Chapter 10

Everybody was Kung-fu Fighting!

I groaned and threw my hands over my eyes. The light was too bright. The motion was too fast and I gagged. My head tried to explode. I grimaced and tried to hold still. It felt like somebody had thrown a bunch of rocks into a tube sock and was beating me about the head.

"Too much to drink, huh?" A soothing voice said.

I squinted under my hands and saw my daddy standing there, red hair glowing in the early morning sun.

"Oh god...I will never drink again." I hissed. Even speaking hurt.

I felt him sit on the bed. His hand went to my forehead and it was cool. It made me feel better.

"Here, drink this." He pushed something into my hands.

My stomach flip-flopped and I didn't think I could hold it down. "I don't know if that's a good idea." I whispered.

"It will help with the hang over. When you're feeling better, you need to see a healer."

I took the drink from him. If he said it would help, I was not gonna argue. I drank it down and ignored the bitter taste. It felt like forever, but I slowly felt the pain go away. When I felt about as normal as I was going to get I smiled at my dad.

"Yusuke told me about what happened to you."

I looked down at my hands suddenly unable to meet his gaze.

"What did he tell you?" I asked.

"Everything."

"Dad. I'm sorry." I said.

Dad smoothed back my hair and sighed. "Its not your fault. Now, I want you to think back to the demon who hurt you. What did he look like, smell like? Anything you can think of."

"It wasn't just one." I felt shame burn my cheeks and I almost couldn't speak. "I lost count...I don't wanna remember."

"Its alright, darling. But I need to know. Do you remember any names?"

I looked past my dad and out into my mother's garden. I absently wondered how I had gotten back here. I took a deep breath and started to count the daises. I got to six before my dad squeezed my hands. I looked back at him and tried to smile. He didn't smile back, instead he pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back and looked at the wall.

I turned from hugging my dad to holding onto him as my own screams echoed in my ears. "Please don't make me talk about it, daddy. I don't want to see it again. It hurts. Oh god, it hurts." I whimpered and buried my eyes in his shoulder.

My dad rocked back and forth as I cried into his shoulder. I cried as if my heart would break. I cried out my anger, my hate, my fear, and my weakness. I cried because, for the first time in days, I had the time to grieve what happened. When I had been traveling, we were constantly moving from one obstacle to the next. There was no time to think, no time to worry about myself. I didn't have to pretend to be strong anymore. Here with my daddy, I could cry and not feel shame.

He held me until I couldn't cry any more. I felt hollow. "I wasn't fast enough." I whispered. "I just wasn't fast enough."

Dad didn't say anything. He just let me babble. The story that I had been so admit about not telling before came tumbling out of my numb lips. I told him about it without looking at him. How they told me to run and how I wasn't fast enough. When I was caught I told him how I froze like some worthless idiot. I should have fought, done something. But I hadn't. I had let them rape me. It wasn't just one. It was all of them. They passed me around like cheap beer. Everybody got a taste.

"After a while the faces bled together. I closed my eyes and just took it like a wimp. I didn't want to see, I didn't want to know. I just wanted it to be over." I whispered.

"Carrie, you are not weak. If you had fought they probably would have killed you." Dad said.

I looked at him for the first time since I started my story. "I wish they had."

My dad pushed me away from him and snarled in my face. "Don't you ever say anything like that again! Strength is not based on how hard you fight, its based on how much you can take and still keep going. Death is the easy way out, living is whats hard."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I didn't tell him that I tried to kill myself.

Dad held me to him again, and I held him back. I pushed the awfulness away. I shoved it back into the dark hole inside me where it had been hiding for the past few days. It could stay there and rot. I didn't want to look at it, didn't want to hear it. I could still feel the hurt and almost gibbering panic buried deep inside, but it didn't affect me as much now that I had it hidden. It almost felt like being excited, the kind you felt on the first day of school or the night before you go on a field trip and can't sleep. But there was nothing quite so pleasant attached to this feeling, and if you were to explore it slightly you would find an underlying spring of panic and dread.

…

I got dressed in my old (freshly washed) gym uniform and my dad took me to a healer. Thank god it was a she. Her name was Tsubaki. She was a wizened little thing that was only about as tall as my hips. She had an air of importance about her, but she was very kind. Her hands were strong despite her aged and frail appearance. I'm glad to say that she was able to fix my hip. Though she told me that I was over flexible and that unless I strengthened my stomach muscles, I would re-injure myself.

