Motoko Aoyama stood there calmly, sword ready as the breeze stirred her long black hair, her white robes flowing in the wind. "Are you ready?" she finally asked, the rose signet of a duelist glowing on her finger, a single red rose attached to her robes. "Of course," Saionji answered her contemptuously, long green hair tied back, a matching rose waiting for battle. The object, of course, was for one of the duelists to cut away the rose, ideally without hurting the other fighter. "Good," Motoko smiled and seemed to disappear. "What in the..." Saionji looked around wildly. "BOULDER CUTTING BLADE!" Motoko struck without warning, sending him and what was left of his rose flying into the air. "Aieee!" Saionji disappeared off in the distance. "So why did she have to get into a fight with him again?" a smiling Naru Narusegawa asked the others, her brown hair falling in two curved strands in front of her face as she munched from the tub of popcorn they were sharing on the sidelines. "He insulted Shinobu," Keitaro Urashima answered wryly, his square glasses gleaming, "and made her cry. As you may have noticed, that annoys Motoko." He sneaked some popcorn himself, sitting close to his girlfriend. "You can say that again," Mitsune Konno smirked, the impish look on her face more than justifying her nickname Kitsune. Her short dirty blonde hair was a new development, as was the touch of makeup she had begun to wear lately. "Honor is satisfied," Motoko said somberly as she walked back, Shinobu Maehara walking by her side dressed in a long, formal gown. She looked at the younger girl and smiled slightly, "Thank you for being my Rose Bride, Shinobu." Shinobu blushed charmingly, the younger lady looking up at Motoko adoringly. "Thank you, sempai," she said, her own short black hair slightly messed by the breeze.. "Not too bad at all," Kitsune nodded her agreement as Motoko neared. She smoothly got up from where the group had been waiting for her by the side of the circular dueling arena and asked Motoko, "Are you planning to continue dueling?" "No," Motoko shook her head gracefully, "it's not necessary and there is no reason for me to challenge the champion, Tenjou Utena." She smiled slightly adding, "Besides I have no wish to be wedded to the Rose Bride." "W-W-Wedded!" Shinobu blushed charmingly. "Wow," Keitaro's cheeks went red as he considered that idea. "Hentai," Naru hammered him relexedly. The group trooped down the winding staircase, talking together softly. "So where is Su anyway?" Motoko asked them curiously. Kitsune smirked, "Either hanging with the Motor and Mecha club or helping out the group of crazies to fix the reality blending that dumped us all here." "I'd still like to know how our world got pulled into all of this chaos," Shinobu ventured the question shyly. "I'm tempted to blame it on something Su built," Keitaro sighed, "but in all honestly I think it was just random chance." "At least you're making a killing renting out the spare rooms at the Hinata girl's dorm," Kitsune said to them cheerfully, "and I'm making a killing working along with Nabiki and Ayaka on our various business ventures." "I'd still like to know how the combination compact disk of Naru's songs and the Sword and Flower recordings got released," Motoko frowned. Kitsune looked purely innocent as she batted her eyes and sweetly said, "I have no idea what you're taking about." "Yeah, right," Naru puffed out once they finally reached bottom. She took a second to catch her breath as she moaned, "What sort of idiot designed this without an elevator?" Elsewhere in Ohtori academy Akio Ohtori sneezed suddenly. The dueling forest was a peaceful oasis of greenery as they walked outside together, the group of young people going their separate ways once they reached the school grounds. Keitaro raced off to join his mentor Seta as they searched for any turtle civilization ruins buried beneath Ohtori, Naru headed off to her tutoring courses and Shinobu went to help with the cooking stand she was running with several of the other cooking-inclined girls. "I hope all of this hasn't messed things up for you too badly," Kitsune commented as she and Motoko continued on together. The taller woman smiled slightly, her expression serene. "I'm considering it a well deserved vacation from my law courses," Motoko admitted with a slight