Making Valentine's With a Mom

Disclaimer: I do not own History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi. His masters, and Syun Matsuena do.

Kenshin: So, what's this story about?

Yusei: Think of it as a late Valentine's Day thing.

Kenshin: (reads story) But most of it doesn't seem like a Valentine's story.

Manabu: That's because the author hates Valentine's Day. But he feels he should do one anyway. Plus, this is the first Kenichi fanfic he's made. Let's atleast read it.

It's a beautiful day, February 12th. We begin our story on this typical day at the Ryozanpaku dojo. This is where masters who have reached their peak in the life giving fist of martial arts gather. They consist of the 100th dan Karate Brawler Sakaki Shio, the Death God of the Muay Thai Underground Apachai Hoppachai, the Juujitsu Philosopher Akisame Koetsuji, the Master of all Chinese Kenpou Ma Kensei, the Child Prodigy of All Weapons Kousaka Shigure and the Unrivaled Super Human Fuurinji Hayato.

So on this typical day you can expect to hear the screams of History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi Shirahama from whatever training he's going through.

"Yabba Dabba Doo!" Apachai's knee strike sends Kenichi flying into the sky.

'So that's how high the sky is...' Kenichi wonders before crashing through the main dojo's ceiling and impacting the padded floor. After stopping his ghost lifts out of his mouth.

"Apa!" Apachai grabs the sides of his head in horror. "Kenichi, why can't you ever dodge?"

"Good grief, you'd think he's been getter better at this..." Kensei says as he approaches the unconscious disciple. Taking out a jar of some weird looking liquid he pours it inside of his apprentice's gaping mouth. The ghost retreats back inside Kenichi's body, and he revives.

"Where am I?" Kenichi picks himself up suddenly, rubbing his impacted forehead that shouldn't have been hit by Apachai's attack. He then realizes what happened and looks up at Apachai, who came to him when he supposedly died.

"Yosh! Kenichi's okay! Now back to training!" he says, but Kenichi has other plans; he 'makes a strategic retreat' out the other end of the dojo. "Apa?"

As he's running he gets clothes-lined by an outstretched muscular arm. Sakaki pulls his arm back to cut open a beer bottle with his bare hands, and looks down at the poor boy he just knocked out. "Sheesh! You can't go through a single training session without running away. You can't learn anything without risk."

Kenichi picks himself up after suffering that last hit, and shouts, "I can't learn anything if I'm dead!"

"It'll be alright. Even if you die we have the means to revive you everytime!" Kensei says as he holds up his medicine jar.

'I don't know who's worse to deal with, them or Yami!' Kenichi runs his nails through his head in anger.

"Kenichi! It's still time for training with Apachai!" Hearing that Kenichi runs away again from the bronze giant. This leads him outside of the dojo, where he accidentally steps on a switch and gets entangled in steel chains. Kenichi collapses to the ground while wrapped up, unable to move his arms, legs or even his mouth.

"Well, it seems the traps work well. I'll tell Shigure when she comes back," Akisame says as he approaches the entangled Shirahama.

Still defiant, Kenichi rolls away from lite-eyed philosopher. "I can't take it anymore! You guys are going over the top!-!"

"Please!" Sakaki comments. "You complain and complain, but you always come back. Either face your problems as a man or run!"

Kenichi grits his teeth at that; he once told his teachers he would never run away again, even when he's up against masters who could trounce him in a matter of seconds. Seeing he has no answer Sakaki grabs hold of the chains and drags him back into the dojo. "Like I said!"

From the sidelines, Miu Fuurinji, the old man Hayato's granddaughter, sighs as folds dry clothes from the hanging line. "Kenichi-san... Now that I think about it, he has been receiving a lot more training than usual. It's like we hardly have time to eachother nowadays."

Miu's thoughts go to the number of days that have passed in her head, and she remembers that today is February 12th. 'That's right! There are two days left until Valentine's Day. Maybe I can cheer him up with a gift!'

"Kenichi, here's a gift from me!" This thought of Renka giving Kenichi a gift prompts that 'annoying feeling' inside of Miu to rise in her heart, and angers her.

The clock timer rings, and Apachai gives out a horrid groan. "Apa."

