Kyoko Sagura woke slowly, her sea grey eyes flickering open daintily as they accustomed to the soft light filtering in through the drawn blinds of her room.
It was a few minutes before she was sufficiently awake to judge what it was about the room she found herself in that was amiss.
This…is not my roomGradually the mental fog began to lift and the events of the previous day returned as she rolled over, looking around the unadorned room she now occupied at the Hinata Sou.
She rose from her bed gracefully, removing the thin ribbon that had held her hair in check while she slept and padded lightly over to her wardrobe, retrieving and donning one of the garments she had brought with her, a pale pink kimono with a dark blue obi.
Kyoko tilted her head to the side, listening for any signs of movement, and finding none.
She glanced over at the clock Shinobu had provided for her along with the futon.
07: 31am
Perhaps everyone was already up and downstairs. Deciding this was most likely the reason, she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth before running a comb carefully through her dark hair and stepping out into the hallway.
Still no noises.
Perplexed, she moved to the nearest door from her own and slid it a fraction aside, coming close to gaping at what she saw.
The room beyond the door appeared to open into some sort of indoor garden. A bewildering array of plant life filled almost every available space, it was almost like looking through a window into earth's prehistoric past.
The only thing that spoiled the illusion were the bits and pieces of all to modern machinery scattered around the room, most of it marked with a strange three eyed symbol Kyoko wasn't familiar with.
She heard a soft snore and her eyes travelled up the nearest tree to find the young foreigner from the previous day draped over one of the sturdier branches, snoozing peacefully.
Kyoko couldn't help but smile slightly at the rather adorable sight, softly closing the door again so as not to wake the other girl.
She moved down the hall to the next door.
She knew this room was occupied before she checked, she could hear the quiet startlingly loud snores emanating from within. Her brother's room perhaps?
Again she poked her head discreetly around the door and gagged a little as a the rather potent smell of Sake drifted through the new opening.
The room was a tad untidy, clothes and lingerie discarded on the floor along with several empty liquor bottles. In the futon at the far end of the room, the sandy haired woman from before slept the sleep of the dead…or the drunk at least.
Kyoko closed the door, wondering if she should continue on after that little experience, or just wait until everyone was up.
It occurred to her that if she wanted a private conversation with her brother and his fiancé, now was most likely the only time it would happen with so many people living under the same roof.
Steeling her courage, she pushed on.
The next room was, surprisingly, empty. It was decorated wall to wall with posters and stuffed animals, most definitely the room of a young girl, most likely Shinobu's room Kyoko guessed.
Kyoko took a second look around noting the simple innocence the room reflected.
One of the piles caught her eye. All the others were ordered in some fashion, size or make of plush animal determining its place, but one contained an anomaly.
Perched atop the largest pile, like a king on its throne, was a rather ugly grey frog like toy. Kyoko wondered what possible reason the blue haired girl could have to give such a thing a place of honour.
A stray memory from the previous afternoon filtered into her mind and she smiled. If she was correct, it was very cute.
Looking one last time at the misshapen plushie with new interest, she slid the door closed and moved on to the next.
This room was also empty, containing seemingly only a messy futon and a few dirty clothes, all of them black.
Koichi's room.
Kyoko frowned slightly at his untidy nature; he should no better by now. With a sigh she moved into the room and tentively picked up the used garments, folding them carefully and placing them on the small coffee table in his room where he couldn't miss them.
Did he listen to anything we were taught, she wondered disbelievingly, shaking her head as she left moving down the corridor to the next room.
She walked in when there were no sounds to be heard within and froze. It was almost like being back home. The room was organised with deliberate care, the only decorations those ordered by tradition, and off to one side, proudly displayed a full set of samurai armour behind a sword rack that held a single black sheaved katana.
This must be my future sister-in-law's room, she thought approvingly, taking in everything.
Kyoko decided that despite her appearance yesterday, Motoko-sama was no stranger to the world she and her brother came from, perhaps that would make Father more accepting of her brother's bride.
