DnabInherit01
Inherit the Storm
Part One
"Meet the Family"
By
Jim Robert Bader
Dateline, Nerima: 2012
Continuity # 59343921.40
"DAITOKUJI!"
Eileen Kent-Kane Managi Daitokuji hardly glanced up as she said, "What is it this time, Minos? I'm busy."
"You're always too stuck up and busy to have anything to do with me, you stuck up Dyke," Minos snarled, a muscular lad whose handsome face was presently distorted by rage as he advanced upon the much smaller seeming girl, "But this is one time you are gonna respect me."
"That would be most unlikely," said the soft-spoken girl whose crimson hair and feminine attire might incline one to suspect an uneven confrontation was in the works.
And they would be right, but not for the reason so listed.
"You haven't seen me in a while, so I'll let you in on a little secret," he snalred, rolling up a sleeve, "I'm been in the Mountains studying one of my Dad's supply of scrolls and I think this time I've got the key to bringing you down."
"Other than being burdened with your noisy presence?" Eileen asked, "And I was wondering why it had been so blissfully quiet of late."
"I'm tired of your lip," Minos growled, flexing his arms and cracking his knuckles as he growled, "It's about time somebody put you in your place and taught you better manners. And after what you said about me in the girl's locker rooms…"
"I was merely being accurate," Eileen replied, not bothering to so much as glance at the larger boy while she flipped the pages of her I-Phone, marking out the particular website that she needed for her research, "The size ratio of one's members is not always proportional to their overall dimensions…"
He took a swing at her, aiming this time at the side of her head, and was quite surprised when his fist stopped in mid-air well short of its intended target.
Stopped, that is, with but a single finger that she had raised to intercept him by his fore-thrust knuckles.
The time she did turned to regard him, and her look was neither haughty nor contemptuous but more resembling the look that one might turn upon a fly that has alighted on your knee. It was a cold regard of studied indifference.
"I do not know why you trouble yourself to study these odd techniques with the mistaken belief that you can impress me," she said mildly, "But-contrary to what you may believe-I do not take particular pleasure in exerting myself in a violent manner. I just happen to be naturally gifted in the area in which you struggle so hard to be competitive, and by my standard you are not even a significant factor."
"Why you-!" he started to snarl, frustrated that his best efforts did not so much as even cause her to budge even slightly.
But the next instant he was even more surprised as Eileen flexed her other finger outward, and all at once he found himself in the familiar state of becoming airborne without the least clue as how his feet had left the ground so far beneath him…
At that a lavender haired girl approaching the front of the Furinkan High School building glanced up at the sound of a loud male scream and noted the form of a classmate on a trajectory course with the swimming pool a half a block away.
She shrugged her shoulders and turned back to approaching the redhead to whom she cheerfully waved and acknowledged, "Hey, Ekko. Was that Minos I just saw?"
The redhead snapped her phone shut and instantly paid her full attention to the speaker, "That was indeed so, Lylac-san. Could you not tell by the contralto tone of his screaming?"
Tendo Lylac shook her head and sighed, "I just don't know what's going on in that boy's head. Hasn't he figured it out by now that as hard as he trains his body he's never going to come within a hundred kilometers of being in your league?"
"He does demonstrate a remarkably poor learning curve at that," Eileen remarked as she turned fully to confront her purple haired companion, "Have you concluded your full list of school activities for the day?"
"All done until tomorrow," Lylac said, inclining her head slightly as she smiled and asked, "Why? Were you waiting for me all this time?"
Eileen colored a bit but tried to compose herself as she responded, "I thought I'd take the moment to conclude some research that I needed for one of my own assignments. Being gifted is a poor excuse for not exerting one's aptitude to pique efficiency."
"Plus it's easier to study in your lab than it is at home when your parents are in?" Lylac mused.
"I have checked in with my remote systems and everything appears to be functioning adequately," Eileen said, "However…I have considered relocating my facilities to Tenko's place as it would be a more secure location."
"At least until your folks go off on another one of their periodic missions," Lylac chuckled softly, "Right, I get it."
"Would you be interested in accompanying me in my endeavor to procure some necessary victuals that will fill a deficient void in the pantry back home?" Eileen asked.
"Oh?" Lylac arched a purple eyebrow, "You mean to say that your cupboard is barren once again?"
