Motoko frowned as Koichi all but ripped the door to his room off its hinges. He hadn't spoken since leaving the laundry annex and his Ki, usually hidden from casual observation, flared angrily, as if warning anyone who should think to approach him.
Motoko was not intimidated by his display. She herself held far more raw power than he was putting out at that moment, but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned for him.
His anger, she knew, was about more than the prospect of being forced to return home with her to see his father, a man less than approving of his approaching union to the heir of the Gods Cry school. This was something more personal. He felt betrayed by his younger sister, although Motoko could now see, in hindsight, that the younger Sagura had been telling the truth. No one could fake such sadness; Motoko had merely been to caught up in the moment to notice at the time.
Koichi would probably come to realise this too eventually, but now certainly wasn't the time to bring it up.
She folded her arms and waited as he paced around the room aimlessly like an caged animal, or a small child in the midst of a fit.
"Bastard!", he shouted, driving his fist through the small table in the centre of his room. Motoko kept her face impassive and watched as he continued to stalk around the small room.
Gradually his anger receded, no longer visible on his face, but simmering behind sea grey eyes, like a volcano waiting to blow.
He dropped roughly to the ground, resting his back against the wall, the bokken he had been holding discarded at his side.
She wordlessly took a seat over from him, legs folded and the Hina laying across her knees. Motoko watched him, looking for some signs of what was going on in her fiancé's mind.
"I just can't believe it", he said, his voice barely audible and tightly controlled, "I can't believe she'd help him".
There was no need to ask who 'she' referred to.
"I know she's always been the perfect daughter to him…but something this important to me…"
"I think you may be reading more into this than is there", Motoko spoke up, challenging his own stare with one of her own when he looked up angrily at her, "You're basing your assumptions on the words of your cousin…He doesn't seem like a particularly honourable man to me".
Koichi snorted a reply and rested his head back against the wall.
"That much is true", he said with weak smirk, "I wasn't joking when I called him slime Motoko".
"Then, isn't it possible he was lying?"
Koichi looked at her for a moment before turning away without answering.
His expression however was now thoughtful rather than angry, and his brow would crinkle every now and again as if he were deep in thought.
"So what do we do now", Motoko asked, growing impatient with his brooding.
Koichi sighed and slumped a little where he sat, looking at her through eyes practically hidden by black bangs.
"Not much we can do, no matter what else he may have said, Akira probably wasn't lying about there being others out there ready to bring me in if I try to refuse seeing the old man. It's just the kind of over the top stunt he'd pull to get his way"
Motoko digested this as he stood and moved over to his closet, opening it and taking out an empty duffle bag and stuffing it with the first clothes that came to hand.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?", he replied pulling the drawstring taut and reaching for something at the back of the alcove, "No time like the present, I may as well get this over with".
"What do you mean 'I'", she asked suspiciously as he retrieved what he had been searching for, the bokken Motoko had given him as a gift.
"Just what I say", he replied, not meeting her gaze as he started toward the door, bag over one shoulder and bokken in hand, "There's no need for you to come with me. I'll go straighten this thing out and be back before- Ow! Hey!".
Koichi looked at the hand holding onto his ear incredulously and back up to its owner, "Hey that hurts already! Let go!".
Motoko twisted her grip a little and leaned in, "'I'll take care of this'?", she asked, her voice low and dangerous, "'There's no need for you to come with me'?".
She tightened her grip with each word, "I'm not some frail little girl Koichi Sagura, no matter what your cousin seems to think. This concerns both of us, so you may dispense with the macho façade before I'm force to beat it out of you. I'm coming, is that clear?".
She released his ear and stood back as he rubbed at it, glaring at her, "You know, you could have just said you wanted to come".
"Perhaps, but this was faster, and besides", she said quoting him, "Where's the fun in that".
"Ha-ha, I'm engaged to a comedian", he groused, unable to stop a small grin forming on his face, "Fine, you want to come I won't stop you, even if I could, but remember, this isn't tea and rice-cakes with the in-laws Motoko, not with my old man involved. Just be careful and don't question what I tell you, I don't want to loose you".
"You won't", she reassured him.
"Maybe…my family changes people Motoko…there are many ways to die, and not al of them leave a corpse".
Motoko felt an involuntary shudder run up her spine at the cold look in his eyes.
"Come on, you need to pack".
Koichi was waiting outside like he promised when Motoko emerged, dressed in the traditional robes over her school, the Hina belted at her right hip and the Sword of Two Souls, at her left.
