Chapter IV – Rough Adjustments

Under the darkened, pre-morning sky of a crisp winter morning, Keitaro lay on the roof of Hinata-sou with a blank stare as he looked up at the stars. The passing breeze did nothing to discomfort him in the slightest, nor did the snow that had been deposited on the ground the previous day. As he stared at the heavens above, the swordsman sighed and contemplated his newest lot in life.

'I probably shouldn't be surprised at Hina-obaasama for all this…but dammit…,' he thought as he took another look at the crumpled letter in his hand. Kanako had written to him a few days ago, complaining about how Hina had suddenly appeared at their home and 'kidnapped' the girl to begin her training in the Urashima clan martial arts. Over the course of only a few days, the shrewd clan head had thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into all of Keitaro's future plans, as without his sister's skills with masks and disguises, fulfilling his Tenchuu would become far more challenging.

"Speaking of hassles…" Keitaro glanced over at the deck, where he could make out the suspended line that Shinobu used to dry everyone's clothes after washing. He smiled wryly to himself as he recalled the events that followed after the bombshell announcement he'd delivered only days ago…

"…It means Hina just made me the official landlord and owner of the girls' dormitory, Hinata-sou."

For several moments, not a sound was heard from anyone, as the girls minus Naru stared at the young man incredulously. Just as he thought he might have broken them…

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

Keitaro jumped back and rubbed his aching ears, giving Kitsune the chance to grab the letter and the official documents from his hands while he recovered, "Lemme see that, Taro-chan!"

Before he could react, the rest of the girls crowded around the resident prankster and combed through the letter with sharp eyes. After re-reading it several times, Kitsune threw the documents in the air and jumped at the swordsman, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing hard, "Yayy! Taro-chan is here ta stay!"

Back with the others, Shinobu glanced over to the rigid man and quickly looked down at the ground with a light blush, however the small smile on her face gave away her thoughts about the new addition to their little group. Suu began jumping around in celebration, eventually joining Kitsune in glomping Keitaro. Only one person really had any objection s.

"I refuse to accept this! A man has no business managing an all girl's dorm!" Motoko shouted furiously after catching the documents to read over again. Shooting the most caustic glare she could at the new manager, the fiery swordswoman pointed an accusatory finger, "You must have tricked Hina-obaasama somehow!"

Keitaro, having given up trying to get the amorous freelancer and hyperactive foreigner off him, returned Motoko's hateful glare with a deadpan expression, "…you really think a guy like me could trick Hina-obaasama…THE Hina-obaasama, into doing ANYTHING she didn't want to? Because if you do, then you're an idiot."

"What was that, bastard!?"

"Trust me when I say this is the LAST thing I wanted to have happen outta nowhere," Keitaro grumbled, finally freeing himself of the two hugging him, much to their disappointment, "Haru… please tell me there's some way to get out of this?!"

"Sorry kiddo, but she put the seal at the bottom," Haruka took the letter and other papers from Motoko and pointed at the small Urashima clan symbol at the bottom, "since she slapped this thing on, this isn't really a request anymore; it's an order from the clan head."

"…I was afraid of that," Keitaro sighed, seemingly calm on the outside, but internally he was anything but calm. 'Dammit! She always picks the worst time to completely fuck me over!'

"Inexcuseable! Hina-obaasama must be mistaken…" Motoko continued on in denial. Ignoring the kendo girl's plight, Haruka turned to the only person who had yet to speak their mind, "What do you think of all this, Naru? You've been pretty quiet so far…"

The lovely brunette jumped a bit in surprise at being addressed, having been previously deep in thought over the whole situation, "Oh! Uh…well…I can't say I'm really psyched at the idea…but," she cast a tentative look at Keitaro, who returned the look with a slight tilt of his head that she secretly found adorable, "well…if it's Keitaro-san, then I don't think we'll have a problem. Things'll be weird for a bit, but what's done is done, right?"

"Naru-sempai!" the Aoyama heir shot a betrayed look at the senior high-schooler, "You can't be serious!"

"Well, looks like you're outvoted, Motoko-chan!" Kitsune preened and slyly slid her arms around Keitaro's right arm, the man trying (and failing) to unlatch her. Furious, Motoko stomped back into the dorms, roughly bumping into Keitaro's shoulder in the process. The others simply looked on as she left, before turning to the new manager. Seeing their waiting looks, the Mononobe heir sighed, "Look, to be honest, I'm not really cool about this, and I'm definitely gonna try to find a loophole to this damn order. A guy shouldn't be managing a girls' dorm…that's just ASKING for it sometime down the road…"

"Awww, but Taro-chan~" Kitsune whined, still gripping the taller man's arm, "don't you like us? I thought we were gettin along just fine," for further emphasis, she pushed her chest against the wiry arm she held, squeezing it between her twin globes. It took everything the poor high school senior had to suppress the massive blush that threatened to spread across his face.

"I-it's not that, dammit! Stop being such an ero-kitsune!" he exclaimed, pulling his arm free from the fleshy heaven known as Kitsune's chest, "Anyway…I'm gonna try to find a way outta this somewhow…maybe the old bat missed something that I can use to fix this stupid mess…"

"Heh…so much for that," Keitaro grumbled as he brought himself back to the present. He'd spent the past couple of days searching for something, anything that Hina may have missed that could give him the leverage to escape his new 'prison', but the old woman was clan head for a reason. Now, nearly a week later, the young swordsman had found absolutely nothing, and was beginning to lose hope.

"Dammit…maybe I missed something…she is NOT keeping me here forever…"

"Why would you wanna leave? These are some seriously nice new digs you got here."

Keitaro sat up in a hurry and flung a hidden kunai from within his sleeve at the source of the voice, his eyes narrowing and teeth grit together in thinly veiled loathing as he saw Kimiko Tachibana holding the kunai between her fingers, just scant millimeters from her face, "Really? That's how you say hello to an old friend? You really don't know how to treat a girl, do you Kyoshiro-kun?"

"Tachibana," Keitaro hissed, standing to his full height and falling into a ready stance, his hand hovering above the handle of his father's katana, "How the hell did you find me here?!"

"Tch…hello? Assassin? The Tachibana's PREMIER assassin?" the deadly red-head cast the swordsman a look as if to say 'are you seriously asking that?', "If you must know, I've been keeping tabs on you …who'd have thought you were still a high school student…"

Slowly rising to his feet and adjusting Ginōkami on his belt, Keitaro narrowed his eyes at the 'black sheep' Tachibana, "Don' .me. I don't take that shit from Hina-obaasama when she tries to keep eyes on me, like hell am I gonna take it from you. Now what do you want?"

"Oooh, so feisty! I love that in a man," Kimiko giggled and sashayed to the wary Keitaro, his hands itching to draw his lethal blade, "I haven't seen you since your little adventure with Amagai and Mikamura, so I thought I'd say hi…" she stopped only scant centimeters away, taking a slender finger and tracing abject shapes on Keitaro's chest, "…and drop off some information that I think you'd like."

Fighting the urge to rip that teasing finger off and shove it down the redhead's throat, Keitaro backed away and looked into Kimiko's dark blue eyes with a suspicious glare, "Really? And what info is that?"

"The information on your next mark," reaching into her green kimono top, a sight that would cause a regular man to suffer a massive nosebleed, she pulled out a small envelop with a single name written on the back, "This man and his entire family will be coming to Hinata in the next couple of weeks. His kids are taking the entrance exams…ironically, the same exams as you and that brunette friend of yours."

Perking an eyebrow, Keitaro took the envelop and opened it, removing a few photos, family ledgers, and a map with several locations marked off, "Minato Tachibana…the Fifth Pillar, reputed for the largest sized family within the Tachibana clan. Occupation: weapons' manufacturer?" He looked back up at Kimiko, "I thought the Tachibana only delved in medical and ki research. Since when did you deal in weapons manufacturing?"

"Since the Mononobe were massacred and their company, Nagareboshi, fell into Urashima hands," Kimiko answered, turning away and preparing to leave, "Don't let it ruffle your feathers too much though, unlike Nagareboshi, Akasuisei is terrible at making weaponry. The emperor has to keep coming up with polite excuses as to why he only goes to Nagareboshi for business. It's pathetic."

