Nothing to Hide
As the sun rose outside the Hinata apartments, Motoko Aoyama finished
her morning training routine. It was a common practice in her school to
train at sunrise: one that was made necessary in the Hinata apartments,
where there were always distractions as soon as the sun - or rather, the
other residents - rose.
Motoko had taken this same routine every morning for years. She would
rise while the sky was still dark, train for two hours and take a bath
in the hot springs. Then, there would often be some crisis which
required her steady mind - or, as was more common when Keitaro was
involved, her sword - which would take up most of the rest of the day.
Today, though, she had other plans.
Shedding her robe and donning a towel, Motoko sank blissfully into the
hot springs. Her training had been intense this morning, and the hot
water really helped her to relax her muscles. This was when she most
enjoyed the hot springs, when she was able to relax and wasn't likely to
be distracted by the antics of Suu and Sara, or by Keitaro mistakenly
blundering in, causing Naru to send him into low Earth orbit. But there
were other reasons she liked the privacy which the early morning
allowed...
She had never told anyone about her sexuality. It had taken her a long
time to admit it even to herself that she liked girls. So, being
surrounded by nubile, naked girls with no way to service herself...well,
it got kind of frustrating. In the privacy of the early morning,
however, she was free to do whatever she wanted with herself, imagining
the curvy forms of Naru and Kitsune sitting next to her...but in the
end, she was never fully satisfied. She craved the touch of another
woman. But she knew in her heart that no woman she knew would want her.
By the time Motoko emerged from the changerooms, breakfast had already
started. Motoko walked past Keitaro, who was lodged in the wall - not at
all surprising. She took her seat and quietly ate her rice, as Suu
chattered on about her latest invention.
'...but I expect it will be much more powerful than the last. Do you
want to help me test it out, Motoko?'
'No thanks, Suu. I've got plans today.'
Suu looked very surprised.
'What are you doing, Motoko?' asked Shinobu, in the tentative voice she
always used for this sort of thing.
'There's a legendary martial arts master offering lessons at his temple
later on. I'm going to go and check it out, see if he can teach me
anything.'
'What's his name?' asked Naru. Everyone was listening now.
'His name is Master Hino. I thought he'd stopped fighting years ago, but
he's opened the doors of his dojo for a women's martial arts class.'
There was a collective 'Ohh,' around the table.
'There's more. It's said that the temple he runs is the site of several
battles of the Sailor Senshi.'
'The Sailor Senshi? You're kidding!' said Keitaro, who had crawled back
into his seat.
'No, I'm not. But the possibility of meeting them... let's just say, it
justifies the two-hour bus trip. I was tossing up whether it would be
worth it just for training, but when the two are put together...'
She stood up. 'Anyway, I should be going. The training starts at 10, and
I don't want to be late.'
Motoko dressed herself in her best training robes and departed. Getting
on the bus, she closed her eyes and began to meditate.
The Sailor Senshi... Motoko admired those girls so much. She had seen
the movies about them, of course, everyone had. But once, she had
actually been able to catch a glimpse of the five warriors in battle.
They were so graceful, so beautiful. One in particular, though, had
caught her eye.
Sailor Mars.
Motoko had seen her launch a mighty firebird at the monster the Senshi
were fighting, turning the tide of combat. Mars was so powerful and yet
so beautiful, her long black hair cascading behind her, her
tantalisingly short skirt...
But before Motoko could get a good look, the battle was over and the
Senshi retreated into the shadows. Ever since, she had fantasised about
Mars - she wanted not only to be with her, but to be her. But she knew
neither could ever be the case.
The bus trip passed quickly. All Motoko had to do was transfer onto the
No. 66 bus which would take her up to the temple.
The bus dropped her off at the foot of some stairs. She could see Hino's
temple at the top. There were several other women walking up with her,
mostly in tight workout suits. Motoko tried to keep her mind focused as
she walked up slightly ahead of the crowd. On the way up, she passed
four other girls walking down from the temple, two carrying cats. She
caught a few seconds of their conversation:
'You've really done it this time, Serena,' said a blue-haired girl
walking on the left of the group.
'It wasn't my fault!' protested a blonde girl with long pigtails,
walking in the centre. 'Raye shouldn't be so defensive!'
'Still, you need to be more careful,' said an exceptionally tall
brunette.
That was all Motoko could hear before the four girls passed the noisy
crowd. Motoko couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen them
before...
Outside the Shinto temple where her grandfather was attempting once
again to spread the way of the martial artist to a horde of young women,
Raye Hino was trying to reorganise her room after the girls had left.
That Serena... she was a good person most of the time, but sometimes she
just ground Raye's nerves. It didn't help that all these idiotic women
were hanging around, pretending to be interested in martial arts so they
could gawk at Chad.
As Raye replaced the last of her comic books, she heard a voice behind
her politely say, 'Excuse me, can you tell me where I might find Master
Hino?'
Raye turned. Standing in the doorway was a tall, graceful girl, dressed
in training robes similar to the ones Raye herself wore. In fact, Raye
was struck by how similar the two of them were in appearance.
'Well, you can find him in the main hall, but you'd have to get through
them first,' she said, nodding towards the crowd of women pushing to get
in.
'I understand. Thank you.' The girl blushed. 'I'm sorry, I forgot to ask
your name.'
'My name's Raye Hino. This temple belongs to my grandfather.'
'I've heard of your grandfather before. His name is well renowned in my
dojo. My name is Motoko Aoyama.'
Raye was taken aback. 'Motoko Aoyama? Of the Divinity School of
Swordsmanship?'
'Yes.'
'Wow,' said Raye. 'I've heard of your order, but I thought you were just
legends. I've always wished that I could learn the skills you have, Miss
Aoyama.'
Motoko waved her hand slightly. 'Please, call me Motoko. "Miss Aoyama"
sounds so formal.'
'Okay, Motoko.' Raye giggled. 'Listen, why don't you stay around here
until the class finishes? I'm sure my grandfather would be delighted to
meet you.'
'Sounds good,' said Motoko.
The two of them sat down for a few hours, talking. Motoko felt like she
had seen Raye before, the same feeling she'd had with those four girls
outside. But in Raye's case, it was amplified somewhat. Motoko couldn't
explain it - she assumed that it was just because of their similarity:
the two were similar in build, although Motoko was taller, and they had
had similar upbringings.
Motoko shortly learned that the four girls she had passed were Raye's
friends, who had been up at the temple for a study session and had left
before the crowd arrived.
'...and Serena... oh, that girl annoys me. She's such a klutz! Always
making trouble.'
'Oh, God, tell me about it. My apartment manager, Keitaro, is the same.
From your description, they'd be perfect for each other.'
'Maybe, but Serena is, as she is constantly reminding us, in a
relationship. God, I envy her sometimes. Darien is a really nice guy.'
'So, you don't have a boyfriend?' asked Motoko, immediately blushing at
the bluntness of her statement. What is this feeling I have? I just met
this girl!
Before Raye could answer, there was a scream from outside.
'What the-' said Raye. The two girls rushed outside. There was a large
monster that appeared to be trying to drain the energy from the girls at
the dojo. It was doing a good job.
Raye looked around frantically. The other girls were nowhere in sight.
From their position, no-one could see them. She looked at Motoko.
'Motoko. What you are about to see... promise you won't tell anyone
about it.'
Motoko nodded, confused.
Raye closed her eyes and raised her hand. 'Mars Star Power!'
Motoko watched incredulously as Raye was wreathed in flames. A short
time later, the flames died down, revealing...
Sailor Mars.
So that was why Motoko recognised Raye. She realised then that the other
four girls must have been the rest of the Sailor Senshi. She had passed
within a few feet of these legendary warriors and not realised it!
She found herself, somewhat inappropriately, staring at Mars. Mars
didn't notice, though. She ran into the courtyard to attack the monster
with a jet of flame.
The monster turned, not fazed in the slightest. With a roar, it sent
Mars flying. Mars landed hard, cursing. Why the hell don't I get a last
minute rescue? she thought. Ordinarily, the Senshi would be able to
figure something out, or would be saved at the last minute by a flying
rose.
Suddenly, the monster, poised to finish her off, was sent reeling itself
by what felt to Mars like a wave of Ki energy. She looked over her
shoulder, and briefly saw a flying form jump over her and cleave the
monster in two with a katana - all in the space of about a second. It
took her only slightly longer to realise that it was Motoko. Mars was
speechless. Motoko had entered and won the fight in the time it would
take Sailor Moon to draw her wand.
Motoko turned to look at Mars, trying hard to ignore the fact that she
could see up her skirt. Mars seemed to be aware of this, and stood up,
dusting herself off. The two of them looked at each other for a few
seconds before either could say anything. Motoko was the first to break
the silence
'It seems you have a lot to hide, Raye,' she said, moving towards her
and sheathing her sword. Summoning more courage than it took to attack
the monster, she added, 'and so do I.'
She stood very close to Mars, so that their bodies were almost touching.
She leaned in, moving her face towards Mars'. Mars's eyes widened.
Suddenly, she found her voice.
'No,' she said. Motoko sagged. Mars looked up at the girl who had just
saved her life. 'Not here.'
She offered Motoko her hand, and led her back to her room, where she
became Raye once again.
She looked at Motoko once again. Motoko's face was crimson. Raye, to her
own incredulity, began to have a feeling she never thought possible for
another girl - desire.
'You were right, Motoko. I did have a lot to hide - even from myself.'
With that, she moved across the room and pressed her lips to Motoko's.
After a few seconds which felt like a blissful eternity, they broke
apart and looked each other in the eyes, all their secrets laid bare.
Later on in the day, Keitaro began his daily mopping of the floors. He
found that it was a good way to avoid stumbling into the hot springs by
accident - which was why he always mopped while the girls were bathing.
Suddenly, he heard a voice call out 'Hey, Keitaro!' He looked up, and
saw Motoko - this seemed to be one of the rare occasions where she
wasn't scowling at him, rather smiling.
'Oh, hi, Motoko. How was the session? You were certainly gone a long
time.'
Motoko grinned. 'It was.. productive. Where are the others?'
'Having a bath.'
Motoko walked past Keitaro, smiling. 'Hmm, I could probably use a bath.
My time at the temple was very.. energetic.'
As she strolled off, Keitaro shrugged, and resumed mopping, wondering
what it was that had put Motoko in such a good mood.
'Ah well. I guess we've all got something to hide,' he said to no-one in
particular.
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This is my first attempt at any sort of fanfiction. Due to this
inexperience (and the fact that I most likely wouldn't be able to
properly express it), I opted to leave out the implied lemon scene. If
someone else wants to repost this, adding the scene, go ahead.
Back to Love Hina Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction