Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Turning of the Tides ❯ Saikin Inborubu Ukyo no Kousou ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Two: The Flaw in Ukyo's Plan

In his younger days, he supposed he would have faltered. Perhaps he would have laughed in the young girl's face - he actually almost felt like doing that now, despite himself. He probably also would have told her right then and there that he didn't have a son, just two daughters.

"Why don't you come inside?" Ranma suggested, with a quick look to Shampoo. Shampoo nodded and was in the house again before anything else was said - she had to warn the appropriate people not to speak out of turn. "I knew your mother quite well for a time."

"You were supposed to marry her, so I would assume so," Maina said firmly, refusing to meet his eyes with her own blue ones. "But you ran out on her and went after someone else... someone with no talent, looks, or anything else in her favour."

It was harder this time for him to turn on the Soul of Ice than often times, but he wasn't the Grandmaster of the School for nothing. "If I am to invite you into my home, I would ask you not to insult my wife, Kounji Maina." He turned slowly to the door when he heard movement, and saw Kasumi standing there.

"Oh, you must be the girl Shampoo told us about," she said with a smile and a little bow to her. "Let me show you to the furo... you must have travelled a good distance, and it really is amazing what a good soak can do to relieve tension."

Maina was about to argue, but upon seeing the look on the woman's face, she suddenly found herself not wanting to upset her. She just looked so open and kind that to throw back her offer would be insulting... almost dishonourable. Rather than trust her voice, though, she simply nodded.

"I have one other request," Ranma said as he ushered her inside. "Please do not speak of why you have come here until tomorrow morning. We will ensure you have a place to rest and food to eat before talking about such things."

"Since I have accepted an offer into your home, I can agree to that. But tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow, we'll talk. For now, let Kasumi take care of you," Ranma suggested. Before Maina could say anything in response, he suddenly vanished from view. She managed to turn in time to see another woman vanish from the bottom of the stairs, but couldn't figure out what had just happened.

"Ranma just took Akane to talk with her," Kasumi said softly, presumably reading the shocked expression on her face. "Let me show you the way, and then I'll call when supper's ready. After supper, I'll get you settled into one of our guest rooms. From what Shampoo said, I take it you'll be staying for a while?"

"That would be the plan, according to my honour," Maina said firmly. She tried to resist Kasumi prying the bag off her back, but again found she simply couldn't refuse the kind woman anything. She took the towels and soap that were offered to her and smiled, again not really trusting her voice. No one had really been so kind to her before...

"I will set up one of the more permanent guest rooms, then. Something upstairs, maybe..."

Maina stopped at the entrance to the furo and turned back to Kasumi slowly. She wasn't sure what to make of what she had seen of the Saotome home so far, but she did know her manners - even if she had had little reason to use them in the past. "Thank you."

She slid the door closed behind her slowly as she took in the large dressing area. There were two baskets for dirty clothes - one of which was currently empty, while the other was almost filled with what looked like training gis and red silk shirts - and beyond that, there were three sinks and several metal buckets sitting under them.

Most people would have found the three kettles she spotted unusual, but she knew all about Ranma Saotome already. The purple haired woman was a bit of a mystery, but the woman he had vanished with was not. The blue-black short hair was a dead giveaway - her least favourite person in the world, Akane Tendo. She, like her mother, refused to call her by her married name.

With a deep breath, she set down the essentials she had been given and looked around quickly to make sure she was alone. It had been a very long time since she had used a private bath like this one... or even a public one. For the past three years, the best she had had was washing off in a cold stream, which was not the most pleasant of experiences by any means.

Reaching around behind herself, she took hold of the pink ribbon at the bottom of her hair and pulled it off, letting her brown hair flow mostly free. Looking in the mirror by the sinks, she noticed the flower she had stuck behind her ear. She wasn't entirely sure why she had done it, but it looked nice. Before she took the other ribbon out of her hair, she pulled the flower out and carefully set it on the edge of the sink.