The avenger snorted and pocketed the envelop in his gi, "Well…for what it's worth…thanks," he said grudgingly, never liking to show the woman any gratitude, but refusing to appear impolite to someone who'd done him a favor, "However, if I EVER catch you following me, or Naru, or ANY of the girls here…I will kill you."

The venom in his voice was enough for Kimiko to believe he was serious, "I'd really love to see you try…it could be fun," she said before vanishing in a burst of speed, a small puff of snow falling back to the ground in her wake. Shaking his head, Keitaro again adjusted his father's blade at his side and walked back into the warm confines of Hinata-sou.

"Sempai didn't come down for dinner again today," Shinobu sighed sadly, picking up the now empty dishes from the bountiful feast she'd prepared for the residents. The girls had just finished eating and were going about their own business, with Suu patting her bloated stomach and saying a quick thank you before running to her room, and Kitsune casually leaning back in her chair, sipping a saucer of her favorite sake as she listened to the concerned bluenette, "Hmm…I thought Taro-chan'd be fine after a day or two, but he's been avoidin us for a week now…" a frown came to the older woman's face, "Maybe we weren't as welcoming as we thought?"

"I don't see why any of you are complaining," Motoko said as she rose from the table, "That pervert has no business being here. I for one think his absence is perfectly timed. If he wishes to refrain from being among us, I have no objections."

"Sheesh, I know ya hate men and all, but damn girl, can't ya take it easy on him?" the fox-like woman had long since grown used to the animosity the young swordswoman displayed against the opposite gender, but this was the first time she'd seen that hostility so unmitigated before. Motoko turned to her older housemate with a hard look in her eyes, "I already told you all. He's dangerous…I can feel it in his ki. I don't know what he's done to taint it, but I can tell you it was nothing good."

Having said her piece, Motoko gracefully walked out of the dining room, leaving Kitsune, Naru, and Shinobu to ponder her words. The timid homemaker gripped the dish in her hands tightly, "S-Sempai would never hurt us…he helped me out that time and encouraged me. A b-bad person wouldn't do that, would he?"

Naru sighed and rose from her chair, walking over to the middle schooler and placing a gentle hand on the young girl's blue hair, "No, a bad person wouldn't. I do wonder what Keitaro's deal is though," suddenly, an idea popped into the lovely brunette's head, "Hey Shinobu, there's leftovers, right?"

"Uuuuum, I think so. Suu had more than her usual portions but I think there was still some food left," Shinobu answered, her reply putting a smile on Naru's face, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason."

Sitting at the small table in the middle of his room, Keitaro went over his notes from school, trying to memorize as much as he could in preparation for the next exam. At the top of the table was the envelop given to him by Kimiko, and as he got closer to finishing his studies for the day, his eyes began glancing up at the little distraction more and more.

'It's still too early to start planning my next assault…but the info can definitely come in handy later…'

Before he could continue, a soft knock came to his door, "Who's there?"

"It's me, knucklehead," the blunt reply from Naru caused Keitaro to snicker before getting up and opening the door, allowing the lovely brunette to enter. Absently, the swordsman noted the plate of leftovers in his friend's hands, "I thought you already had dinner?"

"I did, this is for you," Naru set the plate down on the table and glanced at the papers strewn over the top, "You were studying?"

"Yea, I was feeling a bit antsy today, so I figured I'd start a bit early," he answered, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't go over any of the stuff you wanted to go through, though. Waiting seemed like a better idea."

Naru gave him a small smile and playfully patted his cheek, "Aww, aren't you sweet," she grabbed a chair from against the wall and placed it under the hole in the ceiling that led to her room, "Lemme just grab my stuff and we'll get started."

"Sounds good to me," Keitaro answered before looking at the hole she was climbing through, "Uhhh…I know you said it's quicker than the stairs, but is it really safe to be climbing in an out through there? The edges look a bit jagged…"

"I've been doing this for a while," Naru answered as she finished getting through the opening and sat on her knees in her room, looking back down and waving dismissively at the curious man, "I know how to be careful, but if you're offering to fix the edges, go ahead."

The swordsman smirked wryly, "Yea, ok buddy."

Not long after, Naru returned to his room and the two began their nightly studies. About halfway through their session, the bespectacled brunette glanced up from her notes at her friend across the table, "Hey…are you ok?"

Keitaro quickly lifted his head up at the question, "Huh?"

"I asked are you ok?"

"Mhm…last I checked I was," the young man tilted his head in curiosity, "Why do you ask?"

Naru placed her pencil down and folded her arms on the table, her soft brown eyes locking onto Keitaro's, "I'm asking because for the past week you've been all…ghost-y on everyone. The others wanna know what your problem is."

Realizing what she meant, the swordsman closed his eyes and let out a sigh, "I wanted…I wanted to stay out of everyone's way. I didn't think being so visible around the place would help everyone adjust too well to the situation."

"Oh, and pretending you're invisible is gonna work wonders," Naru answered sardonically, making the man flinch, "Look, this is a huge change for all of us, and I'll admit a couple of us aren't really all that thrilled with what Granny Hina did."

"Like you and Motoko."

"Let me finish, you jerk!" Naru threw an empty mug at Keitaro's head, huffing in annoyance as he dodged the projectile, "Yea, me and Motoko-chan are having a bit of a hard time, but the others wanna try and make the best of this. And honestly, I…" she blushed a bit before continuing, "I like having you so close to study with and hang out and stuff."

Keitaro was a bit taken aback by her words, although he did his best not to show it on his face, "I-is that right?" he asked, cursing himself on the inside for the slight stutter. Naru, however, didn't seem to notice, "Well yea, I mean, anyone that gets to know you over time figures out you're actually a cool guy…and not as big a perv as the others."

"Oi! How many times do I gotta say I'm not a perv!" Keitaro defended, but Naru shot him a deadpan look, "Last Year. Halloween. Annual School Costume Dance. The Playboy Bunny costume Kitsune forced me into."

"…shutting up now," the swordsman hung his head, fighting the blush threating to spread across his face as he recalled the rather…risqué costume the buxom prankster had tricked Naru into wearing…along with a particular incident he would never bring up lest he wished for death via Naru punch. Some of their classmates STILL had pictures of it.

"But that aside, you're a cool guy. I know that, Kitsune knows that, and you should give the other girls a chance to know that too. So stop being such an idiot and come down to dinner next time," Naru ordered, flicking the young man's forehead for good measure.

"Ow! Alright, alright, I'll go to dinner next time," Keitaro rubbed the spot on his forehead, a very slight smile on his face, "And I do apologize for being so distant…I never was that good with new people."

Naru raised an eyebrow at her friend's admission, "Really? You forget I was a 'new person' too a couple years ago. Look where we are now."

"You stole my favorite spot in the library to study and I didn't feel like hunting for another one. That's the only reason we even started talking," Keitaro replied flatly.

"But you DID start talking to me. You could've just sat there and studied and not said a thing to me," Naru countered, a smug grin on her face, "Actually, you're the one that said something first, Mr. 'I'm Terrible at Talking to Other People Because I'm a Jerk'."

Keitaro threw his hands in the air in surrender, "Okay, okay, ya got me dammit!" he sighed and dropped his head to the table, "Why are the women in my life so damn troublesome…"

The triumphant grin on Naru's face only made him drop his head to the table…repeatedly.

Rain fell steadily from the overcast sky onto the ground below, melting some of the remnant snow that was still lying around. It did nothing to heat up the temperature, which was still frigid enough to warrant scarves and coats. It was the kind of weather that normally would've kept Naru indoors, if it weren't for the fact that she and Keitaro had cram school. As they walked home, the girl looked at her friend next to her, "Do you seriously wear that getup everywhere? How do you deal with all the weird looks?"

Keitaro glanced down to reply, "I stopped noticing them after a while. Besides, the gi I'm wearing's ridiculously warm. No way I'm givin that up just to avoid a couple stares."

The brunette giggled and adjusted her umbrella, while Keitaro looked forward again and slowed down, "Oh god, not those two…"

"Huh?" Naru looked at him questioningly before shifting her gaze to the two guys walking a ways ahead of them: one tall and lanky, the other short and portly, both with glasses and dressed to combat the cold weather, " You know them, Keitaro-san?"