"Oh well. It's my turn now," Kensei says as he grabs hold of Kenichi's chained body. Before Kenichi could complain further, the old man bends down and whispers to him, "If you make it through I'll show you a peek at my latest photo collection."

Kenichi pauses for a moment. With a lecherous blush on his face he thinks over the situation. 'It's a trap! He's lying! There's not going to be anything but Touchumaru, so calmly say-' "I suppose I could give it a try."

"Good boy!" With that, Kensei undresses the chains from his body and the two go training. Miu leers at the two practicing, believing there to be some form of foul play, in other words ero, at hand. Whenever Ma and Kenichi are together, she can't help but think that.

"Ah! Apachai, you're done right?" asks Honoka, Kenichi's little sister and an expert at Othello. "Good! How about a game of Othello?"

"Yay! Let's play, Honoka!" Apachai quickly overcomes his sadness at training Kenichi to play with Honoka.

That Evening...

Kenichi's mother, Shirahama Saori, is in her home reading a Daigakkan's How To book. She looks around to see everyone in the household has left for the day. She gives out a sigh and lies back in the couch. "Mototsugi is at work... Honoka's with Kenichi at that dojo... It's so empty."

'Come to think of it, I don't think I've been to this dojo either... He's been so much happier with Kenichi that he got rid of Rotowsky, and Honoka goes there with that 'Apachai' fellow all the time... I think I should pay it a visit too.' These are her thoughts before the door opens, and in steps her daughter Honoka.

"I'm back," she says, giving out a small yawn before closing the door. 'What a nice day. I didn't even need to repel big boobs from my brother. Still, where did Shigure go?'

"Ah, Honoka. How was Ryozanpaku today?" asks her curious mother as she closes her book.

"So much fun! Big brother flew higher today than ever!" she says with an excited tone in her voice. Her eyes then pick up the book left by her side. "Ah! Mom, you still read those? No wonder big brother collects them so much."

"Don't say that, Honoka. I think these books are interesting!" Saori says to her daughter while holding up the book. Honoka heads to her room, getting ready for bed.

The Following Morning...

Kenichi's level-headed mother now stands at the front of Ryozanpaku. Looking up at the gate, she couldn't help but say, "This place looks old."

Saori holds up a bag of items, filled with food and books she brought for her son. She place a hand out to the door and prepares to push at it.

"Ah. A guest?" Saori turns around to see the owner of the feminine voice, and comes face to face with the beautiful Shigure. She's wearing her overcoat hiding an assortment of weapons inside over a kimono and mesh suit. On her back is her trademark katana, and in her left hand a second wrapped up one.

Saori tilts her head as she notes how roughed up her jacket is. "Uh, hello. Are you a member of Ryozanpaku?"

"Y...es," she replies, going to the door. "I'll open it...for you. It's rather...heavy." Shigure opens the right gate for the woman. "Follow me...inside...to make tea."

"Oh?" Shigure heads into the main dwelling building with the mother.

"So, who are...you?" Shigure asks, thinking she should have done that from the start. It's not as if she thinks Saori's threatening, unlike a certain alien. But for some reason she's getting a certain feel from this woman that reminds her of Kenichi, and Honoka.

"Oh, I'm Shirahama Saori, Kenichi's mother," she says, surprising the weapon's mistress.

Shigure gives out a sigh, as if relieved of knowing why this feeling is so recognizable. "So, you're Kenichi's...mother... Are you planning to take him...away...too?"

"Too?" Saori lifts her left eyebrow in surprise. "Oh! You mean my husband, right?"

"Yes." Shigure remembers the time Mototsugi visited the dojo, and impressed her with his gunslinging skills. She also remembers that he tried to take Kenichi away, something she feared deep in the pit of her heart.

Now in the kitchen Saori sits at the table, leaving Shigure to make tea for her. Or, that's what she's trying to do. Unfortunately she still doesn't remember where the tea leaves are. After a bit of searching in ways that perplexes the mother, like hanging upside down to look in a cupboard or climbing up a fridge, eventually Shigure plops in a seat in defeat. "I think they...moved it."

"Goodness..." Saori leans forward in her seat to pick up a small jar labeled tea. A sweat mark falls down Shigure's head; she honestly didn't know where it was.