She had no great attachment to her clothes - unlike her ribbons that her mom had actually made for her - and peeled off her green shirt easily, tossing it into the empty hamper. It took a few minutes for her to undo the bindings around her chest, which made sense, given how many times she had wrapped the white cloth around herself.

When she was finally free, she turned back to the mirror to look at herself. Almost against her own will, she held a hand in front of her breasts after a moment. The one thing her sensei had always ragged on her about was her femininity. Her breasts were too big to make a proper martial artist, which was why she had been forced by her mother to bind them for as long as she could remember. At least in the privacy of the furo she could relax and let herself be who she really was.

Maina sighed to herself and turned away from the mirror. Standing in front of it looking at herself wasn't going to solve anything. She was on her own now, and as soon as she had resolved the issue of her honour, she could put that part of her life behind her. Oh, she knew she'd never give up the Art by any means, but she could at least attempt to claim her female aspects again.

Stripping out of her dark green slacks, she tossed them with her bindings into the hamper as well. Her panties were next, and she sighed as she tossed them. At least her timing was pretty good for once - her period had ended yesterday, so she wouldn't have to deal with it on top of everything else.

Well, you've made it this far, anyway. She slid the fogged glass door open and stepped into the smaller bathing room. If she had looked around in the main room, she would probably have noticed two other doors leading to separate baths as well - three for the large household. Now, just one more task - convincing Ranma to enforce the engagement.

Her breath came out slowly as she lowered herself into the warm water. This was paradise if there ever was one - just relaxing and soaking in a nice warm, private bath. She didn't have to worry about anything until tomorrow, not even where she was going to sleep, and for how long. No sensei to wake her in the middle of the night for a sudden sparring match... no mother telling her to get up early to cook... she'd probably even be able to eat all her own food for once.

"Mind some company?"

She almost shrieked at the suddenly intrusion of her thoughts and privacy, but managed to catch herself in time. She did, however, back up to the far side of the tub and grab at the washcloth found there to try and cover herself up as best as possible before even looking to see who was there.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya or nuthin. I just needed a good soak after training, and thought I'd keep you company," the girl said. She had shoulder length red hair and a soft smile. "I'm Renia. I guess you must be Maina, right?" Maina didn't even get a chance to reply before the other girl had lowered herself into the water across from her. "Now this is nice... just sitting here, ignoring everything else in the world."

"Uh... Renia?" She was trying to figure out how to ask the other girl to leave now that she had actually gotten into the water with her, but the words weren't coming to her. She knew it wasn't uncommon for sisters to share a bath, but this was a bit much!

Renia looked over to her and saw her holding the washcloth. "Oh, want me to wash your back? I understand. It's a pain to reach sometimes." Again, Maina didn't even have a chance to reply before the cloth had been snatched and she had been spun around. "How's this feel?"

Although a large part of her mind wanted to tell the girl to stop, the soothing sensations of having her back washed down made her thoughts die on her lips. "Thanks... Renia," she said after a moment. "Want me to wash yours, too?"

"Nah," she said. "This is just a quick soak for me. I've still gotta do some training this evening after supper and all, so I'll wash up fully then. Guess I really just wanted ta say hi to ya."

"So, you practice too, then?" Maina asked. She could have kicked herself for the question - surely everyone who lived in the Tendo residence practiced the Art.

"Yeah, most of my life," Renia explained. "Hard not to with folks like mine. But it's great, they're really good teachers. Pushing hard enough to make us all learn, but not hard enough for us to hate it. Hey, you wanna spar after supper?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," Maina said softly. Renia seemed rather nice, but sparing with her probably wouldn't end up too well. No one had managed to beat her for the last several years of her travelling, and she didn't really want to show up this girl, when it would undoubtedly make things difficult living in the same house.

"Great. You know, it sounds like you'll be staying here for a while from what Zaa-san said. You wanna be friends?"

"Friends?"

"Yeah, you know, buddies. Hang out together, talk to each other when stuff just sucks, that sort of thing. Whada ya say?"

"I'd like that, Renia," Maina said softly. She then smiled and turned to her new friend. "Do you usually join people in the bath to make friends, or am I an exception?"

After the two stopped laughing, Renia sighed and drew her knees up to her chest. "Nah, not usually. Actually, I'm not sure why I even came in here... I don't usually like sharing a bath with anyone but my little sis," she explained. At Maina's glance, she shrugged. "Akiko, I think you met her earlier. She usually comes in when I'm almost done, and we just sit and talk. It's the only time we can and know our folks ain't gonna listen in. It's how I found out about the baka that was bugging her at school. Three years older, and buggin' her for a date. Can you believe it, a ten year old chasin a seven year old?"

"What did you do about it?"

"Beat the guy to a pulp and twisted him into something that looked an awful lot like a pretzel," she said with a shrug. "Ono sorted him out later, but he learned his lesson."

"Speaking of pretzels, when do you think Kasumi will have supper ready?"

"Hungry are you?" Renia asked with a smile. "It shouldn't be long now. Actually, if we get out now, by the time we get back downstairs, it should be ready."

Maina then groaned to herself, but Renia seemed to hear it and looked over to her. "I forgot to bring in clean clothes... guess I've gotta change into my dirty ones again."

"Not likely," Renia said with a grin. "I've never brought clean clothes with me, but there's always a set waiting for me when I'm done. I think Kasumi brings it in once I'm in the water, but I've never caught her. Don't let her looks fool ya, she ain't half bad with the Art herself. But she probably brought you a set, too, it's the type of thing she'd do for ya."

"But it..."

"She wouldn't snoop through your stuff," Renia said quickly, as though sensing her thoughts. "Just get a change of clothes, that's all. Don't worry about it."

Maina stepped out first and grabbed for her towel - both to start drying herself off and to cover herself up a bit. "I guess you're right," she called back to Renia when she spotted the two piles of clothes waiting for them. She also saw in her pile of green that Kasumi must have left her a bra, in addition to her bindings, as though giving her an option. She'd have to remember to thank her later.

"Hey, Maina, can I ask ya something?"

"Sure, I guess. So long as it doesn't have anything to do with why I'm here - I promised Ranma that I wouldn't talk about it until tomorrow."

"Yeah, they told me that, don't worry," Renia said, clapping her on the shoulder as she passed and picked up her own towel. As she started drying her hair roughly, she went on. "No, I just wanted ta ask about the scars on yer back. What happened, anyway?"

All the colour drained from Maina's face instantly, and she closed her eyes. A terrible screeching sound echoed in her memory of the day so many years ago... and the pain, so much pain. "Training," she said softly. "It went wrong, that's all."

"Oh. Sorry I asked, then."

Maina shrugged, even though she really was a bit upset at it being brought up. "Don't worry about it. It was bound to come up sooner or later."

Once she was dry, the first thing she did was try on the bra to see if it fit. Unfortunately, it was a little small and hurt to wear, so she tossed it to the ground and picked up her bindings. "I'll have to tell Kasumi-san that I need a bigger one than that," she muttered to herself.

"Your hair's nice, by the way." She turned back to Renia quickly, startled by the exclamation. The other girl was already completely dressed, and was just doing her hair back up into her ponytail. "The length, it's good."

"Thanks," she managed with a small smile.

At supper, neither Ranma nor Akane were anywhere to be found. The rest of the household was gathered around a large table that was piled high with food. As she entered the tearoom, Maina noticed that people seemed to be sitting in groups.

The two young girls who had brought her here in the first place, Akiko and Chika, were sitting with a girl who looked about six years their senior, but they were talking animatedly anyway. The only boy was sitting almost entirely on his own, and wasn't saying a word to any of them. Maina sat down next to him carefully, assuming that he was the one she was looking for. Renia sat next to her, and suggested she not try talking to Minoru - the boy she had picked out - as he would probably just insult her anyway, or say something that made no sense.

