This Story No Title
A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 7:  Emotional Chains

By John Biles

****************



	Mikoto stirred slowly, then realized her head and 
upper body was cradled on something.  A bit more thought 
revealed it was, in fact, a guy, and a quick check showed it 
was a slumbering Hanai.  

	She thought about getting up, then decided this was 
comfortable.  If he didn’t care, why should she?  She could 
use more rest after that big fight, anyway.  

	Adjusting her position slightly, she slid back into 
sleep.

	Even as she did so, her movement stirred Hanai briefly 
to consciousness.  Everything seemed to be fine.  Though 
for a moment, he wondered if he had called his parents to 
let them know where he was.

	He could do that later.  It was so peaceful like this.

***************
	
	"I thought he was at your house!" Mr. Hanai said over 
the phone to Mrs. Suou.  

	"I thought Mikoto had slept at the dojo again after 
their date!" Mrs. Suou said.

	"Date?" Mr. Hanai said.  "I didn’t know they were 
dating."

	There was a brief silence.

	"He’d better not have taken her to a love hotel!" Mrs. 
Suou said.

	"My son would never do that!" Mr. Hanai protested.

	"Young men are full of lust!" Mrs. Suou pronounced.

	"If they went to a love hotel, your daughter is full of 
lust too!" he snapped back.

	"Find them!"

	"I will!"

**************
	
	Hanai’s phone ringing woke everyone up.  He 
answered the phone. "Hello?"

	"WHERE ARE YOU?" his father bellowed.

	Hanai’s hair flapped in the wind.  "Tsukamoto-san’s 
house.  We watched movies and all got tired."

	"Why didn’t you call me?"

	Hanai looked embarrassed.  "I forgot."

	"Come home.  I have to kick your ass."

	Hanai gulped.  "Yes, father."

	"See you soon."  Click.

	Mikoto said groggily, "What’s up?"

	"Father isn’t happy I didn’t call him."  He sighed.  "I 
meant to, but I got distracted."

	"Well, I’ll help explain it all.  It should be fine," 
Mikoto said.  "It’s not like we did anything bad."

	Let’s hope Father sees it like that, Hanai thought.

**************

	Lala woke up slowly, then realized Imadori had 
clambered on top of her in her sleep and fallen asleep there.  
The pervert KNEW NO BOUNDARIES.

	There really was no choice but to deliver a proper 
beating.

	Wherever she was.

***************

	Eri woke up, stretching.  Tenma was still fast asleep.  
She looked at her, envying Tenma the simplicity of her 
feelings.  Tenma could throw herself into everything 
because she never held any contradictions within herself.  
And thus her devotion was always pure.

	Eri knew she wasn’t like that.  Her heart was a maze, 
not a straight line.  She wanted desperately to talk to him, 
to tell him everything, to ask how he really felt.  And at the 
same time, she couldn’t bare her heart so easily, for fear he 
could rip it apart.  And yet...there was no way someone 
who didn’t care for her at least somewhat could have 
possibly done what he did for her.

	She owed him, and Eri hated owing anyone, especially 
a debt which would be rather difficult to repay.  She owed 
the others as well, for coming to save her.  But it was less 
difficult with them; there was not the bad water under the 
bridge.

	Maybe he really did mean to confess to me, she told 
herself.  And Tae-sensei messed it up.  Or maybe that was 
all a coincidence, but...could he really be stupid enough to 
confess to the wrong woman?

	She answered that as she wandered over to the 
window and stared out.  Of course he could.  Like being 
naked FOR NO REASON and not explaining.  She felt her 
body stir, and she shivered slightly.  

	But even if I did know how to speak to him, if I try it 
here, someone will walk in on us and it’ll all go wrong, she 
thought.  But where else could she try?

	She walked out into the hallway and headed for the 
men’s room, sliding the door open.  Harima had 
sandwiched himself between two futons for some reason, 
while Karasuma was on a third, sprawled out, clutching 
Harima’s shirt in one hand; Harima was topless.

	She looked carefully to make sure the rest of him was 
clad, then crept over to Karasuma and pried the shirt loose 
while Karasuma mumbled about Tenma.  Then she went 
over and gently poked Harima with the shirt.

	Harima mumbled.

	"We need to talk," Eri whispered.

	"Please stop talking to yourself, Karasuma," he 
mumbled.  "I can’t take much more."

	She frowned and shook him harder.  "Kenji," she 
hissed.

	He snapped awake.  "Eri?" he mumbled.

	"Put your shirt on, come with me."

	They soon ended up on the porch; Asou had gotten 
woken up and gone inside.  Eri sat on the edge, legs 
dangling off, wishing she’d brought a change of clothing.  
She was pretty sure she looked a complete disaster.

	Whereas, with Harima, you could hardly tell.

	"Kenji," she said softly.  "Thank you."

	"It was my fault you were in trouble," he said, staring 
off at the bushes and woods behind the house.  "They took 
you to strike at me," he said, sounding angry.  "Cowards."

	"They never touched me," she said softly.  "My 
shoulders are kind of sore from the hanging, but..."

	"I could try and massage them," he said, sounding 
almost eager.  "So they wouldn’t hurt."

	She turned her back to him, let him begin working on 
her shoulders.  It felt very good, her aches and pains being 
eased away.  "Kenji-kun..."  She tried to find the words, but 
the soothing of the aches she hadn’t even realized she had 
was distracting her from being able to speak.

	"Hmm?" he asked, his fingers carefully kneading her 
muscles through her shirt.

	"No one has ever done something like that for me 
before," she said, wiggling just a little.

	"Good," he said, as he now worked down onto her 
back.

	"Good?" she asked.

	"It would be bad if you needed that kind of help very 
often," Harima said.

	"True," she said, feeling her body trying to drift off 
and fighting it.  "I just...why?"

	"Being kidnapped is bad," he said, as if it was self-
evident.

	"Why did you come for me?" Eri asked softly.

	"If I had left you in their hands, I would not have been 
worthy to be a man," he said calmly.  "Anyone who 
abandons a friend isn’t worthy to live.  Especially a friend 
who got in HIS trouble," Harima said, resting his fingertips 
on her back for a moment, then working along her ribs.

	"Is that what you think of me?" she asked softly.  "Just 
a friend?"  He could go so far for just a friend?

	"There is no ‘just’ in it," he said, making his way to 
her lower back.  "I always fought alone.  I had no friends, 
no allies.  Last night was the first real fight I ever got in 
where I had real friends by my side."

	"The school festival..." she began.

	"That was for fun.  Last night was serious," he said.  
"There can be no deeper friendship than that forged in 
battle," he continued, his fingers easing the stresses of her 
lower back.  "I trust you," he said.  

	"So more than a friend," she said softly, trying to 
gather her own thoughts.

	"A true friend," he said.  "We may fight sometimes, 
but I will be there, when you need me."