When she noticed Koichi's enquiring expression she shrugged and said, "I mean to show them who I am at a glance, Koichi Sagura's intended and not a woman to be taken lightly".
Koichi couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across his face like it did every time Motoko made a proclamation like that.
"Rock on", he said giving her the thumbs up and receiving a swat on the shoulder as per their unspoken agreement.
"Besides", she added, her tone grave and her hand unconsciously brushing the hilt of the Sword of Two Souls, "The way you speak of your home, we may need the power of this sword again".
The dark haired man frowned at the legendary blade of his family, unsure how to tell Motoko that there were some threats a blade could not protect you from.
"Lets hope not", he opted to say instead, no point starting this little trip on a worse note than it was already.
"Do you ever get the overwhelming sense of déjà vu living around here", Koichi asked Motoko as they emerged from the Hinata Sou.
"All the time", Motoko responded fondly as she observed the sight in front of them.
Gathered in the courtyard, much like before his battle with Tsuruko, were the other residents of the Hinata house. Plus or minus a few anyway. Keitaro and Naru were nowhere to be seen and standing next to Kitsune looking mildly annoyed with all the cheering and fanfare in his light blue business suit, was a man with light brown hair, previously introduced about a month ago as Kentaro Sakata, son of one of Japan's richer families.
Also strangely enough, one of Kitsune's more recent drinking buddies, probably due to the fact that after a few rounds he would and could by her pretty much anything she wanted without regretting it afterwards or even noticing the missing cash in some cases.
Shinobu and Su were sitting on a pile of bags the later waving at him happily and the former playing with the hem of her yellow summer dress uncertainly.
A little way over from the main group stood Akira, his semi-permanent sneer in place as he looked over at the others, he arms folded, spiky red hair shifting slightly in the breeze.
The only thing that marred his visage of icy contempt was the purple swelling on one side of his face where Koichi had struck him with the bokken.
He grimaced a little at that memory. Sure Akira deserved it, and sure Koichi had been pretty angry, but it wasn't like him to strike a defeated foe like that.
Koichi felt his mood blackening. Even from so far away, his father was affecting his behaviour and judgement.
He snapped out of it when he felt Motoko shake his shoulder, nodding in the direction of the others.
Kitsune was sundering over, apparently the elected spokesperson of this little gathering, presumably come to give them all the best wishes of the group before they left.
"Bout time you two showed up, we've been ready for ages", she said gesturing to the rest of the residents.
"Ready? Ready for what?", Motoko beat Koichi to asking.
"Why, for this little road trip to see Koichi's folks of course", the fox girl replied as if it should have been obvious.
Koichi marvelled at how the human brain could make you think you'd heard the strangest things at times.
"Sorry", he said with a small chuckle, "For a moment there I thought you said you were all coming with us".
"That's the plan sugar", she replied with a wink.
Koichi just starred at her till her smile faded and she began to shift uncomfortably.
"Come again".
"We all thought we'd tag along…things have been a little dull around here lately and er…", she trailed off under Koichi's expression.
"Kitsune, this isn't a vacation, besides, my family's ancestral home is all the way out in Sendai, just how were you all planning to 'tag along' that far? I doubt Akira brought anything big enough to transport anyone else but himself, me, Motoko and Kyoko".
Her expression brightened again, "If that's your only worry then no need to fret honey, we have it all worked out…Isn't that right Kentaro!".
The man in the blue suit whined audibly and walked over, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers with a 'Why me?' expression.
He let out a strangled yelp when Kitsune grabbed him around the neck one armed, "Kentaro here kindly offered to lend us the use of one of his luxury travel homes for the trip, and even offered to drive for us!".
"I did no such thing Kitsune", he choked, tugging at her arm with both of his own, "You called in an old gambling debt and blackmailed me with it!"
"Blackmailed, volunteered, it's all the same", she replied with an indifferent shrug.
Koichi was privately glad he had never gotten into debt with Kitsune before.
Koichi opened his mouth to tell her in no uncertain terms that it didn't matter when a new voice spoke up from behind him.
"I'd suggest you take them with you Oni-san".
Koichi looked casually over his shoulder at where Kyoko stood behind him and Motoko, her head bowed slightly so that she wasn't meeting his gaze, a gesture of supplication.
"Kyoko-", he began firmly.
