Ch 61
V 1.0
Hinata-sou Dormitory
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
mid February, late Monday afternoon
Sarah McDougal came to a halt at the top of the stairs leading to the front of the Hinata Inn. She did not need to rest to catch her breath since she was in fairly good shape now, it was more to take an appreciative look at the house and the woods around the hilltop. When Keitaro Urashima really wanted to make her sweat he would have her run up the stairs two at a time and then run down one step at a time. Right now Sarah could do three cycles before feeling like throwing up; thankfully Keitaro-sensei would not really push her over that point, letting her rest for a few moments while quizzing her about her about the non-physical lessons he had given her.
The woods were made up of a mix of both evergreen and deciduous trees, along with some stands of bamboo as well. The deciduous trees had shed their leaves for the winter and were standing stark and bare among the other trees. Of particular note were some ginkgo trees that were planted around the front of the Inn; the Urashima family mon, or family crest, consisted of three ginkgo leaves in a circle, with one whole, another partially split in two, and the last having four segments. Keitaro had shown Sarah some examples of the mon on some traditional clothing, with the fanciest being on embroidered in gold thread in full detail on the front of a black kataginu sleeveless jacket that was worn over a kimono or gi over hakama. The plainest example was on a black gi, embroidered as an outline in red thread over the left breast. When Sarah had asked what on occasion the black gi would be worn, Keitaro had replied it was traditionally worn only in battle or unrestricted honor duels.
The plants that had the places of honor were probably the most unobtrusive. There were two fairly large cypress bonsai trees in wooden tubs on either side of the walkway leading to the front door. Since most of Sarah's knowledge about bonsai came from watching The Karate Kid way back when, she had asked about it. Haraka had been the one to answer that question; the two bonsai were survivors of the Great Tokyo Firebombing during the Pacific War. After the raid had reduced a quarter of Metropolitan Tokyo to ash, including nearby Yokohama, Granny Hina (who was ten years old at that time) headed into the burned-out city on her own to look for family members. After several days of searching she returned alone, smeared in soot and dirt, pulling a small wooden cart that contained two charred bonsai and a medium sized bag of dirt and ash, saying it was all that remained of the Urashima family home in Tokyo. The girl had planted the two bonsai near the Sou and split the bag of dirt and ash between them; the future clan matriarch had then tended the two trees for close to seventy years now, the bonsai recovering and growing to it's now current mid-chest height. The story had ended at that point, but Sarah had her own suspicions about what was involved, since she had seen all three Urashima bow slightly to the bonsai and whisper a quick prayer every time they walked past them. Deciding that ignorance was bliss in this case Sarah would give a silent prayer of her own when she walked past the bonsai as well.
Standing in the yard next to the head of the stairs was Keitaro, his arms crossed and facing away. As Sarah came up beside him, she could see that his gaze was fixed on the building on the side of the clearing. The old two story edifice had been built slightly below the summit of the hill that the Sou was on top of, only part of the hillside had collapsed against and around the building. The girl had been told that the location was too hazardous to enter and doing so without permission, or even worse alone, was grounds for punishment. A younger Sarah would have made a beeline for the building to explore it the first chance she got after that, but an older and wiser teen had a much greater appreciation of having a whole skin and did as she was told.
"Hey dork-san, what's the what?" Sarah knew that Keitaro was aware of her presence, it being almost impossible to sneak up on him, but after he kept motionless for a few moments after coming near him she decided to speak up.
"Hello yourself, brat." Keitaro's eyes stayed on the building as he spoke. "Long day today?"
Sarah gave a slight wince. "You could say that." It had seemed as though a month or two instead of a day had gone by since she had entered the kitchen wearing her gakuran uniform this morning. "Things didn't turn out too badly."
"You call getting a detention 'not too badly'?" Keitaro's eyes flicked toward her for a moment.
"That was taken care of, the vice-principal called me into his office and revoked the detention but let the demerits stand for not having my collar buttoned, something about me not having screwed up enough to be punished like that." Sarah stated. "Something else weird happened; the VP actually offered me the class rep job for my homeroom."
