D/N:P I'm having fun writing.

I hurt a few of my left hand fingers, so this chapter might be less than normal. . Damn rolly chairs. . . . Anyway. This chapter might be a bit more dialogue, but bear with it, okay?

Every story needs it's period of boringness. . . . . . and no, I don't want to look up a proper word in the dictionary.

Hatori rolled off of the bed in his effort to try and sit up, "Wait, isn't that your name?"

Miss Tanaka rolled her eyes, "No, really?"

I mused over the new information. "So we've been taught by the infamous Kairi the entire time, huh? Do you know how much your students would honor you if you just told us?"

"That's not the point; I had to stay in hiding, for that was the only way I could get such a good job. Anyway," She waved us off as we were about to ask more questions, "This isn't about me. This is about that." She pointed to the transformed version of my key blade with her pinky.

I looked down at it, and rubbed the key chain, "So it is. What's so important about it, anyway?"

Miss Tanaka threw back her head and laughed, "What's so important about it? Everything's important! Oh, if Sora heard you say that, he'd go insane. He protected that thing for years, and now it seems it was his time to pass it on." Her eyes turned sad for a moment, and then she shook her head, continuing as though nothing had happened, "The key blade can become powerful, you know. The magic in it that can battle the shadows grows with every new chain you find to update it with.

"Besides being powerful, the key blade is the only thing that can lock the heartless out of each world, which saves the inhabitants from being swallowed by the shadows. The locks won't last forever, of course and they can be reopened if someone tries hard enough. Yet, if you send the shadows back into their own world, then it will not matter if the locks fade." She sighed, running a hand through her brown-red hair, as if thinking, "That lock should not have faded, though. Someone released the shadows from their world, someone who is power hungry, and does not think ahead toward the consequences." Restlessly, she stood up and sat on the bed closest to the door, swinging her feet childishly, "It's up to you now to destroy it. Nothing else can hurt him as much as the key blade."

I drew the key blade out into its original form from the bracelet form, and stroked it, "So, this is that powerful?"

She nodded, but Hatori was the one to speak, "Wait. If we're to lock all of the worlds, wouldn't that mean we have about a couple hundred to do? I can't believe that there are only a few besides our island."

"Good observation." Miss Tanaka told him, and pulled out a notebook from one of the many pockets on her pants. She flipped a few pages, as if searching for something, and then paused at one section. "Here we are. There are more than a couple hundred worlds, in all." Haa-chan turned away from her with a snort, as if saying he knew it, and Miss Tanaka shot a glare at his back, and looked to me, "You won't need to lock all of those worlds. There are only ten main worlds that you have to lock. Those ten worlds have one main lock that forms a chain of locks upon a good deal of the other worlds."

"So our work is cut in half."

She grinned, "Exactly! But there's one problem. In each of those worlds, there is powerful heartless guarding the locks. It'll be hard for you to get near them without a battle, so you're going to have to be trained."

Hatori had turned back to face Miss Tanaka by this time when he heard about the ten worlds. "You're going to train us?"

She laughed again, "Of course I'm not! There's someone in town, I've heard, who will only train powerful, young warriors. I'm too old to go and see him, but you two aren't. I'll show you were to go in two days."

"That's typical. You tell us all of this, and then you refuse to train us. You're powerful plenty, so why do we need to go to some strange child molester?" Hatori asked, grumpily. I could tell that he was nervous about going to see some stranger about helping us. We didn't know anything about him; he could be a heartless himself under the guise of a human.

Miss Tanaka leaned forward, pointing one long finger at Hatori, "I know, for a fact, that he isn't a child molester. Many heroes have been produced by this trainer. I've met each and every one of them, you know. And I'm not going to train you because I don't know anything about other weapons." Her finger moved to point at my key blade, "That is a very tricky weapon to learn. You already know some, but there's still a long way for you to go. Instead, I'm going to buy you better armor and give you enough potions and munny to get along."

I stared at her, "We need better armor? This seemed to hold up well against the dragon-heartless."

"Those were hardly powerful heartless. There are many more out there that could pierce the armor like it was paper, and you underneath. Before you know it, you're lying dead on the ground. I'll pick that stuff up for you tomorrow morning.

"Now, let's stop with this Q&A. Our food's coming soon. Greg, the owner of this tavern, is pretty punctual when it comes to bringing meals up. Ah, there's the maid now."

While Miss Tanaka had been talking, someone had knocked briskly upon the door. She hopped eagerly off of the bed, and opened the door for a young girl who wad laden with food, bowls and utensils. Miss Tanaka took the tray from her, and pulled out a few gold pieces of munny, pressing it into the woman's hand, "Give two pieces to your master for the proper tip, and keep the rest for yourself."

The maid thanked her hurriedly, and ran off, blue eyes wide. Miss Tanaka shut the door firmly behind her, and brought the tray over to the table in the corner of the room, setting out the bowls of stew and a plate of bread and butter. "Come and eat, before you both go to sleep. You need to regain your energy, and you'll be sore tomorrow."

I walked over, not needing to be asked twice. My stomach had begun to growl almost as soon as I had laid eyes on the food that was brought in by the maid. Hatori was a bit more reluctant, but finally managed to pull the sheet off of the bed, and wrapped it around himself. I snorted, choking on the mouthful of cider I had taken. Miss Tanaka pounded my back, and looked at him from over my shoulder, "Are you really that shy? Come now, you were so eager to see Raine's."

Hatori blushed, and sat before his bowl of stew, taking a roll of bread, "I like clothes." That was all that he said in answer.

I chewed thoughtfully on some bread, and decided not to worry about it. Hatori had been, and probably always will be, the strangest of my peers. For a moment, I turned over the idea that he might be a woman, but then stopped myself. We had gone swimming in the ocean enough for me to know the truth.

After dinner, I crawled straight into bed, Miss Tanaka taking her time over her own food, and writing something new in her notebook. I barely noticed her; my full stomach dragged me down, seemed to drug me. Haa-chan already had collapsed, and was snoring in bed, his sheet crumpled on the floor beside him, forgotten in his exhaustion.

I snuggled deeper into my covers, and fell asleep, hoping that this peace would last forever, but I knew that it would not.

D/N: Sorry it's not as long as I normally post. I'll try and make it up as soon as I'm better, which should be soon.

Whoever's able to guess who the mysterious hero trainer is gets pie.