A/N – Sorry for the delay in posting this. I hit writer's block doing this chapter since I was having people do illogical things while they were thinking they were acting logically. After some FB from the pre-readers at TFF, I was able to get the chapter done . So thanks to all the FB'er at TFF, and especially to my pal AZ, who is an expert on writing logical people doing illogical things.
Ch 18
V 1.0
Previously on Contract Labor…
As Motoko slowly dropped to her knees on the mat, her eyes went from one Urashima to the other. They were not dressed in modern clothes, instead they were wearing traditional clothing. Haruka was wearing a dark grey kimono with a dull white snow pattern and a cream under-robe, while Kanako was wearing a black haori coat with the Urashima family crest on the left breast over a cream under-robe and black hakama. She could see a bokken laying on the mat beside her.
But it was Keitaro that drew her attention. He was wearing a black hakama with a dark blue haori, with a kataginu, a sleeveless black jacket with exaggerated shoulders and dual Urashima crests on the front, looking exactly like a samurai retainer in the Shogun's court, except for the fact that he was wearing eyeglasses and had a modern hair cut. All three Urashima were sitting in a row, with Keitaro in the center and slightly higher on the mats that were piled under him, Haruka on his right, and Kanako on his left.
"Good afternoon, Tsuruko-san, Motoko-san. Please don't call me 'sama', I am not the head of the clan yet." The slight smile on Keitaro's face turned into a serious expression. "This disciplinary meeting at the Hinata-sou will now begin."
After a long moment Keitaro continued speaking. "Just to make things official, I would like to introduce those assisting me and what their roles are in this meeting. On my right is my aunt Haruka Urashima, and she is acting in the role of family advisor. On my left is my sister Kanako Urashima, and she is acting the role of assistant manager of the dorm and hatamoro." Here Motoko stiffened slightly and Tsuruko nodded slightly; the role of hatamoro meant that Kanako was essentially acting as a trusted bodyguard to Keitaro, which explained the bokken laying on the mat beside her. "And as you know I am Keitaro Urashima, designated clan heir of the Urashima family and the manager of the Hinata-sou dorm. We make up the executive committee of the dorm, and it will be our decision on what if any action will be taken by for disciplinary violations. This decision will be made by majority vote of the committee."
Keitaro now focused his attention on the younger Aoyama sister. "This meeting has been called because there has been a major violation of the Hinata-sou dorm rules by Motoko Aoyama, specifically the rule prohibiting the use of force against other tenants and residents. To make sure everyone is on the same page, I am referring to what happened late last night, as Naru-san, Haruka-san, and I arrived home just before 10:00 PM." Here Keitaro paused for a moment before continuing.
"At that time, when Naru-san and Haruka-san had been walking into the house via the back door, I was following behind them. When I started to walk toward the back door, Motoko-san came out from under the shadows of the trees lining the walkway to the rear door of the house." Keitaro paused again. "Motoko-san, would you like to repeat what you said to me at that time, or would you like me to quote you from my memory?"
Motoko flushed at the request, bur after a moment she complied with the request, speaking in a flat voice. "I said at the time, 'So you finally show your true colors, and yet you manage to talk your way out of police custody. Well, you won't escape my punishment.'"
"Then you drew a bokken you were carrying in your hakama belt and attacked me, correct Motoko-san?" Keitaro asked, his tone even and unemotional.
"You are correct, Urashima-san." Motoko had her eyes cast down in front of her, and her face was still flushed.
"At that time, I said something along the lines of, 'What the hell, Aoyama,' and was dodging your attacks. Then what was it that you said to me, Motoko-san?" Keitaro asked.
"I said, 'Just stand still and take your punishment like the perverted letch you are.'" Motoko did not look up as she spoke.
"And you continued attacking me with your bokken, correct Motoko-san?" Keitaro was now looking between the two Aoyama sisters, and while Motoko was looking down at the mat in front of her, Tsuruko was looking straight ahead with a grim expression on her face.
"That is correct, Urashima-san." Motoko confirmed in a flat tone again.
"What happened at that point, Motoko-san?" Keitaro was focused on Motoko again.
"I… do not remember. Everything went dark at that point, and the next thing I knew was when I woke up this morning with my sister beside me." Motoko glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye, and saw that she was staring straight ahead. That was not a good sign at all.
"At this point, I will ask Kanako-san to recount her part in these events. Kanako-san, what were you doing at about 10:00 PM last night?" Keitaro turned to look at his sister.
