6 Chapter 6: A Budding Interest

After a few weeks of crunching, the trio managed to make a program that would make their company soar.

It was just starting though, so money won't just roll in.

Momoyo kept on challenging them and either Aka or Miyo beat them up continuously.

And the little firecracker was quickly improving. She was a prodigal genius in kinesthetics.

She was copying Aka and Miyo at every altercation and their fights began to get longer.

So Ronin stepped up and he faced Momoyo herself. "Tch, so you're done hiding under their skirts huh?" Momoyo huffed.

"Hiding? Sure, whatever you say." Ronin just shrugged.

Which made Momoyo bristle even further. She then charged at him and Ronin fought her with a hand behind his back.

"Amazing... That Momo-senpai, getting handled with just a single arm." Yamato was flabbergasted.

"Y-yeah, that's crazy." Gakuto winced as he thought of his threat.

"Can Momo-senpai even beat him?" Moro was worried.

"Come on, just trust in her!" Shouichi cheered her on.

"Shut up!" Momoyo shouted as she heard their voices like a fly buzzing around.

"Why? Why do you try so hard? Is this not pointless?" Ronin had a bored expression on his face and Momoyo got angrier by the second.

"You beat me up! I have to regain my honor as a samurai!" Momoyo attacked him relentlessly, but she was so predictable.

"Who do you think taught Aka and Miyo?" Ronin flicked her forehead and she crashed onto the ground as she tried giving a roundhouse kick.

"Your grandfather is a wise man, so why are you like this? Brash, impulsive, annoying?" Ronin raised a brow.

Momoyo gritted her teeth and she glared at him. "I promised! It is a promise to myself to beat you!" Momoyo blushed in embarrassment.

Ronin raised a brow at that, but he respected it nonetheless. After all, he would be the strongest.

"Then try and keep up, Momoyo." Ronin offered a hand, seeing as she was trying her hardest to improve.

And he could respec her determination and ethic. Even though it was annoying.

"Hmph, I don't need you to help me." Momoyo harrumphed, but she still held onto his hand and she stood up.

"Keep on trying your best, miss second." Ronin could see it, the burning energy inside of her. She would become strong. But he will become stronger.

"Kuu! Shut up you!" Momoyo hissed at his words.

But they still left the area and she wasn't able to do anything.

"Momo-senpai... So you can't claim to beat him if you don't best him by yourself right?" Yamato tried to get out of her training programs.

"Hmph, my minions can't be weak as well." Momoyo dragged them to train with her still and they almost cried.

__Kawakami Temple__

"Master Tesshin, may I ask of you something?" Ronin thought that fortune favors the bold.

"Yes, Ronin?" Tesshin listened and Ronin breathed in. "May we dabble in the selling of Kawakami water?"

Tesshin raised a brow and he didn't say anything, so he elaborated.

"We would like to spread Kawakami water to the world. It is quite popular here in Kawakami, but the supplies abroad is basically nill." Ronin started explaining.

"Hmmm, that is true. But Kawakami water comes from a spring here in the temple. It gains its effects to make one drunk due to the ki of the earth." Tesshin stated and he understood the meaning of his words.

"I see, then the quality will drop huh? And you would refuse to sell it as a novel drink." Ronin started thinking of alternatives.

"Yes, if we over collect it. Then the quality will decrease. And Kawakami temple takes prides of our signature drink." Tesshin nodded at him.

"How about if I find similar springs and we let Kawakami temple test it for its quality?" Ronin won't let it go. It was just too exotic and profitable.

"That can be done, but what's in it for us?" Tesshin rubbed his beard.

"Hmm, how about we make more sub temples all around Japan that will propagate the Kawakami style discipline?" Ronin suggested and Tesshin thought that was good, but it would be difficult due to a problem in staffing.

They don't have enough people. "You're worried about the people right? Leave it to us, I might not have Mikado's help. But our company will be able to bring in a lot of people." Ronin assured him.

And when their company explodes, people of all kinds will flock naturally.

"Hmmm, then we will accept if you bring employees that embody Kawakami temple's principles." Tesshin nodded at him and Ronin was satisfied.

"Sure, that is acceptable." He shook hands with Tesshin and their deal was sealed. Tesshin is an honorable man anyways, so they don't need contracts now.

"J-jii-chan." A brunette girl walked inside of the dojo and she looked quite stressed.

Ronin observed her sneakily and Tesshin smiled. "Kazuko, meet with my students. Akasuki, Kimiyo, and Ronin." Tesshin pointed at them and she hid behind the old man.

"Uhm, hello." Kazuko just glanced at their eyes with curiosity, but she quickly hid again.

"She's an orphan that was left in Kawakami's gates. We took her in and now, she's my granddaughter." Tesshin explained.

"Umu, hello Kazuko. It seems you are quite different from Momoyo." Ronin almost snorted at the thought of them being related.

But her being adopted explained it. "You know nee-sama?" Kazuko looked at them nervously.

"Yes, your sister is in one word. Annoying." Aka huffed and Miyo rolled her eyes.

"She's not just annoying, she gets in our way all the time." Miyo added and Kazuko huffed at them.

"Nee-sama is not annoying!" Kazuko yelled, but she quickly realized what she did and she teared up in fear and anxiety.

"Do not cry, it accomplishes nothing." Ronin said with a sigh.

Tesshin massaged his temples and he thought that Kazuko would cry again. But she held on and just sniffled.

"O-okay." Kazuko nodded at him and Ronin patted her shoulder.

"Improve, be better. You must treasure Momo huh? Then stand tall and don't embarass her." Ronin advised and they left the temple.

"Jii-chan, who is that cool guy?" Kazuko remembered the unwavering confidence in his eyes.

