Still Waters 3, Book 2, Chapter 27: A Fox In Kyoto, Part 3
Slight Language Warning
The interior of the main house, Keiko thought as she peeked around a corner, wasn't as richly decorated as she had assumed it would be. She slipped down the hall and stepped into a broom closet, carefully pulling the door shut as quietly as she could until the pair of servants she had overheard talking passed by.
The place was certainly impressive, even without all the fancy decoration one might expect in a mansion the size of the Konoe main house. Most of what she had seen thus far seemed designed to be simple, functional...definitely not the stereotypical frilly nonsense associated with aristocratic types on TV. For the most part, anyway. She had stumbled across a couple areas of a fancier sort, but overall the place looked far more normal and down to earth than she had expected.
'So this is where those two grew up...' Keiko thought as she waited for the sound of the servants' footsteps to fade. It was interesting, she decided, to imagine much younger versions of Konoka and Setsuna running through these halls, noisy in their play...
She froze. Something was coming...
She could just barely hear the other person's footsteps as they moved swiftly in the hall until they came to the door she was hiding behind; she could see the other person's shadow moving through the crack of light at the bottom of the door.
The door opened, and Youko stood on the other side, looking at her in surprise for a moment before she squeezed into the small closet alongside Keiko, forcing her to press herself against a shelf in the tiny room, and pulled the door shut, motioning for Keiko to be quiet.
The two of them stood in the cramped space for a long, tense moment before Keiko heard a muffled conversation out in the hallway.
"...thank y...taro...in..."
"No, it...and when she asked...couldn't..."
Keiko frowned, wishing her hearing was as good as Youko or Haru's, even without their youkai ears popped out.
"No no, I must insist; thank you, Urashima-san," a young man said on the other side of the door. "Without your assistance today..."
"No no! It's okay, I mean it! When Motoko-chan asked me for help, I couldn't say no, you know?" a man replied, clearly trying to be excessively polite.
"Yeah, you really couldn't refuse. Especially not after you 'helped yourself' during that 'accident' with the rake as soon as we arrived. Isn't that right, Kei-Ta-Ro-kun?" a woman said sharply, drawing out the man's name in a mock-playful manner.
"Narusegawa-san~...!" the man whined.
"That's 'Urashima-san' or 'My lovely waifu~' to you, mister." This proclamation was accompanied by a baby's giggle.
"Yes, My Lovely Waifu," the man, evidently named 'Keitaro', replied, saying the last part in surprisingly good English.
"Hahaha! You three are so cute! Do you ever wanna have a baby, Daisuki-kun?" a cute sounding girl chirped.
"Don't call me that; my name's 'Daisuke'..." the younger man replied, clearly embarrassed.
"Heh~ You're funny too, Daisuki-kun~" the cute girl said.
Keiko glanced at Youko in the dim light filtering in around the cracks in the door and mouthed 'What's happening?' Youko just glanced at her and shrugged, then turned her attention back to the conversation outside.
"But anyway!" Keitaro said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "Takeda-san, right? Where did you want me to go?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, I haven't shown you yet! It's this way," 'Takeda-san' replied, the sound of his voice fading as he led the other two away down the hall.
When their voices had faded from hearing, Keiko relaxed and twisted around to move the spray bottle that had been jabbing her in the side ever since Youko squeezed in next to her. "Urashima Keitaro? Do you think he's related to Taro-san?" Keiko whispered.
"I don't know," Youko replied. "There are a lot of Urashimas around, you know? Anyway, this place has got me all turned around...do you know where we are?"
"I...think so," Keiko said, her mind racing. "You don't know the layout?"
"It was a lot smaller back before I got locked up," Youko said, shrugging. "This wasn't the main house then anyway, so I didn't spend much time here. So, which way?"
Keiko frowned as she tried to recall what little she knew of the layout of the mansion and compared it to what she had seen thus far. Konoka had provided some details, but she had grown up in the place; there would be a great many things she simply took for granted and wouldn't think to tell others. Still, from what Keiko had seen, the two of them were already quite near the center of the building; she was a little worried about the others, Setsuna and Konoka and especially Haru, but for now, she had to focus on taking care of herself and making sure Youko got to the armory. And the armory would be... Her face paled.
"...they just went toward the armory, didn't they?" Youko asked. Keiko nodded. "Damn... Is there a way to circle around before they get there?"
Keiko thought quickly. The main hallways wouldn't work; they'd have to waste time avoiding servants and the occasional guard, but there probably weren't any major hallways leading to the armory anyway. There were a few side passages that led toward it, but the final approach was through a special room, no doubt built and designed with defense in mind. If she recalled correctly, and she was quite sure she did, there was potential access to the final series of rooms through the small guards' quarters on the East side of the armory...that would work, if they were careful. "There is, but we have to hurry," Keiko said as she opened the door a very small amount and used a hand mirror she took from her backpack to make sure the hall was empty. "Let's go."
They stepped out into the hall, Keiko pulling the door shut behind them, and headed off down the hall to the left. Keiko paused before crossing the intersection where Keitaro and Daisuke and the others had gone, and then darted across when she was sure it was clear. Keiko's eyes darted back and forth, taking in every little detail as they hurried along in near silence, their breath and the rustling of their clothes as they moved were the only sound the duo made. Keiko finally came to a stop at another intersection of hallways, a little out of breath, and again used her small hand mirror to check if the hallway they were about to turn down was empty. She nodded to Youko, and again, off they went.
Keiko was breathing pretty hard by the time they approached the next intersection. 'Just past this intersection is the entrance to the room we're looking for. Go through that and the next room, and then we should come out ahead of them if they keep the same pace, and then it won't matter if they see us, since we can just run to the armory. Okay, not too far now, not too—' Several things happened at once.
"Hey, you said your bathroom was over here, right?" someone said just in front of them.
Keiko almost screamed as a man walked out of the intersection right in front of her, too close for her to stop. Youko, caught off guard, plowed right into her from behind before she could stop, bowling both Keiko and the stranger over.
"Keitaro...!" a woman shouted, startled.
Keiko squirmed out from between Youko and the strange man, and had just stood up when a boy several years older than she was pointed at her and shouted.
"They're the intruders!"
