Author's Note: Yay! This fanfiction has twice as many reviews as chapters! I consider that to be an accomplishment, especially considering that only one of them was a flame, and most of them were constructive. I think quality is better than quantity, when it comes to writing.

This fanfiction is quickly becoming one of my favorite works... I know I said that it was 'obligatory' at first, because it was a canon pairing that I wasn't originally fond of... but now that I've discovered Akira's personality, I think I like it.

I'm skipping over Ayumi's funeral... because funerals aren't very interesting to write about. I'll just mention bits and pieces of it. More exciting stuff happens in this chapter, yay!

--

"Now that the smokes gone
And the air is all clear
Those who were right there
Got a new kind of fear
You'd fight and you were right
But they were just too strong
Theyd stick it in your face
And let you smell what they consider wrong"

Hey Man, Nice Shot - Filter

--

The police had recovered the handgun, the piece of the bolt lock, and the butterfly knife, but were unable to identify the fingerprints on any of them, aside from Aoi's on the knife. Whether for fashion or function, Goh had been wearing gloves, but Aoi and Akira both doubted that his fingerprints would've helped the police catch him, anyway.

The case had quickly gone to a dead end, and Ayumi's body was released to a funeral home, for burial preparations. Almost a week after her death, the family held the wake.

Everyone had dressed in black. Akira had sat with the remaining Umenokoujis, but next to Aoi's father. As the new matriarch of the family, it was Aoi's job to comfort her sisters and look strong. She had already cried for many nights over her mother's death, and shed no tears at the wake. The middle sister cried loudly, almost hysterically, and the youngest was stone-faced. She was probably still too young to understand that their mother wasn't coming back. Sometime within the next month, it would probably hit her.

Aoi's father had cried. Not as loudly as his middle daughter, but his wife was gone. They had been married for 25 years, most of that time had been happily spent.

Akira hated to see them so upset... and felt that, partially, it was his fault. After all, if he hadn't gone back to Aoi, Goh probably wouldn't have found her. It was his fault in the same way that it had been her fault for his mother's death; not really his fault, but he was involved.

In the week after the burial, Aoi's family had received many gifts and condolences. Aoi was given the burden of thanking everyone and basically becoming her mother; her younger sister was still too upset, and the youngest was too young. Her father had to look over the dojo and his students.

Akira had tried to help, but he was a horrible cook, and not very good at keeping things tidy. Doing the dishes and sweeping, things that were easily accomplished and required little actual skill, were things that he could do.

Many nights, Aoi snuck out of her room and into the guest room. She was scared, and damaged from watching her mother's murder. Akira soon found himself staying awake to wait for her, falling asleep only after she had come in and settled down beside him. Sometimes, she cried... other times, she just trembled. Once, she had tried to talk to him... but that had ended in tears.

Mostly, he just listened to her and held her, unable to find the right words to comfort her. There weren't any; he couldn't bring her mother back. He couldn't force her sister to stop grieving and help with the housework. He couldn't promise that Goh wouldn't come back, because in all likelihood, he would, and try twice as hard to kill them.

He'd been staying with them for a month when a invitation to the next World Martial Arts Tournament came in the mail.

But it was odd. Under new rules, it said that it was a tag tournament. It had never been a tag tournament before... he wanted to show it to Aoi right away, but something held him back.

Goh Hinogami always showed up at the tournament, without fail. Would she really be ready to face him again?

That wasn't his decision to make. It was hers.

"That's interesting," was all she said. No hint of whether or not she wanted to go. No mention of Hinogami. She just said, 'That's interesting' and went back to cooking dinner.

He showed it to her father the next day, who seemed surprised. "She didn't say anything at all?" he asked.

Akira shook his head. "No, nothing."

"That's odd... I know how stressed out she is, but she's usually very excited for the tournament," he mumbled, rubbing his chin.

"Yeah... the two-person team thing is strange. Maybe she doesn't like the idea," Akira suggested.

"Did you ask her to be your partner?" her father questioned.

"I showed her the invitation."

"Yes, but did you ask her if she wanted to team up?" he pushed.

Akira shook his head. "No, not directly..."

Ryudo sighed. "Akira... let me make this very clear," he said, growing serious. "You're taking my daughter to that tournament. And if she comes back with so much as a single bruise, I'll beat you senseless. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Akira was taken aback. "Yeah... I guess so," he answered. He had planned on asking Aoi to be his partner... he'd just assumed that once she'd seen the invitation, it would be clear that teaming up made too much sense to ignore.