	It was a start, she decided.  While she tried to 
understand herself.  Was this love? Was this how it was 
supposed to feel?  She was starting to increasingly feel it 
must be. 

	"Alright," she said.  "Now, how do you and..."

	She was interrupted by Tenma grabbing him by the 
ear.  "Come, your girlfriend needs you to help make 
everyone breakfast."

	"But I’m a terrible cook," he said as he was dragged 
off, trying to wiggle out of it.

	"It’s your DUTY," she said.  

	They vanished inside, leaving Eri alone on the porch.  
I wish he’d do what I want so easily, she thought.  

	She thought about Yakumo.  She claimed she and 
Harima weren’t dating, and yet, he and Yakumo act like it.  
So does Tenma.  What is going on?

************

	"Here he is," Tenma said, dragging Harima into the 
kitchen.

	"Hi," Harima said.  "So, uh, you want me to cook?"

	"Mix this," Yakumo said to Harima, handing him a 
bowl full of batter.  "Oneechan, cut these oranges into 
slices."  She passed a cutting board, knife, and oranges to 
Tenma, who went to work.

	Harima stirred vigorously.  Vigorously enough to coat 
all three of them with batter.  "Well, that was too easy."

	"Brother-in-law!" Tenma said.

	Yakumo shook her head.  "Here, chop these 
vegetables while I make more batter."

	Harima went to work; hacking up vegetables he could 
handle, even if it wouldn’t be pretty.  The carrots fell 
before his might.

	"Yakumo-chan, do you work tonight?" Tenma asked.

	"This afternoon," she said.  

	Tenma started to speak, then fell silent, cutting orange 
slices and looking embarrassed.

	Yakumo looked at her curiously, then caught an image 
of herself and Harima in bed, kissing and then...  Oneechan 
no ecchi, she thought, flustered, and turned to carefully 
stirring the batter.

	Harima, blissfully unaware, worked on vegetable 
chopping, then began cutting hunks of bread once that was 
done.

	"Eggs, eggs..." Yakumo said, searching in the fridge.

	"Have you two..." Tenma began.

	"She’s cooked for me before, but I didn’t help, as I 
was busy with...work," Harima said.

	"No, I meant..." Tenma hesitated.  Maybe they hadn’t 
even thought about it.  I mean, she is younger than me, and 
I haven’t even seen them kiss.  Of course, when the door is 
closed...

	Yakumo carefully didn’t look at Tenma, though she 
had a feeling she knew what her sister meant and it was 
very embarrassing.  She certainly hadn’t thought in terms 
of that.  Not when she couldn’t even reliably read his heart.

	Harima blissfully hummed a little tune as he sliced 
and buttered bread, sprinkled garlic and paprika on it, then 
put it in the oven.

	Yakumo said, "Can you cut some more fruit, sister?"

	"Yes, of course," Tenma said.  "Did you enjoy 
sleeping with Sara?"

	"It was a lot of fun," Yakumo said, beginning to fry 
the battered fish.

	"How about you and Karasuma?" Tenma asked 
hopefully.

	Harima was very silent at first, then he said, "Sleeping 
with guys is just sleeping," though he sounded a little odd.

	"Did he..." Tenma began, then sighed.  "Never mind."

	I could tell her that he talks about her in his sleep, 
Harima thought.  It would make her feel so much better.  
But it would help Karasuma...Harima couldn’t do it.  Not 
for Karasuma.  What did she see in him?  He couldn’t 
understand.  

	He stood and waited for the bread, instead.

	Tenma said, "I’ll go take orders for drinks," and 
scampered off.

	Yakumo fried and Harima waited in silence.  She 
glanced over at him, but she couldn’t see his thoughts, 
which frustrated her.  And I couldn’t...hold his hand...  She 
sighed.  I’m so afraid.

	"You’re very brave," Harima said softly.

	"I...what?" she asked.

	"Have you ever been in a fight like that?" Harima 
asked.

	"Not even close," Yakumo said.  

	"But you came, anyway, for mine and Eri’s sake," he 
said, turning to face her.

	She half-faced him as she fried more fish.  "Yes," she 
said softly.  I came for your sake, she thought.  I couldn’t 
face all that just for Sawachika-san.

	"That’s b...guts," he said, clapping a hand on her 
shoulder.  "Not too many guys have the balls for that," he 
said.  "The GUTS for that.  Anyway, you kicked ass."

	"I...really?" she asked.  She didn’t feel she’d done all 
that great.  Compared to him.  "Are you feeling better?"

	"I heal fast," he said confidently.  "Especially with 
Tae-sensei fixing me up."

	"Bread!" she said suddenly.

	He quickly pulled the bread out while it was still good 
and put the next batch in.  "Whew, thanks, Yakumo-san."

	She smiled a little.  "You’re welcome."  She watched 
the fish fry, drifting closer to him as he watched the next 
batch of bread.

	She had so much to say, but didn’t know how to say 
any of it.  And her sister might return at any moment.  So, 
she lurked near him and watched the food.

	"I’ve been thinking," he said.  "Trying to figure out 
some way to afford art school.  But my grades suck and I 
don’t have much money."

	"If the manga does well, you’ll have money," Yakumo 
said.  "So you want to do that as a career?"

	"Yeah," he said.  "It’s my talent.  That and hitting 
shi...stuff."

	She smiled on the inside.  "And talking to animals."

	"Well, I could be Dr. Doolittle, I suppose, but that 
takes a lot of math and science and junk, right?"

	She nodded.

	"At which I suck," he continued.  "How about you?"

	She tried to decide what to say.  "I...I’ve thought about 
maybe being a veterinarian myself.  Or a chef.  Or 
maybe...a nurse."

	"You’d make a good nurse," Harima said.  "You’re 
kind and you take care of people."

	She smiled a tiny smile. "Thank you.  But if I’m going 
to be your assistant, if the manga lasts a long time, I might 
think about doing art school too."

	"That would be great," he said.  "If I have to do more 
school..."  He winced.  "Man, I hate school."  He paused.  
"I mean, I hate studying."

	"If I wasn’t behind you, I could try to help you," she 
said hesitantly.  "But you are a year ahead."

	"Well, Takano-san takes good care of Tenma-san and 
I," he said.  I suppose, if I’m going to be over here all the 
time, I don’t need to fail to get the lessons as much as I 
used to, in order to still be able to see Tenma, he thought.  
It was almost like living here, really.

	I should...maybe it would be rude, Yakumo thought.  
But he really does need help if he’s going to get into a good 
school.  "She’s very nice," Yakumo said.

	"She always struck me as a kind of cold woman," 
Harima said.  "But I’m grateful to her for organizing this 
rescue."  

	"You should tell her," Yakumo said.

	"True," Harima said. 

	Tenma returned.  "Food ready?"

	"It’s almost all ready," Yakumo said.