It was too soon to tell if I was pregnant. Tusbaki assured me that it was a very slight chance with my mixed blood. But, the chance was there. She laughed at me when I had a sudden horrible thought about giving birth to an egg. She put me at ease by saying that I would most likely carry a baby like a human one. Though, with my luck, I just might start laying eggs. She let me go and instructed me to take it easy and to pay attention to my body.

I was surprised to find both my dads sitting out in the hallway waiting for me. I made a mental note that I was going to have to start labeling them. I couldn't call them both daddy. Maybe dad could be daddy, and Yusuke could be dad? Yusuke (was it too soon to call him dad?) stood up.

"What did she say?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yea. I'm fine...dad" I said.

Yusuke smiled and put his hands behind his head.

I suddenly felt awkward and looked passed Yusuke to my (oh boy this was gonna get confusing) dad. "Um. Daddy, can I go for a walk?"

Daddy smiled. "Sure, Yusuke and I have business to attend to anyway. This place is large, if you get lost ask a servant to get you back to your room."

I saluted my dads and left.

It felt good to be in my old cloths. I had a lot more freedom of movement then I did in that kimono. I let my bare feet take me wherever. It wasn't long before I was completely lost. I walked down a long corridor. I followed it until it ended in a door. I opened the door and it gave me a view of a long porch that lead off into another garden. I smiled and stepped out. The fresh air felt great. I saw a little bridge in the distance and I made my way towards it, following the deck. The wood was warm under my feet and the air buzzed with a lazy summer heat.

When I got to the bridge I noticed something odd. The little stream that flowed under it was frozen completely solid. I knelt down and touched it with my fingers. It was cold and solid as a rock.

"Neat-o." I said.

I let my eyes follow the stream, just to see how far it went. Off a little ways away there was honest to god snow. I raised an eyebrow. Snow on a summer's day? Cool. I laughed and jumped of the bridge. The ground was soft and covered in something like a mix between moss and grass. Flowers poked their artful heads over the ground cover. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. The reminded me of something I saw in a Dr. Seuss book once.

I got to the snow and put my hands in it. It was perfect. It was that light powdery stuff that snowboarders loved. I scooped some up and patted it into a ball. My hands were freezing and the rest of me was probably sun burning. What a lovely combination. I put my ball on the ground and gave it a little push. The snow packed together like a dream, leaving a bare hole where it stuck together. I gave my ball another push and it lumbered forward. I was surprised to find that it picked up all of the snow underneath, leaving a nice little patch of grass in its wake. I pushed my ball again and walked after it, enjoying the cool grass against my hot feet. I didn't stop until I had a good sized ball going.

I rubbed my hands together and started on the second ball. It wasn't long before I had one slightly smaller then the first big ball. I picked it up and put it atop my first one. I made a third and stacked it atop the first two, humming the song 'frosty the snow man' under my breath. When I had the body done I hunted around and found two sticks. One arm was a lot bigger then the other one, but there was not much I could do about that. I took my hand and poked in two eye holes and a bunch of holes curved into a smile for a mouth.

"I think I'll call you Charlie." I said with a smile.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped and looked behind my snowman. Touya was standing there, arms crossed.

"Hi." I said and waved. "Touya, this is Charlie. Charlie, Touya."

"That thing isn't alive, you know." Touya said.

"Touya! You'll hurt his feelings." I said and patted Charlie's shoulder.

Touya shook his head. He walked over and looked at Charlie from the front. It was then I noticed that he was walking on top of the snow. He didn't even leave footprints.

"What is this...Charlie?" Touya asked.

"A snow man. Haven't you ever made one before?" I asked.

Touya had the grace to not look offended. "No."

I let my jaw drop. "Touya. You have not lived."

Touya reached out and gently touched one of Charlies arms.

"You wanna make one?" I asked.

I thought he was going to say no, but he surprised me by nodding his head. "Show me."

"They are really easy. All you have to do is make a ball, here I'll get one started for you." I said and made a snowball. I pushed it on the ground until I got it started. I stepped back and was going to give it to Touya when I saw him sitting on top of one already. I don't know how he made it that fast.

"Cheater." I grumbled.

Touya laughed and made another materialize out of thin air. He set it on top of the first, followed by a third. His was a lot larger then Charlie.

"What's next?" Touya asked.

"Well, I usually use sticks and rocks for the face and arms." I looked around.

"Will ice do?" Touya asked.

"Sure." I said.

