I don't own these characters. Disney does.
25: Masquerade
Kim and Shego went through the attractions of a festival in the town. The festival was in celebration of the founder of the town. They picked up information here and there about the guy who started the town, such as the fact that his descendants were still the keepers of the land. They supposed that was pretty impressive. Okay, not really. Kim just did not want to be rude when people gave them the history of the town and Shego was not paying attention anyway because she did not care about the background of the little spot on a map.
The two ladies were unaware that one of them had just caught the attention of someone else, a young man to be precise, while they wandered the festival. He watched them carefully and then when Shego walked off, going to get something to eat, he moved in on Kim.
"Hey, there," he greeted the redhead with a smile.
Kim turned, surprised by the young man because she had not been prepared for someone to come up to her. He was an ebony-haired fellow with a look that reminded her almost instantly of Du Will. It was just that he was dressed much fancier than Will probably ever would because she could not recall a time that she saw Will dressed in a kamishimo (1), but then again, she tried her best to only see Will when they had to work together and even then, she did not like the sight of him. Still, it would be utterly pointless of Will to ever show up for a mission in a kamishimo.
"Um… hi," the redhead replied, trying not to show how awkward she felt, but it was not coming out as well as she hoped. Her face was apprehensive and her body language seemed to be suggesting that she wanted to walk away from him, which she did. Anyone who reminded her of Du Will had to mean trouble in her mind.
"I'm Prince Wally," he introduced himself, walking with her. He puffed out his chest for some reason, like his title was so impressive.
Well, she supposed that explained his outfit. Wally was dressed in a grey kamishimo. His katiginu (2) and hakama were a light grey. The kimono he had on underneath the kamishimo was a dark blue. He amazingly enough looked neater than any person Kim had ever seen and that said a lot considering how anal Will was about everything, his clothing included.
She also noted that Wally seemed more pompous than Will and he had only said two sentences to her. It was just the way he said those sentences, in a voice that suggested heavy snobbery. The way he stood even seemed to scream elitist, arrogant jackass. The look in his eyes declared he believed the rest of the world was beneath him and she should consider herself lucky that he would even grace her with a few words; lucky would not be the word she used to describe it.
"I'm Kim," she replied. She made it a point to not give her family name to strangers when out on the road. Her grandmother knew way too many people and she did not want things to get back to that woman or she might never hear the end of it.
"You are a fair creature. I'm shocked to see someone like you around here. There's usually no one worth my time during festivals," Wally informed her with his nose in the air.
Kim was not too sure what she wanted to say to that one. Maybe question the fact that he thought a girl wearing a fox mask backwards was worth his time. How odd was that? She could have pointed out the fact that he was a prince and she was a girl with no family crest to speak of on her clothing to even hint at her status beyond the swords on her hip, which was weird too. Perhaps, she could have brought up the fact that he had approached her as soon as Shego walked away, which seemed a bit odd. But, she did not go with any of those.
"Maybe you should try to give people more of a chance," Kim commented while discretely looking around for her companion. She wanted an excuse to walk away from him because she did not like the vibes he gave off.
"I think I'll start right now," he remarked with what he thought was a charming smile, but it was not quite there. It was just he had that air of superiority around him that she did not take too well to and that prevented his smile from being anything but arrogant.
"Kitsune, I thought we agreed you'd stay loyal. You are my kitsune, after all," Shego remarked smoothly as she came up behind Kim. She had on a travel hat again, covering a good deal of her face. She leaned over Kim's shoulder, draping her arm on the seemingly irresistible redhead. She smiled, which was barely visible thanks to the hat shadowing her face.
"Yojimbo-san," Kim said. She was not sure if the pale woman was trying to be act like her male companion to get Wally away from her or if Shego just had a thing for hats.
"Who's your friend, kitsune?" Shego asked in a low tone. She was looking to have a bit of fun since she saw that fancy dressed jerk trying to talk to her princess.
"I'm Prince Wally. Who are you? Aside from some obvious ronin (masterless samurai)," Wally commented, still sounding very uptight and snobbish. He looked a bit disgusted with the newcomer, his lip curled up and his eyebrows bent in, obviously upset with interruption.
"Oh, oji-sama (prince)," Shego said in a mocking tone. She lightly fingered Kim's kimono just to start more trouble. She wanted to show she was close to Kim in ways the prince could only dream about, even though she would rather he not even dream about her little fox.
"That doesn't explain who you are," Wally stated in an almost demanding tone with a hard look on his face. He was not sure if Shego was the person who had been walking with Kim or not now with that hat on.