	"Good.  Let me fix these drinks, and then...WE PIG 
OUT."

***************

	Akira was about to head home; she was trying to 
decide whether to keep the blonde hair a while or wash it 
all out.  At least until the next date.  

	A shadow loomed over her from behind.  

	"Hello, Kenji-kun," she said.

	"Hello, Takano-san," he replied.  "We, uh, have club 
on Monday?"

	"Yes," she said.  "Make sure Eri comes."

	"Yeah."

	He stood there for a while on the porch with her, while 
she waited patiently.  She was in no rush.

	Finally, to her surprise, he asked, "Do they have 
exams to get into art school?"

	She blinked. "I...I would think so.  But I would 
suppose your art skills would matter more than in the 
normal exams," she said.

	"Huh.  So I might need math and all that other junk to 
get in."

	"I would think you would need some," she said.

	"Well," he said, staring off at the street.

	"But I don’t know," she said.

	He stood again in silence a while.

	"Anything else?" she finally asked.

	"You organized many battles?" he asked.

	"Not on this scale," she said.  "It was kind of fun."

	"But you fight pretty well," he said.

	"I’m a good shot and nimble," she said quietly.  "I get 
by."

	"You’re a good person, Takano-san," he said, after 
another pause.  "You take care of your friends."

	She froze up at that.  No one had ever told her that 
before.  She didn’t quite know what to say; she’d always 
tried to take care of them, but people usually didn’t notice, 
and she often wanted it that way.  She wasn’t an attention 
seeker, really.

	"Anyway, I’ll see ya Monday," he said, turning to go 
back in.

	"Kenji-kun," she said.

	He turned back.

	"Thank you," she said.

	He nodded.  "Just telling the truth.  Bye."

	She nodded back and headed home.  There was much 
work to be done.

****************
	
	Mikoto felt nervous as she put her gi on.  Her mother 
had ordered her to go over to the Hanai house and train all 
weekend with Mr. Hanai and Haruki.  Which normally 
would be fine, but she had a feeling this was the sort of 
‘training’ other people call ‘beatings’.  

	She had barely stepped out of the changing room 
when two hands grabbed her and threw her into the air.  
Then Mr. Hanai leaped after her, spinning in the air to kick 
her into a wall.  He dropped down lightly to the ground and 
was on her before she could move, sweeping her legs, 
twisting her around, and affixing her in a position where 
she found she simply couldn’t move.

	"You win," she said.

	He tossed her into the air, then kicked her across the 
dojo to land on Haruki’s crumpled body.  "You both are 
weak," he said.  "You will grow stronger or die."

	"Did he jump you too?" she whispered to Hanai.

	"He didn’t wait for me to finish getting dressed; I had 
to dress while he attacked me," Hanai mumbled.

	"NO WHISPERING!"  They soon found themselves 
tied into a complex knot.

	"You must work your way free in silence," he said.  

	She tried to wiggle one leg free, only to find she was 
shoving it into Hanai’s mouth in the process, causing him 
to choke.  He tried to untangle his arm, but to do so bent 
hers unnaturally, causing her to grunt in pain.  

	They struggled for a while in silence, while Mr. Hanai 
frowned at them.  After twenty minutes of failure, he 
grimaced.  "You have learned nothing!"

	"We didn’t exactly train..." Haruki began.

	"SILENCE!" Mr. Hanai bellowed.

	He sighed.  "I should have begun you both on the 
important stuff to begin with, but when you were little, I 
didn’t think you could handle it, so I focused on the basics, 
so you could easily defend yourself with things even a child 
could learn."

	He shook his head.  "And now, you can’t even solve 
something as simple as this."  He hung his head.  "I am a 
failure as a father and a teacher."

	"Simple?" Mikoto asked in confusion.

	"SILENCE!" he shouted.  The person-knot rolled 
along the ground a dozen feet.

	"You can’t even tell enough about each other to solve 
this," Mr. Hanai said.  "You will stay that way until you 
understand."

	"..."  

	"But..." Haruki began to say.

	A great pillar of flame surrounded his father.

	Haruki shut up quickly.

	Mr. Hanai sat down on a rock, and seemed to fall 
asleep.  Haruki began testing every way he could think of 
in order to try to get free.  All of them ended up causing 
trouble for Mikoto, from poking her in the ribs to bending 
her legs the wrong way to shoving her mouth.  Likewise, 
she found she couldn’t move without making trouble for 
him.

	Haruki wished he could remember the morse code 
he’d once tried to teach himself.  If he could, then he could 
try tapping Mikoto to communicate.  There had to be some 
way to communicate.  He tried scratching in the dirt, but 
couldn’t move enough.

	Mikoto tried to focus, running through her stillness 
exercises, trying to silence the insistent voice of her body, 
complaining about all the pains she was suffering.  In her 
mind, she floated on the surface of a lagoon, the water 
perfectly still, only the gentlest of breezes moving her 
slowly across the water.

	"MIKO-CHIN!!!!! SAVE ME!"

	It was the voice of Imadori. Her serenity shattered.  
"Sensei," she began.

	"SILENCE!" he shouted, rousing from his slumber.

	She sighed, and now Imadori ran onto the grounds, 
still wearing his suit from the previous night.  "Miko-ch..."  
He paused, and stared at Mikoto.  "I...uh...see you’re busy."  
He flushed.

	"It’s not what it..." Mikoto began.  
	
	"SILENCE!"

	Lala now charged onto the ground.  "IMADORI, 
STAND STILL SO I CAN HURT YOU!"

	Mikoto tried to get to her feet, but only bent herself 
and Haruki in unnatural ways, causing him to grunt and 
groan and herself to cry out.  "Lala, stop!"

	"THERE MUST BE SILENCE!" Mr. Hanai shouted, 
rising into the air.  When he settled to the ground a huge 
cloud of dust arose.

	When it cleared, Imadori and Lala had been tangled 
together like Haruki and Mikoto.  "All who intrude on the 
test must join it."

	Lala struggled to break loose; this caused Imadori to 
begin howling in pain.  This didn’t phase her much, but it 
did make Mr. Hanai frown.

	There was another cloud of dust, and when it settled, 
Lala now found her efforts to escape causing self-injury.  
Imadori found the same, and groaned, whimpering.

	"I should have thought to realize you two wouldn’t 
care about hurting each other."

	"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Lala demanded.  "To 
chain me to this pervert?"

	"I am Hanai Takeo, and this is my dojo you have 
invaded.  Until you overcome yourself, you will remain 
bound there," he said.  "This is your punishment for 
interrupting Haruki and Mikoto’s training."

	"Can’t we do some kind of training that involves 
nudity?" Imadori asked.

	"NO."

	Imadori tried to manuever so he could at least fondle 
Lala effectively; if you’re going to suffer anyway, best to at 
least enjoy what you’re being punished for.  He found this 
somehow caused his legs to want to bend the wrong way 
and gave up.

