"Gah, Kami-sama!", Koichi cursed, his hand flinching away from his sore eye. Luckily there was no swelling from where Motoko's punch had connected the previous night, nothing broken. It had been a clean blow, for that he was grateful…still hurt like hell though.
Nice job Koichi, great first impression, he thought at his reflection in his room's small mirror angrily.
Events flashed briefly through his mind until the point of his introduction to flight, the memories slowing significantly at several points, mostly those involving a nude Motoko.
Koichi whined inaudibly as he heard himself babble out the words "You're… beautiful".
"Dork", he muttered, banging his head against the mirror harder than he had intended, "Ah! Son of a-".
There was a soft knock at the door. Koichi gulped, what if that was Motoko come to finish the job, wouldn't that be an embarrassing story to tell his family when he turned up on a stretcher.
A further thought occurred that he was still shirtless.
Scrambling for his bag, Koichi pulled out a short sleeved black shirt with silver buttons and threw it on.
"Enter", he said, lounging casually against the wall.
"Hi", Keitaro said as he stuck his head around the door, raising a hand in greeting.
Crap, Koichi thought, She went straight to the manager
"Mind if I sit down?", the older man said, sitting when Koichi nodded mutely in response.
"So… what can I do for you?", Koichi asked, warily
"Oh, nothing, it just occurred to me that I haven't given you a proper orientation yet"
Koichi almost wilted with relief, "You mean you didn't come to talk to me about the Baths?"
He almost cursed himself for saying that.
"Of course I did, but I was saving that till later, but seeing as you brought it up"
Here it comes, Koichi thought morbidly
"As you may or may not know, the Hot Springs here are women's only, I thought I should point that out before you ended up in a compromising position," the former Ronin said, scratching the back of his head, "its happened before, trust me. I'd just stay clear of that general area just to be sure".
"I'll, er, keep it in mind", Koichi sweat-dropped. What's going on, didn't she tell him after all?
Keitaro chatted amicably for the next few minutes about life at the Hinata Sou, laundry times, meals, chores and the like, with Koichi only half paying attention.
For whatever reason, Motoko hadn't said anything, perhaps once she'd cooled down a little he could find a way to explain and make it up to her.
He looked up as the door slid open again and a tanned blur vaulted through the gap. Koichi watched in stunned amazement as a foot connected with Keitaro's head that sent him pin-balling across the room.
"Morning Su", Keitaro wheezed when he had extracted himself from the floor.
"Morning Keitaro", she beamed back as if nothing had happened, "And morning to you Koi-kun"
"Hey", he said back weakly, watching as the manager dusted himself off as if nothing had happened.
Wasn't he bleeding a few seconds ago, Koichi questioned, but shrugged it aside as Su made to tackle/hug him.
Rolling to his right, Koichi avoided her long enough to place the table between her and himself.
"Something I can do for you kiddo?", he said
Su, pouted for a moment before her usual smile returned, "Shinobu wanted me to tell you that breakfast is almost ready"
"Thanks Su", Keitaro said, "I think we're done here anyway, just swing by my office if you have any other questions, ok Koichi"
"Yeah, sure".
Su leapt onto Keitaro's back as he passed, "Giddy-up horsy, to breakfast!"
Keitaro gave his new tenant a long suffering sigh and trekked off with the hyper Mol-Molian clinging to his back.
Breakfast was rather tense for Koichi.
Naru eyed him with open suspicion, as if somehow aware that something had happened that he was the centre of, but not what he had done.
Keitaro, perhaps picking up on the negative vibes from his spouse-to-be, glanced around nervously, waiting for something to give. This in turn seemed to put shy little Shinobu on edge and of course with it being so obvious that something was amiss, Kitsune was examining everyone carefully for some sign of what had transpired.
As for Motoko… well there were ice caps warmer than Motoko that morning. She was dressed in a rather conservative, white, high-necked summer blouse and red knee length skirt, and had so far yet to make eye contact with anyone at the table.
Only Su seemed unaffected by the mood that hung over the dinning table.
"So", Kitsune drawled, "Everyone have a peaceful night?"
Koichi barely avoided flinching, unfortunately Motoko didn't.
"How bout you Motoko?", the fox girl asked, narrowing in on her housemate's discomfort, "Sleep well?"
"Just fine", she replied, not meeting the other woman's gaze.
"When did you get back? None of us saw you come in"
"Late", Motoko said with the hint of an edge to her voice.
