Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ K2: A View to a Truth ❯ Chapter 12

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12 - Blood Feud

 

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“What is this, Urashima?” Motoko asked again, shaking her hand, putting emphasis on the marriage contract she had stumbled upon.

 

Keitaro himself looked absolutely dumbstruck. His mind cursing as he once again let himself get careless, a trait he was finding rather common and at the same time irritating. What was about this world that got him into these messes, which normally shouldn't happen to him? And to take a more present note, what can he do now that the whole jig was up?

 

He took a deep breathe. He decided to tell the truth. Or at least, partly the truth.

 

“Your sister gave me that.”

 

“My sister?” Motoko asked, taken aback.

 

“Yes. She considers our trickery an offense, and took the liberty in marrying us behind our backs,” he stated steadily.

 

For a while, Motoko looked like she was in deep thought. Her forehead etched crooked lines, and suddenly, her eyes darted from the contract back to Keitaro, looking like she finally was revealed something.

 

“Kamis… that makes sense…” she muttered quietly. “The reason why my sister told you instead of me about the challenge… why you are joining me to fight her…” She paused. “Why, Urashima? Why didn't you tell this to me earlier!?”

 

“Why do you think, Motoko?” Keitaro replied. “You would have bitten my head off when you've heard this, or hell, break down crying, or maybe, a long-shot, just nod and actually go through with it!”

 

“I… I wouldn't! Stop making assumptions, Urashima!” Motoko muttered with a slight blush.

 

“Fine,” he said.

 

“Still, you shouldn't have hid this from me!” Motoko stated.

 

“Why?” he asked. “It's nothing major.”

 

“Nothing major?” she shook angrily. “Are you mad?”

 

“Am I?” Keitaro's eyes darted back towards Motoko hard. “Why? Because I hid some marriage contract from you? I hid the fact we're actually husband and wife?”

 

Motoko looked at him confused. “No. You hid `something' from me… a fact that has to do something with me! You said so yourself, we're married! Don't I have a right to know!?”

 

“It's only temporary, Motoko,” Keitaro stated calmly. “This contract's broken by the time we beat your sister.”

 

“Brok…” Motoko couldn't exactly finish her sentence when her mind finally clicked into something. Her sudden silence garnered the attention of Keitaro, who looked at her cautiously.

 

For a moment, Keitaro wondered if Motoko had finally understood, and calmed down. A foolish though, but a hopeful one nonetheless, because her eyes suddenly glazed as she looked towards Keitaro with an emotionless mask.

 

“Oh… I see it…” she muttered faintly. “I can see where this is going.”

 

Keitaro raised an eyebrow. “You do?” Thank heavens then. The girl wasn't as hopeless as he thought.

 

“Oh yes… why you were so eager to help me get back to my school… I can see it now.”

 

Keitaro looked at her, his eyes unblinking. Looks like believing her comprehension of the subtle seemed misplaced. What cock and bull story had come up to her mind now?

 

“Why you were so eager to train with me… why you were so eager to offer me your family heirloom, to help me beat my sister… everything,” she stated softly, yet determined, like building up momentum. “You just wanted out, right?”

 

“Huh?” Keitaro asked, though his stomach was slightly fluttering. He got a bad feeling about this.

 

“Don't play dumb, Urashima, you just wanted out of this, right?” she asked, shaking the contract.

 

He kept quiet. What was the woman going on about? Of course he wanted out! Didn't she?

 

His silence and pause was taken as the answer to Motoko. She closed her eyes, her body twitching.

 

“I see…” she stated softly. “I see. I see.” She paused. “Go away, Urashima.”

 

His mind snapped when she said her last sentence. He didn't think he heard her right. “Excuse me?”

 

“Get out of my sight, Urashima,” she stated, this time with a bit more force.

 

When he didn't move, she grabbed the black sword behind her, and unsheathed it a quarter of the way. The light reflected the shiny black blade in a small glint. Her eyes narrowed, turning to a deadly glare she directed towards the young man.

 

“I said get out of my sight, Urashima!” she barked.

