Shigy-Chan appears out of nowhere and starts stroking my arm like a cat on a scratch post.
"FWEEEEEE" Runs off
CURSES!! THE FWEE NINJA HAS STRUCK AGAIN!! IRRITATING!! Can I borrow one of your guns Lee3?
ON WITH THE FIC
Late night in Hinata. Two fierce and powerful fighters lay in their futons unconscious. The residents found Hanku lying on the floor in Motoko's room and later had his hands bandaged. He also began to sweat, ferociously cough, and run a high fever. Nobody knew what to do for him, except have somebody (Keitaro) watch over him.
Meanwhile, in Motoko's room, Motoko didn't seem any different than how she was when Hanku brought her in. Her fever began to heal, but her bruises were still nasty looking. Naru watched over her.
It's around 10 PM, 12 hours until Hanku would perish, when two eyes slowly opened.
Naru gave a look of surprise and joy-"EVERYONE!!! MOTOKO'S AWAKE!!!"
Everyone scampered into her room as she sat slightly up rubbing her head.
"(groan) What happened?…(her eyes widen) WHERE'S HANKU???"
She quickly had her anger back, but quickly felt worried when no one gave her an answer. She looked down her blanket(s) and noticed she didn't have any clothes on and had a few bloodstains on her, mainly her arms. She also saw her sword above her futon, grabs it, and stares at nothing as tears streamed down her face.
FLASHBACK (in Motoko's dojo)
A student runs up to Motoko who practices her strokes-"Hey Motoko! Royiaki won the Japanese martial arts competition!"
"What's so surprising? The man's an incredible fighter."
"But he APOLOGIZED to his final opponent!"
"Huh?"
"He faced against a samurai. Of course Royiaki beat his ass, but afterwards, when his opponent was in recovery, Royiaki went to him with his sword and sheath in possession. He sheathed the sword and placed it above the man's bed. Royiaki said it was his way of apologizing and showing his respect for that fighter. Comparing it to his normal way of winning and caring about nothing for his opponents is kinda noble, isn't it?"
"…Yeah…noble."
FLASHBACK END
A few minutes later, after getting clothes on and with an angry look on her face, she races to Hanku's room and sees what she expected.
Hanku lies in his futon, sweating and coughing. Motoko now sees his neck's veins. All of the veins, in his neck, were a deep shade of purple. She threw over the covers (his undergarments are on) and saw that the rest of Hanku's body, except the head, had purple veins showing; the poison was taking its toll.
She covers him back up and leaves. She leans against his door and stares at the floor, in guilt, for a while before returning to her room, grabbing her sword and leaving the apartments. Shinobu sees her leaving.
"WAIT!! Motoko, where are you going?"
"There's something I have to do Shinobu and I don't have time to explain."
The next morning, the residents sit in the living room as they did during Hanku and Motoko's fight. Motoko stares at the clock. It read 10:00 AM; Hanku's deadline was met.
"It's time," Motoko stated.
In Hanku's room, a pair of eyes open in a daze.
"(groans) ohhhh…maaaaaan."
He sits his head up and sees the beady eyes of a turtle.
"Myuh?"
"WHOA!!"
Hanku shoots out of his futon and slams against the wall and sees Tama-Chan fly onto his head and look down at him.
"Myuh?"
"…Since when did anybody tell me about a flying hot springs turtle living here? Wait…"
Hanku's memory kicks in and remembers, what he thought were, his last thoughts/actions. He looks around and sees herbs and spices next to his futon. He then looks at his arms and legs and sees that his veins were back to their normal color. He sees the bandages wrapped around his hands and removes them. His palms had a 1-inch wide scar across the center. He put 1 and 1 together, frowned and scampered downstairs.
He slides, his feet, across the kitchen and into the living room. Everyone stares in surprise and wonder at whom they thought was dead. Hanku looks around, spots Motoko and points.
"You!…YOU!…you've got a CRAP LOAD of explaining to do."
Motoko looks away and blushes as everyone else stared at her thinking the same thing as Hanku who starts to walk towards Motoko.
"I thought you said that the Monrovian venom was non-curable."
"…I lied…It was just something to get you nervous…and it worked for a while."
"Indeed…(he then asks the important question) Why?"
"………Does one need a reason to be kind to another person?"