For his part, Minoru just stuck his tongue out at Renia, who pulled out a mallet from behind her and struck him in the back of the head, smashing his face into the table. To Maina's surprise, no one reacted to that at all.

Aside from the people her own age, there were also a few adults. Kasumi was sitting with an older man with short black hair and a kind expression. She assumed that he must be her husband, the way they were quietly talking to each other while eating, as though no one else existed at all.

Also present was an older woman with red hair, dressed in almost a formal kimono. Maina recognized her from pictures that her mother had shown her - she was the Saotome matriarch, Ranma's mother Nodoka. Oddly, she didn't seem to have the katana her mother had warned her about anywhere nearby.

Next to her was a woman who looked about as old as Kasumi. She had short brown hair and was wearing a small t-shirt and shorts that looked a little short on her. She was talking almost too quickly to follow with Nodoka. Judging by how much she looked like Kasumi and Akane, Maina figured her to be the middle sister Nabiki. Sitting next to the middle Tendo daughter was the elder Tendo himself - Soun, unless she missed her guess for names.

The purple haired woman was there, too. Renia had called her Zaa-san. She seemed to be keeping mostly to herself, though every now and then she glared at the pink haired woman next to her. For her part, the pink haired woman was completely ignoring her, and speaking with a man in glasses with long black hair. Both were wearing white robes that seemed a little big on them.

"Well, let's skip formal introductions for now, shall we?" Kasumi suggested. "That can wait for tomorrow. But for now, I'd like everyone to meet Maina. She'll be staying with us for a while, okay?"

Everyone at the table had stopped eating when Kasumi started speaking, as though they, too, were afraid of making her upset for any reason. "Hi," she said softly, not really used to being the centre of attention for so many people.

They went around the table quickly to give her each of the names. She already knew Kasumi, Akiko, Chika, and Renia, and Renia had told her Minoru's name. It ended up that Zaa-chan's real name was Shampoo, and she was sitting next to Fenrish and Mousse. She was right with her guess about Nodoka, Nabiki, and Soun, and the man with Kasumi was Ono - the doctor, if her memory served correctly. The only people not present, it seemed, were Ranma and Akane - not that she missed Akane at all, even though she had never met her. Anyone who had the gall to steal a fiancé out from under someone for no reason but a petty argument didn't really deserve being met.

"My son and his wife are in the Dojo doing a bit of training," Nodoka offered once everyone started eating again. "But you've already met Ranma, and he is married to..."

"Akane, yes, I know," Maina interrupted her coldly. "I know her name, don't worry."

Everyone froze at the hardness to her voice, but Nodoka kept her gaze steady and strong. "You must have been travelling for many days to get here, child, so you are probably quite tired. You should have an early night tonight, understand?" The way she asked made it obvious that this was not open to discussion. Not that she would ever admit it, but she was a little tired, and the idea of an actual room to sleep in was almost more than she could comprehend.

"What do you think they're doing in there?" Chika asked suddenly. "They always seem to disappear at least once everyday, just to train together, right? Why's that?"

Maina really didn't want to hear the answer to that question, but Renia's reply caught her off guard. "Sometimes, they work on increasing their ki, but usually, they are perfecting and increasing the speed of their kata, The Setsuai no Kata."

"It's actually quite impressive, if you want to see the kata sometime, Maina," Kasumi offered quietly. "I'm sure they'd even be willing to slow it down enough to be seen by any of us here. Their ki training they tend to keep to themselves, though - not that any of us could open the door anyway thanks to the amount they produce."

"I don't want to see it, thanks," Maina said, equally softly. She didn't want to mouth off to Kasumi, but she wanted to make her position clear.

"Please remember my son's request of you, Kounji Maina," Nodoka said firmly.

After a rather tense silence, Renia stood up suddenly. "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm gonna check to see if they're done in there, and then I'm gonna find someone to spar. Up for the challenge, Maina?" She grabbed the girl's hand before she could object and pulled her off and out the exit to the tearoom.

