Abbreviated A/N:
This is a short story about Hisako Ichiki, code-name Armor, and her journey of becoming an X-Man. Although the first chapter heavily features Emma Frost, as she brought Hisako to the school, it really is about Hisako. Later chapters would all be in Armor's point of view. The story starts (Ch. 1) after Magneto-Xorn's destruction of Manhattan, but the school has been rebuilt, so it happens after NXM #156 and NW v2 #13, but before NXM: Academy X #2 and AsXM v3 #1.
Choices of character's backstory, I again put all the explanation in the next NON-actual-chapter "Chapter"; so for those who have questions please read it.
※In this chapter, when ever you see「content」instead of "content", it means the content is spoken in Japanese.
By the way, I had no idea that the ※ symbol was actually not commonly used (or at all) in English! xD
It basically means 'note', and is used in Chinese, and yup, in Japanese. So I guess that's something to learn =]
Ichiki, Hisako (市来 久子)
Age: 16
Known family member(s) living with her: both parents and an older brother
Residency: Tokyo, Japan
Emma looked over the file for the umpteenth time, putting it away to start her caviar and foie gras spread on two separated pieces of toasted bread, and called for a flight attendant to order another glass of Champagne. She could have easily taken the Blackbird and used the autopilot system to still be able to relax while saving the duration of the trip, but she figured since the X-Mansion was just newly rebuilt, and with another semester starting soon, there was no guarantee that no trouble would not come knocking on their door; it was best to leave the Blackbird for real emergencies on campus; plus, she didn't mind flying in first class every once in a while, that, and she needed to try out her new trick before she approached the potential student and her family.
「どうもありがとうございました！」 A different flight attendant had just handed her the glass of Champagne, seeing that she was Japanese, Emma used the chance to test out her theory and it worked: yup, it sure felt like Japanese was her mother tongue!
「どういたしまして！」 The flight attendant, although obviously taken by the pleasant surprise of hearing a Caucasian with completely accentless Japanese expressing her gratitude, replied the equivalent of 'you're welcome' with a broad smile.
Good, this could really be a handy ability, the team would surly appreciate it. Now, she just needed to memorize the proper honorifics... Boy, the rules of keigo were sure confusing... Teineigo, sonkeigo, kensongo, and teichōgo. Emma did not want the student's elder family members to think she talked rudely without respect; with Logan being elsewhere, and no other living language experts around, she would just have to learn it herself, albeit with the help of a bit cheating (as long as it got the job done). She supposed she could have made up some excuse to talk to the Ashida girl and just learned it from her, but with Danielle Moonstar giving her dirty looks whenever she was only remotely close to her recruits, Emma quickly crossed out the idea. Sipping her Champagne, she knew she had to get back to work soon. She had at least another hour or two to learn from the minds of native speakers sitting in first class, as as soon after dinner, most of them were bound to rest, and it'd be difficult for her to access their brain while they were asleep.
Focusing on the left temporal and frontal lobes of the eloquent cortex, one person at a time, Emma allowed parts of her thoughts to wonder about the girl she was visiting soon while 'downloading' rules of Japanese grammar into her brain. Last semester Charles had sent out Danielle (occasionally accompanied by Shan) to fetch new students; it could be the fact that now Charles was absent so she and Scott were filling as heads, hence they should continue what he started, or that Emma simply missed the old days when she searched for potential students on her own. To think that she didn't even have access to Cerebra back then, and had to gather information from rumors most of the time! When she was using Cerebra this morning, the dot in Tokyo immediately caught her eye! The light was so bright that when she zoomed in the area, she excepted to see more people living closely together, yet it was still one dot; oddly she could also see the movements around her while those obviously didn't belong to mutant, which usually didn't happen on Cerebra. She normally didn't like to call in favors, but the situation was just so rare that she asked Sage to do an analysis. After a quick research, Sage informed her of the girl's family members, and that she had one sibling. Mutant phenomenon truly never ceased to amaze her, although she really shouldn't have been surprised, as the newly recruited David Alleyne, code-name Prodigy (she got a glimpse of that information from Danielle), also had a younger human sister... Or like Angelo Espinosa, how could she have forgotten about Skin's family! Out of the three children, only Angelo had the X-gene. Emma was just so used to siblings being all mutant, such as the Summers, the Guthries, Magneto's children, the St. Croixes, even all three of the Frost sisters had powers. It turned out that the entire Ichiki line all had latent mutant gene in them, just that they mostly only had one actual mutant per generation; the last one was Hisako's uncle, who unfortunately died at a young age. It was unknown whether he died because he was a mutant, nonetheless Emma was already set on visiting the Ichikis and hopefully bring Hisako to the school, as she wouldn't have anyone to teach her how to use her powers, and it was still unclear how mutants were treated there.
