A/N: Alright! Another chapter! Well, in this chapter, people are hurt and love is lost!! But is it between Yamato and Motoko? Or is it someone else?! Standard disclaimers apply!! Enjoy!!
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As Motoko slid the doors open, only one person jumped up and waved madly.
"Ohayo, Motoko!!" Taichi called out happily. Before he could say anything else, he noticed the odd echo his voice made around the class as they suddenly and abruptly became quiet.
"W-What's going on?" Sora wondered aloud. The girls around her class continued to glare at Motoko who kept her stoic face on.
"So she's rallied the whole class against me has she?" Motoko spat. The silence was easily broken, and the boiling emotions of the girls came out quickly.
"It's not fair that you got Yamato!"
"Yeah! Jun told us about what happened in the amusement park!"
"A lot of girls were turned down and hurt. They deserve him more than you!"
"You're not even allowed to love! You'll just end up breaking his heart!!"
"You're so undeserving!"
"You don't know a thing about his music or his feelings!!"
"... And you know nothing about my life or my feelings. So we're even then." Motoko calmly took her seat as girls all around her glared daggers at her. "How childish..."
"Motoko, what are they talking about?" Sora asked her with an eyebrow raised.
"It's their contemptible jealousy that's talking" Motoko growled. Sora and Taichi exclaimed glances as Motoko sat peacefully in her chair, undisturbed by the angry glares around her. The doors slid open again and Yamato stepped in with a smile on his face, but it quickly faded when the entire classroom began to look at him. Sora and Taichi looked absolutely bewildered, the boys looked as though they were watching a good movie, and the girls... the girls looked like he were getting ready to be fed to a giant man-eating slug.
"Yamato..." the whispered under their breath, looking away from him innocently. Yamato nervously continued to his seat and he peered down at Motoko, who looked completely at ease, and yet she looked stiff and stoic.
"Wh-What's going on?" he asked aloud. Everyone seemed to look at each other, really unsure of where exactly to start, but then the doors slid open again and the teacher jogged inside.
"Wheew! Sorry I'm late!! Traffic was awful!!! Alright, open your books everyone to where we left off. We're going to get right into things today!" the teacher informed them with a smile. As she began to go on and on about the lesson, Yamato glanced back towards the girl sitting behind him, and stole as many glances at her as he could.
"Y-You're kidding me?" Yamato exclaimed, his fist slamming into a locker. He immediately regretted it, because his hand became noticeably red and there was now a dent in that locker.
"No. They declared war on me" Motoko told him as she leaned against the cold window.
"This is preposterous... You're not the one to blame for this, Motoko. I'll set them straight-"
"No you won't."
"What? You're just going to let them walk over you?"
"And you ask me to renounce one of the best evenings of my life?!" Yamato was surprised by her response, and the passion that she held within her eyes. "I've never felt so comfortable around anyone else before! I was able to break free from being the Shinmei heir, and I became a normal high school girl... I was... I was really happy. Even if all the girls in this school hate me... it's worth it."
"You've really changed, you know that?"
"... I know. Everyone saw it... Everyone saw me change... except for I didn't see it until now."
"You still think you'll abide by the Shinmei laws, Motoko?" Yamato asked her as he approached her at the window. He pressed his hands against the sill of the window and looked outside in the winter stillness. Her head shifted, looking up towards the ceiling in thought. He could really tell that this was really a critical decision for her.
'She's delicate, gentle and honest... she's calculating, short-tempered, fierce and has this feisty flare... but she's also genuine, well-respected and determined all at the same time... there isn't just one side of you I love. I want to see all sides of you... and I don't want you to be afraid to show them to me... because I'll accept you with open arms...' Her eyes suddenly sharpened with her powerful ambition and she glanced back towards him with a kind smile.
"No." Overall, he was actually surprised by her answer, but he was more surprised by how happy she looked with it. "I... I'm the heir now. I make the rules. No one should have to agonize between honor and their heart like I have... Yamato... my father and mother don't know I've decided this though... so... I might have to count on you for awhile, alright? I-I can't do it alone." Yamato smiled as he reached over and took her hand in his.
