Disclaimer: Sometimes we all gotta be a little Darker Than Black
On the surface the city of Hinata in the Kanagawa Prefecture was a peaceful, picturesque city that went at its own pace as opposed to the bustling metropolis up the coast that was Tokyo. More a little known resort town than an actual city, Hinata had won a reputation for its scenic view of Sagami Bay, relaxing hot springs, and historic infrastructure including antique street cars and buildings left untouched by the war over 60 years ago.
The reality though, was that Hinata was one of, if not the most corrupt city in Japan.
The Yakuza, Chinese Triads, Bratva… over the years all manner of organized crime had been drawn to Hinata to take advantage of profits that hovered just out of their reach. And like any other city with an organized crime problem, brutal wars between rival groups led to bloodshed. What made Hinata different from the rest of the country was the sheer scope of the bloodshed… and how no one knew about it.
Three years ago, two rival Yakuza groups slaughtered each other to the last man.
Six months after that, internal strife within a third Yakuza group regarding control of the entire city led to a civil war that saw almost all members killed in the fighting.
A year later, a Russian syndicate tried to open its doors with the help of a friendly Yakuza group. Relations turned sour and the both sides exterminated one another with few survivors.
Most recently, a repeat of a previous incident: A Yakuza operation that had been in town for little over three months within the city wound up self-destructing in a bloody contest for power.
The numbers didn’t add up. Over the last three years, dozens of men were turning up dead in this peaceful city and there was no mention of it. Not in the press, not on the net, not even on the street. The only word that anyone had to go by were those of the scant survivors who themselves became very hard to locate after they attempted to tell what happened.
No one would’ve never even known about this, were it not for two breakthroughs: the first being a Triad member in Shanghai, who had heard of an entity within Hinata City that had been quietly wiping out any efforts for organized crime to take hold within its limits from his brother–who had died during a disastrous venture by the Triads into the city. The second was a clue from the most recent crime scene, a message written in blood by one of the victims:
“The Fox-eyed Girl did thisâ€
A Fox-eyed Girl–or one with eyes that seemed perpetually narrowed or closed. Going back over the testimonies of disappeared men, a pattern emerged. A shifty-eyed girl, a young one, always came up at some point in their stories, usually around the point where things went badly for everyone involved. She was the herald of their end.
The criminal organizations that had lost so much to this deceptive city suddenly had a face to attribute to it, something to sink their teeth into and rend apart. The Fox-eyed girl had to die, and it was for that reason he was here, walking down the main thoroughfare of the city underneath a raining November sky.
“To think that we would be able to get a hold of you, this will be better than luring those bastard Russians or Chinese into a sleepy little town like that. We want something to be left when it’s done.â€
The assassin’s steely eyes narrowed as he recalled the conversation with his employer, a man who insisted the meeting be conducted in shadows.
“Are you sure it’s just the girl?â€
“We’ve dug around, asked some questions, and prodded the right people. It’s just the girl. When they need her, she comes alone and goes alone. She never trusts her employers, even if she’s worked for them before, and if circumstances require assistance, she refuses the job outright until they change. She’s a lone wolf… or fox in this case.â€
“…â€
The assassin didn’t buy it. An assassin, even of her purported caliber, could not manage such feats for so long on her own and undetected. An impenetrable veil of secrecy and death hung over the city, and as he entered it he knew he had to be on his guard lest he become just another victim of it.
Ahead of him was his destination, a street-corner coffee shop where he had agreed ahead of schedule to meet with the assassin herself. Once he had her in her sights, and got and understanding of what he was up against, he would probably have only one chance to act.
Between him and his destination, a high school-aged girl wearing headphones and shielding herself from the rain with an umbrella approached. Minding her, he moved aside to let her pass.
SPAK!
The assassin fell to the ground, his head missing as the rain quickly washed down the cloud of red mist and short-cut hair that was all that remained of it.
Wiggling her fingers to soothe away the sting across her knuckles as music blared through the headphones she wore, Naru continued to walk to cram school–heedless of the commotion that went on behind her when other pedestrians finally took note of the headless man lying in the middle of the sidewalk.
Love Hina: The Merry Killers
Chapter 5: Hitokiri
“Well… that was discouraging,†lamented a short and heavyset young man with light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Why are these prep tests even harder than the entrance exam itself?â€
Shirai Kimiaki
Age: 19
Exam Passing Odds: 30%
A taller, skinnier man walking alongside him out of the Sasagi Seminar College Prep Center shrugged his shoulder. “If you can pass the Prep Tests you can pass anything. That said, we're fucked.â€
Haitani Masayuki
Age: 20
Exam Passing Odds: 17%
“Maybe you, but I at least broke thirty,†Shirai pointed out defensively. “I have some hope.â€
“Between the three of us combined, we still fail like the worst Getter Team ever.†Haitani looked at the aforementioned third man of their trio. “And with your abysmal grades, you are without a doubt our Musashi.â€
“That's not even fair, my exams are twice as hard as yours,†the star failure of the trio replied.
Keitaro Urashima
Age: 20
Exam Passing Odds: 2%
Haitani shrugged his shoulders. “Then you should be working twice as hard, don’t you think?†He sighed. “Ah, forget it. No point in dwelling on our failure. Gentlemen, we should focus on what’s in front of us!â€
“A lifetime of menial jobs, living paycheck-to-paycheck?†Shirai asked.
“The derision of our peers for our failures as members of civilized society?†Keitaro suggested.
The tallest and most handsome of the trio smirked. “Not that. That!â€
He pointed to three girls walking down the street away from them, umbrellas held over their heads.
Shirai peered around Haitani and brought a hand to his brow to shield his bespectacled eyes from the rain. “Wow, look at them! His eyes immediately went to the dark-skinned girl, the leftmost one of the trio. “I like the girl with the dark skin, wearing the thigh-highs.â€
Haitani scoffed. “Dude, she’s gotta be like still in middle school. See her uniform?â€
“Huh? With legs like those? There’s no way she’s that young,†Shirai retorted.
Keitaro paused. Wait, dark-skinned girl in a middle school uniform?
“Me, I would go for the black-haired girl, but I can’t stand tall chicks, you know? I like ‘em small and cute, like the orange miniskirt girl on the right,†Haitani said.
Keitaro’s eyes grew wide. Wait. Tall black-haired girl… and that orange miniskirt…! “Uh, guys I don’t think you should-!â€
Too late, Haitani was going after them. “Ah well, if we pick all three up their strengths will cover their weaknesses, just like Getter!†he assured his cronies before calling to the girls. “Hey girls, would you like to go out with us?â€
“With you?†The tall black-haired girl closed her umbrella. “I would much rather scoop out my own uterus with a spoon and eat it.â€
A blast of wind struck Shirai and Haitani, knocking them both back into Keitaro. All three failures hit the ground in a groaning, defeated heap. Looking back at them, Motoko, Naru, and Su gave a start when they saw Keitaro lying at the bottom of the pile.
“Oh, heya manager!†Su chirped.
“Keitaro…?†Naru began before Motoko verbally lunged.
“Well, well, well… what is this? Struggling to get into Toudai for your promised girl and yet you’re chasing skirts without a care, Urashima?â€
Keitaro looked up at Motoko. “What? No!â€
“Then what is this?!†Motoko pointed at the unconscious Haitani and Shirai. “Running around after seminar with your wingmen, going after underage girls?â€
“No, they’re just my idiot friends and they were just trying to flirt before you attacked them with an umbrella, you psycho!â€
“That was a warning, they wouldn’t have survived an attack.†She pointed the umbrella at Keitaro’s face. “Gather up your disgusting friends and go trolling for some women your age, you disgusting pervert.â€
Naru put her arm over Motoko’s shoulder and leaned close to her, an ominous light gleaming off her glasses. “I’ll tolerate you trying to kill him because you can’t. But Motoko, you really ought to at least watch how you talk to my boyfriend when I’m standing right here.â€
She squeezed her shoulder as the gleam off her sunglasses disappeared to reveal to Keitaro the very annoyed glare she was giving Motoko. Tensing when her shoulder was squeezed, Motoko relented and stormed off without opening her umbrella back up.
“Ooh… Momo’s in trouble~!†Su chimed as she followed after her.
Keitaro sighed and stood up. “Sheesh, what a hot-tempered girl.â€
“Well, I guess with you around she’s been more high-strung than usual. It’s no excuse for being a brat in public like this, though.†Naru walked over to him and smiled. “I’d ask if you were okay, but you know…â€
Keitaro looked back at Haitani and Shirai, who were regaining their wits. “Eh, I’m more worried about my friends.â€
“Bratty as she is, she did only hit them with an attack off her umbrella, so they’ll live.†She smiled. “So, are you going to be on your way home, or will you be off chasing skirts with them?â€
“I should make sure they’re all right, but yeah I’ll be coming straight home. I really need to work on my studies.â€
Naru hugged his arm. “That’s good drive, Kei-chan.†She kissed him on the cheek. “See you when you get home.†With that, Naru trotted off to catch up with Motoko and Su, leaving her blushing beau behind.
Reaching up, Keitaro placed his hand over where Naru kissed him and let out a sigh. “Man… having such a cute girlfriend is awesome…â€
He then felt something, an great, powerful, and jealous presence that overpowered his senses. His eyes growing wide, he slowly turned around to see Haitani and Shirai all but looming over him, their expressions a mixture of horror, despair, betrayal, and rage.
