A/N: And I'm back. Here's the new chapter, I hope all of you enjoy it.

"Mmh~?" Caleb grumbles from his place on his couch, not exactly a comfortable thing to sleep on, but it sufficed. Sure, he has his own bed, but the couch was closer and he could actually reach for his phone without too much moving.

Like now, his internal clock was telling him that he's been asleep for a while, but the vibration of his phone woke him up. The phone he forgot to put to charge…

Grunting, he shifts as his hand palms the floor, looking for his floor until he grabs it and turns it on, flinching as the light dims on its own and he sees the single notification.

Ikaruga…

He tries to ignore the strange feelings that came from his stomach and his cheek as he opens the message, sleep trying to take him once more as he read the message.

It was a request for...something.

His eyes blur as he responds that he accepts before adding to not cause a ruckus.

He wasn't sure what he just accepted to doing, but it'll be troublesome anyways. He didn't know just how troublesome it'd be for him.

Ikaruga, before sending the message, was pacing within her small room, one of many within a house the five are using as housing, even if Asuka did live pretty close and occasionally visited to eat some futomaki rolls. The message was...scandalous, it was immoral, it was…

Ikaruga's thoughts have been going haywire ever since she suggested it to Kiriya-sensei. It might be the weekend, but the Hanzo students still need to train, even if their base and the school is being cleaned for bugs, so cram school, activities, and their training within has been canceled under 'official' capacity.

While the girls could go on a trip and train in the mountains, they already have something similar scheduled so at the moment, not to mention that their own boarding house will be inspected for bugs, so they need somewhere to stay while they train. While all of them know various people, they only really trust one person to not only hold their own if something were to happen, while also having a strangely broad patchwork of knowledge, especially when it comes to combat.

It had her befuddled, but also anxious since, for some reason, she can't help but be overtly conscious of the young man and the message she wants to send, simply a request for help and assistance, nothing more and nothing less. Yet, each time she tries…

"…" She glares at the phone in her hands, a finger tapping on the side as she narrows her eyes further until they're closed. "Mmmmh~." She groans under her breath as she leans forward, her hair like a curtain covering her flustered expression.

Who am I? Katsuragi? It's like I'm asking him to let me be in his bed!

Her mind can't help but go down various different 'routes' the visit can go, not to mention how rude it feels, especially since he helped her multiple times and she hasn't done anything to repay any of it.

Slowly, she deletes the message, composing a different one as she frowns with each word, like she was composing a letter rather than talking to a friend as she paused. Suddenly, she wondered, "Could he understand it?"

Though it's a bit presumptuous, she knew that foreigners tended to know only certain characters of their language, even if they can speak it. With her upbringing, things like calligraphy are second nature to her, so even if she's gotten better at being more relaxed, she tends to default to writing like she's composing a letter when stressed.

Gradually, the characters on the text began to change as she deleted it before re-typing it in Engli-, "Why am I typing it in English of all things!?"

For all her time in high society, the sparkles hiding the conspiracies, and in Japanese society, where the nail that sticks out gets hammered, she has no idea how to deal with someone like Caleb.

There's not a doubt in her mind that he's not American with his attitude, yet there was something...liberating about that, she's not the daughter of the Phoenix Conglomerate or a Shinobi, just...Ikaruga in his eyes.

Not to mention that she still owes him for his help against the Evil Shinobi. After a bit of thinking, she finally sends a message she believes is appropriate.

Caleb, I hope you're well, fights aren't the easiest thing to recover from, sadly, I wish I could be saying that this message is just me checking up on you as an upperclassman should, but it's not to be. We were hoping if you'd allow us to use your home as a temporary base over the weekend while training, the school is going to be closed for fumigation to look for bugs so we can't go and train there. It'll only be until the school opens up once more, but I'd greatly appreciate a quick answer.

She reads it over, grimacing at how stuffy it sounded as she reluctantly presses 'send' on her phone, putting it on the desk of her room as she goes to her bookshelf for a boo-.

With a subtle ring that resembled a bell in Ikaruga's eye, she leaps for the phone in a blur, the only evidence of her movement being the ensuing breeze as she read the message.

She sighs, her heart lighter as she smiles before stopping herself, "What am I doing?!"

