Ch 69
V 1.0
The struggle is real…
Hinata Tea House
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, Wednesday late evening
"I don't like this. I don't like any part of this." As if her statement was not enough, Kanako's folded-arm stance as she stood in the middle of the room made her opinion blazingly obvious.
The three Urashima were in the rarely used sitting room in the Hinata Tea house. Located on the second floor, it was in reality a spare bedroom that had been converted into its current usage. While the first floor of the building consisted of the dining area, a beverage/snack prep area, storage rooms, an office and the public washrooms, the smaller second floor was made up of Haruka's bedroom and washroom, a kitchenette and pantry, and the spare room they were currently occupying. One side of the room was used for storage of Haruka's personal items in various sized boxes, while the other side had a two-seater sofa, an upholstered recliner chair with a laptop on a roll-away workstation table next to it, and an old color TV set and stereo system in a small wooden entertainment center against the opposite wall.
After he and Sarah had arrived home from the meeting with the clerics at the park and everyone had eaten dinner, Keitaro had suggested that he and Kanako come down to the Tea House with Haruka so that he could tell them about what had been happening in his life recently. Understanding that he wanted to talk to them with no chance of any of the other residents of the Hinata-sou overhearing them, the two women followed him down the hill and into his cousin's personal living area. Sitting together on the sofa, they watched with some bemusement as the young man unplugged all the electronics in the room, even removing the laptop and placing it and their turned-off mobile phones on the bed in the next room before tossing a comforter over it. They lost their amusement when Keitaro did his ki ball trick to disable any active electronics and then plugged the stereo back in and turned it onto a J-pop station before he finally turned to them and started talking.
Since Haruka had told Kanako about Keitaro's talk to Kitsune and her previous interactions with the yakuza, it had only taken twenty minutes for him to cover everything else. What had happened during the first visit to the cathedral in fuller detail, his meeting with Katsuo Kobayashi, the second visit to the cathedral and his recent meeting with the clerics and its results. Finally he spoke about the two things that could only be discussed with his immediate family; that Sarah had the ability to summon spirits with her singing as shown by the appearance of her mother's ghost at the cathedral, and his summons along with Katsuo to the meeting with the Roju no Kage and the assignment he had been given as metsuke, since he knew it was what was going to upset them the most. He had barely finished when Kanako came to her feet and started pacing back and forth in the small room for a few moments before coming to a halt and speaking.
"I don't think Keitaro-kun is thrilled about this either, Kana-chan." Haruka was looking relatively calm, but the fact that she was fiddling with an unlit cigarette in her hands proved the lie about her emotional state. "Do you really think he would volunteer for something like this?"
"Yes!" Kanako whirled around to stare at her older cousin. "Yes he would! He keeps putting his life in danger when he doesn't have to!"
Sitting off to the side, Keitaro frowned. While he had expected his family members to be upset with what happened regarding the Roju no Kage, this was getting to be too much. He knew he had problems recognizing other people's feelings, but this was coming too close to an emotion even he could recognize, especially since it was linked to the feelings his sister had toward him that he was all too familiar with.
"Kanako." Saying his sister's name in such a flat voice and without any honorific caused both women to snap their heads toward him, only to see the serious look on his face. "It is our duty to help those who need it, especially if they fall under our protection. That has been our duty before this family became samurai, before we got our ranks and titles and lands. We help because if we don't, we are no better than those that ignore wrong out of selfishness." Seeing a mulish look on the younger girl's face Keitaro continued. "Or are you thinking that we should restrict our help to only those of our blood?"
