A note from the author: Hello everyone and welcome to my first submission for the 2005 year. It has been a while since I last placed anything on this site, I admit, and I have been working on this story for the past several months, trying to make it as good as possible. This story was actually meant as a one shot…long ago when it was just in the planning stages but now it has become so much greater than that. I only hope I can keep up with where my imagination is now taking me with this. But, all nervousness aside here is the first chapter. Please enjoy, all standard disclaimers apply.

The Wisdom of Snow

Part 1

Author: Garasu

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Motoko paused briefly in her regimen, glancing about her briefly with a strange feeling suddenly that someone was watching her. Her raven black hair and bright red hakama flitted about her in the cold breeze but the frigid air did not bother her overly much. She slowly sheathed Shisui, her sword, and turned about while brushing a wayward strand of silky hair from her olivine eyes as she searched for the source of her distraction. Finding nothing immediately apparent the swordswoman turned to face her original direction once again and made to begin again, annoyed that the brief sense of paranoia had made her stop practicing.

Day in and day out she practiced much like this every morning. She sacrificed everything to be the fitting image of a warrior. Her grades were average at best when it concerned her favorite subjects of history and literature but just barely above the acceptable grade when it came to science and mathematics. To her, however, classes were to mostly be tolerated. School was something she did because it was required of her to do so and it never became much more than that. Her social life didn't exist, she was a warrior, what did a noble spirit such as her self need concern with such things as dates and men?

Men. Motoko almost spit the word within her mind. The only men worthy of her regard were long dead and carried such noble names as Miyamoto and Muso. Never had she met an honorable man in these times and she doubted she ever would.

Except…

Motoko mentally started as her subconscious brought up the very exception to the rule. Him.

But he could not be such an exception, she told herself. She shook her head in disagreement with what that foreign object known as her heart told her. He was constantly messing up. Everyday she could name almost a dozen incidents that he gets involved in that could be defined as perverted. Though she was willing to admit that he was anything but graceful, and that accidents do happen. But to happen with the frequency that that they did around him? Motoko wouldn't have been too surprised to discover that some spiteful person or demon had put a curse around him.

She sighed, and then dropped into a seated position realizing that she was destined to get no more practice this morning. The contradictions that her dorm manager, Keitaro Urashima, set off in her mind were of sufficient magnitude that once her mind set about contemplating them, nothing else could be done about it. Though she could not figure out just what about the young man set her on edge. Everything about her world had insisted that she ignore the ronin and be done with it. Yet… yet it seemed as if something was there, lying dormant within her heart that responded to his kind-hearted ways.

Motoko suddenly shivered, finding her thoughts disturbing and that the cold was only ignorable when she was practicing. Truth be told, her sensitive nose and sharp instincts told her that it just might snow later on. The bright, clear morning was beginning to give way to afternoon, and along with it grey clouds were making themselves known. They quickly began to cover the sun and instantly reduced the amount of light that shone on the wooden sun deck she practiced upon.

The young swordswoman gracefully rose from her position and made to turn towards the door and ultimately her room to change but something caught her eye just as she was about to turn. As she edged close to the raised guard-rail, her sharp eyes caught the glimpse of short brown hair and plain, yet practical clothing. Her mind immediately deduced that it was Keitaro, though what he would be doing wandering through the central gardens and heading for the outer path that led down the mountain that Hinata House rested on was lost upon her.

She watched the young man continue on, unaware that she was watching him from above and finally disappear around a corner before she allowed herself to blink.

Strange, she thought, as she continued to watch the spot where Keitaro disappeared for a few more moments. This close to lunch, Urashima would not be going anywhere too far. Motoko shook her head, clearing the train of thoughts that had entered her head. Since when had Keitaro's business been hers to wonder about? She bid her mind to forget what she had just seen before turning around and heading to her room. If she hurried, she would be able to sit down at the table just before Shinobu called everyone to lunch.

True to her prediction, the resident cook was just beginning to set the places for lunch when Motoko arrived, dressed in a slightly thicker, more comfortable gi and hakama that warded against the chill air that was the hallmark of the cusp of winter.

"Oh! Good afternoon, Motoko," the young girl called in greeting the entering swordswoman, a beaming smile on her innocent face. Motoko spared a small return smile at the young girl, marveling at just how much Shinobu had changed since she had first set foot within the halls of Hinata Inn.

"Good afternoon, Shinobu." She returned amiably, her voice a tad softer than she typically used. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Shinobu paused for a moment before shaking her head, letting the soft bluish hair dance about her head and set down the last plate she had in her hands. "No, I have everything down and set, but could you let people know that lunch is ready?"

"No need," a new voice came from the entranceway and the pair looked over to see Kitsune leading the other two girls in the room. "We could smell the food from a mile away."

A moment later everyone was seated in their places ready to enjoy the wonderfully smelling food set before them. An event that was inevitably delayed when Shinobu shyly spoke up from her end of the table, her quiet voice somehow managing to reach above the light din of conversation that was taking place at the table.

"Umm, where is Keitaro?" She asked, making everyone pause and look at the spot that the manager usually took at the dining table. Slowly, most of the girl's eyes widened as they realized that this was the first time that they had realized he was missing. Their gazes then took turns matching their other table-mates' until it was determined that no one had in fact seen him all morning. It was then that Motoko cleared her throat and spared all the girls a look as their stares suddenly fell upon her.

"I believe I saw him heading down the hill right before I came down to change," she spoke curtly, offering none of her thoughts as to why he would be heading in that direction. Her comment then caused a brief flurry of conversation around the table that caused the young woman to frown slightly at the noise generated.

"Why would he be heading there?" Kitsune asked, her finger going to her chin in a classic imitation of a thinking pose.

"Who cares? He knows when lunch is, and that it is his responsibility to keep track of time himself."

This came from Naru, as she frowned severely and crossed her arms across her ample chest.

"Oho! Had a fight with the lover again, did we?" Kitsune returned, her mischievous smile showing full force and she leaned her elbows on the table ready to her all the gory details of the so called lover's quarrel.

"As if!" Naru spat, slamming her hands down on the table hard enough to cause every one else to jump slightly.

"I wonder if maybe he was not hungry?" Su put in thoughtfully, staring at the food that was in front of her as if she hadn't eaten in days and was just placed before a royal feast. "That leaves more for me!"

Just as the young blonde foreigner was about to spoon an extra helping onto her plate, Shinobu snatched the bowl from under her hands and protected it as if her life depended upon its contents.

"NO! I mean, no, you can't have them Su. I'm sure sempai just lost track of time and that he'll be back in a little bit looking for something to eat. I'd better save him some just in case."

Su momentarily looked disappointed that she had been deprived her extra helping but seemed to shrug it off quickly enough. "That means we can eat without waiting right?" She asked plaintively a moment later, beginning to drool at the mouth.

"Yes," Shinobu sighed, beginning to eat her portions quietly to back up her statement. But the ever-present worry never disappeared off of her face. A fact that wasn't lost upon Naru.

"Don't worry so much about that old pervert, Shinobu. He always makes his way back for food sometime. Like a trained pet or something," the elder girl placed a consoling hand upon her shoulder.

"Umm, yeah, I guess…" Shinobu trailed off uncertainly, not sure whether the comment was actually meant to console her or if Naru was just taking another shot at her favorite target. It seemed that the Tokyo University aspirant was always full of quick-witted insults for the resident male.

"In other words, let's not worry our silly heads over this and get down to eating before it gets cold!" Kitsune quiped, which immediately eased the nervous tension building between the dorm mates. Everyone smiled for a brief instant at the fox's enthusiasm, except Su who was too busy finishing her plate to listen to the conversation, and they all turned as one to lighter topics that did not concern a certain male nor his supposed location.

