A/N: Well, things will get more interesting from this point on.

Enjoy!


3.- Our brilliance


The hakuchu-gumi dojo was a square-shaped building in the back of the prancing swan with different training rooms with motifs that ranged from traditional rooms with sliding doors and tatami floors to more unconventional ones with obstacles of different sizes and materials making it the perfect place for keeping all the members of the families as fit as possible.

The bamboo dojo was the biggest room of all the complex as it also included its own private bath surrounded by a tall bamboo wall. When growing up, it was Maya's favorite place to train as she could immediately take a long bath and relax, so there was no better location to resume her kendo training.

Maya was the first to arrive and started stretching right away. The heiress knew that she had speed and quick reflexes; her aim was very accurate, as well. But she also knew that Hikari was, if not, faster than her and had a hidden strength that rivaled her own making her a great sparring partner.

A few minutes later, when she was done with her stretching, Maya started putting on the gear. After making sure the do, or breastplate, was properly secured, the heiress fixed her tare to protect her waist and groin before putting on her thickly padded gloves, or kote, and just when she was tying a cotton towel around her head, the main sliding doors opened and Hikari entered in a rush.

"Maya-sama, I apologize for the delay," the blue-eyed girl greeted and bowed slightly before approaching the heiress. She was already dressed in her own kendo gear and had her own men, that was her personalized helmet with a metal grille and three flaps with delicate embroideries of what looked like a small head of a white bear.

"Do not fret, Hikari-san, you are right on time, I was just a tad early," Maya added before securing the helmet to protect not only her head, but her shoulders, neck, and throat. Her men was also personalized with an embroidery of a small swan, her family's symbol. In the meantime, Hikari took a shinai from a nearby rack and faced the heiress.

"We will start with a match," Hikari took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes again, they were vibrant and eager as if electricity coursed through them. There was no doubt that the one in charge of the security of the hakuchu-gumi loved fighting.

"Very well," Maya agreed before walking to the center of the dojo and bowed the moment Hikari stood in front of her and mirrored her actions. The next move was so fast that it looked like a blur; the only thing that was heard was both shinai clashing.

"Men!" Maya shouted before hitting Hikari on the head. At this, the dark-haired woman chuckled.

"That was good, but you underestimated your opponent and you hit me with the middle of the shinai which means that you wouldn't get a point with an attack like that," Hikari commented before making sure her helmet was still secured "be mindful of the height and speed of your potential enemy"

"You know who my potential enemy is, Kagura-san?" Maya asked feeling suddenly curious.

"I do" Hikari replied calmly as if expecting the question.

"Is she a skilled fighter?"

"She is"

"I see"

"Do you want to know her name, Maya-sama?" Hikari asked with a smile.

"As long as it doesn't break the rules"

"It doesn't"

"Then, could you tell me her name? I just know her last name as it's from the reigning head of the Kitsune-gumi"

"Saijo Claudine"

"Ah"

"You haven't met her yet," Hikari replied nonchalantly "just keep in mind her height. She is five centimeters taller than me"

"Understood," Maya replied with a bow before getting in position once more.

"Tsuki!" this time, Hikari was faster and the heiress thanked her enhanced reflexes as she was able to take a quick step back to avoid the full blow on her throat.

"Despite being fast, I got you, Maya-sama," Hikari gave the heiress a lopsided smile "your ability to deflect was slower than your feet, and that's not good. In order to win, you need to be as fast as lightning because if you get the full blow of your opponent's strike, you might get a broken limb"

"I see, so Saijo-san is that strong," Maya lowered her shinai for a moment and took a deep breath with her eyes closed.

Royal purple opened once more and a fire was burning in them; the heiress came up with a plan. She raised her shinai again and waited for Hikari to take position across from the dark-haired woman before launching her attack.

Hikari saw Maya's shinai in slow motion heading towards her head before the heiress yelled, so she raised her defense to deflect the hit. Azure orbs widened in the realization that Maya's attack was redirected to her wrist instead which was confirmed when she heard the brunette yelling kote.

The dark-haired woman reacted a bit too late and was hit with the correct part of the shinai and had no time to react when a second hit impacted her breastplate while Maya yelled do. The heiress just performed a double hit.

"Good job" Hikari congratulated the heiress before bowing "now let's practice deflecting, striking down, and backward strikes"

"Very well" Maya replied with a nod before walking back to the center of the dojo.


"Close enough, Kuro-chan," Nana smiled before fixing her gloves "you don't lack strength but you need to attack faster"

"Bien" Claudine replied irritated before taking off her helmet to retie her hair. She had been sparring with Nana for the last six hours and all her muscles ached.

As she predicted, the green-eyed woman was ruthless, but after two days of hard training, she could feel how her attacks not only became stronger but way faster than before.

"Let's try-"

"How is she?"

"Who are you referring to, Kuro-chan?" Nana tilted her head and her knowing smile widened.

"How is the Tendo heiress? Is she faster and stronger than me?" Claudine asked before wiping the sweat of her forehead with a towel "I know you have information about her in that black notebook of yours"

"I do, but telling you would be cheating" a smiling Nana removed her helmet and grabbed a bottle of water that she finished in three big gulps.

"Do you think that Kagura is not telling that Tendo girl all about my weak points?" Claudine hissed while balling her fists. Between Nana's taunting smiles and her half-truths about everything, the heiress had had enough and was awfully annoyed.

"I assure you that Hikari-san will not reveal a thing, to that Tendo girl as you call her. It's against our rules, you know that" Nana could not help to smirk at Claudine's glare "she has a name, you know"

"Who?"

"The Tendo girl" the tall blonde replied patiently.