This information caused Keitaro to turn his head to look at her. "He give a reason why?"
"Hikari-san resigned from the job this afternoon," Sarah replied, taking a few moments to recount her meeting with the school official and his secretary.
"And what do you think about this?" By the time she had finished talking Keitaro had turned so he was facing his ward, his arms still crossed and no expression on his face.
"I'm kinda split on it actually, I don't want to put up with the bullshit that comes with the job but I don't like seeing the little bastards run wild in the halls either. The VP said that I can choose what rules I enforce and that I don't have to get physically involved, I can call for staff assistance. I wasn't planning on becoming a superhero fighting the forces of evil, that's more your gig." Sarah grinned at those last words, and Keitaro cracked a smile as well.
"So you're going to take the position?" asked Keitaro.
"I think I am. I went and talked to Hikari-san afterschool, she wasn't too happy with the job to begin with." Sarah explained. "What we came up with was to split the job, she does all the admin paperwork crap and I do the disciplinary and physical stuff like calling attention in class. We're going to talk to the VP tomorrow morning and if he goes for it I'll take the job."
"You know the downside to this, don't you Sarah-kun?" Keitaro inquired. "The vice-principal is probably doing this to keep a closer eye on you and have some form of control over you."
"Yeah, kinda figured that." Sarah replied. "I'm not one of his favorite people, but I really hate all the bullying that goes on at school. Maybe I can make a difference, if not I can always hang it up and go back to being a regular student again. Plus Hikari-san is starting to become a good friend and this way I can help her out."
"That's good to hear." The expression on Keitaro's face relaxed slightly. "It's almost time for dinner, after that I need to talk to you and Nyamo-chan." Keitaro read the expression on Sarah's face. "It's not anything bad, but it's something I've should have talked to you about earlier. You should dress in your gi and hakama, but not the cloak." Keitaro smiled and his student returned it.
"OK." Sarah paused for a moment before speaking again. "Question, why were you staring so hard at that old building when I got here? And what is that place?"
"Hmm? Oh, the annex." Keitaro responded. "That was a separate part of the Sou that was built back before the war. It was called the Inn of Fateful Unions, it supposedly had the magical power to help get couples that were having marital problems back together if they spent the night there. There was an earthquake some years ago that damaged the hill next to it and caused it to collapse against the building. It was determined to be too unsafe to enter or rebuild, so it was sealed off. I was thinking of what I could do with the building since all the repairs at the Inn are completed now. Realistically it should be torn down, the Hinata isn't run as a hot springs inn anymore and we can't justify spending money to rebuild a separate inn building with rooms when half of the rooms in the main inn are closed anyway. I was thinking of maybe building a shrine there, that's more useful than a shut-up building would be."
"Magical powers?" Sarah queried, her attention on those words. "Is it true?"
"Depends on who you talk to." Keitaro replied. "There is a miniature hot spring about the size of a large hot tub pool inside, the building was constructed around it. The annex was originally constructed as a form of honeymoon suite for newlyweds separate from the Inn, that way they could be as loud as they wanted and not disturb the other guests." Keitaro smiled slightly as Sarah blushed. "Remember our lessons about chi and ley lines? The hot springs almost certainly are part of the ley lines and any magic there is probably comes from that."
Sarah nodded. Part of her instruction on chi and ki had been about ley lines, sources of natural energy that formed streams leading to the Earth's surface that could be accessed by people. A thought then occurred to her. "You said that the hot springs are part of the ley lines, you're saying that we've been sitting in magical pools of water?"
"Sure, where do you think hot springs got the reputation for healing powers? It can help with injuries and illness, and also in improving general health." Keitaro explained. "Why do you think Shinobu-chan's leg healed so quickly after she was hurt?"
"Wait, wait! Magic is real!?" Sarah should not have surprised by that thought, but she had never really thought about chi and ki that way.
"Magic in the way you are probably thinking, not really," answered Keitaro. "But there are things in this world that are not fully understood that are explained as magic. Chi and ki can be used in ways that are normally described as magical, both for good and not."