"What the hell?!" Youko said, struggling to get away as Keitaro's head had somehow became stuck in the collar of her shirt. "What are you doing?! Get away from me!" she said, trying to push him away.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Narusegawa don't kill me!" came the muffled response from within the soft and shadowy confines of Youko's shirt as Keitaro flailed his arms in a valiant attempt to escape. A woman groaned nearby, and Keiko looked over to catch a glimpse of a very pretty long haired woman holding a baby evidently trying to laugh its head off as it looked at Youko and Keitaro.
"Urashima-san, take care of her! I'll get the other one!" a serious-looking young man said, evidently the 'Daisuke' from earlier.
"Wait for me, Daisuki-kun!" a ditzy looking flat-chested girl said. She wore the tradition red and white uniform of the Shinmeiryu, as Daisuke did.
Keiko had seen enough; she turned and fled. A quick glance back showed that Youko had not yet managed to extricate Urashima Keitaro's head from her shirt, but Keiko didn't care about that at the moment; Daisuke and the ditzy girl were chasing after her, and rapidly gaining.
Keiko ran down the hallway and darted down another hall at the first intersection she came to, slipping off her backpack as she did so. She heard the ditzy girl yelp behind her as she tried to take the corner too fast and ran into a wall, far too close for Keiko's liking, and quickly dug out one of the strings of firecrackers she had acquired before leaving Mahora, then dug her lighter out of her pocket. She paused just long enough to flick the lighter and light the fuse on the string of firecrackers, and then took off running, watching the fuse as it burned down; what she was doing was risky, but if she had thrown it right after lighting it, the two chasing her were close enough to have run right past it before anything happened. The fuse burned quickly, and when it was almost at the first firecracker, she threw it behind her. Keiko flinched; she had cut it far too close...the firecrackers started going off half a second after she tossed them back. In any case, they had the desired effect; the girl behind her screamed in surprise at the machine-gun pop of the firecrackers exploding practically in her face, and the boy let out a startled shout.
Keiko took the opportunity to turn at the next intersection, silently thanking whoever had designed the place for its mazelike layout, and then darted into the first open door she came across. A quick glance showed her she was in luck; this was a bedroom, and a rather modern and fancy one at that; several large pieces of furniture sat along the walls. She quickly dug a spool of fishing line out of her backpack and tied the end around the leg of the dresser near the door, then let out a few feet of line as she backed up, leaving it draped loosely across the floor in front of the door; she held the spool in her hand and hid beside the wall, waiting.
She heard running footsteps, and a moment later the boy from earlier ran into the room. Keiko jerked the line taut and the boy tripped over it and hit the floor as he let out a surprised shout, his weight and momentum ripping the spool from her hands.
"Daisuki-kun!" The ditzy girl was right behind him. Keiko tossed another lit string of firecrackers to buy herself some time; their startlingly loud sound in the small room left her ears ringing as she dug through her backpack and the other girl screamed in surprise.
"Are you crazy?!" she demanded. Keiko threw a small bag at the girl's face in response; Keiko wasn't athletic by any definition of the word, she didn't have the hand-eye coordination of a veteran gamer, and she didn't have the killer instinct of a veteran fighter, either. What she did have, however, was a quick mind and roughly four feet of space between the ditzy girl and herself...she couldn't miss.
The small bag exploded into a cloud of flour upon impact with the girl's face, leaving her gasping and flailing her hands. Keiko wasted no time, and booted the girl in the stomach. It wasn't much of a hit, but it took the girl by surprise and she doubled over. The boy was starting to get up, so she threw a flour bomb at him; luck was with her, as even though she missed, the little bag hit the floor directly under his face as he pushed himself up on his hands and knees, and he got a face full of flour for his efforts. Keiko whirled to face the other girl, who was trying to wipe flour out of her eyes, and yanked the top half of her uniform open and down, temporarily trapping her arms by her sides; the girl yelped in surprise as Keiko gave her a shove that caught her off balance, making her fall backward onto the western-style bed that sat against the wall opposite the door. Keiko, really huffing by this point from the violent action of the previous five seconds, turned back to the boy, who was struggling to clear the flour from his eyes as he sat up on his knees. Keiko took a deep breath and threw herself at his head.
The boy's yelp of surprise was much like ditzy girl's.
He fell backward under Keiko's sudden weight, his arms flailing, and Keiko snagged his wrist with the pair of handcuffs she had taken out of her backpack and put into her pocket seconds earlier. She yanked the boy, half blinded by flour as he tried to get back up, off balance and he fell on his side. Keiko grabbed his other wrist and, with all the strength she could muster, dragged it close enough to his other to close the handcuffs around it as well, but not before passing the handcuffs around one of the rails of the bed's frame. Keiko quickly scrambled back out of reach.
"Hey! Hey! Let me go, right now!" the boy demanded, fuming as he squinted at her.
The ditzy girl finally freed herself of her mangled uniform top to fully reveal the sarashi she wore and fell off the bed, landing on the boy, who let out a startled grunt and squirmed, demanding to be released until he realized who was lying on top of him, and her state of dress. After that, he got very, very quiet as his nose started to drip red.
Keiko surveyed the devastation for a moment. 'I'll have to apologize later for the state of this room...' she thought nervously. There was flour spilled here and there, several knickknacks and other small objects had fallen off the furniture, and the whole room stank of fireworks, not to mention the burn mark on the floor where the firecrackers had gone off.
"Ah! You hurt Daisuki-kun!" the girl said, something in her voice sending a bolt of fear through Keiko.
"N-no I didn't...!" Keiko said. She knew how pathetic her denial sounded, but she couldn't think of anything better to say. It was the truth, anyway...! She hadn't hurt him at all, just knocked him down, threw flour in his face...handcuffed him to a bed...she probably owed him an apology, actually. But still! "I didn't hurt him!" she said again, hating the sound of fear in her voice.
The ditzy girl glared and her ki spiked, causing a brisk breeze to kick up in the room, further wrecking it as a picture frame fell off the wall and flour, which had previously been limited to a few spots, went everywhere. "You did too! His nose is bloody!" she said, pointing.
Keiko looked down at the boy and saw that his nose was, indeed, bloody. "I didn't do it!" she said frantically as she backed up.
"Liar...!"
"She's not lying, Moe-chan..." the boy said, looking away.
The wind buffeting the room slowed to a stop as the girl, 'Moe-chan', looked at the boy handcuffed to the bed. "She's not...? But your poor nose..." she said, kneeling down to dab at his nose with a handkerchief.
"...I'm sorry, Moe-chan," he said pitifully as he looked away. His gaze fell on her discarded uniform top and he quickly looked away, focusing on the burned spot on the floor.