"Hmm, I guess I'll be 'Yojimbo-san' for the moment, oji-sama. You seem like you're mighty friendly with my kitsune. Do you two know each other?" Shego asked, just to keep the conversation going since Wally did not seem to be enjoying things. She was going to make things as uncomfortable as possible for him since he was trying to pick up her girl. He was probably going to try to talk her into compromising her virtue and even though Shego knew Kim would not do such a thing, she thought it was very wrong of Wally to disrespect her companion in such a way.
"We've only just met," Kim informed the raven-haired warrior.
"Oh, only just met. He seemed so familiar with you, though," Shego commented. "Or maybe he just wants to be familiar with you," she corrected herself in a suggestive manner with a new smirk on her face.
Wally seemed to get the implications behind those words and went rigid at the very idea. He could not believe the filthy ronin would suggest that someone of his status would consider such things. "Why, I'll have you now I'm the perfect gentleman and would never think to do anything improper," the prince insisted with his chin held high and it took all of Shego's self-control not to laugh.
"Who said anything about you doing something improper?" Shego inquired. It was clear from her tone that she was teasing, to Kim it was clear anyway. Wally bristled at that.
"Listen, you," Wally said in a commanding tone with a threatening look in his eyes, as if he planned on punishing Shego for such implications. He did not get to finish his threat, though.
"I'd rather not. Come on, kitsune. Later, oji-sama," Shego said while turning Kim around and walking away with her.
"Shego, you didn't need to make him so uncomfortable," Kim stated while trying to hide her amusement. She did a poor job of it, thus doing the one thing she was trying not to, namely encouraging Shego's bad behavior.
"Yeah, I did. He was trying to pick you up as if you were some common courtesan or worse," Shego remarked. "He's lucky all I did was make him uncomfortable. He can't disrespect you like that, especially in front of me."
"You think?" Kim asked with a slightly wrinkled brow. She had not believed that things were going that way, but as she thought about it, maybe her companion had a point.
"Yeah, I do. So, don't even worry about him anymore. How do you like my hat?" Shego inquired with a playful smile and she ran her fingers across the brim of her new hat.
Kim laughed a little. "Why do you wear these travel hats?"
"You don't like my hat? You don't have any taste," Shego teased.
"You don't have any taste. That hat's awful." Kim waved her companion off.
"You know what, just for that, I'm not buying anything else for you while we're here," Shego said. Kim laughed a little more, even though she suspected she might have just talked herself out of several little gifts.
"Come on," Kim whined, poking out her bottom lip. "You're not being a very good boyfriend," she teased.
Shego balked at the very suggestion that she was "a boyfriend." It was a good thing she had on the hat or Kim would have noticed the complete expression and she would have never let Shego live it down. Shego then tried to play things off to make sure Kim did not know that she had gotten to Shego with that comment.
"Well, you're not being a loyal kitsune, talking to that guy and everything," Shego shot back.
"He was talking to me. He thought he was so great because he's a prince. He even introduced himself as a prince," Kim pointed out, rolling her eyes. Did he really think he could just throw his status around and impress her?
"You know, just because you don't introduce yourself as a princess doesn't mean everyone else is the same," Shego stated.
"Not really a princess considering my grandmother is still in charge of the Possible district of land and even if she wasn't, my dad wouldn't inherit it anyway," the redhead explained.
Laughing, a taunting smile settled onto Shego's face. "Don't try to make it seem like you're not a noble." She saw she had an opening and she was going to go for it. Now, she was going to spend the festival taunting Kim about her noble status. Too bad Kim had missed her reaction on that "boyfriend" comment or she would have had ammunition to fire back with.
-8-8-8-8-
Wally watched as Kim walked off with the mysterious ronin. He could not believe a vagabond had such a wonderful creature to spend the festival with. Kim should be celebrating with him. He was a prince, after all. His father's castle was right there, looming over the city. Only the castle in Edo rivaled it in his opinion. The celebration they all attended was in honor of his ancestor. So, why should he not be able to have Kim if he was such a great prince?
He did not see any reason as to why he should not have Kim. He definitely would not allow that shiftless, smart aleck ronin have her. So, he walked off to return home and speak with his father. He had to tell the older man about how he ran into the most heavenly creature of all time and he had to tell his father now.
His father seemed a bit amused through the whole thing, his eyes shining through the tale. But, he listened to every word his son said as the boy beamed over some girl. He made sure not to smile while the young man went through the tale, not wanting to mock Wally.
"So, what should I do, Father?" Wally inquired once he was done relaying the encounter between him, the heavenly creature, and the ronin that ruined everything.