She closed the door as a thought suddenly struck her. If they were not in their rooms, then just where were her brother and soon to be sister? Could they be walking around un-chaperoned?
Kyoko shook her head, no, not even her brother would deviate so far from all they had been taught in something as vital as this union…would he?
She knew, although she didn't want to acknowledge it, that the probable answer was yes, yes he would, and he'd do it with a laugh and a smile.
Moving swiftly but gracefully, Kyoko located the stairs and descended to the ground floor, finding no signs of anyone in the living area.
Her ears perked as she heard a cheerful hum coming from somewhere on the floor. Curious, she followed the sound until it led her to the kitchen she had eaten in with the others the previous day.
Shinobu bustled about the relatively small space, humming contentedly, blue hair swaying in time with her movements as she turned the ingredients before her with deceptive ease into, Kyoko knew after tasting this girls food, a culinary master piece t serve to the other tenants for breakfast.
Kyoko was impressed, not a movement was wasted with this girl, everything was done with purpose and held its own peculiar for of grace.
She coughed to announce herself, carefully hiding a grin behind one silken sleeve when the blue haired girl jumped as if she had bellowed in her ear.
"K-Kyoko-san", she stammered, recovering her wits and offering a shaky but pretty smile, "You scared me".
"I apologise", Kyoko replied with an apologetic bow that seemed to fluster the other girl even more for some reason.
"No, it's ok, I just wasn't concentrating, I didn't hear you come in", Shinobu turned briefly back to her cooking, lowering the heat under a nearby pan and inspecting the contents for a few seconds before looking up again.
"Breakfast is a little way off yet, the others aren't usually up this early on a weekend", she said with a giggle, not noticing that Kyoko wasn't laughing. What did the day matter?
"Did you sleep well?", Shinobu continued, checking on a few more items as she began setting out trays and plates for the food while it cooked.
"Quite well, thank you", Kyoko replied, noticing that Shinobu seemed to be fussing over one plate more so than the others, arranging everything, frowning as if dissatisfied, and then changing the layout only to repeat the process seconds later.
Coupling yesterday with what she had seen this morning, Kyoko was more than able to guess at whom that plate belonged to.
"Is something the matter?", she asked diplomatically, her face neutral, one eyebrow raised inquisitively.
"Hmm?", Shinobu answered, looking up as if having forgotten the other girl was there, suddenly blushing when she realised that she had gone through her normal routing but forgotten there was someone watching, she always liked things to be just right for Keitaro.
"No, no", she said, waving her hands defensively, "I'm just a bit of a perfectionist I guess".
Kyoko didn't need her tutors years of patient training to hear the nervous tremor in the other girls voice, or notice the wild gestures she was making. Normally she would have just dropped the subject if it was that clear it was not an open topic, but she wanted to learn everything about the people her brother was living with as possible, and a young woman with a crush on a clearly engaged man was not something she felt she could ignore in this situation. After all, what if it was some sort of bizarre weakness.
"That wouldn't happen to be Urashima-san's plate would it?", she asked, pitching her voice to sound only idly curious.
"No, no, I, erm, don't really plan out who gets what plate beforehand", the other girl said, clearly lying as her face went redder.
"I see…", she said, wondering whether to continue along this track or try something blunt. Shock tactics, that's what her mentor had jokingly called it.
"Maehara-san, are you attracted to Urashima-san?"
Kyoko learned at that moment that the human face is capable of some amazingly vivid shades of red.
"W-why would you say something like that!", the blue haired girl stuttered, confirming Kyoko's assumption.
"I was merely curious", Kyoko replied, "I noticed the way you acted around him yesterday, and found it strange. He is engaged to Narusegawa-san correct?".
"Yes", Shinobu muttered, her face returning to its normal colour and dropping slightly, looking so sad that Kyoko began to feel uncomfortable.