When she brought this up to Scott, he was skeptical, thinking it was a foreign affair, and the X-Men already had a lot to cope with within the States; she easily brought up that Sean, Kurt, Piotr, Logan, Ororo, and Shiro, were from Ireland, Germany, Russia, Canada, Kenya then Egypt, and JAPAN respectively, yet Charles still recruited them to save the X-Men from Krakoa. Emma knew he was going to counter with the fact that mutants simply weren't everywhere as they seemed to be nowadays, but she wasn't backing down, raising questions like where the Ichikis could find help if not from them. Honestly, if this wasn't mutant affair, Emma didn't what it was. What superhero team did Japan have, Big Hero 6 (did they even still exist)? What did the X-Men know about them, really? And last she knew of, Shiro Yoshida, code-name Sunfire, had left that team and was serving at X-Corporation's Mumbai branch; his sister Leyu was dead, so the team did not have any mutant among them, what help could they offer to the Ichikis! Obviously Emma won the case, which was why she was now on the plane. By the time she finished her entrée, she realized the minds around her had all gone quiet. Starting on her ice cream, she took out the file again, along with two brochures of the school: one in English, one in Japanese. Although it was literally too late if there were any errors in the Japanese one, now that she could read in the said language, she decided to check whether Noriko Ashida should be spared of getting a year-round detention for humiliating the school internationally. Because Danielle simply didn't trust Emma, she had to ask Hank to get Noriko to do the 'extra credit' assignment, yet when she finished translating, no one could verify if she actually did exactly what was asked, as Internet translators could only help to an extent. Emma was satisfied with what she was reading, apparently the rebellious blue-haired girl could do a decent job after all.
Putting away the brochures, Emma started rereading the file again. It really showed that although she and Scott had finally openly become lovers, they still had a long way to go on learning more about each other, well, mostly him getting to truly know her for the matter. Hank understood immediately why she was so excited about this particular student, just look at her school report Sage managed to find! The girl was a diligent student, a borderline perfectionist, which reminded Emma a lot how Paige was back in the Generation X days; she remembered how Husk used to set her goal on one day being the leader of the X-Men! Emma loved the studiousness in a pupil, because really, what more could a mentor ask for, other than the students wanting to constantly better themselves? Emma could tolerant students with a bit temperament issue, as long as they showed great potential, but for people who were obviously diamonds in the rough, AND with great learning attitude? That would just be a big, big bonus! There was also the fact that Hisako was not just a smart bookworm; she was on her school's track and field team, specializing in high jump, so her physique and health had to be in good conditions on some level. Her parents also made sure both she and her brother were trained in self-defense; Hisako was a brown belt First kyu in judo, although she might not won any tournament with her current skills, they were sufficient enough if she ever encountered any minor trouble. All in all, Emma couldn't wait to meet the Ichikis; her intuition told her this trip would not be a letdown. Turning off her personal seat light, she made herself comfortable to get some rest; after all, she had a family to impress after the plane landed!
Emma Frost and the Ichikis
When Hisako answered the door, she didn't know what to think, other than 『外人？でもこの女の人...綺麗な！凄く美人ですね～』 , and as if hearing her thought, the beautiful lady (dressed in crisp white from head to toe) smiled even more warmly at her; Hisako couldn't help but blushing a little, but she quickly came back to her sense and wondered why this unknown woman was here. Did her parents hire an English private tutor for her or her brother? She wasn't too happy about that idea; she might not have the best grade in the particular subject, but she didn't do so poorly that needed to get extra help! She mustered her courage and what she learned in class and asked the pretty stranger, "Miss... Can I help you with something?"
Emma just smiled at the girl; oh, how adorable she was! Even though she had a slight accent, Hisako's question was stated clearly, and Emma secretly liked her a bit more because she showed caution to strangers, no matter how appealing the girl personally thought of them. Before Emma could answer her, apparently Hisako's brief pause in the beginning was enough to call attention to her family.
「どうかした，久子？誰？」 A stern looking middle aged man with glasses came into view, upon having eye contact with Emma, his look became more unfriendly and unimpressed.
Emma sighed inwardly. She had heard that some (obviously not all) Japanese were prejudice towards White people (or to be fair, anyone who wasn't Japanese), and that some people with more traditional thinking tended to be male chauvinism, and just her luck, Hisako's father seemed to be both. Owells, she wouldn't be Emma Frost if she hadn't come prepared.
「こんにちは！私はエマ・フロストです，」 She almost grimaced at the pronunciation of her name using gairaigo, but continued with a professional smile, 「エグゼビア高等教育院の共同校長の一人。」 Emma then proceeded to explain that the other headmaster was at school taking care of the students, so she was the representative sent here, hoping to talk to the Ichikis and their daughter.
Evidently Emma's perfect Japanese stunned the Ichiki father and daughter, but Mr. Ichiki recovered fairly fast, and his demeanor became more welcome, 「エグゼビア？もしかしてチャールズ・エグゼビア？この人設立の学園？」 It seemed that Charles was well-known even in Japan, as Mr. Ichiki eagerly invited her into their home.
