First Defeat
Author: Garasu
The boards creaked softly in the night as two young lovers snuck through the house. It was of grave importance that they not be caught by anyone else that lived under the same roof, especially the one that the male half of the pair called his 'girlfriend.'
"Shh," Motoko turned suddenly on her companion, urging him to walk more quietly when the board beneath his feet made a particularly loud groan of protest. Some of the residents here had very light ears.
"Sorry," Keitaro whispered and smiled, though it was hidden by the darkness. They had been sneaking out on dates for the past week, ever since he and his girlfriend had had a serious argument. Frankly he couldn't remember what it was about, but when the young woman ahead of him had helped console him after the fight he couldn't help the action that happened afterwards. All it took was for him to remember how soft and gentle she was to set his face flaming with a fierce blush.
"It's alright," she answered back, giving him a reassuring squeeze by their still connected hands. Though their moment was soon rudely interrupted when a light flashed on and a door opened right next to them.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING WITH HER!"
Motoko woke with a start, sat up in her bed and lay a shaking hand on her wildly beating heart. As soon as she felt her heart begin to slow down and her breathing return to a somewhat normal pace she brushed a strand of loose raven-black hair from her face and closed the front of her yukata and clutched the fabric tightly. The skin under her chest was damp with her sweat, yet another area further down was even more so. She calmly exhaled, feeling that the dream's grasp had fully been shaken from her then, before she collapsed down upon her futon and placed a hand on her forehead, staring at the ceiling as she did so.
"Another one," she commented idly, her soft voice carrying into the darkness. "That makes three this week." She sighed briefly before her olivine eyes drifted over to the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it read the hour she wished to get up. Wearily, she got up and folded her futon neatly before storing it properly. Then she walked over to her closet and retrieved the proper attire for her morning exercises, making sure to change her undergarments as she did so with a mere embarrassed twitch of her lips. When she was finally dressed, she walked over to the door, opened it and stepped out into the hallway before closing it behind her. As Motoko made her way out onto the deck in the pre-dawn hours she mumbled briefly under her breath one single word, a mere sigh upon the wind before she sharply focused her mind and began her daily practice.
"Keitaro."
Hours later, as the sun neared its zenith, Motoko finally allowed herself to break, walking into the soothing shade of the indoors while padding her neck with a small hand towel. A conscientious sniff of the air around her let her know that a bath was very much in order. Her gi was drenched with sweat and her hakama practically dripped on the hardwood floors as she walked, yet she could not remember a time when she felt more satisfied. The work out that she had begun putting herself through when she did not have to be at school was intense, but it was to be expected of the newly made Shihan of the Shinmei Ryu dojo.
Motoko paused briefly over that last thought, still not completely used to the title. Though she wasn't expected to take over the main portion of her duties until she graduated from Tokyo University. Looking back, it all seemed to her that everything in her life was happening all at once. In the short span of a three months she had been granted the title, been accepted to Tokyo University, as well as the pre-law program within that university. Everything that she had always wanted, ever since she first found herself those trying times two years ago.
Everything but one, she thought glumly, but allowed no more thoughts to walk down that road. She knew there was nothing she could do about that situation but that did not mean she had to like it. And though she had tried to accept what little time she did have with him as well as foster a mutual friendship, she had found that lately her old feelings were beginning to return with even more force than when they first began. Speaking of Keitaro, he should be coming back today. Her expression lightened a trifle at that thought. It had been too quiet around the halls of Hinata Inn since Keitaro had left for a brief dig along with Seta.
Bringing her mind back to the present, she quickly entered the changing rooms and stripped herself of her sodden clothing. Once her dirty garments were properly disposed of, she retrieved a towel and once again stepped into the bright sunshine.
"'Bout time you arrived." Kitsune called as she spied the young woman coming into the open-air bath. "Been waiting for you all morning it seems."
"Unlike some other people I have things I must do in the morning," she replied back, a little shortly.
"Touché," the elder girl replied, shrugging off the slight barb as if it was nothing. "Shinobu should have lunch ready pretty soon, and from what I hear it will be a feast to behold." Kitsune snickered briefly at a thought she chose not to vocalize. "'Parently, our favorite pervert is returning today and she's been getting her panties in a bunch trying to make his first meal home special."
The only indication that Motoko had even heard the dirty-blond was a slight twitch of her eyes, otherwise her expression remained completely neutral.
"Oh, Urashima is returning today? I had forgotten completely about that," she deadpanned.
Kitsune merely rolled her eyes, and smiled mischievously.
"As if, sword girl. You know you've been counting down the days to his return the same as everyone else in this place." Her smile widened briefly before returning to its normal proportions. "With the possible exception of Naru. Boy, did they really have a row before he left."
"Though it is none of my business, I would think she would be ready to forgive him by now. It usually doesn't take long." Motoko replied, letting her head lean back against the stone lip of the bath and letting out a gusty sigh. "We all know what he is like by now."
"True, but you know Naru, she can hold onto a grudge like no other. Last I heard she was loudly proclaiming that she didn't want to see that pervert ever again."
"As if she doesn't say that once a week." Motoko knew that was true enough. Keitaro got himself in enough trouble with his girlfriend to last a normal man a lifetime. She frowned briefly as she remembered the last time he had gone sailing from his girlfriend's punch. It took him several hours to recover, she added to herself.
"Ya got me there," Kitsune conceded, suddenly standing up and stretching her back languorously. Motoko blushed briefly at the woman's display before closing her eyes and turning away. "Oh well," the elder girl continued, "we'll see what happens later on when he gets home."