Hearing his own words surprised Hanku a bit as Motoko finishes…
"…Either way…you spared my life, I spared yours. We're even."
Hanku starts to get drastic
"Ohhhhh no were not! (Motoko stands and makes her way to her room as Hanku follows her, still pointing) You and I both know that I spared YOUR life, and you SAVED my life. Last time I checked, there was a fine line between "sparing" and "saving" someone's life."
Motoko stops at her door and turns around.
"Well what are you getting at? Do you want a medal? Just leave me alone."
"It's not like I'm asking you to go on a date with me or anything."
"Then what ARE you asking?"
"…I'm asking for your friendship and TRUST!"
Everybody followed them and saw Motoko's slightly stunned response. Hanku continues…
"When I first came here, you and I were enemies that wanted to see each other dead. As time progressed, that emotion didn't change. Now that this has happened, we have become a bit more respectful of each other. All I'm asking is that we stop being bitter enemies and become good friends." He holds his hand out.
"…(she smiles) Alright then, (she shakes, pulls him in and whispers) but don't think I'm going to refrain myself from beating your butt."
"(chuckles)…Whatever raises your self esteem Motoko."
It was nice hearing Hanku say her name instead of "kendo girl" for a change. Their new friendship already seemed good to Motoko.
Motoko goes into her room and closes the door. Hanku and the others head downstairs, where Hanku sees that the kitchen hadn't been used for a while, showing that they haven't had breakfast, so Hanku stands still, then jerks his head to the others…
"WHAT DO YOU WANT…"
Everybody freaks out and falls on the floor as Hanku finishes…
"…for breakfast?"
Later that afternoon, Hanku and Motoko (wearing their fighting outfits) are sparing with each other in a small Burst Mode as they converse.
Motoko asks-"When you first came here, you had a katana in your possession, but when we fought AGAIN, you were more skilled with your fists. Why is that?"
"I had to have something to hold back my violent ways. I hurt people more with my fists rather than my sword because I didn't know as much about it."
"Hm. Understandable."
"One thing, since when did you guys have a turtle in your apartments?"
"You mean that cursed Tama-Chan? We've had her for about a year."
Suddenly, an energy wave strikes from the trees.
"WHAT THE—LOOK OUT!!"
Hanku shoves Motoko out of the way, and then he jumps away himself.
A woman in a similar outfit as Motoko's appears. Motoko becomes surprised.
"……Sister?!"
Tsuruko ignores Motoko and only stares at Hanku, who returns the stare with one, himself.
"You said 'Sister', Motoko?"
"I am Tsuruko Aoyama, and yes I am Motoko's elder sister."
"Hmph…I'm—"
Tsuruko interrupts-"Hanku Royiaki, American and Japanese martial arts champion."
"DO NOT refer to me as a champion! It just irritates me."
"I'll refer to you however I want to, but I only find you as the man who made a fool of my sister."
Hanku slightly widens his eyes-"You saw that fight?"
"I was passing by and saw you two's energy clash. From that point on I witnessed the fight."
"So, what do you want? You wanna lecture me about manners?"
"…I want revenge for the Aoyama Clan. (positions herself) Defend yourself!"
Hanku doesn't respond as Tsuruko strikes. When she becomes inches away from him, Hanku turns to the side where Tsuruko gets off balance and is tripped by Hanku's foot.
Tsuruko couldn't believe his speed and agility as she recovers. She figured she couldn't hurt him PHYSICALLY, so she raises her sword as it begins to glow gold.
Hanku smirks and then dashes around Tsuruko to what looked like 10 Hanku's running around like children.
"Hit me if you can."
Tsuruko grunts and unleashes a series of small energy waves from her, still raised, sword. Gold energy waves begin to demolish the ground from its failed attempts at damaging Hanku who continues to put his speed to good use, until one of the attacks heads in Motoko's direction.
Tsuruko sees this, but can't stop her attack. Motoko becomes off guard in surprise from the attack, but before impact Hanku slides in front and swats the attack away, removing his "copies". He continues to do so as more energy waves come in his direction. When he found the right moment, Hanku opens his arms out and creates a purple energy barrier around himself and Motoko.
The moment seemed familiar to Motoko. It looked almost exactly how Keitaro and Naru were when Hanku made his attack at Naru.