After relocating to the Ichiki's living room and being served hot tea by Mrs. Ichiki, the three sat in silence as Mr. Ichiki looked through the school brochure; Hisako, sitting next to her father, seemed a little nervous; occasionally she would look up towards Emma, who was sitting across the Ichikis, and then quickly looked back down.
「Have you heard of the X-Men, Hisako?」 Emma decided to strike a friendly conversation with the girl.
「Yes! They are a mutant superhero team. Wolverine is quite well known in Japan, having a history with a yakuza family, and Shiro Yoshida briefly serve the team.」 Emma mentally rolled her eyes... Ugh! Shiro Yoshida was with the X-Men for like one mission! But she understood the pride in the girl's voice, as Sunfire was probably the most prominent Japanese superhero there was.
「You are correct. In fact, Wolverine, Professor Logan, is still with the school; he teaches close quarters combat. He would have been the first choice for this trip had he not been over occupied with work.」 In truth, Emma had no idea of Logan's current whereabouts, but the Ichikis didn't have to know that.
Emma then informed Hisako about the school's curriculum, what goals they were hoping to achieve, the facility they had, and the upcoming training squads system. Hisako was definitely interested and excited about what she was hearing, whereas her father just sat and listened; Emma scanned his thoughts very carefully, and understood that it wasn't like he wasn't impressed, frankly, he was, but he still had concerns, which was normal for a parent.
「I understand that this is not a simple decision since the school isn't just in another city, but in another country across the ocean. I don't expect you to come up with an answer right away, as I'm sure you will need some time to discuss about it. Is there a specific time you would like me to revisit?」
「Yes, actually. Would dinner tonight, at 7, be okay with you? I'd like you to properly meet the family, and we can talk about the school after the meal.」
「It would be an honor.」 Emma said sincerely, she sure didn't think she would get this kind of welcome when first meeting Mr. Ichiki.
After bidding thanks for their hospitality and complimenting on Mrs. Ichiki's excellent tea, Emma left the Ichiki residence and set out shopping to kill time.
Things were going quite smoothly in Emma's opinion; she had not booked the ticket back to New York, for she didn't know how long it would take to convince the family, but it now seemed like her trip would be ending soon, so she might as well use the remaining time to shop for Japanese limited edition items. She also bought some clothes that were Japanese brands; one of the brands had really nicely made fitted trousers (white of course), and she bought a set of clothes just for the dinner, as it was a family occasion, at their own home, Emma thought she would stuck out too much if she wore her business suit. She also bought some omiyage — ahh... Japanese was really sticking with her — gifts of this trip, so that her colleagues wouldn't see her as a stingy higher-up. Emma wasn't sure if any of the faculty members specifically liked bananas, but the packaging was pleasing and well-designed, so she bought two of each products from the famous sweet shop.
Back at her hotel room, Emma examined her reflection in the mirror; she wore a not-too-revealing white sundress with a white knitted long-sleeved buttoned blouse, one that had elegant patterns. The white also weren't her usual monotone-pure-white, it almost had the shade close to cream, just almost. She thought overall she looked more approachable, comparing to her usual 'successful businesswoman look' or her 'intimidating dominatrix look'; yup, definitely more appropriate for the occasion.
Emma arrived at the Ichiki residence very punctual and was met with a very cheerful Hisako, who hurriedly welcomed her in. Dinner was a comfortable and cosy affair, throughout the course, Emma finally met Hisako's older brother, and had actual conversations with Mrs. Ichiki other than simple pleasantries. The Ichikis was a close and warm family; Emma could tell they really loved and cared for one another, even with the teasing and scolding she witnessed. For a moment, she almost felt bad for planning to take Hisako away from her home, but quickly reminded herself it wasn't for lifetime, and there were always holidays that they can visit and get together. The family relationship they had was perfect, just how Emma envisioned if she someday had a family of her own (though she would have to work very hard on her cooking skills to match with Mrs. Ichiki's brilliant home cooking); before she knew it, the meal came to an end, and Mr. Ichiki invited her to their living room once again.
「Hisako, go help your mother with the dishes. When it's done, help her with the dessert.」 Mr. Ichiki ordered when Hisako was about to sit down and join; Emma could tell that the young lady wasn't happy about it, but obeyed without protest. Good girl. Smart girl. Emma mentally re-commented after realizing Hisako only appeared out of sight, but was actually still listening to their conversation.
