A/N: Don’t own any of the Love Hina legal mumbo jumbo, wish I did though. Sorry for the misfire earlier all, seems like good ol'ffDOTnet didn't like my scene breaks and erased them. Let's try this again, shall we?

Resheathed

A terrified scream ripped through the night, “KEITARO!” cried a frightened Motoko as she sat bolt up right in bed. Her face was pale, much more so than usual, her body covered in a cold sweat. The expression she wore was one of abject horror and fear, her eyes darting wildly about as she scrambled backwards from the futon she’d been placed in upon arrival at the temple. Clutching a blanket to her chest she screamed once more for the Keitaro. “KEITARO HELP ME!” Motoko cried, breaking into near hysterical sobs as she did.

Just down the hall, the man she was calling for had indeed heard her plaintive cries for him and had jumped up to run to her. Unfortunately for him, he was unaccustomed to the room and tripped over the small table near his own futon, slamming him painfully into the floor face first. Without regard to the latest of his accidental injuries, he pushed himself up and threw open the door, bursting into the hall and almost running headlong into Tsuruko and a pair of temple monks.

“What’s going on?” he asked, matching strides with the small group as they rushed to Motoko.

Tsuruko’s face was grim, “I’m not certain Keitaro, she should not even be awake. The monks here gave her something that should have relaxed her as well as sedate her for many hours,” the woman told him, fearfully wondering if the demonic power had some how returned to claim her sister.

As Keitaro reached the door and started to open it, one of the monks caught his wrist. “Be wary, she may be leading us into a trap,” he cautioned the younger man.

The sounds of Motoko crying forlornly in the room broke his heart and over rode his high survival instincts. “She needs us,” was all Keitaro said, his voice full of worry and passion as he pulled his wrist from the monk and in doing so opened the door as well.

The room was identical to his own, with the exception of the young woman backed into a corner, curled into a fetal position and desperately clutching a blanket. “KEITARO!” she sobbed in relief, extending a shaking hand to him.

He rushed to her side, taking her hand in his while kneeling next to her. “It’s okay Motoko, I’m here now,” he said soothingly, running a gentle hand on her shoulder.

With surprising speed and power, she uncoiled from her position and latched onto him, burying her face into the crook of his neck and crushing him in her arms. “I’m so scared Keitaro…” she said brokenly, her voice hitching through the sobs. “Please don’t leave me alone, please,” she pleaded with him desperately, as if her very life depended upon that request.

Rocking back to a seated position, he held the crying woman in his arms, making soft noises to her and rubbing her back. “Shhhhhh…it’s okay now Motoko, we’re here,” he assured her quietly.

With an imploring look to Tsuruko, he gave an almost imperceptible shrug, which she in turn looked over to the keeper of the temple.

Nodding to his assistant, they approached the entwined couple on the floor, kneeling close to them in quiet prayer and meditation.

Motoko’s eyes shot open as they did, once more a terrified expression weighed on her beautiful face. “NO! You can’t take me from him…it’ll find me and take me back if you do,” she said, her voice taking on a near hysterical screech.

Tsuruko moved closer as well, attracting the attention of her sister with her calm and reassuring tone. “No one is taking you from him sister, they are trying to help keep you safe. Please, do not fear, we’re all here to protect you,” the elder sister said.

Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on Keitaro, oblivious to the sounds of his strangled gasping from the sheer power of her embrace. “NO! You weren’t there, you couldn’t protect me. Only Keitaro could, only Keitaro,” Motoko said forcefully, her body trembling visibly in his arms rocking slightly back and forth.

Her statement caused Tsuruko to frown and shoot a sidelong glance to the monk closest to her, though she kept silent as to her sisters admission.

The elder monk opened his eyes and sighed heavily, slowly rocking to his feet and clapping twice while bowing to the young couple. Motioning for Tsuruko to follow him, he led the woman to the hall outside the room, leaving his young protégé to continue his prayers.

“There is no trace of the evil that had entrapped her, but she is still somehow able to counteract our best efforts to ease her pain so that she might make the journey home,” he stated softly, his watery eyes turning to the tortured young soul in question.

Tsuruko nodded thoughtfully, “Our family has many techniques that allow us to extend our physical and spiritual capabilities well past what should be our limits. Perhaps Motoko has simply put them to use to fight the herbal remedies you’ve given her,” she enlightened the monk, her voice whisper soft as she too was studying the interaction between Motoko and Keitaro.

“Why is it that she believes Keitaro was there to save her? She shouldn’t have any memories of the battle itself much less the way he was able to exorcise and seal the demon into the shard. Have you ever heard of something like this before?” the woman asked finally, turning her attention fully back to the man standing with her.

The temple care-taker frowned as he closed his eyes in thought, slowly shaking his head after a few moments. “No, I am sorry but nothing in my memory has ever eluded to something this tragic or it’s results. She bears many emotional and spiritual wounds from her time under the thrall of the demon, perhaps the answer lies with the demon itself. Knowing one’s enemy will lead to their swift defeat, in this case having that knowledge might set the mind and spirit of your sister free,” he advised, tucking his hands back into his sleeves.

Bowing respectfully to the man, Tsuruko gave him a thankful smile and re-entered the room. Coming up beside Keitaro, she could see that her sister was cuddled deeply into the man’s embrace and lap, the blanket drawn up around her tightly as if to help ward her from the darkness.

“Would you like Keitaro to stay with you Motoko? Would that ease your mind?” she asked quietly, earning her a shocked look from Keitaro and a sickly smile of gratitude from Motoko.

“Yes…I don’t think I can sleep without him here sister,” she whispered hoarsely, her hand seeking out Keitaro’s and having her fingers entwine with his.

“Um…Motoko…I, uh…” stammered Keitaro, blushing furiously at the thought of spending the night with the swordswoman.

“I will stay with you as well then, in case either of you need something during the night. Tomorrow is going to be a long day as we make our way back to the train station for our journey home,” Tsuruko told her, giving Keitaro a knowing smile to answer his look of gratitude.

Motoko nodded absently at her sister’s proclamation, her eyes slowly closing as she let her head sink into a more comfortable position within Keitaro’s lap.

Keitaro shifted his weight a bit from side to side, looking longingly at the unused futon not 5 feet from them. “Motoko, let’s move to the futon, I don’t think I can sleep like this…not and be able to move in the morning,” he said with a shy smile, keeping a wary on both swordswomen in case they decided his offer held perverted overtures.

“That’s fine Keitaro,” Motoko replied in a wooden tone, moving reluctantly from his lap but not releasing her grip on him.

With minor help from Tsuruko they made it to the futon where Keitaro gently laid Motoko to rest, only to be pulled down with her before he could even think of moving else where.

Tsuruko’s sad smile did little to help reassure the now visibly frightened young man that was in bed with what was arguably one of the greatest swordswomen in Japan. “Rest easy Keitaro, despite the frequent accusations to the contrary, I know that you are not a pervert nor one that would take advantage of someone you care for. Her honor is safe with you…and I trust you as well. I will stay here and watch over the both you, now sleep; there is much to be done in the morning,” she instructed him.

Walking to the wall closest to them, she rested against it with her back, crossing her legs comfortably and laying her ever present sword across them.

It was a long time before Keitaro was able to sleep, uncertain of what was to come and how he was going to explain the unnatural need Motoko now held for him to be so close to her.

Watching them with half closed eyes, Tsuruko’s heart broke just a little bit more as she saw the pain, fear and uncertainty in her sister’s eyes, along with the trepidation that Keitaro’s held over his new found role of protector.

Closing her eyes tightly to head off the sudden onset of tears, Tsuruko cursed the gods even as she prayed to them for a solution, knowing that things were only going to grow more difficult in the days to come.

The arrival back to the Hinata Sou was one of solemn trepidation marked by an unnatural silence between the trio. Tsuruko’s quiet attempts to hold a conversation with her sister during the taxi ride home had met with hardly any success, instead only furthering to cause Motoko to press into Keitaro’s side.

When Keitaro had attempted to pull Motoko into the conversation she answered so softly it was almost lost in the ambient noise of the taxi they rode in. It had taken him the better part of an hour to calm the hysterical young woman when they’d tried to approach the bustling train station. The crush of people coupled with the loud and sudden noises had unnerved her to the point of blind panic that had led to a rather uncomfortable scene for all those involved. After several tense minutes of deliberation, Tsuruko and Keitaro had opted for the longer and more expensive taxi ride rather then force Motoko into a situation that would prove to only further her trauma.

Keitaro’s eyes strayed down to the lightly dozing Motoko on his shoulder, his mind awash with questions and doubts, along with a healthy set of fears of the immediate future. Turning back to where Tsuruko was motioning for the driver to pull, he shifted slightly to expose his bag from behind him. “My wallet is in my bag Tsuruko, I should have enough to cover the ride,” he told her quietly.

Looking back at the young man, Tsuruko gave him another of the odd stares she’d been giving him since the beginning of their journey together, as if judging him against his actions and words. Just as it appeared she would share her thoughts on the matter, her face cleared into the serene mask she usually wore. “Thank you Keitaro, but I cannot allow you to pay for this ride when it is a duty that should fall to her family,” the woman told him with a comfortable but sad smile.

“No, really Tsuruko, I want to. It’s okay. I just feel so useless with her like this, I don’t even know where to begin to help her. At least if I help you pay for the ride it’s a start,” he explained earnestly, shifting a bit more so that the bag was more prevelant to her.

The motions woke Motoko, and for a moment they feared she would awake with a terrified scream as her fingers tightened in panic on the arms of Keitaro. Her eyes, while wide with fear at first, relaxed as she caught sight of Keitaro and the feeling of his arms tightening around her immediately to comfort her. “Are we home?” she asked in the same quiet voice she’d been using for the last few days.

Giving her a warm smile, Keitaro nodded. “Yes, we just pulled up. Are you feeling well enough to walk up the stairs with us?” he asked her.

Her attention drifted to the wide set of stone stairs that rose up between the buildings before them, holding it there for a moment as if weighing her options or gauging her courage. Coming to a decision, she nodded once, though her face paled at the prospect. “Yes, I can walk up the stairs,” she replied, turning to see if Keitaro held an approving expression, and giving him a shy smile when he smiled at her answer.

Holding in a sigh of resignation, Tsuruko watched their interaction, helpless to influence it for the moment. ‘Am I going to be able to influence it?’ she silently asked herself, further wondering if she even should. A heavy feeling was slowly taking a hold of her heart, making her whole being seem as if an impossible weight was crushing down upon her.

Watching them together only deepened the feeling, her feelings of love being tempered by knowledge of her duty and responsibility. Disguising her own troubled thoughts and emotions once more with her calm demeanor, she instead smiled encouragingly at them. “Come, let’s get you settled in Motoko, then we must decide on what to do about your ordeal,” she told them, opening the door and exiting the taxi.

The couple exited from the opposite side, Motoko immediately taking Keitaro’s arm and clutching it as they began to walk up the stairs. Her body posture was one of a woman defeated, utterly and totally. Shoulders hunched, her body inclined into Keitaro’s and head sunk down towards her chest, observing her surroundings with fearful indirect glances lest someone notice her.

Keitaro, remembering the proud and regal bearing that Motoko usually held, felt his own heart break at what had become of the resident champion of the sword. Feelings of protectiveness had already started to awake within him, growing stronger the more time they’d spent together. Knowing that Naru wasn’t going to like this latest development, he held out the hope that she would at least understand and not immediately jump to the wrong conclusions. It wasn’t a hope he was banking on.

Their walk was once more marked by silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts, unwilling to break the silence and bring about the sum of their collective fears.

Unfortunately, their fears were riding shotgun atop a rather large, powerful and ugly mechanical monstrosity that was lumbering down to meet them. It was roughly humanoid in shape, although it’s upper body was out of proportion to it’s lower portions. There was no mistaking the turtle driven influences, down to it’s razor sharpened upper set of flippers that sliced through the forests around it with ease and prejudice, felling massive trees with a single stroke.

“Oh no…” whispered a horrified Keitaro, eyes rising up to the top of the turtle like robot, knowing who he’s find behind it’s three eyed canopy. There, sitting in the midst of her creations cockpit, smiling and waving frantically, was the Hinata’s resident diminutive genius, her green eyes shining happily at seeing the return of her two favorite people.

His eyes widened even more in direct relation to the level of the right flipper that rose up as if to wave, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Starting to take a step backwards, he found himself only able to move about a foot and a half. Tugging once more, his eyes still upon the encroaching doom, it felt as if he was anchored to the spot. It was the sound that caught his ear first, a whimpering whine that spoke of sheer unadulterated terror, leading him to turn and catch the expression on Motoko’s face.

Looking up in horror, she was rooted to the spot, her hands desperately clutching at Keitaro, as she was too scared to even cry out. Tears poured out of her eyes as she watched the mechanical embodiment of her fears striding towards them. Lost once more to the nightmarish tortures she’d been subjected to, she clung to the only anchor that she’d held in her mind, keeping him by her side despite his best efforts to flee.

The ringing hiss of steel being drawn seemed to split the air around them, Tsuruko leaping towards the monstrous robot. As the flipper reached it’s locking position, several barrels sprung from hidden compartments, a gleam shining on their well polished metal before fire and smoke poured out of the ends as they unleashed the barrage of miniature homing missiles that Su loved to create.

With a shouted attack, Tsuruko met the initial wave with an empowered wave of chi that easily sliced through the metal, explosives and propellant before she disappeared into the smoke that was still billowing out around them.

Keitaro moved without thinking, placing himself between the incoming debris and Motoko, huddling his body around hers bringing them both to their knees. With his spare hand covering her head, he silently prayed that none of the bigger chunks would strike true given his rather delicate position with Motoko.

For once the fates that seemed to take so much glee in pummeling the indestructible young man into the ground took pity upon him instead, allowing his swift but very heartfelt prayer to be answered. The clanging and shattering of metal and stone sounded all around him, yet he was untouched by the storm, with nothing more than a fine covering of dust left on his clothing.

Opening an eye, he quickly took stock of his situation before opening the other and slightly releasing Motoko. He found her expression still locked into something akin to horror, her eyes wide and unseeing. Snapping his fingers in front of her face several times, he hissed her name loudly in an attempt to break her from her stupor. “Motoko! C’mon! We’ve gotta move!” he said to her, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look into his eyes.

Her body shook as she blinked, her eyes focusing on his as she began to blink more rapidly. “Kei…” she managed to get out in a strangled whisper, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

The sounds of Tsuruko physically dismantling the creation from Su rang around them as they rushed into the regularly disturbed woodlands that lined the hill on which the Hinata stood. Easily finding a trail he’d used many times in his frequent returns from Naru Low Earth Orbit Tours, he pulled her along with him, not sticking around for the second wave of attacks he knew was imminent.

His instincts proved true as the buzzing roaring sounds of Su’s missiles grew steadily behind them. “Dang…this is SO not good,” he said, more in way of keeping himself calm then in hopes of getting Motoko to respond.

Breathing heavily, he paused for a moment to look behind them, easily seeing the missile swarm weaving through the forests on an unerring path to them. “I’m not going to be able to out run them,” he said in with a sick tone, swallowing hard as he hastily considered his very limited options.

Frowning deeply, he turned and placed his hands on Motoko’s shoulders, “Motoko, I’ve got to stop those missiles or we’re gonna get killed. I’m not going anywhere but I need for you to hide behind this tree while I try something alright? I promise you, I won’t leave you,” he said rapidly, seeing her fear rise exponentially in response to his statement.

“Keitaro…no,” she pleaded with him, even as she was led behind a massive oak, letting Keitaro settle her to the ground on her knees for cover.

Shooting another quick glance, he figured he only had a few seconds before they reached him. Giving her a smile, “Don’t worry Motoko, I made you a promise, and we both know I don’t break those, right?” his voice carrying a more confident tone then what he truly felt.

Not giving her time to answer, he quickly stood and leapt from the vicinity of the tree, taking up the fighting stance Seta had taught him. “I hope this works,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

The buzzing swarm got final lock on their target and entered into final thrust and detonation around him. The sounds of explosions knocked leaves and branches from the trees around the forest, fire and smoke pouring from the rapidly growing cloud that now stood where Keitaro once had.

Motoko’s hands flew to her mouth, unable to shut her eyes lest the darkness there laid claim to her pain and suffering once more. Watching with almost sick fascination as the man she truly believed to be her savior disappeared into the fire and smoke, heart sick that he would never return to her again and the darkness would claim her soul forever.

The sounds of explosions died off as quickly as they’d arrived, leaving the forest in an eerie silence that was punctuated by the drifting smoke that obscured all vision.

Tsuruko landed lightly nearby her sister, her sword flashing in the light that filtered through the trees’ as she scanned for any sign of the young man. Her uniform was undamaged, giving no trace to the titanic fight she’d waged against Su’s machine.

“Keitaro?” she called out, finding her voice to be quiet in comparison to the almost overpowering silence of the woods. Walking forwards slowly, she caught sight of Motoko scrambling from behind her tree and rushing into the smoke, disappearing from sight almost immediately.

Cursing softly she followed after her sister, hoping that they’d not find the bloody and broken remains of the unlucky ronin hiding within. It was the red of Motoko’s pants that caught her attention, leading her to the slowly clearing area where the two of them were.

There, in the midst of the destruction wrought by the missile swarm, sat Keitaro and Motoko. He was trying to reassure the near hysterical young woman that he was fine while she was once more all but climbing into his lap to be comforted by him.

“It appears as if your training with Seta has paid it’s benefits,” Tsuruko told him, nodding her approval at his ability to deflect the incoming missiles with enough skill and dexterity to protect both himself and Motoko from harm.

The sounds of pounding feet came to her keen ears, alerting the vigilant swordswoman that the remainder of the resident’s of the Hinata were about to arrive. “Keitaro, I believe that your friends are about to make an appearance,” she warned him quietly, moving in the direction they were coming from to slow their approach, wanting to give the young man as much time as possible to collect himself.

