Sorry for being out of it so long, but I have not abandoned this story. I just needed to take a brief hiatus.
And here is the next chapter. It is separated into two parts. It jumps backward and forward in time.
ADDENDUM, Saturday, January 7, 2006, for those who get notification of this chapter addition but have already read it -- Fixed this chapter, made small additions, corrected one grammatical error, and made some changes that will hopefully help the flow and pacing. IOW, after re-reading this a few weeks after posting it, I just decided, "Bleck...needs work."
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She was on the run again.
Damn him!
Motoko Aoyama was running, at breakneck speed, to catch the next train to the one place she knew he likely wouldn't follow -- Hokkaido.
She would have jumped the turnstile if there hadn't been a security officer there. Boarding the train, she found a seat in the last car, in the corner, and sat down, catching her breath, albeit still very wound up and brooding.
DAMN him! She thought again. How in the hell did he find us anyway?
Oneesan and Haruka-san had done admirably distracting him and holding him off. But she was sure that he had seen her leave the premises. His senses were too sharp, especially when it came to his friends. And she had just begun to relax when he showed up. Seta and Haruka were wonderful company…
4 Hours Ago:
The day after Tsuruko's and Seta's duel, the two were locked in conversation. Motoko and Tsuruko had been offered a stay in the guest house overnight, which they accepted so that Tsuruko could rest.
"So you both trained in Kyoto all that time?" Seta asked, seemingly fascinated. He and Oneesan sat in the kitchenette of Seta's home just outside of Osaka, while Haruka prepared a late breakfast for her guests.
"Yes…please understand, Seta-san…my sister and I both do not wish for the location nor the existence of our school to be revealed. There are those out there...those that are corrupt of heart...who seek to learn the ancient secrets of our arts. To wield the power we possess with evil hands would mean the end of us," said Tsuruko, smiling.
"Of course," replied Seta. "I would never have known about it if I hadn't located the ancient tablets of the God's Cry School back in my early college days…and as far as I was concerned, the school was simply out of existence, and its teachings just a part of the ages now."
Motoko remembered those tablets, and the day they were given to the God's Cry school by Tokyo-U. They had been turned over to an elderly department professor by an anonymous source. This elderly professor happened to be one of the few people who knew their secret. Motoko had no idea that the anonymous source would have been a young naive Noriyasu Seta, of all people. Now it made sense...all of it...especially how he had been able to recognize her fighting style the moment he saw it. What a small world she lived in.
"You are a remarkable person, Seta," Tsuruko complimented. "and an accomplished warrior."
"Well, I don't know about that," he chuckled.
"It's true, Seta-san," Motoko added. She had been standing at the window looking outside while they were talking. Her first of many duels with him had taught her many things, about her opponent, as well as about herself.
"In my years hunting archeological relics and finds, I've had some amazing adventures, ladies…but I assure you my fighting techniques came about out of necessity to protect myself. And Sara. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been chased by people."
Motoko smiled at the mention of Sara's name, and remembered his words when she learned the exorcism technique of the Evil Splitting Spirit Sword...this technique had saved the life of her friend, Kikuko, when she had become possessed by an evil spirit.
Seta's words of encouragement to her at the time had been: "…and when you fight for someone you love, your true strength will be revealed."
Haruka seemed to frown in the kitchen at Seta's last words regarding being chased. But as if reading her mind, Seta's voice again cut into the present. "But I'm glad that's all over with now. I turned over excavation of the Todai Ruins to Lamba Lu so we could settle back down in Japan…and gave Keitaro a recommendation for the team as well."
Motoko's heart jumped at the mention of his name. Oneesan must've seen the strain on her face, because she immediately changed the subject.
"Well, I give you my word and bond of trust, Seta-san, that you will not reveal the identity of the Divinity School of Swordsmanship. Our school realized in order to survive that we must hide in plain sight."
"You got it," Seta said, simply.
He and Haruka are so happy together, Motoko thought, her mind elsewhere. Could I be this happy one day?
Haruka came into the kitchenette with some clam flavored miso, and Motoko joined them at the table. Before starting, Motoko nodded at Haruka, then at Seta. "I can't tell you how thankful I am for what you both have done for us, both now and in the past."
"So Motoko," Haruka asked as she sat down… "I don't mean to be so informal, especially in front of your sister, but…why did you leave the Hinata Apartments? You had been content there for so long...did something happen?"
Straight to the point…Haruka is just concerned as she's always been for all of us, so don't get angry with her, she thought to herself.
Motoko continued eating as if the question did not phase her. "Well…I feel I need some time abroad to do some rediscovering of who I am, now that the date of my inheriting the new school is coming close."
Haruka seemed satisfied with that answer. Seta just beamed at Motoko. "You're an incredible student. You'll find your own answers in due course, just be fair to yourself and give things time. You were such an amazing prodigy for your age when I first met you."
"You two fought when she was younger?" Tsuruko piped up, a sudden impressed tone in her voice.
"Oh yes," Seta answered enthusiastically, "she was quite erm…aggressive on our first encounter. And she is to date the toughest opponent I have ever dueled with. I admired her courage then, and I still do now."
Motoko's face had turned rose red. She couldn't blame Naru or Kitsune for having childhood crushes on Seta...he sure knew how to find someone's weak spot and dish out the compliments.
"Well, well, Motoko-chan…I must once again compliment you," Tsuruko said. "and apologize…you are definitely not in possession of any cowardice…"
"She picked the fight, in other words?" Haruka asked, now done with her breakfast and lighting a cigarette with a smirk on her face.
The entire table burst out in laughter.
"What's going on in he—HEY Motoko!" A surprised voice came from the other room.
"My my, look whose finally woken up after staying up all night watching TV!" Seta said.
Sara MacDougal, 12, walked into the room.
"Wow, you've grown!" Motoko said. "How are you?"
"Eh, I'm okay," Sara said. "I was just practicing some of the ninja stealth that Daddy's been teaching me."
"Stealth, eh?" Tsuruko chuckled. "Would you excuse me?" She stood up, waved her hand and vanished.
"Where did she go?" Sara said. With that question, a pair of feminine hands went over her eyes, softly covering them.
"Guess who!" Said Tsuruko's voice behind her.
"Aw darn it!" Sara yelped.
Seta chuckled. "Don't take it so badly, Sara," he said, "it just shows how far you have to go. There are many techniques you still need to learn to figure out where an opponent goes when they vanish."
Tsuruko patted Sara on the shoulder and went to sit back down. Motoko was amazed and smiled at Tsuruko..she had no idea her sister was so good with kids. Come to think of it, there were so many wonderful things she could learn about her sister now that things were patched up. This gave her a feeling of warmth inside.
"So what exactly were you practicing on this morning, Sara?" Haruka asked.
"Actually, that's why I came here…Daddy…"
"Yes, what is it?" Seta said.
"Well, um…I have a question…I've run into a problem…and although I should have just jumped out of the shadows and drop-kicked him, I remembered our little talk about being rude to guests." Sara shuffled her feet, looking like she wished to please her father, but still somewhat annoyed.
"Huh?" Seta was perplexed. "'Drop kick'? 'Him'? Sara, we only have two guests here, and they're right in front of you."
"Nope!" Sara said emphatically, turning on her heels with her hands behind her back, looking playfully mischievous as ever. "We've got more!"
Motoko's attention was at full awareness at this point. She stood up. She didn't say anything to Sara, for fear of being rude. She simple waited in growing horror for Sara to let the present company off the hook.
"Then what do you mean?" Seta asked, then grinned. "Come on, tell us already."
"Well, the dork's outside, roaming around. I think he's looking for someone, because he's been out there for an hour and hasn't knocked."
Motoko, Tsuruko and Haruka all exchanged looks at that exact moment.
Knowing Seta wouldn't have a clue and Sara wouldn't care, Motoko looked a Haruka immediately, her eyes beginning to glaze over with tears.
"Haruka…please…" Motoko said. The strength in Motoko's legs seemed to have gone out of her for a moment. Her sister came to her side, propping her up.
Her words became rapid, and broken. "…promise….I'll explain…later…just …please, Haruka….get me out of here…don't tell him…"
Completely ignoring the three of them, Seta had gotten up and was standing at the front window at this point. Without any rational thought, he piped up happily, "WELL HEY EVERYONE! Keitaro decided to pay us a visi—"
Immediately Haruka was in the living room in a flash, Sara on her heels, Motoko behind her, overturning furniture to get to him, tackling him to the floor.
Haruka's first order of business was to smack one hand over his mouth. "Mmmmmm……MMMMMF?" Seta could only say after they were done nailing him down.
"Motoko…" Haruka said, quickly. "I want you and Tsuruko to go and get your things from the guest house..."
A grin spread across her face.
"Sara's going to create a diversion for us."
"I AM?" Sara asked, a look of absolute Evangelion-like red-evil in her eyes.