"I was alone studying in my room. At that time I felt a massive hostile chi spike outside the rear of the house. I quickly went outside to see what was producing it. When I got to the rear door, I saw that Aoyama," everyone except Kanako herself noticed that she had omitted the honorific, "was attacking Keitaro-kun with her bokken while he was dodging her strikes. Since I knew that she could cause severe injury if she connected with one of her attacks, I came up behind her and performed a flying crane kick to the head and it knocked her unconscious immediately."
"Was it necessary to use that level of force, Kanako-san?" While Keitaro's question seemed to be condescending on its face, he had previously warned her that he would have to ask it in order for the force used to be justified to the elder Aoyama.
"Yes it was. Aoyama was using a potentially lethal weapon against someone was not armed. I had to stop her as fast as I could, so I compromised with the attack that I did."
"How is a kick to the head a compromise, Kanako-san?" Keitaro knew where this was going, and Kanako did not disappoint.
"I was wearing soft slippers, and I aimed at and hit the side of her head sideways with my foot to knock her out. I could have aimed my strike upwards at the base of her skull where it connects with the back of her neck." And almost certainly have severed her brain stem from her spinal cord and instantly killed Motoko, as everyone in the room was aware.
"You did not hear what Motoko-san was saying?" Keitaro continued with his questioning.
"No. I heard someone yelling while I was running thorough the house to get outside, but I was not able to understand it. By the time I was able to see what was happening, Aoyama had stopped speaking."
"Aoyama-san." Keitaro's voice was soft, but it held a rebuke in it nonetheless.
"My apologies, Keitaro-sama." Kanako shuffled around on her knees and bowed deeply to Keitaro.
"It is not to me that you should be apologizing to, Kanako-chan." Keitaro's voice was still soft.
To her credit, Kanako did not hesitate. She turned back toward the Aoyama and bowed toward them. "My apologies to both of you, Tsuruko-san, Motoko-san. I did not mean to offend." To everyone else, Kanako's voice did not noticeably change from when she was apologizing to her brother, but there was the slightly hint of displeasure that Keitaro was able to make out from having to apologize.
"No offense taken, Kanako-san." Tsuruko replied graciously. Motoko hesitated for a moment before repeating her sister's words, although with less enthusiasm.
"What happened after Motoko-san was knocked out, Kanako-san?" Keitaro resumed the questioning.
"Haruka-san checked to make sure Aoyama-san was not seriously injured, and we carried her into the house. We placed her in one of the guest rooms, removed the other weapons she had on her, and then contacted Aoyama-san's family."
"Other weapons, Kanako-san?" This question came from Tsuruko, which was the first time she had done so.
"At my request, Haruka-san patted down Motoko-san for concealed weapons, since they are not specifically prohibited by the house rules and I knew her to carry them. She found under Motoko-san's clothing a kaiken, a tanto, and two kunai. Since we did not know if she would attack us upon waking, we put her in the guest room and removed all the weapons to another location." Kanako responded.
Tsuruko looked back at her sister, and noticed that while Motoko's face was still red, it appeared to be out of some measure of anger and not embarrassment anymore. Still, she held her tongue as she looked down at the mat before her.
"What else happened when Motoko was placed in the guest room, Kanako-san?" Keitaro asked.
"That was the end of the incident. Since we did not see any serious injury on Aoyama-san, we left her sleeping on the futon, and I stayed in the room overnight and studied so we could make sure she did not take a turn for the worse." And to make sure she did not get up and attack Keitaro-kun again, Kanako left unsaid.
"Since Haruka did not see the fight until it was over and presumably she has nothing new to add," everyone looked over at the older female Urashima and saw her nod in agreement, "it is now Motoko-san's turn to tell us her side of what happened last night." Keitaro stated, and all eyes turned toward the younger Aoyama.
"Motoko-san, what I would like to do is start by asking what you were doing waiting outside the Sou at that hour." Keitaro asked. "I know that normally you go to your room after dinner and don't come out until the next day."
After a moment, Motoko started speaking in a low voice. "I was waiting for Naru-san and Haruka-san to return from the police station. I was feeling upset, and I did not want the other tenants to see me in that condition."
"Why were you waiting to see Naru-san and Haruka-san? Better yet, how did you know that they had been at the police station?" Keitaro queried. Only Kitsune knew of their location that day and had been asked not to spread that information. If she had done so anyway they would have to have a serious talk with the girl.