"Alas," Eileen said, "My Fama can brew a Nobel prize winning formula from ordinary house products, and my mother can dead lift a freight train without suffering back problems. But neither one of them is practical minded enough to remember to visit a grocery store from time to time. Fama always has her nose buried in her research, and Mother…well…she is perhaps an adequate chef, if one does not mind reheated rice served in a package…"
"Got it," Lylac nodded, "Consider me along for the ride then, and I could certainly use the company. It's been one of those crazy, freaky days…"
"Oh?" it was Eileen's turn to arch an eyebrow.
"Quite apart from Grandpa Happosai getting loose in the girl's locker room," Lylac noted, "The Boiler, of all days, chooses to give up the ghost and leaves us only with cold water with which to shower. Couple that with the pool temperature dropping below its usual twenty-three degrees Celsius, which I always insist it be maintained above…"
"And you being Captain of the Swim team," Eileen duly noted.
"Well…you can see how awkward that was," Eileen shrugged, "Good thing everyone in school knows about the Curse that I inherited from my mother, and my learning that technique in Fire Water generation from Aunt Latisha last semester…"
"A most useful skill to be had," Eileen noted, "Much as mastering your father's Senken techniques the semester before that."
"Does come in handy from time to time," Lylac remarked, falling in step with her companion, "Shall we be going?"
"By all means," Eileen replied, trying very hard not to give away her eagerness, "Let's."
Off some distance away a pair off silver haired girls watched these exchanges and noted the body language, and one of them just sighed, "My sister is such a Baka."
"And mine is any better?" her companion asked, "I tell you, Geena, somebody has to buy those two a clue. How can Oneechan possibly miss all the hints your sister is dropping that she wants to go to the next base in their relationship?"
"I know," Geena snorted, "Not that I can figure out the attraction. Your sister is half-guy, for Kami sakes. Which side of her is she after? The Boobs or the Cock?"
"I don't think it really matters which side she gets as long as she gets her at all," Shamran shook her mane of frosty hair and sighed, "Glad I don't have a Jusenkyo curse like that. Bad enough that my other sister gets downright catty when she's doused with cold water…"
"Speaking of which?" Geena turned her head, "I think I spy the little furball approaching even now."
They turned their heads and saw a brown haired blur rush by peddling frantically on a bicycle as she hit a bump and took to the air, crying brightly, "NIHAO!" as the only warning that Furinkan's student body ever got before she landed.
"She sure is in a hurry to get someplace," Shamran sniffed.
"Fragrance has a lot of energy that she likes to burn off in the most creative ways," Geena smiled, "And if I didn't know any better I'd suspect that she's chasing another new girlfriend."
"My condolences on whoever she's set her her sites on," Shamran shook her head, "I swear sometimes, they may be my sisters but it's hard to believe that we're even related."
"Tell me about it."
Both silver haired girls turned in surprise, seeing no one in particular, but suspecting by the tone of voice that they knew who had been speaking.
"Ryokouma-kun?" Shamran asked, "Is that you in there, Little Brother?"
"Don't tell anybody," one of the bushes replied, "I'm practicing my Koseken Juitsu."
"You're camouflaging your presence to blend in with the local fauna?" Geena asked, "Who's after you this time?"
"My bet would be either Incense or Tomoko," Shamran sniffed, "Either that or Watazashi."
"Ha-ha," came the masculine snort, "Well, for your information it's none of the above."
"Interesting," Geena mused, "So in other words it's got to be Belldandy."
"Bell-chan?" Shamran asked, "What makes you think of her?"
"Please," Geena snorted, "I may not use big words like my sister, but I'm every bit as smart and strong as she is."
"No," the boy snorted, dropping his disguise and appearing as himself to make indignant protest, "Not Belldandy. If she were after me it wouldn't be a problem. It's the other sister…"
"What?" Shamran gasped, "Lilith?"
"Yeah, that's the one," Ryokouma said, "And it's not like I've done anything wrong to get on that witch's bad side…"
"No, she means Lilith, as in…over there," Geena moved her head to indicate a direction somewhat past the younger boy's slender shoulders.
Ryokouma froze as he heard a familiar feminine voice say, "And before you say it, no, it's not the oldest trick in the book. But it ranks as somewhere close, Cousin."
He very slowly turned around to see the dark haired girl glaring at him with crimson eyes and pallid complexion, "Ah…hi, Lilith-chan."
