Ch 49

v 1.0

A/N 1 – Sarah is going to be singing a song in class in this chapter, so if you want to hear it while it is happening in the story, open another tab/window, go to YouTube, type 'Sarah McLachlan' and 'Fear' in the search field, and select and pause it. If you want to see the fan made video using that song and clips from 'Roswell', the show where Sarah heard the song, paste 'Roswell ~ Fear' in the search field. BTW, for a show that was marketed to teens, Roswell had some M rated make out scenes. 0 v 0;

Classroom 2-A
Kanazawa High School
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
mid January, early afternoon

Sarah was watching as the pencil in her hand flipped end over end, rotating over and under her fingers, walking down from the top of her fingers to the bottom and then back up. Truth to tell, she really was not all that good at this, but one of her fears about her new school had proved to be true; she was bored out of her mind.

The actual academics were not all that difficult. Japanese language study was almost route memorization, as well as history. Math was math, no matter what side of the world you were on. Granted, she had to pay closer attention to the explanation the sensei was giving since he was speaking in Japanese and the blonde had to translate what he was saying in her mind to English in order to comprehend and memorize it. That actually helped her, since she had to do two or three things at once (listen, translate, and take notes or work out the problem). It was when she had to only do one thing, like only take notes, that she would go into autopilot and start drifting off. In that case it became more likely that she would start having thoughts that upon later reflection would be considered not a good idea. Like playing a pencil and paper version of Battleship with Su the other day. Using finger signs to tell the other player the coordinates of the salvos being fired, they had actually done a fairly good job of concealing what they were doing, until the excitable blonde islander girl jumped up shouting "You sank my battleship!" After the classroom finished laughing, Hikari had made her switch seats with Nyamo to sit next to her, thus her boredom. She could not read a book or draw, her previous standbys in her American school, without the Class Rep glaring at her. Even with her work being done she was not cutting her any slack, so Sarah had taken to twirling and spinning the pencil in her hand, since as uptight as Hikari was, she could not ding her for fiddling with her pencil when her work was completed and checked for errors – twice. The blonde planned to cut a deal with the Rep to be able to do something after finishing with her assignments in return for not catching everyone's attention, as a bored Sarah was never a good thing.

It was not boredom that was driving her to spin the pencil in her hand, it was the caterwauling that was taking place at the front of the classroom. Or singing, if one wanted to be technical about it. The new teacher in front of the classroom (and wasn't that a trip, having the teachers move from classroom to classroom to teach each class rather than have the students move) was supposed to be teaching Music Theory and Appreciation with today's lesson being about a cappella singing, but it had devolved into a bad karaoke session with the girls mostly singing sugary J-pop ballads in Japanese and the boys singing a variety of rock and rap songs in English; Sarah had even applauded the folk song version of 'Boyz In The Hood' sung by a trio of boys. The problem was how badly everyone was out of tune compared to the actual songs. The girl knew that was the reason why the singing was setting her teeth on edge, but there really was not much she could do except concentrate on something else.

Gazing at the pencil walking through her fingers, Sarah was considering risking the Class Rep's wrath and digging out the 500 yen coin she had gotten as change at a convenience store and start walking that across her knuckles when she heard her name being called and her head snapped up. "Yeah, uh, yes Class Rep?"

Hikari stared at the blonde with some exasperation. The American girl seemed to be a good sort, even as uncultured as she acted sometimes, but she was in her own way as hyperactive as Kaolla Su. While the blonde islander girl was almost physically unable to stay still for very long, the American seemed to get bored very easily. Her saving grace was that she was not malicious, and she completed her work rather rapidly and with a low error rate. It was just that she had to be kept busy doing something all the time, and busy-work was something she had little tolerance for. "Sarah-san, it's your turn to sing now."

"What?! Aren't there other people ahead of me?" Sarah had been hoping that the class period would end before they got to her, since people had been volunteering to go up to sing at first, and then they were calling up the less enthusiastic. Glancing over to the wall clock she saw that it was a little more than five minutes to the end of the class period.

"No Sarah-san, everyone else has already gone up." Seeing the blonde's mouth open to protest Hikari cut her off. "Including myself, Nyamo-san and Shinobu-san."

"Damn." Sarah muttered, thoughts of throwing her roomie under the bus disappearing. Now that she thought of it, it had been rather amusing to seeing the two quietest girls in the class singing Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me To The Moon" in English, which had resulted in a round of applause from the class. Less talented singers got catcalls and boos, which were taken with varying levels of good grace. Hikari had sung Toni Braxton's 'Unbreak My Heart' and gotten a smattering of applause for it.

"This isn't going to end well," Sarah said in a low voice as she reluctantly stood from her desk and walked up to the front of the class.

"This is just for fun, McDougal-san, we're not expecting opera here." Sensei Wada was a youngish female who seemed to be a bit too enthusiastic about music, which was not surprising considering she was the faculty advisor for the school chorus club.

"Does that mean I can refuse to sing and sit down?" Sarah asked hopefully.

"Yes you can. You would also be getting a 'fail assignment' and a 'fail classroom participation' for the day," Sensei Wada replied, a serious look on her face.

"The gaijin is just afraid of making an ass of herself," a female voice whispered in a voice that was nowhere near low enough to not be heard. Even as Hikari and the sensei swept their eyes across the room in vain to catch the culprit, Sarah frowned. The whole Japanese 'nail that sticks out will be pounded down' mentality as well as the fact that fact that the boys of the class had a major interest in the only Westerner girl in the school made her the subject of envy and disdain by most of the other girls in the class. Not that they did not have a reason to be envious; Sarah was about half a head taller than most of the other girls, with only one other girl taller and more curvy than her. The real blonde hair and blue eyes made her stand out among the fake blonde and tan gyaru schoolgirls sprinkled among their classmates but what had really caught everyone's eyes was that she was obviously more developed physically than most of the same age girls in school; since she had moved into the Hinata-sou; she already had to replace her older bras with ones a cup size bigger. Sarah was getting close to the same size and height her mom had been, and she still had more growing left.

Turning around and facing her classmates and seeing them stare back at her, Sarah thought about what song to perform. There was one that immediately came to mind, but that was one that she had sung in Roanapur, and that was a memory that she really did not want to revisit. Mentally going through the various songs she knew, she was finally able to settle on one that was fair easy for her to do by the Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan that had been used in a TV show about teenaged aliens back home. It was a song that would knock everyone's socks off while still figuratively flipping the finger at the nitwits before her. Taking a deep breath, Sarah closed her eyes and began to sing…

Sensei Yukari Wada was glad this class was almost over. Things had not been working out as she had hoped.

After graduating from university with a major in education and a minor in music, Yukari had hoped to combine the two. Originally she had wanted to make a living in music - not as a featured singer, she did not have the looks or the body for that - but in backup or choral music. That did not pan out either, so she had switched around her major in school and once she had become a teacher hoped to become an advisor to a school choir club. That had taken a while to happen, as there had been an older teacher with tenure that had that position, but she had finally retired and the younger teacher had been given the job. But then she realized that she had her work cut out for her. The girls in the club were there mostly because it was a school requirement to be a part of an extracurricular club. Most participants just wanted the extra credit and put minimal effort in their work or wanted to become a J-pop singer, whether or not they had the talent or looks for it (J-pop was more about the looks of the singers than their singing, which was dealt with in post-production). Mostly it was an excuse to do karaoke-style singing during school and club time, but sometimes lightning would strike.

Watching as the new blonde foreigner girl turned to face her classmates, Yukari did not know what to expect. The girl did not look to be a deliberate troublemaker like the other blonde in the class, the light haired islander girl who could literally not hold still. Conventional wisdom among the teachers was to not crack down on her too harshly, as in her case it would just result in her acting out more than before. In the worse case scenario, she would decide to start testing projects she had made up with various common materials like that character from the American show MacGyver. That had happened twice in the last couple years, usually as a result of a new teacher that did not know how to deal with the girl, and the girl's sponsor family wound up paying for the damages that resulted.

