Well, here it is, the long awaited, you probably didn't remember I was 
writing it, next part of Hinode.  What is Hinode?  How did it get to part 
three without my knowing about it.  Hinode used to be called Sunrise, but 
due to popular complaint the name has been changed.  
   I'd like to thank my proof reader, Chronos, for taking the time to 
wade throught this.  Hopefully there won't be nearly as many grammar and 
spelling errors this time.  As always C&C appreciated, especaly in the 
relm of spelling and grammar...not even spell checkers can defeat my 
tallent for mispelling...

Matthew Trotter, damn the man...
-----------------------
Hinode

Matthew Trotter
-----------------------
Part 3: Burning Daylight

Just another day 
Livin' in a dream
Doesn't make a difference 
Nothings what it seems
   -Shotgun Messiah
_______________________
   Kodachi slipped on a shoe.  She was finaly going home.  She'd been 
here in the hospital for about a week...well, she'd been awake for about a 
week.  The doctors were convinced that she would be fine...though there 
were some worrying gaps in her memory.  She couldn't remember what had 
happened to her, but she did remember finding the cat at the lake.
   The cat.  She wasn't sure what to think of that.  She had been 
ecstatic when Nabiki had brought it in...but then it turned out to be her 
rival...still...
   Kodachi pulled on her other shoe.  Shampoo came to see her every day.  
She was sure there was something the girl was trying to work up 
to...probably an apology or something.  Still, it was nice to have 
someone to talk to.  Shampoo was full of interesting stories.  She 
had explained about Ranma and the little red-headed girl, who Kodachi had 
always thought was another of Ranma's girl friends, and about the cursed 
springs.  They were stories she would have mocked if it hadn't been for 
Nabiki pouring a cup of warm water on a certain feline...the truth of 
the matter was that she was beginning to like Shampoo.
   At first that had bothered her, but after Ranma and Akane had come by 
to wish her well.  The way they acted, the way they would look at 
each other when they weren't sure what they should be doing.  If they 
weren't in love they were doing a credible imitation.  Anyway she was 
pretty sure she didn't stand a chance with Ranma, so she really didn't 
care if Shampoo thought she did.  It was fun to have someone her age who 
she could think of as a friend.  It had been too long since there had 
been someone.  She hadn't had a real friend since...since...  She thought 
about it and guessed it was before mother had died...she wasn't sure 
though...that was another gap.
   She had asked where mother was one day, and everyone had gotten quiet.  
No one ever came out and told her, but she knew.  People don't act like 
that when your mother is at the market.  Naturally it hurt, she had wanted 
to talk to her mother very badly.  To catch up on the private parts of 
her life...but...that was another reason she was glad for Shampoo.  
Shampoo could talk about "women" things.  Kodachi supposed she could have 
asked Nabiki, but she still thought of Nabiki as her brother's girlfriend.
   She looked at her reflection in the mirror and shivered.  It was like 
looking at the doppleganger.  She turned away from the mirror, and 
reaching back, pulled the ribbon from her hair.  It was time for a new 
look.  She picked up her brush and looked back into the mirror.  The 
image in the mirror hadn't changed.  Her hair was still in a pony tail.  
The image in the mirror waggled its finger at her as if to say "naughty, 
naughty".  Kodachi dropped the brush and backed away...after a couple of 
steps the image in the mirror changed.  Suddenly it was her again, a young 
girl with long, flowing hair...who looked absolutely terrified.
-----------------------
   She wished Shampoo would come over...she wanted someone to keep her 
from thinking about the doppleganger incident...but Shampoo wasn't 
coming.  She had other obligations.  Kodachi was guessing that Shampoo's 
great grandmother was getting annoyed that she spent so much time away 
from the restaurant.  
   Opening her closet she looked at the selection of clothing...there 
were more leotards than there were pretty dresses.  Worse, all the 
dresses, ALL of them, were dark if not black and contained the same rose 
motif.  Kodachi began to wonder who she was before the accident...she 
remembered always wearing her leotard under her school uniform...but that 
was because she went to practice every day...wasn't it?  And this rose 
thing...she remembered choosing "The Black Rose" as a sort of stage name 
for the gymnastics...but this was taking things a bit too far.  Well, 
there would be no gymnastics for at least another week.  The Doctors told 
her to stay home, and try to relax.  The theory was that this would help 
her mind relax and maybe help her to remember more.  Probably not recent 
events...but some of the other things she had forgotten in the past.
   Maybe she had some normal clothes in her chest of drawers...avoiding 
looking in the mirror she went over and opened the first drawer.  Rows of 
neatly rolled underwear.  She let out a breath.  Nothing black, and 
nothing with roses...well, not more than normal for underwear.  She took 
out a bra and some panties and set them on the bed.  Second drawer...something 
black, she shut the drawer.  She wasn't wearing anything black today.  