"You'll need all the help you can get Oni-san… you know that as well as I. The more allies you have when you face father, the greater your chances of success".
Koichi sighed. He could argue with her reasoning, no matter what he may privately wish the brat was right.
"I suppose you had a hand in this", he said, glancing at the assembled residents. It was a statement, not a question.
"…I may have mentioned something to Konno-san", she admitted guiltily, seeming to flinch a little as she heard him sigh again.
"Fine, whatever, you can all tag along if you want, but no one wonders off alone when we get there, and everyone on their best behaviour, ok? That goes double for you Su!", he shouted toward where Shinobu and Su sat.
Kaolla pulled her eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at him.
Yeah…this is gonna be fun, he thought sarcastically, praying to the gods that Kyoko had at least briefed them on what they could expect, or was planning to during the long trip ahead.
He watched as Kitsune returned to the group, dragging Kentaro along with her despite his protests, Kyoko following them at a distance, seeming to dither for a second before moving to stand over by them instead of Shinobu or Su.
Koichi hefted his and Motoko's bags, motioning that it was time to leave before walking over to where Akira stood, sneering at the backs of the departing housemates.
"Oh how touching", he said sarcastically, "You're bringing along a cheering section, for all the good it'll do you".
"Purple suits you", Koichi snapped back, giving him a hard grey-eyed stare.
Akira rubbed at the tender flesh of his face and sketched a mocking bow, before turning on his heel and striding off without another word.
"Are you sure we should go with him", Motoko asked quietly from his side as they followed the arrogant redhead.
"No", Koichi replied honestly, "But this will probably be faster than any other method, and it means I know where the little snake is the whole time".
Motoko tipped her head to acknowledge the last. Still, she couldn't help but feel that something in the near future was about to go drastically wrong.
"I call shotgun!", Su yelled enthusiastically, breaking the quiet awe that had descended on the group when they caught sight of the vehicle Kitsune had conned out of Kentaro.
About the same size as your average coach but slightly taller, of was painted in a glossy chrome black with blue tinted windows, the name Sakata, emblazoned along the sides.
There were a number of antenna and radio dishes protruding from the top near to the rear of the vehicle that Kentaro had informed them were for the numerous GPS and Tv pickups the luxury mobile home sported.
In short, it was an impressive sight, and he hadn't even opened it yet.
Pulling a small palm top out of his pocket, the billionaire son tapped a quick command into the touchscreen display and the centre of the bus folded inward with a faint hiss of hydraulics, and a set of stairs telescoped down to admit entrance.
"To cool", Su murmured appreciatively and Kentaro smiled wanly, gesturing for them all to hurry up and board.
"Lets move this along shall we", he said in a pleasant but tired sounding voice.
Su was of course the first on up the stairs, followed by a slightly intimidated Shinobu and finally Kitsune.
Kentaro had place a foot on the first step when he realised that there was someone else waiting quietly by the transport.
He looked curiously at the dark haired girl, staring alternatively between the doorway and the small, rather aged motorcar that Motoko, her fiancé and her fiancé's cousin were climbing into.
She seemed indecisive, as if unsure what to do next.
"Can I help you miss?", he ventured, breaking her contemplation.
Kyoko looked up uncertainly for a moment, almost as if she would shake her head. There was a rev and the other car began to pull away.
"Please, we must get going if we don't want to loose them", he said guessing the reason for her indecision.
She nodded once and climbed past him, looking around the interior of the vehicle first before ascending the last of the steps, almost as if she were afraid of something but trying not to show it.
He followed inside and tapped in another command, sealing the door again and making his way forward.
He sweat-dropped as he passed by Kitsune, kneeling in front of the bus' well-stocked mini-bar as if in prayer. He was sure for a second that she was crying with joy.
Kyoko jumped a little as the doors slid shut behind her, sealing her into this strange contraption without even a seam to prove there had once been a door there.
Kyoko had never ridden in an automobile until recently, when she had been cropped off at the Hinata Sou.
Having lived her whole life at the Sagura's ancestral home in the midst of a plethora of tradition, modern convinces had been few and far between, and those used were rarely anything to do with her and her expected duties. Thus she had a mild distrust of automobiles that her previously shown curiosity with Su's inventions and work could not erase. It just didn't feel right to know you were locked inside a steel box, hurtling along at speeds no humanly possible, a series of miniature explosions powering your movement.
