A Different Life

by crosseyedbutterfly

AU that starts before the anime or manga. A forced engagment, random turtle demons, throw in some new characters, plus an explination of several people's pasts...well... guess you'll have to read it and see...CHAPTER 23 UP. Fini.

2. A Daunting Realization

Chapter 2!! Yes, we love posting multiple chapters close together, it makes people SO happy. ^_^ As for how many more chapters there will be after this...huh...I don't know, honestly. Will I finish this: yes. So all you have to worry about is reading my chapters and giving me reviews like you always do.

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: This chapter is one of the reasons the rating was uped to R, thus you have been warned against all 'R-type content'. You don't like it, don't read it. Plain and simple as that.

Ok, and I did have some reviews with comments or questions (sort of) worth mentioning, thus I shall take care of that right now:

#1: Yes, the Promise Girl will be dealt with in time. No, I have not written her off completely, there will be an explanation for her soon. And in case you're wondering, NO, I'm not making it Motoko just to suit my whims. That's not particularly creative. ^_~

#2: My apologies on the random insert of Japanese words. To be quite honest, I use some of them on a day-to-day basis just because it's fun to confuse other people, and I forget others don't know them. I will be adding a mini-dictionary at the end of this chapter with all the words (or those that I notice) and you can check them there if you're not sure what they mean.

#3: I also apologize for grammatical/writing errors. I can't spell, spell check doesn't catch everything, and my syntax is not the best around. It shouldn't be too bad, as I'm putting more time into this one than some of the others, but please be understanding of typos. ^_^

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The ride back had been a quiet one, Tsuruko and Kenjou exchanging a few words while Motoko sat silent in front of Keitaro, who listened on and held on as they trotted back to the house. Stabling the horses and then heading inside, the four had just entered by one of the side halls when Motoko caught sight of a very familiar figure entering from the front hall.

"...Hina-san?"

The old woman turned, giving her a warm smile as she beckoned for her to come with arms wide open. "Motoko-chan!"

Motoko felt herself truly at ease as she smiled openly and trotted up to the tiny woman, bending over to give her a gentle hug. "Hina-san, what are you doing here? Nothing has happened to the Inn, has it?"

"No, dear heart, I came to give my congratulations to your rather hasty marriage to my grandson, Keitaro, who was actually supposed to be the new manage of Hinata-sou before all this started."

Both young people froze as they made all the connections, then turned and looked at each other with blank faces.

"You mean...he's the little boy in all those pictures?" asked Motoko hesitantly as she sat down right where she stood, her head coming even with Hina's after her sudden reduction in height. "Wait...but that would mean...Hina-san, you're one of them."

"Yes, unfortunately," admitted Hina dourly. "My father-in-law was of pure blood within the Clan, and broke all ties with it completely after realizing what his family was becoming and deciding he wanted nothing to do with it. Urashima was my mother's family name, and they took that instead so that his own family name would not be passed to his children. He never spoke of his past, and forbid my husband and his brothers to ever have anything to do with them. My husband obeyed, and did the same with our children, Keitaro's uncle and father in particular. However...one of my brother in-laws did not obey, and managed after my husband's death to persuade both your father and uncle to join the Clan they were blood-related to. True, those ties are weakened due to the new blood that was added in two generations, but they became active members, none the less. They tried to assimilate Keitaro as well without telling me, for they knew I would openly oppose it, but his kind heart appeared to be too strong for them..."

Keitaro suddenly twitched, a note of dread in his voice as he asked, "Oba-san...does Motoko-chan know the other residents of Hinata-sou?"

"Hai, she's lived with me there the longest of any recent resident there," replied Hina gamely.

"Oi...this could be bad..." Keitaro leveled an annoyed look at the old woman. "Which is partially your fault, old hag! Asking me to come after you've already left, to an ALL GIRLS dormitory that I had no knowledge of..."

Hina pulled out a random fan from her sleeve and bonked Keitaro over the head with it. "Mind your manners, boy, I am NOT an old hag!"

Motoko looked up at Keitaro, a suspicious frown on her face. "If you laid one hand on the others there...!!"

"No no no, it wasn't- AH!!" Keitaro tripped over his own feet as he tried to back up and explain at the same time, and probably would've committed one of his famous face-to-breasts falls on Tsuruko had the swordswoman not side-stepped at the last second and sent him falling to the floor instead. "Oww...my clumsiness  got the best of me while I was among them and they took it for acts of perversion," he grunted as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "It really was an accident, I swear..."

"You are truly cursed with ill luck at times, Keitaro," sighed Kenjou jokingly as he helped the young man to his feet.

"He's always been that way since he turned six or so," replied Hina with a chuckle. "Poor boy, trouble has always followed you!"

"I do apologize for anything they claim I did ahead of time," coughed Keitaro nervously. "Though I won't say they are being dishonest, for they all seemed to be honorable people to me, they may blow things out of proportion..." He instinctively tensed up, expecting to at least be smacked but was surprised when he felt nothing at all and looked up to see Motoko conversing seriously with Hina and Tsuruko and her husband sharing and amused grin. "Eh...?"

"Tsuruko-san, Motoko-chan, there you are!" called Kairi lightly as she shuffled down the hall, bowing to Hina respectfully, who bowed in return, before turning to the sisters. "We've been waiting for you. Everything is prepared, now all that is left is for you to be dressed." She hurried them each off in a different direction with swift orders and a firm hand that defied her ancient age, a merry twinkle in her still-bright eyes.

☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼☻☼☺☼

Hina sat with a smile as she watched them parade Motoko and Keitaro in, both dressed in finely made kimonos that were the pride of the family's cloth and sewing work. Keitaro's was a dark green that complimented his eyes well with a blue belt -it wasn't really an obi- with his glasses perched on his nose as usual and his hair as untamable as ever. Motoko wore one with a light purple base, darker purple birds sprinkled across it. Her obi was of the same dark purple, with a violet tie. Her hair was partially up in an intricate series of loops held together with a single set of highly decorated hairpins that shined lightly in the candle and lamplight.

Both young people were obviously uncomfortable, not only in their dress but in their surroundings as well. Two long tables had been placed in the great hall, food heaped up along it in bowls and on platters with aromas coming from them that made even the least hungry person's mouth water. A small table had been set up on the dais itself where the elders usually sat, Motoko and Keitaro being directed to the very center next to each other with Tsuruko and Kenjou by Motoko and Hina by Keitaro. A few council members and loved elders filled the other seats, everyone else finding their place at the bottom tables instead.

"You look very lovely in that kimono," commented Hina with a teasing glint in her eyes as she nodded to Motoko warmly. "As I'm sure your husband has told you many times already. Right, Keitaro...?"

"Eh...well..."

"We haven't been given a chance to speak since we met at the doors right before they let us in," replied Motoko quickly in a low voice, keeping her eyes downcast as she felt a slight heat rise from her face. Turning back forward as some of the guests began to bring their gifts to the front, she was thankful for the distraction for it was keeping her busy with thanking them all appropriately.

"You owe her one later," commented Hina to Keitaro with a wink as he just blushed.

"You are trying to make my life more difficult that it already is!" grumbled Keitaro accusingly.

"Yes, but it's good for you. It builds characters." Keitaro just sighed as his grandmother laughed kindly at him. "Come now, boy, it's your wedding feast...at least act like you're happy."

"This could be far worse, I know," he finished for her as she opened her mouth to go on, and simply nodded with a smile instead. Grinning himself, he nodded slightly. "You've told me that since I was just a baby. And I am fairly grateful for the way they turned out, for I'm married to a very nice girl, who's beautiful though I have yet to actually tell her so..."

"Do so, then," prompted Hina as they looked at Motoko, who was having a whispered discussion with her sister for a moment. Turing back to the guests, she didn't notice Tsuruko taking out a small vial and pouring a slight amount of its contents in her drink. Tsuruko glanced up at Keitaro and winked, putting a finger to her lips with a dangerous gleam in her eyes that he immediately obeyed.

"Eh...perhaps later..."

"Chicken."

"And proud of it. I get hurt enough just being safe, the more risks I take the more likely I won't make it to my next birthday. Which I'm hoping no one here would appreciate too much."

"Gomen, Motoko-sempai, but we were wondering where it is you are planning to take up your residence after this," said two of the students of the school as they appeared before them suddenly, a curious look in their eyes. "For to have you remain here would truly be a wondrous thing!"

The couple glanced at each other, for this is one thing they hadn't had time to speak of yet and was probably going to be a very long and involved discussion indeed. "Well," started Motoko unsurely. "My h-husband has...."

"Had the decision made for him," cut in Hina suddenly as she winked at the confused pair. "Gomen, for not speaking with you about this earlier, but I have a wedding gift of my own...here." She handed Keitaro an envelope, the young man opening it carefully and pulling out a piece of parchment paper.

