(Ok, I don't know where Kaoru's dojo is. But let's just pretend it is in Osaka ok?)

Chapter 5

When Relena woke up the next morning, Kaoru took her to a room with a very big and short barrel of water. And she called it a tub. So she got in and bathed as much as she could. Since she didn't have another set of clothes to change into, Kaoru kindly lent her a set of hers, a genuine Japanese kimono. And she even helped braid her hair into a ball at the back, as Japanese women did.

"Let's go to the kitchen for breakfast" Kaoru said leading her out of the bathroom. As she led Relena through the corridors of her house, she decided to take the time to take a look at the place which she didn't do last night due to total exhaustion. The hallway that they were in was plain, but was new to her. It was made of wood from ceiling to wall to floor, had a few frames of kanji on the walls for decoration, and a pretty little vase with flowers.

It led to a room with a table and other than Heero, Duo, and Kenshin who were sitting down, there were three others that she hadn't met before. One was a young man in his early teens, a slim man who wore a white pair of trousers and vest, and woman with green hair. "Good morning everyone" Kaoru greeted them. "This is Relena" she said. Each of the three strangers said hi to her and replied with a hello. "This is Yahiko," Kaoru said looking at the boy. Then turning to the next, the man in white "this is Sanosuke, but we call him Sano" and then when she turned to the woman, "and this Megumi." Relena and Kaoru took a seat at the table and started eating their meals. "Duo and myself are going to go to the fields for exercise after breakfast. Would you like to come with us?" Kenshin said inviting Heero over. If he weren't officially a samurai and still a ronin, he would've said something like 'fuck off' or 'fuck you', but now that he was a samurai, he had to be respectful and follow The Way of the Samurai, as true samurai should and always did. "Whatever my master wishes but thank you" he answered. Relena looked at him. "Why do you need me to approve?" she asked. "I only do as you say Master" he replied to her. Then he heard Sanosuke laugh. "Ha! Ha! Ha! So she's the boss of you?" he said as he laughed. Heero moved his eyes over to him without turning his head. He felt insulted and wanted to cut his head off, but fortunately (for Sanosuke), Heero had self-control. Relena thought for a moment. And then she spoke. "Heero, you do not need my permission to do what you do in your life. It's your choice." And Heero remained silent.

"Relena, why don't you come with Megumi and I and to see Osaka? I think you'll like it" Kaoru said. Relena who had nothing to do agreed and left after breakfast was done. When they left the dojo's door, and started walking on the streets, Megumi had decided to try talking to Relena (as it was a girl's thing to always talk. ) "So Relena, why don't you tell us what's it like in America?" she asked her. Memories came back to Relena's mind like water being evaporated and then coming right back down at you. "Oh…it's a nice place I suppose" Relena answered her after a few moments of thinking. "I see she said. So were you happy there?" she continued. The memories were coming down and pouring hard like a storm of arrows, each piercing your heart. "Please Megumi…I'd rather not talk about it" she said her eyes on the ground. "Alright, I understand" Megumi said puzzled by her answer. Trying to change the subject, Kaoru made a suggestion. "Hey. Why don't we go and see the park. I'm sure there's something interesting over there." And she led Megumi and Relena to the central park.

Heero had agreed to come with Kenshin, and Duo on their exercise at the grassy fields just outside the city, although he felt that there was no need for him to. "Alright Duo, just observe us fight to learn ok?" Kenshin said to Duo who agreed. "Heero, would you like to participate in a practice duel with us?" he said asking him in his usual polite manner. "Of course Kenshin" he modestly replied. It was decided that Heero would duel with Duo only to defend himself and nothing more after Kenshin told him a thing or two.

"Now remember that you should keep your sword in a balanced position in front of you so that is easy to move it anywhere ok?" Kenshin advised as Duo readied his practice wooden sword. Doing as told, Duo went over and tried to attack Heero, but with no intention of actually hitting him at all. Kenshin saw Heero effortlessly block and parry each hit Duo was trying to make. "Don't wear yourself too quickly" he said as Duo was making continuous series of strikes. Duo took a step back and took deep breaths.