"In passing," he grumbled, shifting over to block Naru from their line of sight should they turn around, "Remember how you always claim all guys are pervs? Well, those two would prove your little mantra right within five seconds of meeting them."

The disapproving frown that came across her face couldn't have been a better indicator of Naru's mood shift, "Disgusting…seriously, guys should concentrate more on studying and getting themselves set in life…maybe AFTER that they might attract the right attention."

Looking a bit further down, Keitaro spotted three high school girls walking ahead of the lecherous duo, his eyes narrowing as he noticed the two begin to speed walk to catch up to the group of girls, "Well…looks like we're in for a show," at Naru's questioning look, he pointed ahead, "They're about to try their luck."

"Well, they picked the wrong girls to flirt with," Naru looked on with a mischievous smirk on her face, "Don't you recognize the one in the middle?"

Keitaro's eyes zoned in on the taller girl in the middle, but before he could see her face, the girl quickly closed her umbrella and swung at the two creepers, releasing a gale of wind that blasted both of them off their feet and down the road a couple meters away.

'…that was definitely a ki attack…' Keitaro thought as he examined the attack in his mind. Looking back at the girls, he recognized the ki-user, "…Motoko-chan. I don't know why I'm surprised…"

Meaanwhile, Motoko walked over to the downed men, her umbrella gripped in her hand like a blade, "Despicable filth…hitting on high schoolers when you should be trying to better yourselves. Just like the rest of your kind."

"P-p-p-please d-d-don't hurt us!" the taller man shrieked from his spot on the ground. His rounder friend had been knocked out when they hit the ground, leaving him to bear the brunt of the swordswoman's rage alone. Motoko wasn't feeling all that merciful however, and raised her umbrella over her head to deliver the final blow.

"Maybe this will teach you some respect, cretin," she said before swinging down, but instead of the downed man's head, her improvised weapon was blocked by another umbrella, "What the-?"

"Now…I may not be an expert in Aoyama clan affairs and conduct, but I'm pretty sure this isn't allowed," a calm, cool voice spoke from her side. Eyes quickly panning to her right, the swordswoman's glare deepened, "…Urashima-teme…"

Keitaro almost reeled back from the acid in her voice when she said his name, but kept a firm grip on the umbrella he used to spare the downed man from further unnecessary pain, "I think these guys got the message, Aoyama-san. Anymore and this could be considered assault. I doubt the heir to the Shinmei-ryuu needs that kinda drama."

For a moment, everyone watching held their breath, as the tension between Motoko and Keitaro began to rise, almost as if they were about to come to blows themselves. After another hair-raising few seconds, the dark-haired swordswoman finally stepped back, reopening her umbrella to shield herself from the rain, "Running to the defense of your fellow pigs…you don't surprise me in the slightest, bastard."

Before he could get a word out, Motoko rudely brushed past him and continued her walk to the dorm. Sighing to himself, Keitaro turned to the other two girls who'd been present, "Oh, Shinobu-chan, Suu-chan. Didn't notice you there. Are you two ok?"

The middle-schoolers had been silent as the grave during the entire altercation, but now that it was over, Suu returned to her bubbly self, "We're good Keitaro! I thought you and Motoko were gonna start fighting!"

Shinobu shivered, remembering the look on Motoko's face as she glared at her beloved sempai, "Y-you two don't seem to g-get along too well. B-but I-I'm glad nothing happened."

"Well we can't just break out into a fight on the street, we'd get into trouble," Keitaro laughed, placing a gentle hand on each girl's shoulder, "But don't worry. I'd never get into an altercation like that unless I had no other choice, and Motoko only did what she did to protect you…although she could've been a little less intense," he said the last part under his breath as he glanced wryly at the two perverts still lying on the ground, "Oi! Haitani! Shirai! Beat it unless you want me to get that girl back here."

The second he finished speaking, the two goofs identified as Haitani and Shirai rushed to their feet and ran away as if the Shinigami itself was on their backs. Shaking his head, the Mononobe heir turned and began walking back to the dorm, "C'mon girls, don't wanna stay out here and catch a cold or something."

"C-coming Sempai/Okie dokies!/Yea, yea."

"So you stopped Motoko from murderin a couple pervs, huh? Should I start callin ya Eiyu-chan now?" Kitsune teased as she took another sip from her saucer. The buxom prankster had decided to crash Keitaro and Naru's study session, and walked in while the two Tokyo-U aspirants had been discussing what had happened scant hours ago.

"You have more than enough nicknames for me, Oni-Kitsune," Keitaro deadpanned as he continued reading his reference manual for the entrance exams, "Still…that was the first time I've seen such…well…violence from her. Was she always like this?" he asked the two across from him.

Kitsune rubbed her chin, "Hmm…well, she always did strike me as kinda stiff…and a prude…and always tellin me not ta drink in front of the kids…seriously," Naru and Keitaro blanched as the freelancer continued to list all the things the rigid kendo girl told her not to do. Ignoring the rest of her rant, the bespectacled brunette turned to finish answering Keitaro's question, "Well, remember when I told you she was sent here cuz her parents thought she needed to grow more as a person? Maybe it was so she could lighten up a bit?"

"It's gonna take a miracle to get her to lighten up," the swordsman sighed and closed his book, unable to focus any further, "I'm gonna go train for a bit. You can keep going if you want Naru-san, I'll catch up later."

"Oh…uh, ok then," Naru replied hesitantly, awkwardly waving goodbye as the man dropped down the hole in her floor to his room, "Hmm…"

"Penny for ya thoughts, Naru?" Kitsune asked, looking over at her friend with a mischievous glint in her squinted eyes, "Missin your beloved Taro-chan already?"

The lovely brunette blushed angrily, "Shut up! It's not like that!" she quickly frowned as she looked over at the hole, "I donno why, but I just get a weird feeling…"

"Jealous?"

"NO!" she silenced her friend with her shout, "Ugh, whatever, it's probably nothing."

After grabbing Ginōkami from his room, Keitaro began heading up the stairs to the deck, when he paused at the sound of something swishing in the air.

'Someone's up here?' he thought to himself as he slowly ascended the stair case. As he reached the roof, his eyes spotted Motoko slashing the falling leaves, neatly cutting them in two with a single strike. Marveling at her skill, the Mononobe heir stealthily jumped to the top of the rail and crouched in place to watch.

'Well…attitude aside, she's gotten really good with her technique over the years. I kinda wish I'd been there to see her improve.'

Unfortunately, the young man wasn't as quiet as he thought, as Motoko whirled around quickly and threw a knife in his direction, "Intruder!"

"The hell?!" he partially unsheathed his katana, using the blade to deflect the knife harmlessly, "Sheesh, you scare easy. Guess you haven't learned to read auras yet, huh?"

"Urashima-teme," Motoko growled as she recognized the man, unconsciously filing away how the man blocked her knife, "Saving perverted dogs and now spying on me? Your shamelessness knows no bounds."

"Gee, could you pour anymore venom on that?" Keitaro quipped as he got off the railing and stood on the deck across from the dark-haired girl, "I wasn't spying, I was coming out here to train, and then I noticed you cutting up the leaves. You're pretty good."

Motoko sneered, "I don't need your compliments or acknowledgement of my skill, bastard. Don't confuse me with the other residents, I DON'T want you here."

"Trust me, you've made that perfectly clear," Keitaro replied with a stony voice, feeling the familiar pain in his chest at seeing the hateful girl his once beloved friend had grown into, "In all honesty though, this hatred of me is a bit unfair…and stupid. You don't even know me."

"I don't need to get to know you in order to realize what kind of foul pig you are," the scathing reply made Keitaro's eyes narrow, his patience being tested a bit, "Your ki says enough about you to give me an adequate impression. You're dangerous, and shouldn't be anywhere near Hinata-sou."

She shouldered her blade and used her thumb to unsheathe part of it in warning, "If you try anything here against the residents of the Hinata-sou, I'll kick you out myself."

Keitaro's indifferent stare hardened at the threat, his own hands itching to grab his sword as he watched Motoko turn to walk away, but before she could get far, a rustling in the trees grabbed their attention.