 

Taken aback by her sudden outburst, Keitaro unsteadily moved towards the door. He looked at her looking at him, his lips frowning. Without further ado, he opened the door, and slid out, closing it behind him.

 

Inside, Motoko sheathed her weapon back. Her eyes glazed as she slid down, cupping her legs over her bent torso, her eyes going to her knees. She let out a silent cry.

 

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“Women…” he muttered silently as he walked further away from the house. What was her problem? Surely, a woman of her stature, and her demeanor and philosophy would not begrudge upon herself to stay married with him? Would she?

 

He sighed. He could feel the dulling throbbing pain of his head… he thanked himself for getting those painkillers. Poor head of his. Hit hard by wooden stick, and then, after it was just woken up, had to face an enraged woman, the very same who hit him earlier.

 

But thinking about her just brought more dull pain on his head, and after a few minutes of contemplating, just told himself to forget her for a while. She would most likely calm herself down anyway.

 

Keitaro decided to go into town again. There was nothing for him back in the training grounds… unless he'd want to tempt to stroke Motoko's already raging fire, and at the same time, heartily commit suicide, then the town was the best way to waste time.

 

He wasn't much of a nature lover anyway. Shrugging his shoulders, he marched back to town. After he arrived, he finally had a good look around and since most of his visits consisted of two to three various restaurants that Motoko would choose where to dine. Though seemingly random at first, it was with purpose when Keitaro realized all the restaurants she had decided on knew her with familiarity.

 

Well, logically, it would make sense since this is Motoko's training getaway. She must have developed relationships when she was training here before. Thankfully, visiting the town had him develop his own relations with the people here. Some greeted him as he passed.

 

For a few hours, he found himself wandering past a few stalls, looking… watching… spotting. Anything, wherever, whatever. Items that he would never use… items he found amusing… items he found interesting.

 

And there was something he found useful. A small modest house, selling trinkets of junk, he spotted in the corner, quite hidden, a pair of arm gauntlets. It was made of two pieces of light steel, held together by leather straps that would also worked as adjustable belts. They weren't exactly light, but not too heavy either. It was a very basic, yet effective tool for defense.

 

Asking for the price, he wondered briefly if there was a bank around here. He may have to use that ATM card that Keitaro of this world had (though he thought to ask permission to him first before using it) and give himself a pair to help him with his defense.

 

No matter how hard he'd train himself, he was a ninja at the core. The sword training Motoko was putting him through was only effective to a certain degree. His defense using the sword made his body move like it was on rust, and was ineffective when Motoko got serious. But if he would use the defense he was actually trained to do, he might be able to sneak in more advantages…

 

More plans, and more imaging fight came to his mind, and Keitaro, in a rare occasion, found himself in Zen. If he could mix up all what he learned up to now, with his improved body, he could adjust his fighting style to maximize his fighting prowess considerably. Granted, it wouldn't be as he was with his old body, but with Motoko…

 

Motoko…

 

Keitaro looked up in the blue sky, his lungs slowly filling with air. He sighed. He didn't want to say or think the woman had more issues than the Japanese Times, but she fluctuates in the oddest times.

 

She's serious, motivated, beautiful… by looks alone she has what Keitaro would call the “Japanese Beauty Look”. In her form, she reminded him so many ways of his teacher. Her fighting skills were impressive, and above all, she's quite smart and clever… until it comes to her problems, that is.

 

A serious male hater, almost mistaken for a feministic homosexual, the Motoko of his world seems to enjoy head-butting him, trying to catch him off guard and give her legitimate reasons to throw him out. In this world, she's not so intense, though that can be thanked by living more than a year with Keitaro, but at the core, similar.

 

Except this time, she seems to have something that the Motoko in his world never had.

 

She liked him. A rather good lot.

 

By the time he thought of that, K2's eyes finally opened to his surroundings. The first thing he saw was the seesaw, and beside it a swing set. He hadn't clearly remembered stopping by a playground. His hands touched the concrete bench in which he was sitting on, and chuckled silently, his lips forming a wry smile.