"Don't chan me, Mister Innocence," Lilith stepped forward and jabbed a finger that she tapped upon his chest, "And did you really think that lame disguise was enough to put me off your scent? After all, your Amazon sister is hardly the only one who's good at a blood hunt."
As she spoke she briefly bared her fangs to full view, which prompted the younger man to swallow, even though he knew that she would not attack him in broad daylight.
"Ah…look, if I can explain what happened back there…" Ryokouma tried not to let his voice go up an octave, but it squeaked none the less in spite of his best efforts.
"Explain?" Lilith snorted, "Explain how you landed on my twin sister and managed to grope her in full view of the Volleyball squad.?"
"He what?" Shamran blinked.
"Whoah," Geena said, "Bold move, Ryo-kun. And why didn't I ever think of doing that?"
"You mean grope Cousin Bell-chan?" Shamran asked, "Probably because Lil-chan here would drink you like a soda."
"NO!" Ryokouma protested, "For the last time I didn't grope her! I mean….not deliberately anyway. It was just…an accident. She was on top of me and I was trying to help her to get off…"
"Not that way you don't," Lilith snorted, "Kissing cousins or not, this is Japan, not Arkansas, and no way am I letting you take advantage of my sister."
"I wasn't taking advantage of her!" Ryokouma turned and appealed to the others, "Oneechan, you've got to believe me…"
"Hmmm," Shamran mused, "Well, it does sound awfully far-fetched to accuse Ryo-kun of indecency. After all, I don't think he even has a clue about what to do with a woman."
"You got that right," Geena snorted.
"Would you lay off of me," Ryokouma snapped, "And this from my own sister…"
"Who raises a valid point, which even I must concede," Lilith snorted, "But that doesn't alter the fact that you are a Man, and however inexperienced, in the heart of every man there lurks a Hentai soul that's just waiting to be kindled."
"Stop projecting yourself onto me," Ryoukoma snapped, "I mean...sure, I've not had a lot of experience with girls…I mean…girls to whom I'm not closely related. But I grew up in a house that's full of women, and aside from Chusen and Akira we're kind of…outnumbered."
"Like that was ever a reason for a man not to harbor hidden feelings of perversion," Geena noted.
"Hey, whose side are you on?" Ryokouma snapped.
"Hmmm…speaking of our mysterious brother and his entourage of siblings," Geena glanced around, "Just where do you suppose they've gotten off to?"
"Training in the hills most like," Lilith said, turning back to Ryokouma, "And don't try and change the subject. Whether intentional or not the fact remains that your hands were on the anatomy of my sister, and even if there was a shirt and a bra in the way you're bound to have gotten some ideas about what they feel like just from simple reflexive hand contractions."
"Yeah, like I'd even want to grope them," Ryokouma protested, if unconvincingly, "Yours are probably no bigger than hers…"
"Excuse me?" Lilith said archly.
Shamran sensed danger and hopped to her feet, promptly clamping a hand over the mouth of her younger brother, "Ah…he didn't mean anything by that, Cousin. You know Ryo-kun and his mouth and the way it runs ahead of his brain. Family trait, or so I'm told, especially on the male half of the dividing line…"
"Of which your sister Lylac straddles in the center," Geena noted.
"Not helping," Shamran chirruped.
Lilith frowned, "You had better watch your step around me, Cousin, or I may just forget that I am on a diet. You will apologize to Belldandy the next time that you see her…or else."
"Or else what?" Ryokouma asked nervously.
Lilith smiled, and not in a good way, baring fangs as she said, "Or else I'll tell Watazashi and Incense about your favorite hangouts…the ones you think that no one else knows about besides yourself."
Ryokouma's eyes went wide with evident fear, and it was plain enough that the dark haired girl had gotten his full attention.
"Until then," Lilith said, turning around and seeming to step out into open space before she vanished.
"Whooh, that girl is creepy," Geena said, "She may be your cousin, but she always looks at you like you're her favorite blood type."
"She doesn't bite people casually," Shamran said, turning to Ryoukouma, whom she had released but for her stern expression, "Do us both a favor and try to stay off her bad side, little brother. Ah…assuming she even has a not-bad side, that is."
"I swear I didn't do anything deliberately to provoke her," Ryokouma protested.
"No, but you do have the Saotome gift for doing and saying the wrong thing around women," Geena said, "As evidenced by your popularity with the girls of your class, you Dog you."
"Don't be jealous of my brother's success," Shamran tuned back to her best friend, "Tell you what, let's go cruising for some hot dates. There's bound to be a few guys hanging around the late hours on this campus."
