"Yay!", Su danced happily around Koichi in a circle while the other girls had somewhat different reactions.
Shinobu looked somewhat uncertain of the news that the apartment was to have yet another male occupant. She didn't mind Keitaro for reasons that many of the girls could sympathise with, but this boy was a stranger, true he seemed nice enough and Kaolla had taken an unexpected shine to him, but no one knew this man, even if he insisted that one of them should.
Kitsune had that grin that never meant well for anyone, and most likely meant that she would soon be testing poor Koichi to determine his wealth and his weaknesses as well as any other interesting titbits she could find out. Like how he knew Motoko for instance.
Motoko's reaction was one of shock and icy ambivalence. She had been certain that Naru would veto this whole thing, perhaps now that she had Keitaro all to herself she no longer cared what happened to the other girls. No, that was ridiculous, but then why had she and Keitaro let him stay? Just because of that letter?
"Su", he choked, bringing Motoko out of her musings, "Can't breath"
Su was hanging onto Koichi's back and slowly asphyxiating him with a crushing bear hug. This was another area of concern for Motoko, no one had ever seen Su take to a new guest so quickly before… except herself, and there was hardly any comparison between herself and this newcomer, barring the fact they both carried swords.
Motoko subtly applied one of the Gods Cry school's lesser known techniques, a way of reading the Ki energy of an opponent. She had felt a flash of power before he awoke, could it be that he was from her family's dojo?
…Apparently not, in him she read the normal, if minor, maelstrom of Ki energy associated with a non-trainee. If he had been trained in any way it would have been under better control, or at least stronger.
"So where you sleepin' huh?", Su asked from Koichi's back, "You can sleep in my room if you want"
"Su!", Motoko shouted
"That's ok kiddo", he replied ruffling her hair, "Narusegawa-san said I could take her room since she won't be needing it anymore".
That silenced everyone.
"Naru-sempai is moving out of her room?", Shinobu was the first to voice the girls collective thoughts.
"Yeah, you know it's weird, as soon as she said that Urashima-san had to stuff half a box of tissues up his nose, I mean the guy went off like a geyser, scary…funny", he admitted, "but scary".
"Hahaha, way to go Keitaro and Naru", Kitsune laughed, "bout time too, it's been what? Nearly two years since they got it together and they only just moved into the same room".
Su was thankfully no longer on Koichi's back, but standing next to Kitsune, mimicking her pose and laugh, while Motoko and Shinobu seemed much less enthusiastic about the whole thing.
The newest resident of the Hinata Sou had the odd feeling he was missing out on a really good joke…
Koichi was in a dilemma.
Unpacking was one of the things he hated most in the world, rivalled only by packing. He looked irritably at the bag he was holding, and the sword in his other hand. He'd come close to loosing that sword, Motoko hadn't seemed inclined to give it back, despite his assurances he wasn't planning to walk around the dorm swinging it above his head or anything.
He pondered his problem for a few more seconds when inspiration struck. Opening his closest, now devoid of the belongings of the previous occupant, he dumped the bag unceremoniously in the corner and slid the door back in place before dropping cross legged onto his futon.
"Phew, all done", he said out loud, balancing his sword across his knees. Now he could devote his attention to more crucial matters. Top of that list, Motoko.
Her welcome had left something to be desired, he hadn't known exactly what to expect, but being knocked on his ass wasn't one of them. It certainly didn't bode well for the rest of his visit to Hinata.
Koichi lay back, crossing his arms behind his head, both relaxing and stretching at once by leaving his legs in their crossed position. The plain brown ceiling of the room stared back with little interest.
Motoko… what had happened after all this time that he'd get that kind of a greeting… had he waited to long like his sister had warned? Was she mad?… Or had she forgotten…
"Could she really have forgotten… Motoko…"
"Hey sleepy boy, mind if I come in?"
Koichi rolled his head round to see Kitsune leaning against his door frame, grin and Sake accounted for.
"Depends", he said with a smile of his own, "is any of that for me, and do I have to get up?"
"Not on my account", she laughed and he waved her in.
Kitsune dropped herself down next to him and promptly popped the top off her Sake, offering him a swig before taking a healthy gulp of her own.
"Is this the welcome party?", he asked, making a show of looking round, "Thought I'd get more than this"
"Hehe, not exactly, everyone will drop by eventually, besides, what's wrong with lil old me?"