She went to sleep, her heart conflicting with the peace and anxiety that warred against itself.

Caleb was not used to dreams, nightmares, sure, but that's probably because those tend to be particularly harrowing or dull in a very...strange way. Maybe it's his connection to the supernatural, but his dreams tend to be very...jumbled, constantly shifting between strange to downright horrifying, or what little he can remember when he wakes up.

So, after cutting up some meat from the animal he recently hunted and scrounging through his Bag of Holding for some eggs, taking out some spices, he makes himself some breakfast for early morning training.

Once more, he finds himself in the clearing he met Hibari in, closing his eyes as he wears a long-sleeve shirt and jogging pants. "Right," he starts slowly, spinning the kukri, the Tiger Fang, in hand as he gets into his stance, "should be far enough." Once more, he takes a deep breath, instead of the cool air acting as it would and calming him, he could feel the wind stoke the primal rage within him, slowly turning those breaths into long breaths that resembled savage inhales of the beast while he teetered right on the line between man and beast.

The Tiger Claw style is one of raw savagery, falling into bestial instincts with the thought of man only worsening the practitioner's stance or actions. It's a difficult style to master as training can only be done in solitude lest one of two things happen, either the other person dies or they get injured.

It's also one that ignores the limits of the human body, so he's going to be training for a long while.

Good. He'll need it if he'll be fighting the girls, adaptable and varied his skillset might be, it's for naught if he keels over from using a few high level maneuvers, and these girls have the energy to do so.

It's almost theraupetic as his body goes through the stances and maneuvers of the Tiger Claw style, my mind going to my use of them on that man's mindless slaves when he escaped. Gradually, he lost himself in a haze of anger and savagery.

Meanwhile, the lock of his house clicks and Katsuragi opens, "We're here, Caleb~!"

"Katsu-nee!" Asuka hissed, trying to stop her upperclassmen from entering like she owns the place. "Don't just barge in!"

"Show some propriety!" Ikaruga scolds, even if she also removed her shoes at the entrance.

"Well, he told you we could come as long as we don't make a mess, right?" She asks Ikaruga as she nods, Hibari and Yagyu filtering in, the former's eyes going all around in curiosity while the latter didn't even bat an eye as she sat down on a stool by his kitchen.

"It's cramped." Yagyu complained as Katsuragi hopped over the couch and rested on his bed.

"Duh, it's a studio, meant for one person, not five." Katsuragi pointed out as Hibari, Ikaruga, and Asuka looked around curiously. "What are you doing? Come on in. He invited us, so even if he isn't here, he'd know we're here."

"We're not here to relax." Ikaruga reminds her with a stern glare, "We're here to train."

"His taste in clothes is bland." Yagyu points out, looking in the closet as the Hanzo Squad all gape at her. "What? It's standard procedure, we need to make sure there are no bugs here too."

Katsuragi jumped out of his bed and picked up the mattress, flipping it over as the others did the same for various reasons beyond just looking for bugs.

"I think it suits him." Hibari says as Yagyu shifts so Hibari could look at the floor and Yagyu does the same, "What's this?" Hibari asks as she reaches for a box as she opens it, her eyes widening and flashing in childish glee. "No way!"

"Did you find his porn!?" Katsuragi asked immediately, causing Ikaruga and Asuka to perform a double take, choking on their own spit as the blonde surged forward. "Is it cosplay? I knew it was. Is it maids or cheerleaders?"

"It's a digivice!" Hibari cheers, bringing up the small silver device, old but still intact as Hibari hums, "I didn't know he had one of these!?"

Yagyu, Ikaruga and Katsuragi ask in unison, "Digivice?"

Asuka, meanwhile, "Really? He never took me as the type, was Digimon popular in America?"

"I heard it was." Hibari notes with a hand to her chin as she looked the Digivice over. "Mou~, I always wanted one when I was younger. I'm so jealous~."

While the two talked, even if neither actually knew much about the franchise beyond random facts, Yagyu watched Hibari, a question coming up in her mind.

Did Nozomi also like Digimon?

She watched, bringing up a hand to the eyepatch she wore as the pain returns once more but she sighs. It's not a question that'll be answered anytime soon, still… She watches Hibari inspect it excitedly as the conversation shifts from Digimon to foreign matters.

