Ch 15

"Kitsune-semapi, could you get the tea please?"

Picking up the steaming tea kettle, Mitsune Konno carried it to the dining room table. If someone had told the fox girl a month before that she would be doing domestic duties at the Hinata-sou and happy to do so, she would have thought they were out of their mind. A lot had changed in that month however, ever since the arrival of the new manager and his sister.

Being faced with the possibility of being evicted had certainly gotten her attention. Kitsune had gotten through her life by either scamming some unwitting soul or by bailing out when the heat got too much. That had changed when she left her uncle's house and she had no other place to go. Going through her mental Rolodex had brought her to the dorm of the only person she had left to call a debt on, Naru Narusegawa.

Naru and Kitsune had been good friends through high school, but that was not what the debt was for. One day on the train home to school, a pervert had managed to corner the fuku clad girl and was groping her, hidden by the crowd. Only the gods knew how far he would have gone with the terrified girl if Kitsune had not jumped in, hitting him over the head with her schoolbag and screaming 'pervert' at the top of her lungs. The pervert managed to escape once the train pulled into the station, and Kitsune had to drag the sobbing girl off the carriage, past all the bystanders who avoided their eyes, having seen the assault in progress yet doing nothing to stop it.

That day had badly affected Naru's life. Not only did she suddenly start seeing all men as perverts and potential assaulters, what little help she had received from their tutor Noriyasu Seta only compounded it. He had taught her some fighting techniques, just enough to make her dangerous, and right after Naru had developed a massive crush on him he disappeared from their lives. Naru never really recovered after that, since she refused to talk to anyone about the assault and mental counseling was looked down upon in Japan.

Kitsune almost did not recognize Naru when she first saw her at the Sou. Wearing horn-rimmed glasses, braids, and concealing clothing, Naru looked little like she did back in high school. She was glad to see Kitsune however, and once she had explained her situation to her and asked to stay a day or two, she agreed and took her to meet Granny Hina.

That meeting had been a trip and a half. Once Kitsune had met the eyes of the short elderly owner of the Sou, she knew that this was one person she would not be able to scam, deceive, or trick. The most she had been able to do is tell her the truth… not all the truth, mind you, but without the things that made her really look bad, like scamming guys for drinks at bars, or walking the check at restaurants.

Still, Granny Hina had given her a chance, and let her move into the Sou, without the rental deposit up front, on the condition that she pay additional with each rent payment to eventually cover it. That additional payment, plus her natural tendency to not work hard (or at all) unless she had to, was what had resulted in the rent arrears when the new manager and his sister had arrived.

When Kitsune had first met Keitaro, she naturally assumed that the geeky looking young man was someone she would be able to work her feminine wiles on. And it had gotten close that morning in the kitchen, but for some reason he had been able to step away from her approaching kiss.

The new manager's attitude did not improve her self-confidence when he had done the room inspection the following day. By the end of it she had been relieved that he had decided to give her a chance. Although she had been zinged twice with the new rules that the new manager had announced, Kitsune had discovered that they were workable. And that was literal, as she had to work a part-time job with Haruka in order to start paying toward her rent arrears.

The first few days at the teahouse had not been pleasant, as Haruka was a stickler to keeping the place clean, due to Health and Safety codes they had to meet. Those first four hours with a scrub pad and a bucket of hot soapy water had easily topped any amount of cleaning she had ever done in her life. And while Haruka was not literally watching her every moment, it felt like it sometimes. Any time that she thought she had could slack off for a few minutes, Haruka would appear behind her and startle her, usually telling her to go and clean the restrooms again. The one time the fox girl had whined at the instruction, Haruka mentioned that her other option was to work for Kanako. Kitsune had taken off running after that.

As intimidating as Keitaro and Haruka could get, they were nothing compared to the younger sister. Kanako Urashima had an intense personality that was at odds with her appearance. She was actually a little shorter than Kitsune, and more slender, but she gave the impression of being larger than she actually was, or at least more of a possible threat. Even with her tendency to dress in Gothic Lolita clothes, it was as though there was a great cat under her skin, poised to leap out and destroy whatever she considered a threat. And having seen her practice martial arts with her brother, Kitsune knew she could do it, and there would be little she could do to stop her; in fact, it would probably take a trained martial artist to stop her once she got going. Once the fox girl realized how protective Kanako was of her brother, she had tossed out any plan or ideas on getting closer to Keitaro, deciding it was not worth the literal physical risk involved.