Her actions only partially succeeded, as she was able to catch Shinobu and Mitsune as they passed, with Naru sprinting past them to where Keitaro and Motoko were sitting.

Before she could shout for the girl to halt, the outraged voice of Naru thundered through the forests almost as loudly as the explosions that had ripped through them only moments before. “WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MOTOKO YOU PERVERT!” came her enraged cries.

Keitaro had caught sight of the on rushing form of his girlfriend and groaned, knowing that his life was about to cut brutally short. The warmth and weight of Motoko reminded him suddenly of how vulnerable she was before the might of Su’s machine and gave rise to his fear that she wouldn’t be able to defend herself from the dangers that Naru posed as well. “Motoko?” he asked her quietly, meeting her tear filled but relieved eyes.

She was oblivious to the danger that was about to interject itself upon them, “I knew you’d come back Keitaro,” she whispered in a grateful tone, then did something that completely and utterly shocked him. Leaning up to his face she kissed him softly on the lips, her hands pulling his head to hers.

Naru burst onto the clearing just as she kissed her boyfriend, stunning her into mobility as she felt her heart constrict and her stomach fall. Holding her hands over her mouth, she took a long moment to fully digest the scene playing out before her until finally her instincts took over, side by side with her considerable anger.

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MOTOKO YOU PERVERT!” she screamed at him, marching towards them with murderous intent in her eyes.

“NARU!” Keitaro’s voice broke with horrified surprise, his jerking to the side to face her, inadvertently breaking the lip lock he’d been in with Motoko.

Seeing that she was picking up speed as her fist grew to several times it’s normal size in preparation of unleashing her fury and launching him to record new heights and distances, Keitaro waved his hands frantically at her. “No, it’s not what it looks like Naru!” he said quickly, swallowing hard past a suddenly bone dry mouth.

Naru’s mind was a blaze with the scene of the two of them kissing, overriding her senses in favor of hurting the one that angered or in this case hurt her. His words literally fell on deaf ears as the only sound she could make out was the pounding of her heart. The world before her eyes turned red, pulsing in time with the thundering of her heart beat, tingeing everything she saw into varying shades of reds and pinks.

Keitaro’s flight instinct was almost impossible to ignore, it was only the weight of Motoko in his lap that kept him from seeking refuge somewhere in Mongolia. He found himself faced with an impossible choice, that of taking the brunt of Naru’s anger and possibly allowing Motoko to become injured or standing up to her to stop her attack and further widen the sudden rift between them.

The tightening of Motoko’s hand on his shirt helped spur his decision. He’d never witnessed Motoko weak and vulnerable, much less scared beyond reason and needy for him to protect her. ‘Whatever happened to her must’ve broke her spirit and really messed her up,’ he thought dismally, once more finding his hopes falling onto Tsuruko to find a way to help Motoko.

Time once more unwound itself, forcing him into action. One arm wrapped around Motoko tightly, holding her close to his side so that he could shield her with his own body. The other moved was the same quickness and power that he’d used against Su’s missile swarm, tracking and intercepting Naru’s deep scooping upper cut that was aimed for the underside of his chin.

There was a sharp crack that seemed to echo not only throughout air around them but the woods and the Inn itself.

Mitsune wrenched her arm free from Tsuruko’s grasp, both eyes now open as she cautiously made her way towards the source of the sounds.

Shinobu looked up into the tired and sad eyes of Tsuruko, “Is Keitaro alright?” she asked quietly, not wanting to move forward to see the object of her crush beaten and bloodied. So much had been leveled against him, usually by the woman that claimed to love him, but this was something altogether different. Something in the atmosphere spoke of subtle yet definitive changes, changes to not only her crush but to all the inhabitants of the Hinata Sou.

Giving the girl a comforting yet deeply sad smile, “I hope so, although…” Tsuruko trailed off, not wanting to continue her statement and give Shinobu further reason for worry.

“Come, we’ll go and see,” she told her instead, taking her by the hand and walking forwards into the clearing with the others.

Mitsune stood in awe of the events before her, unsure if what she was seeing was just the result of another of her drunken binges or if Keitaro had finally grown a set.

With Motoko in one arm, Keitaro had caught Naru’s oversized fist in the other, a look of profound sadness in his eyes in direct contrast to the anger that was borderline hatred in Naru’s.

Neither of them moved from the position, as if both were assuring themselves that what was transpiring was indeed real. Finally Naru yanked her fist from his grasp, her chest heaving in anger. “What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed to him, feeling hot tears of betrayal springing to her eyes.

He sighed at her question, “It’s a long story Naru, but I can’t let you hurt Motoko,” he said quietly, ignoring the shocked look on Mitsune’s face at the statement.

“Huh? What the hell do you mean by that? It’s not like I CAN hurt Motoko. That still doesn’t explain why you were kissing her!” she said, blinking past her watery vision, focusing her attention on the almost cowering Motoko.

Something inside twinged at the sight, an unnatural feeling at witnessing something she would have considered impossible not a week prior. Gone was the cold and confident girl she’d respected, replaced with someone that looked at her with fear and uncertainty.

“I..she, I mean…well,” he stuttered and stammered, blushing as he tried to think of the proper way to explain it.

“Something terrible happened to my sister and she is now fixated upon Keitaro as her savior and protector,” said Tsuruko, striding into the clearing with Shinobu trailing behind her.

Motoko blushed deeply at her sister’s explanation, lowering her eyes in shame at her weakness. “It…tortured me,” she said quietly, forcing herself to look up at Naru. “But even as it did, it was the thought of Keitaro and how he cared so much for each of us that gave me the strength to continue, to find the strength to continue fighting,” the trembling girl continued.

Keitaro placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, his eyes expressive in their sympathy at her ordeal.

With an absent motion, Motoko placed her hand on his, drawing what strength she could from his touch. “It haunts me, scares me…you don’t understand how horrible it is…what it’s capable of…of what it did to me,” she told Naru, her voice lowering as the fear and shame crept into it, breaking slightly under the strain of trying to maintain her composure.

“It’s okay Motoko, you don’t have to tell us,” said a reassuring Keitaro, now moving closer to her and offering her the comfort of his shoulder.

Naru watched as Motoko’s tight grip on her emotions and sanity slipped, her sobs tearing through her hard fought composure as if it didn’t exist. Her heart cracked just a bit more at seeing Keitaro comfort her, holding her in his arms and gently rubbing her back soothingly as she cried.

Keitaro gave Naru a pleading look, begging for her understanding, only to find himself faced with her pained look of betrayal. Before he could say a word to her, she whirled about and fled the scene, unwilling to show her own tears in light of what had occurred.

“Oh my goodness,” murmured Mitsune, walking up to the couple and wrapping her arms around them. “I’m so sorry Motoko,” she told the crying girl, resting her head atop Motoko’s.

Shinobu approached them slowly, unsure of herself and how much comfort she could be. “Is…is there anything I can do?” she asked them quietly, the tip of her right foot playing absently in the ground.

“Just be her friend Shinobu,” replied a very tired sound Keitaro. His expression was one of sadness and loss, unable to truly come to grips with how badly events had altered not just his own life, but all those he cared for.

He found Tsuruko to be wearing a matching expression to his own as she watched them all interact. Her smile was subtle and sad, giving him a solemn nod. Something in her expression troubled him, once more nagging at the back of his mind, but he was unable to concentrate on something so nebulous with everything else going on. Returning the nod to her, he once more focused on calming the near hysterical girl in his arms.

“C’mon guys, let’s get up to the Inn so we can relax,” he informed them in a soft tone. Without a word, the five of them began the walk up the damaged stairs to the Inn.

Motoko walked with Keitaro, his arm draped protectively over her shoulder, looking around at the dismantled machine of destruction. “Where’s Su?” she asked in a near ragged whisper, as if afraid the sound of her voice would give rise to the machine once more.

Tsuruko only smiled cryptically, “Oh, she’s hanging around somewhere I’m sure,” was all she said.

Her statement confused them all until they reached sight of the Inn’s front. There, hanging upside down and cocooned in the cables and wires from her war machine was the wriggling Su, only her panicking green eyes and shock of blonde hair visible to them.

Mitsune quickly stifled her giggles with a hand clamped over her mouth, while Keitaro stood with his own mouth agape at seeing the energetic Su so artfully and completely subdued. “Um, Tsuruko? You aren’t going to leave her there are you?” he asked her, unsure of her intentions after the battle.

Shaking her head, Tsuruko smiled at Su but answered Keitaro’s question. “No, but I needed her out of the way and ready to listen before I could trust her with running loose once more. I’ve no wish for any more accidents to happen,” she told him.

Keitaro nodded in understanding but sighed, “I guess we’re gonna have to explain the situation to everyone so we don’t have stuff like that happen again, huh?” he asked her, finding her nodding in response to his almost rhetorical question.

“Mitsune, I’m gonna need you to get the others into the living room once we get settled. I’ve got to tell you guys some important stuff,” he told the girl glumly.

“Who all do you want me to get? Naru’s probably upstairs bawling her eyes out, Su’s hanging out up there and the rest of us are with you, who’s left?” she asked bluntly, hand on her hip.

“Haruka should be here too I guess, this is gonna involve her as well,” Keitaro said, giving her a plaintive look, needing her cooperation.

She regarded him closely for a moment, then nodded her acquiescence, “Okay, okay…I’ll go round’m up for ya, but I’m not promising how receptive they’re going to be,” she told him, moving off to fulfill her agreement.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Motoko, her head hung low as if the emotional weight of the day was bearing down on her more and more.

Keitaro’s brow furrowed as he looked at the girl at his side, “For what?” he asked, confused as to why she’d be apologizing.

Tsuruko walked closer to them, a little frown on her lips as she stood just in front of them. “Sister, NONE of this is your fault. There is NOTHING you should be sorry for,” she said gently but with a firm tone.

Tears stained cheeks and blood shot eyes slowly came up to face Tsuruko’s, the first time they’d made direct intentional eye contact since her rescue. “If I’d of been stronger…fought harder, then none of this would happening. I’ve ruined Keitaro’s relationship and disrupted our home…” she said, her voice shrill with self-loathing.

“Stop it!” said Keitaro, his voice uncharacteristically firm. Moving so that he could meet Motoko’s eyes, he placed both hands on her shoulders and wouldn’t allow her to look away from his eyes.

“Motoko, Tsuruko is right, NONE of this is your fault. Sure things are rough right now, but things will work out. You can’t give up hope, you can’t stop fighting for the dreams you want…for the life you want,” he said passionately, watching as some of the despair faded from the haunted eyes of Motoko, as if she were hanging onto each and every word he spoke.

“But how can I Keitaro? Every time I close my eyes, it’s there…waiting for me, taunting me. I can’t escape it, I can’t run from it. I’ve never been so afraid Keitaro…I don’t know how to fight this…I don’t even know if I can anymore,” she countered, once more struggling not to disintegrate into tears.

“You have to Motoko, you can’t let it do this to you, control you like this. You’re stronger than the demon Motoko, I know you are. I have faith in you, I believe in you,” he said, giving her a smile.

Seeing that she was still plagued by doubts and fears, he leaned closer in towards her. “I’m not going to leave you Motoko, I’ll help you find yourself again, help you beat this thing no matter what. I promise you that I won’t ever quit trying to help you, no matter how long it takes,” Keitaro swore to her.

Motoko threw herself into his arms, sobbing in relief and some measure of fear. Fear of not being able to beat the demonic influences that haunted her, fear of never being able to hold the mantle that was her birthright and fear that she would forever be ruined spiritually, emotionally and physically due to the possession she’d suffered.

The scene in the living room was somber and quiet, the residents unable to even look at one another as they took seats. Tsuruko was standing within arm’s reach of Su, though her body language was sedate, it was readily apparent that she was that close in case the blonde girl started issues once more.

Naru sat with her legs pulled up before her, arms wrapped around them, her forehead resting against her knees to hide her crying face from the others.

Mitsune sat next to her best friend for moral support, knowing full well how badly Naru had taken seeing Motoko kiss Keitaro. She’d had to almost threaten the girl to get her to come to the meeting, stating in no unclear terms that her answers could only come from what Keitaro had to say to them.

Shinobu had taken an armchair nearest to Keitaro and Motoko, her wide expressive eyes searching the faces of everyone, trying to make sense of what was going on.

Haruka had taken one look at Motoko and muttered a vile curse under breath, having seen such looks and expressions before. Mitsune had only given her the barest of details, but it had been enough to pull her from her teashop, if for nothing else then to help the residents come to terms with the newest wrinkle of their lives.

Keitaro rose from the two seat couch, giving Motoko a comforting smile as he did to ease her fears. “Thanks for coming everyone, I know it’s been hard on you guys so far,” he started, noting with a heavy and near breaking heart that Naru still refused to look at him.

Sighing in resignation, he continued on. “Something terrible happened to Motoko and she’s gonna need some time to recover before she can really get back to the way things were before,” the manager explained, keeping Motoko’s dignity intact while laying out some new rules.

“So, until we can get her back to her old self, we’re gonna have to have some changes around here. First off, no more attacks, tests or experiments from you Su,” he told the blonde girl, seeing her open her mouth in argument only to cut her off.

“I mean it! You can’t just go around trying to blow us up anymore, someone could’ve gotten really hurt this time. We can’t take that kind of chance anymore,” Keitaro said, taking an uncharacteristically harsh tone with her.

“But, does that mean I can’t try’n help her out of this? Maybe some training is all she needs,” countered Su, pouting slightly at having her two favorite toys, and people, taken away.

“It’s something that we’re willing to risk Su. I don’t want to have to crack down on you about this…but I will if I have to,” he told her, regret but determination in his voice.

The very tone quieted down the normally rambunctious girl, coupled with his expression and it rendered her silent.

He drank in her expression and felt his own sense of loss and remorse deepen. “I’m sure that once things get better we’ll both be more than happy to play with you,” he conceded to her, hating to see the expression on her young face.

Su brightened slightly but gave a nod, her lower lip quivering as she did.

“Thank you Su, I really appreciate it,” Keitaro told her, turning his attention to Haruka.

“I know what you’re gonna ask Keitaro and I’ll do what I can, although I can’t promise anything. Kanako’s going to learn of this sooner or later, so you’d better be prepared to deal with her when she does,” Haruka said, snubbing out her cigarette with slight annoyance.

Keitaro smiled dismally, “I know, but I’ll deal with that when it happens. I just hope she listens this time,” he agreed, remembering all too well how his adopted sister handled his dating Naru while living in the same building with her.

Tsuruko stepped forwards, her very presence enough to draw all eyes to her. “I will contact our parents and give them the details of what’s occurred. Keitaro, may I ask what you plan to do with the shards now that you’ve sealed the demon?” she asked him.

He looked down to the pouch, his left hand patting it as if to assure himself that they were still there. “I haven’t really thought about it, do you want them?” detaching the pouch and extending it to her.

The older woman watched him carefully as he moved, only returning her eyes to his once he held out the bag to her. There was a long moment of silence between them as they simply looked at one another before Tsuruko shook her head gently. “No, I’m afraid that you must keep them. For many years the Hinata Blade was contained here, sealing another demon within it. Perhaps this place still holds a bit of the old magic, or the spirits are stronger here, enabling the sealing to hold sway over demonic influences. Keep them, protect them from outside interference,” she charged him, bowing in respect to his brave deed and new duty as keeper of the blade.

Swallowing hard, Keitaro nodded and put the bag back. “Okay, I suppose that makes sense,” he agreed, though he was paler in complexion then before.

Naru’s head rose slowly, bearing a look of pained betrayal and anger, “Why should he keep the stupid thing? It isn’t like he’s any good at that type of thing,” she told them, anger coloring her tone.

Tsuruko looked at her with something akin to pity and tolerance. “Keitaro was able to seal the demon Naru, using but a single shard of the broken blade. By right of combat, the blade is now his, as is the duty to safeguard it from others so that the demon may never again wreck havoc upon the lands,” she explained.

All eyes turned to Keitaro, who was blushing at the attention. “I was just trying to save Motoko,” he muttered self-consciously.

The explanation and subsequent response of Keitaro sent Naru into another bout of quiet crying, hiding her face from everyone again.

Moving towards his girl-friend, Keitaro put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry Naru,” he started only to have his hand swatted viciously away by the upset girl.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she all but screamed into his face, shocking everyone with it’s intensity and passion.

Taking a startled step back, Keitaro’s eyes were wide and hurt, “But, Naru…” he said, tears of his own beginning to form at the harsh rebuke from the girl he loved.

Mitsune was stunned, “Naru, that’s no way…” she started to interject, only to find herself the focus of the girl’s anger.

“Shut up Mitsune! What do you know anyways, huh?” she spat, finally getting to her feet, fists clenched and body shaking with rage.

“All you do is drink, gamble and tease every guy you’ve ever met, INCLUDING Keitaro! You’ve never held a serious relationship in your life so don’t go preaching to me about how I should or shouldn’t act!” Naru continued, watching with spiteful pleasure as her barbed words sank the other girl deeper into the couch.

Keitaro stepped forwards, placing himself between Naru and Mitsune, “Naru! That’s no way to talk to your best friend,” he said, feeling the emotional situation spiraling out of control, with him caught in it’s vortex.

Her brown eyes sparkled with tears and anger as she narrowed them at her boyfriend. “Oh, so this is how it’s gonna be Keitaro? You SAVE Motoko and now you’re defending Mitsune as well? Am I some kind of demon that you’re looking to slay, is that it? Are you trying to prove what a real man you are by SAVING all of us from ‘evil’,” she spat at him, marching forwards so that he was being forced back.

Tsuruko’s calm voice and firm hand prevented her progress, “Naru, I know you are upset but there is no reason to take such positions against those that love you,” she informed her.

Naru whirled on Tsuruko, knocking her hand away and getting into the woman’s face. “SHUT UP!” she screamed at Tsuruko, unafraid of the woman as the anger and rage coursed through her.

“This is YOUR fault to begin with! Every single time you come here, you cause problems. Is this your plan? To destroy our lives?” Naru accused her.