After giving him a few minutes of rest, Kenshin announced "Now Heero attack Duo and Duo, you defend." Heero moved over and attacked Duo. He made sure that his blows were beginner friendly to block. And even if his opponent failed to parry, his sword would stop in the air. And he did that many times and only once was Duo able to defend himself. "Make sure you're calm while fighting" Kenshin called out telling him more tips. Duo, who was now too tired to go on chose to take a break.

"How about you watch Heero and I have a practice match? Try and observe closely alright Duo?" Kenshin said. "Do you agree?" he said looking over at Heero who was not at all affected by the two rounds with Duo. He nodded in consent. In response to that, Kenshin took out his own sword like lightning and made a dash at his opponent, his vision focused on Heero. But when he made his slash at where he thought he was, nothing was there. But in a spit second, he felt him from behind and turned around to face just in time block a slash personally from Heero himself.

Relena, Megumi, and Kaoru walked in the Osaka Central Park. Here there were people enjoying themselves. Kids were playing with their kites high in the windy but pleasant sky, women chatted with each other, and the men fished in the nearby pond.

"Relena, how long do you plan to stay in Japan?" Kaoru asked as they went strolling through a path. "I do not know. Am I only allowed to stay at your residence a certain amount of time?" she returned her response with a question of her own. "Oh no, you may stay as long as you need to or as long you would like" Kaoru assured her.

By chance while walking in the park, they just happened to meet a Zen monk (who actually intended to bump into them ). He was a young man with nineteen years at the most and eighteen years at the very least. He wore a navy blue and purple kimono-like tunic with a large purple piece of cloth hanging over his tunic like a scarf. In one hand that was covered by cloth, he held some Buddhist beads and in the other hand was a staff that had a scepter like top. The back of his head was tied up in a short little cue.

"Ladies! Do you know what time of year it is?" he asked the three girls, his face serious. Their silence told him that the answer was no. "Shame on you! Obon will be here in a few days. The spirits of your family and ancestors shall surely look down on you!" he continued. "Oh no! How could I forget?!" cried Kaoru. Then a sorry face came over Megumi's face. But Relena, who did not understand what was going on simply showed no expression on face. Then all of a sudden, the monk's became all friendly. "But don't be scared, I'm going to make sure that you are well off. I can order that an exception can be made for you women" he said trying to sound smooth and dreamy. Now Kaoru and Megumi looked at him in disbelief. Then his eyes turned to Relena, who still didn't know about this Obon he was talking about. "Hey, princess. I don't believe we've met" he said to her in that same charming voice. "You must be a foreigner correct? Well, I never knew that foreign women were so beautiful." Relena embarrassed by his flirtatious demeanor, took this as an inappropriate remark. "Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?" she said taking a few steps back. "Me? Well my name is Miroku. What's your's princess?" he said not changing his conduct. "…If you really must know my name is Relena Darlian, and please do not address me as princess" she scolded him. "Hey, isn't this misconduct for a monk like you?" Megumi broke in. Then came his reply. "Anything for pretty girls" he said chuckling. Now all three of them felt offended. Kaoru smacked him hard in the head. "C'mon, there's no need to listen to this hentai" she said to the other two ignoring Miroku, who writhing in pain with a large, sanguine bump on his head.

Later on, when they were alone sitting at the bench, Relena was still curious as to what Obon was. So she asked her two companions. "It's a holiday where you honor your ancestors and they come visit you" Kaoru answered. "You celebrate it by hanging lanterns in front of your house so that you can guide the spirits to you. Then later on, you sail it in the water where it'll guide your ancestors" added Megumi. "And some also perform a bon dori, a special dance" Kaoru also said, telling her more. "We celebrate it in Kyoto on August 15, which is just a few days from now. Maybe you should celebrate it with us" Megumi offered. "Yeah, it'll be fun. C'mon what do you say?" Kaoru said joining Megumi. Relena thought for a moment and remembered the memories that came falling down on her. "Yes, I will" she answered. "I will celebrate Obon with you."