"Huh?" Moe asked.
Keiko passed the handcuff key to the girl and decided to leave the boy's half-dressed-girl-induced nosebleed to the two of them to figure out. She went out into the hallway, making sure to pull the door shut behind her, and paused, looking both ways uncertainly.
'...how do I get back to where Youko was?'
Konoka heaved a sigh as she trudged through the forest. 'I want my Secchan...' she thought, pouting. This whole thing had been a mess from almost the very beginning! Youko was just too flighty, in Konoka's opinion. The plan hadn't been to split up; then again, Youko hadn't seemed very interested in having much of a plan in the first place. How did she expect to become the next Youkai King without a plan? Konoka rolled her eyes as she paused by a large tree to get her bearings. While she had known these woods like the back of her hand as a child, she hadn't truly explored them since before moving to Mahora for school; things had changed since then. 'A lot of things,' Konoka thought, grinning...her relationship with her Secchan, for one; Secchan's willingness to accept the obvious when it came to the two of them, for another.
"I wonder where she is..." Konoka said aloud as she corrected her course and headed toward where she was sure the main house was located. It wasn't that she was worried about Setsuna... Well, not much. Konoka frowned.
'I hope she's okay...'
She knew it was irrational, especially here at home, but after what happened back in high school, when Setsuna was... Konoka shivered and shunted those terrible memories aside. She knew in her head that Setsuna would be fine, but in her heart...in Konoka's heart, she never wanted to let Setsuna out of her sight ever again; she wanted to keep her safe by her side forever and ever, and never let her go. She knew it was silly, but that didn't change the way she felt. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't cage her Secchan that way; it would be inhuman. Her Secchan needed to fly, and that was that. A branch snapped somewhere nearby, and she froze.
"Ah...it seems I'm unlucky today," a woman said, sounding resigned.
"...how did you ever manage to beat me?" another woman said, clearly irritated, her voice slightly muffled.
Konoka's eyebrow twitched. She knew those two; she'd recognize their voices anywhere...Aoyama Etsuko, and Aoyama Natsuki. Etsuko was infamous among the members of the Shinmeiryu for her inexplicable bouts of bad luck; things might go well for weeks or even a month or more, and then suddenly she would find herself besieged by a streak of bad luck that could include anything from breaking a shoelace to accidentally setting fire to the barracks. Konoka suppressed a sigh; the latter had happened four times since Etsuko came to live at the main compound. No one knew why it happened, there were no curses or anything of the sort laid on the woman, and yet the truth was unmistakable; Aoyama Etsuko attracted bad luck. Konoka was one of the few who seemed to have noticed that when Etsuko had bad luck, those around her did not... to an extent. Being inside a building Etsuko had just accidentally set fire to couldn't be called lucky by any stretch of the imagination, and she was permanently banned from ever operating a motor vehicle or any sort of heavy machinery for very valid reasons, many of which involved such things as motors exploding, hydraulic systems suddenly springing leaks, and blown out tires. Etsuko tried hard to fit in, training her body and her skills and going to quite a bit of trouble to project the image of what she thought a proper samurai should be; her appearance was neat and trim at all times, from the spotlessness of her red and white uniform to her long samurai ponytail, she did everything she could to bring honor to her family and sword school, even going so far as to carry that odd little two-bladed clawlike weapon that had been passed down through her family line for generations.
Even so, none of Etsuko's efforts succeeded in distracting anyone around her from her reputation except for the other Aoyamas, and even most of them avoided her. Aoyama Natsuki was one of the few who would have anything to do with her...probably because Natsuki herself was quite the outcast as well. While Etsuko did everything she could to be a proper samurai, Natsuki had taken the opposite path; where Etsuko followed the traditional ways of the samurai, Natsuki took pains to distance herself from the rest. She didn't use a sword; she used a set of blades that fit on her fingers like oversized claws. She wore a heavily modified version of the traditional Shinmeiryu uniform designed with ninja-like secrecy and ease of movement in mind, with her long, unruly black hair tied back with the cloth she always wrapped around her head, covering her whole face except for the space around her eyes, so it stuck out the back. Natsuki, a tall woman with an odd sense of humor, was quite off-putting even without her eccentric fashion sense, so Konoka supposed it wasn't very surprising that she got along so well with the other black sheep of the Aoyama family.
At the very least, Natsuki had given Konoka candy when she was a child.
Konoka frowned, frozen in place behind a tree where they couldn't see her as they walked past. She knew fighting the two of them here would be meaningless; it was a lucky thing Etsuko had stepped on that fallen branch. Youko was far away, probably even at the main house already if Konoka was any judge, and her Secchan was off somewhere too...Konoka thought she saw her run off with Keiko-chan back when they were first attacked by Hikari-san's group. Hikari was probably taking care of Haru like Konoka had asked over the phone before they even left Mahora, leaving Konoka all by her lonesome in the woods, bringing up the rear. All she had to do was make it to the mansion, though she would almost certainly arrive too late to help Youko in any way. Still...she would try, just to see the look on her Secchan's face.
Konoka waited until Etsuko and Natsuki's conversation faded in the distance before she started to move, but when she did, a spot of color beside the tree caught her attention. She looked back in the direction the other two had gone, then down at the brightly wrapped piece of candy, and sighed. If Etsuko had seen her, she would have insisted on a duel... Konoka shook her head; she'd have to thank Natsuki later for not exposing her.
Konoka sucked on the piece of candy Natsuki had left her as she walked through the woods toward the main house, her step light as she listened to the sounds of a sword duel ahead; she couldn't help but grin as she heard her Secchan shout, followed by the clang of metal on metal. She slowed as the trees thinned out, flitting from cover to cover as she went. She pressed the piece of candy against the inside of her cheek as she crept forward and poked her head out from behind a particularly large tree, providing her with an excellent view of the open space before her. She spotted her Secchan right away, her clothing disheveled and sweat pouring down her body from the heavy workout she was getting, facing Tsuruko. Tsuruko's younger sister Motoko stood watching the duel. Konoka watched for a long, long moment, entranced.