"Another thing. Are the hot springs why I've been growing so much lately?" Sarah had grown almost five centimeters in the time since she started living at the Hinata-sou, now standing taller than her mother had been as an adult.
"Perhaps. At your age you have growth spurts and with your chi usage it would affect your physical development." Seeing the worried look on her face Keitaro continued. "Chi isn't going to force your body past what it can safely do unless you consciously bypass the safeties, and that would probably kill you straight out."
"One last question, Keitaro-sensei." Sarah waited until he was looking at her squarely before speaking. "Is all my chi usage going to make me into one of those big boobed anime action girls?"
Keitaro snorted in amusement. "You wish. Both Haruka-chan and Kanako-chan are chi users and they're not that big." Sarah thought for a moment about that; she could not see Haruka caring much about her chest size, but Kanako would, as shown by her visible jealousy of Mutsumi. "That being said, remember Sue, the blonde Russian mercenary you met? She's an unconscious chi user since she was a teen and that might have affected her development."
"Oh hell yeah." Sue had been on the helicopter that had gotten Sarah and Keitaro out of Thailand and they had spent some time together on the American warship afterwards. "That woman could put Dolly Parton to shame."
"Dolly who? I'm not familiar with that name." Keitaro asked curiously.
"She's a country music singer from back in the States, you can look her on the internet." Sarah would have said more but her stomach grumbled loudly, causing her to blush and Keitaro to smile. "Time to eat, I guess."
"I hope so, for a moment I thought the annex was crumbling down. Let's go Sarah-chan." Keitaro smiled at his student.
"After you, dork-san," Sarah responded, the pair turning and walking toward the Inn when she suddenly stopped. "Crap, hang on a minute, I need to make a call." The girl dug out her mobile phone and speed-dialed a number before putting it against her ear with her guardian looking on curiously.
"Hey Su-chan, it's Sarah. Something changed at school, is it still possible to cancel the order for the five kilos of chicken manure and the bag of feathers?" The blonde listened for a moment as one of Keitaro's eyebrows went up. "Good, leave the order in for the rubber chicken, I still have plans for that." Both eyebrows were now up. Sarah listened for a few moments more. "Ok, I see you at dinner in a few minutes. Later Su-chan." The blonde disconnected the call and glanced over at her guardian, who had a questioning expression on his face. "All done, time for dinner." The girl marched off toward the house, with him following a short distance behind her.
Hinata-sou Dormitory
early Monday evening
Sarah finished smoothing the folds of the gi and hakama she had just put on. The matte black cotton fabric absorbed the light of her bedroom, still slightly stiff from its newness. Picking up the dull white belt, she wrapped the length of fabric around her waist, going completely around once before coming around toward the front again to be tied in a square knot slightly to the left of center, the ends even. The hems of the hakama legs were an inch from the floor, revealing the white split-toed tabi socks on her feet. Glancing at the mirror above the dresser she could see that her hair was still in order in its French braid and chin length bangs, the smaller padawan braid tucked into the larger one.
Turning toward the door Sarah could see Nyamo dressed in her brown and tan outfit patiently waiting for her. Seeing that the blonde was ready the islander girl opened the door and waited for her to go through it before following her and closing it behind them, the pair walking down the hallway toward the center of the building. Keitaro was standing just outside a door near the end of the hallway, dressed in a dark blue gi and black hakama with a black belt wrapped around his waist, a solemn expression on his face.
"We're ready, Keitaro-sensei." Sarah knew that this was one of the times that her flippant attitude would not be appropriate.
Her guardian nodded in response. Looking from the blonde to the black-haired girl he finally spoke. "This is something that I've been planning to do for a while, but I kept putting it off. It's time to show to you now." Keitaro turned to face Sarah squarely. "In your studies of Urashima-ryu, I've taught you about the physical and the mental." He opened the door beside him and gestured for the two girls to enter. "Now it's time to learn to learn about the spiritual."