"Thank...you." This is her response before she begins to make tea. After a few minutes, she places two cups of tea on a coaster on the table. "I did it right...this time."

"You've failed to make tea before? Oh dear," says Saori as she places a hand up to her mouth. She still takes the cup and drinks tea out of consideration, and gives out a content sigh when she tastes nothing abnormal. "So, where is Kenichi?"

"I'll go...look." Shigure heads out of the room to search for her disciple, or anyone else for that matter.

The lovely mother continues to sip tea, patiently awaiting the return of the beautiful master. "So, Kenichi sees her everyday. She carries all those weapons on her; she might be a ninja, or an assassin."

"I'm...back." Shigure scares Saori so much she spills her tea, by speaking to the mother while upside down and behind her back. "Ah, sorry." Shigure flips onto her feet to grab paper towels. With a few sweeps, she easily manages to clean up the mess. "Kenichi is usually used to me walking on the ceiling."

"How...are you upside down?" Saori asks.

"My toes...are grabbing the beams..." she says, pointing to the wooden beams that are a part of the ceiling.

"That's incredible... Does Kenichi know how to do that?" Saori asks, curious if that's something her son has been training to do.

"No..." answers Shigure. At this point she seems a little upset and bows her head. "Kenichi doesn't...train much...with me. He doesn't want to learn...how to use weapons...so I miss out a...lot."

Saori looks at the weapon's mistress, and makes a light gasp. It's faint, but she notices a faint blush on Shigure's face. Her woman's intuition begins to take effect, and something tells her that she may see him as more than a disciple. To cheer her up, Saori asks, "Could you teach me how to walk on the ceiling?"

Shigure lifts her head up and looks at her disciple's mother, and with faint blush says, "Su...re. I am Kousaka Shigure...by the way..."

After getting Saori a dougi, Shigure begins to teach her. She doesn't see any problem with doing it; walking on beams is rather easy, and she could teach it to Kenichi without him breaking his back. And since it's his mother asking, she didn't mind. After Saori dresses up in her dougi Shigure takes her up to the larger beams she usually lies on in the dojo. There she shows the mother how to spread her toes to grip the beams.

After a couple of tries, Saori manages to take hold of the beams and keep herself hanging. She smiles out of pure excitement, glad that she could grasp this so easily. "Pretty good...for a first."

"So, where is everyone?" Saori asks as her breasts and hair fall up her body from the gravity.

"I've checked...No one is around..." she says, crossing her arms with a questioning look on her face.

"Shigure-san, right?" Saori looks ahead at Shigure, who is hanging before her. "What is your opinion of my son?"

"About...Kenichi?" Shigure asks. She stops walking for a moment to think, and a faint blush rises on her face. "Kenichi is...an honest...person. At first...he was just some kid who only came back...for a girlfriend..."

"Girlfriend?" Saori almost loses her grip at that moment.

"But he's come far from that...He now...trains to protect others...and enforce his beliefs...that's something I truly...truly admire about him...his convictions," she says, loosening her grip so she could flip onto the large beam. "I want to...help him...anyway I can. Even if I...can't train him in weapons...I can still...do things for him to save his...life."

Saori smiles as she listens to her words. There's no mistaking it now; she can see through to her true feelings. As her intuition takes hold she forgets her place and her toes loosen up. She cries out when she falls, but luckily Shigure prepares her kusarigama and ball chain to catch her. Before she could though a blur runs through and catches the mother. "Phew, that was close. You were close to breaking your neck."

"Eh?" Saori looks up at her savior, Akisame Koetsuji. "Oh, thank you."

"No problem, ma'am," he says as he lets her down onto her feet. "It's rather unusual to have guests, especially guests Shigure is so willing to teach."

"That's Kenichi's...mother," says Shigure as she lands by the two.

"Kenichi's mother?" Akisame takes a quick glance at Saori's face, before chuckling. "No wonder. He must get his appearance from you."

"Uh, thanks?" Saori responds with her eyes closed, as if she wasn't expecting it. 'It sounds like he was insulting him.'

"We had a visit from your husband quite a while ago, so I was wondering when you'd come. I'm Akisame by the way," he says, turning to Shigure. "I'm amazed this is how you treat a guest."

"How...rude," Shigure says before turning around in disappointment. "She actually did it...right."