 

He was thinking too much.

 

The sun was setting, the moon already showing itself. The reddish pink lit sky seemed beautiful though ominous at the same time. How long was he thinking? From his guess, about three hours or so. Time seemed to fly fast.

 

Deciding that he already had given Motoko enough time to take out her steam, Keitaro decided to go back to his retreat house, and face another day. He hoped that maybe this was just a slight bump in a long road ahead. He was sure Motoko would see the reason, and work him hard once again.

 

He found himself passing through the road where concrete would fade to leaves and wood… where man made structures went back to nature. His mind was blank, unlike earlier (thoughts of revenge) and he was slightly happier going back here now then before.

 

Then the wind shifted around him, making him stop, and look around. His fists clenched hard that his palm was feeling his finger nails. The feeling of dread washed on his skin, penetrating it, making its way to his abdomen, involuntarily making him shiver.

 

“Who's there?” he demanded with a strong, yet soft voice.

 

All he heard was a slight giggle.

 

Coming behind him.

 

He turned around deftly, only to notice too late an incoming fist. He raised his arm automatically to block, only for it to feel an impact so strong he thought that his arm was broken by the force. Yelping, and jumping back, he tumbled and landed on his backside, grabbing his arm in agony.

 

“Did that hurt, little boy?”

 

A creepy voice… female. Feral. Something about it gives a very musky property Keitaro recognized fully well where he'd find it: in bed, or when a demon wants to kill you in the most painful way as possible.

 

He cursed. Standing up, his eyes darted towards where he was attacked, and saw a beautiful woman… too beautiful in fact. Her fangs gave her away almost immediately. A vampire. She grinned maliciously at him, her eyes crimson and glowing. Her long flowing red hair

 

“Aren't you a bit early?” Keitaro muttered, his legs tensing, waiting for another attack. “The sun hasn't disappeared…”

 

“As long as there's no direct sunlight reaching us here, I'm safe,” she replied, still grinning.

 

Keitaro cursed again. Without looking around, he knew she was stating the truth. Vampires rarely tend to go out when the sun was still present since their powers are derived from the darkness of their surroundings, where they take advantage of their shadow properties. But it doesn't mean that they wouldn't come out when there was still rather light… though for Keitaro, this was the first time he witnessed a vampire coming out before the darkness sets.

 

“Your legs are shaking little boy…”

 

Keitaro growled, and focused on her. He noticed something really odd about her voice… for some reason he heard different tones when she spoke, all very controlled. Almost like an echo or something.

 

“Don't tell me my little sister had trouble with you?”

 

Again, the voice tones. Keitaro couldn't shake the feeling something was afoot. He was about to think more into it when he heard another voice, this time, on his right… a familiar voice.

 

“Sisters, stop playing with him!”

 

Keitaro looked towards the direction of the new voice, and his eyes widened.

 

“You…” he muttered, surprised. He recognized her immediately… how could he forget? The night when he first met Yuuko… the night he first came to this world… he was attacked by a group of vampires. Motoko rescued him by killing three of the offending vampires, and the other two escaped…

 

One of them is back.

 

Again, the first vampire who attacked him came at him with blinding speed, ramming her shoulder towards him, sending him flying once again, except this time his back hit a tree trunk, driving air out of his lungs. He felt another blow to his abdomen a second later, which was so strong that he tasted bile from his throat. He bent over, his legs not supporting him, and was supported by the offending arm of the female vampire attacking him.

 

“This is the person that gave you trouble, little sister?” she asked towards the other vampire. Again, Keitaro heard the way it sounded… he couldn't get it out of his head.

 

“He's nothing but a weak little boy,” she continued.

 

“It's not him that humiliated me and killed our brothers,” the younger vampire stated, approaching them. “It's the female he is with.”

 

“Ah… so this is the human toy you wanted?” the older one asked. Her focus went from Keitaro towards her sister, and at that moment, he lifted himself up, seeing an opening. He assaulted her with his elbow which he aimed on the side of her head, in which she nimbly blocked.