It was a few hours after that practice duel between Heero and Kenshin. They had stopped when Kenshin called for a time out from exhaustion. Duo, who was now walking with them back home, thought and thought about what he had just seen. Kenshin's swordsmanship was good. But Heero's was something else. It was totally beyond human ability. 'Is he really human?' he asked himself. He had seen Heero disappear into thin air during the fight and left his opponent doomed (if it were a real fight). But what annoyed him was how and what was he supposed to learn from it? Surely, he couldn't have learned from Kenshin because he had barely survived, and he couldn't even see Heero when he was fighting. He decided to ask now. "With all due respect sensei, may I ask what I was supposed to learn from that?" he said looking at Kenshin. "Just simply how to block and attack properly" he laughing nervously a little bit.

Taking his mind off swordsmanship, Duo took the time to think about something else. First thing that came to mind was Relena. He knew that he wanted to talk to her, but the problem was that she seemed so hard-lined about a traditional life. And what should he talk to her about was something to think about as well. "Hey guys, is there anything exciting happening around this time of year?" he asked neither Kenshin or Heero in particular. Heero, whether he knew anything or not just remained silent. But Kenshin spoke. "It is almost time for Obon, a holiday we celebrate around this time year" he explained. "So is there gonna be a big party or something?" he asked. If there was, he decided that he would ask Relena out on a date. "No, but there is going to be a special dance at downtown Osaka" he continued. Smiling evilly to himself at the mention of a dance, Duo now knew that he could still ask Relena out to the dance. Heero took notice of his demeanor when Duo wasn't looking. Something told him that something funny was going on.

By late afternoon and early evening, the girls came back from the park and the boys from outside the city. Kaoru and Megumi were preparing dinner in the kitchen while the others along with Sano and Yahiko sat down patiently by the table in the room they were in this morning. "So watcha guys do today?" Sano asked the other guys while chewing a wheat grass on his lips. "Oh we were just introducing swordsmanship to Duo here" Kenshin explained. Then he looked at Duo. "So, did you learn anything?" he asked. Duo never lied. Ever. "Well, to be honest I don't think so" he answered Sano. And laughed. "I knew that Kenshin wasn't a good teacher!" he cried. "Please Sano, it takes time to learn martial arts" he said in an advising tone. True, Sano did know that, but he just liked to joke around and stuff. Then he looked at Heero. "So tell me, what was it like being free from slavery?" Heero boiled, but hid it under a cool façade. "It is not slavery" he tried to explain to him. "You mean 'was not'?" he said laughing a little bit. Heero answered that question too. "My Master has not dismissed me from her service" he explained, his façade still in place. "Yeah she did" Sano said choosing to joke around a little more. But Heero didn't need to respond to that. He knew that he didn't need to.

Relena watched the whole thing go on. Sano wasn't being very nice, but why was Heero referring to her as his Master? She didn't like it very much. To think that a human being could own another as property… Perhaps she should ask him about why she was who she was to him. "Heero," she began and Heero's undivided attention was now completely focused on her. "Yes Master" he responded without delay. "I should let you know that I am not your-" but the front door which was just near the kitchen, was being knocked on. "Can someone get the door?" called Kaoru's voice reaching to the table room. "I'll get it" Yahiko said. He walked out of the room to the adjacent one ahead. A moment later, he brought someone back with him. It was Miroku.

"Hello again" he said ignoring the other guys and looked only at Relena as she was the only girl present, while Megumi and Kaoru were making dinner. "I've come here to remove evil spirits from this house. Would you like my services? In return, I'd like to stay here a while provided with food and shelter" he asked smiling. "You will have to ask Kaoru" was all Relena said in disgust.

"…and so if you can capture them dead or alive, you shall be rewarded one thousand American dollars" Major Hamabashi said sitting at his office desk while eating dinner. In front of him was a man sitting in a chair. He was a somewhat slim man dressed in a suit. At his belt were a pair of handguns in their holsters. His hair stretched out erect with some fuzziness and curliness. And the Major was trying to hire him for his services. "Sure" he said to Hamabashi taking out one of his pistols and spinning it around where the trigger was. "Spike Speigal always gets the job done."

(Phew. I've been working long and hard to finish a nice (longer) chapter for you all. Hope you're satisfied. This must be the longest chapter I've done so far. By the way, in case you didn't know, Spike is from Cowboy Bebop and Miroku is from Inuyasha. Merry Christmas everyone! Don't forget to review ok?)