Kenichi: Not just her disciple
I do not own Kenichi.
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AN: Hello readers. Thank you for patiently waiting for another chapter. I am still only updating about once a month. My main focus is still on my Familiar Of Zero story.
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Chapter 6
Preparations
Kenichi walks down a hall of the spa while wearing a very simple navy robe that was provided by the resort.
He comes across a doorway with the words Zen Walking Garden above it.
"I've heard of these, but I have never been to one. I think I'll give it a try since I am here."
After turning a corner, he is met with beautiful sights and sounds.
He enters into a very long and wide room. The walls of the room are garnished with plants that are well taken care of. In the center of the wall along the left side is a built in waterfall. The sounds of the waterfall fill the room with a very relaxing sound. The outer edges of the room are also lined with wood planks.
Kenichi looks at the center of the room. It is a large Zen garden. Inside of this Zen garden is a path laid out in stone that has 3 areas where the path circles to a central point with a pillar in the center. The garden also has a set of raised wooden planks on it that seem to be only used by employees.
Several other people are in the room.
A man appears in front of him on the raised planks. The man appears to be in his 40's and has a very calm aura about it.
"Hello. I am one of the caretakers of this Zen Walking Garden."
He motions to the Garden.
"Feel free to walk the garden with one mind/one body, but please do not break the Zen of the path and step over it. Cheating will not help you or anyone else. Make sure to absorb the paintings in the centers of the three circles. Please be mindful and cautious to the other people walking the path. The paintings and this room were created by a master of Zen artistry."
"Thank you."
Kenichi steps into the garden through a narrow entrance next to the man on the planks.
The simplicity and flow of the path is very relaxing combined with the sounds of the waterfall.
He circles around to the center of the first circle. On the pillar is a painting.
He raises an eyebrow.
'How is this supposed to be Zen? This is just a bunch of Zen items in a picture.' He thinks to himself.
He stops looking at the painting and notices an older man in his 60's at the next circle.
Even though he is being mindful of the man, he starts to lose his patience after watching the man stare at the painting for a minute.
He crosses his arms.
The worker in the room walks over to the planks that are nearest to Kenichi and whispers to him.
"You must have a very unquiet mind my friend."
Kenichi gives him a puzzled look.
"You must very a very anxious or troubled person. Perhaps that is why you are here. A quiet mind is a patient mind. Please look at the painting again, but REALLY look at it this time. Let the painting tell you when to stop looking."
After the worker says that, he walks away.
"What does he mean by that?" Kenichi thinks as he scratches his head.
After a shrug, he stares into the painting again.
As he stares and really looks at it, his view of it becomes different.
The painting starts changing to him even though it doesn't really change.
Something inside of him clicks as the puzzle unfolds.
A sigh and a smile come from him as if he finished it.
He looks over and the older man is no longer there.
'How long was I standing here?'
He moves on.
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Shigure and Saori are in a clothing store.
Saori has the look of a woman on a mission as she looks through the racks of clothes.
'I'm just going to be seeing Kenichi. Why is she being so particular?' Shigure thinks.
Saori picks up a top from one of the racks. Her nose curls after a moment and she puts it back on the rack.
"So, Shigure, What is it that you like about him? I can tell that you have feelings for him, but what is it about him that you like? It is good for a mother to know these things."
Shigure pauses a moment.
"I . . . never . . . . really thought . . . . about it. . . I just . . . do."
Saori pics up another top and places it against Shigure. She shakes her head and puts it back.
"I guess I can understand why you said that, but I would like something a little better than that."
Shigure sits down on a mini bench that is inside of the store. With an elbow on the arm of the bench, she rests her head in her hand as she starts really thinking about why she likes him.
Saori glances over to Shigure every so often as she keeps rifling through the racks.
The weapons master zones out as she starts thinking about Kenichi and imagines him in her head.
"He is . . . . . handsome."
"That is good. Being physically attracted to him is very good. What else?" Saori says from around a rack.
"He's. . . not fake. He. . . really is. . . honest . . . and caring."
Saori swoons after hearing that come out of Shigure's mouth.
'I still would like to learn more about how she feels for him and why.'
"That's a really good answer. I am really glad you see that. What else is there?"
Shigure looks up.
"Is this. . . an . . . interrogation?"
"Welllllllll"
Saori looks up while tapping her chin.
"My son did pose the question as to why a master would be interested in her disciple. So I figured that I would find out."
"I . . . am . . . a woman . . . . after all."
"This is true, but what about the fact that you are so much stronger than he is? Doesn't that bother you?"
Shigure goes into master mode.
"He trains with all of his heart and never gives up when he starts. He has the potential to be a master himself."
Master mode switches off.
'So that's what it takes to really get her going huh?'
"It . . . also . . . doesn't . . . really bother. . . me. . . if he. . . is . . or isn't. . . . I . . . just. . . like him."
Shigure looks up to see Saori bent over and looking at her with a soft smile.
"Thank you Shigure. I've heard what I really wanted to hear."
She stands erect and Shigure could see that she has a handful of tops, bottoms, and even a dress in her hands.
"Now you need to try these on."
Shigure gulps.
'I just want to see Kenichi.' Shigure inwardly whines.
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Shigure finds herself changing into some underwear that Kenichi's mother had picked out for her.
'Why are we doing this again?'
"You are probably wondering why we are doing this."
'Does she know Akisame?'
"I asked you to do this because you can't just wear those wraps you were wearing with the nice clothes that we just bought. Besides, wouldn't you feel better wearing something nice if Kenichi accidently saw you?"
'I can't believe I just said that.' The mother thinks.
Shigure blushes as she finishes putting on the panties.
"Alright."
Saori peeks inside the changing room and blushes when she gets a good look at Shigure.
'She is really beautiful.'
She shakes her head and analyzes the bra that the weapons master had put on.
"Good. The shape and support are just right for you. Most women don't get the right kind of bra nowadays."
She pulls back out of the changing room and Shigure changes back into her attire.
"Are there any other pairs of underwear that you might want to look at before we move on to your swimsuit and a bag?"
Shigure scratches her head and picks up an odd pair of underwear that has cloth missing from where the crotch would be.
"What . . . is . . . this?"
Saori quickly covers her own eyes and holds out her hand.
"No, no, no. I am NOT ready for that. Please put that back."
She shrugs and puts it back.
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Kenich finishes the garden and the caretaker is there, waiting for him.
"You did well young one. You found your Zen in there and now you seem more relaxed than when you first started. Thank you for coming to The Zen Walking Garden." The caretaker says in a whisper."
Kenichi nods and then leaves.
As he continues, he comes across another set of doors with a woman about the same age as the caretaker from the garden. She is wearing a light colored yukata.
"What is this place?" He asks her.
"This is the sauna. This is where you can sweat away your troubles."
"That sounds nice."
She motions for him to enter.
"Make sure to leave your robe in the changing room and switch to the towel."
He starts to enter.
"Enjoy the experience."
After leaving his robe in a basket, he enters into the Sauna. There is another man in the room with him. He has a stone cold expression on his face and he has a pretty muscular build.
Kenichi sits down about 5 feet away from the man and takes in the heat. Eventually he starts sweating off the stress and fatigue of the past week.
After a minute, Kenichi looks at the man.
'He hasn't budged at all since I've been in here.'
He starts to reach for the man's shoulder and is about to touch it.
Slowly turning his head, the man looks at Kenichi.
Kenichi just about jumps out of his skin when the man looks at him.
"It's hot." He says to Kenichi.
Then he smiles at Kenichi.
"But this is really good for my aching body. It really works wonders." He says happily to the young martial artist.
He gets up and walks out.
Kenichi leans back and calmly reflects.
'What am I going to do about Miu and the others? It really broke my heart when I heard her say everything that she said. How do I handle being mad with only half of the people there at Ryozanpaku? I really hope they don't track me down out here. I guess it might not be so bad if it was just Shigure that came here.'
He puts his face in his hands.
'Why in the world did I tell her where I was going? Now that I know Miu's true feelings, my feelings for Shigure have really been surfacing. How would I hide these feelings if I go back to the dojo? It's not like my feelings for her will be returned either. She is my master. Why in the world would she feel for me like I do for her?'
"Ugh."
'She has been awful nice to me recently though. It's probably just because she feels bad about what Miu did to me. I still can't stop thinking about her though. The embrace she gave me when she caught me before hitting the wall didn't feel like she was just trying to shield me. It was warm and gentle despite the situation. And that dinner we shared in my bedroom was amazing. She seemed like she really enjoyed it too.'
He sighs.
"Oh well. I guess I will just have to chalk it up to another loss. I should just try to enjoy this time to relax for now."
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Along the drive to the resort.
"So I have one more thing to ask you about Shigure."
Shigure looks at her. She could see Saori's face harden as she gets ready to ask her question.
"You and the other masters seem really strong. Have any, or all of you, had to deal with Yami or Yomi?"
Shigure freezes and Saori notices through a sideways glance.
"I thought so. I heard about them through my own training, and I was told not to get involved with them. I was wondering if a group such as yours has had to deal with them. Does Kenichi know about them?"
Shigure shakes her head.
"The . . . . issue . . . has not . . . come up, and . . . . we haven't . . . . been thinking . . . about them."
Saori sighs.
"It's at least a partial relief that they haven't been around, but Kenichi needs to know about them. He is really becoming strong. I don't want him getting blind-sided by anything else. If they could become a threat, then he deserves to know. You can't just leave him in the dark until it becomes too late. I don't like the possibility of them becoming a threat to my son, but I can't choose his destiny for him. But I will be damned if he gets hurt because he is ill informed. You need to make sure he knows about them or I will tell him myself. If I have to tell him, then I will also tell him that that was also being kept secret from him."
The seriousness in her statement is felt by Shigure.
"I promise . . to tell . . . him."
"Even though it could jeopardize your relationship?"
Shigure sadly nods.
"And if he accepts it, then will you also make sure to keep watch over him."
She nods again in response.
Saori's face softens back to normal.
"Thank you for that Shigure. I appreciate your honest response. I feel good about you, and you have passed all of my expectations. I think you are a good fit for my son. I can tell both of you have feelings for each other."
"Thank . . . you."
"Please be good to my son. I love him dearly and I don't want him to get hurt again."
"I will."
The car slowly comes to a stop in front of the resort.
They both get out of the car, and Saori gets Shigure's new bag out of the back seat and hands it to her.
"So here is your bag. Are you ready for this?"
"Yes." Is her response to Saori.
"Good. Then the job of this little nakodo matchmaker is done."
To Shigure's surprise, Saori gives her a hug. The mother has a blush on her cheeks as she does this.
Shigure cants her head.
"Na . . . ko . . . do?"
After letting go of Shigure, Saori quickly goes around to the driver's side of the car and gets inside.
"Oh. Wait! There is one more thing Shigure."
Shigure bends over to look inside of the car.
"What . . is . . it?"
Kenichi's mother nervously gets a little pouch out of her purse and extends her arm out to Shigure while she closes her eyes and turns away.
"I am not condoning any lewd or sexual activity, but I am giving this to you just in case."
Shigure grabs the little pouch and opens it up to look inside. There is a condom and a little tube of lubricant inside. She blushes and closes the pouch back up.
"Now go to your fiancé." Are Saori's final words as she drives off.
Shigure cants her head to the side again.
"Fiance?"
She shrugs and turns around.
As she walks inside of the resort, she notices that she is turning a lot of heads.
'I hope Kenichi likes this dress as much as everyone else seems to.'
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Kenichi stretches his arms up and lets out a sigh and a smile.
'This place sure is nice. I can't believe that mom really let me have her ticket here.'
He makes his way to the hotel part of the resort, and to his room.
He uses his key card to unlock his room and he slowly opens the door. As the door opens he notices an extra robe lying on his bed. As the opens further, he sees a very attractively shaped woman bent over and rummaging through her bag. Her back is to him. The pink dress she is wearing has an open back and a skirt that goes down to just past her knees. A white belt wraps around her hips.
The woman stands straight up, but doesn't turn around.
He blushes and scratches the back of his head.
"I'm not sure how you got in here, but I think that you might have gotten into the wrong room."
She slowly turns to face Kenichi.
His eyes go wide as he sees and realizes who is in front of him.
The front of her dress becomes seen to him as it reveals a halter top that is tied behind the neck. It shows off a respectable amount of her cleavage.
His cheeks become greatly flushed and her cheeks become flushed too as she stares off to the side at the floor.
"Shi-Shigure?" He asks in disbelief.
She nervously nods, still not looking at him in the eyes.
Kenichi struggles to figure out what to say to her as a flood of emotions and thoughts enter his head.
"Yo-you're Beautiful."
A small smile starts to form on her face and she starts to raise her head.
Their eyes finally meet.
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A/N: Thank you for reading my Kenichi story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Just a reminder, I have a story under the Daily life with a monster girl category. It is called 'Monster Musume: Drago's Quest'.
My 'Familiar Of Zero: Saving Grace' story is up to Chapter 35