Competition day

After weeks of training, the day of the competition at the temple arrives. Shiro remembered what his brother warned him of and looked for the master. He also looks for who his brother could be. Scanning every monk's face, he looks for any sign that one of them could be his brother. Shiro notices the master from before; he is walking towards Lilli. Connecting to her quickly, Shiro warns her.

"Lilli, remember I told you that the master from before is a hunter of my kind. He is walking towards you now. Be careful of him; his aggression towards you is because of me. He will use your link with me to hurt you. " Shiro warns her seeing her flip her hair. He knows she heard him.

Lilli turns her attention to her horse, keeping him between herself and anyone coming close. Alex seeing the interchange between Shiro and Lilli, knows something is up and alerts his father.

"Dad, that man from Lilli's test is watching her every move. Do you think she is safe?" Alex asks him.

Yona smiles, for he has a special surprise for them. Looking at his watch, he points to a group of limousines pulling up to the temple. When the drivers open the doors. Aisling, along with the entire immediate family, starts to emerge. The three of them whoop for joy and race towards the cars. Hugging them one by one. John looks across and notices the master watching the family. He chuckles because he knows who he is. Waiting for the last car to arrive, John stands back from the rest.

Finally, John's guest arrives. Getting out of the limo is his friend, Miyamoto Musashi.

"My old friend, it is so nice to see you again. How have you been?" Miyamoto bows to John, and then the two embrace.

"All is well; I am here to watch my grandniece and nephews compete in a competition. I, of course, wanted to see you while I was here." John tells him.

"Well, it looks like you haven't changed much except we got older. Introduce me to your family. " Miyamoto and John turn to his big brood of a family. John begins the introductions.

"May I introduce my friend Miyamoto Musashi. He is the retired vice admiral of the Japanese navy. We met when I was stationed here and became quick friends." John explains. Miyamoto looked at Aisling and smiled.

"I do not need for you to tell me who she is. You, my lovely, must be Aisling. Your uncle showed me many pictures of his family when he was here. You stood out to me because of your letters to him. I could not wait for mail day, so when we met for dinner, he could read them to me." Miyamoto takes Aisling's hand and lifts it to his mouth.

Aisling blushes and nods to him.

"I am flattered that you would remember after all this time. We are here to watch our daughter and nephews compete in today's festivities. I hope you will not be disappointed. " Aisling slips her arm through Lilli's as they walk towards the temple grounds for the competition.

The master is speechless when he sees his old commander get out of the car. He is even more distracted by the fact that his commander knows such a family. Getting closer to hear their exchange, he finds out that the family's elder is his friend. He knows that he will not get a chance to get her alone with this many family members around. Looking for his student, he needs to change the plan.

"You will need to win every match; I need you to be against the girl again. This time you need to make sure she cannot beat you. Use this. It will stop her from beating you when you are pitted against her." He hands the boy a thin needle. It's been dipped in a toxin that can paralyze a person in seconds. It's temporary but effective. The boy looks at his master. He is uneasy with hurting the girl.

"Master, why do you hate her so much? She has not done anything to deserve to be hurt." The boy remembered her kindness after the last match they had.

"It's not her that I am after but someone close to her. I must draw that person out, and the only way is to hurt her. Just do as your told." The master storms off angrily, wondering who the kitsune is near her.

Moll was in the stable with William when the master was giving the boy his orders. He nods to William, who is already way ahead of her. Sitting on the straw, he begins to meditate to open his third eye when he connects to the entire clan, including Shiro.

"That monk is trying to use the same boy to hurt Lilli. He gave him a needle with a toxin that will paralyze her. He wants to draw out Shiro. Lilli, you need to throw the competition so that you are not fighting him during the hand. The mom, I'm sure, will think of something that will help, but we cannot let him figure out that Shiro is Kitsune or hurt Lilli. " William sends the warning to everyone. John looks angry and looks at his friend. What most do not know is that the vice-admiral is a kitsune. John met him when he was about to go into his deep sleep. He was injured, and John helped him. The woman that John was escorted back to her father turned out to be the man's mate. The one that could make him human. On the night of the moon ceremony

Miyamoto became human. John was there and witnessed his friends joining. He called him, knowing that a hunter was going to be present today. Miyamoto has a plan already in place to protect both Lilli and Shiro.

"Don't be alarmed. I have this already planned out. You guys do what you need to do to win the competition fairly." John nudges them mentally. The four of them get ready for the competition. Miyamoto nods to the men he brought with him. They spread out, looking for the master hunter.

They signal Miyamoto when they find him.

"Excuse me, I think that they have the pigeon. I will return in a moment." Miyamoto gets up and goes to meet up with his men.

"I understand you are looking for me?" Miyamoto asks from behind the hunter.

Turning quickly, he begins to stammer.

"Sir, what do you mean? I am not looking for you. I do not know what you are talking about?" The master looks at him, confused.

"Do you know why I never allowed anyone to touch me? Not once in all the years, I have lived anyone touched me except those I knew were safe. It's because I could not take the chance of a hunter finding me. How did you know I was connected to the girl?" Miyamoto asks the monk moving closer to him.

"I did not know I sensed the fox's mark when I touched her hand on the day I met her. I had no idea that it was you." The master stammers. He cannot harm the man in front of him, for he owes him his life. This man has saved thousands over the years, and it would not be honorable to harm him or those close to him.

"I will call off the plan to hurt the girl. I cannot harm her knowing she is related to you. You had saved my life several times when I was serving under you. It would not be honorable to hurt her." The master tells Miyamoto.

"You know that not all Kitsune are bad, just like not all humans are. It would help if you did not judge what you do not know. Go now and stop what you started. If the girl gets hurt, you will not make it through the night. That I will promise you." Miyamoto turns and returns to watch the competition knowing that this man will do what is right.

John nods to him, knowing he took care of the hunter.

"Thank you, friend; I am sorry to ask you to expose yourself to help out the children. " John tells Miyamoto.

"It's not a problem; you know that whatever fox he was after is related to me. We are all children of goddess Imari. When I think of the years that my kind was hunted with no regard, it saddens me to know how many of my family never got the chance to find their loves. So many were made slaves and used to steal, while others were just hunted and killed. I was lucky that I was found by a samurai master that gave me his name. He taught me all he knew and gave me the chance to survive. " Miyamoto tells John his voice soft and gravelly with emotion.