Author Note: Sorry for the relatively short chapter; I guess they can't all be magnum opus. *g*

v2.0

Ch 12

He had angered a god somewhere and it was now pounding on his head. That was the only explanation for this.

Keitaro was not an early riser, but once he woke up he normally had no problems staying that way, plus the quality of the sleep he got was enough that he usually felt well enough when he woke up. But now his head felt like it was being used as a taiko drum in a street festival, and his mouth felt as dry as a desert.

"Gods above and below…" Even his voice sounded horrible, coming out in a rasping croak that was barely intelligible. Keitaro tried to sit up, but had difficulty doing so; there seemed to be a weight on his chest. Looking down, he saw that there was long black hair spread out beneath his chin, and his heart almost stopped.

The girl on his chest mumbled something and tightened her grip on him. Her face was turned towards his, but her hair kept him from recognizing her. Keitaro could see that past her hair the girl appeared to be wearing a grey t-shirt… and by craning his head to see bare legs… nothing else.

'Why do these things happen to me?' Keitaro mentally asked himself. For some reason he was always falling onto girls or some other clichéd crap, as though he was some kind of amusement to the gods.

"Hmm… nii-chan… you feel so good… so warm." The voice got stronger, and more recognizable.

'Gods… Kana-chan,' Keitaro moaned silently. After his rescue of his adopted sister a couple of years ago, she had gotten rather clingy with him. It was not uncommon for him to wake up and find her on the same futon with him. It got rather awkward when he would abruptly wake up in the middle of the night to find her nude and trying to strip his shorts off. She had calmed down some by the time he had left the country, but had still occasionally snuck into his bed, scaring the hell out of him.

'At least she's kinda dressed,' He thought to himself. 'And I'm dressed, right?' Moving his hand toward his hip, he patted it and was relieved to feel his boxer shorts, and after moving his hand upwards, a t-shirt.

The movement of his arm shifted the person on top of him, and Kanako started to awaken. Smacking her lips a couple times, she gave a yawn that looked more than a little like the ones cats would do, before opening her eyes and tilting her head upwards to look at him in the face. Her dark brown eyes locked onto his own with a steady gaze, and there was no nervousness or anxiety in her expression.

"Good morning, Kana-chan," Keitaro said quietly. His voice no longer sounded like a gravel truck backing up, but it was still rather raspy.

"Good morning, nii-chan," She smiled softly before her face starting moving toward his, her intention obvious.

"Kana-chan, no one who calls me nii-chan is allowed to kiss me," Keitaro warned her. Even though they were not of the same blood, there was more than a little reluctance on his part to get involved with her like that.

"Good morning, Kei-kun," she said without missing a beat. If anything, Kanako's voice got even more sultry. Smiling slightly, her lips moved past his to press up against his cheek. Rubbing her face against his for a moment, she pulled away and locked eyes with him again. "How do you feel, nii-chan?"

"Like someone dragged me through a mile of drainage ditch." The shock of finding Kanako in his bed had cleared his head slightly, but he was feeling achy all over. "What the hell happened last night?"

"You talked to Konno-san about her rent arrears, and gave her the choice of paying them off immediately, or working for either you or Haruka. Once she found out I would be supervising her for you, she chose the teahouse." It had been rather amusing to see the fox girl's eyes go wide when she was informed that she would be under Kanako. She quickly took Haruka's offer instead. "You then bought a bottle of sake from her, and while you were drinking it, you told Haruka and I what happened in Thailand." Kanako did not know what was worse, to hear the horrors he had witnessed, or to see her brother in tears while telling the story. "I'm sorry that all happened, nii-chan, and that you had to re-live it by telling us about it."

"What's in the past should stay there, Kana-chan. I don't want to keep repeating it, obviously, but you guys needed to know."

"Nii-chan…" Kanako lowered her head, pressing her ear against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.

"Um… Kana-chan, why are you on my futon?" Keitaro sweat dropped as Kanako got comfortable on his chest with no apparent intention to leave anytime soon.

"There isn't another room for me to use, so I decided to stay here. Haruka got me a futon and everything." Kanako tilted her head to the side, and Keitaro could see that there was a futon beside his, only it looked barely slept in.

"I think she got that futon for you with the intention that you sleep on it and not on mine, Kana-chan."

"Well, I did tell her that she should not trouble herself, but she insisted. When we put you to bed, I tried to sleep but I could not. Then I got onto your futon and I fell asleep right away. My insomnia never bothers me when I'm with you." Kanako nuzzled against his chest.