Setsuna fought differently when they weren't together or with any of their friends in Negi's group; Konoka had known this for some time. But to see it, to see her, moving as she was moving, completely focused on her opponent and forcing herself to achieve what she had never been able to before...Konoka wanted to rush out there and make another pactio with her. And, best of all, Konoka thought with a smile, Setsuna was doing incredibly well against Tsuruko. Both sported half a dozen small cuts, but both were grinning, Tsuruko with her bloodlust, and Setsuna with the joy of battle. They exchanged blows time and time again, their movements precise and so, so quick that Konoka had a hard time following them, as far away as she was. She started to shifted her position slightly in preparation to move closer when Motoko's head snapped up and she looked straight at her for a moment, and made a pleasant smile.
Konoka froze mid step, but it was too late.
"There you are, ojou-sama," someone said behind her.
She knew there was no point in trying to hide her presence anymore. How did everyone keep sneaking up on her?! She glanced behind her and, sure enough, Aoyama Sayuri, who had several times forced even Tsuruko to go all out in a duel, stood behind her, tall and sure of herself. "...hello, Sayuri-san," Konoka said weakly. While she might have had a chance against Etsuko or Natsuki, Sayuri was way out of her league. So far out of her league, in fact, that she wouldn't even have a chance to draw her sword if Sayuri decided to attack.
'Why did I even come here today...?' she thought to herself, pouting as Sayuri marched her out of the trees and into the yard. She had just gotten into fight after fight, all of them but the first one meaningless, and she had even hurt Koyomi! Well, she had fixed her up again afterward, but still.
She noted absently that Setsuna and Tsuruko were in a standoff, their swords locked together. Konoka met Setsuna's gaze and did her best to give her an energizingly cute smile, but she was afraid it came across a little sickly instead. Sayuri marched her up by the koi pond and moved to stand opposite.
"Well? Who will it be? Will you choose to face Motoko, or me?" Sayuri demanded, her eyes dancing with amusement despite her dead-serious expression.
Konoka tried to hold back a grimace at that. Sayuri had to be kidding...either face her, or Motoko? What kind of horrible choice was that? Either one would easily wipe the floor with her...! Motoko would be worse, however, as she had taken a personal interest in Konoka's growth and had had a hand in training her. And, while Sayuri wasn't at Motoko's level, she was no slouch either; she lead a squad in the Third Mercenary Force for a reason after all. Konoka bit her lip as she looked from Sayuri to Motoko and back, then glanced over at Setsuna, who was really starting to struggle as she exchanged blows with Tsuruko. "I...ah...can we...do this tomorrow?"
"I am afraid not," a new voice said.
Konoka turned to the newcomer and a flicker of hope began to grow in her heart. "Daddy!"
Konoe Eishun tried to hold back a fatherly smile; it came out as a crooked grin. "I have just returned home, and I find my house is under attack? This will not do..."
Konoka blinked a couple times, nervousness dawning as she looked at him. "Daddy...? What are you..." She trailed off as he stripped off his suit jacket and handed it to his driver, who passed him a sheathed katana. "...Daddy?"
He made another of those crooked grins as he pulled his sword from its sheath, which he passed to his driver. He stood facing her, his sword held loosely in his hand. "Come then, draw your sword."
Konoka just gaped at him.
"..."
"..." Konoka answered silence with silence, her mind reeling. 'Daddy wants to fight me? Why? I'm tired of fighting! Can't we just get along...? I hate all of this; we're all friends! We shouldn't be fighting...'
"Any time now," Eishun said patiently.
Konoka was dimly aware that Tsuruko and Setsuna had stopped fighting and were watching the two of them, along with Motoko and Sayuri. She glanced over at Tsuruko and Setsuna nervously, saw the worried look on Setsuna's face, torn between worry for Konoka and wanting to see her in action, and couldn't help but smile a little. Her Secchan was just too cute...!
"Eyes forward!" Eishun barked, and something in Konoka jerked her into motion. She brought her sword up just in time to deflect Eishun's attack.
"You must always be aware of your opponents, Konoka. You could have died in eighteen different ways just then," Eishun said, shifting into a stance that brought his sword up beside his head.
Konoka's eyes widened, and she barely got her sword moving in time to deflect the next attack. He followed his opening thrust up with a cut at her shoulder, which she barely managed to sidestep, then a sweeping sideways cut at chest height, which she ducked. She tried a cut at his lower legs that he leaped over, and she found herself staring at the tip of his blade, hovering six inches from her face. He waited for her to stand up, then moved back out of range, adopting another sword stance. Konoka swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and shifted into a stance of her own, designed to counter the one her father held.
"Very good," Eishun said, then darted forward, deftly knocking Konoka's sword aside with his own before bringing it around in a vicious arc. Konoka's instincts took over and she darted in low under the sword, and scrambled around behind him. He was too quick, however, and booted her in the butt, sending her flailing at Sayuri, who caught her instinctively. Setsuna gasped.
Konoka clung on to the older woman for a moment, pretending to be catching her breath as she rested her head against the taller woman's ample chest and tried to figure out what to do.
"Ojou-sama, you're not beaten yet, are you?" Sayuri asked softly. Konoka looked up at her thoughtfully, something in her suddenly sly expression making the woman wary. Konoka's devious grin widened, and Sayuri, perhaps realizing what was about to happen, tried to push her away. Konoka brought her sword straight up between Sayuri and herself, Sayuri let out a sudden embarrassed shriek, and then Konoka whirled around behind Sayuri, pulling apart the woman's freshly cut-open uniform top and shoved her at Eishun.
The effect was just as she had expected.
Eishun's eyes bugged out as he caught the half-naked woman, blood spurted out of his nose as he stammered an apology, and he turned to get his suit jacket back from his driver while Sayuri blushed furiously, pressed against him for the sake of modesty. He took the jacket and turned around, only to find the very tip of Konoka's sword imbedded a sixteenth of an inch into his forehead.
"Gah...!"
"I win~" Konoka said, smiling brightly as she withdrew her sword, swiped the dot of blood off the end, and sheathed it, leaving everyone staring at the scene in stunned silence. 'I knew it! He's still too weak against women,' Konoka thought, grinning at the way he was trying not to squirm with Sayuri pressed up against him like that. The best part of it was that he and Sayuri were so distantly related as to barely even be considered related at all. He had seemed awfully lonely in the past few years too... 'Yep, they go well together,' Konoka thought as she smiled at them. The two of them had finally managed to wrap Sayuri in her daddy's suit jacket, and both had become a brilliant shade of red not unlike the shade her Secchan got sometimes when she teased her. Speaking of which... "Come on, Secchan! Let's go inside!"
"Not so fast," Tsuruko said, eyeing Konoka warily as she made sure to stay far out of her range. "While I must admit that that was an impressive display of quick thinking, Setsuna-han hasn't defeated me yet; she may not yet pass."