"Oi, Motoko! Landlord!" the two looked at the tree branch next to them, the voice having come from that direction. Suddenly, Suu popped out upside-down, "Dinner's Ready! Let's eat!"

"Gya!" Taken by surprise, Motoko's foot slipped and she began to fall backwards. Bracing herself for the pain to come, the kendo girl was surprised when, instead of the hard ground, a single, sturdy arm held her in place. Looking up, she saw Keitaro glancing down at her in mild concern.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, noticing at the back of his mind how light the girl in his arm was despite barely being shorter than him. Motoko was about to reply, when a sudden memory flashed in her mind.

"Hey! Sempai! Watch this!" a young, dark-haired girl called excitedly across the dojo floor to an older boy who'd been talking with who appeared to be the girl's older sister. The boy's gaze shifted over to the one that called out to him and he replied with a small smile, "Ok then, show me what ya got, Mo-chan!

The girl grinned before taking a stance, pointing her bokken out ahead of her as if preparing to stab something, before dashing forward in a burst of speed. The boy, realizing he was the target, moved away from his other company and drew his own bokken to block. As the girl thrust her makeshift sword out to strike, the long-haired boy countered by smacking her bokken up. Unfortunately, she'd been moving too fast, and ran face-first into his arm, "Oww!"

"Oi, careful!" the boy reached out and placed an arm on her back to keep her from falling. The dark-haired girl looked up and nearly lost herself in the boy's brown eyes, his long black hair framing his face perfectly. The boy laughed as he noticed the slightly bewildered look on his friend's face, "Stop bein such a rookie, Mo-chan, you're better than that."

The girl blushed, but returned the boy's smile with one of her own, "Y-yes, I'll watch out next time…Kyoshiro-sempai."

As the memory began to fade, the face of her deceased sempai superimposed itself onto the face of her new manager. Despite the differences in hair length and color, they were almost an exact match. Regaining her senses, Motoko realized that Keitaro was holding her in the same exact position Kyoshiro did to keep her from falling that day in the dojo.

"Uh…you ok? Earth to Aoyama-san!" Keitaro asked, concerned at how unresponsive the fierce kendo girl was in his arm. Suddenly, her eyes shifted back into focus, tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks like twin rivers. Before the manager could ask what the problem was, Motoko shoved him off and ran back into the dorm, trying desperately to regain her composure while her heart was reintroduced to a pain she thought long since buried.

"What's wrong with Motoko?" Suu asked baffled at the scene that just occurred. Keitaro could only shake his head as he tried to make sense of what just happened. For some reason, seeing her look so anguished, so broken for that instant, made his chest hurt.

"I have no idea Suu…I have absolutely no idea…"

Dinner that night was a spirited affair, with Keitaro finally acquiescing to the girls' request to join them at the table. Even the normally timid Shinobu was literally floating on cloud nine at the sight of her sempai trying out her cooking.

"S-so how is it, sempai?" she asked shyly, a small blush dusting her cheeks as she anxiously watched the landlord begin eating. Keitaro finished chewing and swallowed before turning to face the bluenette, "Shinobu…you are definitely getting paid for this from now on. This has got to be, hands down, the BEST cooking I've ever tasted…PERIOD."

Shinobu's initially mild blush grew several shades darker from the compliment, "I-I-I'm glad you like it, s-sempai, b-but you don't have to p-pay me for it. I like cooking for everyone."

"Nope, you don't get a say. I'll have the paperwork drawn up after dinner," Keitaro grinned, refusing to let the cook get off that easily, "If anything, I'll adjust your rent as compensation. With culinary talent like that, I'd be an idiot not to thank you somehow."

"Dontcha think she'll make a perfect lil housewife down the road, Taro-chan?" Kitsune giggled from her place across from him, another sake saucer held daintily in her hand. At this point, one could almost swear steam was coming out of the young homemaker's ears, "Auuuuu, I-I'm n-not all t-that great…"

Chuckling at the bluenette, Keitaro absently reached across the table for a bottle of soy sauce, when his hand came into unexpected contact with another's. Pausing, he looked down and saw the dainty appendage and slowly followed it back to the source…and promptly cursed in his mind.

'…aww crap…'

Motoko blushed furiously at the contact before grabbing the sauce and pulling her hand away as if she'd been burned, "D-don't touch me, you bastard!"

"Uhh….sorry?" the swordsman apologized awkwardly, noticing the slight pain in her eyes before she looked away. He filed it away as he observed the tall girl placing more than the usual amount of soy sauce on her food, almost covering it in black liquid entirely. Naru apparently noticed as well, "…correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a little TOO much sauce, Motoko-chan?"

"Eh?" Motoko blushed as she looked down into her plate, before shoveling as much of it as she could down her throat and standing up abruptly, "T-Thank you for the meal!"

Before anyone could get another word out, she ran out of the dining room. Suu laughed at her hurried departure, "Wow, Motoko's really really fast!"

"You said it," Keitaro's eyes narrowed in the direction she'd left in. Noticing this, Naru bumped him on the shoulder, "Hey, everything ok with you two? She's been acting a lot more awkward around you today than normal."

The swordsman turned to face the lovely brunette and replied, "You're asking the wrong guy…I have no idea what her deal is," he scratched his chin in thought, recalling the agonized look on the Shinmei-ryuu heir's face when he caught her earlier that day.

'What the hell happened that hurt you so much, Mo-chan?'

The next day went no better in regards to the interaction between Keitaro and Motoko, as the girl did everything in her power to avoid him at all costs. It even got to the point that the kendo practitioner left school early that cold afternoon, leaving Keitaro and Naru to pick up Suu and Shinobu before heading home.

"Ok…I think this is getting a bit outta hand," Keitaro grumbled as he tried to remain oblivious to Suu's attempts to climb all over him like a tree. She'd been at it for the past ten minutes, but his restraint had proven ironclad, much to the surprise of the other two girls. At his sudden outburst, Naru glanced over at her rather taciturn friend, "What, Suu finally getting to you?"

Keitaro shook his head, "No, this I actually don't mind so much. It's Motoko. She doesn't strike me as the type to forget to pick up the girls from school," he turned to Shinobu, "Has this ever happened before?"

"N-not that I can remember," the timid girl replied, a sad frown on her adorable face, "She always met us at the entrance…told us to stay away from b-boys and wait by the gate."

"That's what I figured," Keitaro sighed and tilted his head to look at the foreigner on his back, who was currently playing with his brown, spiky locks, "Hey Suu, you hang around Motoko more than the others, right? Notice anything strange about her today?"

The blonde-haired girl stopped her activity for a moment and childishly scrunched up her face as she thought, "Hmmm…Motoko was movin really fast to leave this morning, more than Suu usually sees her. And I think she had a bad dream last night? She woke up with tears in her eyes!"

"Crying? Motoko?" Naru asked, shocked at the development, "That sounds a little farfetched…she's always so…balanced. I didn't think she could cry…"

"I hope she's ok," Shinobu said concernedly, "Sempai, d-do you think there's anything we can do for her?"

The landlord sighed and looked to the afternoon sky above, "Other than be there for her, I don't know. Whatever she's working through, it seems to be internal, so she'll have to figure it out on her own."

Back at Hinata-sou, Motoko sat in meditation on the rooftops, her clothes slightly damp with sweat. After rushing out of school at the thought of seeing Keitaro on her way home, she'd thrown herself into her training. Despite her peaceful appearance on the outside, inside her mind and heart were in turmoil.

'I thought…that I was past all of this,' she thought as she once again fought against the ache in her bosom, 'Why…why are the dreams coming back now of all times? Is it because of him?'

The Shinmei-ryuu heir shook her head as an image of the landlord popped into her mind, once again being superimposed over the face of her dearly departed sempai. Unable to bear the blasphemous thoughts any longer, she stood up quickly and began practicing her katas again.

'Why does he remind me of Kyoshiro-sempai? That bastard's nothing like him!' her furious thoughts fueled her body as she pushed harder with her strikes, pretending it was Keitaro she was battling against…or beating down mercilessly.

Minutes later, she stopped, sweat running down her forehead and face in rivulets, soaking her already dampened clothes. She shivered as the brisk winter wind blew over her, but paid it no more mind, settling for walking to the railing and looking up at the sunset in the sky.