“You are angry Naru and not seeing the clear picture,” Tsuruko said, never losing her composure. “If those were indeed my intentions then there would have been a thousand different ways I could have done so…all without your knowledge. The painful truth is something much simpler Naru, and that is that Motoko suffered gravely and now needs your love and support, NOT your anger and misplaced aggressions,” she finished, verbally slapping the woman before her.

Naru opened and closed her mouth several times in outrage, unable to focus her thoughts or formulate a verbal response to the statement. Narrowing her eyes, “So, you’re trying to get those two married again? Is that your plan? Something you two cooked up to get this pervert into believing that Motoko actually needed him and he’d fall for it?” spat at Tsuruko.

Keitaro broke from his stunned inaction, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her around, a fierce expression on his face. “NARU! STOP IT!” he shouted into her face, grabbing her by the upper arms.

“Tsuruko came for my help because she was afraid something happened to Motoko, not because she was trying to get us married. You weren’t there, I was! You’ve no idea what happened out there Naru, and if I were you I’d pray that I never do,” he said firmly, his expression uncharacteristically somber and intense.

As she struggled to pull from his grasp, he continued his tirade, unwilling to let her take her rage out on everyone around her. “You’re hurting everyone around you because you’re upset, and they don’t deserve that! You know it, and so does everyone else here, so quit it!” he ordered, releasing her from his grasp.

Naru stumbled back, having not been prepared for him to let go much less his harsh but accurate estimation of the situation. “What about us Keitaro? She kissed you, is hanging all over you and won’t let you out of her sight. How am I SUPPOSED to feel with all this going on? You’re not even trying to stop it!” she finally said, trying to ignore the crushed and humiliated expression that Motoko now wore from the altercation that had escalated before them all.

Looking back to the pained and hurt expression of Motoko, Keitaro felt his heart torn asunder, unsure of what to do but knowing that once he made his decision there would be no going back. “She needs me Naru, and I promised her that I would be here for no matter what. She’s always been there for us, why can’t you see that and try to help us as well?” he asked her, trying one last time to reach her.

The attempt failed miserably. Naru’s eyes filled once more with tears, “So you’re choosing her over me? Fine, we’re through Keitaro! I don’t ever want to see you again!” she screamed at him and fled the room, racing for the stairs and the sanctuary of her room.

Shinobu sat next to the crying Motoko, placing a concerned hand on her leg. “It’ll be okay Motoko,” she said softly, jumping as Motoko started from the contact.

In her haste to pull back from Shinobu’s touch, she fell to the polished wood floor and curled into a fetal position, sobbing hysterically. “This is all my fault, I should have just let the demon destroy my soul…let him kill me!” she cried out, trying to tighten her body even more.

Keitaro was by her side in an instant, struggling to bring her up to a sitting position. “Motoko! Don’t EVER say anything like that!” he chastised her, his voice rising slightly with a firm tone.

Motoko couldn’t bring herself to look at him, feeling used, dirty and unworthy of such attention and affection. “Please Keitaro…kill me, stop the pain…” she begged in a broken voice, her eyes squinted so tightly shut it looked painful.

The desperation in her voice frightened him, “I won’t do that to you Motoko. I told you before that I wasn’t giving up on you and I meant it. I’ll help you through this Motoko, if it’s the last thing I do, I won’t let you quit,” the man told her, waiting only a moment before she opened exhausted and haunted eyes to look at him.

“But what about YOUR life Keitaro? You can’t just give up everything for me,” she asked him, her mind still carrying the hurt and betrayed tones of Naru.

He only paused long enough to shrug and give her a sad yet slightly reassuring smile. “Motoko, you’re my friend and very special to me, I can’t just let you face this alone. I’m your friend and manager, it’s my duty to help you out. Don’t worry, things will work out somehow,” the young man explained, sincerity in his voice.

Tsuruko watched him reassure her sister, a sad smile on her troubled face. ‘He’s sacrificing his dreams for her, just as her own dreams were shattered,’ she thought, though she didn’t voice her sentiments or the profound effect they had on her.

Haruka came and stood next to the woman, neither looking at one another as they both watched the interaction of the others before them. “Naru’s taking this hard,” she said finally.

“I had hoped she would be more understanding of the situation and give them both the benefit of the doubt,” allowed Tsuruko.

“Seeing her kiss him was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. How did you expect her to react to something like that?” Haruka asked her.

Tsuruko was quiet for a long moment, watching as Mitsune and Keitaro helped Motoko up the stairs. “I cannot honestly say, although I fear the outcome here. My sister may never recover, at least not to the point where she once was. It’s something I will have to talk to our parents about, especially her mental and emotion state,” the swordswoman said with a sigh, turning and looking at Haruka.

They were interrupted by the sight of Naru storming down the stairs still crying, carrying a small bag what was bulging with clothes. Haruka caught the girl by the arm as she tried to shove her way past them. “Naru, where are you going?” she asked the irate and broken-hearted younger woman.

“I’m getting the hell out of here! I’ll take a cab to my parents house, I won’t stay here and be humiliated like this,” her words were strained yet forceful.

Shaking her head, Haruka rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you being a bit over dramatic about this? If even half of what we’ve been told is true, Motoko is going to need her friends in the days to come. Are you sure you want to just take off like this?”

Naru glared at her, “It’s not like they’d need me, they’ve got each other now. Let them comfort each other for all I care!” she spat at the older woman, yanking her arm free and shoving past her.

Haruka watched the girl for a moment as she stormed towards the door. “Are you coming back?” she called out to her.

With her hand on the door handle, Naru paused but didn’t look back. “No. I’ll send someone for my stuff later,” she replied, and fled the Hinata Sou into the night air.

Tsuruko sighed, shaking her head. “It’s a wonder that her temper hasn’t killed anyone yet,” she said quietly.

Nodding absently, “She’s still a very loving woman and a caring friend, unfortunately, she wears her heart on her sleeve and is still coming to grips with her own feelings…especially when it comes to Keitaro,” Haruka agreed, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it.

“Speaking of Keitaro, why is it that you’re not taking Motoko home? Wouldn’t she be better off with your family given what happened to her and her mental condition?” she asked her, blowing a thin cloud of smoke into the air.

“I fear that doing so would only cause her further damage at this point. Something happened to her while she was possessed, something horrible enough that she no longer has any type of belief or faith in herself or her abilities. It’s not uncommon, but I had thought her spiritual and mental toughness to be stronger than that. For what ever reason, she’s now fixated on Keitaro as her protector and savior,” Tsuruko said, pausing and closing her eyes for a moment, collecting her thoughts.

“She should have no memory of her possession or the fight to save her, yet to some degree she still does. Perhaps it’s a fragment of this memory and the role Keitaro played in it that’s driving this set of emotional bonds and attachments, I can’t honestly say. To drag her from him forcibly would do irreparable harm to her psyche and emotional well-being. Keitaro isn’t adverse to helping her through this and she is as safe here as she would be at our home, so I felt it best to let her have her wish and remain near him. I will speak with our parents about this whole situation when I return home, if they’ve any objections to it remains to be seen,” the woman finished her statement by adjusting her sword slightly as if by speaking of her home the weight of the sword grew.

Haruka nodded, her own attention turned to the distant sounds of the people moving about upstairs. “Keitaro’s going to keep his word to her, he’s like that, as we both know. We both also know that he’d never do anything to sully her honor in a thousand years. I’ll keep checking on them though, the last thing either of them need is to have things get out of control and they do something they’ll both regret later,” she added.

Tsuruko looked visibly upset by the thought, a frown creasing her features. “I’m sure Keitaro wouldn’t allow it to go that far…” she started to say, only to have Haruka interrupt her sentence.

“Unless it was something Motoko wanted. He’s not the type to refuse someone when they’re in need, especially when it comes to comforting the girls here in the Inn. If Motoko’s fixated on him it’s not that much of a stretch to think that she may want more then just having him hold her after a while,” Haruka said, ignoring Tsuruko’s faint blush at her blunt observation.

“I will bring this up to our parents as well, but I do hope that we are just jumping to conclusions about this,” Tsuruko said, her face once more the serene mask she wore.

Haruka looked at the woman carefully, idly playing with the cigarette as she did. “Yeah, me too,” she finally said, walking the older woman to the door and following her out into the night as well.

( ( ( () )>) )>

Motoko looked around her room almost fearfully, eyes darting to the dark corners. “I can’t stay here,” she said flatly, grasping Keitaro tightly.

“But Motoko…” he began calmly, only to be interrupted by Su.

“I’ll stay with yas Motoko,” Su exclaimed brightly, smiling happily at the fearful woman.

Shaking her head, Motoko looked more fearful of that then of the darkness in her room. “No Su, you can’t…I don’t want to be here, not alone, not with anyone, I don’t want to be in this room at all,” she informed her, turning her face back towards Keitaro.

“Please, let me stay in your room? There is nothing here for me, not anymore,” the girl pleaded, her voice trailing off as she looked at her sparsely decorated room. The items within were stark reminders of all that had helped torture her, bind her to the darkness that now pervaded her soul. From the ancestral armor to the stands which held the remainder of her blades, the dressing screen that showed valiant and noble conflict, the uniform she worn daily…all items of the life a warrior led. A life she no longer could claim nor felt any hold on.

It was something in her tone that stopped him, an emotional catch in her voice barely discernable beneath the desperation. “Okay, Motoko, where do you want to sleep?” he asked, knowing the answer but hoping he was wrong.

“Can I stay with you?” she asked him quietly, blushing and looking down at her feet, fearful of him denying the request.

Mitsune almost swallowed her tongue, “Motoko, I don’t think that that’d be proper for y’all now. Why don’t you stay with me instead?” she interjected, coming to accept the reality that Motoko was indeed dealing with something much deeper than she’d given credit for.

Motoko looked over at the woman with wide eyes, melting into Keitaro’s side as she did. “But…Mitsune…you can’t stop it, it’ll take you too, just like it took me. It was Keitaro that stopped it, only he can protect me now,” she said in a strained voice.

“Now sugar, I don’t know what happened out there but you’re safe now, we’re all safe here. Keitaro is only right down the hall, he’ll come running if we need him,” she countered, extending a hand to her.

“Mitsune’s right Motoko, I’ll be right across the hall if you need me. Besides, it wouldn’t be proper to have you sleeping in me room if we weren’t…ah, well, you know…” he stammered and blushed, touching the tips of his index fingers together, unable to meet the eyes of the girls around him.

Shinobu’s eyes widened in understanding and her complexion paled considerably. Wavering dangerously on her feet, she was caught from fainting by a quick thinking Keitaro. For once his seemingly bad luck evaporating and his hands landing in safe locations and nothing untoward happening.

Mitsune noticed it as well, though she filed it away for further consideration when she had the time. “C’mon girl, let’s go get us a bath while Keitaro here revives poor Shinobu. Su, can you give’m a hand?” she asked pulling a clearly reluctant Motoko from the scene before she could give anymore excuses.

The resident fox cringed slightly at the shouts of exasperation and minor explosions they left behind, ‘Sorry Keitaro but I’m sure you’ll agree that Motoko isn’t ready to handle Su’s help right now. I only hope Shinobu forgives me,’ she thought, giving Motoko a brave smile to hide her thoughts.

Later that evening…

Keitaro, sporting several new bandages, was picking at his dinner, his attention constantly drawn to the girl next to him.

Motoko’s attempt at bathing with Mitsune had met with mixed results, ending when she’d fled the waters in near hysteria, drawing the remainder of the residents to the bath. Keitaro’s subsequent explosion of blood from his nostrils had knocked the over-wrought man unconscious on the spot of seeing a naked Motoko and Mitsune.

She now sat next to him, slowly sipping a broth that Shinobu had made especially for her. She’d never left his side when he’d collapsed, although she’d taken a towel draped over her to prevent a reoccurrence of the event. Despite his constant reassurances that he was fine, she refused to let him out of her sight and in some cases out of her touch.

Sighing, Keitaro hung his head and wondered if the gods hated him. At the moment, Motoko’s arm was gently against his as they ate, a steady reminder that all was not well in the Hinata.

“Do you need any help cleaning up Shinobu?” he asked the girl across the table, setting his chopsticks on his plate.

Shinobu looked at him in mild surprise, “No Sempai, but thank you. I mostly used left-overs so there isn’t many dishes to wash tonight,” she told him, giving him a shy but grateful smile.

He returned her smile with a nod. “Well, it’s getting kinda late. Why don’t we all get some sleep?” he asked, getting to his feet and stretching mightily. His body was exhausted, his mind was still spinning from the rapid events that had unfolded and was struggling to come to terms with everything yet. A fact he hoped to be able to sort out in his room once he had some peace and quiet.

Motoko set her bowl down and stood with him, worry warring with fear in her eyes. “Keitaro…please…” she started to say, feeling the terror of being away from him rising in her breast once more.

Mitsune was there to bail him out. “It’s okay Motoko, c’mon now with me,” she told her gently, having to lead the girl from the dining area.

Keitaro and Motoko’s eyes met at she left, both of them expressing regret and sadness but neither able to give verbal acknowledgement of the moment.

“G’night everyone,” he said quietly, slowly sliding his hands into his pockets as he shuffled off to his room for the evening.

Shinobu watched them go with a sad look, “Su, could you please help me?” she asked softly, picking up dishes and stacking them on a tray.

Su nodded glumly, but moved to help her friend. “Hey Shinobu, you think they’re gonna be alright?” she asked her in a timid voice.

Shinobu dropped the plate at the profound question, her hands shaking at having to give her opinion of the matter. For her shy nature and disposition, she was keenly aware of the inter-personal dynamics of the Inn. “I hope so Su, but I think Motoko’s gonna need some help to get there. If she can get that, and Keitaro and Naru can talk to each other, then I think things will start getting back to normal,” she told her, licking suddenly dry lips and continuing her cleaning.

Su glanced sharply up at the girl, watching her profile with an intense intelligence. “I see what ya saying,” was all she said, though her voice was distant as her mind whirled with the implication and possibilities her thoughts now brought her.

3 hours later…

The green light of her monitors lit her face with an unholy glow, her eyes tracking several strings of information without missing anything. A slow, almost maniacal smile began to grow on her face as the integrated countdown timer started flashing. Three dots on three different screens were now converging into the red flashing square, almost to the absolute second the timer was dictating. “Here we go,” Su said, picking up a remote control that was of an identical design to that of a popular console system.

Her finger only hovered over the red button for a moment before she stabbed it downwards and initiated her plans.

Keitaro’s room…

A light tapping at his door pulled him from his thoughts as he stared out at the increasing clouds as they obscured the stars. “Yes?” he called, walking towards the door and pulling it open. There stood a disheveled Motoko, shivering in fear as she silently cried, too frightened to make a sound.

“Oh my gosh! Motoko!” he said, stepping out and catching her before she collapsed to the floor. “Are you okay?” he asked her, finding her entire body to be shaking almost violently.

Motoko could only nod jerkily, unable to form words. One of her hands was tightly clasping the front of her robe while the other went from bracing herself on the wall to holding onto his neck as he took the majority of her weight upon himself.

Looking down the hall, “Where’s Mitsune?” he asked quietly, the stillness in the air giving him a chill that was amplified due to the silence that rose around them.

She clenched her eyes closed, tears seeping from the corners, burying her face into his chest while she pulled his shirt to help hide her face.

“I’ve got to check on her, are you able to come with me?” he asked her, not wanting to leave her behind but unsure of what he was about to face.

Shaking her head in the negative, Motoko gave no motions or indications that she was willing to stay or go, but was rather locked into the moment, unable to do anything.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, he once more looked down the darkened hallway, straining both ears and eyes in hopes of seeing Mitsune. “We’ve gotta check on her Motoko, just stay close okay? I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said, standing upright and making sure that she was stable on her feet before moving.

She was petrified but moved with him, allowing him a snail’s pace progress towards the gloomy shadows around Mitsune’s room. They arrived just outside her door and paused. The door was slid open only a few inches, not allowing enough light to truly penetrate the darkness to give them an idea of what had occurred.

Reaching out a hesitating hand, Keitaro paused and regarded the cringing Motoko, thoughts of the brave and fearless woman he’d known flashing through his mind. ‘We relied so much on her strength that it’s almost surreal not having it when you need it,’ he thought sadly, beginning to wonder if she’d ever return to a semblance of what she once was.

Grasping the frame of the sliding door, he threw it all the way open, unconsciously bracing himself as he did. His instincts proved correct as a small pair of glowing red eyes gleamed out of the darkness at him. They were soon joined by another, then another, still more rapidly appeared until the entire room was filled with them, giving it a hellish appearance that finally revealed the newest occupants of the room.

Hundreds of turtle-like demons were everywhere in the room, atop every surface and even clinging to the walls. Mitsune was sprawled in the middle of the room on her back, blood thickly oozing from a gash on her forehead. Her pose would have been provocative if she’d of been conscious, one leg up with it’s knee bent while the other was widely splayed out, her short nightgown ridden up to reveal that the woman wasn’t currently wearing panties.

Keitaro barely had time to register the scene before him before the little demons began to move. They oozed down walls and joined with others, becoming larger and larger as the groups morphed into one another. As the last of them joined, a vaguely humanoid monstrosity stood over the limp body of Mitsune, razor tipped claws flexing in a challenging manner over her, as if challenging the newcomers to take it’s prize.

“MITSUNE!” cried Keitaro, his voice shattering the silence of the event and acting as a catalyst that sent events into motion.

The demonic being roared it’s challenge, stepping over Mitsune and swiping viciously at Keitaro and Motoko, it’s claws digging massive gouges into the flooring, just as they stumbled back.

“What the hell is that thing?” Keitaro asked, blinking rapidly as he jabbed himself to ensure that he wasn’t dreaming. When the sight didn’t vanish before him as he felt the pain of his attempt, he rolled with Motoko to the side only a second before follow-up swipe split the air where they’d just been.

