Chapter 6: Round Two

Morning found the whole house awoken by the sound of loud yelling. It was not clear to any of them what was going on as the Kaiou's emerged and found Hiroshi, still in his clothes from the previous day, yelling at the ceiling as if it were a person. He was standing some feet past Michiru's guest room and his complexion was red from anger.

"Come out you little coward!" Hiroshi yelled toward the ceiling and at this point Michiru's father looked uneasily after the young man. "You can face down my friends but not me? Is that it?"

"Tenoh-san?" Michiru's father began to interrupt when they all paused. The ceiling had emitted an odd sort of creak and now a portion of it was swinging downward in front of the outraged young man. Michiru suddenly realized where Haruka always disappeared to as a folding staircase attached to the trapdoor unfolded fully. A yawning and bored looking blonde came to sit on the top steps as Hiroshi raged on.

"Where do you come off sending my friend's away? You don't even live here anymore!" Hiroshi snapped, glaring at Haruka in a murderous way.

"Grandma made it clear she didn't want any other guests until the Kaiou's visit was over." Haruka responded and still seemed board as Hiroshi took another step toward the stairs, seemingly intent on climbing them. Teal eyes locked with his and Haruka's voice went entirely dry of emotion. "Don't even think about coming up here right now. Why don't we discuss why your friend had a key to the front door? Or why they seemed to think it okay to drop by at three in the morning? Better yet, we can discuss why they threatened me before they had any idea who exactly stopped them from entering."

"When my friends want to see me is my business." Hiroshi barked and this time he did take one step onto the stairs. He took another two as Haruka stood, hopping off the side of the stairs and falling lightly from ceiling height to avoid the older Tenoh. Hiroshi growled as Haruka crouched at Michiru's feet and slowly rose back to full height.

"Good Morning Michiru-san." Haruka said calmly with a small bow toward the violin player. Both, unlike Hiroshi, were still in their respective sleep clothes. Michiru bowed back but held her robe to ensure it still covered her pajamas while taking in the blonde's rumbled and wrinkled pajamas.

"Hey! My friends are none of your business; get that through your head!" Hiroshi growled once he had caught up with Haruka, grabbing the blonde's elbow and attempting to yank the racer to face him. Everyone seemed a little surprised when the younger Tenoh moved faster than any of them were able to keep up with. Haruka had Hiroshi pinned to the ground and was kneeling next to him to keep him restrained.

"I told you not to touch me." Haruka commented just before a new voice interrupted them from the other side of the hall.

"Haruka Tenoh! Get off your brother right now!" Maiko Tenoh looked appalled at how her two grandchildren were behaving in front of their guests. Haruka stood, backing away from Hiroshi as he growled and lurched to his feet. He looked ready to launch himself at the blonde when Maiko snapped again. "Hiroshi! You have work, go get dressed!"

Hiroshi paused for a moment, then gave of a frustrated sound halfway between a scream and a growl. Soon he had stocked back into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Maiko sighed as she heard the young man continue to rage inside his bedroom and a few muffled thumps.

"What were you two thinking?" Maiko stated, looking squarely at Haruka. The blonde hung her head a bit as she bowed toward the elder Tenoh.

"I'm sorry Grandma." Was all Haruka said as Maiko shook her head.

"Well, as everyone seems to be awake now, I'll have breakfast prepared." Maiko turned and slowly walked off. Haruka could see her nerves had been rattled as their long-time butler kept a steadying hand hovering near the woman's elbow and she leaned a bit much on her old cane.

"Haruka-san, what was that about?" Michiru looked over at her but the blonde just shook her head and faced the older Kaiou's.

"I'm sorry Kaiou-sama, Kaiou-san." Haruka bowed again then turned back toward the trap door staircase and disappeared back into the room above it. The blonde let out a sigh of relief as she heard the staircase click back into place. This was promising to be a long day.

"Back off I'll take you on!" Haruka jumped as the music blared from her cell phone, having forgotten her own ring tone in all the confusion. She glared at the small device and grabbed it from the nightstand.

"Tenoh Haruka speaking."

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Everything seemed to quiet down for a few days in the mansion. Haruka found herself thinking that maybe this was going to be one of those rare times that Hiroshi let things just blow over. In fact, it was nearly a week later before anything interesting happened to the blonde.

"Are you sure you can't stay home Haruka?" Maiko asked as the blonde stepped into the living room to say goodbye. She set her duffle bag down for a moment and shook her head.

"I'm lucky that my team let me out of all the practices I missed as it is Grandma." Haruka gave the eldest Tenoh a hug and bowed to the three Kaious before grabbing her bag again. "I can't miss these two races. I promise I'll fly back in a few days, and then I'll have another week off."

"Alright but wear your helmet." Maiko Tenoh said, the same thing she had told the blonde when she was just a child on a bicycle.

"Yes Grandma." Haruka said with a laugh. She did not bother to tell her Grandmother that the league would not let you race without one.

So Haruka walked to the door, feeling fairly good at the moment. That was until she opened the front door to the mid-morning light and saw her convertible for the first time that day. Haruka's duffle bag fell to the ground and she froze eyes wide as she stared at the scene on the driveway. All color had drained from the blonde's face in mere seconds. Footsteps and a yawn were heard behind her as Hiroshi came downstairs for work. He called a quick goodbye to the guests and stepped past Haruka.

"I think you may need to get your car looked at Haru-chan." Hiroshi smirked. He proceeded past the beaten gold convertible, got into his black Honda and drove away without another word. Ichiro looked past the younger of his two masters and winced, knowing as well as Haruka who was responsible for this.

"Haruka-san what's wrong?" Michiru, followed by Maiko and her parents, stepped over to where Haruka now stood just outside the door. The blonde was in complete shock, she did not even blink for the moment.

The headlights, taillights, and turn lights had been smashed in. The windshield was shattered, the black cloth of the roof shredded, the side windows smashed. Someone had taken a knife to the expensive leather interior; they had keyed the golden paint and even spray-painted kanji symbols in random spots. Dents seemed to dot the car where someone had smashed a metal bat or pipe against it and all four tires had been punctured.

"They killed my car." Haruka muttered very slowly. She did not notice a pair of worried blue eyes watching her. The blonde's skin had gone slightly pale as her eyes surveyed the damage before her.

"You'll miss your plane if you stay too long Master Haruka." Ichiro said in a consoling tone before he held out another set of keys to her. "Your motorcycle has a full tank."

"Thank you, Ichiro-san." Haruka seemed to mentally shake off the shock as she traded keys with the old butler. She offered him a weak smile and she nodded her thanks to the man. "Please arrange for the convertible to be moved into the garage, I'll take care of it as soon as I get back."

"As you wish, Master Haruka." Ichiro turned away and disappeared back into the mansion. Haruka grabbed her duffle, slipping the strap over her head and across her shoulders. This time the blonde only waved goodbye as she walked off around the side of the mansion.

A few minutes later they heard the growl of a motorcycle engine and an expensive sports bike came around the side of the house. It paused, blue paint gleaming in the sun, just long enough for Haruka to wave before pealing out of the drive. It took only moments for the sound of the engine to die into the distance.

"Shouldn't we call the police about your grandson's car, Tenoh-sama?" Suguru suggested, looking off toward the gate.

"No, Haruka will handle this when he returns." Only Michiru caught a slight pause in Maiko's comment. That was when Michiru began to wonder exactly why the older two Tenohs were pretending Haruka was male as well.

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Published 2007

Edited November 2020