「Ms. Frost, before giving you our final answer, there are some fundamental questions we need to know; first of all, how is it exactly that Hisako was noticed by the school?」
「We have a machine called 'Cerebra', and it allows us to locate mutants around the world.」 Emma answered carefully, upon seeing Mr. Ichiki's expression darkened, she quickly added, 「As far as we know, the machine is one of a kind, and not everyone can use it: only a telepath such as myself can access it. It basically only shows us how mutants are spread on Earth, and nothing more personal. I noticed Hisako because the light indicating her was extremely bright, and I only know of your family after one of my colleagues helped gathering more detailed information. Rest assured, we would never leak out anything we found.」
「I see. It's good to know we still have some level of privacy.」 Mr. Ichiki said, not unkindly, 「I would also like to ask; Ms. Frost, based on the information your colleague gathered, did you know our family was actually not from Tokyo?」WHAT? Sage's report had nothing on moving! Her thoughts must have visibly showed on her face, because Mr. Ichiki let out a quiet laugh, 「No, it's alright. I'm proud that our family still manages to cover our tracks pretty well. I want to know more about how other people, mutant or human, know about where to find mutants, if you said this 'Cerebra' is truly only available in your school.」
「I've personally only joined the school for less than five years, yet I have been a teacher way before that. Back then, without Cerebra, I had to search for students with the most archival way: research. I literally paid attention to all news about unexplainable, unnatural, or phenomenons simply put as 'freak' incidents. I listened to all the gossips for any clues that there were helpless mutants alone out there; so I expect there would be plenty of people using the same method.」 Starting to feel alarm about where the conversation was going, with the fact that Mr. Ichiki wanted his daughter to be away while having the talk, Emma tried her best to explain.
「I appreciate your honesty.」 He nodded and continued, 「So I will also be honest with you, had you come visited us with the same proposal a few semesters ago, I'm pretty certain, although probably not the best judgment, we would have said no.」
Emma sat straight, preparing for the explanation Mr. Ichiki was surly about to share.
「I'm sure from the report you no doubt have on us, you know that we Ichikis have had mutant family members from time to time. No, we aren't the most notable mutant family in Japan, as our mutant number are quite low comparing to our human number; nonetheless, we are still a family easily associated with mutants unlike other regular families. We aren't ignorant about mutant affairs, and we most definitely hold no prejudice towards the subject matter. You may also know that, besides Hisako, our family most recent mutant member was in fact my brother.」 Emma held her breath and listened closely, for she had the feeling a great reveal was about to come.
「You know, around the world, there's probably this stereotypical competitiveness between families or siblings that would result in one being jealous and doing something unforgivable, but the Ichikis simply aren't like that. We know we don't often get a mutant member, but when a family member does turn out to have special powers, we simply all feel happy about it and accept their gift; siblings alike, cousins alike, second cousins alike, second cousins once removed alike, you get the idea. I was no different, I loved my brother all the same even after his X-gene kicked in.」
「Back in the days, the Ichikis mostly lived in Aomori-shi in the Tōhoku region, and it snowed quite heavily during winter. My brother was an outgoing person who loved to help people, so he would shovel snow for our neighbors if they needed an extra hand. Hisako's powers are very similar to his: they could lift stuff easily with it. The power was fairly visible, so I'm sure it was no secret in our neighborhood that my brother was a mutant, but they still treat him no differently. To sum it up, he was well-liked. My brother was very compassionate, and he had a dream, not unlike what Charles Xavier has in mind. Although mutants in Japan, as of now, aren't being oppressed as they are in some other countries, my brother wished all mutants would be treated equally. He applied to and got accepted by Tohoku University, which was a bit of an odd choice, for he intended to major in law, and the school was most famous for its science and engineering departments; he then told us he purposely made this decision, as he would have the opportunity to get to know the people from those fields who could tackle mutant affairs from their perspective. His plan seemed very solid, so we all gave our full support... but during the first winter break of his college life, while he was at home for the holiday, he was contacted by 'A New Plus Op', a supposedly medical researching company, for a possible internship, as they were hoping to understand and help mutant kind.」
「It was right before his 19 birthday, and he never came back to celebrate it.」
「What... happened? What happened to him?」 Emma felt sick and upset that this once very promising and fine young man had met an early end, his life had barely begun! She let parts of herself search her memories for anything sounding close to 'A New Plus Op'.
「Unable to reach him, my parents called the police when he had been out for an appointment with the said company for an entire afternoon, and because it was getting dark. Usually missing people needed to be gone for 24 hours to warrant a search, but the Ichikis were well-known in the area, and we had strong proof that it might have been a kidnap, for we could find nothing on 'A New Plus Op'.」
「Later that night, with the search party, we found him somewhere in the woods in our neighborhood, with his brain and heart missing.」 Mr. Ichiki said very quietly.
「The route in the woods was a shortcut from our home to the bus stop. The police concluded that he was ambushed and never even made it to the said appointment. The case was also closed stating that he was jumped by some black market organ-selling group, like he was just some unfortunate victim. In reality we all knew it wasn't possible, the incident couldn't have been random at all, it had to be well-planned; it wasn't as simple as being mugged then stabbed or shot to death, for the wounds were surgical. That kind of precision on the execution to remove the heart and the brain... But even knowing all this, it was hopeless. They never caught his killer, or killers. They didn't know where to look, as the crime scene was covered by hours of snow.」
If Emma felt sick before, now she was ready to puke. She had her hand covered her mouth for a moment, and then said weakly, 「I'm very sorry for your loss.」 She truly was sorry to hear about the incident. He nodded, and looked at Emma calmly, 「My next two questions, have you ever heard of this 'A New Plus Op' company? Are the X-Men aware of any organizations that would likely commit the same crime?」
Removing mutant organs. No, God, oh God, no. Emma paled even more as her thoughts made the connection.
