"End of the Treasured Ones" A Love Hina fanfiction by Ben Woo

Disclaimer: See Ch. 1

Beginning Note: There is a difference between ki and chi. The largest is that chi is Chinese and ki is Japanese. In Gong Fu (Chinese martial arts EX.: Shaolin), chi is the flow of air through the body. If your chi is good, that means you're breathing correctly and that nothing is wrong with your body. Utilizing chi correctly can speed up healing and revitalize a person in a fight. A good example of a chi user is Bruce Lee. Ki comes from Japanese martial arts. It is supposedly the inner energy of a person. It can be projected outwards and damage enemies. There are no real life examples that I can think of, but many animes have ki users. The most well known would be the Dragon Ball sagas. Almost everyone fires ki blasts.

It was around 5:00 a.m. that Motoko woke up. She thought about going back to sleep, but realized that she would just get up 30 minutes later. She got out of bed, though a bit lazily, and prepared for the upcoming day. With her katana she walked out to the balcony she usually practiced at. Fortunately for her Shinobu hadn't hung up the laundry yet, so Motoko wouldn't have to watch out for what she hit. She started practicing her strike in her usual manner: watch for a leaf and then slice it in half. A few hours later Ben came up on the balcony unnoticed by Motoko. He simply watched her and made mental notes on her fighting styles. By now Motoko had moved on to using her techniques and moving through katas.

*She concentrates all her strength in the first strike in most of her successions of slashes, so it should be the same in battle. Those techniques don't look too hard to counter. Interesting, she has one that only affects evil..that can't be good...That's the only one I should watch for I think. The Zankussen utilizes wind, so simply cutting the focal point should do it or running through it. Dodging it would be useless because of the fact that the air near the blast is concentrated more. That little backlash would throw me like a rag doll and do more than the initial impact of the actual projectile. Her banishing technique is going to be a tricky %^$&* there. It seems like the normal Zankussen except it has that little effect, so dodging it and running through it would be fatal or incapacitate me for a good while. I should just get used to slicing her techniques with my sword.* Ben thought.

Ben decided to see if his evaluations were correct. It would serve as both training and a test on his ability to judge. He couldn't spar with Keitaro, being as though the kanrinin wasn't even conscious yet. It was a shame too, they only had three more days. The past events seemed like a lot, but luckily they happened quickly.

"Hey Motoko! Let's spar. I can't spar against a semi-conscious Keitaro so I decided to spar against you. Please allow me this honor," he said with a bow.

"Woo-san! I didn't notice you were there. Of course I will spar against you, it would be my honor," said Motoko.

"Ok, and please don't call me Woo-san. Just call me Ben. Let's start then," said Ben, materializing his sword (the straight sword and sheath again) from the air above him. He caught it and dropped into the stance he used on the yakuza the night before.

*He's using a different stance from the one he used yesterday and he has a sword that just came from thin air! I can't even read his ki at all. Maybe it's best to make the first move to test him.* Motoko thought. These were all jumbled however, as her mind was being overloaded just by this show.

Motoko charged from her spot towards Ben with blinding speed. She aimed for his sword arm. She slashed, but the slash was blocked by Ben, who anticipated the strike. More followed to Ben's shoulders and legs, but he parried them as well.

*I guessed right it seems. She uses the most strength in the first strike. I should've expected this however, being as though she comes from a samurai family. They all concentrate it on the first strike. It would've worked if she was about ten times as strong, because THEN she might make me flinch or break my guard. Unfortunately for her this is not the case. I'll finish this now, it's not training at all. I'll just use an old technique. Let's see if she'll stay conscious through it..* Ben thought.

Motoko stopped her barrage and jumped back to the other side of the balcony. She was panting from the effort. She stood there with her sword held in front of her, her right foot in front of her left. She concentrated on controlling the flow of her chi. She wasn't very successful however, as she had only minimal knowledge of it.

*She knows of chi? That is very interesting. Here I was to think that China and Japan hated each other and wouldn't even associate with each other.* thought Ben.

Ben stood up from his position and held his arms to the side, the tips of the blade and sheath pointed towards the ground. He began to glow black, his sword turning into its true form (the sword that was described in Ch.1) and the sheath disappearing from his hand. He brought the sword forward along with his arms, pointing the tip at Motoko. He held the hilt with both hands, making it look like he was struggling.

"Motoko! I am going to use a powerful technique on you. I would like to warn you that your attempt to control your chi isn't going to help too much. The stance you are in disrupts the flow to your legs and your muscles are too tense to be able to fully use the chi that you are trying to use. The best option for you that I can see is your banishing technique. Most of my power is derived from darkness, so it would have a profound effect. Beware however, that if your attack fails, I will use my technique on you," said Ben.