 

She sneered at him. Her head didn't move, but her eyes went towards him. Keitaro's teeth snarled behind his closed lips, and raised his other arm when he saw her other hand moving. He was able to block her counter attack, but the force of her attack was so strong, and with Keitaro's legs not in position, he lost balance and footing.

 

Like a limping boxer, Keitaro staggered as the older vampire continued her assault. Her left and right combos came fast and furious and Keitaro, with his boxing background, automatically tried to dodge the attacks blindly. He dodged 5 straights before her knee came up and hit him on his stomach.

 

He was barely able to jump away, minimizing the impact on his body, but the pain was still ever-present that he coughed a few moments before he looked at her again. Her eyes were glittering with anticipation, and her hands and arms spread, leaving herself opened.

 

She was playing with him. Keitaro growled and readied his fist, and charged towards her with his own offense, which she dodged without much effort. After she was able to dodge four of his strikes, he changed tactics, and feinted by raising his knee. Seeing it, she finally crossed her arms to block his feint, and Keitaro grinned as she was finally left open.

 

His fist flew towards her face as he stomped his raised leg back down on the ground, putting his whole weight in it. He knew it was going to hit… the whole thing was too fast for even her to react… which is why he received a sudden shock when his offending fist was blocked.

 

His eyes widened when he saw what blocked his attack, and looked towards the offending vampire. She smirked at him, her fangs glinting dangerously.

 

“You… you're not…”

 

That was the only thing he could say before she bit him painfully in the neck. Keitaro shuddered as his whole spine seemed to turn into jelly, his arms and legs shaking uncontrollably as she drank from him with gusto.

 

“H… help…” he muttered deliriously for a moment before her hand came to his mouth.

 

She stopped sucking on his neck, his crimson blood flowing down her. She stared at his eyes, her smile still present. Keitaro tried to look away but her hand grabbed his jaw and yanked it rather hard, though not too hard to break his neck, to force him to stare back at her.

 

“You are mine,” she muttered coldly.

 

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The wind shifted so fast that Motoko knew, deep inside, that something was wrong. Add to the fact that it's been hours since Keitaro was kicked out of the hut, she began to worry.

 

She had calmed down half an hour after he left her alone. Her immediate calmed thoughts made her blush as she thought back of her blatant foolishness. She lashed out to him for something she had long suspected. After all, this marriage is an inconvenience to them, especially to him who is enamored by her sempai, Narusegawa, it was perfectly natural for him to want out.

 

But him hiding the fact… was it because he thought of her well being, mentally, for such the offense as he claimed? She couldn't think Keitaro had more malicious concepts and reasons to hide the contract… unless he tried to force himself upon her by thrusting the marriage contract as a surprise weapon…

 

Well, being male, she wouldn't put it past him, especially since he was surprising her in a rather astounding rate, particularly when it concerned battle. She thought she might find herself working with a weakling with no amount of skill or even luck, bringing her skills even lower, until of course, he actually hit her. Twice even!

 

But, no… she shook her head. For some reason, another part of her brain reminded her how Keitaro was in nature. He might have been a perverted male with tendency to grope any female in sight (there is no way all those accounts would be caused by carelessness…), but deep inside, he was a good person. He might have been less outgoing now than he was before he broke his leg, but at the core, seems to be the same person.

 

Motoko suddenly shifted her head to the right automatically as an arrow flew past the paper sliding door. She didn't even need to think it, she automatically dodged the projectile. She recovered immediately.

 

“Who's there!?” she demanded, looking outside, feeling the environment. There was nothing… someone probably fired the arrow far from her senses. Making sure that another attack wasn't coming, she looked towards the arrow, and was surprised to find a note attached to it.

 

She untied it. She looked and read what was written. Her eyes widened at the content. Without wasting any time, she grabbed the black sword resting beside her, stood up and exited the hut.

 

The paper flew down gently at her exit, and fell down with the written material face up. In there, it was written in blood: Meet us in the deep forest if you want him back.

