Love Hina Fan Fiction ❯ Pride and Honor ❯ Dark Fire: Motoko's Past ( Chapter 4 )

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A/N: Ack... it's been a while hasn't it? Well, no one left me any reviews or anything, but there were some hits (about 68 last time I checked) so I figured that I was keeping people waiting for no reason and have decided to upload the rest of the chapters for this.

All right, now on to business. I do not own Love Hina, and do not intend to. Also, this chapter will have some blood and gore, so tuck the kiddies in before reading.

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Pride and Honor: Chapter 03 - Dark Fire ~ Motoko's Past

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Summary:

Sora's first full day at the Hinata turns out to be an interesting one as he meets the two youngest residents. The day gets even weirder as he's forced to hunt down a rampaging robot with one of his roommates built. With no intention of actually staying, though, Sora finds solace in the fact that he won't remain there much longer.

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Naru sighed and looked up from her book, half expecting Keitaro to be there as he normally was. But lately, he's been skipping his morning study sessions to train with his son. //Baka...// she thought angrily. //How do you plan on getting into Toudai if you keep this up? You can't neglect your studies!// Naru knew, however, that this wasn't true. Keitaro merely shifted his schedule, opting now to study during the afternoon and night rather than during the morning and afternoon.

Turning back to her book, Naru couldn't help but feel a bit lonely. Sure, Keitaro was a pain, but she had gotten used to him being in here, asking questions, or daydreaming. Now he was always training with Sora and would only come in for a little bit.

Besides that, life was almost back to normal at the Hinata-sou. Keitaro was still his perverted self, often tripping and falling onto her fellow tenants of Naru herself and molesting them. The girls found that they could still hammer Keitaro out into orbit with general ease. He kept coming back as usual (though now the girls had a decent explanation about Keitaro's apparent immortality), irritated his son to no end. "Why do you put up with this," he would ask in his normal, cool manner. What bugged her was that the manager still insisted that these random gropings were still just mistakes, but he was always so graceful while fighting.

When Naru approached Sora about this, the normally silent boy offered a rather brief explanation. "Otousan is a daydreamer," he said, shrugging. "He never really focuses on what is around him, so he trips a lot on things that most people would notice. In battle, though, his whole mind is focused on the destruction of his opponent."

//Sora...// Naru thought to herself. The kid was an enigma. He rarely speaks unless spoken to. He moves around silently, causing some of the residents (even Motoko) to miss his entrance or exit of a room. He's barely even said two words to Naru in the week that he's been here. When he does speak, he does so softly. Motoko still trained on the roof at ungodly hours of the day, accompanied by the boy until she had to get ready for school. Then Sora trained on the roof by himself until Keitaro woke up after his late-night study sessions. Then they trained together for a while until Naru decided it was time for Keitaro to get some studying done.

Looking at her watch, Naru noticed how late it was getting. Leaning out her window, she called out to the fighters on the roof. "Baka! Get cleaned up and get your butt in here!"

"Hai, Naru-chan!" Keitaro called back as always. Naru knew how the rest of their day would go. Keitaro would come study with her until dinnertime, then he would finish up his chores and retire to his room and study until his eyes could no longer stay open.

Sora would practice until Motoko, Suu, and Shinobu returned from school, which he would take as his cue to stop training and take a shower. Then he would come down to kitchen where Shinobu would try to coax him to eat lunch (with varying degrees of success). Afterwards, he would help out his father by taking care of most of Keitaro's chores for him. Afterwards, he'd play with Suu for a while (how on earth did those two become friends?) before disappearing from dinner, never to be seen again until the next morning, much to Shinobu's frustration. Naru's thoughts were interrupted by knock at her door. //Oops... I should be studying...// "Come in, Keitaro."

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"Come on, Urashima-kun, I have lunch ready now. You need to eat and I'm not cooking a separate meal for you later," Shinobu urged.

"Great," Sora's monotone voice replied.

"So you're not going to eat?" Shinobu prodded.

"No," Sora replied.

"Why? Don't you like my cooking?" Shinobu asked.

"Yes," Sora sighed.

//Can this boy say more than one word at a time?// Shinobu rolled her eyes. "Then why won't you eat?"

"I'm not hungry," Sora stated, leaning against the wall.

Shinobu tried to hide her irritated groan. For the whole week, she has been subjected to this frustration everyday before lunch. It was making her rather touchy these days, and the other tenants noticed it. //What have I gotten myself into?// she thought.

