Chapter 8 – Lost and Found

The sound of leaves and twigs crunching under heavy footsteps echoed throughout the forest hauntingly, a chilling noise to go with the ambiance of the night. The figure shrouded in shadow continued onwards, doing their best to avoid any sentries they might encounter in the imperial gardens in Tokyo. A ray of moonlight revealed the figure to be Kimiko Tachibana, who was burdened with two large black bags. After taking a quick look around, she sighed and gently placed the bags on the ground against one of the many trees surrounding her.

"Damnit…talk about a downgrade. From Imperial Assassin to clean-up duty," the lovely woman sighed as she sat next to one of the bags herself. She looked up into the darkened canopy above, and was barely able to make out the stars that dotted the twilight sky. Glancing next to her, Kimiko saw that the zipper of the bag next to her had slightly come undone. She slowly moved to fix it, but suddenly stopped to stare at the contents inside.

"Heh…look at me bitching like a child…when it was you that suffered the most," she whispered sadly as she gently caressed the cold cheek of the deceased Riika Tachibana, the girl's eyes closed in an eternal expression of pain, "If only I arrived sooner…"

As she continued to rub her hand over the scratched skin of the former sub-branch servant, Kimiko reflected on how she had found the girl and her mother, and the results of the horrors inflicted upon them.

"Are you quite fucking finished, you sick bastard?!"

Ranmaru stopped thrusting into his thoroughly abused victim and looked up into the trees to see Kimiko staring down at him in disgust, midnight blue eyes ablaze in silent fury, "Oh…it's you. What the hell do you want?"

"I'm pretty sure your father told you to just kill them, NOT go this far," Kimiko whispered, holding back every urge to murder the boy below her. Ranmaru narrowed his eyes at her before scoffing, "Heh…goes to show how much you know my old man. This ain't the first time we've had a 'hunt', ya know."

Kimiko fumed silently, "Well, don't you think you've made her suffer enough? Do you really feel nothing for what you've done?"

Ranmaru replied by thrusting a few more times into Riika before relieving himself and pulling out, "Eh, I was just about done anyway. She stopped screaming a while ago."

The older assassin jumped down from the tree just as Ranmaru removed the kunai from Riika's hands. Before the girl could fall to the ground, the youngest triplet grabbed her by the hair and mercilessly slit her throat. He watched with a smug grin as Riika's life fluids spilt all over the forest floor, then unceremoniously dropped her to the ground, "There, happy now bitch? You can go ahead and clean up this mess. I'm gonna go meet up with Rikimaru."

Kimiko stood silently as Ranmaru adjusted his pants, and remained composed as he walked past her without a care in the world, unaware of her nails drawing blood from her palms due to her tightening fists...

She didn't have to go far to find what remained of Riika's mother. Much like Ranmaru, Rikimaru had taken several liberties with the older woman before finally ending her life. Kimiko brought the servant's cold body to where she left Riika, and did her best to clean up both of them as much as possible. The assassin had then run to one of her private getaways in the forest to retrieve the two body bags that both women now rested in. Noticing that the sky was beginning to lighten, Kimiko placed a gentle kiss on Riika's forehead before closing the bag and hoisting it and the other on her shoulders. She had quite a distance to go before she reached her destination, and she could not afford to be seen by any Imperial Guard sentries, lest they relay her activities back to Minato or Heihachi.

As she trudged on, Kimiko mulled over the current state of the sub-branch and the increased hostility they had begun to face ever since Minato had moved to Tokyo, 'I thought Heihachi spoke with those beasts a long time ago about pulling shit like this…guess he wasn't as strict as I thought he'd be…'

Kimiko dug into her pocket and sent off a quick message on her cell before adjusting the bags on her shoulders again and setting off, all the while suppressing the urge to stab someone. Atrocities such as this always sparked bad memories, which in turn spurred her bloodlust into action. She quickly realized she would need some…assistance, to tame the wildfire of emotion roiling in her chest.

'Ara…i know he hates it when I visit more than once a week, but hopefully he makes an exception,' she thought as she leapt from tree to tree, ' In some ways he's both better and worse than the boya'

"Gaaaaanbareeee! Gaaaaaaanbareeeee! Taro-chan! Naru-chan! Gaaaaaaaaaanbareeeee!"

Keitaro facepalmed as he and Naru came down the stairs to the lobby, slightly embarrassed at the sight of Kitsune and Suu furiously waving large banners saying "Future Tokyo U Grads!" and "Best Luck!", while Shinobu and Motoko waved much smaller flags in each hand. It was the second week of March, the day that the results for the Tokyo U exam would be posted outside its main campus. Both aspiring students had agreed to head to the university together, but they hadn't expected the sendoff.

"Ahaa…thanks, Oni-Kitsune, everyone" Keitaro mumbled, patting the sly fox woman's shoulder as he went to go put on his shoes. Shinobu slowly approached the kneeling landlord, her hands folded together in front of her, "I-I'm sure you and N-Naru-sempai did just f-fine. I-I believe in you both!"

Keitaro grinned at the younger girl, causing a huge blush to come over her face, "Thanks Shinobu-chan, I'm sure I did fine…not so sure about Naru-san, though."

Keitaro quickly ducked an incoming fist from Naru, who shot a frustrated glare at him. During the past few days, the bespectacled beauty had been worrying herself sick over the outcome of the exam, while the landlord had remained absolutely nonchalant about the whole thing. The contrast had created several humorous moments at the dorm, which usually resulted in Naru trying (and failing miserably) to punch the older man. Needless to say, she hadn't been too happy a camper.

