Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson
Summary: When Keitaro arrives at the Hinata Sou, he's not alone. Having promised his sister Kanako that they'd always be together when they were both much younger, he's been trying to keep that promise ever since. What changes might a deccade of having Kanako nearby have made to Urashima Keitaro?
Disclaimer: Love Hina, Hinata Sou and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine.
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I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dot com, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com or by clicking on my handle up above.
"speech"
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers
/thoughts/
/telepathy/
translation
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+
Motoko put her bokken over her right shoulder and leaned back against the railing, observing in silence as the two siblings became increasingly energetic in their efforts to gain the upper hand in Keitaro's case and retaining the upper hand in Kanako's case. Motoko took a deep breath and gently increased her level of awareness, sinking into a light trance as she slowly became able to better sense the surrounding Ki and Chi. She gasped as she observed Keitaro and the Chi surrounding him. He was a maelstrom of Chi, tapping directly into the surrounding Dragon Lines, seemingly without even being aware of doing so. He was a blazing bonfire of Chi energy, containing more energy then she had ever seen or even believed possible to control. Not even Tsuruko, one of the more skilled Chi Adepts in the last three generations, could accomplish what Keitaro was doing right now!
The amounts of energy he held within himself were astonishing and seeing as how he had to struggle to keep up with Kanako, it couldn't be something he was doing consciously. His body must be some sort of natural Chi magnet, attracting and retaining Chi without Keitaro's active participation! She increased her awareness even further and what she saw boggled her mind. She believed that she had sensed a talent and training in manipulating Chi earlier, but that hadn't been it! What she had sensed, had merely been the faint amount of Chi that Keitaro 'bled', trickles of energy that dissipated from his body. What skill he actually had in manipulating it, was hardly worth mentioning at all! He was a complete novice! All that power and no skill, no finesse. Her impression of Kanako had been slightly more accurate, she actually had some skill in this area, though her talent and level of power was not even close to Keitaro's. In fact, there was probably nobody else on this planet that even came close to Keitaro!
She would have to contact the Dojo and ask her sister to come, she would know what to do.
But first...
"Good morning." Motoko intoned, after the two siblings had leapt away from each other for a short breather, standing a few meters away from each other, breathing deeply. "Would you mind if I joined the two of you in your morning practise?" she inquired.
"Zanmanken!" Motoko cried out and made a sweeping gesture with her bokken, pushing some of her Ki through her arms, along the bokken and out, creating a swirling mess of Ki that hurled towards the two siblings, forcing them to leap up and back to avoid getting struck by it. Motoko had a faint smile on her lips as she instantly darted forward behind the surge of energy she'd just unleashed, appearing before the siblings the moment they landed. She thrust her bokken towards Kanako and lashed out with her left hand towards Keitaro's throat, her fingers aiming to crush his Adam's apple.
Kanako twisted out of the way and retaliated with a nasty chop, while Keitaro took a step backwards, which pretty much nullified her attack, her middle finger merely grazing his throat. She had no time to take a step forward, as she had to step back herself and bring her bokken back to parry Kanako's chop. She tried to shift her sword around for a sweep at Kanako's ribs, but another chop came before she had time to do so. Then Keitaro moved up towards her and thrust at her legs. She widened her stance and let the bokken pass harmlessly between her legs, bent forward and raised her left leg to avoid Keitaro sweeping his bokken aside and Kanako sweeping her bokken through the area her torso had previously been.
Motoko twisted around on her right foot, put her left down and swung her bokken behind her back, before she turned around another half a lap and continued her swing towards Kanako, who deftly deflected the blow with her hand before chopping down at Motoko's head. She slid to the side, only to mentally curse as she saw that Keitaro had already started a crouching leg sweep.
"Shit!" she cursed as she had no time to avoid it. She leaned backwards just as Keitaro swept away her legs, catching herself on her left hand and parrying Kanako's follow-up blow with the bokken in her right.
She increased the flow of Ki to her left arm and pushed off, ramming both her feet up against Keitaro's chest, throwing him backwards as she used her bokken to parry another blow from Kanako. She landed on her feet and shot off towards Kanako, pushing her back with a flurry of blows, trying to take advantage of the fact that Keitaro was down for the moment and unable to help his sister.
Or so Motoko had thought, at least.
"Ow!" she cried out as something struck her back. She forced down a tremendous amount of Ki into her left leg and pushed to the side, throwing her entire body nearly instantly four meters to the side. She saw Keitaro's thrown bokken clatter to the ground and cursed herself for not being able to tell that he was still down, he'd just thrown his bokken and thus made her believe that he'd been up and just behind her.
Kanako darted towards her as Keitaro threw himself at his bokken, snatching it up, rolling around and coming up onto his feet just behind Kanako.
These two were dangerous opponents.