"Guys or girls?" Geena asked.
"Does it matter as long as they're cute?" Shamran grinned, and the two of them went off together, leaving Ryokouma to stare at them before shaking his head and murmuring, "I come from such a weird family…"
Saotome Chusen stood waiting and attentive. His posture was relaxed to the point of seeming casual and at ease, but inwardly he was tensing with anticipation. There was no appearance of tension or stress as he stood relaxed and at ease, waiting for the attack that was impending.
Surrounded on four sides his opponents flanked him, each gathering their energies and preparing to unleash their onslaught.
To his right the air felt warm with the heat radiating from a redheaded girl as flames surrounded her body, hands raised like twin blades ready to slice the air, projecting outward.
To his left a blue haired girl with a Mohawk hairstyle assumed a different crouch, her body surrounded by a sheath of water that acted as both shield and weapon.
Wind blew at his backside as the third opponent summoned wind around her slender form, while facing him in the front a fourth young woman raised a hand and caused the very earth itself to rise up at her summoning, forming a column of dirt and stone that flowed in accordance to her will.
And all four launched simultaneous attacks at once as Chusen held his ground, raising his arms and only at the very last instant summoning his power to deflect their combined assaults as they hammered him from all directions.
Off to the side a fifth young woman looked on with arms folded, perched in the branches of a nearby tree and watching the whole affair with mingled interest and boredom. She saw each attack get met and countered as Chusen's hands channeled his energies and countered their attacks, spinning around to meet and counter their second wave as they altered their attack style, their hands and feet channeling elemental energies as flame, stone, air and water droplets went flying in all directions.
The wind came sharply in a form that sliced through the space that Chusen had occupied an instant before contact. Flame was redirected harmlessly away while stone was met and deflected, with water flowing around the point that the elusive boy vacated as he bent like a reed with the tension of a bamboo sapling.
"Not bad, Big Brother," the girl in the trees remarked, Saotome Kibo, also known as Hope among her friends and family members, observing these exchanges and rating the quality of their martial arts styles as her fellow Senken Masters practiced their craft with artistry, style, grace and unbelievable reserves of power, well beyond the scope of ordinary mortals.
Saotome Honamo, who controlled flame like she mastered her own inner Ki, was all force and power with the fluid grace of a raging inferno. Her crimson tresses flowed about her attractive face as she as she battered away at her brother's defenses, just as a fire would seek to consume a house, only to be shunted aside as he extinguished her attack, controlling pressure waves that snuffed her flames harmlessly well short of their intended target.
Saotome Umisa was like a raging typhoon as she struck with the irresistible force of a tsunami. Water manifested out of thin air as she congealed moisture particles and congealed them with her hands, shaping weapons that she launched like flood waters that sought to sweep a house off of its foundation. But Chusen easily withstood her assault by digging his heels into the earth and drawing upon its strength as a mountain might endure a raging river.
Blonde haired Saotome Arisa's attacks were not grounded to the earth but came like the sylph winds of a rising storm cloud, her feet barely touching earth as she seemed nearly to float above the soil, her attacks coming from above rather than below, much as a Cyclone sought to tear the roof off of a building.
But again Chusen doubled down and gripped the Earth with the soles of his feet and turned away the gale winds wafting all about his body. Rather than be blown away he turned back the winds and send them rebounding back at her as he drove her off and held his space inviolate of the weather.
That was when dark haired Saotome Yamase stamped her foot upon the ground and shook it, threatening to knock the house off of its foundations. He gripped the Earth only to find it turn to quicksand beneath his soles, so quickly shifted styles once again and drew upon both air and water. He created a counter-shock wave that stabilized his footing and momentarily broke the concentration of his erstwhile opponent.
Their free-form practice match went on for some minutes beyond that point, at which time Hope was closed to exhausted from watching them and wishing that she had been a participant of their combat. The platinum haired Mistress of Void attacks had noted several points within their bout when her own unique Senken might have been employed to great effect, and had she not been designated as their Spotter and Lookout she no doubt would have joined in on the free-for-all.
As it was Chusen himself drew the matter to a halt, having held his ground competently despite the best efforts of his siblings to press hard against his defenses. He had taken the best that each could muster and had proven once again his right to be an acknowledged Master.
But he seemed quite content to leave it at that while he said aloud, "That's enough fun for now, Sisters. Let's break for lunch then pick this up again in another hour."