Koichi looked her over and grinned lopsidedly, "Nothing much. So you say that this is just my first visit today?"
"Yep, to be honest I'm surprised Su isn't here already, she seems to have taken quite a liking to you, considering she met you all of an hour ago. Probably bugging Motoko for attention… speaking of which…"
"You're wondering how I know her right?", he guessed
"Bingo….so…", she prompted
"So what?"
"You going to tell me?"
"Nope"
"Huh? Why not?", she asked frowning, if there's one thing Kitsune hates, it's not being in the know about something.
"Secret", he mock whispered back.
"Aww", she pouted, if he wanted to play that game she knew plenty of ways to get the information she was after, "Please".
"Nope"
"Pretty please", she said, leaning a little closer.
"Still no", he said still grining.
"How bout if I ask real nice?", she tried, winking and placing an arm either side of his head. If this guy was even close to Keitaro in temperament, and even if he wasn't, she'd soon have her answers.
"Well in that case…", he said, lifting his head up until his mouth was by her ear, "I'd still say no".
If, Kitsune had been standing she might have face faulted at that moment.
"Heyas!"
Kitsune spun around, looking over her shoulder to find Su sitting on the room's small table.
"What are you two doing, can I play too?", the young girl asked as the older girl sat back with a sigh, allowing her 'victim' to sit up again.
"Hey Su", Koichi said easily, if he was worried about having been found in a questionable position with the resident fox he didn't show it, "Kitsune was just asking me some questions"
"Lying down?"
"Yeah", he replied without even having the decency to blush or stammer, very rude in Kitsune's opinion.
Su shrugged, "So, you done unpacking yet? Wanna play now?"
"Yeah I'm done", he replied, "But Kitsune said you were busy with Motoko"
"No", Su sighed, "She's still angry about Naru and Keitaro letting you stay here, she said she needed to think about things a little so she took off, I don't know where she is or I'd be there right now".
"Took off?… Do you know when she'll be back?", he asked, his grin slipping a bit. This reaction only served to heighten Kitsune's curiosity, what was he so worried about?
"Don't know, but she always comes back, she did this a lot when Keitaro first moved in too"
That seemed to both relieve and depress the messy haired boy at the same time, and the room was silent for a few minutes.
"Hey Koichi, diner's- oh…", Shinobu trailed off, spotting all those she needed to alert in the same room, "erm.. Diner will be ready in a little while if you want to freshen up first".
"Thanks Shinobu", he replied, his grin coming back.
Standing, sword in hand, he made to follow her back into the hall, pausing by the door.
"Well… you two gonna sit there all day?"
"Nope, I want diner, we can play later right Koi-kun?", Su said running over to him and looking up with wide, vibrant eyes.
"Sure kiddo", he said, ruffling her hair again and watching as she took off down the corridor like an airplane, sound effects included.
Scratching his head, Koichi followed her down, Kitsune a few paces behind.
I wonder what he's hiding, she thought, a twinkle forming in her eye, I bet this is going to be fun finding out.
Koichi was seated between Su and Kitsune at their own insistence, and Keitaro couldn't help but sympathise with the vaguely hunted expression the younger man was wearing at the moment. Kitsune and Su's curiosity could be almost as dangerous as Naru or Motoko's temper, in fact the former usually triggered the latter some how in his experience.
"Come ooooooon, Shinobu", Su was whining, laying across the table and twitching feebly as if on the verge of a collapse, "Soooooooo, hungry".
Koichi had wondered if he should offer a snack or something but everyone else seemed to be ignoring her as if this were a regular occurrence, so he sat back and put on a casual façade that he guessed would bug the hell out of Kitsune seeing as how she was trying, none to subtly, to catch his attention.
He looked around the table. Naru and Keitaro seemed to be chatting about something or other in a hushed tone. Naru would occasionally glance slightly to his left, so he could tell they were talking about the sword that rested against his left hip. Not surprising, few people brought weaponry to the diner table after all.
"I'm telling you it's not normal", Naru whispered with another glance, careful to smile so as not to arose suspicion.
"Why? Motoko used to bring her Katana with her everywhere until a year or so ago", Keitaro pointed out.
"And what used to happen?", his fiancé asked shrewdly.