"I had overheard Kitsune-san on the telephone, and I heard that there had been an incident on the train, Naru-san had been assaulted and that Urashima-san was being questioned by the police at the station. I took that to mean that Urashima-san had been the assaulter and that he had been taken into custody by the police. Kitsune-san stated at dinner that Naru-san, Haruka-san, and Urashima-san had been delayed, and would arrive later that evening. I was waiting outside to speak to Naru-san when all three of them arrived by taxi."
"So you were not expecting to see me there at that time, is that correct?" The young manager asked.
"Yes. I know that when the police question someone in regards to involvement in a crime, they are normally kept in custody afterwards, so I was surprised to see Urashima-san with them. I thought that he had been able to talk his way out of police custody, and when I saw him with the person I believed he had assaulted I grew even more angry," the kendoist replied.
"And at that point you drew your bokken and attacked me, that is correct?" asked Keitaro, his voice even.
"Yes, that is so." Motoko was now looking right at the manager, no expression on her face.
"Did you go and ask Kitsune for any more information regarding what had happened to Naru?"
"No, I did not. I believed that I had enough information and did not feel like I needed to ask for more."
"By this point, Tsuruko-san had explained to you what actually occurred on the train and on the platform, yes?" Keitaro waited until Motoko nodded. "You do realize that by not have complete information, you reached an erroneous conclusion and that conclusion led you to attack me." Motoko nodded again.
Haruka spoke for the first time. "Motoko-san, even if you had been correct in what you believed happened on the train with Naru-san, you were not justified in attacking Keitaro-kun when he arrived home. There was no one in danger at the time of your attack." Motoko did not respond, and merely looked downwards but with her hands clenched into fists.
"Motoko-san, given what we have said and discussed, it is agreed among everyone present that the events that we have been talking about have been correctly described. Given those actions constitute an unjustified use of force, that is a violation of the dorm rules. We now have to decide what the penalty to that violation is." Keitaro stated.
"However, we are going to give you an opportunity to speak for yourself as to why you thought you were justified in your actions. Is there anything you want to say for yourself at this time?" Keitaro asked.
Motoko was silent for a few moments, to the point where everyone there thought she was not going to speak. After almost a minute however, she began to talk.
"I know that I did not grow up in this city, that I had to get used to the different ways that people did things here. But the one thing I could never accept was how men were so perverted.
"Men would be reading perverted books in the open; they would be speaking amongst themselves of the most disgusting acts. And worst of all, I would see men forcing themselves on women who could not defend themselves, while everyone standing around them would look away and do nothing!" At this point Motoko's voice started to rise.
"I am not going to allow men to sate their beastly desires on helpless women if I can help it. I was not allow men to grope at me while whispering their lewd plans to me. I will use all my strength and skill to punish those men who would do such horrific things to women!" By this time Motoko was not quite shouting, and everyone's eyes had gone wide.
"So who is it that you know you have to punish, Aoyama-san? Those people who read dirty books?" Motoko did not answer Kanako's question, instead staring straight ahead with her face red. "Those that touch women on the trains?"
"Yes." Motoko turned to look at Kanako, her eyes glinting harshly.
"Those that act inappropriately or don't take no for an answer?" continued Kanako.
"Yes." Now Motoko's voice was starting to rise again.
"Those who harbor thoughts of a sexual nature, who leer at women passing by?"
"Of course." Motoko was starting to lean forward, and beads of perspiration formed on her face and brow.
"Those that have impulses and attractions to women but don't do anything about it?" Kanako had turned so she was facing Motoko straight on.
"They will act on those impulses, they will lose control. And I will be waiting for them." The glint in Motoko's eyes was getting brighter.
"And how will you know who has those thoughts, Aoyama-san? How can you see the darkness that is in people's hearts?"
"They will reveal themselves by their actions. They all need to be punished." Motoko's voice carried the absolute belief of her thoughts.
At that point Kanako looked over at her other family members. Haruka had a look of sadness on her face, and Keitaro was shaking his head minutely. And on the other side of Motoko, Tsuruko's expression had gone from grim to expressionless, with a hint of coldness.
After a moment Keitaro began to speak again. "Motoko-san, is that all you have to say on the matter?" She nodded in agreement. "Then we must proceed to the final part of this meeting, the decision on punishment." Keitaro looked at Kanako and then Haruka. Both of them shook their head slightly in one of the signals previously agreed to; there would be no lessening of the punishment to be given.
"Unfortunately, there is no question as to if the events actually took place. Therefore, this committee sustains the initial determination that a major rules violation has taken place. Since Motoko-san had not showing any remorse regarding the incident, there will be no mitigation of the punishment." Here Motoko looked up and started to stare at Keitaro.