Stepping into the room Sarah was immediately reminded of the formal tea room she had been in a few weeks ago; the walls were covered with rice paper and wood screens and the floor was covered by tatami mats. But this room was different in that it was half the size of the tea room with the scent of incense in the air and instead of a large low table in the center there were shelves attached to the side walls. On the shelves were little wooden tablets that had the Urashima family crest and names engraved upon them, totaling a hundred or so.
In the front of the room were three medium sized low tables; the one in the center had three objects on top of a white cloth spread across it; a knife that looked rather old, a small rounded bronze mirror propped up on a stand, and a jade carving of a turtle. The table on the left had two medium framed black and white pictures and engraved tablets, the photos of an elderly man in formal clothing that bore some resemblance to Keitaro, and the other of a woman in her twenties in a kimono who looked more than a little like Haruka, only this lady was smiling in a manner that the Urashima cousin never did. However, it was the contents of the last table that took Sarah's breath away. There was a large framed photo that showed a half-dozen people standing and kneeling together with jungle in the background; the group consisted of four adult men and two teen girls around one rather large tortoise. In front of the picture were two objects, a battered khaki ball cap with a Union Jack flag patch on the front, and a battered Zippo lighter with a double headed eagle engraved on it.
Keitaro motioned for the two girls to kneel down on the provided mats in front of the tables. Picking up the Zippo from the table beside him he used it to light two sticks of incense in holders on the two side tables. Putting the lighter back Keitaro knelt down in front of the center table and softly clapping his hands together bowed his head and whispered prayers that the girls could not make out. Sarah glanced toward her roommate to see that Nyamo was also whispering softly in her native language, presumably prayers as well. Sarah bowed her head but stayed silent, not really knowing any prayers except some half-remembered Christian ones from long ago. Besides, her way of praying aloud wasn't exact appropriate for the moment.
"These tablets are memorials for the Urashima that have passed on before us." Sarah's head came up when she heard Keitaro speak, seeing that he was now looking toward the two girls. "The Urashima clan existed as a noble family for the last four hundred years, and was a samurai clan for three hundred years prior. Before that the Urashima made their living from the sea until they were conscripted into the various wars and through their valor and skills were made bushi."
Keitaro gestured toward the middle table. "These items represent the three virtues of the Urashima clan. The knife represents valor, the mirror represents knowledge, and the carving represents benevolence. Valor is because we take up arms to protect those we care for, knowledge is the truth of the world, whether or not we want to acknowledge it, and benevolence is because although we have strength and power we should not oppress other without reason."
"Why a turtle though?" Sarah asked curiously. The jade carving was about the size of her palm.
"Turtles have been associated with the Urashima since the beginning of our clan, there is even a legend of a giant tortoise and one of our ancestors, but that is a story for another day." Keitaro turned to gesture to toward the side tables. "Normally those two portraits would be on either side of the center table, but I had to find a place for that picture. It was the only photo I have of the two of them," Keitaro finished saying, sadness visible on his face.
"I can help with that," Sarah spoke up, causing her guardian to look directly at her. "I've drawn portraits of Gaz and Yuri already, I can show them to you and if you want you can use them in here, or I can make up other ones."
"Thank you, Sarah-kun, I really appreciate that." Keitaro had a faint smile on his face.
"Who are the other two people in the portraits?" Sarah waved her hand toward the portraits of the older man and the younger woman.
"The man is my great uncle Hiro, he is Granny Hina's younger brother. He passed away about ten years ago. The woman is my aunt Yoko, Haruka-chan's mother. She was killed in a collapsing building during an earthquake a little over twenty years ago."
"Sorry." Sarah bowed her head; she did not want to bring up bad memories.
"No, it's fine. I see their portraits when I come here every week to clean the room and say a prayer to their spirits." Keitaro turned back slightly to motion to the room behind him. "This room is to honor and remember those who came before us, and to remind us of our duty. It is also to remind us that we are not alone, that so long as they are remembered they are never truly gone." Rocking back on his heels, he came to his feet. "Come, we have something else we need to discuss."
Walking through the door, Keitaro lead them across the hall and into the formal tea room, where a tea service was already set up on the table. Motioning for them to sit down, he stepped out of the room for a minute only to return with a steaming kettle of hot water, which he used to prepare three cups of tea, two of which he passed to the girls.
