The Gun & The Sword
Chapter III: A Trip to Hokkaido; Part 1
Keiranto woke with a yawn, it was half past four in the morning and, while used to being an early riser, had tossed and turned all night, worrying about the day ahead. True, he was overjoyed that Motoko had agreed to go to Hokkaido with him, but he was worried that he would mess up in some way and offend her. He pulled on trousers, a t-shirt and an oily old jacket he liked to wear when he went out. He went downstairs, picking up his katanas on his way, had some breakfast and then jogged out the front door. He warmed up with a quick five mile run around Hinata town and then went out the back of the inn, stripped off his T-shirt and jacket, and practiced his katas. After about half an hour, at around a quarter past six, he was aware of a person standing, watching him. They may have been there for longer, he did not know. He spun round and saw Motoko observing his technique with an impressed smile on her face.
Motoko hade woken up at about quarter to six, and had gone downstairs to get something to eat. As she was clearing away, she had heard a noise she recognised well, the sound of metal on wood, or more precisely, someone practising with a katana. She had quietly moved out of the house and gone to investigate. What she saw nearly made her faint with shock and pleasure. She watched Keiranto for the next fifteen minutes, admiring the way the muscles in his back rippled on his glistening skin as he moved his sword. Then, he suddenly spun round and faced her.
Motoko's heart caught in her mouth. Had he seen her watching all that time? She was relieved when he said, "ahh, there you are Motoko, are you ready?"
"Hai", she replied.
"Good," he said, "just give me five minutes to clean off and we'll be off."
Motoko had not given much thought until then as to how they were actually going to get to Hokkaido, and pondered on it while she waited for Keiranto. She was stopping slightly short of expecting him to whisk her off her feet and fly there like superman but suspected he had some trick up his sleeve and they wouldn't be taking the train.
Keiranto came back into view from behind the Hinata house wheeling his motorbike and carrying two crash helmets in his arms. Motoko was a little apprehensive, having never ridden on a motorbike before, but then remembered that she would be sitting behind Keiranto, holding on to him, and couldn't stop herself smiling at the thought. Keiranto tossed her a helmet. "Right, put this on," he said. "There is an intercom between the two helmets so if you want to say anything to me, just say it. There is also a radio and music player built in, the controls are voice activated. OK, have you ever ridden on a motorbike before?" Motoko shook her head. "Right then, the basic thing you do is to sit astride this seat here, put your arms around my waist and hold on, OK?" She nodded.
"Right, let's go!" He said, and climbed onto the bike. Motoko sat down behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Once he had checked she was properly secure, he gunned the engine and sped off into the sunrise.