Beginning to feel slightly nauseous, Kyoko looked around the interior to take her mind of such thoughts. It resembled the room of a house in many ways. A thick, royal blue carpet covered the floor, the walls were a dark red, interesting lighting effects provided by a number of strategically placed lamps to make up for the lack of natural light admitted by the tinted windows. There was even a small kitchen and living area as well as a number of comfy chairs.
Kitsune was crouched near a small refrigeration unit, eying several small bottles of liquor, spoiled for choice.
Kyoko winced slightly at the memory of her own introduction to alcohol and her stomach gave another lurch. An unnecessary warning against imbuing anything today.
Shinobu and Su were seated on one of the nearby sets of chairs, looking around and pointing things out to each other animatedly.
Shinobu caught sight of her, standing near the entrance and looked away quickly.
Kyoko felt something twist in her gut, and it wasn't her stomach this time. She had been reminded that thanks to her cousin, she was now under suspicion by the people she had wanted to call friends.
This was not a new experience, but it was sad to know she couldn't escape her family's legacy, even here.
The dark-haired girl silently took a seat near the front of the vehicle and restrained the urge to yelp as the bus gave a shudder beneath her and began to rumble.
"Everyone take a seat while we get under way please", Kentaro's voice echoed from the front as the transport pulled away, accelerating smoothly as it moved into the non-existent traffic around the Hinata Sou.
Kitsune cursed as she almost dropped the bottles she was carrying on her way up to the front of the bus, staggering dangerously before regaining her balance.
There was a swish as she opened the door to the driver's compartment and stepped inside, allowing the door to close itself behind her.
Kyoko grasped the edge of the seat tightly as her stomach began to writhe in protest at this unscheduled motion.
She tried to distract herself by focusing on the scenery that blurred by as the transport began to pick up speed, but that only seemed to make things a whole lot worse.
She grimly closed her eyes and held onto both her chair and her lunch with equal determination, forcing herself to sit as straight as possible.
She couldn't afford to show any weakness from this point forward.
There would be no room for error once she returned home.
Lost in her thoughts, Kyoko, didn't notice when they pulled of the main streets and onto the highway bound for Sendai.
The trip was about to get a lot more interesting than she would have liked.
Koichi restrained the urge to kick the back of Akira's chair in boredom.
The had been driving along the highway for hours now. Nothing but endless grey and evently spaced lampposts for scenery, how boring.
At least when they were nearing home there would be a little green to look at…Ok, a lot of green, endless fields of it, but that was beyond the point. Right now he was bored, and he expressed that in the only way he knew how. Playing counting games.
Using his most annoying voice he counted every lamppost they passed, half an eye on his cousin's face in the rear-view mirror, a more private game going on where he would count the number of veins standing out on Akira's face and neck.
He was treading a fine line. Not because of Akira of course, but rather due to Motoko.
She may have had a lot of patience with his antics at the Hinata Sou, but that was were she knew she could leave the room, or sock him across the room if I took it to far.
But here, in a small, rusted, overheated junk pile excuse for a car, it was beginning to wear thin on her as well.
Thus he moderated his game, pausing long enough to her to relax, but not long enough for Akira to cool down to much before starting again.
"I spy with my little eye", he had just began when the redhead finally snapped.
"Will you be quiet!", he screamed.
"Make me", Koichi answered back, winking at Motoko as she rolled her eyes at him and muttered something about making it there in one piece.
Akira turned a withering glare at his cousin's reflection.
"How is it possible that an imbecile like you could be our best student!", he exclaimed as if voicing a question he had often asked himself many a restless night.
"Pure talent", was Koichi's reply.
"Talent?", Akira snorted, his superior smirk back in place, "Feh, don't make me laugh clown, you're only rated the best because of who your father is, everyone knows that I'm the better fighter".
"Oh really?", Koichi said sounding disinterested, "Remind me who kicked who's bony little butt back at the annex?".
Akira's smirk slipped fractionally before coming back in full force, "You only won because your woman came to your rescue. Without her you would have been at the mercy of my bladeless technique".
The spiky haired boy glanced up at the mirror, smug triumph written all over his features, "Face it you… Are you pulling faces at me!"
"Who me?", Koichi asked innocently, watching Akira simmer with a lopsided smile, "Three words cousin, Steel Cutting Rose".
Akira snorted violently.
"Lies circulated by your little bitch's sister to make up for her humiliating defeat, everyone knows tha-".
Akira gasped as he felt Koichi's stiffened fingers pressed against his throat.