"Ah…can we take a rain check on the follow-up?" Umisa asked, "Some of us have Waitressing duties later in the afternoon."
"That's right," Honame agreed, "Momma Ukyo wants us suited up for the business hour, which starts up in another few minutes."
"Fair point that," Chusen said, turning to the others, "That same goes for you as well, Sisters?"
"Fraid so, Bro," Arisa said, "And I've got skating duties with Coach Shiratori later in the evening."
"I have construction work myself," Yamase said, "A Tunneling project that I contracted for with Ekko's mother."
Hope alighted on the ground, using her own elemental abilities to slow her rate of descent, then straightened up and said, "So we're breaking up the Training Session? In that case I've got my own thing I'd like to get onto."
"Seems like we have competing schedules," Chusen noted, "Fair enough. I suppose it won't hurt our training too much if we take a break every now and then. Even Father's been known to do that on rare occasions."
"When our mothers will let him you mean," Arisa smiled, and several of her sisters chuckled in sympathetic agreement.
All at once Hope turned her head, frowning as she cocked one ear.
"What's wrong?" Umisa asked.
"Is something up, Kiba-chan?"
Yamase frowned, "No, I feel something…a disturbance in the ground."
All at once Home's left hand lashed out, and a flashing stream of translucent vacuum air blades sliced through the space off to her side…and fifteen meters away a tree began to topple sideways, falling with slow majesty to reveal a young man standing there, black hair bound back by a headband, looking shy and nervous as he smiled weakly and said, "Ah…hi there, Guys. Long time no see."
Arisa blinked, "Akira-kun? What are you doing here?"
"Er…that's a good question," said Hibiki Akira as he glanced around then turned back towards them, "I was trying to find the tool shed when I thought I'd heard a noise, so I came to investigate."
"Tool Shed?" Umisa asked.
"Yeah," Akira replied, "My Dad's construction company was doing a building project in the Furinken redevelopment zone…"
"That's five kilometers west of here, Dude," Honame said with a gesture in that direction.
"Looks like you've gotten lost again, Cousin," Chusen smiled, "But not to worry. We're headed back into town, so we'll be happy to help show you the way."
"Oh, would you?" relief flooded the young man's handsome features, "I'm sorry if I intruded on you guys. I wasn't spying on you to learn any techniques or anything like that."
"No problem," Hope said, "And no harm done. Happens all the time…with you."
That latter part she murmured very softly with her head turned away, but she knew that many of her siblings were thinking the exact same thing about their perpetually lost cousin, who was basically a nice enough fellow except for the familiar Hibiki family traits of enormous strength, a hair trigger temper, and the ability to get dislocated just hanging up their shirt in a closet.
On the whole amusing enough traits, except for when they were applied to his sisters, Ryoko and Kuno Tomoko. In their case his charming qualities got severely scrambled beneath a blanket of teenaged hormones that provoked two wildly different personality types whose characteristic flaw was a general stubbornness to the point of obstinacy.
Ryoko in particular, as Hope had cause to know to her chagrin.
"Arisa-chan," Chusen said, "Put a word out to Uncle Ryoga that we have cousin Akira in our company and we'll be showing him the way back home."
"Right, no prob," Arisa said, moving her hands and shaping the air into the form of a bird, then blowing it out as it took off into the sky and disappeared rapidly, to reappear once again as it arrived at its intended destination.
"Wow, never have to worry about Cell Phone roaming charges around you guys," Akira laughed and rubbed the back of his head, then sighed, murmuring under his breath, "Mom is gonna kill me…"
"She'll understand," Umisa said, ":After all, she's had plenty of practice."
"Aunt Akane can be very forgiving about a lot of things," Honame said, pausing before adding, "Unlike some of our Moms, who can be a little hard to reason with," she glanced away, rubbing the back of her flame colored hair and looking rueful.
"We don't have to mention names here, do we?" Yamase asked hopefully.
"I'm sure everyone gets the point, Sisters," Hope said, turning to Chusen, "We'll make better time if we pool our efforts, Big Brother."
"My thoughts exactly," Chusen glanced around, "That okay with you guys?"
"Sure," his sisters chimed in chorus.
"Pool our efforts?" Akira asked, seeing the five female Senken Masters fanning out to form a star formation with Chusen and Akira in the center.
"Just watch and learn, cousin," Chisen smiled reassuringly.