Seeing the girl close her eyes and bow her head, Yukari thought she was about to refuse to sing after all. It would be a shame if she did, as she had been serious about giving her the failing marks. That and the refusal to do as asked would also result in a meeting with the school councilor. But as the teacher was reaching for a referral slip to fill out, Sarah raised her head and began to sing.

Morning sun,
like the face of a newborn child
innocent, unknowing.
Winter's end,
promises of a long lost friend,
speaks to me of comfort.

Yukari's hand stilled as she heard the high clear notes of the girl's voice as she sang in English, notes that clearly reached at least into the mezzo-soprano range and not the same as the girl's speaking voice.

But I fear
I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose here in this lonely place
Tangled up in your embrace
There's nothing I'd like better than to fall

But I fear
I have nothing to give.

As Sarah sang with her eyes still closed, everyone in the classroom became silent and still, watching the American girl.

Wind in time
shakes the flower trembling on the vine,
and nothing yields to shelter
From above
they say temptation will destroy our love
the never ending hunger

Tearing her eyes away from Sarah, Yukari could see that everyone's attention was fixed on the girl, most of the students wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the power of her voice.

But I fear
I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose here in this lonely place
Tangled up in our embrace
There's nothing I'd like better than to fall

Yukari almost ceased breathing as she listened to the perfectly sung notes; as far as she could tell, every note was pitch perfect.

But I fear
I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose
I have nothing to give
We have so much to lose.

Sarah opened her eyes and saw that everyone was staring at her silently. Giving a resigned sigh, the American girl gave a head nod and made to walk back to her desk when suddenly the electric school bell rang, marking the end of class and the school day.

"Classroom! Stand, bow!" Hikari automatically gave the end of the class commands as everyone bowed toward the sensei, with Sarah turning and bowing in place rather than walk back to her desk.

"Class dismissed." Yukari said, before calling out as Sarah made toward her desk. "And McDougal-san, please stay behind, I wish to talk to you." The blonde hesitated for a moment before nodding and beginning to pack her school bag.

"No."

"What do you mean no? I just heard you singing, your voice is practically professional level, why would you not want to sing in the school choir?" Sensei Wada was wide-eyed at her refusal.

Sarah sighed to herself. This reaction had been one of the reasons she had been reluctant to sing in front of the class. People tended to react strongly to how she sung, and it usually did not result in much good for her.

"Just because I can sing does not mean I like doing it, Sensei. And the last thing I want to do is spend my free time doing stuff like that." The young blonde said evenly, her arms crossed in front of her stomach.

"But you're so good at it! Why would you not like singing?" The surprise on Sensei Wada's face was turning into shock.

"Because it's has the magical power to turn people into goldfish?" Seeing the teacher look at her in incomprehension, Sarah opened her mouth and made her eyes wide and blinking, imitating the appearance of a goldfish before resuming her normal expression. "I don't like that kind of attention, and I really don't like listening to amateurs sing. It drives me up the wall."

"Why would other people singing bother you?" Sensei Wada was looking puzzled now.

"Because they are so bad at it. They are always off-key, always hitting the wrong notes, especially when they are singing in Engrish." Sarah was referring to the slang term for English spoken with a heavy Japanese accent. "Professionally produced music is ok, but live singing or amateurs drive me nuts." Seeing that the teacher still did not understand, Sarah stepped up to the blackboard behind the teacher and pulled her fingernails across it's surface, causing Sensei Wada to flinch and the three girls waiting beside the classroom door to cringe at the resulting squeal. The teacher had wanted to speak to Sarah alone at first but the blonde American had insisted that her friends stay. It was only when Sarah stated that either her friends stayed or she would call her guardian to come hear what the teacher wanted to say that she finally agreed. "Like the singing in class today. Practically every song that was sung half-assed was like me listening to nails on a chalkboard. Every. Damn. One." Sarah was almost glaring at the teacher.

"You have perfect pitch." Seeing Sarah blink at her, Sensei Wada continued. "You can identify and reproduce musical notes perfectly after hearing them once or twice. That is why you don't like listening to amateurs singing, they are usually off compared to the original singers, and your mind picks up on that."

"Well, that explains a lot, but it doesn't change anything. I don't like singing around other people, and I don't plan on doing it any time soon. Inside of class, maybe, and today is probably going to be the last time you're ever going to hear me do it." Seeing anger flare on her teacher's face, Sarah kept talking. "If I have to have my guardian come down and talk to you guys about this, I will. I'll even take the 'F' in class, and then you'll have to explain to everyone why you gave me that grade." The other reason that Sarah was sure that Keitaro would back her up on this was that in her mind her singing was now linked to her time in Roanapur and he would not force the issue.

"But you don't have to sing with others. You could become a soloist, even a featured singer. My gods, you were holding notes at a mezzo-soprano range! Do you know how rare that is?!" Sensei Wada was growing desperate; this girl had skill and talent that most singers in the field would literally kill for. Being her advisor would also bring fame and recognition to her as well if the girl competed against the other schools in the area, let alone the regional and national levels. "You are required to have an extracurricular activity anyway, this would fulfill it perfectly!"

"So I'll join the Book Club. That should tell you how much I don't like singing in front of people, I'd rather do a damn book report instead." Sarah turned and faced her teacher squarely. "So that is my final answer, Sensei Wada. I do not want to sing in any public school events or clubs. So if there's nothing else, Sensei?" The woman shook her head, visibly shocked at her declaration. "Have a good day then." Picking up her book bag from her desk, Sarah turned toward the door. "Let's go, girls." The other three Hinata girls moved toward the door, following behind her as she made her way through the group of girls standing in the hall, Nyamo falling into step behind her and Shinobu and Su bringing up the rear. Pausing at the entrance hall to swap out their indoor slippers for their outside shoes, the girls walked outside and fell into step with each other as they walked in a row abreast of each other.

"Sarah-chan, why don't you like singing? Music is gift of the gods, make peoples happy." The American girl managed not to react at Su using the chan suffix on her name; the other blonde girl was too bouncy and puppy-like for Sarah to get on her case about it. Shinobu referred to her as sempai, the same as she did with her other housemates even though they were both about the same age. Everyone else respected her wishes and either used the san or kun suffix instead.

Looking over at her housemate, Sarah was struck by her demeanor. For once the girl was not grinning and bouncing along. Instead she was serious as she walked along on the far side of Shinobu, who was on her left, while Nyamo was on her right and slightly behind.

"Look, Su-chan, I didn't say I don't like singing. I said that I don't like people doing a half-assed job of it, or me singing in public. You and Shinobu-chan and Nyamo did a good job with your songs today, but most of the people in class were just screwing around. And the last thing I want is to be put on stage in front of a whole bunch of people to be gawked at." The last sentence she said produced a shiver that went unnoticed by the other girls except for Nyamo.

"With my people we sing when we are praying to our gods. Always happy time." Su looked a little more cheerful at her explanation.

"When I used to go to church the people there sang too. When they do it right it pretty great, but otherwise it's a waste of air." Sarah had done enough Bible study with her grandpa to know the basic rules of Christianity; she figured if she needed more she would go the direct route with her prayers, rather than filter it through some guy in a robe.

"So you never sing in church?" Su asked curiously.

"When everyone was, sure. By myself, not a chance. I stopped going to church regular when I was about eight," when her grandpa died, "and the last time I was in one was a couple of years ago." For her mother's funeral.

"You did a very good job of singing today, sempai. I think it was the best song of the day." Shinobu blushed as she spoke.

"Thanks, Shinobu-chan. You and Nyamo did good too. Hey Su-chan, that song you did was in your language, so I didn't understand it. What was it all about?" Sarah asked in curiosity.

"Song about monkey and tiger, always fighting. Tiger try to eat monkey, monkey hide in tree. Tiger try to chase, climb tree, so monkey jump to other tree. Monkey and tiger keep jumping until monkey tired, stay on branch. Tiger jump one more time, not know monkey holding vine. Branch break, monkey stay in tree, tiger fall on giant hornet nest on ground, get stung many times, runs off. Tiger never return, monkey live happily after." Su finished saying with a smile.

"Su-chan, giant hornets can kill large animals with their stings. Got stung once, it felt like I was stuck with red hot nail." Nyamo was staring at the other islander girl.

