Chapter 4
Kendo Girl Falling in Love‽ The Long-awaited Return of Motoko Aoyama
§
Early to mid November XX, 1998
|Secret Location, in a former monastery|
Today is the last day of training for the Raika Senior High - Kendo club. Motoko, standing at an unusual height of 173 cm (about 5'8"), is sitting in front of a reclining Buddha statue, with the other students sitting parallel to each other.
(For some strange reason, their faces were blurred out while their hairstyles were still intact.)
The trainee is preparing herself for the mastering of her family's secret technique as she is seated next to her shinai (kendo sword), waiting for the battle royale to begin.
After a few tense moments, Motoko got up and turned around as she armed her weapon and charged through a group and took them down one by one with head shots, body blows, back attacks, and hand counts. She ran through the hall, using the walls and ceiling as leverage as she avoided the rather deadly traps: bladed walls and floors, swine... (Just don't ask how they brought them here.) ...and mini bombs as she crashed through the wood and paper shoji screens.
As Motoko dashed across the bamboo pass, she had one thing in mind: smash a 'sacred' stone to prove her strength. She hopped over the river-flowing rocks without a hitch and she jumped across the waterfall and the target was in her sight. Motoko raised her shinai, attempting to break the stone in two. The hit connected, but she felt the shock that the stone was tougher than her and she fell into the lake.
It was a huge disappointment that Motoko didn't quite succeed in her goal of leaving her older sister's shadow as she saw the clouds beginning to rain, washing her with grief on this November day.
-LNH-
|At the Sasaki Preparatory School|
The result from the previous test has been posted. Shirai (the chubby white), Haitani (the thin gray), and Keitaro looked at their papers.
Shirai - 0% D
Haitani - 0% D
The examiners suggested that they change to a different university, because they are so hopeless. Not to mention, it's simply madness.
The dubbed "Color Boys" are in despair from their dismal work. But when they looked at Keitaro's paper and found that his score improved significantly, barely reaching the C-rank. And he is crying tears of joy, thanks to Naru's and Ruto's disciplinary training and sharing the load of maintaining the dorms. Shirai and Haitani, who are slightly jealous, then decide to take the hapless Keitaro outside, much to the Urashima's dismay.
|Outside of the academy|
As the exam students take their umbrellas and protected themselves from the rain, Ruto, wearing his casual clothes and a slightly oversized jacket with a headband and red fingerless gloves attached to the itself (the kind of jacket that simulates the look of Ryu from Street Fighter), came by to meet his brother from the exams. Shirai and Haitani couldn't believe that this blonde 13-year old is Keitaro's brother and the one training with him. When they met and walked across the overhead pass, Shirai and Haitani introduced themselves, as did Ruto. The 'Color Boys' then shamelessly asked the Junior High student if he has a girlfriend and Ruto saw right through their demeanor and replied, "Oh, you two nitwits wouldn't be interested."
That was when the boys walked into a group of schoolgirls, who are fanatics to the taller girl named Motoko Aoyama, who was passing by. She just doesn't want any of this kind of publicity at all.
Keitaro doesn't want to get involved with what's going to happen and Ruto agreed. But when Shirai and Haitani were passing fancy to the schoolgirls, they were immediately rejected. And Ruto says that he and his brother were simply passing through. But when the boneheaded Haitani puts his hand on Motoko's shoulder, the crap hits the fan as she swings her umbrella like a sword and blasts the boys back with a strong gust. The boys were knocked far away while Keitaro fell on his back and Ruto defended himself from the attack.
Then Shirai and Haitani ran away like the cowards they were, and Ruto helped his brother back up on his feet and said to him, "Some friends you have, Aniki..."
"Urusei (Shut up)," Keitaro groaned.
But then, Motoko pointed her umbrella at Ruto and said to him, "Little boy! It is the act of hooligans with ideals of lust to take the hearts of innocent young women and stain their unblemished skin with unclean hands! Have you no shame‽"
Ruto pointed his finger and said to the tall girl with a calm demeanor, "Sorry, onee-san. But I really do not wish to have a quarrel with you, 'ttebayo."
"Are you talking back, little man?" Motoko questioned as she struggled to push Ruto back with the pointed end, but with little avail.
"Now I have a quarrel with you," Ruto said, "But I'm afraid that we'll have to cut our meeting short, so we'll hold it off for another time."
And he carried his brother and shunshin'd to the bottom of the other side of the pass, leaving the schoolgirls surprised that the blonde middle schooler made good his escape as he said to them, "Sorry about it, girls!"
And the Urashimas left in a hurry.
Meanwhile, the fangirls resumed grouping with their idol, who is blushing for some unexplained reason. One of them asked Motoko about her face being beet red, but she just shrugged the matter off as she walked back to her residence in the Hinata-sou.
-LNH-
|At the Hinata-sou|
Keitaro and Ruto were wet from the passing shower and they removed their coats. The older brother has a bit of a head-cold after being beat up by the kendo girl. Ruto suggested to his brother to take an effervescent (something like Alka-seltzer for colds and allergies) with some water while he takes the wet articles to the laundry room, to which Keitaro obliged.
Ruto was carrying his Tachibana-style [monohoshizao] (Clothes drying pole, but with a hidden Ninjato blade for deceptive purposes; it's also reversed edged) that he inherited on his birthday from his summer school teacher to practice his skills while hauling the laundry in the hamper over. But when he noticed the laundry room was left open and then saw that same woman from earlier being butt-naked near the machines, they looked each other in the eye; Ruto dropped his basket and exclaimed, "«OH NO!» Not you again!"
And then Motoko looked away and saw that she was still naked and then made a very high-pitched scream ("Kyaiii~!") as she knocked Ruto back against the wall.
He didn't expect that Motoko wouldn't be back so soon. But right now, he's in deep trouble with a girl that is considerably taller, older, and possibly as strong as him; just as he got into a battling position and she is drawing her blade from its sheath.
-Explanation-
Both Ruto and Motoko have the license to bear arms with the blades used for training, on the condition that they don't use it for evil tendencies; so there are no bad consequences with the repercussions of the law.
-End Explanation-
"You stalked me here, didn't you, Alkaid?" Motoko questioned with a severe blush on her face.
"It was just coincidental, Dubhe-chan," Ruto explained as he parried, "Besides, we just moved here, since Hina-obaachan let me and Aniki stay. And Aniki is a bit unwell with a cold just now, 'ttébayo."
"I need not of your feeble lies!" Motoko declared as she readied her blade, "This is the women's dormitory! Prepare yourself!"
And the sword-fighters crossed blades, neither of them were willing to back down, until suddenly... Shinobu came by looking for Ruto, when they saw the residents clashing blades together and then saw the image of a beast behind him and a mystical warrior behind the woman. Ruto then immediately jumped back and sheathed his blade into the rod. Shinobu and a passerby Kitsuné wondered what was going on. Then Kaolla came by and said, "Hey, Motoko! Hee hee hee... Nice clothes, ya."
Then Naru investigated what was happening and found Motoko pointing her blade at Ruto and said to the former, "A stalker! That stalker just came in!"
"Stalker‽ That's our landlord's brother," Kitsuné said to the swordswoman.
"Keitaro's the manager, ya! Our apartment manager," Kaolla commented.
Ruto uses his middle and index finger to carefully move the sharp blade away from him and said, "We need to talk in the dining room, but first things first... Put some clothes on!"
Motoko nearly forgot that her clothes are in the dryer as she shrieks once again while she hides what's left of her modesty with her arms and hands and closes the laundry room door. And Ruto is covering his eyes with one hand and mumbles in shame, "This... is... embarrassing."
-LNH-
|At the Dining Room Table|
Everyone and the recovered Keitaro were present at the table when Motoko pounds on it with her fists and argues, "This is absolutely unacceptable!"
(Naru)» "Come on now, Motoko, Don't get so excited."
(Motoko)» "Excited‽ Who's excited about this, dammit‽ It's just that... It's outrageous for 2 young men to take residence in a women's dormitory, especially since there are children (Kaolla and Shinobu) living here!"
• • • • •
(Shinobu)» "Um, excuse me, Motoko-san? If you're worried about me, I don't mind if Ruto-kun and Urashima-senpai stay here..."
(Kitsuné)» "I don't mind, either. The landlord's going to be a successful businessman someday. I'm sure that he and Ruto-kun won't do anything stupid."
(Kaolla)» "Plus, Keitaro's a student and Ruto-kun's my classmate-ya!"
(Motoko)» "But how do you vouch for that guy just because he goes to Todai?"
(Kitsuné)» "Call it a hunch."
(Kaolla)» "Yeah, and he's Keitaro!"
(Motoko)» "I'm not convinced!"
(Kitsuné)» "Then if they do anything wrong, we'll just make them pay, okay?"
(Ruto)» "I promise that I won't do anything stupid, girls. I just hope that Aniki doesn't cross that line..."
(Keitaro)» "Make me pay‽"
(Motoko)» "Naru-senpai!"
(Naru)» "Well, what choice do we have? Nobody else wanted to be our apartment manager.
(Motoko)» "Impossible!"
(Naru)» "And besides, didn't you say that you would agree with my decision?"
Motoko has gotten herself into a corner, but when she looked at Keitaro and then at Ruto, she blushed in utter ridiculousness and then she left the table and the room, defeated.
"Man, oh man... This is gonna be trouble," Kitsuné complained about Motoko and the boys.
"Um... If we don't do something..." Shinobu worryingly stammered.
"Keitaro, ya better watch ya back!" Kaolla excitedly warned.
"If I don't know any better, I say that Motoko-senpai reminds me of my kendo teacher," Ruto remarked, "Aniki, if you try to raise Cain with her, you'll be dead meat, 'ttébayo. She is one of the daughters that came from a long line of swordmasters that live in the deep mountains of Kyoto. Her kendo skills are second to none. It's so great, they say that a good swing of their swords and boulders will be reduced into rubble without ruining their weapons! What's even more phenomenal is that the elders of her Alma Mater granted her mastership half a year ago at the tender age of 15."
"But what's that kendo witch doing here in the dorms," the ronin asked.
"Motoko Aoyama," Naru corrected, "Anyhow, she is really good with her skills, but her dad thinks that her spirit is lacking. So, she stayed here over a year ago and went to Raika High."
(Keitaro)» "Is she for real‽"
(Ruto)» "You better believe it. However, I've heard that Motoko-senpai has trouble socializing with the opposite gender. In other words, men. She says that men distract her from training. I'm beginning to think that whatever she witnessed must have made her have a dislike for men."
(Naru)» "Real or not, if you want to value your life, don't cross her the wrong way."
-LNH-
|At the Hinata-sou Roof Access|
Motoko is practicing her sword by slicing the falling leaves on the landing. Kitsuné, Keitaro, and Ruto are climbing the stairs. At first, Keitaro is turning chicken from the kendo maiden's personality. But the vixen insisted that it's the job of the landlord for the consensus among the tenants. That's when Ruto said he decided to go first to break the barrier of Motoko's heart of ice and stone. He knew that she had her pride as a front. His brother and Kitsuné reluctantly agreed.
So, just as Ruto was about to reach the top of the stairs, Motoko sensed him coming up and launch a wind attack from her blade and it connected, sending the boy flying... but then, she sees something else caught in the blast and found that a piece of a log took Ruto's place and was split cleanly in two. The real Ruto was standing on the corner side of the railing, holding his clothes-rod blade and thought to himself, ::Fate may be on my side, but that was too close, 'ttébayo.::
Motoko then declared as she pointed her blade, "You! You have some nerve coming here, Alkaid!"
"It's unfortunate that we meet like this, Dubhe-chan. However, Aniki and I simply wanted to talk with you," Ruto explained while standing on one foot on the post.
Keitaro and Kitsuné remembered those names from somewhere in Senior High and those two characters are from the Septentrions (7 stars) of the Big Dipper, Alkaid and Dubhe are on the opposite ends of the constellation and, legend has it, they spell trouble when they meet.
Then Motoko venomously replied to Ruto, "I'm not interested in talking with you. I already told your brother that I will not accept him as our apartment landlord!"
But then she starts to collapse from the unexplained blushing and he catches Motoko from falling onto her own blade. Ruto touched his opponent's forehead and said, "Oh, no! Aniki, Kitsuné-oneechan! Help me take Motoko-senpai over, she's got a fever!"
And the onlookers agreed with each other and helped carry the tall student to her bedroom, while Ruto put away the dropped blade.
-LNH-
|Later, in Room 302|
Motoko's room is rather old-fashioned, Keitaro thought to himself as he sees various decorations such as blades, lanterns, a divider, a tea set, and even a samurai's full armor on display. He left Motoko in Ruto's care.
She woke up and found that it was sunset and felt a draft in her futon and found that she was practically naked and she saw a basin full of cool water and a washcloth on her forehead. Somebody must have been taking care of her after she fainted so suddenly. That's when she heard the melodious voice of none other than... Ruto, wearing a medical mask, as he calmly said to her, "Boy, you had us worried, Motoko-senpai. We thought you didn't make it through the day after having a terrible fever."
Motoko was about to get up, Ruto then said, "Take it easy, you overworked yourself in getting into this mess."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "But can you help me up?" Her stomach growled, knowing that she didn't have her dinner yet. Thankfully, Ruto brought some leek soup and some medicine to alleviate the fever.
While Motoko was eating, Ruto asked, "Senpai, I have a question. What makes you hate men so much? Aniki and I wanted to know why you attacked us the moment we saw each other."
Wait a minute!
What you're about to read contains content that is disturbing to some readers, namely a case of a detailed flashback involving a 'citrus' moment.
Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Thank you.
Ruto pulls out a notepad and pencil to help with his client's psychology.
Motoko explained that she lived with her family in Kyoto and had lived most of her life training, trying to live up to her older sister, Tsuruko (about 13 years older than her) and her expectations.
One day, when she was little, she and her family were on their monster hunts to keep the people safe from the enemy. That's when she was encountered by a demon adamantoise. She was absolutely frightened when the monster was about to tear her apart, when her sister defeated it.
But then some years later, just as Motoko was starting to get over her fear of turtles (and her fellow allies' disappointment), she peeked in and saw that her Ané-ué (dear elder sister) is with her new husband and what happened next, really scarred her for life. She sees a 'turtle' from the man's naked body and lower region, and her disrobed elder sister was sucking and playing with the "turtle's head" and then she started putting the "turtle" between her legs and started bouncing on it and she was making strange noises that the young girl don't even understand why.
What's worse is that Motoko has this strange urgeness to herself like her hand is being possessed and reached inside her pants and started ministrating her womanhood and her developing breasts with a feeling of intense pleasure until she felt something wet and her hand is full of "Scented Motoko".
But when Tsuruko sees her curious sister watching her and her husband in a most inopportune moment, she gives off an extremely ferocious look that makes her scream as she hides her privates.
"Kyaaiiii~!"
Ruto looked at the notes and found that what Motoko had witnessed about a "turtle's head" on her brother-in-law's body must be his penis. From what happened from her wanton case of chelonaphobia is actually called something else that he read from the book about phobias and fears, he has a wild guess about if Motoko has had "The Talk" or not.
So he asked her, "Before I go any further, did your parents, sister, or even your school ever taught you about 'The Talk' or even sex education?"
Motoko blushed from the hesitation while still eating her meal.
"I'll take that as a 'NO'," Ruto remarked and shook his head, "Apparently, Senpai, you have two different fears that may have gotten you all mixed up. You see, you have a case of [Chelonaphobia]..."
"Chelona...what?" the kendo maiden interrupted as she questioned.
(Ruto)» "[Chelonaphobia], or to put it bluntly: the fear of turtles. This fear is often confused with your cases of [Phallophobia] - the fear of man's erected penis and masculinity, and [Androphobia] - the fear of men. And just to let you know, I'm a guy.
(Motoko realized that Ruto is really a boy and then she heard more of the bare facts.)
(Ruto)» "However, it's high time for you to wake up and smell the roses; one of these days, you may end up falling in love with a man and start a family like your sister had done. Also, based on what you had said, your sister had [sexual intercourse] with her lover and you have been getting lustful thoughts that made you masturbate with yourself, am I right?
That's when Motoko froze up when she heard what her 'psychologist' had just said. She had lost herself in nasty thoughts that Ruto explained with glimpses of the past and then she imagined herself in the same situation as Tsuruko, only with Ruto in the place of her sister's lover. This made the kendo maiden feel uneasy as she shivers from the draft on her back.
While Ruto calmly rubs her back, he then says, "Alright, let's change the subject for now. Remember that time over the roof access and we called ourselves the Alkaid and Dubhe, and ended up as mortal enemies, right? I don't know if it's the fault in the stars or not, but we must bury the hatchet in these rather peaceful times and we must work together for our common goals. Understand?"
Motoko Aoyama, who is not yet 16, begins to realize that her mantra to hate men is likely her problem with her spirit; in this case, it was wounded pride, until Ruto and Keitaro came along and they tried their best to get along with her, but she just had to reject their friendship. Maybe she should ask for forgiveness as soon as she gets back on her feet.
After Motoko took her medicine, Ruto took the dishes and said, "Senpai, I'll let you think it over if you want to get back to rest or not. I'll be in the onsen. That place isn't going to be clean on its own." And he left the room with disinfectants to clear the air, while Motoko lay back on the futon. She is having uneasy, yet warm feelings toward a certain person; as if she could be falling in love...
(The suspense builds...)
-LNH-
|At the Women's Onsen|
Ruto (in his swimsuit and gray T-shirt) and his doubles have just finished cleaning the onsen and re-checked the fence to make sure it's stable. He rests his feet into the hot water to rest after a hard day's work. But 2 minutes later, he hears some girls chatting in the dressing room. He thought he put down a caution sign saying, "Men at Work", telling them that he's still in the vicinity. Apparently, somebody must have taken it down and forgotten about him being in here.
The voices in the dressing room turned out to be Motoko and Kaolla, both completely naked and carrying their towels for drying. This was going to be troublesome as he tried to leave, but then Motoko spotted him and said, "You're not going anywhere, Alkaid-san, until you spend a little time with us!"
And Kaolla flirtatiously said, "Shinobu told us that you saw her naked-ya. We're here to return the favor."
Ruto sighed in resignation as he reluctantly obliged. Motoko then requested him to help wash their hair and backs and to remove his outer clothing beforehand.
Ruto secretly pointed his fingers together in embarrassment, because he's in the presence of womenfolk, knowing that he's going to regret doing this, as he disrobed himself and put a towel around his waist, just to be on the safe side.
The three students are in the showers; Motoko, with a sporty C-cup bust, is on one side, scrubbing her slender body; and Kaolla, with a growing B-cup chest, is on the other side, washing her platinum-blond hair. Naruto plus his double are washing the girls' backs, while inadvertently giving them a massage on their aching joints. Motoko felt relief from the relaxation method, while Kaolla felt rather ticklish from her best friend's fingers rubbing her body.
After they rinsed each other off, the students then took a soak in the hot water. They talk about things like their family and what they like to do with their future in the dorms. It turned out that they have one particular goal in common: Reach for the Todai Exams and succeed by passing the grade.
But then, just as Ruto was about to get out of the water, Kaolla prankishly yanked the towel off his waist and was exposed in front of them. However, what's striking is that Ruto seemed to be looking more grown-up in his manhood than Keitaro's (his wasn't that small at all); and it's circumcised. Kaolla blushed redder than she used to show on her baby-faced looks and Motoko... "Tur-tur-tur...turtle…" Well, she blacked out from what she had just seen. Ruto grabbed his towel and summoned his doubles to grab his swimsuit and carry Motoko to the bench in the dressing room, with Kaolla following them.
Keitaro ran to the dressing room and found a towel-covered Motoko cooling off from Ruto's and Kaolla's fans. His younger brother is not very happy, so he asked, "Aniki, whatever happened to the sign I put up?"
"I thought you had finished cleaning the onsen already," Keitaro answered.
Ruto, trying not to lose his cool, asked his classmate, "Kaolla-chan? Tell Motoko-senpai that I'm borrowing one of her shinai. What I'm about to do is strictly for brothers only, so don't say I didn't warn you. It's for your own good."
Kaolla curiously agreed as she took over cooling off Motoko. Ruto grabbed the shinai, just as he said and then the chase ensued, with an angry little brother not far behind, "Aniki, you slime! You fat-goose idiot! You worm! You made me get some unwanted attention, you... you... you... where's my dictionary?"
-LNH-
|When Night Falls|
The other girls are relaxing in the onsen. Kitsuné is glad that things have settled down, Naru is happy that everybody has returned back home, and Shinobu is determined to work harder from now on.
However, there's one thing still bothering them. How did Keitaro get those awful lumps on his noggin?
"Aaaaah-choo!" Keitaro is in his room studying for his next test while having an ice pack on his head. Let's just say that he deserved to pay the penalty for causing that unwanted accident by his brother, including not studying with him for a week.
And for Motoko? She's resting in her bedroom from overwork on both body and mind. She mumbles in her sleep, "I'll have you yet, Ruto Urashima… Alkaid..."
Ruto somehow replied with a sneeze of his own...
§
To be continued...-»
Omaké
Did You Ever See A Girl Falling? (A-side)
Ruto had just finished with his exercise before going to bed on his soft futon and pillow. But just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard somebody walking in from the upstairs room and down the stairs, heading towards his room. Ruto looked and much to his dismay, Motoko stumbled inside. She was mumbling in her sleep, "Al... kaid... you are... mine... ZZZ...", and she stripped off her robes, down to her panties, and then she lowered herself and hugged Ruto's face in her chest. The blond Urashima nearly had a nosebleed from the experience; he began to sweat from the fear that she wouldn't think she was doing as she unconsciously lay down on the futon, practically cheek to cheek. Then the sleepwalking Motoko moved down and started to kiss his neck and rubbed her thighs against his shorts-protected legs and she began to moan as she cried, "Please... Ané-ué... don't... don't leave... me... Help... me... ohh!"
The kid's hands were forced to touch Motoko's firm breasts and were about to move into her sweet spot, until... Ruto thought fast and carefully wrapped his arms around the sleepwalker's neck and back and kissed her on the lips to calm her down. Then he hears the words, "I love you..." from Motoko's lips. And he softly said, "Good night, Motoko."
The next day, Motoko woke up and found herself not in the room where she was supposed to be. It's too modern to be her room despite the number of ninja objects arranged in the area. Then she noticed that she was lying next to... a dummy; a Ruto-sized dummy with a note attached to it. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and reads the note:
Motoko-senpai,
I am terribly sorry about last night. I saw you walking in your sleep and Nee-san, you were moaning as if you wanted your sister and me at the same time from that nightmare, and then you muttered, "I love you."
I don't know if you're talking about her or me when you snuggled up, but that was too close for comfort when you almost did something that would make us both regret. Anyhow, I decided to let our 'closeness' wait until then.
By the way, I placed your dropped clothes next to you and the training dummy.
Again, forgive me for my transgressions. We should try to get to know each other better more often.
Signed by your kohai and downstairs roommate,
-Naruto 'Ruto' Urashima
P.S. - You should definitely try asking your parents, your elder sister, and your teacher about 'The Talk' or sex education. It's for your own good.
P.P.S. - Also, this is not a self-destructive message. No need for that, today.
"You silly boy," Motoko said to herself, "I was saying it to you... Alkaid-kun..."
Omaké
Did You Ever See A Girl Falling (B-side)
Motoko is in a terrible nightmare.
First, she dreamt of a monstrous adamantoise that was ferocious as it was meant when she was younger and felt like her clothes were torn apart by her fellow classmates in her Alma Mater. And then she sees her elder sister walking away from her with her lover, while Motoko begged her not to leave her as she felt a strange sensation deep within her body.
And then, the kendo maiden sees the past lives of the Alkaid in front of her and the past incarnations of Dubhe beside her, and then she meets a grown-up version of Ruto in front of the Alkaid group and he forgave her for every mistake and conflict from between both ends of the Septentrions. And she accepted the apology, along with the past selves shaking hands in agreement. And then she felt that her body is embracing Ruto and started to feel like they can kiss each other; mouth-to-mouth, tongue-tying and breath synchronizing together as she felt her breasts and she said to vision of Ruto, "I love you." And she fell into a dreamless state as she hears the voice saying, "Good night, Motoko."
The next day, she awoke, completely naked and lying next to a training dummy...
(After that, you can guess the rest...)
A/N: If you notice this scenario, the elements of the manga and anime scenarios are combined, without the Motoko chasing Keitaro part.
Motoko arrived at the Hinata-sou after Naru, Kitsuné, and Kaolla resided and before Shinobu came along. As explained, the kendo maiden has an unusual height that is above the average 15-16 year old Japanese schoolgirl; probably from genetics. She has issues involving turtles and accidentally saw her sister Tsuruko and her new husband during their consummation of their secret wedding night (2 years prior to the story), and the psychological fear from the past event addle-brained her line of thought; in other words, letting her feelings override her logic.
And what's even worse is that when Tsuruko left the family home, this made poor Motoko live up to her name and felt all alone in a world of bushido, mysticism, and reality. That's when her father sent her away to the Hinata-sou to try to make new friends while improving her arts. Little does the kendo woman realize, her sister and her father had future plans for her; particularly involved in being put into an arranged marriage. (But that part will be told at another place, another time.)
Also, while Motoko was away, she didn't know that Tsuruko had her first child during the spring month; a boy named Ken (Coincidental, isn't it? After the famous author of the books the mother read, no less). The child hasn't seen his aunt yet.
As for Motoko getting over her turtle troubles? Unfortunately, she may be safe from a 'nasty situation' by Ruto, but I'm afraid that she'll be falling into another 'nasty situation' in the near future.
Also, I tossed in a reference or two from Mortal Kombat X/XL, Hero Tales, Rurouni Kenshin, Final Fantasy, and Samurai Shodown/Samurai Spirits series.
Another thing in the story is that the Indra/Asura legacies are not actually used in this story, so instead, we have the Septentrional legacy (the 7 stars of the Big Dipper) for Naruto and Motoko.
Instead of the feuding battles between the two, the last group of septentrions (including the Alkaid and Dubhe), they buried the hatchet of their fighting as they evacuated the citizens from the tragic events from the Second World War (the Hiroshima bombing), but they were killed by the time the blast and its radiation. They hadn't appeared again for a number of years, that is, until Motoko and Ruto were born.
How were those two acquainted? That's another story for another time...
- blukmage19