But now that Kitsune had been working at the teahouse for a while, it was becoming easier for her. As she got the tasks down, she was able to let her mind wander as her hands did the work. It actually helped with her writing, as listening to the customers would give her ideas for her own work.

Setting the kettle on the table, Kitsune was about to return to the kitchen to help Shinobu carry out the rest of the food when she heard the telephone out in the hallway intersection ring. Brushing her hands against the apron she was wearing, Kitsune walked over to answer it, as there was no one else on the first floor right now besides herself and Shinobu in the kitchen.

"Moshi-moshi, Hinata-sou," Kitsune said into the receiver after picking it up.

"Kitsune, it's Haruka," came the voice of her erstwhile boss. "I'm just calling to let you know that Keitaro, Naru, and I won't be able to make it to dinner tonight."

"Why, what happened Haruka-san?" Kitsune sounded concerned as she straightened up.

"Naru was assaulted on the train, it was pretty bad. I can't tell you the details now, but Naru's OK. Keitaro and I are at the police station, he's being interviewed right now."

"Why is Keitaro being interviewed by the cops? He was involved?" asked the fox grl, surprised to hear that .

"You could say that. He was on the same train car when he saw two yankis take Naru off the car and managed to stop them. He kicked the crap out of them, and it was justifiable, but Keitaro did a lot of damage to the bastards, so they have to go through the motions. As soon as the paperwork is done, we're gonna come home, but we won't make dinner."

"But Naru is fine?" Kitsune would just image how her friend would react to an assault similar to the one that had so traumatized her.

"Physically, at least. She kinda broke down for a while, but she seems better now. It helps that she saw Keitaro beat the bastards down. Those two are at the hospital ward of the Tokyo Detention Center, and they're not getting out anytime soon. It looks like they may be involved in some unsolved crimes the cops have on the books, that's the other reason the cops are cutting Keitaro slack, he just closed a few cases for them."

"Well, as long as Naru is OK. How long before you all get home?"

"From what I can tell, maybe a couple of hours from now. The cops will have the statements from both Naru and Keitaro done by then. We'll probably take a cab home."

"I'll tell Shinobu to set some of the food aside. What do you want me to tell them about why you aren't here?"

"Just that there was an incident on the train, Keitaro called me to come help with Naru, and that we're all OK. I don't want you to tell them what happened until we're all there. That includes Kanako if she's gotten home already. "

"Yeah, don't think the kiddies would take it very well. And if Assistant Manager-san found out about it she's storm the police station to get her big brother out."

"Last thing we want is Kana-chan doing a Dynamic Entry through a cinder-block wall. Look, I've got to get going, Naru looks like she's about to fall asleep sitting up. We'll see you in a while."

"Later, Haruka-san." Kitsune slowly hung up the phone and walked back to the kitchen, not noticing that Motoko had been standing around the corner of the intersecting hallway and had been listening to Kitsune's side of the conversation, an angry look on her face.

"We're finally here, Naru-san, wake up." Haruka shook the shoulder of the dozing teen who was leaning up against her.

Today had not been one of her better days, and this was with her not even being involved in the fun and games. She had been working at the teahouse when she got that phone call no one was ever happy to get - Keitaro and Naru were at the prefecture police station, and they needed her to come on down. In fact, she was lucky that she even received the phone call, as people in Japanese police custody could be held for 48 hours before being allowed to call for family members or a lawyer. It was the fact that the victim in the attempted kidnap lived at the same location as the guy they were questioning and she was loudly proclaiming that he had saved her from the moaning and bleeding thugs on the ground that got him some slack. The family name of Urashima did not hurt either.

Once Haruka had gotten to the station and talked to the investigating detective, a former classmate of hers from high school, it became clear what had happened on the train and on the platform, especially after they pulled the surveillance camera footage. However, one of the officers had a bug up his butt about the amount of force Keitaro had used to drop the bastards, and was giving her nephew a hard time until his supervisor pulled him aside and set him straight. After that, they just had to wait for the prosecutor to show up so that Keitaro and Naru could go over their sworn statements before they were released at 9:30 PM, more than four hours after Haruka had gotten there.

The trams had pretty much shut down after 9:00 PM, so they did wind up having to take a taxi to the Sou, but that was something of a mixed blessing, as Naru was too tired to be walking up the steps in the front, but the cost of a cab was such that it almost looked like a car payment.

Looking past the yawning and blinking girl beside her, Haruka looked over at Keitaro, who was looking out the window with a emotionless expression on his face. She did not know quite what to think about he had done that day. He was absolutely justified in rescuing Naru from the two thugs, and the level of force he had used was legal, even if not for family viewing. But given all that had happened to him in the last couple years, it was something that he did not need to occur. Sometimes Haruka wondered if her nephew had been cursed to live though interesting times.

Keitaro blinked as the taxi came to a halt. Seeing that they were at the rear entrance of the Sou, he looked over and saw that Naru was waking up and Haruka was opening the door on her side. Getting out on his side, Keitaro started to dig in his pockets.

"Go ahead, Haru-chan, I'll pay the driver." Keitaro slung his knapsack over one shoulder as he started to count out bills, mentally wincing. Even for a 8 km trip, this little jaunt cost almost as much as an intercity train ticket.

After handing the bills to the driver and watching him drive off, Keitaro turned and started walking for the back door. He could see the two females up ahead of him, Naru with her arm over Haruka's shoulders. But something seemed off, something that was starting to cause the hair on the back of his neck to start to stand up.

After a moment, he figured it out. The outdoor light at the back door was off. Which should not be the case, as he had installed a motion sensor on the light fixture for times like this. Yet it seemed like that light was not working.

Haruka got to the door, and after a few moments of fiddling with the lock, pushed it open. As she and Naru stepped through the door, the outdoor light came on a moment later, illuminating the walkway, and a shadowed figure standing under a tree who started toward him.

"So you finally show your true colors…" Motoko Aoyama appeared out of the shadows. "And yet you manage to talk your way out of police custody. Well, you won't escape my punishment!" Drawing her bokken from her belt, she swung full force at Keitaro, who started to move away as soon as her draw started.

"What the hell, Aoyama!" Keitaro would have said more, but he was kind of busy dodging the enraged kendoist.

"Just stand still and take your punishment like the perverted letch you are!" Motoko regained her footing after a rapid double slash that barely missed connecting with Keitaro's chest. She was winding up for another attack when suddenly another figure literally leapt out of the shadows in a flying kick, her slippered foot connecting with the swordwoman's head and instantly dropping her

"Nii-chan! Are you all right?" Kanako had landed in a crouch beside the fallen kendoist, and after a quick glance to make sure she was knocked out, looked over at her brother.

"I'm fine, Kana-chan." Keitaro was breathing heavily as the adrenaline rush got to him. "What are you doing here, and dressed like that?" Kanako was wearing a black tank top, black silky running shorts, and ballet type slippers.

"I was studying in my room when I felt a massive hostile chi spike. I came to see what caused it when I saw Aoyama attacking you, so I took her out."

"Is she OK?" Keitaro asked as he looked past his sister and at his aunt, who had come running out of the house at the sound of the fight, and was now on one knee examining Motoko.

"Looks like it." Haruka looked up at the siblings. "What the hell set her off?"

"She was yelling about me getting out of police custody and that I wasn't going to get away from her punishment. What the hell, she thought that *I* did something on the train?" Keitaro asked incredulously.

"Looks like it. I told Kitsune not to mention it to anyone, but Motoko must have found out anyway." Haruka came to her feet.

"What happened? On what train?" Kanako looked from Haruka to Keitaro, storm clouds forming on her face.

Keitaro sighed. Of all the ways to tell his hot-tempered sister, this was nowhere near the top of the list. "Look, let's get Aoyama inside, and I'll tell you everything that happened, OK?"

Kanako gave a reluctant nod, and reached down and grabbed Motoko under her arms. Haruka took hold of her feet and the two started carrying the unconscious kendoist inside the house, Keitaro picking up the dropped bokken and following behind them.

The first thing that Motoko felt was something cold on her forehead; cold and wet. After a few moments of wondering about the oddity, Motoko was make aware of something else, a low throbbing headache. Which would explain the cold feeling on her head, it was very probably a cold towel compress, one of the ways she would deal with the malady. But try as she might, Motoko could not remember how it was that she got her headache, or remember how she came to be laying down somewhere with a wet cloth on her head.

Opening her eyes, Motoko was forced to blink at the light in the room. The curtains covering the window were open, and even though sunlight was not directly touching her, the reflections off the walls and floor was enough to make her squint.

After a few moments to let her eyes get used to the ambient light in the room, Motoko was finally able to open her eyes and look down at herself and around the room a bit. She blinked repeatedly as she saw that she was laying on a futon in what appeared to be an undecorated room. Even as plain as her room was, there was still various items scattered throughout it. This room looked more like an unoccupied guest room than her own.