"True. But tiger trying to eat monkey, so no feel sorry. Song is lesson for children in my country. No matter if strong or fast, if not smart too bad things happen." The smile on Su's went from happy to sly.

"Well, that's an idea I can get behind. Come on, I want to get a coffee and a pastry before we get home, as good as Shinobu-chan's food is, it takes too long for her to make it!" The chef girl squeaked in embarrassment as the other girls all laughed good-naturedly as they kept walking.

Hinata Inn Dormitory
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
mid January, late afternoon

Kitsune watched as her friend slid into the waters of the hot spring, hissing as she got used to the temperature. Naru's long brown hair was tied up and bound under a white towel on top of her head which she carefully kept out of the water, since she did not want to go through the half hour ritual it would normally take to wash, shampoo, dry and style her back length locks. But the younger girl stayed low in the water with just her head above the surface, a slight frown on her face.

"Ok Naru-chan, what's wrong? You got your unhappy face on, what you do, mess up on your mock test?" Kitsune had seen her friend arrive home from cram school, and the look on her face then matched the one she was wearing now.

"No, I did well, I got a 95% score on my test." Naru did not look at all happy while she said this.

"So why are you so down then? You look like got a low score." While most would consider 95% to be a great score, at the elite cram school Naru attended, any student who consistently scored less than 85% on the mock exams would be politely informed that they should look for a cram school with less demanding standards.

"I didn't get the high score in class." That surprised Kitsune. In fact, Naru was usually the top scoring student in her group. "Today I finished third." Naru muttered.

"So who are the academic monsters that beat the infamous Glasses Girl?" Kitsune teased. Since Naru was so antisocial and wore Coke bottle glasses (which were justified since Naru had almost ruined her vision during her studies) and baggy frumpy clothes most of the students simply called her Glasses Girl.

"A couple of new part-time students." There were two academic tracks at the cram school; full-time for students who had already graduated high school and could dedicate all their time to attend lectures and study for the university entrance exams, and part-time for students that were still in high school or working a regular job while studying. "They got a 96% and a 98%." Naru said dispiritedly.

"Holy crap, who the hell are these people?" Kitsune asked in surprise. Because the part-timers did not have the time to attend lectures and study like the full-timers, they very rarely were the high scorers in class.

"You would know them as the Manager and the Turtle Girl." Naru slumped down even more to where her chin was now touching the steaming water.

"Keitaro-san and Mutsumi-chan?" Kitsune was shocked; not by the fact that Keitaro had done well, but that the new girl had. Anyone that spent more than five minutes with the Okinawan native would realize that she did not think like most people. To call the girl spacey was a mistake; she was more like the Luna girl from the Harry Potter books and movies, smart but seeing thing in an entirely different manner.

"Mutsumi-chan got the 98%, that caused a bigger tizzy than the day she showed up." A near riot had broken out when the busty girl had first come to class and introduced herself earlier that week. If the male students were not drooling over her they were bugging her asking her out of dates or for her phone number, while the female students were throwing her dirty looks for all the attention she was getting. The distractions had petered out when Mutsumi had walked out of class with her arm linked with Keitaro, who had been amused and annoyed in turns with how everyone was acting.

"Is that a big shock, you told me how well Mutsumi-chan did when you were all studying together." At the new girl's suggestion the three Todai aspirants studied together after Naru got home from school. Naru had been reluctant at first since her experiences with studying with another person mostly consisted of her time in high school with Kitsune, who was not what anyone would call dedicated or reliable. But after the first couple of days of study she had been proven wrong, only for another emotion to surface; exasperation. Mutsumi Otohime was the purest example of non-linear thinking Naru had ever come across, and it was driving the younger girl nuts. After an evening of listening to her give non-sensical reasonings for how she solved calculus problems, the trio had taken a practice test and the older girl had scored a 92%, while Naru had gotten a 90% and Keitaro had gotten an 88%.

"Yes, but this is the girl that when she gets stuck on a multiple choice question uses her lucky pencil to figure it out." As in use a grade school yellow pencil as an improvised six sided die with each side marked with the letters A through F. Naru would have laughed except for the fact that every question answered that way turned out to be correct. It was almost enough for Naru to tear at her hair in frustration.

"No offense Naru-chan, but you can't let this kind of thing bother you. You need to keep your scores high, not freak out over how other people got theirs." Kitsune had occasionally seen how Naru would obsess on getting the high score in class, since that was the only way to keep track of how they were doing, especially in a class full of high achievers.

"I know, I know." Naru did not look any happier as she said this. Her friend stared at her face for a long moment before she picked up on another emotion on her face, one that caused the fox girl to grin.

"You're jealous, aren't you? That's why you are pouting, Mutsumi-chan beat you at your own game and you're upset." Kitsune watched as Naru slowly turned her head to glare at her, but did not say anything in reply. "Unless you're upset that Mu-chan is beating you in the looks department."

"Don't be silly, I don't care about boys or dating or stuff like that." Naru turned her face away from her friend but not before a blush became apparent on her cheeks, one that was not a result of the temperature of the water.

"But you don't mind the attention you get either." It did not happen often, but as long as men were not pigs about it, Naru did not mind being admired for her looks. It was the reason why she dressed in styles that accentuated her good looks rather than always dress up in her 'school uniform' of baggy sweatshirt and overalls. Naru actually smiled when other girls complimented her clothing and looks, something that made Kitsune suspect that her friend was firmly barricaded in the closet. Not that it was a major problem in Japan, but there was still an emphasis on producing grandchildren, whether or not they were married. "Hell Naru-chan, Mu-chan makes me look dull in comparison." Given her sexy motherly vibe, Mutsumi would have been the poster girl for a MILF if it had not been for her youth, and even now she was reaching the age where most people would expect her to be married.

"Ara, my ears are burning. Is someone talking about me?" Kitsune snapped her head around to see a shadow through the sliding rice paper door leading from the changing room. The door opened and Mutsumi stepped into the hot springs, carrying what looked to be a large egg-like rock between her hands, her long dark brown hair piled on her head and not wearing a stitch of clothing.

"Mutsumi-chan, you're not supposed to be walking around the hot springs without at least a towel." Naru was looking at the dark-haired girl but at the same time was keeping her eyes averted. While the manager had made it a rule that swimsuits were recommended attire in the springs, as he had himself said it really did not matter in the female only hours.

The Okinawan girl stepped into the hot spring carefully and placed the rock on the side of the pool. "Well, since I am not embarrassed of my body, and it's girls only right now, I did not think you would mind. Unless I have something you haven't seen before." Mutsumi struck a glamour girl pose with her arms above her head, her hip cocked to the side, and her sizable chest thrust out, almost causing Kitsune, who did like to appreciate the female form, to have a explosive nose bleed. The other girl had her beat in form and size by at least a couple centimeters more in bust and hips and a centimeter less on her waist and at least one cup size larger, a fact that caused the fox girl to burst out in fake tears when she learned of it.

"But what if Manager-san gets a look at you like that?" Naru asked, now facing away from the other girl even though she would glance at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Keitaro-kun? I would not mind at all if he looked at me, I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I know Kei-kun would be a total gentleman." Mutsumi smiled as she replied.

"Manager-san is a man, and men are perverts." Naru muttered.

"Naru-san." The now serious tone of Mutsumi's voice caused her to look at her fully to see that the smile had left the other girl's face. "Has Keitaro-kun done anything to show that he is a pervert?"

"He saw me naked and groped me the first day he was here." Anger flashed across Naru's face.

"Deliberately? He saw that you were naked, walked up and grabbed you?" There was now a slight frown on Mutsumi's face.

Naru did not want to answer, but the look on the other girl's face made her do so regardless. "No. He was here in the hot springs, I walked up to him and put his hand on my chest. I thought he was Kitsune and I wanted to…" Here the brown-haired hair paused for a moment before continuing. "Compare breast sizes." Naru muttered.

"And then what happened?" The frown on Mutsumi's face was freaking her out more than an obvious expression of anger would.

"I chased him out of the hot springs and all over the house, he ran into the living room and fought Motoko-chan and beat her. Once he took her sword from her we had a standoff until Haruka-san came in and explained everything. That was the day that Keitaro-san became manager of the Inn."

