AN: The support! I want to thank each of you reviewers as well as my fellow writers on AIM for the continued support and ideas. I hope to be able to continue entertain you all with this series, so on with the show! Hope you enjoy!
As always, Love Hina and its characters belong to Ken Akamatsu. Original characters belong to me and may be used with permission.
Bloodstained Heritage
Chapter 3: Confrontations
"Why so surprised, Urashima?" The shadowy figure grinned. "You should know no one escapes the Syndicate..." The figure seemed to raise an eyebrow as the young man motioned for the women to stay behind him. "Such a shame, now all these lovely damsels will die along with you because you simply didn't cooperate earlier..."
The two groups eyed each other, neither side making a move or noise. Then one of the masked men lunged forward, and all hell broke loose. Somehow in the darkness Shinobu had managed to pick up a frying pan, and swung it with brutal force at one of the attacker's head. The resulting blow sent him stumbling into one of his fellows, who tripped and landed face-first into Naru's chest. The third attacker was only able to watch on in shock as the man was promptly laid out by a vicious uppercut from an enraged auburn haired woman, before a bottle of sake shattered on the back of his head, knocking him senseless as well.
The shadowy figure did not appear to be amused at his henchmen's lack of performance as he narrowed his eyes. And before everyone's astonished eyes had shot across the room in a blur, backhanding Shinobu away with an evil grin. Growling in anger, Naru swung at where the figure's face should have been, and connected with a surface which felt tar-like. She then gasped as claws gripped her collar and lifted her up to eye level with the figure, who grinned at her.
"I like them feisty..." The shadowy figure chuckled, before his eyes flashed red with anger. "Now, commend your soul to the darkness!" He then drew in a deep breath, and Naru screamed in terror as she felt a part of her being pulled free from her body. The shadowy figure seemed to take in delight in her wailing, but was surprised as Keitaro suddenly tackled him around the waist, forcing him to drop the auburn haired woman. Enraged, the young man swung with a fist repeatedly into the figure, but choked as the figure wrapped his hand around his throat and rose again...
"Ah, Urashima..." The figure stared into Keitaro's eyes with blazing red orbs. "I did promise them not to kill you, but that doesn't stop me from making you wish that I did..." He then grinned evily as he extended his other claw towards the young man's face, only to freeze as he felt a sake bottle being shattered against his head, and turned to glare at Kitsune.
"Oh pooh, and they were the ones Keitaro just bought me!" Kitsune sighed. Annoyed, the figure dropped Keitaro roughly and began advancing towards the fox girl. A sizzling sound made him pause, before he shrieked in pain as he realized that where the sake had splashed onto him began burning away at his skin. Stumbling and lashing out blindly, the smoking figure crashed through another portion of the wall to the outside, where he continued shrieking as he rolled in the dirt...
The tenants gathered around the opening in the wall just as the figure leapt to his feet, and everyone gasped as they saw that he had taken a human form. His crimson eyes remained the same, but there was now spots along his head and arms which looked burnt through all the way to the bone. Hissing in anger, he pointed at the group before disappearing in a ball of flame, taking his fallen henchmen with him.
"You'll all pay!" The figure's voice roared as he faded away. "No one humiliates Hakon of the Syndicate and lives!"
The group slumped as one to the floor, grateful to still be in one piece. After a long moment of silence, Shinobu turned to the others, a frightened look on her face...
"That doesn't happen here everyday, does it...?"
After somewhat clearing up the debris, Keitaro arranged for Haruka to escort Shinobu home, who was still shaken up from the encounter. He then volunteered to stay awake to keep watch for anymore signs of trouble, despite everyone else's concern. Though the tenants got little rest, no more incidents occured for rest of the evening...
Hakon the Bloody Handed, soul vampire and scourge of the night, roared in pain. And as three now very-dead henchmen learned, he was not a happy person at the moment... He turned his blazing eyes towards his fellow Syndicate members, to which all of them winced slightly at seeing his wounds, which were slowly knitting back together millimeters at a time...
"Particularly interesting..." The businesswoman commented. "Who would have thought your average day sake could be turned into a form of holy water simply by being on holy ground for a brief period?"
