Chapter One:

After the twins and Haruhi had graduated, the host club found half its members scattered across the world. Hikaru was studying design in France, Kyouya was at Harvard, and Kaoru had taken up residence in San Francisco to study business, while our four remaining members stayed in noble Japan to study at Ouran University.

This particular story revolves around the 'wild' yet surprisingly docile spirit of Takashi Morinozuka, his life, and how Rae came to be a part of it.

0o0o0o0

Takashi Morinozuka was the picture of calm as he sat at the judges' table. It was custom that a Morinozuka was to be at the advancement ceremony of any kendo dojo linked with the prestigious martial arts family.

He watched as two promising students struck each other with their long bamboo shinais. Clack. Clack. Each sound echoed through the silent performance hall.

School invaded his thoughts as the ceremony was coming to a close. There was only one match after this one. He had to get a paper on civil law done. Then he had a paper on the history of the samurai to start.

At Ouran University, your four years of primary schooling were dedicated to you major. Jurisprudence involved the theory and philosophy of law. There were classes on Natural Law, the sociology of law, and how laws and morality are two separate things. Takashi enjoyed every aspect of the law and he found that the more he learned about the law, the more he wanted to use it to help people.

The hours were long and there were days he went without sleep just so he could get every ounce of information into his overcrowded philosophical brain, but he knew that in the end it would be worth it.

Kendo was his escape and his passion. Kendo was what put his mind at rest. To be one with his sword. He could disappear into a world of calm and serenity. As he tried to make the precise cuts, law theories ceased to exist. The world would fade away as the college student focused on one thing and one thing only.

As he watched the younger students compete against one another, he saw a similar passion to his when he was ten and learning his family's craft. There was the determined stance, the firm yet easily movable arms, and even thought the face guards hid and protected their faces, Takashi knew that the two martial artists had their eyes fixed on their opponent, calculating all possible moves.

Thunder rolled in the distance, and Takashi did what his mother told him to do as a child. He glanced up at the skylight and started to count: One, two, three, four. Lightning cracked in the sky as the Kendo match drew to its unfortunate end.

The doors of the dojo opened and Takashi could hear the heavy downpour of the sudden storm.

Two people came shuffling in. One was a man a little older than Takashi. Possibly twenty-six. The man was in shorts and a shirt. His brown hair stuck to his scalp as he stood dripping at the entrance.

"Rae, I can't believe you forgot your umbrella," the man stated, frustrated with his soaked to the bone status. He wiped his face and grumbled as he waved apologetically to the group of people staring at them.

The other guest was a woman who was hugging a large messenger bag to her chest. She would have been rather plain looking if it hadn't been for the various shades of blue that streaked through her bands and the bottom layer of her black hair. She wasn't more than twenty-one.

"It was sunny when I left this morning," the woman shook her head. "Don't blame me." She wiped at her face to get water out of her eyes.

The Kendo master of the dojo smiled apologetically for the sudden intrusion. "I'm sorry; these two are the older sibling of one of our students."

"We're on a temporary break," the judge to Takashi's left spoke kindly. Interruptions were to be expected when it started to rain suddenly. "Perhaps we can find them some dry clothing."

The Kendo master nodded and looked at the newcomers. "Rae, you left your Aikido things here the other day," he said. He looked at the man. "Ren, your clothing is also in the back room. Akiko dropped it off since she knew you would be coming to your brother's ceremony."

"Thank you Master Takawa," the two chorused as they bowed simultaneously.

Rae waved to a teenage boy who was pulling his gloves on. "Shinji, wait for me to come watch," she smiled. She dropped her messenger bag next to the front counter and a large sketch pad peeked out.

The two new guests pushed each other teasingly as they disappeared into a back room and the room began to buzz with curious chatter. 'Did you see her hair? What kind of name is Rae? Is her brother any good?'

Takashi thought about the woman who had just walked in. Blue hair was almost never seen in a professional setting and he wondered what she did for a living. If you were good at what you did, people overlooked such oddities like blue hair. He thought about The Hitachiin family and Tamaki who operated outside of the natural order of the profession worlds and yet the world didn't bat an eye because they were good at what they did.

A few minutes later, both siblings came out of the back room. Ren wore a traditional Kendo outfit of navy Hakama pants and a navy jacket, while his sister was in black Hakama pants and a white jacket.