Kanako was incredibly skilled, only slightly less so then Motoko herself. But all those unconventional moves made her very difficult to handle. Keitaro was somewhat less skilled then his sister and nearly as unpredictable, but a significant amount more easy to handle.
They worked incredibly well together, however. They didn't communicate out loud and there were no physical cues that Motoko could spot either. It just seemed as if they instinctively knew what the other was going to do and moved to support their sibling almost before the first move had been made. Their incredible cooperation made Motoko feel jealous, she hadn't ever been part of teamwork that perfectly intimate.
In fact, she'd only rarely worked together with someone at all. She had surpassed all others in her age group before her tenth birthday and had kept on advancing ever since. Her skills with the sword at this point in time were almost as good as Tsuruko's had been when she was Motoko's age. Motoko's Ki manipulation skills were better then Tsuruko's had been, but she was slightly behind her older sister in power. Her Chi manipulation skills were better then Tsuruko's had been, but her power was significantly less, though the elders kept on insisting that her potential was far larger then Tsuruko's. She just couldn't access all that power properly for some reason.
But while her skills had singled her out and thrust her forward into becoming named Heir at thirteen, it had also made her sort of an outcast at the Dojo. Her peers admired her so, that it made it hard to get any real friends amongst them. People were friendly towards her, but put her on a pedestal that made them keep their distance.
She hadn't known real friendship until she came to the Hinata Sou, where her skills as a Martial Artist certainly made the others admire her, but not to the hero-worshipping degree evidenced among the girls at the Dojo back home. Here, she'd finally made friends and Motoko really treasured that.
What she had missed, was the lack of decently skilled people to train and spar with. As a result, her growth had slowed down. While she still progressed, it certainly wasn't at the breakneck pace she had advanced at back home.
But if these two were going to be around in the future...
She parried Kanako's four-chop combination and jumped above another sweep from Keitaro, only to grunt in surprise as she gracefully went above his right leg, only to have his left slam into her stomach, throwing her back. She halted Kanako's attack before it had time to start with a thrust at her head, landed and just barely managed to parry a chop at her right shoulder from the younger girl. She ducked underneath a sweep at her neck, shifted her bokken to her left hand where she used it to deflect a thrust from Keitaro at the same time as she darted forward and slammed her elbow into Kanako's stomach.
She pressed her advantage and rose, slamming the top of her head up against Kanako's jaw and threw her right fist into her stomach, then jumped back as Keitaro charged towards her. She parried the first three attacks, but then had to shift the bokken to a double-handed grip, as the powerful blows Keitaro used nearly made her drop her weapon.
He shifted to a double-handed grip as well and swung his bokken overhead. Motoko briefly contemplated attacking his undefended mid-section, but something made her parry the swing anyway. She grunted as the power was way above anything she had expected, forcing her down to her knees. Her arms couldn't bear the pressure and she groaned as Keitaro's swing continued until his bokken slammed down on her left shoulder. She swept out with her left leg, but his right struck her stomach the same moment she swept away his left leg.
Motoko flew backwards and landed on her rump with a pained exclamation of pain, as Keitaro tumbled to the ground.
All three fighters stayed down.
Keitaro panted wildly, staring up at the skies above as he tried to recover his breath. Forcing himself like that took a lot out of him and this had been a pretty darn intense session, especially considering that he'd taken on Kanako before the two of them had went up together against Motoko.
Kanako stared up at the sky, rubbing her aching jaw and trying to get her stomach to cooperate with her after the elbow and the punch she had taken there. She was out of breath as well, she hadn't had a session this intense in quite a while and her body protested against the strain it had gone through in the last hour.
Motoko observed the heavens as she forced her breathing to slow down, redirecting her internal Ki flows to focus on the injured areas of her body, most importantly her stomach. That last kick from Keitaro had really been something. For his last attacks, he must have either used whatever faint Ki-manipulating abilities he had or taken advantage of the enormous amounts of Chi he was surrounded by to have grown stronger. None of his earlier attacks had possessed even half of the power that his last two had. Even though she tried her best, she couldn't block his sword and the kick she'd been hit with, had completely taken her out for almost a full ten seconds. She hadn't been able to force her body to move, no matter what she tried.
All three of them were smiling, however.
"You two all right?" Keitaro eventually asked.
"Yes, brother. I am fine." Kanako replied.
"I am unharmed, Keitaro-san." Motoko responded.
"That was great!" Keitaro enthused. "You two are really good!" he praised them.
"You did fairly well yourself, brother." Kanako informed him. "Aoyama-san, you were spectacular. Your mastery over Ki was truly spectacular! I haven't seen anyone being able to use it at a distance like that before."
"I have. But not with the ease Motoko-san did." Keitaro added before Motoko had time to respond.
"Hardly mastery, Kanako-san. I am still a novice in training." she admitted. "My sister and the Elders are by far more skilled then I am."