 

She rushed towards the forest without a second thought. `Him' must have meant Keitaro, which would explain his delayed return disappearance. Add to the possibility the blood may be his, there was a chance that he was in danger.

 

She jumped over a fallen log as she tried to scan the whole area as wide as she could, looking for any odd energies. After a few meters, she felt a weak pulse of Keitaro's ki, and honed towards that direction, jumping up towards the branches, avoiding the low ground in case of traps.

 

After a minute, she found herself in a clear area, where down below, she spotted Keitaro, unmoving, sitting down. He was pinned, held by the neck by a female vampire she recognized immediately as one of the vampires that escaped her blade. She hid behind the leaves.

 

“I feel you, Aoyama warrior,” the vampire declared, looking towards her general direction. “Come out, or I snap this human's neck.”

 

Motoko moved slowly, her hand reaching for the black blade, only to stop when he heard Keitaro gasp. She gritted her teeth as she watched as the female vampire squeezing his neck.

 

“And nothing funny, human female,” the vampire stated seriously. “I know your ki-based attacks are quite effective long range, and with my brother's death, you can choose who to slice with your skills. Any funny movements, you'll know what happens.”

 

Motoko assessed the situation again. Her plan was to attack and kill the vampire before she could even move, but it seems the vampire was ready for her. Cowardly creature… using someone as a shield. She also began to berate Keitaro for getting caught, only to shake her head… it wasn't really his fault, and it would do no good to even fume about it now.

 

“What do you want?” she asked strongly.

 

“Come down from your place,” the vampire replied. “Feet on the ground.”

 

Motoko studied the open ground, trying to discern any possible traps. When she deemed it safe, she jumped down towards the ground, slightly disturbing the area around it. She was about to ask what the vampire wanted, when she suddenly felt a mana burst from her side. She immediately bent backward, dodging the swipe towards her, and back-flipped away, twice, landing on a base of the tree, her knees bent down and ready.

 

“You coward,” Motoko stated coldly towards the shadow that attacked her. She was about to unsheathe her sword when the younger vampire waved her finger at her.

 

“Uh, uh, uh,” she muttered. “Take your hand off that hilt.”

 

Motoko growled, but complied.

 

“Remove that thing from your waist, and drop it to the ground.”

 

The sword was readily removed from her waist, though Motoko froze up when it came to putting her weapon down. It was her weapon, her sword. As a samurai, she couldn't just drop it so easily, but when that vampire tightened her grip towards at Keitaro, she softly placed it on the ground.

 

“I've been disarmed,” Motoko stated. “What do you want?”

 

The younger vampire seems to be contented, and smirked.

 

“I want you to feel the humiliation I felt on our little encounter back in Tokyo,” she stated enthusiastically. “I will pay you back a thous…”

 

“Oh, quiet down, little sister,” the older vampire suddenly spoke. The younger one was surprised.

 

“Eh…?”

 

“All this talk about humiliation… you're not the one who's going to take her on,” the older vampire told her younger sister, tilting her head to look at her with a dirty grin. “You're just hiding behind your new toy, so don't get cocky.”

 

“Sis…”

 

“Shut up, weakling,” the older vampire cut her off in a deathly tone. “From this point on, I'll do all the talking. You can just sit there, and watch your little new toy.”

 

The other vampire growled a few obscenities, before seemingly bowing down. Motoko wondered briefly if she could turn the two against each other, before she felt the older vampire's eyes on her.

 

She could only look back.

 

“I heard from you from my sister,” the older vampire spoke towards Motoko. “She was crying to our mother how a little bitch from the Aoyama clan had stopped her from feeding, acquiring a new toy, and killed her brothers at the same time.

 

“You know, of course, such complaints are nothing, and truthfully, there was nothing else our family could do,” she continued. “Shows you how immature she was. Every vampire knows… if you get caught, you're on your own. Little Monica was lucky our older brother got her away.”

 

Little Monica? She must have been referring to the other, younger vampire, Motoko thought. She chanced a look towards her, and noticed that the younger vampire was seething in anger. Motoko smiled slightly.

