile on her face, "You're welcome..." she said silently before joining in with everyone else, laughing, smiling and helping Keitaro with his story, Motoko even joined in, telling her side of the story, it was like the whole thing never happened, and it was just an exciting story.
Haruka smiled at all of the Hinata-sou residents, she silently slipped away back to her own place, letting Naru, Keitaro and Motoko tell their stories, One thing's for sure... thought Haruka, It's definately going to get even more interesting with that boy... she looked up to the sky as she walked, I wonder what else is in store for him... she wondered as she walked back into her own place.
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A/N: So how do you all like chapter 2? I was kind of out of it today, and wrote this chapter in about 5 hours, I don't think I did as good a job with the action scenes and personally, I think that this chapter was very boring, oh well, I'm the author, I think everything I write is scrap! What I really want is YOUR opininons! What did you think? Be honest...
Oh yeah, words in ['s are places and speech in 's are thoughts! So without further ado, the second chapter, to Keitaro's Hidden Abilities!
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The Hina Blade: Keitaro Posessed!
[Hinata Inn]
It had been a week since Keitaro had discovered his...abilities....and since then they had returned to Hinata-sou, and everything appeared to be getting to normal, except for the fact that Keitaro had stopped having his little accidents. Everyone was pleased at this, they all assumed that it was because of his new abilities. Everyone was completely shocked, most of all Naru, when they figured out from Haruka why he could fight so well.
Naru sat in her room studying with Keitaro, she couldn't seem to concentrate as well as she normally could, she looked over at Keitaro who was working hard on a math problem, she sat there looking at him, images rushing into her head of when she had learned why Keitaro could beat Seta.
~FLASHBACK~
[Hinata Beach Tea House]
Haruka sat at the end of the table, the residents of Hinata-sou crowded around, they all wanted to hear where Keitaro learned to fight so fast. Everyone was there except for Keitaro, who they sent to load up all their luggage into the van they used, Seta, who had gone on another one of his excavations, and Sara, who had gone with her papa.
Haruka was sitting cross legged, her arms crossed and her lit cigarette protruding from her mouth, she would explain it to them as best as she could, "Whenever a person in the Urashima family feels that his or her life is threatened, they summon a hidden power to defend themselves, but they summon in unconsciously." said Haruka calmly.
"That would explain why he could survive so many attacks from both Naru and Motoko without a scratch, but what does that have to do with his being able to fight well?" asked Kitsune curiously, she sat with a small glass of sake in one hand and her free arm slung over the back of the chair.
"Well, whenever that same person is put into a situation where the dire need to fight arises, he or she subconsciously pumps all of that power into his physical ability, thus allowing them to fight at an unimaginable level of power," stated Haruka, still in her calm mood, she took a drag of her cigarette, "Usually the females in the family can harness this power and use it whenever they want with very long, strenuous training that most never take up, but the males tend to be clumsy and can't do so if they tried, however, if the need is dire enough, a male can aquire the power."
"So you're saying that this is a one time happening?" Asked Motoko, she was still sore that Keitaro had beaten Seta and she had not. She had taken a seat opposite to Haruka, she was dressed in a red shirt with spaghetti straps and denim shorts, her sword as usual was right by her side.
Haruka looked to Motoko, still calm as ever, "Usually, it would've been, but because Seta had held off against Keitaro for so long, he inadvertantly aquired the technique he was using, no one really knows why, but that technique is used whenever an Urashima calls upon their hidden power, it was so different from any other fighting style that it became known as the Urashima Fighting Style."
Motoko looked down, So he can fight like that all the time... she thought to herself, she wanted to beat him very badly, she trained with twice the ferver she usually did, her only goal was to beat Urashima, no matter what.
Haruka went on, taking another drag from her cigarette, "Of course, without harnessing the power he won't be able to fight with so much offensive might or as much stamina, but the fact remains that he knows a very dangerous technique that doesn't require a lot of stamina or even offensive might." Haruka remarked.
Motoko's face brightened, So there is hope, I can still win! I just have to find some way past that technique! she had just begun to replay Keitaro's fight with Seta in her mind, but her thoughts were cut short.
"Ano...Haruka-san?" asked the shy little Shinobu, she was the only one not seated. Haruka turned her head to the timid little 14 year old in acknowledgement, "Ano..you haven't explained what sort of 'dire need' suddenly made senpai fight like that..."
Haruka smiled, she knew this question would come sooner or later, "Well, in Keitaro's case, it would be fear." they all looked at her questioningly, "Keitaro had to have believed that something, or someone very precious to him was going to be taken away from him, Keitaro's not the type who would fight for any other reason."