"I don't know, my son. This girl might be beneath you," his father pointed out. He would prefer his son not trouble himself over a girl who might be classless and worthless when he could easily obtain a better female. But, for whatever reason the boy wanted the redheaded girl. And his father could guess the reason, even though neither of them spoke it aloud since they were gentlemen.
"No, I saw her, Father. She was certainly an angel and she was someone of status," the young man argued. He was certain she was someone just because of the look that she had and the way that she carried herself. Everything about her screamed noble birth, even if she did not say so.
"Well then, I suppose we should look into obtaining her then, if only for a look at her. Do you know where she is?" his father inquired.
"Well, I just saw her at the festival. She was with this irksome plebeian. The fellow had an awful hat and black hakama. I don't know what she was doing with that filthy ronin. The girl, she was a wonderful redhead. I've never seen anyone like her. She was enchanting," Wally sang Kim's praises.
"An enchanting redhead?" the older man muttered. His mind went right to where most people's minds went when it came to Kim. Perhaps she was a fox spirit, he thought. It would explain why his son was so enraptured with her. It would also explain why she was with some ronin instead of going off with Wally. Kitsune were terribly loyal to those they were enchanted with.
"Yes, she was lovely. You'll see, Father. We just have to get her here and you'll see," the boy insisted.
"All right, all right. I'll see about getting this girl tonight. There can't be many redheads with ronin in the city."
Wally nodded. He was glad his father thought like he did because the whole reason that he told his father about the girl, well, aside from the fact that he thought she was best looking girl ever, but he knew his father would assist in him looking to make the girl his. His father had a habit of spoiling him.
-8-8-8-8-
Kim held Shego up as they stumbled into their hotel room. The pale woman had had just a little too much to drink. Kim was a little embarrassed by it when they were outside. She was not very used to being around people who drank alcohol like Shego did. In her family, everyone just drank regular tea. Every now and then, her grandmother or her uncle might have a taste of alcohol, but nothing to get themselves tipsy like Shego was.
"Hey, Princess, that sure was fun, wasn't it?" Shego whispered into Kim's ear and she then nipped the body part since she was next to it. Her hat was now on her back, having fell off her head several drinks ago.
"Yeah, it was," Kim replied as she put Shego down. "You stay here and I'm going to go find something to sober you up."
"I don't need sobering up. Don't go anywhere. Come here," Shego urged the younger female and she grabbed Kim by the hand.
The olive-eyed samurai yelped as she was tugged down to her companion. Shego embraced Kim as soon as the smaller female was on her. Before Kim could get herself together, Shego kissed her deeply. Kim did not fight the kiss, but she still tried to get herself from being sprawled out on raven-haired warrior. Shego was not helping much, though.
Shego reached out and began caressing Kim. The redhead gasped and then moaned as Shego's fingers danced across her chest. She nearly fell over, but she put her hand down on the floor to brace herself. She then remembered Shego was drunk, so she started pulling away, only to have the drunken woman follow her.
"Shego," Kim whispered against the super-powered female's lips since that was as far as she could get away.
"What?" Shego replied.
"I'm going to go find something to sober you up," the younger woman repeated.
"Let's look at it this way, Princess."
"What way?"
"I'm sober enough to kiss you and know we should be naked instead of talking. That's fucking sober," Shego declared with a laugh. She thought that was close enough anyway and even if she was drunk, she did not have to do anything for the rest of the night but lay with her princess, so she did not see why she could not just stay tipsy.
"No, it's not. You're really drunk."
"So what? You got a problem with that?" Shego inquired, seemingly insulted in the way that only an intoxicated person could be when it was pointed out that she was drunk.
"You're drunk, tenshi (angel). Let me go get something to help absorb that alcohol," Kim replied gently.
Shego was taken aback by the sudden pet name for her and did not object. Blinking, she found herself unable to move for a moment. Kim took the few seconds of silence to leave the room. Shego stared at the closed door that the redhead had just gone out of her. Tenshi? Had Kim really just called her that? She knew Kim had done just that because of the warm feeling spreading through her and the way her heart fluttered in her chest.
No one had ever called her an angel before. Every time someone saw her, they quickly assumed she was a demon of some kind. People always called her "oni" or "akuma" before she even did anything to them. Even in her family, her older brother always tried to make it seem like she was the bad one of their bunch. She was always the one who did something wrong, even if she did not mean it or know it.
"Tenshi…" Shego whispered and her heart fluttered once more. It made her smile. The nickname seemed to have that sobering affect Kim wanted.
The emerald-eyed female sat there in a position of sheer concentration. She put her hand to her chin and rubbed her chin with her index finger. Was that what Kim saw when she looked at her? Did she really see someone worthy of being considered an angel? She would ask when Kim came back and it did not take too long for that to happen.