"I apologise Maehara-san", Kyoko said, offering another bow, "That was surprisingly tactless of me, I was only trying to get a feel for the people my brother now lives with".
"You were afraid that if I were attracted to one engaged man, I might focus on another", Shinobu said, shocking Kyoko with her sudden flash of insight. Had she let something slip during her embarrassment?
"You really care for your brother, don't you?", Shinobu asked her smile returning.
"I'm just trying to make sure he does nothing to disgrace the family name", Kyoko said, schooling her face to perfect stillness, her voice a smooth as a plane of glass, "Though I may be a few years to late".
The blue haired girl giggled as if Kyoko had just made a funny joke, "Koichi-san isn't that bad, he just gets a little too…excitable, at times, but he's a lot more focused when Motoko-sempai's around, er, mostly anyway".
Kyoko smiled back faintly, she knew full well what a handful her brother could be at times.
"Besides", Shinobu added quietly, "I've known Urashima-sempai for a long time… he's always been there for me, I owe him a lot, even if I can never repay him the way I want to".
The pale girl blushed slightly at that last be and returned to her cooking.
Kyoko watched her for a while, her grey eyes introspective, thinking that there was a lot to that last statement, even in her own case.
"Maehara-san", she began slowly, "There are a lot of things we are denied in this life, for many reasons, some just, others not and many we cannot prevent… but that doesn't mean we should stop wanting them".
"Kyoko-san?", the blue haired girl asked, looking up slightly confused.
"Do you know where my fool of a brother might be found this morning?", she asked as if she had never spoken, looking out of the kitchen window.
"I think he and Motoko will be up on the laundry annex if they follow their usual routine, they like to train up there together sometimes", she said, puzzled over the other girl's sudden unease.
"Thank you, I will return when breakfast is served", she answered, gliding from the room silently.
Shinobu watched her leave, playing the last bit of that conversation over in her head as she resumed her morning chore.
A smile played across her pretty face as she unravelled the rather cryptic meaning behind the new girl's words.
"Thank you Kyoko-san", she whispered. Soon her cheerful humming could be heard from the kitchen once more. Perhaps Kyoko was more like her brother than she would like to believe.
Kyoko reached the laundry annex at her gliding pace, knowing by the loud sound of wood on wood that Shinobu had been correct, and her brother and his fiancé were indeed up there training.
A part of her wondered just how good her brother had become in his time away from the Oni's Bane school. There had been rumour that he had taken on and successfully defeated Tsuruko Aoyama-Fusurko of the Gods Cry school, their most prominent Blademaster, as part of the stipulation place upon he and the younger Aoyama sister's marriage when he had failed to propose to her before the deadline set up by the two schools.
She had been overjoyed at news of her brother's success against such a revered warrior, only slightly put out when her father had dismissed such rumours as falsehood, or even tried to allude to Koichi having cheated in someway, no matter the disgrace such a thing would bring upon the Oni's Bane school were it accepted and proven true.
She had been very ashamed of her father at that point and told him so. Reluctantly he had ceased making wild accusations and withdrawn his objections not wishing to seem smaller in his daughter's eyes.
As gruff and fearsome as Kenichi Sagura was to others as master and lord of the Oni's Bane school of secret arts, he had a private weakness for his youngest child, known only to his immediate family, and would never long continue in any course of action that would make her think less of him, the sole exception being his continued feud with his eldest, Koichi.
Kyoko stole stealthily up to the steps of the annex and crouched low, climbing carefully up one step at a time until she could just about see the over the deck.
Koichi clad in a white, sleeveless Gi, swung his wooden blade at the head of his opponent, dressed in the traditional white and red robes of her school, and was blocked by a swift parry that was capitalised on a moment later as she lashed out under handed, forcing him back a step or two.
"Your getting sloppy Koi-kun", Motoko teased, repeating the private joke that had become part of their training banter.
"Maybe I'm just going easy on you cause you're cute Motoko-chan", he answered, circling her warily, grinning the whole time.