	Maybe Mom will catch up with us and run the old 
man over, he thought.  But I probably won’t be that lucky.

************

	Eri finished getting dressed after taking a shower.  She 
went and found Butler-san.  "Did Father miss me?"

	"He’s been at an emergency meeting; I am not sure if 
he is aware you were gone all night."  His voice was calm, 
but she could feel the criticism.

	"Well, probably better that way," she said.  "I’ll be 
here, doing homework, at least for a while."

	"Of course, Miss," he said.

	She felt almost disappointed to face no parental wrath.  
But then, her parents had probably never noticed eighty 
percent of the trouble she got in.  She sighed.

	She began working on homework, but her mind kept 
drifting away instead, to recent events, and trying to think 
about future ones.  She wondered again who he had been 
confessing to, when he’d confessed to her.  He had a 
perfect chance to confess right now, and it seemed like, he 
didn’t go quite that far.  Then again, maybe he thought she 
didn’t feel like that, so he was afraid to confess again after 
being shining wizarded.

	Stupid Tae-sensei, she had messed it all up.  If nothing 
else, at least she would know what he had really meant if 
she hadn’t been in the middle of things.

	And yet, Tae-sensei had come and risked herself for 
Eri.  She claims she’s not after him, and yet, she rides by 
his side into battle like a lover, Eri thought.  And she’s an 
ex-delinquent, like him.

	Eri laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling.  And then 
there was Yakumo.  That was likely to be ugly, one way or 
another.  She thought about Yakumo fighting the punks; 
not someone to get angry.

	But then, neither was Eri.

	She wondered again what exactly their relationship 
was.  And the secret. She had to find it out.  She had a 
feeling, it had to be key.

	But for now, homework.

***************
	
	Haruki was starting to feel exhausted and strung out.  
It was now nearly 3 AM and he still couldn’t sleep.  His 
father had been napping the whole time; his mother had 
come out and thrown blankets over everyone and gone to 
bed.  Lala seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion, and 
Imadori as well.

	He could feel subtle shifts in Mikoto’s crumpled 
posture; he could feel her exhaustion.  She was going to 
simply collapse in frustration soon.  But he couldn’t sleep 
like this.

	So thirsty, he thought.  He prayed for a downpour.

	His prayers were not answered.  However...

	There was a shimmering of light before him, and Obi-
Wan Kenobi stood there in all his aged glory.  "Use the 
Force, Hanai," he told him.

	This was, perhaps, not the most useful of advice.  "But 
I don’t know how.  I don’t know what to try."

	Obi-wan turned into Yoda.  "Do not try.  Do.  Do 
without thinking."

	 Acting without thinking was more of Harima’s job, 
Haruki thought.

	Yoda turned into Harima.  "I kick ass, ‘cause I don’t 
let my thoughts get in the way."

	"You don’t have much in the way of thoughts," Hanai 
snapped.

	"And you double-think yourself to death.  A martial 
artist has to act without thinking, know what is right 
without spending time testing it.  Or you’ll get an ass-
whooping," Harima said. Haruki noticed Harima floating 
off the ground.  He found this VERY annoying.

	"Rushing off half-cocked leads to disaster," Haruki 
snapped back.

	"That is why you fail, grasshopper," Harima said.  
"And why I always whip your ass."

	"YOU DO NOT ALWAYS WHIP MY ASS!" Haruki 
was starting to get pissed.  But he couldn’t move, or he’d 
hurt Mikoto.  Just his state of agitation was making her 
groan in her sleep.

	Desperately, he tried to still himself.  But he couldn’t 
remember any of the exercises, all he could remember was 
him, hurting Mikoto all day, trying to escape from being 
tied to her.  And vice versa.  He suddenly felt very guilty.

	"Beat your ass in fighting, beat it again in love.  
Yakumo loves me, even when I’m bald."  Harima took his 
hat off, revealing his shiny head.  "Or when I have a long 
beard."  His beard grew down past his floating feet.  "Or 
when I’m clean shaven like you."  And then the beard was 
gone and Harima had tall spikey hair.  "She doesn’t want a 
slow, stodgy old man like you."

	"I’m better than you in every way!" Haruki protested 
angrily, then heard Mikoto groan again.  He winced, trying 
to force himself silent.

	"But she doesn’t care.  She loves me like I am, and 
doesn’t love you and never will," Harima said.  "Also, you 
can’t float, ergo, I win."

	"I just don’t feel like floating," Haruki said stubbornly.

	"Man, you’re all tied up to a hot chick, and you don’t 
seem to even like it.  I guess that says dedication.  Or more 
likely—eunuch," Harima observed.

	"Mikoto is not...okay, she is very attractive," Haruki 
said.  "But my heart belongs to Yakumo.  And she’s an old 
friend.  This is hurting her.  Of course I have to break free."

	"And that is why you fail," Harima said.

	Haruki ground his teeth.  "I did risk my life for you 
last night.  You could try helping out."

	"Floaty people never help out," Harima pointed out.  
"They tell you what to do, then leave you to figure out what 
they actually meant."

	Haruki sighed.  "Whatever.  Are you going to give me 
a riddle, then?"

	"I suck at riddles," Harima said, now beginning to idly 
kick a spectral soccer ball around.

	Haruki tensed, and heard Mikoto moan softly.  He 
grimaced and made himself relax.  "C’mon, you have to 
give me some kind of hint."

	"It’s all there in the name," Harima said, bouncing the 
ball on his knee.  "Just remember what you’re doing."  He 
kicked the ball off across the field.  "I gotta go have sex 
with Yakumo.  See ya."

	Haruki began to inflate like a balloon, and Mikoto 
groaned loudly in her sleep of exhaustion.  He bit his own 
lip, forcing himself to focus on the pain instead of his 
anger.  

	There was an almost audible snap and Harima winked 
out, replaced by his snoozing father.  Mikoto whispered 
softly, "You woke up?"

	Haruki glanced at his father, who seemed to be 
sleeping.  Lala was struggling and moaning in her sleep, 
while Imadori seemed to be utterly clonked out.  "Yes.  
You...umm...."  I must have dreamed it, he thought.  Since 
when did Harima float?  Or turn into Obi-Wan Kenobi?  
From Obi-Wan.  Whatever.

	"I have no idea what to do," Mikoto whispered.  

	"Me neither," he said.  "This must involve us having to 
figure out some joint technique to escape."

	She sighed.  "Sensei won’t make us..."

	"Of course, he’ll make us miss school," Haruki said.  
"You know how Father is."

	"We have to figure it out now; he won’t let us talk."

	It must not require talking, Haruki thought.  Is he 
trying to get us to learn telepathy?  Surely not, though at 
times, it seemed like his parents could read his mind.

