Wraiths: Where the hell is that moron? Motoko and Kaolla said the lost track of him, but he can't have gotten far. (smiles evilly) Not after the beating he took.

Rider: (sneaks up behind wraiths and smacks him with a very large paper fan, sighs heavily) You always did suck at watching your back. (Turns back to readers) Sorry about the hasty exit last time, but I'm sure you can understand. Anyway, major thanks to all who reviewed so far. Kind of surprise I got so many so quickly, considering I had to wait till I had two or three chapters to get that many reviews on my last story.

Wraiths: (sits up and stares in wonder) Where am I?

Rider: (sweat drops) Oh crap…I hit him to hard again…(glances at readers) Uh, yeah, you all go and enjoy the story while I tend to this little problem…

---

In Search Of Her Place

Chapter Two: Cold Beginings

"I'm very sorry, but we're not taking any guests at this time."

Keitaro blinked as he came down the steps and heard Kanako talking to whoever had come into the Hinata-sou. "Not taking guests? What's the point of being an Inn then?" He rounded the final corner and saw not one, but two people trying to convince Kanako to rethink her position.

The woman was of smaller build and rather thin too. She had long black hair that fell just below the shoulders and seemed to shine whenever the light hit it just right. She was dressed in a conservative manner with an off-white skirt and matching shirt with a light brown vest. Her brown eyes pleaded with Kanako silently as she also pleaded aloud. "Can't you please reconsider? This is the only inn left that still has any vacancy."

The man was by contrast, enormous in stature. Easily a good half a foot taller than Keitaro and well muscled, the man was quite imposing physically. He kept his brown hair close cut with a small flip in the front. He was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, and black shirt with the words, Fck You!, on the front. He did not smile, and his hazel eyes were hard and piercing. He reached into his rucksack and dropped something one to the desk that Kanako stood behind. "Look, I need a room. You people have been marching through the streets for weeks now announcing this place was going to open, and now you're telling me that you're close to business? That's complete bullshit."

Keitaro made his way over to the desk, fearing a fight would break out. As he neared the party of three he was able to see what the man had dropped onto the desk, and did a double take. "Ano, Kanako can I speak with you a moment?" He gently pulled his sister off to the side.

Kanako blinked in confusion. "What's the matter?"

Keitaro glanced over his shoulder to where the two guests were waiting. He swallowed as the man crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "Why aren't we taking guests?"

"You didn't seem happy with the idea of reopening the inn, so I thought we'd wait until you were ready." Kanako replied.

Keitaro smiled. "I don't care one way or the other really as long as the people I care about are here with me." He scratched his head. "Plus we could use the money. You saw the stack of yen that guy dropped. That's nearly a year and a half rent. It would be a big help with the repairs for this place."

Kanako looked at her brother with a perplexed look on her face. "But I just had the inn completely repaired."

Keitaro laughed lightly. "You clearly have not lived here long enough. Trust me when I say that there will be more repairs needed."

Kanako wondered what her brother meant by that. She knew that the girls were quite destructive a times, but even her war against the girls after she had been kicked out of the dorm hadn't caused that much damage. Still, this was Onii-chan… "Ok, as long as you're comfortable with this. I'll sign them in." She walked back to the couple at the desk and took down their information. "If you'll both follow me, I'll show you to your room."

The man began to follow Kanako. "You mean rooms, right?"

Kanako turned and blinked. "Nani?"

The man turned a disgusted look on the female guest. "I don't travel with anyone, let alone her kind."

---

Kanako sat alone in her room. In her lap was something her mother had given her just prior to her sightseeing trip with granny Hina. Kanako flipped the pages of the old photo album, allowing her usually reserved expressions to fall away and genuinely smiled.

She traced her fingers over the images of a much younger Keitaro and Kanako Urashima. There were pictures from Christmases in which she and Keitaro had dressed up in western style costumes of Santa and Mrs. Claus. Another page was decorated with scenes of the picnics they used to take for the cherry blossom festivals. She smiled at the next photo as the memory replayed in her head. The photo was from the first time Keitaro had come home from helping their parents in the family candy shop.

Keitaro stood triumphantly displaying his grand looking chocolate cake, smiling like an idiot. Kanako had always hated sweets, but when her big brother asked if she wanted to try the cake, she hadn't been able to say yes quick enough. She ate every last crumb of the slice he served her, she had though she was going to die later from eating so much of the sugary confection, but that hadn't mattered. Onii-chan had made something special, something he was proud of, and he had shared it with her. For that small bit of happiness, Kanako could endure anything.

Kanako continued to turn the pages of the photo album, and her smile began to fade. The majority of the photos held either Keitaro or Kanako, but there were very few in which they were both present. As she looked through the final pages she could see why her brother acted as awkwardly around her as he did. They had both grown up, and seemingly, grown apart. He didn't know her anymore.

She cried softly as she realized what this would ultimately mean. She was going to lose him again. "How is it that we've come to this?" She whispered softly to the empty room. She sat a few moments more by herself before her attention was caught by the sounds of crashes and yelps of pain came from out side her room. She stood and dried her tears. She took one last glance at herself in the mirror and, feeling that she was presentable, left in search of the commotion.