"Or maybe this is the best you can do", she challenged enjoying the verbal sparring almost as much as the physical.
"Oh, is that what you think?", he said his blade moving to his side and his grin changing to something devious, "Care to make a little wager?"
Motoko considered this for a moment, knowing that since this was Koichi speaking there was probably some sort of catch but confident that she could take him. He was not the only one to have beaten her elder sister after all.
"Sure, what did you have in mind?"
"How bout, if you win, I'll submit to any training you see fit, no matter how hellish, and if I win… well, I'll think of something when the time comes. Deal?"
Motoko thought this over for a moment, it was possibly quite dangerous to leave his end of the bet open like that…but she was reasonably sure she could trust him not to take advantage if he managed to win this little match.
Like you'd try to stop him, a voice she viciously squashed, taunted, her cheeks flaming.
"Something wrong Motoko-chan?" he asked, trying not to smirk at her reddened cheeks and failing, "Something cross you're mind?".
Motoko glared at him as if he were the source of the previous thought, "I agree to the terms, you're going down Sagura".
"I hope so", he said back cheerily, sweating and cringing slightly at the look she directed at him, "To far right? Yeah, my bad. You ready?".
Motoko nodded curtly, settling into a balanced stance.
There was a flare of Ki and Koichi blurred from view. Even as Motoko registered what he had just done and began extending her senses to try and locate him again, there was another flare and she felt two strong arms wrap around her, pinning her arms to her sides.
"Wha- hey, you cheating swine!", she yelled more angry with herself than him for not seeing that coming, "You-"
"I never said anything about keeping this enhancement free", he interrupted her, talking right by her ear.
Motoko slumped slightly in his grasp. It was true, they had never set any preconditions on this 'match', so he had done nothing wrong, he had won fair and square. Which meant that…
"So… what do you plan to do", she asked, trying to sound unconcerned as his face took on a thoughtful air.
"Oh I don't know, any ideas?".
Motoko tested his grip. Too strong to break, no escape.
"No", she said, sounding a little sulky.
"Relax Motoko", he chuckled, resting his head on her shoulder, "You know I'm not gonna make you do anything bad, and besides I already know what I want".
Turning her around he pulled her into a kiss.
"There", he said smiling down at his slightly breathless fiancé, "Just what I was looking for".
He chuckled slightly and scratched the back of his head, "Though come to think of it, maybe I should have asked to have you as my love slave for a week- Omph!"
He wheezed slightly, trying to pull in the air that had been expelled when Motoko's fist mad contact with his gut.
"Kidding!"
"Baka"
"Ahem", both of them turned to locate the source of the new voice, Kyoko Sagura, hand still raised, looking slightly to their left rather than directly at them. What might have been a faint blush staining her cheeks, but at this distance it was hard to tell for sure.
"Something I can help you with brat?", Koichi asked, a little annoyed at having the moment ruined by his little sister.
"Yes actually, I was hoping to speak with both of you in private…", she said, turning to face them, the phantom blush just a memory, "It's fortunate I came when I did, otherwise who knows what else you might have inflicted on Motoko-sama".
Koichi rolled his eyes at that statement while Motoko smiled, it was rather cute hearing such proper and disapproving words used by such a young girl. It reminded her of how she herself had been at that age, although with less violence.
"Well you're here now squirt, what do you want?", Koichi said, leaning back casually against the rail.
"I just need to clarify a few things brother…", she paused as if considering how to word what she said next, "Have you slept together?"
There was a loud thud as Koichi's arm slipped of the banister and he plunged to the ground.
"What kind of a question is that!", he shouted angrily, picking himself back up.
"I'll take that as a no then", she said, mentally granting herself a point in her and Koichi's little game and schooling her features to stillness lest she smile in victory.
"I'm warning you brat, don't push me"
Kyoko nodded, she had her answer and her point so she need say nothing else to embarrass him.