"He's a friend of Momo's. I guess she met her match. An unbreakable wall and an unstoppable force." Tesshin chuckled and Kazuko tilted her head.

__School__

Right after the mind boggingly boring homeroom, Ronin and his group were about to get to work.

But Momoyo stepped up to them and everyone thought that she would be picking a fight again.

"Oi, w-we're going to play beside the Tama river. Do you guys wanna come?" Momoyo asked them with a blush on her face.

She was embarrassed as hell. "Play?" Ronin raised a brow and he looked at the twins for confirmation.

"I guess we could use some leisure time. We've been trying to tweak our site for a couple of weeks now." Aka shrugged.

"Playing huh? What are we going to do?" Ronin asked Momoyo and she got flustered, not really knowing what they would like to do.

"Uhh, hide and seek?" Momoyo wasn't sure, but they just nodded.

"What will be my prize if I find you in record time, miss second?" Ronin tried to get under her skin as payback for annoying them all this time.

"Kuu! Just see! I'll do anything you want if you are able to find me! But you'll be my underling if I win." Momoyo pointed at him and he shrugged.

"Sure, I'll prove that you are miss second, happily even." Ronin smirked at her and Momoyo hissed at him.

"Just wait and see! Kazuko has an amazing sense of smell, kukuku~" Momoyo started plotting.

They arrived at the Tama river and the four boys from earlier were waiting for them. Plus one Kawakami Kazuko that looked like she was a trembling leaf.

"Oi, why are they here?" Gakuto whispered to Moro.

"I... I don't know, don't ask me." Moro was surprised as well.

"We are playing hide and seek! Ronin and the twins are it!" Momo pointed at their group.

"You sure about that?" Miyo raised a brow at Momoyo.

"Umu, you will never find me!" Momoyo started running while laughing, carrying Kazuko with her.

"Eep! Nee-sama, put me down! I think I'm going to get sick." Kazuko started looking unwell.

The others started to scramble away out of there and the trio sighed. "Why did we even agree to this? This will be too easy." Miyo rolled her eyes.

"It is some good exercise. We haven't been able to run around for some time. Master Tesshin just teaches us how to use our ki." Aka explained.

"Well, let's go find them then. Disperse." Ronin ordered and they disappeared.

With Yamato and Shouichi, they were running and huffing. Feeling a dangerous atmosphere. It was like there was a noose around their necks tightening.

Yamato and Shouichi managed to run towards a convenience store and they caught their breath.

"They won't expect us here!" Shouichi announced confidently and Yamato sort of agreed.

Thinking that the trio would look for them out in the open. They didn't ban hiding in buildings, but there's an unspoken rule that hiding in them is cheating.

"Boo." Miyo grabbed their napes and they almost pissed themselves.

'I... I thought that she would kill us.' Yamato started sweating.

"W-wow, you guys are really good at this." Shouichi was shocked.

"I can track you for miles." Miyo replied succinctly and she bought some strawberry milk for Aka and Ronin.

"T-those guys sure are scary." Yamato rubbed his neck as he remembered her firm grip.

"Y-yeah, good thing they aren't that serious about this." Shouichi saw Miyo buy some drinks leisurely.

Meanwhile, Gakuto and Moro hid inside a manga store. They managed to scuttle around and enter the restricted area for 18 year olds only and above.

"I hope that Ronin isn't the one following us. I have a feeling that guy doesn't like me." Gakuto huffed and puffed.

"You were bullying Miyako, he'd wring your neck." Moro deadpanned at him.

"Officer, right here. These pervs are trying to steal some porn mags." They heard Aka's cool and beautiful voice.

Then, they realized that they were the ones she described.

"Make a run for it!" Gakuto started running, but his shirt was caught by the officer.

"You're in big trouble. Your parents will know of this. Thank you jou-chan." The officer thanked Aka and she nodded.

She was a stickler for rules after all, so she called an officer to apprehend them for her.

"Mission complete I guess." She returned to the Tama river for their rendezvous.

And for the last group, Momoyo hollowed out a tree with her freakish strength and she hid inside of it.

"Nee-samya." Kazuko was still dizzy and Momoyo shushed her.

"Shh! You'll get us found, this is my time to shine!" Momoyo was determined to win.

"I see, your time to shine?" Momoyo almost had a heart attack when she heard Ronin talk behind her.

"H-how in the world?" Momoyo clutched her chest as she broke into a cold sweat.

"You aren't as subtle as you look." Ronin entered with them at the same time, giving her the slip.

"Y-you... What do you want?" Momoyo glared at him and Ronin thought about it.

"Hmm, how about you help convince master Tesshin in selling Kawakami water? He obviously likes you even if you're a troublemaker." He had a small smirk on his face.

"Geh, the old man would definitely make me do something before he agrees..." Momoyo frowned.

But a deal was a deal and she was found out easily. It was her loss.

"Wow... I've never seen nee-sama lose to someone before. Except Lu-san and Shakadou-san." Kazuko blinked in surprise.

"S-shut up you idiot sister." Momoyo gave her a noogie.

"Then that's that, miss second." Ronin snorted and Momoyo tried to hit him, but he easily dodged her.

"I'll get you one day, believe it!" Momoyo squinted her eyes.

"That's the day when pigs will fly." Ronin went back to the Tama river and he drank the strawberry milk that Miyo got for them.

"Hmm, this is actually interesting." Ronin had a small smile on his face and the twins raised a brow.

"You just want to mess with Momoyo." They deadpanned at him.

"And what's the problem with that? At least the matter with the Kawakami water will be much easier." Ronin shrugged.

They then continued for a few more rounds, but they were shocked that Kazuko can't find them with her sense of smell.

After all, she could smell a meat bun a mile away.

__

Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.