Unknown to Kanako, as she shut the door to her room, the mirror rippled as though it were a shallow pond of water.

---

Kanako rounded the corner and saw the girls huddled around the entrance to the open-air baths in their towels. "What the hell is all the commotion about?"

Shinobu turned. "Well, there seems to be…"

"There's another pervert in the bath!" Cried Kaolla gleefully. "He must be a friend of Keitaro's! Can we play with him too like we do with Keitaro?"

Motoko unsheathed her sword. "He's about to pay dearly for his trespassing."

Kanako walked up and opened the door to the bath, glanced inside, and then closed the door again. "You are all to leave him alone. He is a paying guest of the Hinata Inn." Her eyes narrowed. "Besides, I already told you that the employee bath is upstairs."

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at Kanako. "But that dinky little tub is to small for us all to use."

Naru nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we nearly broke the thing yesterday when we all tried to fit in it."

Kanako sweat dropped. "Then take turns you stupid twit."

"Hey! That was uncalled for you gothic reject!" Naru shot back.

The others began to back away from the two women as they stared each other down.

"Is there a problem here?"

Everyone turned as Keitaro entered the room. He looked around and saw that the girls were in only their towels. "Wow." He thought. "Things have certainly relaxed around here since I left."

"What the hell are you staring at?!"

Keitaro bounced down the hall as Naru and Motoko both punched him in the face. "Or maybe my bad luck simply has jetlag and is now catching up to me…" He stood and dusted himself off. "I heard screams before, everything alright?"

"There's a strange man in the bath." Shinobu explained. "We didn't know that and we walked in kind of…"

"We was naked!" Kaolla yelled.

Once again, the other Hinata tenants stared at the girl as she seemed entirely too happy about this turn of events.

Kitsune shook her head. "Well, that's Kaolla for you."

Naru turned to Keitaro. "Can't you do something about this?"

Keitaro nodded. "Let me see if maybe I can convince our guest to let you girls have the bath to yourselves for a little while." He turned and entered the bath.

---

Keitaro walked slowly toward where his guest sat reclining in the water with his eyes closed and his arms propped behind his head. Keitaro swallowed hard as he moved closer. "This guy's arms are as big as tree trunks, and the way he looked at me before…if I upset him, he may actually kill me." He thought silently.

The man in the bath opened his eyes slowly and focused on the young landlord, but did not move otherwise.

"Excuse me sir, but I was wondering if…" Keitaro began.

The man turned away. "My name isn't sir."

Keitaro blinked. "Oh, sorry. What should I call you then?"

"Ice." The man turned back to his original position and closed his eyes. "That's what most know me by."

Keitaro nodded and tried to figure out how to word his question. "Ok, Ice, see the thing is, we used to be an all girls dorm and the employee's here are actually the tenants and the they would like to use the bath and were wondering if you would leave so that they could…"

Ice opened one eye and glanced at Keitaro. "Take a breath man."

Keitaro stopped as he realized he was rambling. "Sorry. So what do you say?"

Ice closed his eye. "These girls paying rent?"

Keitaro nodded. "Hai."

"Well so am I." Ice replied.

Keitaro turned to walk away, realizing it wouldn't be fair to ask him to leave just because he knew the girls better. He stopped as he heard the splashing of water. He turned back to see Ice climbing from the bath. Keitaro couldn't seem to help staring at the other man. He hadn't been able to see it earlier, but Ice didn't simply have big arms, he was ripped everywhere.

Ice held firm to the small towel that was unable to completely circle his waist. "I'll leave this time because I happen to be done already. But next time I will stay if I choose to. And your employees or tenants or what every you call them will either have to wait or get used to the idea of a co-ed bath. We clear on that fact?"

Keitaro nodded. "Yes sir."

Ice began to walk out. "I told you my name isn't sir." He opened the door and saw the ring of girls. For a moment no one said anything as the girls stared at the huge, half-naked man. At last Ice seem to tire of this game. "You going to let me pass or not?" He smiled as the girls jumped in surprise at his question, and passed through their line and headed for his room.

Motoko shivered as he passed her. "So cold." She thought silently. "His ki is so cold. And I don't like the vibes I'm getting from him at all." She took one last look at him as he strode down the hall.

"Keep your eyes to yourself girl!" Ice called back without turning.

Motoko couldn't prevent herself from jumping slightly at the tone in his voice. She entered the bath behind the others and closed the door. She would have to watch him carefully.

---

Kanako sat down at the windowsill and sighed heavily. "Another day goes by, and still nothing to show for it."

"Still, at least you get to see that great sunset."

Kanako turned toward the sound of the new voice, and bowed slightly. "Good evening. Lillith, wasn't it?"

The young woman stepped forward and leaned against the window. "Yeah, that's me." She paused as she looked at Kanako's expression. "Something bothering you?"

Kanako shook her head. "I'm fine, just a long day." She looked out towards the sun, noticing it for the first time it seemed. "It is nice, but it's no different than any other sunset."

Lillith raised an eyebrow. "Is it really?" She looked back out to the sunset. "Then? You mean it's always this beautiful?"