"I apologise brother, I was merely trying to see if at least some of what our mentors taught us permeated that dense cranium of yours", ok so maybe it wouldn't hurt to be in the lead.
"Just cause they didn't cram the book up my arse doesn't mean I lack honour brat"
She didn't miss the meaning of that, or whom it was directed at and silently acknowledged his small victory.
"Kyoko-chan", Motoko said, stepping into to break up the brewing sibling rivalry, "You said you wanted to talk to us"
"Hai Motoko-sama. It has been a long time since I last saw Koichi, I trust he has been well?"
"A few bumps and bruises, nothing he didn't deserve at some point"
Koichi gave his fiancé a look that clearly said 'Traitor', while Kyoko smiled at the older woman's candour.
"I see, knowing my brother I have no doubt…have the two of you set a date for your wedding?"
Motoko and Koichi exchanged surprised glances, "No Kyoko-chan, there has been no date set yet, we both agreed we needed a small period to get reacquainted before that".
"…I see".
Motoko suddenly had the strange sensation that she was being interviewed, but quickly shrugged it aside as ridiculous.
"Anything else brat?", Koichi asked into the ensuing silence, the siblings grey eyed gazed never wavering from each other. A soundless battle of wills.
"No…no I just wanted a chance to talk…Motoko-sama, perhaps we could take tea together later, I was led to believe that there was a tea house near the premises", Kyoko said.
"Yes, it's run by Kitsune and an old friend of the landlord, I'm sure they won't mind us stopping by", Motoko wondered why she could see Koichi making frantic chopping motions across his neck out of the corner of her eye.
"Excellent, then I shall see you later. Motoko-sama, Oni-san", she said with a brief bow before leaving them alone once more.
"I really wish you hadn't done that", Koichi sighed as soon as she was out of sight.
Kyoko stumbled slightly as a heavy weight settled on her from behind, almost flattening the dark haired girl as she made her way from the dining area.
She regained her balance and turned a quizzical eyebrow on her assailant, the hyperactive Mol-Molian girl known as Kaolla Su.
"What are you doing Su-san?", she asked, trying to carefully dislodge the blond but finding her task next to impossible.
"Playing", was the typically happy reply, "Koi-kun's going off to train some more with Motoko or whatever they do alone all the time, Shinobu has dishes to wash, Kitsune has a hangover, Naru and Keitaro went into town together and Sara doesn't get here till noon, so that just leaves you".
"Su-san…how old are you?", Kyoko asked, becoming annoyed at her increasingly vain attempts to get the girl to release her.
"Sixteen…well actually I'm almost seventeen now I suppose, why'd ya ask?"
Kyoko managed to remove one arm only to find it back in place seconds later.
"Because Su-san, you are not acting like a woman of seventeen, you're behaviour is immature and quite annoying…would you please let me go!".
The weight on her shoulders was suddenly gone and she turned around to find a wide-eyed Su staring at her in disbelief.
Kyoko nodded her head curtly and breezed toward the stairs, leaving an upset and confused Kaolla Su in her wake.
She got to the top of the stairs and let out a long slow breath, calming herself. Kyoko rarely snapped at anyone, that was probably a first.
Angered more by her own behaviour than anything else she jumped when a companionable arm slung itself across her shoulders and the warm Sake breath assaulted her nostrils.
"Hey kid, you ok?", Kitsune asked, tilting her head down to look closer at Kyoko's pinched expression.
"I'm fine, thank you Konno-san", she replied primly, removing the offending appendage draped around her to distance herself, "May I suggest a little less drinking in the morning, it is not lady-like behaviour".
Kitsune watched as the younger girl glided away up the hall without another word.
Motoko was uncomfortable. That was an understatement but you get the picture. She was seated across from Kyoko at one of the outside tables of the Hinata Tea house while the younger girl sipped delicately at the tea provided by Mutsumi, seemingly paying her no mind.