Seeing nothing of interest beyond her feet, she looked to the left and saw nothing besides a wooden dresser and a black suitcase against the wall. Motoko then looked to the right and almost violently flinched back.

"Good Morning, Motoko-chan." Tsuruko Aoyama greeted her. Her older sister was kneeling on a folded blanket next to her futon, sitting in perfect seiza without any appearance of discomfort. Dressed in a black business jacket, white blouse, and black pencil skirt, the former heir to the Aoyama clan looked more like a office lady than a master swordswoman. Even her long straight black hair and the widow's peak that formed out of the even fringe that crossed her forehead lent itself to this image. However, the dark brown eyes in that classically beautiful porcelain face were still as piercing as before.

"A-A-Aneue! What are you doing here!" Motoko was more than a little spooked by the appearance of her elder sister. Even though they spoke to each other occasionally on the telephone, they had not seen each other in person for more than a year, when Motoko had gone home for a brief visit. Even when on school vacation, Motoko preferred to stay at the Hinata-sou rather than return to the family compound.

"I was on my way to Tokyo on the train on business when I received a phone call from home. It seems that the management of the Hinata-sou had called to inform the family that there had been a major altercation here, and if possible someone should come as soon as possible to assist you in what is to come. Mother called me and asked that I come here and find out what happened."

"Altercation?" Motoko's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. "Urashima! What lies has that honorless bastard spread!"

Motoko's head fell over and away from her sister, then an abrupt burning pain shot through her cheek. Wide-eyed, Motoko turned back to her sister, who was slowly pulling her hand back to her side after slapping her. She had not hit her with anywhere near her full strength, but the speed and shock of the hit was enough to silence her.

"I would advise you to keep a civil tongue in your head, sister. You are in enough trouble as it is without disrespecting the head of the house you are a guest in! Now, tell me what happened last night that resulted in you attacking Urashima-san." Tsuruko scowled down at her.

Motoko mentally fumbled for a moment before starting to speak. "I was on my way to the dining room for dinner when I heard the phone ring and Konno-san answer it. I overheard her say that Narusegawa-san had been assaulted on the train on the way home from school, and that that bas…" Seeing Tsuruko's eyes narrow, Motoko corrected herself. "…Urashima was in police custody being questioned. I understood that to mean that he had forced himself upon her on the train and that he had been arrested for it. I was waiting to speak to Narusegawa-san once she had returned from the police station when I saw that that… male… was there as well. I took that to mean that for some reason the police had released him and that he had escaped justice. I grew so angry that I drew my bokken to punish him for his misdeeds. That… male… dodged the first couple of attacks, but as I was about to increase my attacks, something hit my head with great force, and presumably knocked me out. That is all I remember."

Tsuruko looked down at her for a long moment before shaking her head in dismay. "You did not hear the full conversation on the telephone, did you, my foolish sister?"

Motoko had a sinking feeling start to form in the pit of her stomach. "No, I did not, but what I heard was sufficient."

"No, it was nowhere near sufficient." Tsuruko looked at her in the eyes. "You went and attacked an blameless man for no good reason, and now you will pay the price for it."

"Blameless! The man was in police custody, how can he be innocent!" Motoko's voice rose in disbelief.

Tsuruko's voice stayed low, but had the razored edge of a katana. "The reason that Urashima-san was being questioned by the police, and not in police custody, was because he had seen two armed men accost and kidnap Narusegawa-san from the train with the intent to rape her. He managed to intercept them on the train platform and disable both of them, with the one who was actually holding a weapon on Narusegawa-san sustaining massive damage to his arm and knees. It was because he and Narusegawa-san had to give sworn testimony to the police that they were delayed in being released.. Urashima-san was judged to have been acting within the law when he rescued Naruasegawa-san from those two criminals, who it appears have been involved in several previously unsolved assaults and rapes. You attacked a blameless man while accusing him of the very misdeeds he had saved another from being a victim of!" Tsuruko's voice finally rose slightly, but was still as cutting as before.

Motoko lay there in shock, the words of her sister sinking into her mind and wrapping around her heart like barbed wire. She had attacked someone without legitimate reason, and was now facing the anger of her feared older sister and… wait a moment…

"What price? You said that I had to pay the price?" Motoko asked her sister, dread creeping up in her voice.

Tsuruko looked at Motoko with no expression on her face as she spoke. "Due to the fact that you attacked the manager of this house for no rightful reason, you violated the rules that are a condition of residency. I was called here because you are still a minor and the Urashima are now starting the eviction process to remove you from the Hinata-sou."