"It's not particularly 'interesting' if you were on the receiving end, fool!" Hakon bit back, then glared at the businessman in white. "I agreed to lead the offensive, so what the hell happened to my backup?!"
"Relax, my friend..." The businessman smiled calmly, drawing a growl from Hakon. "Even as we speak, he is putting his plans in motion to rid us of the Urashima nuisance..."
"You may wish to recall him immediately, then..." The businessman with blue eyes commented, rows of information flashing in his eyes at speeds faster than one could humanly read.
"Oh?" The businessman in white raised an eyebrow. "Why the concern?"
"I just accessed the tenant information for the past two years for the Hinata-Sou." The man with blue eyes replied, before retracting several wires from his neck. "If those sources are correct, our friend will not be enjoying his existence much longer if he is not prepared..."
"Interesting." The woman in the oriental dress grinned. "The incident with Hakon may have been just a fluke..." This drew a snort from the vampire. "...But I'm sure Urashima won't be so lucky a second time..."
The following morning came quickly for the tenants of Hinata-Sou, and as they came down the stairs the women found Keitaro already hard at work repairing the walls. Despite their concerns, he merely shrugged them off with a smile, saying that it was his duty for putting them in harm's way. Seeing no other way to coerce him to rest, Naru and Kaolla left for school, while Kitsune went back inside to watch TV.
Keitaro continued work hard throughout the morning, and by noontime had finished repairing the walls and most of the windows. As he stopped to take a quick break, he heard someone clear their throat and turned around. Standing before him was two women, both wore a simple white fighting gi and red hakama pants. Each also wore a samurai's daisho at their hip, and sported a similar hairstyle with their long black hair. One would've easily mistaken them as twins, but none would question that they were sisters.
"You, carpenter!" The younger looking of the two addressed Keitaro, her eyes showing thinly veiled revulsion at seeing him. "Is the caretaker Haruka in?" Blinking in surprise, the young man could only nod in reply, and watched the two women enter the dorm without sparing him a second glance. Shrugging to himself, Keitaso resumed repairing the house in peace, but was disturbed moments later when the same woman returned with an enraged look, a wooden bokken raised to strike above her.
"This MAN is staying here?!" The woman roared, and Keitaro barely had the time to scream in horror before the bokken cracked forcefully against his head, knocking him into oblivion...
Shinobu Maehara sighed as she walked through the halls of her high school, still unnerved from the encounter at the Hinata-Sou last night. She also noticed that several of her female classmates were whispering and glaring behind her and sighed again. Though she was excelled academically, she was also maturing into a beautiful young woman, which annoyed some of her classmates to no end.
"Did you see that subsitute teacher earlier? He's so dreamy!"
"I know! I wonder if he'll be our substitute today?"
Shinobu sighed again as she listened to her classmates, resting her chin in one hand. As the teacher walked in, several of the female students gasped while Shinobu blinked in surprise. In place of their usual instructor, a handsome young man wearing a sweater and khaki pants walked in, his long white hair slicked back into a tail. As he set down his suitcase, he glanced at the students with emerald green eyes.
"Good morning students, I'm your substitute teacher for today." The man smiled, drawing sighs from several of the female students. "Let us begin today's lessons, shall we?"
Shinobu blinked, as she swore the man's eyes had glowed for a moment, and that he seemed to have smiled directly at her...
As Keitaro slowly regained consciousness, he realized that he was now in the living room of the dorm. As he sat up, he saw that the two samurai women from earlier was speaking to Haruka along with Naru and Kitsune. Sensing her nephew had recovered, Haruka introduced him to the two women, who were Motoko Aoyoma and her sister Tsuruko. Apparently the younger Motoko was a current tenant of the Hinata-Sou, and as luck would have it both were disciples of the Shinmei-Ryu, a school which specializes in combating demons and supernatural beings...
"I did not know of the predicatment you were in, please forgive my outburst earlier." Motoko bowed apoligetically to Keitaro, who smiled as he accepted her apology. Tsuruko remained silent in contemplation through the whole time, before looking at the group grimly.
"So the disturbance my sister and I felt at the training camp was indeed the presence of a demon..." Tsuruko commented, her brow furrowed in thought for a moment before she turned to Haruka. "If it is not too much trouble, I would like to stay the night to assist Motoko should they strike again. I will then depart tomorrow to speak with the elders of my clan to see if we can acquire the assistance of experienced demon hunters." Haruka readily agreed, and was about to speak when the front doors opened. Instinctively the two samurais slid their swords an inch from their sheathes in preparation, but relaxed at seeing Kaolla and Shinobu entering.