I watched as Touya pushed his hand into the snowman's torso. As he pulled his hand back out, ice flowed from the hole into something that resembled a tree branch. Touya did it to the other side. He moved to the face and cocked his head to the side. After a moment he breathed into his hand and started sticking ice cubes into the head for eyes and a mouth.

"Wow." I whispered.

Touya turned to me when he was done and leaned back against the snowman. He looked very happy with himself.

"What are you going to name him?" I asked.

Touya shrugged. "I'm not good making up names."

I close my eyes for a moment. "Fred. We have Charlie and Fred."

"Does it really need a name?" He asked.

I nodded. "Of course he does. All good snowmen need a name."

Touya turned back to the snowman and studied his handiwork. All considered, it was a very nice one. Not bad for his first try. Oh hell, he made mine look like it was made by demented kindergartners. But he was an ice master, maybe it went with the territory. Touya walked up to the mouth and started fidgeting with the mouth pieces. I guess he needed them to be perfect.

I walked through the grass and picked up the little ball I had gotten started. I smiled to myself. I knew it wasn't gonna make it, he was a ninja after all but...well, a girl's gotta try. I turned and threw my snowball.

Smack!

I gasped and then laughed when the snowball actually hit Touya in the back. He turned and looked at me, the look only made me laugh harder. It was a mix between disbelief and surprise.

"Oh my god! You should have seen your face! I didn't even think I would hit you." I gasped out between giggles. "Some ninja you are!"

My giggles subsided slightly when I saw him materialize a snowball in his hand. It suddenly hit me that starting a snowball fight with an ice master was probably not the best idea I ever had.

"Oh sh-" I turned my body away and raised my arms up to protect my face when the snowball was launched at me. I got hit.

"No cheating Touya, if your gonna play you have to make snowballs like normal people!" I hollered.

"All's fair in love and war." Touya quoted, another materializing in his hand.

I ran. Touya threw it at me and struck again. On the fly I scooped up more snow and shaped it into a ball. I spun and found Touya was gone. I slowed to a stop and looked all around me. Touya was nowhere to be found, it was like he disappeared into thin air. I started to get the feeling that my cheep shot was gonna cost me.

I caught a glint of white out of the corner of my eye. I raised my arm with just enough time to deflect a snowball lobbed at my head. Something in my gut told me to turn, I spun on my heel and threw my ball. I pegged Touya's after-image. The real Touya was already long gone.

"You weenie, get out here and fight like a man!" I shouted.

"I already am."

I gasped and turned around. Touya was standing behind me. He tossed a snowball at me and I caught it. With no hesitation I threw it right back at him, hitting him in the chest. Deep down I knew he let me get that shot in, but I felt good about it anyway. Touya made another snow ball.

I laughed and leaned down and started shoveling snow at him. He jumped back out of reach. So I just started picking up snow and throwing it at him not even bothering to turn it into round balls. Touya dodged my attacks easily. The game stopped being about us throwing snow at each other and me simply trying to hit him.

Suddenly Touya did something I wasn't prepared for. He ran right at me and reached out a hand to touch me. Without thinking I grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward slightly. He followed the momentum forward while I sidestepped and got behind him. I put my free hand on his lower back and pushed him away from me. I stepped backwards put my hands behind my back. I hadn't meant to do that. Touya righted himself and spun to face me.

I was about to say I was sorry when he came at me again. I didn't have time to think. He reached out to touch me again and I pushed his hand away. The game turned into something different. He tried to touch me, I tried to avoid it. It was almost like dancing. He moved and I followed. We spun and feigned, moved forwards and back. He tapped me on the shoulder, I tapped him on the waist. I ducked under his arm, he turned away. We moved faster. I was having a ball. Touya's touches went from taps to harder punches. It almost hurt when he landed a hit. I quickly learned that the best way to avoid his hand was to simply not be there.

I watched his body, they way he stepped forward with his right foot before throwing a punch. How he shifted his weight from the ball of one foot to the other as he moved. I watched how his eyes watched my body. I tensed my right arm and when his eyes shot to it I struck out with my left. I was rewarded by landing a light punch to his shoulder. His arm snaked out and grabbed my arm in a way that locked my joint. I was surprised by the action and lost my footing. I was on my stomach in the snow, my arm screaming in pain when he added pressure.

"Not bad. Who taught you how to fight?" He asked.

"Touya, your hurting me." I gasped.

"Oh." Touya eased back and let me go.

I struggled up to my knees and held my soar arm in front of me. "I've never fought before." I answered.