"...ah..." Konoka closed her mouth. She didn't have anything she could say to that. She turned to Setsuna, trying to think of something to say, but Setsuna just looked so forlorn standing there that she couldn't stand it. "I'll see you in a little while Secchan...!" she wailed as she ran to the front door of the main house.
Miyoshi Youko stood in the hallway, facing the strangely familiar man in front of her. 'Urashima Keitaro...surely he isn't related to Yuusuke...?' she thought, eyeing him. To think that dork Urashima Yuusuke who was part of the group she used to run with all those years ago might be related to this cool looking—if clumsy—man was a little odd, and yet... Something about the way he moved and he shape of his face was very similar. And, come to think of it, that woman standing further back in the hallway holding a baby looked an awful lot like Narusegawa Ren, Yuusuke's eternal rival. Yuusuke and Ren butted heads every time they got together, even though they were really the best of friends...a fact neither one seemed to have realized before Youko got locked up for three hundred years. She sighed. She missed those days, with her and Saburo and Konno, Yuusuke and Ren, she even missed that lucky idiot Otohime Kosuke, and that lovable psycho Maehara Jin. She grinned in fond remembrance of them all. 'I wonder what happened to them? It looks like Ren and Yuusuke had families of their own at least, but what about the others...?' she thought to herself.
She shook her head to clear it; this was no time to be reminiscing about the past. If anything, she had a right to be angry about the present, since Yuusuke's descendant over there had oh so recently removed his whole head from the inside of her shirt. Why, if she had had any less control over her emotions, her whole face would have been bright red; only Saburo was allowed to do that...! She shook her head again to banish those thoughts, and focused again on the man standing opposite. "I don't suppose you'll let me by...?"
Keitaro smiled crookedly and Youko achieved a small understanding of the troubles his wife must have constantly had to face. As it was, that silly little smile sent her heart fluttering. 'No Youko, this isn't the time to fall in love with a married man! Focus!'
"I'm afraid not. You see, Motoko-chan asked me to help, and I couldn't turn her down...you know how it is, don't you?"
Youko sighed. She knew how it was, all right. Foxes had a reputation for being tricksters, but she and her line had always had a deep sense of honor, even though she loved to engage in the occasional bout of mischievousness, as had her mother before her. Still, one's word was their word. "Let's get this over with, then," she said. She drew the wakizashi she had borrowed from Konoka, and Keitaro drew his sword and set the sheath aside so it wouldn't get in his way.
Youko watched him for a moment, a little surprised as she saw how easily he held his sword, as if it was just an extension of his body rather than a tool or a weapon. He didn't go into a stance or anything either, he just...waited. Youko had only seen that sort of thing a few times before...
Urashima Keitaro was a dangerous man.
Judging from what she had seen, he would have unusual reflexes, and his movements would be unpredictable for someone trained in swordplay the way she was. His apparently natural clumsiness would only make the situation worse... She briefly wondered if one could weaponize clumsiness, but the intricacies of making such a concept work made her head hurt so she stopped.
She raised her wakizashi into a stance designed for a short sword, and paused. Keitaro just stood there, grinning away at her while the baby held by the woman in the hallway behind him burbled happily.
"What's your name?" Keitaro asked suddenly. "I didn't catch it earlier," he said apologetically. "Oh, I am Urashima Keitaro, pleased to meet you," he said, bobbing his head in a polite little bow.
"Do you mean before or after you stuck your head in her shirt?" the woman behind him muttered dryly. Keitaro, probably from long experience, didn't reply.
Youko's eyes narrowed. "Miyoshi Youko. Do you know what the Aoyama girl got you into?"
Keitaro scratched the back of his head. "Hmm...well, she said I just had to help defend the armory from a bunch of intruders. I guess that's you and that girl from earlier, since Takeda-san said you were intruders. Right?"
"That's right," Youko said, stepping forward as she let some of her power spill out, making the air feel almost electric; Keitaro stood his ground. "Did she also tell you that I'm a fox youkai? We eat humans, you know," she said, moving closer and doing her best to loom over him. Looming wasn't that hard; she was several inches taller than he was in any case, and popping her ears out made her look even taller, though he didn't seem to have much of a reaction other than widening his eyes. "You look...delicious," she said, looming closer. Or at least, she loomed closer until she felt the sheer weight of killing intent trying to smother her. She looked up at the woman with the baby further up the hallway, saw the look in her eyes, and quickly backed off. "Just a joke! Geez, nobody can take a joke these days..." she muttered as she backed out of Keitaro's personal space.
"I would prefer if you didn't threaten to eat my husband and just settled for trying to stab him instead," the woman said, turning her sarcasm on Youko.
"Fine, okay, whatever. I'm not that kind of youkai anyway! I just wanted to get this over with quickly," Youko said, aggravated. She was not looking forward to facing the man. Nevertheless, he was just one more obstacle in her quest for the sword.
"Okay then, whenever you're ready," Keitaro said, watching her intently.
Youko couldn't help but blush, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. What would Yuusuke have said if she told him his descendant would be a natural when it came to making women fall in love with him...? 'He'd probably look at me like my head wasn't screwed on straight,' Youko thought, grinning crookedly at her memories of the clumsy man. 'Come to think of it, he had a sort of clumsy charm...genetics are scary.' Shaking her head to clear it, she again raised her sword. Keitaro shifted his weight slightly, and a smile snaked across Youko's face. Yes, he knew what he was doing, all right; she would have to be quick. She darted forward.
Their first clash very nearly resulted in her losing one of her other ears. She came in fast and low, intending to disarm him and end the fight quickly, but he simply stepped back, bringing his sword up to knock her wakizashi aside in a fluid motion; the tip of his sword missed the top of her head by a couple of inches and would have severed one of her ears had she not jerked her head back.
"Ah! Sorry about that; I didn't think about your ears...are they okay? They're so pretty, it'd be a shame if I accidentally hurt one..." Keitaro said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression on his face.
Youko's face went red, and not only from anger. Her youkai ears twitched violently as she watched him. Her earlier estimation had been correct, if in a different manner than she had initially thought...Urashima Keitaro was indeed a dangerous man, in many ways. She had only just met him, and already he was making her heart flutter in her chest. She glanced at the woman who looked like her old friend Narusegawa Ren, saw the knowing look in her eyes, and sighed. 'I shall have to offer my condolences to his wife; she must live a hard life.'