"You know it's strange", Kitsune said, obviously enjoying this, "You disappear, then Koichi vanishes too"
"I was hiding from Su", Koichi spoke up, trying to address both Motoko and Kitsune at once, hoping the former would notice that his answer wasn't totally directed at the latter.
"Did I ever imply you weren't?", Kitsune asked with a raised eyebrow.
Koichi kept his mouth shut, not wanting to risk saying anything else. The last thing he needed was for the previous night to be lain out for all to see here and now.
"I'm done", Motoko said, pushing away from the table, "Thank you Shinobu, the food was excellent as always"
Without another word, Motoko strode from the room.
Koichi was up and following not long after.
Hmmm, something's going on between those two, and I intend to find out what……hehehe, life here hasn't been this fun in ages, Kitsune thought.
"Hey, wait up", Koichi said, trailing after Motoko, as she made her way toward the front door, "Will you just stop already".
"I have nothing to say to you", Motoko said coldly, stopping only long enough to collect her shoes before turning to leave.
"Will you just listen!", he said, reaching out and catching hold of her hand, bringing her up short, "Please… just listen".
"Let go of me", Motoko said, grateful that her voice didn't shake and that she wasn't facing him so he couldn't she her faint blush.
"Not till you listen", he replied stubbornly.
"Fine", she responded, "if that is the way you wish to do this".
Without preamble, the raven-haired girl flung the door aside and took off running, thinking to dislodge the fool clinging to her hand with a sudden burst of speed.
The pressure around her hand told her that he was still there, and managing to keep up.
Motoko growled, pumping her legs faster as they crossed the courtyard and neared the stairs. Surely he would release her if she appeared to be heading at such dangerous speed toward the steps.
The heir to the Gods Cry School pushed off as she reached the head of the stairs, sailing gracefully into the air. There, she thought, risking a glance back to assure her success, her mouth almost dropping at what she saw. Koichi had mirrored her jump exactly, leaping at just the right moment to ensure her own jump wasn't thrown off course by his extra weight.
There's no way someone untrained should be able to do such a thing, she thought shocked, her attention diverted from her landing.
"Motoko!", he shouted, seeing that she was no longer concentrating on landing. If she doesn't adjust her angle soon, she'll be lucky to only brake her leg, he thought desperately.
Tightening his grip, Koichi pulled her in closer to his body, wrapping his arms around her protectively.
"Wha-what are you doing!", she asked, blushing furiously.
"Saving you", he replied, frantically re-evaluating his flight path and landing angle to compensate for the extra weight.
The ground rushed closer, and he was still no where near an answer. I'll have to wing it, he thought, suppressing the part of himself that was excited by the risk involved.
Here goesKoichi's feet hit the last few steps hard as he bent his knees to relieve the impact and avoid shattered bones.
The combined weight of him and Motoko had given this landing more momentum than he had anticipated. He couldn't stop as they began to pitch forward.
He rolled as they struck the ground, trying to keep Motoko above him and out of harms way as he bounced like a skipping stone with her atop him, before grinding to a halt and lying very still.
Motoko was shamed to admit that she had closed her eyes in fear before landing, and that she had clutched tightly to her 'saviour' before impact.
She carefully opened her eyes. She was resting on something warm and solid, something black, but what?
Koichi's chest, she thought groggily, It's just Koichi's chest…
Motoko sat bolt up right.
"Tsk, Tsk, and in public too", an aged voice muttered from somewhere nearby.
Motoko looked around to spot three old men in shabby burgundy robes standing a little way off, shaking their heads.
It was then that she realised that in the process of sitting up, she had inadvertently straddled her rescuer.
Motoko's face blazed red as her fist came up to punish the man that had put her in such an embarrassing position.
Her ire faded as she looked down. His eyes were closed, and he still wasn't moving.
Koi…Koichi, she thought worriedly. He needed medical attention and fast, the fool hadn't timed the landing right.
Motoko felt something wet running down her face. Tears… was she…crying?
She stood quickly, her mind trying to remember where the nearest hospital was. As she began to move something grabbed her hand roughly, restraining her. She spun angrily, wanting to rage at whoever was stopping her. Her eyes went wide in shock.
Koichi had propped himself up on one arm, using the other to take hold of her hand again.
"You…ready…to listen now?", he wheezed long bangs of black hair hiding his eyes.
Motoko could only nod dumbly in response. How could he even move after something like that?
"I'm sorry… about last night Motoko. I guess I didn't think through my choice of hiding place very well, then again, when it's Su doing the finding, you take what you can get", he said with a low laugh. Motoko could sympathise. She had played Kaolla's games before, and knew how zealous the younger girl was about winning.