"Hm..." Keitaro scanned it, stopping and going back to the top suddenly. "This is the deed to Hinata-sou!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Oba-san, I can't..."

"You can and you will," replied Hina stubbornly. "It was to be your inheritance when you finally graduated from college, for I always had faith in you that you would, however times have changed a little now and you need a stable income. You must support yourself as well as your wife, Keitaro."

"Hai, oba-san." He glanced over at Motoko, who had a rather relieved look on her face. Smiling, he added, "Arigato, from both of us, for your generous gift."

"There is your answer," said Motoko to the two young girls with a slight nod. "We will be returning to Tokyo."

"Hai, Motoko-sempai!"

"We wish you the best of luck!" The two turned and left, talking between the two of them as Keitaro read back over the document, then glanced up to see Tsuruko exchanging her little bottle for another one with one of the servers.

"Would it be of too much trouble if I were to leave for a moment, Keitaro-kun?" asked Motoko as she turned to Keitaro slightly.

"Is something wrong?" replied Keitaro as he put the document with the other presents and noted the way she was leaning over her wounded side slightly. "Do you need some help?"

"The does of painkillers I took this morning has worn off," explained Motoko quickly. "It will only take a moment to go and find some more..." She flinched as she moved to rise, the only sign that she felt any pain at all.

"Here, let me help you." Keitaro rose quickly, supporting her gently so she could stand as well and watching to make sure she was fine making her way to one of the doors before he sat again.

Nodding to himself as she disappeared from sight, he leaned over to Tsuruko and tugged on her kimono sleeve slightly. "Hey...Tsuruko-san?"

"Hai, Keitaro-san?"

"What are you doing to Motoko's drink?"

"Just making your first night together a little easier on her."

It took Keitaro a moment to process this when it hit him. "You're WHAT?!!"

"I believe you shall like its affects greatly, especially when I add the second phase of it a little later," she replied simply with a grin. The pleasantness suddenly vanished as she pinned Keitaro to his seat with a look. "You WILL be completing your manly duties tonight, understand me?"

"Uh...hai..." Motoko returned right then, giving them both puzzled looks as she'd caught Keitaro's last words and wondered why he scooted ever so slightly closer to his grandmother, but did not question it as it was her sister after all. Prying into her personal life was messy business, and usually got one put in traction if not killed. Accepting his hand as he reached out to assist her, she used the support to seat herself without moving her injured side anymore than she had to.

He looked at Motoko, who was fidgeting nervously with her chopsticks, the food in front of her untouched. Grinning wryly in understanding, he reached out and touched her arm lightly. "Nervous Motoko...-chan?" The honorific was still an afterthought to him, something he knew he should say though he wasn't used at all to saying it.

"Hm?" She glanced up at him, diverting her eyes quickly when they met his. "Ah...hai. I have not see most of these people for years."

"You seem to be doing a fine job to me, all the guests look pleased with your replies to their gifts. That, and as nice and kind as you are, there is probably little you would say that would upset one of them." Keitaro smiled when Motoko turned away suddenly. "Hm? Gomen, Motoko, if I offended you..."

"No! It's not that, it's..." Motoko covered her mouth and blushed as she stopped her outburst, her cheeks turning ever redder than they were already, though she hadn't thought at the time it was humanly possible. Groping for words, she tried to go on. "You…you're different from the other men I have met…And while I do appreciate everything you've done for me, it…confuses me…" She paused, lowering her head even more. "It is I who should apologize to you, Keitaro...-kun....not the other way around."

"For what?" asked Keitaro, clearly puzzled as he noted out of the corner of his eye that Tsuruko was taking advantage of her sister's distracted state and fiddling with her drink again. "You've done nothing wrong..."

"Because I can't be the wife you'd most likely wish me to be without giving up my sword," she replied quietly, as if in shame. "Tsuruko and I spoke of it this afternoon, while at the shrine...there are two things she made me promise her."

"Go on," encouraged Keitaro as Motoko reached for her cup and fiddled with it nervously, taking a sip every now and then of her doctored tea (she still hadn't realized it) to try and steady her nerves.

"I promised to let you chose what sort of wife I should be," she replied hesitantly. "Whether that be one who can fulfill all her duties and pass the title of heir to Miko-chan who is ready to accept such a responsibility, or one who will remain only able to be half yours and half belonging to all of them." She motioned to the crowd below, all eating and talking joyously together. The marriage had been unexpected, and rather rushed, but they'd come to like Keitaro, even with his many clumsy attributes, and hoped he would make their Heir a happy woman indeed. "The Shinmeiryuu School will always have to come first in my life as long as I remain the Heir to it," she said quietly as he thought over it.

"What would make you happier?" he asked thoughtfully as she blinked in surprise. "Which live would you rather lead?"

"I...I don't know," she admitted after a moment's consideration in shock. "While the sword has always been a part of my life, it comes with many memories and trials..."

"I know," said Keitaro as he suddenly became serious, closing his eyes for a moment. "Kenjou told me, and I personally wish I'd strangled Shoji when I had the chance. He might've killed me for it, but at least I would've tried. I know he's your father, but somehow I don't think you'd mind if I did succeed."

"You're right," she replied quietly. "I wouldn't, though I shouldn't harbor ill will toward him like this."

"You're human," stated Keitaro as his face softened suddenly. "Not a machine. None of us are perfect, believe me when I say I'm far from it and probably more so than you are. However, as for your promise, here is my decision: I want you to be whoever it is that you want to be. If you want to give up your heir title to the school as your sister did and move on, I will support you, and if you decide to stay a swordswoman, and belong to your family still, I will support you then too."

"Ar...arigato," said Motoko in surprise, lowering her eyes as she studied her hands nervously. "I didn't think....only if you're sure...?"

"I am. Your happiness matters more than my being selfish," replied Keitaro with a grin. "What was your other promise, though? If you don't mind telling me, that is..."

"Ah...no...it has to do with my usually rather...unforgiving temperament and quick judgments towards men," came the embarrassed reply. "I will never strike you in anger, nor raise my sword against you. You have no defense against either, and such things are usually done in haste...I will do my best to always let you explain yourself should something happen and the circumstances are questionable."

"That is the best gift you could ever give me!" replied Keitaro heartily as he grabbed her in a gentle bear hug around the shoulders with little tears of joy springing from his eyes. "I swear, this is the happiest day of my life...!!!"

"Eh...Keitaro-kun...?" *twitch*

"Hm? Oh!! GOMENGOMENGOMEN!!!" Keitaro was back in his instantaneously, leaving Motoko to blush as she adjusted the sleeves of her kimono and tried to act like his impulsive display of affection hadn't affected her in the least. The small smile that tugged at her lips coupled with the red still on her face belied otherwise, though, which Tsuruko noted merrily. "I didn't hurt you, did I??"

"No, you did not..."

"More tea, Motoko-chan?" she asked as she poured it herself into Motoko's cup. "And how is your side holding up?"

"Hai, arigato," replied Motoko absently. "And my side is doing very well. By the way...what kind of tea is this? I've never tasted anything quite like it before, yet it has a certain...flavor that makes one wish to drink more and more."

"I shall ask the cooks afterwards and tell you in the morning," replied Tsuruko with an innocent grin as she added more from her little bottle while Motoko was distracted with some guests and their gifts. Things would prove to be very interesting for her in the morning....

*Two Hours Later*

Keitaro couldn't believe his eyes. Motoko was openly laughing and giggling with her sister, both of whom appeared to be more than slightly tipsy, as the last of the family filed out through the various entrances to the hall, the food long since taken away and all that was left now was to collect the cups and stack them to be washed on the morrow.

He himself wasn't exactly sober, either. After dinner had come dessert with a cup of sake for all, and then had come the toasts...it seemed every other student Motoko had ever trained with had their bit to say to her, and every time they were finished the pair was expected to raise their cups in reply and drink part of it down in a show of respect and good will. He must've had at least half a bottle himself alone, and he had no idea just how much Motoko had drunk...he was amazed she wasn't passed out as it was.

"It is time for an old woman to get herself to bed," said Hina as she rose nimbly to her feet, patting Keitaro on the shoulder affectionately and giving the bubbling Motoko a warm hug. "I'll be leaving far earlier than either of you two will wake in the morning, so I will say my goodbyes now. I'm heading back to Hinata-sou for awhile, so it won't be the last time you see me soon. I'll prepare things for you there, and await your return."

"Arigato, oba-san," replied Keitaro as he bowed to her from his seated position, his intoxicated wife dipping her head slightly with an open smile on her face.

Hina bowed back with a sly look on her face, turning to walk away as she added over her shoulder. "Do not trouble yourselves with coming to my departure, for while you might be awake you will probably be very...well occupied."

"Come," said Tsuruko suddenly in a very decisive manner, helping Motoko to her feet as Kenjou steadied her from behind. Keitaro rose as well, though he sat down hard at first as he was slightly off balance from the sake he'd partaken of. "The feast is over, and there are other things to take care of."