"Yeah, my mom really loves foreign music." Asuka says, leaning back as Ikaruga nods along. "Things like Queen, Led Zeppelin, and other stuff, there was this one singer she loved that I just can't remember his name, but he was an amazing singer."

"My own parents are similar." Ikaruga answered, pointedly ignoring mentioning the head of the Phoenix Conglomerate to differentiate who she's talking about as she continues searching the room for bugs. "They loved listening to rap, even before they knew what it was or where it came from. The moment they figured it out, they ordered a bunch of CDs and a stereo. Whenever we were relaxing after training, my dad would always put Wu-Tang Clan and similar. They'd also put Japanese raps but they're the only names I can remember from the big collection they had."

"Wow," Katsuragi said, narrowing her eyes with a smug grin, "I didn't know Ikaruga was familiar with such interesting rappers." She said, despite not knowing them, but aware that American rap tends to be littered with swear words as Ikaruga blushes.

"...It took a lot of practice to get those kinds of words out of my vocabulary when I speak English." She admits as the others laugh at their senior's sheepish attitude. "What about you, Yagyu?"

"I'm not interested unless Hibari is." Yagyu answers evenly, after all Japan, an island nation, had better access to fish than America probably does. But she is a bit curious about what is out there.

"Really? I wanna see the Cheesecake Factory!" Hibari cheers as the others nod with chuckles, silence coming over them as they check the time.

"Huh...He's been gone for a while." Katsuragi notes, turning to the others, "Think he got caught up in something?"

"He'll live, he's done so until now." Yagyu notes, as Hibari pouts causing Yagyu to sigh. "But...we should go check on him." She says while standing up and Hibari follows her. "We'll check the North."

"I'll do South." Katsuragi follows as Ikaruga and Asuka follow, the former going West where her parent's shop is while Ikaruga goes East.

Meanwhile, Caleb sighs, practically covered in sweat as he focuses on his breathing, making sure to keep his heart, ki, and body steady. "Right. I can control it somewhat."

Individually, using techniques from the Tiger Claw discipline is easy, but entrenching yourself in the style? That's another thing entirely, and it's especially hard when girls are around, not to mention the Hanzo girls, with how attractive each one is…

Teenage hormones, beastly instinct, draconic instincts (diluted they might be), and attractive girls do not mix well, as one would expect.

Not to mention-.

A familiar smell filters into his nose as he groans, recognizing the smell of Hibari and Yagyu, clamping down on his instincts as he sits up, watching as Hibari lands with a stumble as Yagyu catches her. "Thank you." Hibari says with a smile, Yagyu's expression becoming one of satisfaction before Hibari turns to me. "Caleb~! Are you okay?!" She yells, running in my direction before stopping as she helps him up. Meanwhile, Yagyu noticed the grooves on the surrounding trees and the earth, like a beast came by and started mindlessly tearing everything apart. Considering there wasn't evidence of a beast, it must have caught something and started trouble before Caleb got here.

"Fine." He answers, his voice gruff from the growls that burst up in his training before he coughs into a fist and repeating it. "Fine. Just doing some training."

"If this is how you're left after a simple morning of training, I wonder how you managed to go up against the Evil Shinobi." Yagyu snipes, mercifully unfurling her umbrella and casting a merciful shadow over Caleb and Hibari's forms from atop a stump. Probably the only merciful act she'd do to Caleb that day, and only because Hibari was with him.

For a second, Caleb appreciated, ignoring how Yagyu's short uniform skirt was a breeze away from flashing him and she knew, oh she hoped for it.

Anything to get an excuse to give him a good wallop.

A part of him hoped it did, he could take the wallop even in his exhausted state, and, as much as he hates to admit this, Yagyu does have nice thighs. A more primal part of him-.

He was horny, sue him.

"Anyway." He starts, looking at the other two, confusion clear on his face, "What are you two doing out here? Shouldn't you be training or something?"

"We are." Hibari admits before tilting her head, her confusion clear on her expression and her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Training." He answers, showing the Tiger Fang in his hand as Hibari's eyes brighten, "It's a style I picked up when I visited Indonesia. It's strong, but very…" He trailed off, unsure of how to explain the lie, considering he did learn a few martial arts there that could be seen as offshoots of the Tiger Claw discipline.

"Violent?" Hibari suggests, taking a look around.

"Savage?" Yagyu scoffs.

"Visceral." He answers as he looks at them both, the wind picking up slightly, Yagyu's singular visible eye narrowing from atop the stump she stood on, one leg already stretching it by twisting it in circular figures in a bet that the wind would raise her skirt high enough to give her an excuse to kick him rather than use her umbrella, considering she's using it to cover Hibari from the sun. To an extent, Caleb was getting very tempted to try crouching down and getting a look anyway.

Hibari pouts in jealousy, her own senses harnessed by her practice in the Setting Sun discipline, minor it might be, helping her discern the intent of both parties a lot easier than if she didn't practice what Caleb taught her. With one hand, she grabs Yagyu, pulling her down from her stump and pinching Caleb's side, the young man flinching as the two turn to her in confusion.

"Hibari?"

"Somethin' wrong?"

For a second, dread caught the two's heart at Hibari's smile, "It's nothing~." Hibari says as the ensuing silence stretched out for a few moments too long, way too much even for the usually unflappable duo.

"So, you never answered my question. Shouldn't you be training?" He asked once more as Yagyu and Hibari looked at each other, Hibari pouting and Yagyu sending him a disappointed look. "What?"

"Caleb~." Hibari said, the dreadful feeling she gave him gone, replaced by amusement at her own attempt at a disappointed look. "It's not nice to-huh?" She says, blinking, before narrowing her eyes.

"Hibari?" Yagyu asks as Hibari tilts her own head in confusion.

"You're not lying." She notes as Yagyu turns to Caleb.

"Didn't Ikaruga send you a message yesterday?" Yagyu asks as Caleb goes for his phone.

"I think she did. I was pretty tired so I went to sleep pretty early, I think her message woke-." He paused, checking his phone as he blinked, stopping his words in his tracks as his smile twitches along with his brow.

The reaction caused Yagyu's usually unflappable expression to curl into a smug smile that would have tempted anyone, man or woman, to punch her, it was an expression laced with a tinge of sadistic amusement and satisfaction.

"Well," he started, unsure of what to do but accept it, after all it is a good chance to get to know the girls better…

But to this extent…

"I'm so sorry!" Ikaruga starts, bowing at the waist as Katsuragi laughs herself silly and Asuka scratches her cheek. "I should have known you would be exhausted, especially after fighting an Evil Shinobi."

"It's fine." Caleb tried to assure her for the fifth time after Hibari contacted them, "You had your own thing to worry about and it slipped your mind."

"No." Katsuragi interjects, strangely serious as she stands beside Caleb, pointing at a downcast Ikaruga, "Is this how a Shinobi rights their wrong, Ikaruga! You know that there's only one way to make up for such a thing."

Even Asuka could tell where this was going as she stepped back, Ikaruga's guilt and desperation making her turn to Katsuragi for guidance on how to make amends.

It was like watching a car crash, but far less visceral as Ikaruga looks up, turning to Katsuragi, the perverted blonde, as she asks, "I...don't understand what you're saying."

"Of course you don't!" Katsuragi said, "Now straighten out your back and puff out your sweater pu-." she stops and continues, "Puff out your chest."

"Righ-Huh?" It seems like she realized a bit too late what she was doing, proudly straightening up like a soldier as she puffs out her chest only to be too late as Katsuragi seems to blur behind her with speed and agility expected of someone who practices the Diamond Mind discipline, acting upon openings.

It's a shame that she's using it for such perverse reasons as her hands clamp on Ikaruga's chest, the girl yelping as her face turns redder than a tomato as Katsuragi giggles perversely while Ikaruga stifles her moans. "You gotta use these jiggly God-given gifts Ikaruga?" She whispers as, unbeknownst to Katsuragi, Ikaruga was reaching up behind her, "How else are you-Ah!"

With a loud thud, Katsuragi's back hits the earth, grunting as she tries to blink away the spots that came from such a picture perfect throw that, while not to the level of Hibari's, was still very strong.

Except the danger and pain didn't stop there as Ikaruga grasped the air, Hien appearing in her hand a second later as she raises it up and slams it down, still sheathed where Katsuragi's head is supposed to be. Katsuragi turns, the sheathed blade stabbing deep into the earth while her pupils dilated and her eyes wide, slowly, she looks up watching as Ikaruga's hair floats in the air like a demented spirit.

Her blue eyes beamed her thoughts directly into Katsuragi's head, as she tilted her sheathe still buried within the earth, slowly extracting her nodachi from its sheathe as she got into her stance while Katsuragi rolled to her feet, a burst of ki coming from Katsuragi, her clothes taking the nature it usually does in combat. "Hey now, Ikaruga, let's calm down and think about what we're doing."

Ikaruga's form flares out ki, coalescing around her uniform as she gets in her stance. "I am. You need practice with that new stance, right? You said that Caleb used tennis balls to test it." She notes coldly as Katsuragi gulps.

With a shift of her stance and the subtle click of her sword, blue flames licked the sword before it became an inferno that narrowed, Katsuragi rapidly paling while Ikaruga's expression was cold, "While I lack access to his balls," Caleb had to turn away for a second, hiding his laugh with his hand, while Asuka and Hibari looked on in shock and a tinge of amusement, Katsuragi had to suck in her lips so she wouldn't laugh and enrage Ikaruga further, "I believe Hien's flame will make for a sufficient substitute."

"Oi! Help me over here, stop her!" Katsuragi said desperately, her eyes switching desperately from Ikaruga to her underclassmen.

Except, they were gone, the wind kicking up dust as Katsuragi turns to Ikaruga as she prepared to swing. "Traitors!" Katsuragi yelled as she got into the stance she was taught and began her own training.

The group of four rested on the various branches of a tree, hidden by the foliage as Yagyu leaned on the trunk, Hibari hanging upside down from a branch beside her, Asuka crouched on a different branch under Yagyu and Hibari, while Caleb sat on a different branch, leaning against the trunk. "They're not gonna burn down the forest, right?"

"It shouldn't." Yagyu answers as she closes her paper umbrella, leaving Caleb at the mercy of the sun considering the angle she was at, leaving him blinded for a second.

"...Bitch." He hissed under his breath.

"Dumbass." She retorted immediately as the two of them glared at each other once more, neither Hibari or Asuka noticing as they look at Katsuragi and Ikaruga actually practicing as Ikaruga slowly loses the anger she had from Katsuragi's groping as it turned into frustration at the fact that she kept missing Katsuragi while Katsuragi used the stance Caleb taught her.

"Still," Caleb trailed off, watching his upperclassmen practice as he couldn't help but chuckle lightly as he continues, "you've gotta admit, she walked right into that one."

"Like a bird crashing against a window." Yagyu observes out loud, a slight tinge of amusement in her voice.

"More like a phoenix." Hibari notes with a giggle.

"C'mon. She did have a lot on her mind." Asuka notes even with her own amused smile.

For a while the quartet watch, Yagyu interested in the sharp increase in Katsuragi's skill from that single stance Caleb taught her, similar to Hibari's own. Especially in her ability to sense things. Asuka and Hibari were too, but unlike Hibari, Asuka had something else bubble up.

"Um-." Hibari started first but Asuka hopped onto Caleb's branch as she grabs his hands and clasps them, startling Caleb as her eyes shined with resolve. Firmly, she bowed.

"Caleb," she starts, "please, help me get stronger." She asks, as Caleb looked at her in confusion.

"And why are you asking me?" He asks, befuddled as Asuka continues, hands still around his as she crouches, her eyes glowing as Caleb looks away, "Can't you ask Katsuragi and Ikaruga?"

"I can, but…" She trails off, a slight blush tinging her cheeks as she suddenly ad trouble looking him in the eye, occasionally glancing at him as she didn't seem like a government agent supposedly trained in assassination and espionage. She seemed like an average pretty girl. Finally, she answers, "Because I want you to do it. You know a lot of techniques, and, maybe, one of them will give me the edge I need." She says, almost desperately, her eyes still going everywhere but his face.

From her position hanging upside down, Hibari began to pout, her senses informing her of Asuka's true intention and motive as she couldn't help the ugly feeling that bloomed from her as she looked down, or up in this case, at her chest. Especially since she could see that Caleb's own gaze occasionally went to Asuka's own chest.