Their second clash was a disaster. As Youko darted forward Keitaro stepped back with his left foot, his sword swung around seemingly of its own accord, and Youko brought up her wakizashi just in time to deflect it. He flowed with the motion however and his sword came back around, deceptively fast, and Youko had to shove him away to give herself enough room to move. Keitaro, pushed off balance, wildly flailed his arms in an attempt to get his balance back. One of his flailing hands, naturally, snagged the sleeve of Youko's shirt.
The two of them hit the floor face to face, accidentally headbutting each other into a daze with Youko on the bottom.
The two of them just laid there a moment. Youko came to her senses first and again became aware of the tremendous killing intent flooding the hallway. She looked up at Keitaro, stunned and lying on top of her, blinked, and shrieked, shoving him off.
"What the hell?!" she demanded. She tried to stand up, but her legs were weak and she fell back to support herself against the wall.
"While. I. Appreciate. The. Speed. With. Which. You. Shoved. Him. Off. I. Would. Appreciate. It. More. In. The. Future. If. You. Stayed. Away. From. My. Husband. Understand?" Narusegawa muttered through clenched teeth as she struggled to smile, a vein throbbing in her forehead.
Youko looked at the woman with the baby, wide eyed, and nodded vigorously. Narusegawa's killing intent weakened, then faded away completely as she heaved a long-suffering sigh. "The big idiot's always been that way," she said, rolling her eyes. "Here, hold her for a moment, please?" she said, holding out her baby.
Youko looked at the cooing little thing, her eyes wide. She had always liked babies, but she hadn't ever really had any time to deal with them except for the few months with her infant son before she was locked up... The baby looked up at her, smiling wide and reaching for her youkai ears as it gurgled happily. Narusegawa raised an eyebrow as she looked at her, so Youko took the baby and held it close to her chest. It smiled up at her, fumbling with a button on her shirt, and she couldn't help but smile back at it. It squealed in delight as her youkai ears twitched, and reached for them even though it was too far away to touch them.
Narusegawa moved over to Keitaro's side and knelt down beside him. "Keitaro?"
"Ow..." Keitaro muttered, reaching up to rub his forehead. "That hurt... Oh, hey, Narusegawa! Is the cute youkai girl alright?" he asked. "I think I might have accidentally kissed her when we fell..."
Youko looked up sharply as the hallway again flooded with killing intent.
"Na-na-narusegawa! Wait! W-we can talk about this, right? R-right? It was an accident! Narusegawa! Narusegawa...?"
Youko just stared as Narusegawa dragged her husband to his feet, reared back, and punched him, launching him straight through the wall. And the one after that. And the one after that. When the sounds of destruction finally faded down to the sound of the last shattering plate, Narusegawa dusted off her hands. "That's 'My Lovely Waifu~' to you, buster!" Narusegawa turned, smiling, back to Youko.
"...I'm alright..." Keitaro called out in the distance.
Youko looked from Narusegawa to the Keitaro-shaped hole in the wall and back, and handed over the baby, which began to convey the tale of its adventure with the funny fox lady to its mother with burbles, laughs, and the occasional bit of arm waving. Youko couldn't help but smile. The whole situation was just... 'Wow...' she thought in amusement. 'I wonder what Ren and Yuusuke would have said if they could see these two?' Her two old friends had always gotten in fights with each other; it was even how they'd met. She missed them, but there was no way to see them again...they were dead and gone, like the rest of her friends from that time. She shook her head to clear it, and turned back to Narusegawa. "As your husband wasn't able to stop me, I will go on ahead."
The baby again squealed in delight as Youko's youkai ears moved, and its mother couldn't help but smile at the sound. "It's fine, a loss is a loss. The place you're looking for is through there," she said, pointing to a door in the wall. "Good luck," she said, grinning as if she knew something Youko didn't.
"Thanks..." Youko said curiously. She glanced back at the baby, which burbled at her, smiling its crazy little baby smile, and she couldn't help but smile back at it. She kind of wanted a baby again...but not yet. This wasn't the time, and she had no business trying to raise a child when she didn't even have a suitable mate to watch it during the times she had to be out and about to perform her duties as the Youkai King. 'Assuming, of course, that I don't let Masashi sneak up and murder me in my sleep,' she thought dryly as she opened the door to reveal a fair sized room with a set of stairs leading down.
Youko followed the stairwell down for quite a distance before she came to the bottom. Once there, she took a moment to catch her breath and look around. The stairwell came down onto a large metal platform in a natural cavern lit by electric light; large stalactites and stalagmites grew here and there, streaks of natural color in the rock decorated the walls, and the floor sloped gently down to the right, ending in a small underground lake that took up perhaps a quarter of the cavern's floor space. A sturdy walkway had been built from the platform to provide secure footing; it stretched around a hundred feet straight across the cavern to a large, vaultlike door set deeply into the opposite wall. And, in the middle of that walkway, stood a very familiar person.
Youko almost couldn't believe her eyes. "...Konno? Is that...is that you?" she asked, scarcely daring to believe her eyes. She couldn't detect any traces of an illusion, and there was nothing wrong with Konno's smell either; it may have been hard for Youko to believe, but her old friend really was standing there before her.
"Who else would I be?" Konno asked as she reached into her yukata and drew out a bottle of sake and a small sake cup. "Finally figured out how to make myself one of those dimensional rift things; it's great for storing sake. But anyway, it's been a while, Youko. Wanna have a drink for old times' sake?"
Youko grinned at the sight of the sake bottle. It seemed Konno was still Konno in more than just her appearance. But a 'dimensional rift' like on TV...? 'Science is a fearsome thing indeed,' she thought. She shook her head. "Maybe later. First, I need to get into the armory."
"Ah...! To be young again...!" Konno said as she shook her head melodramatically.
"Young? Konno, we're the same age," Youko said, cocking an eyebrow. What was Konno's game...? Youko felt doubt start to grow in the back of her mind. Something was off; she had a feeling her old friend was plotting something.
"Eh, same thing," Konno replied, then poured herself a cup of sake and drank it. "In any case, I can't let ya go in there," she said as she carefully set the bottle and cup aside on the walkway. "You always were a troublemaker, weren't ya, Youko?"