At this everyone at the table, except for Haruka, who seemed to understand everything about Keitaro perfectly, looked to Naru, who had a slight blush on her face as she looked to the floor.
~END FLASHBACK~
So it was me, after all thought Naru, looking back down at her practice sheet, and starting to fill it in, Haruka said that the need for drawing on his power be dire, am I really that important to him? she soon lost herself in her thoughts.
"Ano...Narusegawa?" asked Keitaro, finally tired of the math problem before him.
But why would I be that important to him? Naru continued her thoughts, looking down at the practice test, he hand absently moving the pencil, filling in the answers.
"Narusegawa?" asked Keitaro, a little annoyed that Naru was ignoring him.
Maybe he loves me, maybe he wants to live happily ever after with me instead of the 'promised girl'! Naru thought hopefully.
"Narusegawa..." Keitaro said again, getting very annoyed now, What is she thinking about?? he wondered, finally noticing the sort of blank look on Naru's face.
No, the reason he's trying to get in to Toudai in the first place is because of that 'promised girl.' So why am I so important? And why am I getting so worked up about this? Naru thought, she had done well at hiding it, even from herself, but the truth was that she really liked Keitaro.
"Hey! Narusegawa!" Keitaro finally exclaimed.
That brought her crashing back down to reality, she looked up, a bit suprised and embarassed, traces of a blush on her face, "Huh? Oh! Um...yes?" she said, looking up.
"Yare yare, Narusegawa, I think you've been studying too long, let's take a little break" suggested Keitaro, Naru put down her pencil and stretched out a bit, "Yeah, you're right, we've been studying for a good 3 hours now." she said, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position.
Keitaro did the same, closing his math book. Just then, Shinobu walked through the door with a tray that held a bunch of cookies and two cups filled with juice, "Senpai, Naru-senpai, I brought some snacks!" she layed them down on the table after Naru and Keitaro cleared some of the books from it.
"Perfect timing, Shinobu-chan, we just decided to take a break." said Keitaro, taking a cookie and biting a piece off, "Wow, Shinobu-chan, these are even better than usual!" he said after swallowing, he popped the rest into his mouth and chewed happily, Naru reached over and got on too, smiling and nodding in agreement with Keitaro as soon as she tried one.
"You really think so? I was trying out a new recipe and I was wondering if it was any good.." said Shinobu, who was slightly blushing at the comment, which was normal whenever Keitaro complimented her cooking, "Yeah, this is really great!" said Naru, reaching for another, "Arigatou!" with that she walked happily out of the room.
Naru took a sip of the juice, it was a commercial strawberry-kiwi juice, then looked at Keitaro, "Ne, Keitaro." she said casually, propping an elbow on the table and using her hand to support her head.
Keitaro ate another cookie and looked to Naru, "Yes?" he asked.
"Haruka told us that your...ano...abilities, that they came out when you were scared of losing something precious to you...I was just wondering what that something was?"Naru said, she had to hear it, she had to know if it was her all along for sure, or if there was something else.
Keitaro nearly choked on his juice when he heard the question, no one had asked him about that yet, they didn't want to pry, besides, they all more or less knew what it was, "That? Oh, well....ano...that is to say..." he still felt nervous getting it out in the open, she looked seriously at him, with a look that just said 'Tell me.' "Well...." he looked at Naru nervously, Now would probably be a good time... "Well...I was afraid that I was going to lose....you.."
Naru's eyes widened, So I was right.... "Keitaro...." she looked into his eyes, but then looked to the ground, "Why am I that important to you..?" Keitaro opened his mouth, but being in Hinata-sou an all, something was bound to happen, they heard a huge explosion from Keitaro's room, they both rushed to the hole to see a charred Su (A/N: no pun intended) lying on the ground next to the remains of a Mecha Tama, Keitaro's room had been blown to pieces, everything was a mess.
"Su-chan! What was that?!" Naru yelled, already guessing the answer, Su got up and dusted herself off, "Well I sorta made a few miscalculations on my new Mecha Tama and it flew off, I grabbed it an it flew around for a bit before finally landing in Keitaro's room!" the little blonde-haired girl said, smiling like always, "Su-chan! You could've gotten hurt!" said Keitaro, as always, more concerned about others rather than himself, he sighed and shook his head, "yare yare...I'm gonna clean this mess up and Su, please try not to blow anything else up today..Narusegawa, you can go study without me" he said, beginning to sort through all the debris, "No, I think I'll help you clean up" said Naru, bending down next to him and also sorting through the debris.