"And what would have happened if you had not fallen sleep?" Keitaro knew better but he had to ask.

"I think I would have found something to do that would have tired me out enough to sleep." Kanako looked up at him and smirked.

"Uh… what time is it?" Keitaro was desperate to change the subject and looked at his wrist, but his watch was not on it.

With a slight moan, Kanako raised her head off his chest and looked over at the alarm clock. "8:17 AM."

"Breakfast is at 8:00 AM on the weekends. They must have started without us. If we hurry we can catch the tail end of it." Keitaro gently pushed on Kanako and she reluctantly rolled off him and sat up. Keitaro tried to sit up, but his head started spinning; he groaned and let himself fall back onto the futon. "On second thought, I can wait until the world stops moving. You go to breakfast, I'll go to the hot spring in a bit and clear my head there."

"I am not going to leave you in the hot spring by yourself with you this weak. You get ready for the spring, I will go tell Shinobu-chan to leave some food set aside for us and we'll eat after we are done in the spring." With a graceful roll, Kanako got to her feet and turned back to him.

"Kana-chan, where did you get that shirt?" His sister was wearing a long heather grey t-shirt with dark orange diagonal printing across the front, proclaiming in English 'Overkill Never Fails'. The shirt came to just below the top of her bare thighs.

"Well, I forgot to pack pajamas in my bag," Kanako did not look very upset with that, "so when I was getting ready to go to sleep with you," Keitaro blushed slightly, "Haruka insisted I wear more than just panties." The blush got darker. "We looked in your dresser and I got this shirt. You don't mind, do you?"

Keitaro smiled. "No. Actually, I was going to give you that shirt, it reminded me of you and your fighting style."

With a happy cry, Kanako dropped to her knees, and before he could do anything, she bent over him and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. Getting back on her feet, she turned and started moving toward the door.

"Kana-chan… you should at least wear shorts with that shirt." Keitaro was still reeling from the kiss, but he knew that a couple of the tenants would not react well to Kanako running around wearing only a t-shirt.

"OK, nii-chan…" Kanako stepped over to her duffle bag laying on the floor next to the dresser. Bending over at the waist, she started digging through it, causing her t-shirt to ride up and show the lacy black panties she was wearing. Keitaro managed not to choke, and after a few moments, Kanako pulled out a pair of green cargo shorts. Without hesitation she stepped into them and pulled them up her legs before buttoning them. Letting the t-shirt drop over them, the shorts were barely visible.

"I'll be back in five minutes, nii-chan, don't strain yourself." Kanako stepped through the door, leaving Keitaro laying on his futon wondering again what god he offended.

"So, is that a tanto in your gi or are you happy to see me, Aoyama-san?"

Motoko stiffened at the voice. She was used to being the quietest person to move around the Sou, but apparently that position had now been usurped. And by a person younger than her to boot.

The feelings of dread she had started feeling at last night's dinner had only intensified during the residents' meeting the new manager had held last night. While the manager did most of the talking, his newly appointed assistant was at his side, looking at everyone with the eyes of a hawk… or given her newly demonstrated stealth skills and coloring, a jungle cat. And at the end of the meeting, when Motoko had stood and started reaching for her sword, Kanako was the one of the three Urashima that she had felt the most hostile intent from.

Kanako stepped out of the intersecting hallway and around the front of the kendoist who had just left the kitchen, now standing still, her face forward but her eyes tracking her movements. The younger girl came to a stop in front of her, head tilted to the side as she looked her up and down before locking her gaze with Motoko, her shorts and t-shirt contrasting with the gi and hakama that the kendoist wore most of the time.

"You didn't answer my question, Aoyama-san… is that a weapon you have concealed there in your gi? Because if it is, you did a very poor job of hiding it." There was a diagonal oblong bulge in the front of Motoko's top near the beltline of the hakama, extending the white material out half an inch or so, right next to where the material overlapped in the front. "If you think you can carry a weapon concealed the same way you would openly, you are mistaken."

Kanako stepped up within touch range of the kendoist, almost close enough to feel her breathing. "And it will do you little good if someone with ill intentions can get *this* close to you." Motoko was almost half a head taller than the younger girl, but now it was though the youngest Urashima was standing over her, holding her in place, rather than standing off slightly to the side and leaning forward to speak softly in her ear.

With a slight tug, a knife appeared in Kanako's hand as she pulled it out of the front of Motoko's gi. She had not realized the Urashima's hand had slipped into the closed garment, so distracted she had been by her nearness.