「I've never heard of 'A New Plus Op', but I'm afraid it was simply an anagram for 'Weapon Plus', although I think the creator simply borrowed the name as he at one time was the director of the said Program. The Program itself is another story, but the director John Sublime later had this crazy idea and started what he called the 'TransSpecies Movement', which was basically hunting mutants for their organs. Those operators were called the U-Men. I think what happened to your brother sounded exactly like what the U-Men were capable of doing, just that they only surfaced after the millennium, when the mutant population started to bloom worldwide. Two semesters ago, they were arrogant enough to think they could take down the school, and the faculty with the help of some student body took care of them. I can't say there's no more believers out there, because I'm sure there would always be people who think like that, but the X-Men had eradicated Sublime and his labs the best we could.」 Her palms were cold, Mr. Ichiki's brother must have been dead for at least a decade, she had no idea Sublime had been running his U-Men for that long. It made sense as parts of his Weapon Plus, like Weapon X, were also done decades ago... They just didn't get caught, because back in the days there weren't that many mutants to begin with! As mutants became so pronounced, the U-Men also stopped being quiet! Emma felt rage boiling inside her, to think they got away with it for years!
「We gathered as much. We didn't know the part about Weapon Plus, so we simply thought the fake company just took a random name, but when Sublime was on TV telling the world his ideal, we all linked it to my brother's death, just that we had no proof. Thank you for confirming it, our family will finally find some closure.」 Mr. Ichiki smiled sadly, he was unafraid of showing his affection for his late-brother, and he removed his glasses briefly to wipe away his tears.
「Was it why your family moved to Tokyo? After the incident?」
「No, my parents didn't want to move because our home was all we had left that helped us remember my brother. Hisako and her brother were both born and raised in Aomori-shi. It was pure coincidence and luck that we forgot about it with her brother, and he was just human like their mother and I. Only a few years ago that it dawned to me that she might be a mutant. There was no certain way to tell, and we had no idea if the people behind my brother's death were only operating around the city, but just in case they were, we thought it was only safe to move before she reached puberty, and if she turned out to be just a regular human like the rest of us, we could always move back. We moved here when she was 10, and two years later, her powers manifested. A few years afterwards, mutants seemed to be everywhere, so we somehow thought it was safer, and just kept everything the way it was. Though, because of the growth of mutant population, we started to visit my parents, Hisako's grandparents, back in Aomori-shi, as we don't think she'd be the only obvious target anymore, and it was a risk we are willing to take just to see the rest of our family.」
Six years. They had only moved to Tokyo for six years, yet they had managed to fool Sage into thinking they had lived here all their lives. Emma was impressed. At this precise moment, Hisako, along with her mother and brother, brought in the tea and desert. However, before anyone could say anything, Emma's X-Men phone rang, thinking that it might be an emergency, she excused herself. On her way out of earshot, she noted Hisako's eyes were slightly redden, and sighed, so the girl did listen to their whole conversation.
"Emma speaking."
{... Emma, um... how much time do you still need to convince the Ichikis? When are you coming back?}
"Scott, darling... I haven't even been here for a day! Surely you could handle the school just fine? Isn't Kitty Pryde due to arrive?"
{... She's not here yet. And I don't know... It just doesn't feel the same without you.}
Aww. Emma didn't know what was wrong with her, while parts of her felt warm by the statement, parts of her wondered if Scott ever only prefer her to be around so she could be in charge and make decisions.
"I'm sure you'll survive."
{... No, really, when are you coming back? I take all is going well?}
"I think so, the Ichikis invited me to dinner, I'm still with them, so I can't talk too long. I haven't bought plane tickets..."
{... I'll set the Blackbird to pick up you and the Ichiki girl.}
"What, no! I told you to leave it for emergencies!"
{.. and how are you planning on buying the tickets? With what kind of seating? Are you going to sit with the girl in economy class, or let her sit all alone during the flight?}
Damn, he had a point, if she arranged Hisako's seat with her in first class, it would be like showing favoritism, and there was no way Emma would fly economy!
"Fine, you win, but set the Blackbird to arrive tomorrow morning for us. Have a nice day, love."
{... Have a good night, dear.}
「Sorry about that. It was the other headmaster calling to see if everything was alright.」
「Don't worry about it, Ms. Frost! Here, try some! This is my mom's homemade apple pie, topped with vanilla ice cream with a hint of homemade blackcurrant jam. Both the apple and blackcurrant are from Aomori, Gran sent them.」 Again, Emma could hear the pride in the girl's voice, and she couldn't help but feeling fond of her.