"You don't have to worry. I'll be around."
"I'm home!" Motoko called out as she rushed inside her house. "Kendo practice ran late, and I'll be going out with some friends this evening, I've finished all my homework so don't-" Motoko stopped abruptly as she entered the kitchen and found her mother leaning against the wall of the room, her eyes downcast and tears brimming on her eyes. Her father sat at their modest kitchen table with his hands folded and his eyes filled with rage. And across from him... was Jun Motomiya "What is this snake doing here?!" Motoko exclaimed suddenly, her attitude completely changing.
"Motoko... I don't know where to begin..." her mother sighed, but was cut off by her tall husband standing up and walked over to Motoko, who looked very worried at this point.
"I know exactly where to start. You violated our teachings? You dressed in a mini-skirt? You were seen in an inappropriate position with a boy? Stay out past curfew, and now you've declared that you're going to change our traditions?!" Mr. Aoyama roared.
"Otou-san!! Half of those aren't even true!! That witch was the one who made them up!! You have to believe-"
"I've had my suspicions ever since your mother mentioned that boy coming by our house!! I just knew this would happen! You were my last hope, Motoko! Without you our clan will wither and DIE!?! DO YOU WANT THAT?!" he roared. Motoko was on the verge of tears, but she fought bravely and stood to her full height.
"Things have to change, Otou-san!! You can't deny me the joy of falling in love!!! I won't allow it!!! These aren't the same days of our ancestors, Otou-san-"
"Things will change, Motoko!! You're going back to Hinata!!"
"Wh-What?!"
"My decision is final!! You're moving back tomorrow!!"
"B-But, darling! This is too har-"
"This is the ONLY decision!! I'm calling the Inn NOW" her father exclaimed. Motoko fell to her knees as her father stormed out of the room towards the telephone.
"A-Aoyama-san-" Jun spoke up, her voice weak from fear, and regret hanging on her face.
"Just go" Mrs. Aoyama whispered hoarsely. "You've done enough." With one last glance at Motoko, who was like a puddle on the floor, she rushed out of the home, tears appearing in Jun's own eyes.
"What have I done? ... WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" Jun exclaimed.
"This was so sudden, I didn't think Motoko would come back this quickly" Kitsune pointed out as she drank the last bit of her sake bottle. As the cold winter rain poured from the sky, the entire group living at the Hinata Inn stood outside awaiting the return of their Kendo champion.
"I wonder how much Motoko has changed?" Shinobu wondered aloud.
"Motoko's still gonna be the same old Motoko!!!" Kaolla exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah, I doubt Motoko would ever really change" Keitaro chuckled.
"I'm not sure, her Father sounded very urgent and very upset on the phone today..." Haruka mumbled as she leaned against the door.
"Hey! I-Is that her?!" Naru exclaimed. Through the thick evening rain and fog, a young woman climbed the stairs with one suitcase in each hand, and a green school uniform that clung to her pale skin. Her raven black hair had succumbed to her face, and her cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were blood-shot, now bordering with new tears at the sight of the Inn.
"M-Motoko-chan?" Keitaro called out. Not able to keep her emotions inside any longer, Motoko collapsed onto her knees and let the suitcases drop the ground, all of her sorrow pouring out into her tears.
"Motoko!!!"
"I... I lost everything... My home, my father, my friends, my place in the Shinmei dojo... and I... and I lost Yamato" Motoko sobbed as she wore one of Naru's pajamas, since all of her clothes were drying in the dryer.
"Motoko, we had no idea about all of these changes... you haven't written us back recently, but even so, you've really changed in these few months you've been gone..." Naru admitted as she brushed through Motoko's tangled and wet hair.
"Motoko, would you mind telling us why you had to come back? Why were you banished?" Shinobu asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kitsune told them. "The mention of Yamato says it all. You fell in love, didn't you, Motoko?" Tears overflowed out of her eyes, but Motoko quickly wiped them away, trying to find what little dignity she had left.
"I can't help feeling that I didn't do anything wrong..." Motoko whispered.