"Well excuse me for being worried about the single most important exam in our lives, you ass!" she screeched before huffing and pulling on her boots. Motoko shook her head at the spectacle, "I'm sure you have no need to worry, Naru-sempai. You have been more than diligent with your studies, and not once did you falter on your path. You will definitely be rewarded for your dedication," she glanced over at Keitaro, who was chatting with Suu about one of her insane projects, "as well as your patience in dealing with him…"

"Eh, he really wasn't all that bad, Motoko-chan, despite how he acts around us sometimes," Naru defended, the slightly angry expression giving way to a small smile as she too looked over at the landlord, "actually, seeing him so calm about this kinda calms me down a bit. It's…comforting. Just don't tell him I said that though. The last thing that idiot needs is an ego boost."

Motoko let out a rare giggle, "Your secret is safe with me. In any case, you two should probably get going."

"Oh! Oh! Suu can get them there in a flash with Mecha-Tama Tank Mk II!" the hyperactive foreigner jumped excitedly. However, Keitaro was quick to diffuse the potentially lethal situation, "T-that's ok Suu, don't worry! Naru and I can just take the trolley. Besides, don't you still have to test the hyper-drive first?"

Suu quickly calmed down, "Oh…Suu forgot about that. Sowwies!"

Naru sighed, "It's ok Suu. We can try it out next time. See you later, everyone!"

With one last wave, the two headed down the staircase towards the main road. As they passed the tea shop, Haruka exited and waved at the two, "Yo. Heading to see the results?"

"Yep," Keitaro responded as he and Naru walked over to the tea shop owner, "We should be back later this afternoon, so keep a fresh pot out for us, ok?"

"You got it," Haruka promised as she gave her adopted nephew/cousin a quick hug, repeating the process with Naru, "Now get goin before you're late."

Keitaro laughed and waved before he and Naru continued their trek to the trolley. As they vanished into the distance, Haruka smiled at their backs.

'Go get em, you two.'

After a quick ride on the trolley, Keitaro and Naru soon found themselves at the entrance to the Komaba campus of Tokyo U. The entire area was filled with eager exam takers and their families who had accompanied them for support. Closer to where the result postings were, the two students could make out the faint sound of cheering, most likely coming from those who had successfully found their names.

"Well…this is it," Naru said nervously as she strode alongside Keitaro towards the bulletin boards. On her way she spotted some of the few unfortunate to have not located their name and exam ID numbers on the list, "…I really wish I hadn't seen that…"

"You're worrying too much, Naru, I'm sure you did fine," Keitaro assured her, gently gripping her shoulder to provide encouragement, "as someone who studied way longer and way more than I did, you should be the last person to be nervous."

Naru leaned into her friend's side, enjoying the attention and uplifting words, "Yea, I guess so. You're going to be further down the list, right? I'll catch up to you once I find my results."

"Gotcha," Keitaro suddenly pulled the lovely girl into a hug. Shocked at the gesture, Naru slowly returned the embrace, loving the warmth coming from the landlord, "W-What's this for? You idiot we're in public!" she hissed into his ear.

"For luck," he whispered, sending tingles down Naru's spine as his breath brushed over her ears, "Let me know which program you plan on going into later."

The girl nodded before separating from him and watching him head to find his results. When he was absorbed by the crowd, Naru pumped her fist, "Alright! Let's do this!"

Meanwhile, Keitaro maneuvered his way around the many people clogging up the path. On the way, he noticed several students throwing someone up into the air screaming "Banzai!," in celebration of his passing, while a few more students walked off dejectedly with their parents doing their best to console them about their failure.

"And here I thought Naru was taking this too seriously," the landlord said to himself as he continued to make his way over to find his results. After several more moments, Keitaro finally found the board with last names starting with 'T'. Going down the list, he found the beginning of names with the letter 'U'.

'Hmm…if I made it, then my name should be closer to the bottom,' he thought as he scanned down the list. It only took a second to spot his name, fourth from the bottom. For a moment, he didn't know what to feel. He had been fairly confident he did well, but the experience of actually seeing his name on the list shocked him, until finally a bittersweet happiness burst forth from his chest.

"Heh…how about that…I made it," Keitaro whispered before closing his eyes, wiping away a tear that had managed to break free, "I made it Dad…just like you thought I would…"

"You made it too? Congratulations, man!"

Hearing the praise behind him, Keitaro turned to face the person, "Thanks! Congrats to you too-"

Keitaro's heart nearly stopped when he finally saw who it was that had congratulated him. Long red hair that fell like a river to his lower back. Golden amber eyes that sparkled in the morning sunlight. A large purple and gold haori with the kanji for "Imperial Guardian" stamped on the back, along with flowing tassels tied to his upper arms. Red and black gi and hakama with the clan symbol on the chest.

'No…fucking…way…' the landlord paused before taking a discrete closer look, 'Wait…the eyes are shaped different…it's not him…'

"Hey, you ok?" the younger boy asked concernedly as Keitaro continued to stare openly at the man that resembled his family's murderer so closely. Shaking his head to regain his composure, the landlord chuckled, "Sorry about that. You kind of reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago."

Akisora Tachibana smiled back, "Eh, I get that a lot. Probably because of my aniki. But anyway, congrats on passing, Urashima-san."

"Thank you very much," Keitaro replied, holding a hand out to the red haired man, "I apologize, but I don't think I caught your name."

"Akisora Tachibana," the young man replied as he cheerfully shook Keitaro's hand, "My bad, I should've introduced myself before just randomly congratulating you. Guess I just got caught up in the moment."

Keitaro laughed off the apology, "Hey, I understand completely. It's definitely something to be proud of. Are you here with anyone?"

Akisora nodded, "Yea, as a matter of fact my cousins should be over any second now-"

"Yo! Sora-nii!"

The two quickly turned to the left to spot three boys, triplets Keitaro noticed, walking towards them. Their gait was confident and almost imposing, the people in the crowd parting once they saw the colors and sigils of the Imperial Guardians on the boys' clothes.

"Hey Ran, Riki, Ichi," Akisora greeted as he fully faced the three. Keitaro opted to remain back and assess his would-be targets from behind the older Tachibana, 'So…these are the three, huh?'

