Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and you should all know that by now! Thanks very much for reading and lease review cause I'd love to hear from you!

Note: At the request of someone I am stating again that the original concept of Ice, as well as the naming was not mine. A friend of mine created the general profile and I went with it after she requested the inclusion of her character in this fic.

Chinese and Irish Culture

Standing off to the side in Hypnos' main conference room where the dinner was being held Henry tugged at his tie, wishing desperately that he'd gotten out of the apartment earlier before his mother had noticed he'd "accidentally" forgot to put one on. The damn thing was choking him to death. Looking over at Ryo, who was leaning against the wall beside him, Henry had to grin, seeing his friend doing the exact thing. "Whoever invented ties should be shot."

"Tell me about it. Then again, a mere bullet isn't nearly enough to make up for torturing so many generations of poor men who already have women to do that for them." Shoving his hands into his pockets before he did enough damage to undo the damn thing Ryo shared a look of male understanding with his friend, both grinning as they thought of their own women who could be more exasperating and annoying than any damn tie ever had. Fighting the urge to take his hands out of his pockets to loosen the thing a little more Ryo mentally reminded himself that tying the things were almost as annoying as wearing them. Which was saying something. Sighing Ryo decided to change the subject before he gave into temptation. "Is Alice okay by the way? She looks really worn out tonight and grumpier than usual. Your grandmother on her case again?" Lately, anything wrong with Alice could be attributed to Henry's grandmother.

"In a manner of speaking." Henry said with a sigh of his own, shoving a hand through his hair as he grimaced in remembrance. "Grandmother found out about this thing tonight and assumed it was some sort of party that we were deliberately keeping from her because we didn't want her to come. She currently thinks we're all plotting against her because we tried to convince her to send Ice away or at least keep them as far from each other as possible. She says we're undermining her efforts to civilize Ice and that its all our faults that she isn't a perfect little lady by now."

"She's in serious denial where Ice is concern, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah."


After a moment of reflection as they both thought about just what it could cost Henry's grandmother to go on thinking she could reform Ice Henry continued to explain. "Anyway Dad tried to explain that this whole thing is like a business dinner but she took it as a personal insult and after he made the mistake of explaining why we owe Kei grandmother insisted we have him and Mr. Tao over for dinner so that she could personally thank them for helping Alice. At least that was her excuse but we all knew that really she just wanted to see for herself the men that took her chance of avoiding being related to Alice away and try to poison them or something. She's taking her anger out on everyone now, even Grandfather."

"She tried to poison them!?"

"She was insisting on doing all the cooking which is basically poison since she can't cook. At all." Henry explained, managing to crack a small grin. "We never found out just what she had up her sleeve though because, well... she found out that Kei was young, rich and half Chinese. God, Ryo...she tried to set him up with Ice." Still in a state of shock over it Henry wished with all his might he could block out the night before but it was etched on his brain like glass. His grin was long gone now as he recalled the horror that was his grandmother trying to set up his maniac cousin with a member of the Chinese Mob. Talk about your match made in hell. He wasn't sure who'd wanted to kill his grandmother more, Kei or Ice. Not that Kei had shown any sign of intended violence but he'd have felt pretty violent in Kei's shoes and he wasn't even in Kei's league in the violence department. "She actually tried to dress Ice up like a girl and it was so obvious what she was doing...I've never been so embarrassed in my life and that's saying something given I hang out with Kazu!"

"Jesus...and nobody died?"

"You know, that's what I thought when I arrived early to the sounds of threats and breaking glass." Alice interjected before Henry could reply, having come over to stand beside her boyfriend. "Suzi saved the day by pointing out in a moment of desperation that Kei could help the crazy twit get into the family business..than Ice was willing to consider playing nice for a couple hours."

"Dear God." Not sure what else to say Ryo could picture it in his mind as clearly as if he'd been there. It was a miracle he hadn't woken up this morning to find out that there had been a case of mass homicide at the Lee house the night before. "Ice really wants into the Triad that badly?" She had to, if she'd let this all happen without at least attempting to kill someone with the chopsticks.

"Well she wouldn't wear a dress or make up but she was actually civil to the guy which isn't much until you take her demented personality into account. I can't believe Kei took it all in stride and didn't get up and leave. I would have if it weren't for the fact that Mom would have disowned me for leaving her to deal with everyone. Dad was no help and once Grandmother realized Kei wasn't interested in Ice, no surprise, she tried to push Suzi on him too."

"Oh to be a fly on the wall."