With a crazed sounding war cry, Motoko charged, katana raised above her head. She screamed and brought her sword down about ten feet away from Ben. Her succession technique was released and headed straight towards Ben. It hit home and there was a grand explosion, resulting in a mushroom cloud of sorts. The cloud cleared, and there Ben was. His shirt was ripped to the point that it couldn't even pass as a tight bikini top. His pants were now shorts, small enough to be short shorts for third graders. Other than that however, he sustained no damage, at least on the surface. Ben smiled, then collapsed. Motoko was shocked about the turn of events and thought she had either beaten Ben to a pulp or killed him. That was her thought until she was suddenly flung to the railing. She looked around and caught a blur. It was transparent for the most part, but there was an outline. The blur looked like it was water in a moving container. The only reason she saw it was because of the glare from the sun on the blur. The blur charged at her, and slashed her with a sword, or at least Motoko thought it was a sword. The fact that she was quickly losing consciousness from the slashes was clouding her judgment. The berserk barrage stopped, and the figure that was before the blur jumped back. Colored came back, revealing a Ben in new clothing. He had replaced his attire with a set of small armor and some clothing. There was a chest armor that only covered the top part of the torso, two shin guards, and two braces on his arms which went from the bottom of his wrist to a little bit before the elbow. All of the armor was blue. The clothing was white in general, with thin gold lines running along the sleeves and legs. Ben's feet had been covered with an old type of shoe. They looked like they were from ancient China, from what Motoko could tell. He still held his sword.

"You are definitely strong Motoko. You still have a lot of potential. With the proper training you could become just as strong as Keitaro and I," he finally said.

"I am honored at your compliment. I must ask though, how old are you? You have the body of a fourteen year old. Oh, and how old were you when you met Keitaro? How old was he? Lastly, what did you do during the time between Keitaro's departure from your life and your coming to Hinata Sou?" asked Motoko.

"Well, for the first one, I'm about forty years old, double Keitaro's age. Before you ask, I simply used my ki and chi to achieve this. My ki changed my body while my chi kept it that way. I've been doing this so that I couldn't ever lose my touch. As you age you lose your skill you know, so I had to do this. When I met Keitaro I was around my late twenties or early thirties. He was around his mid teens or late teens. We met in a odd sort. You see, Keitaro also studied the Urashima family style, so he had some type of training. He wanted to spar me, so I granted his request. I won and Keitaro decided that this was his chance to become the ultimate warrior. He tagged along with me. That was about the time I decided to use the colony of nano machines to sub in for him. We traveled around and studied at various temples, dojos, etc. We trained in almost all styles. We even advanced some with our skills. We eventually made up the moves that we use now. The move I just used on you I made up on my own. Keitaro also has some moves of his own, which he keeps personal. We don't always share our techniques because then it would be too hard to win a sparring match and this way it would force us to keep training. After Keitaro left I just continued wandering the world," said Ben. The last sentence however, sounding like Ben was trying to avoid talking. Motoko would have none of that though.

"What are you trying to hide?" she asked bluntly.

"I guess I can't slip it past you. This next part is to be kept secret from Shinobu at all costs understand? Under no circumstances should she know about this. During my travels, I met Shinobu's dad. I didn't know that he was her father at the time, though. He seemed like a great, guy, so I hung with him for a while. The time I spent with him was great.." started Ben.

flashback

A young Ben is sparring with another man. The man looks about ten years older, but he moves like he was that much younger. He has brown hair with black eyes and tanned skin. He is wearing a simple hakama, white gi with black pants. Ben is wearing his armor (described above) and is wielding his sword and sheath almost lazily. The man Ben faces however, is fighting with a berserk fury. Ben ducked a wide slash and saw the largest opening yet, so he took advantage and slammed the sheath into the man's groin. The man flew back, clutching his groin as if it would save him.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?! How am I supposed to have kids now?!" shouted the man.

"Sho Maehara, I'm disappointed. You've already had a kid, so why would you worry? You wouldn't be trying to find a new wife and start a new family now would you? Besides, you were just randomly slashing," said Ben casually.

"Argh! Even though you're incredibly strong you shouldn't take advantage of an old man like me. Well, what's done is done. Let's go eat and watch the TV. I heard that CNN is covering new stuff today," said Sho. With that said, the two walk into a nearby hut, laughing.

End of flashback

"That was a memorable moment. I just described that to give a little background on his personality. Now to move on to the real deal," said Ben.

flashback

It is three years past the time of the flashback before, and we find Ben wandering around. He had by now left his friend Sho, and was continuing his training elsewhere. His surroundings: trees everywhere. The trees and the silence was getting on Ben's nerves, so occasionally he would slash and cut down twenty trees just to hear some type of sound. He somehow makes it to a clearing and finds to his horror his old friend Sho, lying on the ground bleeding from a wound to his stomach.

"Sho! What happened?" asked Ben. He didn't try to tend the wound as it was already too late, and both of them knew it.

"I was attacked by a shadowed figure. I couldn't even get a slash at him, or see him at all. He was incredibly powerful and with one hit I fell. I couldn't even stand up to him. Before I die, grant me one last request, protect my daughter. She lives in Hinatao Sou. You once said you had to go to Hinata Sou anyway, so please do me this favor..." groaned Sho. The last of his vitality disappearing, he died.

"I will do this last request, and I will make this perpetrator pay. Goodbye, Sho," said Ben.

End of flashback

"That's how it ended for Sho, attacked by an unknown figure. I thus journeyed here with two goals instead of the intended one," said Ben. He was gripping his sword like a lifeline. Any other sword, and it would have shattered to pieces.

"I see," said Motoko.

Ben decided that he had used enough time in explaining his past, so he charged. He didn't bother to blur, but his sword made up for it with an evil and purplish glow. He made a wide arc that anyone should have been able to dodge, but Motoko didn't. She was frozen in her spot as she watched the oncoming blade. It flew and hit her in chest.

*Funny, I do not feel any pain. I actually feel relieved, as if a great burden has been lifted.* thought Motoko.

"Ben, why is it that I am not hurt? You said I should've been afraid of it, but I instead feel relieved," said Motoko.

"It is because Motoko, that slash isn't physically damaging. I can edit your memories and tamper with your mind with it. The ki used is incredibly unstable, so I have to use wide and unrefined slashes. If I hit though, I can make it so that you don't want to fight, or make you go insane. I decided to remove your fear of turtles just now instead of the original plan, which was to reveal your past to myself. I still don't know what happened however, so don't worry," said Ben.

"Arigatou....If what you say is true then I cannot thank you enough. I believe we are done here, let's go inside," said Motoko.

The two went down the stairs, leaning heavily on the railings. Unnoticed by them was Shinobu, who had been hidden underneath the balcony. She had gone to pick some flowers, but she had heard every word in their discussion. She sobbed quietly, but uncontrollably.

"Why didn't you tell me this? I should've been told!" she cried. The feeling of betrayal was strangely absent, but there was a feeling of depression.

Shinobu decided to soak her self in the hot springs. She went off to a secret area she had found a while back. It was secluded and out of view. She recounted the events and decided to have a talk with Ben herself on the matter. After about an hour of deep thought she left and got dressed. It was late morning now, but she still had time to make breakfast. Today was a Sunday, so most of the people slept in. She made her breakfast as usual, but she was unusual in her thinking during the process.

"I wonder what I would say to Ben. He didn't--"

"Didn't what Shinobu?" asked Ben walking in. He was wearing different clothing now. His attire consisted of a t-shirt and shorts.

"Oh, Ben, Could I talk to you in private?" she asked.

"Sure, after we make breakfast where should we go?" he asked.

"We'll go to my room."

"Alright, well, I'll help now."

Ben was an intermediate cook, no where near Shinobu's caliber but not like Naru's contamination. The breakfast was made, and Shinobu called to the other people. They all ate breakfast, except Shinobu and Ben.

"I wonder where they are?" asked Keitaro.

"Don't worry, Urashima. Ben isn't like you, he won't take advantage of her," answered Motoko.

"I see you seem to like him. But aren't you a little old to be dating fourteen year old boys when you're seventeen?" inquired Kitsune.

"MOTOKO LIKES BEN! MOTOKO LIKES BEN!" cried Su.

"Su, behave yourself!" scolded Naru. Su immediately mellowed out.

"I think we should leave them alone. They shouldn't be pestered anyway," said Naru.

"Alright, I agree with Naru," said Keitaro.

"I think that's the closest thing we'll get to a public declaration of love from Keitaro!" screamed Kitsune. Sake bottles appeared in each of her hands and she poured everyone a glass, even Su and Sarah.

"I didn't make a declaration of love, Kitsune!" screamed Keitaro. His body was ridged ad leaning towards her, eyes spouting water like a sprinkler. Further teasing followed for the young ronin.

In Shinobu's room, Shinobu and Ben sat, sipping tea and eating their breakfast. They finished their food and put it on the side, then began talking.

Author's Notes: Okay, I've finally named the chapters. I know I made some mistakes, but they're small enough to be negligible. It's really hard to continue this because of all the strings. Kanako fans don't fret, her plan will commence sometime soon. Once again, my e-mail is benjoewoo@yahoo.com and my AIM is TheCrimina1. Ja Ne!