"So you found your name after all, huh cuz?" Ichimaru asked with a small grin. Seeing Akisora nod, both he and Rikimaru clapped the older man on the shoulders, "Nice! Congrats Sora-nii!"

Ranmaru leapt in the air, unable to contain his own excitement, "Awesome! Dude, we have to celebrate! I'll call Tensai and tell them to set something up ASAP!"

"If it won't be too much trouble," Akisora replied as he began to be pulled away by his younger cousins. He turned back to Keitaro apologetically, "Sorry, seems these guys are all revved up. I guess we'll talk more at the opening ceremony?"

Keitaro nodded, "Yea…sure thing. I'll cya then."

Akisora nodded before letting the triplets take him away from the crowd, along with a hidden contingent of guards that the landlord was only now able to make out. Keitaro let out a slow breath of relief, finally able to somewhat lessen his inner restraints. It had taken everything in him to avoid lashing out and slaughtering the four Tachibana where they stood.

'That was close…too close. I didn't think the Ryuketsu would act up so badly,' he thought as he stared at the direction his impending victims had gone, 'actually, this would probably be the best chance I'll get to observe them more. Their guard would be down enough to get some good recon…'

Just as he was about to follow, something bumped into him from behind. Turning quickly, Keitaro was just able to make out someone running haphazardly through the crowd, tears streaming from their eyes, "What the hell was that?"

Right before the person left his sight, the landlord spotted the figure's long hair, and the glint of sunlight off what would appear to be a pair of glasses.

'Hold on…was that…Naru-san?'

For a moment, the avenger was torn: he could either follow Akisora and the triplets and gain some valuable intel, or he could go after his friend and figure out what had her so distraught.

'Dammit…a chance at recon like this probably won't happen again…but why does seeing Naru in pain feel so…off-putting?' he hesitated for a moment longer, his interests clashing mercilessly in his mind and heart, '…screw it! I have Kimiko for intel.'

His decision made, Keitaro quickly augmented his body with ki before dashing around the crowd and following the distressed girl. It barely took him two minutes to navigate through the sea of people and cut Naru off, ending up with the girl crashing into his chest. Only his grip on Naru's shoulders prevented her from falling back onto the ground.

"Naru-san? What is it? What's wrong?" Keitaro asked worriedly. Never before had he seen the girl so torn up about something. Naru took a moment to figure just who, or what, she had smashed into. Once she saw the landlord's face, whatever resistance she built against letting her anguish free died, and she crumbled into his arms, gripping the boy's haori in her hands. Keitaro quickly knelt to the ground when he felt the strength in his friend's legs disappear. Holding her close, he heard Naru mumble something about exam results.

'No way…she couldn't have…not her of all people…'

Keitaro watched on with wide-eyed astonishment as Naru downed a full mug of draft beer in a single go, before slamming the mug down on the table, "Excuse me! Another one please!"

After settling the girl down a bit, the landlord offered to take her to the nearest café to grab drinks and give her time to vent. Naru didn't even resist the offer, and before long, the two found themselves sitting at a small café only blocks away from the Komaba campus. In the ten minutes they'd been there, the lovely brunette had already finished off two beers and a glass of wine.

"Uhh…maybe you should slow down a bit on the alcohol, Naru-san," Keitaro advised meekly, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture when his friend glared at him, "I'm just saying…I mean we ARE underage and all…"

"Don't be a killjoy," the intoxicated girl grumbled, before picking up the menu and waiving down a waiter, "Pardon me, but could you bring all the appetizers on this menu?"

Keitaro facepalmed, "Yea, looks like I'm picking up the tab for this one," he whispered before looking over at his friend, "So how're you holding up? Feel any better?"

At first, he received no reply. After a few silent moments, she sank into her arms on the table, folding them under her chin, "Two years…two damn years…all I did was study as hard as I could for this stupid exam…"

Keitaro leaned back further into the seat as he lent the girl an ear, "Yea, I remember. It was impossible for anyone to get you to come to any events or do anything social. Hell, the only reason we even became friends was because you and I studied so much."

"That was probably the only positive thing that came out of all this, sad as that sounds," the bummed out girl sighed, "I never went to dances, never hung out with any of the other girls…I didn't even have a boyfriend. I was a total loser…though not as bad as you according to all the rumors that went around,"

"I wouldn't say all of that," the Mononobe heir reassured, "You just had different priorities. It may have caused you to miss out on doing stuff regular high school kids did, but you were trying to prepare for the future. Being lazy and going to events and stuff is overrated anyway. As for all those rumors, did I really make it a secret that I wasn't a people person? Besides, the gossip of high schoolers is inconsequential in the long run."

For the first time since they arrived, Naru let out a chuckle, though a somewhat humorless one, "Hah…I guess you would know, wouldn't you?" she looked up at glanced at the relaxed young man, "So how did you do? I'll bet you probably passed with flying colors."

Keitaro didn't even hesitate with his answer, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I didn't make it either."

His admission was enough to make Naru spring up from her position on the table and stare at him in abject shock, "What?! You failed too!? How?"

"Same way you did, I imagine. I mean we did study the same material," the landlord continued, the lie slipping from his tongue with seemingly-practiced ease, "There were a couple sections of the exam that weren't covered in our studies. I remember you complained about them right after we finished, so it was probably those questions that messed us up."

Naru let out a sigh as she joined Keitaro in leaning back into the seat, "Wow…to be honest, I don't feel that bad about failing anymore. If you of all people didn't pass, then I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of passing."

"What the hell are you talking about?! You're wayyy smarter than me," Keitaro complimented, unable to figure how Naru thought he was the smarter of the two, "Hell, it was because of you that I even started hitting the books more seriously in the first place."

"But you always scored near perfect on the cram school exams," Naru countered, grinning somewhat when she saw the landlord huff and turn his head away, "If that doesn't scream genius, then I don't know what does."