"When who gets home?" A new voice asked from the doorway, causing Motoko to look up briefly. She caught a glimpse of chestnut brown hair and slightly tanned skin before the figure slipped into the water and waded over to the pair.
"As if you don't know," Kitsune gibed, punching Naru on the arm with a sly grin. "Is there anyone else that is coming home today, after a long...long time spent away from his woman?" Kitsune made sure to draw out certain sections of her phrase and supplement them with a few playful fingers up Naru's arm.
"Oh. Him." Naru replied flatly, catching Kitsune off guard for a moment. "Why would I want to see that pervert? And besides, he's only been gone for a few weeks."
"Still haven't forgiven him, I see." Kitsune smiled and patted her friend on the back. "Come on, girl, you gotta let go sometime. We all know what he's like."
"Hmmph." Naru frowned and sunk lower into the water, muttering something that Motoko didn't hear, but judging by Kitsune's expression it was probably for the best.
"Well," the buxom blond drawled slowly, "I suppose that answers that."
Suddenly bored with the subject she was on, Kitsune stood and stretched once again. It was no fun if Naru was going to be prissy about the subject throughout her teasing, and if Naru was here Motoko would not be an easy target either; leaving her with no prospects and an empty stomach. As she walked towards the changing room door, she spared a moment to turn back to Motoko and Naru. "Well, I'm going to go see if Shinobu'll let me 'taste' some of her grub. See you at the party."
Both women spent a brief time in silence before Motoko finally turned to the other young woman and called her name softly.
"Hm?" Naru asked, opening her eyes to look at Motoko curiously.
"Will you be attending Urashima's party?" It seemed like such a silly question to ask, but for some strange reason, Motoko felt it needed to be asked. She wasn't too pleased with the answer either.
"To tell you the truth, I told someone that I would help them study today, so I guess I won't be able to make it." She replied, though to the younger woman it didn't appear as if she was very unhappy with the thought. Perhaps the fight was more serious than she was led believe.
"He will miss you, you know," she thought to add, just to make sure Naru understood the situation perfectly. If there was one vice to Keitaro, it was that he tended to get rather depressed when things didn't go as planned in regards to his girlfriend.
"Good," Naru spat, a little too harshly. "Maybe then he'll think about changing a bit."
Motoko merely sighed. To her, it seemed as if the relationship games that the pair were playing were beginning to get a bit old. The ups and downs that Naru and Keitaro regularly went through had begun to wear her patience to the extreme. Perhaps it was best if the two got some space after all, though for the life of her, she couldn't imagine how it would do the pair any good. But, in the end, it was none of her business. This was the way that they had carried on for nearly two years, and if they were still together she could find no reason why it would end suddenly now. Finding nothing else to talk about, Motoko decided that it was time for her to exit the bath as well. The party would begin as soon as Keitaro got home, and that would be any minute now. Though she did try to convince Naru to come before she left, she owed Keitaro that much, at least, for all that he had done for her over the years.
"We will be in the main dining hall if you should change your mind," she told the silent woman behind her, and taking the woman's silence as a hopeful answer. Keitaro had managed to worm himself into the hearts of everyone here at the inn and it wouldn't be the same without everyone whom he had touched there and welcome him home. Especially Naru.
Motoko dressed as quickly as she could, it helped that she chose not to wear her traditional gi and hakama with all of its knot tying and proper folding. A small look in the mirror provided her with a glimpse as to just how much she had changed in four years. Not so long ago, there were two things she ever wore, a school uniform and her hakama. The two items were as familiar to her as her own skin, yet oddly, she was beginning to be very comfortable in the simple jeans and t-shirt that had become almost as much as an indispensable items in her wardrobe as her older garments. Today, her choices weren't much different from any other day: a casual pair of snug jeans and a small spaghetti strap shirt in navy blue with small 'goddess wings' printed at the apex of the chest.
Even with her quick change, Motoko barely made it in time, walking down the staircase just as Keitaro walked into the front door.
"I'm home!" He called over the chorus of greetings. He smiled as he looked around the room, noticing everyone that had attended the small gathering. A smile, Motoko noticed, that seemed to slip with every new face that he looked at. Finally, as his eyes returned to the spot they first began, the inevitable question that everyone dreaded exited his mouth.
"Where's Naru?"
"Oh come on Keitaro! Cheer up!" Kitsune yelled over her bottle of sake sometime later. She flashed the young man a wide smile as he looked her direction. When she noticed that she had his full attention, the young woman slid up to him, smiling ever wider the closer she got. "In fact," she whispered, once she reached a position next to him, "I can help you forget your troubles for a bit, no questions asked." Her smile looked fit to crack her face as Keitaro watched her slowly begin to lift up her blouse. It had been too long since she had teased Keitaro this way and she had begun to miss his embarrassed reactions.
"Kitsune!" Keitaro yelled, shutting his eyes to the wondrous visions that were beginning to be slowly revealed. "I'm not like that, and you've had too much to drink!"
"Spoilsport," Kitsune whispered, and the young man sighed in relief when he realized that she let her blouse go. "But," she said, turning to him as she began to wander back to the party, "the offer's always open, just in case." With a small gleeful noise, the foxy woman turned back to the party and took a long pull from her bottle while calling out for more food.
"That woman's drinking will catch up to her one of these days," another voice, this time from Keitaro's left side. He turned quickly to find Motoko smiling faintly as she watched Kitsune's antics. After a few more minutes regarding the rambunctious woman, she turned her eyes towards Keitaro. "It isn't good for you to hide here in the shadows, Keitaro, this party is for you after all."
Keitaro found his cheeks burning from her intense gaze and he nervously scratched his neck. Has she been drinking too? He wondered, not for the first time really noticing how well she had grown in the past years that he had known her. He knew she was not one for drinking sake, but was known to have a few cups for special occasions. He also knew that those few times she did drink led to some interesting conversations between them. Conversations that had a habit of starting out just like this one was.
"I know, but it's kind of hard to do that right now." He said aloud, taking a brief glance at the staircase, one that was fast enough that no one would have caught, as long as that person wasn't Motoko. She instantly realized what he was referring to with that brief gesture.
"She always comes around, Keitaro." Motoko tried to put as much sympathy as she could in that simple phrase. It was true enough, Naru always did come around in the end and forgive Keitaro for whatever wrong she felt he had done to her, but even in this case, the young brunette was hanging on a little longer than she usually did. Silently, Motoko cringed at her words. Why did he have to bring up that particular subject now? She felt like she should strike him over the head with her bokken and tell him to grow up and realize that other people cared about him, that other people would be more than willing to love him. Other people, like me. She added silently.
"Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" Keitaro said softly, with a strange look in his eyes that Motoko could just barely make out in the darkened hallway. She blushed as a brief surge of emotion made her heart leap into her throat at his expression, and not for the first time fought back the jealousy that it was reserved for another person. She had to repeat to herself once again that long ago, she had resolved to be his friend after she realized that she could not win his love, but sometimes...sometimes moments like this occurred and she cursed Naru's name for the girl's fortune.
"Anyway," she said quickly, fighting off the blush and regaining her composure before he could realize something was amiss. After a moment of groping for a 'safe' subject to talk about she finally found one and put on her best fake smile. "I wished to welcome you back my friend, it's been too quiet since you left." She smiled as he turned a tender look towards her, before smiling shyly.
Keitaro, being the oblivious lunkhead that he was completely missed her carefully constructed smile.
"Thanks, it's great to be back." He chuckled softly. "I miss Hinata more than you guys could possibly imagine while I'm out digging. I love the job and everything, but there really is no place like home." He paused for a moment, suddenly remembering something about his previous returns. "Say, Motoko, aren't you normally chasing me around the house, shouting challenges about now?"
Motoko almost giggled, almost. She had come a long way in letting her feminine side show through, but there were some things that she would never do. She cast him a sidelong glance as both regarded the party going on in the room. Truthfully, she had been wishing that he would remember. It had been too long since they had done their traditional 'welcome home' match, but considering the mood he was in tonight and the dangerously thin line reigning in her own feelings she felt it was not wise to challenge him tonight.
Realizing he was expecting an answer she could find no words or excuses as to why she hadn't leapt after him with her sword in the hours since his return.
"I guess I didn't wish to bother you," She finished lamely, hoping beyond hope he would still remain as clueless as he had always been and accept the answer. She was in luck.
"Nonsense, I think a distraction might be good for me." Keitaro waved his hand through the air in a dismissive gesture. "Besides, you said yourself that she always comes around, and I have faith she will. I don't think it would be prudent to talk to her now anyway; I'd probably just end up getting thrown through a window or something. After a good sparring session, though, maybe I'll be nice and refreshed."
"Or at least in enough pain to warrant pity." Motoko deadpanned, making Keitaro gape. He laughed a bit at her joke once he regained his composure and shook his head briefly.
"Well, there's that too. But I suppose I should let you know that I have been training while I was away."
"Oh, really," Motoko regarded him faintly, a smile threatening to break free. Liking the lines of this conversation more than the previous one. "It is good to see your free time was well spent. How many matches did you take from Seta this time?"
"Half of them" he said after a moment, but then quickly added, "but he wasn't my only opponent this time."
Motoko briefly widened her eyes at his figure, but controlled her amusement well. If he was beginning to beat Seta on a regular basis, there might just be some hope for him in this match yet.
"And what of the other matches?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Well those weren't a matter of sport unfortunately. It seems Seta and I ran into a bit of trouble coming back in from one side dig." He scratched his head nervously again, recalling the scenario in his mind.
Motoko, for her part actually appeared worried. "You did not receive any injuries, did you?" She asked quickly, not entirely trusting of neither his nor Seta's supposed immortality.
"No...no, nothing like that. Just some pirates who thought they could relieve us of some priceless artifacts. We got taken aboard their ship and everything." Keitaro chuckled at her skeptical expression. "It's true I swear! We managed to trick the pirates and escape but not without making off with some of their more special items stolen from elsewhere.
"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you." Motoko narrowed her eyes briefly at the young man, not entirely sure what to make of his story. It sounded very fantastical to her, but then again, between his bad luck and Seta's knack for trouble...the pair almost always managed to find themselves in interesting places and with interesting people.
"Doubt me if you wish, Motoko," he said affectionately, "but I think it's time I go to bed now. I've been up way too long and every time I cross the International Date Line I swear I loose another few days of my life." As if to back up his statement, he ended it with a huge yawn. "Don't stay up too late," he called after her, as he walked up the stairs that led to his room.
"Goodnight, Keitaro," she responded softly, watching the young man go up the stairs and disappear before turning her face back towards the other residents of the Hinata Inn where she continued to watch the party happen around her. As she had predicted, shortly after Keitaro left, Kitsune had had her fill of alcohol and need to be helped to her bed, but once that was done she merely checked on the younger residents to make sure they were sleeping comfortably before retiring herself.