"I, er, don't recall", he lied
"You did something perverted and she put you through a wall"
"So did you", he risked in hope of diverting this conversation, Koichi had somehow gotten that blade back from Motoko without a fight, anyone who could do that was not someone he wanted to try and confiscate property from.
"But those Ki attacks of hers always did more damage to the building", she replied, still on topic, although her eyes promised there would be a reckoning for that last comment later, when there were no witnesses, "Granny Hina left us a fare amount to maintain this place, but I'd rather not use it all up fixing holes".
Keitaro shifted uncomfortably, it always seemed that he lost arguments with Naru.
"Hey", Su interrupted his worrying, "Can I see your sword Koi-kun?"
"Sorry Su", he said, "No dice"
"Awww, how come? Where'd you get it?"
"My father gave me this, its been in my family for a very long time, I have to take special care of it"
Keitaro cast an imploring look at Naru. Great, he thought, It's a family heirloom she wants me to try and take off him. Naru looked over at Koichi before sighing and nodding her head slowly.
"Your Father huh?", Kitsune asked, looking at the sword, "Does that mean you're a blademaster like Motoko?"
"Not exactly", he answered a little defensively.
"Diner's ready!", Shinobu called unwittingly saving him from a barrage of questions as she carried the first tray in.
"Yay!", Su cheered when Shinobu took the lid off to reveal her famous Spicy Curry dish, shovelling it into her mouth almost as soon as it hit the plate.
Koichi stared for a moment in surprise, maybe she really was starving, she was certainly eating like it.
Again it seemed this was nothing new, no one else at the table so much as blinked, they were all eating.
Following suit, Koichi took a mouthful and froze.
Shinobu, having not started yet to ensure everyone was settled noticed his sudden lack of movement.
"Koichi-san?", she asked quietly, a little worried by his actions, "Is everything ok?"
"Ok?", he said slowly, "Shinobu… this is amazing! Where'd you learn to cook like this?"
The blue haired girl was used enough to compliments on her cooking skills by now that his words only caused a low level blush.
"It's nothing special, my family own a restaurant"
"Well this is great", he said, taking another bite and savouring the tingling feeling the spices left on his tongue, before turning his attention back to her, "Shinobu, I know this is forward but would you consider marrying me?"
Naru began to choke on her meal, while Kitsune and Keitaro moved to help her. Su carried on eating.
"I, erm, m-marry, I", the shy girl stuttered blushing up a storm.
"Whoa, easy, I was only joking", Koichi said, grinning sheepishly in apology as Naru finally got over her coughing fit.
The rest of diner went a little smoother until Keitaro finally noticed the absence of the local kendo girl.
"Has anyone seen Motoko?", he asked, not noticing the grimace that crossed the other man at the tables face for a second.
"She said she had things to do", Kitsune answered, half an eye on Koichi for any other reaction, but his usual grin was back in place and showed no sign of going anywhere any time soon.
"So Koichi-san", Keitaro asked, adjusting his glasses, "what brings you to Hinata? The letter said you were here on business, what kind?"
"I have to deliver something", Koichi said cryptically.
"Deliver something?", Naru spoke up, handing her plate to Shinobu who was beginning to clear the table, "Why would you need to stay here to drop something off?"
"It's… complicated", the younger boy replied, waving his hands to emphasis the point.
The table was quiet again for a second.
"Anyway, thanks for the meal Shinobu, but I'm bushed, I think I'll go lie down for a while", he said standing.
"Nu-uh", Su said, glomping onto his arm, "You promised to play with me remember"
"Yeah I guess I did", he replied, thinking for a moment as he gently shrugged her off his arm and stood back from the table, "Here's the thing…catch me if you can!"
Even Su stood dumbfounded as he bolted from the room.
"Hey!", she shouted when she found her voice, "No fair, cheating!"
Everyone assembled, sweat-dropped as the tanned foreigner took off laughing in hot pursuit, they had never thought they'd see the day that Kaolla Su had a fast one pulled on her.
Su tip-toed softly up to the next bend, her eyes alert for any sign of black on the light walls of the corridor, in her hand the Koi-kun catcher MkII, a portable electrified net launcher.
Su jumped around the corner, swinging the barrel of the device left and right as she checked. Still no Koi-kun. The only other person who had evaded her this long was Sara, Koi-kun was setting a new record.