Last week, Shinobu had told Keitaro that she would make sure Sora ate regularly. //'You'll have Bandit eating out of your hand,' I think sempai had said...// She couldn't help but sniff at that. True, Sora liked her cooking, and he helped her with work a lot and seemed polite, but in all truth he just isn't used to living with other people. He didn't show up for breakfast, literally had to be forced by Shinobu to attend lunch (and even that didn't always work), and you could forget dinner. Shinobu couldn't even FIND the young ninja before dinnertime. She had promised, though, so she was going to keep trying. "Can you at least help me out?" she said regaining her composure.

"Certainly, Maehara-san," Sora replied, bowing.

"You know, you can call me 'Shinobu' if you like," Shinobu said as she handed him some vegetables to chop.

"Only if you call me 'Bandit'," Sora replied. "You're the only one in the Hinata that refers to me in such a formal way." Shinobu saw a flash of a grin on his face. "Even Aoyama-san has a nickname for me."

Shinobu sighed as she thought of the name, "demon," that Motoko had stuck to him. Suu thought it was some sort of food. "I don't know why she hates you so much..."

"She will tell you why, in time," Sora said as he cut a carrot into small slices.

They worked in silence for a while, neither one having anything to say. Upstairs they could hear shouting and screaming. Sora shook his head. During his stay, he noticed the trouble his father always seemed to find himself in, usually getting blasted into the lower atmosphere for in retribution. "I swear, people get dumber as they get older."

Shinobu arched an eyebrow, "Oh? Why do you think that?"

Putting a finger to his lips, Sora stopped working and listened. Shinobu, now curious, did the same. Upstairs, it was obvious someone was being chewed out. Finally two large blasts were heard and Keitaro went flying for the sky, his shout growing softer as he flew away. "See? Two years ago otousan would've annihilated them both. I would've at least dodged..."

"Oh no, you've got it wrong... Sempai is doing the right thing," Shinobu said. "Responding to hate with hate doesn't solve anything."

Sora seemed to consider this, then he nodded. "I agree, nothing is solved that way. But, it doesn't help anything to sit around and be victimized all the time."

"Well, that's also true, but it makes me sad when I see people hate each other. I feel that we should try to avoid violence at all costs," Shinobu said as she watched the spot Keitaro flew off in sadly.

Sora looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Hm... You look like a little girl, but I can see you're already grown up," he said, a slight grin on his normally stoic features. "Maybe I really should keep calling you 'Maehara-san'."

Shinobu blushed red. "Uh... no, that's okay, Uras... uh... Bandit," she stammered.

Sora arched his eyebrow slightly at this. "You don't take compliments all that well, do you?" he said as he continued to chop vegetables. Shinobu watched him, still blushing. //Augh... What is wrong with this kid, anyway? One moment he's ignoring me and then he's teasing me!// Finally clearing her head, Shinobu aimed to find something else to talk about.

"Um... shouldn't you remove your gloves when working with food?" Shinobu said gesturing to the black, fingerless gloves Sora always wore.

Sora continued to work, his eyes narrowing slightly. Shinobu could feel his barrier come back up as he redoubled his efforts in chopping vegetables. "No," he replied evenly.

//Great... back to one word answers...// Shinobu thought as she went back to work.

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Aoyama Motoko was lying on her futon, thinking. When Suu had returned from her night out with Sora a week ago, she had been bursting with energy. But what the girl had told her about their battle with mecha tama troubled her. Sora had ran down the robot on foot, with Suu on his back, managed to put it out of commission with a dart and a staff, and then dragged it home. That wasn't the only thing that troubled her though. Suu had said that she had seen white hair coming out the back of Sora's bandana.

//White hair...// Motoko thought. //Just like that time...//

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Kyoto, Japan - Nine years ago.

Aoyama Motoko stood, all of six years old, waiting impatiently for the new students to arrive. There were three of them coming in, both from the semi-legendary Toma clan. //Oneesama says they are both very good with a sword. I must work hard or I'll be overcome...// Motoko tried hard to sober herself, but she couldn't help but smile brightly. She loved challenges and this looked like it would be a good one...

"Here they are, oneechan," said her older sister said pointing to two travelers on the road. Apparently, her older sister was thinking the same thing as her, because she was rather unsuccessful at hiding here excitement.