"Know this cousin", Koichi said in a voice that somehow filled the air without being raised above a whisper, "You may call me anything you wish, but insult the woman I love and you will pay with your life…are we clear?".
Akira gulped and managed a shaky approximation of his usual smirk.
"You really are his son after all cousin".
Koichi's grey eyes resembled steel as he spoke, "I am nothing like him".
He sat back slowly, starring out of the window to occupy his mind.
Motoko was taken aback by the sudden change in her fiancé's eyes. They had been so cold and ruthless as he had threatened to take his cousin's life. She had only seen them like that twice before. Once when he was fighting Tsuruko, and once again when Akira had attacked him earlier that day.
Could it be that there was a side of him she hadn't yet seen, something dark lurking beneath the surface?
"My home changes people Motoko"She felt a chill settle over her as his words took on a more sinister edge.
She glanced at her boyfriend and couldn't help but wonder, would this visit change him more than it already had, and if it did, would she still love the man that came out at the end.
Another hour passed without the occupants of the small car uttering a word to each other.
Motoko starred listlessly out at the landscape, slowly fading from uniform grey, to uniform green. The change in colour at least was welcome, even if it was really only just farmland at the moment.
Up front, Akira muttered something to himself about the heat, fiddling with a number of switches on the dashboard irritably.
Motoko didn't think it was that hot, but then again not many people had her training to cope with adverse weather. Even Koichi admitted that the Oni's Bane school didn't practice the skill as much as it should.
Her mouth spilt in a wide yawn.
She should have known she'd be tired by now. They'd been driving for hours without anything to keep them occupied; pretty soon it would be dark outside.
No harm in catching a few hours sleep, she thought as slumber began to drag her under. Slowly dulling her senses to the world around her.
Soon Motoko was fast asleep, slumped against Koichi whose own head was lolled back on the headrest, his chest rising and falling in time with his snores.
Akira looked furtively back at them.
Excellent, both asleep.
He returned the small mask he held to his face to the glove compartment and opened a window to disperse the last of the knockout gas he had rigged into the air conditioning.
Now that they were taken care of it was time to loose the peanut gallery. Uncle Kenichi had been quite insistent that he only wanted these two and Akira meant to fulfil his Uncle's wishes.
A loud snore drifted up to his ears from Koichi.
My gods, even in his sleep he's annoying!
Kyoko was miserable. Ignored by Su and Shinobu it seemed and fighting a loosing battle with her gag reflex, she could not have wished for this moment to be worse.
Of course, just because you haven't wished for something, doesn't mean it's not going to happen.
"What's going on?", she heard Shinobu ask.
She looked up and followed her gaze to where the car containing her cousin, brother and future sister-in-law, was changing lanes and accelerating away from them.
"I don't know", Su replied honestly, and all three girls watched as the car began to pull further and further away.
"I don't like the look of this", Shinobu said and the other two girls nodded with her assessment, "Something not right, I'm going to ask Kitsune and Kentaro what's going on".
Kyoko watched as the blue haired girl padded by before returning to her private misery.
A startled shriek broke her out of her cycle of self-pity a few moments later. It was Shinobu's voice, and it came from the driver's compartment.
Kyoko forced herself to her feet, trying not to wobble as she made her way up to the other girl.
"Shinobu-san? What is…oh dear", Kyoko's eyes widened as she got close enough to see what had upset the other girl. Kitsune was lying across the passenger seats and Kentaro was slumped across the wheel. Both were rosy cheeked. Quite drunk, and quite unconscious.
Kyoko wasn't familiar with these devices, but she knew they required an alert pilot to avoid crashing, and right now this was something they lacked.
The rational side of her mind forced down her panic as she sidestepped the frightened Shinobu.
"Konno-san, Sakata-san, can you hear me?", she said in a loud voice…no reaction from either of them.
Distinctly aware that time was of the essence, Kyoko raised a hand and roughly slapped Kitsune's face.
Still no reaction.
Just how much did this woman drink!She turned her ministrations on Kentaro with similar results.
Kyoko felt an unusual calm fall over her mind as she realised the two 'responsible adults' including the driver of the vehicle, were unconscious and beyond revival.
At sixteen she had never thought much about her death, but she hadn't expected to go like this.
She gently moved Kitsune aside a little so she could sit down and starred blankly ahead, her hands folded in her lap.
"Ooooo, this doesn't look good", she heard Su say.