Right as Keitaro was about to argue back, a buzzing sound went off in his pocket. Pulling out his phone, he glanced at the caller id, and almost choked when he saw the initials "KT" flashing on the screen.

"Excuse me a second, I have to go take this," he apologized. Naru waved him off dismissively, "I'm not going anywhere."

Keitaro shot her one last smile before going to a more private section of the café, leaving the brunette to mull over the day's events once again. Before she could get too deep into her thoughts, another voice called out to her.

"Narusegawa-san? Is that you?"

Looking to the side, Naru saw an older gentleman with short black hair and a stubbly beard headed her way. It only took a moment before she remembered who he was, "Matsumoto-sensei?"

Matsumoto grinned, "The one and only! Fancy meeting you here, I guess all the kids came here to celebrate passing, huh?"

Naru instantly lost her smile, and her depressed aura returned with a vengeance, "N-not all of us…"

The high school teacher recoiled a bit, regretting his choice of words, "Oh…I see. I'm really sorry to hear that. Especially after you worked so hard."

"I-It's ok…really," the saddened girl tried to smile, though the expression didn't match her eyes, "Besides, t-there's always next year, right?"

"That's right. You were probably caught off guard this time, so I'm sure next year you'll get much better results!" Matsumoto reassured, "Oh, I was wondering if you might have seen Urashima-kun anywhere?"

Naru nodded, "Keitaro-san was here a second ago, but he left for a bit to take a phone call."

"Darn it! I'd stay if I wasn't in a rush, but, well…responsibilities and all," Matsumoto joked, "It's nothing serious, I just wanted to congratulate him on passing the entrance exam with such a high score."

"….what?"

Matsumoto looked at Naru in slight shock, "You didn't know? I thought the two of you were best friends? Urashima-kun passed the Tokyo U exam with the second highest grade! He actually tied with one of the Imperial Guardians."

The brunette couldn't believe what she was hearing, only minutes after Keitaro himself had told her he failed the exam, "You gotta be kidding me…"

"Hold on, I'll bring up the score results now," Matsumoto dug into his pockets and took out his phone, immediately scrolling down the webpage he'd saved the results on. When he reached Keitaro's scores, he held the phone down to let the confused girl take a look, "See for yourself. Both he and Tachibana-san were only a few points below this year's top scorer."

Naru read over the numbers several times, disbelief beginning to ebb away in place of confusion and anger, "How….how could he…"

Matsumoto noticed the girl beginning to shake, "Narusegawa-san? Are you ok? What's wrong?"

Naru didn't answer the man's inquiry, her mind in a jumble as a flood of negative emotions surged into her chest. She could only focus on one thought through the tsunami of hurt that crashed within her chest.

'Why…why did he lie to me?'

"Dammit, I have to have a talk with that woman about the timing of her calls," Keitaro grumbled as he walked back to where he'd left Naru in the café. Kimiko had given him a call to congratulate him on both succeeding in his entrance exam and for getting so close to Akisora.

"I didn't think I left such an impression on the brat," the avenger grumbled just as his table came into view. Taking a glance at his friend, Keitaro noticed something seemed a little off. Naru's head was tilted down, her long brown hair covering her eyes. Her phone was also lying on the table with its web browser open to a page the young man couldn't see clearly.

"Hey Naru-san, sorry for taking so long. That call took forever," he began, but paused when he saw the girl's shoulders begin shaking, "…Naru-san? What's wrong?"

"…Why?"

Something about the tremble in the young woman's voice sent a tendril of fear down Keitaro's spine, "Uh…why what?"

His eyes glanced down at the phone on the table again. Since he was closer, he was able to make out the website in the browser. The landlord froze stiff as he read the entrance exam scores, more specifically, his entrance exam scores. The fact that they were tied for second highest with someone else did not help the feeling of his stomach dropping into a bottomless pit in the slightest.

"Your exam scores…" Naru began haltingly, her head slowly rising to reveal pain filled eyes and an expression of sheer fury on her normally lovely face, "Why did you LIE to me?!"

For the first time since he was a child, Keitaro was afraid. He could feel the disappointment, the confusion, and the sheer level of hurt coming from Naru like a tangible miasma. His chest constricted and for a moment he almost forgot how to breathe. Doing his best not to flinch away from the accusatory stare he was receiving, the landlord slowly began to reply.

"…Naru-san…I can explain-"

"I can't believe you…I can't fucking believe you," the enraged girl shook her head as if to dispel any denial she may have had that the webpage was wrong, "You just sat here…told me to my FACE that you failed too…I bet it was hilarious wasn't it? Seeing me feel relieved, saying I was smarter than you…just one big joke…"

Keitaro made a move towards her as she stood up quickly, "No! It's not like that! Listen to me for one secon-"

"FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU!" Keitaro never saw Naru's closed fist swing towards him, so focused he was on doing something, anything to explain the reason he did what he did. The punch echoed throughout the entire café, drawing the attention of every patron and waitress around. The force of the blow was enough to throw Keitaro's head to the side, though not enough to knock him off his feet, surprising as that was. His eyes widened in shock, blinking a few times as he slowly turned his head back to face the distraught girl.

Naru herself looked at her outstretched fist in complete disbelief, as if she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. She slowly looked up at Keitaro, nearly flinching when she saw the angry red bruise forming on his cheek, and the small trickle of blood streaming down from the corner of his mouth...and along her knuckles.

'What the…what did I do?! I didn't mean...my hand just…oh no, he's totally going to hate me now!'

Unable to face her guilt at what she'd done, Naru quickly grabbed her bag and bolted from the café, Keitaro taking a moment to recover himself before following behind her, "Naru-san! Wait!"

The girl only sped up, and within seconds, Keitaro lost her in the crowd with no sign as to which way she'd gone.

"Dammit!" he punched the wall beside him, not noticing the small crater in the wall or even caring about scraping the skin of his knuckles. He quickly took out his phone and began punching in the number for Nagareboshi's tech division.