Well, not unless there was no other choice...Third drawer, black.  Fourth 
drawer...please, don't let me have been completely insane...white.  She 
pulled it out, it was a tee shirt.  It was large and smelled vaguely of 
calamine lotion.  There was a pair of jeans in the drawer and a blond 
wig?  She took out the jeans and worried why she might have a blond wig.  
She closed the drawer and put the jeans and shirt on the bed with the 
underwear...maybe the wig was left over from a costume contest...
-----------------------
   "Mistress Kuno, that is an interesting new look for you."
   "Well, it will do until I can get out to the store an pick up some 
decent clothing."
   "Is there something wrong with your current wardrobe, if you don't 
mind my asking, Mistress?"
   "It looks like it might have belonged to a cross dressing Bela Lugosi 
with a rose fetish, besides that its just fine."
   Sasuke blinked a few times, "As you wish, Mistress."
   "Sasuke, I have a name."
   "You have always desired I call you Mistress, Mistress."
   "Well, call me Kodachi from now on."
   "As you wish Mistress Kodachi."
   Kodachi put her hand to her head and decided not to pursue the topic 
any further, "Do we have any eggs, Sasuke?"
   "Yes, they are in the far refrigerator, shall I prepare them for you?"
   "Ummm...no, I think I'll do it.  I need to do something."
-----------------------
   She wasn't sure why she'd been craving eggs, but ever since she'd 
awakened in the hospital she had been craving eggs.  They were 
delicious.  As she cut the remaining half of her egg sandwich into bite 
sized pieces Tatewaki walked into the room.  He looked tired.  Even his 
clothes looked tired.  Not that they weren't immaculate...just that in 
some inexplicable way, they looked tired.
   "You have cultivated an interesting new look, my dear sister."
   "Why is it that I possess nothing but dark and dreary clothing?"
   "Your spirit has always dominated your appearance far more than the 
clothing you choose to wear, and is of itself your true color."
   "What?"
   "You were so hyperactive and annoying that people didn't really take 
notice of what you were wearing."
   "Hyperactive?  And annoying?"
   "I am afraid so, dear sister," sniff..."That is an interesting scent you 
have cultivated, what, pray tell, might it be?"
   "I think its calamine, this shirt seems to have been soaked in it..."
   "Ah, then that article would be the very thing you wore while 
suffering from the rash."
   "What rash?"
   "You don't recall?"
   "This is going to be something embarrassing isn't it?"
   "I would be of the mind to recall it as an incident of some physical 
and mental discomfort to you."
   "Tatewaki, can you speak without sounding like bad literature?"
   "I can try, though it is difficult for me to hold a discourse 
with...er... my vocabulary is...I mean..."
   The fact that he tried meant more than the fact that he couldn't do 
it.  It was nice to know he cared enough to try.  She was about to let 
him off the hook when she heard her father speak.
   "Good morning, Miss Tendo."
   "Hi."
   Nabiki was in the house?  This early?  She must really be crazy about 
Tatewaki to have gotten up and over this soon.  Then again, they might 
just walk to school together.  Father walked around the corner in a 
business suit...for some reason this filled her with dread...followed by 
Nabiki.  Nabiki had on a pair of sweat pants and a rumpled looking 
T-shirt.  Her hair was a mess.  She looked even more tired that Tatewaki.
   Father walked by the table and set a newspaper by his place, "Good 
morning, Kodachi.  Good morning, Tatewaki."
   "Good morning, Father."
   "Daddy," the word felt funny in her mouth,like it wasn't right 
some how,"where are you going?"
   "I must go to Furinken high school and fulfill my responsibilities 
as its principle."
   Kodachi's heart sighed in relief, "Oh, ok..."
   Father walked into the kitchen, where she could hear him asking Sasuke 
about breakfast.  Nabiki sat down next to Tatewaki and rubbed her face.
   "How can you wake up so early and look so peppy, Tate-kun?"
   Tate?  Maybe she was crazy about...wait a minute...Nabiki looked like 
she'd just gotten out of bed...
   "It is a gift handed down to all the heirs of the great house of Kuno."
   "Sure."
   "If you are feeling tired, I believe we both know who is at fault for 
your being awake until four thirty this morning."
   Nabiki grinned weakly, "Yeah, well I don't think your exactly blame 
free.  Who had the fidge full of 'StaUp'?"
   Kodachi fell over backwards as her mind finally pieced the conversation 
together.  Nabiki had been here all night...apparently in Tatewaki's 
bedroom.  How did that happen?  The last time she remembered Tatewaki was 
dating Nabiki...not mating her...
   Their worried faces appeared over the edge of the table.
   "My sister, are you all right?"
   She sat back up, "How long...how long have you two been..."
   Nabiki started grinning again.
   "Normally only until midnight or there about, however this previous 
evening Nabiki insisted we watch the last four hours of a computer 
documentary first."
   "What?  You mean you throw her out at midnight?"
   Nabiki's grin widened.