"So… can you forgive me?"
"I…I suppose so", she said in a quiet voice, "Just don't do it again"
"Thanks", he said, looking up at last.
Motoko was momentarily struck dumb by the happiness in those wonderful sea grey eyes.
She felt that she had seen that gaze before, somewhere…
A gust of wind swept past, violently tossing her skirt about.
Even as she quickly placed one hand on the front to keep it in place, she heard a voice drift up from below her.
"Whoa, nice"
Motoko saw red.
"Dragon Fist!", she yelled, driving Koichi's face into the concrete before stomping off toward the train station.
Koichi rolled over onto his back, a wide grin on his face.
"I guess I deserved that", he admitted cheerily, "But at least she forgave me"
"Baka!", he heard shouted from somewhere in the distance.
Koichi laughed heartily, he was as happy as he could be right now and nothing would change that.
Eventually Koichi sat up, having become a hindrance to pedestrians, who had decided to give the strange young man lying on the pavement with the goofy grin a wide birth. Especially seeing as he had no shoes on.
He dusted himself off, whistling a little tuned, drawing even more looks.
Koichi raked his fingers through his hair to rearrange it, and made his way back up the stairs toward his new home.
As he all but skipped through the front door an idea struck him. Perhaps there was a way he could make up for his little slip of the tongue earlier on, and put himself in better stead with Motoko all at the same time.
Yeah that just might work, he thought, jogging lightly upstairs.
"Come on, where is it", Koichi muttered, throwing clothes out of his duffle bag, "I know it's in here somewhere…"
"Got ya!", he exclaimed brandishing the envelope that contained his savings.
"Got what sugar?", a voice purred as something round and soft pressed against his back, two such things in fact, and a pair of slender arms encircled his waist.
"Hi Kitsune", he said, attempting to tuck the envelope out of sight.
The sandy haired girl frowned for a moment, this wasn't the reaction she was used to, but her attention was quickly diverted by the envelope she spotted sticking out from under his foot. An envelope just the right size for money to be safely sealed in.
"Now what have we here?", she enquired, reaching around him to grab at the envelope.
"Hey, leave that alone", he said, holding it out of her reach.
"Come on, just a little peek", she asked, leaning over his shoulder.
"No", he said trying to move away from her, but slipping on the clothes now strewn around his room.
He pitched forward as she made a lunge for the money, crashing to the ground with a dull thud.
"Ow", he groaned, opening his eyes.
That's weird, he thought, all he could see as red. Red cotton stretched over something large and round.
Oh no, he thought, please don't tell me…
"How's the view?", Kitsune's voice came from just a little above him and he craned his head back to see her smiling impishly at him. His face had come close to getting smushed between her breasts, and would have if she hadn't caught herself.
"Just great", he smiled back, causing her to blush slightly and move off him.
"Yeah, so…what's with all the cash?", she asked after scooting back a little, gesturing at the envelope he had managed to hold onto.
"Nothing much, just planning to do a little shopping"
"Uh-huh", she said, her sly grin returning, "Something for Motoko maybe?"
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you upset her pretty bad last night"
"That wasn't my fault, if Su hadn't trapped me in the Hot Springs I never would have… wait a minute, she told you about that?"
"Nope", Kitsune chuckled.
"But then how did you…"
"I milked it out of you just now", she answered, smiling wider as he hung his head in defeat.
"So, you want some help?", she asked.
"Help with what?", he replied looking up again.
"With picking out a 'Sorry for being a perv' gift for Motoko"
Koichi's brittle smile showed just what he thought of that joke.
"Oh lighten up honey", she said throwing a companionable arm around him, "She is my friend after all, so if anyone can help you out it'll be me"
"I guess so", he said after a pause, "When are you free?"
"How bout right now?"
"Now? Don't you have a job or anything?", he asked.
"Not really, me and Mutsumi, you haven't met her yet, sort of run the tea house now Haruka's travelling with Seta full time", there was an edge of bitterness to that last statement, "but that place almost never as any customers, so I think I can get away with closing for a few hours to help you out".
"Thanks Kitsune", he said.
"No problem, shopping beats working any day", and maybe I can get you to buy me a little something while we're at it, she mentally added.
"Do you really have to do that?", Koichi asked uncomfortably.
"Awww, don't be such a spoilsport", Kitsune said from where she clung to his arm, "Just enjoy it".
"People are starring"
"So?"
Koichi sighed and tried to pretend that he couldn't feel the eyes every passenger on the Tokyo bound train focused on him.