"You didn't, Motoko. It's only natural for a young woman such as yourself to experience love and emotions like that" Haruka told her. The doors of Naru's room opened and Keitaro and Kaolla came inside.
"Food for Motoko! I didn't add any of my spice either!! Keitaro wouldn't let me... the meanie" Kaolla sighed as she placed the hot soup in front of Motoko.
"I appreciate it, thanks Kaolla" Motoko told her as she slowly began to eat.
"Your mother called for you earlier, Motoko, she said that she was going to send something useful to you" Keitaro told her. "What do you think she meant by that?"
"... I'm not sure..." Motoko admitted quietly. As Naru continued to brush through her tangled locks, Motoko looked out the window at the rain that had just now turned to snow. "I didn't even get to say goodbye..."
"How... HOW COULD YOU?!" His hand punched the wall hard and Daisuke tried to focus all of his anger into that.
"I was so jealous! I... I just couldn't help myself!!" Jun exclaimed, sobbing on the kitchen table.
"You know you're going to have to tell-"
"NO!! No! I could never do that!" Jun sobbed. "He could never forgive me!!"
"He's going to find out one way or the other, Jun! And what were you doing spying on them this afternoon anyway?!"
"J-Just the way he looked at her... it just... I couldn't handle it. I hated it, because she had just met him... and I've been working so hard and so long to get him to fall in love with me..." Jun sobbed. Daisuke growled angrily and adjusted his goggles out of habit.
"And you want me to tell him for you, right?" Daisuke demanded.
"Please, Daisuke... I can't do it myself... I don't want to break his heart..." Wordlessly, Daisuke grabbed his coat and flung open the door, making a point to slam it on his way out.
"Oba-chan... Motoko... I'm sorry..." Daisuke whispered, his words becoming of puff of visible air in the cold wind, and then it was carried away in the same instant. As he walked towards the elevator, he pressed the button and waited patiently as the bell sounded and the doors opened. But instead of an empty elevator, a familiar girl stood inside.
"Where is she, Daisuke?! Mrs. Aoyama told me all about what happened!" Sora exclaimed angrily.
"Sora, don't take it out on Jun-"
"This is her fault, though! Motoko is gone and banished from her dojo because of her! Everything Motoko has worked for all of her life is over now!" Sora shouted.
"... Yamato doesn't know yet."
"And she's too much of a coward to tell him herself?!"
"... I don't want to go alone, Sora." Sora stopped her rampage and looked down at the young freshman, who looked just as sorrowful the day that Hikari had chosen TK. "When Hikari and TK started going out... I thought I was all alone. I didn't think I had anyone to relate my problems too... but, Motoko was there for me, and she at least made me feel better, even after how mean I had been to her. I wasn't alone when I lost the person I loved... Yamato shouldn't be either." Sora hesitated, but sighed in defeat.
"We'd better get over there soon before the snow comes..."
"It's going to snow again?"
"Yeah... and the snow is coming from Hinata..."
"She hasn't left her bed a single time!" Shinobu told their guest worriedly.
"She hasn't eaten hardly anything at all!" Naru informed her.
"She's crying all the time! ARG! I can't sleep!" Kitsune exclaimed.
"She doesn't even want any of my hot sauce..." Kaolla whined.
"Please... please, help her..." Keitaro pleaded.
"I'll see what I can do... Phoenix, stay here." The golden bird on her shoulder flew off and landed calmly on the shoulder of the couch. The young woman quietly walked up the stairs until she reached the third floor of the Inn. As she approached Naru's room, she knocked quietly and waited for a reply.
"Hai?" came the weak response. The young woman sighed heavily and opened the doors walking in. "It's been awhile, hasn't it, Motoko?" Immediately, Motoko sat up from the futon she was laying in and she looked up to the woman above her who was smiling kindly.
"T-Tsuruko?!" Motoko exclaimed loudly, wiping at her eyes futilely. Tsuruko sighed heavily and kneeled beside her younger sister, gently stroking her hair. "I'm not strong like you... I'm sorry, Tsuruko..." Tsuruko chuckled and titled her sister's head up to look at her.
