Ch 30

V 1.0

Hinata Tea House
Hintata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
Early December
mid morning
(three months after story start)

Haruka Urashima was not the most sympathetic person to have a conversation with. A lot of this had to do with her deadpan demeanor, which tended not to change no matter what emotion she was feeling at the time. The plus side to talking to her was that she was not afraid to say what she was thinking, which more times than not was to tell the recipient that they were acting like an idiot or worse. Keitaro pretty much knew he had screwed up, what he needed to hear now was how to fix his mistake, which was why the dorm manager had come down to the Tea House as soon as the morning rush was over to talk with his aunt.

Once she had seen the hangdog expression on her nephew's face, Haruka knew what he wanted. Hanging up her apron , she ordered Kitsune to scrub down the drink prep and cashier area again, told Yoko she was in charge, and then walked out the door of the shop, lighting a cigarette as soon as she was outside. Keitaro followed her silently as she walked partway up the stairs leading to the front of the Sou, stopping half-way there and sitting at a wood and stone bench that was set on a landing for people to get a breather when going up the steps. Keitaro sat down beside her, still quiet, looking off toward Hinata City below them.

"You want to tell me what's wrong, Kei-kun? Or did you massively screw something up?" Haruka finally said after they had sat there for a few minutes without anything being said.

"It's more like something I did wrong. Something I have to deal with now." Keitaro was still looking off at the city below them, and Metro Tokyo beyond, barely visible in the smog. "Remember before I left for Thailand how Kanako-chan was on a tear trying to find out who my firearms trainers were?"

"Yeah, she called me for Seta's phone number, she was trying to find out where you were. She finally got his office number from Todai information and stopped bugging me for it. I know that she wasn't happy when she finally spoke with him." Haruka pulled out another cigarette and lit it off the previous butt before tamping it out on the sole of her shoe and tossing it into a large tin can strategically placed under the bench. "I also know that she was kinda pissy when you took off from the New Year's party at your parent's house and your dad wouldn't tell her who you left with."

Keitaro nodded. "Tou-san is the only other person besides Seta-sensei who knows the details, and that's because Kana-chan won't get in his face about it. I managed to keep the details secret from her up to when I left, and as far as I know she still doesn't know. I would like to keep it that way, but it may not happen."

"What's wrong with your trainers? You're not having a torrid affair with one of them, are you?" Haruka grinned at Keitaro, only for her smile to falter when his expression did not change. "You're having an affair with a man? You're gay?" she asked incredulously.

Keitaro gave a start and quickly looked at his aunt. "What? NO! No, nothing like that! My trainers are females, Natsumi Tsujimoto and Miyuki Kobayakawa. They're police officers with Metro Tokyo Police, patrol partners at Botuko station. Natsumi-chan is an SAT officer, she trained me in firearms usage for my contract labor job for Todai."

"Natsumi-*chan*?" Haruka asked, an eyebrow raised.

"They insisted that I not use formal honorifics with them," Keitaro explained. "After we did the week of concentrated training, we would hang out together on the weekends. I knew that Kana-chan would take it badly if I told her who I was spending my time with. We got to be really good friends before I left for Thailand, and now it coming up on the time they are expecting me to have returned from overseas, and I don't know what to tell them."

"Wait a second, they don't know you're back? Why not, they should be glad you're home and OK." Now both of Haruka's eyebrows were raised.

"Because they are both cops and rather intelligent, I'm afraid of what they will think of me once I start telling them what happened in Thailand. I don't want to tell them everything." Keitaro was still looking away at the city.

"What's wrong with telling them? You told me and Kana-chan everything, and it wasn't so bad." Haruka was starting to frown at her nephew. She knew how torn up he had been that he had to kill people in order to rescue Sarah McDougal from her abductors, but she did now think he was this badly affected.

Keitaro glanced at his aunt out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't tell you two *everything*, Haruka-chan. There are some things that only the people involved know about, and I want to keep it that way. This is the kind of thing that changes how people look at you once they find out."

"How many people know about this?" Haruka watched as Keitaro looked back out at the city.