"Motoko Aoyama-san, you have been found at fault of a major violation of the dorm rules, the use of force against another resident without justification. The penalty for this violation is being asked to leave the Hinata-sou dorm and we are doing so now. You have until tomorrow to assemble your things and prepare them for shipping before you must leave. Do you understand?"
"No." Motoko's response was not the one they were expecting. "I do not concede that I am at fault for this. As a matter of fact, I believe this to be all the manager's fault." Motoko's stare had not broken away from Keitaro. "Ever since he has arrived, our life has changed, and not for the better. Room inspections, changing the use of the hot springs from women only to mixed bathing, getting into fights with Naru-san, probably after peeping and groping her, and now this? Making me leave so that I can no longer protect my fellow tenants? I refuse!" Motoko's voice had risen again.
"Motoko-san, you don't have a choice. By the house rules we can ask you to leave if it is determined that a major rule has been violated." Haruka was starting to look concerned at what was occurring. Tsuruko was now focusing on her younger sister with a laser-like intensity.
"I have a choice, and I am going to exercise it." Motoko rocked back on her legs and stood up, staying in the same spot and looking down at the manager. Kanako copied her actions and sprung to her feet as well, only she was holding her bokken in her off hand. Keitaro stayed seated, looking at the kendoist calmly.
"Keitaro Urashima, you have intruded on our lives and questioned my honor. I therefore challenge you to a honor duel to make these things right. Whoever loses will be required to leave the Hinata-sou permanently."
SLAM!
The door to Motoko's room had barely clicked shut when Tsuruko grabbed Motoko by her haori coat and slammed her into the wall so hard her teeth rattled. Her face was mere inches away from her own, and it almost looked as though her eyes were gleaming red.
"What in the nine hells did you think you were doing?" Tsuruko was not shouting; in fact her voice was barely above a whisper. But the intensity contained in it was more frightening than a shout would have been. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"
Motoko stared back at her sister, not flinching at the glare she was receiving. "I am defending the honor of the tenants of this house and of myself. I will not let that male run roughshod over…"
Tsuruko cut her off. "Let? LET? Urashima-san is the manager and heir of this household, it is his to do as he pleases! Do you really think that he would be so dishonorable as to force himself on helpless females?"
"He is a male." As short as Motoko's response was, the tone it was spoken in showed what she thought of the manager.
"You stupid little girl… you really have no idea what you have done, do you?" Tsuruko's grip lessened slightly, but she still stood close to her sister. "You refused to follow the rules of this household that both you and our family have agreed to. And when you violated those rules, instead of admitting your error and accepting the punishment, you instead make things ten times worse!
"I should have pulled you out of this house the moment you woke up, but I thought you were intelligent enough follow my lead and help smooth over the wrong you did to the Urashima. I was wrong, and now there is no way out of this situation but forward. If I pull you out of this place after you made that idiotic demand for a duel, the Aoyama will still be left as the offending party, and worse yet it will be seen as a forfeiture of the duel. We will wind up owing more restitution than before!" Tsuruko growled.
"Restitution? Why would we have to give restitution to that dishonorable…"
"Shut your mouth! You don't even realize how badly you have dishonored *our* family by what you had done! If I had had an inkling of what you were going to do today, I would have dragged you out of this house by the hair!" the elder sister snarled.
"You have directly insulted the heir of a noble samurai house, one that is of a higher standing than us! If we were in feudal times, you would not even be allowed to commit seppuku, you would be given over to the Urashima as a nameless slave in irons, to do with as they wish!" Tsuruko pushed herself away from Motoko, who was looking wide-eyed at what her sister was saying.
Tsuruko stormed over to the dresser and picked up her mobile phone that was laying there. Turning back to her sister, she ordered in a cold voice, "I am going outside to call our family. You will stay here in this room and you will not leave for *anything*, not even if the bloody place is on fire! If by some miracle they summon you to dinner, say you are not hungry. You are not to let anyone beside me into this room, and you will tell no one else what is happening, or by the gods remedial training will be the least of your concerns!" Opening the door, Tsuruko stepped though and somehow managed not to slam it shut, leaving Motoko slumped against the wall.
"By the gods, Keitaro, what were you thinking?" The door had barely closed to his room when Haruka wheeled around and faced her nephew. "How could you accept that ludicrous demand for a duel?"
"He did not have a choice, Haruka." Kanako jumped in to answer before Keitaro did. "Aoyama was insulting him and our family openly, and in front of her sister. If he did not respond, it would make us lose massive face with the Aoyama, and remember, Aoyama was the one doing wrong in this case and they know it too."