"Hey, Shego, the innkeeper told me this is really good for hangovers," Kim said as she came in with a cup. She went right over to Shego and handed her the cup of warm liquid.
"You do know that hangovers are what you get when you wake up after drinking too much, right?" Shego asked, looking down at the cup. She was actually a little touched Kim had even gone and gotten her the drink. It was rare that people went out of their way for her; in fact, she could not recall the last person to do it.
"It's the best I could do," Kim replied as she sat down next to her companion.
"It's fine." Shego stared at the cup for a little while longer. "Kim-hime, you called me something before you left the room. Did you mean it?"
"Did I mean it?" Kim echoed, her eyebrows knitting in close.
"Yeah, did you?" Shego needed to know.
The petite female thought on it. It was a nickname that just came to mind at that very second, but she supposed she did mean it. Shego was like an angel to her. A drunken angel at the moment, but an angel nonetheless.
"Yeah, I did," Kim confirmed with a nod and a smile. "You're my angel, tenshi."
They sat in silence for a moment and then Shego suddenly turned to Kim. She leaned down and placed a deep, tender kiss on the younger female's mouth. Kim guessed she had said the right thing.
"You are so wonderful," Shego whispered as she pulled away for a breath. She also put her cup down off to the side to avoid making it a casualty of anything she might do in the moment.
"So are you," Kim replied and she stole a few pecks around Shego's mouth.
Shego was starting to understand she liked being praised by Kim. She thought she had always been the type that liked to be complimented, but it was different with Kim. It mattered so much more. She never wanted to let the younger warrior down because of that. She wanted Kim to always be able to praise her and not be lying when she did it.
"Kitsune…" Shego muttered. She wanted to say something, but she did not know what to say. So, she leaned down and kissed Kim again.
Shego wrapped her arms around Kim and lowered the slender female to the floor. Shego reached down for Kim's obi, looking to get Kim out of her clothing. She went for the sash with one hand while her other hand sought the inside Kim's kimono, wanting to touch her skin.
And then, they both stopped at the same time. They looked around and they both sighed. It would seem their evening was going to be about a different kind of fun. Why was it always something when they were alone together, they both silently lamented.
"Damn it, just when I was about to score," Shego remarked.
"You weren't," Kim teased.
"Yes, I was. You were about to be screaming my name."
"No, I wasn't."
"Yeah, you were."
Shego moved off of Kim and they sat up in a rather alert fashion. Shego tried to move her cup again, hoping to save its contents. Moments later their small room was invaded by ten masked men. They glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. They just did not think this was worth their time, let alone their efforts. The masked assailants went right at the ladies, which was fine by them. Kim and Shego sprang into action.
Shego went at a man with a straight punch to his face and broke his mask. He was knocked cold with the hit, too. As Shego got her balance, she spun around and kicked a third man. He was woozy, but still standing.
Kim went with a powerful kick and knocked the third guy through the door. She leaned in and head-butted a fourth man while hitting a fifth man behind her with the end of her sheathed sword. The fourth man fell back while the fifth coughed in agony, which was about all he had time to do as Shego grabbed him and used him to hit a sixth man by flinging him over her shoulder.
"What the hell kind of women are these two?" one of the men wondered in sheer disbelief before he became the seventh man hit.
Kim took care of the eighth man with a combination of a hand strikes that the guy barely saw, but he certainly felt them, collapsing to the floor as soon as the assault ended. Shego worked the ninth guy out with her own combination of punches and he ended up on the floor, too. The last guy made a retreat and they decided to follow him, if only to see who was behind the interruption of their evening. The guy did not seem to notice they were following him since the only thing on his mind was escaping the fate of his comrades and he ran right back to where he came from.
"You know, this is a pretty nice castle," Shego commented just to be ridiculous as she and Kim stood at the edge of town. They were on a rooftop, staring at the castle of the daimyo in charge of the land.
"You don't think Prince Wally behind this, do you?" Kim asked.
Scoffing, Shego rolled her eyes. "Doy. If he thinks he's getting his hands on my hot, little fox, he's got another thing coming."
Kim glanced at Shego, not sure where she start commenting on that sentence. With a sigh, she decided to just let it go. They stood there for a while, figuring out what they should do. Should they just go in the castle and shake Wally until he knew better than to mess with Shego's "hot, little fox" or should they just leave the town?
"I say let's go in there and beat the snot out of that little arrogant piss-ant," Shego declared with a grin as she punched her fist into her palm.
Kim shook her head. "I don't think we should do that. It's a lot of trouble and we don't need that kind of attention and everything."