When they pulled open the door to the Dojo, however, it appeared that the assumption had been wrong - neither Ranma nor Akane were there. Once inside, Renia bent over and picked up a couple of kendo sticks, tossing one of them to Maina.

Maina looked down to it and frowned. "Weapons aren't really my thing," she said, tossing it back.

"Mine neither," Renia replied, returning it again. "It'll be a good warmup. After we're done looking like bakas with bokkens, we'll get to the real sparring, alright?"

"These aren't bokkens, though..."

"Maina! It was just an expression!"

She shrugged and checked the weight of the weapon. Even if she didn't like using them, that didn't mean she wasn't trained in their use at all. Her sensei had trained her to be the best, after all, which meant nothing could be left out.

Satisfied, she lifted it to a ready position just as Renia shot in with the blade held high. The two met with a resounding crack, and the fight had started. Maina crouched under the next swing, and flipped backwards without touching the floor to regain her distance and balance before starting her own attack. Coming in quickly, she struck hard to the head, intending on finishing it as soon as possible.

Renia spun out of the way of the attack and swung her own sword around to hit Maina's exposed back with a crack. For her part, Maina didn't cry out at the pain at all, but twirled around to face her again.

After an impressive feint to the head again, Renia was the one sporting the new injury, having been caught in her left elbow hard. She didn't say anything either, which impressed Maina to no end. The bamboo was really quite hard, and few people could take a hit like that without any equipment and not complain.

The sticks themselves clashed together the next three times they came together. Suddenly, Renia and Maina both found themselves right in each other's face, their weapons above their heads, crossed together.

"You ain't bad at this," Renia managed with a grin, though her teeth were clenched together.

"Of course I'm not!" Maina replied. "I was trained to be the best!" Pushing backwards, she came in for an attack at the side while Renia stumbled against the lack of opposition.

If she thought she had a clear blow, she was wrong, though. The two sticks came together again hard, snapping them both clean in half. The broken ends scattered in all directions as the two separated.

"Ah, Kou-sensei's gonna be pissed," Renia muttered, tossing the broken weapon aside.

"Kou-sensei?" Maina asked in surprise, tossing her own broken stick behind her like Renia had done. "Who's that?"

"Everyone calls Akane that when she's teaching," Renia said with a shrug. "Just like people..."

"Call Ranma Ryu-sensei?" Maina finished. At Renia's startled look, she smiled. "I heard Shampoo mention it to him when I first got here."

Later on, neither could really say who started and who finished, but they both came together suddenly to start the actual sparring. Renia went on the offensive right away, and Maina ducked and spun aside of every attack that she threw.

"How are you..." Renia muttered through clenched teeth. "… dodging all my attacks!" Her last strike hit the wall hard, splintering the wood. She pulled her hand back quickly and ducked on instinct as Maina took the advantage to attack in her stead.

"I'm just faster than you, that's all!" Maina said with a grin as she attacked in full. To her great surprise, however, it was Renia's turn to nimbly avoid everything she threw at her.

When the two separated again, both were breathing a little heavily. "You're not bad," Renia admitted. "Care to up it a bit?"

"You aren't too bad yourself," Maina said with a smirk. "But if I went all out, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Put your words in action then!"

As one, they turned to leave the Dojo and stepped into the backyard. Almost as soon as they touched the grass, Renia turned to attack again with a flying kick. When Maina blocked it firmly with a forearm, Renia pushed off the steady target to try a spinning kick.

Maina ducked beneath it and came up with a hard punch to Renia's stomach, knocking her backwards and into the wall of the Dojo. She sort of bounced off it, but landed on her feet. With almost a feral growl, the red head shot forward to attack again. Just before she reached her, though, Renia vanished from view.

"What?" Maina demanded loudly, turning quickly to try and catch some sign of her opponent. "Where'd you go?"

She didn't see Renia come out of the Umisen right where she had vanished - given that she couldn't actually move in it yet - which meant she didn't have the chance to dodge the kick that sent her sprawling.

"Who doesn't stand a chance now?"