"Oh my god, I don't want to die", Shinobu whined, her eyes full of tears.
"What's the problem?", Su asked, sounding confused.
"Problem!", Shinobu almost screamed, "We don't have a driver!".
"Course we do, one of us can do it"
Kyoko looked at the blond girl in surprise, why hadn't she thought of such a simple answer? Wait, could any of them drive?
"And who do we get to do that Su-san", she asked, "I can not, this is my second ride in an automobile".
"I'll do it", Su proclaimed, whipping out a flat cap and a pair of racing gloves from her back pocket.
"No!", Shinobu and Kyoko shouted as one, looking at each other in surprise for a second.
"Fine", Su pouted, "but if you won't and I can't, that just leaves…"
She grinned widely at Shinobu.
"Me!" the blue haired girl squeaked, shaking her head, "Kaolla I can't!"
"Sure you can, you're the only one whose had lessons anyways"
"I had one lesson from sempai, just one!"
"That's still more than either of us combined", Kyoko pointed out, pleading silently with her eyes, "Please Shinobu-san, you're the only chance we have, I know you can do this".
Shinobu made a few more keening noises in the back of her throat, looking at the wheel Kentaro was draped over like it was some sort of malignant beast.
"Please Shinobu"
Shinobu nodded slowly, and the three girls were able to move Kentaro away from the wheel and place him by Kitsune.
As soon as they moved him the bus began to loose speed rapidly and all three girls gave a yell, though Su's sounded more like one of excitement than fear.
"Quickly Shinobu-san!", Kyoko commanded and the blue haired girl slipped into the driver's seat, gripping the wheel tightly and trying to remember which pedal was the accelerator.
Finding the one she hoped was the right one she jabbed her foot down, screaming as the suddenly lurched forward, Kyoko grabbing the passenger seats for support and Su ending up gambolling back into the passenger compartment.
Up ahead, the car they were supposed to be following, initially just a pinprick in the distance was now growing steadily closer by the second.
As the neared, it suddenly veered across the lanes, heading straight for a narrow turnoff.
"That way!"
Shinobu hauled on the wheel, and the bus lurched drunkenly after the car, nearly ploughing through several others in the process.
Akira looked at the black transport following him in his wing mirror and cursed creatively. He was sure he had left them eating dust a while back, but it seemed Sakata only brought the best. That thing was far faster than it looked, that was for sure, but he would bet anything it wasn't as nimble as his vehicle.
The redhead saw the turning he was looking for and gave his break a quick stamp, swinging the steering wheel over to the left so that the back end of his car arced around to the right and feathering the accelerator again.
The result was that his car slid around the corner loosing only a fraction of speed and darted away again.
A quick glance in his mirror showed the bus attempting the same corner far to fast for something its size and crashing through the tall hedges that lined the smaller roads.
All to easyShinobu and Kyoko screamed as one as the bus tore through the hedges lining the road like a missile, going airborne for a few seconds, as the fields bellow the were lower than the road they had just been on.
Their teeth clacked together as they hit, the impact bouncing Shinobu in her seat and throwing Kyoko down next to her.
Shinobu's eyes were wide and her knuckles white on the wheel as they juddered and bounced across the uneven terrain.
Kyoko made the mistake of looking up and almost wished she hadn't. They were heading straight for a small river.
The bus hit something on the bank before it could plunge into the waters at full speed, and once more they went skyward.
Kyoko held a hand over her mouth as her stomach dropped, muffling her scream by coincidence as she did.
They crashed down on the far bank and Shinobu spun the wheel frantically, trying to avoid the outcropping of trees they heading for, but somehow only succeeding in snaking her way though the perimeter and into the forest proper.
She veered hard around a tree and banked right around another, to scared to even cry out as they narrowly avoided one impact after another at high speed.
"Please, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die", Shinobu babbled, tears streaking her pretty face and she dodged another outcropping, the bus tipping backward dangerously as they began to climb uphill.
They made it unhindered over the ridge, but it seemed, this is where fate had decided the girls had had enough luck for now.
A solid wall of green awaited them. No way to go around it, and no time to break.
Shinobu did the only thing she could think of. She closed her eyes, screamed and jammed both feet on the brake.
Akira couldn't believe it. It defied all logic.
One moment he had just pulled up outside the gates to the Sagura temple grounds, congratulating himself heartily on a flawless execution of his plan…well, more or less.