'I hope I'm not too late…I know they usually leave around now,' Keitaro thought as he waited a few moments before someone picked up, "Hey, it's me. I need you to do me a favor…"

"And the youngest son returns, triumphant. Well done, my boy!" Heihachi praised as he embraced Akisora in the entrance hall of the main compound. Kurotora, who had returned on break from his studies, stood off to the side with a proud smile.

"Thanks Otou-sama," the young boy blushed slightly as he stepped back, only to be pulled into a one-armed hug from his older brother, "To be honest, I had a couple close calls. I didn't think I'd score that high though."

Kurotora shook his head amusedly, "Please, you always doubt yourself when push comes to shove, even though you end up kicking ass anyway. And speaking of ass-kicking, tying for second highest score in the country? That's a pretty big deal, otouto. You realize you have bragging rights for life, right?"

"Maybe, but it was a tie," Akisora mumbled, but still remained cheerful, "I met the guy I tied with. He was your age, I think."

"You can tell us more about him and your experience while we walk, I wanted to take a stroll through the gardens today while we have some warmth outside," Heihachi interrupted as he gently pushed his two boys in the direction of the entrance to the gardens. Before long, the three found themselves in the midst of the foliage, surrounded by the budding trees pines. Taking a deep breath, Akisora savored the scent of nature around him, "I can't tell you how happy I am that this exam business is over. Now I can get back to training. I don't even want to imagine how rusty I've gotten."

Heihachi chuckled, "I'm sure you won't be as bad as you think you are. You've always been a quick study. Just take it one day at a time and you should be just fine."

"I guess," Akisora replied, before pausing after seeing something odd, "Hey, what are those guys doing over there?"

Looking over to what grabbed the younger man's attention, Heihachi and Kurotora noticed a small group of sub-branch servants gathered around a single tree in a large clearing. A few broke off and walked solemnly over to another tree only a few feet away and knelt, prayer beads in their hands. The Tachibana clan head narrowed his eyes, "Hmm…I see your cousins were successful with their 'hunt'. These servants are probably praying for the souls of the executed trash."

Akisora frowned, "A 'hunt'? I thought you said they weren't allowed to do that while still on Imperial grounds?"

"They weren't, but there wasn't much choice this time around," Heihachi responded, scratching the back of his head, "A sub-branch member and his son wandered into the forbidden wing in Minato's compound. They were taken care of on the spot, but a message had to be sent to the rest of those swine. The remainder of that man's family was killed the same night we took you out after your exam."

"Kind of late for last rites then, isn't it?"

"They've been kept rather busy the past several days, so I guess this was the soonest they could 'honor' their dead," Heihachi spat on the ground in disgust, "Pathetic. Those who can't follow simple rules are lower than dirt."

Having seen enough of the lowly and humbled sub-branch members' attempts to pray for their dead, Kurotora yelled, "HEY! BRANCH TRASH! GET BACK TO FUCKING WORK! UNLESS YOU WANNA GET PUT IN THE GROUND NEXT!"

Within seconds, the group of sub-branch Tachibana dispersed in a panic, none of them wishing to incur the wrath of the clan heir. Kurotora watched with a sickening grin as a few tripped over some protruding roots in the ground in their haste to get away, "And that…is how you handle the dregs."

"If you say so," Akisora sighed. While his brother, cousins, and even his elders never missed an opportunity to harass and torture the sub-branch, the new Tokyo U student rarely, if ever, treated them negatively. It was a slight point of contention between him and the rest of his family, though it was rarely brought up.

"You should take notes from him, Sora," Heihachi joked before feeling a buzz from inside his gi. Pulling out his smart phone, the clan head answered, "Yes? …what do you mean nothing was found? …Very well. I'll come see for myself."

The two boys gave their father a worried glance when he angrily shut his phone. Kurotora decided to ask the obvious, "Everything ok, Tou-san?"

The clan head grumbled, "I wish. Unfortunately, I have to return to Hakodate. It seems that this scandal refuses to die. I apologize, Sora. I wish I could stay behind to celebrate with you and the rest of the family, but this matter must be resolved before it becomes untenable."

"It's cool, Otou-sama. Do what you have to do," Akisora replied, earning a thankful smile from his father. He then turned to his older brother, "What are you going to do, aniki?"

"I think I'll go with Tou-san," Kurotora said as he adjusted his robes and Juuchi Yosamu on his hip, "It'll be good practice in regards to handling clan affairs. Plus, he could probably use the help."

Heihachi nodded gratefully, "You've got that right. In that case, Akisora, you and Minato will be in charge of making sure things keep running smoothly in Tokyo and the surrounding towns. Keep an eye out for any strange happenings. And of course…be careful. Those assassins are still out there afterall."

Akisora nodded slowly, "Understood, Otou-sama. Both of you take care."

"We will. Ja ne," Kurotora waved as he and his father turned to leave the gardens. Before he left earshot, Heihachi turned back to say one last thing, "Oh, and Sora! Make sure your cousins stay out of trouble! Keep a close eye on them as well!"

The youngest son laughed, but nodded, "Will do!"

As he watched the two leave, Akisora sighed and walked further into the imperial gardens, intent on enjoying the environment as long as he could. His father's last request continued to bounce around in his head, causing the young boy's eyes to narrow in contemplation.

'Eh…I'm sure they got all the mischief out of their systems a week or so ago when they had their hunt. After all that, how much more trouble can they be?'

Within a darkened apartment deep in the heart of downtown Tokyo, the menace that currently plagued the Tachibana clan was hard at work, multiple computer displays showing hundreds of files, discarded e-mails, images, video, and more that were currently being downloaded from almost every electronic device the clan owned.

The virus implemented for this daunting task required a lot of upkeep and observation, thus the sound of fingers constantly clicking on several keyboards echoed throughout the small, but cozy home for one. Tired, but determined eyes read over every detail, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the information might seem. Anything that could be used against the corrupt clan had to be taken into consideration.