Kitsune had suggested they go to Tokyo with its larger range of shops to search for Motoko's gift. It had made sense to Koichi, so he had readily agreed.
Of course as soon as they got on the train she had glomped onto his arm and snuggled next to him.
He'd managed to guess the reason that she had done it, informing her that the envelope wasn't in that pocket. In fact he suspected her continued 'affection' was revenge for the smugness with which he had guessed her intent.
Koichi mentally tuned out the jealous whispers of some of the male passengers and attempted to will the train to go faster.
Above the train a small silver shape flew along in pursuit, the lens of its high powered camera focused on the window by which Koichi and Kitsune stood, broadcasting the image back to its amused creator.
As soon as the train pulled into their stop, Koichi was out the door, more or less unintentionally dragging Kitsune along, subjecting himself to several murmurs about 'domineering boyfriends' in the process.
Please someone just shoot me in the head, he silently pleaded, but no higher power heeded his call.
"Whoa there sugar", Kitsune called, pulling him back to a reasonable pace but not letting go and pointing with her free arm, "We have to go this way".
The grey-eyed boy nodded as she manoeuvred him down a new path and out on the busy streets of Tokyo.
"You can let go now, I promise not to run away", he joked.
"No, I like it just fine here", she replied, happy that she was finally getting a reaction she was used to.
Oh it's on now, he thought as she squeezed his arm tighter and grinned triumphantly, triggering his competitive side.
"Ok, how bout we try here first", she said, leading him into a clothes store.
They spent several minutes looking around, Kitsune choosing clothes she assured him were the latest fashions, claims that various saleswomen backed her up in, but they could find nothing that really stood out to Koichi as the perfect choice for Motoko.
Next was a small shop of curios and exotic objects from around the world.
Kitsune and Koichi split up to search the store, calling the other over when they felt they had found something, but again, nothing they could both feel satisfied with.
On the way out, Koichi spotted something on the back of a display case of crystal figurines, but Kitsune was already pulling him along before he could get a good look at it.
They made several other stops, including an electronics store. Koichi had felt sure that Motoko wouldn't want anything from a place like this and his shopping guide had guiltily admitted that she was hopping he'd buy her something.
I similar thing happened when they'd some how found themselves in a store called Shin's World of Liquor.
Koichi had smirked as Kitsune walked about the store, whistling innocently. As she's pointed out, she was only doing this to help out after all.
As he wondered up and down the isles, Koichi found his mind drifting back to that figurine he had seen in the curios shop. It seemed to call to him, and he felt sure it was what he was looking for.
So, while Kitsune was browsing, he snuck out of the shop and retraced his steps back to that store.
As soon as he found the display case and got a clear look at it, he felt confident that the search was over.
This is it, the perfect gift for Motoko, he smiled inwardly and looked at the price tag.
Had he been any older he might have suffered a coronary right there. The figure was worth a quarter of his savings!
He looked at the figure imploringly, hoping it would show mercy and swap tags with a less expensive item, but of course it didn't happen.
Calling over a clerk, Koichi had the figure packaged and wrapped, trying to ignore the odd shooting pains in his side as he handed over the money.
Gift in hand, he made his way back to the liquor store, humming to himself. His tune faltered as he saw a rather upset looking Kitsune standing outside the store.
In the end he ended up buying her three bottles of premium Sake by way of apology and she settled back in to trying to embarrass him while he was left carrying the bags.
Feeling worn out, Koichi had suggested they stop somewhere, and after a little teasing Kitsune had relented, directing them to a café she frequented when in town.
"So what did you get her?", Kitsune asked, taking a sip of her iced tea and nodding toward the bag at his side.
"I'll show you later", he promised, not wanting to risk taking it out of it's protective wrapping in a public place.
Koichi drank a little of his coffee and stretched tiredly.
"So, are you going to tell me now?", Kitsune enquired
"Tell you what?"
"How you know Motoko"
"Sorry, Kitsune, I can't, ask her about it some day"
The fox girl frowned but decided to let it drop for now.
After they had finished and paid, Kitsune took hold of his arm again, this time only getting the minimum of fuss and began to lead him back toward the train station.
As they walked a shop caught her eye. She stole a quick glance at her companion, who no longer looked so uncomfortable walking around with her on his arm, a mischievous idea worming its way into her brain.
"Hey, Koichi, one last store ok?"
"Another one? But I already got my gift"
"Well think of this as planning ahead", she answered, dragging him inside before he could object.