"Including me? Two people. My partner Gaz died in the fight getting out of Roanapur. Two other people died along the way. The last guy won't talk; if the wrong people find out he was involved, they can make his death incredibly unpleasant."

"So what is the problem? If your friends ask, you tell them you don't want to talk about it, and if they don't like it, too bad." Haruka took a puff off her smoke, which was burned back almost to the butt by now.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Seta-sensei said," replied Keitaro.

"Wait, if you already talked to Seta-kun about this, why are you asking *me* for advice?" Haruka was looking at her cigarette pack, considering whether to light up another one, when Keitaro's response almost caused her fumble it.

"Because with him I can't really be sure that my relationship with Natsumi-chan and Miyuki-chan isn't affecting the advice he is giving me."

Haruko glanced sharply at her nephew. "Why would your relationship with them affect his advice to you? They're just friends, right?" She watched as he shook his head after a long moment. "You're dating one of them?" He cocked his head then shook it again. "So what's the freaking problem, Keitaro-kun?" She saw him take a deep breath and release it before he spoke.

"The thing is I'm dating both of them…" Keitaro was abruptly turned toward his aunt, her hand on his shoulder.

"You're dating two girls at the same time? You said they were partners, you're dating two friends behind their backs?" Haruka's face was starting to turn red.

Keitaro was wide-eyed until he realized what she was thinking. "No, it's not what you think!" He paused for a minute, trying to come up with a way to politely explain this, his aunt not very patiently waiting. "Remember how I said they were partners? It's not just a work thing. They live together and everything."

"That doesn't make things better, Keitaro." The older Urashima was still visibly angry.

Finally he decided to say it plainly. "Natsumi-chan and Miyuki-chan are lovers." Haruka's eyes went wide but still stayed angry. "The reason they are involved with each other is because they can't find men to date who aren't intimidated by what they do for a living or aren't cops themselves. When we spent all that time together, they were both attracted to me, so they decided to bring me into their relationship. A friends with benefits thing." The anger was draining from his aunt's face, but the shock remained. "According to Seta-sensei, their feelings may have grown to more than that when we left for Thailand. But we came back early, and with everything that happened over there, and my taking over the Hinata-sou, I never let them know I was back in Tokyo."

"And now they're expecting you to arrive, and are waiting to hear from you." Haruka let her hand slide off his shoulder. "I know this is a really dumb question, considering how twisted up you are about this, but how do you feel about them?"

"I like them. I really like them a lot. I know I've had problems getting along with girls before, but that's because I used to get clumsy and fall on them before, or they don't like that I was concentrating so much on my studies. But Nats-chan and Yuki-chan get me, you know? They don't act like giggly school girls, and they understand dedication. They have their own things they get involved in, and when we all get together, we can relax and have fun." Keitaro watched as Haruka eyeballed him for a moment and suddenly realized what she was thinking. "And it's not just sex. There were times we just hung out together."

"But the sex wasn't bad, was it?" Haruka was surprised to see Keitaro grin at that question.

"No, the sex was pretty damn good." After a long moment, the smile dropped from his face. "But now I need to tell them I'm back, I've been back for a while, and that some really bad things happened while I was away, some of which I'm not proud of. Not to mention the fact that I'm now the manager of a dorm filled with school aged girls."

The elder Urashima looked at her relative for a long moment. "Kei-kun, I'm going to ask a question that might piss you off." She waited for him to nod then continued. "You really do care what they think of you? It's not just the… physical stuff?"

Keitaro responded after waiting a few seconds. "I really do care what they think. I have to be honest, I do want to be with them physically, but I missed spending time with them too."

"Then my previous advice still applies. Tell them what happened, tell them what you are comfortable with, and hope to hell that it's enough." Haruka put her hand back on her nephew's shoulder, but as a sign of support this time and not of anger.

"Thanks, Haru-chan." She watched as he stood up and stretched, audible pops coming from his neck. "Let's get going, I have a phone call I need to make."

Haruka stood up after tossing the dead butt in her hand into the tin can under the bench. "So where are you going to meet up with them?"