The mysterious figure paused as he found more reports regarding the past assassinations of the Tachibana Pillars. He smirked for a moment, thanking Kami above for the individual(s) who had taken it upon themselves to rid the world of those monsters, but deep down, he knew it wouldn't be enough. In order for the Tachibana to truly be brought down, they had to be utterly ruined. To the point that those born centuries after they were gone would spit on their graves in disgust.

Hence his reason for starting an information war, getting all of his pieces in place to begin stealing every dirty secret the Tachibana tried to bury. Fortunately for him, they weren't all that good at wiping away their digital footsteps.

"Heh...guess they're taking a trip up north," he said to himself as he observed video feed of Heihachi and Kurotora getting into a limo to leave the compound, "You red-headed bastards should focus more on cleaning up your digital laundry in your own backyard instead of making things easier for me..."

His moment of surveillance was interrupted when a pair of lithe arms circled around from behind and hugged his chest, while long crimson locks of hair tumbled in front of his face, blocking his view of the monitors.

"Mou~….it's rude to let a woman into your home and not tend to her needs, you know..."

The hacker sighed as he glanced over to face the troublemaker that had infiltrated his home yet again. He could never figure how she did it, but every time she asked to drop by, he could never find in in him to decline her.

Maybe it had something to do with what was pressing into his back.

"Can't even let me enjoy myself for one minute, can you?" he asked, taking a brief look at another set of files being stolen from Amagai Tachibana's back-up drives...the ones that hadn't been disconnected just yet.

"Hmm…I guess I could…but why do that when I could help you celebrate in a more...entertaining way?" she whispered, pressing her generous naked bust even further against his back to emphasize her point.

"Entertaining as in you finally kill me like you were ordered to? Or entertaining as in-"

The hacker was cut off by a smoldering kiss from the woman behind him, "I thought I told you already...you're far more interesting to me alive than dead. Besides, you're not the only one that wants to see that clan burn for all they've done. Hell, the gaki I told you about outdoes you in the vengeance-seeking department."

"...well when you put it that way," the hacker smiled slightly as he shut off the monitors for the time being, "guess I can call it a night for now. So...you were saying something about entertaining me, Kimi-koi?"

Kimiko giggled before pulling the hacker with her into the bedroom. Soon after, the sounds of pleasured moans and cries of ecstacy filled the apartment long into the night.

"YOU'RE ON A TRAIN TO KYOTO?!" Kitsune's voice screeched into Naru's ear over her smart phone, making the girl cringe slightly, "What happened?!"

The brown-haired girl shrunk further into her seat on the train, idly watching the scenery pass her by as she replied, "I…I didn't pass the exam. And I don't feel like I can face anyone right now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys before I left, but I just need some time to think."

"But this is what friends are supposed tah be for! Comfortin in times of pain!" the foxy woman argued, "Matter of fact, where's Taro-chan? Wasn't he with you?"

A pained expression came over Naru's face, the mention of her friend bringing back memories of what he'd done, and what she had done in retaliation, "…I…I don't know where he is. We…kind of had a fight…"

"YOU FOUGHT WITH HIM?!"

"It was just a really bad argument…and I took out my frustrations on him," she decided not to tell her friend that Keitaro had lied about not passing his exam. Until she found out for herself why he hadn't been truthful, Naru refused to compromise him. ESPECIALLY after striking him the way she did, 'I didn't even give him a chance to explain…but it just hurt so much that he lied to me…why does it hurt so bad?'

"Now that just sounds like more of a reason why you need to be with people right now, Naru!" Kitsune fought back, "Hold on, I'm gonna get me a ticket and meet ya out there right now! Who's with me?"

Naru blanched, her mind already coming up with images of what it would be like if her friends at the dorm tried to follow her, "You're not going anywhere! ANY of you! I just need some time to think things over! I'll see you when I get back!"

"But Naru-" Kitsune's voice cut off abruptly as Naru hung up, the girl sighing in relief as she continued to gaze out of the window aimlessly.

After bolting from the café, Naru quickly decided she didn't want to see anyone at the dorms. The looks of pity after hearing that she had failed would have been too much. Using the cash she had on her, she had gotten a cab to her home. Luckily no one was around, so the new ronin was able to pack and gather more funds from her home safe for a week and a half long trip of healing. It was only after getting on the shinkansen that she had decided to call the dorm and let the girls know she was ok.

However, what continued to plague her was her last meeting with Keitaro. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the fiery girl realized it was the first time ever that she had landed a blow on him. Naru couldn't find it in herself to feel proud of that due to the circumstances.

"I shouldn't have hit him," she whispered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, "I'll have to apologize to him when I get back…and then find out why he lied to me."

About an hour after she'd ended her call with Kitsune, Naru arrived at Kyotoshiyakusho-Mae station. Uncaring of her destination, the dazed young woman let her feet guide her through the bustling streets of Kyoto, passing the many traditional looking buildings and trees that had begun to bud. After a half hour, she found herself standing at a banister at Kiyomizu-dera, taking in the beautiful view of the city. It was close to late afternoon by this point, so the sun was beginning to set, painting a slight orange hue into the sky.

This was all lost on Naru, however, as the girl was absorbed in her thoughts, 'Well…I'm here. So what now? I didn't really plan this whole thing out too well...'

So focused on her mental musings, the lovely young woman didn't realize when someone had come up next to her and leaned forward on the banister to admire the scenery, "Huh…gotta admit, I didn't think you'd come here of all places…the view is pretty nice though."

"I guess so," Naru answered absently, before abruptly turning to face the person that had intruded on her alone time, "Wait….Keitaro-san?!"

Keitaro gave her a small, apologetic smile, "The one and only. It was a miracle that I managed to get on the same train as you. I thought I'd have to wait for the next one."

The beautiful brunette was bombarded by emotions, ranging from surprise, regret, mortification, and more. Unable to take it, Naru turned and tried to run, but the landlord grasped her by the wrist gently before she could get far, "Naru-san, wait! Please!"

"…let go of me…" the level of hurt in her voice stabbed at Keitaro's heart, but he would not budge, "I will…after you hear me out."

"There's nothing to hear…you lied to me, I…I punched you…and somehow you found me here, which is REALLY creepy by the way," the troubled woman countered, trying again to flee the area, "and now you hate me, and probably wanna get even…"

Keitaro sighed, somewhat amazed at her imagination, "Naru-san…if I hated you for what you did, I wouldn't have come all this way looking for you," the tenderness in his voice calmed the panicking girl, ceasing her attempts to run for the moment, "I'm going to let go of your wrist now. Are you still going to try and bolt?"

Naru shook her head slowly, keeping her promise as Keitaro released his grip on her, "Why did you come here?"

"…To apologize…and explain."

The still shaken girl slowly turned around to face her friend, her eyes still red from unshed tears, "Apologize…heh...I should be doing that too."

"For hitting me? That was a normal reaction, I don't blame you in the slightest," the landlord smiled as he rubbed the still reddened spot on his cheek, "It proved my hypothesis right though, you have a hell of a lot of power in those arms."

Naru fought the urge to giggle at his observation, opting to walk over to the banister overlooking the city. Keitaro stared at her back for a moment, unconsciously admiring the way the wind was playing with her hair and the long skirt she wore. After a few moments of silence, Naru spoke up, "Keitaro-san…why did you lie to me?"

Sighing to himself, Keitaro walked over to lean on the railing, keeping several feet between himself and his friend, "Because…I don't intend to go anymore."

Naru quickly looked over to face the young man, a perplexed expression on her face, "What? What do you mean?"

Keitaro smiled mirthlessly as he looked out into the forest below, "You want to know something funny? Despite making that promise all those years ago, despite Granny Hina and Haru pushing me, I really didn't intend on attending Tokyo U at all."

The landlord shifted a bit to get comfortable as he continued, "Naru-san…I'm not normal by any stretch of the imagination. I have goals and duties that most people could never fathom," his expression darkened as he thought of his Tenchuu, "and in order to meet those goals, I could never let myself be distracted by anything, least of all college admissions."

Her anger temporarily forgotten, Naru found herself becoming absorbed in Keitaro's confession, "So then…what changed your mind? What made you decide to go for the exam?"

"…You did."

The young woman's mind crashed for a moment as she processed those words, "M-m-m-me?!"

Keitaro nodded with a small smile, "Yea. It probably sounds really weird, but seeing someone work so hard, and be so determined to meet a goal so different from my own…a goal that's actually normal compared to what I've been doing most of my life…it was inspiring in a way. You made aiming for Tokyo U seem like something worthwhile…seeing your efforts breathed new life into the promise I made, so I decided to give it a shot."

Naru felt as if her heart was on cloud nine, unable to think of a proper response until she remembered her reality, "Well…I doubt that matters anymore. I failed, remember?"

"I do…and that's why I decided not to go. Not without you."

The young woman's eyes snapped to her friend, who was looking at her with calm determination. The strength in his eyes kept her rooted to where she stood, "I…I don't understand."

"You can reject acceptance to the university, if you feel that you can't attend for whatever reason," the landlord explained, his eyes never leaving the soft brown ones of his friend, "attending without you would be a hollow experience. You were the reason I gave this a shot, so becoming a student without you would be meaningless. So I'm going to wait."

Naru's breath hitched when Keitaro lessened the gap between them and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "I know you won't give up after this. I know you're going to try again. So I decided I'm going to be right there with you when you do. We'll take the exam again together. We'll PASS together, and we'll go to Tokyo U…together. This is my new promise."

"…you dummy…" Naru whispered, finally unable to hold back her tears, "you big…stupid…dummy…"

Keitaro pulled her into his chest as she continued to sob, the girl slowly wrapping her arms around him tightly, "I'm sorry…I should have said that instead of lying…I just didn't know how to explain myself before and I picked the first thing I could think of."

"You…need to work…on your people skills…Mr. Fix-It," Naru said through her sobs, but despite her tears, she smiled into the boy's chest and hugged him even tighter, all her previous anger and hurt replaced with something different...something else.

After taking a few moments to collect themselves, the two ronin left Kizomiyu-dera and used what remained of the day to tour around the ancient city of Kyoto. Much of the area was new to Naru, as she had rarely had the time to visit the ancient city. Keitaro, on the other hand, knew the place almost like the back of his hand, thanks to the close relationship his clan had to the Aoyama clan, who claimed the former capital as their territory. This became evident when the landlord took the lead in deciding the best places to check out. Once the sun had fully descended and night fell, the two opted to find a hot springs spa inn to relax and crash for the time being, before continuing on their impromptu mini vacation.

Finding a place to stay was the easy part, thanks to a quick, discreet call from the landlord and asking for a favor from the owner of a very successful hot-springs inn. It was the accommodations that proved to be the hard part.

"There's only one room left!?"

"I'm afaid so," the receptionist replied apologetically, getting twin looks of disbelief from the two ronin, "There's a very popular festival happening tomorrow in town and it usually brings in a lot of tourists like yourselves. If it weren't for a couple cancelling their reservation a few minutes ago, we would've been at full capacity."

Keitaro sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, guess we can't do much about it. Everywhere else would probably be full up by now. Do you mind, Naru-san?"

"Uhh…n-no, not really," the long-haired girl said with a slight blush, the connotation of staying in a room with a boy overnight not lost on her. Seeing no hesitation from his friend, Keitaro turned back to the receptionist, "Ok then, we'll take it."

"Very good sir! Right this way," the young woman at the desk rose from her seat and led the two through a small hallway with thoroughly polished wooden floors and tatami doors running down both sides. Within minutes the trio arrived at their destination, "Here's your room. It's a traditional honeymoon suite, so it's rather spacious."