As she reached out to grab it, Yagyu could only glare heatedly at Caleb while he ignored it with practiced ease. After a second of deliberation, while his eyes did not wander to places they shouldn't,

After a second, he sighs, "Fine." He relents as Asuka's eyes finally land on his, practically glowing as he sighs. "Let me-umph!"

"Oh, thank you so much Caleb!" Asuka cheered, hugging Caleb into her breasts, causing Hibari to nearly fall out of the tree as even Yagyu seems surprised at Asuka's boldness.

Meanwhile, Caleb taps Asuka repeatedly, but the brunette wasn't letting go any time soon. After a while, he stopped trying to escape.

Asuka fidgeted in the new clearing the group found themselves in, Yagyu and Hibari sparring a distance away and occasionally glancing at the two as Caleb looked through Reshar's journal. "What are you so shy about?"

"N-Nothing!" She jerks, her blush still glowing on her cheeks from embarrassment at her actions while Caleb sighed, raising his journal to hide his own blush as he finally finds the maneuver he was going to teach Asuka.

"Claw at the Moon." He says under his breath, stowing away the journal while he flips the Tiger Fang in his hand, the growl of a tiger lightly echoing in the clearing as Caleb reaches into his bag and brings out the Eventide's Edge, the short sword in his hand as he gets into the stance with the mindset of the Tiger Claw discipline.

Slowly, he feels the rage bubble up as he takes a deep breath and sets his target.

Before Asuka could ask what the words meant, he leaps into action, closing meters as he jumped a long distance and swung, ki coalescing around his arms in the form of claws, carving into the tree along with the blades as he landed, the trunk of the tree now cut into dozens of pieces as he releases a breath, twirling the Eventide's Edge and turning to the surprised looks of the other girls.

"That's the maneuver known as Claw at the Moon." He answers as he gets into his stance again, Asuka reluctantly stepping back as he continues, "I hope you payed attention, but if you didn't don't worry."

Asuka, gulped audibly, apprehensive at what would usually be a nice smile, a burst of ki and she brought up her twin wakizashis at the right time as the claws of ki hit her swords first, his voice quietly adding, "Because you're going to be very familiar with this maneuver very soon." Then, his blades finally connected with her own as she was knocked back, Caleb landing close as he dashed forward in a bid to attack.

She swung a sword, Caleb parrying it with his own while ducking the second attack, twirling the Tiger Fang in a reverse grip as he swings, Asuka leaping back as she notes that the move is similar to her own Secret Ninja Art. The glaring difference is that unlike hers, where ki covers her sword, this one is four attacks, the first two are the 'claws' that are formed from his ki and then the blades themselves.

Bringing up both blades, she blocks the dual overhead attack before coughing, Caleb's foot digging into her stomach as she stumbles back, falling to a knee to take a breath and Caleb was already in the air, practically a missile as the move lands and Asuka's back hits a tree.

She looks down at her clothes, blushing at the exposure before realizing how much damage it did, claw marks ripping her clothes and the slashes as she gulps.

Her senses blare out as she rolls to the side, Caleb's foot leaving a mark on the tree she was resting against as she slashes, Caleb swerving to the side as the pommel of the short sword knocks against the side of her head before the kukri slashes at her leg and she tries to swing at him as he brings up as he swerves.

Asuka feels a burst of guilt as she could feel her wakizashi cut at the young man only to blink in confusion as he didn't have the injury. Of course, if she checked, she would have seen one of his rings was no longer dark, as he reached up and rubbed where the cut should have been and huffed.

Shaking her head for a second, Asuka crouches and attempts to perform the maneuver, except her leap was not as fast or as high as Caleb's, so he simply ducks under it and sends a palm strike to her exposed chin as she lands on her back.

She groans, rubbing her cheek as Caleb crouches over her, "You're doing it wrong." He points out as Asuka had to stop herself from giving him an exasperated look as he offers his hand. Grabbing it, he helps her up as he smiles kindly, his handsome face causing Asuka to blush before it's gone a second later.

"Right, let's try again." He says, lettging go of her hand as Asuka was, once more, introduced to Caleb's maneuvers.