 

“She was begging her older siblings to come with her for revenge, how stupid can one vampire get?” the older one continued, shrugging her shoulders. “Of course, no one really went on with her ramblings…”

 

“All except you, correct?” Motoko asked, cutting the older vampire off, who just smiled. “Why then?”

 

“Let's say I hate those from the Aoyama clan,” the older vampire replied. “And it would be a big of blow for them if their little heiress was killed in a vampire encounter, wouldn't it?”

 

“Don't underestimate me, dark creature,” Motoko's eyes narrowed. “The only thing that separates you from death is your cowardly tactics.”

 

“Cowardly?” the older vampire laughed. When she stopped, she looked at Motoko with a grin. “That is the prize, my dear Aoyama. I want to see how far your clan has gone… or are you just like before… helpless without your little swords? If you win, you can have your puny male back… but if…”

 

“Ayane!” Monica, the younger vampire cut her older sister off. “You can't just use my pet as a prize!”

 

“Shut up, little sister,” the older vampire turned her head to her, her eyes glowing deathly crimson, her fangs showing up. “If you're lucky, I'll at least let you keep him for a month before I suck all of his blood out.”

 

The younger vampire growled, but kept quiet.

 

“Heh… now, where were we--” the older vampire turned around to face Motoko, only to be suddenly hit by a glowing fist. Blindsided and surprised, the older vampire flew a few meters back by the impact, and hitting her back on a tree trunk, which cracked slightly.

 

Monica's mouth opened in surprise, and looked towards the Aoyama woman. She was glowing… her battle aura was out. Automatically, Monica hid behind her new male toy, her hand still gripping on his neck, and watched the events unfold.

 

The older vampire, Ayane, seemed to rise out of the disturbed dust in the air, her eyes glowing. Motoko's form was hard and ready, her narrowed eyes looking at her opponent.

 

“What happened there?” she asked in a very cold tone. “You were wide open, inviting an attack.”

 

The older vampire chuckled. “I see you're serious now.”

 

“Get up, or I will pound you where you stand,” Motoko replied.

 

“Wouldn't have it any other way.”

 

The two antagonists looked at each other, waiting for the other to move. Motoko shifted to her unarmed form, her left hand slightly forward than her right, legs spread apart, bent slightly, ready to spring in action. Ayane just cracked her knuckles, and went to a basic position, her smile still present.

 

As the sun went down, that's when they both moved against each other. Motoko moved to the left as Ayane seemed to have disappeared from the forming shadows around them. He was able to dodge her incoming punch, and countered with a rising kick. She barely was able to home in on the attack as Ayane disappeared again, only to re-appear behind her to attack.

 

The action was fast… almost too fast for Monica to see. The way her sister moved indicated how serious she was in the match. The Aoyama warrior herself was no slouch either, slightly even faster than her older sister. She was combining her ki to augment her speed and her reaction time, coupled by her warrior's sense, she was obviously faring better than her sister…

 

Well, that won't last long, Monica thought with an evil smirk. Everything was going to start now.

 

Motoko suddenly dodged erratically as something came into her view. She barely dodged the incoming fist, which was a sudden surprise for her because she was definitely sure at the position they were in, the vampire could not, in any way, attack her from such an angle. But it seem that her enemy was reading her thoughts, and more attacks coming from blind angles. Motoko dodged two before it became too much, and was hit by the third attack.

 

Hit off balance, Motoko retreated, only for Ayane to keep coming after her. Remembering what her sister taught her, she just kept moving, dodging, looking for a place to take a breather and retake her equilibrium. She finally got the chance after dodging a straight, where she rolled forward, and hid behind a tree.

 

Motoko took a few deep breathes, her mind trying to figure out how the vampire was attacking her. There was no way a single being could attack her like that… unless…

 

Yes, she thought darkly. There was no doubt. Cowardly beings these dark ones are… they would have something this dishonorable up their sleeves.

 

“Are you done hiding, you little human?” the older vampire called.