"I think in this case we need to meet somewhere kinda private but neutral too. Can't invite them here, and I don't want to meet them at their apartment. I have a place in mind." Keitaro started to climb the stairs again, Haruka beside him.

"Why don't you want to go their apartment?" Haruka almost stumbled at Keitaro's response.

"Because there's a good chance they might rip my clothes off as soon as I'm in the door. If that happens the neighbors are probably going to complain again about all the noise coming from their apartment." Haruka shot Keitaro a look to see if he was joking, but given his expression, he probably was not.

"Braggart." Haruka was not prepared for his comeback.

"It ain't bragging if you can do it, Haru-chan." Keitaro glanced at his aunt with a sardonic look on his face before he turned back forward and continued up the stairs with him.

Formal Meeting Room
Main Training Hall
Aoyama Family Compound
Kyoto, Japan
Early December

Tsuruko Aoyama was the picture of the classic martial artist master, wearing traditional gi and hakama, kneeling on a tatami mat, her back straight, her eyes looking forward, looking otherwise calm and collected. However, it only took looking her hands in her lap to get an idea of what emotion she was truly feeling; her hands were clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white. By tradition, no one was armed with either bokken or katana in this meeting, and that was turning out to be a wise precaution.

"And you are sure that Urashima-san was able to use a ki attack during the duel?" Three elders of the family, including her mother Michiru, were seated in front of Tsuruko, with some of the senior instructors sitting off to the side. Danzo, the elder now speaking, was the oldest of the family members present, her great uncle and the former head of the family school, having reluctantly retired after being afflicted with severe arthritis in the legs once he had entered his sixties. That had been almost twenty years ago, and even though he did not run the school anymore, he was never shy about asking questions and offering advice, much to the chagrin of the people involved. Burly with a rounded and lined face, his iron grey hair clipped to only a couple millimeters length, he saw his role as the conservator of the family traditions, which were to be preserved at all costs.

"Yes Elder. Keitaro-sama was standing three meters away from Motoko-chan and was empty handed. He pushed his hands toward her and yelled out Hadouken. A stream of blue ki was fired from his hand and struck Motoko-chan and knocked her down and unconscious." It was galling to the young Aoyama master that the elders were more interested in the techniques used to defeat her younger sister rather than what had become of a member of the family. It was almost two weeks since Motoko had been banished from her family, and although Tsuruko had spent a week in Tokyo looking after business affairs after the duel, it had taken the elder council three days after arriving home to summon her to report on what had happened at the Hinata-sou.

"And there were no other ki techniques used during the fight?" The speaker now was Naoko, an older female member of the family. Never one of the more skilled practitioners of the family arts, she was one of those people that managed to either make themselves indispensible or was a massive busybody. She had been her father's assistant when he had been a elder, and once he had passed away she had taken his place. Of a thin build with a pinched looking face, her graying hair pulled back into a tight bun, the middle aged woman look like a stiff wind would blow her away.

"Except what was probably chi enhancement of his hands when he broke Motoko-chan's bokken, I saw no other techniques used." Tsuruko's voice was level and emotionless, which even with the controlled demeanors of the Aoyama family was a warning sign to anyone looking for it.

"And why do you think it was necessary for Urashima-san to use a ki attack? You had previously said that he had held the upper hand from the being of the duel." Michiru was normally a calm and caring person, but having to banish one of her two children for dishonorable conduct had worn on her; sadness and sorrow were etched on her face, aging her countenance more in two weeks than the five decades of her life had, including the loss of her husband a year after the birth of her youngest child.

"That is correct. Once Motoko-chan was disqualified, both Kanako-san and I stepped into the ring. I had been holding a bokken but I dropped it once I stepped forward so that I could steady my katana in my belt. I am afraid that Kanako-san may have construed that as a hostile action, as she dropped her bokken anddrew the sword she had in her belt." Here Tsuruko stopped speaking, as she did not to talk about what happened next, both to not expose what could be considered a Urashima family secret and because she feared how her family would react. Even though the Aoyama were trained as warrior priests to fight evil spirits and demons, it was something that almost all of family had no actual experience with, save Michiru and Tsuruko herself.

"And then what happened, Tsuruko-san?" Danzo could smell blood in the water.