“Motoko, we’ve gotta move!” he said, pulling her up to her feet and almost jerking her down the corridor away from the monster following them. His eyes were already tracking his escape route while his mind worked on a way to try to double back for Mitsune.

Motoko’s eyes were fixated on the turtle beast chasing them, unable to tear her sight from it, icy fear locking her mind and emotions within it’s grasp. She could feel her tenuous hold on reality starting to slip once more, the darkness that hid within her starting to take hold of her, showing her the horrible fates that awaited her this night.

Panic rose up within her, a cry strangling out from her throat as she tried to come to reason with what was happening and finding reason to have fled in face of the monster chasing them. Time seemed to slow for her, the smallest details becoming clear as her senses heightened. The dreadful thumping of her heart, the way her vision blurred when she looked at the monster, the feeling of Keitaro’s hand in hers, the heat and power of his grip, the heavy vibrations of the floorboards as the creature stormed after them, and most disturbingly was the metallic gleam of the monster’s claws as they caught light from Keitaro’s opened door.

She almost sobbed in relief, realizing that this wasn’t a creature from the depths of hell, but rather one from the depths of Su’s room and imagination. Motoko lost sight of the monster as she was pulled around a corner and through a doorway, up the stairs to the roof where she was finally allowed to catch her breath. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Keitaro’s neck, burying her face into his shoulder in relief, crying hard in both terror and relief. “It’s not real,” she whispered brokenly to him.

“What’re you talking about Motoko? Of course that thing’s real! It tried to KILL us!” he practically shouted at her, mentally berating himself as she cringed at the tone.

“I’m sorry Motoko, I didn’t mean to yell at you,” he apologized hastily, looking over the railing to the balcony below, then hastily back to the stair case they’d just come up.

“It’s not the demon Keitaro, it’s one of Su’s creations,” she explained meekly, not wanting to hear him yell again.

The floor beneath them shook as a massive explosion rocked the staircase, flames and smoke pouring out of it. Motoko’s breath was taken away as Keitaro wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, hugging her so tightly to him she could feel every muscle on his body flex as he pulled her to the top of the rail with him. “Hang on,” he said quietly, his jaw clenched tightly as he sprang into the air.

Her eyes widened as the freefall sensation overcame her, her heart leaping into her throat and preventing her from screaming as they fell. Wrapping herself around him, she prayed their death would be quick and they neither would suffer as they crashed into the ground.

Keitaro reached out and caught the railing of the balcony to Mitsune’s room, stifling a yell of pain as his muscles stretched and pulled from the sudden stoppage of his fall. They hung for a long moment, twisting slightly in the night before Keitaro was able to hoist them up and over the railing, sweat standing out visibly on his face at the exertion of his feat.

Motoko looked at him with shock, having never even suspected him of such feats of strength. Her thoughts were interrupted by him grasping her hand once more and giving her an almost fearful look, “We’ve got to get her out of here,” he said, pulling her with him into the darkness of Mitsune’s room.

The woman was still laid out on the floor unmoving from the last they’d seen her. Taking a quick moment to check her pulse and breathing, Keitaro sighed in relief. “She’s just knocked out. Let’s get her out of here,” he told Motoko, although both of them wondered if he talking to her out of reflex or a need to simply hear himself think.

Scooping up Mitsune, he slung her over his shoulder and got back to his feet. As he looked over he could see that her nightgown had ridden up revealing her naked behind on his shoulder, causing him to gulp hard and fight the sensation of passing out from a massive nose bleed.

Forcing himself to look back to Motoko, he nodded and extended his hand to her. “We should head to the basement, Su’s machines have a harder time tracking me down there for some reason,” he informed, smiling encouragingly at her as their hands met once more.

“You did hear me,” she said in a near whisper, tightening her hold on his hand as they moved to the door.

Keitaro checked the hall quickly then led her into it, “Yeah, sorry I yelled at you but I thought maybe you thought that Su had created a hologram or something instead of a monster sent to disembowel us,” he explained, quickly heading for the lower levels as the sounds of the creature rampaging after them got closer.

They made quick progress through the Inn, finding the path to the kitchen mostly clear although debris from the monster’s path did mar the way near the staircase.

“Hello?” called a voice from the living room.

Keitaro stopped dead in his tracks, his head slowly swiveling to look in the direction, eyes wide and fearful. “Naru?” he said in a strangled whisper.

The sounds of destruction slowed and ceased, as if waiting for a sound to continue it’s rampage.

“Keitaro?” asked a timid Naru, walking hesitantly through the living room, her hand on the wall as she did.

A hideous roar filled the air that was followed closely by a huge explosion and the crashing of timbers. The ceiling behind the girl fell inwards, revealing the metal monstrosity in all it’s horrible glory.

“What the hell? SU!” cried a clearly frightened Naru, knocked to the ground and hastily scrambling backwards from the robotic assassin.

Keitaro, cursing the gods and spirits in his mind, bolted towards the living area, pulling a reluctant Motoko behind him. His luck proved true as he found Naru, by tripping over her and flying headlong into the living area.

Mitsune flew off his shoulder and luckily landed on the overturned couch, cushioning her fall easily.

Motoko’s hand was ripped from Keitaro’s as she too tripped over Naru, landing face first next to the girl, knocking the breath from her lungs.

Naru clutched the back of her head where Keitaro had kneed her on his way past, “OUCH!” she hissed through clenched teeth, her eyes tightly closed as she fought to remain conscious, her body curled up in pain.

Keitaro tumbled head over heels towards Su’s robot, finally coming to rest at the it’s feet, his own feet pointing upwards as he lay on his back looking up into it’s metal maw. “Oh crap,” he exclaimed.

Reaching down, the monster seized Keitaro by the throat, it’s cold claws closing over his neck and shoulders with impossible strength. Bringing him slowly up to meet it’s glowing red eyes, it roared in triumph at having captured it’s prey.

The wind from the roar blew his hair back, his eyes widening more the closer he got to the teeth. “SU! Quit it!” he said, struggling to free himself from it’s grasp.

Mitsune slowly came around, a pounding ache in her head becoming more and more pronounced as she did. Bringing a hand up to her head, she flinched as her fingers touched the still open gash on her forehead. Looking sickly at the blood covered fingers, she fought a wave of nausea that washed over her, closing her eyes to remove the sight of blood from her vision.

Sounds, muffled as if underwater when she’d first awoke, became louder and louder, adding to the pain behind her eyes. Forcing her lids open, she struggled to bring focus to the world, finally fixing her eyes on the sight of Su, remote in hand, laughing gleefully at the goings on.

Turning her head, she blinked owlishly at the robot clutched Keitaro. Looking past him, she saw Naru and Motoko struggling to disentangle themselves from one another. Her mind slowly put two and two together, making sense of the jumbled images she saw, gritting her teeth and stifling another wave of nausea as she spun back to where Su was hidden.

Pushing herself up from the couch, Mitsune rushed at the blonde girl, unable to even utter a shout for fear she would vomit in the attempt. Catching the younger girl in a cross body tackle, she bore her to the ground, sending them both tumbling and the remote flying from her grasp.

Su gave an undignified squeal as she was caught unawares, the night vision goggles she’d been wearing sliding down her face, coming to rest uncomfortably on her nose. Mitsune’s weight was pressing her down, pinning her to the floor. “Get offa me! I gots to help Motoko and Keitaro’s!” she cried, hands flailing about looking for her remote.

The monster halted it’s slow but steady progress of Keitaro towards his mouth, causing the young man to also cease his efforts at escape in surprise.

Mitsune realized what the girl was saying, her eyes quickly looking around for the remote. Seeing it resting to her left, she dove off Su and grasped it tightly, thumbs hitting buttons and switches at random in an attempt to turn it off.

Keitaro suddenly found himself going from a face to face with the robot to being held in an almost tender dancing pose with the robot waltzing him around the ruins of the living room. “MITSUNE! That’s not right! Try another one!” he cried, feeling his chest being slowly crushed in the embrace.

Growling at him, Mitsune redoubled her efforts, glancing up at times to gauge her progress. Her eyes widened in shock as the robot went from dancing with Keitaro to a sitting position, holding him across it’s knee.

“MITSUNE!” the unlucky young man squealed, kicking his legging desperately as he watched the razor sharp claws on it’s hand rising, preparing to spank him.

Gulping loudly, Mitsune paused, afraid to continue, or to look for that matter. ‘I don’t think I want to have that image imprinted on my brain for the rest of my life,’ she thought. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pushed down several buttons at once, praying that she hadn’t caused Keitaro to be molested in horrible and embarrassing ways in the process.

There was a terrible silence for a moment after she’d done so, before the monster’s eyes starting flashing slowly, a steady beeping noise accompanying it. The flashing and beeping grew rapidly in volume and occurrence, until it was obvious that it was a count-down timer of some sort.

Every resident knew what it meant and began to depart from the immediate area before it reached it’s termination point. Motoko moved to Keitaro’s side, struggling to free him, handing shaking mightily as she did.

Mitsune threw the remote and was several steps to the door when she caught sight of Motoko struggling to save Keitaro. “MOTOKO! We’ve gotta move! That thing’s gonna explode!” she called out, groaning aloud when her words went unheeded.

“I swear, y’all are gonna be the death of me,” she growled, moving to help Motoko as the eyes were flashing wildly, the beeping growing to the point of almost drowning out all other sounds.

Keitaro was shouting at them to leave him, but the two women either refused to do so or couldn’t make out his words from the beeping from the robot. His eyes widened as they each grabbed a leg and pulled violently.

Mitsune winced as Keitaro was pulled free, his clothing ripping under the force and the sharp edges of the robot. The claw that had been aloft in preparation of spanking him snagging on the seat of his pants, tips of metal digging deeply into his tender backside.

“Sorry Keitaro,” she said, knowing he couldn’t hear her but needing to say it anyways. Motioning for Motoko to follow suit, they extracted him from it’s claw and pulled him away from the self destructing robot.

With an arm draped across each girl’s shoulder, Keitaro managed a funny looking but very painful gimping gallop from the monster, getting to the door just in time for the explosion to devastate the living room and the surrounding areas.

The concussive force lifted them all up and threw them outwards onto the soft and forgiving manicured lawn of the Inn. Keitaro felt a weight across his body, pinning his upper body and legs down. Opening his eyes, he blinked to clear the spots before them, swallowing several times to help clear his ears from the ringing. “You girls okay?” he asked, a bit too loudly.

Mitsune, draped across his legs, lifted her head and gave him weak smile. “So, is saving yer skin enough for a month or two of free rent?” she asked, bringing herself up to an arm to look at him over Motoko’s back.

Motoko moved gently up his chest and held her cheek to his. “Yes, I’m okay, are you?” she asked him quietly, pulling up her head to meet his eyes.

Naru’s eyes narrowed at the sight of a mostly naked Mitsune positioning herself atop Keitaro’s midsection and Motoko rubbing her unbound breasts to his bare chest, her robe opened provocatively.

“So THIS is what you wanted to tell me? That you’re sleeping with Mitsune AND Motoko?” she shouted shrilly, getting to her feet and clenching her fists in rage.

Keitaro gave her a shocked and uncomprehending look, turning his attentions towards where Mitsune was and how close her face was to a rather private part of his anatomy. His eyes widened in horror, his head turning from her to Naru, to Motoko, back to Mitsune and then to Naru.

The sounds of sirens echoed in the distance as smoke and flames roiled out of the destroyed façade of the Inn, rising steadily into the night sky and giving a hellish appearance to those assembled before it.

“Heya Naru! Glad ya gots my message. I told ya that Keitaro was all better, see? Him’n Motokos and Mitsune are all playing together, why don’t you join’m? I’m sure they’d love the company,” Su said, skipping past the girl to leap onto the trio.

Keitaro’s eyes crossed as Su’s weight forced Mitsune’s head down violently into his crotch. A thin moan escaped his lips as his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp, consciousness fleeing him.

Mitsune gave a muffled yell of outrage at being pinned into Keitaro’s groin, heaving her shoulders up and back to throw off Su’s body. “SU! What do ya think your doin’?” she asked, having the presense of mind to blush at her head having been nestled against Keitaro’s private parts.

Su blinked dumbly at her, “I wanted things to go back to the way they were so I made my new mecha to fix Keitaro and Motoko, then I called Naru and told’er that he wanted to speak to her. See? It worked, everyone is here so now we can all play,” she explained, her expression one of a parent teaching a child something simple.

Naru’s irate glare went from where Keitaro was lying to Su, “You mean YOU set this up? Su, how could you?” she shrilled at the girl.

Motoko looked at the limp and unconscious form of Keitaro, reaching out a hand to gently caress his cheek. “Keitaro? Wake up Keitaro,” she said softly, shaking him in an effort to rouse him.

Haruka jogged into the clearing, her robe fluttering as she did so, revealing a white cotton shirt and sleep shorts. Her hair was mussed and her usual detached expression was replaced by one of frustrated annoyance. Doing a quick count, she paused and looked frantically around the area. “Where’s Shinobu?” she asked.

Everyone stood still for a moment with horrified expressions, before almost as one they turned to the burning Inn. “Oh no,” whispered Mitsune, her hand covering her mouth.

A sudden and violent explosion from the building caused them all to flinch, fiery debris raining down around them. Haruka swore colorfully, ripping off her robe and tearing at the hem until she pulled of a sizeable section of it. Wrapping it around her face, covering her nose and mouth, she moved towards the flaming entrance. “The police and fire department are on the way, stay here!” she commanded them, disappearing into the burning building in search of the missing girl.

Motoko was frantic now, shaking Keitaro almost violently. “Wake up Keitaro! Shinobu’s in danger!” she exclaimed, holding back tears as she did.

Naru went from fear to anger at the situation, turning back to Su once more. “This is all YOUR fault! If anything happens to her…” she threatened, trailing off as the sounds of men running towards them got closer.

The fire department arrived, bringing with them several large hoses and portable extinguishing devices. Asking only a few brusque questions, they too rushed into the building to rescue the two girls inside.

A team of EMS workers followed, bringing with them a few gurneys. They moved to the obvious injuries first while the others covered the rest with warm woolen blankets, leading them to the rigs so that a proper diagnosis could be done.

There was little talking done by the residents of the inn, all attention was directed to the burning building they called home, anxious for any sign of the missing people they cared for.

The wait wasn’t long, although it seemed to extend for ages. Five fire fighters came rushing down the hill in full environmental protection gear, two of them carrying the missing girls.

Haruka’s white outfit was smoke colored and there were burns along the right side of her body, the skin blistered and blackened. The man carrying her ripped off his mask and began to bark a series of issues that she’d suffered, ranging from smoke inhalation to 1st degree burns.

The next man was carrying the limp form of what could only be Shinobu, but she was barely recognizable as such. She was burned over the majority of her body, her clothing having either been burned or melted to her ruined skin. There was no hair visible on her head, her arms hung limply down, swaying in time with the man’s bounding steps.

The girls all started to cry, softly at first, growing in intensity as the EMS workers desperately began their ministrations on the unresponsive young woman. They worked with an almost manic intensity, words weren’t barked but spoken with a dread sense of purpose, as if afraid any harsh noise would cause her to further deteriorate.

A steady tone sounded and a woman cursed, throwing aside medical equipment to begin chest compressions, a stern hurried look on her face. Her partner knelt by Shinobu’s head, tilting it back and pressing his lips to hers, breathing into her mouth in an attempt to coax her back to life.

Motoko watched with horror, her grip on the unconscious Keitaro tightening the harder the medical workers ministered to Shinobu. It was finally too much for her to continue to watch, the rational part of her knowing full well that she wasn’t going to wake up again. She turned to look at the almost peaceful expression on Keitaro’s face, her heart aching to know what emotional turmoil he would face upon waking. “I’m so sorry Keitaro, this is all my fault,” she whispered, laying her head on his chest, crying softly.

Naru stood numb, her mind unable to further process the information that was overloading her senses. Shinobu’s lifeless body being worked on, Motoko crying on Keitaro’s unconscious body, Mitsune kneeling on the grass nearby with her face buried in her hands crying loudly, Su’s look of bafflement at the going’s on and Haruka struggling to sit up through all her wounds and burns, all of it too much for her. The world spun crazily for a moment, then all went black as her mind simply shut off, sending her crashing to the ground and into unconsciousness.

A week later…

Time passed slowly for the surviving members of the Inn. Shinobu had mercifully never awoken and quietly passed on the very night of the fire. Her funeral was held three days later with all her family, friends and classmates in attendance. Even Su was there, though under guard by national immigration enforcement, her deportation having been expedited after her involvement in the accidental homicide of Shinobu. Directly after the funeral she was loaded onto a plane and taken back to her home country, never allowed again onto Japanese soil.

Naru had retreated into herself, a cold shell when dealing with her former friends. She treated them all like pariahs, only tolerating them when absolutely necessary, and even then with obvious disdain. Keitaro’s efforts to talk with her with harshly rebuffed as she vocalized her blame on him for the situation and it’s repercussions. When Mitsune had risen to his defense, she too was faced with the girl’s ire and hatred, being told that she was nothing more than an opportunistic slut that used everyone to her advantage.

Keitaro had stood up to her then, unable to watch the girl he’d once loved be so spiteful and bitter to her friends. Their final words to one another had been spoken in haste and anger, leaving lasting scars and emotional wounds that would never fully heal.

Motoko had born silent witness to it all, the crushing guilt she carried amplified a hundred fold as their once tight knit group disintegrated before her eyes. She became silent and barely responsive to the efforts of Mitsune and Keitaro, her own personal demons whispering horrible things to her all the while. The darkness she’d been subjected to had taken firm hold of her, leaving her nothing but a husk of what she’d once been. Unable to be alone or in the dark, she was Keitaro’s constant companion, although even his calming and supportive presence was unable to fully reach her.

The inn had sustained massive damage to the front living areas and forward rooms, although the structure itself was still intact. Workers were working on restoring it but it was slow going as they did, money was tight with the absence of some residents.

The hotsprings were fine and fully functional, and several of the rear rooms were still livable. Keitaro had lost almost all his belongings in the fire, his room having been all but destroyed. He’d taken up living in Motoko’s room for the time being, given that she wouldn’t sleep without him in the room anyways it made it simpler in the short run.

With a heavy sigh Keitaro trudged his way past the lumber and tools, heading towards the hot springs for a soak. “Are you coming Motoko?” he asked quietly, knowing the answer but needing to ask.

She nodded slowly, walking just behind him with her hands clasped before her. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice a shadow of it’s former strength.

They paused at the doors, Keitaro motioning for Motoko to enter first with him following behind. Taking seats on the bench, they faced opposite directions as they each got undressed for the bath. The two of them had come to an arrangement where they would change together, each knowing the other wouldn’t peek, so that Motoko wouldn’t be petrified of being far from his side.

With towels wrapped securely around them, they slipped into the steamy waters of the springs, sighing as the hot waters closed around them.

“Are you okay Keitaro?” she asked suddenly, causing the young man to regard her profile.

Seated side by side, it made for easy quiet conversation and comfortable companionship, something that Keitaro had found himself enjoying since the horrible events of the week past.

“I guess, it’s just hard to wrap my mind around, you know? What with everything that’s happened,” he admitted with a shrug, turning to regard the side of her face. She was beautiful yet mournful, her eyes lost in distant thought, head slightly tilted forwards and her shoulders slumped.

“How about you? Are you feeling any better?” he hazarded to ask, almost afraid of the answer.

There was a long pause before she answered, her voice emotionless. “No. It’s still there, taunting me, whispering that it’s all my fault, how I’ve ruined not just your life but everyone that ever came in contact with me,” she stated.

“But it’s not Motoko, really. Life’s been hard on you since that trip, but nothing that’s happened is your fault. You didn’t intend for any of this to happen, so how can you blame yourself?” he asked earnestly.

“Naru dumping you, Su going nuts and getting Shinobu killed, the Hinata almost burning to the ground? All of these things would never have happened if I’d of just died out there in the wilderness,” Motoko calmly told him, finally turning to look at him with world weary eyes.

Keitaro blinked at her, “But things could have been worse if you had, right? It’s like the path not taken…you’ll never know just what MIGHT have happened, only that you’ll have to deal with the path you DID take. Please Motoko, don’t blame yourself. I don’t,” he pleaded with her softly, his hand finding hers under the water.

The simple and compassionate touch brought a blush to her cheeks. She searched his face for a long time before answering. Giving him a timid and almost imperceptible nod. “Thank you Keitaro, for staying by my side in this. I don’t think I could have made it without you,” Motoko told him, sighing heavily and sinking into the waters until they were just below her chin.

“I will try Keitaro, for you. You saved me, it’s the least I can do,” she agreed finally.

“You keep saying that, how I saved you but you’ve never said how. What happened to make you believe that?” he asked quietly, attempting to make headway into her minds working.

Tsuruko held out a hand, halting the progress of the dark clothed Kanako, a finger held to her lips. “Listen, they are speaking of the night of her ordeal. Perhaps we will gain an insight,” she whispered, pulling them back into the shadows near the entrance to the bath.

The two had arrived together, though for different purposes. For Tsuruko, it was to deliver a letter and package from her parents to her sister. Kanako however had come to help Haruka with her duties as well as to save her brother from the fresh hell those women had inflicted upon him. The arrival at the wrecked Hinata had given the women pause, neither having expected the amount of damage present. There was no one to greet them or even come to the temporary door, so they’d walked in, following the quiet voices that drifted through the inn.

‘The death of Shinobu must have crushed big brother. It’s a miracle that he hasn’t had a similar fate yet, given the abuses he’s suffered at their hands,’ she thought bitterly.

The quiet and intimate conversation pulled each from private thoughts as Motoko began her halting tale of torture and abuse.

“It came faster than I’d thought possible, passing my defense as if it weren’t there at all. The demon attacked my emotions and thoughts as well as my body, using my own fears and insecurities against me,” she said quietly, her tone clinical and emotionless.

“The darkness it brought was absolute, drowning out my sense of self, my memories and almost my sanity. It dredged up every thing I feared, both real and imaginary, until I couldn’t resist anymore. Then, when it controlled me physically, it trapped me within my mind, tearing and violating all my thoughts, hopes and dreams,” Motoko continued, her eyes closing almost involuntary as she began to relive the hellish capture.

Her fingers tightened on his painfully, her body starting to shake, causing Keitaro to turn slightly towards her and reach out his right hand to touch her face tenderly. “It’s okay Motoko, you’re safe and here with me now, it can’t harm you anymore,” he whispered encouragingly, gentle touches by his fingers getting to open tear filled eyes.

“It perverted my memories Keitaro, changing them into something horrible. Tsuruko turning her back on me, my family disowning me for failure and shaming our name…my friends betraying me, belittling me,” she told him haltingly, not going into details, though each admission hurt her just the same as if reliving them once more.

“But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t change the way I remembered you Keitaro. Through it all, you were there in my mind…in my heart, strong and steadfast, never abandoning me, giving me hope that it would end,” Motoko’s face showed something akin to awe as she regarded him intently.

“I clung to that hope, held it tightly and used it to find my sanity, even though my mind itself was going insane. I prayed Keitaro, oh how hard I prayed, to the ancestors, to the spirits, to any god that might be listening, to save me. I prayed you would come to my rescue Keitaro, just as you’ve always done for all of us, no matter the circumstances, faithful that you would,” Her tears now falling freely as she related her story, never taking her attention from his face, watching him closely and searching his face as she spoke.

“It mocked me as I did, using my loved ones against me, telling me that you would never come for someone so pitiful and unworthy as myself. You could never feel anything but contempt and disgust for me, that you would never return…” she paused, eyes widening in shock as she slipped and almost revealed her true feelings for the unlucky but lovable young man.

“Return? But I never went with you Motoko, in fact, if Tsuruko hadn’t of come to get me, I wouldn’t have even really realized how much trouble you were in,” he stated, not grasping the true meaning of her words.

Her heart yammered with both fear and excitement, wondering if she should finally come clean to him about her affections. The darkness that was her constant companion whispered maddeningly in the back of her mind, deepening her sense of despair and worthlessness, unworthy to even be in his presence much less a mate to him.

Motoko’s mouth slowly closed, fear clenching her heart in it’s icy grip and freezing her burgeoning hope in her breast. Lowering her eyes from his, feeling dirty and discarded, she took a shaky breath. “It raped me Keitaro, laughing and mocking me as it did. I was powerless against it, I couldn’t even cry out as it happened. I could only lay there, my eyes closed but even that didn’t help me,” she started to cry, struggling to maintain herself and losing the battle.

Keitaro felt like someone had kicked him in the groin, a leaden weight pulling down his stomach as she told him. A numbness began to spread over him, a feeling of detachment to the situation and it’s inevitable outcome. Guilt at what happened to the beautiful girl next to him, guilt of not being able to protect her, of not being there when she truly needed him. 'But you couldn’t have known, she didn’t even invite you,’ his mind stated rationally, but emotionally he was torn at her admission and it’s impact on them both.

“I’m so sorry Motoko,” he whispered, disengaging his hand from hers and pulling the crying girl into an embrace, resting her head on his shoulder and rubbing her back softly.

“It was horrible Keitaro, I couldn’t even escape the demon in sleep or unconsciousness. It consumed me, tormenting me every moment, unrelentingly and without mercy,” she said, her voice now thickened with emotion and pent up anguish.

Her tears over took her, drowning out any further attempts at speaking as she clutched at him once more. The girl found solace in the man’s arms, comfort and protection from her own personal hell.

Keitaro’s expression turned from sympathy to determination as he brought his eyes up from the girl he was holding. Looking up to the stars above, he silently cursed them and the gods they represented for allowing something so heinous to occur. ‘She had her whole life ahead of her and you let this monster take it from her,’ he mentally railed, a feeling of protection growing stronger in her breast.

‘I won’t let anyone hurt her ever again, I won’t let anyTHING harm her again,’ he vowed to the heaven’s above.

Time passed slowly for them as Motoko struggled to regain her composure. As he crying slowly and quieted, she continued her tale. “I felt so lost, so alone, like no one would ever find me again. I kept remembering how you struggled in your life, how you kept trying and trying, no matter what, never giving up. I focused on you in order to find the strength to fight the demon, to keep my sense of self. It only served to incense the monster, to redouble it’s efforts to crush my soul forever, but it couldn’t crush my thoughts and feelings for you. You were my light and strength Keitaro, no matter how much it hurt me, it couldn’t remove you from my thoughts and it was that small light of strength and hope that kept me going. Do you see now Keitaro? Now do you understand?” she asked him passionately, looking deeply into his eyes.

Keitaro swallowed hard at her admission, realizing now that Tsuruko was correct in her assessment of how the girl’s felt about him. To know that Motoko, a girl he viewed as invincible, drew her strength from him in her most desperate of times frightened him to some degree, while at the same time it gave him a warmth of feelings for the trembling girl in his arms. “Yeah, I do now Motoko,” he said with a faint smile, nodding his head to her.

Tsuruko’s face was drawn and sorrowful as she leaned back against the smooth wooden wall behind her. “I’m sorry sister, I didn’t know it was capable of such power and ferocity or I would have sent more with you,” she said quietly, praying for forgiveness for her arrogance and assumptions.

Kanako’s eyes smoldered in rage at the interactions of the two, knowing full well how often the raven-haired swordswoman abused her beloved brother. “Her suffering is beside the point, she still has no right to manipulate Keitaro like this. She’s using her ordeal to ensnare his feelings, nothing more,” she said, her voice a hateful hiss.

Tsuruko’s eyes hardened as she spun on the smaller girl, “Don’t speak of things you have no knowledge of,” she told her imperially, closing the gap between them until there were only inches left.

“The feelings she has are no different from yours, you use similar tactics in your own pursuit. You use your childhood connection with him to secure your place at his side, always pining for more. You place yourself above everyone that cares for him, interposing yourself between them so that he’s forced to choose between family and friends. You are shallow and transparent, jealous and insecure as you wish for something more from a man that loves unconditionally,” she stated, her deep brown eyes flashing dangerously, her hand going to the hilt of her sword as Kanako’s fists tightened.

The dark girl wasn’t intimidated but was infuriated at the audacity of the woman to speak like that to her. “I love my brother and would be a better wife and lover to him than all the girls here combined! I KNOW him, know his wants and desires, better then he himself does. I’ve spent YEARS watching and learning what he wants, it’s only a matter of time before he realizes that I am the one he’s been searching for. I would never harm him or treat him badly, unlike the honorless wenches that have played with his feelings while beating and abusing his good nature,” she retorted, her face contorted with anger and barely restrained rage.

Several inches of steel escaped the scabbard as Tsuruko pulled her sword partway free. “Do NOT insult the honor of my sister or that of the dead. While past transgressions have occurred they also have been forgiven by the very same man victimized by them. He had no grudges or vendetta’s against any of them or YOU for that matter. Your lies and deceit when dealing with the girls that live here haven’t gone unnoticed by him, but he still loves you and forgives you for that. Only that’s not good enough for you is it? Why is it that they are honorless wenches for the way they treat him yet your own actions are just as heinous but are to be overlooked because of your ‘love’? No Kanako Urashima, you are no different or better then those you despise. Accept your place in his life and give up this incestuous pursuit of someone that will never see you as more than a sister,” she said in a deadly cold voice, a promise of violence in the tone.

Kanako’s eyes widened in shock at the woman’s blunt and hurtful comments, though the weight of truth in them stung. Hiding her unease, she found herself falling into a fighting pose, her muscles tensed as she glared back at Tsuruko. “I AM better than anyone else here and will NEVER give up on him. He deserves to be loved and I will prove to him that there is no other better for him. No matter what price must be paid,” she whispered, her tone reserved but harder than diamonds.

Oblivious to the battle of will and words taking place nearby, Motoko and Keitaro were lost in heavy thoughts and heady emotions. Keitaro’s mind was awhirl with all that she’d told him, how vulnerable she’d become and how far she’d fallen from the confident and capable warrior he’d known and cared so much for.

“Motoko,” he began, making sure she turned her eyes to his before continuing. “I promised you that I would stay by your side until you beat this and I meant it. I’m not going anywhere and I won’t leave you like this. I’m going to be here for you…with you, until you’re able to face the world again with your head held high and your honor restored,” he vowed quietly, earning him a relieved expression and slow forming tears in her expressive eyes.

“Thank you Keitaro, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she replied, sighing and resting herself against him in the warm waters of the springs.

A rustling of cloth from the curtained doorways drew their attention as Tsuruko and Kanako walked into the springs area. Both wore stony expression and carried themselves stiffly as they struggled to control the anger that almost brought them to blows.

“I apologize for such an intrusion but there was no one to greet us when we arrived,” Tsuruko said with a slight smile and bow, ignoring how each blushed at being caught in such an intimate position with each other.

“I came as soon as I could big brother, I know you would need my assistance in this troubling time,” Kanako said, giving a bow but hers was accompanied by a glare at Motoko.

Gulping hard, and trying to subtly move from within Motoko’s embrace, a move which failed as she simply moved with him, he gaped at them. “Wha…what are you guys doing here?” he asked dumbly, struggling to come to grips with the situation.

“I have come with information for my sister from our family and to pay my respects to the departed,” Tsuruko answered smoothly, silently tormented for the flinch her sister gave at the mention of their parents.

Kanako fixed them with a cool stare, “I’ve come to assist Haruka and yourself with the running of the teashop and Inn until things have returned to a more normal atmosphere,” she said, her eyes never leaving the two bathing people before them.

Keitaro slumped in the waters for a moment as he accepted their intentions, looking down at his mostly nude form. “Thanks Kanako, I’m sure Aunt Haruka will appreciate the help and I sure could use a hand around here since the fire…” he trailed off, the pain of Shinobu’s death still fresh and raw.

He quickly steeled his emotions, knowing that his mourning could wait until he was alone, he gave them a weak but embarrassed smile. “But, if you two don’t mind, could you leave so me’n Motoko could get dressed?” he asked, sinking with the girl deeper into the water to hide their state of undress.

Tsuruko looked at the man with a humored expression, her eyes lingering on his muscular form. “Of course, forgive my intrusion. I will await you in the kitchen dining area. If you’d allow me to prepare us a simple meal?” she asked, stepping backwards towards the door.

“Sure, that’d be great!” Keitaro exclaimed, smiling broadly at her offer, feeling touched that she would do something so menial for them.

Kanako eyed Tsuruko warily, catching her staring at Keitaro and the faint blush his words brought to her cheeks. ‘Have I missed something? She’s married…but,’ she thought, not sure of what the implications of the woman’s body language meant.

“Do you need assistance big brother? I can help you…” Kanako offered, only to be cut off by a bright red Keitaro.

“No! I mean, no thanks Kanako. I’ll be fine, besides Motoko can help if I need…” he stopped dead in his sentence, his eyes widening as he thought about the implications his words had.

“NO! It’s not like that…it’s just that…oh forget it,” he said hanging his head and shaking it sadly. “Motoko needs my help Kanako and I won’t desert her. Don’t worry, nothing perverted or anything like that will happen, she just needs me and I don’t mind,” he explained, knowing his driven adopted sister wasn’t going to take the news lightly or well for that matter.

She paused for a moment, staring at the two of them, unable to get Motoko to meet her gaze. “I see. Then I will wait for you upstairs and settle my things as I do,” Kanako informed them, her voice once more cool and detached.

Motoko and Keitaro waited for a long moment, “Well, guess we should get out and see what Tsuruko wants to tell you, huh?” he asked her with a tired smile.

Nodding, “Yes, I wonder what my parents are going to say,” she said glumly, looking dejectedly in the direction her sister had went.

“Only one way to find out. C’mon, let’s get changed. It can’t be all bad could it?” he asked, forcing himself to be cheerful.

She didn’t answer, instead taking his offered hands and exiting from the warmth and artificial safety of the springs.

( ( ( () )>) )>

The meal Tsuruko had prepared was tasty for having been so hastily prepared. The three women and lone man sat in uncomfortable silence around the table. The unspoken but heavy hostility between Tsuruko and Kanako filled the air around them, causing them all to be careful of their words and actions.

Setting her chopsticks down, Tsuruko’s expression went unreadable as she turned to her sister next to her. “I must speak with you privately about matters of our family. Can we adjourn to your room?” she asked.

Motoko looked at her older sister, then to Keitaro as if seeking guidance and permission. “Y..yes, of course sister. Keitaro, do you mind?” she asked in a quavering voice.

The young man frowned slightly, unused to having anyone ask his permission for just about anything. Dawning realization came to him, figuring out that she wanted to use the room they now shared. “Um…OH! Sure, no problem guys, take your time. I’ll get this mess cleaned up with Kanako while you two talk, right Kanako?” he asked his sister.

She smiled demurely, “Of course Keitaro,” she replied, her hands deftly beginning to stack dishes.

Extending a hand to her younger sister, Tsuruko walked with the girl up the stairs to where her room was. Neither spoke a word until they’d reached the door and slid it shut.

“Please, let us sit for what I have to say is of the utmost importance,” Tsuruko told her, kneeling before the low table in her room.

As Motoko knelt across from her, she watched with attentive eyes as her sister pulled a white silk wrapped bundle from within her top, laying it reverently on the table between them.

“I have spoken with mother and father, explaining to the them what has occurred and the results of your attempted exorcism. They spent several days in meditation and prayer for guidance, coming to a possible solution to your situation,” Tsuruko explained, slowly unraveling the silk to reveal an ornate tanto inscribed with the family crest of the Aoyama’s as well as the traditional crest of the Shinmei Ryuu.

“If, as you claim, that the taint of darkness is too great to overcome and you are left trapped in torment without end,” she paused, waiting until Motoko’s eyes left the blade and met the sympathetic gaze of her sister.

“Then you have permission to take your life, to restore honor and dignity to your name, the family name and to relieve the torment of possession you endure,” the woman said quietly, turning the blade so that the hilt was facing Motoko and sliding it to her slowly.

The sound of the blade sliding across the table was loud as thunder in the death stillness of the room, almost mocking them. Motoko picked up the blade and clutched it tightly in her hands, her body shaking slightly as she did so. “Has it come to this sister? Am I that lost that there is no hope of light for my soul?” she asked, closing her eyes tightly.

Tsuruko was silent for long moments, watching her sister closely, her own heart breaking at the position they both found themselves in. “I cannot answer that for you Motoko, only you can now. You have been defiled and dishonored by an unclean spirit, a demon, a demon that though sealed still torments you to no end. You know the price of honor and duty. Only you know the extent of what they are worth to you. Not to family, not to our school, not to the fallacies that are imposed upon us by life, but you and you alone. This is a way, a final way, to expunge the stain on your honor and life, to regain what you have lost and be able to join our revered ancestors with head held high. This is a decision you must make. The silken cords are here,” she said, handing the silk wrap to Motoko that held the cords to bind her legs for the ritual suicide.

The older woman stood smoothly, brushing her knees as she did. “And I will act as you second should you ask it. My stroke with be painless and quick, I swear it,” the older sister said, moving to the door to leave her alone with her thoughts and decisions.

“I love you Motoko, and don’t ever want to see you pain. You are enduring something that would crush even the strongest of us all. Should you decide that enough is enough, know that I will mourn you for many weeks if not months, for I will sincerely miss not only the greatest student our school has ever seen, but for the best sister anyone could ever ask for,” Tsuruko told her, tears of her own streaking down porcelain cheeks as she silently slid the door shut as she left.

She sat alone, silently playing with the ornate scabbard and hilt as her thoughts twisted and turned. Relief and dread warred within her, guilt and desire coloring each. ‘Should I ease my suffering and guilt for all the trouble I’ve caused everyone, for the DEATH I’ve caused?’ she asked herself mentally, a picture of Shinobu’s smiling face coming to the forefront of her mind.

It was Keitaro’s smiling and reassuring face that gave her pause, his sincere desire to help her, to be with her no matte what had happened to her. ‘He’d always accept me, no matter if I am a maiden of the sword or not,’ her thoughts countered, showing her the small path towards whatever happiness she could find in life.

The door slid open and revealed the object of her thoughts standing there with an odd expression. His eyes were glued to the blade in her hands, almost causing her to hide it in embarrassment. “Keitaro, I…” she stammered as he entered, his expression hardening as he did.

The weight of his stare was oppressive as he knelt across from her, quietly observing the objects between them. “I guess Tsuruko and your parents gave you the honorable suicide choice huh?” he asked, his voice sounding dead and devoid of emotion, a fact that frightened her and sent a leaden feeling into her lower abdominal regions.

“Yes,” she murmured, find herself playing anxiously with the blade under his gaze.

“When are you going to do it?” he asked her bluntly, the same dead tone in his voice.

Her eyes shot upwards to look at his in shock and betrayal. “Keitaro?” she asked in a strangled gasp.

He shook his head angrily, “It’s the only way to get your honor back you know. Besides the fact that it would put Shinobu’s spirit to rest as well,” he spat at her, causing her to begin to cry.

“But…but you said…” she cried to him, extending a hand to him shakily only to have it brutally slapped away.

“I felt SORRY for you Motoko, because you didn’t have any other choice, but now you do. I don’t want to have to be babying you for the rest of my life. This way you get your honor back and I get to try to salvage my life, it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Keitaro said, his voice full of disgust and vile anger.

His words broke the remainder of her spirit, despair and depression closing over her like a dark tide. Sinister laughter seemed to echo up from the shadows of her soul, triumphant and mocking.

Unable to speak through her tears, Motoko pulled the first of the two cords to her and began the process of binding her legs so her dignity would be maintained even after her death.

Meanwhile….

Keitaro was leaning on the railing of the balcony above the kitchen, enjoying the approaching evening air. A shift in the winds brought the lavender and lilac scent that seemed to personify Tsuruko. “Heya Tsuruko, did everything go alright with your sister?” he asked, turning to face her.

He was utterly unprepared for what he saw. Tsuruko was openly crying, tears pouring down her beautiful face. She carried herself regally and moved with the smooth grace he’d long associated with her to stand next to him. “No Keitaro, nothing is alright,” she whispered to him, giving him a faint shadow of a smile through her tears.

“Oh my gosh! Tsuruko!” the young man blurted, moving to her side and almost putting his arms around her to comfort her. Stopping himself before he did so, images of a brutally painful yet short death flashing through his mind, he paused, “What’s wrong Tsuruko? Can I help?” he asked her urgently.

The woman turned to face and gave him a heartbreakingly sad look that spoke of haunted thoughts and feelings. “I could use a hug Keitaro,” she said simply, looking dejected and small.

Tenderly and slowly, the scared and uncertain man wrapped his arms around the woman, holding to his chest as she cried on his shoulder. They stood like that for long minutes before she was able to master her emotions once more. “Thank you Keitaro, it’s been some time since anyone has been able to comfort me,” she said quietly.

He didn’t know what to say to something so simple yet profoundly honest and open. “I’m glad I could help you,” Keitaro said, giving her an unsure smile and being graced with a sad one in response.

“What happened up there?” he asked her, wondering what could have been so bad as to break Tsuruko into tears, fearing and dreading the answer he’d receive.

“My family has granted Motoko the right to take her life to restore her honor,” she told him, a look of grief on her face at having to vocalize it once more.

Keitaro paled considerably, his eyes widening as his head whipped around wildly. “Oh no…have you seen Kanako?” he asked in strained voice.

Her brow furrowed, “No, we believed her to be with you,” she responded, fear ripping at her heart.

Without a word Keitaro bolted to the stairs and bounded down them, racing through the inn with surprising dexterity, running as if a life depended upon it.

Tsuruko was only steps behind him, her mind quickly figuring out what he feared and causing her body to give chase. She pulled her blade as they reached the hallway, the sound of the polished steel echoing up and down it.

Keitaro threw the door open to reveal a nightmarish scene before him. A duplicate of himself was standing over a kneeling Motoko, her dress kimono opened at the waist, her hands clutching the blade that was poised over her stomach.

“MOTOKO! NO!” he shouted, diving into the room and pulling the knife from her grasp and bowling them both over to the floor.

Tsuruko moved with deadly quickness, slashing at the clone Keitaro and knocking the short blade from his hands. “You shall PAY for this transgression!” she spat, launching into an all out attack of anger and violence against him.

The fake Keitaro easily parried the woman’s strikes with his bare hands. “You’ve RUINED it! Her death will set everything right Tsuruko! Your parents knew this, SHE knew this, why can you not just accept it?” he screamed at her, fighting just as violently.

The real Keitaro threw the blade to the far side of the room, only then turning attention back to the hysterical Motoko. “You can’t do this Motoko! You can’t give up like this, I need you Motoko!” he said, grasping her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

She shook her head, “You’d be better off without me Keitaro, you said so yourself! Just let me go and live your life!” she screamed at him, attempting to claw her way past him to reach the discarded knife.

His hand flew of it’s own accord, slapping her hard across the cheek, finally breaking through her sobs and getting her full attention. “No, I won’t be better off without you Motoko! This isn’t what I wanted for you or the way I wanted it to turn out but we’re all each other has got now! I don’t want to be without you, not now, not ever Motoko. Just because you’ve been hurt doesn’t mean you’re not worth something…especially to me Motoko,” he told her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly as if trying to will the warmth of his heart into her.

“I don’t want to ruin your life Keitaro, I don’t want to take your dreams from you,” she cried into his shoulder.

“You won’t Motoko, you never did. A demon did, he’s the one that did this, not you,” he said earnestly to her, struggling to ignore the sounds of all out battle in the halls behind them.

“He robbed us of our dreams and goals Motoko, but we’ll just have to make new ones…together. We can’t let him win like this Motoko, he’s already taken too much from each of us and I’m not going to let him take you too,” he said, then impulsively kissed her as if to show the depth of his words.

Her eyes widened then slammed shut, tears falling from the corners and she desperately kissed him back, her arms wrapping around him tightly. She poured her very soul into that kiss, treating it like the life line it was and finding within it the light of hope and love she’d lost.

As she broke from the kiss for oxygen, she blurted the words she’d longed to say for so long. “I love you so much Keitaro, please don’t leave me,” she sobbed, kissing the side of his neck.

The kiss thrilled him and almost curled his toes, her words of love made his heart soar though the sadness was still there. “I love you too Motoko, and I’m NEVER going to desert you,” he promised her, opening his heart to the broken woman in his arms, vowing to make a new life with her at his side, no matter the trials before them.

( ( ( () )>) )>

Tsuruko finally got the upper hand on the imposter, blasting him through a wall and into the night beyond. Leaping after the man, she landed lightly nearby in a fighting pose, preparing to finish the imposter once and for all. “Foul beast, you shall PAY now for your crimes,” she intoned, the sword twirling in her hands, her leg lashing out and kicking him square in the chest.

The blow served to rip the remainder of his shirt to reveal chest bindings beneath, unmasking the imposter. “Kanako! How could you?” she asked, staying her hand from the killing blow.

Ripping the mask off her face, Kanako’s beautiful eyes and face were twisted in anger. “I TOLD you bitch, I would do ANYTHING to have my brother back with me again. Your honorless sister needs to die, to save her soul and release my brother from her harpy’s song!” she cried, rushing the woman once more.

She never got the chance, a woman seemed to materialize at the side of Tsuruko, her right hand doubled and slamming into the rushing girl’s face, crumpling her to the ground before them.

Haruka slowly and painfully pulled a cigarette out and lit it, blowing the blue/gray smoke upwards. “She’s one twisted and sick girl,” she said quietly, looking down on the unconscious girl with sympathy.

Tsuruko sheathed her blade and nodded solemnly, “Her love for Keitaro is misguided, but it’s depth cannot be questioned,” she agreed, turning to look at Haruka.

“I apologize for my actions with her,” she said with a low bow.

Waving it off, “It wasn’t your fault Tsuruko, but what caused it…you two raised enough ruckus to wake the dead,” Haruka said, looking at the whole in the wall of the inn behind them.

“Oh no…Motoko,” gasped Tsuruko, rushing back to the inn and leaving a bewildered Haruka in her wake.

“Why am I sure I’m not going to like what I find?” asked the elder Urashima softly, cursing as she tossed her cigarette away and walking towards the inn as well.

( ( ( () )>) )>

They found Motoko being comforted by Keitaro, their faces close to one another. “Sister!” exclaimed Tsuruko, crossing to them.

Motoko met her sister’s eyes, “I’m fine now sister, but I will not be rejoining the school…or our family. I’m going to stay with Keitaro, I’m giving him the blade,” she said, a sad sort of smile on her face.

Tsuruko’s expression went stony and unreadable at the admission. Turning to Keitaro, “Do you accept this and the blade from my sister Keitaro?” she asked almost formally.

“Um…yeah, I do. Why? Is it bad or something?” he asked, wondering why Tsuruko was giving him a look as if he’d slapped her.

“So be it then. Keitaro Urashima, you are now the keeper of Motoko’s honor. It is on your whim if she lives or dies from this point on,” Tsuruko said, stooping to pick up the blade and handing it to him with a slight bow.

Before he could say anything more, the woman turned on her heel and exited the room, brushing past Haruka without a word.

“Huh? What’s all that about Haruka? Motoko?” he asked with a puzzled expression, not sure what to do with the razor sharp blade.

“I decided not to take my life but to give you the blade, resting what remains of my honor in your hands. If you ever decide that I’m not worth it or my honor is lost forever…” she paused and soberly regarded the blade in his hand.

With a sound something akin to ‘Eeep’, he dropped the blade as if it bit him. “WHAT! I can’t accept that type of responsibility!” he said horrified.

Haruka shook her head, “Well, you better learn Keitaro because as of now she’s basically your responsibility for the rest of your lives,” she told him, leaning against the doorjamb.

He looked at Motoko with wide eyes, “Is this really what you want? Are you sure I’m the right guy for this?” he asked her.

Motoko’s eyes were tear filled and haunted but bore a look of confidence in her choice. “Yes Keitaro, I’m positive. You’ve been my strength in all the nightmare’s I’ve been going through, even if you didn’t know it. My honor is safe within your hands, I trust you with all that I am,” she told him with absolute sincerity.

The man sat and regarded her face for a long moment, digesting her words and the conviction in which she said them. “I still think you should continue to work towards regaining your confidence in using your art, but I’ll keep your honor Motoko, I’m honored and humbled you’d think so highly of me,” he replied finally, nodding solemnly.

For the first time since they’d found her, Motoko honestly smiled and it brilliantly lit up her face. With gentle movements she nestled herself against his chest, holding him firmly within her arms even as she was comforted within his. “Thank you Keitaro,” she said quietly, letting a small sigh.

Haruka let out a sigh as well, giving Keitaro a tired smile of her own. “That other person that was dressed up like you was Kanako. I laid her out downstairs, but we’re gonna have to deal with her shortly when she wakes up. She’s not going to be happy about this you know,” warned the older woman to her nephew.

Keitaro had suspected the intruder to be Kanako but had hoped his adopted sister wouldn’t have been a party something so heinous at the assisted suicide of Motoko. His face turned hard at the news, a sick feeling in his guts as the bile rose up in protest of what she’d done to someone he cared about. “I’ll deal with her Haruka, but you’d better call our parents to come get her. She’s not welcomed here anymore, not after this,” he said in a cold tone, one that hid the sick feeling he had at having to do something this drastic.

There was a long pause as Haruka waited, “Are you sure about this Keitaro? This is going to put a rift between you two that might never be closed,” she advised him soberly.

He nodded stiffly, “Yeah, I know Haruka, but what choice do I have? She tried to help Motoko commit suicide,” he replied.

Looking up from Keitaro’s chest, Motoko’s expression was tormented. “I thought she was you and you were telling me that it was best that I take my life so that you could get yours back while I had my honor restored,” the girl said, almost hanging her head but with a physical effort kept her eyes on his.

“I don’t EVER want you to think about doing that Motoko! What happened to you can’t be changed, but you CAN change what happens from now on. Your honor isn’t gone Motoko and I don’t see you as tainted or dirtied at all. You say you trust me with your honor, well trust me when I tell you that you’re NOT a lost cause and that you have a lot to live for,” he told her earnestly, squeezing his arms around her for emphasis.

She blushed under his direct words and implied emotions, but smiled shyly at him. “You really believe that I’m not sullied?” she asked him self-consciously.

Shaking his head, “No, you’re not Motoko, not at all,” he reiterated for him, earning him another of her smiles that had been missing from her face for so long.

Haruka’s heart ached at them, knowing that for all his words their lives were going to be difficult and fraught with trials to test their new found feelings and devotion. “I’ll go rouse Kanako, you’d better be there when I do or we’re gonna have another battle on our hands,” she told him, motioning for them to follow her with a jerk of her head.

The trio walked in silence outside to where Kanako was lying sprawled on the lawn, a growing lump under her right eye testament to the power of Haruka’s punch. Keitaro whistled low as he crouched next to his sister, running a gentle finger over the bump, “You really nailed her Haruka,” even he himself was unsure if his tone was chastising or appreciative.

Haruka shrugged self-consciously, her cheeks coloring with embarrassment. “Yeah, well I couldn’t exactly have her trying to kill off Tsuruko on our lands could I? Besides, Granny Hina would’ve done a lot worse than that, so in my eyes she got off lucky,” the woman justified.

Shaking the girl, gently at first then with increasing force, Keitaro woke up Kanako. She moaned softly and touched the rising bruise under her eye, jerking her hand away and hissing in pain. “What hit me?” she asked quietly, blinking owlishly at Keitaro’s unusually stern expression.

“Kanako, I’m ashamed of you,” he said to her quietly, resting his elbows on his knees to relax the pressure of the crouch he was in.

Her eyes immediately cut to where Motoko was kneeling nearby, a look of exaggerated hatred in her eyes. “How could you big broth…” she started to say only to be harshly cut off by Keitaro.

“STOP IT!” he practically shouted into the girl’s face, causing both Motoko and Haruka to jump in surprise at his attitude.

“You tried to convince her that she was better off dead, and for what reason huh? You had no right to do that. It was never your place to tell ANYONE whether or not they should live or die, especially not while pretending to be me. You KNEW how fragile Motoko is and you tried to take advantage of that,” he paused, looking back at Motoko for a moment, giving her a comforting smile before turning back to Kanako. The smile disappeared from his face as he searched his sister’s expression for long moments in relative silence.

Keitaro finally sighed and shook his head. “You tried to kill one of my friends Kanako, for that I can’t forgive you. Leave, and never come back. I’ll call our parents as well as Grandma Hina and tell them what you’ve done. I can only hope that one day you’ll realize how badly you’ve screwed up and try to make amends for it. Not just for your honor’s sake, but for the sake of the girl that I was proud to have called sister,” he told sadly, slowly rising to his feet with a groan and turning his back on her.

Kanako’s face went deathly white at the words of her brother, her hand reaching out to grasp at his retreating back. “But…but big brother…I love you! I did this for you…” she said, starting to cry and get to her feet to chase after him, even as he put a protective arm across Motoko’s shoulders.

A firm grip on her upper arm stopped her dead in her tracks, causing her to swing violently with her free arm to punish the one that would impede her progress.

Haruka caught her hand easily, her stony expression almost frightening to behold. “You did THIS for HIM?” she asked in a harsh whisper.

“Are you even LISTENING to yourself Kanako? You’re not stupid nor have you ever been, so pull your head out of your ass for a moment and look at this through HIS eyes for a second,” Haruka challenged, yanking the girl so close that they almost touched noses.

Kanako stammered a moment, attempting to justify her actions although nothing articulate came out.

“You tried to kill the girl he feels utterly and totally responsible for, forcing him to choose between family and his feelings. C’mon Kanako, you know him better than that. What did you THINK his response was going to be when he found out, huh?” she asked her, pulling her bodily towards the teashop.

The dark girl didn’t even bother to fight, casting a longing glance over her shoulder to where Keitaro and Motoko were last seen. The ruined inn seemed to glare back at her, accusing in it’s silence and eerie with it’s destroyed and unfinished façade.

“What have I done?” she said in a horrified whispered moan, hanging her head as she allowed herself to be pulled into the teashop.

Snatching the phone off the counter after firmly planting the girl on a stool, Haruka didn’t answer until she’d finished dialing. “You’ve probably ruined any relationship you could have ever wanted with him through your own selfishness and stupidity is what you’ve done. Now it’s time for you to face the consequences of your actions Kanako,” Haruka almost snarled, lowering her voice as she completed her thought. “Just like he’s had to do."

( ( ( () )>) )>

The days following Kanako’s confrontation were tense for Keitaro and Motoko, with Keitaro having to keep a close and almost exhaustive eye on the girl until he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to attempt to finish what she’d begun.

Each fell into a comfortable routine of help with the other, doing daily chores around the inn to keep busy while studying at night, Motoko easily taking the place Naru once held at his side.

Her calm intelligence and patience with him was a distinct and welcome change from the frustrated annoyance Naru showed him and allowed him to work through a great number of tough subjects with little of the usual problems.

Closing the book in front of him, Keitaro pulled his glasses off and rubbed tired eyes. “I think my eyeballs are going to fall out if I have to read one more sonnet,” he complained, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand.

She gave him a smile, cocking her head to the side. “Sonnets are still better then Quaternion math are they not?” she asked him.

He groaned good naturedly, “Yeah, you got me there. Say, what time is it anyways?” he asked, picking up his small travel alarm clock he’d had for so many years.

“Well, the fact that it’s almost 1 in the morning may have something to do with it. Let’s call it a night. We’ve got to get some shopping done in the morning, remember?” Keitaro told her as he rose into an overhead stretch.

Motoko watched him move appreciatively, a flutter that was becoming more and more common recently in her stomach. “Okay, would you like to change first then?” she asked him, rising to her feet as well.

He glanced over to the changing screen, then back to her. “Well, since we’ve both bathed already and been in the same room while doing that, why not save time and just get changed at the same time. You can use the screen and I’ll just be by my dresser over there, sound good?” he asked her.

She only paused for a moment, then gave another small smile and nod. “Agreed,” was all she said, crossing the room and disappearing behind the mentioned screen.

Keitaro watched her for a moment before sighing and moving to his dresser. He smiled at the picture frame atop it, the group photo of the girl’s and himself in happier times. A sense of loss and loneliness washed over him and with trembling fingers he caressed the glass cover the picture.

The small leather pouch that held the fragments of the sword that started this terrible chain of events sat beside, as if in mockery of his sentimental feelings. His body felt leaden as he changed into a pair of comfortable shorts and sleeveless tank top.

Turning, he found Motoko observing him closely as she stood by their futon. Her expression was slightly troubled as she finally met his gaze, her hands clasped nervously before her. She wore only a long tee-shirt that he’d given her when they’d first moved in together, her smooth and perfect legs seeming to reflect the light of lamp they’d been using.

“Keitaro?” she asked hesitantly upon seeing his expression.

He forced a smile to his face, though the sense of loss was still heavy within him. “I’m okay Motoko, just was thinking about Shinobu and everyone,” he trailed off, leaving the comment lay between, knowing she’d understand.

Her nod confirmed his thoughts, her own eyes going downcast. “I miss them all as well…” she almost whispered, one foot absently playing with the other.

Keitaro crossed the room and wrapped the girl in his arms to comfort her before she started spiraling down into her depression once more. They’d worked too hard for her to backslide now, allowing her to fall back into the misery that threatened her sanity everyday.

The girl slowly wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her and resting her head on his shoulder, sighing in part longing and part loss. “Do you regret this Keitaro?” she asked him, a question she’d asked him almost everyday.

He sighed but changed his answer from what he’d usually said. “Only the way it happened Motoko,” he said, pulling back and forcing her to meet his eyes.

“This is something I’d never dreamed of a few months ago, but now I find myself wondering about OUR future and where WE’RE going to be in the years to come. I can’t see me without you, not now,” he explained in earnest honesty.

Her eyes softened at his heartfelt words and she slowly leaned forwards and captured his lips, kissing him deeply to show her appreciation for him and all that he’d done for her.

She pulled him down to the futon, laying next to him. “Turn out the lights Keitaro,” she whispered, never taking her eyes from his.

He gulped loudly, “Are you sure Motoko?” he asked her, knowing her fear of the darkness, both inside and out.

Motoko nodded slowly, “Yes, I am. Nothing in the dark or the light can hurt me when I’m with you Keitaro,” she told him, her finger-tips running down his muscled torso as he leaned back to switch off the light.

She pulled up his shirt as he returned to his original position, his hand stopping hers at his chest. “Motoko, we don’t…” he began, her lips sealing his with a kiss to stop his protests as her hands continued his undressing.

The kissing turned deep and passionate, almost desperate at their remaining clothing disappeared, leaving each of them naked in the other’s arms. “Please, please Keitaro…show me what it’s like when someone that loves you touches you. I don’t want my only memories of it to be violent and harsh. Please make love to me, my beloved…my Keitaro,” she whispered in a moaning voice, pulling his head to her naked breasts and gasping with shuddering pleasure as his lips teased and tasted her nipples.

One of her long legs wrapped around him, almost forcefully pulling him to her, eliciting another gasp of surprise and pleasure from her, her eyes widening as she did. “Oh….oh Keitaro,” she practically purred.

Any intelligent response he might have had was lost to the taste of her skin and the thin sheen of sweat that was starting to appear on her.

Outside the window a lone figure stood, back lit from the quarter moon. Hakama pants fluttered in the gentle winds of the night as Tsuruko watched with sad eyes, turning her head as the couple pulled the light blanket over them.

Leaping down from the tree in which she’d been perched, Tsuruko finally left the silent and hidden guard she’d taken over the two. A tear slid silently down her cheek as she walked with proud grace from the grounds of the Hinata, her head looking upwards to the heavens…and cursing them for what they’d laid at her feet and the price she’d paid in pursuit of duty and responsibility.

6 months later…

Straightening the sign over the doorway, Keitaro smiled at his handiwork, clapping his hands slightly. “Finished…at last,” he said, looking down at the woman he loved.

Motoko stopped her sweeping and smiled happily at him. “Indeed. Our home is finally repaired. Shall we celebrate tonight?” she asked him, walking closer to the ladder he stood on.

Climbing down, he gave her an intent look. “I WANT to take you out Motoko. Nothing too fancy, just out to dinner…maybe a movie? What do you say?” he asked her quietly, taking her hands into his and kissing the backs of her knuckles.

The girl stiffened slightly, her face going rigid before relaxing at the warmth she found in his face. “I’m sorry Keitaro…I’m just not ready yet…” she said in a timid voice.

He buried a frustrated sigh and smiled at her. “That’s okay, maybe some other time. Let’s just have a quiet dinner out back and then take a bath together. We just got that new movie from the store we both wanted to see anyways, it’ll be nice to just cuddle up with you and watch it,” the man said, earning him a grateful smile.

“Thank you for understanding Keitaro. I’m really trying,” she said, still fearful of staying in public longer than was absolutely necessary. Shopping trips and the odd visit to a fast food restaurant were the extent of her excursions.

The smile her gave her was reassuring, a feeling he only added to by kissing her softly and touching her face. “Let’s get cleaned up,” he told his girlfriend.

A quiet laugh stopped them, “I swear, you two are just so sweet I think I’m gonna puke,” Mitsune teased them, walking down the stairs dressed to kill.

“Hey Mitsune, what’s the occasion?” Keitaro asked, making sure his eyes stayed on the woman’s face and not the plunging neckline of her dress that showed her impressive cleavage.

“Got an invitation for some hoity-toity shindig downtown with an enforced dresscode. Figured that since I’ve got the night off I might go see what’s the hoopla. What about you two, another quiet night in? I can always call and say I’m bringing a couple more,” she offered.

Shaking his head, Keitaro smiled and waved it off. “Nah, don’t worry about it, we’ll have a good time here. Say, you aren’t going alone are you?” he asked, not feeling very comfortable with his friend going out alone dressed like that.

Cocking her hip to the side, “Doncha worry ‘bout little ol’me, Haruka got an invite too, so she’s gonna go stag with me. Must’ve been an appreciative customer or something, but who cares as long as it’s an open bar, right?” she said with an outrageous wink and shake of her substantial bosom.

Keitaro blushed several shades of red, drawing raucous but good-natured laughter from Mitsune. “Don’t go blowin’ a fuse now Keitaro, I’ll just leave you in the good hands of Motoko. Don’t go giving our boy a heart-attack now Motoko, ya’heah?” she asked, kissing his forehead on the way past and giving Motoko a hug before heading for the door.

The days and weeks after the fire the trio had become a tight-knit family, knowing that the only one’s they could truly depend on were themselves. Mitsune worked at the teashop and did odd delivery jobs for some of the grocery stores in the area. With the stipends given from the Aoyama family for Motoko and the money allotted by Grandma Hina, they just managed to stay afloat and keep food on the table.

Waving to Mitsune as she sash-shayed her way out the door, Keitaro shrugged and looked back at Motoko. “C’mon, let’s head in,” he said, taking her hand in his and walking towards the hotsprings area.

As they reached the changing room a figure rose up from the bench, bowing at them respectfully. “I hope I am not intruding,” said Tsuruko, her expression unusually somber.

It took Motoko several moments to peel her somewhat high strung boyfriend off the ceiling, barely stifling a giggle at his very annoyed expression as he dusted himself off slowly. “Geez Tsuruko, you coulda warned us you were here,” he chastised the woman.

She gave him a weak smile, “Indeed, but then I would have robbed myself of the opportunity to watch you defy gravity and the laws of physics yet again,” she replied easily.

Keitaro did a double take at her response, opening his mouth and starting to say something about her sudden appearances and what they did to his health, but Motoko, silenced him with a gentle touch on his arm. “It’s good to see you again sister, but what are you doing here? We’ve barely spoken from almost 6 months,” she asked, not liking the expression or body language Tsuruko wore at the moment.

The small smile disappeared at the question, “Yes, I am sorry for that but my responsibilities at the school took priority over social visits,” she told her younger sister, making sure that they made eye contact, her tone cool.

The tone of her voice caused Motoko to shrink slightly and lean into Keitaro for support. Looking down at her sandaled feet, Motoko pointedly avoided her sisters’ eyes as she replied. “I’m sure father and mother have kept you busy since…my accident,” she told her in a wooden tone, fingers tightening on Keitaro’s hand.

Keitaro rose to her defense, taking the attention off of her. “So, what ARE you doing here Tsuruko? Something wrong?” he asked, moving a step forwards to bear the brunt of the attentions from Tsuruko.

Tsuruko gave him an inscrutible look, as if once more weighing his worth in her eyes, before coming to an unknown conclusion. “I’ve actually come to speak with you Keitaro, if you would be so kind. I’ve got some questions from our parents regarding your intentions with the shattered Hina blade…and that of my sister,” she explained finally, her tone going very cool once more.

The young couple flinched at the not so subtle hint at their growing relationship. “Um…okay, I guess,” he stammered slightly, feeling a blush creeping up his neck.

“Sister…are, are they angry at us?” asked a very quiet and timid Motoko, but still holding onto Keitaro’s hand.

Giving her a sad smile, Tsuruko shook her head. “No, they are not sister, but they do not want you placed into a situation where your honor could become compromised either. Rather than embarrass you publicly by calling you home and asking pointed questions, they have sent me to ask them in the privacy of your home. Please understand it is not my intention to embarrass or humiliate you in any way, but I will need definitive answers before I leave here,” she explained, her hands slightly fidgeting around the handle of her sword, something that didn’t escape Keitaro’s notice.

“Sure thing Tsuruko, I don’t have a problem with it if it makes your parents feel better about Motoko staying her with me,” Keitaro said, cocking his head to the side. “But why do they want to know about the sword? It’s not like it’s going anywhere or hurting anyone anymore,” he asked.

Tsuruko took a deep breath, “That is something I will have to discuss with you in private Keitaro. No offense to you sister, but some of the questions I will ask him are personal in nature and I’ve no wish to embarrass you with them. Can you excuse us for a little while so that we might discuss this?” she asked her sister.

The panic was obvious on Motoko’s face, but she nodded jerkily. “Y…yes, I will wait in the hot springs for you Keitaro,” she finally said, letting out a shaky breath. The two of them had worked on making her feel safe and secure within the limits of the Hinata, and although she didn’t like being left alone anywhere, she could also spend some time by herself should the need arise.

Keitaro gave her a proud smile and nod, leaning forward to kiss her before catching himself. Both their eyes widened as they turned to look at an impassive Tsuruko, who slowly turned her back on them. Kissing each other quickly, Motoko hastily made her way into the changing area of the springs without meeting her sisters eyes again.

Walking almost stiffly from the area with Keitaro, Tsuruko didn’t speak until they reached the patio above the kitchen. The sun was quickly setting, giving a surreal appearance to the sky with it’s vibrant pastel colors that bled down. “I’m sorry Keitaro, for having to pull you away like this,” she started, placing her hands on the railing and watching the wind play through the leaves of the forests below them.

“That’s okay Tsuruko, but what’s up? Why’re you so…unsettled or something?” he asked, standing beside her and watching her profile from the corner of his eye.

“The answer to that question isn’t as easy as you would think Keitaro,” she replied softly after a moment, slowly turning to face him, the sad and somewhat lost expression on her face once more.

“Are you in love with my sister Keitaro?” she asked directly, her tone tired.

He blinked several times and stammered slightly in his reply. “Uh…yeah, of course I am, why?” he asked, feeling the blood rising up his face once more.

She searched his face intently for a long moment, shaking her head. “Is it a love born of necessity and convenience or was it something that was there before she met that demon?”

He stared at her in shock at the nature of the question, almost offended by it, yet something in her tone spoke of the pain she bore in the asking of it. “If you’re asking is this the way I thought it could or even would happen, then no, it’s not. But it doesn’t change the way we feel about each other Tsuruko, and I’m not just going to up and leave her for no reason if that’s what you’re parents are worried about,” he replied finally, stilling the rising resentment her felt.

Shaking her head, she held up a hand. “Please do not take offense at my questions Keitaro, there are good reasons I’m asking them that will become clear in a few moments,” Tsuruko told him.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to continue, she once more gave him a sad smile. “Would you say my sister is happy with the way her life has turned out this far? Giving up the sword, losing her courage and drive to fight the evil’s that stalk this world? Knowing her as you do, do you feel that she could live out a happy life like this, never looking back on what might have been?” the woman asked, her tone sad and quiet as she walked past him, pacing to the far side of the patio.

He opened his mouth to reply, but clicked it shut as he truly thought about the implications of his answer. “You’re not here to force her into suicide are you? Because if you are...” his tone trailed off threateningly, wondering if he could even pose much of a threat to her if she decided to take matters into her own hands.

The shadows fell across her as the sun set, draping her in deep blues and blacks. She stiffened at the insinuation, “No Keitaro, you hold that for her now, not us. She gave you her honor, knowing that her clan would allow it. No matter what anyone’s feelings are on the matter, only you can order her death now, not I or our parents,” was her reply, sounding somewhat insulted at his accusation.

Keitaro regarded her curiously, “What’s going on Tsuruko? What’s with all the strange questions?” he asked her quietly, stepping into the shadows with her, once more standing at her side.

“I’m sure she misses how she used to be, who wouldn’t? She was fearless and brave, someone that everyone looked to for strength. Even when she was trying to kill me she was still beautiful and powerful, like something out of a storybook,” he told her, turning his head to regard the elder sister and realizing how much they truly were alike.

“I guess you’re all like that though, huh?” he asked scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, blushing and looking down at his feet.

She turned and gave him shy smile of her own. “We’re not legends of old Keitaro, we’re flesh and blood that have faults and needs just like yourself. Therein lies the purpose of my questions,” was all she said, turning to look at the slowly brightening moon rising above the trees.

“I must apologize to you Keitaro, when I originally came for help from you, I wasn’t entirely truthful. Kanako could have served in your stead just as easily for the power of the sword would be like a beacon to any that understood it’s nature and abilities. Something everyone in your family, including you, have the ability to do,” the woman explained, turning to face him.

Tsuruko paused and regarded him, “I came for you because of a vision given me while meditating on her disappearance. It was a vision of Motoko, and she had fallen under the power of demons and would surely perish should you not be there,” she explained, her voice losing some of it’s usual power and intensity, as if the story she was relating were physically painful for her.

He patiently waited for her to continue, not daring to speak lest he interrupt something important that she was obviously trying to tell him.

“Do you know of the old magicks Keitaro? The one’s whispered of in the creation of the weapons that our ancestors used to push back the demonic hoards that threatened to wash over our lands and bury it in perpetual darkness?” she asked him suddenly, slowly pulling her sword from her belt and holding it before her.

The power of her sword radiated the night around them, as if the sword was vibrating on the life energy of all the living things around them. “No…not too much really. Grandma Hina tried to explain it when I was a kid, but I just thought they were bedtime stories. It wasn’t until I started living here and all the weird stuff started happening that I realized how much I should’ve paid attention back then,” he admitted.

“It is that way with most bedtime stories Keitaro, unsure of what is real and imaginary. That is what gives them such power over children, the possibility of becoming a fearless hero or beautiful warrior princess. Only when we are older do we come to realize what the true ramifications of such dreaming can do,” Tsuruko told him, her smile soft and wistful for a moment, then as if reality crushed back down upon her, it fled, leaving a tired and weary expression in it’s place.

“But we HAVE to have dreams Tsuruko, something to work towards, something that will give us hope for tomorrow. Not all dreams are harmful to us, you know that don’t you?” he asked her, earnest is his question.