'…Kyoshiro-sempai…' Motoko's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she recalled the dream she'd had the night before. It was more a memory than a dream, one that she'd tried to bury for several years.

The memory of the day her world changed forever.

An eleven-year old Motoko rubbed her tired eyes and looked up at her sister in confusion. For reasons she had yet to be told, Tsuruko had dragged her out of bed in the middle of the night, rushed her into her clothes and pulled her along as they headed to the entrance of their compound.

"Ane-ue," the young girl yawned, "W-what's going on? Where are we going?"

"…I'll tell you when we arrive, Motoko," Tsuruko's answer was clipped, and something about her tone brought Motoko out of slumber-induced haze. The Shinmei-ryuu heiress had always referred to her little sister as either 'Motoko-han' or 'Imouto-chan'. NEVER by her first name alone.

With millions of questions bouncing around in her head, Motoko decided to remain silent as she and her sister entered the town car that had been sent to them. Less than an hour later, she found herself looking up at the Urashima compound. Right at the entrance, she noticed several people huddled together, some openly crying, others shaking their fists with their faces twisted into expressions of rage and sadness that the young girl never thought possible for a human face.

"We're here," Tsuruko's voice sounded haunted, and Motoko could feel small tendrils of fear beginning to take hold in her stomach. Suddenly becoming far more aware of her surroundings, the eleven-year old allowed her sister to take her hand and gently pull her along through the large compound. Absently, Motoko realized they were heading in the direction of Hina's office. When they arrived, the first thing the sisters noticed was the pall of anguish that had befallen the room, the source of which could be traced to the old woman seated in the large plush chair behind a worn-looking oak desk. Though her features were schooled into an emotionless expression, Motoko didn't need her budding ki-sensing abilities to know that Hina Urashima was in pain…soul-shattering pain.

"Tsuruko-chan…and you brought Motoko-chan as well," Hina began, her voice just as haunted as Tsuruko's had been earlier, "I'm sorry for summoning you so late in the night. I trust you received my message?"

"I did," Tsuruko's voice barely shook from the powerful emotions flowing through her at that moment, but the small hitch did not go unnoticed by her younger sister, "…I demand proof. There's no way…not all of them…"

Motoko looked between the two confusedly, although she could already tell something horrible must have occurred recently. Hina's melancholy sigh brought her attention back to the old woman, who was holding a bundle in her hands. In the dimmed light of the room, the young girl could vaguely make out stains on the cloth, along with a faint iron smell emanating from the material.

"Here…this should be all the proof you'll need," Hina held out the bundle, her frail arms shaking, not from the physical weight of the bundle, but what the bundle itself represented. Fighting the urge in her arms to shiver as well, Tsuruko took the bundle and un-wrapped it, facing away from the curious Motoko. Upon peering at the contents, the seemingly unshakable woman then did something that Motoko would swear on her life and the lives of every member of the Shinmei-ryuu could never happen in a thousand lifetimes.

Tsuruko Aoyama, the head of the Shinmei-ryuu, the undefeated prodigy, fell to her knees and wept.

"Ane-ue!" the younger sister quickly went to her sister's side and embraced her, doing the only thing she could think of to help her horribly distressed sister, "What's wrong? Please! What has happened?!"

Tsuruko looked up at her sister, and upon seeing her worried, but still innocent gaze, cursed every deity known to civilization for what she would have to do.

"…Motoko-han…my sweet, precious Motoko-han," the older sister said as she returned her sister's embrace, "…something dreadful has happened…and I don't know how to tell you this…but…"

"What, Ane-ue?" Tsuruko almost began to weep again at her sister's question, but shoved the urge away and forced herself to say those terrible words.

"…The Mononobe clan…is no more."

For a moment, the world seemed to come to a halt as Motoko took in those words. She was no stranger to death, having lost relatives before due to demon-hunts gone bad and freak accidents. Their grandparents had died earlier that year, a loss that still hurt the young girl to this day. But this…was on a vastly different plateau.

"…what do you mean…Ane-ue…the Mononobe," an image of a young boy with black hair and warm brown eyes flashed in her head, "…Kyoshiro-sempai…there's no way someone could…could…"

"Show her, Tsuruko," Hina commanded in a voice that brokered no argument. Nodding, Tsuruko held her arms out to her sister, presenting the moist bundle to her. Now that she was up close, Motoko could easily identify the odor she'd smelled from afar.

Blood.

Fearfully reaching out, she peeled back the damp cloth just enough to reveal the items within, and as she recognized the items, Motoko felt a part of the little girl she was die a horrible death.

Wrapped in the cloth was a bloodied comb, and the fragments of a familiar blade.

Saya's comb.

Kyoshiro's blade.

Motoko didn't realize when the tears began streaming from her face. She didn't realize when she fell to her knees and began shaking uncontrollably, only for Tsuruko to reach out and hold her close as the truth settled in. All she knew was that she felt very far away, and from a distance, she could hear what sounded like a loud, soul-searing scream of anguish.

Motoko never realized that the scream she heard…was her own.

An older Motoko shivered as she remembered the final vestiges of her nightmarish memory. Even after four long years, the wound in her heart at the deaths of her beloved sempai and his family still ran horribly deep. After the funeral, she'd had nightmares of evil men coming in the night, butchering the Mononobe and commiting grave atrocities to the overwhelmed samurai. It would always end the same way, with Kyoshiro being brutally murdered before she could do something, anything to save him.

"Kyoshiro-sempai," she whispered, hugging her arms to herself as she fought back another round of tears. It seemed that even after all this time, she still had not cried enough over that horrific loss in her life. She then recalled her current situation, how her new landlord reminded her of the late Mononobe heir for a moment.

"…they're nothing alike…he's scum and a bastard who'd take advantage of us at his earliest convenience," the swordswoman seethed, gritting her teeth to hold in her anger, "He's nothing like Kyoshiro-sempai!"

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the other tenants and the resident landlord arriving back from school. Knowing that Suu would immediately rush up to her room, Motoko grabbed her traditional clothes and headed for the laundry room to change. Surely, the hyperactive girl wouldn't think to look for her there.

"Motoko~! Come play with Suu!" the blonde foreigner shouted as she threw off her shoes and bounded off into the dorm in search of her regular playmate. Keitaro stretched his back and began rotating his shoulders in relief, "Thank god that's over…she's got a stronger grip than my little sister."

Naru looked at him sideways, "Oh? Your sister likes to climb on top of you too?" she asked with a playful smirk, "Should I be worried you'll take advantage of Suu?"

"Don't even joke like that," the landlord replied flatly, "besides, you're scaring Shinobu."

Looking over at the middle-schooler, Naru noticed the girl shivering, her face covered in an atomic-red blush, "Oh…sorry Shinobu! I was just kidding!"

Unfortunately, the older teens were completely wrong about the reason the bluenette was shivering. Many a vivid thought of the non-PG13 kind were floating in her head, starring her rambunctious friend and her (for now) secret crush.

'S-S-Sempai…a-a-and S-S-Suu…t-t-taking advantage….Auuuuu!'

"Hey, you ok Shinobu-chan?" Keitaro asked concernedly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. The intimate contact brought the girl out of her R-rated musings, but upon seeing the handsome face of her sempai so close, her mind went on overload and forced her to respond in the only way she could.

With a dead faint.

"Holy crap! Shinobu-chan!" Keitaro exclaimed, never having seen the timid girl faint before. Naru knelt down next to her and carefully laid the unconscious girl on the ground, "Oh boy…it's been a while since this happened."

"What do you mean?! What happened just now?!" the panicked landlord asked, trying and failing to keep his cool. The brunette next to him almost laughed at how out of character her friend was acting, but was also touched by his concern, "Calm down, knucklehead. She just fainted, that's all. It happens whenever she gets really embarrassed or nervous about something," she placed a hand under her chin in thought, "But I have no idea what could've triggered it this time."

Had he been in a clearer state of mind, Keitaro would have called her out as the cause, but in his fearful state, the moment went over his head, "Is there anything I can do to help her?"

"All she needs is a warm towel and a soft place to sleep it off," the bespectacled genius answered, lifting Shinobu in her arms and carrying the small girl to the sofa in the lobby, "I think the towels were in the dryer in the laundry room. Get one from there while I get a bucket of warm water from the kitchen."