	He tried anyway, focusing his thoughts on one of his 
hands, which was somehow tucked in under her chin, 
trying to force his thoughts through his hand.  "Open your 
mind," he whispered.

	She had no idea how to do that, so she tried just 
clearing her mind, going utterly still.  She could feel his 
hand, feel something in his hand, a power there, beneath 
the surface.

	Haruki focused his mind, closing his eyes and thought 
as ‘loud’ as possible.  He tried to pour every ounce of 
energy into it, while keeping his body perfectly still, so as 
to not hurt her more.  He could feel something, feel her 
power, beneath her skin.  He focused on that, trying to 
reach out and touch it.

	But his energies wouldn’t flow, and he realized the 
problem.  His father had tied their ki together, bonded them 
with a tangled web of it.   So long as their ki remained 
bonded, they couldn’t get their own bodies to obey them; 
when she tugged and he tugged, their efforts weren’t 
coordinated, and they just yanked each other around.

	They had to coordinate, had to learn to work 
instinctively, to successfully break out of the web.  
"Mikoto," he whispered.

	She snored softly, having relaxed enough to fall 
asleep.

	He sighed and gave up for now, deciding to try to get 
sleep while he could.

*************
	
	He eventually woke to the sound of a motorcycle.  
Great, now Harima will taunt me when I’m awake too, 
Haruki thought.  Or is this another dream?

	It was indeed Harima, though he had Tenma with him, 
and not Yakumo, thankfully.  They had a big basket with 
them.  "Hi, guys.  I thought you might need a break from 
training," Tenma said.

	"SILENCE!" Mr. Hanai shouted, leaping into the air.  

	He came down and a cloud of dust arose around him, 
Tenma, and Harima.  When it cleared, Tenma and Harima 
were bound together, while he was back on his rock, 
snacking on some candied apples.  "Thank you, 
Tsukamoto," he said.  "However, you have interrupted 
special training, and must thus be tested."

	"But...I don’t know any martial arts," Tenma said.

	Harima struggled and Tenma cried out.  Harima went 
white like a sheet and froze up, then began to cry.  "I’m 
sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Tenma-san," he began to 
babble.

	Haruki stared in shock.  Mikoto groggily stared over.  
"Tenma-chan?"

	"Silence!  No speech during the test!"

	Harima remained utterly, perfectly still.  Tenma 
struggled, and Haruki could see Harima wince and grimace 
as she did so.  

	"Tenma, if you move, it hurts him," Haruki said.

	Before he could say anything else, a bannanna landed 
in his mouth.  "SILENCE!"

	Tenma paled and tried to remain still, but tended to 
fidget.  

	Imadori now woke up and mumbled about S&M.

	Lala resumed agonizing herself once she woke up.

	This went on for a long time.

	Eventually, however, there was a knock at the gate.

	Mr. Hanai went to the gate.  "Hello?"

	Yakumo was there.  "I’m sorry to bother you, sir.  I’m 
looking for my sister, Tsukamoto Tenma."

	"You must be Yakumo-chan," he said.  "I’m afraid 
your sister and her boyfriend barged into my special 
training session and have been bound together as 
punishment."

	"Yakumo-san, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" 
Harima shouted.

	"Yakumo-san, don’t risk provoking Father into 
binding you too!" Haruki shouted.

	"Get help!" Tenma shouted.

	"Ano, Kenji-kun is...I am his partner," Yakumo said 
softly.  "My sister is in love with someone else."

	Mr. Hanai’s eyes flickered.  Harima winced.  Tenma 
said, "Wait, is this some sort of Love-love test for Hanai 
and Miko-chin?"

	"No!" Mikoto said.  "It’s our punishment for not 
calling home to our parents!"

	"Hey, I already was home!" Tenma protested.

	"I have homework to do!" Imadori protested.  "And I 
went home!"

	"I was kidnapped!" Lala protested.

	"I cannot release them; they must release themselves," 
Mr. Hanai said.  "They are bound with the chains they have 
made for themselves."

	"May I try?" Yakumo asked softly.

	"You must defeat me to enter," he said.  "If you can do 
so, I will yield to your judgement.  Otherwise, I will have 
to bind you as well."

	She shivered, not liking the sound of that.

	"Don’t do it, Yakumo-san!  We’ll find some way out 
of this," Harima said.

	"Find Kare-rin!  She’s the only one who can hope to 
defeat Hanai’s father!" Tenma said.

	"Miko-chin could do it if he didn’t cheat," Imadori 
said.

	Mikoto felt slightly embarrassed.  "You flatter me."

	"SILENCE!" Mr. Hanai bellowed at all of them.

	"I need a staff," Yakumo said.  She couldn’t just turn 
away, and she had no idea at all how to find Karen.  And 
she wanted to do something for Harima.  She wanted to be 
brave.

	Mr. Hanai cocked his head slightly.  "Hold on." He 
ran off into the dojo.

	"You can’t possibly beat Father," Haruki said 
pleadingly.  "You should just let us try to appease Father 
and not get hurt."

	"He’s right," Mikoto said.  "You can’t beat him."

	"I bet I could take him if I was loose," Harima 
grumbled.

	"Run, sister, run!" Tenma pleaded.

	Yakumo shivered a little, but she couldn’t run away 
now.  She wouldn’t let herself do it.  

	He returned, passing her a staff, then bowed to her.

	"Hey, I just got ambushed," Lala protested.

	"You were rude, she was not," Mr, Hanai said.

	Yakumo bowed, then went into a fighting stance.  Mr. 
Hanai took several quick strikes at her wrists, but she 
blocked each, slowly retreating, then managed to throw him 
off when he tried to grab one end of the staff.  She could 
only read him in brief flashes; his mind was on her, but he 
was too good to show much of his mind in battle.  

	He was good, she soon realized, better than her.  He 
could probably finish this any time he wanted.  But he 
wasn’t, for some reason.

	She could see utter panic in Hanai-sempai’s mind, 
could feel the fear in Onee-chan’s mind, could taste the 
concern in Kenji’s mind.  She smiled a moment, feeling his 
attention on her.  

	She spun under a jab and tried to drive her staff into 
his gut.  But he rolled with it, flipping her over him and up 
into the air, though she managed to yank her staff away.  
He rolled to his feet, waiting for her to land and return.

	"Yakumo-san, please," Haruki begged.  "Don’t let 
yourself get hurt fighting father."

	"I will fight for my sister and my partner," Yakumo 
said, simply, advancing.  "Wouldn’t you fight for Mikoto-
sempai?"

	"Of course I would," Haruki said heatedly.

	"We always stand up for each other," Mikoto said.

	"Then you must understand."  Yakumo began to circle 
to the left.

	"Go, C-girl!" Imadori shouted.  "You may not be a D, 
but you can fight like one!"

	"Pervert...must...kill..." Lala said, struggling to twist 
Imadori around, and hurting herself more than him.