The brunette leapt backwards and landed on the roof of the house itself. Taking the hint, Renia leapt back to land on the Dojo. They looked to each other for a moment before attacking in the air.

Maina blocked the first kick easily, and spun around, catching the other girl in the side with her hair, using it like a fierce whip. She pulled hard in response, knowing she had caught her arm, but then they were apart again, and she landed easily on the roof of the Dojo.

Renia was standing on the house, breathing harder than before. "That hair thing's a good trick!" she said carefully, buying a touch of time. "I almost wish I hadn't said it looked nice, now..."

Maina took the offensive this time, pushing off hard and fast, intending to finish things before they went much further. Nodoka had been right - she was tired from travelling. Renia leaping straight at her rather than at an angle caught her completely off guard, and she only had the time to bring up a moderate defense.

She did manage to catch the other girl's ankle, bringing her crashing to the ground right alongside her. She landed hard, winding herself, but forced herself to sit up anyway.

Renia looked to be in about the same boat, but had made it to her feet. Neither had a chance to say anything, though, before Mousse stepped out from the tearoom.

"That was very impressive, both of you. I believe that ends things in a draw for the night." He stepped aside from the open doorway and motioned inside.

"But Ahiru-sensei!" Renia started to object.

"I thought, Ki-chan, that my words were clear enough," Mousse said calmly. If Renia was calling him as a sensei, and not as an adult - in which case she would have simply called him Mousse - then she had to understand that his word was final in this matter.

Maina didn't say anything, but walked swiftly towards the house to get inside. Renia's voice called after her. "Nice match, Maina! You ain't half bad!"

She stopped in the entrance and whirled around on the other girl swiftly. "I'm not just `not half bad!' I am the best!" she said fiercely. "Nodoka was right when she said I was just tired. On a good day, you really wouldn't stand a chance!" She was inside before Renia could respond at all, and nearly tripped over Chika, who was sitting on the steps.

"Sorry, Maina-chan!" Chika said in an overly loud voice. "I didn't mean to get in your way of going upstairs!"

Maina ignored the young girl and leapt over her to go up the stairs quickly. She knew that Renia had, technically, beaten her. That left a very bitter feeling in her mouth. On one hand, she was supposed to be the best, without question. That's why she had trained for almost her entire life - even since she had learned how to walk. Not to be second place, but to be the best!

On the other hand, though, Renia was her friend... wasn't she? She had offered, and they had gotten along so well before they had started sparing. Would that fight destroy their new friendship, or would they both be able to put it aside?

She found her room easily enough - she assumed it must have been Kasumi who had put up her name on the door, the third door on the left. When she pushed the door open, she was surprised to find Akiko reaching for the door as though to leave. Behind her was a massive mess - all of Maina's belongings were strewn about on the floor.

"What's going on here?" she demanded in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Maina-chan, I really am!" Akiko said quickly. "It was all Setsumi's idea, she wanted to know more about you and the adults aren't saying anything but it's obvious they know what's going on but no one ever tells us anything, not even anything about otousan's past so we thought that we'd never know more about you than what they had already told you but you were..."

She was forced to cut off her attempt at an apology when Maina covered her mouth with her hand. She sighed and looked into the young girl's green eyes. "Could you try that again?"

"Otousan never tells us what's going on with newcomers," she said a bit slower. "They're usually gone before we even get a chance to greet them. One girl seemed really nice, too, but she hated okaasan more than anything. That was a couple years ago, and we never even learned her name! We just..."

"We?"

"Yeah, Setsumi, Chika, and me, we just wanted to..."

"Setsumi, you, and Chika?"

"Yeah, like I said. Anyway..."

"Hold on a minute..." Maina said. She hadn't dealt with kids ever before, and this one seemed to have the uncanny ability to talk forever without stopping. "Look, how about you start from the beginning. Which ones are your otousan and okaasan?"

"Ranma and Akane," Akiko said with a frown. "What, you didn't know that? Everyone's always tellin me that I look just like okaasan!"

Now that it had been pointed out, she actually could see the resemblance between the two, even though she hadn't seen much of Akane. Her mother had told her enough about what she looked like, though. This girl, this seven year old, had the same short blue black hair and the same piercing green eyes. It was also evident that she was extremely tired, because she didn't put the point together that, since Akiko and Renia were sisters, Renia must be a Saotome as well.

"So, Setsumi and Chika are your..."

"Friends," Akiko said with a smile. "Setsumi's parents are Ono and Kasumi, but we don't know who Chika's parents are. It's a long story, you wanna hear it?"

"How about I ask her later?" Maina suggested, trying to cut her off before she got started again. "So, what can you tell me about Minoru?"

"That baka?" Akiko asked, sticking her tongue out at the thought of him. "He thinks he so good, but he's just a pain! As if his blue hair doesn't make him stand out enough, he won't wear the school uniform, no matter what happens, and he just about refuses to talk to anyone! But, the worst part is when the grown ups aren't around; he always thinks he's the one in charge. Renia is older than him anyway, so it should be her, but no! He just has to be Mr. Big shot and ruin everything! He never lets us do anything fun if he thinks he can get away with it! I mean..."

"Alright, Akiko," Maina said when the girl paused to take a breath. "Thanks. Look, I'm really tired right now, so do you think I could have my room back so I could get some sleep?"

"You mean, you ain't gonna tell anyone what we was doing?"

Maina smiled to her. "It can be our little secret, okay?"

Akiko nodded and pretended to zip her lips closed before scooting out of the room and disappearing downstairs. Just as she was shutting the door, a foot appeared in it, blocking it open. Looking up, she found herself face to face with Renia, who looked livid.

"Just where do ya get off sayin yer the best, and then takin off like that?" she demanded. "Everyone around knows that I'm the best!" She then muttered something that sounded distinctly like "of those under thirty..." before going on. "I challenge you to an official match, after school tomorrow! I'll show you just what the heir to the Anything Goes School can do!"

"Heir?" Maina asked in surprise. "But I thought..."

"What, you thought I wasn't good enough to be the heir?" Renia yelled. "I beat you today, even if ya won't admit it! And I'll do it again tomorrow!"

"I thought Minoru was the heir," Maina whispered, but apparently the words were loud enough for Renia to pick them up, because the redhead threw her head back and laughed.

"That baka, the heir to the school? Maybe to the Hidden Weapons mastery, he's Mousse and Fenrish's kid!" she said, shaking her head and turning around. "I'm the eldest Saotome kid, and that makes me the heir, got it? Course, I don't mind sharin it with Akiko, but that don't mean I ain't it!"

"So... who is your brother, then?" Maina asked softly. She knew before she asked that she wouldn't like the answer. The only thing she couldn't come up with was just how her mother had managed to mix things up so badly.

"Brother?" Renia asked, startled. "I don't got a brother. It's just Akiko and me," she explained. "Why? What made ya think I had a brother?"

Maina turned away from her, to hide her face to make sure her tears couldn't be seen. "I'm sorry, Renia. I didn't mean to make you so mad at me... but I won't be staying long anyway, I guess." She thought she would finally be able to settle down and stay put - her mother and sensei had promised her that! All the hard work, all the painful training, even the scars would be worth it, if she finally had a family to call her own.

"What? Why would you leave? We're just having a little fight, that doesn't mean we ain't still friends! C'mon, don't leave, please! I need a training partner like you, someone who I haven't had a chance to watch since I started!" Renia put a hand on the other girl's shoulder to try and turn her around, but Maina jerked away.

"Look, just leave me alone!" Maina said harshly. "I can't stay here now!"

"Can't you at least tell me why not?"

Maina sighed and closed her eyes, squeezing out a couple of tears, which fell unbidden to the ground slowly. "You don't have a brother..." she whispered. "I was supposed to marry your brother... and without that, I can't stay here, and I let my mother and sensei down. I have nothing..."

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…
The Shadows