Understanding completely Alice grinned at Ryo's comment. "Yeah. It was actually funny in a horrifying, please don't let a fight erupt sort of way. Actually, Kei and his uncle were pretty cool for the whole thing, very courteous and polite which is saying something when faced with the family dinner from hell. Actually, I think Kei's uncle thought it was pretty funny too. Kei..well reading that guy is like Kazu trying to read a computer program."

"Well at least Grandmother was too distracted to take potshots at you." Henry pointed out, pulling Alice into his arms for comfort, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist as she leaned back against him. "She's still steaming over the idea of our little life debt." He still couldn't believe that had worked so well.

Amused Ryo grinned, having heard the story already of Henry and ill fated almond mess. Who knew such good could come out of choking on a nut? "Well at least now she can't keep trying to break you two up. Now she can only make you guys miserable trying to turn Alice into a proper Chinese bride." Ryo added, unable to resist.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you? But no, she hasn't given up yet and don't even think about mentioning that second idea within her ear shot." Shaking his head Henry sighed as he leaned his face against Alice's, the two grimacing in unison. "She was so angry about how badly the dinner went she started muttering about family honor, marriage and worse, Minhung."


"Minhung?" Jeri asked as she and Takato joined the group in time to catch what Henry had said. So far Rika's family hadn't arrived yet with Kei and his uncle, the last of the people invited to the party. She was really anxious to meet this guy, especially since Alice had made him seem so dark and mysterious. "What's that?"

"It's a very old, very illegal custom, mostly found in rural areas of China." Alice explained, having had it explained to her by a gleefully malicious Ice who'd thought the whole idea very funny. "Basically its the funeral of a bachelor son who's buried with a recently deceased and unmarried woman. It's often called an afterlife marriage and it's the answer to every parent who wants to chose who their kid marries. Kids can't argue if they're a corpse after all."

"Talk about your match made in heaven..or hell." Whistling under his breath Takato couldn't help but think that Henry's grandmother just might need therapy as much as Ice did.

"So what, she's gonna have Ice knocked off and married to some other dead bloke?" Teddy asked with interest, having appeared with Suzi to see what everyone was talking about that had such interesting expressions passing over their faces. "She really is starkers, isn't she then?"

"Or Henry, you never know." Suzi put in with a chuckle, looking more than a little amused at the unamused look on her brother's face. "Hey, you never know with her."

"Shut up, squirt."

"Well looks like the guest of honor has arrived." Henry noticed, turning his head as he watched Rika come into the room with her arm through Kei's, his uncle doing the same with Rika's mother on one arm and her grandmother on the other. "You sure you don't have to worry about him, Ryo? I mean if he dislikes women on principle and actually gets along with her..."

"I'm not worried. Of the three of them, Rika would not be his first choice." Smirking since he knew Henry would take that the wrong way Ryo left his friends to walk over to his girlfriend who was currently letting Kei help her remove her coat. "Hey, you." Leaning forward to exchange a quick kiss as Kei went to put their coats away Ryo took in her outfit with a smile. "You're looking very Chinese tonight."

"Uncle Kan gets a kick out of it and since he bought me it for my last birthday I thought I'd make him happy and wear it." The delicate silk top and pant suit were the same color as her eyes, the delicately carved chopsticks in her bun completing the look even if she had left the top button undone. "So we're the last ones huh? Figures." Her glance sliding over to her mother, her gaze clearly stated that this was all Rumiko's fault.

"Don't give me that look." Reading her daughter perfectly Rumiko stuck her tongue out at her only child. "Just because your idea of getting ready is throwing on the first thing you find in your closet doesn't mean it's a crime to take some pride in your appearance."

"Says the woman who was in the bathroom for over an hour making her self up." Rika muttered under her breath, Ryo turning his laugh into an awkward cough as he tried not to smile.

"You both always look lovely, no matter what you're wearing." Was Kei's uncle's smooth interjection before the Nonaka girls could get into one of their habitual arguments on fashion. Rumiko was Rumiko and Rika was Rika. They would never, ever agree on this topic, even if Hell froze over, he thought in amusement as his nephew returned to his side. "Now, Rika, this much be your Mr. Akiyama that you and Kei have been telling me about."

"Oh right." Remembering her manners Rika took Ryo's hand in hers, just in case. "Ryo, this is Tao Kan, Kei's uncle. Uncle Kan, this is my boyfriend Akiyama Ryo."

"Nice to meet you, Sir. Please call me Ryo." Holding out his free hand Ryo shook the older man's hand, surprised to see that Kei's uncle looked nothing like his nephew. In fact, the man looked nothing like the sort of man he'd imagine Rumiko would date. The man was average height, build, average everything pretty much. Definitely not in Kei or even his own father's league looks wise. Weird.