"Are you also one of his teachers?" Saori asks him.

"Why yes. It's been a thrill having your son around to teach." Akisame says to her.

"Well, how's he been doing? Where is Kenichi anyway?"

"Kenichi-kun? Ah yes, he's been doing fine. His training has been established perfectly for him." As he speaks, Akisame lightly touches his mustache.

'Liar,' thinks Shigure the moment she saw him touch his mustache. Akisame walks over to the outside, where he sits by the steps.

Saori follows him, and he continues with, "He's with Sakaki and Apachai. They went to earn money for the dojo. We've been having financial troubles lately."

"Oh?" Saori looks proud for her son and having such responsible teachers. In truth though, Akisame didn't tell her how they're really earning money; they went to the underground fighting ring again. "And his other teachers?"

"Ma is at his clinic. Work has suddenly come up for him," he says as he thinks about the perverted kenpo user. "The elder went off on a trip last night and took Miu with him."

'Miu?' Saori recollects the time Shigure mentions Kenichi initially was trying to get a girlfriend as his motivation for coming to this dojo. Recognizing Miu as a girl's name she concludes this is the same girl he was looking for.

"Ah!" Shigure heads to the kitchen at top speed.

Saori watches as she runs off, barely though. She then asks Akisame, "Akisame-san, what styles do my son learn here?"

"Kenichi-kun? He's learning four different martial arts here: Juujitsu, Karate, Muay Thai and Chinese Kenpo. He has made excellent progress from myself and the others." Akisame chuckles a bit with pride at all the progress Kenichi has made. He believes he contributed allot to it thanks to his inventions.

"And, Shigure-san doesn't teach him?"

"Shigure yearns to teach him how to use weapons, but Kenichi-kun is too afraid to." As he speaks Shigure comes before the wrapped up blade she brought back. "Although, she does train him in other things. She taught him how to swim and helped him overcome the fear of losing a fight. She really takes pride in being able to help Kenichi-kun. Infact, it's because of him she's opened up more to everyone."

"Opened up?"

Shigure heads for her room over the rafters. From the roof she enters her room, and unwraps the katana she brought with her. "I first met Shigure as a child; she was very anti-social. When she joined Ryozanpaku she hardly spoke with the others and kept to herself; she never even ate with us. But ever since Kenichi-kun started coming she's started to join us for meals, she makes jokes now and then, and worries for him just like the rest of us. I think she once tried to cook for him."

Saori makes a half frown, thinking about everything she's learned about Shigure in the span of a day. She's also a little surprised she learned so much about a person in such a short time. Maybe being the mother of their disciple leads them to trust her. Thinking of how happy being with Kenichi makes Shigure is something that's grabbed her attention.

Shigure places the sword next to a giant tub where she cools any material she makes. "Oh well. Maybe some...day."

Later That Day...

"We're back!" Sakaki bellows as he enters the dojo with Apachai and Kenichi. Kenichi blinks in shock seeing his mother leaving the main dojo.

"Mom?"

"Ah, Kenichi!" she says, approaching her son.

"Oh, so you're his mom," Sakaki says to her. He grins a bit and says, "No wonder, that's where he gets his appearance from."

'Was he insulting me or complimenting her?' Both Kenichi and Saori think this at the same time. The mother then says, "I was just here visiting your masters. How was your training?"

"Oh yeah, we haven't started training," Sakaki says while scratching his chin; they were so busy having Kenichi win fights that they forgot to go through the daily training. That's when a thought enters his head. 'Wait, what if she overreacts like his old man?'

"Uh mom, I don't think it's necessary to show you my-"

"Yosh! We'll get to it right away!" Sakaki places a hand on Kenichi's right shoulder, leaving a print that eventually fades away. Kenichi, fearing what may come next, looks up to Sakaki.

In the next few moments Kenichi is strapped in a device and forced to walk along the ground on his hands; holding his legs up is Sakaki. Almost immediately Saori asks, "Isn't this a bit much?"

"Of course not! His arms can become stronger than his feet if he walks on them more!" Sakaki says to her as they run by the woman.

"Wait, slow down! I'm getting dirt in my eyes!" Unable to see the ground, Kenichi's hands slip and he gets pushed through the dirt. Knowing Sakaki isn't planning on stopping Kenichi forces his arms back into position and begins hand walk again.

