AN: Yes, I skipped Son Goku and friends, because I have no fucking idea what it even is. I read that particular manga episode several times and am still unbelievably lost. So, yeah it needed to not happen for me.

Chapter 6: Firework

Keitaro smiled brightly as he pulled on a traditional kimono. Today was the fireworks celebration, and both he and girls were excited have some fun and get away from the beach shop. It was good for the group to spend time together and have fun at times like this. After all, none of them really had family they were that close to, so they would have to be close to each other.

Keitaro straightened his glasses as he walked downstairs, and saw the girls all waiting at the bottom of the steps. They were beautiful. He'd always appreciated a classical look on a woman, and it really didn't get anymore classic than this.

"Hey Keitaro!" said Kitsune. "You look pretty good in traditional dress."

"Thanks," he said, beaming. "You too, Kitsune."

He slid up next to Motoko and bowed slightly. He wasn't sure what he'd done to upset her last night, but he could tell that she wasn't happy and if he could help her, he knew he should.

"Urashima?"

"Motoko," he said quietly. "I wanted to apologize if I said anything to upset you last night. You know I usually speak without thinking, and so I know I often say stupid things."

She shook her head softly.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I was short with you because love is something… unfavorable… to me. You were merely speaking your mind, and I wouldn't ask you to apologize for that. Nothing you said was offensive or wrong. I am not used to having anyone talk to me about such things."

"You never talk to people about your feelings?"

"Would you have opened up when we first met? I am the sword girl… the kendo expert."

"You're also a person. I know you don't like to open up, but if you ever wanted to, you can always talk to me."

"Thank you, Urashima. You are a good person… beneath your spinelessness and idiotic behavior."

He smiled at her. He knew she wasn't being serious when she insulted him. It was Motoko's way of distancing herself. She wasn't used to allowing herself to have feelings, so they made her uncomfortable. It didn't matter, she'd come to him in time, and for his part, they were friends.

"Hey sempai!" said Shinobu, popping up next to him. "Isn't this fun? I've never been to the festival in such a large group!"

"Yeah!" he said. "The more the merrier, right?"

Naru came down the stairs and locked eyes with him. Even though he didn't understand why she was mad at him, he figured the sooner he apologized, the sooner he could fix things between them.

"Hey, Naru. I just wanted to say I'm so…"

She beat him over the head, not saying a word.

"That didn't seem too fun," he heard Su say behind him. "Did you have fun Keitaro?"

"Not really," he said, rubbing the spot sorely. "Come on, Su, let's get ready to go."

The front door open and Seta appeared with Sarah, and with that the group was ready to go to the festival. Seta and Haruka spent time talking together in hushed voices, before they tried their hand at a shooting game.

Keitaro opted out and the Hina girls, save for Motoko joined the game.

"I've never liked guns," he said softly.

"Me neither," Motoko said. "I prefer chopsticks."

"Chopsticks?"

She grinned mischievously and pulled out several chopsticks from her Kimono, throwing them carefully, and each on hit her mark. It was a truly impressive display.

"Motoko strikes again!" shouted Su.

"That is not normal!" Keitaro shouted. "Fine, let me have a shot at this!"

"You're no shot," said Seta.

Keitaro grabbed up the pretend gun and took a careful aim at his target and pulled the trigger. He missed the target… by a full four inches.

"Wow…" said everyone softly.

"Um," said Shinobu. "Nice try sempai?"

"This is why I'm not training to be a gunman."

Kitsune and Motoko were trying hard not to laugh. Naru had no such reservations and laughed openly. Keitaro actually didn't mind though. It was a kind of funny display of his lack of aim. The moment Seta walked over to him, Naru stopped laughing and leapt up.

"Seta!" she called. "Why don't we go try the golden-fish dip?"

"Oh," he said, with his ever-present smile. "What about Keitaro and the group?"

"Why mention Keitaro?" she asked, dismissively. "After all, anyone who attacks helpless girls is worse than scum, right?"

"Oh thanks for that," Keitaro muttered. "No really, that feels great."