"I felt a ki spike come from Kanako-san's direction as she drew her sword… and then the feeling of ki increased… massively. Both Kanako-san and the sword she was holding starting glowing." Tsuruko stopped speaking as everyone in the room started whispering and murmuring amongst themselves. What she said next did not help matters. "The ki being released by the sword was distinctly demonic." This caused a major stir among the onlookers, while all three elders stiffened where they sat.

"What happened then, Tsuruko-chan?" Michiru's question was what finally caused everyone to quiet down.

"Keitaro-sama saw that Kanako-san was barely in control of the sword she had drawn, but he was still dodging Motoko-chan's attacks. He turned and did the Hadouken attack, and once Motoko-chan was down, he helped his sister safely sheathe the sword."

"How did Urashima take control of the sword?" Danzo was leaning forward, a disquieting glint now in his eyes.

"Urashima-*sama*," Here Tsuruko paused to make sure that her great uncle's lack of a honorific had not gone unnoticed, "cut his hand with a knife and let the blood fall on the blade. The demonic ki decreased, and the sword and his sister stopped glowing. He took hold of the sword and immediately sheathed it. The ki decreased to where I could not detect it anymore. "

"Describe the sword, Tsuruko-san." Naoko's request was less a question than a demand.

"An katana, just short of a meter long, with a blue wrapped handle, a plain black tsuba guard and a black and red sheath."

"Red and black?" Danzo's question interrupted her, if only for a moment.

"Yes. The sheath was lacquered in black, but there were cracks along all its length, where red wood showed." Tsuruko was not about to say that when she had first looked at the sheath she had thought that the cracks were dried blood. "The blade was darkened steel with white flecks throughout." Naoko flinched as though struck, and Danzo moved backwards slightly. Only Michiru did not visibly react.

"The Juuchi Yosamu. The Ten Thousand Cold Nights sword." Naoko looked to be dazed at the revelation.

"One of the most famous swords in Japanese history. A Muramasa." The gleam in Danzo's eyes had grown even brighter.

"We don't know that." All eyes fell back on Tsuruko, who was now staring at her great uncle. "When I asked Keitaro-sama if it was a Muramasa sword, he refused to answer me, and I withdrew my question." She was not about to admit that just the young man's glare had intimidated her. "And even if it is a… historical sword, what are we to do about it? It is the property of the Urashima family. What right do we have to interfere with the internal affairs of another family?" Here was where Michiru flinched.

"If it is the Juuchi Yosamu it is a demon cursed blade! The proper authorities should be told!" Tsuruko could see the wheels turning in her great uncle's head, wondering how to turn this to the family's – and his own – advantage. However, his attention snapped back to his niece when he could feel the temperature in the room started to drop precipitously, a sign of someone on the ragged edge of losing their temper.

"If nothing! We do not know anything for certain, and even if it were true, think about it! How was it that the Urashima family gained their noble status?" Tsuruko growled.

Danzo shrugged his shoulders. "Some weak scribe fell on a sword defending the Shogun and…" Here he stopped speaking and everyone froze in place as there was a massive drop in temperature in the room. Danzo started sweating heavily, as Tsuruko had transfixed him with killing intent, her eyes starting to turn red, and loose strands of hair started floating around her as she slowly came to her feet.

"You dishonorable cur. You so easily mock the sacrifices of a noble samurai? Taro Urashima fought and killed *six* assassins by himself, while *unarmed*! Yes, he was run through by a sword, but that was while he was breaking the neck of the last assassin, a traitor among the Shogun's own body guard!" Tsuruko was walking slowly toward Danzo, who was trying to move away but could not due to his crippled legs. "Keitaro Urashima was able to take control of the sword without incident. Do you think anyone else could do better? Do you think you are that person?" The angry swordswoman halted in front of the elder, who had ceased his attempts to move away from her, but still looked intimidated. "What do you have to say for yourself, Elder Danzo?"