"Oh my... And he does this everyday?" she asks.

"Some times. Other times it's the squid pike," Akisame says to her.

'Squid pike?' After a while Sakaki stops his time of training, with disappointment, leaving Kenichi covered in dirt. It's not as bad as last time though. The poor disciple picks himself up and brushes off the dirt. "Isn't this type of training a little unorthodox?"

"He pays 8000 yen a month. Wouldn't we be cheating him by delivering anything less than the extreme?" Akisame's words brings Saori to give an understanding nod.

"Alright! It's Apachai's turn!" Apachai says as he comes before the disciple with punching pads. Kenichi runs towards the dojo, leaving Apachai to chase after him in reaction. Well, chase isn't really a good way to put it; he's faster than Kenichi. "APA!"

"Stay away!" Kenichi begins throwing the rock statues Akisame makes, and Apachai begins pulverizing them to dust with his Muay Thai.

"My precious throwing deities..." complains the philosophizing juujitsuist.

'Those statues look incredibly heavy, yet he's able to toss them with one hand each...' thinks Saori as she watches Kenichi's 'training'. 'I guess he's really learning something here.'

After a while training with Apachai ends. Kenichi then plops to the side with his mother. "I'm kinda surprised that you visited mom, but I wish you could have come yesterday. I'd have had more free time to spend with you."

"It's okay. Any time I spend with you is enough," she says to her son. Her thoughts then go to Shigure. "I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"Eh?" Kenichi then looks down at her clothes, only now realizing she's wearing a dougi. "Mom, why are you wearing that?"

"I was learning a skill from one of your teachers, Shigure-san." Hearing this Kenichi enters a state of shock. "I can now walk on ceilings."

"Mom, you can't go around learning techniques from these guys! It's dangerous!" he says to her, raising his tone slightly so it doesn't seem like he's shouting at her.

"It was...okay," Shigure says, popping up behind him upside down. Once again he falls face forward in surprise. Shigure flips to solid ground and continues with, "She was able...to pull it off...easily. The apple...must have fallen...far from the...tree."

After saying that she gives out a puff of air and tightens her fist, believing she said a cool line. Saori then says, "Don't think of it. Shigure-san, good luck with my teachings too."

"Eh? Teachings?"

"Well, I better get changed. Your father should be returning soon," she says, standing up to head for the bathroom.

'What did she teach Shigure?' Kenichi wonders as she leaves his line of sight.

After Saori left Kenichi begins training with Akisame; he's testing out one of his house-generator machines. After getting shocked for the fifteenth time he passes out, and that's when the Elder and Miu return from their trip. While extremely happy, Kenichi couldn't express such happiness until he recovered from his injuries.

Around midnight Shigure heads into the kitchen. With Tochumaru sitting on her head the weapons master holds up a book labeled 'Daigakkan'. "This...should work."

The next morning Kenichi and Miu head for school. Like always ever since the incident of 'the night that never happened', they're being watched. This time, it's Tochumaru having sneaked into Kenichi's clothes.

"Tochumaru, why couldn't Shigure or Apachai watch us?" Kenichi asks the mouse, knowing he won't get an answer.

"I think it's better that it's Tochumaru this time. Maybe grandfather is lightening up on us being together," says Miu with a smile. 'That's right. Today is Valentine's Day. I hope Kenichi-san likes what I made for him.'

"Oh well. Let's get going. We don't want to be late," says Kenichi before he takes off. Miu quickly takes the lead, obviously much faster than him. And in no time they reach school.

Class rolls by, as it normally does since it's rather unimportant to the story. Once lunchtime rolls by Miu and Kenichi head to the Shinpaku Alliance room. Inside he spots Niijima and the other members enjoying their lunch. "I can't believe I'm starting to eat here now."

"Yo, Kenichi-kun, honey!" Ikki Takeda says to the duo after they enter.

"Ah, nice of you to have come, Kenichi. I'm glad to see you're beginning to warm up to your best bud Niijima-" Without warning Renka Ma drops an ax kick on the alien's head and sends him crashing to the ground.

"Ah, Kenichi! Happy Valentine's Day!" Renka holds out a box of chocolates to him.