 

Motoko slid from behind the tree, and faced her opponent again with a slight smile. She posed again, but this time, quite unlike her earlier form. Her legs spread slightly parallel to each other, her knees bent. Her arms were down at her side, fingers spread, shoulders tensed.

 

“What is that?” the older vampire laughed. “Trying to scare my by looking intimidating? It won't WORK!”

 

The scream at the end was followed by an instant appearance in front of Motoko, who nimbly, with her left hand, blocked the incoming strike. Her eyes narrowed, and looked down, and she saw it… coming out of the shadows at her right was another fist coming at her. Twirling, using her right foot as a pivot, she dodged the incoming attack, and at the same time, striking with her back arm towards the older vampire.

 

There was an enjoyable feeling of having hit her opponent. But she didn't have to enjoy the feeling. With her left hand now free, she grabbed the extended arm, whose owner was still hidden behind the shadows, and with all her strength and momentum gathered from the turn, threw the other offending person to where Ayane had fell.

 

Another Ayane seemed to have come from the shadows toppled on top of each other. Motoko's theory was tested true… twins. The two had been fooling her all this time. One of them would attack from front, while the twin would hide in the shadows and attack openings that would be left after Motoko's initial defense.

 

She guessed that the twin was hiding behind her sister's shadow, and being identical twins, it was hard to discern the two from each other. But now the tables have turned.

 

“Lucky shot,” Ayane muttered darkly.

 

“Lucky shot,” the twin said at the same time, giving it an odd tone, almost like an echo.

 

“Hmph, your cowardly tactics are no longer effective against my perfect defense,” Motoko stated going back to her position. “Come at will.”

 

“You better not underestimate me,” the twins muttered at the same time again. One jumped behind the other, and disappeared in the shadows, and whoever was left in the front, came charging again towards Motoko.

 

But it was useless. Motoko's defensive position was created in a way to be able to dodge, block, and counter-attack multiple opponents with relative ease using circular motions, pivots and re-direction. This was one of the few advanced forms ever taught in Shinmei-ryu. At her level, Motoko could face two, and sometimes three opponents (though not as effectively).

 

Motoko dodged, blocked, and countered what the vampire twins would throw at her. The tide seemed to shift in front of Monica's eyes as her sister was thrown, punched, and kicked away from her opponent. She growled, tightening her hug against the male, who seemed to have stirred.

 

“… Mo… to… ko…” Keitaro whispered.

 

Almost everyone felt his presence, as Ayane seemed to pause on her assault, looking towards Monica, who tightened her grip around his neck. Motoko took a momentary gaze towards him, but focused back on her opponent.

 

“Wait a little while, my pet,” Monica whispered closely at Keitaro's ear. She then looked towards Ayane, and said loudly, “Kill her already! Stop playing with her!”

 

Motoko scoffed silently. The vampire's older sister was nothing but a one-trick pony. After being found, her attacks are almost useless. Her speed wasn't that great, as far was Motoko was concerned, she was faster. It also didn't help that Ayane and her twin were now predictable.

 

“Mo… toko…” Keitaro whispered again, a bit more strongly. “Don't fight… run…”

 

Shut up for a moment, Urashima, Motoko thought. His voice was distracting her.

 

Again, the vampire came with a frontal assault. It was time to finish this. Going back to her offensive form, she planned to finish off this vampire and her twin. Even without her blade, she would snap their heads off bare-handed. Blocking the initial strike, she suddenly lunged towards behind her opponent, knowing full well the twin would be attacking her from behind.

 

She timed it correctly. Motoko's smile appeared as her opponent's twin came to view. From her angle, she could see the sudden shock on her face as her claws were out, but now were not directing to Motoko's back, but to her sister's front. Using her right leg, she placed it on her opponent's back, and pushed her towards her attacking twin.

 

There was the ugly sound of flesh being ripped, and Ayane shouted in pain.

 

“Run…” Keitaro muttered again. Motoko felt incensed.

 

I am winning here, Urashima! Quiet down! Motoko thought harshly. Was the man blind? Or was he trying to become some sort of man of chivalry? If he thought that his words of “bravery” impressed her, he should be thinking again.