Ren was towel drying his hair as his sister brushed her hair into a ponytail. They moved over to a five foot tall section of storage cubbies. Rae stepped onto a bench to the side and lifted herself on top of the cubbies. The Kendo master looked at her and smiled slightly. Apparently this was typical behavior. Rae had to have a bird's eyes view of the match about to take place.

Shinji moved onto the mat for his match and everyone became quiet. Ren crossed his arms and watched carefully while the blue haired Rae smiled and leaned her head into an open hand.

At the end of the match Shinji came out victorious, signaling the end of the ceremony. Takashi silently presented the passing applicants with their specific 'Dan' level. He himself was a 4-dan, and while he had a ways to go before he reached the level of 8-dan, he was already one of the best kendoka around.

After presenting Shinji with his 3-dan, Takashi stated getting ready to leave. He was in his Kendo gear and needed to change before he even considered going out in the rain. He moved behind the cubbies and into a dressing room with one of his duffle bags.

Ren started to wrestle with Shinji and Rae watched from her perch in mild amusement.

"Good job little brother," Ren said as he put Shinji in a headlock. "But you have a ways to go until you can beat me."

"Get off of me!" Shinji growled as he pulled his head from his grasp. "Ren, why are you always this wild!"

Rae began to laugh as Takashi came out of the dressing room. He looked at her back and thought that her laugh was nice. He was in dark jeans and a dark green cashmere sweater. His second duffle bag was directly under Rae's position a top the five foot cubbies. He bent over and pulled out his phone just as Shinji threw a glove at Ren.

The glove sailed over Ren's head and went flying towards Rae.

Rae yelped and fell back, toppling over the edge. She fell on Takashi's back with a loud thud and the two groaned unhappily.

Everyone moved around the cubbies and found the two people on the ground. Rae was face up on top of Takashi's back who had been flattened on the ground. Together the two were a human cross. Each wore an equally stunned expression.

Shinji rushed over and pulled his sister up. "Did you have to fall on a Morinozuka!" he yelled.

Ren leaned on the cubbies. "It could have been worse," he said. "I imagined something much more compromising."

Rae shrugged her younger brother off and crouched down next to Takashi. "Hey," she spoke softly so that only he could hear. "Sir, are you okay? I didn't mean to land on you."

Both of their faces were an inch from the ground as they looked at each other and Takashi found that her eyes were a soft chocolate. As Takashi pushed himself up Rae continued to maintain eye contact as she sat up. She looked at him in worry.

"Fine," he said giving a small smile.

Takashi Morinozuka, the man of very little words had given the young woman his reassurances.

Rae laughed nervously as she blushed. "I really am sorry. I'm not nearly as… graceful as my brothers."

Takashi stood up and offered a hand to pull Rae up. She stared at the open palm and placed her smaller hand in it cautiously.

"Don't worry," Takashi said.

Rae pulled her hand from his and smiled. "I'm glad I didn't kill you."

0o0o0o0

Rae Miyagi was a mediator. She found solutions that worked for everyone. At least she tried very hard to do so. She had graduated high school at a young age and had finished law school the year prior. Lawyers either won or they lost. Mediators were successful, or they were failures. And there was a difference between winning and being successful.

The law firm she worked at allowed her blue hair and because she was good. She managed to help two of the managing partners with their divorces before she had been hired and it had impressed them enough to hire her as their first mediator in residence. She brought mediation to their business, which meant more money. She was known for finding quick and effective solutions for both parties.

She rented a condo in a high rise complex in the center of Tokyo by herself and spent the weekends at her parents' house eating dinner and bonding with her two brothers. For her, life was simple and she liked simple. The law was complicated, so at the end of the day she wanted to come home to something less complicated.

Her father was a Japanese-American on assignment at the air force base on Okinawa, but he fell in love with a local girl. As the end of his assignment came, he married and took the step to become a citizen of Japan. The two love birds moved to the suburbs of Tokyo where they raised their three children and made a living by opening a restaurant.

Rae entered her condo and slipped her shoes off before walking into her small living room. She walked over to her laptop and dropped her 'hobby bag' on the couch.

She turned on her laptop before pulling out her sketch pad. She opened it up to see the beginnings on a forest scene. "I'll finish you this weekend," she told herself.

Rae loved to sketch in her free time to break from the stress of everyday Tokyo life. She would then put the sketches in a small gallery to be sold.

"All right," she whispered. "Let's find out exactly who I fell on."