Kanako took half a step back, lifting the blade up to examine it. The gleaming blade looked to be about 20 cm (8 inches) long, with a distinct hamon line. The tsuba (rounded handguard) was decorated with a delicate gold etching and while very attractive had been the reason the blade had printed against the gi and gave it's presence away. The handle of the tanto was wrapped in black sharkskin, with braided dark blue silk forming a non-slip surface above it.

"What are you doing with this? This is almost too good to carry, it should be on display." Kanako looked from the tanto to Motoko, who was looking both angry and mortified that she had been so easily disarmed.

"It is the only blade I can easily carry under my gi, everything else is too big." And it was not for a lack of trying; Motoko had spent almost half an hour this morning trying conceal a wakizashi under her gi before she gave up, it had showed through the fabric even worse than the tanto did.

"The reason you can't conceal it is because of the tsuba, it pushes the handle away from your body and against your clothes. What you need to carry is something without one, like a kaiken."

Motoko could not keep her upper lip from curling up slightly. A kaiken was a samurai era knife designed to be carried hidden in a woman's obi (kimono sash). Small and flat, it's typical length of 15 to 20 cm made it perfect for concealed carry. It was one of the items now carried by the bride in a traditional Japanese wedding. Motoko had seen one when her sister was getting ready to get married to… that male.

Feeling a poke on her sternum, Motoko looked down to see that Kanako had reversed the knife in her hand and had tapped her chest with the handle. "I am going to give you a pass this time, Aoyama-san, but do try harder to make sure your weapons can not be seen. Otherwise I might be tempted to keep whatever I get away from you."

Motoko was reaching up to take hold of the tanto when Kanako stepped up *close* to her, trapping the blade and her hand between the two of them, her face tilted up and her breath puffing up against her. "You know, when I heard about you people from nii-chan and Haru-san, I thought that it would be Narusegawa or Konno that would be giving us the most trouble. I now know that's not who I have to look out for."

Motoko tried to move back or pull her hand and tanto free, but she could not move. The dark brown eyes before her were the coldest she had ever seen, freezing her in place.

"I will tell you this, Aoyama. I love Keitaro more than life itself, and if you ever try to hurt him, you will never see me coming." Stepping back, Kanako smiled at her, but her eyes stayed ice cold. "Have a good morning, Aoyama-san." Turning, she continued down to the kitchen, leaving the kendoist standing still in a cold sweat.

"Thank you for coming this afternoon, Naru-san. You don't mind if I call you that, right?"

Naru shook her head. Dressed in sweats as she had been instructed, she was standing on the rear lawn of the Sou, facing Keitaro and Kanako, who were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

"Starting today, we are going to start you in some basic exercises in Tai Chi. This will benefit you in helping to control both your temper and overall all stress in life." Keitaro was standing at ease in front of Naru while he spoke, while Kanako stood to his left, also relaxed, but still keeping her eyes moving scanning the area around them.

"Right now we are going to start with the breathing exercises, as that will benefit you a great deal with your temper. First off, I need to tell you have been breathing wrong for most of your life." Naru looked in askance at Keitaro, who gave a short laugh. "What I mean is you breathe with your chest and lungs rather than with your diaphragm. So we are going to stand here teaching you how to breathe correctly, then do some stretches, then walk you through a basic kata. We are not expecting you to learn this quickly, as most physical habits engrained in people take a while to unlearn, but hey, the journey of a thousand miles start with a single step." Keitaro smiled at Naru, who cautiously smiled back. "You are going to watch me do everything I am showing you, and Kanako will be next to you to do any corrections that are needed, OK?" Naru nodded.

"First, stand with your feet shoulder width apart, hands at your sides, head and back straight." Naru assumed the instructed position, with Kanako standing close by her side facing her.

"Slowly take a breath through your nose, not so loud that it can be heard by others. Fill your lungs completely, but not straining them, and hold it for four seconds, then slowly let the breath out through your mouth. Go ahead and do it now." Naru started to breathe, and with some adjustments was doing it the way that Keitaro wanted. After about ten minutes, Naru was calmer than Keitaro had ever seen her.

While Keitaro and Naru were doing this, Kanako was able to keep an eye on her surroundings. This was why when Keitaro was starting Naru on the stretching exercises, she was able to see the figure standing at a window watching them. At the distance they were at, she could not see the face clearly, but she could see that they were wearing a white top and had long black hair. Kanako stared at the window for a few moments before the figure stepped away. She continued helping her brother, her eyes returning to the windows every few minutes, but the figure never returned.