"What was the start of all this? When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?
Perhaps it's impossible to grasp that answer now, from deep within the flow of time.
But for a certainty, back then, we loved so much, yet hated so much.
We hurt others and were hurt ourselves.

Yet even then, we ran like the wind.

As our laughter echoed under cerulean skies."

Prologue:
Mysterious Swordsman!

Who's the Guy from Keitaro's Past?

It was a scene of barely-controlled mayhem within the Hinata-Sou, with most of the tenants crowded around the television in the den. Behind them sat one Urashima Keitaro and one Sakata Kentaro, both wearing the eye-covering Mr. Virtual fantasy display device created by Kaolla Su, who, incidentally, was a child computer genius, not to mention a foreigner.

The television screen displayed a virtual reality of a local amusement park that had just opened, in which Keitaro was attempting to have a pleasant date with his not-so-secret object of affection, Narusegawa Naru, not currently present in the room. This was an attempt at a pleasant date for the sheer fact that everything Keitaro attempted, Kentaro was always there to point out what he was doing wrong, or how he should have been acting. Obviously, most of the girls clustered around the TV were greatly amused by this turn of events, except for sweet little Maehara Shinobu, who was distraught that Keitaro, her own more-secret object of affection, was being utterly crushed at every turn. And of course, Keitaro's aunt, Urashima Haruka, who didn't seem to be bothered by much of anything. She was just standing off to the side and watching because she didn't really have anything else to do.

Outside, a new figure crested the final step leading up to the Hinata dormitory. This figure was male, and tall, standing at six feet even, with or without the simple sandals he wore on his feet. He raised his right hand to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun as he stared up at the Hinata building. Blinking a few times, he brushed his hand through his short mass of medium brown hair, then stretched.

He was clad in a simple pair of blue jean shorts, and a red t-shirt, the image thereon either extremely offensive or uproariously funny, depending on one's viewpoint. It was an image of an adult man with brown hair and a brown beard, wearing a simple robe. He had a silly grin plastered on his face, one eye closed in a wink, and had the index fingers of both hands pointing off to one side. A holy aura surrounded him, and curved above the image was the phrase "I'm Jesus," and below it "lol." And to top off the mismatched image, a sheathed sword was secured to his left side.

"Hm, hm, hm," the figure said, smirking. "Hinata Apartments. Heh, it's been quite a while. My folks said Keitaro just came back into town, so I wonder if he's here..."

Walking up to the building, he pushed the front door open and immediately noticed the gathering of people across the room. Quietly slipping off his sandals, he walked over to the group with all the silent grace of a gut-shot rancor, but nobody reacted to him. It was obvious that they were wholly engrossed in whatever they were watching on TV. So he stopped just behind and to the side of Haruka, and watched as well.

Haruka, her senses sharper than most of the others', felt a strange feeling on her left side and looked over, to see the new young man standing there. She blinked and stared at his face; he seemed familiar to her...

Noticing that she had noticed him, the young man held up his left hand in a very distinctive greeting, with his thumb and first two fingers raised while he loosely clenched the remaining two fingers in. "Yo, Haruka," he said. "Long time no see, eh?"

In response, Haruka lifted her right hand to take the cigarette out of her mouth, then turned to regard him carefully. After a moment, a faint smile appeared on her face. "It has been a while, Seno," she replied. "You just get back?"

He nodded. "Just got off the plane a few hours ago. My folks told me my old buddy Keitaro was back in town, so I thought I'd come pay him a visit."

"Well, about that..."

The swordsman looked toward the spectacle before them, actually paying attention to it for once. "What's this?" he asked.

"Su, that's the blonde one in the front there, was testing her virtual reality device on Keitaro and it was giving an image of a fantasy date between him and Naru, one of the girls living here," Haruka explained, pointing to each party as appropriate. "Then Kentaro over there showed up and started saying some weird stalker stuff, and Kitsune, the one there with the short hair, decided that it'd be a good idea for some sort of dating fantasy challenge."

"And Keitaro's losing," the swordsman filled in the rest. "Geez, he hasn't changed, has he?"

Haruka smirked. "Sure hasn't."

The swordsman frowned. "He looks pretty miserable. Think I should put a stop to it?"

"Let the kids have their fun."

"You sound like an old woman, saying that."

A vein in her forehead throbbing, Haruka produced a paper fan out of seemingly nowhere and swung it laterally at the swordsman's face. To her great surprise, however, he quickly ducked out of harm's way, then stood back up as she simply stood there, blinking in surprise.

He grinned. "You're used to Keitaro being slow and dumb enough to get hit, aren't you? You forgot I've always been too fast for you."

She stuck her cigarette back in her mouth and calmly took a breath. "Like I said, it's been a while."

On the screen, the virtual image of Kentaro, sharing a ferris wheel car with this Naru person, suddenly loomed over her, pronouncing boldly, "Naru, I love you." The reaction from the girls crowded around the monitor was generally to hold a bated breath, waiting for the response. Keitaro, if it was at all possible, seemed even more miserable, while Haruka was as deadpan as ever.

"Wow, it's getting serious," the swordsman pronounced.

"Wait..." the virtual Naru said, as Kentaro tilted her face up with a finger beneath her chin. "Stop..."

"Stop it!" Keitaro exclaimed in the real world. "She doesn't want it!"

Beside him, Kentaro chuckled coldly in a manner that narrowed the swordsman's eyes. "Only in your fantasy will a girl ask you for a kiss," he responded. "In reality, she wants you to take it forcefully from her."

The swordsman sneered as, on the screen, the virtual Kentaro dramatically drew ever closer to the virtual Naru. "Who does this guy think he is?" He threw a glance over to Haruka, then moved to step behind and around her. "I've had enough of this crap."

At the TV, the girls were crowded around the screen almost to the point where they were pressed up against it, waiting to see what would happen next. And then, suddenly, the image lost resolution and faded to black.

Konno Mitsune, or Kitsune, as Haruka had called her, called back, "Hey, what gives? It was just gettin' to the good..."

That was the point at which she, as well as the rest of the girls, saw the mysterious swordsman standing with his foot planted on the back of Kentaro's neck, the Mr. Virtual headset he had been wearing clenched in his right hand. He seemed to be staring into the device as if inspecting it.

"What's the big idea!?" Kentaro protested loudly.

In response, the swordsman put more of his weight on the back of the snobby boy's neck. "Shaddap, monkey," he said, then returned to looking at the device. "Well, I think we've had enough of that mess."

With that, he clenched his hand around the headset, promptly snapping it in two. He then reached over to pull Keitaro's headset off, pausing long enough to flick Keitaro's ear with his right hand while calling, "Sit up, loser," and then inspected the headset he held in his hand. "Hey, this one's already broken. What gives? Oh well." And then he proceeded to snap the already-broken device anyway.

"Aww, what did you do that for?" Su bemoaned, hopping over to crouch between the two rivals and collect the broken pieces of her invention.

"Sorry, kiddo," the swordsman answered. "But I got tired of the torture m'boy Keitaro here was getting put through."

Shinobu and Kitsune were, to say the least, pretty nervous about this cold and violent-seeming swordsman who had just appeared out of nowhere and broken one of Su's inventions without apparent effort. Aoyama Motoko, on the other hand, quickly did what she did best: Act irrationally.

"Intruder!" she snapped, drawing her sword and pointing it at him. "You dare invade our home and threaten us?"

Most people, when faced down with an angry Motoko, would be stricken with fear, panic, or something of that nature. This man had no such expression on his face. In fact, he did not appear to be amused by her pointing a sword at him. "Okay, first off, little missy, I haven't threatened anyone," he said, his tone of voice reflecting his lack of amusement. He pointed to Kentaro. "I was just about to threaten this guy, but that's beside the point. And speaking of points, you want to point yours somewhere else. Before you get hurt."

All the girls, and even Keitaro, gasped aloud at his unfearing challenge to the resident master swordswoman. Motoko narrowed her eyes, her entire body shaking with rage, and shot back, "You dare issue a challenge to me, you insolent male?"

He scoffed. "'Insolent m...' I'll get to that later. Again, stop putting words in my mouth. I didn't challenge you. I said you don't want to fight me." He paused. "Well, I didn't say that either, but I digress."

There was another pause as he regarded her steadily, then he sighed and lowered himself into a ready stance, placing his left hand on the sheath of his sword, and his right on the hilt of the blade, prepared to draw it in an instant, then said in a total deadpan, "If you insist on making a fool of yourself, then come hither and get thy ass beat."

And of course, she did just that. Letting out a wordless cry of rage, she brought her sword up on her right side and charged, intent on filleting him from throat to groin. What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion to the onlooking audience. Halfway to her intended target, the swordsman drew his sword out fully to his right side and began to move even lower; his obvious target was going to be her legs.

Then, in a very obvious motion, the girls and Keitaro and Kentaro watched as the man flipped the sword in his hands so that the blade was facing backwards in order to not cause any real harm to Motoko, something which she clearly was not worried about doing to him. He then struck out with his sword, catching Motoko on her right shin, the hard impact of steel against bone causing Shinobu to wince as Motoko fell face-first to the den floor, her sword flying out of her hands to arc through the air and stab into the ground behind Keitaro, conveniently cutting the ropes binding him in the process.

But the swordsman wasn't done. Standing up partially, he pulled his hard wood sheath out of his belt loop and pivoted inward, swinging the impliment in an arc aimed directly for the back of Motoko's neck. The girls could tell rather easily that he wasn't even using a fraction of his full strength in the strike, but nonetheless, Motoko let out a cry of pain before falling limp, knocked unconscious from the blow.

The casually-clad swordsman stood up to his full height, closing his eyes as he returned his sword's sheath to its rightful place on his left hip, before running the length of his blade along the opening and then sheathing the weapon. Then he looked down at the unconscious Motoko and sighed bitterly, shaking his head. "Told you," he said to her. "Don't judge me as a pushover just by the way I dress."

Then, to the surprise of everyone except perhaps Keitaro and Haruka, he knelt down, gently picked the unconscious swordswoman up in his arms, and carried her into the living room, where he laid her down on a couch just as gently. Su, Shinobu, and Kitsune simply watched in stunned horror. Not only had this man beaten Motoko, a feat they'd never seen before, he'd done so without any apparent effort on his part, and in seconds.

"Could I ask one of you ladies to get me a bag of ice and a wet washcloth?" he called out. "Perhaps a glass of water and some Tylenol as well, for when she wakes up."

If they'd been horrified by his amazing skill with the blade, then the concern he was showing for his downed opponent told them that he wasn't that bad a guy after all. Shinobu stood up and dashed into the kitchen, calling out, "I'll get it!" as the others made their way into the living room.

Kentaro, rather stupidly, decided to get confrontational with the man. "You're dangerous, you know that. You should worry about whether you'll get arrested for assault. And isn't it still illegal to wear a sword in public?"

The swordsman glared at him. "Seeing as how I do not own this establishment, I cannot order you to leave," he said. "However, I highly recommend you do so, so as to avoid pissing me off."

This only seemed to further fuel Kentaro's arrogance. "Why should I worry about pissing you off?"

A smack on the head by a paper fan was his reply, followed by Haruka explaining, "Idiot. You saw how he defeated Motoko with such ease. We've never seen her lose to anybody before. And he took care not to hurt her, because he wasn't angry with her, and had warned her repeatedly not to attack him. You, on the other hand, are making him mad, which means he'll be no way inclined to hold himself back on you."

The swordsman lifted a finger. "Further, you're not a woman. While it's admittedly a bit sexist of me, I refrained from giving her my full strength even though she was clearly intent on killing me, just for the fact that she's a woman. But I'll give you to the count of three to scram." He paused for a moment. "Three."

With that, the swordsman was standing beside Kentaro before the boy could react, grabbing the waistband of his pants in his right hand, and his shirt collar in his left. Hauling the snobby kid up bodily off the ground, the swordsman walked toward the front door. "Kitsune, was it? Or Su? Would one of you be so kind as to get the door for me?"

Su, obviously thinking it to be part of some elaborate game, answered, "I'll do it!" and then bounded over to the front door, pulling it open in time for the swordsman to walk up to the doorframe, make two momentum-gathering preparatory swings, and then launch Kentaro out of the apartment like a misshapen missile on the third swing.

Turning away, the swordsman grinned and dusted his hands. "Ahh, a textbook Gutts-Toss. He'd be so proud of me..."

Shinobu was back from the kitchen with a tray of the requested items by the time Su and the swordsman returned to the couch. With a smile and a nod of thanks, the swordsman took the bag of ice and the washcloth and knelt down next to the couch. He carefully slid the bag of ice underneath Motoko's neck, and then folded the already-folded washcloth another time and laid it gently on her forehead.