Later, Keitaro and Naru both sit sorting through the debris, while everyone else tend to the other damages throughout the house, it seemed that Su's invention not only totalled Keitaro's room, but also flew through Kitsune's room, Motoko's room and, of course, Su's room, Shinobu
They had managed to find most of his belongings under the rubble, but his futon and kotatsu were completely destroyed, he would have to get new ones later.
While cleaning, Keitaro's eye caught something odd looking, he lifted it out of the rubble, it was a sword inside a black sheath with a purple piece of cloth tied near the hilt, he examined it carefully, "funny...I don't remember having a sword..." he put his hand on the handle and was about to draw it when Naru noticed the sword, "What have you got there, Keitaro?"
Keitaro let go of the handle and looked up to Naru, "It looks like a sword...but I don't remember ever owning a sword..." he felt a very strong urge to pull the sword from the saya, "Maybe the Mecha Tama Su made picked it up from Motoko's room" suggested Naru, "yeah, maybe, let's go check"
Naru entered Motoko's room first, it was a mess, everything was out of place, scattered across the floor, but it wasn't all singed like Keitaro's room, "Motoko-chan, could we talk to you?" Mtoko was by her samurai armor set, putting it back in place, "Sure" she said, sitting on her mat, she saw Keitaro walk in behind Naru holding a sword, her eyes narrowed, something's not right about that sword...
Keitaro didn't notice, however, "Motoko-chan, is this one of your swords? We thought that maybe Mecha Tama carried it into my room." he said, "It's not mine," she said, I sense something bad about that sword..
Keitaro felt the urge to draw the blade again, he put his hand on the handle once more and wrapped his fingers around it, "maybe there's a name on the blade" he drew it partially, an immediately his eyes turned red and he began to grin and laugh like a maniac.
Motoko stood up and tried to take the sword from Keitaro, but it was too late, he had drawn the sword entirely, she stopped and watched as Keitaro was surrounded by an aura swirling black energy, his eyes still red, he chuckled darkly, holding the sword in front of him like he would a staff, the blade protruding from the bottom of his fist instead of the top where his thumb was (Think how Naru held the sword when she got possessed.)
Naru backed away, frightened, "Keitaro?" she tripped and landed on her bottom as Keitaro turned his menacing look to Naru, chuckling coldly, "Naru-senpai! The sword has taken control of him! get away!" Keitaro's head snapped to the new voice, as Motoko armed herself with her own Katana, Keitaro suddenly jumped up through the roof, landing gracefully on the tiling, Motoko hot on his heels, she had her Katana in her hand, unsheathed, she landed opposite Keitaro, they faced each other, Keitaro chuckling coldly, Motoko a look of determination on her face.
I hope that his technique hasn't carried over... thought a worried Motoko, she had been planning on having a duel with Keitaro the whole time, but this was too early, she hadn't trained enough, and she wasn't quite finished examining his technique.
Motoko and Keitaro stood like that for a good while, Keitaro must be fighting the demon...usually any demon would have attacked by now... thought the young swordswoman, by now Naru had found everyone and had told them what was happening, they all looked up to the top of the building from the hot springs, all had worried looks on their faces.
Finally, demon Keitaro attacked, he flew at her at top speed, Motoko prepared for the attack, but then adjusted herself as Keitaro jumped to the right, and parried the blow from the dark blade, she felt every vibration of her own sword, Keitaro had pushed Motoko's sword down to the roof quickly, the momentum of her swing carrying the blade down to the roof, he flipped over her and swung the blade at her back with a quick slash, Motoko managed to block the blow and counter with a slash of her own, it was blocked and Keitaro jumped back, kicking off the ground he landed on to burst at her again.
Everyone else watched as the two warriors fought, split between worrying for Keitaro's getting better or Motoko facing Keitaro with his abilities, as the two flew at each other, it was Su who piped up, "Motoko can't do this alone! come on everyone, let's help out!" Su yelled, pulling out a remote control, summoning a Mecha Tama, "Yeah, none of us are real martial arts experts, but we can help!" said Naru, punching her open palm hard.
Motoko was having trouble keeping up with Keitaro and his ever changing technique, she could hardly get a blow in, let alone have enough time to use one of her Shinmeiiryu moves, all she could do was deflect the blows and try to counterattack before the next move, Keitaro brought his sword up, she blocked the blow and barely had time to raise her defense for the next which came from high above, How can he change the angle of his attack so quickly!!?? thought a frustrated Motoko.
