It was more than a week since the Tsuruko had told Keitaro that the girl attacking him had been her sister Motoko, also a tenant of Hinata sou. It was also revealed that the young man Keitaro had brought was a classmate to Narusegawa, the exchange student from the United Kingdom none the less. They all had heard of the exploits of the exchange student, though he didn't seem like he had blown out a locker or beat up a teacher in a game of soccer.
At first it had been calm, but that was until the unconscious girl woke up. The tenants had been asking questions to the young man up until that time; Chelsea and Lucy in particular as they had a much wider understanding in the language than the others. What happened when Motoko woke up was still had it all fresh in everyone's memories.
Motoko woke up disoriented and tried to scan the room for familiar face but all she saw was a lightly blue fabric and felt herself clutching to whoever it was who wore it, the warmth from the body comforting. Motoko slowly reluctantly moved out a little feeling the warmth leaving her but she needed to do so if she was to see the person she was holding on to. 'It's probably Su' she thought, but when she was able too look up at the face her mind started sounding of the warning bells. Looking forward talking was that male she had seen earlier, who had attacked her and succeeded in taking her down. She jumped out of the sofa as fast as she could however she just ended up tumbling down on the floor landing hurtfully on the floor seeing no one she knew.
Han rose from his seat and stretched out his hand offering to help Motoko up she started crawling backwards away from him in fright. He decided it might be best not to follow her lest she would fall back to her earlier state where she was reduced to a trembling wreck which he from their first encounter was a far shot from her usual self. "Don't worry, I am not going to do anything," Han said as he raised his hands and sat back down to further prove his point.
Motoko still stared worriedly at the man. He had said he wasn't going to do anything but she couldn't trust a male, she knew how deceitful they were. They could say something to just moments later contradict what they said. Soon her fear was replaced by anger.
Han saw that the eyes of the girl which had been showing fear just moments ago were replaced with cold anger directed at him. 'This can't not be good,' he concluded as he saw her eyes. Somehow the girl had managed to get her hands on her sword. 'What the hell! Didn't that crazy girl Naru have that!' he screamed in his mind and saw that indeed Naru no longer held the sword. "Calm down miss, I haven't done anything," he started but was cut off when she lunged at him. 'To hell with it, I gotta protect myself.'
Tsuruko saw the scene unfold in front of her, clearly not like she had hoped. At first Motoko had been afraid but within an instant she had changed to angry and was lunging at the young man, Tsuruko knew that she would be unable to interfere before it was too late. She had just gotten to her feet when she saw the blade sweep down in its strike path, without a doubt it was going to hit. 'So much for that, that blow can be fatal. Motoko didn't you learn better than that.' Tsuruko wondered as she lowered her gaze to the floor, not wanting to see an innocent fatally wounded, possibly killed. However moments passed yet she heard no yelp that always followed a successful hit so Tsuruko decided to look up again to see what happened and to her surprise the young man had blocked the blade. 'How, he shows no sign of the grace of a trained martial artist.' Tsuruko thought as she watched him in interest.
"Well I think I better leave now," Han said to Keitaro who dumbly nodded. 'The guy caught a sword with his bare hands! What is he, inhuman or something?' Keitaro wanted to scream out but was unable to do so as he saw Han retreat, leaving a stunned Motoko holding her sword in the same place as Han had caught it. Han soon emerged dressed in his ordinary clothes and gave Keitaro the kimono he had borrowed. "I'll see you sometime then Keitaro and by the way you might just want to change clothes, because you still haven't." Han said to Keitaro who until now hadn't realized that his clothes still was rather damn and cold. "Well goodbye everybody." Han left the door leaving the still stunned residents standing there meekly waving a goodbye to the man.
Keitaro was currently soaring through the air over Hinata courtesy of Motoko and Naru who had double teamed him after he accidentally stepped into the washroom where Lucy was changing. It seemed like Motoko hated him even more than when he first met her and mentioning Han in the presence of her was enough to send him flying, obviously Han wouldn't be able to visit. 'I wonder why Han haven't visited though; I know he works at the teashop.' Seeing that his ride was coming to an end he stopped thinking and started bracing himself for impact to the waters surface, he had learned that hitting the water at speeds was not as soft as he thought it would, the water could actually be pretty hard, but it was better than the concrete at least. The tenants had come to the conclusion that Keitaro must be immortal since he was able to take any hit and only come out from it with some bruises.
Keitaro was slowly walking up the stairs to Hinata sou when he decided that he could take the opportunity to visit his aunt and Han. When he entered he saw Han in the process of cleaning of a table and his aunt standing behind the counter.
"Hey Keitaro, why are you here, shouldn't you be studying?" Haruka asked when she saw her nephew enter her teashop.
"Yes I should be, however I was sent flying and was just walking up the steps when I decided that I might as well visit you Haruka-obasan." Keitaro said; earning him a thwack from Haruka with a fan that came from gods knows where and the comment 'Haruka-san for you'. Ignoring it he continued. "So how is your new help doing?"
"He's doing a decent job, though he could be better, he's sort of a slacker you know." She commented. "You know, I heard from Kitsune that he had Motoko lying in his lap and took care of her for a whole day, you think he likes her or something?" Haruka said. Looking up at Han she saw him give her a look that promised payback for that comment, she had forgotten that the subject females and Han in the same sentence was a total taboo to the guy. She remembered that look though in the past it was for different reasons. 'Never again,' she said to herself remembering a particular incident and the especially menacing payback the boy had given her days later.
"Nah, I don't think so, he just seemed concerned over her when she fell unconscious after he had fallen over her." Keitaro said. "Well I think I need to head back and study now, so see you around Haruka-obasan." Before Haruka could hit him Keitaro was gone. 'Damn, he's learning.'
"So Han, I haven't asked you yet but what is you assessment of the people living in the dorm?" she asked her employee in English as the teashop was empty except for a couple of elder people. She knew Han was quick finding out how a person is.
"Well I think Keitaro is a nice person and seems to care a lot though very clumsy. Naru Narusegawa is ill-tempered and hates perverts though she have her bright moments and is a very dedicated student who also cares deeply for her fellow residents, though not the landlord she is also in the same class as I am. Mitsune Konno is the local drunk it seems and is quite egoistic and not relenting in tempting people to get people to do her biding, I have yet to see her good sides. Shinobu Maehara the resident cook is a quiet and timid girl that really cares for everyone and it would also seem like she likes Keitaro. Kaolla Su the energetic girl of the house and she seems to be a very skilled engineer." As Han said that he momentarily got a sparkle in his eyes that Haruka didn't like in the least. 'Kami no, she showed him something,' she though slightly panicked. "Motoko Aoyama seems to be a skilled martial artist with some extraordinary skills, she seems to hate men in general and harbor some fear towards me after I accidentally fell on her as I disarmed her. Her sister Tsuruko seems to radiate of happiness and have a very laid back altitude that almost hides her prowess in martial arts, however her movements betray her. Chelsea Calvert seems like a good lass, after all she is cheering for the right team in football, and there can't be anything wrong about people cheering for Chelsea FC after all." Han said cheerfully. 'Oh Kami-sama save me, he's not going to start again is he,' Haruka silently prayed remembering when Han started about premier league there was no stopping to him. When he continued with his assessment she thanked the gods for their mercy. "And finally Lucy Baker is a very cheerful woman who just has no stop when she gets talking. Though I don't particularly like her," he finished. 'So she probably said something bad about Chelsea FC or just football in general.' Haruka concluded from that statement.
"Okay so you deem them as an alright bunch then?" Haruka asked him.
"Yes, they seem alright, though Motoko seems like a problem if I would happen to meet with her," Han said truthfully, wincing at what happened up at the inn after the girl had woken from unconsciousness. He winced even more in particular at the memory at how he learned that move, his master hadn't been nice about the whole thing using a live blade when he learned it, saying something about 'you learn best when your life is at risk.' Sure he learned it after a few tries but he still had the scars to prove just how harsh it had been on him even though they were barely distinguishable lines now. His master of the Japanese arts had been most sadistic he thought. He had sworn on revenge, and his revenge he would have, it would be a tedious task but he would do it even if it killed him.
"Get back to work now, stop slacking!" Haruka suddenly yelled taking Han by surprise and making his hair stand on end. 'Hehe, still got it,' Haruka thought smugly to herself as she watched Han starting to wash the cups.
Keitaro was walking through the inn's front door when Kaolla Su came greeting him with her usual 'greeting kick' sending him sprawling.
"Hey, what are ya doin' Keetaro?" she said as she stood over him.
"Nothing, I just came back from the teahouse," he responded as he lifted himself off the floor.
"Wanna play with me Keetaro?" Su said cheerily as she clung to Keitaro's back.
"Sorry but I really have to get back to studying, there is just two months left until the center exams so I really need to study if I want to pass, maybe another time." He answered as he walked up the stairs to his rooms so he could study. True he really needed to study, since his arrival he had maybe studied only five days, the rest had been tending to the damages of the house so the only time he got to study was when he was in school.
"Mission status," the man behind the desk ordered to the woman in front of him.
"Well the mission if progressing along finely, no threats yet. However there were these incidents that occurred," she answered and handed the man a sheet. The report handled everything that happened and the costs.
"Well it isn't our problem with the money, however out client might be upset with it as they pay for it, so tell the operative that there should be as little damage as possible and the threat level is at minimum until further notice. Have the supplies reached its destination yet, I heard that our operative needed those as the only equipment that was sent along was for close proximity."
"Yes sir, the equipment is sent and should arrive tomorrow; these were sent as per request from the operative and from the instructor of urban fighting. One custom…" the woman said before she was cut off.
"Don't start talking about what the contents in the shipment we sent was, I know the requested items. This mission is highest security priority and all information is confidential so we can't start rambling about it too much. There are enough things there to start a small war, or at least devastate a small town."
"We will have to hope they won't be needed." the woman said. "Well that is about everything the mission."
"Very well, you are dismissed." The man ordered. He slowly sat back in his seat as he saw the retreating back of the woman picking up a sheet of paper. 'Damn, why is all this stuff needed?' He thought reviewing the list of equipment sent, it was two pages for God's sake. Good thing that this paid for by the client because he wasn't sure how he should tell the administrative people about the missing equipment.
Author's notes: Do understand that when I refer to football in speech from Haruka, Han and Chelsea (the girl), football means soccer. Well I hope aren't too disappointed in this chapter as it apparently only became a filler though I don't want to waste the effort I made writing it so. As for Motoko and being with a guy in a soon to be future, that's not likely, not at all. The reason she hates men for is not something that one is able to do a 180 on. (I think) It will all be revealed in time, she might get a little softer in a chapter or two however she still won't be nice to males, and hates Han very much. (Poor sap, hope doesn't meet her too often because he isn't immortal like Keitaro so he might end up in a cast if he isn't careful.)