「But if it doesn't fit your taste, there's always simply fresh apples as fruit rather than dessert, if you'd like.」 Mrs. Ichiki quickly added when Emma was taking her first bite. Goodness, this family was way too humble!
「Nonsense! Ms. Frost loves it; don't you?」 Though shadows of doubts showed on Hisako's face and in her voice. Oh dear, Emma thought she had just experienced a year quota of cuteness from this family; how could they be so sweet?
「Yes, yes I do. The taste is very homey, yet elegant and a bit sophisticated as well. The sweet and sour are nicely balanced, I love it.」 And she meant every word; she even thought of asking for the recipe, though it'd obviously take her years of practice for this kind of perfection. But even if it tasted bad, Emma wouldn't have minded, for she could literally taste the love and effort that were put into making the dish, and those were something her own family failed to give her. Her thoughts flew back to a certain topic once again: if she ever had a family of her own, Emma vowed to be a mother with care like Mrs. Ichiki.
Upon hearing the comment, Hisako flashed the brightest smile Emma had seen so far, and just continued to grin dorkily.
「Well, I think it's time we give you our answer Ms. Frost since there's not point waiting.」 Mr. Ichiki smiled and went on, 「Not just the four of us; this afternoon, I took the time to contact and inform the entire Ichiki clan, and we all feel the same: we're extremely grateful for this opportunity, especially when you took the time to come all the way here just to visit us personally. Like I said earlier, our family is not ignorant of mutant affairs; we know about Manhattan, and to our knowledge, the maniac who caused it taught at the school before he went publicly nuts.」 He held up his hand when Emma was about to make a comment, 「We also know that, supposedly there are currently no more unstable faculty member, correct?」 Emma nodded, dumbly, 「So there was the U-Men, and countless other incidents the X-Men had faced and survived. We understand Hisako won't be 100% safe there, but really, there's no place on Earth completely safe for anyone, and we know, by letting Hisako go to the school, we are handing her in safe hands, the safest there are. We can see the school training her, guiding her, educating her on how to protect herself, and maybe even on how to protect others, and that, is all we can ever hope for. So,」 All four of them, Hisako, her brother, Mrs. Ichiki, and Mr. Ichiki, they bowed and bellowed, 「よろしくお願いします！！」
「こちらこそ，どうぞ、よろしくお願いします。」 What a great family with love and honor! Emma was so touched that she almost felt a little teary herself.
The Ichikis sat back straight and beamed at Emma, who smiled back.
「So that matter is settled. Now, when will Hisako be leaving for school?」
「The other headmaster arranged the school's jet to pick us up tomorrow morning, so Hisako could spend time with you guys tonight, but if you think it's too soon, I can call and rearrange it.」Emma didn't feel like only giving them one choice, the well-mannered family deserved to spend more time together if they wanted.
「I think it'll be alright; school is starting soon, isn't it? Hisako would need some time to adjust the environment and such. What do you think, dear?」 Mrs. Ichiki surprised Emma by saying this, but she did have a point.
「I think you're right. Birds fly the nest one day, but they can always come back. It's just Hisako's time to fly.」
「But don't fly back at the first sign of obstacles!」 Hisako's brother teased.
「Of course she won't, she'd be so frustrated and determined to proof she could do it.」 Mrs. Ichiki ruffled her son's hair.
「Owww guys! Stop embarrassing me!」 Hisako's face went flame red, just like those Aomori apples. They laughed.
「I'll let you enjoy the rest of the night. Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Ichiki, I had a wonderful time.」
「It's our pleasure to have you.」
Hisako walked Emma to the door and said, 「Goodnight! I'll see you tomorrow morning, Ms. Frost!」
「Sweet dreams, Hisako. Tomorrow at 9; have a good night with your family.」 She smiled. Her intuition was right, this trip was more than worthwhile.
Emma Frost and Hisako Ichiki
Hisako was anxious rather than nervous; she didn't panic, and she constantly told herself there was nothing to worry about. So what if the only place in America she had been was Hawaii? She grew up in the northernmost prefecture of Honshu and she bet she built more snowmen than sand castles when she was young; she could handle the cool weather. City life? She then spent over half a decade living in one of the most populated and modern area in Japan! New York couldn't be that different, could it? Even if it were, she'd just have to deal with it. She could do it. She told herself.
Emma observed the girl from across. Hisako had been in deep thoughts ever since they got on the Blackbird ten minutes ago. Although Emma had asked her to be ready at 9 the previous night, after calculating the estimated travel time, she realized because of the shorten duration of the trip, by the time they got back to New York, it would be after midnight, hence Hisako wouldn't really be able to do anything productive other than trying to sleep to adjust the jet lag. Emma consequently suggested having brunch with the Ichikis, letting them have some extra family time; the pair ended up leaving around 11 (after being well-fed) and Hisako had been thinking since then.