The two came up to the dojo and introduced themselves as Toma Jeros, Toma Yuki, and Toma Miko. Jeros was a boy of about twelve, rather tall for his age and handsome. His dark brown eyes were warm and open, as opposed to most of the other fighters his age, who tried to appear cold and distant. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail that came down to about his waist.

His sister Yuki, was about Motoko's age, but in comparison to her brother, looked very dangerous. Her brown eyes were darting around, trying hard to watch everyone at once. Her black hair came to about her chin. In spite of her hard features, she was very pretty. Motoko kept a nervous eye on the girl's sword hand.

Miko was the oldest one, about twenty-four. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes that looked rather sad at the moment. She was very polite and very graceful, but seemed preoccupied at the moment. Motoko would only know this woman one year before she disappeared from the dojo, never to be seen again.

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*Four years later*

Motoko and Yuki faced each other with bokkens. Over the years they had become best friends, often training with each other, exploring the areas around the dojo, or just talking. It turned out that their personalities were polar opposites. Both were very determined to master the Shiemei style, both were very good go, but then the differences started to show.

First off, the dangerous-looking little girl Motoko had met that first day was gone, replaced by someone open and friendly. Whereas Motoko had a general mistrust of males, Yuki seemed to like boys. She took quite an open interest in them, actually, which irritated Motoko slightly. "We're only ten!" Motoko would shout. "Oh come on, Motoko- chan, it never hurts to look," she would reply, smiling slightly.

Even there fighting styles differed. While Motoko usually hung back and defended until she saw a weakness, Yuki attacked furiously, trying to floor opponents before they could get a feel for her. Both girls were rather popular around the dojo and in town, pretty well known for their skill with a sword and their closeness.

At that moment Jeros entered the room. "Are you two at it again?" he asked grinning. "Don't hurt my sister, Motoko-chan," he said lightly. Motoko blushed and looked at the floor. It was odd, but lately all Motoko could do lately whenever Jeros spoke to her was blush and mumble incoherently. It was rather unsettling, but Yuki found it hilarious.

"I don't think Motoko-chan is interested in fighting any more, oniisan," Yuki giggled. "I wonder why?"

"Shut up!" Motoko retorted sharply.

"Well, it's good that you are finished. I need to train with my unit for a little while," Jeros replied as he gestured to the men behind him.

This came off as rather odd to Motoko. "Oh?" she said, "Why so many?"

"We need to deal with some vermin..." Jeros replied nonchalantly.

"So, oniisan, going to see some actual combat?" Yuki smiled and bowed to her older brother. "Good luck."

Motoko bowed, "I wish you luck as well."

"Thank you, but I create my own luck," Jeros smiled.

The men left later that day and returned in three days, having successfully completed their mission.

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*One year after that*

"Come on, Motoko-chan, you've been pining after him for years now!" Yuki said, exasperated. "You should say something."

"For the LAST TIME! I do NOT like your brother, okay Yuki-chan?" Motoko said with finality. The girls had just returned from a day spent wandering through the town (after they finished training of course), and spent most of the trip home arguing about Yuki's "obsession", as Motoko put it, with boys. The conversation quickly turned when Yuki mentioned Motoko's nervousness around Jeros.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Yuki replied shaking her head.

Motoko turned away from her friend and set her eyes on the dojo. There were a lot of people gathered around the outside, but no one seemed willing to enter for some reason. "Why is there a crowd?" she asked. "Did you hear about anything special happening today?"

"No," Yuki replied. Both girls began running, intent on finding out what the commotion was about. Once inside, they witnessed a scene Motoko would never be able to erase from her memory. Bodies were strewn about the floor, gashes in their throats, fresh blood still poured from some victims. Motoko looked around the room in horror, stepping around a headless body as she made her way in.

"What happened?" she asked a man who was looking around the room as well.

"Well, I'm not quite sure..." he scratched his chin. "But all the people here were involved in the raid last year. Nobody else in the area even noticed the attackers."

//That raid last year...?// Motoko thought. "Jeros..." she said softly, "Where's Jeros?"

Yuki picked up on this immediately. Her mind snapped back to reality and she nearly strangled the man who was examining the bodies. "Where is he!? Where!?"

The man pointed to the room behind him, gasping for air as the little girl released him. They both made a mad dash for the room, praying that the boy had made it out alive. What they saw, drove both girls to tears. Jeros had a staff stabbed through his neck, pinning him to the wall behind him. One eye had been removed, the face locked in a horrified gaze. Written in his blood above the wall were the words 'DARK FIRE'.

