Comments: Mostly Gen, Rating is for Strong Violence and Adult Situations and Hints of Femmeslash. The first part of the story takes place six years before the Bride's Revenge, O-Ren Ishii would be about 21 and Gogo Yubari about 11.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, based on and featuring characters from the movie Kill Bill, which is the property of Q. Tarantino and Miramax Films. No profit is being made from this fanfiction and there is no intent to infringe upon any copyrights or trademarks.
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Boss Matsumoto had been dead for almost ten years now; the deaths of her parents at his behest long since avenged. However, she had developed a taste for further vengeance, this time for herself. After his bloody end, his minions had scattered. Finding them hadn't really been a priority, even though she had decided that all involved needed to die and painfully. She had indulged herself with their deaths, spreading them out over the years, doleing each death out as if her revenge was a box of fine chocolate truffles.
Only Pretty Riki was left now; she had saved him for last. His was the sword that in actuality cut her father down, his cigarette that lit the fire that had consumed her home and nearly herself as well. His death was something that she had been looking forward to savoring.
O-Ren had finally decided to go ahead and kill the swordsman now, finally feeling as though she deserved it. She had been keeping track of him and at least knew that he was somewhere in Shinjuku. With a few favors called in, she was told that he was specifically in the red-light district, Kabukich?, known not only for its sex trade but its Yakuza as well, apparently. She was also provided with the information that he regularly visited a particular brothel and should in fact be there later that night. she decided to go ahead and try for it.
It took longer than she expected to make her way across Tokyo and it was past dark by the time she did so, which meant that the area was extremely crowded. This did help her avoid notice as she walked along the main streets, but the crowds dwindled once she made it into the back streets.
O-Ren was only a couple of blocks away from her destination when she noticed a young girl in a school uniform. With the way she was leaning against one of the buildings, she was probably whoring herself out. There was nothing particularly unusual about that, not in this kind of place, There didn't seem to be anything about her that would have caught the normally focused assassin's attention when on such a tight timetable. Perhaps it was because O-Ren had just been thinking about herself at that age. There was something almost familiar about the girl, and O-Ren realized just what was drawing her the moment that their eyes met. She recognized the gaze because she saw it whenever she looked into a mirror. Those were her eyes, and instead of a soul, the only thing that she saw through that window was death.
Neither said anything, and O-Ren turned down an alley that finally led her to the brothel. There seemed to be just one entrance, with fabric covering the open doorway instead of an actual wooden door.
Two men, probably Pretty's guards, were gathered around a car that was parked at one end of the narrow alley. It was a good setup for them, the alley was narrow enough that nothing could get around the car, and the car itself could have provided cover if they had needed it. The entire alley is visible to you at that point and and it would have been impossible to sneak by them if they were paying attention. Instead, the're using the hood of the car to play card games. She was fully prepared to take them out, but neither of them even noticed her. Sloppy. She was easily able to slip inside.
Before the man standing just inside the doorway could finish drawing in his breath to sound an alarm, O-Ren smashed the hilt of her katana into his face, just in case.
It was obvious which room Pretty Riki had been in when he stepped out of it only seconds afterwards. He drew his weapon without warning and immediately attacked. O-ren had harbored some inner fears after remembering how desperately her father fought and lost. Despite that, everything was settled between Pretty Riki and O-Ren Ishii in three strikes. Riki had left himself wide open for a retaliatory slash from her, one that opened him up from hip to shoulder and then came back down for another thing, which sliced off most of his face.
She had not seen anything for cleaning the blood off, so when she went back downstairs and out the door, she had blood all over her front, and had left blood sprayed all over the room where she had fought him. Her katana had not been put way, so she moved right into a defensive stance when she passed through the curtain and saw the state of the alley.
There was very little blood, just the broken bodies of two men on the ground near the doorway, and a girl in a school uniform standing nearby, holding a chain.
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When O-ren Ishii first heard of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, she was intrigued. The challenge of it appealed to her. She was somewhat concerned because accepting the offer meant that she would have to leave Japan for an unknown length of time - but while she did have plans, she wouldn't be in a position to bring them to fruition any time soon. And if the man behind the Squad was as influential and powerful as he seemed, having his support would make things much more likely to go her way. O-Ren ended up accepting the offer.
Gogo was perfectly happy to wait, as long as perfectly happy involves property damage and the dead bodies of anyone who pissed her off. Then again, that wasn't so different from when her Ishii was around. Nevermind.
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She needs Gogo because Gogo understands her. Gogo understands the violence and the sex; she understands family and revenge. It makes no difference to either of them that for Gogo, the sex was the violence, and the revenge on her family. Even mixed up, the pieces make up the same whole.
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The title was based on the song "The Flower of Carnage" by Meiko Kaji. It was the theme song for "Lady Snowblood" - a Japanese film from the 1970s that inspired the character of O-Ren Ishii. The song was included on the Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack. Originally written for Fallofrain for the 2007 Yuletide Challenge.