Soon everyone down below had their own forms of weapons ready, Su had her Mecha Tama, Naru was ready to do some punching, Kitsune was holding a sake bottle like a baseball bat, even Shinobu was holding up a frying pan with a determined look across her face, "If we go up there we'll get killed, Su, lure him down here!" said Kitsune, who had always been the best with planning, "Roger!" yelled Su as she flew Mecha Tama up to Keitaro and let loose a barrage of beams.
Motoko finally saw an opening and took it, she smiled joyously as her sword sailed to his abdomen, his sword was up high, both hands on it, she was very suprised when he jumped up and used her blade like a spring board, vaulting into the air, he twisted and turned his body to dodge all of Mecha Tama's lasers as Motoko pried her sword from the roof, following him.
By now Haruka had gone to expect the noises, she came in time to see her nephew twisting and dodging lasers, Motoko hot on his heels, she gasped as she saw the jet black blade in her nephew's hand, "It can't be...."
Keitaro deflected the last laser harmlessly off into space with his sword, he landed crouched on one of the natural rock pillars protruding from the hot spring, Motoko landing adjacent to him in her usual fighting stance. He stood there on one knee, holding the sword in front of him in the same fashion as before, he took in the sight of the Hinata-sou girls and smiled, beginning to chuckle coldly, then he kicked off the rock high into the air, he flipped the sword and held it high above his head with both hands as he came down at the girls, Su shot at him with Mecha Tama, but he brougt the sword down on the beam, splitting the beam into two, Motoko was up next, she jumped at him and slashed, he parried, hooked the curve of the sword around her back and sent her flying into the hot springs.
All the other girls were too stunned to do anything, Haruka ran to the girls as Keitaro landed right in front of Naru, but she knew she wouldn't make it, even if she summoned up all the powers within her, she began to shed tears, "No! Keitaro! STOP!" she yelled, hoping to reach him, but it was too late, she saw the blade coming down.
Keitaro grinned at Naru and raised his sword to slash her, Naru closed her eyes, preparing for the blow so this is the end... she thought, when the slash didn't come, she opened her eyes to see the blade, shaking violently, about 3 inches from her face, she looked at Keitaro and for the smallest moment, saw Keitaro's real, determined eyes focusing on the sword, then his eyes went to red and he jumped back, landing on one of the stones in the hot spring, Motoko charged him and they began fighting again, soon Mecha Tama joined in to their fight, launching missles and laser beams, each either dodged or deflected by Keitaro.
Naru had fallen backwards onto her bottom again, looking at Keitaro, he could've killed me...but he didn't.... thought Naru, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, "Naru!" came Haruka's voice as she knelt next to her, "Are you alright??" she asked worriedly, "Y-y-yeah, I-I-I'm a-alri-ight..." she managed to stutter, she was trembling horribly, He didn't kill her...he must be resisting the sword's influence...
Keitaro blocked the blow that came in from his side and stabbed at her stomach, it was deflected to the side, he went into a spin slash to the side of her head, which was also blocked by her, Mecha Tama fired a missle, Keitaro jumped up, hearing the the propulsion of the rocket, he kicked down on the back end, sending it into the air, where it blew up after running out of fuel, Motoko took this chance to use one of her Shinmeiiryu techniques, "Shinmeiiryu Ougi! Air Splittting Sword!!" she said, slashing down, the ki wave travelling towards Keitaro fast, he responded by sending a wave of dark ki, which cancelled out the attack, he landed crouched in front of her and stabbed upwards at her throat, she managed to move aside before the blow made contact.
Everyone watched in horror as Keitaro fought against Motoko, only Su could fight against him as well without the chance of getting killed, and that's only because she wasn't directly fighting, Haruka looked up grimly, "It's as I feared...the spirit inside the sword has possessed him..." she stated, keping her mood somehow calm, "Aaaauuuu! Senpai!" exclaimed a crying Shinobu, Kitsune just watched, "Wait a second...isn't that the sword that Grandma Hina hid from us?" she said, Haruka turned to her, "Yes, the Hina blade, it posesses the wielder to do it's will, she kept it hidden in the Kanrinin's room so that none of you would find it" she said with a hand on her hip.
Su fired a barrage of missles at Keitaro, getting frustrated, Keitaro, equally annoyed at the flying turtle, knocked Motoko's sword aside and used the missles as stairs to get to the Mecha Tama, he jumped from the last missle and cleanly slashed through the turtle, the two halves exploded, the missles hit the water, exploding and soaking everyone, he landed on the edge of the Hotspring opposite the girls who had all ducked for cover.
Motoko had been caught in the blast and was now getting up, using her sword for support there has to be a way to beat him.... suddenly her mind raced through their fight, then her eyes widened as he remembered how he had stopped himself from hitting Naru, Naru-senpai....he couldn't hit Naru-senpai!! she made a mad dash for the girls, who were also getting up, Keitaro saw her destination and dashed for it, trying to cut her off.