"And you may call me Kan. You must be quite the young man, to have gained Kei's approval so quickly. Not an easy task, where Rika is concerned."

Looking over at Kei with a questioning look all Ryo got in a response was a small nod, the faintest of smiles teasing those harsh lips for a moment before disappearing as he eyes went back to scanning the occupants of the room.

"Well, lets get all the other introductions out of the way so that we can eat." Rika announced, not wanting Uncle Kan to go into interrogation mode, especially since she'd just spotted her father coming towards them from out of the crowd. "I'm starved."


All in all the whole dinner thing went pretty well. The food was better than expected and once everyone got used to the fact that two of the people sitting at the long table with them were Triad conversation picked up nicely. Since neither Kei nor Kan looked Triad or seemed to fit any of the stereotypes associated with them most soon forgot to worry about them at all and the atmosphere eased noticeably too. After dinner, over dessert and coffee, the discussion turned to the meeting that had been scheduled to take place on the day of Alice, Rika and Simon's ill planned escapade. Kan and Kei were pretty up to date on the whole things and helped Yamaki in explaining things to the other parents, who were all strangely relieved to find out they had Triad members looking out for their children which was something none of them had ever thought to be thinking.

"So how is your work on building new barriers going, Alice, Teddy?" Yamaki asked, turning the discussion over to his two best hackers, both who were currently stuffing their mouths full of cake.

The first to finish chewing Teddy took the question. "It's gettin there but we're still havin some problems gettin it to hold strong. The real problem is that the digimon, they don't like the barrier so much and many of them are attackin it, or flying into it and getting themselves right banged up. We also dunna know what sort of blokes they've got on their side, they might be able to find a way in still if they're any good. We hackers, we tend to get into anything, if we're given enough time and motivation." He added with a smirk.

"We'll get it perfected though, if it's the last thing we do." Alice put in, a stubborn look on her delicate face. "So far we haven't had any major incidents in the world lately, I'd say the temporary barrier we have up now is working, at least for the time being."

"We'll keep looking for leverage over them from this side as well." Kan put in, adding some more sugar to his coffee. "If we can find out enough about their activities in this world we might be able to shut them down here rather than try to nail them for something like this, where there are no laws or precedents in place."

"With all the information you've collected so far, it says something about the government that we can't already see all their asses into jail. Pardon my language." Yamaki added sheepishly, not used to being surrounded by the parents of his Tamers. Usually, it was just their kids and they swore more than he did.

"Money always talks, especially when it's dirty." Was Simon's opinion, not at all surprised that the law wasn't going to help them until it had absolutely no choice. It was like that where ever you went really, especially in places like his neighborhood. It had always amazed him as a child, how ready the guarda had been, to look the other way if you passed them enough of the ready. A beaten wife, a missing child, there was nothing that couldn't be covered up if one was willing and able to pay for it.

"Well worst comes to worst we can pass off what we know to the media and let them run with it." Kei suggested, turning his coffee mug around in his hands. "If we hang them in the public eye the government will have no choice but to move in and finish the job for us."

"I knew there was a reason we let reporters live."


Everyone chuckling over Rumiko's dry comment it helped ease the tension once more as more ideas were generated and mulled over for another hour or so before the meeting finally broke up, parents collecting the younger children and herding them off first while the older teenagers dawdled a bit to talk and discuss what had been said during the meeting.

"What we need ta do is figure a way to make the barrier encompass the whole world rather than just the areas they've been spotted in." Teddy said somewhat sleepily, having spent a great deal of the night before work on that very problem. "Once those buggering bastards realize we aren't covering all the holes they'll find a way, sure as pissin off a fairy is never a good idea."

"You need sleep, bro. Big time." Simon noted in amusement, patting his brother on the back. "Talkin about the fairy folk at a time like this."

"As I recall your culture and folklore is quite rich in tales of that sort." Eyes as unreadable as always everyone couldn't quite hide their surprise that Kei would show interest in that of all things.

"That they are, even if it is a bunch of nonsense."

"Well who's to say, since no fairy or other figure of myth would possibly want to live on this earth after what we humans have done to it." Kei pointed out, watching Simon from over the rim of his coffee cup. "Who could blame them if they chose not to make themselves known as they once were said to do in your lands and others. Besides, most would argue that the existence of fairies is as likely as creatures created by computers that are real and living things. I prefer never to dismiss the existence of anything, that way I'm never proven wrong."