Sarah held the western style mug and let the warmth soak into her hands. She knew how big a deal it was for a superior to personally prepare tea for subordinates, and she had a feeling it was not a good thing.
After Keitaro took a sip of his strong black tea he put the mug down and began to speak. "The reason I have you here today is because of something arranged by Gaz and Yuri. Before I left the island after the attack I spoke with Yuri and while we were in Roanapur I had a discussion with Gaz, and they both made the same decision." The young man reached into the sleeve of his gi and pulled out two small cards that he placed before the girls. "Both Gaz and Yuri had quite a bit of money saved up from various jobs they had performed as security contractors. Yuri had broken away from his family in Russia because of the war there and Gaz did not have any family back in England; he joined the army as an orphan. So the money they had was left to the two of you in a trust fund."
Sarah looked down at the card in front of her; it was a debit/credit card for one of the local banks, CitiBank Japan, with her name was embossed it. She looked up again when Keitaro continued to speak.
"Right now the two of you have been getting a 5000 yen a week cash discretionary allowance from Seta-sensei to do with as you wish, this is besides the clothing allowance you have." Sarah nodded in response; when she needed to buy her fuku school uniforms Haruka had gone with them to the stores and paid for everything with a credit card Seta had given her, along with other casual clothes she had bought to wear at home and on the weekends. The gakuran uniform she had paid for out of her own allowance money. "This amount will now increase to 25,000 yen, deposited into your bank account weekly."
The blonde's eyes widened at the figure. "That's two hundred and fifty dollars a week!"
"Yes, it is. Part of this is so that you learn how to budget and spend your money. Effective immediately except for food and board here at the Sou and basic clothing you are now responsible for your own finances." Keitaro said this with a straight look on his face.
That statement gave Sarah pause until she thought about it for a moment. There really was not much that much difference between her old allowance and her new one besides the amount. She had even managed to save a few yen since she mostly ate at the Sou or brought packaged school lunches from there. She would wind up with a net increase in cash the way she figured it.
Glancing over at her roommate Sarah was a little surprised to see that Nyamo was not looking at the credit card in front of her; instead she was staring at Keitaro, an undecipherable expression on her face. Given that the islander girl was not the most expressive person this was not that unusual, but it was something that the American girl could ponder on later. She looked back at her guardian when he continued speaking.
"Once you complete high school and get accepted to university, the trust fund will pay for tuition, books, housing and expenses. Once you earn a degree up to a doctorate and have a job for a year or you hit age thirty you get full access to the trust fund." Keitaro paused for a moment and looked from Sarah to Nyamo and back again. "If you complete high school but don't go to university the allowance will stay at the current level."
Sarah tilted her head slightly. She had a pretty fair idea what it cost to live in Tokyo; that allowance would barely cover rent in a rat hole apartment, let alone living expenses. That was the reason that the more unruly tenants put up with Keitaro's revised rules when he became manager of the Hinata-sou; the residents would have to easily pay triple to find equivalent housing in the metropolis.
"OK, I understand you don't want me to become a NEET slacker," Sarah used the Japanese term for 'Not in Education, Employment, or Training', in other words unemployed and not in school, "but will the fund have enough money to pay for an education up to a doctorate? For both of us?" she asked, gesturing toward Nyamo.
"I would think so." Keitaro could see the question in her expression that she did not want to ask aloud. "The trust fund currently has a total of 25 million yen, or 250 thousand American dollars." Sarah's eyes widened noticeably while conversely Nyamo's eyes narrowed. "Kanako-chan has been investing the money and it is currently making a ten percent return and compounding. So up to the time you attend university your expenses won't touch the principal and it may increase. So long as you're not buying cars and such it's going to last for a while."
"Bloody hell, what kind of work were Gaz and Yuri doing?" Sarah asked incredulously.