"Learn?" Akira asked nervously, feeling the tension in the air as his cousins began to make strange gestures and motion their hands as they crouched down and assumed strange postures, even as Chusen stretched out his hands and assumed a posture that looked something like a traditional Horse stance.
Akira felt an electric tension along his skin and said, "What's happening?"
"We're about to fly," Chusen replied..
"How exactly do we do-THAAAAT!" he cried out in dismay as he felt the air rush by as the seven of them took to the air, moving like a slowly spinning top as the forest level disappeared beneath them and they began to move rapidly in the direction of the Furinkan district.
A few moments later the brush behind them was disturbed as yet another figure stumbled out of the woods, having split a tree in half with one hand before turning and looking around in anger, dismay and confusion.
"Now where the heck am I?" asked Hibiki Ryoko, "I'd swear I saw Akira go this way. Now where did that baka get off to?"
She paused to look around, fuming impotently, only to take notice of the small disturbances in the terrain that were clearly not of natural manufacture.
"What the heck happened here?" she frowned, taking another moment to see scorch marks in the terrain, puddles of water where none should be, and broken up dirt and stone, along with trees toppled or split as if by a knife that was far sharper than any razor.
Although few would credit her with being the sharpest tool in the shed of the Hibiki household, Ryoko was quick enough to recognize the marks of Senken usage and said, "This must be Cousin Chusen's training zone. This is probably where he and his sisters go to practice their elemental arts. Hot damn! I've been looking all over for this spot, and now I find it purely by accident."
And then the redheaded, bandana-headed girl made a fist and waved it in the air, decrying, "You hear that, Kiba-chan? I've found your hidden spot! That means you can't get away from me again the next time I challenge you to a match! And this time I'll show you my Kosenken Juitsu can beat your stupid Vacuum…!"
"You ever wonder about life, Tomoko-chan?" asked Tendo Incense.
"In what way?" asked the other girl as she balanced with her hands set on the balanced beam, her whole body bent over in a jack-knife position with feet dangling almost level with her head.
"I believe that she means the vagaries and complexities of life, Tomoko dear," murmured Kuno Watazashi, who was dangling from the ceiling with her feet holding on to the rings that were suspending her in an inverted direction, "Such as the three of us, good friends and kinswomen all, having competitive feelings that have often set us against one another in regards to the same clueless individual."
"Ryokouma-kun," Incense sighed, "Proof positive that Cupid's Arrow is often aimed most wryly."
"Not to mention a pain in the butt," redheaded Tomoko straightened up and pushed off to set her whole body vertical to the beam, only to roll down and execute a classic gymnastic move that resulted in her sindupt straddling the beam with legs pointed in a downward "V" formation, "Both figuratively and literally speaking."
Watazashi spread her legs as far as she could, bringing herself up by sheer muscular control to an upright position as she reached up and gripped the chains that connected to the rings through which her feet were both inserted, then pulled loose so that she could slide her hands down and grip the rings with her now free legs held out in a vertical "L: formation.
"Some of several reasons for which I called this truce so that we might reason things out like civilized cousins are supposed to," the dark haired ponytailed girl said as she did this, "We need to step back and rationally assess what we are doing."
"No argument from me," Tomoko said from where she sat on the uneven parallel bars reading a fashion magazine on her I-phone, "Heck, I'm wondering how we even got into this rivalry business in the first place."
"Good question," Incense said as she rolled onto her back and used her neck muscles to leverage up into another handstand, "I've been wondering about that one myself."
"Perhaps it was an adolescent phase that the three of us have been moving through," Watazashi noted, "Ryo-kun is a first cousin to each of us. By rights he ought to be off-limits to any consideration of a relationship…"
"So what about cousin Belldandy?" Incense asked.
There was a slight pause then Watazashi reluctantly said, "Yes…there is that. There is always…Belldandy."
"And who can compete with absolute perfection?" Tomoko snorted with disgust as she flipped into an upright posture, catching her balance on the beam, then beginning to gracefully take steps forward as though she were poising on a catwalk runway.
"Obviously none of us," Watazashi said darkly, "And I have already foreseen where this train will disembark since she is the only one of us to whom Ryo-kun seems to be actually attracted."
"Oh, go rub it in, why don't you?" Incense growled, putting her phone away and folding herself backwards as she fell into an inverted posture, then flipped around and landed effortlessly upon her feet, finishing with a, "As if none of us were any good to compete with."