smile. She looked over at Kitsune, "And how is it, being the manager of Cafe Hinata?" "Heh," Kitsune smiled impishly, "it's all right. I'm just very careful to let Shinobu do all the cooking and everything works out by itself." Motoko gave her a shrewd glance, "And I suppose your business skills have nothing to do with the profit the cafe is running, according to Mutsumi." "The Turtle Lady has a big mouth," Kitsune said to her wryly, mentally envisioning the good natured Mutsumi Otohime. "What's this I hear," Motoko's voice, surprisingly, had a slight edge to it, "about all the young people hanging around the cafe?" Kitsune looked over at Motoko in surprise, but the other woman had an enviable poker face and was giving away nothing. "I think that the word's gotten around that Mutsumi is single," she said to her wryly, "not to mention Shinobu." The breath that Motoko puffed out on hearing that could almost have been in relief as she quietly said, "That's good." 'Well, isn't that interesting,' Kitsune found herself thinking. Other than an very ill-fated crush on Keitaro Motoko hadn't done much of any dating, and more than one person at the Hinata girl's dorm had wondered if she might be romantically interested in other girls. 'Not to mention that little incident with Kanako,' she recalled. "Are you going to be working tonight?" Motoko asked Kitsune softly once they reached the central school buildings. "I'm just working this afternoon, Mutsumi is handling things tonight," Kitsune smiled as she laughed, "thank god." Motoko actually looked sheepish as she asked, "Would you mind if we went to the student council party together?" Kitsune smiled as she said teasingly, "Well, I'll have to check my schedule, see if anyone is booked up for tonight, you know how it is..." "Right," Motoko smiled back a bit tentatively. Kitsune reached out to gently take Motoko's hand, "I'd love to go." Motoko actually blushed and again Kitsune was reminded at how inexperienced the other woman was. A sheltered upbringing and a almost monk-like school life hadn't really prepared Motoko for romance of any kind, especially one that didn't necessarily meet the norm. "Then I'll pick you up at the cafe after work," Motoko smiled before all but fleeing, Kitsune chuckling softly as she watched her go. That evening Motoko surprised her by arriving in long pants and a simple sweater, her stance oddly relaxed compared to her normal attitude. "Are you ready?" she smiled, seemingly unaware of the admiring glances she was drawing. "Good to see you," Kitsune pulled off her apron, glad that she had changed into one of her nicer dresses before coming to work. "Have a good time on your date!" Mutsumi waved enthusiastically, drawing everyone's attention. "Oh dear," Motoko blushed furiously even as Kitsune laughed, the two of them heading out into the twilight. "You can be so focused and direct in your training and school," Kitsune gently commented as they walked together after a lovely dinner, "but so tentative in other things." Motoko kept Kitsune close as they navigated the carnival atmosphere of Ohtori academy at night, looming protectively as needed for her lovely companion. "I suppose so," she admitted as they stopped by one of the bridges, the moo shining down at them, "what would you suggest I do about it, though?" "If it was me," Kitsune moved close to Motoko, silently praying she wasn't making a mistake, "I'd do something like this." Not hesitating she pressed their bodies close as she kissed Motoko, a chaste but far from friendly kiss. "Wow," a fiercely blushing Motoko managed, meeting Kitsune's eyes with a broad smile. "And?" Kitsune raised an eyebrow challengingly. And Motoko drew Kitsune into a kiss even more intense than the one before... Author's Notes: This episode is set sometime after the end of the Love Hina manga series. At that point Mutsumi, Kitsune and Shinobu are running the Hinata Cafe, Motoko is at Tokyo U studying law and Naru and Keitaro finally tied the knot. The CD that is mentioned refers to an episode of Love Hina where Naru became an Idol Star and Motoko and Shinobu became a girl's uniform pair called Sword and Flower. Other characters in this episode are Ayaka from Phantom Quest Corp, Nabiki from Ranma 1/2 and the usual group of Utena characters.
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