Then he sat back on his haunches and looked toward the three remaining girls. "So, while we've got time on our hands, I suppose I should introduce myself properly," he said.

But before he could, another voice called from the stairwell, "Hey, what's going on down here, guys?"

The gathered group all looked over to see Naru descending from the second floor. She paused, looking from the unconscious Motoko, to the sword-wearing man, and to the other tenants. "Did...I miss something?"

"Motoko tried to attack Keitaro's friend here!" Su cheerily explained. "And he dropped her in only a two-hit combo!"

Naru blinked in confusion for a moment, and then her expression changed. The tenants all reacted; Keitaro winced in fear, while the three other girls began to move away. "Uh oh, here it comes!" Kitsune said.

The swordsman looked over at her. "Here what comes?" Then he looked back toward Naru to see her rushing him like a bull that saw his red shirt, her right fist cocked back for a punishing strike. "Oshi"

And then her fist connected, knocking him clear over the couch to smash inverted into the far wall. He stuck to the wall for a half-second, then fell to the floor with a resounding thud.

Naru, meanwhile, was fuming, her fist clenched as though she was ready to hit him again. "What's with you guys letting that creep hang around after he hurt Motoko like this?" she demanded.

"It's not like that," Haruka said, sighing theatrically. "Motoko did her usual number of attacking him just because he's a guy. Unfortunately for her, he's a far better swordsman than she is. He defeated her fairly, purposely using the back of his sword so as not to cause her any serious harm, and then he brought her over to the couch and asked Shinobu to get an ice bag and some Tylenol for her."

Naru blinked at this explanation, which had Keitaro and the three girls nodding in agreement, then she lowered her head in shame and poked her index fingers together. "Well, if you guys would tell me stuff like this..." she muttered.

"If they'd tell you stuff like this!?" the swordsman's voice demanded as he shot up to his feet, holding his jaw protectively. "Jesus, crazy violent girl. What the hell is your problem?"

He was greeted by everyone but Haruka, again, her usual deadpan self, staring at him in utter surprise. Looking from face to face, he asked, "What?"

"Wow, he's up awfully fast from just taking a Naru Punch," Kitsune said. "You off your game, girl?"

Naru shook her head slowly. "No, I hit him just like I'd hit Keitaro," she replied.

"Maybe he's invincible like Keitaro is!" Su exclaimed, leaping across the room to land a flying dropkick to the back of the aforementioned ronin's head, somehow managing to hit the back of his head despite having come from in front of him.

The momentum of Su's kick sent Keitaro stumbling forward. Instinctively, he put out a hand to keep himself from falling, but by some quirk of fate, he managed to catch himself on a handful of Naru's ample breasts. Her right eye twitched, then she reared back and slammed him with another so-called Naru Punch, sending him flying through the front door of the building and up into the sky.

"Wow, he's really flyin' high," Kitsune said, shading her eyes with her hand to watch Keitaro's rapidly-retreating form.

On the mystery swordsman's part, there was total silence for a moment, then, "Man, this is like a really bad anime..."

"So, you've known Keitaro since you were both kids?" Shinobu asked.

"Yeah. Guess it's been about seven or eight years now."

After Keitaro had returned from his flight, with a Chinese travel stamp prominently visible on his forehead, the crew had moved into the dining room to sit at the kitchen table and properly make introductions. All except for Motoko, of course, who was still unconscious on the couch.

The swordsman was introduced as Nakakami Seno, a longtime friend of Keitaro's, just recently returned from spending his middle and high school years in America. When inevitably questioned about his sword skills, he coolly revealed that he was completely self-taught, picking up most of his trick moves from things he'd seen in anime and video games.

"So, Miss, Shinobu, was it?" At the younger girl's nod, Seno continued, "Tell me something about yourself."

She blushed at having the attention focused on her, but smiled slightly and answered, "Well, I go to junior high school with Kaolla. Keitaro allows me to pay for my staying at the Hinata by cooking and doing the laundry, because my parents are separating."

The swordsman grimaced empathically. "Geeze, sorry to hear that about your folks," he said. "Well, you seem like a sweet girl, so I'm sure we'll get along just great." He gave her a thumbs-up to emphasize his point. Then he turned to Kitsune, who was leaning on the table next to Shinobu. "And you're Kitsune, right?"

Grinning her usual grin, she nodded. "My name's Mitsune Konno, but ever'body calls me Kitsune."

"I wager it's because of more than just your eyes."

One of those eyes cracked open now as her grin widened. "You're smart."

"Observant," he corrected. "Everything about you screams troublemaker to me."

She pouted good-naturedly. "Now that's not fair!"

"That's what they tell me when I find the S2 and a hole, too."

The fox woman blinked for a minute, then it slowly dawned on her. "Wait a minute. Isn't the S2 the sniper rifle in Halo? Are you sayin' you play Halo?"

"Yes I do, but not very well," he replied.

Kitsune grinned. "Oh, really?" she said with a smirk. "Well, we'll have to play sometime."

"I want to play, too!" Kaolla exclaimed, leaping up and down in her seat as Seno's attention turned to her. "Hiya! I'm Kaolla Su! I like bananas and video games! Kitsune's pretty good in Halo, but not as good as me!"

Kitsune shot the foreigner a glare. "Well, if you'd quit usin' that plasma pistol and battle rifle combo all the time..."

Seno grimaced. "Su, if we ever play, I'm shooting you on sight, on principle, for using that combo."

"If I don't shoot you first!" Kaolla retorted, grinning widely.

"Well, it looks like Su and Kitsune have a new friend now," Keitaro said, laughing lightly. "It's been a while since we've hung out, right Seno? Still into Star Wars?"

The swordsman nodded. "More now than I was back then. It was just an idle random interest that I bastardized along with everything else at the time, but now I'm a serious Star Wars fan." He formed a fist and thumped himself none-too-gently on the chest, at the same time saying, "Ke nu jurkad ti Mando'ad."

"Gesundheit," Naru said.

Seno laughed. "That wasn't a sneeze, that was speaking. It was Mando'a, the Mandalorian language."

"I see," Naru said, but obviously didn't. "What'd you say?"

"'Don't cross swords with a Mando.'" The deadpan way in which he said that, coupled with all his actions from before, gave the girls a hint of what his personality was really like. He seemed to enjoy taking each day as it came, but he was scary when he got serious. He took a sip of the tea that Shinobu had brought out, then his demeanor shifted back to what seemed to be 'normal' for him like he was shedding water. "So Keitaro, what're you up to these days? Still living at home? You ever get into Tokyo U?"

"He's failed three times to pass his entrance exam," Naru said carelessly, as though discussing the weather. "Nothing but a stupid pervert, if you ask me."

Seno's demeanor went serious again. "I'm not too fond of how you're talking about my friend, girlie," he said quietly, in a dangerous tone.

Sweat immediately formed on Naru's forehead as she found herself squirming uncomfortably under the look he was giving her. Whereas with anyone else she would assume it to be a lecherous look and grow angry, she recognized this look immediately for what it was: she was riding a fine line with him, one that she didn't want to discover what lay on the other side of.

His...eyes... she thought to herself. He's like a dragon hunting its prey...

The expression on his face wasn't lost on Kitsune either. She was watching the swordsman, slack-jawed. He comes off as an easy-going guy but he's got one hard core. The way he's staring down Naru like that, it's no wonder the sniper is his preferred weapon in Halo. I bet he can use one in real life, too... She shivered slightly. I don't think I want to mess with him like I do Keitaro. I sure don't want to see him giving me that look!

Feeling as though he's gotten his point across, Seno finally turned back toward Keitaro, his expression going back to normal. "Sucks to hear you bombed the test so many times, pal," he said. "Keep at it, though. I'm sure you'll succeed eventually." This was accompanied by a wink to the three-time ronin, making it seem to the more observant of the girls that the two shared a secret of some kind. "So other than still shooting for Tokyo U, what do you do these days? Got a job or something?"

"Sort of," Keitaro replied. "I'm actually the landlord here."

"You run the apartments now?" Seno asked. At Keitaro's nod, the swordsman laughed. "Am I in luck, then! Listen pal, can I rent a room for a little while? My place is getting renovated and I need a place to stay until it's done."

"Uhh, well, about that..." Keitaro began.

"Absolutely not!" Naru interrupted, standing up and slamming her hands on the table's surface. "I don't know what you've been told, guy, but this isn't an apartment building anymore. It's a girls-only dormitory now, and that means no guys stay here!"

"All-girls?" Seno repeated. "Then how is...nevermind. Well, bugger, then. I'll go get a hotel or something." Finishing off his tea, he stood up and collected his sword from where he had leaned it against the nearby wall, then bowed slightly. "It was nice meeting you folks. Su, Kitsune, once my place gets fixed up, I'll invite you two over so we can get that Halo game in like we were talking about."

"Lookin' forward to it, killer," Kitsune said with her usual grin, glad that at least she hadn't done anything to piss him off. "I'll put your snipin' skills to the test."

"And I'll pop you with my noob combo!" Su agreed, grinning and bouncing in her chair.

"I hope you two will be up to the challenge," Seno said with a grin, then looked over to Shinobu. "Shinobu, best of luck with your parents' divorce. That's never a pleasant experience. I had a very close friend in America go through a string of bad relationships, one of which included a divorce, so if you ever need someone to talk to, you come see me."

Blushing slightly, Shinobu smiled and bowed over the table at him. "Thank you for the offer, Seno," she replied. "I hope I won't have to take you up on it."

He nodded, then looked over to Keitaro and gave his friend a thumbs-up. "Keitaro, keep working hard, boyo. Your girl's waiting for you, right?" Amid the chorus of confused looks and questions now aimed at Keitaro, the swordsman looked to Naru. "And Naru?" He paused. "Eh."

Then he turned away and headed for the front doors, pausing next to Haruka to say, "Nice seeing you again, old lady," and then summarily duck the responsive swing. "I'll give my folks your greetings?"

Haruka nodded, then mashed her cigarette into the ash tray near the front door. "You've got a cell phone now, right?" she asked. "Give me your number so we can get hold of you easy." She looked toward the girls, then lowered her voice considerably before saying, "Keitaro has it kind of rough around here. Shinobu's the only one that doesn't take advantage of him some way. Now that you're back for good, it may be good for you to stay close so you can save him a little trouble every now and again."

Seno likewise glanced back at the kitchen, then nodded to Haruka and produced his cell phone, a metallic-colored Audiovox, then thumbed through a few menus to display his number, and turning it to Haruka. "Sure thing," he said, equally quiet. "Give me a buzz whenever something's up and I'll be here quick."

The older woman jotted down his number, then put away the pad she had written it on. "I'll try and come up with some way to get them to let you stay here, but no guarantees," she said.

"Do what you can," he replied with a smirk, then pushed open the front door and calmly walked out into the evening light.

Once he had disappeared down the steps leading up to the building, Kitsune turned and gave Keitaro a lazy look. "Pretty interesting friend you got there," she said. "He always been like that?"

"Kinda," Keitaro replied with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "Seno's always had a strong sense of honor and justice, and he hated it when kids picked on me when we were younger."

"I imagine he roughed up quite a few bullies back in those days, huh?"

"One or two. They kind of left me alone after that."

"He's pretty violent," Naru said, a frown adorning her pretty face. "I bet he was a bully himself."

"Actually, he wasn't," Haruka said, walking into the room with a fresh cigarette between his fingers. "Seno was short for his age when he was younger, and he didn't have that tough look he seems to have picked up. He got picked on a lot, too, but when he fought back, he generally ended up making friends out of the kids who picked on him."

Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "How does that work?"

Haruka shrugged. "Well, you know how third-graders are. They make friends at the drop of a hat."

"Oh."

Naru furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait a second. Third-graders? He said he met Keitaro eight years ago, right? Just how old is he?"

"He's three years younger than me," Keitaro answered. "I guess that'd make him the same age as you and Motoko."

"Wow, he really doesn't look that young," Shinobu pondered aloud.

Kitsune turned to the younger girl and grinned. "Shinobu, I do say you sound interested."

"I was just making a comment that he didn't look seventeen!" Shinobu shouted suddenly, taking everyone by surprise that she didn't immediately get flustered and start stammering excuses. Then, realizing that she'd had an outburst, she blushed and covered her mouth with her hands. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to yell..."

Kitsune merely grinned.

Heralded by a pained groan, Motoko finally joined the rest of the group. She was favoring her right leg, and holding the bag of ice against her neck with her right hand. "Did that man leave?" she asked quietly, seating herself at the table. Ironically, she sat at the very same seat he had been occupying.

"Yeah, he went to find a hotel," Keitaro answered. "He was looking for a place to stay since his house is being renovated."

"Oh," Motoko said. "Since he had no place to go, surely it would not have been a problem if he had stayed for a few days, at least until he was able to return home."

Needless to say, this left the rest of the crew in a state of shock. "EH!?" Naru exclaimed. "Motoko, are you sticking up for a guy?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were interested in him, Motoko," Kitsune said, grinning.

The swordswoman blushed ferociously. "It's nothing of the sort!" she exclaimed. "He is a far superior swordsman than I. I would like the opportunity to train with someone of that caliber when I have the chance."

"Everyone but Naru doesn't seem to mind him..." Haruka trailed off.

"And ya can't get off sayin' he's a pervert, either," Kitsune said just as Naru opened her mouth, probably to make that very accusation. "After all, he didn't do anything funny when he carried Motoko over to the couch."

So that's how I ended up on the couch, the raven-haired girl thought. It seems he cares for his opponents after their defeat. A strange trait for a swordsman.

Naru looked from one person to the next, then sighed and shook her head defeatedly. "Well, since he's not a pervert I can at least tolerate him," she said. "Fine, he can stay for a few days."

Smiling, Keitaro stood up from the table. "Okay, I'll go and get him."

Motoko held up her hand to stop him. "If you don't mind, Urashima, I'll go."

The kanrinin raised an eyebrow, but a quick glance to the overt nodding from Kitsune caused him to shrug and nod as well. "Okay, Motoko. Good luck; he can be hard to find if he doesn't want to be found."

The sun was almost below the horizon by the time Motoko reached the park just outside the Hinata-Sou, having searched the entire city but not finding any sign of the swordsman's whereabouts. Sighing in frustration, she seated herself on a swing and stared out toward the blazing sky.

And that's when she heard his voice from somewhere behind her. "Looking for someone, Kendo Girl?" he asked, smirking.

Turning her head back, she shot him a glare that told him she didn't appreciate that nickname. "You're hard to find," she said simply, deciding not to provoke another confrontation.

He nodded, and she could have sworn that the look on his face was best described as melancholy. "I know," he replied. "Hinata's my hometown, and I was the best damned hide-and-seek player you'd have ever seen. I know everywhere there is to hide in this place." He motioned to the swing next to hers. "You mind?"

She shook her head.

Taking the swing next to her, the two sat in silence for several moments, watching the sun set. The encroaching darkness threw long shadows across the playground, and the waning light would have enhanced the pair's appreciable looks, but neither was looking at the other.

"So," he said finally. "If you came to tell me that you girls had changed your mind about letting me stay, you're not doing too great a job."

She looked over at him in surprise. "How did you...?"

Grinning, he held up his cell phone, the display showing that the last call he had received had been from Haruka, shortly after Motoko had left to look for him. "Got a heads-up from Haruka so I came here. She figured you'd come by here eventually."

"Oh," Motoko replied. "Well, it's as you said. We've decided that you can stay until your house is finished."

He nodded, not looking at her. "That's good. Saves me some money. Not that I need to."

She fidgeted in the swing, tapping her index fingers together. Finally, after a few moments of this, she said, "I want to apologize."

"It's fine," he replied, leaning back in the swing, but still watching the sun. "Actually, I should apologize, too. I shouldn't have knocked you out like I did. Does it still hurt?"

"A little," she admitted. "But I think...that I needed it. As a lesson."

He smirked. "School of hard knocks."

"Pardon?"

"Something I learned in America. Over there, people our age say that the best education is the one you get on the streets."

She was suitably confused. "You receive schooling in the streets in America?"

He laughed. "No, no." There was a pause as he thought of how best to explain it. "I suppose it sort of comes down to the difference between knowledge and wisdom, you know? Schools can only teach you so much. The rest you have to learn by living. In America, they call that learning on the streets, or the school of hard knocks."

"That makes sense," she said, nodding. "From what I heard of Haruka and Urashima telling the other girls of the stories from when you were younger, it seems you have a considerable amount of these 'street smarts'."

"I do what I can," he replied, shrugging. Then he stood up, dusting nonexistant sand off of his pants, and adjusting his sword at his side. "Well, ready to head back?"

Nodding, Motoko stood up as well. "I was also hoping that...you and I could spar sometime," she said. "I respect your skill with the sword, and I would like to have the chance to train with you a little."

He smirked and turned to walk back toward the apartments. "Sure thing. You just say when. I'll even come by sometimes after I go home, if you want, so we can keep up practicing together."

She smiled. "I would like that."

After that, the two made their way back to the apartments in silence.