"Dangerous work. They took the job with Seta-sensei because they didn't need to do the truly hazardous missions anymore and as a favor to him." Sarah visibly wilted at that reminder of the causes and reasons for the men's' death, but Keitaro kept talking before she could say anything. "Gaz and Yuri chose to do the work they did knowing full well the risks. Don't start thinking that it was your fault that things turned out as they did. The causes were out of our control, and we did the best that we could afterward. Gaz and Yuri could have walked away at any time, especially Gaz after the attack. Please honor their choices, this is their way to atone for letting you be taken in the first place."
Keitaro watched as Sarah looked down at the card before her for a long moment before she finally reached out and picked it up. Tucking it into her gi top the girl reached out and picked up her tea mug, drinking it down in one shot once she determined that it had cooled off. Looking back at her guardian she could see the sad look on his face as he gazed back at her.
"Could you do me a favor, sensei?" Keitaro's gaze sharpened at the unfamiliar title; it was very rare for her to call him that alone, since in that manner it was meant in it's literal form, one who came before. "There are Catholic churches around here, right? Do you think you can take me to one?" she asked.
"Sure, it shouldn't be a problem." Keitaro replied. "May I ask why?" The blonde teen had never previously shown signs that she was religious.
"You showed me how you pray to the departed, I figured I should do the same." Sarah looked up, a ghost of a smile on her lips. Turning to her roommate she said, "Nyamo, you're invited as well."
Nyamo bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, you honor me with your invitation."
Looking back across the table Sarah asked, "May I be excused Keitaro-sensei? I want to go get those drawings we were talking about earlier."
Keitaro nodded. "Go ahead, there's no further training tonight." He watched as she bowed before rising from the floor and walking out of the room, leaving him alone with Nyamo, who was back to gazing steadily at him.
After almost thirty seconds of silence the black haired girl was the first to speak. "You no tell truth, Keitaro-sama. Not whole truth."
"Why do you say that, Nyamo-chan?" Keitaro was not as visibly emotionless as the islander girl but he was making a decent effort.
"You forget I was on island alone with Yuri when he died? He no mention leaving large money to me, he almost force me to take cash he had with him, five thousand dollars. This money from something else, something you no want to talk about. You no want to say where money come from, bad sign." Nyamo was back to staring at him full bore.
Keitaro inwardly winced. It was very easy to underestimate how perceptive and intelligent the islander girl was, and he was pretty sure he could not lie to her undetected. He could not force the money on her either; she had already refused to take the university prep coursework at school. The girl was stubbornly independent and could very well up and disappear if he pushed too hard.
"Most of money is Yuri's. During the war he did something that saved many people's lives, and he was rewarded for it." Keitaro was trying to reveal only the minimum necessary.
"No full truth. People no get large money for that, they get medal, they get promotion. Money like that is when something really bad happen." Nyamo's eyes were locked onto his own. "It is blood money, isn't it? Someone die to get money."
Keitaro finally nodded slightly. "Yuri stopped a major terrorist attack that would have killed hundreds of people, but in order to do it he had to betray and kill comrades, people who trusted him. There was a major reward for the death of one of the men and he received it." He had his ear cocked to hear when Sarah would be approaching the room again, as this was not something he wanted her to overhear.
Nyamo kept staring at him for a long moment. "That not all, why involve Gaz? Could just say it Yuri's money."
"It's really too much money to come from one person. Gaz would understand." Keitaro truly hoped this was that case, that he was not dishonoring his friend.
"If not just blood money, then worse." Nyamo's eyes widened. "This money, this come from… no know phrase in Japanese, in English called… rip-off, yes? You… steal money from criminals?! This very dangerous, they come after you!" Nyamo's voice actually rose in volume, showing her shock and dismay, and even a tinge of fear.
"Those people won't come after us. Ever." The tone in Keitaro's voice was so final that Nyamo was brought up short.
"So where money come from?" Nyamo's question was absolutely one that he did not want to answer.
"You really don't want to know." It was bad enough that Nyamo probably thought that it was drug money; if she knew that the money had been seized from a child sex trafficker and slaver, she would flat out refuse it.
"Why not keep money for yourself?" Nyamo's next question was one he could answer.