She could see the swirl of fear and concern around 
Kenji’s mind.  It gave her pause.  "Kenji-kun," she said 
softly.  "Let me fight for you."

	"I ain’t used to that," he said.  "The old bastard is an 
ass-kicking machine.  No wonder his son is such a punk."

	"PUNK?" Haruki demanded.  

	"Calm," Mikoto mumbled.

	"Sorry," Haruki said, sighing.

	All these emotions.  She could feel them, even though 
she could only actually read Kenji, Hanai-sempai, and 
Tenma.  She could feel them, pressing on her, as she stood 
among them, almost like they were flowing into her.  
  
	She saw Mr. Hanai waiting for her, in a defensive 
posture.  He wanted her to approach.  Maybe she needed to 
make him come to her.  

	She turned to her sister and Kenji-kun, trying to figure 
out what actually kept them entangled.  Sure, they were 
jumbled around each other, but it shouldn’t really hold 
them.

	"Fight me!" Mr. Hanai said.

	She ignored them, running fingers along places where 
her sister and Kenji-kun touched each other.  She could feel 
both of them getting a little embarrassed.  "What are you 
doing?" Tenma asked.

	There really didn’t seem to be anything holding them 
together.  And yet, something invisible chained them in 
place.  She couldn’t read its thoughts, but she could read 
theirs, worries about each other, about her, about the others 
present.  Well, the latter was more from her sister than 
Kenji.  

	"Fight me!" Mr. Hanai said, now advancing on her.

	She tried simply yanking them apart, but that made 
Kenji wince and Onee-chan howl.  Yakumo jumped back 
from them, horrified with herself.

	"Only a true master or they themselves can break their 
chains," Mr. Hanai said.

	She was forced to retreat as he began his assault, a 
series of grabs at her wrists and attempts to sweep her legs.  
She dodged the former and parried the latter, but now was 
driven away from her sibling and Kenji.  

	Haruki saw his chance and whispered to Mikoto, 
"He’s bound our ki together.  There’s got to be some way 
to untie it," he continued.  "But Father hadn’t gotten to 
teachng us this sort of thing."

	Mikoto thought about it, watching Yakumo 
desperately defend herself.  Every time we try to break free 
from each other it gets tighter.  She blinked.  But maybe if 
we press closer to each other, it will loosen enough to 
slowly slip out of it.

	She explained her idea to Haruki.  He nodded to her, 
and they pressed closer to each other; he could almost feel 
the bonds growing looser as they did so.  Working together, 
they began to slowly extract their limbs from the trap, their 
ki flows beginning to realign as they moved carefully 
together.

	Meanwhile, Mr. Hanai now darted in and seized 
Yakumo’s wrist.  He could have broken it, but instead, he 
disarmed her and got her into an immobilizing hold.  The 
problem was who to chain her to.  Though he could try a 
three way chaining, since she had ties to both Tenma and 
the punk boy.

	Haruki struggled to keep his calm, to move in unison 
with Mikoto, with Yakumo in danger.  He knew his father 
wouldn’t really hurt Yakumo, but with her under attack, he 
could barely restrain himself.  But now his legs were free.

	"You’ll pay for this!" Harima bellowed as Mr. Hanai 
carefully wrapped Yakumo around both of them.  

	Yakumo whispered softly, "I’m sorry, Kenji-kun, 
Onee-chan."  She let herself go limp, trying to avoid 
hurting the others.

	"You fought bravely," Tenma said.  "But you should 
have listened to us."  Her attempt to move an arm to lecture 
with it instinctively made Yakumo and Harima wince.

	"I couldn’t run away and leave you," Yakumo said.  
"I’ll never abandon either of you."  She sighed, remaining 
still, and fighting the urge to then fall asleep.

	"Very charming," Mr. Hanai said, though Yakumo 
thought for he smiled for a moment.

	"And now, time to restore..." Mr. Hanai began.

	Mikoto and Haruki stood up.  "We’re free," Haruki 
said, striding over angrily to his father.  "Unchain our 
friends!"

	"They must unchain themselves," Mr. Hanai said, 
bemusedly.  He seemed more entertained than concerned 
about them escaping.  "But I see you have figured out the 
secret."

	"Sort of," Haruki said, a bit nonplussed by his father’s 
calm.  Which was, of course, the idea.  

	"It was like a Chinese finger trap," Mikoto said.  "The 
harder you pull, the tighter it gets, but if you ease up and 
move gently together, then you can easily slip out."

	"Made with our own ki," Haruki said.

	"Exactly," Mr. Hanai said.  "I’ve been neglecting to 
train you two properly in the more esoteric aspects of our 
art.  This is going to have to be fixed.  I won’t live forever, 
unfortunately."

	Imadori listened carefully, then thought, I am so 
screwed.

	Lala grimaced. Move in unison with Imadori.  She’d 
rather die.  

	It took some effort, but eventually, Tenma, Yakumo, 
and Harima managed to move well enough together to get 
loose.  Or to be more precise, Harima remained utterly still 
and paralyzed, while the other two moved slowly, gradually 
unlatching themselves from him.  Yakumo stared at the 
ground and looked a bit flushed afterwards.

	Lala and Imadori were another question.

	Mikoto said to Imadori, "You’ve got to cooperate with 
Lala."

	"I’m willing, I’m willing, Miko-chin!" Imadori said 
desperately.

	"HE DIES," Lala said, then screamed.

	"Father, you have to unchain them, or Lala will 
seriously hurt herself," Haruki said.

	"Actually, I don’t think I’m good enough to undo it at 
this point, they’ve tangled their ki so badly," Mr. Haruki 
said.

	"What are you going to do about them?" Mikoto 
demanded.

	"Well, either they will learn to work together, or they 
will stay this way until one of us masters the skills needed 
to untangle them," Mr. Haruki said blandly.

	Haruki frowned.  "That could take rather a long time."

	"Please," Imadori moaned.

	"Father, it was irresponsible of you to tangle them 
together just for interrupting your training of us," Haruki 
said sternly.

	"They shouldn’t have simply barged in rudely," Mr. 
Hanai said a little stubbornly.

	Harima studied them.  "What happens if we just yank 
them apart from each other?"

	"Excruciating pain for both of them, and probably you 
aren’t strong enough," Mr. Hanai said.

"I do not want excruciating pain!" Imadori said.

	"So, really nothing to lose by trying then," Harima 
said.

	"Brother-in-law, be nice," Tenma said firmly.

	"Maybe Tae-sensei can use acupuncture or something 
to redirect the ki," Mikoto said hopefully.

	"I don’t think she’s studied that kind of stuff," Harima 
said.

	Mr. Hanai started to amble off; Haruki grabbed his 
shirt.  "Father, you can’t just walk away!"

	"What do you expect me to do?  I can’t clean ki flows 
these messed up."

	"You’re the one that made them that way!"