"What do you think would have happened if I had refused, Haruka-chan?" Keitaro asked, looking over at his aunt with a tired expression on his face. "They would have probably yanked her out of the dorm, taken her home, and completely strip her of status in her family's school. And that is if she was lucky. You know what the traditional punishment would have been."
Haruka managed not to shudder. It had not been unknown for a samurai family to completely disown female offenders and sell them into prostitution. In modern times, a disowned female with no way to support herself would probably wind up in the sex trade anyway.
Keitaro continued speaking. "The only way that Motoko-san is not going to be tossed out of her family now is if she gives a decent showing at the duel. If her family thinks that she's been punished enough in the duel, they will probably just bring her home, bust her down and be done with it."
"Punished enough in the duel?" Haruka asked, not liking the sound of that.
"I can't go easy on her, I can't let her win, it would dishonor both her family and ours. I have to fight her seriously, and you know how our sword style is. She is not going to come out of it unscathed." Keitaro replied, undoing the ties of his traditional clothing and starting to remove them, showing that he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts under them.
Haruka nodded in response. While most people were familiar with the traditional form of swordfighting known as kendo, the Urashima style was based on the sword fighting techniques used in actual combat. The Aoyama style was more kenjitsu, a realistic form of sword fighting that used solid bokken and no armor, rather than kendo, which used shinai made out of bamboo slats and protective armor. However, the Urashima style would be classified as battojutsu, realistic sword combat techniques. Both armed and unarmed fighting methods were studied and used, as well as having a more practical view of combat than the formalized kenjitsu.
"Kanako, you don't think that you were pushing Motoko-san too far?" The younger Urashima looked startled as she turned toward her brother.
"I didn't! I just wanted to see what she thought about her actions. I had no idea she was going to get like she did, but I couldn't exactly let it go, could I? I had to see if she would at least say if she would do anything different, but instead she got worse, and I could not help that. It was not as though I was being provocative." Kanako was looking wide-eyed at her brother, concerned that he would think that she had gone against his directions.
Keitaro looked at her for a moment and then away. "You're right. I would have stopped you if you had been out of line. I didn't think that Motoko-san would get so worked up by that line of questioning, and that may be the reason she demanded the duel at the end. So in the end it's my fault all this happened."
"Nii-chan!" Kanako grabbed Keitaro by the shoulders and stood face to face with him. "Aoyama has problems of her own, you are not responsible for them. You are responsible only for yourself and your family, do not take on more than you have to. She brought this on herself, and given the way she acts, she probably would have done the same thing anyway. This is not your fault!"
"She's right, Kei-kun. You can't control Motoko, hell, she can barely control herself. Don't blame yourself for something you could not prevent." Haruka walked over and put her hand next to Kanako's on top of Keitaro's shoulder.
After a moment Keitaro nodded. "I understand. Can't help feeling this way though." Gently pulling away, Keitaro walked over to his futon and dropped down to it, laying back on his pillow. Looking up at the two females in his life he said, "I have the feeling that Tsuruko-san is going to not want Motoko-san out of her room, so could you go and ask Shinobu-chan to make a tray for the two of them and take it up to their room, Kana-chan? And Haru-chan, try and find Tsuruko-san and settle the terms for the duel. Since I'm the challenged party, I can set terms." Haruka and Kanako nodded.
"Tell her the duel will be the day after tomorrow, at the stream behind the Annex, the weapons will be bokken, no crippling attacks, and it will go on until honor is satisfied, or the other opponent is unable to fight or unconscious. That should keep things from getting too out of hand."
"Seconds?" Kanako asked. "And the weapons they will carry?
"You're my second, there is no one else beside Haru-chan or Granny I would want to watch my back, and Haruka is going to referee the fight." Kanako almost glowed from the praise from her brother. "And I hate to say it, but the seconds will carry both bokken and live blades. I know that Tsuruko has one with her."
"Umm… do you have a live blade we can use, Keitaro-kun?" Haruka knew that her nephew had trained with actual swords, but she did not think he owned one.
"I can get my hands on one. I came across it at the same time I found the formal clothes." Keitaro was now looking up at the ceiling, his hands clasped behind his head.
Haruka's eyes widened. "You're talking about the Hina honor blade, aren't you?"
Keitaro nodded. "The Juuchi Yosamu. The Ten Thousand Cold Nights sword."
A/N 2 – Story stats as of 1100 02Oct2011 – 55,821 Hits, 126 Reviews, 13 C2 listings, 220 Favorite listings, and 207 Story Alerts.