Chapter 4: If you're not getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter.

"You've been busy," she huffed, eyeing him warily from a safe distance, mentally calculating her next move in her head. She used the back of her hand to smudge off a trail of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"It's been a long five years," he answered, also breathing heavily. Wiping away a bead of sweat that was dripping into his right eye, he kept his other eye trained on his former teacher and tried not to think of the pain ripping through his gut.

"Not long enough!" She lunged, her right fist out and aimed for his solar plexus. It was taking too long to end it and she wanted this finished well before she ran out of energy.

In an astonishing feat of agility, Shin maneuvered out of the way of her fist and used the opportunity to attack the side she left open.

Before his fist could connect to her stomach, however, it was caught by a small hand and forcefully pushed back. Shin stumbled back a few steps before falling on his ass. Meanwhile, in order to defend herself from his attack, Yamaguchi had lost her own balance and crashed forward on the grass.

Neither took more then a second to stare at each other before they sprung to their feet and resumed blows.

"You're fast," Yamaguchi grunted just out of reach of his fist, retaliating with her own fist in the side of his ribcage. "Still too slow."

Shin fell to his knees but managed to catch his upper body with one hand on the ground. He looked up at Yamaguchi trying to suppress that familiar feeling of awe, watching her fight. It was hard not to admire her even when she was kicking his ass. Gingerly he got up to his feet and smirked, thinking maybe that was why he admired her after all.

Off his feet before she could react, he caught her off guard with a feigned punch to her right and tackled her to the ground. They both fell hard but it was Yamaguchi who received the brunt of the impact.

"Shi-," She lost her air with the impact of his elbow in her abdomen and through the pain she instinctively rolled out of his reach and onto one knee several feet away from the redhead.

Shit, she finished in her head. This was going no where. He'd been matching her blow for blow and grudgingly she admitted to herself that Shin was strong, stronger then any of her previous challenges. Feeling a ripple of pain in her stomach when she moved, she couldn't help but look at Shin with new found respect, nor was she the only one.

The courtyard was completely silent, contrary to the amount of people watching the fight. Ooshida smiled to himself with barely concealed pride puffing in his chest at the two competitors while Kuroda himself watched the match with a hawk's eye, a thoughtful expression in his face. Tetsu and Minoru stood with their mouths gaped open. They'd never look at Shin in the same way.

From a hidden corner of the compound, dark expressionless eyes also witnessed the exchange. Those eyes fell on Yamaguchi then turned away.

Both bruised and battered, Shin and Yamaguchi faced each other once more, about to attack when a commanding voice that left no room for arguments interrupted their adrenaline pumped bodies.

"Enough." Everyone turned to look at Kuroda. "It is pointless to continue this fight."

While Shin instantly relaxed his posture and waited respectfully for Kuroda to continue, Yamaguchi put down her fists and remained tense.

"There is no winner."

One of Shin's companions stepped forward in protest. "Just what are you trying to pull on us, the Red Lion was about to-"

Keeping his eyes on Kuroda, Shin held up his arm to quiet his companion and think in silence. No winners, he mulled in his head wondering where Kuroda planned to take this. If there were no winners then no one beat him and he wasn't a loser. Shin could live with that. "I never thought it would be that simple to marry her," he admitted.

Kuroda's tiny smile was approving.

"I don't understand," a belligerent voice interrupted Shin and Kuroda's silent conversation.

"Oi, what kind of asses do you think we Kuroda men are, to marry off our ojou to the first monster that beats her? It's about the character of the man during the fight. The character, got that?" Ooshida bellowed, quieting any further protests.

"After Kumiko's first match, word went around that the Kuroda's ojou would never accept a man weaker then her, which is true. Never did she say she'd marry the man that beat her," Kuroda finished more for Shin's benefit then the people around him.

Shin understood. He passed the first hurdle but the real war wouldn't be won with fists. He followed Kuroda's gaze to Yamaguchi.

She looked at Shin then her grandfather, blurting the first thing that came to mind. "I'm not going to marry him!" she retorted. "Not a student."