"Wow." both Kanako and Keitaro chorused, hardly being able to believe it as the three of them rapidly recovered from their morning spar.
Hello, hello. Aoyama residence, Tsuruko speaking.+ the cheerful voice in the other end of the line announced.
"Hello, Aneue. It's me." Motoko said, allowing a faint smile to appear on her lips.
Motoko-han. What a pleasant surprise. Pleasant... And unusual. Hrm! Is it truly that difficult to pick up the phone once in a while+ Tsuruko responded.
"Aneue... I called once a day for my entire first week here and you still thought that wasn't enough." Motoko argued and shook her head, even though her sister wasn't there to see it.
It wasn't enough.+ Tsuruko admitted happily. +How have you been, Motoko-han+ she inquired.
"Well enough, Aneue. How are things back at the Dojo?" Motoko responded.
We got some good ones this year.+ Tsuruko announced. +None as good as you or Setsuna-yan, but most of them has excellent potentials and will no doubt do very well in the future.+
"That's good to know, Aneue." Motoko replied and took a deep breath. "Speaking of potential, there's someone I would like for you to meet. Two someone's actually. Do you think you could leave Kyoto and come over here for a couple of days?"
I might be able to arrange something, Motoko-han.+ Tsuruko replied after a few moments. +You've gotten me curious, however. Who are these two that you want me to meet+
"We just got a new live-in manager, a male. His sister, Kanako, came along as well. She is incredibly talented in the Martial Arts, with both Ki and Chi abilities well above the average student back at the Dojo." Motoko revealed, then took another deep breath. "Keitaro however... He's a passable Martial Artist, fairly average Ki potential, nothing to sneeze at, but nothing special either. But Aneue... He's... It's... You will just have to see his Chi potential for yourself, you won't believe it otherwise. He's like a living nexus, filled to near-bursting with Chi. If that amount of raw talent could be properly harnessed, he would become the most powerful Chi Adept in recorded history."
He's better at it then me+ Tsuruko asked in a neutral tone of voice.
"He's only got rudimentary training, so I wouldn't say that he's better." Motoko replied. "But he's immensely more powerful then you are. I don't think you'll quite understand how much potential he has until you've actually seen it yourself. Looking at him with active sight is like staring into the sun. You know the Dragons Nest in the basement back home? It's a crossroads for seven Dragon Lines, one of the most powerful sites in the world. He makes that seem like a flickering candle without even trying. That's how immense his potential is."
You speak highly of him, Motoko-han. New boyfriend+ she asked and Motoko gnashed her teeth, biting down on the screamed protest she wanted to yell out. But she swallowed that protest down, as she had no desire to bring the entire building down on her.
"No, Aneue. He's not my boyfriend." Motoko insisted in a calm, albeit somewhat strained, voice.
Hmmmm? We'll see about that. You've piqued my curiosity, Motoko-han. I will make arrangements and see when it might be possible for me to travel to the Hinata Sou. But I think the Elders will agree with me that if such a thing as a living nexus truly exists, we will have to investigate immediately.+ Tsuruko announced and Motoko let off a relieved sigh.
Keitaro's potential scared her, but Tsuruko would no doubt know what to do. She herself had possessed so much raw potential that nobody had dared to teach her anything at first. Tsuruko herself had without guidance taught herself the basics of Chi manipulation, only then, for fear that she might wreck the city by mistake, had the Elders dared to take her in hand and given her tutoring. She knew better then anyone what it was like to have so much power that nobody dared to help you harness it.
If anyone could help Keitaro, it was Tsuruko.
"No! Absolutely not! Completely out of the question!" Naru protested after Kanako's announcement.
"Say what, Narusegawa-san?" Kanako said, theatrically putting a finger in her right ear, turning it around as if she had gotten something stuck in there, before turning her full attention towards the irate older girl.
"He is a man, Kanako-chan! We can't possibly let him use the baths. There's a barrel, he can use that." Naru insisted. "This is a female dormitory."
"True. This is a girl's dorm. For now. It's also a girl's dorm that isn't run by committee. The decisions here are taken by either brother dear or myself. You have no say in it, tenant. Either accept what we decide, or move out. Those are your choices." Kanako said.
"Uh, the barrel will be fi..." Keitaro started to say, but fell silent as Kanako turned her angry glare away from Naru and over to him.
"You have no say in this particular issue, brother dear. Please, do be silent." she told him pleasantly in a voice that clashed wildly with the inferno-like blaze behind her eyes, before she turned back to Narusegawa and the other girls. "Like I said, this is not a committee. This is how it's going to be. The baths will be coed between the hours 2000 to 2400 and 0500 to 0700. If you don't want to risk taking a bath with brother dear, then you will have to use the baths during the eighteen hours a day when it's still girls-only. If this doesn't meet with your approval, tough luck. I'm sure you're all aware of where the door is." she finished and swept her gaze across the room.