"Good. Now, go invite Aoi," Ryudo said, and returned his attention to his students.

At first, Aoi seemed a little confused. "You want to team up with me?" she asked him.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?" he said.

"Don't you want to team up with someone else?" she asked, curious.

"No, why would I?" he replied.

"I don't know... there are stronger options. Like Wolf Hawkfield, or Jacky Bryant..." she said.

"Wolf and Jacky are both nice guys, but... Jacky's a bit hot-headed, and Wolf's too serious. I don't think I'd synch up well with them," he said.

She thought about it for a moment. "Alright..." she decided. "I'll go with you."

"It's in two weeks," he said.

Her eyes widened a bit, but she sighed, and resumed doing the dishes. "Doesn't give us a lot of time to prepare... oh well."

"Two weeks is more than enough time. It's not like either of us is out of practice," he reminded her.

She winced a little, and it took him a few moments to figure out why... Goh. They weren't out of practice because he had tried to kill him. "Aoi, I'm sorry," he began to apologize.

"It's fine." Her voice was indifferent, as if she were trying to ignore or suppress her pain and anger.

He still felt that it wasn't 'fine'.

--

In the mornings, while Midoriko and Shiroi were at school, they finished doing all of the housework quickly, and Aoi threw somethings into the crock pot, letting them cook all afternoon and giving herself and Akira time to train.

After a few days of this routine, it seemed to be working pretty well. It required a lot more effort, but it was worth it. They couldn't not train before the tournament.

As they sat on the floor of the dojo, sipping bottled water during their break, she looked at him and asked, very seriously, "We'll be gone for a week... who's going to take care of the house?"

He shrugged. "Your sisters," he responded.

"Well, Shiroi is good at doing chores, but Midoriko is a horrible cook. She'll burn down the kitchen," Aoi replied, shaking her head.

"So have Midoriko do the chores and Shiroi can cook," he told her. Simple as that.

But Aoi continued to shake her head. "Shiroi's too young to cook dinner. She doesn't know how yet," she told him.

He was getting a little annoyed. Did she not want to go to the tournament or something? "Then Midoriko and Shiroi can split the chores however they like, and then they can order take-out," he replied.

"Oh... I guess so... It's only for a week, after all..." she said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

She looked so vulnerable, so lost, he felt that he had to apologize again, though he didn't know what he'd done to make her act that way.

"Aoi, I'm--"

"Let's get back to training," she said calmly, standing up and walking back to the middle of the dojo.

--

Aoi didn't come to his room that night. Or the following night. Maybe she was too tired, he figured, from all of the training... they trained for at least four hours everyday. It would wear anyone out. Or maybe she didn't need the comfort anymore. Maybe she was getting past her mother's death.

He hated to admit it, but he missed her when she wasn't there.

--

She stopped sneaking into his room completely. He wanted to ask her about it, but how? Uh, hey, you stopped coming into my room at night... She shouldn't have started doing it in the first place.

Mostly, he just wanted to know what was wrong.

But maybe nothing was wrong. Maybe something was right, and that was the problem.

They were at the airport, sitting in stiff plastic chairs, waiting for their flight to start boarding. They'd already checked their bags in, they could see the plane parked at the gate, the foldaway hallway already stretched out and attached to it.

She looked at him, smiling, and he could tell that she was excited.

Maybe there was nothing wrong at all.

Their flight was finally called.

"Flight 1267, nonstop from Tokyo to London, is now boarding."

Aoi stood up, and he did the same. "Ready to go?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be," he replied.

As they walked towards the gate, a slight bounce in Aoi's step, he couldn't help but wonder, 'But are you really ready, Aoi? Are you ready to face Hinogami again?'

--

"I'll lay me down tonight
Much further down
Swim in the calm tonight
This art does drown"

Girls Not Grey - AFI

--

Author's Note: Yup, that's the end of this chapter. Sorry, I know it's short. Next one will be longer. World Tag Tournament? YEAH BABY. I tried to make tag teams that sort of made sense... but it was hard. Some characters had a lot of options (like Pai, Wolf, and Lau) and some had absolutely none (like El Blaze).

In any case... next chapter coming... whenever. I know, I'm horrible with updates. I'm very lazy. But I'll finish this fanfiction if it's the last thing I do! It just might be, too... jk, jk.