The two sisters continued to laugh and talk, supporting each other as Kenjou and Keitaro followed along behind. "I would not go against Tsuruko-chan's wishes, if I were you," suggested Kenjou quietly as they arrived at one of the guest suites at the far end of the house and dojo, away from most of the other dwellings with its own private garden.

Keitaro just shrugged uncertainly, Motoko having already disappeared inside the dark room when Tsuruko suddenly caught him by the shoulder and pinned him with a look that was very sober indeed. Smiling innocently, she said "Be warned, brother-in-law...I'd hate for something to happen should the marriage not be completed. If you do not make my sister a full woman, you may wake to find yourself less than a man some day..." She touched the handle of her sword suggestively, Keitaro gulping as he gained the full measure of her words. Her eyes narrowed even more, as she added, "And if you EVER give her the slightest inkling you are not one hundred percent behind this marriage…just hope you can run far and fast enough away to escape my wrath."

"I don't understand why you would encourage drugging your sister," replied Keitaro foggily, his sense of honor and honesty coming through even in this drunken state. "That makes you the same as Shoji..."

"No, this is different," replied Tsuruko harshly. "Listen, and listen well, Urashima. This is something that was developed for the swordsmen and women of the this clan who could not fully...enjoy each other due to their training. They are taught to deny themselves of many pleasures so that they will not be distracted from their goal of total and complete mastery of the Shinmeiryuu Style. Therefore, this was developed to help them over come their...inhibitions with each other. Not all needed it, and only a few are as devote as Motoko-chan is, but it is not controlling her mind. Rather, it is...bringing out that which is already there. If she hates you, and wants nothing to do with you, or has no interest in you at least, no attraction, she won't lay a finger on you tonight. However, should she be even the slightest bit attracted or curious...well, it should be most memorable for you indeed."

Before he could reply, she spun him around and pushed him inside, closing the door behind him as he stumbled forward and was surprised when he ran into something rather warm and solid, the two standing there holding each other as each regained their balance. "Gomen, Motoko-chan!! I...uh..." He was in for another shock when she didn't pull away, but instead hesitantly wrapped her arms about his waist more firmly and nuzzled her head beside his on his shoulder. "...Motoko-chan?"

"Hm?" She looked at him expectantly, her eyes completely clear and open unlike when they'd been clouded by Shoji's drug. He felt his cheeks flush as he noted something lurking in their depths...a warmth that make him lean closer than before.

"You looked beautiful tonight," he heard himself say as the clumsy, unlucky Keitaro that usually ran things in his mind was sufficiently stifled by the sake and his hand reached up of its own accord to brush a few stray strands of silky raven hair from her face. "Even more so than usual."

The short distance between their lips was rapidly closed, and Keitaro's mind was completely blown just by the feel of it. His first kiss. Poor two-time ronin...he'd never even held a girl who wasn't related to him before in his life, and now he was expected to learn it all in one night. Not that he figured she had any more experience than he did, but still... They broke away from each other suddenly, Keitaro pulling her closer as he tilted his face down slightly for another kiss. He actually barely had an inch on her height wise, and he wasn't close to being short for a guy.

The second kiss deepened as hands began to wander, both obviously aroused from the need in their eyes and actions. Outer robes were dropped to the floor, leaving each one to look to the other for warmth. Both simultaneously began to move towards the futon when Keitaro, his clumsy side having broken free for a moment, tripped over his own feet and went sprawling on his back on to the conveniently placed bed, pulling Motoko on top of him as he fell. Breathing heavily, Keitaro was about to apologize and ask about her wound when he found his mouth occupied again with his wife's.

Thoughts whirled through Motoko's head, occasionally one surfacing to make itself heard above the rest and usually it was one that shocked her all the more as well.

He's very warm...and gentle...

And much more manly, I suppose, than at first glance.

His lips are so soft...he attracts me like none other ever has.

I...want him to take me...to make me his...to be my first and never be held again by another...

Laying fully on top up him, all other thoughts were drowned out as something very warm and solid formed below Keitaro's waist, something she was sure would be of interest to her very soon. He was fumbling with the ties on her under robe, and already gained access to more flesh than he had before. She noted it as his fingers found her most recent wound and traced around the bandages lightly, sending shivers down her back as it tickled her at the same time.

Her hands began to explore inside his inner robe over his chest as the ties came magically undone (*gasp*) when they bumped into something hanging about his neck. Pulling back curiously, she stayed where she was laying on top of him as she lifted it off of his chest and brought it to the light. Keitaro just watched her hungrily, she could feel his arousal even now, but something about this...figure called to her...

A pair of beady, black eyes caught her own, drawing them in as her heart suddenly stopped in fear. It was...a...

"Motoko-chan?" The young man suddenly felt something change in the room as he reached up and touched Motoko's face, shaking her shoulder slightly when she didn't respond. "Is something wrong? Motoko-chan!"

"Hm...? AH!!" Keitaro was shocked when, in a sudden surge of strength, she wrenched the turtle pendant from his neck and threw it across the room with such force that it shattered against the far wall. A mist began to roil from its broken bits, the swordswoman rolling off of Keitaro and diving for her blade, which was placed in the corner. Though things were still slightly hazy and her side ached from the sudden strain, she unsheathed it and stood her ground, trying not to sway as she did.

"Oh my gosh..." whispered Keitaro in fear and awe as the smoke-ish steam began to form itself into a giant creature, a hulking beast with a giant shell upon its back and beady, soulless black eyes. Huge limbs appeared on the ground, the beast rearing up on its hind legs and roaring at them as it flexed its humongous, and razor sharp claws.

Feeling her blood freeze in her veins, Motoko held herself as still as she could as the demonic turtle gazed at her with though dead, depthless black eyes that seemed to swallow her whole. The beast suddenly rocked to the side, one of its hideously clawed arms shooting out to barely miss the dodging young woman. Throwing open the door to the gardens, she dashed out there and held her ground, giving herself more room to move and dodge around in.

"Motoko-chan!" cried Keitaro as he watched her sprint, the creature lunging after her.

"Stay there!" she called back, blinking her eyes erratically as she tried to remain as steady as ever, but couldn't quite manage it as intoxicated as she was. The effects were being quickly burned off, though, and she hoped to be a bit more sober before things got any worse. "I'll be fine...AH!!"

Momentarily distracted, the beast had dove at her and drove her to the ground with one of its limbs, holding her pinned there among its claws. Raising the other to smash down on her unprotected head, Keitaro grabbed another sword from the wall and unsheathed it, running forwards and stabbing it as deep is it would go in the demon's hind leg.

Dark, gray blood spurted forth as the keen edge bit deep into its putrid flesh, opening folds of green-gray muscle to be seen by all. Screaming in agony, the turtle demon turned on Keitaro and swatted him away, jerking the sword out with its teeth and advancing on him as it forgot about Motoko entirely.

Hitting the outer wall of his and Motoko's apartments, Keitaro grunted as he rose quickly, looking up to see only a huge blur. Reaching up to his face, he found his glasses smashed to bits. "Oh crap..."

"KEITARO, TO YOUR RIGHT!!"

The young man threw himself to the ground, rolling towards the wall as one of the clawed limbs lashed over head, leaving deep scores upon the thick wood. Putting his hand upon it, he used it to guide him as he blindly ran, tripping and stumbling over unknown objects in his path as claws and limbs lashed out at him, known to him only the whistle of the wind as they came uncomfortably closer and closer...

Motoko watched in horror as Keitaro continued to run blindly back and forth like a trapped mouse, wishing she could do something as her fears held her in place. It was so very like the creatures she hated with a passion, those shelled reptiles, she could scarce look at it for a moment before she began to go into convulsions in fear...She had to find a way to help him, to get him free! Moving forward a step, she gasped in pain as she drew her hand to her side...the wound had opened again and was pouring blood down her hip. Biting her lip, she forced herself to focus on the battle ahead rather than the discomfort a hand.

"KEITARO, GO BACK!! GO BACK!!"

Ignoring her for once, Keitaro ran straight into a wall and suddenly realized as he gazed up at the black, soulless eyes of the demon that burned themselves into his soul even though he could not focus on them properly that he was trapped with no way out.

"No, no, no....oh crap, crap, crap...!! HELP!!"

Keitaro cowered in his corner, completely consumed by those eyes as they began to glow strangely, the creature opening its mouth to reveal a growing ball of green fire. Watching it burn hotter and brighter, the young man saw his life flash before his eyes...

Something warm and solid connected with his crouched body at the same time the fire ball roared out of the creatures open mouth at him, Keitaro shocked to find Motoko standing in front of him, sword out, and diverting the flame with it to one side. A gong went off somewhere in the dojo suddenly, the sound of others waking and feet pounding in the corridors inside reaching his ears as well.

"Keitaro..." she ground through her teeth grimly as she tried to hold the funnel of flames back. "Run...can't hold it..."

"No!" He grabbed her by the waist and braced her with his own body, using the wall as his support as he supported her arms with his own. Just as suddenly the flames had appeared, they were gone, Motoko letting her sword point drop slightly as she took a step forward, panting heavily from exhaustion.

The alcohol had been burned away completely, and now all she felt inside was rage. Pure and hot, it coursed through her veins with renewed strength that made her growl deep in her throat as she took up another sword stance. This creature, this...thing had ruined her night entirely. It had attacked them, and had come from his clan's doings, she was sure of it. She didn't care why it was here, or what its intended purpose was, turtle-shaped or not, it was going to die.

"Motoko-chan!!" cried Tsuruko as she and Kenjou suddenly came charging into the clearing, driven back from helping her sister by the intense flames that surrounded them from the diverted attack. Both half dressed and bearing weapons, they were joined by others in a similar state as they formed a ring around the fires, waiting for their chance to get in.

Keitaro backed off as he felt her aura suddenly flare back to life, engulfing her in a blue light as the creature opened its mouth to begin another attack. Leaping forward gracefully at the same time it let off the stream of power, she easily cast it aside with a sweep of her sword and plunged her blade up to the hilt in its forehead.

"HIKEN ZANKUUSEN!!"

The force of the attack demolished the beast from that point to the rest of its body, being blown to nothing but a bit of ash as the righteous, fiery anger in Motoko's aura making itself known in her attack and flaming the demon to naught but a crisp.

She fell back to the ground as all the others rushed forward, an elder slapping a few strips of paper with kanji written on them over the ashes and a few others spreading around to make sure it was the only one. The shattered pendant was found and taken away with the swept up ashes, the elders calling an emergency meeting on the spot as Tsuruko converged on the couple in the middle of it all.

Motoko had landed on the ground and barely managed to stay on her feet, Keitaro coming to support her from behind. Her blade, Shishui, was shattered to the hilt with only an inch of whole blade left from the very force of the blast and lay scattered all around.

"Are you alright?!" demanded Tsuruko as she took Motoko's face in her hands, staring her in the eyes as Kenjou checked to make sure Keitaro was alright as well. Both were exhausted, and somewhat bruised and battered, but nothing serious beyond that besides Motoko's side having reopened. "Good gods...where did that thing come from?!"

"My pendant," admitted Keitaro quietly, turning away in shame as he touched the spot where it had lay for as long as he could remember. "I think it was given to me a long time ago, and I never took it off for some reason...perhaps I was never given a reason to do so, and I was not aware there was a demon inside it, I swear! I would have rid myself of it long ago had I know...and even now...I-"

"Would you have sent that thing after me had you known it existed?" asked Motoko quietly as she simply stood there, allowing him to help her remain upright as she continued to gasp for air, her chest heaving up and down with every breath. Wincing as she tried to control the bleeding with her hands, she forced herself on. "Would you have allowed it to come here, among the children and the elderly and the trainees who would've risked their lives to save others...would you?"

"No!! Never!!" replied Keitaro instantly, holding her closer carefully as he went on fiercely. "I would never willing hurt another person, knowing they didn't deserve it and they couldn't defend themselves!!"

"Then...it is not your fault..." The other three were surprised when a few stray tears found their way down the warrior's face, others like them following in a downpour moments later as she sobbed silently. "It's his fault...even now, he attacks me...tries to harm those close to me…why? …why does he hate us so?"

"Shh...it'll be alright, it's gone now..." The young man held his new wife close as her elder sister waved them back off to their rooms, pushing some fresh bandages and salve in Keitaro's hands before quickly running off the other curious on-lookers back to their beds and going and joining the council meeting in Motoko and Keitaro's place. They would be fine, as long as they were together, and she would make sure they weren't bothered at least until morning.

Together they'd re-bound the wound, Keitaro gently washing away the blood that stained them both as she sat there exhausted. Now cradling her in his arms around her waist, he held Motoko there lying on their futon back in their room with the windows shuttered and the doors closed, letting her cry herself to sleep in the darkest hours of the night. Though she shuddered and moaned uneasily even when dozing, he rubbed her back gently and murmured soothing things in her ear through the night. She was his wife, his to protect and to care for.

She'd saved their lives, at the cost of her own inner peace, and he'd do whatever he had to help her find it again.

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Motoko woke in the dimly lit room at dawn as she usually did, finding herself not to be alone in her bed for the first time in a few days. Su-chan wasn't that big, though, and normally when she grabbed on to Motoko like she was now there was some pain involved along the way...wait, Su-chan's hands weren't that big and something about the feel of the place let her know she wasn't at Hinata-sou...

Sitting up ever so slightly, the swordswoman recognized the room as being one of the guestrooms in her ancestral home. Who was she lying with, though? Turning quickly in the embrace, but with care not to wake the sleeper, she was met with the sight of a young man a few years older than her with messy brown hair and a peaceful face...ah, she remembered now. It was only Keitaro.

[Only Keitaro?] The warrior in her mind berated her roundly, with its usual impersonal points. [Since when? Is he only a man, then? Men are not to be trusted, they are lecherous, perverted beings that need to be scoured from the face of the earth!]

{He is a good man, though.} Her heart. It had been a very long time since she'd listened to that voice. While it was often right, and true, it often also brought out that in her which she thought made her 'weak.' {He saved your life, and protected you instead of taking advantage of you when you were vulnerable both last night and when your father offered you to him. Besides...you enjoyed what he had to offer last night before the interruption, did you not?}

[It is not for a warrior to give into such...pleasures.] The reply was weak, and she knew it too.

{Your sister is a warrior, and she obviously has or she would not have as many children as she does.} The reply was strong, her heart was gaining an advantage it had not had in a long time. {He has proved himself to be worthy in many ways, and only one too foolish to know better would not give him the credit he deserves. The man has proven to be able to be trusted.}

[With her body, perhaps.] The warrior in her grumbled at this, and added. [A body can be torn apart and mended easily, but a heart...your heart...is he worth the risk?]

{Only time can see. Any type of love, even just the love of a friend, is a risk and only by taking the risk can you reap its rewards.}

Keitaro stirred suddenly, his arms bringing Motoko closer to him as she hesitantly allowed him to drag her back down into a lying position. Well...considering he had the right to demand more, and he was her husband, there was no shame it allowing herself this comfort as it came. Her hands intertwining themselves with him of their own accord as she unconsciously snuggled farther into his side, the swordswoman letting sleep drift back over her once more. Waking up to another beside her every morning would take some getting used to, but even as the warrior in her side grumbled over such luxury she knew in her heart she would grow used to it very quickly indeed.

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Tsuruko slowly nudged the door open to her sister's room with her toe, a tray in her hands with food on it should the pair be hungry. Though she had originally had high hopes for the night before, something between the turtle demon and Motoko's break down afterwards told her it had not been completed. The pair, though scantily dressed, were still dressed none the less when she'd seen them. Though the outer robes had been discarded awhile ago from the way she'd seen them piled on the floor and the inner ones probably would've followed quickly had it not been for that cursed demon...

Seeing Keitaro's warm, brown eyes follow her sleepily as she set the tray on the table near the door, she commented, "You're awake. No, stay where you are, you don't have to get up until you're good and ready to. No one is expecting to see either of you for a the majority of the day, and while the elders would request a chance to meet with you later this afternoon, they have also stated they would understand if you are too 'busy' to do so before tomorrow morning..."

"Arigato, for your assistance yesterday," said Keitaro quickly, changing the topic as he blushed. "I was unable to do so properly last night."

"Gomen, that I could not have been of more," came the swift reply. "You probably have many questions, and the council does hold many of the answers, however...attend to my sister first, for they will wait whereas she may need your attentions much sooner..."

"Tsuruko-san, are you upset with me?" asked Keitaro hesitantly as she turned quickly to leave.

"I am annoyed that it fell through, but not with you for there was nothing you could have done to prevent it," came the quick, rough reply as the elder Aoyama sister turned back around slowly and pulled a wrapped package from her shirt sleeve. "This is Motoko's, she may be asking for it later on."

"Ok, I will tell her you put it there," replied Keitaro with a nod, Tsuruko bowing silently one more time before she slipped out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

"Onne-san..." Keitaro felt Motoko move beside him and immediately let go, backing off quickly in case she didn't remember where she was and blasted him through the roof. The swordswoman didn't even notice his presence, it seemed, and headed straight for the table where her sister had left the package. Unwrapping it quickly, she sighed as she pulled out the handle of her sword from among the folds, as well as the individual pieces of the blade they'd managed to save. "Hm...I understand, onne-san..."

"Did you say something?" asked Keitaro as he rose to his feet and walked over to stand behind her, laying a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"Hm? Oh! Gomen, Keitaro-kun..." She lowered her head in a bow and remained facing away from him. "I trust you slept well? I can go get you some breakfast, should you be hungry...?"

"No, I'm fine," he replied nervously as he slowly sat beside her. "Though I wish you wouldn't be so formal with me."

"Your glasses," she said suddenly as she sat there studying him for a moment. "I thought they were crushed last night...?"

"They were," replied Keitaro as he touched the set of specs that rested on the bridge of his nose. "I've always carried an extra set around, though. Just in case. What were you saying, though? This is the blade you used last night, isn't it?"

"It is," she replied quietly as she ran her hand along its familiar length. "Or, it was...this blade shall be no more. Having it returned to me like this means it is beyond repair, and I shall need to replace it as soon as possible. It was a good blade that served me well, and was given to me by my sister many years ago. I will miss having it at my side."

"Gomenasi, for your loss," said Keitaro sincerely as he watched her re-wrap the bits of the blade and place it back on the table. "If there's anything I could do...?"

"There is nothing that can be done," came the flat reply. "It is no longer useful to me as a weapon, and thus must be set aside..." Motoko stopped as her voice caught, putting a hand over her mouth as if to stifle her sobs as a few tears slid their way from her eyes.

"Motoko-chan...?" Keitaro had no idea what to say to the young woman as she grieved over the loss of her sword, so he did the only thing he did know how to do. Gingerly, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him. To his surprise, she came willingly, and rested her head on his shoulder as she slowly gained control of herself once again.

"Arigato..."

The single word was so soft that the he wasn't sure he'd heard it at first. "Ah...you're welcome, Motoko-chan..." The honorific was no longer forced in the least, and simply flowed from his lips as if he'd always said it that way. Remaining that way, Keitaro reached up with one hand to touch where the pendant had rested on his chest his entire life. "Gomen..."

"For what?" Motoko looked up at him, confusion obvious in her gaze as she did. "Did I do something to offend you...?" She began to withdraw from him, and was taken aback when he only held her all the closer instead, mindful of her side the whole time.

"For all of this," he replied grimly as he motioned towards the sword. "For ruining your life, for hurting you like this, for putting your life and the lives of so many others in danger, for your wound that doesn't seem to want to heal, even for messing up your wedding night...I guess I do manage to screw up everything I ever attempt to take part in." The self-blame was evident in his voice, and she turned quickly to look at him with eyes that seemed to burn right through him.

"It's not your fault!" she insisted as she balled her hands into the front of his shirt. "None of this is your fault! You're nothing like the men who follow he who is truly to blame, so don't name yourself as one of them! I never would've agreed to marry you, or even touch you had you been! If you won't believe in yourself, at least believe in me that I know you're not one of them and you never will be..."

Several moments of silence passed as her words slowly sunk it, brown meeting gray as they continued to look each other in the eyes. The fire in her eyes began to grow as her hands unclenched and instead laid flat against his chest. Keitaro immediately sensed the change and instinctively lowered his head, putting his forehead against her own as his arms lowered themselves to rest around her waist instead.

"Motoko-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Arigato..."

Their lips met just as someone knocked on the door, both of them seemingly waking up from the trance they'd put each other in and backing away from each other quickly. "Come in!" called Keitaro unsteadily as Motoko rose carefully and went back behind the changing screen at the far corner of the room.

"Gomen, for disturbing you," came the low reply, the door sliding open to reveal Councilwoman Kairi standing there in her full, formal kimono. "But this could not wait any longer. We have found out more than we knew even just moments ago, Keitaro-san, and would request your presence immediately."

"Of course." Keitaro bowed his head and stood, heading for the same screen Motoko had gone behind just moments before. "I shall change and be with you shortly."

"Arigato, Keitaro-san, for your cooperation. I trust your wife, Motoko-chan,  does not object...?"

"I know better than to disagree with the Council," replied Motoko emotionlessly as she emerged from the screen just as Keitaro entered it, dressed in her usual gi and scarlet hamaka. With one hand she gently felt over her wounded side, it finally making its aching presence known. "Good day to you, Kairi-sempai, I trust you are well?"

"Very well indeed," came the simple reply.

"I'm ready," said Keitaro as he came out from behind the screen suddenly, hopping on one foot as he pulled on his second sock and then tucking his shirt in quickly.

"Good. I shall return him to you as soon as I can, Motoko-chan."

"Arigato, Kairi-sempai."

"Of course, my child..."

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"Oba-san!!" Motoko looked up from where she sat by the fireplace in the guestroom, having contented herself with cleaning the room and packing for the next day's journey home before meditating awhile. "Mo-san??"

"In here!" she called back, quickly rising to her feet as seven young bodies came bursting through the door. Two on each leg and three in her arms, Motoko laughed quietly as she hugged them all at the same time, tottering back over to her seat and letting them settle themselves there around her.

Miko took her seat directly at her right as she was entitled to as the next in line heir of the school, Rei scrambling into her lap as the three nephews who were also cousins sprawled themselves at her feet.

"Mo-san?" asked young Rei as she tugged on Motoko's gi. "Are you gonna have a baby?"

The swordswoman face-faulted as Rei giggled innocently at her antics.

"Yeah, we want cousins!" added Yuki as she and her twin brother Yoshi latched themselves around her neck. "Lots'n'lots a them just like us!"

"You already got cousins," put in Sato, the eldest of the three brothers. He was just a year younger than Miko, and proud of the fact he was already an inch taller than she was. "Three of us, too!"

"Yeah, but you're oto-san's side of the family," replied Yoshi, sticking his tongue out at the older boy. "We don't have any cousins on Ka-san's side, just Mo-san!"

"And Taro-san!" added Rei with a grin. "I like Taro-san, he's so nice to us...he gives me lots a piggyback rides everywhere!"

"Since you're married, will you be living here now?" asked Miko politely, looking at Motoko with a gleam of hope in her eyes.

"No, Hina-san has given Hinata-sou to Keitaro-san," replied Motoko with a slight shake of her head. "We will be living there, as I have been for the past six years."

"Ah, well...Tell us about the Turtle Demon you vanquished last night, then! Keiko-chan said she saw it from her window and it was awesome! I wish I had gotten to see it…"

"Eh, well..." Motoko blushed as her mind wandered to some of the activities before the attack of the demon and those following it. "How about you tell me of your trip here instead, hm?"

"Okies! Nothing much happened, except Shinta kept snoring in his sleep..."

"Did not!"

"Do so, snorer."

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Keitaro sat before the council, disbelief written across the young man's face as he tried to take in what had been said to him after having been grilled for the better part of a couple hours by those in front of him. The three hours of random tests before hadn't been a picnic either. Lunch and dinner had come and gone, the setting sun outside the window testimony to that. "I still can't believe...are you sure this is right?"

Kairi frowned as she tightened her grip on the handle of her blade, though it was twice her height. "We do not make mistakes on things such as this, Keitaro-san!"

"Gomen, I understand, but it is hard for me to accept the fact that my family has laid a curse on me since I was six!" came the desperate reply.

"Even in the last few hours of this day, as those of the council have observed you, there is a change about you, Keitaro," said one of the few males who were on the council, a rough warrior of about 50 or so. Others nodded as he went on, pinning Keitaro to his seat with his impossibly black eyes. "Your clumsiness as ill luck has seemingly...vanished. Nothing has tripped you, nor have you fallen in to anyone, nor has any random objects fallen on your head out of the blue since you came to this chamber, all of which used to happen constantly, am I not correct?"

"Well, hai...but my question is why? Why would my family do something like that to me? I'm not a threat to anyone but myself!"

"Hmm...interesting." Kenjou, who'd been sitting in on the council meeting, blew a smoke ring from his pipe and studied it thoughtfully. "What if you where a threat to them and never knew it?"

"Me? A threat?" Keitaro rolled his eyes. "I can hardly go a day without getting myself nearly killed in one of three thousand ways. The only person I ever threaten is myself, as I stated before." Keitaro blinked as he suddenly ducked, a bokken passing through the space his head had occupied a moment before. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"You were right," said Tsuruko as she ignored his question and nodded to the council. Taking hold of Keitaro's chin, she studied him closely as he started back at her in puzzlement and a little bit of fear over the rims of his glasses. Flicking the frames off his face, the older woman drew back and studies them closely as Keitaro flailed about blindly.

"Hey, I need those! That's my spare set, and if those break I won't have anything to see by at all..."

"Look at those," said Tsuruko somberly as she tossed them at Kairi, the old woman studying them just as Tsuruko had.

"I can't see without them," groused Keitaro as he forced himself to sit still lest he lose his balance and fell on who knew what. "Can I have them back? I'm blind as a bat without them!"

"Not any more." Kairi dropped them to the table and pulled out a mallet, pounding the frames and lenses to naught but dust as Keitaro cried out, about to blindly throw himself at the old woman in hopes of salvaging at least a bit when his vision came sharply into focus as she muttered a few words over them and the crumbled bits turned to ash in a flash of flames.

"Whoa...!! What the heck?! I can see!"

"Where did you get those glasses?" asked Tsuruko as the mangled frames were taken and passed from elder to elder, each studying it in their own way.

"Some doctor my dad took me to. I've had them since first grade."

"Purposely impaired vision, a curse of ill luck and clumsiness, and a ki that's been repressed to the point of being nonexistent." Kenjou glanced at Keitaro who just frowned in reply. "Are you sure you're not a threat to your family, Keitaro-san? That's a lot of effort to put down a young man who's supposedly harmless..."

"I don't know what to think anymore," admitted Keitaro as he thumped his head on the table before him with a sigh. "If I just knew why..."

"I believe we may have an answer of sorts for you there," said the man who'd spoken before hesitantly. "Though, I am not sure how well it will satisfy you...simply put, Keitaro, you have a great potential as a warrior. Even with your curse, that potential showed itself in your near indestructibility. I have spoken with your grandmother at great lengths, and she has told me of things you lived through and recovered from that would've killed normal people or at least been very difficult for them to come back from easily."

"So I heal fast, that doesn't mean I can fight," cut in Keitaro with a shake of his head. "Besides, I've never liked combat myself...I know it is necessary in some cases, and I admire those such as yourselves who are able to devote their lives to it and able to use your skills only for the good of others. But I refused to learn my father's clan's style, as well as to attend their school to the north for young men."

"Perhaps that is why you were a threat," offered the old man cautiously. "All this potential, and it refusing to bend to their will...they most likely feared another would take you and teach you instead. Therefore, they cursed and impaired you so that possibility would never even arise."

"You're demon hunters, right?" came the nervous inquiry.

"In a way, hai," Kairi with a slight shrug. "That is how we have to come to know that which we told you."

"Then why didn't you find the demon before? Like, when I first walked onto the grounds."

The elders were strangely silent as Tsuruko and Kairi exchanged glances, the younger swordswoman picking it up from there. "Because we were unable to detect it. A demon, even one that is latent in its powers or simply doesn't use them, sends out a sort of signal that those who are trained can feel…however…"

"You couldn't feel that signal from me," finished Keitaro, going pale. "Why?"

"There was a feeling of repression from your ki, as well as a certain pulse that I and the elders had agreed was not quite right…but repressing a rebellious or spineless son's ki is not unusual in these parts, and we thought little of it. The demon had disguised himself in your ki, and then repressed it to the point of being nonexistent so his own presence would be lost within you. It wasn't until the demon became active, responding to a direct probe from Motoko's ki, that it manifested itself completely and we were able to sense its presence."

"If what you say is true, then what else have they done to me?" asked Keitaro quietly as he rubbed his forehead with both hands. "That pendant was the only jewelry I ever wore, besides my glasses if you could count those, and both are now gone...but, there are other ways to control a person's life, aren't there?"

"Oh, hai," admitted Kairi with a shrug. "If you wish, we can show you how to delve back through your memories, and search out that which is true and that which is false...?"

"No, thank you," replied Keitaro firmly as he suddenly rose to his feet. "I believe that shall be all, unless you need me for something more?"

"No, nothing more," replied Kairi as they all stood as well. "This meeting is adjourned. Tomorrow, Keitaro, you and your wife, Motoko-chan, have tickets to ride the rail back to Hinata-sou at noon. We of the Council will not be available to see you off, but we wish you the best of luck and the best life possible upon your return there. Please, take care of our young girl...she is your responsibility now, and you must remember that always!"

"I will, I promise," replied Keitaro with a low bow before turning to leave the room. Kenjou and Tsuruko fell in next to him out in the hallway to his right. "Ah...can I do something for you?"

"I sent the children to keep Motoko-chan company for the afternoon," explained Tsuruko with a slight smile. "We're just picking them up, and then will leave you alone."

"I'll come get you in the morning around 11, ok?" added Kenjou with a full grin. "You don't have a way to get to the station, so I offered to drive you."

"Arigato, Kenjou-san." Keitaro grinned back. "I was wondering how we were going to get there, but of course you always have a plan for everything!"

Kenjou rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I wish."

Coming to his room's door, Keitaro knocked softly before slowly sliding it open, finding Motoko seated on the bed with her back to the wall, the three brothers all laying down side by side to her left and Miko with Yoshi and Yuki to her right. Rei was in her arms, head resting on her chest as she sucked her thumb, curled up in a ball and fast asleep.

Miko, vigilant as ever, woke at the first sound of the door sliding open and rose as quickly and silently as she could. Motoko, who was still awake, gave her a silent hug before sending her on to her mother and father. The twins woke from their sudden loss of heat, complaining quietly as Tsuruko scooped them up and carried one in each arm out of the room with Miho trailing along behind.

Motoko nudged Sato awake with her toe, the elder boy doing the same to his brothers and picking up Shinozaki, the youngest of the three, when he refused to wake. Rising as the last little head had been removed from her lap, Motoko brought Rei over to Kenjou and gently handed her over, an unusually tender look crossing her face as she pushed the young girl's black bangs out of her eyes and kissed her goodbye.

"I see my sister's managed to escape before I could speak with her," murmured Motoko as her eyes scanned the hallways, Kenjou laughing quietly to himself.

"I'll make sure she comes by again before we leave in the morning," said the elder man with a knowing grin. "Goodnight, Motoko-san."

"Goodnight, Kenjou-san." She turned around, about to say something when she saw Keitaro fast asleep on the futon, still fully dressed and sprawled out on his back. "Hm...typical male..." The usual sting behind her words was replaced by a slight warmth, softening them greatly as she pulled a blanket over him and slipped behind the screen to change into one of her over-sized t-shirts from Hinata-sou that she'd taken to wearing. Laying beside him on the futon, she curled up on her good side with her own blanket and fell fast asleep.

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Keitaro woke to a spotless room around 8 am or so, a tray with breakfast set out all nice and neat for him on the table beside the futon, his clothes packed and ready to leave except for a single pair that had been set out for the ride home. The blankets were folded and set aside, Motoko's things packed and ready to go beside his with the door to the garden open and the said young woman sitting there on the threshold with her back to him watching the clouds drift by overhead.

"Arigato, you didn't have to do this for me," said Keitaro as he rose slowly, finding himself to be still dressed from the day before. Reaching for the blanket to fold it, he found her at his side taking it from his hands and doing it for him, setting it atop the others before he could so much as blink. "Motoko-chan...you are my wife, not my servant, we should share everything equally between us...including chores."

"Gomen," she said quietly as he slipped behind the screen with his clothes, emerging a moment later freshly changed and ready to face the day ahead. "It's just what I remember my mother teaching me to do. I wish to honor both her as well as you at the same time..."

"You can do so," replied Keitaro quickly. "And I will help you in any way I can. But...how would it be fair to you if I let you do all the work when I'm the one getting paid to take care of the apartments?"

He sat before the tray and picked up the chopsticks, starting his meal as he motioned for her to sit across from him. She obeyed, though slightly reluctantly, and knelt with her hands folded in her sleeves and eyes averted off to the left.

"When did you wake?" he asked lightly, trying to make conversation between the two of them.

"Dawn," came the simple, and still subdued reply. "Several of my old students requested the chance to spar with me, and I granted those who rose with me that chance this morning. Some had improved a great deal, but some have slipped in their practicing and could use some more discipline in their schedule."

"I see," said Keitaro with a slight grin as he started on the misu soup. Noting the satisfied look in her eyes, he added, "You enjoyed yourself, then? And your side gave you no trouble?"

"Hai, I did. My side did not reopen, which I was glad of, and the pain is bearable enough." She paused, then asked hesitantly, "I was wondering, though…"

"Hai?" Keitaro looked up curiously. "Just ask, and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"What happened at the council meetings yesterday? What is it that you found out?"

"Oh! I meant to tell you last night but I think I fell asleep…" Keitaro scratched the back of his head apologetically. "Gomen…any way, here's what happened…" He told her of the tests and the questions, watching as she nodded as if it was what she'd anticipated all along. Moving onto to the demon itself, he was surprised when she narrowed her eyes, fists clenched in her lap as she pressed her lips into a thin line. Slowly, it faded into curiosity, which she tried to mask as she studied him from across the table. Finishing, he lapsed into silence.

"…that would explain quite a lot," admitted Motoko as she lowered her eyes suddenly, her focus becoming more inwards as she sorted through all he had told her. "That bastard actually has something similar to that…I blasted him through the roof and he treated it like it was nothing at all. And if you truly have inherited their strength and speed without the cruelty and violence they love so…yes, it all fits together now." Glancing up again, she noticed how much less childish, and more manly he looked without the thick frames balanced on his nose. "I'm glad for your sake all of this has been sorted out."

When nothing more was offered, Keitaro decided to change the subject and asked, "How long have you lived at Hinata-sou?"

"Almost six years. As of right before I turned 11, and I am 16 now."

"Tell me what life is like, there. What's it like, living away from you family with the others there?"

"It is relatively calm, compared to here." The fact that a person suddenly flew through the roof of the dojo across from the rooms punctuated that statement rather nicely. An older instructor suddenly jumped through the hole onto the roof, berating the student for having been so lazy and careless in their defense as he landed in the pond nearby.

"I'm sure your experience was much nicer than my own," replied Keitaro as he winced in sympathy for the guy.

"Naru-sempai is...excitable," admitted Motoko carefully as she struggled between supporting her friends and bowing before her husband's words. Besides, she actually wanted to believe Keitaro as well, that it wasn't his fault, whatever had happened. "And Su-chan does go overboard with her creations every once in awhile. However, there you can go somewhere in the house itself or up on the roof and be alone for hours at a time in peace before someone finds or disturbs you. It is an escape from the responsibility and the load that I bear here."

"I didn't realize it was that big, but then again I wasn't given the chance to see much of it at all," admitted Keitaro with a shrug. "I was too busy running away in fear. Those tanks with the missiles were really scary..." Keitaro chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I suppose when one doesn't have the ability to diffuse them, they would be rather...frightening," replied Motoko with a frown as she toyed with a few strands of her hair.

"Hai, you are lucky to have the talent that you do," replied Keitaro with a grin. "And you've worked very hard with those talents, you should be proud of them."

"I am not that good." Motoko looked away quickly, her cheeks reddening as she pulled out the remnants of her broken sword, now placed in a fine box for safekeeping. "My sister is a true Master, I'm still very much a novice compared to her."

"She also has had ten more years of experience," pointed out Keitaro lightly. "Given time, I bet you could be better than her."

"Better than onne-san?!" Keitaro looked surprised Motoko leveled a look at of him complete and utter disbelieve.

"Nani?! Did I say something wrong?!"

"We are referring to the same person, right?" she asked slowly. "This is Tsuruko Aoyama, Demon Slayer who has no peer! She's swift as the winds, with a grace and confidence that is inhuman! The might of her blade is immeasurable, the force of her attacks incomparable, the precision of her every move no other has been able to emulate yet..."

"And also a human who is bound to make mistakes at times, for no one completely perfect," finished Keitaro for her as she steepled her hands in front of her face, her eyes focused on some point in the distance. "Though she may seem close to it at times, as well as yourself..."

"Tsuruko-san, hai, but I can never come close to her perfection." Her eyes lowered in shame, she added shyly, "Even as a warrior, I will always be flawed."

"How so? You were not hurt worse, were you? Injuries only get worse if left alone...!"

"No, physically I will be capable of anything needed in my training, even with my side as it is now," replied Motoko hesitantly, instinctively drawing her arms about herself as she shuddered involuntarily. "I have a...phobia of sorts." Looking away from his puzzled gaze, she began to mutter heatedly under her breath. "Vile, soulless creatures...should be banished to the hell they came from...shelled that they are, I will destroy them all...!!"

Listening to her, Keitaro realized what it was she was referring too. "You fear turtles?"

The young woman across from him actually stopped moving entirely as she clamped down on the sudden surge of fear that usually accompanied that name. "They don't deserve to be called even that," she growled with a hatred laced with fear that made Keitaro inch away slightly even as he pitied her. "They are the scum of the earth, worthless things that prey on others...and yes." She colored with shame as she sighed. "I...fear them."

"Everyone has fears," replied Keitaro soothingly as he gently placed a hand over hers that rested on the table. "I'm afraid of many things, your sister being among them and with good reason. Only having one real fear...if anything, that makes you stronger than the rest of us."

"To have fears is one thing, to allow them to cripple you is another!"

"You weren't crippled two nights ago," argued Keitaro. "You saved my life from that thing, and it was a demon in turtle form." The silence that followed hit Keitaro like a ton of bricks, his companion backing away from his touch as she drew her knees to her chest. "Motoko-chan?" Brushing her hair from her face with his hand, he was surprised to see a tear trace a trail down her cheek.

"I did let it cripple me," she replied hoarsely with shame. "I was frozen solid...and you almost paid for it with your life. Should I have failed-"

"But you didn't," cut in Keitaro firmly he took both of her hands in his own. "You've got to stop beating yourself for things that didn't happen. I'm alive, you're alive, and no one else got involved. Therefore, what happened in the battle itself doesn't matter!"

Motoko didn't reply at first, sitting there as she ran a hand along the handle of her shattered blade. "You have a point," she admitted after a silence that had hung between them for several moments. "And my head knows you're right...I just don't want you to be."

"That doesn't mean I'm any less right," stated Keitaro, inordinately pleased with himself for having 'won'. "I truly do admire your devotion and your perseverance to your family's school of sword. The fact that you don't let pride get in your way only amazes me all the more. However, that does not mean you should deny any credit due to one moment's hesitation..."

"One hesitation or mistake is all that is needed to end it all," came the harsh reply.

"We're not going to see eye to eye on this, are we?" sighed Keitaro as he glanced at her, seeing her bow her head with a blush like a child caught with her hands in the cookie jar.

"Gomen," she replied softly, drawing herself in even as she spoke. "If you wish me to agree with you, I will..."

"No, I don't want you to," replied Keitaro with a shake of his head as he folded his arms behind his head.

A pause of silence passed between them before she asked quietly, "Why?"

"Because, it is not who you are, nor what you believe," came the calm, honest reply. "I gave you the choice of being whoever you wanted to be, and becoming a meek housewife who agrees with everything I say is an option, but..." Keitaro blushed as he lowered his voice. "A life of that does not seem to fit the woman I married. She is a warrior, and a skilled one at that. An honorable swordswoman who protects those around her no matter what. Though her path is uneven, and often times dangerous and divided...it is the way that fits her best." Clearing his throat, he added softly. "It is the way I've come to like her best."

Before either of them could say anymore, there was a knock at their door. "Come in!" called Keitaro as he turned slightly where he sat, seeing the door slide open to reveal Tsuruko and Kenjou standing there in the hallway.

"Konichiwa, Keitaro-san, Motoko-san," said Kenjou as he stepped lightly into the room. "If you're not busy, Keitaro, could I have a word with you?"

Keitaro glanced at Motoko, who nodded ever so slightly. "I will be here when you return," was all she said, rising with him and catching her sister's eye with a pointed glare. "Oh onne-san?"

"Hai, Motoko-chan?" Tsuruko smiled innocently, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"May I have a word with you?" came the sweet reply, both men scooting out the door at the edge they felt under those sugar-coated words.

"It would please me greatly, Motoko-chan, to do so."

"Come on," said Kenjou under his breath as he grabbed Keitaro's sleeve and dragged him out into the hall, closing the door firmly behind him. "We don't want to be anywhere near here when the fur really starts to fly..."

"Wait, they aren't going to kill each other...are they?"

"Maim, Keitaro," replied Kenjou sarcastically. "Not kill, maim."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make me feel so much better...?"

{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}~{{@}}

The two sisters sat across from each other, sipping the tea that the younger of the two had poured for them. Light shone down on them from the open widows, highlighting their delicate features, as well as the rigid posture as they silently observed one another over their cups.

"How is your side, little sister?"

"Better," came the simple, short reply.

"You're debating with yourself again," commented Tsuruko as she set her cup down slowly. "I can tell you're upset with me, though what else it is that you're debating on is beyond me..."

"You tried to take control of my life without my permission," shot Motoko shortly. "You, of all people..."

"It was for your benefit alone, Motoko," pointed out Tsuruko with a grin. "The only thing I might have gained from the 'encounter' would be a new niece or nephew."

Motoko blushed as she tried to keep a straight face, though the corners of her lips twitched up involuntarily.  "Still. You could have told me at the very least..."

"Would you have still drunk it without me using force, had I told you?" asked the elder sister with a knowing look.

"N-no," came the hesitant reply. "Though, perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?" asked Tsuruko calmly as Motoko turned bright red. "Perhaps...had you known how enjoyable it was you would have not objected? Seems my little sister got more of a education than I though before she was interrupted...!"

"Tsuruko-chan!!" Motoko's entire faced as a flaming red as her sister just laughed evilly, picking up her teacup to take another sip. "Well, I was wondering..."

"A funny thing about that little concoction," murmured Tsuruko as if she anticipated exactly what it was Motoko was going to ask. "Because you didn't complete your 'duty' the first time you used it, it won't work for you again."

Tsuruko noted slyly as Motoko frowned in disappointment, then shook it off. "Oh, I see..."

"Now, as for what did happen that night and since then," said Tsuruko as she leaned forward with a teasing glint in her yes. "I should very much like to know..."

"Onne-san!!"

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Keitaro followed Kenjou along the hallways of the dojo and house, eventually turning out into the main gardens and taking a seat on a bench near the doorway in the shade. He cast curious glances at others who walked by that he'd never seen before, most dressed in the usual gi and hamaka most swordspeople tended to use. Somewhere in the distance he could heard the sound of students being drilled in the basics of kendo, and underlying that was the steady flow of power that he'd begun to feel that surrounded the place since that morning.

"This place is so big," commented Keitaro as he reached up to adjust his glasses and remembered once again he no longer needed them. "Bigger than it looks from the front, at least."

"Four generations at least inhabit these halls," explained Kenjou with a sweep of his hand. "Perhaps as many as six. The eldest is over there, under that tree." Keitaro looked around to see an ancient woman practically bent in half with age. At her feet sat some young children who leaned in eagerly to catch each word that tumbled from her old, puckered lips. "She is Miho-sama, the greatest warrior to come through these halls. Motoko-san is her direct descendent as her great-great-granddaughter."

Keitaro glanced back at Kenjou in surprise. "How old is she?"

"103. These women tend to have children young and outlive their mates by a decade or more." Kenjou paused, then went on, "How old is Motoko-san, anyways? I've lost count."

"16, she said. Though, from what her sister said I think she's closer to 17."

"You will probably have one child, if not two, before she is 20 then," stated Kenjou as he counted off the months on his hands.

"NANI?!" he sputtered in reply, his jaw dropping as he tried to comprehend what his friend had just said.

Kenjou coughed politely. "The women of this family are very fertile, young one. Why do you think I have four children of my own so soon in life? It has only be perhaps 11 years since we married, after all. And the majority of the time Tsuruko-chan's been on the contraceptive this family developed to deal with the problem of over-reproducing, she's just so fertile that she'll occasionally bypass the drug all together no matter how much she takes!"

"All the more reason for me to become quite celibate," groaned Keitaro as he rubbed his face with his hands. "I never really though of myself as being a father, you know...I'm only 20 years old!"

"Some here were wed and had multiple children at that age," cut in Kenjou with a shrug. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. If your...joinings are few and far between, coupled with the drug that Tsuruko will probably supply Motoko with, it will likely be at least a few years before you impregnate her."

"While 'completing my duty' doesn't bother me," murmured Keitaro with a blush. "Having my own children, well..."

"You're very good with kids," Kenjou reminded him with a grin.

"Yes, but those kids aren't mine," Keitaro reminded him slowly. "They're yours, or my family's, or someone else's. I can send them home and only have to be with them during the best parts of the day. I've never had to deal with all the negative parts of being a parent..."

"Regardless, you will have Motoko-san beside you, to help and share it with you," Kenjou reminded him with a grin as he rose slowly. "There is precious little that bonds two people together like raising a child together. It will either forge the marriage into something that can never be broken…or destroy it completely."

"Oh, I believe you," said Keitaro with a lopsided grin as he shrugged his shoulders and leaned back against the wall behind them. "Being a father...well...if it'll get Motoko-chan to smile more often like she does around your four little younglings, it'll be worth anything fatherhood tosses my way."

"It is very rare to see her really smile anymore," admitted Kenjou quietly. "Not just with her lips, but with her eyes a well. She seems to save it for that which is truly good, truly innocent, and truly pure in this world. She was never meant to be the lonely, stoic swordswoman she has become, but none of us could control the past fate presented her with and she has dealt with it the only way she knew how."

"How is that?"

"Blocking it all away, until she was ready to deal with it on her own terms, I suppose."

"I see…"

"Oh, and before I forget…" Kenjou grinning slyly as he pulled out an envelope, handing it to Keitaro. "These belong to Motoko. Open it."

He did so, pulling out four pictures. "Wait…are these what Tsuruko was going to show me, and you took from her?"

"Hai."

"But, why…?"

"Because now I can return them to her without giving them back to Tsuruko-chan, as well as you getting a chance to see them without her having to know," he explained with a shrug. "They really are very nice pictures of her, of all the girls."

"Oh…ok, then…" Keitaro  pulled the first of them out, grinning as he saw all six of the girls posing there together in variations of the same school-uniform type shirt and skirt. While Motoko's was one of the more modest, the short skirt still showed off her long legs very nicely with the way she was sitting…

"That one right there is Kitsune, the one who sent us these." Kenjou pointed over Keitaro's shoulder to a young woman with short, tan hair wearing a foxy grin that complimented her name nicely. "I assume you met her when you visited the place?"

"Yes, I think I tripped and fell on her breasts," admitted Keitaro reluctantly. "Or something like that. And that one right there is the one who I saw in the hot springs. It wasn't my fault, I swear!"

"Oh, that's Naru. Nice girl, I hear, when she's not blasting you into L.E.O. with her Super-Punch."

"Great…"

"Look at the next one."

Keitaro flipped the picture to the next one, his eyes popping out of his head as he saw all of them dressed -well, not exactly dressed as much as wrapped- in long lengths of cream cloth that was draped around each of them like a very sleek, stylish toga. "Ah…"

"Close your mouth and go to the next one." Keitaro forced his unwilling hands to do so, seeing, instead of the whole picture, just a single shot of Motoko like that with a demure smile that made Keitaro wish she'd look that that at him in real life.

"What was the occasion again?"

"For the pictures? Narusegawa's birthday."

"Dang…"

"Why?"

"My birthday's not for another four months…"

"You sly dog!"

"I was just kidding!!!"

"Right…well, you can look at the rest later. Come on, if you want to make the train we're going to have to leave soon. I wouldn't mind having you both around for another day or two personally, but I think your wife would object, as well as mine!"

"No, your wife would simply contrive to get me and my new wife 'together' again before we left," Keitaro groaned, rolling his eyes. "Gomen, but some things like that just can't be rushed…"

"Then it's best that you go. Come, let's go find our womenfolk and make sure they haven't murdered each other just yet."

"I thought they wouldn't go past maim?"

"Well, you can never tell with them."

"Oi…"

!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!@#$#@!

"You're being very secretive about this whole thing," pointed out Naru as Haruka emerged from Motoko's room, closing the door firmly behind her as she shrugged in reply to the younger girl's constant questioning.

"You will find out more when the time comes," said Hina simply, turning and following Haruka back down the hall to the main room where more boxes sat, packed with who knows what to be sent to Motoko's room with the rest. "In fact, your answer should arrive this very afternoon…"

"Yah! Motoko-chan is coming home!" cried Su as she flipped down the hall, giving Hina an unusually gentle hug for her as she passed by. "Home, home, home again! Motoko-chan's gonna be home again!"

"You've been awfully quiet," comments Haruka as she pauses in front of Kitsune, who's been standing there silently watching the proceedings with mild interest sipping sake straight from the bottle.

"Who me? Oh, I...eh...just don't have much to say." Kitsune shrugged nervously, turning back to her bottle in earnest as Haruka studied her closely. Deciding to let it be, she went and picked up the next box, taking it up the stairs again.

"What happened to that one guy, Urashima?" asked Naru as she undid her braids, glasses still perched on her nose from studying. "He said he'd be back and he's just…disappeared."

"He should be returning today as well," replied Hina cryptically as Haruka just took another drag on her cigarette, her face as unreadable as ever. "And probably close to the same time."

"I hope she comes first so we can warm her of his perverted ways." Naru disappeared back into her room and shut the door, Hina and Haruka exchanging knowing glances that Kitsune notes out of the corner of her eye. Snickering sneakily, the fox lady slipped back into her room, pulling out a video tape and preparing all her hidden cameras for some event she alone could fathom.

"I wouldn't count on that, Naru-chan…this is going to be most interesting indeed."

(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())(())

And that would be your chapter Numero Dose. Interesting, ne? Let me know what you think, if it's good, bad, or horrible. Review! Review! Review! And chapter 3 shall be posted shortly, thanks!

~CB~

'Chocolate...coffee...men...some things are just better Rich.' ^_~

sayonara           goodbye

oto-san             father

tanto                 long knife/short sword

(-)sensei                       teacher, or honored one

hamaka            cross between pants and long skirt

katana              Japanese blade

Shisui               Motoko's original blade

gi                      over shirt/top for when training/fighting

Shinmeiryuu      Motoko's school of swordsmanship

sempai              older person honorific

-san                  Miss/Mr. honorific

-chan                girlfriend/close friend

-kun                 boyfriend/ close friend

Konichiwa        Good afternoon

arigato              thank you

gaijin                foreigner

juku                  the study school for college

oba-san            aunt/grandmother (slight inflection difference when spoken)

onne-chan(san) little sister (big sister)

ka-san              mother

**If I missed any, PLEASE let me know and it'll be added in the next chapter. Thanks!