Touya turned his head to the side. "Instinct then. Though with your linage its not surprising."

I shook out my arm surprised that the pain went away so quickly. "What did you do to my arm? That hurt."

"Its a simple joint lock. Here let me show you."

I walked forward and gave him my arm. He grabbed my wrist and wrenched it behind my back at a ninety degree angle. My shoulder ached until he eased back. "Joints are delicate and they give you maximum pain for minimal effort." Touya let my arm go.

"Cool. Will you teach me that?" I asked.

Touya shrugged and grabbed my wrist again.

"Make your arm loose." He instructed.

I relaxed my arm. He moved it up and down letting it flop a little. "If you control the joints, you control the arm. The key is to overextend the joint and use the muscle against it." He locked my elbow and twisted my arm. I hissed out a breath, as he moved it behind me and put stress on my shoulder. "At this angle, it would be very easy for me to break both your elbow and shoulder in one move." He let go of my arm. "you try it."

I looked at Touya's arm as he held it out to me. I gently put my hand on his wrist. Suddenly I was on my butt in the snow with my arm locked behind my back.

"Do you think your opponent is simply going to stand still while you hurt him?" Touya asked.

I hissed out a breath and struggled. Touya put pressure on my arm and I had to stop. That hurt.

"Could you at least grab my other arm next time, this one is getting soar." I gritted.

Touya laughed. "Do you think your enemy cares for your comfort?"

He let go of my arm and I fell into the snow. I hissed out a breath as I moved my arm in front of me. My fingers tingled and I moved my hand to loose the feeling. I picked myself up. Touya stood as still as a statue. I cocked my head to the side and studied him. I wasn't really sure how to do the arm lock. Sure I had it done to me a few times, but I didn't want to hurt him.

"Too slow." Touya disappeared.

I took a step back, and bumped right into his chest. I gasped and looked up in time to see a hand come down. He bitch slapped me right back into the snow. My hand went up to my cheek, tears sprang into my eyes. My lips pulled back from my teeth in a grimace, that was not fair!

"Move Carrie!" Touya commanded.

A kick to my ribs sent me head-over-heels in the snow. I coughed and grabbed my midsection. I lay stunned for a moment. I saw Touya advance and I somehow got up onto my feet and backed away. He was gone. I suddenly felt afraid. This wasn't a game anymore. Touya was trying to hurt me. Fear sharpened my senses making everything seem sharper. I felt something to my right and I hit the dirt—er snow, narrowly avoiding a punch thrown at my chest. I rolled and missed a kick.

"Fight back Carrie." Touya said.

I crab-walked away from him and staggered back up to my feet. "I don't wanna hurt you!"

"Too bad I want to hurt you." Touya said.

My breath caught in my throat. Did he just admit that he wanted to hurt me? Suddenly Touya was in front of me. He punched me in my stomach. Pain erupted from the hit. My knees went out from under me and I collapsed onto his arm. I couldn't breathe. My gut heaved and I almost tossed my cookies. I ended up on all fours in the snow, arm clutched over my stomach. Touya took another step towards me and I flinched. He disappeared and suddenly the world was spinning. I rolled over and over in the snow. I could taste blood in my mouth. I spat it into the snow, turning it pink. I looked up in time to see Touya advancing from my left. I threw an arm up to protect my head while the other went out in front of me palm pointed at Touya, fingers spread.

I screamed as a bolt of bluish-white light erupted from my palm and launched itself in Touya's direction. It hit him in the chest and knocked him back. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring my watery legs and struggled through the snow. I ran back towards the house. Two arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I acted on instinct and dug my nails into the flesh and dragged them. Skin tore under my nails and blood welded up.

"Damn it, luv!" The arms let go.

I spun around to find Jin floating in the air looking at the blood that was welling out of deep scratches.

"Yeow! What are ya, part cat?" He shook his hands. "Touya whats goin on?"

Touya appeared next to Jin, he wasn't even scratched. "She asked me to teach her."

Jin looked back at me. I bit my lip. All I could see was him pulling that bar maid down and kissing her. I felt sick, and hurt, and angry. Tears that had nothing to do with the beating welled up in my eyes. I turned and ran away from them both. Touya had already wiped the floor with my butt, he did not need to see me cry. And I would be damned if I would cry in front of Jin. I could hear Jin call after me, but I didn't stop.

The last thing I heard before I climbed back up onto the bridge and escaped into the house was Jin asking Touya what was wrong with me?

...

End Chapter 9

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