Disclaimer: Don't own a thing, just borrowing.

Sore ga Ai, Deshou?

Chapter Fourteen: This Difficult?

Winter faded into spring, spring to summer and before they knew it the school term had ended and everyone was preparing for another trip to Hagi.

Andy counted out a few of the Hunger Pills Hanzo-sensei had given him the previous year and sealed them in a small zip-lock bag which he then stowed in his pants pocket. Both Hanzo and Kazutaka had spent the last year teaching him the outdoor survival skills he needed for the course but had skipped over in his haste to advance in his actual martial arts. But he still didn't want to take any needless chances so the Hunger Pills were coming with him.

Mai also stowed her sensu fans in a zip-lock bag of her own, though Andy did not see where she placed it on her body. Knowing Mai and where she concealed her fans normally it was probably better that he hadn't. She tightened her ponytail before putting one foot on the speedboat's railing, intending to dive into the water.

"Don't you want to take your earrings off first, Mai-chan?" Kazu asked, indicating the cheap plastic studs she wore. "They might get lost."

Andy's face colored at their mention. They were cheap and of a poor quality, the red paint had already begun to chip off in places and they weren't even a year old yet. But Mai still wore them almost every day and he couldn't figure out why.

Mai ran a hand over here ear, feeling the smooth pearl-style stud. "They're my good-luck charm, 'Touchan."

And with that she dove off the side of the boat and began swimming to shore.

"Best follow after her, puppy." Hanzo ordered. "Don't want her getting to much of a head start on you now."

"Hai, Sensei." The boy followed Mai over the rail and began his own swim toward shore with long purposeful strokes.

Mai had already reached the rocky beach by the time he got there. She was wringing out the tails of her costume and squeezing water from her damp hair sending streams of clear sea water down her front and between her breasts. Andy swallowed a lump n his throat.

"I don't care if it is summer." She said when he got closer. "That water is cold!"

And it must have been. Now that he was closer, Andy could clearly see her nipples poking through the fabric of her tunic. He felt himself go rigid at the sight and stuttered slightly when he said, "W-we should get moving."

He made for the tree-line at a brisk walk that was just short of a run.

"Of course." She muttered. Mai jogged lightly to catch up with him then fell into step beside him.

"We're supposed to do the course alone." He reminded her, a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he couldn't help but notice that her still wet breasts bounced in a most pleasing way when she jogged.

"I know, but you got to do this last year and I didn't. I thought maybe you could give me a few pointers? I won't tell if you won't." She got very close when she said this, her breast almost brushing against his arm.

"Well, I… wah!" His incomplete stuttering was cut off suddenly when his ankle was caught in one of those oh-so-annoying concealed traps. It lifted him up off the ground and left him hanging upside-down from a tree. Worst of all, however, he had sinking feeling that this might be the very same trap that had caught him last year.

"You okay?" Mai asked, turning her head sideways to better look at him.

"Just fine…" He grumbled.

"Okay, well I think you're right." She continued. "I probably should do this on my own." She turned to leave, the tails of her costume swaying slightly, teasing him with the possibility of a glimpse of her ass but not delivering. Then she paused and turned. "Do you want me to help you get down first?"

"No, I'm fine." He crossed his arms over his chest in defiance, the action failing at everything he'd meant it to convey do to his inverted and utterly ridiculous position.

"Well, if you're sure…" She left, disappearing into the trees like a fae.

Once she was gone he muttered to the headless trees, "Stupid. Stupid! Stupid!!" And probably would have kicked himself had he been in a position were he was able to. "You've been though this before! You should have known to watch for traps instead of starring at her tits! Rawrr!"

He strained to pull his foot free from the tabi that he wore, pointing his toe and squeezing a finger under the cord that held him in an attempt to loosen it. He was finally able to pull his foot free from his boot like sock and fell to the ground. Reclaiming a standing position he retrieved his tabi from the trap that still hung from the tree.

"Stupid." Andy muttered as he sat down in the underbrush and massaged his ankle where the cord had cut into it before pulling his tabi back on his foot. "Stupid me. Stupid sexy Mai. Stupid hormones!" He scratched absentmindedly at his acne. "Things shouldn't be this difficult!"