"That's a triple negative, Cuz," Tomoko said.
"Like I care," Incense stormed away, "I'm headed for the showers. And if you follow me it had better be just for getting your bods clean."
"You are suggesting we would have other motivations?" Watazashi asked coyly, not bothering to hide the fact that she admired the sway of the other girl's hips and the shape of her legs as Incense could not help but saunter in an entirely feminine manner.
"And they call my Fama a Rake," Tomoko said with a smirk towards her fellow Combat Gymnastics club member.
Watazashi paused then smiled, "So…do you want to join her in the shower?"
Tomoko made a face, "Hey, I've got nothing against peeking on girls in the shower, but the heater is still out, and me and cold water…not so good as a mix."
"But I think that your Cursed Form is rather exotic looking," Watazashi replied, "And I know that Incense-chan would appreciate it to no end."
"Yeah, right," Tomoko said dismissively, "So…are you really serious about this, Zashi-chan? You're giving up on chasing after Ryokouma-kun?"
"Ah…" Watazashi temporized, "I am…more trying to come to terms with whatever it is about the Saotome Charm that seems to gain so much favor from our peers on the female student body…."
"There's always Lilith," Tomoko pointed out.
"The only thing Male that Lilith-chan likes is either her father…or cousin Chusen," Watazashi pointed out.
"Hmmm…good point that," Tokomo conceded, thinking about it, "And Chusen only hangs around with his personal entourage of loyally protective sisters."
"The Harem as people call them," Watazashi remarked, "But Lilith-chan frightens nearly everyone, both male and female. The precise opposite quality that is inspired in her good twin, Belldandy."
"Whom everybody likes," Tomoko said, "Including us, when we ought by rights to hate her."
"All right then," Watazashi said, "Suppose we turn the question around and ask ourselves what it is that we both appear to admire about our cousin, Ryokouma?"
"Other than the fact that he's a Momma's boy and keeps saying whatever pops into his head, whether or not it gets him into trouble?" Tokomo asked.
"Just like Uncle Ranma," Watazashi remarked, "Only he is also kind, considerate, brave and handsome."
"And has a nice tush," Tokomo noted.
"I believe that I just implied that," Watazashi noted.
"And despite his poor social skills he does come through for people in a pinch," Tokomo noted.
"He is crude but has the makings of a gentleman," Watazashi remarked, "Certainly a lot of room there for growth potential."
"He's a good fighter," Tokomo said, "Almost as good as his sibs, and many of them are older."
"Good potential for growth there as well," Watazashi mused, "If his path could be guided by the right sort of woman."
Tokomo glanced at her cousin and frowned, "He's kind, thoughtful, honest, a good student, thinks more about others than he does about himself."
"And it does not hurt matters that he is easy on the eye," Watazashi murmured.
"And has a cute butt," Tokomo noted.
"Well…" Watazashi shrugged, "There is always that…"
There was a lengthy pause this time as the young women considered their next words, eyeing each other with suspicion, then pretending not to notice.
Watazashi cleared her throat, "Perhaps I should check upon dear Incense-chan and see what is taking her. By now she ought to have come out of the showers."
"Yeah, do that," Tomoko said, murmuring under her breath, "Curse or no curse, I think I could use a cold shower about now…"
Watazashi started to move off towards the lockers, but no sooner had she taken three steps then a strange melodious laughter filled the air, causing her to halt in surprise and say, "That laugh…"
Tokomo whirled about herself and said, "It's her!"
"She's come back," Watazashi said as the two young ladies reached down and drew weapons in the form of the ribbons in their hair and stood at the ready as they instinctively moved to flank one another.
"All this talk about a boy," a feminine voice chuckled wryly, "I've been away for a while, but it seems that you still are as foolish and shallow minded as ever, sweet Cousins."
"Tyger," Tokomo hissed, "Show yourself, you Witch!"
"You cannot hide from us," Watazashi raised her guard, "And we will not go down quietly if you face us!"
"Oh, I am counting on that," came a dire chuckling sound from directly above them, and when both young women turned their heads to look they found a feminine form dropping spider-like down towards them with a menacing grin written large upon her features…
"There you are, Sister," Belldandy Steinberg Tendo smiled brightly as she turned her head towards a shadow beneath a tree, "I was wondering where you had gotten yourself off to."