Youko frowned, ready to act. Even though they were a good fifty feet apart, that was plenty close enough for a fox youkai to spring into action in a space as big as the underground cavern. "Me? You're the one that led that youkai parade right through the middle of town, Konno. And made all those cups and plates come to life...and the thing with the cows...need I go on?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, barely able to suppress the grin that threatened to come out upon recalling those old memories. Good times.
Konno shrugged, grinning widely. "That was just playing around; it's not like anybody got hurt. Genjirou grew up real cute, by the way."
Youko tensed up at the name of her son. "Konno..." the other woman's name came out in a growl.
"Oh, don't worry! I didn't go and seduce him or anything," she said, waving her hand lazily. "I just made sure he grew up strong, is all. All the Aoyamas are strong. You should see Motoko in action; she's awesome, way better than Tsuruko. That girl's got no limits. I made sure the others were okay too, Ren and Yuusuke and Jin and all them. I watched over their kids, too! You wouldn't believe it, but they all have descendents living in the same inn over in Hinata! But anyway, Genjirou. It's a shame he took after his father, but that's one of the risks you run if you have kids with a human," she said, shrugging. "He'd've made a hell of a fox youkai."
"What's going on, Konno?" Youko said after a moment. "I need to get into the armory now." She didn't want to fight her old friend, but if it came down to it, she would.
"Ooh, touchy," Konno replied, smirking at her. "Are you sure you're up to it? I mean, I've got seven tails now; I'm not like I used to be," she said as her tails abruptly flared out behind her. The air hummed with the power she was leaking.
Youko's smile slipped away as she stood facing her old friend. "Let me by, Konno. This is your last warning."
"Ooh, not scared at all, huh? Not even when I've got seven tails? Can't do it, can't let ya by, sorry," Konno replied. Youko drew her wakizashi, and Konno reached into her yukata and drew out a long, straight sword. "Yep, still using the old jian, you know. It's a classic," she said as she ran through half a dozen forms in a flurry of movement. "Pretty good, huh? I've been practicing over the past coupla centuries; betcha can't beat me now~"
Youko went very still inside. Konno probably could beat her now. Back then, back before Youko had been locked up, Youko had been able to regularly beat all of her old crew but Maehara Jin in spar sessions. Konno always got so mad at her...she almost grinned, but held it back. If Konno was holding a grudge, the situation could get ugly, fast. Youko knew what she had just seen; Konno was probably better than any living human with a jian, and the situation was made even worse by the fact that the one she held was an ancient and powerful artifact that had belonged to her father, and could control the lightning. She held her sword out at her side. "Don't make me do this, Konno."
"Oh? Why do you want the Kusanagi so bad anyway?" Konno asked, the serious tone of the question masked by her usual lazy grin. Youko saw through that grin at once.
"Because that bastard Masashi's going to get it if I don't," Youko replied.
Konno's youkai ears, great fine silver fox ears—Youko had always been a little jealous of them-, twitched in surprise that her face didn't show. "Masashi?" she asked, her voice level.
"Masashi," Youko said, nodding. She almost spat the name. "He's already got the mirror, and he tried to steal the sword already, too; he just grabbed the wrong one. He must not have known about this place," Youko said, glancing around, "because he broke into the upstairs armory."
"Tell me," Konno said, her voice having lost any hint of her usual jovial personality, "about Masashi. I've been out of circulation for quite a while now."
Youko smiled grimly, and started to talk. She told Konno about what she had uncovered about Masashi's actions in the past, as well as what he had been involved with since then, both on Earth and Mundus Magicus, and she finished up with his actions at the Youkai Festival.
"Bastard," Konno said under her breath. She shook her head as if to clear it and spoke up. "So he's the one who got you locked up, huh? I should burn him with foxfire just for that," she said as she put her sword back into the 'dimensional rift' she had spoken about earlier. Youko sheathed her wakizashi and wondered if it was safe to relax just yet. "I tried to take the sword, you know, just to see what would happen," Konno said as she bent down to pick up her sake.
"What?!" Youko all but shouted. She certainly hadn't expected Konno to say that...!
"I was just curious," Konno replied as she poured herself another cup of sake. She drank it in a single gulp and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I couldn't touch it; there's some sort of anti-youkai enchantment on it."
"Anti-youkai..." Youko repeated. What on Earth?! Had the Shinmeiryu betrayed them...?
"I asked Eishun about it," Konno explained. "He said something about it being an extra test; you know, something to make sure that whoever gets the sword is less likely to misuse it." She grinned wide. "Masashi would never be able to get it, not unless someone gave it to 'im."
"What do you mean?"
"The Kusanagi is on a sword stand enchanted so that nothing but a human can move it," Konno said, eyes gleaming mischievously.
Youko's grin mirrored Konno's. The Youkai King's sword, enchanted so only a human could pick it up...! The idea was so devious, she wished she had thought of it herself. There was no way Masashi or anyone like him would ever think of something like that! She sort of wanted to tell him about it, just to see the look on his face when he realized the truth of the matter. "That's great!"
"Lucky for you I like you better than Masashi," Konno said, grinning at her. "And it looks like you came prepared, too," she said, pointing at the stairwell.
Youko turned around and spotted Keiko standing nervously at the base of the stairs. "Keiko! You're right on time! C'mere and meet my old friend, Konno. She's a silver fox youkai like me," Youko said, grinning as Keiko shyly approached and looked at the fox youkai. "Keiko, this is Konno Mitsune. Konno, this is Suzuki Keiko; I'm sorta training her." Konno gave her a surprised look, but brushed it off as she grinned at Keiko.
"Hello, Konno-san," Keiko said nervously.
"He~h, I kinda want to kidnap you and teach you the joys of alcohol," Konno said, grinning at the girl. "I don't think Youko'd appreciate that though, so let's just get this over with," she said as she reached into her yukata and drew out a large old fashioned key at least a foot long. "This unlocks the door," she explained as the trio moved along the walkway toward the vault door.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Youko asked, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at Konno.
Konno grinned back at her. "Honestly? Probably not, but like I said, I like you better than Masashi. I don't think I'd mind you being the next Youkai King...not as long you let me into the royal wine cellar, anyway."
Youko snorted in amusement. "Done. Now..." She watched as Konno inserted the key into the main lock on the door and turned it. A moment followed in which they heard the whirring of mechanisms as the massive door underwent its complex unlocking process, and then Youko and Konno pulled it open to reveal a room even larger than the cavern. The three of them stepped inside, Youko and Keiko looking around in awe at the variety of items inside. There were a great many things stored there, from family treasures to rare objects to magical artifacts; there were more valuable items in one room than perhaps anywhere else in the world.
"Warded against all forms of magic, and the key and lock have to be reset weekly," Konno said, grinning as she spun the keyring around her finger. "If it comes down to it, you can also blow charges in the stairwell and cavern outside to bring 'em down, blocking any access to the vault."
Youko whistled. "They really pulled out all the stops, didn't they?"
"And with good reason, too," Konno replied. "A lot of this stuff has had wars fought over it, or been used to fight 'em. If word got out...well, it wouldn't result in anything good, I can tell ya that much."
"The Kusanagi," Keiko said, speaking up for the first time since being introduced to Konno, "what does it look like? Masashi thought that fancy katana he had was it, but that style of sword is too young; the Kusanagi legend is far older..."
"Oh, you're a bright one, aren'tcha," Konno said, ruffling Keiko's hair. "It's not a katana; if anything, it's more like my dad's sword. Straight bladed, y'know? Really old too."
"Amaterasu had it," Youko explained. "She was one of the first leaders of the Youkai, and that's how the tradition that anyone who wants to be the Youkai King has to collect it started."
"I see..." Keiko said, looking around at the various items as they passed.
"This place is like a maze, with all these shelves in here. Let's see, I think it was over this way..." Konno said, leading them to the northern end of the room.
"Is that it?" Keiko asked, pointing at a simple looking sword in a simple looking scabbard.
Youko looked over at it and grinned. "That's it, alright. Will you get it for me?" Youko asked.
Keiko looked at her, then at the sword, and moved over to stand in front of it. Konno just watched the two of them. "This is really it? The Grasscutter?"
"Yeah. I remember it well; my mom used to carry it everywhere. She always said it made her feel proud to carry something with so much history behind it..."
"History..." Keiko muttered. She reached out and plucked the sword from the stand it had been placed on. "Can I...can I pull it out?" she asked.
Youko glanced at Konno, who shrugged, and nodded. "Go for it."
"Okay," Keiko said. She took hold of the sword's hilt, marvelling at the texture of the carved wood handle, worn black and smooth by centuries upon centuries of use. She gave it a light tug to free it from the sheath, and pulled it the rest of the way out, holding it up to see it better. She had seen old magical swords before, but nothing she had seen gave off the sheer sensation of age as the sword she was holding. The blade itself seemed quite short; it was barely two feet long. Any shine it had once held had long ago worn away; the blade was a dull, rough metallic gray, as was the simple pommel and guard, though the blade was razor sharp. She had a feeling the pommel and guard had once been beautifully carved, but time and use had rendered them as smooth and featureless as the handle. Overall, the sword didn't really look like much, and yet...its sheer age sat upon it like a weight, and she realized that the weapon she was holding was a weapon of kings. So many names from history and mythology had held the sword before her, all the way back to Amaterasu herself...! She suddenly felt ashamed to be treating it so lightly, and quickly sheathed it. She brought it over to Youko and held it out.
Youko hesitated, lingering doubts about her own worthiness to hold the sword swirling in her mind, but she shunted that aside and took hold of the scabbard.
"Aaaand that's it! Well, it appears I've failed to protect the sword," Konno said in an exaggerated monotone. "Oh my. I have failed. Whatever will I do?"
"Probably take a drink," Youko said, looking at the sword.
Konno snorted. "Probably," she said, grinning. "Congratulations. Now, let's get out of her before I get the urge to take a few things with me."
They had just made it to the top of the stairs when a shout from the other side of the door caught their attention.
"Dammit Keitaro! Enough is enough!"
"Narusegawa, I'm sorryyy!"
A crash shook the walls, and Konno and Youko shared a quick glance just as the door opened, revealing Konoka standing on the other side, holding up her shorts, which, Youko noted, now had a rip all the way down the side.
"What happened to you?" Youko asked, grinning. Based on what they had just heard along with the new Keitaro-shaped hole in the wall and the fact that Narusegawa stood out in the hallway, steaming, the answer to that question was pretty obvious.
Evidently, Konoka thought so too. "A clumsy friend of the family," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I met him earlier," Youko said. Konno laughed into her hand behind her. "Has anyone seen Setsuna?"
"Kono-chan...why did you abandon meee?" Setsuna whined, covered in bruises and looking pitiful as she swung an oversized wooden sword in the front yard, directed by Tsuruko.
"Silence! You've lost count; start over! I want five thousand sword swings! Now!"
"Kono-chaaan...!"
Meanwhile, in a rather nice set of rooms in the teacher's dorm back in Mahora...
Negi springfield and Kagurazaka Asuna sat on the couch in front of the television set in t-shirts and shorts as they ate cup ramen.
"...you know something?" Negi asked after a moment.
"What?" Asuna said after taking a moment to slurp up a noodle.
"I can't help but feel like I just missed something fun," Negi said, looking down at his cup ramen.
"Eh, can't win 'em all," Asuna replied as she set her empty container aside and turned her attention back to the TV.
Author's Notes: Urashima Keitaro, Narusegawa Naru, Aoyama Tsuruko, Aoyama Motoko, and Konno Mitsune/Kitsune (also Otohime Mutsumi and Maehara Shinobu, whose ancestors were briefly mentioned) are all characters from Akamatsu's previous work, Love Hina. If you haven't read it yet, read it; it's good. Anyway, they have been modified to fit the story of course, as well as aged quite a bit since this story takes place in 2009, almost a decade after Love Hina. Genjirou is the name of Youko's son with Aoyama Saburo, who died a couple centuries before this story takes place. You can find a little more about him in Still Waters 3: Side Stories: Book 2, Chapter 7: A Conversation Between Old People, which can be found on this site. As for Takeda Daisuke and Takino Moe, the two young Shinmeiryu members who chased Keiko, they are my creations and have been seen in this story before, in Still Waters 3 Book 1, Chapter 12: Kyoto Trip Part 5.
Dictionary Time!
Sarashi – This refers to a long strip of cloth wrapped many times around the torso like a bandage. A common feature of samurai and tough delinquent-types in anime. Women also wear them sometimes to bind or support the breasts. For more info, look it up on Wikipedia, though I found Tvtropes to be more informative.
Jian – This is a Chinese one-handed doubled edged straight sword with a blade two or three feet long. This is the sort of sword you'll tend to see in those Chinese martial arts films. They're pretty cool; you can find out more on wikipedia, or look up videos of people using them on Youtube.