The next morning, Motoko woke early, looking forward to her sparring match with Keitaro like never before. Ever since he had returned from his trip to America last year and the match that immediately followed, they had settled into a routine tradition of sparring after every one of his trips. It was always a friendly competition between the two friends, but sometimes they did get a little intense. So far, the young woman had taken every single match they had ever had, a grand total of twelve victories and she was looking for number thirteen today.
With the barely contained enthusiasm she always had before a sparring session, she quickly dressed and threaded her bokken through the himo of her hakama before exiting her room and heading for the rear door.
The morning sun shone brightly in the sky, as little birds flitted from branch to branch, calling their sweet greetings out to her as she passed. The day could not have been more perfect for a match as it was not too hot yet, the summer heat being held off by a late cool spell. The cloudless sky shone a brilliant azure, and though she was loathe to arrive late, Motoko found herself slowing down unconsciously to enjoy the small breeze that played with her hair slightly, and making the brilliant red edges of her hakama twirl in tune with her steps.
As Motoko crested the hill that led to small, secluded water pool and waterfall, she noticed that she was not the first to arrive, though it wasn't with disappointment. He was wearing her gift again.
The swordswoman felt her heart give a little lurch as she stopped suddenly, uncharacteristically shy to approach the young man at the base of the valley and staring serenely into the water at his feet. Why he had chosen to wear the garments that she had presented to him was beyond her, but she had to admit that Keitaro Urashima cut a very striking figure in the jet-black gi and navy blue hakama that was the uniform for male students of her school. When she was made Shihan of the Shinmei-ryu, one of the first things she did was give him an honorary membership in return for the countless things that he had done for her. Amazingly, no one had disagreed and her sister even seemed mildly amused at the idea. He only wore it for the most special of occasions, occasions which were rare enough that Motoko had only seen Keitaro wear them once before.
After a few more moments of watching him, Motoko firmed her resolve and approached as quietly as she was capable of.
"What is the method of your death today, Urashima?" She spoke quietly in his ear, deliberately inserting a bit of menace in her voice and using his last name as she used to. With immense satisfaction she saw him start and fall to the ground, eyes wide with surprise.
"Motoko, you're here! Oh, you have to stop doing that, you know I don't have very strong senses." He replied sheepishly, as she grinned down at him from her position.
"It pays to surprise you every once in a while, Keitaro, it helps hone even your lack of good awareness." At his invitation she sat next to him, careful to put a bit of distance between their shoulders.
"I was thinking two out of three today?" He suddenly said in the intervening silence, giving her a little start after the intense quiet. "We haven't done that in a while and I really need to work up a good sweat today."
"I suppose I could allow that. What is the style?"
This was how that matches always started. They would either do a single 'winner-take-all' match if either were pressed for time or a series of best out of three. In either case, a simple arbitrary method decided what the match would be: armed or unarmed. Two out of three also being the traditional kendo match system helped Motoko in her training as well. As a member of the University Kendo Club, it was important for her to practice everyday.
Keitaro smiled and turned to her for a moment. "I think I'll make it simple and straightforward. Two armed and one unarmed, the middle one."
"It is done, then," Motoko replied instantly. I wonder what has him so confident in his sword technique today, she thought briefly. Normally, he was better at unarmed combat due to the nature of Seta's teaching and she would have thought that he'd have chosen that this morning. "Do you wish to start now?"
"At your discretion," Keitaro smiled thoughtfully. Then he bowed teasingly toward her, drawing a soft growl.
"Then prepare yourself, Keitaro, for I won't go easy on you this day." Motoko teased as she stood from her position, dusting her hands off and neatly sliding the bokken back through her belt.
"Since when do you ever go easy on me?" Keitaro asked, smiling in anticipation as they walked apart for a few paces, then turned and set themselves in the traditional stance. Both fighters stared at each other for a moment, backs straight, eyes locked onto each other and hands, with palms spread and placed inward resting on their thighs. As one they bowed, and placed heir left hand on the scabbard of their swords and waited patiently for the other to make their move.
Long ago, Keitaro had discovered that despite all his clumsiness, during the sparring matches he had with Seta and Motoko, he was completely serious, almost graceful in nature. It showed this morning in his set expression and solid stance, one that even Motoko was hard pressed to find a weakness. Then, she saw it, he had left his left leg inward facing a little, shifting his center of balance too far to the right. It the weakness she was looking for and with barely a breath later and no warning she was off, her bokken drawing quicker than the normal eye could follow in a batto attack targeting the wrists of her opponent. To his credit, Keitaro caught on immediately and drew his own wooden sword in a quick defense.
"Very good, Keitaro!" Motoko called, as wood met wood in a thunderous crash and the two disconnected to regain their balance. "You are improving."
"Never hurts to practice," Keitaro replied, keeping his expression as neutral as he could. This time, he was the first to attack, trying to open a small hole that Motoko left on her right side. Quicker than he could even follow, the hole closed and he found himself scrambling to defend from her unexpected offense.
Crap! A decoy, and I almost fell for it! Keitaro cursed himself, as Motoko capitalized on his sudden switch back to defensive and drove him back with a relentless series of thrusts. Before he could regain his balance she switched on him and reversed her footing, coming around from the other side with a horizontal slice at waist level. Keitaro wrenched himself away just in time, letting his sword push hers away further. True to her word, Motoko was not letting up on the young man one bit. When he once again jumped clear of her thrusting sword, he gave himself time to think and to try and take the advantage away from his opponent.