Kanako's mouth opened as she was about to respond before coming to a halt. She really did not like thinking about it but she had been adopted as a young child into the Urashima Clan and was not a blood relative. Anyone else would think that was amusing given that her feelings toward her 'big brother' was not what a sibling was supposed to have, but the girl had that bit of fact and logic securely tied up, gagged, and stuffed in a closet deep in the recesses of her mind. Especially since under Japanese civil law adoptive/non-blood siblings are specifically allowed to marry
While this was going through her mind, Keitaro's dark eyes were locked on hers, almost as if he could see the thoughts bouncing around in her head. When Kanako finally straightened up and closed her mouth instead of speaking he gave a short nod. "And to clarify, I did not volunteer for this, I'm taking the place of Granny Hina, who has been involved with the Council for gods know how long." One thing he had left out of his disclosure was that Granny was the Arashikage of the Council and what that entailed, and that in her absence he had been appointed to the position. "Our family was one of the founding members since the Meiji era, this is one of our family's duties, I can't walk away from it because if I do, people are going to get hurt and die."
Seeing the mulish look appear again on her face Keitaro sighed. "My primary assignment from the Council right now is to keep chi and ki fighters from being sucked into the yakuza war. What do you think will happen if fighters are seen using ki techniques on television and the internet? The public will panic, the government will crack down on all of us, other countries are going to try and get a piece of us, and best yet anyone that a yakuza gang doesn't manage to recruit is going to be targeted as a possible threat. You really want go up against people with swords and guns, people who are going to throw honor out the window?" Seeing the unchanging look on his sister's face his head tilted slightly. "Or are you willing to let the world burn out of your own selfishness?" They continued staring at each other for a long moment before Kanako finally turned her head away and sat back down.
"Do you really think I want to get involved in a war? Even before I left Japan I had blood on my hands, and it got much worse." Keitaro had a far-away look on his face as he spoke. "I've done monstrous things, and I keep telling myself that it was to protect those that I care about and love." His eyes focused on Kanako again before switching over to Haruka, who had a troubled look on her face. "And to protect them and the innocent, I'll do it again, because if I don't I will be without honor, a true ronin."
"So what are you going to do now?" Haruka looked like she so wanted to light the cigarette in her mouth that Keitaro was tempted to give her the go-ahead but he knew she would not. Technically speaking the Hinata Tea House was owned by Granny Hina, and there was no way his cousin would risk the smell soaking into the premises.
Keitaro shrugged. "I'm going to do my best to protect those that I can. It's not like I'm going out to look for trouble." He then looked startled as Haruka and Kanako both snorted, almost in unison. "What?" he asked in surprise.
"You forgetting about your strange luck, Kei-kun? You don't have to go looking for trouble for it to find you." Haruka had an amused look on her face.
"I suppose." Keitaro sighed. "What I'm afraid of is it that it's starting to rub off on others like Sarah-kun." Seeing the incredulous look on his sister's face he elaborated. "Who took Sarah-kun to the cathedral? Who took her back to try and clear up the video trouble there? Who exposed her to chi and ki in the first place?" he finished saying with a troubled expression.
"You think this is all your fault? Sarah-kun would have had trouble about her singing regardless." Haruka had taken her cigarette into her hands when she started talking, and feeling it start to fall apart she dropped it into an empty coffee cup next to her. "Where would she be if she wasn't with us here at the Sou? She'd be in a crappy apartment being neglected by my idiot ex-boyfriend, or worse yet she'd be in some foster or group home in the U.S. She would certainly not be as happy as I've seen her with the other residents."
"You're right." Keitaro looked down at the new watch he had been absently rubbing on his wrist. Focusing on the dial he saw what time it was and stood up. "It's getting late and I've kept you up long enough. Thanks for listening to me, Haru-chan, Kana-chan."
"That's what we're here for, cousin." Haruka's lips twitched while Kanako smiled slightly at the acknowledgment as they both stood up as well. "What's with the fancy watch, is that new?"
"It's a gift of sorts, from Katsuo-kun. Apparently my old watch didn't fit in with the clothing I'm going to have to wear and the people I'm going to be associating with." He raised his arm, fully exposing the black and silver Rolex Submariner on his left wrist under his shirt sleeve. "I have a blue and silver Omega watch and a red, blue and silver Rolex for when I have to be Akira. I also have to go to a tailor and have some more suits made up for me so I can dress the part."
"Nice…" Haruka and Kanako were leaning forward to examine the watch closer. "A red and blue Rolex you said? Like Seta-kun's?" his cousin asked.