The boy stood and tested to make sure his ankle wasn't permanently damaged and that he still had full control over his foot before likewise disappearing through the trees as Mai had done.

…

"Its gonna be quiet for a few days with the kids gone." Hanzo mused as he and Kazutaka pulled the boat up to the dock and tied it off. "At least, quiet for our family. Things are never truly quiet whenever Nagare's in the room."

Kazu gave a snort. "Ah, Uncle Nagare, a man that can light up a room simply by leaving it."

The two men laughed.

"So, what do you think Chichi-ue?" Kazutaka asked as he climbed out of the boat. He leaned on his cane and reached a hand down to help the older man out of the boat.

Hanzo waved off the offered hand. "About what? I think of lots of things, brat."

"Of Mai-chan and Andy-chan."

"Their training is progressing well, Andy especially. He's advancing much more quickly than I would have expected. He just might make his ten-year deadline after all. And Mai's doing well as well. I'm sure Shizune would want to try taking over her kunoichi training this summer."

"Uh…" That hadn't exactly been the purpose of Kazu's question but he supposed that it was better not to press. Kazutaka liked the boy and he was not blind to the things that went on in his own house. Mai might be engaged to Koinosuke but her heart was leaning more towards Andy. He would rather have his daughter marry for love rather than family politics, unfortunately family politics would win out.

"Do not ask those kinds of questions here." Hanzo said suddenly and cryptically.

"Huh?"

"I'm not a fool, Kazu, neither am I a blind idiot." He glanced sideways at his son. "It has not escaped my notice that Andy bought Mai a gift for her birthday or that that was the only thing he's spent his allowance on since coming to live with us. Neither have I failed to notice that Mai has not taken those earrings off since she got them. But nothing can come of it, Kazu, the clan would never allow another imprudent marriage."

Kazutaka avoided his father's eyes knowing that the man was referring to his marriage to Mai's mother. "As I recall they didn't allow the first one, Chichi-ue."

"Besides," Hanzo continued, ignoring his son's statement, "they're only thirteen, its just puppy-love. It'll pass and they'll both feel silly for having it. They're just children and Andy has a goal to a achieve before he'll seriously think of women as anything more than differently shaped people."

"I suppose…" Kazu begrudgingly agreed.

…

Mai listened for a little while as Andy's indistinct roars of rage rang through out the foliage. He had probably insisted she leave because he didn't want her to bear witness to his hissy-fit. Honestly, it was just a trap; they had both been warned that the island was covered in them; there was no reason to get that mad about it.

She shrugged her elegant shoulders and pulled out the plastic bag that contained her fans. Mai hadn't see what kind of trigger the trap that had caught Andy had used but she was fairly certain that whatever trips the traps had would be concealed just below the underbrush, low enough to not be seen but still high enough to be tripped on.

"Ka Cho Sen!" The young kunoichi-in-training sent one of her fans flying through the underbrush ahead of her making sure that the fan sailed as low to the ground as it could without skidding to a halt prematurely.

He fan sailed parallel to the ground for a few paces until it was finally stopped, embedding itself in the raised root of a tree. No trap had been triggered by the exercise. Mai hadn't really expected any, they wouldn't be silly enough to place a second trap so close to the one that had already ensnared Andy. No, they would space them out in random patterns through out the island.

The red ninja-girl retrieved her fan and continued through the Course.

…

The first thing Andy did after freeing himself from the trap and making sure that his ankle and foot were both in working order was to created another "trap detector". Like the one he had used the previous year to warn him of trip-wires for traps before he stepped on them.

He plucked a hair from his golden head, it had been getting rather long recently and was already well below his shoulders. He tied one end of his air to a stick that he could hold out at a distance in front of him and on the other end he attached a small pebble for a weight.

Confident that this new pendulum would work as well as its predecessor had he set off on his way. He was determined to do better in the Course this year and rectify his embarrassment from the previous year. He was more experienced now and better prepared, he was confident.

…

A/N: Short update this time, sorry. I've been depressed recently and have been writing another (more angsty) story on the side. Next chapter will be back to my usual standard, I promise.