Kanako blinked. "I guess. You seem strangely entertained by the sunset."

Lillith smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I suppose I am being a bit childish. It's just that the sunsets aren't as pretty back home."

Kanako nodded. "I see. Where are you from anyway? I forgot to ask before."

"Oh, well, you see, I'm from…" Lillith began to stammer.

"Kanako! Did you want help studying for your Toudai exam?" Called Keitaro from down the hall.

Kanako turned about and ran towards the sound of Keitaro's voice. "Yes I did. Coming Onii-chan!"

Lillith watched as the girl ran to gather her books and begin studying with her brother for a moment and then turned back to watch the sun set. She frowned as she thought about what she had discovered just now. "Many of the seals have already burned away, this will be a sensitive matter to handle." She began to head toward her room when she stopped in her tracks and looked up toward the ceiling. "That idiot!"

---

Motoko ascended to the roof and drew her sword as she prepared to train for a few hours before bed. She turned to face the fading sun, and saw him. He sat also facing the sun. He had changed into a pair of ripped up jean shorts and a black sleeveless shirt. Beside where he sat was a pile of cigarette butts. "What's he doing up here?" Motoko questioned silently as she began to practice without taking her eyes from him.

Ice didn't turn around to face her. Instead he pulled another cigarette from his pocket and lit up. He'd have preferred to be alone, but knew that after his comments from earlier, that was unlikely to happen. He leaned back on the roof slightly and stared into the burning light of the sun, trying hard to ignore the burning glare he could feel at his back. He failed in this attempt, and turned in annoyance toward Motoko. "You have something to say? Or are you just going to piss me off all night?"

Motoko didn't become flustered this time and stood her ground. "I wasn't aware I was disturbing you. I was merely studying a potential threat."

Ice chuckled and drew another drag from his smoke. "Potential threat? So sad that you think I'm the threat…"

Motoko blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ice smiled and turned away.

Motoko began to make her way over to where Ice sat. "Hey! I'm taking to you!"

"Well, I'm done talking to you. So you're really only talking to yourself." Ice replied through another cloud of smoke.

Motoko smacked the cigarette out of his hand. "What did you mean with that threat comment?"

Ice glared at the young woman. "In some circles, what you just did would be taken as a challenge. You know that?"

Motoko raised her sword. "Than by all means think of it as such."

Ice raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Lucky for you I'm not a member of such a circle." He pulled another cigarette out and lit up.

Motoko grit her teeth in anger. "You're refusing my challenge?"

"You're no challenge girl." Ice blew a breath of smoke into Motoko's face. "You're a fraud and a pretender." He smiled. "And right now you're being a pain in my ass." He pointed out in the distance. "You made me miss the sunset."

Motoko grabbed Ice's cigarette and ground it beneath her heel. "Let me make his more to the point then." Her sword swished through the air and stopped a hair length from Ice's throat. "I don't trust you, and I want you out of our home."

Ice smiled, but it had a malicious edge in it now. "You've got some big, hairy, ones pulling a sword on me. I'll give you credit for that…" His smile faded. "And the chance to walk away."

Motoko shook her head. "I've just issued a challenge, I won't turn now."

Ice stood. "Fine, have it your way. But just remember, you brought this on yourself." He walked away a few meters and lit yet another cigarette. "Whenever you're ready." He called disinterestedly.

Motoko readied herself quickly. "Must you do that?"

Ice held the cigarette out toward Motoko. "This is to prove a point. You're no challenge to me, this fight will be over before I finish this smoke." He brought the cigarette to his lips and took a deep drag, consuming nearly half of the cancer stick.

Motoko rushed forward and attacked. She screamed as she felt pain unlike anything she had ever imagined. She looked down to see Ice's foot planted firmly into her chest. She tried to call for help, but couldn't. The world quickly began to fade into darkness. "My ribs…" Motoko knew the kind of injuries that a warrior could sustain from her training. "They've pieced my heart…" She looked up to see the others rushing toward her.

"Motoko! Motoko!"

"Call an ambulance! She's not breathing!"

Motoko tried to tell them what happened. She had to warn them of Ice's threat, but her strength failed her, and her body went slack.

---

Rider: So? What do you think?

Wraiths: You don't seem to like Motoko much it seems.

Rider: Actually, I do, and this will make sense later, so just hush until then.

Motoko: (appears behind rider) I've found you! Now you die!

Rider: I don't think so. (Brings hand to his mouth and lets out a sharp whistle) See, I had time to create my author power since our last encounter.

Motoko: (runs away screaming as a huge tama-chan suddenly appears) Turtle!

Wraiths: (blinks in confusion) What the hell?

Rider: (points to a sign on Tama's shell marked 'dragon') If you'd watched the anime, you'd get it.

Wraiths: So your power is to summon a giant turtle?

(SMACK)

Rider: (puts away paper fan) Just for that you're walking. (Whistles again and a huge silver dragon descends from the sky and rider climbs onto it's back) Come on Ginryuu, we have someone to meet. (Ginryuu flaps wings and takes off) Till the next, live safe and be well people!