She may have thought the younger woman was almost interviewing her and Koichi before, but she had been informed in no uncertain terms by the elder Sagura, that this little get together would be exactly that.
He had explained very briefly about his sisters training in manner, etiquette and the political arts, all things that stressed subtly he had told her, and thus all things taught to the children of the Oni's Bane school.
"Motoko-sama", the girl said, in such a glacially calm voice it was frightening, jolting the already nervous Motoko out of her thoughts.
Motoko felt vaguely stupid being so anxious. She had faced down other warriors, demons, even her own sister, so why did the thought of having a future in-law, a girl two years her junior no less, ask her about her relationship with Koichi, frighten her?
You know why, it's because you nearly lost him once, and you're scared it'll happen again. Only this time you're being pushed in out of your depth in unfamiliar waters.
Motoko did the mental equivalent of gagging the annoying voice and ran through a few breathing exercises to calm her nerves.
"Yes Kyoko-chan?"
"How do you feel about my brother?", she asked, looking over the rim of her cup as she took another sip.
Motoko almost sighed with relief; this was a relatively easy question.
"I love him", she said simply, smiling a tad wistfully.
Kyoko didn't seemed phased by this reply.
"Indeed", she took another sip and set the cup down as if in thought.
"How much", she asked, the question throwing Motoko for a second.
"Excuse me?"
"How much do you love my brother Motoko-sama?", the girl asked, her eyes making no demands, imparting nothing, but somehow seeming to bore into the older woman's skull, as if daring her to make the wrong answer.
"I…don't understand what you're asking Kyoko-chan", Motoko finally replied.
Kyoko raised an eyebrow.
Motoko felt herself beginning to sweat, just what the hell did a raised eyebrow mean? Was that good or bad?
Kyoko ran a slender finger around the rim of her cup, breaking eye contact and enabling Motoko to breath again, at least for a little while.
"I see…let me try to explain as best I am able…", the grey eyed girl paused, folding both hands carefully in her lap, "There are certain…sacrifices, we all make Motoko-sama…How much this applies to your situation if at all I must confess I don't entirely know…but what would you be willing to sacrifice for my brother?".
Motoko's eyes narrowed, not knowing what exactly the other girl was implying, "What kind of sacrifice?"
"Should it matter?", the younger girl said without batting an eyelid.
Motoko's hands clenched under the table, there was no ready reply to that and she was sure Kyoko knew that.
The younger of the pair shrugged minutely and resumed drinking her tea.
Motoko grasped her own cup for something to do with her hands and began raising it to her lips.
"So just how far have you gone with my brother?"
Motoko felt the tea go down the wrong way and soon she was hacking and coughing desperately to try and clear her airways.
Kyoko sipped at her tea calmly as she watched the sceptical, smiling apologetically.
"Excuse me miss", Kyoko said as Mutsumi came to see what the problem was, "I believe we will both require fresh cups".
Shinobu shivered as she ascended the last few steps to the attic. It was always cold and dusty up here, no matter the time of year, and with things scuttling to and fro in the darkness, or perhaps just in the shadows of her mind, it was a place the blue haired girl was not especially fond of.
"Why did I get called up here", she whined, clutching her arms to her chest and stepping timidly out into the dark.
"H-hello? Is anyone there?".
"So glad you finally made it", a nearby shadow chuckled, laughing harder when she gave a frightened shriek.
"W-what do you want?"
"We're here to discuss the Hinata Sou's latest potential problem", the shadow said, the voice sounding distinctly familiar.
"P-problem?", Shinobu asked, her eyes growing wide as other shadows began to move toward her.
"Yep", the first shadow said. There was a small click, and the room was suddenly illuminated by several flashlights, revealing the speaker to be none other than Kitsune.
"A little problem called Kyoko Sagura".
----Author Notes----
Another chapter out, little bit about Kyoko revealed, and a lot more coming next chapter, well sort of…..---has an idea--- lol, I wonder if that would make them cheer me or lynch me lol