"Yeah, he loaned me his when I went into Roanapur. Gave it back to him when we all reunited." Keitaro looked saddened for a moment before he slid the sleeve back into place and lowered his arm. "Let's get going Kana-chan, I have some study reviews I have to do before I can go to bed." His erstwhile sister looked like she wanted to suggest something else to do but stayed silent. "Good night, Haru-chan." Seeing Kanako give a good bye nod, the pair turned and left the room, pausing only to pick up their mobile phones from the other room before walking down the stairs and out of the building.
Hinata Inn
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, Thursday late afternoon
"I've seen you do some seriously funky shit, but this really takes the cake." Sarah was sitting cross-legged on the lawn behind the main house, watching her sensei while resting from her daily workout. This being Urashima-ryu, it was not as simple as just sitting to catch her breath. Keitaro lived under the theory that if you were not busy exercising your body, you should be exercising your mind. All she knew was she would rather be sitting on the grass reading a book and answering questions than being sent up and down the stairs again… wearing a pack loaded with fifty pounds of gear (she weighed it!)… two and three stairs at a time. It was actually getting to be an issue since the girl had to lean forward quite a bit to keep her balance wearing the pack, which was starting to get unsafe when she was running down the stairs. Keitaro had promised to look into another way to have her carry weight on her runs, since he presumed that she would not want to do what he did during his training with Granny Hina, which was run with five gallon gas cans filled with water strapped to his back and chest. Sarah had nodded furiously in agreement; that would have totaled over ninety pounds of sloshing unstable weight!
"Language, Sarah-chan," intoned Keitaro, tossing another card. The American girl had seen people flipping playing cards at an upended hat, which was difficult enough since the cards were not what you could call aerodynamically stable, but her shisho was doing it a wooden board with a circle target painted on it propped up vertically ten paces away. What was even more freaky was that instead of fluttering through the air like when she had tried her hand earlier, the cards being thrown by her sensei were travelling flat at high velocity and sticking edge first into the plywood. It had taken him a few tries to get it right, but now Keitaro was almost at the end of a 54 card pack and the target board was bristling like a hedgehog. Once he had tossed the last card, a Joker appropriately enough, he glanced over at her. "What does Sun Tzu say about the Art of War?" You could almost hear the capitalizations on the words.
"Sun Tzu said the Art of War is of vital importance," Sarah promptly responded. "It is a matter of life and death; a road either to safety, or to ruin." She had been reading and memorizing the aforementioned book for a while now.
"And what is supreme excellence in the Art of War?" In one smooth motion Keitaro rose to his feet from his cross-legged sitting position, still facing the target board.
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women." Of course Sarah said this in a thick faux Austrian accent, grinning slightly.
Keitaro glanced at his apprentice out of the corner of his eye. "Not what is best in life, Conan-san. Try again."
"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence." Sarah looked serious once more. "Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
"And don't you forget it, gaki. Granny Hina is the best example of that." Keitaro walked up to the target and started pulling the playing cards from it, stacking them into a deck again. "I don't think she has fought for real in over fifty years, but everyone who knows her knows not to go up against her with violence." Granny's moonlighting job as Arashikage notwithstanding, not that Sarah knew about that.
"Who would want to go up against her? Physically I mean." Sarah had seen various pictures of Hinata Urashima throughout the Sou, ranging from when she was a young adult woman with shoulder length black hair to those in her current age with steel grey hair pulled up in a tight bun. On the surface they were all of a short slender female with a permanent smile on her face, but there was something in her eyes that was not apparent unless you looked for it. A hardened glint that the American girl would not want directed at her.
"Things were kind of rough after the war. The devastation and the American occupation afterwards tore down much of the societal boundaries that had been in place, and there were unsavory elements that took advantage of the situation and all the rebuilding after the firebombings." Keitaro finished straightening the bent corners of the playing cards and after shuffling the deck in his hands tucked it in a trouser pocket before taking a wrapped packet out of the opposing pocket. "Everything got sorted out in the end." His flattened tone of voice implied that the end was not pleasant for some people.