 

Jumping over the stabbed vampire, Motoko, from the air, grabbed the twin's shoulder, landed on the ground, and using all her back strength, threw the vampire towards the tree. Now that she isolated Ayane, she grabbed the vampire's shoulders, locked her foot behind the opposite leg and ankle, and with all her strength, flipped forward.

 

“Shinmei-ryu!” Motoko whispered her attack, calling forth some ki in her. “Ukigumo - Tsumuji Issen!!”

 

A grapple technique from her school. Pulling the opponent with her with a spin, the attack was a powerful one that didn't need much drawing strength from the practitioner. It could be used as a stunner, able to knock the air and consciousness out of the opponent, but with a slight modification, it could be used lethally by making them land their head hard on the ground, breaking their necks.

 

And Motoko was about to finish off her first opponent. A broken neck may be enough to kill a vampire, but even if it doesn't, she still would have enough time to make sure she could finish the job herself.

 

Motoko suddenly felt a something catch on her throat, pulling her backwards from her circle arc. The force on her neck chocked her as she was forced to stop her motion and weakened her grip against the vampire.

 

She fell flat on the ground, coughing. She growled as she tried to take a stand, but the pain prevented her from fully standing. She could hear voices, though.

 

“Sister… are you fine?”

 

From the sound, it was her twin… but that was impossible! There was no way she could recover that fast! Motoko looked towards the speaker… she looked like Ayane… it was the twin… but at the same time, it wasn't. For a moment, her mind was confused at what she was seeing, until Keitaro seemed to speak again.

 

“There are three of them…”

 

Motoko's eyes widened. Everything came together, like how Monica was exclaiming to her sister to stop playing with her even though it was obvious at that point Ayane or her twin couldn't really do anything… also why Keitaro was telling her to run even though she was winning.

 

Motoko was about to charge in towards the second twin while she was seemingly distracted by helping her fallen sister up when suddenly a leg lashed towards the side of her face, kicking her so hard she was thrown a few meters away.

 

“Stupid little bitch,” the second twin muttered, now fully recovered. She walked towards Motoko who she just kicked a second ago. “Tried to kill my sister! Take this!”

 

Motoko groaned as she was kicked in the stomach again and again. The last kicked picked her up from the ground, and thrown painfully towards a tree. Her ki blocked some of the painand it kept her awake, but her head was getting groggy. She knew she wasn't going to last any longer than this.

 

Then, her finger touched something odd. It was cold metallic, and smooth. Shifting her eyes, she saw the black sheathe near her reach.

 

“Sister, are you okay?”

 

Motoko didn't know who was talking to whom and ignored them. She gathered up her strength and reached for the sword. In the corner of her eye, she could see the two twins looking at the Ayane who had a hole in her chest, which by Motoko's guess, was slowly healing. She didn't have much time.

 

Once she heals completely, they would be coming at her. Motoko's fingers slowly trembled as she bent down and grabbed the sheathe sword. Her eyes went towards Keitaro, who was still held against by the younger vampire. She planned the strike… first would be the little one, to save Keitaro, and then, she'd take care of those cowardly threesome.

 

She stood up, using the tree as her support, taking in deep breathes. Quickly, before they noticed her, she grabbed the hilt of the sword, and prayed to the gods watching over them for victory.

 

She unsheathed her weapon.

 

And everything went black.

 

To Be Continued…

 

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AN:

 

Sorry about the delay. lol… took a huge and long time off. I was busy getting new anime series, and taking my sweet time to watch them. I was also playing the new Tomb Raider game… :P Lara's one sexy raider.

 

Anyways, those who are following, thank you again for your support. I was a bit surprised on how many put this story on their alert list, and their fav too. I was touched. ^_^

 

Anyways, I'm keeping the next chapter a bit secretive. ^_^ When can you expect it? Well, probably not a month or two from now, but if I'm in the mood I'll probably get it by three weeks.

 

Anyways, ja ne!

 

PS: Glaedr, thanks for reviewing so far. ^_^ I appreciate it, really.