Stumbling out of the room, Motoko ran from the dojo, her tears coming in waves. //They'll pay for this... THEY'LL PAY!!!//

Outside, she noticed another crowd around a warrior. He was tall, wearing a mask around his mouth, but he kept his hair uncovered. His eye were glowing an ugly red, and his hair was white and seemed to be slicked straight backwards. He looked like some horrible demon.

Around him were the bodies of several samurai, disposed of in one slash of the sword and then forgotten. He looked at the crowd, holding his sword loosely at his side, daring someone else to attack him. When he saw that no such challenge was forthcoming, he began to speak. "My name is Auron Ryo. I bring a message for the members of the Toma clan: For your attack on the Kato Ninja, prepare for your destruction at the hands of the 'Dark Fire'. Know that such an attack was not only unprovoked, it is unforgivable. To the Aoyama clan: Know that the Kato and the Auron clan are allies. If you do not want your clan destroyed you will leave both clans alone." The ninja bowed politely, then exited the area.

Yuki sat in the room all day, staring at her brother's corpse. She didn't move even when men came in and took the body away. That night she disappeared and was never seen again.

A day later, the Toma family dojo was raided and destroyed. Once they heard the news, the Aoyama clan moved against the Auron and the Kato ninja.

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*Present*

Motoko opened her, shaken by the recollection. Suddenly she stood up. //I'll find that demon and have him explain why his hair turned white,// she thought as she stalked from her room.

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Sora walked down the halls of the Hinata-sou, having just finished cleaning. His lunch settled in his stomach uncomfortably, his body not used to eating so often. //How did that girl talk me into eating?// Sora sighed. He knew how it had happened. It was that look all girls worldwide had perfected that said "Please? I'll cry if you say no...". He bet that even Motoko had a look like that, but didn't use it.

Suddenly Suu came flying in and landed on Sora's back. "Hi, Bandit!" she greeted.

"Hi, Suu-chan," he replied. "How are you?"

"Bored," she chirped. Sora swallowed his feeling of impending doom. Last time she said she was bored, he had to chase down a killer robot on foot, and drag it back to the Hinata. His back still hurt from the effort.

"Oh," Sora said nervously. "Well, how about we play a game?"

Suu smiled, "Really? What?"

Sora put a look of mock enthusiasm on his face. "We're going to have a sleeping contest! Don't you want to go to sleep?"

"It's only 6:30..." Suu pointed out, confused. "I'm not tired."

"I am," Sora replied. Noting the girl's slight disappointment, he gave in. "Fine, what do you want to do?"

"Yeah! All right we'll--" Suu cut off sharply. "Oh, Motoko- chan!"

Sora froze. "Hello Aoyama-san," he said. Motoko didn't reply, but gave him a rather cold stare. At this, Sora's eye's narrowed. //Whatever is bothering her now, it is serious.//

"Hello, demon, I was looking for you," Motoko replied.

"Without your sword?" Sora replied evenly.

"Stop joking," she retorted.

"Sorry," Sora said mechanically. "What do you need?"

Suu was rather worried that a fight would break out. Both people were always nice to her, but she knew what their cool demeanor towards each other could mean. "Don't fight, Motoko-chan. Bandit was only being nice to me..."

"Don't worry, Suu-chan, we won't fight here. I'm not even armed," Motoko replied. She turned to Sora. "I just need to know one thing, demon."

Sora shifted uncomfortably. He had no clue what was coming, but he knew it would be bad. "What is it, Aoyama-san?"

"How did you manage to fight Suu-chan's mecha tama with a staff. What s the full extent of your power?" Motoko asked.

Sora kept his face smooth, but inside he was reeling. Suu looked on, curiously, as Sora toyed with the idea of running away. //I hoped I would be gone before they started wondering about that... But, they have a right to know. All of them.// Sora locked eyes with Motoko (slightly dismayed by the fact that he had to look up to do so). "Gather everyone in the living room. I'll explain it to them there." Then, with Suu still on his back, he went to the living room to wait.

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A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter came in really late. I've finally decided to get off my lazy ass and finish bringing this one up-to-date. Sorry if I have kept anyone waiting too long. Oh and please review if you've got the chance.

- Stizzo