"Try not to hold it against her," Motoko said. "Seta is an object of obsession for her. She's one of the examples of people changed by love. You see?"

"I don't know that this is a changed Naru. After all, she's practically been bi-polar with me from day one."

She laughed softly, and held a hand to her mouth. It was a gentler side of Motoko than he usually saw, and he had to admit, it was cute. Of course, he'd never say it out loud.

"There's not need to be concerned about a stupid pervert," Naru was saying to Seta.

"Urgh," Keitaro said, turning to Motoko again. "Hey Motoko?"

"Yes, Urashima?"

"Would you want to go look around for a bit?"

"Oh?" she started, raising an eyebrow. "You don't want to look around with Naru?"

"No," he said, raising his voice just slightly. "Anyone who can't accept apologies and often resorts to unprovoked violence isn't really someone I want to spend time with."

"You realize you just insulted Naru for being violent, and then offered to walk around with me instead."

"You never attacked me without a reason. You just hurried to conclusions a bit. Besides, you haven't attacked me recently. When was the last time you sent me flying away?"

"Two days again during our spar."

In a moment, he realized she was trying to make a joke, and he laughed graciously. Motoko laughed along and he could hear her voice. She had a truly great laugh. It was light, but genuine. It said that she was having a great time, and revealed some of the woman beyond the kendo girl.

Keitaro spent the rest of the night with Motoko, playing games and eating traditional Japanesse snacks, and had a great time. He couldn't help but compare it to his trip to Okinawa with Naru. He hadn't been hit, wasn't broke and wasn't consistently regretting his choice. This should be what it was like to be with a friend, he decided: Good food, stupid jokes and having fun.

"Hey Motoko," he said, suddenly. "Thanks for tonight. Honestly, this is the most fun I've had in a while now."

She looked back at him, confused.

"You're welcome, Urashima."

"You know, you can call me Keitaro."

She suddenly stiffened slightly.

"Sorry," she said. "I always referred to you as Urashima… It is proper. You are my manager after all."

"And your student… and, as far as I'm concerned, your friend."

She looked over at him, and he saw realization flash in her eyes.

"Yes," she said. "We're friends… Keitaro."

He smiled and for the rest of the night, nothing could possibly be wrong. Right as this thought hit him, the fireworks started overhead. Admittedly, this made things slightly more awkward. They were pretty, but usually if a couple enjoy the fireworks celebration, it was romantic, not just friendship.

Still, all-in-all, it was a damn great night.

When Keitaro finally awoke the next morning, he was feeling very relaxed and well rested. He stretched and washed his face, ready for another day running the insanity that was their seaside restaurant.

"Hey aunt Haruka!" he said as he came down the stairs.

"Keitaro," called Kitsune, setting down two drinks. "They need you in back, people are flooding in!"

"Got you!"

Keitaro threw on his apron and dashed into the kitchen, where poor Shinobu was trying not to become overwhelmed. He dashed about in slightly messy coordination with her and they put their noses to the grindstone to get up to speed on the orders. Luckily, the atmosphere on the floor was great and people where happy to get good food and drink served by lovely women.

"So how are we doing in profits?" he asked.

"We're doing far better than I thought we would," said Haruka. "In fact, if you lot want, I think I can let you go after today."

"Yeah," said Keitaro. "I think it's time to get back to work."

"I've had my fill of partying," said Kitsune.

"Keitaro and I need to get back into training. If he's gotten sloppy because of this, I'll have to work him twice as hard."

Keitaro silently prayed he had not gotten sloppy.

Struggling to keep meeting with the day's demands, Keitaro and Shinobu were finally glad when Haruka changed the open sign to closed.

"Ok guys," she said. "You can get packed and head back to the Hina apartments if you want now."

"Wait, what about this place?" asked Kitsune.

"Who will take care of you?" asked Su.

"I've got some guys for that."

As if one cue, eight bald men in suits showed up, and began cleaning the place from top to bottom.

"I feel sorry for tomorrow's customers," said Naru. "They've gotten beautiful women like us for the past few days, and now it's this lot."

"Too true," muttered Keitaro, so she couldn't hear him.

It was about nine at night or so when Keitaro was packed up and ready to go. He decided to take one last stroll on the beach before they went home. The night air was cool and refreshing and the sound of the waves gently hitting the beach shore sent and eerie calm over him. He allowed himself to focus went through the forms of his aikido training that Motoko had taught him.

There was no denying she'd been right about this stance. The flow and style of the defense worked much better for him. The footing and handholds were practically second nature to him, and he agreed with her that in a year or so, he could be pretty formidable if he wanted.

It was at this point in his training that he hard a soft noise behind him. That was all the warning he got before the doom van came barreling out of the sand right at him. He leapt high and left out of the way until the van came to a stop, upside down.

"Hey there," said Seta, as if bumping into him at a tea shop. "How have you been today?"

"Well enough," said Keitato, wondering if Seta's constant head wounds were causing brain damage.

"Listen. I've got to go on another trip pretty soon."

"You need me to watch Sarah?"

"Yes, but it goes beyond that. I can't have a child with me if I'm going to be living such a sporadic lifestyle. Haruka and I discussed it and we agreed Sarah should stay at the Hina apartments."

"Um… But… I don't…"

"Of course, I'll make sure you get what would be rent for her. You have plenty of space, right?"

"Well yeah… but…"

"So it's no problem then!"

"Sure."

Keitaro rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling far more tired. Seta eyed him curiously before fully exiting his van.

"Keitaro, I heard from Motoko that you're practicing aikido?"

"Huh? Well, yeah. She's training me anyway."

"How good are you?"

"Still pretty new. I haven't beat her yet."

"How about you two see what you can do against me?"

"You two?" he asked, looking around.

Sure enough, Motoko was there, adorned in her usual training gear.

"I don't think we can…"

"We accept," said Motoko.

"Motoko!" he said nervously. "Seta's actually a really good fighter! I mean, I saw him…"

"Don't lose your warrior spirit Keitaro."

He stopped and thought about it. That was the spirit she'd always tried to impress upon him: Never give up, never give in! He got into the starting stance and nodded, ready to fight.

Seta adopted the starting style of Jujitsu and Keitaro smiled. He'd have the advantage here, knowing the forms and style. Motoko got ready and Seta pressed his attack. Keitaro dodge swiftly, then slipped behind Seta, moving to grab his arm. In a display of speed he would've thought impossible, Seta kicked Keitaro squarely in the stomach.

He doubled over, trying to recover as Motoko covered him. She was swift, and graceful as ever, but Seta's speed was unreal, and he wasn't pulling his punches. Keitaro got back up on his feet and moved forward, combining his knowledge of taekwondo and jujitsu to press an attack. It was a very improvised style and that meant it was unrefined, but unpredictable.

He was actually driving the older man back, even if he couldn't land a hit. However, Seta was a truly skilled artist and swept Keitaro's legs from beneath him before throwing a punch. Keitaro expected the follow up and grabbed Seta's wrist, throwing him into the sand.

Motoko was there, flying down on Seta like a lightning bolt. She drove him back to where Keitaro was waiting. Seta knew where he was, but couldn't focus on the two of them at once and Keitaro landed a solid strike on Seta's already bleeding head. The older man stood, holding out his hand.

"Very good!" he said, clapping. "You're both growing into exceptionally skilled martial artists, and you work well together. Give it a year and you may actually be a real threat, Keitaro. Remind me to talk to you about going to America next time I'm making a trip there. It's crazy, but it's a good experience."

"I don't think Seta understands that I just want to be a simpler guy than him," Keitaro muttered. "He wants me to watch Sarah, get into Tokyo U, master aikido and travel to America?"

"Why not?" asked Motoko, seriously. "You always were determined. I'm sure you can do these things if you want to."

He considered it. There was a chance she was right. After all, he was still young, with a lot of life ahead of him, assuming Seta didn't kill him with his doom van.

"So," he asked. "Do I have to get whipped back into shape, or am I ok?"

"You pass," she said, nodding. "For now."