Reclining up on the roof of the Hinata Inn, Shigawan thought long and hard about current situations. Keitaro was injured, more so than usual. Few people stood up well against a chi attack, but the intrepid manager challenged the best of them with his god-like endurance. But even with all this said and done, he remained only human.

Keitaro fought, hard, against Motoko. Well worn from his battle and not having had even a ten-minute breather, he had found himself once again in the fray, but this time taking a large blast of concentrated punishment. Already tired, the manager's poor body did the only thing it could.

Keitaro passed into a coma and it was unknown as to how long he would be asleep. Shigawan had done his best in comforting the other tenets, reassuring them it was only temporary, as Keitaro's mind had to repair the damage without interference. It was only a matter of time…

Sighing as he stood, Shigawan stopped reminiscing about the past, HIS mistake. Only hours have passed since the time of the fight, and the black haired teen felt awful. This was his fault.

He needed to get his mind of the pain. His light footsteps pattered as he sluggishly moved down corridor after corridor, a blank stare occupying his face. As he moved, he barely watched, as he let his legs lead him by instinct to wherever he felt he would be needed.

As he neared what Shigawan supposed to be his destination, hazel eyes glanced up and focused on the doorway that sat in front of him.

Shigawan heard a small voice float through his head, "Makes sense…"

The Supply Closet

With the usual caretaker under the weather, duty fell on him to keep the inn up and running. He was, after all, here to help.

"Awww, Motoko, you're so boring!" Su pouted.

"Please try to understand Kaolla. I simply cannot play right now. I must train to become stronger."

Motoko, although her stoic features hid it well, was fuming. A child had beaten her, and worse yet, she had to be protected by that perverted manager! She wasn't some damsel in distress, she could protect herself. She needed nobody.

"Perhaps Shigawan would play with you, although I haven't seen him around as of late." Motoko silently snickered. While all the other tenets knew of Kaolla's definition of 'playing', Shigawan probably didn't. It would teach him to mess with her again.

Su brightened, "Oh yeah, thanks Motoko! But you haven't seen him around all day?"

Motoko shook her head, her ebony locks swirling with the simple movement.

Kaolla tightened her eyes closed and screwed her face up in cute concentration. Placing her hand onto her chin and tapping, the energetic inventor pondered he dilemma. Suddenly her eyes popped open; she rose up her hand and declared, "Got it! He must be at the hot springs!"

Motoko was mildly interested to say the least, so she questioned the girl's logic. "Why would he be there? Peeking? Currently I believe that all the girls besides us are out."

Su shook her head in exasperation. "No, he wouldn't peek! He's too nice for that. He could be taking a bath himself, for one, or he could be doing what I think he's doing."

"Which would be…"

"Remember how the springs were getting a little dirty, because of the amount of dirt and blood we cleaned off of you after the fight?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with Shigawan?"

"Well, both Shigawan and Keitaro are really nice, and if Shigawan is anything like Keitaro, then…" Su smiled brightly, "He's going to go clean the springs."

"Motoko scoffed, "He better be, but I doubt it. That idiot seems lazy, although he should because it is his fault that Keitaro is…handicapped at the moment."

Kaolla turned slowly, her eyes cold, with an unusual amount of annoyance shown towards her 'best friend'. "If I remember correctly, it's your fault Keitaro was hurt, not Shigawan's."

Su turned back and left Motoko's room to check out the hot springs for any sign of her new 'playmate', leaving a young swordswoman alone to stare blankly at the door and contemplate those words.

Kaolla bounded off to the hot springs to see Shigawan. Since the fight, he hadn't really shown himself, and Su found that she missed him already. There was just something about his presence that made her feel at ease.

Su slowed her pace, trailing her hand along the wall behind her and frowned. She sure hoped he wasn't blaming himself over what had happened to Keitaro. It wasn't his fault; Keitaro had leapt himself into the blast.

But it would make sense; He had said he was a protector, whatever that was. He said that he protected human life, but in harming another, he may have felt regret, sadness at having caused harm when he only meant to help.

Following the now instinctive route to the Inn's hot springs, she took notice of a small white square just outside the entrance, Carefully Su bent over and grasped the object and flipped it over to view the opposite side. She caught herself giggling at what the other side read.

Warning: Hot Springs Closed for Cleaning

"Just like something that would happen to Keitaro," Kaolla muttered, a smirk gracing her tan face as she remembered the times they had accidentally walked in on him for mistakes common to this one.

Grasping the handle of the door, Kaolla pushed it open to reveal the large area that housed the Hot Springs. Su sighed as she stepped in, her mind lingering in the past as she remembered all the relaxing hours wasted away in the warm water. She frowned when her mind brought up one not so great memory, however. While this may have been a place of solitude for the girls, it was also a shelter for one mans demons.

Keitaro's demons. He had been punted, rocketed, punched, maimed, scarred mentally and physically, and had lost much blood (mostly out of his nose) due to the mishaps that occurred Oh, so often.

Su wandered through the mist that accompanied the hot water, searching for any sign of Shigawan. She walked quietly, her bare feet making no noise as she looked. Faintly she caught the faint scraping sounds of a brush running up and down the concrete walkways, a sure sign that he was nearby.

Walking even slower so as not to miss him in the steam, Kaolla continued to ponder the memories that the Hot Springs gave up. Slowly, the faint scraping noises grew louder, until she finally broke through the steam to find herself behind the toiling Shigawan.

He hadn't heard her due to her quiet footsteps, so she let him be for a second, watching the way that he rhythmically brushed and cleaned the floor to the hot springs. He looked exhausted, like he had been working all day.

Watching his head bob with the rhythm of the broom, she drew her attention to his odd looking hair. It wasn't really a bad look for him, just strange, unreal. He had black hair that was slicked back, with a strange white highlight in the center of his forehead.

While musing about his hair, Su found herself remembering his other features. Smile, shape of his face, but mostly his eyes. He had strange hazel eyes. It was like they could pierce your very soul, but Kaolla had felt peace looking in those eyes. The first time she had met him, just the day before yesterday, when he had been waiting so impatiently for Shinobu to fix him a meal, she had seen his eyes. Then he had shared his meal with her.

Kaolla's face slowly heated up at the memory. He had been so nice, he was hungry but he still shared with her. And he had looked at her with those wonderful hazel eyes…was she blushing!

Su reached up and slowly touched her face. It felt so warm…

"Ahh, Su-chan! Did you need something?" Shigawan had turned to see the blond inventor staring off into space behind him.

Shit! He noticed her staring at him! "N-no…I just w-wanted to ask…" Why was she stuttering? Kaolla felt her face double in heat. The blush was intensifying. Damn! "Never mind! Gotta go!" Su sprinted off back to her room.

Damn it! Why did I freeze up like that? She needed to think about this, and there was no better place to think than her jungle-like room.

Shigawan had just finished cleaning the springs when he turned to see a figure through the steam. While her features may have been masked, he could tell from her stature that it was Kaolla.

"Ahh, Su-chan! Did you need something?" he asked cheerfully. He figured he could use a break.

He heard her mumble something before she turned and dashed. The poor teen's mind reeled at the implications. Did she hate him? Why had she run?

"Probably thinks it was my fault Keitaro was hurt…" Shigawan felt his cheerful mood vanish. He turned to leave the hot springs and wander the surrounding forest for a bit. He needed to think. As he wove through the trees, he found himself missing the small lake he used to be able to visit any time.

Right now, he just didn't have the luxury. It was too far to visit at any time. Suddenly something caught his eye. Turning, Shigawan saw a heartbreaking picture.

Lying with its tail caught under a dead tree trunk, obviously knocked over during the battle yesterday, was a small kit, a young fox. The kit looked starved, as it hadn't been able to pull itself free from the dead weight of the fallen tree.

His heart went out to the fox as he saw it clawing at the log after noticing him. It clearly wanted out, and was probably scared out of it wits of him. As he neared the kit, it closed its eyes tight, curled up in as much of a ball as it could, and shook.

Gently, Shigawan attempted to roll the log off of the fox. He grunted as he strained against the log. Closing his eyes, he heaved. The log didn't move, but it rocked a little. Suddenly Shigawan heard a smaller grunt. Looking down, he was startled to see the fox pushing against the log with him. As it too stopped, it looked up at him with intelligent eyes, as if to ask him why he had stopped pushing.

He chuckled and heaved again, listening to the kit strain with him. Finally the log rolled off of the fox's tail. Shigawan sighed in relief, when he felt the small fox tentatively poke him with its small black nose.

Curiosity, not fear, now shone in the young fox's eyes. Shigawan slowly reached down and gave it a small pat on the head before he turned to leave towards the inn.

"That was strange…" he thought.

Shigawan quickly made his way back to the inn, entering and climbing the steps to leading to the dorm corridor. He was tired. Eaten with guilt, he wanted a break from everything already. "Funny, I've only been here three days and everybody probably hates me. I wonder if this is how Keitaro felt when he first came…"

Finally reaching his room, he turned to find a disturbing sight. Sitting right outside his door, was that fox.

The fox was small, probably due to its youth. Its reddish-orange tail swished back and forth, still matted and tangled from having been trapped under the tree. Its eyes were green and glowed with a hidden intelligence.

Looking up to him, the fox seemed to be waiting for something.

"How did you get here…" Shigawan muttered. "Did you follow me? Sure are a quiet little guy-"

The fox snorted.

"…girl?" As he approached, the kit moved, unblocking the path to Shigawan's door. As he slid the door open, the fox slipped through the second the opening was wide enough.

"Make yourself at home," he muttered following the fox into his room and shutting his door.

"Well you certainly look comfortable." Shigawan's voice drifted through the thin doorway. There was a slight pause before Shigawan was heard to ask, "Should I name ya? You're a quiet one so…how about Dihn?" A snort of disbelief followed quickly after.

"Right, you're a girl…right? Then you can be called…Tacita." Pause. "Better?" Another pause. "Good…Tacita."

A Note From the Desk of Tyr'll

That was fun; I hope you enjoyed this entry. Like stated last chapter, the next section will deal with Keitaro's recovery, like the last dealed with Shigawan's entry into the Inn.

I do enjoy feedback, and I thank the three who reviewed last time. Havenoname, Lil'nay and Barretta are all thanked from the bottom of my heart.

By the way, now that Shigawan has been properly introduced, if anybody still has questions, if I have been too vague, or if you like him, please let me know.

Okay, I'm forging a road here, there aren't enough Keitaro pairings with Mutsumi and this is one, so any feedback on how to make it a better story would be appreciated. Just let me know if you have any ideas for it.

Thanks!

-B