Naru was furious, but kept her peace.
Barely.
Motoko was quite angry about it as well, clenching her fists in her lap.
Kitsune didn't appear to care one way or the other, only having shrugged when Kanako first brought it up. She did glance with concern at Naru from time to time however.
Kaolla looked contemplative, glanced down at her wristwatch and then looked up at Kanako with a curious expression, raising her hand into the air.
"Yes, Su-chan? We're not at school, so there's no need for you to raise your hand if you want to ask a question." she kindly informed the foreign girl.
"Does coed mean boys and girls at the same time?" she asked.
"Yes." Kanako replied, just barely managing to suppress a cheerful smile at the thought of all the wonderful baths she could take with Keitaro from now on.
"So, I can bathe with Keitaro from now on?" Kaolla asked and Kanako's cheerful mental imagery of herself and Keitaro bathing naked crashed, shattering into a thousand pieces at the foreigner's inquiry.
"What!" Kanako exclaimed, before calming herself down, forcing a smile unto her lips. "Why, yes. I suppose." she added in a more calm tone of voice.
"Yay!" Kaolla cheered and leapt off the couch she had been perched upon, launching herself at Keitaro with her arms open wide. "Keitaro, it's 20:32! Let's go take a bath together!" she cried out, then grunted in surprise as she was suddenly halted mid-leap, a meter away from Keitaro.
"Homework first, Su-chan." Kanako insisted, holding the unruly teenager by the scruff of her neck.
"Done already. I did that on the train home!" Su cheered and twisted, dropping to the ground, where she instantly sprung away for Keitaro again, this time succeeding with her flying hug/tackle. "Come on, Keitaro! Let's go take a bath together!" she urged him on as Kanako's eyelids twitched.
That, she hadn't counted on.
She briefly wondered if it hadn't been a mistake to make part of the time coed after all. But after she had realized that making it male-only would still prevent her from bathing with Keitaro, she had decided to go for coed. But she hadn't actually thought that any of the others would go so far as take advantage of that! She had honestly thought that she'd get Keitaro all to herself!
"A bath sounds good. I'm in." Kitsune announced. "I'll join the two of you once I've finished my beer."
"Kaolla! Kitsune!" Naru exclaimed with a horrified expression. "You two can't be serious!"
"It's no big deal, Naru. Wear a swimsuit if you think otherwise." Kitsune said.
"Yeah, it's no biggie. Keitaro has seen me naked before anyway." Kaolla announced, causing the entire room to glare at Keitaro and Kaolla.
"Has he now?" Kanako asked, cracking her knuckles.
"Yeah! He stepped on one of my mecha-tamas and fell through the door as I was changing into my school uniform this morning. Yesterday too. I was taking a refreshing bath in the river next to my door and was just getting out of the water when Keitaro opened the door to let me know that dinner was ready."
"Urashima..." Motoko growled.
"Keitaro..." Naru growled.
"Brother dear..." Kanako growled.
"Uh, guys? It was completely by accident." Keitaro insisted, swallowing nervously and taking two steps backwards.
Kanako got a hold of herself and took a calming breath. /Yeah, no doubt./ she mentally agreed with Keitaro's explanation. She knew better then anyone just how accident-prone he was.
"Very well. Try to ensure that it doesn't happen again." she said and grabbed both Naru and Motoko as they tried to dash past her at Keitaro, holding on to them and sealing her feet to the ground with a hasty application of Ki. Both Naru and Motoko lost their footing, the lower parts of their bodies continuing onwards while their heads and necks were held back by Kanako's iron grip.
"Waaaaa!" Naru said as Kanako let go after her momentum had been halted, causing her to fall flat on her back.
"Waaaaa!" Motoko cried out as Kanako held on to her as Motoko caught herself with her feet and both hands, stopping her fall.
"Now then, another one of the new changes that we're going to implement here, is that from now on, using violence to handle our problems with one another is an offence punishable by instant eviction. If either of you two lay a hand on anyone else outside of sparring, I'll toss you out of here instantly and permanently." Kanako informed everybody.
"Uh, Kanako. Isn't that a bit har..." Keitaro started, but was once again silenced by his little sister's furious glare.
"Try to remember that, you two. If you have a problem with brother dear, or anyone else, handle the matter like civilized people instead of brainless barbarians." Kanako advised them, before baring her teeth at them. "Or else..." she growled, her eyes flashing with a predatory rage that pretty much instantly cowed both Naru and Motoko, just as it had Keitaro.
Things had most assuredly changed with the arrival of the Urashima siblings. No longer would the girls be able to run wild, as there once again was someone around to rein them in when they overstepped their bounds, in the form of one Urashima Kanako.
But...
Who watches the watcher?
The End! ( For now... )