The first thing Koichi noticed was that he was surrounded by bras. Lots and lots of bras. Kitsune had dragged him into a lingerie shop.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!", he hissed, hoping that no one had noticed them yet.
"I just needed to grab a few things", she said mock sweetly, "You can rate my choices if you want"
Koichi went satisfyingly slack jawed at that moment, before reddening and storming out of the store.
Kitsune laughed so hard she could barely stand, and staggered out after him.
"Hehehe, you should have seen your face", she giggled.
"So you think it was funny embarrassing me like that do you", he asked angrily.
"Yep", she managed around another set of laughter.
"So you think public embarrassment is funny?", he asked, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"Yep"
"Then you'll love this", he said.
Dropping the bags he was carrying, Koichi darted forward, grabbing Kitsune before she could react, dipping her dramatically and giving her a kiss full on the lips.
The fox girl's mind went blank for a second, and when he released her she staggered a little, blushing fully for the first time in years.
Koichi calmly picked up his bags and made the victory sign at his dazed shopping partner, before taking off into the crowd.
Kitsune gradually became aware of the scandalised murmurs of the crowd, worsening her blush.
"Wha..I… Koichi! Get back here!", she shouted giving chase.
From somewhere up ahead she could hear him laughing.
"Ms.Aoyama", a voice called, breaking Motoko reluctantly out of her daydream, "Are you still with us?"
Motoko looked around the class, finding a sea of enquiring faces staring back at her.
"I asked you a question, Motoko", the patient voice of her pre-law professor drew her attention to the front of the room.
"I'm sorry Sensei", she said, standing and giving an apologetic bow, "My mind was elsewhere". It had been on a certain pair of sea grey eyes…
"That's most unlike you, are you well?"
"Hai Sensei", she replied, starting to feel embarrassed by all the attention she was drawing.
"Very well", he replied, clearly not convinced, "But try to concentrate on your studies, this course is no laughing matter Motoko, I can't afford daydreamers".
"Hai Sensei", she replied, taking her seat again, focusing on the text before her.
All too soon her mind wandered back to those familiar sea grey eyes…
When Motoko returned to the Hinata Sou, Koichi was lounging at the top of the stairs waiting for her.
She blushed slightly when he smiled at her, but quickly suppressed it remembering that he had commented on her underwear last time she had seen him.
"What do you want?", she asked curtly.
"Good to see you too", he joked, standing and dusting off the seat of his pants.
"I don't have time for idle chit-chat", she said walking past him.
"Hey", he said trotting to walk level with her, "This won't take a few minutes".
"Fine", she sighed, "What do you wish to talk about?"
"Well we sort of got off to a bad start, so I was thinking, how bought we wipe the slate clean, start again".
"Excuse me?"
"Come on, we act as if this is the first meeting", he said extending his hand, "Hi, I'm Koichi Sagura, pleased to meet you".
Motoko looked at his hand uncertainly.
"Come one Motoko, humour me…please"
The raven haired girl looked back and forth uncertainly between his hand and his open smile before tentatively taking his hand, "Motoko Aoyama".
"Pleased to meet you Motoko", he said, lifting her hand and gently kissing the back of it.
"That's quite enough of that", she said, fighting a small smile, "…Perhaps, I'll see you around"
"You never know", he said with his trademark lopsided grin, waving to her as she made her way inside.
Up in her room, Motoko found that her smile was still in place.
She dropped her shoulder bag next to her futon and walked over to her desk, her eyes lighting on the small white package waiting for her.
Motoko carefully picked it up turning it around looking for a label to say who it was from. She found it on the base of the package:
To Motoko,
Sorry for everything, hope you like this
KoichiMotoko curiously unwrapped the gift and gasped.
It was a perfect crystal replica of her elder sister's guardian bird, entrusted to her little over a year ago.
The craftsman ship was perfect, right down to the subtle detail on each feather.
Motoko felt as if her smile would never fade. Perhaps having another man at the Hinata Sou wasn't such a bad thing after all.
In another room, another of the tenants was having similar thoughts.
Half way through the first of her Sake bottles already, Kitsune reclined on her futon, her fingers absently brushing at her lips as she relived the end of her shopping trip earlier that day.
Well I called it, she thought, smiling wistfully, Things are certainly going to get more interesting.
----Author Notes----
Conflict ahoy, what's a good story without a love triangle or two hey? Next chapter already in production.
Oh and thanks to everyone who reviewed, I promise Koichi's promise will come to light eventually.
The following chapter takes place about a week after this one.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell