"This sushi is great!" Chiaki gushed to Kawamura who scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Thanks."

"Your sushi making skills have gotten better." Syuusuke smiled at his friend.

"It's definitely better than Genta's." Ryuunosuke intoned.

"Who?" Kawamura blinked.

"We have a friend who is also a sushi seller. For some reason the others think it's plain." Kotoha explained.

"It is plain, nothing special about it." Ryuunosuke jabbed an egg roll at her.

"Yet, you always followed us when we ate at his cart." Chiaki snarked.

"Why you-!"

"Can you tell me who this person is? I want to meet him and see how his sushi is." Kawamura wisely asked Kotoha since experience with Seigaku's own rival pair told him that asking them would yield more headaches than answers.

"Sorry, but he's in Paris right now. He said he wanted to try to sell his sushi there."

"Paris?" A gobsmacked Kawamura repeated.

"He's weird like that." Chiaki said when he broke free of Ryuunosuke's headlock.

"Right…" Kawamura shifted then stood up with a smile. "Well, enjoy your meal. Do call me if you need anything else."

"Will do." Syuusuke waved with his chopsticks. The group enjoyed their meal while chatting about their highschool tennis tournaments and the Shinkengers' past battles without actually stating that they are battles.

"So, what is the Mochi glue incident you mentioned earlier?" Syuusuke asked Kotoha.

Ryuunouske and Chiaki yelped at the mention of that incident. Kotoha merely giggled and gladly told him. "There was one time Ryuu-san and Chiaki got mochi like handcuffs tying both hands to each other. It was difficult for them to fight at first since they couldn't get in sync. But they still managed and defeated, ah, the one who handcuffed them together, to get free. Ever since then, the two of them have been synchronizing their movements and actions."

"We do not."

"That is absurd." Chiaki and Ryuunosuke scowled and each dipped a piece of sushi in the soy sauce before gulping it down.

Yumiko and Yuuta had to cover their mouths or they would spew out their food from laughing. Kotoha turned away to stifle her giggles and Syuusuke merely smiled.

"What?"

"What's so funny?"

"Hm, maybe we can get in sync if we are handcuffed together." Syuusuke teased his brother who groaned and buried his face in his hands. Why must he get these ideas?

"Try them on Momoshiro and Kaidou first, then see if they get in sync." He muttered.

"Hm, that's not a bad idea." Syuusuke mused. Suddenly, Yuuta was very glad he still stayed at St. Rudolph's domatries.

"Do you guys have any tennis matches coming up? My father and I are staying in Tokyo a little longer so I can come by to watch." Ryuunosuke asked.

"Yuuta's team has a practice match against Yamabuki at the public arena courts this coming Monday. My team will be up against Hyotei for the regional semi-finals the day after tomorrow." Syuusuke recounted. Then he smiled at Chiaki and Kotoha. "Do you guys want to watch too?"

"I'm planning only to stay the weekend then go back to Kyoto so I'll only be able to watch your match. Sorry for not being able to watch yours, Yuuta-kun." Kotoha said regretfully.

"Ah, it's fine." Yuuta shook his head though inwardly he was despairing that the girl won't be coming to watch his match.

Syuusuke and Ryuunosuke shot him matching knowing looks and amused smiles, making him fluster.

"You're going to bombard my phone again unless I agree to come, aren't you?" Chiaki sighed at the water samurai.

"Yup." Ryuunosuke flashed a beaming smile, making Chiaki throw his hands up in exasperation.

"Fine, I'll try to make it, but I have midterms next week so don't blame me if I can't come at the last minute."

Ryuunosuke's beaming smile told him he would find a way to get Chiaki to come, one way or another.

Once they ate and the two working adults paid for their meal, they made their way to the carnival with Syuusuke leading them again.

"Man, I'm so full!" Chiaki cried in delight as he stretched his arms overhead.

"I'm not surprised. You did eat a lot." Kotoha smiled teasingly.

Chiaki pouted but poked her tummy with a playful look. "So did you."

Kotoha squealed and ducked behind Yuuta who was closest. The other teen yelped as Kotoha used him to shield her from Chiaki's tickle attack.

"Chiaki, stop teasing Kotoha." Ryuunosuke chided the younger man and pulled him away from Kotoha and Yuuta to walk beside him.

Chiaki huffed and opened his mouth to argue with the water samurai. But Ryuunosuke anticipated this and held up a bag of donuts he snagged along the way to the restaurant. Chiaki eyed it then at him suspiciously. Ryuunosuke merely grinned.

"Consider this a thanks for showing up at my performance tonight."

Chiaki slowly took the bag and a smirk showed up on his face. "Maybe I should come to your performances more often for donuts."

"Harhar, you wish."

"Sorry about that." Kotoha apologized to Yuuta, releasing him when she realized what she did.

"It's...fine." Yuuta rubbed the back of his head. Under normal circumstances, he would get annoyed. But Kotoha has been nothing but sweet to him...and his siblings. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. No wonder Ryuunosuke and Chiaki were protective of her.

"Hm, could you tell me a bit more about tennis? I never played it before but Ryuu-san said you are a regular on your team."

Yuuta ducked his head. He didn't think Kotoha would ask him when she could ask his older brother since he was less approachable. "Um, sure."

Syuusuke glanced back at his brother and smiled. He nudged his sister to get her attention. "Seems like Kotoha-chan and Yuuta are getting along."

Yumiko glanced back and smiled as well. "That's nice. Kotoha-chan is a kind, gentle girl, according to Ryuu-chan. But…" Her smile faded.

Syuusuke's eyes slid open. "But?"

"She is from one of the Samurai clans. They have their own way of handling things, including their relationships. Yuuta might be disappointed down the road." Yumiko said quietly.

Understanding dawned on Syuusuke. The marriages in the clans were controlled strictly to ensure that the next generation can produce strong water mojikara users, or at least that's what he knew about the Ikenami clan. It could be different in the other clans but the possibility is there. It's likely Kotoha doesn't realize this either considering how young she is.

Glancing back at his brother, he sincerely hoped it was not the case with the Hanaori clan. He could tell Yuuta's crush was not a fleeting thing. And his brother rarely liked girls. They either got close to him for being the brother of Fuji Syuusuke or stayed away as they were intimidated by him. Kotoha was neither of those. He could ask Ryuunosuke later but all the same, he dread knowing the answer.

At the carnival, the group had a fun time trying out the games and food, despite the big dinner they had. Ryuunosuke naturally excelled in the shooting games. No surprise there since his weapon was the bow and arrow. Not one to back down to the challenge, Chiaki tried out the ball toss games…only to find himself poorer 1000 yen and no prize.

Syuusuke chuckled behind his hand as Ryuunosuke gifted his prize, which was a plush rabbit, to Yumiko and ducked out of the way of Chiaki's swat.

"They remind me of you and Yuuta-kun." Yumiko said quietly to him as they watched Chiaki chase Ryuunosuke while Kotoha watched them with fond exasperation.

"Hm?" Syuusuke tilted his head at his sister, his ever friendly smile and closed eyes frozen on his face.

"You and Yuuta used to play around like that. You two were very close like them." Yumiko clarified. Though, the look she gave him told him she knew he was playing dumb. "I know you two got past a lot of your problems. But there always seems to be a wall between the two of you."

Syuusuke's smile remained on his face for a few seconds, then slid off, eyes opening slightly. "When I started playing seriously in tennis and giving it my all, something shifted in Yuuta. He wants to become stronger. But the process is hindered by the fact he is trapped by his past self, the one who hated being Fuji Syuusuke's brother. I think he still feels insecure about himself."

Yumiko gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure that Yuuta-kun will understand that you see the strong tennis player that he is one day."

"I hope so too." Syuusuke let out a small exhale.

Yuuta resisted the urge to scowl as he knew his older siblings were talking about him. Ryuunosuke and Chiaki had gone ahead too, leaving him with Kotoha.

"So Yuuta-kun, can we try out that game?" She pointed at the ring toss booth.

"Sure." Yuuta shrugged. They might as well since his siblings seemed to be in deep conversation and Ryuunosuke and Chiaki were nowhere to be found.

They handed the tickets to the booth attendant and each got ten rings. Yuuta soon noticed that Kotoha had an unusual way of throwing that added a lot of spin to the rings and made it difficult for them to land on a bottle neck.

"If you put any spin on the rings, it'll be difficult for the rings to land in the bottle necks." He told her, demonstrating an ordinary toss that landed the ring perfectly on a bottle.

Kotoha blinked in amazement then turned sheepish. "Thanks. I throw my Land Slicer like this. That's why my throws have a lot of spin. Your aim is pretty good too. I don't think I would be able to do that even if I threw my rings properly."

"Thanks." Yuuta ducked his head sheepishly.

They continued to toss the rings and by the end of it, Yuuta won a small plush teddy bear while Kotoha managed to get one ring in and got a frog keychain in exchange.

Yuuta eyed the keychain enviously. It was a lot less embarrassing to carry around, unlike the teddy bear. Kotoha noticed this and mistakenly thought he liked the keychain.

"Yuuta-kun, you can have this if you want." She extended the keychain to him.

"Huh-? I don't-!" Yuuta sputtered.

"It's fine. I'm not fond of frogs actually." Kotoha smiled sweetly.

Yuuta could not deny her smile and speechlessly accepted the keychain. He then remembered the teddy bear and gave it to her. "Here, you can take this. Call it a fair trade."

Kotoha's smile was not flashy or megawatt, but it made her face shine in a way that made Yuuta warm and fuzzy on the inside. "Thank you, Yuuta-kun."

"I'm going to get him-!"

"Chiaki!" Ryuunosuke yanked the wood samurai back behind a gabozo. He gave the wood samurai a stern glare. "Leave Yuuta and Kotoha alone."

"You're kidding me. It's Kotoha he's fawning over." Chiaki hissed. "Are you stopping me because he's your cousin?"

"Chiaki, I trust Yuuta to not do anything inappropriate. And Kotoha can take care of herself."

The wood samurai threw him a disbelieving look. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time Kotoha had to take care of the guy who wouldn't leave her alone? She wouldn't stop apologizing to him when she had to dislocate his shoulder, rightfully so, to stop him from touching her."

Ryuunosuke grimaced at the memory. Kotoha's show of strength was marred by her apologies and didn't scare the guy away from her. He only left her alone after Takeru casually took out his Shinkenmaru and asked for him to fight him if he wanted to go after Kotoha. And Kotoha felt very bad for hurting the guy even if he deserved it.

"You have a point, but still, I trust Yuuta." Ryuunosuke placed a hand on Chiaki's shoulder and steered him to the yakisoba booth. "Let Kotoha have some fun without us hovering over her shoulder all the time."

Chiaki scowled but allowed his friend to sit him down at a table and order food for them. As much as he hated to admit it, Ryuunosuke had a point. Kotoha needed space to grow her confidence.

The two youngest samurai always had each other's backs no matter how tough the battle got. And Chiaki came to see Kotoha as the younger sister he never had. So excuse him if he's protective of her. But at the same time, getting overprotective might be more harmful to her. She would never tell him to back off because she cared too much for him. But that will also leave her hurt in the long run.

So reluctantly, Chiaki remained with Ryuunosuke at the table while Yuuta and Kotoha played more arcade games. And Shuusuke and Yumiko wandered to another part of the carnival to give the two youngest some privacy.

The Shinkengers are protective of Kotoha not because they don't think that she can defend herself. If pushed too hard, Kotoha can fight, physically and verbally, against bullies and harassers. But she will feel very bad about it for a long time afterwards.