"Oi, ojou-chan, he hasn't been a student for awhile, maybe you shouldn't be so harsh."

A sharp glare went his way. "Shut up Minoru."

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, his head averted.

"Kumiko, try to look past the fact that he was once your student. This is a man before you, not a child. Does this man have the qualities of a leader, and more importantly does this man have a chance at winning your respect and affection."

She took those words to heart. Her eyes turned to look at Shin who had been near silent since they stopped fighting. "It's easy enough to say he has natural born leader written all over his head, and he's always had my respect. More than that, I just don't know." Sighing, she pushed her sweaty bangs back with one hand. "I'll think about it." Her words sounded dubious. Pausing she started again, her voice clear and strong. "I mean, I'll really think about it, okay. Now I need some time alone to cool off and think clearly."

Kuroda nodded. He turned to face Shin, "We will postpone our decision for another time."

Shin bowed respectfully, "I understand." Getting up, the men who accompanied him took his cue and began to collect themselves to leave.

"Sawada, you stay behind."

"Not without us he doesn't."

Shin looked at his men, eyes hard with warning "This is the woman I want to marry. I'd be more than happy to oblige her request."

The men around him paused, hesitant for a bit before nodding.

"Wait for me back at the hotel," Shin said, expecting complete obedience.

"We understand. At the end of your meeting give us a call and someone will come over and pick you up." With a bow of genuine admiration, they filed out of the garden towards their cars.

Kumiko watched this from the sidelines. "Brats."

"They're devoted to him. That's a good thing," Ooshida answered.

Yamaguchi began to walk towards her room. "They're all stinking brats," she muttered to herself. Spotting Tetsu, she called out to him. "Oi, Tetsu, set up a bath."

"Right away ojou."

Ignoring Shin, she disappeared into her room, mumbling to herself.

"Wow, you pissed her off good," Ooshida laughed. "Well, it can't be helped." He clasped Shin on the shoulder, "all in all I think it went pretty well."

Shin gave Ooshida a look, than wearily sat down on the edge of the veranda. He was going to be sore the next day.

"You might want to take a shower yourself," Ooshida continued, "I don't think you want to smell like that when you talk to ojou."

Gingerly he sniffed himself, conscious of the sweat dripping down his face and back. He looked up at Ooshida, "She's gotten stronger."

Ooshida puffed up with pride. "Heh, can't fault her for slacking off when it comes to fighting. She always took to it real natural. You've gotten better yourself since the last time I saw you." He gave Shin a sly look. "Another five minutes and she would have had you."

"You knew?" Shin asked without any real surprise in his voice.

Ooshida's grin was knowing. "I wasn't the only one. Why do you think boss stopped the match?"

When they brought him into the room he immediately spotted Yamaguchi sitting on a mat on the floor, facing a small table filled with food. "Sit," she commanded.

Stiff and sore from the bruises, he moved awkwardly to comply.

Noticing his movements she looked at him with some concern and amusement. "Are you alright?"

Shin looked at her. "Are you alright?" he answered.

The room was silent with Shin's reminder that she wasn't the only one that got in hits. Then laughter filled the room. Yamaguchi's head was thrown back and she was chortling. "You're still a brat," she guffawed in good humor.

Shin's body relaxed. She wasn't going to kill him. This was a good sign. Maybe.

"Eat up," she gestured cheerfully to the table. "I want to hear what you've been doing for the past five years."

Maybe not. The woman was infuriating. He watched her shovel food in her mouth with no visible care in the world.

She looked up from her plate. "You going to eat that?" Her chopsticks hovered over a rice ball on his plate.

Grabbing his chopsticks and with it, the mini rice ball, he shoved it into his mouth, chewing on it viciously while glaring at his petulant companion.

"Pig," she muttered, using her chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat from the pot.

In a flash another pair of chopsticks grabbed the meat from right under her and she looked up in time to see Shin stuffing the morsel in his mouth and chomping on it while pointedly ignoring her look of outrage.

The rest of the meal was spent with them fighting over food and no more was said.