The princess of the Genryuusai kingdom, the apple of the king's eye, his pride and joy and the darling of his heart, was a beautiful, elegant, raven-haired girl, graceful, proper, careful and judicious in all her thoughts and action. Her natural grace charmed all who beheld her, and melted the hearts of every young man with whom she deigned to share a smile or a kind word. Greatest of these was Guy, the prince of another school of Bushin-ryuu - so great was the fame that Guy had gathered to his own name, even beyond that of his dojo, that it had made him the most formidable prince in all the land. Yet even the fierce, stern, and implacable countenance of Guy himself would easily be reduced to a smile and a blush at the merest touch of the Genryuusai princess. The news of their engagement made so much logical sense that all anyone could do was nod, rub their chins, and say, indeed, that sounds about right. Of course.
This princess' name was Rena, and she was the most beautiful of all the princesses of all the land, and lived in a perfect little world where everyone was happy and beautiful and poised and perfect. Did we mention how perfect she was? Because she was. King Genryuusai's perfect little daughter. Why even bother with having any more children when you had one like her?
And then there was Maki. Maki asked herself that question sometimes. What were her parents thinking? They obviously didn't need another kid.
Genryuusai Maki was not perfect. Genryuusai Maki was Rena's little sister, the younger daughter of the Master of the Genryuusai Dojo, and in her own mind, she was depressingly normal. Where Rena had perfectly shaped limbs and delicate fingers, Maki had long limbs, piano-fingers, and big feet. Where Rena's hair was long, black and straight, Maki's was sandy-colored and frizzy, no matter what she tried to do to it. Where every step Rena took was perfect and dainty, tiny little flowers growing where her footsteps had touched, Maki's were awkward and cludgy, and the only thing that grew was the mess as she bumped into things and knocked them over.
"But you're gorgeous," Rena kept insisting. Rena was actually a really nice person, and adored her younger sister. "Lots of girls have an ugly duckling phase. Imagine what it's like for me to know I'm peaking at 22! All I've got to look forward to is wrinkles and fighting off old age. You're still going to have guys falling all over you in your '40s!" It was at this point she had to duck the shoe Maki had thrown at her. "Eep!"
"It's not just looks," Maki had protested, clenching her fists. "It's your personality! You're the nicest, sweetest person alive! Stop trying to cheer me up all the time! Why couldn't you be a bitch like everyone else's older sister and lord it over me once in a while? Don't you even know how to gloat? What's wrong with you? You're just trying to go and be perfect again!" It made her even more angry when Rena had started giggling.
Rena, you see, had a little secret. When Maki was very young, her mother, noting in her younger offspring a certain gawkiness, had insisted that Genryuusai train Maki in the bushin-ryuu martial arts in order to teach her balance and poise. Rena, already smooth and fluid at an early age as the result of conscious effort in order to make her mother and father happy, was rewarded for her efforts by being left out completely. Instead of training alongside with Guy - her father's handsome, dark-eyed student who always made her breathless when she stole looks in his direction - like Maki did, she learned the tea ceremony, and flower arrangement, and the other proper pursuits of the proper Japanese lady. Things which bored her quite literally to tears. However, something deep inside just wouldn't let her ever say no to any of the demands made upon her.
Not so for Maki. The first time her father had put her up against one of his other students, she'd simply blinked at the boy, then turned back to Genryuusai. "I'm not going to fight him," she said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "I don't believe in VIOLENCE." No amount of coercion, threatening, or even bribery would convince her to raise a hand against another. She just didn't want to hit people.
That was the kind of power that Maki possessed, and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it was something Rena desperately wanted more than anything else in her life.
Still, it was just so hard to be jealous of her sister. Particularly since her sister made no secret of how much she envied Rena. "You're always so free with your feelings," Rena would tell her, shaking her head. "How do you do it? How do you just say all the things you mean?"
"Don't change the subject!" her sister would bark, continuing to practice katas on the dojo floor, completely oblivious to the boys practicing at the other end of the room trying not to stare at her long legs, her athletic frame, her limber movements. "This is about you and living in your shadow."
Maki didn't want to talk about that, because to be honest, Maki had a little secret of her own. She didn't always say all the things she meant. She did keep some feelings inside, and was very careful to do so. She'd trained alongside Guy all her life, sparred with him, matched wits and talent against his and sometimes had even come out the winner. It just seemed natural that she'd want to keep being in his presence, to keep being special to him, forever. Yet the news that Guy had become engaged to her sister had filled her with alien, unfriendly feelings she didn't understand. Even so, she hadn't let one tear drop from her eye until she was safely back in her own room, on her own bed, hiding under the covers. She'd just assumed that if she trained hard enough, if she matched Guy in skill and speed, that one day he'd realize that martial arts skill was more important to him than poise, elegance, and being perfect. Unfortunately for him, she thought, with no little spite, he can't see beyond the pretty wrapping paper to what's really important in life.
And, oh yeah, she did notice the boys. Boys always stared at her. They thought she was a freak. She'd gotten used to it, and after the first few of her father's students for which she'd suspended her anti-violence ethical paradigm in order to beat to a pulp, they stopped saying things to her face. The idea that their reasons for staring might have changed simply never occurred to her.
"I wish I was living in someone's shadow," Rena retorted, her chin in her hands. Better than living under a microscope, she thought to herself silently. In a spotlight. Better than marrying a boy who wants you only because it was prearranged. A dynastic union between the two schools of Bushin. "The sun's awfully bright sometimes."
"Ooh! A poetic metaphor. How eh-ley-GANT," said Maki, making a face and sticking out her tongue at her sister. "Thppppt!" Sometimes her sister was so annoying!
"Biiiih," said Rena, pulling down her eyelid and sticking out her tongue, waving a hand up and down. "... Dah." She loved her sister. Everyone else was scared even to sneeze around her.
So it was that when the Mad Gear Gang reappeared and kidnapped her family, Maki didn't think twice about suiting up, strapping on her tonfa sticks and heading out to rescue them. It's what Guy would do. Perhaps this was the Ultimate Test, that if she proved her equal to Guy in rescuing people from the Mad Gear Gang, just like he'd done, then he would realize that only she was truly on his level. It was a nice thought. If maybe a little forlorn. Still, her sister couldn't fight her way out of a stuffed animal factory. Someone had to get Rena out of trouble, and since Guy was off training, there was no one else.
Of course, just like Guy, she was going to need a little help. From a man they once called 'Mr. Mayor'.