Calm yourself, Keitaro, he told himself as he leapt clear of another sudden attack, putting even more distance between him and the swordswoman. She's not a shihan for nothing, you have to focus and take her mistakes and never let up. The problem with that rational, as Keitaro found, was that Motoko wasn't making any mistakes. The holes she left were deliberate, the over or under steps were calculated and deadly. There was no way he could beat her like this. So then, he figured there was one thing he had over her and that was brute strength, as no one threw a pickaxe like he could.
Motoko, for her part, was fairly impressed with the man across from her. He had lasted a lot longer than he usually did, and it seemed from his set expression that his heart was truly into winning this time. Then I will have to be doubly on guard. She mentally added, aware that when a man was backed into a corner, he tended to fight unpredictably and ferociously. She blinked when she noticed his stance change, recognizing it from the Jigen-ryu. So, strength over quickness, then is it? I am impressed, Keitaro. Changing your style to suit your strengths. Not that it made much difference to the raven-haired woman. She knew how to counter jigen strikes, and how to exploit their weaknesses.
When Keitaro next attacked, she could feel his determination as if it was a tangible wall before him. For a mere moment, she thought of allowing him to take the advantage, just to see if he could capitalize on it, but only for a moment. She promised no freebies, and her honor demanded nothing less. As the charging young man drew closer, she shifted her positions slightly, resting on her toes, ready to spring to either side of the single thrust she knew was coming. It mattered not that the single thrust could be reversed, she would end the fight before he could do so anyway.
The moment came and she capitalized, straining her muscles to the maximum in order to position herself properly ahead of Keitaro's strength. Twirling gracefully as the overhead strike came, she loosely guarded with her sword, sliding his weapon off to her left. The next moment, her strike came around her head in a lightening fast maneuver that even she could barely follow with her eyes. It was all instinct from here on out.
"Kiai!" She yelled as her muscles pulled short, bringing her bokken mere millimeters from the tender flesh that was Keitaro's neck. The material of her hakama and hair both took several seconds to catch up with her body, flaring from her body in a graceful arc. Motoko: 1; Keitaro: 0.
"Do you yield, Keitaro?" She asked, once she had caught her breath. Her wooden sword, despite her heaving chest was rock steady and remaining in place until his defeat was acknowledged. She didn't have to wait long.
"I yield." He formally intoned, adjusting his weapon so that the 'sharp' edge was away from Motoko, then he straightened. When Motoko removed her weapon, he smiled at her briefly before the pair turned, bowed gracefully, and traditionally 're-sheathed' their swords.
"Wow," Keitaro spoke, after a moment of silence spent regaining his breath. "That was intense. I don't think I've ever lasted that long against you before."
"You have improved greatly since we last challenged each other, Keitaro. You would be able to hold your own even against some of our senior students, I am impressed." The young woman smiled slightly, crinkling her eyes in a rare sign of amusement. "In such a short time you have learned much."
Motoko flushed as her eyes caught a small movement and followed it, only then realizing that his gi had opened slightly. Her cheeks colored slightly when she found herself staring at his exposed chest far too long for her comfort. With a shake of her head at her impure thoughts she tried to focus back to what Keitaro was saying.
I suppose tonight I will have to write two chapters to get rid of these feelings. She thought distractedly. Unfortunately, it seemed as if even her habit of writing down her unvoiced emotions was failing to contain her rising feelings for the young man across from her.
"When you have nothing better to do on your time off but spar with your boss, you'd be surprised how much you learn." Embarrassingly, Motoko realized she had just missed half of what the young archeologist had said, and fought to regain control of herself, and the only may she knew how to do so was to fight once again.
"Are you ready for the next match?" She asked quickly, trying to hide the breathlessness that was beginning to overtake her voice. After a thought, Motoko added slyly, "I don't think you'll need to be worried about the third match, so you can go all out."
Keitaro merely laughed and shook his head. "I'm more than ready." He confidently replied, removing the sword from his hip and placing it on the ground before sliding into a loose, defensive posture.
Motoko smiled before removing her own weapon and repeating his action. "I must admit, my aikido has been getting rusty," she teased, deliberately sliding into a more shallow posture.
"I can certainly remedy that," he shot back, launching into an attack as soon as Motoko was ready.
Even in her readiness she was surprised at the speed with which the young man came at her. As fast as she won the advantage in the sword fight, she lost it in the hand-to-hand combat. Keitaro had almost doubled his repertoire since their last bout and she was hard pressed to keep up with the changes.
One attack after the other, Keitaro came at her with confidence and surety, driving the young woman back to the edge of the clearing before she had a chance to gain her footing again. If his sword skills were impressive, his kung fu technique was spectacular.
Almost. Motoko caught herself before she could get too impressed and lashed out at one of his overreaching arms with a strong grip. Grappling for a second she brought him around in kote gaeshi and threw him to the ground a moment later. Here, unlike her style of swordsmanship, she was all defensive. The Shinmei school was based fully upon sword technique, but did acknowledge that outside of their special techniques room for loosing one's sword must be accounted for. Therefore, all students underwent aikido training simply because it also consisted of sword forms that went hand in hand with basic sword schools, as well as that it was a simple means to bide time until the lost sword could be retrieved. She knew it was meant only as a temporary solution to a problem, and the way Keitaro was fighting today she would not be able to put him down quickly like she was able to in the past matches.
