Fight Hina

Chapter Seven

Sure enough, several boys did arrive at the Hinata House, now a co-ed dormitory, much to Naru, Motoko, and Mitsune's dismay. The first two were Keitaro's friends, Masayuki Haitani and Kimiaki Shirai. Keitaro had personally vouched for them to Ryu and Chun-Li, telling them that they are good people. Masayuki was a university major, having been successful in completing his entrance exams, whereas Kimiaki had a job working at the Kanagawa Neverland theme park along with Masayuki.

The third person was Kentaro Sakata, having been thrown out of his father's house. Of course, neither male had any problems with the ground rules and that they were supposed to help out with the chores, with the exception of Kentaro, who continued to work at the teahouse.

Kimiaki, however, was torn over his crush on Haruka to his new infatuation with Chun-Li, who just shrugged it off. Mitsune, on the other hand, was alarmed. Following Keitaro's confession, she told Naru and Motoko what he had told her when they were out cold. After seeing Keitaro's outburst earlier, the girls were certain that he would eventually back up on that promise, leaving the younger girls at his mercy.

Early one morning, a Japanese chestnut tree had fallen, blocking the annex. Almost immediately, the girls confronted Ryu about it, demanding that he should get rid of it.

After checking out the fallen tree (which Ryu suspected that it was Motoko's doing), Ryu grinned to himself and turned to Sakura. "Get my sword and an axe," he said.

Minutes later, Sakura returned with his katana, as well as an axe. Ryu accepted his weapon from his apprentice and unsheathed the weapon. With the girls watching in disbelief, Ryu methodically dismantled the tree into several pieces as the girls slunk back into the house, all except for Motoko, who watched Ryu from the balcony as Sakura began to split several piles of wood, with Ryu watching.

"There are many sounds in nature," Ryu explained. "Each sound is more different than the last."

He had turned the wood-splitting into a training session for Sakura, explaining that chopping firewood would (and was proven) strengthen her wrists and increase her reflexes. Motoko saw that Ryu wasn't a traditional martial arts teacher. He took rather unorthodox methods when it came to training Sakura, combining the old with the new.

"They are small enough to go unnoticed by the person, who is unaware," Ryu continued as Sakura had created a small heap of firewood at her feet. "Don't focus on hearing the wood split, but focus on the sound of the axe slicing the air. Read the air itself. It has much to say to you."

Motoko frowned. She remembered that Tsuruko had done something like this when she was younger. After several moments of watching Ryu and Sakura, she left as Shinobu came upstairs to hang the laundry out to dry.

The tension was present as everyone sat down for dinner. Following Keitaro's announcement several days earlier, Motoko and Naru watched both Kimiaki and Masayuki like birds on a prey. Fortunately, Chun-Li had put a stop to it, but even she knew that it would be a matter of time before it would start again.

While everyone ate, Kimiaki, while stealing glances at Chun-Li, turned and saw Motoko glaring at him. "What?" he asked. "What did I do?"

"You and the other males here are nothing but an abomination to the Hinata House," Motoko said in a cold tone. "Regardless of what that weakling Urashima said, this is still an all-girls dormitory."

"Motoko, stop it," Chun-Li ordered.

"It will only be a matter of time before you do something perverted to Shinobu, Kaolla, Sarah, or any one of us," Naru said. "You should do us all a favor and leave."

"That's not your decision to make," Chun-Li said. "You may not like what Keitaro has done, but you will have to live with it. Otherwise, you can always leave."