“SINCE WHEN DID A LOSER LIKE YOU GET A CUTE GIRLFRIEND LIKE HER?!â€
Keitaro let out a sigh, he knew he forgot to mention something…
- - -
Later that afternoon, Keitaro and Naru were sitting in the living room reading study guides and making small talk. Motoko was up on the roof training, while Su was sitting at the dining room table, impatiently waiting for Shinobu to finish dinner in the kitchen. Kitsune was not home, but would probably be home soon enough, she was rarely out after dark.
“You know, that was the first time I ever saw you lose your composure.â€
Keitaro looked from his book to Naru. “Huh?â€
“You snapped at Motoko, even called her a psycho.â€
“Oh, that… I actually feel bad about that.â€
Naru frowned. “There is such a thing as being too forgiving, you know.â€
“I know, but she didn't actually hurt either of my friends, so I'm not upset about it.â€
Naru made an amused huff. “If only I was immortal, then I could let everything slide too.â€
“It's not even that. I juat understand where Motoko is coming from, regarding her sister. She loves her big sister, and she believes she must to do this.â€
Naru put down her book and regarded her pointedly. “You're fine with the possibility of her killing you and then butchering your cousin and most of your family?â€
Keittaro shook his head. “I understand her, and even if she could kill me I wouldn't stop her. But you know as much as I do what the point of all this is, and what would happen if she somehow did.â€
Her eyebrows rising at that, Naru slowly nodded. “You know, it's a shame that insight of yours doesn't transfer to your studies… or your choice of friends.â€
Keitaro recoiled at that. “What's wrong with my friends?â€
“Well, they were a couple of twenty year olds scheming on some sweet, sweet jailbait.â€
“I have no argument for that, other than that they're actually just harmless man-children who like to flirt.â€
“Like you?†Naru kissed him affectionately on the cheek.
“Hey!â€
Naru laughed before the front doors opened.
“I’m home~!†Kitsune sang as she walked into the Hinata-sou that evening, carrying a number of packages and bags. “And I come bearing gifts!â€
“Hey Kitsune!†Keitaro and Naru called as Kitsune walked to the coffee table and began setting down her swag upon it.
Perking up from her mock-moping, Su dashed into the living room as Kitsune set down the gifts on the coffee table. “Oh! Is it bananas?!â€
“No, but I was kind enough to buy you a bunch anyway,†Kitsune replied as she handed Su a bag of bananas.
Keitaro picked up one of the boxes as Kitsune set them down. “A jewelry box sample from Mexico? Oh, I always wanted one…â€
Naru picked up another of the boxes. “Door chimes?†She opened the box and found the barrel of an M16 instead of the labeled contents. “Huh.â€
Keitaro opened the jewelry box, and there was another M16 part. “These are full of gun parts.â€
“Oh, those for Shinobu-chan. The mark from this morning had them delivered to his hotel room,†Kitsune said. “By the way, perfect execution as usual. No one has any idea what happened.â€
Keitaro looked at Naru. “You did a job?â€
Naru waved it off. “Yeah, Kitsune’s wet work attracts the wrong people sometimes, so I gotta make them disappear.â€
“Make their heads disappear, at least.†Kitsune handed Naru a box. “Here’s my token of appreciation.â€
“Ooh…†Naru popped open the box. “Oh! New clothes!â€
She lifted a pair of lace panties that Keitaro got all but the briefest glimpse of before she jammed them back into the box with the brightest flush on her face. “Kitsune!â€
“Hey now, those were expensive you know. I spent over half my paycheck on the whole ensemble.â€
“Thank you Kitsune, that was a nice and thoughtful gift,†Keitaro politely said.
Kitsune clapped her hands together. “You’re very welcome, Keitaro!â€
Naru jabbed him in the side, causing him to yelp, before she was presented another gift, a movie case. “Huh?â€
“Come on, you know I’d never leave you hanging with a gag gift,†Kitsune said warmly.
Opening it, Naru went sparkly-eyed as she read the title aloud: “Liddo-kun and Friends vs. Kamen Raider: Stop Kicking Me in the Face!â€
“That was the other half of my payche-OOF!†Kitsune was knocked over by Naru as she pounced on her with a hug.
As Naru cuddled Kitsune in gratitude, Keitaro looked among the other packages. Among them was a long wrapped package, most certainly a sword. “Hey, Kitsune is this for Motoko?â€
Kitsune looked up as she rubbed the top of Naru’s head. “Yeah, I picked up Motoko’s sword from the smith in town, it’s good as new so she can stop using that replacement.â€
Had the sword not been broken over his head ineffectually a week prior, what Keitaro said next would be foolhardy. “I’ll go bring it to her.â€
“Yeah, she can’t afford to have it fixed again right now so try not to rile her up, okay?†Kitsune teased.