"We all have names, Nana-san" Claudine spat with narrowed eyes before grabbing her water bottle and downing half of it in a few gulps.

"Maya" the taller blonde added before putting her helmet back on "her name is Maya"

"Tendo Maya, huh" Claudine pronounced the name slowly, and somehow, she found it fitting to the image she had of the heiress "how come that I haven't met her yet?"

"Well, every time that Himari-sama and Aoi-sama met, you were traveling to Europe or the south of Japan, and the few meetings you attended, she was the one out of town" Nana added before heading back to the center of the dojo "you will meet her for sure next time"

"Of course, when I defeat her" Claudine proudly added before walking towards Nana that just giggled louder which annoyed the blonde heiress more.

"I think this is enough practice for today"

"One more match, Nana-san," Claudine asked before bowing to the taller blonde.

"Of course, Kuro-chan" Nana then, turned serious "but after this match is over, you should rest since the match is tomorrow"

"Bien sûr" Claudine added before both bowed to each other, and in a fraction of a second, both yelled and attacked.


One of the things that Tendo Maya enjoyed the most since she was a child were starry nights. She used to escape her tutors and climb to the roof of her family home and watch the stars and the moon waiting for a shooting star to make a wish. Sometimes she would spend long hours observing the firmament, as Maya's fascination for the sky was immense.

Even as an adult, Maya still loved looking up, and could not help but grin at the sparkling blanket of stars above her head this particular night. It just made her focus, aim higher, soar among adversity. Under the starlight, Maya's face glistened and her delicate features looked even closer to perfection.

There was something patent about the last few days, however. She had this feeling of uneasiness since the moment she saw Daiba Nana entering the room after Futaba's initiation. Maya knew that, normally, the tall blonde was sent when something of the highest importance needed to be delivered as she was the head of security of the kitsune-gumi.

That Saijo parchment okaa-sama has refused to tell me about.

I want to know what is inside.

Maya exhaled and white smoke escaped her lips. It had been drizzling for a while and the brunette heiress enjoyed smoking in the rain as it helped her clear her mind. She arrived first at a small bar in a secluded area that was frequented by members of the other minor families that belonged to her branch of the yakuza.

It was a nice place that she liked to visit for more informal and intimate gatherings. That is why she chose it to celebrate Futaba's initiation without the presence of any formalities or traditions since both Futaba and Kaoruko were not only her partners in crime but her closest friends.

"Despite being such a hideous habit, as Futaba-han always says, I can't deny how relaxing it is to smoke while observing the rain, Maya-han," Kaoruko commented softly while entering the balcony of the second floor, and the heiress smiled and hummed.

"Has Isurugi-san already arrived?"

"She told me that she will be here in around ten minutes as she was running a last-minute errand," Kaoruko commented nonchalantly before making smoke circles.

"What did you ask her to get you?" Maya asked amusedly as she knew her blue-haired friend very well.

"Nothing much, just some limited sweets from Tokyo station," Kaoruko shrugged before puffing a bit more of her cigarette; unlike Maya, she didn't have any issues with grabbing it with her fingers. Noticing that the head of ash was growing too big, Kaoruko tapped it off on an ashtray resting on the railing of the balcony.

"That's on the other side of the city" Maya smirked and shook her head, "I think that you abuse your authority over her Kaoruko-san"

"Well, Tendo-han, she was on official business as she was cleaning up one of Hikari-han's carnage messes that happened to be close to Tokyo station," the blue-haired woman added before exhaling a thin line of smoke that soon turned into a small grayish cloud that was taken away by the breeze "in any case, excuse me, but she is my kobun, and she lives to serve me, and the hakuchu-gumi, of course."

"Don't let okaa-sama hear your priorities," Maya added with a laugh "she might not be as amused as I am," the heiress added and emptied the burned leaves of tobacco from her kiseru before placing it in the front pocket of her dark blue shirt and loosening her white tie.

Maya had been attending several business meetings during the day and also had a training session with Hikari that had extended for a few hours making her muscles ache greatly. That was one of the main reasons the brunette decided to relax before the match against the Saijo heiress the next day.

"Sorry for the delay, Maya-sama," Futaba added the moment she met the other two women when they arrived at the ground floor.

"No need to be so formal, Futaba-san, as this is an informal gathering, after all," Maya smiled and the pink-haired woman relaxed before turning to glare a Kaoruko.

"Here are your damn sweets, you brat," Futaba spat before giving a neatly wrapped box to her superior.

"Futaba-han, I am still your boss so instead of complaining you should be feeding me," Kaoruko added with a pout, and Maya could not help but giggle at how silly the normally feared and cruel Hanayagi Kaoruko looked with a big pout while her strong but fair protegee tried to ignore her tantrum.

"I haven't heard Maya-han laugh like that since we were in college" Kaoruko commented with a sly smile.

"Well, it is an informal situation, after all" a still smiling Maya replied before a loud growl coming from her stomach was heard and her cheeks turned crimson in embarrassment.

"And the prim and proper image of the heiress of the Tendo family just vanished," Kaoruko teased and Maya's blush deepened "we'd better feed her fast, Futaba-han otherwise Maya-han will start attacking people for no reason"

"I am not like that" Maya tried to defend herself "you are just overreacting."

"Remember that time you were so hungry that-" Kaoruko was about to tell an embarrassing story about Maya when Futaba covered her mouth with her hand.

"Let's just eat, I am hungry, too" the pink-haired woman stated and Kaoruko relented because she was feeling hungry, as well.

"Fine" Kaoruko replied with a pout after slapping Futaba's hand. Not a second later, her stomach growled and the three women burst into laughter before heading back to their usual table to order some food and drinks.


A/N: Fun times ahead.