One such topic was the weather, which had taken a turn for the worst in what had so far been a mild December.

"You know, I think it's supposed to snow later on today," Naru said offhandedly, in response to an idle comment about how cold it had gotten lately.

"Really?" Shinobu asked wondrously. She loved it during those times it snowed, and to have it snow this early in the winter was truly a special event.

"Mm, that's what the weather lady said this morning," the brunette affirmed before bending down to finish off her portion of rice. "I was watching a bit of the news while I was reviewing what I went over last night."

"It certainly looks like snow, what with all the clouds and stuff," Kitsune added, having finished her lunch. She made to get up and bring her dirty dishes to the sink once she finished her comment. "But that means I'd better get a few things done before the white stuff comes. The food was delicious as always Shinobu. See you all around."

As if that initial departure was a signal for everyone else to finish their food and go on with the rest of the day, one by one each of the girls got up and took their dishes to the sink and left the kitchen area. Naru left upstairs to prepare for Keitaro's arrival as he always came up for a joint study session in the afternoon along with their newest study partner Mutsumi, who would be arriving shortly. Su was off like a bullet shot from a gun, running upstairs to her room to do what only the gods knew. Finally, Motoko got up to go to her room and finish a little bit of homework herself before going back to school tomorrow. Despite their different activities, however, one thing was on all of the girls' minds and that was just what had happened to their manager over lunch?

"Oh come on, sweetie, I know you can do better than that," Kitsune cooed, staring the young man directly in the eye, making him begin to sweat lightly. The Fox was bringing all her considerable charms to bear on the man before her and she was very pleased to know that they were beginning to work.

"I…I'm sorry, Ms. Kono, but one to three is the best I can give you on that horse. My boss would kill me if I gave you better odds," the young man was beginning to sweat profusely now, as the dirty blonde leaned further over and let him have a good look down her ample chest.

"But one to three is just not a good payoff, see," Kitsune began to circle her finger on the table idly, knowing that she had his attention she began to press her advantage with the sweet and innocent act. "I need something a little more surefire and a little bigger payoff, you know? I've got so many things to buy this month and not a lot of contract work to make up the difference."

She flashed her best smile, willing all of her considerable charm to practically ooze off of her body. Finally, she saw what she was looking for.

Bingo! She cheered as the young man caved and heaved a heavy sigh. Outwardly, she kept the same happy-go-lucky face she always wore of course. Silently he urged her forward and began looking around to see if anyone else was close enough to hear.

"Look for the number five in the sixth race. He's one and six but word is he's been off the circuit for a while and has been doing the best times on the track during practice runs. But nobody is supposed to know about that outside of the circle. If the boss finds out I've been talking it's my head," he whispered urgently, putting a special emphasis on the last sentence to import the serious nature of the subject.

"No one will ever know, sweetie, you're the best," Kitsune leaned over and gave the young man gentle kiss on the cheek before pulling away. Clearing her throat, she raised her voice a little louder.

"Oh, you're so sweet! But I'll have to think about that date, young man. I'll get back to you," just for good measure she added a wink, further intensifying the young man's blush.

"Put me down for the tip sweetie, the usual price. I'll make sure you get a good reward for this," she added under her breath before walking off towards the door. As she exited the door she finally let down her mask and pumped her fist in victory.

"All right! another one in the bank! This payoff should last me at least until the next paycheck."

Just as she finished her statement, something…rather someone caught her eye. She ducked around the nearest corner instinctively and peered out after a few moments. The troublesome woman instantly recognized the short brown hair and glasses of their dorm manager. It didn't hurt that he was also wearing one of his always-recognizable bland outfits again. Keitaro was walking across the street from her, occasionally looking into the shop windows that he passed giving no indication that he saw her. Wonder what he's doing out here? She thought and toyed with the notion of calling out to him. Deciding that she did not have to hide from him she would go over and ask just where he was this afternoon for lunch, if only to make him feel guilty for skipping out on them without telling them. Heck, maybe she could even get something out of this if she played her cards right. A slow, wicked smile crept across the fox's face as she left her hiding spot and began to cross the street.

"Hey, Keitar…whoa!" Kitsune dove back around her corner the moment she called out his name, for just as she said it, someone else came up to his side and grabbed his arms in an extremely friendly gesture. A moment later she peeked out again and wondered at the sight before her eyes. A girl was attached to Keitaro's arm in a loving fashion, a gesture he did not seem to mind and even returned with his own unobtrusive, if embarrassed, affection. Kitsune supposed that that wasn't too bad as far as things went, but the fact that really got her over the edge was that the girl was drop dead gorgeous.

Is she a freaking model or something? Kitsune wondered, staring with open-mouthed awe at the young woman. She was about as tall as Keitaro with pale skin and walked with a grace that was far and above what a normal Japanese woman would walk unless she was before the emperor himself. As if that wasn't enough, she was wearing a pure white kimono that looked way too expensive for everyday attire, in fact there didn't seem to be a drop of color other than white on her except for the exquisitely designed silver lattices that graced the kimono and the very nicely matching sea blue obi with red obiage and obijime. Though Kitsune could not see the girl's face from her vantage point she could tell that the girl's hair was a beautiful silver that shimmered in the weak afternoon light as if it had a light of its own and was tied up in an expansive knot that rested majestically on the top of her head and just barely let a small braided strand fall down her back.

With those looks, it was no wonder that every male that the couple passed couldn't help but stop and stare at her. Kitsune had to admit that if it were her passing them by, she would have to stop and stare as well. The others are not going to believe this when I tell them! Keitaro, our perverted Keitaro is on a date with a foreign model! So that's why he was sneaking off this morning. Shit, I have to have someone else here just to tell me I'm not seeing things.

Kitsune stayed just long enough to watch as they entered a restaurant before she ran from her hiding place and tore off as fast as she could back to Hinata. As she took the steps two at a time she wondered just how Naru was going to take this. Was she going to shrug it off and deny her feelings once again or now that she actually seemed to have some competition was she going to finally break down her barriers? Well only one way to find out…I must…find…Naru!

Several moments later Kitsune was tearing her way through Hinata Inn trying to find the brunette. On a whim, she figured that the girl was still in her room studying, as she was not in the baths yet. Her whim proved correct when she forced the shoji door open with enough force to send the door bouncing back halfway towards her. She ignored the open-eyed stare that Naru was giving her, as well as the blank one that her study partner, Mutsumi, was directing her way as she fought to regain enough breath to get her message out.

"Naru…must…come…Keitaro," she muttered hoarsely, pointing at the same time the way down the hall. Naru actually managed to look worried until Kitsune mentioned the name of their wayward manager. Her facial expression immediately darkened and her mouth turned down into a fierce frown.

"Kitsune, whatever you have to say about that pervert can wait, I'm a little busy right now," she said and turned back around, not giving Kitsune enough time to answer. Then and there the foxy lady knew it was going to be one of those troubled times. Though she did notice with interest that the mention of Keitaro seemed to perk the Okinawan girl up.

"Oh my, what about Kei?" The beautiful girl asked, giving Kitsune all of her rather flighty attention. The older girl held up a finger for a moment so she could catch her breath.

"Mutsumi, don't waste your time on that stupid pervert. Obviously he had something more important to do than to study with us. It's his grade after all," Naru spoke up, trying to direct the turtle lady's attention back to the math equations they were working on before Kitsune barged in.

"But what if Kei is hurt?" Mutsumi asked, obviously wanting to know just what Kitsune had to say. Her dark eyebrows rose questioningly, pointing out a logical step that Naru possibly hadn't considered.

"Is Keitaro hurt?" Naru asked her best friend directly, turning just long enough to see her shake her head in the negative. "There, you see? It's nothing important then. Come on, unlike some people we have work to do."

"But…" Kitsune was interrupted when Naru whipped her head around and directed an angry stare at the elder girl.

"That's enough Kitsune, you're bothering us. You can tell us all about it later," she said with a definite finality to her voice.

"But…" Kitsune tried again, but was interrupted yet another time.

"I said good bye, Kitsune," Naru spat, making a shooing motion with her hands before turning back to her books.

Kitsune turned to Mutsumi for an appeal but only received an enigmatic shrug from the girl before she turned around and began studying herself. Great, well that definitely didn't go as planned. She turned around and closed the door quietly with a stunned expression on her face. I still need someone to go with me just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, but the only one still in the house that wouldn't make a scene is… Kitsune sighed. This wasn't going to be a pleasant mission. A moment later she was standing in front of Motoko's room, debating upon whether or not she should knock.

Finally, Kitsune made up a plan and with a determination that only went skin deep, she knocked on the door.

"Yes, please enter," the soft reply came immediately after her knock and Kitsune shoved the door open and crossed over to the kendoka as quickly as possible.

"Motoko, come with me," she said shortly and never gave the confused girl a chance to answer before grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the door.

"Kitsune, what is the meaning of this? Where are you taking me?" Motoko kept up the line of questioning as she was forced downstairs and towards the outside door. When they arrived at the porch, Kitsune gestured that the kendo girl should put on her shoes. Once she did so, with even more confused glances sent Kitsune's way, she began asking questions again. "Where are you taking me, Kitsune? I demand to know."

Kitsune, however, said nothing. Merely held the other girl's hand in a death grip that allowed for no escape and dragged her along. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the pair reached the restaurant that she had seen Keitaro and the girl enter earlier and pointed at the window before giving enough room for Motoko to look in.

"There, what do you see?" She asked, stabbing a finger at the glass. Motoko diligently followed her finger and blinked several times, not really understanding what Kitsune was trying to tell her.

"I see people eating lunch," she responded shortly after that, looking at Kitsune as if she had lost her mind. "Now, if this is all you called me out her for, I have more important matters to attend to, good day." Motoko made to leave but stopped short when Kitsune grabbed her arm and turned her around forcefully.

"Look again, do you see anyone in there that you know?"

Motoko sighed and looked again, not really seeing anyone that she knew until her eyes fell upon a familiar head of brown hair that also happened to be wearing the same thing she saw Keitaro wearing earlier that day. He had his back to the window, which explained why she had missed him the first time, but it was definitely their wayward manager. Though for the life of her she could not figure out why Keitaro eating in a restaurant got Kitsune in such a mood. It was certainly within his right to do so, even if it was rude not to inform anybody of his whereabouts.

"I see Urashima," she amended, turning to Kitsune with a puzzled expression on her face. "Certainly this is not what has you in such a mood is it? It is perfectly reasonable for Urashima to be eating lunch in town, especially if he was conducting business. Though I dislike the fact that he told nobody and made Shinobu worry, it is his right to do so and it shall be dealt with appropriately when he gets home."

"Once again you miss the obvious," Kitsune retorted, making Motoko sigh in annoyance. "Do you happen to see who Keitaro is with?"

Motoko turned once again to the window and her eyes automatically found the spot where Keitaro was sitting. Then her eyes widened suddenly as he shifted and gave her a perfect vantage point to look directly across from him. Slowly her mouth fell open as she took in the beauty of the woman that sat across from Keitaro. One look at Kitsune and the elder girl nodded, knowing that now Motoko was just as intrigued as she was.

"My point exactly," Kitsune nodded, turning back to stare through the window with Motoko. "What the heck've we missed out on?"

Motoko shook her head slowly. There must be some logical explanation for Keitaro being alone with a beautiful woman, but for the life of her she could not think of a single thing. Suddenly she shivered violently and her eyes locked onto the strange girl's own eyes. Olivine met steel grey in a staring match that was difficult to tear away from. Slowly, her warrior's senses were triggered and she began getting a small prickly feeling at the back of her neck. Her eyes widened further as her senses told her that there was something strange about the girl before her, but before she could identify it, the girl narrowed her eyes and shook her head so minutely that only Motoko could see it. Before she knew it, the strange sense was gone, replaced by a normal aura and the staring contest was over, with the girl going back to a pleasant seeming conversation with Keitaro.

"…toko? Motoko?" The kendo girl blinked suddenly as she realized that Kitsune was shaking her. The elder girl gave her a questioning look but only received a shrug in response.

"It was nothing," Motoko responded a moment latter, brushing off Kitsune's touch. "What business of ours is it to spy on Urashima?" She asked, turning around and heading back to Hinata with a confused Kitsune following her. Thinking back to that strange feeling she got when looking into the girl's eyes, Motoko realized that she had a lot to think about once she got home, and not just concerning Keitaro's newfound social life. Silently, she quickened her pace, leaving Kitsune behind. Yes, she had much to think about indeed.

Damn you Urashima, what have you gotten yourself into now? Motoko thought viciously as she circled her room for what seemed like the twentieth time. The events of the early afternoon played in her mind over and over again and try as she might she could not recall anything that was out of place about the girl except that faint and fleeting feeling that her senses touched off. But that could be triggered by anything when it was of the magnitude that she felt. The girl could have been just another martial artist like herself, responding to the presence of another strong spirit or she could be any number of other spiritually aware beings ranging from a demon to a priestess. Personally, she rather doubted a demon would take any interest in Keitaro, but then again to her mind it was equally unlikely that any girl would take interest in him.

"I'm home!"

Motoko perked up at the sound of Keitaro's voice coming from the doorway downstairs. She knew that Kitsune was thinking the same thing as she opened her door and began walking downstairs and that was that it was time to get some answers. When both girls came into the common room at the same time and Kitsune took the lead, Motoko resolved the let the foxy lady handle most of the questions as she would probably be best at drawing any information out of the young man. She, on the other hand, would merely observe his reactions and determine just what exactly was the truth and what was a lie.

A sudden thought came unbidden to her mind just then though as to just why she was so interested in finding out about this mysterious girl. Her obstinate mind told her that it was a combination of idle curiosity and her strong sense of justice against all males. Another piece of her surely was touched off by the brief flaring of her instincts, yet a deeper, more hidden part whispered through her thick walls that maybe it could be something else as well.

To her credit, Motoko effectively hid her blush behind a severe frown as the grilling from Kitsune began.

"So, Keitaro my boy," Kitsune started off, circling the poor ronin as if she were a shark about to bite into a nice juicy tidbit. And to be sure, that was most likely what it was, Motoko told herself as she watched the event unfold. Kitsune was most aptly described as a shark when it came to potentially damaging information: she could smell even a hint of it a mile away. The kendoka brought herself back to attention as Kitsune continued to talk after a long, pregnant pause.

"We missed you at lunch today…not too often that our little Shinobu has to deal without serving her 'sempai,'" Kitsune sniggered at the thought. The only one not aware of the girl's raging crush was the man the girl's crush set itself to, the very ronin before her.

"Yeah, I had some business to attend to, unfortunately," he replied shortly, giving a small smile in return.

Motoko raised her eyebrows slightly at the response, and even more so to the ronin's physical reaction. To his credit he was remaining quite calm considering he had to know that Kitsune was after something. After all, she was grinning like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. Though the pretty lush continued on with her interrogation as if barely noticing Keitaro's calm.

"Mmm, yes, you must be quite hungry then. After all, you barely had any breakfast this morning either," Kitsune's smile widened, if that were all possible and she skipped her fingers flirtingly up Keitaro's arm. Motoko had to bite back a small smirk when Keitaro caught on and began to fidget, though it was his next comment which slightly surprised both women.

"Oh, man! I forgot to tell Shinobu about that!" He smacked his head loudly with the palm of his hand. Both women started with his answer, expecting him to become nervous about Kitsune inquiring further about his lunch date, and not worry about whether or not he told Shinobu about his plans for lunch. Kitsune at that point had to blink to recompose herself and get back on track.

"Ah, an afterthought, I'm sure. It was no big deal. We all just figured that you had some business to get done and just forgot," the young woman covered well, taking only five seconds for her grin to return and the circling to begin again.

"Anything else happen, while you were out?" Kitsune asked a little bit too eagerly, jumping into the opening with all her wit backing her up. Keitaro at this point blinked and struck a pose that suggested he was thinking about the answer.

"No, not really. Lunch was okay I suppose, not the best food I've had but I haven't been out to eat in a while and I must admit nothing beats Shinobu's cooking!" He exclaimed a second later, laughing softly at the praise that the target girl wasn't even around to receive. "But you will have to excuse me," he finished up and made to walk around Kitsune who was now becoming a little desperate to fish the answer out of the strangely calm Keitaro. "I still feel like I must apologize to Shinobu, even if you insist that everything was okay."

He turned to Motoko as if he had just noticed her presence. "Oh, hey, Motoko. I almost didn't see you there. I hope you are having a good day?"

Motoko merely nodded, equally held back by the strange attitude of their manager.

"That's good to hear!" He replied brightly, walking past her and on his way to the kitchen.

"Okaay, what just happened here?" Kitsune asked of the kendo girl a moment later, as soon as she was sure that Keitaro was out of earshot.

"I am not sure," Motoko murmured her response, still not quite feeling right about her lack of reaction to the bubbly mood of the resident manager. Shouldn't she be drawing her sword on him by now for even daring to address her in such a manner? The fact that she could only muster a simple nod to his sunny faade deeply disturbed her. Distracted as she was in mulling over the problem she now faced she was unaware of Naru walking up beside her and trying to get her attention.

"What's with Motoko all of a sudden?" She whispered to Kitsune after a few moments of waiting patiently for the swordswoman to acknowledge her presence, all for naught.

"I guess her brain got fried over Keitaro's sudden strange behavior," the fox mulled aloud, turning to Naru and shrugging a second later. "Have to admit, kinda freaked me out too. You should have seen it, he shrugged me off as if it were nothing and passed by Motoko with a bright smile on his face instead of giving her a wide berth as he usually does. It was like that one time he was working over a problem in his mind all over again."

Naru pondered that tidbit of information for a moment before carefully asking her next question.

"What do you think has him so distracted?" She asked, trying to sound as if it was just curiosity. Fortunately for her, while not as distracted as Motoko currently was, the dirty blonde was a little off her pace due to Keitaro's unusual behavior and did not pursue the question beyond merely answering it.

"Motoko and I tailed him this afternoon and we found him eating lunch with some foreign model. It was really freaky. Motoko suddenly stiffened up and began acting just like she is now."

"Lunch, foreign model?" Naru managed to sputter out, not expecting that answer in the least. Suddenly all of her feigned disinterest left in blur and she was all ears to her best friend.

"Yeah, she was a looker I don't mind saying." Kitsune struck a pose as if she were trying to remember every last detail about the encounter so she could relay it to her friend. "Had to be foreign with that platinum hair and gray eyes of hers. Yet she was wearing a really fancy kimono just walking around as if she wore them everyday. It looked really old and really expensive and I don't know anyone who could afford antique looking clothing like that except a model. Especially to wear on simple little lunch dates."

"D…Date?" Naru could almost barely get the word out, as it was she still ended up sounding shell-shocked. At the same time, though, the rational, more skeptic side of her kicked in and she really wondered if Kitsune was just putting an extra spin on things to get her to bite. "Come on, Kitsune," she continued a moment later, allowing her heart rate to slow and let her natural pessimism towards Keitaro take control. "I doubt it was a date or anything. This is Keitaro we're talking about here! That pervert couldn't get a date if he paid someone to go out with him. You probably just saw her sitting next to him in a restaurant or near him and jumped to conclusions."

"Yeah, like I imagined her walking arm and arm with him as if that was the most natural thing in the world, too," Kitsune shot back. "Like it or not girl, this is a full fledged emergency. Seems like he's upgraded to someone else to me. I don't know, Naru, maybe you just might have pushed him away for the last time."

Kitsune's tone took on a slight pitying note with respect to her last comment. Pretty much everyone at Hinata new about Keitaro's infatuation with Naru and could only marvel at the things he went through to be with her. But as much as she hated to admit it, it looked like even Keitaro had his breaking point and that he went sailing past it sometime when Naru wasn't looking.

It was at this time that Motoko woke up from her strange trance-like state with a massive body shudder. Whatever she was thinking, Kitsune judged it must have been really disturbing. But then again, an unaffectable Keitaro was really something to be worried over, how else would she be able to get her weekly ration of teasing in?

"Well, we'll just see what's going on at dinner when I ask him directly," Naru muttered and walked off in a slight huff.

"Did I miss something?" Motoko added, looking at Kitsune in askance.

"Just a prelude to something unpleasant maybe," Kitsune said quietly, staring at the spot where Naru disappeared, deep in thought about what would happen at Hinata in just a few hours.

"Oh."

That night for the first time in a long time, dinner was a quiet affair as those who knew of Keitaro's strange behavior that afternoon kept glancing over to Naru waiting for the young woman to act. Those who didn't know of the drama unfolding about them kept silent merely because the tension in the room could be felt at the tangible level. It was daunting enough that even Su was subdued.

"Can you pass the soy sauce please?" Everyone jumped for a second, caught off guard by the lone male of the house suddenly speaking up. As one they all stared at him blankly for a moment, enough that Keitaro finally had to take notice.

"What?" He asked curiously, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand just to make sure there was nothing on it that was causing all the attention to be diverted to him suddenly.

"So Keitaro," Naru started, passing the requested soy sauce in an almost innocent manner. Most who knew her, though, also knew the look in her eye. She was after something and she wouldn't rest until she got it. Upon recognizing that look Kitsune was just about ready to run and grab the old army helmet she had stashed in her room and Motoko suddenly felt a strange urge to let her right hand fall to where her sword was resting against the table. "Did you enjoy your little lunch date today?"

Kitsune nearly face-faulted at Naru's directness. But then again, when it came to Keitaro, the girl was never one to mince words.

A small gasp was uttered into the ensuing silence that was probably uttered by Shinobu but nobody really paid attention as all of their focus was squarely upon one young man holding a bottle of soy sauce. It seemed like the calm impassive nature he had developed this afternoon was gone and he was suddenly back to the old Keitaro again because he started sweating slightly and began hedging around for an answer.

"Umm..well, I guess..uh, I wouldn't call it a date, really," he uttered finally, looking down at his dinner before him, not really willing to look Naru in the eye.

"Oh, then what would you call it? According to Kitsune it looked like you two were pretty chummy," Naru asked casually, for all appearances looking like she was merely inquiring about the weather.

Oh great, way to bring my name into the equation. Kitsune thought as Keitaro turned his stare towards her.

"You followed me this afternoon?" He asked, looking a little upset at that fact. Or at least as upset as Keitaro could get.

"Well, not followed really. I just happened to be in the area and when I saw you. I tried to call out to you and then saw your date… well, let's just say curiosity kicked in," Kitsune shrugged, bringing her trusty smile into play, hoping to downplay her involvement by relying on the fact that following and meddling was what she usually did anyway. Fortunately, it seemed to be enough as Keitaro shrugged and struck a thinking pose.

"Oh, I guess Yuki did mentioned the fact that two people were staring at her this afternoon at lunch. But she said two, who was the other person with you?" Keitaro was oblivious enough to Motoko's sudden blush and down turned eyes that he didn't immediately put the facts together before Naru seized upon the added fact.

"Oh, so her name is Yuki, hmm? How nice. Did you finally break down and find a computer dating service that would accept you?" Naru asked politely. Or it would have been politely if it hadn't been for the barb she added in.

Ouch. Kitsune thought and winced at the insult. It seemed as Naru's defenses were kicking in with all their frightening glory. Keitaro, however seemed to shrug it off as if he were used to such things.

"No, we met earlier this year, right near the beginning of spring."

Even Naru had to stare at that bit of information. This had been going on for almost a year and no one knew about it? But that thought was put safely to rest as Keitaro continued.

"But then she had to go out of town for a while and we only just met again. I guess you could say that we were just catching up," he finally seemed to have his say and quietly began to apply the soy sauce to his rice. But Naru it seemed had more to say than that.

"Then what about the glomping?" She asked, noticeably more on edge than when she began the conversation.

"Glomping?" Keitaro looked over to Kitsune in askance only to have her shrug in return. "Well, Yuki has always been a sort of physical person. She's always grabbing on to my arm for something or another."

Keitaro blushed suddenly, as if only then aware of what the grabbing on to one's arm meant to others watching. "She's really nice actually and I enjoy going out with her, occasionally. We always seem to have so much to talk about!" Keitaro then paused and brightened as an idea hit him suddenly. "I know! All of you should definitely meet her sometime. Maybe tomorrow I can have her come over?"

"Oh, please do," Naru replied cryptically. She then got up and walked her dishes over to the sink. "Well, I think I'm done. If anyone needs me I'll be up in my room…*studying*." She gave a meaningful look towards Keitaro who paled suddenly.

"Oh crap! I forgot about studying with Naru and Mutsumi today!" He muttered and slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. With that final remark he got up quickly and followed after Naru. All of the residents heard him trying to get his apologies out to the brunette and as one they all winced when he evidently did something Keitaro-like and they heard the sound of smashing wood following the shout of 'Pervert!'

No one said anything when Shinobu suddenly rose from her seat and ran to the nearest first aid station and prepared the standard post-Naru Punch accessories. Though if no one said anything about the fact that Keitaro never returned home that night, it was because they were all asleep themselves.

The next morning a light buzzing woke Motoko from her sleep and it took her a few moments to remember that it was her alarm clock. Groggily, she got up and rubbed her eyes as she stood for a few moments, letting her mind wake itself up. It had been very late last night when she finally had gone to sleep because Shinobu had insisted on waiting for Keitaro to make his way home after his abrupt departure, and she had felt honor bound to keep the girl company during her wait. The longer the two waited however, the swordswoman had become convinced that perhaps that wasn't such a good idea. Finally, around two in the morning, Motoko had convinced the worried young girl to go off to bed as it was, after all, a school night and both the young women needed to be up early the next day.

Though the residence's youngest girl had difficulty getting some rest while the manager was away, Motoko herself had no qualms about locking him out. After all, she reasoned, if he hadn't the sense to return at a reasonable hour he should hardly expect anyone to wait for him. Not to mention the fact that he did have a spare key to the back door. Mere precedence had kept her from sharing Shinobu's concern towards his health; he hadn't come to harm after nearly two years of being sent skyward by Naru or herself so why would he suddenly suffer now?

Suddenly, the swordswoman yawned massively and it became hard for her not to justify returning to her warm bed and skipping her morning exercises for today. She always had had a hard time waking up early in the morning. A fact that, when she was growing up, often earned her teasing from her elder sister during the few occasions that she arrived to practice with a sleepy expression. It was also a testament to her dedication that she was always able to ignore that small part of her that enjoyed sleep, fight the weariness in her body, and keep the schedule she had made up and become accustomed to long ago.

When she finally dressed and retrieved her practice sword from its resting place her mind was satisfactorily awake enough to deal with anything that came her way. Motoko then opened her door and headed for the sun deck that had become a favorite practice spot of hers. Once there, however, she lost all semblance of mental alertness and found she could literally do nothing but stare in utter confusion at the sight before her eyes.

Leaning against one of the laundry posts was none other than the strange woman that she had seen eating lunch with Keitaro yesterday, and in her lap, cradled almost protectively, was Keitaro himself. Or at least Keitaro's head was resting in the girl's lap, the rest of his body was sprawled out upon the deck, protected from the cold winter air by a thick blanket. It appeared upon first glance that the pair were asleep, huddled together to keep warm. But as Motoko carefully approached, the young woman's head slowly rose and gray eyes met olivine once again.

"Did you do this to him?" She asked quietly, when the young raven-haired girl was close enough to hear.

Motoko, still in a little bit of a shock at finding the ronin and this girl together in such an intimate pose in the least likely of places simply took some time to look over the visible part of Keitaro. Unable to see what the girl could possibly mean by 'this' she raised her eyes once again and voiced her confusion.

"What do you mean, 'this'?" She asked, deliberately inserting a little bit of steel in her voice, trying to regain a sense of presence towards the strange girl.

The girl merely cocked her head to the side and regarded Motoko, either missing completely or choosing to ignore the edge to her voice. A moment later she spoke again. "This, as in forcefully eject him from the house again," she clarified.

Motoko merely shook her head. "No, he did not assault me this time, if that is what you mean."

"Assault?" The girl's eyes widened. Her manner, which the kendoka determined was not threatening, seemed to be simply curious for the time being. Though there was something below her soft voice, something that Motoko could possibly classify as an edge, or at the very least an impetus to answer her questions truthfully. All in all, taking in her voice, mannerism and even to some extent looks, this foreign girl identified by Keitaro as Yuki strangely reminded the her of Mutsumi.

"Yes, assault," Motoko continued, adopting a stern attitude. "One of the many offenses he regularly commits everyday. If it isn't assault, it is usually showing his perverted nature by way of spying on us taking our baths." The young woman crossed her arms over her chest and stared a hole into Keitaro's head. "There has not been any limit to his offenses against the residents, and it is a wonder why we keep him around. But who am I to say what goes through my other companions' heads?"

The new woman in Keitaro's life stared for a long time into Motoko's eyes, considering her words. After a few moments, the swordswoman started to become distinctly uncomfortable, as if Yuki was seeing something else behind her demeanor and diatribe.

"I see," Yuki answered finally, with a small smile appearing on her lips, but giving no other indication she had seen anything in her intense stare. Her eyes then fell to the head resting in her lap and they softened considerably in affection. "I wonder if he does that to people he cares for considerably?"

"Excuse me?" Motoko was caught short, having barely heard the almost whispered comment. Her hands began to fidget slightly when Yuki then began to softly stroke Keitaro's head and giving him a look that set a light rosy tint to her cheeks.

"Did you know that he loves you all greatly?" Yuki asked, eyes suddenly pulling from her affectionate glances and once again bearing down on the woman before her. The small smile appeared again as she watched Motoko's reaction. In Motoko's face, there was a brief surprise at first, followed by a scowl a second later, almost in lightening fast succession.

"That's no excuse to…"

"Such love, given so easily, yet almost impossible to take away," Yuki continued as if she hadn't just interrupted Motoko. She returned to stroking the boy's head affectionately, but kept her eyes squarely on Motoko with the same unnerving smile. "Though there is one that he loves above all others. He talks about her almost constantly, as if he isn't aware that there is any other in his life."

Motoko paused and considered the girl's words.

"Yes, I know," she said quietly in response. She was well aware of the man's affections towards Naru just as much as the rest of the residency was, with the possible exemption of Naru. The raven haired girl knew that Keitaro cared for her to some great extent of that the young swordswoman was certain, but probably underestimated the strength of his feelings greatly.

"Do you now?" Yuki raised her eyebrows in askance. "Yet don't you find it strange that she continues to treat him in such a manner?"

The swordswoman uncrossed her arms and then crossed them again, momentarily put on edge with the girl's line of questioning.

"No, I do not," she replied a moment later. "Urashima has peeked on, harassed and assaulted her so often that he deserves anything that she gives to him. If Urashima were to change his ways and somehow became honorable then, perhaps, I could see her treating him better. But until then he is nothing but a common pervert in need of punishment."

Motoko turned away then, beginning to be disturbed by the continued affection being shown by Yuki to the young man before her. "Besides, what does it matter? It seems that he is quite enamored of you, which if that is true then his feelings for Narusagawa were nothing more than a farce."

Yuki blinked, then looked down at the young man cradled on her lap, a shadow briefly flitting across her face almost faster than Motoko could catch in the early dawn light. "I am quite certain that you have mistaken whatever you have seen. It is true, that I do wish he would care for me as greatly as he cares even for one of you, but to command the love that he has for this Narusagawa person would, I think, be out of my reach." The shadow returned, hesitated, but then she continuing on a moment later in a strained voice. "However, if she continues to treat him as she does, then I can possibly foresee something very terrible happening. As it is, I don't believe those two are destined to last."

Motoko turned towards Yuki, surprised etched on her face. Though strangely enough, it was not at the information that something could quite possibly sever the connection between Naru and Keitaro if he continued to earn frequent flyer miles at her behest, but rather at the later statement.

"Why do you suppose such a preposterous notion?" She asked quickly, trying to conceive within her mind the idea of a day that Keitaro wasn't chasing after Naru's affections.

Now it was Yuki's turn to look surprised, staring at the young woman before her with wide eyes. "Can you not feel it?" She whispered, just loud enough for Motoko to hear.

"Feel what?" Motoko was beginning to grow annoyed at the line this conversation was taking. But whatever the reply was going to be, they were suddenly startled by a small sound coming from the sleeping ronin, a sound of someone slowly coming awake. As one, they looked down towards Keitaro and found him staring intently at the both of them from his position of still lying down in Yuki's lap.

"Motoko?" He asked groggily, looking at the girl with the beginnings of recognition and small, but growing alarm. "Yuki? He asked a second later, staring at the girl who was intently returning his gaze. "What are you two doing here?"

"I live here, Urashima, so it is perfectly reasonable that I be in such a place. As for her," and Motoko indicated Yuki with a glance of annoyance, "I would hope that you would have an answer for that."

Yuki's answer followed shortly on the heels of Motoko's but was considerably lighter in tone. "We met up last night, remember, Kei? I walked you home and then we came up here to talk but you fell asleep somewhere after that."

"Oh," Keitaro answered, still slightly muddled from sleep. Then he realized that the warm pillow his head had been resting on was, rather, a lap instead. He blushed a deep crimson and glanced over at Motoko with a petrified look on his face as his body shot up. "Ah, I'm so sorry Yuki, I didn't realize where I was sleeping! It was an accident, honest! Motoko, this isn't what it looks like I swear!"

Yuki merely hid a giggle at Keitaro's reaction behind a delicate hand, and Motoko sighed in annoyance. She was, by this time, completely used to such reactions from the young man. It was Yuki who finally spoke first after a brief pause.

"Don't worry, Kei, you did nothing wrong. I am quite happy that you were able to get some rest." She smiled serenely at the boy before getting up herself and patting her dress lightly.

Now that she was standing and not hidden by a blanket, Motoko could see that the girl had evidently changed from her earlier attire into something that was considerably more modern. The one-piece dress that went to her ankles matched her hair in color and the large and very warm looking sweater that was over the top portion of the dress was a well matching shade of blue. At standing, it appeared as if Yuki was just shorter than Keitaro and petite in stature. Once the foreign woman was reasonably assure that she was proper the girl glanced over at Keitaro expectantly. When he glanced back her way and gave her a questioning glance she nodded in Motoko's direction and echoed her look of expectation. The young man caught on immediately after that.

"Oh, I'm very sorry! Yuki, this is Motoko Aoyama a resident under my care. Motoko, this is Yuki Fuyuko, the friend I mentioned earlier at dinner."

Now that they were properly introduced, Yuki smiled at Motoko as if they hadn't just spent the previous minutes talking before Keitaro awoke. "I'm very glad to meet you, I hope you will regard me well."

Motoko blinked with the sudden change in Yuki, but hastily returned the formalities a moment later. Reminded all the more of Mutsumi with the girl's apparent flighty behavior.

Once the introductions were complete, Yuki returned her glance towards Keitaro and gave him an affectionate hug and kiss on the cheek, much to the embarrassment of both Keitaro and Motoko.

"Well, I think I had better be going," she added a moment later, then turned towards the stairs. "Thank you for your company, Kei, and I look forward to continuing our conversation later, Ms. Aoyama. I'll see you later this afternoon, Kei."

With her last words, Yuki gave him a small wave and then disappeared down the steps.

Keitaro gave Motoko a strange glance. "Conversation?" He wondered aloud, but at her cold glare he decided not to pursue the subject. "Well, I suppose I'd better go inside and get some more sleep. It took me a while to return last night, after all." He laughed nervously and under Motoko's continued icy stare gathered the blankets that he and Yuki used and went down the stairs as well, leaving Motoko alone with her many, many thoughts on the events that just took place.

It wasn't until breakfast, several hours later that Motoko saw Keitaro again and it seemed to her that he was very anxious to keep his distance and avoid eye contact, which suited her just fine. Though it troubled her greatly that she wasn't able to finish her conversation with Yuki, especially after that intriguing comment about her not feeling something. Her instincts were as sharp as anyone else's in her school second only to her older sister, and she refused to believe that she was missing something about Keitaro and Naru.

In that regard, she took the time to critically analyze the very pair that had been the subject of the interrupted conversation. Indeed, on the surface it did appear that the brunette was determined to ignore everything about the ronin. However, looking at her long enough, Motoko was able to spy the girl glancing over towards the young man every rare moment when she thought no one was looking. Still, she could not fathom what about Naru, or Keitaro for that matter, which would be able to show that the couple was not meant to last. That was even if they managed to make it to couple status in the first place.

In that regard, Motoko was somehow very skeptical. She doubted that Keitaro would somehow change enough so that Naru would actually want to spend more time actually talking to him rather than belting him in the face. Then again, as a nearly forgotten place within her whispered, Keitaro did seem to have a strange way of remaining in your mind, despite all of his perverted actions.

The swordswoman sighed, frustrated at her lack of being able to work the problem out. It seemed as if she would have to wait until she and Yuki would be able to finish their conversation at some later time. Though as she regarded the clock on the wall and silently got up to place her dishes in the sink, she told herself that she would think about the matter some more when she had free time at school. For now, she was going to be late if she didn't hurry.

Keitaro watched Motoko go out the front door with a look of trepidation on his face. Whatever he was thinking must have shown on his face because it immediately caught the interest of Naru as she was giving him another one of her covert glances. She silently walked up to him and regarded him for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.

"Whatever you're thinking it probably won't work," she stated emphatically, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring a hole into the side of Keitaro's head. "Besides, don't you have your precious Yuki?"

"What?" Keitaro turned to face the girl, a look of confusion on his face. It soon occurred to him, though, the direction that her not so subtle comments were going.

"No, you have it wrong, I wasn't thinking anything like that," he assured her, waving an arm in front of him. "It's just that we ran into each other this morning when I was a little, shall we say unprepared for meeting people. I am just a little bit more uncomfortable around her than usual, that's all."

Naru raised her eyebrows at that statement. It wasn't like him to be so utterly honest when it came to opinions of any one of the girls. So admitting that he was just a bit more uncomfortable around Motoko than usual must have meant that whatever happened this morning must have been truly unique. Of course, the skeptical part of her mind told herself that Motoko probably just saw Keitaro in some act of perversion of some kind. Her fist began twitching when her mind wandered down that path as she positively itched for the chance to avenge Motoko's honor.

There was, however, one nagging thought that kept her fist from connecting at that particular time, and that was the fact that the swordswoman could always be counted on to punish Keitaro with extreme prejudice whenever he was doing something wrong. So then, if he wasn't making his way back to Hinata, as he would be if she had launched him into the horizon, then what in the world happened?

Despite her aching curiosity toward the matter, though, Naru forced herself to refrain from asking outright what happened. It would make her sound too interested in his doings in this case, something she desperately did not want to happen. If she really wanted to find out, she could ask Motoko later this afternoon when the swordswoman returned from school.

Fortunately for her, she did not need to come up with an opening for the next bit of their strained conversation, as Keitaro suddenly brightened and he mentioned the very subject that Naru had hoped to possibly avoid.

"Oh, that's right! I'm meeting Yuki again this afternoon. How about this time I bring her by so she can meet you? I am sure that you will like her very much and she has been anxious to meet everyone as well, especially you!"

Keitaro smiled at Naru, failing to see her darkening expression at the mention of his friends name.

After a brief few minutes of stormy silence Keitaro blinked and regarded his secret love.

"Naru? Is something wrong?" He was beginning to get concerned over her lack of response, and beginning to sense a strange impending doom coming from her general direction. Though, strangely, nothing came of this feeling…and that perhaps worried him more.

"Sounds absolutely lovely," Naru replied suddenly, putting a scary grin on her face. "I really can't wait to meet your new girlfriend."

With that, she turned violently and walked upstairs towards her room, leaving a stunned Keitaro in her wake and wondering just what he said to warrant that out of character reaction from the girl. But one word did happen to stick within his mind as he watched Naru's back retreat up the stairs.

"Girlfriend?"

Once Naru reached her room and her door was safely slammed behind her she let out the breath that she had been unaware she was holding. Resolutely she stomped her foot hard on the floor and walked over to her kotatsu and sat down, tucked her long legs underneath the blanket and turned up the heat. She then got out several of the books that she had been going over lately and opened the first one that was placed on top of the stack. As hard as she could, the brunette tried to forget about the conversation that she had just had and how much it truly bothered her. But after re-reading the same sentence three times she gave up all pretenses, tossed the book over her shoulder carelessly and leaned forward and placed one delicate cheek upon her crossed arms.

It wasn't as if Naru meant to lose control every time she and Keitaro tried to have a normal conversation, but there was so many things that she wanted to say that just wouldn't come out of her stubborn mouth! The young woman realized that things would be a lot easier in her life right now if she had just told the young man that she was rather fond of him. But thinking the thought and saying it were apparently two different things. Then of course, Keitaro had to be so oblivious to just about anything but the direct approach and that made talking to him way too difficult.

Naru heaved a long sigh that sent the fringes of her bangs flying in every direction, having worn herself out to frustration trying to resolve the situation to some satisfaction. But the more she thought about it, the more Kitsune's earlier words kept ringing inside her head. Was it possible that she actually had pushed too hard? Of course, she, like everyone else in the Inn merely assumed that Keitaro did not actually have a breaking point. You could literally come at him with anything and he'd walk away still breathing, with only a few minor bumps, bruises but still a smile. It was that sort of physical immortality that led her to believe that his emotional state was just as immortal. After all, hadn't he failed the entrance exam for Tokyo University three times already and still he yearned for another chance, an opportunity to meet his promised girl. It had taken all she had just to convince herself to try again after her first failure, not to mention a few of the nicer conversations she had had with the three-time ronin.

Thinking of the promise girl, however, gave Naru a reason to pause in her one-track thinking. What was about this so called 'promise girl?' Was it even worth trying to form something with Keitaro if he merely was going to end it over meeting some silly girl that he had made a promise with over fifteen years ago? Would he even meet her, even if he did get into Toudai? She had to admit, fifteen years was a really long time to hold onto a promise, and though Keitaro still clung to that thought, was it even conceivable to think that there is some young girl out there that was the same as Keitaro? It was a rather strange thought, but the young woman supposed it could be true, after all. There was also the very obvious case of Mutsumi.

Mutsumi…no one worried her more than that girl when it came to actually attracting the attention of Keitaro. Which was why, Naru supposed, that this Yuki girl was so utterly out of place. His affections for this new girl literally came out of left field and took the Hinata House by surprise. It was just so strange to think that Keitaro would go elsewhere to find affection from the opposite sex, not when he had young, pretty, Mutsumi practically tripping over him…literally. There was even a strange chance that the Okinawan woman could be the fabled promise girl that the ronin always dreamed of meeting again someday. It was a long shot, Naru had to admit, but there were way too many similarities in the pair's situations to be a mere coincidence. Not to mention the two were so utterly alike you could say that each was the twin of the other quite easily, a fact that made Mutsumi and Keitaro a perfect match in just about anyone's estimation. Except hers.

When they first met, Naru had been merely amazed at the similarities between the two that she did not consider the fact that they could actually begin dating. It wasn't until later, when they were trying to return the confused girl to her home when she had first realized that Mutsumi posed a serious threat to the affections Keitaro held for herself.

Of course, if she was absolutely honest, Naru had to admit that at that point trying to attract Keitaro was about as far from her mind as which retirement home she would eventually live in. Back then it was all she could do to keep his perverted hands off of her…or at least, supposedly perverted hands. It wasn't until shortly after that the ronin had begun to occupy her thoughts more and more, or that his nervous attempts at affection became somewhat more bold and recognizable that she had begun to cinsider something more as well. After that point, it had become something of a game trying to collect all those affectionate glances and selfless acts he did for her. The brunette had to admit though, that even before she began to see him in a more positive light, he was fun to tease. Keitaro was someone whom she felt oddly comfortable with, when he wasn't tripping over his own feet and landing on her breasts, anyway. A feeling she had gotten from their first encounter no less.

Naru groaned and threw her head back from the comfort of her arms and tussled her hair violently, trying to stimulate something in her brain that would tell her what to do about this new and previously unexplored situation that had come up. When had she lost control? When was the point, if there ever was one that Keitaro began to slide from her grasp and into another's? Did she even want his affection in the first place? Would she want it back badly enough to actually try and salvage it? All of these questions ran toe-to-heel in the girl's mind making her want to go insane with all the possibilities each one of those questions brought up. One thing was for sure though, and that was she needed to decide and decide quickly; otherwise no matter what she did, it would all be for naught.

"Come on Naru," she muttered aloud, trying to encourage herself. "There has to be something you can do. Anything! What would Keitaro do in a situation like this? No, better not think of that, he'd probably over-react and go into a panic until he wore himself out. I definitely don't need to do that."

Though in that line of reasoning, she did find at least a temporary solution to her problem…maybe. It was possible that she was just over-reacting to the situation. Maybe he and Yuki weren't going out but simply as he said, friends just catching up after a long absence. Though there would eventually be a point when mere friendliness became something more, and the more she thought about it now, the more she felt she had to stop that from happening at any and all costs.

With her mind at least nominally made up now, her thought pattern calmed considerably as her brain went into familiar territory once again: make a plan and execute. She would merely ask him directly, no subterfuge, no insinuation. Just ask him outright whether his feelings for this new girl went over friendship or not. If he wanted to know why, well…then she would think of something to say after that point, but the main idea in this plan being that she would for once not overreact and just straight out ask. If it were just friends catching up, then she could be safe in going back to way things were, but just keep a closer eye on him. If it were the other possibility though…she honestly didn't know what she would do, then. Of course, in order to enact the now formulated plan, she had to find the boy. A fact that seemed like it was going to take longer than she thought once she went over to the board that connected her room to his and poked her head through the hole to find the resident manager, for once, not in residence.

"Great," she muttered to herself, her confident mood beginning to whither a little bit at this unexpected delay, "the one time I have something important to say to him, he's not around to hear it."

Her mood withering, but far from ready to give up, Naru began to instigate a search for the missing manager. A fact made all the more difficult considering the majority of the household was away at school, and the one person left in the building she definitely did not want to talk to right now. Kitsune would more than likely see right through her little plan to 'innocently' find the ronin and talk to him. The resident drunk was a great friend of hers, she knew, but there were times when she definitely could not afford to talk to the woman in confidence because she could never be quite sure what the older woman would do. Kitsune could act like she understood and help you out one moment, then in the next moment turn around and blackmail you with the knowledge she now possessed.

So it was alone that Naru searched nearly the entire grounds of the Hinata Inn looking for the young man. After several hours, to say that her temper was beginning to flare and the resolution she held to find Keitaro and calmly talk to him had all but crumbled would probably be considered an understatement. It was in this near doom state that she finally found him, walking in the front door with a petite woman with gray hair that looked about his age following closely behind. Ignoring the strange girl completely, the brunette set her sight on the three-time ronin and her anger simmered to a boil. The nerve of him, being completely unreachable the one time she had something really important to say to him! The fact that he seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation took her temper past the boiling point and into steaming. At this point, whatever it was she had intended to say to the young man was completely forgotten and her subconscious, desperately trying to get her to remember her pact, was swiftly booted off center stage.

"There you are!" She called out, once Keitaro had removed his shoes and allowed his companion to do the same. In his happiness, Keitaro failed to see behind the calm exterior of the girl in front of him so was oblivious to the steaming rage shining in her eyes.

"Naru! I'm glad you're here!" He greeted the girl with a smile. "I was just about to call out to you and Kitsune and introduce you to Yuki, the friend I told you about yesterday. We were going to meet for lunch again and I thought it would be a great time to introduce you to her."

Naru, for her part, glared holes into Keitaro's forehead. Though she was temporarily put on guard because of Yuki, but the fact that he mentioned that they were going out again allowed her anger to slip past her barrier of politeness.

"But I have something important to say to you…alone," she managed to grind out between clenched teeth. To her credit, she really was trying to salvage whatever was left of her former commitment to talk to the young man.

"Oh…um, can it wait? We really just have time to say hi before we need to go. We're going into Tokyo today and need to catch the train soon." Keitaro looked a little torn between decisions at that point. On one hand, he really did need to catch the train with Yuki, but on the other, if Naru wanted to talk to him alone it must be something pretty important. He was always hard pressed to deny the girl anything she wanted and this time was no different.

The brunette made a noise somewhat close to a growl and narrowed her stare to the point where her frown began to make an appearance even to the normally oblivious Keitaro.

"I suppose so," she muttered, about ready to do an about face and try to find something else to occupy her time when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"Naru? Is something wrong?" Keitaro asked, concern evident in his tone.

"No, nothing is wrong," she uttered, finding it hard to keep eye contact with the young man. She made to take a step back so he wouldn't be touching her anymore, a fact that was making her very uncomfortable at the moment. However, being the unlucky person that he was, Keitaro over compensated his balance and when Naru took that step backwards he was propelled slightly forward at which point gravity took over and he found himself flailing about, trying to right his center of balance. In that flailing, he must have touched something inappropriate because one moment Naru's eyes were wide with surprise the next narrowed with anger.

"In front of a stranger, no less!" She hollered, eyes burning red and fist cocked, ready to be released. "You PERVERT!"

The next moment was a blur in Keitaro's memory as he couldn't quite explain the feeling he then felt, no matter how much he thought about it afterwards. One moment, he was regaining his balance and frozen in fear of the fist that was about to make contact with his head, the next moment he was falling once again, this time in the opposite direction that he tumbled earlier. He heard a load thump a second later, and he ended up still standing, somehow turned one hundred and eighty degrees facing a surprised Yuki and their foreheads almost touching.

"Umm, sorry?" He asked, still wondering what exactly happened. Too preoccupied then with the fact that he could feel his friend's breath against his cheek and was close enough to now be able to tell that Yuki's eyes weren't really grey, but a very, very interesting shade of bluish-silver. He spent a few moments like that, staring at the girl before him before he came back to himself and remembered the loud thump he heard right before this situation occurred. With horror, he turned around quickly to find Naru nearly face planted on the ground, having miraculously missed in her swing, when she normally connected. The miss was enough to put her off balance and down she went. As it was, she was just getting back up on her hands and knees when Keitaro realized what was happening and bent down to help her up.

"Don't touch me!" Naru snarled, as he reached a hand down to help her up. Keitaro suddenly found his hand slapped away and facing a very upset Naru a moment later as she finished standing up.

"Just go on your date and don't touch me!" She fumed again, whipping about so fast that her hair flared out from her head dramatically. The next second, Keitaro found himself staring at a back retreating quickly up the stairs, wondering just what happened to make things go so wrong.

Naru, for her part, was the exact opposite as she knew exactly what had gone wrong. She had ruined just about everything she planned on doing and was left with the tattered remains of her temper. The temper only lasted long enough for her to slam her shoji door closed with such force it rattled her window on the opposite side of the room and throw herself down on a few pillows she had strewn about and cry.

With as loud as her sobbing was, it was a miracle that she heard the knock on her door only moments after she crashed through her door. But heard it she did, though Naru was in no mood to talk to anyone right now.

"Please, go away," she wailed, managing to stop her sobbing but still sounding like her throat was raw. The voice that came from the other end of her door, though, was the last person she had expected to hear.

"Naru, it's me, Keitaro. I don't really know what happened back there but I thought…I just wanted to know if you were okay," Keitaro said. The worry about her evident in his voice. In the past few minutes she hadn't exactly behaved like she usually did, and it was easy to see that she obviously had something weighing greatly on her mind. "If it's okay, I'm coming in."

Naru, too surprised to find that Keitaro had actually come after her instead of leaving with his friend couldn't find anything to say at first, her mouth merely opened and closed ineffectually without any sound as the door quietly opened and he walked towards her. Eventually, after a few more tears streaked down her already soaked cheeks, sound returned to her throat and she looked up at the young man in front of her to see his look of concern. At that moment, every word she wanted to say found their way into her throat, it no longer mattered how her relationships with the other residents would be effected, nor her worries that things would change too fast or too much. All she wanted, all she needed was for Keitaro to keep looking at her with that very same look of deep affection.

"Pl…please don't leave me."

Though she spoke quietly, Keitaro heard every word and his heart nearly sang at the implications behind them. Suddenly, the words that Yuki had spoken to him, right before he followed Naru up the stairs were thrown to the wind as he finished the last of the distance between them and caressed her cheek softly. To him, it was the greatest moment of his life to finally be able to show the affection he was overflowing with to the woman of his dreams. Nothing else mattered in all of his life more than this moment, not even Toudai.

"Don't worry, I won't," he whispered right before they collapsed in a tight hug all smiles and tears. Outside, the cold frigid, empty air gave way to small specks of white. After nearly a day of waiting, it had finally begun to snow.

(End Chapter 1)