Keitaro rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “I’ll try.â€
As he headed up to the back balcony where she had gone to train, Keitaro shivered at the cold that stung him. It had gotten colder since he arrived, and it was still damp out from the earlier rain. It was really beginning to feel like fall, now. “Who would train in this cold? Sheesh…â€
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, he stopped and stared at what he saw. Motoko was standing stone still on the platform, except for her arm, which was a blur as it silently guided the sword she held through the leaves floating on the cool breeze around her, neatly slicing them in half. Despite the apparent speed of her movements, Keitaro couldn’t hear the telltale swipes of her blade displacing the air.
“Amazing,†he whispered.
Motoko became alert and threw a short blade right into Keitaro’s forehead. The weapon bounced off without so much as a bruise. “Urashima?!â€
“Hello Momo-chan,†Keitaro said as he bent down to pick up the thrown blade.
The kendoist bristled. “Motoko is enough.†She saw that he was holding a wrapped sword. “Is that my sword?â€
“Yes, Kitsune brought it back from the smith, and I came to bring it to you.†Walking over, Keitaro offered both blades to her.
Sheathing her loaner sword, Motoko looked at the sword and then at Keitaro. “You’re a duck that brings its own green onions, did you know that?â€
Keitaro shrugged his shoulders. “An unkillable duck that brings its own green onions, maybe.â€
Motoko scowled and turned away from him, walking under the canopy of one of the trees that graciously provided her earlier targets. “What are you, Urashima?â€
“I used to wonder that a lot, but since there’s no real explanation, I stopped worrying about it a long time ago.â€
“And everyone knows about this?â€
“Most everyone in my family, I guess. They don’t know why I’m like this anymore than I do, and they’ve tried everything they could to kill me themselves.â€
Motoko’s scowl turned into a grimace. “They’ve tried everything?â€
Keitaro nodded. “Once my Dad pushed me into an industrial fish grinder. It broke. Then there was the time Granny put me on an island with a deranged mercenary, gave him five hundred million dollars worth of weapons and ammunition, and told him to ‘be creative’ about killing me.â€
“You’re sure proud of that fact,†she growled.
“More happy that I survived because it hurt a lot. Being buried to your waist in sand head-first after being force-fed seventeen pounds of high explosive compounds, and then having a battery of M61s firing at you continuously until their barrels melted wasn’t exactly painless.â€
Motoko stared at him in disbelief. “You’re lying.â€
“Granny has the logs, photos, videos, and receipts to prove it,†Keitaro replied.
He noticed Motoko’s hands were shaking as they gripped the wrapped sword and the short blade. The short blade clattered to the wooden floor of the balcony, resting edge up. “Motoko…?â€
She threw both to the ground and let out a frustrated yell. “I REFUSE!â€
“You… refuse?â€
“I won’t accept it, that you are completely invincible.†She turned around to face him, looking on the verge of crying. “There has to be something, anything that can wound you and when I find it I will use it to destroy you!â€
Keitaro nodded. “Okay.â€
Motoko balked. “What?â€
“If you can find something that can kill me, I won’t stop you.â€
And that was the other thing about Keitaro that frustrated Motoko to no end. Why… why was this man so… so…?!
Before she could yell out her frustrations properly, Su of all people suddenly appeared from the leaves above her head, hanging upside down. “It’s time for dinner, Momo!â€
Completely startled in her emotional state, Motoko jumped back and tripped right over her wrapped up sword. Flailing, the kendoist took a spill towards the floor, but stopped halfway when Keitaro caught her with a surprising burst of speed.
“Oooh, nice catch, Keikei!†Su chirped.
Motoko could hardly bear the indignity of it all, caught in midair by this idiot after allowing Su to surprise her and tripping over her own sword like a fool. As her weight fell against his hand for him to support her, however, she gave a start at how easily he handled her and brought her back to her feet.
He’s… strong?
Keitaro glanced back behind Motoko and let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention to her. “Are you okay?â€
She stared at him, still startled, before her normally pale skin colored and she swiftly punched him in the face. “D-don’t touch me! Leave me alone!â€
Gathering up her weapons, she stormed off in a hurry, leaving a somewhat exasperated Keitaro and an amused Su behind.
“Huh… she’s cute when she’s flustered,†Keitaro observed before Su handed him a little red flag with a cartoon caricature of Motoko’s face on it. “What’s this?â€
“The start of the Momo route!†Su replied with her big smile.
Keitaro stared at Su… and just shook his head in his own exasperation.
- - -
As the new landlord, Keitaro had taken his job seriously, and his first duty as manager had been to assign duties to the tenants of the house, encouraging compliance to the clever tune of lowering the rent. On the plus side, it got everyone pitching in and easing the workload for Shinobu–the original intention of the plan–but on the negative… it made Kitsune extra eager to contribute. The last five nights in a row, Kitsune had “selflessly†taken on kitchen duty for the house, and as a result Keitaro came to appreciate why Shinobu did most of the cooking and was eager to try hers tonight.
“Wow, it looks amazing, Shinobu!†he declared as he looked at the Five-Star spread put out for dinner.
Not only did it smell good to the point that Keitaro was drooling buckets, it was also beautifully presented too. But most importantly, there was no sign of any beef, or a barbecue or marinade sauce of some kind. If he had to eat one more grilled steak, he was worried he’d swear off all meat forever.
Kitsune pouted as Shinobu tried and fail to stammer out thanks to Keitaro. “You never said that about my cooking.â€
Naru offered a possible reason why. “Your cooking involves killing a cow, field-dressing it, soaking it in barbecue sauce for three days, and then throwing it over a tire fire for five minutes.â€
“Oh come on,†Kitsune snapped back. It was only twelve hours and cooking over a tire fire? Ridiculous!
“It was so rare it was going to jump over the Moon.â€
“I thought it was good Kitsune, really.†It was just too much, every day. Steak, steak, steak.
In another time and place, Chie Satonaka sat straight up awake in bed, wondering who the fox-eyed girl in her dreams was, and how she could make her hers.
Sitting on the other side of Keitaro, her face still an impressive shade of red, Motoko’s mind was going a mile a second as she kept her face in a bowl of rice, rapidly scarfing it down to keep from looking at Keitaro. Like many things in her life recently, she was having difficulty getting over what had happened and was over-analyzing it.
My feet had just left the floor, but I hadn’t even hit the floor and yet he was right there, holding me up with one hand like I was a feather.
She glanced at him, he was talking to Naru about his latest failure at his cram school, and looked back down at her rice. Naru was playfully scolding him for screwing up, but was optimistic.
She’s only known him a week and she’s always so warm and giddy now.
Until he showed up and woke up that sappy romantic that lurked underneath, Naru was the sort Motoko admired: cool, even-tempered, and hugely focused on the rigors of school and excelling in her academic pursuits without care or need for the romantic. Seeing her like this reminded Motoko too much of how her sister changed after that man began pursuing her.
Tsuruko…
She shoveled more rice into her mouth. It was happening again, and this time it was the very obstacle to ending that damned marriage that was taking away another woman she admired.
As I am now, I can’t even hurt him. And he keeps making it hard to!
A bastard, a lecher, an arrogant ass with a chip on his shoulder and ego to boot thanks to that immortality… if only he was any of those things, but he wasn’t! Konno, Su, and especially Shinobu… they had all accepted him without issue or complaint because he was nothing but kind, even to her when she tried to kill him!
She glared at him, her face growing a deeper red. Why did you have to be so kind you… you…?!
As if feeling the heat of her gaze, Keitaro turned and looked to her, before he noticed something on her face. “Ah, Momo-chan…â€
“What?†She looked away from him.
“You have some rice on your cheek,†Keitaro pointed at the rice grains on the corner of her mouth, few survivors of hundreds consumed by the crotchety kendoist.
Before she could reach up to remove it, Kitsune’s eyes opened as if she was zeroing in to take the perfect shot. In fact she was, and she did.
“Hey Keitaro, with how she’s been blushing at you since she got to the table, why don’t you kiss it away?â€
Boom! Heart shot.
Motoko’s eyes flew wide, as Keitaro blushed himself at the suggestion. Naru let out a laugh at the look on her face when Kitsune’s tease struck home, with Su joining in.
“Wow, Momo’s face is so red!†the Molmolese girl cheered.
“Wha-no-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-why would I want that lecher’s lips anywhere near my body?!†She yelped as she shot up out of her seat and pointed at him for emphasis.
Her reaction just made it worse, as Kitsune took a second shot. “Oh my God, you’re already tsundere for him.â€
Motoko’s face was now burning up, as Naru just broke into even harder laughter. She looked around the table. Kitsune had a shit-eating grin on her face, Su was watching raptly as if waiting for the punchline to finally hit at the end of this joke of a display, Shinobu was stuck between overreacting to the idea of Motoko actually being attracted to Keitaro and trying to get everyone to calm down, and Keitaro was looking as awkward and indecisive as some loser boy in one of those harem anime Su liked to watch.
Naru then went and ganked her, twisting the knife right in Motoko’s side. “If you do like him, I don’t really mind if it means you’ll be nicer to him. Don’t expect me to share, though~.â€
Shinobu’s glare at Naru went completely missed, as Motoko’s reaction was just so much funnier.
“I would never like that… that… freak abomination that doesn’t even know how to die!†she screamed before she turned to run out of the room… and went face-first into the wall right next to the archway out of the dining room.
Kitsune fell out of her chair and to the floor, laughing harder than Naru who had covered her mouth and was sputtering loudly.
Keitaro, however, was on his feet and by Motoko’s side in an instant. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Motoko are you okay?â€
Spinning around, Motoko shoved him back. “DON’T TOUCH ME YOU-!â€
It happened so suddenly. Turning around to face him, her face so warm she felt dizzy, Motoko was beset by an intense wave of nausea that came hurtling up from her stomach. It exited her mouth, along with the rice she had carelessly stuffed herself with and everything else she ate in the last two hours, and splattered all over Keitaro’s front from face to waist.
The dining room was deathly quiet after that, though Kitsune was bubbling towards laughing herself to death.
Motoko was frozen in complete horror as she stared at Keitaro, who was growing wide-eyed in realization that she had literally gotten sick all over him. The heat, dizziness, and embarrassment claimed her then–everything went black as she fainted.
- - -
The Urashima and the Aoyama, for over five centuries the two clans endured a relationship that was complicated and at times strained to the point of hatred. Generations of both clans had seen each other as worthy allies, bitter enemies, reluctant sacrifices, and convenient scapegoats. Despite their over five hundred year shared history, however, never had the two clans had been joined through marriage until this day.
It was only fitting that the two being married would be two of the strongest members of their respective families. Tsuruko Aoyama, the most powerful Demon Slayer to come out of the family in over 150 years, and easily the most skilled swordswoman in the clan, and Naoto Urashima, the unrivaled master of the Urashima-clan’s Jujutsu. It was a union over five hundred years in the making, and now that the vows were exchanged and bonds forged, it was a time of great joy and-
“THIS MARRIAGE IS A FARCE!â€
Oh dear.
Storming into the wedding reception dressed more for battle than a party, a brazen and furious Motoko forced her way through the guests and onto the dance floor, right in front of the table where the newlyweds were sitting at the center of, flanked by their parents and their parents’ parents. Curiously Naoto and Tsuruko were both seated on giant turtles, from which the two looked down at Motoko.
Motoko pointed at Naoto. “This man is a bastard who forced himself repeatedly onto my sister until she broke to his whim! I will not accept this injustice, nor will I allow it to continue any further!â€
The effeminate young man seated upon the turtle, who was all but a dead-ringer for Haruka, gave a surprised start at Motoko’s declaration. Next to him, upon her turtle, the wedding kimono-clad Tsuruko gave a start in shock, and then gazed gloomily upon her younger sister
She drew her sword, and held it aloft. “I will cut you down, Naoto Urashima!â€
She took one step forward, and suddenly she was in a barren, open plain that was devoid of even a single blade of grass for miles in every direction. It was not featureless, however. Before Motoko were a series of tall stone pillars, the hot sun shining brightly behind them and obscuring her view of their peaks.
Even as she tried to shield her eyes, she heard a voice from them.
“Her actions have been nothing but reprehensible. Childish attachment or not, she marched in and drew her sword with every intent to kill our child.â€
“And she remained unrepentant even after she was disarmed and bound. She spat at Naoto-kun.â€
Motoko recognized those elderly voices. Naoto’s parents, two very esteemed members of the Urashima clan.
“Forgive us, we were not attempting to diminish Motoko’s outburst in the least. Her reasons for acting in such a manner do not justify them in the least, and for that we are deeply sorry.â€
That was her mother. Motoko glowered. “Do not apologize to those dogs!â€
“An apology from you is hollow unless you can do something about her behavior. If she’s going to continue to act aggressively towards Naoto, towards any of our clan, action must be taken to prevent it.†Naoto’s father.
Motoko then heard her father’s voice “We’ve already considered our options, and frankly there is only one. Motoko is second only to Tsuruko herself despite her age. She is… dangerous.â€
“There’s another option.†Motoko blinked when she heard Haruka’s voice.
“Haruka-chan?†That was Granny Hina’s voice.
“If she wants to kill Naoto, then we should let her.â€
The reaction from the elders of both sides of the family was swift and vehement. “What?!â€
“But,†Haruka added, “In order to do so… she must kill Keitaro.â€
“Kill… Keitaro…?†Motoko’s parents seemed lost on who this Keitaro fellow was.
Naoto’s parents, however, sounded far less stern at the offer. “Keitaro, hm? Haha, if Motoko can kill Keitaro, then she can kill any man in the clan she pleases, who would we be to stop her?â€
Naoto’s mother agreed with her husband’s sentiment. “Yes, yes… pit Motoko against Keitaro. One way or another, she won’t be able to harm a hair on Naoto-kun’s head.â€
Kill this Keitaro bastard? Motoko snorted and yelled out to the pillars and the voices wafting from their sun-obscured peaks. “You take me lightly! I’ll kill Keitaro, then Naoto, and then I’ll kill every Urashima man! Down to even the children! Watch!â€
Finally, one of the voices on-high acknowledged her, Hina’s. “You accept the conditions, then?â€
“Yes! I will cut Keitaro Urashima down and save my sister; I swear it upon my sword!†Motoko proudly shouted back.
“Very well.â€
The sun finally went out, leaving a dimly lit sky and revealing the tops of the pillars were also bare. Blinking in surprise, Motoko looked around and realized that she was all alone in the empty field. She looked down, and found her sword at her hip.
“Prepare yourself,†she heard Hina warn.
Without hesitation, she drew her sword. “Urashima! Show yourself, I will cut you down!â€
No sign of him, of anyone. She raised her head up, and shouted to the heavens.
“I said show yourself!â€
She didn’t lower her head. As she stared up at the dark sky, her eyes grew wide, and her mouth slowly fell open as she realized that Keitaro was already here. Well, not precisely here, but he had no issue showing himself.
Towering over her, over the pillars, over the Earth itself and eclipsing the sun was Keitaro, looking down on her like a god in the heavens.
She dropped her sword. “I-Impossible.â€
Noticing her, like the tiniest speck upon the surface, Keitaro smiled slightly and reached out towards her. Traveling through the void of space, as his hand drew close to the Earth, Motoko could see the glow of reentry heat against his palms and fingers as it hurtled towards her.
“This is Keitaro… h-how…? How can I beat this…?â€
His hand drew closer.
“I… I can’t fight this…â€
His palm blotted out the entire sky for her now.
“I… can’t kill this…â€
The pillars crumbled upon his hand reaching them.
“… There’s… there’s no way…â€
It was utterly hopeless.
As his hand reached her, Motoko tightly shut her eyes.
“Tsuruko…!â€
She then felt the softest weight atop her head, and opened her eyes. She was completely underneath his hand, which was probably the size of Japan, and it was just touching the top of her head. “Huh?â€
Keitaro lifted his hand only an inch, and then lowered it back onto her head, and then again, before moving it from side to side slightly. He was patting her on the head, she realized.
“He’s so… gentle.â€
Motoko blinked, and Keitaro was his normal height, with his hand still resting upon her head. Even though she was slightly taller than him now, she still felt so small compared to him.
“You…†Humbled, Motoko began to sniffle. “… W-why? Why are you so k-kind to me…?â€
Keitaro just smiled back at her, and continued to pat her on her head as she broke down and cried.
There were still tears in her eyes when Motoko awoke from the dream, though maybe that was from the pain she realized she was in as awareness caught up with her. Her throat was burning, her stomach was twisted in knots, and her entire head felt like it was packed with gauze. The only respite from it all was the fact that she was lying on her bed, and the cool, wet towel placed upon her forehead to battle her fever.
She didn’t remember making it to her bed, but she didn’t care, she was just glad to be in it and away from Keitaro, who was sitting by her bed holding a thermometer in her ear.
Wait.
“What are you doing in my room?†She weakly asked him.
“I’m taking care of you, because I don’t get sick.†Keitaro removed the thermometer from her ear and read the display. “Thirty-nine point five, well it’s better than the forty you were at when you fainted, at least.â€
Motoko groaned. Of course he didn’t get sick either. Are you some kind of Ultimate Being?
“You just have the flu. Some rest and a lot of liquids and you’ll be fine.â€
Pulling the blankets up to her chin, Motoko glared weakly at Keitaro. “Urashima.â€
He hummed an acknowledgement as he looked to her.
“Is there really nothing that can harm you? Be honest with me.â€
Keitaro looked down at that, and then answered. “There isn’t. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said they tried everything.â€
“Even thrown you into a volcano?â€
“The closest thing they could get was molten steel. They poured it on me and had to use a plasma cutter to cut me out after it cooled. The plasma cutter couldn't hurt me either.â€
“Exposing you to radiation?â€
“I learned to scuba dive so I could swim to the bottom of a spent nuclear fuel pool and sit on the fuel for a few hours.â€
Motoko stared at him wide-eyed.
“The only reason I haven’t had a nuclear bomb blown up in my face is because Japan’s not exactly allowed to have those, and there’s a ban on testing.â€
A thought occurred to Motoko. “They did all that to you… and you don’t care?â€
“Huh?â€
“Your family, your own parents, has tried to kill you repeatedly for years. You’re not the least bit upset about it?â€
Keitaro shrugged his shoulders. “I was upset about it the first few times, but then after I survived some stuff I really shouldn’t have, like the industrial fish grinder, it didn’t bother me anymore. I’m more annoyed that pretty much everyone else in the family but Granny, Haruka, and Naoto resents me for being absolutely terrible at the family business.â€
“Don’t mention that name,†Motoko grumbled. She then stopped. “You know him?â€
“He volunteered to kill me a few times. He’s a lot like Haruka, kind of cool but actually really nice underneath that.†Keitaro hummed.
Motoko rolled her eyes and looked away, before she returned her gaze to him with another question. “Doesn’t it bother you that you can’t die?â€
“Not really.â€
“What if you can never die? What if you end up outliving everyone because you just can’t, aren’t you scared of being all alone after that?â€
Keitaro’s expression became distant. “It’s scary to think about, so I don’t, but sometimes… well, I lose sleep over it.â€
“Among other things.â€
Keitaro ignored the voice in his head.