Frowning, Shego let out an almost petulant huff. "He needs someone to teach him a lesson and I'm that person. How dare he just come and try to take my princess. Who the hell does he think he is?"
Kim placed a soothing hand on her companion's shoulder. "Calm down, Shego."
"No, no, no. Would you be calm if he tried to take me?" Shego asked, staring Kim down.
Kim opened her mouth to answer, but she quickly shut it. Someone take her tenshi from her? The sun would sooner fall out of the sky before she allowed that to happen. Okay, she might not be so calm if someone tried to take Shego, but she was not about to admit that. One of them had to be rational about things, after all.
"How about we sleep it off? If you're still mad about it, we'll go tomorrow and confront him," the samurai suggested.
Shego sighed, but found she could not turn down the little redhead. They returned to the hotel and Kim politely requested they get a new room considering the fact that they had unwanted guests knocked out in the other one, not that she mentioned that latter bit. But, the innkeeper was not as friendly as she hoped and refused the request. Shego brushed her to the side.
"Let me show you how to do it, Princess," the older female commented.
"Um… okay," Kim replied, planting herself off to the side and behind her companion.
Shego grabbed the innkeeper and held him off of the ground by his clothing. His eyes went wide and he gasped. Kim had guessed Shego was going to do something intimidating, but she allowed it without a word because they did need a new room. They had broken the door on the other one, after all, so even if the men they had beaten up were gone, they still were not planning to stay there.
"Now, I think she asked you for a new room. You might want to try for a different answer this time," Shego informed the innkeeper and she tightened her hold on him a little, just for him to get the idea that she could hurt him a great deal if he gave the wrong answer.
"Of course," he stammered, sweat rolling down his forehead. She smiled.
-8-8-8-8-
"This room is even better than the other one that we had," Kim commented as she and Shego settled into their new hotel room.
"You just have to know how to talk to people," Shego remarked with a devilish smirk and a shrug.
Olive eyes rolled. "You just have to know how to bully people."
"Hey, I'm no bully. I just know how to get people to do what I want," the raven-haired woman said and she grabbed Kim from behind. She pushed the red mane to the side and placed some tender pecks on Kim's neck.
"You think that'll get you what you want?" Kim inquired while trying not to sound like she was giving in.
Shego smiled against the nape of Kim's neck. "I know I will. I've got power like that."
Kim smiled a little bit, but she decided to play coy, trying to resist Shego. Resistance only made Shego more persistent, which was expected. It was rather entertaining in their opinions, but the main event was the best of course.
-8-8-8-8-
"Father, your men failed!" Wally whined to his father, who was actually trying to sleep. That meant nothing to the boy because he really wanted that redhead and he wanted her now! He wanted her to be his woman and he could get to know her, in many different ways.
"Wha?" the daimyo asked as he sat up in a daze. He looked rather puzzled because of the way his sleep had been disturbed.
"Your men failed. What are we going to do now? I want that girl," Wally declared loudly, stomping his bare foot on the hardwood floor.
"Then you shall have her, my son. Just wait until morning," his father replied while holding in a yawn.
"But, I want her now!" the boy stated, stomping his foot again. The thud echoed through the room.
"You'll get her soon. Let me sleep, boy." His father waved him away.
"How will I get her in the morning?" Wally asked curiously.
"We'll get some people to go get her. More than ten. Now, leave me to sleep, boy," his father said.
"But, what are we going to do, Father?"
"I'll handle it in the morning," his father said in a rather grumpy tone.
Wally did not take the hint and continued to whine until his father cracked and just told him everything he had planned. With that, Wally was satisfied. He exited the room and let his father sleep, which the daimyo was thankful for. In the morning, they would settle things.
And that was what they did. When the lord woke up, he sent for one of his men. He questioned the man about connections he had with some yakuza nearby. The man confirmed he did have connections with some gangs, so the lord informed him to tell the gangs he was offering a reward if they could bring to him a slim redheaded woman. So, he went spread the news and met with the yakuza leader on the highway, not too far from the town. He explained the situation.
"Aniki (big brother), it's really easy money if you take this job," the man said.
"I'm not worrying about the money, seriously. I'm totally wondering if these are the same girls I'm looking for. If they are, the prince can have Aka-chan, but I get to keep the green on'na (woman), seriously," Motor Ed informed the messenger.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: what new trouble does Motor Ed bring to the table? Will he get the "green on'na" while Wally gets Kim? Maybe it'll be the other way around.
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1: Kamishimo: a two piece outfit made up of a vest and hakama, which was typical attire for samurai and court officials of the time.
2: Katiginu: the vest part of the kamishimo. It had wide shoulders and the back sort of hung like a cape, but not very long.