Then he had heard the rumbling. The impossible sound of an engine straining at full capacity followed by the tortured shriek of overworked brakes.
CRASH!The bus he thought he had lost had come barrelling out of the decorative saplings that lined the drive way, raining dirt and arm length splinters of wood in all directions, before grinding to a halt not a meter away from where he had parked, looking for all the world as if it had never been anywhere else.
He was still standing, gapping at it when the doors behind him opened, and a sleepy Motoko and Koichi emerged, rubbing their eyes to chase away the last vestiges of sleep.
They looked at his slack jawed expression and shrugged at each other.
"Looks like we're all here", Koichi observed.
Akira continued to stare.
Death was not anything like Kyoko had expected. There had been no pain, no suffering. Not even a sense of having her young life snuffed out tragically short, just a loud crash and then silence.
It was also slowly dawning on her, that she could still feel her body. Now that wasn't right surely, how could she feel her body if she was dead?
Not just that but she could feel another body as well. Another warm body with its soft arms wrapped tightly around her neck, and its breath tickling her ear.
She also realised that whoever this mystery person was, she had her arms wrapped around their slender waist equally as tightly.
Curious as to her who her partner in the afterlife might be, Kyoko carefully opened a sea-grey eye.
Blue.
Well that was a strange colour for the afterlife. Then again what had she really expected. Slowly she began to realise she could smell something, a faint hint of lavender?
What in the world?Kyoko opened both eyes, now able to see that only part of the world was covered by pleasant smelling blue; the rest was exactly as she had left it.
Then this must be…"Shinobu?", she asked, pulling back a little to get a clear view. It was Shinobu alright, her violet eyes were screwed tightly shut and she was trembling slightly as if waiting for the inevitable.
"Please", she whispered in a tiny voice, "I don't want to be dead".
"You may want to open your eyes", Kyoko suggested dryly.
Gradually, the other girl complied with the suggestion and looked around as if surprised at where she found herself.
"Kyoko?…We're…not dead…are we?".
"I don't believe so", Kyoko responded.
Shinobu smiled happily…and her eyes rolled back into her head as she passed out over Kyoko's shoulder.
"…Right".
"Ow", came the groan as Su walked back into the driver's compartment, rubbing her head delicately, "That really…Oh…I can come back later if you want"
Kyoko wondered what she was talking about, until she realised, that with Shinobu's head on her shoulder where Su couldn't see that she was passed out, and both of them hugging still…
"She fainted," Kyoko said, all to aware of the blush climbing her face like a crimson tan, "Help wake those two up and get her outside".
"Okays", Su said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "The sooner we're done here, the quicker you two can go back to cuddling".
Kyoko wondered if death would have been so bad after all.
Koichi watched bemused as Kitsune and Kentaro stumbled out of the bus, nursing their heads as if they had the mother of all hangovers between them.
They were followed by Su and Kyoko, supporting a rather dazed looking Shinobu.
"What happened to her?", Koichi asked, noticing the way Su and Kyoko looked at each other before answering.
"Travel sickness", Kyoko replied nonchalantly, "A rather bad case I'm afraid".
"I…see", Koichi said, sure that there was more to be said then was being told, "She can rest up once we-"
Koichi never got to complete that sentence, there was a flare of Ki and one moment he was standing, the next he was on the ground, blood pumping from the wound to the back of his skull.
Motoko was standing over him in an instant, Hina drawn and pointed at the man who had attacked her fiancé.
He was a little taller that her, severely cut black hair mirroring a stern, unforgiving face beset by lines of age or years of frowning. His muscled body was covered by a black Gi, open at the front and in his right hand was the heavy looking staff he had used to strike Koichi.
He looked down on his handiwork dispassionately and uttered a single word, "Pathetic".
"Who are you, name yourself coward!", Motoko demanded.
"It is good to see you again…Uncle", Akira said, appearing at her side and bowing deeply.
"Uncle?", it was then that she noticed the sea grey eyes set into his hard face, "But that means that…".
"I Motoko Aoyama, am Kenichi Sagura, Master and Lord of the Oni's Bane school. I thank you, for returning my son".
---Author Notes---
And so we finally meet Koichi's father. Not a very nice man is he? Next chapter we'll explore Koichi's home a little more and Motoko and the others will begin to understand Koichi's misgivings.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell
PS: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter, I had it ready days ago but story manager was being a Hiritsuken and not letting me edit my stories, gomen