"That money is not the full amount I have control over. I separated some of it into an account with Gaz and Yuri's money to form the trust fund. The rest is in an account overseas." Swiss bankers were so very useful when you walked into their place of business with stacks of hundred dollar bills and gold bullion coins. For an additional percentage they would handle the awkward questions and paperwork that amount of money without a declared origin would bring about, not that the previous possessors were in a position to complain about it. What Keitaro left unsaid was that he agreed with Nyamo; it was blood money, and he did not want to use it for himself.
"No need money, seen much bad things happen because of it." Nyamo was now staring at the card in front of her like it was toxic.
Keitaro sighed. "You don't have to take it, but please don't tell Sarah-kun about this. She does deserve it for what happened to her."
Nyamo's eyes came back up to Keitaro after a long moment before reaching out and picking up the card. Looking at it closer, she finally flipped it between her fingers and then tucked it up her sleeve. "I take, no say anything to Sarah-kun. But no use unless necessary."
Keitaro nodded in agreement. It was very likely that Nyamo was never going to use the funds, but at least the option was still there. More importantly Sarah would not find out about the money's origins.
"Thank you, Keitaro-sama. You good man." Nyamo gave a full sitting bow, which he returned.
"Thank you Nyamo-chan." Somehow hearing those words were of more value that cash or gold would ever be. "But please don't call me -sama, I'm not really a lord," Keitaro asked almost plaintively.
"You more than lord. You warrior, you protector." Nyamo looked at him, a softer expression on her face. "Read phrase in English book that you remind me of. You storm gates of hell, you make it back, you save innocent. No better person."
"But the costs…" Keitaro could see that Nyamo understood what he was referring to.
"Like you say, Gaz know risk, he went anyway. He died so other may live, he die as warrior. No higher honor." Nyamo bowed her head in respect.
"Thank you for reminding me of that." Keitaro bowed his head as well. "Gaz was a good man too." Nyamo nodded in agreement, and after Keitaro refreshed their tea mugs they sat in a comfortable silence until Sarah returned a few minutes later with her sketchbook.
A/N – Our favorite ronin is back!... talking to our favorite American teen! *g* And I threw in some exposition to boot!
I do hope everyone enjoyed the back story I included in this chapter. I had not detailed the Urashima mon/crest of ginkgo leaves previously so now you have an idea. BTW, by some wild coincidence the logo for the University of Tokyo is also ginkgo leaves. *g*
The observant among you may have noticed the reference to the original Taro Urashima and the Turtle Princess legend. I think that I am getting a little too meta at this point, since the story is common knowledge in Japan. Plus, imagine how Miyuki and Natsumi would react if they realize that their boyfriend and his tenant have the same names as a legendary couple.
In case anyone was wondering, in this story I round off currency amounts to make them more manageable. In this case I rounded off the current value 112 yen for one US dollar to 100 yen to a dollar, and previously rounded off the price of a one ounce gold coin to 1200 dollars.
On a serious note, virtual brownie points to anyone who figures out the significance of the three items on the table in the shrine room. Double points to anyone who figures out the significance of what young Hina Urashima brought back from a firebombed Tokyo (it's one of the defining events of her life). Here is a hint; think of the fruit drops tin from the anime movie Grave of the Fireflies.
To prolific reviewer D72, I finally threw in the annex; it may not be how you would have preferred it but it made its appearance. BTW, the various mini-reviews you were doing were much appreciated; I would not mind a few more of those. *hint hint*
The Most Unusual Place Reading My Story Award this chapter goes to Japan, ironically enough; I normally don't have much of a readership there *sad* but this last month was much improved. The Runner Up Award goes to Kazakhstan.
As always, many thanks to my beta readers AZ MII, PCH, and FFN Beta WalkerOfDarkness.
Next chapter we get to see Keitaro takes an agnostic Sarah to church and sees how she prays, her first day as a Substitute Class Rep, and maybe finally her asking someone out on a date.
As of 0100PST 01Mar2017 this story has 373K Words, 819K Views, 970 Reviews, 1412 Story Favorites and 1281 Story Alerts. Thanks again to everyone for reading my story. *thumbs up*