Su padded down hall and out of sight.
With a whisper of displaced air Koichi dropped down from the ceiling rafters he had been hiding between, landing with almost no sound.
"Was that a gun?"
"Boulder cutting blade!", Motoko shouted, hurling a wave of Ki in the wake of her strike, and watching with satisfaction as it ripped through the 'opposing' rock like so much tissue paper. She nodded her herself, that strike had required less energy than she had been previously expending.
Her coming out here hadn't been a total loss after all, she had improved upon a technique she had thought mastered, showing once again that you never have nothing to learn.
The only thing that soured her mood somewhat was the thought of her reason for being here instead of at the Hinata Sou with the rest of her friends.
Koichi Sagura.
There was another man at the Hinata Sou. Another chance for lechery and misdeed. Keitaro may have shown her that not all men are untrustworthy, and helped her grow into her feminity, but that didn't make her blindly trusting either. There were plenty of bad examples of manhood around too.
Koichi had made a rather bad first impression in her opinion. Firstly he had been caught with his hands on her best friend, an unforgivable transgression, he had claimed residence for purposes unknown and had had the audacity to suggest that they share a room!
Motoko missed her next step, swinging her blade in a wide arc she hadn't intended, cheeks burning with shame.
And now he is disturbing my training, she thought angrily. When Motoko returned to the Hinata Sou, she planned to have a private word with Naru about their new tenant, she would not stand for this.
In the old days she would have just challenged him and been done with it, but se had mellowed a little in recent years. Besides if Naru still failed to see sense then that was always Plan B.
Sitting down on a handy boulder and rearranging her robes a bit more comfortably, she removed the white cloth that held her hair back in order to mop her brow.
Part of her was against the idea of engaging in a duel, which confused her slightly. The man might not have been a Ki adept, but he carried that blade with a confidence that didn't belong to a mere custodian, she had seen that the moment she returned it to him.
That was in itself a strange thing. When she had taken the sword while he was unconscious, she had made the decision not to return it until they knew for sure he was not a threat to them, but instead she had handed it over as soon as he asked.
He looked so upset when he thought it lost, and when he asked me to return it, looking straight at me with those eyes, grey like the sea on a cold day… so sad…
Motoko broke off her musing, shaking her head roughly, her face was flushed and her pulse erratic.
I must have pushed myself harder than I thought, she reasoned, even as a memory of a similar feeling tried to rise.
Picking up her things and re-tying her hair, Motoko set off back toward the Hinata Sou.
If nothing else, it was clear that things were about to get interesting around here again.
Koichi had his back pressed to the rock he was hiding behind. He was knee deep in warm hot-spring water, but at least he was safe.
So far he'd watched Su run past the entrance the Hot Springs a dozen times or so, but she hadn't poked her head in even once. It had occurred to him shortly after ducking in here, that if she wanted to stun him and 'win', he was making her job a whole lot easier. Even if she missed with that net, the current from it would be enough to give him a nasty shock if he was close enough seeing as he was standing in water.
His mind also reminded him of its warning prior to this choice of hiding spot. That he was hiding in the baths… the women's baths. At the time that warning had been a challenge.
Perhaps Sis is right, perhaps I am to impulsive for my own goodThat had been what had started the 'game' in the first place, the impulse that it would be fun, no account given the look of minor horror that he kept catching from the others whenever Su said the word "Play".
So now as time went on, he not only came closer to the point where Su would find him, but also increased the risk of one of the tenants deciding to take a dip to wind down the evening.
How screwed up would that be, caught like some kind of peeping tom his first day here, especially if the would be bather were Su or Shinobu.
Or I could get lucky, it could be Kitsune, he tried to put a positive spin on the possible outcome. His brains response was short and to the point, 'Baka'
Deciding against tempting fate, Koichi made to move when her heard the whisper of the bath door being opened.
Acting on instinct, he ducked back down, cursing himself even as he heard footsteps coming from the changing area. He could have used those few seconds to hop the fence, rather than hiding.
'Told you so', a voice in his head proclaimed smugly.
Perhaps if he was lucky the growing darkness would hide him as long as the moon stayed behind the clouds.
There was a splash, that announced that another body had entered the water.
Oh kami-sama, please let that be Su and her gun, he thought ironically enough.
Braving what might come, Koichi peeked carefully around the edge of his hiding spot, his breath catching as he caught sight of the pool's new occupant.
Motoko stood with her back to him, there being just enough light that he could follow the ivory curves of her slender form, his eyes lingering against his will on her shapely derriere.
Koichi ducked back suddenly short on breath.
Ok, think Sagura, think. You're here, in the bath with Motoko… He slapped himself to clear his head of several fantasy endings to this scenario, but could do nothing about the grin that threatened to cramp his facial muscles.
Ok, all I have to do is wait, she wash, get out, get dressed, and I can hop the fence and no ones the wiser, simple
Or it should have been. Within seconds of making his plan, there was a cry of triumph from the fence above him. A cry that was disturbingly familiar… Su.
"Target acquired!", she squealed with glee, "Fire, fire!".
Unable to believe his crappy luck, Koichi still managed a backwards somersault over his cover, stealth giving way to self-preservation even as Su's stun-net hit the water he had been standing in.
He touched down noisily, his foot slipping of the wet bed of the Hot Spring as he tried to make another leap to safety, dumping him on his back and under the water.
He surfaced again seconds later, couching and hacking to clear the water that had somehow found its way into his lungs.
Raising up on shaky limbs he looked up…straight at the stunned Motoko, just as the moon made it's way out from behind the cloud cover, revealing her naked form in all its glory.
Time froze as he drank in the sight.
"You're… beautiful", he breathed.
Motoko returned from he impromptu training session much later than she had anticipated. The sun had long since begin to set and her fellow tenants were all engaged in their evening activities. Shinobu was cleaning the last of the dishes, Kitsune was drinking in her room (not to dissimilar to her day time activities Motoko noted), Su was presumably playing some sort of game, Motoko had seen her running around carrying a bizarre looking gun, the three eyes of Mol-Mol proudly displayed on the side. That just left Naru and Keitaro, whose activities she didn't wish to linger on, and the newest member of casa de Hinata, who she likewise had no interest in meeting at this moment.
Motoko sighed wearily, she had worked hard today, perhaps a nice bath would relax her somewhat.
Heading into the changing area Motoko stripped down, throwing her dirty clothes straight into the laundry hamper.
As she turned to enter the bath a noise made her pause.
Was someone out there already? Was it that new boy, Koichi, trying to peek on her?
Motoko shook off her paranoid thoughts, Koichi had no way of knowing where she would go when she got back, or even that she was back, so he couldn't be out there.
Having satisfied her concerns, the raven haired beauty stepped out into the bathing area, discarding her towel and slipping into the water.
Motoko took up a handy bar of soap and began to scrub, consciously facing the entrance 'just in case'.
She began to relax, her muscles loosening already as she methodically removed the grim from her body.
She was done and about to sit down and enjoy a long soak, when there was a loud cry of "Fire, Fire!", from behind her.
Motoko spun, recognising Su's voice, as a black shape hurled itself toward her, crashing into the water barely over a meter away from where she stood.
Before she could react, it burst up from the water, hacking uncontrollably, its black hair plastered to its face.
Slowly the figure looked up at her with sea grey eyes.
Koichi?, she registered numbly as he spoke.
"You're…beautiful"
Motoko blushed madly for a moment, her heart set racing by the sincerity put into such simple words.
Then her situation caught up with her. She was standing naked before a man she had just met, who was gawking at her body.
Rage replaced everything else. Lecherous, perverted, peeping swine!
Motoko's face contorted and her hand reared back.
"Chou Hentai! Dragon Fist!".
Koichi didn't react as her fist made contact, slamming him back into the fence on the far side of the pool.
Motoko glared at his fallen form before grabbing her towel and stomping out of the Hot Spring.
Up in Keitaro's room, Naru looked around in confusion. She was sure she had just hear some scream "pervert!", but Keitaro was right here.
"What's wrong?", Keitaro asked, causing her to look down at him from where she sat across his stomach. Not so long ago the idea of doing this with Keitaro would have been revolting. Still, he was her fiancé now and the man she loved, things change.
"Nothing", she reassured him, leaning back down and resuming their kiss.
----Author Notes----
Thanks for what feedback there has been so far, hopefully this will encourage more (hopes), next chapter will be up soon, this idea is running surprisingly smoothly in my mind.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell