Love Hina Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades ❯ Twine Hearts and Blades Chapter 01 ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Ahem, before anything, I would like to announce a correction of a part of this story. It was brought to my attention that Motoko's older sister actually has a name that was designated to her by Akamatsu Ken. Her name is not Kasumi, though I think it fits her; the name designated to her by the creator was Tsuruko. Despite the fact that Ani-Hina and Vol 0 of the manga never mention this, according to web sources, that is her name. My apologies for any confusion.

Twine Hearts and Blades

Winds move like the lines of fate. They can change direction unexpectedly, and cause great damage to those unprepared. Tonight, the winds were very violent, but no damage was meant. Fate had different plans for its playthings.

Prologue - The past and fate

Aoyama Tsuruko and her younger sister Motoko were trapped inside their dojo just outside of the city. Getting back would not have been a problem had Tsuruko been alone, but looking after Motoko during such a violent typhoon would be too much for her.

"Ane-ue, why do we not go back?" asked little Motoko.

Tsuruko slightly frowned and asked herself whether she may have been preaching to Motoko a little too much about the warrior spirit. "Even we cannot go against nature itself. Its fury shall quell, and then we can go back."

Suddenly, the howling of the winds stopped, creating an unnatural silence that was contrasted only by the pounding of the rain outside. They were in the eye of the typhoon; nothing else could explain the sudden calmness that enveloped them at the moment. The silent air was shattered when a knock was heard at the door, causing Motoko to reach for her small bokken while Tsuruko drew her sword. No normal person would dare venture outside in a typhoon of this magnitude. After instructing Motoko to stay back, Tsuruko opened the door slowly, revealing two heavily shaded figures. Realizing both were human, Tsuruko sheathed her sword but kept her eyes on the larger of the figures, obviously a man by his build. The man in question stepped forward, and with the aid from the candles inside the dojo, was revealed to be of about twenty years of age. Though he was not dressed formally, the katana slung over his shoulder betrayed the fact that he was a kendo teacher.

"We're sorry to bother you, miss, but may we have shelter here until the storm passes?" He lowered his voice considerably so that only Tsuruko could hear it; "I do this not for my sake, but for the sake of my student."

The second figure seemed to have heard his teacher's comments and stepped forward. "Sensei, I can handle the weather just as well as any warrior." The light revealed him as a young boy of about eight years. He was short for his age, but had the air of determination and courage, though he did look a little thickheaded.

"Tatewaki," spoke the teacher, "you must remember that we have limits as humans. Just because you are learning the way of the sword does not mean you cannot be beaten."

The boy looked at the ground and with a small nod answered, "Yes, sensei..."

The man turned to Tsuruko, and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My apologies. I am Oogami Kazuya, of the Hokushin Ittou Ryu. This boy here is my student, Kuno Tatewaki. Yoroshiku."

Both teacher and student bowed, though Kazuya bowed a little lower than he should and nearly fell, causing Tsuruko to suppress a giggle before she introduced herself and Motoko. This surprised Motoko a little, since her older sister neither giggled nor laughed much. She never displayed such an emotion, not even the few times they had seen 'Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ' together. Though they never recognized any of the guests, the hosts' antics were just too funny to pass up. Also, that man was looking at her sister funny, and Motoko didn't like it at all. She turned her head and met Tatewaki's eyes, who was currently sitting in a corner with a blank expression on his face. She looked back to her sister, who was deep in conversation with the other teacher, and let out a sigh. 'Tonight...just for tonight,' she thought, not wanting to talk to anyone but her sister, who seemed rather preoccupied.

"Hmm...I've never seen sensei like that before."

Motoko turned in surprise and almost bumped noses with Tatewaki. "What do you mean?"

The boy closed his eyes for a second, as if thinking what he was going to say. "Sensei is always very serious around people. In fact, I've never seen him act like this before. He's relaxed and he's actually laughing, which I've never seen him do in all the years I've been training under him."

Motoko nodded a little, thinking about how her sister was also acting differently. "My sister is also never like this. Her face always reflects seriousness, but I've seen her laugh today more than I ever have."

Suddenly, the rushing wind swept inside, and the candles went off, leaving the pair of adults and the two children in darkness. Tatewaki stayed still, and ended up falling asleep, while Motoko crawled around the Dojo looking for the emergency flashlight. Meanwhile, Tsuruko had attempted to get up and look for another source of light, but tripped and fell over. Consequently, she landed on top of Kazuya, the former as bewildered as the latter. In the darkness, Kazuya began to turn red as he felt her breath so close to him.

Tsuruko, in turn, was red because of the sudden closeness to a man. She could feel his heart beating at a frantic rate, which surprisingly matched the beat of her own heart, and rather than reject their closeness, she felt really odd.

"Go-Gomen nasai, O-Oogami-han," was the only sentence she could manage to say, due to all the unfamiliar feelings that were running through her body. Her body was beginning to move on its own, her mouth inching closer and closer to his. Her breath touching his face, his strong frame touching her only increased her desire to share with him something only they could have. Suddenly, a light shone on them, stopping whatever was about to transpire.

After a lot of looking around and crawling, Motoko had found the flashlight, and was not pleased with the scene the light revealed. Her older sister was blushing and on top of one of their so-called guests, and both seemed to be about to engage in a passionate kiss. Before she could say anything, the room spun around, and the scene changed. This time, it was that of a traditional Shinto wedding. She looked down, and realized that in her hand was Shi-Sui, her sister's sword. Despite the fear that had enveloped her from the moment she saw the blade, her gaze rose until her eyes found the couple. The man she instantly recognized as Oogami Kazuya, and though the woman's face was veiled, her voice gave away her identity.

"Become a strong sword master, Motoko."