The young man quickly recovered from his transgression and stood, rubbing a bit of dirt from his chin. "Nice throw," he commented, circling her more warily than last time.
"Thank you," she acknowledged, watching the circling man carefully, calculating when his attack would come. Their brief touch sent jolts of electricity down her spine, and caused her timing to go off the deep end slightly. As a result she completely misjudged him.
Keitaro came in ahead of her prediction, riding the strength of his back leg as he used it to propel himself forward as fast as his feet could carry him. In seconds he was on her, fists connecting with her forearm blocks and withdrawing before she could solidly connect to his center. His right foot flew up in a kicking feint before reversing out for an elbow attack. This time, Motoko read it perfectly and slipped out of the way, letting his arm fly by her. Before she could retaliate however, he skittered out of her range and began circling again.
He's searching, she thought, narrowing her eyes at the man. Looking for a weakness. She consciously straightened out, giving him an opening in a calculated risk to draw him into her range again. Keitaro bought it and slipped in, fast, coming at her with a straight snake attack for her throat. Motoko blocked it, but could not block the reverse that came immediately after, sending her flying backwards.
In midair, the swordswoman corrected her posture as gracefully as a cat and executed a half twist to put her feet back in line with the ground. The moment she landed, however, he was on her again taking advantage of her disturbed center. All Motoko saw was a blur of black and blue and before she could even right herself his open palm was inches from her forehead forcing her to jump back and land on her rear, completely losing her graceful appearance for a few brief moments in her surprise. The victory was his.
Motoko: 1; Keitaro: 1.
Stunned for a moment at just how fast Keitaro had managed to wrest the victory from her, Motoko blinked a few times and gazed up at him dazedly. Their breaths came in uneven gasps and their chests heaved, gulping in as much air their lungs could possibly dare to hold, but to Motoko Keitaro never looked more alluring. When everything was settled enough, the young man held out a hand towards Motoko and lifted her off the ground with an audible grunt. Her cheeks once again flared into an interesting display of red at their contact, made even worse by his appearance. Damn it all! I can't seem to control myself today! She thought violently as they broke apart and began walking in circles to ease strained muscles. Is it because of their fight that I can't get him out of my head? Maybe I still have a chance with him, oh why does this have to be so hard!
"Well that was interesting," Keitaro commented, breaking Motoko from her destructive thoughts and making her turn quickly towards him. "I can't say that it's ever snapped that much into focus for me before."
"It was impressive," Motoko congratulated, hiding her emotions well enough, though it sounded completely false to her ears. "That was the first time you've ever won."
"Thank you." His thanks were truly heartfelt, and as he looked in her direction, she smiled at him.
"But," she continued a moment later, her smile returning to grace her pretty face as her breath quickly returned, "I wouldn't get used to it. The next match is once again armed and it's winner take all."
"Sounds good to me," Keitaro replied confidently. Completely missing Motoko's look of relief that her intentional distraction worked. If I could just make it through this match, I have a bath of ice water with my name on it as soon as I return. If only I could just make it through the match, if only I could just kiss him while he was awake.
"Ack!" Motoko made a strange gurgling sound as the thought ran through her mind. What was with her today? They had done these kinds of matches plenty of times before but never could she remember a time when it was so difficult to focus on the match instead of Keitaro.
"Motoko? Did you say something?" Keitaro turned, just as he finished placing his bokken back through his belt. He gave the swordswoman a quizzical look when she quickly denied anything.
"Let's just get this match over with," she replied, standing quickly and retrieving her sword.
"As you wish," he replied, waiting for Motoko to echo his stance in a sign of her readiness.
Keitaro stood and dusted off his hands and marveled at the woman before him. She's been acting strange all morning. I wonder if she's feeling alright? As far as he could remember, Motoko had always been a serious person, never smiling much, or passing jokes or teasing. Even when she played with Su, she was typically just a stoic statue while the younger foreign girl ran in all directions and climbed over the woman's back. I suppose she can take all that pain with much more ease than everybody else. He shuddered at some of the things that Su had done to him all in the name of a "game." But still, I can't ever remember her acting this way before, especially during one of our matches.
"Well?" Motoko's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts, demanding that he pay attention to her. With and embarrassed smile he nodded his head acknowledging that he was once again ready.
Motoko schooled her face into a reasonable facsimile of her normal serious expression and tried to control her breathing. As the pair once again settled back into a loose stance, waiting to see who would make the first move the sun suddenly passed underneath a lonely cloud, dimming only slightly the clearing they were in. As if the return of the golden orb was a signal, Keitaro once again was the first to attack, coming forward with a high strike meant for Motoko's head. The swordswoman dodged easily, sliding under his arm and grappling it, throwing him into an effortless shiho-nage, finding no need to remove her own sword to counter his. This time, however, as Keitaro allowed his body to flow with the attack, he altered his arm slightly and as he came around for the break fall his left ankle snapped up and away quickly.
Not one to rest on her feet with such a determined opponent, Motoko noticed the motion and wrenched her head out the way just in time to watch his foot sweep by her head. He's definitely pulling out all of the stops. Put slightly off balance by her sudden change in position, she twisted her body gracefully and regained her center, just as Keitaro returned to his feet.
"Here I come!" He called, as he attacked again, not giving Motoko anytime to try and regain the offensive. This time, after a series of short thrusts, Motoko knew she couldn't block anymore, as she saw Keitaro come in for a final assault, she pulled her bokken in a lightening quick draw. The young man had only a few seconds to adjust his position and wrench himself out of the way, too unbalanced to keep his own weapon steady. Though it was just his luck that in the side flip he threw himself in to get some distance between him, he regained his center and pointed his sword in Motoko's direction, tip straight to her heart.