"Chocolates? Is this for me?" Kenichi asks as he receives the gift.

"Of course! Isn't it normal to give honmei chocolates to someone you-"

"I'm pretty sure they're giri chocolates." Miu interrupts Renka mid sentence, taking the chocolates away from Kenichi.

"No, they're not!" Renka snatches them away from Miu and gives them back to Kenichi. "Just what are you trying to do?"

'What a great situation to be in...' thinks Takeda as he watches the two girls fight inconspicuously over Kenichi.

Miu takes out one of those cat danglers and holds it out to her. Renka begins to play around with it since she chases moving objects, and Miu begins to get too into it since she looks like a cat. Kisara, who was eating lunch on the side, begins to join it too.

Eventually they snap out of it. "Hey! What are you making me do?-!"

"That's my line!" Renka retorts.

"No, that's MY line!" Kisara adds.

Kenichi, who has moved to a seat before Takeda because he didn't want a part of whatever they were doing, opens his backpack to take out his lunch Miu made for him. But when he unwraps the package, he falls backwards when to his shock Tochumaru is shown in the box cleaning his teeth.

"NOOO!" Kenichi yells, his precious bentou from Miu destroyed.

"Ah! Again, Tochumaru?" Miu says in anger at the mouse. 'The precious bento I made for Kenichi-san...'

Kenichi checks inside his bag, and sees another one beside it. "Huh? Where did this come from?"

"Another bentou box?" Miu and Takeda look at Kenichi's next package.

'With all the training I didn't even notice it was heavier...' He opens it up and his two friends see it's a heart-shaped bentou box. This surprises them, but not as much as Kenichi when he reads who it's from. "Sh-Shigure?"

"Shigure made this for you?" Miu asks, retraining herself to remain calm.

"Just how popular are you?" Takeda asks Kenichi, who right now was afraid of what to do with the meal at the moment.

'It's heart-shaped... I didn't think his master would like him too!' Renka thinks in anger.

"Looks like things are harder for you then you think!" Kisara says with a sneer.

'You're one to talk!' Miu thinks angrily at the cat girl. 'You're planning to stop Kaname-san from giving Ukita her chocolates.'

'Maybe she made it for Tochumaru and he ate the wrong one by mistake. Oh well... It's either eat this or train on an empty stomach when we return...' A reluctant Kenichi takes a test bite of the bentou, shocking Miu and Renka. But to the former's surprise, he didn't gain a disgusted look or puke. In-fact, he swallows what's in his mouth and smiles. "Wow! It's delicious!"

"Eh?-!" Renka and Miu say in unison. They couldn't believe what they were seeing as Kenichi continues to eat Shigure's meal. Even worse, he doesn't seem to realize the implications of why it's in a heart-shaped bentou box.

'Shigure got really good at cooking! It's just as good as Miu's!' Kenichi continues to eat Shigure's meal happily, unknowingly angering Miu and Renka.

Elsewhere in the school Chikage Kushinada is eating some giri chocolates she received from a fellow classmate.

Back At Ryozanpaku...

Shigure is enjoying a meal Milan Style she made herself. 'Saori-san...helped me out...a lot. I hope Kenichi...likes it.' "Thanks for the lessons...Saori-san."

"It's no big deal. Teachers learn from their students too, right?" Saori asks her as she walks along the beams of the ceiling.

"So that's Kenichi's mother... Had he been female he would have made a wonderful looking girl!" Kensei says as he takes pictures of Kenichi's mother while she's hanging upside down. Shigure discreetly throws a flurry of kunai and shuriken at him, smiling when she manages to destroy his camera.

The elder sits by the balcony of the dojo while drinking tea. He gives out a hearty chuckle. "Yes, everything's going smooth. There's no way he wouldn't notice the feelings Shigure presented to him with that single gift. Although things might be rough for him should he and Shigure patch up a relationship, BUT THAT'S JUST YOUTH!-!"

Things will never be the same at Ryozanpaku again.

Kenshin: That's the end of this chapter... Finally. It took two days to finish!

Yusei: Why couldn't we post this on Valentine's Day again?

Manabu: Because TCM hates Valentine's. Didn't I say that before?

Yusei: Anyway folks, you know the drill. Please read and review. If it goes well there might be a second chapter.