"Motoko, I'm not here to test you any longer. Today, I'm here as your sister. Normal Shinmei students aren't allowed to shed tears... but as for the exceptional ones... I guess I can let you slip by, neh?" Motoko's eyes grew thinned and thinner as she tried to keep the tears from falling from her eyes, but she eventually gave in and clung to her sister. "It's alright, Motoko.... It's alright..."
"I let down everyone didn't I? I'm crying over my future... and I'm crying over... over... over a stupid boy!!" Motoko exclaimed. Tsuruko couldn't help but chuckled at Motoko's last comment, but she continued to hold Motoko like a dear sister.
"You look like you need to freshen up. Let's go down to the hot springs for awhile, okay? It would do me some good after that long trip..."
"T-Tsuruko..."
"Hm?"
"A-Arigatou... for coming I mean..." Tsuruko beamed from ear to ear when she heard her sister say this.
"And all this time you were dreading the day I would come to see you and take you back to the temple! I'm relieved that you're glad I came for a visit for once!"
"How do you think we should tell him?" Sora asked Daisuke as they stood in front of Yamato's apartment.
"I'll worry about telling him and you worry about him not going into a rampage, okay?" Daisuke suggested as he pressed the doorbell. Sora nodded and they both braced themselves for what was coming. As the door slowly opened, they waited cautiously as a raven-haired woman opened the door- Hey, w-wait a minute. "Wh-Who're you?" Daisuke exclaimed as he back away from the doorway.
"Mrs. Aoyama?" Sora gawked in surprised, "What're you doing here!?"
"If you're looking for Yamato, he's already gone."
"Oh no, he knows!!! You told him, didn't you? He's probably gone off to wallow in his sorrow-"
"Motomiya-san, he just-"
"Or maybe he's going to write angsty lyrics and become a punk!?"
"Motomiya-san, he actually-"
"What if he quits the band? Oh my gosh... what if he drops out of school, or.. or..."
"He went to Hinata!!!"
"Or he might have.... gone to... Hinata! That's just what I was going to say!" Daisuke chuckled nervously.
"Are you serious? He's already left?" Sora asked her as she raised an eyebrow.
"I thought it would be best if I told him the events that have happened. He insisted on leaving immediately... oh and, Motomiya-san, I didn't mention your sister's name, so he isn't aware of her involvement."
"Oh, you're a lifesaver Mrs. Aoyama!!" Daisuke sighed with relief.
"I suggest that you two go home and rest up... there's not a whole lot I think we can do at this point..." Mrs. Aoyama suggested.
"Nope, I've got a better idea. Mrs. Aoyama, how much does a train to Hinata Hot Springs cost?"
"I'm glad you arrived there safely, Tsuruko" Mr. Aoyama said over the phone, "How is she?"
"Not much better... she's trying to bottle up her emotions too much I'm afraid. She's not letting herself cry anymore or anything... she's so... dull.... almost emotionless..." Tsuruko told her father.
"That's what she gets for violating the laws..."
"Otou-san!"
"It's the truth! And now I have to go to Kyoto to explain all of this! They'll decided Motoko's fate."
"And Motoko has no say in this?"
"When you wished to leave the Shinmei school, did you go to Kyoto for the meeting of the elders?"
"W-Well, no, sir."
"Then Motoko won't go either."
"But Father, can't you make an exception-"
"With thousands of years of tradition, do you expect to violate this?!"
"You're not being fair-"
"There is nothing fair and just about this, Tsuruko!! Motoko committed a crime against our laws! Technically, she should be disqualified."
"But that's only if she marries-"
"You nearly disqualified her once already!! The elders have to look at this-"
"There is no need, Otou-san! We're not living in that past any- O-Otou-san?" Tsuruko growled into the phone and placed it back on the receiver. "I can't believe he hung up..." Meanwhile, now in her own room, Motoko continued to look outside as she watched the gentle and quiet winter fog roll into the Hinata Inn once again.
"What do I do now?"
A/N: Wo ho ho!! Cliffhanger, eh? All gearing up for the chapters ahead! A two-parter is coming your way everybody!! Yay!! ^_~ PLEASE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF LIFE REVIEW!!!!!!!