The telepath liked what she saw in the girl's mind; whenever another doubt rose, her logical part would squash any ridiculous concerns. It wasn't overconfidence, for when it came to facing the unknown, she didn't pretend the question mark didn't exist; she acknowledged it, and if it truly were to become a problem, she'd tell herself she'd just have to give her best shot. No point worrying or overthinking about something she didn't even know what to expect to begin with, not for now anyway. Emma thought Hisako was fairly realistic on that matter; she had heard from three of the Original X-Men how Charles recruited them, and came to the conclusion that he certainly didn't warn them (enough) about how much crisis they would encounter. Truth be told, there were just some things people needed to experience for themselves; hearing it from others simply wouldn't have the same effect, so whatever Hisako needed to know, she would know once she was there. There was however an issue that required discussion...
「Hisako, how good is your English skills?」 Emma noticed from the beginning that the girl's entire thought process was in Japanese, which wasn't wrong or bad per se; she just felt that as headmistress, it was her responsibility to make sure Hisako did have the ability to understand the language, otherwise that would be a problem once school started.
「I... uh... was average in the subject at school.」 From her hesitance, Emma could tell the girl was neither confident nor comfortable enough to speak other than Japanese; it seemed like she knew it would evidently became a setback, but she ignored it and hoped it would miraculously work out, which, in some cases do happen to foreigners when learning a foreign language, but it certainly wouldn't happen overnight, and if Hisako took the time needed for the normal way to learn, she would no doubt fall behind schoolwork for some time before she eventually mastered English. Emma didn't like any of the conclusions she had just made; the idea of seeing a bright student struggled with class over something like language barrier was just rubbish and avoidable in her book.
「Well, you'll have to try to be average at our school, and not as a second language. Let's talk in English so you can practice and get used to it.」
"I... uh... What to talk about? I mean, um, what... uh... I don't know what to say..." Hisako covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.
Well, it was a good start, Emma thought. At least the girl was trying to meet the challenge instead of backing down, and Emma understood what she was asking anyway; they weren't really talking before she asked her the question, so of course the girl was confused as to what Emma wanted to converse about.
"Anything. You can talk about anything you feel like talking," Seeing Hisako already looked flustered over the broad suggestion, Emma contributed, "Maybe you can tell me about your powers? I'm not exactly sure what yours are yet, actually; you can show them, and talk about them?"
Hisako seemed relief with Emma's idea and she stood up, concentrated, then a blueish shield-like translucent substance covered closely to her body, like she was wearing suits of armour, one that had a futuristic feel to it, an exoskeleton of some sort. Emma smiled and nodded, waiting for her to talk.
"I'm... not exactly sure how my powers work..." Hisako admitted timidly, almost like she was afraid of disappointing Emma, who in all honestly wouldn't hold this information against the girl, because really, mutant phenomenon had a good deal of unexplainable parts to it. Take the X-gene itself for example; it was first thought the cause of it was what? Atomic bombs? Actual mutation of the human race? A lot of the stuff didn't add up, and couldn't be proven correct using traditional scientific methods. Did Storm know how she was able to control weather? No, she just knew that she could, and that was all it mattered; the how really wasn't the most important part.
Hisako continued once she saw Emma seemed to be still interested and not disgusted.
"I know my father said my powers... mani... manife... uh... showed up when I was twelve... but it actually happened once before that... It was right after we moved to Tokyo; my elementary had a school trip to Sasakami-mura of Niigata-ken, it was famous for bathrooms... I mean hot springs! An earthquake happened that noon; it wasn't the most devastating one in history, but it was still considered strong. Our trip was a 3-day/2-night kind and since it was already the second day, the school figured we only had a night and a day to go, so we continued. That night there were minor tremors of aftershocks... They were even less scary than what happened during daytime, but they still woke me, and I found myself like this," She held up her hands, "I think I was back normal as soon as I realize there was no real danger, but I have no idea if I'm just imagining it, or how to make it happen again. My classmates sharing the same room were all still asleep, so I kept the incident to myself."
"It finally happen, happened, again two years later when I was practicing high jump after school. During a run that I wasn't fully prepared for, my foot didn't hit the ground right, so the jump was just bad and I was going to hit the bar full-on. Just when I was going to crash into the bar, my powers protected me. I knew it still hit the bar, I felt it hit the bar, but I didn't physically feel a scratch or was hurt by the impact. It was then I knew for sure I wasn't seeing things the night with the aftershock, that I'm a mutant, like my father's brother, uh, my uncle."
"I was the only one staying for practice that day, so again nobody saw, but I knew I should tell my family, so I did. I described it to them when I was back home, I think my father had tears in his eyes when I told him what it was like; he said from what I said, it sounded very much like his brother's, and like the few Ichiki ancestors who were mutants. I couldn't figure out how to show them back then, so my father told me how he was told how it worked..." Hisako talked slowly, trying very hard to use correct grammars, although the sentences probably could have been simplified a little.
"But you've learned how to access them, right? You have no problem showing them just now." Emma spoke for the first time since Hisako started her story, very intrigued.
"I, uh, I guess? Sort of? It's weird, I always imagine it would be like a 'power, up!' moment, like I should be able to use it whenever I want... If that's how it should be... I'm not there yet. The trick for me is to think of my family. When you asked me about my powers, I thought of my parents, my brother, and my grandparents, and I easily showed my powers. I didn't think of my powers to show my powers... uh okay it sounds confusing..."
"No, it's alright, I get what you are saying. Interesting... Is there a reason why thoughts of your family work? Have you tried other thoughts?"
"Uh... yeah, when I first tried to show my family what I could do, I tried to think... uh... stuff like 'power! come to me!'... When it didn't work, I tried to remember how they showed that afternoon; I tried to imagine hitting the bar or getting hurt, but it still didn't work. My father saw I was a little frustrated, so he told me his brother always told him he was grateful that our ancestors passed this extraordinary protection to him, and he thanked them whenever he used his powers. Dad said he sounded like he would had this spiritual moment, like he was connecting with our past relatives or something... It sounded somewhat philosophical, but I kind of understand the gratitude part... I feel that I may still be a mutant if I weren't an Ichiki, but I wouldn't have been this kind of mutant. Uh... I don't know... Maybe it's stupid to think that way, maybe there's people out there with the same powers... But I'm still thankful for this gift... And from how it was taught in our family, we had our ancestors to thank, for without them, there wouldn't be us. So I understand all that, but instead of thinking about someone like my grandpa's grandpa's grandpa, who died before I was even born, I thought of the Ichikis I know... and it worked."
Emma listened quietly and thought what Hisako said fitted with what happened to her uncle... Maybe their powers weren't thought driven at all, but since that was the only way they knew how to access them, the brain thus became an obvious target... And since in their theory, ancestry, bloodline seemed to also be a crucial factor, instead of simply draining out all the blood, the U-Men took what could generate the blood. It wasn't the most logical decision, but for the U-Men, her uncle's heart was definitely more valuable then his other organs or body parts. Emma deducted they must had caught Hisako's uncle off-guard before he could accesses his protection, which rendered the said protection pointless in those kind of circumstances...
"Is that really the only way? Has your power never kicked in otherwise?"
"Uh, no and yes, actually. The family thing is for when I want to use them, but I think my powers show up when my body feels being in danger... like instinctly? It happens sometimes when my brother tries to play prank on me and scared me from behind, when I know it's not serious, my powers back off." She meant instinctually, Emma thought, which was a good thing, because it meant by training her and raising the range of her awareness, it could help her access her powers by reflex and reduce the reaction time needed like the thought driven way would need.
"That's good, Hisako, I think your observation is great. I would like you to continue to pay attention as to what will trigger your powers, so that the school can help you figure out how to handle and use them in dire situations. Do you know anything else about them?"
"Yes!" Hisako answered immediately and with pride, and sat on the floor instead of the seat; she closed her eyes and smiled, and suddenly, her exoskeleton became slightly larger, but the difference was definitely noticeable: if she were standing, it surely would have hit the ceiling of the jet.
Magnificent! Emma thought, and she almost laughed because she now understood what Hank felt when he examined her diamond form a year ago; some mutant abilities were just astonishing to view!
"It's beautiful, Hisako. Can you share what's the thought that made this happened?"
"It's still my family. I think about the happy times we spent together, and how I love them, and how they love me."
Love. Happiness. Positive thinking. Emma Frost was so glad she had insisted on meeting the Ichikis, meeting Hisako; the girl's family reminded her of a long forgotten hope, something that at one time she might have even considered worthless. The girl herself was a living proof that love could be all it was needed, that having something worth fighting for could make one stronger. Emma was afraid of love for a long time, she was afraid to feel for she could feel hurt; the Secondary Mutation came in conveniently handy because she could then avoid feeling all at once. Last year she stopped associating with her students on a personal level like the way she did with Generation X, as she thought it would hurt less when they eventually walked away from her. It didn't; when the Cuckoos turned their backs, she was still upset, and finding the next 'project', Angel Salvadore, wasn't any better... Because Emma was only fixing superficial problems, not trying to understand what could really be bothering the student, which was why she didn't see the diamond bullet coming until it was too late. Hisako and her family showed her what she was missing out... Right, she could get hurt and she really, really hated getting hurt, but she could gain beautiful memories, too. Maybe she would try to really get to know her advisees this time, she had the feeling Julian Keller, self picked code-name Hellion, would need the real kind of caring.
"Thank you for sharing this with me, Hisako; it's really lovely," Emma meant every single word. "and I would like to share something with you in return."
E/N:
So this is it! First chapter. I hope I mange to make Hisako (more like the Ichikis as a whole) leave a stronger impression than the way she was handled in canon. In the next actual chapter, Hisako will get to meet her squad mates! Feel free to have a guess on who I picked for the remaining Paladins, other than the officially confirmed Armor, Blindfold, and Wing! They are all canon characters, I did not make them up, but I'll have fun playing with their backstories, ahahaha! xDDD