Haruka got up an looked at Keitaro making a mad dash for them, she took up a defensive stance, taking twin daggers from the hidden sheaths under her apron, summoning her own power.
Motoko managed to get their first and pulled Naru up, "Naru-senpai, he can't hit you!!" Naru looked up at Motoko, she remembered how Keitaro had stopped just before killing her, "You're right!" Motoko thought hard as Haruka defended against Keitaro, she hoped that Haruka had a lot of that Urashima power.
Keitaro brought the sword down on Haruka, only to meet crossed daggers, she struggled to hold him there, suddenly he let off and sent a slash to her leg, Haruka brought a dagger down and defended against the blow, she raised a dagger to fend off the blow that was already heading toward her head, she pushed the Katana aside and made a slash of her own, making Keitaro jump back.
Motoko could only think of one way to defeat Keitaro...but she wasn't sure she could do it...but it was the only way! "Naru-senpai! I need you to step in front of his blade, and distract him, if only for a moment!" Naru was about to protest, but she nodded, she knew that she was putting her life on the line, but she trusted Motoko, she ran out in between Haruka and and Keitaro, holding her arms out.
Keitaro charged Haruka again, and stabbed foreward, but stopped as Naru stepped in the way, the sword began quivering as her walked foreward, Naru had a determined look on her face, "No! Naru! what are you doing?!" came Haruka's voice followed by everyone elses, "Naru! Don't!" came Kitsune's voice, "Think about this!!" yelled Su, "Aaaaauuuuu!!!" cried Shinobu, Motoko however, took this oppertunity well.
Keitaro walked foreward, sword twitching, every step looked like it weighed a hundred pounds, "Keitaro! It's me, Narusegawa! Stop!" she said and ran towards him, the sword was vibrating violently, she reached him and threw her arms around him, "Keitaro come back!!" she yelled as the sword started to stop twitching as violently and his eyes started to return to normal, "N-N-Naru-se-ga-wa!!" he yelled, then his eyes became red again and the sword inched closer and closer to her back, she didn't let go, she refused to.
"Shinmeiryuu Ougi...NI NO TACHI!!" yelled Motoko slashing through both of them, but not so much as scratching the flesh, the sword flew from Keitaro's hands and landed next to Motoko, who was crouched low, she fell to one knee as the technique took it's toll on her, both Keitaro and Naru were unconscious next to each other, Keitaro was the first to come out of it as everyone crowded around them, "Motoko did it!!" yelled Su, "Senpai!! Naru-Senpai!!" yelled Shinobu helping him up, Naru awoke by now and slowly got up, she felt a pair of hands helping her up and looked up to see Keitaro, the normal Keitaro, smiling at her, she couldn't help but smile back.
Haruka walked over to Motoko and helped her up, Motoko looked at the sword, "I...did it..I sealed the sword..." she said, still somewhat weak, but she forced a smile, she was very happy at her accomplishments, Haruka smiled as well, helping her over to the others.
Naru looked at Keitaro smiling, "Thanks..." Keitaro said to Naru as the others crowded around them yelling happily, he was then attacked by a overjoyed Su, "Keitaro! you had us worried! And you owe me a new Mecha Tama!" exclaimed the small blonde girl as she jumped up and hugged Keitaro "Hey! I wasn't the one who broke it, it was that demon thing in the sword! besides, you're always building a new Mecha Tama!" said Keitaro, smiling happily, "So what exactly happened, Keitaro?" asked Kitsune, eager to know the whole story Keitaro smiled, "Well..." then he launched into the story.
Naru watched as everyone crowded around him and he smiled and luaghed with them, a gentle smile on her face, "You're welcome..." she said silently before joining in with everyone else, laughing, smiling and helping Keitaro with his story, Motoko even joined in, telling her side of the story, it was like the whole thing never happened, and it was just an exciting story.
Haruka smiled at all of the Hinata-sou residents, she silently slipped away back to her own place, letting Naru, Keitaro and Motoko tell their stories, One thing's for sure... thought Haruka, It's definately going to get even more interesting with that boy... she looked up to the sky as she walked, I wonder what else is in store for him... she wondered as she walked back into her own place.
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A/N: So how do you all like chapter 2? I was kind of out of it today, and wrote this chapter in about 5 hours, I don't think I did as good a job with the action scenes and personally, I think that this chapter was very boring, oh well, I'm the author, I think everything I write is scrap! What I really want is YOUR opininons! What did you think? Be honest...