"Welcome back!" Keitaro smiled, then turned to Shinobu. "What brings you here today, Shinobu?"
"Well, Kaolla practically dragged me here to cook dinner..." The high schooler chuckled nervously. "Hope I'm not intruding..."
"Nonsense, you're always welcome here, right everyone?" Naru smiled, and everyone else nodded. "I'm just happy to be able to enjoy your cooking again tonight!"
"I'm glad you like it, I'll try my best!" Shinobu laughed happily with everyone else, unaware that Tsuruko was studying her with a raised eyebrow...
Dinner came and went in a blur, as Shinobu had outdone herself with yet another beautifully prepared meal. Everyone had complimented the high schooler's culinary skills, to which the blue eyed chef beamed brightly. Afterwards, everyone else went off to their own activities while Keitaro remained to help Shinobu with the dishes, while Motoko and Tsuruko took up positions at the front door and balcony of the dorm as lookouts.
"Thank you again for cooking dinner for us, Shinobu." Keitaro smiled at the younger woman, who smiled back timidly with a faint blush. "You don't have to go out of your way for us..."
"It's okay, really." Shinobu replied cheerfully. "I'm just happy that you all find my cooking to be enjoyable..." They two became silent as she passed finished dishes for him to towel off. "Actually, I was thinking about what Kaolla said last night..." She continued. "About signing up for a room here at the dorm..."
"I think the others would definetly welcome you to the dorm." Keitaro nodded. "But are your parents okay with you moving into a dorm?" He continued toweling off more dishes before stopping to look at her, surprised that the same sad expression from when they first met was on her face again.
"My parents constantly argue at home..." She commented quietly. "They were even considering a divorce, I don't know what I would do if that happened..." She sighed and passed a dish to Keitaro, who was still somewhat in shock from what she had told him. Shinobu gasped slightly as she found that his hand had grazed hers as he reached for the dish, and dropped it in shock. She apologized profusely in embarrassment as Keitaro moved to pick up the shattered dish.
"Don't worry about it, Shinobu." Keitaro smiled up at her, to which she blushed again in response. "Accidents happen, nothing to worry about..." He then began to pick up the pieces while Shinobu watched on with a smile, before her eyes went wide in surprise as her body went rigid for a moment. Seconds later her eyes radiated an emerald green glow as she smiled evily behind Keitaro, a cooking knife floating from the knife rack and moving to hover above his back, prepared to deliver a killing blow...
...Except it never came, as Tsuruko suddenly burst into the kitchen, shoving Keitaro out of harm's way and batting the knife out of the air with her katana, shattering it from the force of the blow. Glancing around the room, the swordswoman then looked at Shinobu, and gasped at seeing the glow from the young woman's eyes...
Sensing danger, Motoko bursting through the front door just as her sister scrambled out of the dining room with Keitaro in tow, and gaped in surprise as the space they were just in was engulfed in an unnatural green flame and exploded. The noise and ruckus drawing the attention of the other tenants, who came down as a group and stared in shock at the scene before them.
Shinobu's body floated roughly three feet in the air, but where there was once a bright shine in her blue eyes and a timid smile was now replaced with eerily glowing emerald green eyes and an evil smile. Mystical green flames and what could only be described as spirits floated around her, and she began chuckling evily at seeing the two Shinmei-Ryu swordswomen with their weapons drawn and a frightened Keitaro behind them.
"How delightful..." Shinobu spoke, her voice now a deep male's voice which echoed with venomous hatred. "Urashima and the heirs of the Aoyoma bloodline..." She then laughed, the spirits around her moaning as if in agony. "The fortunes must favor me to allow me to crush you all this fine evening!"
"Dear Gods..." Tsuruko's eyes were wide in horror, but her sword was unwavered. "The poor child's been possessed..."
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Another cliffhanger... I think I'll go into hiding now before people strangle me for it... Anyhow, hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, and as always I appreciate any comments which would help me write better for your enjoyment! Stay tuned, more coming soon!