The girl in question just stood there in shock until anger took over. Nothing else was on her mind now other than to stop this madness and bring everything back to the way it was before. "Ane-ue! Ane-ue! Ane-ue!!!" Neither how fast she ran nor how much she called out mattered, because Tsuruko and her new husband disappeared quickly into the distance. In frustration, Motoko dropped to her knees as the tears began to well in her eyes. "Ane-ueeeeeee!!!"

Chapter 1: Motoko's journey to Kyoto. PROMISE

The sense of peace provided by the rising sun was interrupted by a scream. The funny thing was that it originated from one of the least possible places: Motoko's room. Inside, Hinata-sou's resident kendo girl sat up on her futon, expecting to see a bewildered Kaolla looking at her. It came as a surprise that no one was there, as if her scream was not heard at all. Turning to her left, Motoko formed a frown as her gaze found her constant bedmate still asleep. "Incredible," she murmured, "a mountain could collapse behind this girl and she would still sleep through it..."

She opened her window and the sight of the sun rising over the horizon welcomed her. Her clock read 5:45 AM. Too early to begin getting ready, too late to go back to sleep, which meant there was nothing to do for now. This was something new to Motoko, who always kept herself busy during times of idleness. She decided to get ready and find something to do inside. With a place as large as Hinata Sou, there had to be something to do before it was time to leave for school. After about fifteen minutes of walking around, the only thing she could do was go to the roof and practice.

As she headed up the stairs, a large bird resembling the legendary phoenix perched itself on her shoulder. A letter was tied to its leg, which Motoko grabbed in haste and began to read. Her face was expressionless as her eyes traced what was obviously her sister's handwriting, expecting to find an assignment of some sort. This was anything but an assignment. Much to Motoko's dismay, it was that time of year again. Putting away the letter, she gave a small nod. As if understanding her, the bird flew away into the distance, leaving behind a brooding Motoko.

The breakfast scene at Hinata Sou was nearly complete this morning. On one side, Urashima Keitaro sat, a footmark on his face courtesy of Kaolla Su, who happened to be smiling and eating at an inhuman rate. Next to him was a fuming Narusegawa Naru, who kept muttering something about perverted Toudai wannabes who ended up groping junior high school students. Across from her sat Konno Mitsune, also known as Kitsune, who just smirked at how Naru acted about one of Keitaro's casual "accidents". Next to Kitsune sat Maehara Shinobu, who, while shy, could not help feeling sorry for Urashima-senpai, who had to go through this every day. The only person missing at the table was the resident Kendo girl of Hinata Sou, Aoyama Motoko. The residents knew she could get a little absorbed in her morning kendo practice, and assumed she would make it a little late. This was proven wrong, however, when she didn't come down at all.

Having finished her breakfast first, Naru stood up and turned to Keitaro. "I'll go check on Motoko. Can you wait for me in the living room?" The kanrinin in question numbly nodded as Naru headed upstairs. He was well aware that Motoko would be more open if she talked to Naru alone. Besides, if he went up there with her, Motoko would accuse him of breaking into her room and wallop him with one of her trademark attacks.

Upon reaching Room 302, the sight of Hinata Sou's kendo girl packing clothes into a small suitcase came as a surprise to Naru. What came as a greater surprise was that Motoko was not wearing her usual gi and hakama; in its place was a long purple dress that was obviously not hers nor Kitsune's. "Ah, Naru-senpai. What can I do for you at this moment?" asked a rather calm yet distracted Motoko. Naru eyed her for a bit, but her gaze fell on the suitcase, as if silently asking what it was for. Noticing where her senpai was looking, Motoko remembered that she didn't tell anyone about her sudden trip. "Oh, Naru-senpai, my sister has summoned me to Kyoto for a reunion of the Aoyama clan. Odd that she would invite me, since she is aware that I am busy with my training, but it seems my presence is required." Naru blinked at the excessive amount of information Motoko was giving, but simply nodded and walked back downstairs.

Thus, the residents of Hinata Sou went on about their business, with only Naru knowing where Motoko went. She eventually told them about the three-day stay in Kyoto and the Aoyama family reunion. The only consequence of this was that once again, Su-chan would have to sleep in Keitaro's room...


Author's Notes:

This one came to me after 5 rewrites (and one MAJOR edit) of this story, as well as intense discussion. The chapter itself seems a little short, but I think this part should be more dedicated to a backstory that I interpreted as a dream (I realize Motoko has a lot of these). Now before I get any death threats from Motoko fans (and BTW, I am one too), maybe I can explain why I did this. A while ago, I talked to a couple of people on the character make-up of Motoko. We reached the conclusion that aside from Keitaro and Naru, she is the only character with a solid past. The others really don't once you think about it. With this in mind, I reached the conclusion that Motoko is an incomplete character due to her insecurities not only on the abilities of her gender, but on her role in life as well. Also, as obvious to those who have seen Love Hina, Motoko's older sister is basically the cause of all of this, so I just filled in a couple of gaps. As far as my putting Kuno in this, Kuno is another incomplete character, and I think he would work well with Motoko. IMO, she is the only one who can drive all his delusions from him. Also, despite his sometimes chauvinist attitudes, Kuno is someone who respects strength above all, which is why he chased after Akane so much, and then female Ranma. Anyway, as far as timeline goes (for the continuity buffs ^_^), this is before episode 12, or story 27 of the manga, both involving Motoko becoming "womanly". Obviously, theres a reason for this. By the way, yes, the dress Motoko is wearing is the one Haruka lets her borrow in episode 12. As far as where does the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High comes in, you'll have to read the next chapter for that! ^_^

Questions and comments please direct them to ruisu7@hotmail.com.