All too ironic, Motoko thought briefly, as she advanced, thrusting to his right side. She angled her bokken for the weakness his grip left there.
The young man lifted his sword, efficiently blocking her sword and coming into a position to his advantage, a position that did not last long as the young woman knelt under his blow and let it sink into the soft earth, pulling her sword around for another try. He once again blocked. Moments later Keitaro once again found himself barely saving a defeat by wrenching his body away at the last moment before Motoko's sword passed by his side this time. The two separated for a brief moment, giving themselves time to adjust their positions and gauge their opponent.
Slowly, Motoko and Keitaro circled each other, looking for something to exploit. Keitaro, to his credit, fixed the mistake he made last time, and presented a strong front to the swordswoman. Naturally, she was also without weakness. Suddenly, he attacked in a blur of motion, trying to confuse her. It didn't work quite as he had planned.
Motoko side stepped most of his swipes and blocked the others that she could not step out of the way of. Still, Keitaro drilled on, not making his attacks difficult but still mixing them up enough to where the shihan could not ascertain a pattern. Just when she thought it was safe to return to the offensive though, Keitaro surprised her with a reverse slice the equal to the one that won the match for her earlier. She barely got her head away from the swipe in time, but recovered quickly, succumbing to the natural ebb and flow of battle that she had become accustomed to in her years of studying swordsmanship.
As fast as that maneuver had bought Keitaro the advantage, she took it away from him, following her block with a reverse handed slice from her bokken that forced Keitaro to once again wrest his body away in the nick of time. Unfortunately though, he lost his sword in the process, giving it up for the sake of staying in the match. Weaponless, and facing a skilled opponent, Keitaro knew he needed to get his hands on something and fast.
Motoko pressed her advantage well, thrusting into his body and forcing him to dodge once again out of the way. She didn't want him to recover his sword but in the end, he had managed to direct himself there. Snatching the weapon from the ground as he went along, Keitaro suddenly planted his feet and waited for Motoko to come. His patience was rewarded seconds later, attesting to just how close he was shaving it with his dodging as the swordswoman dove headlong into the fray, confident in her chances. But Keitaro wasn't going to go down easily. He demonstrated an efficient knowledge of the bokken in his careful blocks, giving himself time to get out of the reach of her sword and yet not enough time to reorganize anything serious offensive. Though it seemed to him that if he was good, Motoko was better. She quickly wore down his defenses and he once again found himself scrambling around the clearing, dodging her strikes with awkward movements.
This time, however, luck was on his side. In her first actual mistake of the morning, Motoko had overstepped, she did not count on him getting out of the way of her last strike so quickly and as she came in he grasped her hips and put her over his head in a fair judo throw. She had just enough time to make sure her body was prepared for the shock before she hit the ground, breathing out as she did so. A great cloud of dust kicked up around her, concealing the movements of Keitaro for a moment, and in that moment, her found the time to scramble and recover his balance.
They squared off once again, this time Motoko being the first to attack with an efficient swipe of her sword at his neck, one that he blocked with one hand clutching sword. Keitaro wouldn't budge though, as he blocked sword strike after sword strike. In her second mistake of the day she once again over committed on a thrust and found her wrists locked in Keitoro's hands. With a twist that Motoko flowed with, she very nearly lost her bokken. It went to show how tired Keitaro was getting though, that he wasn't able to complete his attack and she managed to pull free at the last moment and quickly scramble out of his reach once again.
Only enough for one more, Keitaro thought as his lungs screamed in agony for air and rest. Better make it count...but which way is she coming in? Suddenly a bit of intuition ran across his mind, and with startling clarity he could see her exact next move. From the left side!
As Motoko flew at him, determination set in her eyes to end the match soon, he set himself for one final move. In a blink of an eye, her sword was on him, coming in exactly as he had predicted. With every ounce of his remaining strength Keitaro jumped to one side and spun, letting the line of her thrust graze his gi. He watched her, with what almost seemed to him to be slow motion as her facial expression changed from determination to surprise at his movement. There was no way should could counter him that close!
As Keitaro spun he brought his bokken around hard in an arc that stopped just short of her neck. He had done it! Keitaro had won the match! Both stood that way for a few moments, breathing hard, both with an equal expression of shock on their faces. As a nearby bird chirp brought him from his trance, and explosion of sound suddenly assaulted his ears, as if he was just now beginning to become aware of the forest around him again. Still, he stood there for yet another few minutes. Then, he tried to move.
Unfortunately for him, his mind wished to move, but his body, exhausted from its effort did not want to comply. With a brief confused sound, his hand cramped and his feet fell forward, suddenly too tight to hold the weight of his sword and his own body respectively. Motoko tried to turn and see what was happening to Keitaro as soon as she became aware that he was not moving just in time to watch his eyes widen and his body begin to tip towards her.
"Keitaro!"
Two solid thunks sounded as the bokkens hit the dirt, and one, single sound and a brief "oomph" could be heard a second later as Keitaro fell and Motoko tried to catch him but failed, and both went down in a tangle of limbs, with the swordswoman on top.
They opened their eyes a moment later to discover their predicament, and as one two faces began to blush.
"I'm so sorry Motoko!" Keitaro begged, hoping she did not have enough energy left to attack him. This was not exactly a good place to land with her, after all. He was surprised then, when all he heard was a very feminine chuckle.