Closing her eyes, Motoko let out a deeper sigh. “You are the Moon Laurel, it’s pointless to keep trying.â€
It wasn’t the first time Keitaro had heard that comparison. “I suppose it is.â€
Motoko hated it. “What am I supposed to do?â€
“Well, you can put down the axe.â€
Motoko’s eyes opened, and she stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. She was quiet for a long time, before she finally asked, “Even if I could overcome your immortality. Do you think Naru, or Shinobu, or Kitsune, or even Haruka would let me?â€
Keitaro hoped that question wasn’t rhetorical, and luckily it was.
“I give up.â€
At Motoko’s concession, Keitaro slowly nodded. “That was the entire point of this, you know. Auntie said she and your sister both agreed to putting you against me so you could get all that anger out of your system, and I guess accept that she married… you know… that guy.â€
Motoko recalled her dream, and beyond that, the actual day of her outburst. She remembered the sad look on her sister’s face, after the initial shock passed. “Yes, but it doesn't change how I feel. I hate him.â€
“You still love your sister though, don’t you?â€
Motoko didn’t answer, but nodded her head slowly.
“When I was younger, my little sister wanted to go train with Granny like he did. I was really against it because I didn’t want her to get hurt or to become a killer, but in the end it was something she wanted to do and I accepted that. Sometimes the people we care for are going to leave us and do things we don’t want them to, but if it’s something they want to do, and it’s good for them in the end, then we should support them because we love them, right?â€
He was right, and Motoko was too ill for her pride to muster. “What do I do, then?â€
“You could give your sister a call, and see how she’s doing. You can at least do that, right?†Keitaro couldn’t even reach his sister now, wherever she had gone for her training couldn’t even be reached by mail. It had been that way for five years, now.
For Motoko, it had been a year since she’d last heard Tsuruko’s voice. “Now? I sound terrible right now.â€
Keitaro nodded. “You do, but you’ll get better and you’ll talk to her then. I’ll make sure of it.â€
Motoko pulled the blanket up to her nose, before she looked at Keitaro. “You have no reason to be so kind to me.â€
“I have reason enough. You love your sister dearly and would do the impossible for her. You and I are exactly alike,†he replied as he wrung out another cold towel and replaced the one on Motoko’s forehead.
Sighing from the soothing coolness of the towel, Motoko stared at Keitaro thoughtfully, before she closed her eyes. “Your sister must think you’re an amazing brother.â€
Recalling the last time he saw his little sister, Keitaro smiled and nodded.
“And I'm sure yours thinks you’re an amazing sister.â€
- - -
Outside Motoko’s door, Kitsune discreetly closed the door from the crack it had been opened and looked back to the rest of the audience that had discreetly joined to watch when she had overheard Keitaro and Motoko first talking. Shinobu looked relieved that the nonsense was over, while Su was more disappointed that she couldn’t go inside and try a so-called miracle cure that was composed largely of bananas. The one who seemed most pleased by all this was Naru, who offered her open palm.
“You said a month, it has only been a week.â€
Staring at Naru’s palm, Kitsune let out an annoyed huff. She doled out some cash. “God damn it.â€
“Hey, at least it’s over. I like Motoko, just not when she’s letting her issues get the better of her.â€
Kitsune agreed with a nod. “Now all you get out of here. Last thing we need is a house full of literally sick killers.â€
“But I wanna try my instant cure!†Su complained as they left down the hall.
Shinobu sighed. “Su, bananas are not a cure for the flu.â€
“Don't believe the lies perpetuated by the cartels of the Orange Industry!â€
Letting the younger girls go ahead, Kitsune looked to Naru. “Speaking of issues, when is Keitaro going to learn about yours?â€
Naru let out a huff. “He already knows.â€
“Does he now? Or does he only know there were… incidents?â€
Naru fell silent and looked down.
Kitsune nodded, as her eyes opened to scrutinize her. “He doesn't even know about Seta, does he?â€
Naru became defensive. “Hey, we only just started dating… that's too heavy to drop on him so soon.â€
Kitsune nodded. “I worry about you on this because I love you. Don't let that drama bomb cook, got it?â€
Naru smiled. “Relax I will, now let me enjoy my honeymoon.â€
“Yeah, yeah… now come on. The sky's cleared out, it's perfect for a before bed soak with a bottle of sake.â€
Naru laughed. “Oh we're just begging to catch ourselves a bug too, huh?â€
“Hey, with bedside care from our cutie landlord, it's a tempting prospect.â€
“Hey!â€
Laughing, Kitsune bolted for the springs with that, Naru right behind her.
= = =
Welp, so much for that conflict. Surely there isn't lies and misinformation being thrown about that will come back to haunt anyone.