Her nod was slight and he almost missed the motion, “Your belief in dreams is what draws people to you Keitaro. You endlessly and tirelessly pursue them, catching others up in your enthusiasm and giving them the hope that was all but lost,” she paused, turning to look at him, then walking forwards until she was standing directly before him, staring into his eyes.

When she paced closer, Keitaro’s instincts almost took over drove and him backwards for fear of being the recipient of one of the Aoyama famous ki attacks. Swallowing hard, he stood his ground, forcing himself to meet the woman’s eyes and finding himself shocked at what he saw.

Sympathy and sadness, along with a pain that he could almost feel stared back at him. “If you could Keitaro, would you give Motoko back what was stolen from her? Give her her life back as it was before the demon’s attack on her, letting her once more take up the mantle of her training? Even if it cost the both of you what you’ve found in one another?” she asked him.

Keitaro blinked at Tsuruko, his mind whirling as he mulled over her words, thinking back to the woman he’d known before her ordeal and how much she meant to everyone. “You can’t go back though Tsuruko, what’s done is done, so why torture yourself with what can never be?” he asked in return, his voice somber and carrying with it his own sadness.

“Torture? Keitaro, would YOU go through torture if it meant restoring what was lost to you and those that lived here? Could you bear the weight of all that pain?” her arms feel to her sides, the sword almost dangling from her hand.

He set his face and met her eyes without hesitation, “I would die for anyone of them Tsuruko, if it meant that they wouldn’t suffer,” he replied honestly, total commitment in his voice at his choice.

She released a deep sigh, breaking the eye contact they’d been holding, then looking over her shoulder at the moon in the sky. “I believe you would Keitaro,” was all she said, slowly bringing her eyes back to his.

“Come, I have something for you. A gift and a curse at the same time,” Tsuruko said, turning and slowly walking to the edge of the patio and stepping up onto the railing.

Something in the tone of her voice drew him, the power of her stare pulling him with her subconsciously. Before he knew it, he was standing beside her on the rail, looking down into the shadowed grounds below them.

Tsuruko reached out and took his hand in hers, looking at it sadly as she did. “You have to come willingly Keitaro, you have to want to do this or the magicks will know you are a fraud and ignore your plea,” she whispered, nodding to the dark forest before them.

“Want what Tsuruko? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, his voice as hushed as hers, unsure of why he was mimicking her only that it felt like the proper thing to do.

She gave him a loving smile then pointed to the darkness below them. “It’s not something easily explained, at least not without being able to show you as well. If you are truly sincere about saving them all, no matter the cost, then come with me and see if it is indeed something you’re willing to do,” the woman said, releasing his hand and leaping off into the darkness.

He watched her disappear into the shadows and trees, leaving him standing on the railing with him mind whirling with the implications of her words. He looked over his shoulder towards where Motoko was waiting for him, wondering if he even had the right to make such a decision without her input, especially if it so intimately involved her future and welfare.

Thoughts of what they’d found and the emotions they shared filled him, warming him and easing the ache he felt at the losses of the girl’s he’d come to care so much for. Unbidden images of Shinobu came to mind, followed by the irrepressible smiling face of Su and the intense beauty of Naru, all of the floating in his mind’s eye, reminding him quite painfully of what he’d lost.

Memories of Motoko before her incident also weighed upon him, her power and strength along with her gentle beauty and shy mannerisms also giving him pause as to what had truly been lost. ‘She’s suffered so much, given up all that she was and for what? Me? What about Shinobu? Did she deserve the death that came for her or is that just another sin to be laid at my feet?’ he silently questioned himself, observing his life in a harsh light.

Hanging his head, he forced back the tears by squinting his eyes tightly closed and focusing instead on what might be gained by following Tsuruko. He looked up at the thought of the woman and her strange attitudes and questions, his chest tight with anxiety at what she had alluded to.

“Only one way to find out,” he said quietly, gulping loudly before jumping off into the inky shadows below.

Keitaro found her standing within a small circular grove of trees, waiting for him with an expectant expression on her face. “Some time ago, I was given ownership of ancient and powerful magick, one that could alter the past and correct a great wrong, but only if the intentions were pure and earnest,” she told him, pulling the pouch of shards from within her sleeve.

She rattled them a few times, “I apologize for entering your rooms without permission, but these will be required if you so choose to take the offer I’m about to give you,” Tsuruko told him, motioning him forwards as she knelt upon the grass.

He silently walked forwards, the hairs on the back of his neck almost standing on end with the ambient power that was building around them. He knelt across from her, accepting the shards into his cupped hands as she poured them out. They were icy cold to the point they almost burned his hands, causing him to hiss slightly. They pulsed dimly with a purplish light, so faint it was almost not visible, giving him the notion that perhaps the demonic entity trapped within wasn’t as sealed as he’d thought.

From within her top she pulled a heavy looking ornate amulet on a linked chain. Pulling over the top of her head, she hung it before them as both of them watched it spin lazily in the night air. Their eyes met as they stared through the amulet and Tsuruko let go of the amulet. It hung suspended in the air stilling spinning in a slow hypnotic way.

Although strange, bizarre and supernatural things had occurred almost daily during his time as the manager of the Inn, his mouth still hung agape at the sight of the amulet hanging before him.

The shards in his hands turned colder still, partially pulling his attention from the scene before him. Tsuruko’s voice was laden with pent up emotions as she began to speak once more.

“There are powers unspoken of in these times Keitaro, powers that watch the lives of mortals as they play upon the great stage provided by the heavens. These powers take note of truly exceptional individuals and follow the trials and triumphs of their lives closely. The powers are both good and evil, influencing the events to an outcome more desirable towards the goals of each. Each side respects the other and tends not to interfere in the machinations brought forth by their respective opposite. However, there are times that the boundaries are overstepped and great tragedies occur that were never supposed to have happened,” she paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Letting out a deep sigh, Tsuruko continued her narrative. “Good and evil cannot truly exist without each other, all things must be in balance. When the scales are tipped, something must be done to right them, to correct the wrong that unbalanced the scales. Neither side can directly influence the delicate balance lest they further disrupt the situation and bring about more unwanted disruptions, so they employ the use of mortals to act as proxy agents in their stead,” once more pausing to make sure Keitaro was in complete understanding of her words.

“Mortals, such as those in our family lines, have been used by the forces of good to combat those demons and unclean spirits that pollute our worlds and corrupt it. However, we cannot act with impunity, for as I’ve stated before all things must be in balance. Do you understand?” she asked him finally, giving him a sad smile at his nod.

“There has been an event that has thrown off the balance and you are now in a position to correct it, should you choose to do so. There is a price Keitaro, to use such magicks, a price that must be paid before it will work. This amulet was handed down to me by…a person of great affection and influence. You must interact with it, as only it can decide the cost of it’s magick and if you are worthy to call upon it. It is my belief that this is why you and not your sister was chosen by the magick, in the form of my vision, for it felt you were the only one worthy of such responsibility,” Tsuruko finished, bowing her head and resting her hands in her lap.

Keitaro blinked at her, then focused on the amulet that had stopped rotating and was now facing him directly. He clicked his mouth shut and stared at the piece of magical jewelry, suddenly feeling very foolish and unsure of himself.

A calm, soothing voice sounded within his mind, reading his thoughts and emotions. ‘Fear me not, for I cannot harm you. You have been chosen by the bearer that I might pass along my power to you as it was passed on to her,’ it said.

“What do you want from me? How can I fix this unbalance?” he asked aloud, though his voice was quiet.

‘You can fix the event by simply wishing it to be so and asking me use my power to force the universe to comply. However, there is a cost for my help. Several conditions that must be met and complied with wholeheartedly or I will reject you as I have rejected so many before. Will you hear my price?’ the power of the amulet asked him.

He nodded slowly, steeling himself for whatever it was the amulet was going to ask of him.

‘Only the worthy may wield my powers, so you must never speak of me or this event lest you doom the souls involved to obliteration for all eternity, including your own. The price for my intervention on your behalf is that you must bear the all the knowledge of what has occurred to this time…even as the rest of the universe forgets it. In short descendant of Hina, you must carry all the knowledge and emotions you’ve gathered, even as those around you forget them. You will have memories and emotions that no one else shares, watching as a life unknown to unfolds before you. The love you now share with the descendant of Aoyama will be only in your mind, she will never remember it and will live her life as was destined for her to do. You may attempt to influence those around you with the knowledge of what you’ve discovered in your time until now, but they will react to it based upon their own life experiences to that point, never knowing of what has occurred here. Is this a price you’re willing to accept? Can you forsake the love, happiness and contentment so that those you care for may live the entirety of their lives according to the path destiny has laid for them?’ asked the emotionless and inhuman voice.

His mouth went dry as he involuntarily looked back to the Hinata Sou where Motoko was waiting for him. Guilt and love warred within the man as he fought to decide what was right as opposed to selfish desires and thoughts.

‘Why should I though? Did they really care for me all that much before? Naru beating me up all the time and Motoko blasting me into next week for the slightest provocation? What about Su and her stupid machines that tried to kill me twice daily?’ he asked himself, his brow furrowing as anger and annoyance boiled to the surface.

The quiet voice in the back of his mind pointed to the gentle smiling face of Shinobu, then showed her burned corpse as it was carried from within the Inn, releasing the ache that was his constant companion.

As his face fell, he thought back to Motoko practicing her art on the rooftop, the tournaments she’d won and the pride she took at knowing the responsibility given her by her family. The anger vanished abruptly in light of his memories of how his life truly was before Motoko’s encounter with the demon. The love and laughter shared by all those in the Hinata, the eclectic family they’d formed, all of them having no place else they could go and finding acceptance in the most unlikely of ways and places.

‘They won’t even know what happened here, things’ll go right back to the way they were, for better worse. Naru will still not be able to tell me her feelings, Motoko will hide hers behind her duty and honor, and Shinobu will still be alive. Su will try to kill me a few times a day and Mitsune will try to seduce me into giving her money or free rent…just like they always have,’ he told himself, nodding slightly as he made his decision.

“Will it hurt them? None of them will suffer, right?” he asked the magical artifact, letting a sigh of resignation.

‘No Keitaro Urashima, they will not. This reality will vanish and you will be placed back to the point and time just before the balance was disrupted. The shards you hold will power my magick, banishing the demonic entity back to the hells it was spawned from, allowing you the opportunity right the grievous wrong that was committed. The soul of the blade will be restored and Motoko Aoyama will regain the mantle of her power and destiny. Is this acceptable to you?’ it asked him.

“Yes, it is,” he said, swallowing once then meeting the eyes of Tsuruko. “What about you? What’s going to happen to you if you were the one holding this before me? Won’t it affect you too?” he babbled suddenly, realizing he’d forgotten about the woman across from him in the weight of his decision.

She smiled at his concerns, “Do not fear for me Keitaro, my choice was made just as yours was. I set the balance right and it led to this point, now you must bear the weight of your choice as I had to with mine,” she assured him as the amulet began to glow brilliantly between them, obscuring each other from sight.

“But wait a second Tsuruko, will you remember any of this? What did you have to live with?” he had to shout to be heard over the powerful emanations from the amulet.

For a moment he thought he could see her sad smile then it was gone and he was floating in a black void. Slowly the world started to bleed through the blackness, revealing a world of grays around him as he gently floated to the floor in his room.

The amulet was now around his neck, still faintly glowing. It’s dry and emotionless voice once more sounded in his head, though it lacked the power it once had as if the invocation of it’s power had drained it entirely of it’s ability to communicate.

‘It is done Keitaro Urashima, now I must rest for some time before I will be able to interact with you once more. The day will come that you will be forced to do as Tsuruko Aoyama has, and pass me along to another that is worthy so that the balance might be protected. Until then my young friend, live your life in earnest for it is fleeting. Love and laugh, enjoy the gifts of friendship and family for they will be the only things you will be able to take with you when your time has ended here,’ the voice said, fading to a near whisper.

“Wait, what’s going to happen now? What about Tsuruko, will she remember any of what happened?” he asked in near panicked shout as the grays started to give way to colors once more.

‘She will forever carry the weight of her decision, just as you will have to. If she does or does not carry the memories of what happened to you remain to be seen and only she will be able to answer that question. I caution you before you would do so to think of the consequences of such things. For if you reveal my presence to anyone, your soul and the souls of all those whose lives you changed will be destroyed. Choose carefully and think of if such knowledge could be worth the existence of those you love and care for,’ it warned him, it’s voice so soft he had to strain to hear it.

A strange warmth filled him as the chain and amulet began to sink beneath his skin until it finally disappeared and left no trace of it’s existence, leaving Keitaro to wonder if what he’d experienced was real or not. ‘Did I dream all of that up?’ he asked himself as reality started once more around him.

He looked at he clock, seeing that it was just before sunrise. “If it really did happen…” he paused for a moment, then sprang from his bed and rapidly pulled on his cloths.

Racing from his room, he made his way to the roof that Motoko practiced on every morning. Bursting up onto the patio, he startled the raven haired girl as she was reading a message from the phoenix messenger of her sister’s.

“Keitaro? What is wrong?” she asked quickly, giving him an odd look.

Licking his lips, he almost reached out a hand to the girl. “Motoko? Are you…is everything…alright?” he asked lamely.

Fixing him with a strange look, “I am fine, Shippo has brought me word of a mission my sister wishes me to undertake. Is everything alright with you?” she asked him.

He almost jumped out of his skin at her words, launching himself towards her. “NO! You can’t! It’s not safe,” he practically shouted, making the girl jump and Shippo’s feathers to ruffle in annoyance.

Pulling her arms from his, “It is my duty Keitaro, but thank you…for your concern,” she told him, blushing slightly, feeling strange about his sudden concern for her well being.

Thinking quickly, Keitaro shook his head. “I can go with you…you know, to help out and stuff,” he told her.

Cocking her head to the side, “You want to come with me? Why? You’ve never shown must interest before,” Motoko asked him pointedly, not sure of his intentions but realizing she wouldn’t mind the company.

He shrugged, “Well, I just wanted to see you in action…against something other then me for a change. Besides, we don’t get much time to really talk with everything that goes on around here,” he replied, blushing at how silly his answer was, fully expecting the girl to accuse him of having perverted intentions and blasting him towards the horizon.

Motoko paused, then smiled shyly. “I would welcome the company Keitaro and look forward to showing you what my family is famous for. I must leave directly, are you prepared to come now?” she asked him, suddenly self-conscious, focusing on fixing the sword at her side.

“Um, yeah, I guess so,” Keitaro told her, looking down at his clothes for a moment. “I’ve got some yen in my pocket so we could stop for something to eat on the way,” he told her hopefully.

“I…I would like that,” she told him, blushing faintly at his offer. “Come, let’s go before we wake the others,” she continued, moving past him to the stairs.

He paused a moment and looked at the phoenix on the railing. “I hope I’m doing the right thing,” he said to no one in particular, then rushed after the girl, determined to do what ever he must to ensure her safety.

At the Shinmei Ryuu….

Tsuruko walked into the small house she shared with her husband, a dejected look on her face. He stood on the small deck that overlooked the mountain streams that fed into their school. He turned and regarded her with a warm and sympathetic look. Opening his arms he pulled her into a loving embrace that she returned, burying her face into his chest.

“Did you accomplish what you hoped to?” he asked her, knowing how odd she’d been acting recently. When he’d inquired as to why, she gave him a sad smile and simply told him that there was something she’d needed to do but wasn’t able to discuss it in-depth. Tsuruko had told him that she needed to help someone she’d loved long ago but that he wouldn’t remember her, but it was something that must be done.

Her husband had long been used to the strange nature of her family’s school and occupation and accepted her words at face value. The emotional turmoil she showed at this bothered him, as did her interaction with a former love, but she assured him that it was he that carried her love now and that was good enough for him.

Kissing the top of her head, “Did you help your old flame?” he asked quietly.

She muffled her cry into his shirt but nodded jerkily. “Yes, I did,” she finally choked out. “Could you just please hold me? I need to feel loved right now,” she practically begged him, tightening her embrace around him.

He silently complied, his heart aching for the woman he loved wholeheartedly. Though he wasn’t the first holder of her heart, he was the one there now and he took this time to show her how much she was loved, no matter what had happened before.

Tsuruko sought comfort in his arms, the smiling face of Keitaro Urashima in his mind. An image of his broken and bleeding body came to her mind, memories of holding him as he died painfully in her arms. She cursed the powers that imposed such choices upon them and the secrets she must silently bear, the scars that could never been seen. ‘Forgive me Keitaro for putting such a choice before you, though I can never tell you, I too will bear the emotional weight of such a choice for the rest of my life. I gave up our love so that you might live, and now you too have had to give up a love so that others might live,’ she thought with great remorse. Seeing the love he’d shared with Motoko had brought up many painful memories, memories she’d thought forgotten yet still carried so much power.

As her emotions calmed, she looked up into the face of her husband and gave him a tired smile. “I think I would like a bath. Care to join me?” she asked him.

He nodded and smiled softly at her. “Of course, for you…anything,” he said putting an arm across her shoulders and leading her to their private bathroom to relax and try at least for the time being forget the pain that choices could bring.

End of story notes:

Well, that was a good bit longer than I thought it’d be. Goes to show you what happens when you start writing with a great idea and it takes on a life of it’s own. I certainly hope there are no lynch mobs outside after posting this for the cruel and brusque way I treated some of the girls…lol. This story idea actually formed around the final scene with Tsuruko and her husband, with her living with something painful yet unable to truly share it with anyone, knowing full well that she’d just given someone she loved the same pain…all for the sake of others. At any rate, I do hope you’ve enjoyed my little warped take on a KeitaroxTsuruko pairing with a good bit of Motoko flavoring..lol. RnR if it moves you to do so. Thanks so much for the time you’ve spent reading my stories, even if you don’t review. Time is precious and I’m honored that you’d spend some of it on my stories. Until next time all…take care of one another.