"Silly, you used too much energy fighting." She spoke in a mock scolding tone, somehow loath to get up from her spot. Thinking about her nightmare this morning, Motoko sighed, and allowed herself this one simple pleasure to have him to herself for a moment, before she would give him back to Naru. Her heart was yelling at her to act on her earlier feelings, to kiss him, let him know he was still loved by her, just in case it didn't work out between him and Naru. Whether it was the mood, or her defeat, or whatever, Keitaro couldn't fathom why she did what she did next though, and it was a moment that would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life.
Casually, Motoko caressed his cheek and smiled down at him fondly before leaning down even further, placing chest against chest, letting her heart win out for this brief and important moment. Keitaro was quite surprised that he could very clearly feel her heart beat in time with his. He looked into her eyes quizzically and soon found himself lost.
"Motoko?"
"Shh," she whispered next to his ear, the mood completely filling her almost to the point of intoxication. She was going to do it! She was going to reaffirm her feelings for him in a way that left no doubt in his heart. "I know that you and Naru love each other and I can do nothing about that." In his proximity, he found his face quite suddenly damp. Was she crying?
"Just...just let me tell you that, that I still love you. But I know you are not for me. I try to be content to be your friend, for as long as we can be together and more. But...it's so hard...hard to watch you fight with Naru, even harder to watch you make up. I thought I could do it, I really tried to return to normal but I can't. I can't without this moment. You were unconscious the last two times I did this, so now, while you're awake I will do it once more and hope beyond all hope that it is enough to satisfy me, for it must be."
Keitaro found he could not speak anymore, his throat was too constricted at the raw emotion he could detect coming from the girl he thought of as his friend. All he could do was nod dumbly and watch her smile, her eyes damp and red rimmed. Slowly, as if it were a dream, Motoko closed her eyes and leaned further down, pressing her lips against his in a brief, but emotion filled kiss. Not wanting to put him into any further state of shock, she held it for only a moment before disengaging, watching his face and closed eyes carefully.
When she did not see any signs of rejection or reproach, she stifled a sudden sob-laugh, as if a weight had been lifted from her and hugged him one last time before loosening her hold. Together, they got up, and she gathered her bokken and turned towards Hinata Inn. Keitaro still stood there, still in a state of shock with his hands pressed to his lips. She smiled at the image, thinking, not for the first time, how lucky Naru was. Then she turned and strode confidently down the path, aware of just what her kiss had done to free her heart. Her heart was still his, forever and always in his debt for the things that he had done for her but now...now she was at least happy just to be near him, if only in friendship. And it was a wonderful feeling.
Keitaro stood and watched her walk away, still too numb to say anything, but somehow feeling as something of great importance had just happened. He did not notice, as he stared at her retreating back for a few more seconds the single, perfect, tear that rolled down his cheek.
End
Author's End Notes: Whew...it's done! It took me a long time to write this little thing. I've been way too busy for my own good. And since it's late, I won't comment much on this fic, as it's pretty much just a one shot thing to introduce me to a new category. I tend to do this with every new anime I write for...a brief little one shot to say hi, then something longer to follow and with this particular anime, I've got several longer pieces to follow...you just may not see them for a while.
Anyway...the inspiration for this work came from the comment, in chapter 14 about how Keitaro had bested Motoko in 17 out of 42 or 49 matches or something like that. So I was curious...what was the first one like? And as long as I was going to make something completely unbelievable, I might as well instigate a little romance/angst as well, just to satisfy my own gluttony for punishment. I've always wanted to see the situation in which Motoko went from loving him, to accepting him as just a friend (if that had ever happened in the first place!). As some of you might have experienced, that's not exactly the easiest thing to do. At the end, I wanted to let you know that while she hasn't "let him go" so to speak, she has finally lifted the weight of her two stolen kisses off her chest with a real, emotional one. I always wanted a nice real one between the two so I invented a nice situation to do so! Okay, so maybe it wasn't so completely canon. But I do feel the need to explain this to anyone reading this story: it is within the cannon universe. So that means that Naru and Keitaro will eventually make up as they always do and they will eventually get married...in this story anyway. ;) It was fun to go out of bounds for a few moments though, wasn't it?
P.S. As some of you might be aware, translating some phrases and words from Japanese to English make for a rather funny sounding piece. I tried to use as many words that I could that still sounded right but there were a few left over that some may not be familiar with. Here's a small list:
Himo: the thin cloth strips that are attached to the hakama, two on the front, two on the back that are used to tie it in place. If anyone's ever tied Hakama before they'll know that it's pretty involved.
Batto: yup, you guessed it. Batto-jutsu is an actual style of techniques, not just a Kenshin thing. Most often used in iajutsu it is the art of unsheathing the blade.
Jigen-ryu: once again, not just a Kenshin thing. It is a sub style of the all encompassing kenjutsu. It is mainly found in and around Satsuma, Japan. Known for its strength and highly committed attacks.
Shihan: primary instructor of a style.
Shiho Nage: Aikido throw bringing the wrist up over the head and then pressing back against the opponent's back. Can be used in defense of grabs, strikes and weapons. The throw is pretty spectacular.
Kote Gaeshi: Aikido throw, bringing the opponent around then twisting the wrist. Throw is mild. Used in defense of low punches, grabs, and weapons.
First Defeat begun May 5, 2004 2010 hrs; first draft finished May 30, 2004 0136 Hrs EST.