Danzo sputtered for a moment. "Such an artifact needs to be properly secured and guarded…"

"That *artifact* is the honor sword of the Urashima, a family that has honorably served both Shogun and Emperor for *centuries*! It is very probably the same sword that Taro Urashima gave his life to stop! What can you do that they can't?" Tsuruko almost forcibly relaxed her clenched fists, and looked down her great uncle. "I think it is time that you step down from the elder council."

"What! For what reason!" roared Danzo. It was much less intimidating when the person yelling was on the ground and could not get to his feet unassisted.

"For insulting an ally of this family, for inquiring into affairs of another family, for interfering with the former heir of this family." Tsuruko nodded as Danzo's eyes widened. "Yes, I know that you are the one that came up with the idea of sending Motoko-chan to Tokyo, and colluded with Naoko-san to have her expelled. If it wasn't for my interference, I would no longer have my sister. As it is, if I do not produce an heir, who is it that would be in line?" Silence fell upon the room, as everyone knew that the next person in line after Tsuruko would be Kojiro, a high school aged nephew of Danzo's who was more interested in drinking and carousing than studying and practicing with the sword.

In the silence that fell, the softly spoken words of Tsuruko were heard by all present. "So what will it be, Elder Danzo? Will you step down, or will we have to do this the old fashioned way?" The color drained from the elder's face at the last statement. 'The old fashioned way' was a duel with live blades with the winner taking the contested position in the elder council, the match being settled with surrender, unconsciousness, or death. There had not been such a challenge for almost a hundred and fifty years, since before the end of the feudal era. That duel had been a technical win for the challenger as he had lived, although with near crippling injuries. The challenged party had not survived the fight.

Tsuruko leaned down, her face now less than a meter from the elder. Her eyes had gone back to their normal brown color, but they were as cold as a graveyard wind. "What is your answer, Danzo?"

Thirty years ago, Danzo Aoyama would have broken this upstart in half with little effort. Fifteen years ago, he could have done with so with major effort and some pain. Now it was a struggle to walk without a cane, let alone maneuver in a fight. He still had his actual sword skills, but the younger woman would literally run rings around him, and there was no way that he could recover if he fell or was knocked over during that match. Unless he was prepared to meet his ancestors in short order, there was only one answer he could give.

"I will step down," the elder stated, the taste of ashes in his mouth.

Tsuruko straightened up and took a step back. A glance at Naoko showed her face was pale and her lips were so thinned out that she resembled Kuchisake-onna, the 'Slit Mouthed Woman' of urban legend. Looking over at Michiru, she saw the barest hint of approval.

Turning to face the others, seeing all their eyes were on her, Tsuruko spoke. "There have been things spoken of here today that are nothing more than idle speculation. Should these things be repeated, it would bring dishonor to this house. By the laws of our family, nothing talked about in this meeting is to be spoken of without permission. If I were to find out that anything spoken of here today is repeated, the person responsible will find themselves facing me in a duel of honor with live blades." Her eyes swept the audience, seeing that they all understood what the result of that would be. Turning back to the elders, she bowed and came up, and not waiting for an answering bow she murmured "A good day to you all," then walked out of the door, the room silent behind her.

A/N – I was able to go on vacation this past week, unfortunately I was too busy doing other things to concentrate on my writing the way I would have preferred. The good news is that I was able to buy a new recliner chair, where I can sit with my laptop to write this story. The bad news is that there is little progress so far on the next lemon, but I intend to work on that soon.

Yes, I gave the two elders names that should be familiar to anime fans, both characters I really don't like very much, whose personalities somewhat resemble the characters in this story. One should be very obvious to anime fans, the other one not so much. I have chocolate fudge cookies for those reviewers that can identify the characters and the series they come from.

There has been some grumblings as to the lack of screen time for the Aoyama, which explains the second part of this chapter. The next chapter should produce a glimpse of our favorite former swordswoman.

This week's winner of the most unusual place reading my story is St. Kitts & Nevis, which would have been a more fun place to spend my vacation that at home. *g*

Many thanks to AZ MII and PCH for their betaing skills.

As of 22Feb12 0000 PST this story has had 160,644 hits, 329 Reviews,30 C2 listings, 436 Favorite Story listings, and 408 Story Alerts. Thanks again, guys. *thumbs up*