Keitaro opened the door and peered inside, a quick glance confirming the inn employee's description, "I can see that. This is perfect, thank you again."

"Happy to be of assistance! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on the intercom," the receptionist gave one last smile to the two before heading back to the lobby. Fighting off a yawn, the landlord turned to his friend, "So, what do you want to do first? Dinner, or taking a dip in the hot springs?"

Naru walked inside the room and inspected the area for herself, "Hmmm…how about we head to the hot springs first? Then decide what to do after that?"

"Sounds good to me," Keitaro replied as he took a seat in the middle of the floor. The room was pretty spacious, with a private bath room and two large futons unrolled to the right side of the room, along with a small closet to hang clothes and a desk that sat against the wall under a large window. There was also a small balcony with a spectacular view of the inn's grounds.

After gathering the complimentary yukata and towels, the two ronin headed straight for the springs, which to their delight were completely empty. After spending close to half an hour soaking and making small talk through the bamboo wall, they returned to the room, where they noticed something they had missed before: the futons were laid out right next to each other, as opposed to being split apart.

"Well…don't know how we missed that before," Keitaro quipped embarrassedly, a slight tinge of red dusting his cheeks. Looking around the room, he spotted a small divider, "At least they left this thing. I'll place it in between the futons, so you can have your space."

"…you don't have to do that…"

The soft-spoken words stopped the landlord short, his head woodenly turning back to the lovely young woman behind him, "C-Come again?"

Naru composed herself with a huff and placed her fists on her hips, "Well, it's still the beginning of March, which means the temperature's going to drop later in the night. If you put up a divider, and I start freezing at some point, how am I going to take your blankets to keep me warm? Come on Mr. Fix-it, use your brain for once!"

Keitaro blinked a few times, going over her words in his head, "…You're SURE about this?"

"What's the problem? I trust you," she shot him a small smirk with half-lidded eyes, "or maybe…you don't trust me? Does sleeping next to a girl scare you, Mr. Samurai?"

"Tch…scared of sleeping next to you? Dream on," Keitaro scoffed as he walked back over to the grinning girl and knelt onto one of the futons, "If anything, I'm more scared of your snoring."

Naru's face quickly turned a furious pink, getting a few chuckles from her friend, "I do NOT snore! Jerk!"

Keitaro continued to laugh, earning him a hard shove down to his futon. Looking up with mirth-filled eyes, the young man watched as his annoyed friend lifted the blankets to her futon and crawled in, shutting the lamp next to them off and casting the room into total darkness.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, the landlord settled himself into his own futon and tried to get to sleep. A few moments later, he heard a rustling noise coming from behind him. Sensing that he and Naru were still the only ones in the room, the young warrior chuckled, "Feeling cold already? Just warning you, I won't give up my blankets so easily."

"…Keitaro-san?"

The timid inflection in the young woman's voice caught the landlord off guard. Slowly turning himself over so he could face her properly, Keitaro replied, "Yea? What's up-"

He froze when he realized how close the girl had moved to him. Naru's face was only a few inches away from his own, and her body, clad only in a thin yukata, was close enough for him to feel the warmth radiating from her.

"…I never got to say thank you…for earlier," the now meek girl continued, "I…I don't think I'd ever felt so lost about anything in my life…but after what you said…I've been feeling way better about everything that happened. Granted, failing still stings, but…I know it's not the end."

The girl slowly reached over and pulled the landlord into a tight hug, almost losing herself in how comfortable holding him to her felt, "And now, I feel ready to tackle things from square one again when we get back. So thanks, you big dummy, even though you messed up royally before."

"Tch…troublesome woman, how many times am I going to have to apologize for that," Keitaro chuckled before returning the embrace, "And you don't need to thank me. I'm just glad you're feeling better about the whole thing and are willing to try again."

The two remained that way for a few moments, far longer than Keitaro thought he would be allowed to. Feeling playful despite his fatigue, the young man decided to poke at the girl one last time, "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you seem really cozy right now."

Naru began to feel something again, almost like a pulling sensation from within that rose to the bait the landlord set, but not in the way he was expecting. Looking up into his face, she smiled, "What can I say, you're really comfy and I don't wanna move."

"Is that right?" Keitaro said with a slight challenge in his voice. He slightly tightened his grip around the girl's thin waist, pulling her flush to him, "How about now?"

"…Really comfy," the sensual timber of her voice sent a thrilling sensation down the young man's spine. The two had been in situations like this before, but there was something different this time. The Mononobe heir sensed a shift in the young woman, like something had finally clicked into place after being dormant for a while, "You might wanna move back…"

Smirking, Naru defied the young man's warning by moving her face closer, "Oh really? Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I'm starting to feel something pulling me to you," Keitaro replied, indeed feeling something drawing him closer to Naru, "And I think it'll make me do something you may or may not like."

"That's funny," she whispered as her forehead softly pushed into Keitaro's own, "I've been feeling something like that too."

The two briefly looked into each other's eyes, both pairs glistening in the dark, before their faces inched closer together.

For almost five years, Keitaro had been living in his own brand of hell. But the instant he felt the soft, silky sensation of Naru's lips on his own, somewhere in his cursed and tormented soul, a small ray of light had been born.

He had finally gotten a small taste of heaven.

Author's Note: Happy New Year everyone! Again, apologies for the delay. I've been trying to organize these chapters better at the behest of my beta reader Cloud, and it's proven to work pretty well. Time (and you guys) will decide if it's successful though, so please leave reviews.

So this chapter, and the next one, will be mainly set up (I know a lot of you have seen enough fluff and want more Tenchuu action), but what's happening here will be critical for later...especially the fact that Naru and Kyo are officially a thing now...well sort of.

Next chapter will conclude their little vacation in Kyoto, as well as introduce a certain watermelon-loving Okinawan, who may or may not have ties to Kyoshiro's past. Who knows... XD

Hope no one else got hit with a terrible blizzard like I did! Ciph signin off!