Walking to where Sarah was standing, Keitaro squared off with the target and unwrapped the packet, revealing a short stack of white cards. Instead of the previous poker sized playing cards, these were blank and the size of business cards. The girl watched as her sensei fingered them for a moment before flicking a couple at the wooden target, the corners sticking into the bull's eye. He walked over to the board to retrieve them and then walked back. "Sarah-kun, turn around and face away from the target. You're not wearing eye protection and I don't know how this will work out."
"Eye protection?" queried Sarah, following directions so she was in front of her shisho but off to one side while still facing him.
"Yes." He tapped the squared-off glasses he was wearing with one finger. "Don't turn around until I give you the OK." Seeing her nod, Keitaro took one of the blank cards and held it in front of his face. Closing his eyes and concentrating, after a few moments his brown eyes opened and the card was thrown, landing with a loud thunk in the target. "Okay, you can look."
Sarah turned around to see that the card had been buried to half its length in the center of the plywood target, deeper than the previous throws. Just as the blonde was about to compliment her teacher, before her startled eyes the white card turned grey and crumbled to ash. "The hell?"
"Face away, please?" Sarah turned to see Keitaro holding another card before him. Once she was turned away he concentrated again, only this time the card was glowing faintly before he threw it. There was another thunk, only there was a bang that followed. "Okay again." This time there was no card in the target, instead there was a circular hole about the size of a tennis ball in the plywood.
"Bloody hell, dork-san," Sarah breathed. The plywood board was about half an inch thick, not something that could easily be pierced without tools or a chi reinforced punch.
"Last one." The card Keitaro was now holding was glowing as well only much brighter, almost as much as an unfrosted 100 watt light bulb. As soon as Sarah was facing away he threw the card and raised his hand to cover his face, which was a good thing as there was no thunk of the card hitting the target this time. Instead there was a loud BANG, as well as the pair being showered with wooden fragments.
After a few moments of being pelted with debris, they turned to look at the target, or what was left of it. The center of the board was completely blown out; the only pieces left were the reinforced edges and supports, all of which were smaller than their hands.
"Dammmmnnnn, Keitaro." Sarah was wide-eyed; the last time she had seen something deal out that kind of damage had been during their escape from Roanapur with some of the heavy weapons they had used. Looking over at her sensei, she could see that he was shocked as well.
"Guess that worked out a little too well." The young man turned from the pieces of the target to glance at his student, then down toward the Hinata Tea House, where a single dark haired female figure wearing a green apron could be seen standing with her hands on her hips staring up the hill at them. "Help me clean up this mess, I think I have some explaining I going to have to do shortly." The girl nodded and the pair dropped to their knees and started picking up the wooden pieces for disposal.
Misaka Shopping Plaza
Hinata City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
early March, Friday late afternoon
Sarah was starting to understand why men were so against accompanying women when they went shopping. It could either be a glimpse of Heaven or a torture belonging in the pits of Hell.
The American girl was not all that familiar with the various shopping malls and locations around Hinata City proper and the larger Yokohama area in general, besides some of the convenience stores around the larger streets she traveled on. Sarah could have asked one of the other tenants of the Hinata Sou for a recommendation, but she was not all that close to Naru and Kitsune, Su as a rule ordered her things through the Internet, and Shinobu mostly concentrated on food shopping. The best shot would have been asking Haruka, but the older woman was always busy working at the Tea House, and she was leery of bothering her during business hours.
Taking precautions, Sarah made sure it was just her and Nyamo around in an empty hallway at school when she asked Hikari if she could suggest a shopping center they could go to after classes to buy some casual clothes. But it was all for naught; as soon as the words 'shopping' passed her lips Aki popped up out of nowhere behind her and before anything could be said had invited herself along.
After school the four girls (Shinobu had a Home Econ club meeting to attend and Su stayed with her to both act as her bodyguard and mooch food from her) had taken a trolley to a shopping center near the center of Hinata City. Misaka Shopping Plaza was an enclosed multistory building containing various stores and boutiques wrapped around an enclosed courtyard, most of them privately owned but with a few name-brand and outlet locations among them. Sarah would not have minded going to some high-end stores, but even with as much money as she had in her bank account she would not have been able to afford much.
Bringing up the older girl sharply as she tried to herd them toward a lingerie boutique at first, Sarah managed to divert them to another store where the kind of clothes she was looking to buy was located. Two pairs of blue jeans (the damn things cost almost twice as much as back in the States!) as well as some solid colored t-shirts later, the blonde was ready to move onto the next store before Aki and oddly enough Hikari brought her up short. Being reluctantly convinced that she needed more than just what the older girl called 'tomboy' clothes', she picked out a modest blouse and skirt to go with it. Even that did not satisfy Aki, not until she tried on some dresses and finally chose a light blue sundress that her two classmates agreed went well with her blonde hair and blue eyes.
Now Sarah was standing outside a jewelry store peering through the window at the watches on display. The reason for this was twofold; she really did need to replace her Casio wristwatch with something more shockproof, and she needed something to do to while waiting for Aki and the others to finish up in the last store they were in. It was either that or look up something on her smartphone, and she saw too many people shuffling around like zombies staring at their phone screens to want to do that.
Feeling someone beside her Sarah turned to see that Hikari was now standing next to her. The twin-tailed brunette had a calm expression on her face, but she could not hide the faint blush on her freckled cheeks. "Thinking about getting a new watch Sarah-kun?"
"Yeah, the one I have is kinda broken, need to replace it. Maybe some kind of men's watch, those can take a lot more abuse than the girly ones." Sarah turned so she was looking directly at her classmate. "What about you, you need a watch too?"
"No, I have a couple beside this one," Hikari raised her arm so that the thin silvery watch on her wrist was visible, "and they are good enough for me." She glanced over toward the blonde. "Are there any more things you need to buy today, Sarah-kun?"
"No, I'm pretty much done. I wanted to get some boots or heavy shoes, but they don't sell the kind I'm looking for here." Sarah looked down at her scuffed white after-school sneakers "I guess Doc Martens never made much of a penetration into the market here in Japan."
"You're talking about those heavy leather boots with the yellow stitching, the kinds that yanki delinquents wear?" Hikari asked hesitantly. Seeing Sarah look up in surprise and nod in acknowledgement, she continued talking. "You have to go to some specialty stores in the Ginza district to buy those kinds of boots, or you can order them on the Internet. I would suggest ordering them online, the people that go to those stores are kind of scary."
"Order shoes online without trying them on first?" Sarah shook her head. "Not a good idea, Hikari-san. If it comes down to it, I'll ask Keitaro-san to come with me to the store."
Hikari opened her mouth to protest, but closed it a moment later. She was about to say that one adult was not enough to dissuade some of the bad people that hung out at stores like that, but then she remembered what it felt like when Keitaro Urashima was deliberately trying to be intimidating. She was pretty sure he would frighten off a bosozoku gang with just a look.
"So why you hanging out here with me, Hikari-san? Aki-san finally get to be too much for you too?" Seeing her friend blush again Sarah smiled, but not as widely was she normally would. "I feel your pain, girlfriend." The reason the blonde was outside was because Aki had finally had her way and dragged the group into a lingerie store.
To be honest, Sarah did need to buy new undergarments, but along the lines of plain bikini panties made of cotton and in pastel colors, as well as some bras of the same material and colors. Instead the teen gravure model immediately started grabbing skimpy panties in wild patterns and bras that were more revealing than supportive and shoving them toward the protesting blonde. Ten minutes of arguing later Sarah did pick out a couple of sets of bras and panties in light blue and pink that were of a style that she could live with, but made of lacy material that were a bit less conservative than she would normally get. She even got a couple pairs of the infamous shimapan blue and white horizontally striped cotton panties, but only because Aki pointed out that they matched her telnyashka undershirts. It did not help that her older classmate was leering as she said she could wear them on her date with Aoi that weekend.