Keitaro nodded and bounded for the laundry room, nearly scaring Kitsune when he dashed around her in a blur.

"Well goodness! What's got him in such a hurry?" she asked herself, before shrugging it off as something she could 'interrogate' him about later and heading to the kitchen. Meanwhile, the landlord reached the laundry room and hastily opened the door, diving for the drying machine and pulling out a small towel.

"This should do," he said, but before he could head out, a gasp of surprise caught his attention. Looking to his left, he finally noticed he wasn't alone in the laundry room. '…Oh…crap…'

Barely a foot away, Motoko had been in the process of wrapping her chest within her regular bindings, her hakama still on top of the washing machine, leaving her in just a pair of white panties to protect her modesty. Keitaro's eyes widened minutely when he noticed the girl's modest bosom, a single band of the wrappings struggling to restrain the two hardened nubs atop her breasts in the chilly room.

"…Uhh…" the stupefied landlord could barely come up with anything to remedy the situation, and was left to say the first thing that came to his mind, "…why are you changing in the laundry room?"

'Well I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this'd be happening sometime soon,' Keitaro thought to himself as he watched the infuriated woman across from him with a blank stare. He was currently standing on an islet in the middle of a small lake behind the main property of the dorm. Across from him, an enraged Motoko stood with a bokken on her shoulder. If looks could kill, the Mononobe heir was pretty sure he'd have died a thousand horrible deaths already.

Back on the main shore, the rest of the Hinata-sou residents sat on a makeshift bench, with Suu cheering for the both of them, "Go Motoko! Go Keitaro! Kick butt!"

"So…tell me how this happened again," Kitsune asked Naru next to her. The long-haired girl sighed and shook her head, "I told Keitaro-san to go grab a towel from the laundry room…he was in a rush and didn't know Motoko-chan was changing in there," a deadpan expression came over her face, "Why she'd be changing in there when there's a guy living with us now, I have no idea."

"P-please be careful!" Shinobu called out worriedly. She had seen Motoko train before, but she was unaware of Keitaro's ability with a sword. She hadn't seen the carnage he'd left in his wake after destroying all of Suu's robots the day he'd arrived.

Meanwhile, Motoko narrowed her eyes and pointed her bokken at the bewildered landlord, "Urashima-teme….I've suffered your foul presence among us long enough! I challenge you!"

"…you brought me out here before issuing a challenge?" Keitaro asked with a deadpan voice, "I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes-"

"Silence!" the enraged girl interrupted, completely ignoring the older boy's words, "These are my terms! If you win this duel, I will forget all of your past sins and transgressions!"

'…I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything worth calling a sin so far…' Keitaro thought wryly as he heard the rest of the terms, "Ok then…and if you win?"

Motoko shot him a dark smirk, "If I win, you have to relinquish your position as landlord and vacate the premises immediately."

The Mononobe heir paused for a moment as he thought the terms over. While it didn't appear as such to the maddened girl, Motoko had just given Keitaro the perfect out to his grandmother's decree.

'Let's run this back real quick…win and I stay here, under Granny's thumb, with almost no way to complete my Tenchuu without getting caught…lose, and I get to go home, and make some damn progress while Hina-obaasama's running around trying to fix things with Motoko.'

The latter option was tempting…REALLY tempting. He could finally be free of the danger of his murderous acts against the instigators of his family's massacre being discovered by the wrong people, and also keep the girls out of danger if and when the day came that his identity was compromised. Even he knew he couldn't keep his secret forever.

Nevertheless, all of this was halted by a single, seemingly insignificant recollection: in all the times he had sparred with Motoko when they were kids, not once had the girl even come close to beating him.

And his pride wouldn't let him take a fall now. Not when he was a little curious about her progress.

"Fine, I agree to your terms," Keitaro replied, his voice losing all semblance of playfulness, and becoming all business, "I've been curious to see just how strong you are for a while now…this is the perfect chance to find out."

The residents were caught off guard by the sudden shift in their landlord. Naru, being the closest to him among them, stared in surprise at the nearly-unrecognizable Keitaro. 'It's like…he went from a student to some battle-hardened soldier or something,' she thought as she continued to look on at the impending duel, '…Keitaro-san…who the hell are you?'

Motoko was also surprised by the sudden shift, but was able to hide it better and steel herself for the match. She gave a small glance over to the seated residents, "Kitsune-san. Please act as officiator of this duel. It ends when one of us either acknowledges defeat, or is rendered incapable of continuing for whatever reason."

"Huh…I guess I could do that," Kitsune slowly rose from her seat and walked to the water's edge. Lifting a hand high into the air, she called out, "Are y'all ready to get started?!"

"Hai!/Hai!" came the simultaneous reply from the combatants, with Keitaro removing the bokken at his side and holding it in a ready position, Motoko mirroring his action.

Time slowed to a crawl, and the seated audience watched with baited breath as Kitsune held her arm up for only a second more before quickly bringing it down, "Hajime!"

No sooner had the words left the resident fox's lips, Motoko surged forward like a cannonball, her bokken poised to take off Keitaro's head. With a mighty swing, the swordswoman slashed towards the man's temple, aiming for a quick knockout.

'Hah! Take that fool! This duel is already-'

Her victorious thoughts were interrupted when she felt her bokken smash against something solid and unyielding, not at all like what she envisioned a successful strike against someone's head would feel like. Tracing her eyes along her blade, Motoko was shocked to see Keitaro's bokken interposed perfectly between her own bokken and his head. Her surprise grew when she noticed the landlord had barely moved from his spot, despite the strength she'd put into her initial blow.

"Huh…not bad. Decent amount of power for such thin-looking arms," Keitaro mused out loud, oblivious to the outright shocked stares he was receiving from the audience, "Looks like this'll be fun after all."

Motoko scoffed and quickly withdrew her blade, only to unload on the Mononobe heir with a series of slashes. Despite her best efforts, however, each strike was either dodged with minimal movement on the boy's part, or parried off to the side. As she went in for a diagonal upwards slash to the man's torso, Keitaro countered with a hard block, the strength of the blow nearly knocking Motoko's bokken from her hands.

'What…what power…' she thought as tightened the grip on her wooden katana and withdrew a few paces back. That blow had left her wide open for retaliation, but for some reason, Keitaro had not capitalized. '…I can't believe he's actually this skilled…'

On the mainland, the four residents were completely astounded at the spectacle before them. Not even five minutes into the duel, and already they had seen Keitaro do more than they ever thought possible of him.

"…Naru…did you have ANY idea he could do this?!" Kitsune asked after a lengthy silence, her eyes opened for the first time, revealing them to be a lovely shade of brown. Next to her, Naru stared in equal parts of awe and disbelief, "No…I had no idea…" she replied airily. Shinobu and Suu were so gobsmacked themselves that neither could utter a word.

Back on the field, Motoko reassessed the situation, 'It was a mistake to underestimate him. Nevertheless…I refuse to believe he's my equal!' With that in mind, she charged in again, only to be met halfway by a similar charge from her opponent, 'He's gone on the attack?!'

Keitaro lunged in with a stab to the chest that grazed the Shinmei-ryuu heir's gi. Fortunately for Motoko, she saw the strike coming, and was able to shift to the right and let the blow go by. She was caught off guard, however, by how quickly Keitaro pivoted on his lead foot and came back around with a slash to her midsection. Turning her wrist down, Motoko blocked the strike, only to be sent flying back a couple meters by the force. The landlord refused to give her time to breath, and met her with a flurry of quick slashes, prompting her to counter in kind. For what seemed like an eternity, the two engaged in a dazzling show of slashes and parries, each strike echoing through the forest like claps of thunder in the heavens. The sound of the blows brought Suu out of her dazed stupor and she promptly began cheering with all her heart.

"GO GO GO! GO KEITARO! GO MOTOKO! FIGHT, FIGHT FIGHT!"

Shinobu as well was shocked out of her stunned state and she too found herself cheering, "G-go sempai!"

"This is heatin up! I think I found mah new favorite entertainment!" Kitsune waved a set of tickets she'd brought out of nowhere into the air wildly, "Go get her, Taro-chan!"

Only Naru remained silent, as she continued to gaze at her friend as though seeing him for the first time. On the inside, her mind was a jumble of thoughts and questions, 'Is this who you really are, Keitaro-san? I guess I really never knew a thing about you, huh? Why didn't you tell me you knew how to kick ass like this?!'

Motoko as well was growing more and more frustrated as the exchange continued, finding almost no holes in the landlord's defenses, 'It's as if he's the perfect storm…unyielding…monstrous…very well, I'll just have to shock him myself.'

Nodding to herself, she countered another of Keitaro's slashes with a hard-block of her own, throwing his arms up and opening a small hole in his defense. Using the chance, the swordswoman gathered her ki and unleashed her attack, "Zanganken (Rock-Splitting Sword)!"

The attack came crashing down on a seemingly helpless Keitaro, tossing up a large cloud of dust as it struck. Motoko smirked at the results of her attack, "Hmph…that should teach you to know your place. This duel is over."

The girls on the mainland looked on worriedly as the cloud of debris impeded their view of the landlord. Shinobu started tearing as she thought of how injured her sempai may have been from that sneak attack, "I-Is he ok? S-someone should go check!"

"I don't think he's getting up from that one," Kitsune scratched the back of her head, "That's Motoko-chan's signature move. Not a lotta people walk away from that one all hunky dory."

"You girls don't know Keitaro then," the four jumped in surprise as Haruka appeared standing beside them, her usual cigarette hanging unlit from her lips, "Nah…that boy's just gettin started."

The tea shop owner's words proved true, as the cloud cleared and the girls, along with Motoko, were treated to the sight of a completely unscathed Keitaro, his bokken held out in front. A faint orange haze could be seen a small distance from the point of the wooden sword, covering the landlord's front. Opening his eyes, he let out a sigh and leveled a pointed glare at his confounded opponent, "Terukaeshi (Glare). I haven't mastered it yet, but thank god I started learning it or that might've hurt a bit."

"…You can use ki-based techniques as well…" a stupefied Motoko whispered, before growling and summoning her ki for another attack, "It won't save you, bastard! Raimeiken (Thunderclap Sword)!"

Lightning energy formed around the blade of her bokken, the air around it crackling and sizzling as blue electricity lanced out wildly. Wasting no time, Motoko dashed forward, leaving a blue streak of energy in her wake. Seeing her attack, Keitaro held his bokken behind him and gathered his own ki, "Oh, so it's gonna be that kinda duel, huh? Ok then, I'll raise you one ki-technique with another…Hinode (Daybreak)."

To the jaw-dropping surprise of the audience, including Haruka, the landlord rushed forward and brought his attack up to meet Motoko's. The two bokkens crashed against each other with the sound of a tsunami breaking onto the shore, the near gale-force winds released from the contact point blowing away leaves, dust, and everything not secured to the ground away for several meters. The girls held onto the fallen tree trunk they were sitting on for dear life as they were tossed around by the fierce air currents.

"Somebody please tell me they're recordin this!" Kitsune bellowed over the loud noise, her voice barely carrying over to anyone. Naru, however, was able to hear and promptly turned to face her wildly laughing friend, "Are you serious right now?! We're about to get blown back to the dorms, and THAT'S what you're thinking about?!"

"Weeeeeeeee!" Suu cried out, the girl actually enjoying being blown about like a kite in a windstorm.

Shinobu screamed as her grip gave way, but before she could be propelled back into the trees behind her, Haruka reached out and grabbed her arm, slowly pulling her back until she could hold the small girl to her chest, "Gotcha Shinobu. Can't have ya flyin off before the best part, right?"

"R-r-right, thank you, Haruka-san," Shinobu answered shakily, her body shivering as she resumed watching the match with fear and awe of her sempai, "H-he's so s-strong…"

"Ehh…he's ok. But I think this duel's gonna end soon." The rest of the girls turned back to the fight after barely hearing Haruka's words, soon realizing the winds had died down a bit. Back on the island, Keitaro's attack seemed to be slightly giving way to Motoko's own strike.

"Aww man, and here I thought Taro-chan had this in the bag," Kitsune huffed in disappointment, but Haruka's chuckling made her curious, "And what's so funny, Haru-san?"

Haruka took a moment to regain her composure, "What's funny is you think that Motoko's winning. That's just hilarious," the lovely tea shop owner stared out at her cousin/nephew with a small smirk on her face, "To be honest, Keitaro's just getting bored. He's about to finish this."

With the two combatants, Motoko smirked at her emotionless-looking opponent, "Well…it looks like in the end, your power just wasn't enough to topple me. You've been a better opponent than I thought possible, but this duel is over, Urashima-teme!"

"I guess it is," Keitaro answered, but the tone in his voice wasn't one of defeat, but that of a person who'd found out what he wanted to learn, and was growing bored, "You have strength…speed…and a good basic library of ki-based attacks. If it weren't for the lack of experience, and my own vast ki reserves, you'd definitely be at a bigger advantage here."

Motoko narrowed her eyes, "You sound as if you're winning this battle, yet it's your attack that's slowly failing against mine," she pushed her bokken forward a bit more, the lightning energy eagerly fighting the orange ki of Keitaro's attack, "I think you're mistaken."

"No…you're the one that's not gettin it," Keitaro replied, before momentarily increasing the flow of ki to his attack just a bit…only a 'bit' to him was like a large lake to Motoko, whose Raimeiken was effortlessly canceled out. Her eyes widened in absolute shock as her strongest move was destroyed in an instant, while Keitaro continued, "You may have the skills, you may have the brains, but you're still lacking. You've never fought anyone for real before…you've never drawn blood before…"

The landlord paused, his eyes gaining a hard look to them that sent a shiver of fear down Motoko's spine, fear that grew with his next words, "…you've never attacked with the intent to kill before."

"Is that right…and you have?" she challenged.

"…when you've lived a life like mine, you learn quickly that the world's a cruel place, and life is more fragile than glass," the haunted look in his eyes gripped the Shinmei-ryuu heir like a vice, the young woman finding her attention hanging on his every word, "And once you realize that, you start learning how to fight back at the world's level…you change, leaving behind who you once were…and become someone else…become…something else."

"…what is it," Motoko asked in a whisper that only Keitaro could hear, "what do you become?"

Keitaro looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back into Motoko's steel grey eyes, the haunted expression in his own gone and replaced with light-heartedness, "That…is something I hope you never have to find out."

The swordswoman blanched, giving the landlord an opening to conclude the fight, "Well…you've shown me that you're pretty capable in a fight…I think you'll make the perfect test subject for this next move."

His declaration brought Motoko out of her confused state, "Test subject? Next move?"

"That's right," Keitaro lifted his bokken into the ready position in front of him, with his left foot out before his right, "This was the secret technique of someone that was very dear to me. I spent a good while trying to get it down, and I think I finally have it."

On the sidelines, Haruka's eyes went wide in shock as she recognized the stance her nephew had assumed, "No way….kid, you didn't…"

"What's wrong, Haruka?" Suu asked curiously, somewhat surprised at the stoic woman's break in character. Kitsune and Naru also looked over for an answer. Haruka just smiled, but there was sadness mixed into it, "…you girls are in for one hell of a show…if he can make this work."

Seeing his stance, Motoko brought up her bokken and prepared to counter, "Whatever it is you may be attempting, I won't just take it lying down."

Keitaro smirked as his body was enveloped in orange ki, "I was hoping you'd say that. This one's gonna come at ya fast," The ki around him began to glow brighter, forcing the others on the mainland to shield their eyes a bit, "My style doesn't have a name anymore…but this move…could be considered the first part of my school's most powerful technique. Nanashi Ougi (No Name Secret Technique)…"

The ki around him suddenly compressed itself onto Keitaro's body, surrounding him in a bright orange outline. He smirked as he called out its name, "...Shinonome (Dawn)."

In an instant, the space between him and Motoko was filled with what appeared to be copies of himself, all outlined with an orange ki, but unlike the real one, they appeared to be fainter. Before Motoko could pick her jaw up from the ground and mount a defense, the copies blurred and rushed forward. The swordswoman barely blocked the first couple of strikes, but she was soon overwhelmed as slashes struck her chest, legs, arms, and abdomen in rapid fire. Each blow felt like the sting of an angry sunburn, the pain beginning to mount higher and higher.