   "'Throw her out?' I would never, Nabiki is always welcome in this 
abode, we typically have completed what goals we have set ourselves by 
the hour of midnight, that is all."
   "You set goals?!?!?"
   If Nabiki's grin got any wider the top her head was going to fall off.
   "Of course we set goals.  Set a clear goal and then strive to reach 
it..." Tatewaki looked at Nabiki and then back at Kodachi, "I feel as if 
this conversation may have turned toward the incorrect direction.  Let me 
clarify myself by saying that I was referring to our study habits."
   Kodachi blinked...then felt the blush start to color her face.
   Tatewaki looked at her, "Ah, I see."
   It felt like her head was on fire.  Now her brother thought she was a 
pervert.  Great.
   "Don't worry, your not the only one who thinks we should be doing 
something a bit more aerobic until midnight, but Tate-kun is just such a 
prude..."
   "I am not being prude.  It is simply my feeling that we should be 
joined in wedlock before engaging in any midnight 'aerobics'."
   Father walked in with a large tray of food, followed by Sasuke carrying 
a tea set.
   "My son, you should be more liberal.  We are no longer in the imperial 
age."
   Sasuke did not comment, but she could see that he approved of 
Tatewaki's decision.
   "Father, you will have to excuse me if I find any advice you have to 
offer a just a little bit on the invalid side."
   Father frowned, "So it has come to that.  What kind of world breeds 
children that will not heed their parents' advice even after they have 
recovered from their temporary bout of insanity?"
   Tatewaki shook his head, father laughed, and Sasuke poured the tea.
-----------------------
   Kodachi closed the closet and didn't take out a leotard, for what 
seemed like the ten millionth time today.  She wanted to go work out, or 
practice or anything.  The only thing to do at home was watch TV[1], read 
a book[2] or practice her calligraphy.  It wasn't that she didn't enjoy 
calligraphy, it was just that she'd been doing it for the past four hours.  
Sasuke was dead set against taking her shopping, she needed her rest.  
Sighing, she went back to her practice table.  There was something 
wrong.  It was something subtle.  Like that feeling you get when you 
know someone is watching you.  She spun around and looked at the mirror 
over the dresser.  The only person there was her.  No pony tail.  No 
leotard.  Just plain old Kodachi Koshinuke.
   Feeling embarrassed she sat down at the desk to finish off the page.  
She looked at where she'd left off:
   All work and no practice makes Kodachi a poor gymnast.
Hmmm...she really needed to find something else to do...she checked the 
line above that which read:
   All work and no practice makes Kodachi a poor gymnast.
She scanned the line above that:
   All work and no practice makes Kodachi a poor gymnast.
She grabbed a page off of the finished pile:
   All work and no practice makes Kodachi a poor gymnast.
Another:
   All work and no practice makes Kodachi a poor gymnast.
The pen fell out of her hand as she pushed away from the table.  She 
bumped into the chest of drawers in her attempt to escape the writing 
desk.  She spun around.
   The doppleganger grinned at her sardonically out of the mirror, "Nice 
penmanship."
------
[1] Two hundred and thirty eight channels and nothing on...how was that 
     possible?
[2] The only books she seemed to own were either treatise on chemistry 
     or cheesy romance novels.  She must have been sick...who can stand 
     romance novels?
-----------------------
   Kodachi burst into the kitchen, she had to find Sasuke...she had to 
tell someone about the doppleganger.  She didn't care if it sounded 
crazy.  Sasuke wasn't here either.  She had looked everywhere...normally 
she would be starting to get worried, but she had long since passed in to 
all out panic.  Sasuke...he couldn't have...she wouldn't just attack 
him...but then again why would she write "All work and no practice makes 
Kodachi a poor gymnast." over a thousand times?  Her heart had started 
pounding double time when she saw the note.
   "Mistress Kodachi,
       I had to step out to the store to pick up some eggs for this 
evenings meal, we seem to be all out.  I should be back in a few minutes.
                                                    Your servant,
                                                     Sasuke"
Sasuke had left her.  Everyone was gone.  ("Again," whispered a voice in 
her mind)  She was trapped in the house alone.  (As always)  She might be 
going mad an no one even cared. (Never did)  Kodachi ran to the front 
door, there was no way she could stay.  (Weakling)  She threw open the 
door and ran out onto the lawn.  It took her, maybe, three steps before she 
started to feel foolish...running away from a problem...as if she 
couldn't . . . just. . .she noticed something off to the right lying in 
the rock garden, near the hedge.  (Opps)  She had to know.  She ran 
through the sand, not caring that it destroyed the hours of work spent 
raking it into shape.  (You destroy everything)  It was an egg.  (How ever 
did that get there)  She walked around the hedge.  The rest of the eggs 
in the refrigerator were there.  They formed a rose pattern.  Every 
single one had been dyed black.
   Kodachi ran for the gate.  She had to get away.  Everything was going 
crazy.  She...ran head long into someone who was coming in the gate.
   "Nihao!"