	"They tangled them up this much themselves," Mr. 
Haruki said.  "They both seem to have just enough control 
over their own ki to mess themselves up."

	"Maybe Karen can do something," Tenma said.

	"Well, it can’t hurt to ask," Harima said.

*************

	Karen stared, then slowly reached out and tried to pry 
Imadori’s arm up.  He howled in pain, then said, "Please, 
don’t."

	She frowned at this.  "This is both amazing and 
horrible at once."

	"I don’t suppose you know how to undo it?" Mikoto 
asked hopefully.

	"I’m a wrestler, not a ki master," Karen said.  "Who 
did this?"

	Mr. Hanai waved.  "That was me."

	"Can’t you undo it?"  she asked desperately.

	"It’s beyond my skill; their emotions are so tangled 
up, the ki flows are like brambles and barbed wire all 
combined," he said.  "It’s impressive in a disastrous sort of 
way."

	Lala asked, "So this is one of those things where you 
have to be totally calm to escape?"

	"It would be a lot of help," Mr. Hanai said.

	"I can be calm," she said.  "I will be like the sea at low 
tide."  She breathed in and out.  "Calm...calm..."

	"Calm like the aftermath of good sex..." Imadori 
mumbled, closing his eyes.

	"PERVERT!" Lala shouted, then groaned loudly.

	"It might be best if neither of you spoke," Mikoto said.  

	Ever again, Haruki thought.

	Imadori and Lala closed their eyes and tried to 
imagine they were not wrapped in intimate contact.  Lala 
imagined she was wrestling out of control burros; her 
hometown had too many of them, and they got into 
everything.  This was soothing.  Imadori imagined himself 
with a harem of beautiful women.  This was soothing.  

	Slowly, they calmed down, the tangles of ki beginning 
to lose their tightness.  Karen watched, wishing she knew 
more of how all this worked, so she could do more.

	Once the burros were all punched, Lala began 
imagining flattening most of 2-C, one at a time.  This was 
soothing.  Imadori imagined bodysurfing over his harem.  
This was soothing.

	Slowly, Haruki and Mikoto began to peel the two of 
them apart, trying to feel where the ki had untangled and 
using their own control to further loosen it when they 
could.  Finally, they peeled Imadori’s foot off Lala’s back.

	Both of the two had slid off into sleep in this process.  
Karen picked up Imadori.  "I will take him home," she said.  
She turned to Mr. Hanai.  "Please don’t do this again."

	"Only if they interrupt special training," he said.

	She frowned at him, but then turned to Mikoto and 
Haruki.  "Thank you," she said.  "I am grateful."  Then she 
took Imadori away.

	Haruki picked up Lala.  "I’ll take her home," he said.  
"Father, please leave my friends out of this next time."

	"Well, I think you’ve learned your lesson.  We’ll 
continue your training on Monday; I’m sure you have 
homework to do now."

	"More training?" Haruki asked.

	"I can see you have MUCH to learn."

*************
	 
	Yakumo, Tenma, and Harima walked down the street, 
on the way back from Hanai’s place.  Harima was very stiff 
and silent, while Tenma seemed unusually subdued to 
Yakumo, who was herself embarrassed.  Her mind was full 
of confused thoughts and her body full of confused 
sensations she didn’t quite understand, but which she was 
pretty sure were probably either the strange feelings she’d 
gotten at times ever since puberty or some sort of on-
coming sickness or possibly both at once.  She thought this 
was probably what ‘arousal’ means.

	She wanted to take Harima’s hand, but if she got very 
close to him, he started to flinch away; his face was full of 
pain, but she couldn’t read him; he was holding himself 
back, she thought.

	"Kenji-kun," she said softly.  "I’m not mad at you."

	Tenma half-jumped, then said quietly, "And neither 
am I."  She reached over and took his hand; he shook, and 
then Yakumo took his other hand.  Tenma vibrated as well, 
as she walked with him.

	"I hurt you both," he said.  "And I couldn’t figure out 
how to stop it happening."  He sounded agonized.

	Tenma sighed.  "We hurt you too.  I’m sorry."

	"I’m gonna beat the crap out of that guy’s father one 
of these days," Harima grumbled.

	Yakumo felt herself getting more excited as she held 
Harima’s hand.  His grip was strong and comforting.  And 
she’d been able to read more of his mind.  They were 
getting closer.  When she’d fought for him and Onee-chan, 
he’d been focused on her.  That made her feel good.

	"Don’t go and get yourself hurt," Tenma said, worried.  
"We need you to be okay."

	Harima felt a joy at that.  She cares about me, he 
thought.  It was enough to wipe away his guilt for now.  
She’s holding my hand, he thought.  It was almost like 
being married, walking with his wife on a Sunday...

	Walking...

	"MY BIKE!" he said.  "Where’s my bike?"

	"I..." Tenma began.

	Yakumo looked embarrassed.  "We left it at the dojo."

	"I...crap," he said.  "Look, umm..."  He looked around.  
"I’ll go and get my bike.  Why don’t you two get some tea 
at one of these cafes?  Then I can give you both a ride back, 
once I get back, okay?  And if I don’t get back here in 
about twenty minutes, call Takano-san, have her raise 
another army."

	"Okay," Tenma said.  "See you soon!"

	"Bye!" Yakumo said.  She wanted to kiss him 
goodbye, but even as excited as she was, she couldn’t quite 
bring herself to do it.

	They went and got some tea, and Tenma asked, "Do 
you hurt as much as I do?"

	"I got off easy," Yakumo said, sighing.  "Is it that bad, 
onee-chan?"

	"Yes," Tenma said, wincing.  "But I can’t let Kenji  
know.  He’ll blame himself.  Promise you won’t say 
anything."

	"I promise, onee-chan."  She didn’t like the idea of not 
telling him.  

	"I wish I could get a chance to show off for Karasuma 
like that," Tenma said, a little jealously, as she sipped her 
tea.

	Yakumo carefully squeezed lemon into her tea.  "Your 
chance will come, onee-chan."

	"I hope so," Tenma said.  "He’s only...well, we still 
have most of the year."

	I should do something to help her, Yakumo thought.  
But what can I do?

	She sat and thought, her body slowly calming down as 
she drank and made small talk with her sister.  

	She was only a little excited when Harima returned.  
"Okay, let’s load up," he said.

	They finished their tea and piled on, Tenma in front, 
Harima in the middle, and Yakumo behind him.  Yakumo  
quickly slid into half-slumber, enjoying the feeling of his 
warm body against hers, listening to his heartbeat.  Tenma 
was a little nervous, but excited as well, feeling the wind in 
her face and the powerful movement of the motorcycle.  
She leaned back against Harima and pretended Karasuma 
was driving her around.