What caused Sarah to flee the store was Aki insisting on modeling various types of lingerie. Given that she had seen some of the pictures of the older girl in racy swimsuits that had been published in men's magazines here in Japan she should not have been surprised, but what she was wearing now was way past that. Thong and string panties, low cut bras that threatened to completely fail and let her breasts spill out, negligees that were pretty much see-through.
The breaking point was when Aki threw open the curtain of the changing room to reveal her wearing sheer white thigh-high lace stockings, garter belt, panties and a big smile… and nothing else. As the three girls stood there with their eyes wide open (and the assisting store clerk grabbing her nose to stop an incipient nosebleed), the taller girl then twirled around to show that the panties were a thong, and that her large boobs kept moving for a moment or two when she came to halt from her spin. When Aki asked what everyone thought, they remained speechless; turning toward the stunned store clerk she announced that she was taking the outfit.
It was when Aki tried to pull Sarah into the changing room with her with a handful of various scanty garments that she bailed. Muttering "Illwaitforyououtsidebye," the American girl took off at almost a run, the older girl's laughter ringing in her ears. Catching her breath in the hallway outside the store, she took a moment to collect herself. Finally she started looking at the merchandise in the various nearby windows when Hikari joined her a few minutes later.
"Say, where's Nyamo?" Sarah has just realized that her quiet roommate was not there with them.
Hikari blushed an even deeper red. "Aki-san was helping her select some undergarments. She insisted on asking for my opinion about how Nyamo-san looked while wearing them."
"Oh crap," swore Sarah. She turned to run into the store to rescue her friend from the presumed depravities of their older friend when Hikari quickly reached out and lightly took hold of her arm, bringing her to a halt.
"It's… it's okay. Nyamo-san wasn't bothered by it. Or at least she didn't look bothered." Hikari was still blushing as she spoke. "Aki-san was not putting her in the same kind of outfits that she was wearing."
"So why'd you take off on them then?" Sarah frowned slightly.
"Aki-san… was saying how… smooth and soft Nyamo-san's skin was while the two were in the changing room." Hikari was avoiding her gaze now. "Nyamo-san was making squeaking sounds while she was saying that."
"Fuck." Sarah cursed again, this time with more enthusiasm, but Hikari raised her hand to halt her once more.
"It's okay… I think," repeated Hikari. Seeing the disbelief in the blonde's eyes the twin-tailed girl continued. "Do you really think Nyamo-san would let someone touch her like that if she didn't want her to? That she could not fight back if she didn't like it?"
Sarah paused for a long moment before sighing and slumping slightly. Nyamo had fought and scared off gropers before; she had more fighting training and skill than she did even now. If Aki was touching her it meant she was allowing it. For some reason that thought bothered Sarah, but Hikari was right. Nyamo could chose to do what she wanted, even if it was something that she herself was not comfortable with.
Looking over Hikari's shoulder, Sarah could see Aki and Nyamo walk out of the lingerie store, both of them carrying bags with the store's name on them. The taller bustier girl had a smile on her face that looked like the proverbial cat that got the cream, while the islander girl had a faint blush on her tanned face.
"What did you do to my friend?" asked Sarah in a not-quite accusing tone of voice.
If anything the smile on Aki's face get even wider. "Nothing she didn't let me do and enjoy, Sarah-chan. You're always free to join us."
Sarah huffed and eyed her for a long moment. "Don't make me treat you like I do those asshole gropers at school. Kinda hard to be a model with a busted nose." Seeing Aki nod while still smiling she turned to look at Nyamo and asked, "So what did you buy then?"
"I'm sure Nyamo-chan will be happy to model it for you at home, Sarah-chan," interjected Aki helpfully. Glaring at the other girl for a moment, Sarah glanced back at Nyamo to see her solemnly nod as well.
"Fine, it will probably be less embarrassing that way." Sarah turned to lead the group toward the main entrance when something caught her eye. Turning back around the blonde could see that there was some kind of breaking news story on a big screen TV on display in an electronics store window. She could not hear any sound through the glass, but stepping closer she could see the bold kana script on the bottom of the screen proclaiming "LIVE - Gang shootout in Chiba!" The view was of an apparent empty street strewn with abandoned cars, some of them with bullet damaged windows and body panels. The street level camera shot was jumping back and forth from a storefront office that had their windows blown out and the other side of the street that had young men wearing leather biker jackets hiding behind cars firing assault rifles, the green streaks of tracer ammo visible. They were receiving fire as well; the bodywork and windows of the cars they were behind were being riddled with bullets apparently coming from the shot-up office.
"Bloody hell, this kind of thing happens here?" breathed Sarah. Modern Japan was renowned for its lack of crime and gun violence, especially compared to Western nations like the United States. This was the first time the American girl has seen something like this taking place in Tokyo.
"Sometimes." Aki stepped up next to her, the smile gone from her face as she looked at the TV along with the other two girls. "It's been happening more often recently, this is the worse I've seen yet."
The girls and some other shoppers stood and watched as dark grey smoke started to drift across the street on screen; apparently one of the shot-up cars had started burning although it was not one that the shooters on the street were behind. Those men becoming frantic anyway; they were looking around like they wanted to run, but as soon as one would try to leave cover gunfire from the office would drive them back.
Suddenly the camera stopped jumping around and focused on two men, only they were not from behind the cars or the shot-up office. Strolling across the street and through the direct line of fire between the two gangs as though they were at one of those funky scramble crosswalks they had in Japan as they walked toward a smoking cars. These men were wearing dark suits with knee-length dress coats, only one of them had a white surgical mask on his face while the other was wearing dark sunglasses and a long grey knit scarf wrapped across his neck and the lower part of his face, his empty hands visible and the fingers flexing.
"Oh God," Sarah whispered softly. It was a scarf that she immediately recognized. She had wrapped it around the man's neck before he left the Hinata-sou to ward off the chill this morning.
The man walking into the middle of a gunfight was Keitaro Urashima.
A/N: Not much to say right now; I wasn't really enthused about this chapter since it was all set up for the upcoming one. But the good news is we are getting much more action as Keitaro goes into Akira mode… on national tv. *cringe* This is bringing up my enthusiasm so I won't take so long to write the new chapter, but lots of feedback won't hurt either. *grin* Thoughts about Keitaro's new skills, Sarah's training and shopping trip and the Urashima family conference are always welcome.
As I said in the last chapter notes, I went to AnimeExpo 2018 and they came up with a new evil – there is not that much room for the lines of people waiting for the various panels in the hallways there at the convention center, so they made everyone wait outside in the July sun until 10 minutes before the start, then run everyone up stairs to get to the rooms! I am no longer going to complain about the price of the Premium Fan Pass, as they and the Handicapped Pass people were the only ones allowed to wait inside. As hideously expensive as it is, it's better than being outside in the LA summer sunshine.
I also commissioned a new drawing of Keitaro at the convention that I am going to use as the book cover picture for this story. It will go up when I post Ch 70.
For those that have been looking forward to it, I posted a new lemon omake at MediaMiner dot org, titled 'Ch 69 Lemon'. If you want to read it, do a search engine search using words 'Contract Labor – Lemons', 'MediaMiner' and 'Greydon Creed', with those spacings. I have to warn you, it doesn't have a happy ending – it's not bad, just unhappy. It does apply to the story, so if you want to know what happens without reading the smut, contact me and I can send you a short summary describing what happened or a stripped down version of the omake.
The winner of this chapter's Most Unusual Place Reading My Story is Jamaica, with the Runner Up being Qatar.
My thanks again to AZ MII, PCH and WalkerofDarkness for their help in betaing this chapter.
As of 2100 PDT 05Oct18 this story has 452K Words, 964K Views (getting closer to 1 million views!?), 1079 Reviews, 1575 Favorites and 1423 Story Alerts.
Thanks again to all my loyal readers, and my new readers as well. *peace sign*