"Motoko-san was the tenant that was asked to leave because she later attacked Keitaro-kun and used excessive force, yes?" Mutsumi's lips quirked at the look on the younger girl's face. "When I moved into my room here at the Inn I asked who's room it had been since there was furniture there that was not of the kind the rest of the rooms have. Keitaro-kun told me the story then. But we've gone off on a tangent. Has Keitaro-kun deliberately done anything perverted against you or any of the other tenants?"

"No, he has not." Naru felt like sinking lower in the water, but she would not be able to breathe if she did so.

"So perhaps you shouldn't tar Keitaro with the same brush you do every other man." Mutsumi smiled slightly while tilting her head.

"Perhaps." Naru was not ready to go farther than that, but thankfully Mutsumi did not say any more about it.

"Good! It's not like you would want to go around with a reputation that wasn't justified, right Na-chan?" Mutsumi was now smiling widely.

"Right." Naru was now looking nervous, since the reputation she had in town and at school was decidedly justified.

"Very well then." Mutsumi turned and picked up the egg-shaped rock she had put down on the edge of the pool then walked across the pool toward the outcropping of rock that was spilling water into the pool. Carefully placing the rock under the stream of water, Mutsumi took a couple steps back, bowed toward the rock and sang in what the two other girls now recognized as turtle speech for about half a minute before bowing again. Turning around, the older girl walked back to the other girls before sitting down besides Naru opposite Kitsune.

"What was that all about, Mutsumi-chan?" Kitsune asked curiously.

"It was an offering to the turtle gods. If they accept it, something good will happen." Mutsumi turned from the ash blonde girl and started to stare at the brown haired one, making her nervous. "You know, Naru-chan, I think there is something I can do to help you feel better."

"What is that?" For some reason Naru did not like the gleam in Mutsumi's eyes.

"You need a big hug!" Grabbing Naru she slammed her against her chest face first. Thankfully she was still above water level and Naru was able to turn her face to keep from being smothered between the other girl's large breasts. This did not keep her from squawking in shock and flapping her arms around frantically, causing Kitsune to break out laughing at the sight.

A/N 2: Ah storybuilding. Something I don't think I'm all that good at, but necessary at this point of the story.

It's odd to think that by being good at singing Sarah is going to have problems, but there you go. As some of you may figure, there are students that are jealous of her because of her looks and now because of her singing talents. This is going to get the ball rolling on her troubles, not to mention the normal jerkasses that tend to inhabit Japanese high schools, at least in fiction. Here is an interesting fact – the real life daughter of the Crown Prince of Japan (a Princess) was enrolled in a private elementary school for nobles in Tokyo and was removed for a while due to bullying. She eventually went back for a limited amount of classes with her mother as an escort and later graduated to junior high, where she is now.

I finally got answers about the survivor of the ambush against Taro Urashima; it was Miyamoto Musashi. While he is the most famous Japanese samurai known for dual wielding swords and for coming up with the Niten Ichi Ryu (Two Heavens/Swords as One school), it was not his original idea. In fact, it is alleged that he was inspired by watching a Dutch sailor in Japan fight with a sword and dagger at the same time. He was also a young man who fought starting at age 16 with the Toyotomi Army of the West against the Tokugawa Army of the East, and Musashi's side lost. So it is possible for Musashi to have gone up against Taro in that ambush when he was young and inexperienced. Winners of the virtual (now split up) box of See's Candy are Hallwings, BbK2442, and Dhamon45. I guess no one get the cookie for IDing Hikari's ancestor – it's Hideo Horaki, the sergeant of the Life Guard for Lord Tokugawa and Taro's friend.

Thanks to AZ MII for his mad snarking and beta skillz, and Sim-Sim2 for pointing out that Naha is in Okinawa and not Nara.

Winner of this month's Most Unusual Place Reading My Story is Algeria, and the Runner Up is Portugal.

As of 0030 16Feb16 this story has 275K words, 678K Views, 786 Reviews, 61 C2 Listings, 1239 Favorites, and 1135 Story Alerts. Thanks to everyone for reading this story. *thumbs up*