'I…I-Impossible…' she thought as the onslaught continued, '…he's stronger than I am…he's almost as strong as…'

Before she blanked out, the blows ceased as quickly as they started, with Keitaro on one knee behind her, panting lightly.

"…guess…I don't really…have the hang of it completely," he wheezed before tempering his breathing. He then tapped the ground once with the tip of his bokken. As if it were a signal, Motoko's body went completely limp, and she began to collapse backwards. Before she hit the ground, Keitaro caught her carefully in his arms. Looking down into her face, he smiled at the battered and slightly bruised young woman, "I tried to hold back as much as I could with that strike…it's not really one meant to be used in a spar, but you took it like a champ."

Motoko was in the process of passing out, when she caught his last words before entering the bliss of unconsciousness.

"…still such a rookie, Mo-chan."

'Hah, you're such a rookie sometimes, Mo-chan!'

'…Kyoshiro…sempai…'

"Hey! Hey! I think she's waking up!"

"Calm down, Suu! You're gonna make her condition worse if you keep yelling!"

"N-N-Naru-sempai, y-you're yelling too…"

"Oops! Sorry, Shinobu-chan."

"Here I thought you got all that yellin outta ya when ya chewed out Taro-chan…"

"Shut UP Kitsune!"

Motoko blearily opened her eyes to see the faces of the other Hinata-sou residents looking down at her with relief and slight concern. Blinking to lessen the glare of the light in the room, she asked wearily, "Where…am I? What happened?"

"Taro-chan happened, sugah," Kitsune answered softly, all elements of teasing in her voice gone, "Y'all had the most excitin match any of us ever saw…and then Taro-baka went a lil overboard with his last move."

"Last…move…" the recovering swordswoman closed her eyes and tried to remember the last moments of the match. Instantly, she recalled Keitaro's final technique, the one that instantly spelt her defeat.

"…Shinonome…" she whispered in slight awe. Never in her life had she known such a move existed. There was nothing like it in the technique library of the Shinmei-ryuu, and she was sure the Urashima clan techniques had no such move either. "I wonder…"

"I gave the knucklehead a good tongue-lashing for being such a jerk, so don't you worry!" Naru said as she grinned at her fellow housemate, "You were really cool in that fight though. Talk about badass!"

"Motoko's awesome!" Suu exclaimed, jumping around despite Kitsune and Shinobu trying to calm her down, "Keitaro was awesome too! Suu wants to see another match!"

The injured swordswoman sat up slowly from her futon and chuckled, shaking her head in the negative, "I don't think that will happen for quite some time Suu. I realized from that duel, Urashima-san is far stronger than I am. He's not too far from being on par with the masters at my own school." 'He could be close to a match for Ane-ue…'

Suu deflated and frowned, Shinobu patting the girl on the back to console her as she whined about not seeing a repeat of the "Fight of the Century." As she continued to converse with Naru and Kitsune, Motoko reflected again on Keitaro's final words to her before she lost consciousness.

'still such a rookie, Mo-chan.'

Only one other person had called her Mo-chan before, and she was positive that Kyoshiro and Keitaro had never met. At least, that was what she'd thought before. Once again, the ghostly image of her dearly departed sempai's face superimposed itself again over Keitaro's visage. However, instead of pain, Motoko felt something else. It wasn't a bad feeling, far from it, but it felt like the beginnings of something. She sighed to herself, glancing out the window at the blue sky, the sun already high above.

'I may still be a rookie…but I will get stronger. In the meantime…I believe I'll try to figure out just what kind of man you really are, Urashima-san.'

"So…that move really fucked you up in the end, huh?"

"Not now Haru," Keitaro grumbled out as he held his arm out in front of him, wisps of orange ki seeping out from his palm before evaporating into tiny grains of energy. The two were back in the new landlord's bedroom, where the swordsman had seated himself on his futon and promptly began expelling the backed up ki left over from his last attack. Haruka had opted to lean against the doorframe and watch the painful process, all the while chiding the young man for his rather reckless gambit.

"You do realize that you already had the match in the bag and didn't need to use that attack of all things, right?" the tea shop owner took a slow drag from her cancer stick, her eyes gazing at her nephew with a playful glint, "I'm pretty sure Kazuya-jii never used Shinonome in a practice match like that for the same reason you're stuck here trying not to cry like a baby."

"It's not that agonizing," Keitaro retorted, still gripping his arm tightly as he continued his labor, "and I thought I'd had enough control to hold back the energy that normally goes to the blade. Which I did…I just forgot about this part."

The older woman sighed and walked over to the small table near the window, where she picked up an ice pack. Kneeling next to her nephew, she gently applied the ice pack to his arm, holding it in place until he finished ridding the limb of the energy, "Thanks Haru."

"You're welcome," she released the pack and sat back on her heels, "For the record, stupid move aside…I think Kazuya-jii woulda been proud of you tonight, kid."

"…It almost felt like he was right there with me," the young swordsman replied wistfully, his eyes turned to his father's katana, reverently placed on a sword rack on the top shelf built into the wall perpendicular to the door. The Mononobe heir could almost swear he felt a familiar warmth emanate from Ginōkami as he recalled the 'sparring' match with Motoko, "he always did tell me he'd show me the ropes with our clan's ultimate technique…I remember him demonstrating it to me and someone else when I was a kid, but I forget who the other person was."

Haruka smiled, "Well, either way, seeing you pull it off was hilarious…even if you did fuck it up trying to hold back against Motoko."

"Hey, it was either that or seriously hurt her," Keitaro complained as he watched Haruka get to her feet and prepare to leave the room, "Like ya said, it's not something you really use in a spar, but she got me all fired up and I got lost in the moment."

"Just don't make a habit of going overboard…she's not as tough as you yet," she said before exiting the room and shutting the door. Keitaro lay back onto the futon and used his ki-sensing ability to monitor his 'aunt' until she was well away from the room, before taking out his worn Tachibana Pillar journal from under his pillow. Holding it above his head, the swordsman opened it up and looked at the page where he'd pasted the newest information from Kimiko.

'…to think I could've been free if I threw that spar to Mo-chan,' he thought as he re-read the names of all the family members belonging to the Fifth Pillar. The avenger's gaze narrowed as he saw the name of the family head, Minato Tachibana.

'If I remember right, he's responsible for the Tachibana clan's weapons manufacturing and inventory…and he was one of the bastards that was there that night.'

Unlike the other pillars that he'd gone after, Minato's family was comprised of powerful assassins and warriors in their own right. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park like the others were.

Setting down the journal, he got up from his futon and left for the bathroom. After washing his face, he took a glance at himself in the mirror. For the moment, he wasn't using his ki to keep his hair brown, so it had turned back to its original raven coloring. He removed his shirt and stared at the angry red scar over his heart, the physical embodiment of his life's mission. The time he'd spent so far at Hinata-sou had been mostly pleasant so far, and meeting the other girls was an experience in and of itself, but the swordsman knew that the peace he felt was only temporary. Taking one last glance at the scar, and remembering his promise to his deceased family, Keitaro placed his shirt back on and walked resolutely to his room.

It was almost time to get back to work.

Author's Note - Well...hot damn.

First off, HAPPY 2015! I was trying to have this chapter done for everyone by Christmas, but life once again intervenes in its strange, mysterious, and slightly inconvenient ways, but I'm glad I was able to give you guys this as a New Year's treat. Little confession: this is the first time I've ever done a battle scene, so if it's a little rough or lacking, please let me know. And also, forgive me for not saying this before, but I'm totally open to questions, whether they be in reviews, or a PM. So do feel free.

So here you see a bit more development of the relationship between Motoko and Keitaro/Kyoshiro. She's starting to have her suspicions, but so far they're based of only circumstantial evidence. Nevertheless, interest has been piqued and you can bet that'll spell trouble down the road for our avenger. And as much as he's enjoyed the peace, it'll be time for him to continue his Tenchuu with a new target. Next chapter we see the re-introduction to the Tachibana. Lets see how 4 years has changed them.

Til next time people.

Ciph signin out