	Harima felt incredibly tense.  He was already feeling 
jumpy about having hurt them, and now Tenma was curled 
up to him the way he’d always hoped for.  She seemed so 
utterly relaxed and comfortable with him, even though she 
said she loved Karasuma.  How was this possible?  It just 
didn’t make any sense to him.  He felt so utterly tense 
around her, so excited and nervous.  

	Yakumo was so relaxed with him as well.  Maybe it 
was a family thing, he thought.  My little brother and I are 
both very cool; they’re just very comfortable around men.  

	He pondered it, feeling jumpy, all the way taking them 
home.  He felt more jumpy when he shifted slightly and 
Yakumo moved slightly to adjust and he became aware a 
woman's breasts were being pushed into his back.

	He wasn’t obsessed with some things, unlike some 
people; he couldn’t like Tenma like he did if he was.  But 
he was enough of a teenage boy for this to turn his 
hormones up a few notches.  

	Yakumo began getting snatches of this as she 
drowsed, which was enough to turn her own hormones up a 
few notches.

	The result was that both of them were feeling pretty 
embarrassed by the time they got to the Tsukamoto house.  
Tenma asked, "You want to come in and hang out for a 
while and do homework, Harima?"

	"Sure," he said, though part of him was worried about 
doing something foolish when feeling like this.  

	Yakumo said, "I...can I help?"

	"We’re going to be doing stuff ahead of you, but you 
can study with us and we’ll help you," Tenma said.

	Harima suspected, given how badly he and Tenma 
usually did, that possibly she could help them.  "I...hate to 
say it, but we should probably call Takano-san to help us."

	"I hate to burden her so much," Tenma said.

	"Takano-sempai is very smart," Yakumo said. "And 
very kind.  I’m sure she’ll help."

	"Okay," Tenma said.  "I’ll give her a call, then."

************	

	Akira shook her head.  "No, see, you do it like this."  
She demonstrated the correct way to do the trig problem, 
very slowly.  They needed it done slowly.  VERY slowly.

	Yakumo half-watched and half did her own 
homework, wishing she could do more.  

	Harima sighed.  "I almost got held back a year.  Times 
like this remind me why."

	"Oh, so you would have been in Yakumo’s year?" 
Tenma asked.  "That would have been kind of romantic."

	"Even to me, flunking isn’t romantic," Harima said.

	Akira looked amused.

	Yakumo said, hesitantly, "You might have ended up in 
my class.  That would have been nice."

	"How did you avoid it?" Akira asked.

	"I can be VERY persuasive," he said.

	"That’s true," Tenma said.

	Yakumo nodded.

	Akira said, "Well, unless you want to be held back so 
you can be in Yakumo’s class next year, you’re going to 
need to study more."

	Yakumo wasn’t sure what she thought of that.  
Probably they wouldn’t be lucky enough to get into class 
together if he was held back.

	Harima sighed.  "I hate studying."

	"Yeah, me too," Tenma said.

	Something we have in common, Harima thought.  The 
thought suddenly hit him that Karasuma seemed to get 
good grades.  Maybe she goes for smart guys.

	He cursed himself for not thinking of this earlier.  I 
kept thinking about trying to get bad grades to be with 
Tenma, and didn’t think about what kind of grades 
Karasuma gets.  Man, that has to be it.  Some chicks dig 
brains.  And he is pretty nerdy weird.

	How the hell do I compete with that, he asked himself.  
I can’t be that smart and weird if I spend my whole life on 
it.  But there has to be something.

	Yakumo mumbled something as she worked.

	Akira said, "If you two don’t want to end up being 
manual labor, you’re going to need better grades.  You 
don’t want Yakumo-chan to have to support both of you for 
the rest of your lives, do you?"

	Harima winced at that.  Tenma’s hand twitched and 
her pencil slashed a line across her homework.  

	Yakumo said hesitantly, "I don’t mind."

	I’m a failure as a sister, Tenma thought.

	"I...I have a plan," Harima said impulsively.

	Akira looked at him curiously.  Her eyes seemed to 
bore into his flesh, like twin lasers.

	Tenma looked over at him hopefully.

	Only, his plan was based on the manga contest.  And 
his new manga.  Which he needed to work on more.  And 
he couldn’t tell anyone about it.  But maybe...  He licked 
his lips nervously.  "I’m going to be a manga-ka," he said.  
"Which is why I’ve been thinking about art school."

	"Oh wow!" Tenma said.  "You’ll be rich."

	"You are a good artist," Akira said.  "But it’s not easy 
to break into the manga world."

	"Yakumo-san helped me win a contest, and I’ve been 
approved to have a trial run in Young Man’s Weekly," 
Harima said proudly and nervously at once.  "But please 
don’t tell anyone yet.  It’s under a pseudonym and I don’t 
want...to make people like it or hate it because they like 
me.  Yakumo-san will be assisting me on it."

	"Well," Akira said with more respect in her voice.  "If 
you do a good job, you stand a good chance of being able 
to set yourself on solid financial ground.  The earlier you 
begin earning money, the sooner you can begin collecting 
interest and dividends from investments.  This would better 
enable you to take care of your loved ones when you 
eventually age.  Also, you can keep drawing into old age."

	"Oooh, I want to see your winning story!" Tenma said.

	It suddenly hit Harima that his winning story would be 
appearing in Young Men’s Weekly.  He prayed the 
characters wouldn’t be too easily recognizable.  He’d tried 
to remove everything, yet Yakumo had seen right through 
him.  She claimed she wasn’t psychic, and yet...

	It was inevitable, though.  He couldn’t hide it from 
Tenma forever.  Especially not when he and Yakumo 
typically worked on his new manga down the hallway from 
Tenma’s bedroom.

	I’M IN TENMA’S BEDROOM, the thoughts hit him.  
He froze with a happy smile.

	"Brother-in-law?" Tenma asked.

	He shook his head.  "Anyway, Yakumo and I have our 
future lined up."

	Tenma clapped her hands.  "Excellent.  And I’m going 
to go to college, myself."

	"You might think about history," Akira said to her.  
"It’s one of your strong points."

	"True," Tenma said.  She didn’t have very many, 
unfortunately, but she would have to work extra hard.  She 
couldn’t stand to make Yakumo work to support her all her 
life.  That wouldn’t be right.

	"I should show you my essay," Yakumo said.  "Which 
is really a manga about Japanese history."

	"Oooh, that one?" Tenma asked.  "Cool.  I’d love to 
see it."  She looked over at Harima.  "When do I get to see 
the manga?"

	"Well..."  It then hit him.  "Oh man, I didn’t keep a 
copy!  I can’t show it to you until the manga comes out," 
Harima said.

	"When is that?" Tenma asked.  

	"I need to find out," he said.  "I don’t remember."

	"I’m eager to see it!"

	"I’m curious also," Akira said.

	"I think you all will like it," Yakumo said.  "I hope."

	"I’m sure we will," Tenma said.  

	"For now, though," Akira said, "We should get back to 
studying."

*************