Hanku breaks the barrier and stands in his normal, upright position with his arms crossed as Tsuruko frowns.
"…How DARE you involve my sister in your techniques!"
"In case you haven't noticed, stupid, the death match is over. Motoko and I are friends now, but I'm not going to explain the long story. You didn't even consider asking us?! You're just as dumb with assumptions as Naru is."
Naru appears from the front door-"I HEARD THAT!!"
"WHO CARES?……(turning back to Tsuruko) Not to mention your fighting SUCKS!! Motoko put up a life-threatening fight with me; you can't even keep your balance. NOW you have a problem with me keeping her safe from YOUR attacks that aren't supposed to be going towards her?! Well guess what…I'm making sure these women are safe from the evil things in this world! Motoko is AND will be treated no different! So if you have a problem with that…(slams his feet into the ground, creating a small quake) THEN BRING IT!!!"
Tsuruko keeps quiet from Hanku's dist. Hanku relaxes and stands back up with his arms crossed again.
"Now I know why Motoko lost to you when you last came here, during the Hina blade incident. Yes, I know about that. To prove it, I offer you the challenge to fight Motoko…now!"
By this time everybody else is outside soon enough to hear Hanku's proposition. Tsuruko couldn't believe he was asking her to complete, what she thought was a simple task. Motoko waves her arms up and down as Hanku walks toward her.
(In a loud whisper)-"But I can't defeat her; she's my sister! She's more skilled than I am!"
"Exactly! THAT'S why you lose to her."
"Huh?"
"You deny the possibility of defeating your sister. You have never been able to tell yourself, "I can beat her!" Motoko, an enemy is an enemy, no matter WHO it is, including your sister. You put up a spectacular fight with me, because you believed you could defeat me. I see no reason why you can't do the same with her! You can't hold back because she's family."
Motoko thinks about Hanku's advice, smiles and positions herself with her sword in hand.
"When you are ready sister."
"I accept your challenge, but I'm afraid your fate will be no different than before."
"I'LL be the judge of THAT!"
Both swordsmen charge at each other.
BURST MODE!!!
Hanku stands by with the others as Motoko begins to slow down her attacks again believing she couldn't keep up with her sister. Tsuruko starts to gain the upper hand.
Hanku looks back at Shinobu, whom just came out-"Is lunch served?" Shinobu nods
Hanku looks back at the fight-"MOTOKO…LUNCH IS READY SO YOU CAN FINISH IT NOW!!!" Hanku walks inside and convinces the others to come inside as well and not to worry.
Motoko begins to re-think Hanku's advice. Moments later, she shows a look of strength and determination at her sister and begins to greatly increase her speed in her attacks.
Tsuruko begins to struggle with her sister's sudden outburst and is suddenly grabbed by her gi. Motoko throws Tsuruko over her head and into the ground where Motoko pins her down with the tip of her sword at Tsuruko's throat.
Motoko stays in that position for a few more moments before she sheathes her sword and walks inside, inviting her sister to join them.
During lunch, Tsuruko looks at Hanku and Motoko who sat across from each other. Both are eating their rice. She smiles…
"You two look cute together. If Hanku seems so ready to protect you, why don't you two get married?"
Hanku and Motoko go bug-eyed and spatter their rice out of their mouths and take deep breathes.
Simultaneously shouting down at Tsuruko-"WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THAT'LL EVER HAPPEN?"
"……It's how much you two are in common."
Hanku grunts and walks off as Motoko walks away in the opposite direction. Obviously, Tsuruko could tell that she had not much of a purpose being with her sister. She stands as she walks toward the door…
"It appears that I have out welcomed my stay. (bows) I thank you for your hospitality and I apologize for my unnecessary actions. Farewell."
Upon Tsuruko's departure, the Hinata residents could only keep quiet for a few moments and continue eating as if nothing happened.
AH! I GOT IT OUT!! YESSS!!! Reviews now…
Lee3-the track we all love
Bnice's Beanie-I'm a guy
Sesshomaru-HEY! I USE NIGHTMARE AS WELL! How do you think I came to the conclusion that Asatroth is my best and Nightmare is my #2?
PLEASE REVIEW/FLAME ASAP DAMMIT!!!
Hanku