Lilith Tendo moved out into the light, a shadow detatching itself from shadows, revealing a near identical vision that was counterpoint to her lighter haired twin sibling. Bell was bathed in radiant light, like always, a creature of the Sun and light who was in so many ways the opposite to Lilith's nature, which was of the moonlit night. The contrast between them was every bit as striking to her as it was to others who tended inevitably to compare them in this manner.
And yet there was no one who was dearer to Lilith than her beloved sister. Belldandy might cast Lilith in the shadows, but she complimented Lilith in ways that made them feel like two parts of a greater whole. Apart they were somehow diminished, but together…they were mirror reflections of a single complex person.
"I had a few things to attend to," Lilith replied, having made careful to dab her lips with her kerchief and be sure to clear her fangs of blood before seeking out her sister, "And a light snack to make sure I won't get hungry before nightfall."
"That's nice," Belldandy replied, turning and heading down the lane with Lilith falling naturally in step with the pace she set, "I had a few things to attend to with my friends. Some club activities that I promised to take part in latter in the week."
"Not volleyball I hope," Lilith said, trying not to sound sarcastic.
Belldandy blushed a bit then said, "No, but…I won't say that it is my least favorite sport. I do enjoy the group activity and the occasional…encounter…that can make it feel so personal and friendly."
Lilith scowled, which some would have called her natural condition, "Too personal if you ask me. Just imagine the clumsiness of that off, Ryokouma…"
"I do wish you would not speak of him like that, Sister," Belldandy gently chided, "It was not his fault that we missed the point like that…"
"The point I'm making isn't that you missed," Lilith growled, "It's where he connected to which I am complaining."
"Oh," Belldandy glanced away, "Well…in truth I wouldn't mind it if he were doing that deliberately…"
"You what?" Lilith said in surprise.
"It would be nice if Ryo-kun took more of an initiative," Belldandy said, "He's shy, and I wish that I could cure him of that…because I would very much like to see him be more assertive. He is such a dear fellow, but he allows himself to be too easily intimidated, and for once it would cheer me to find him standing up for himself and behaving more…manly."
Lilith stopped dead in her tracks and Belldandy took a moment to notice, but when she turned around with a questioning look she was surprised to see her twin looking at her as though she had grown a second head, like one of their distant cousins.
"Assertive?" Lilith all but sputtered, " 'Manly? Ryokouma?"
"Oh," Belldandy thought she perceived the reason for her sister's confusion, "Yes, you see I think boys should stand up for themselves and accept their masculine qualities and embrace their hormones. They would be much happier if they did not get so easily intimidated and were completely honest with their feelings, especially around women."
Lilith blinked, which was the only response that she could give that would not make her seem like a total Zombie at that point.
"Boys here in Nerima," Belldandy sighed, "They act aggressive and macho, at least some of the time, but you can tell it's mostly just an act and they are only compensating for deep rooted feelings of inadequacy." She sighed, "Because when they actually attempt to stand up for themselves…they get shot down by our cousins and are made to fee so…unmanly."
"Wait," Lilith said, "You think boys should be more aggressive with girls?"
"At least to the extent that they make it known how they truly feel about a woman," Belldandy said, "Unfortunately…to many young ladies are not very honest about their own feelings and tend to reject them out of hand. It's very hard for the male ego to cope with continuous rejection, don't you know? After a while your whole self worth becomes an issue."
"So?" Lilith asked, "They're Boys. And besides, some act like they're preening cocks to whom women should be beholden for their mere existence."
"Like I said, that's just overcompensation," Belldandy reasoned, "And in truth we girls don't make it all that easy for them to be honest with us. Too many tend to reject the advances of a boy who comes on a little too aggressively, like you do around Victor Maximoff."
"Maximoff?" Lilith all but spat the word, "That low-hanging barbarian who thinks that he's the gift of the Darkness? And that I should be his girlfriend just because we share the same Blood Type?"
"He's not as bad a fellow as his father," Belldandy reasoned, "In fact he can be quite charming when he comes by to court you."
"I'd rather eat Stake for breakfast!" Lilith spat, "Next to him even Julep of the Musk Tribe is humility personified!"
"Again, someone else who would like to be much closer to you if you did not keep rejecting them all of the time," Belldandy said persuasively, "But like to many young women of our generation you would rather be attracted to the unattainable and unavailable, like our dear cousin, Chusen."
Lilith's cheeks immediately flushed crimson and she glanced away, "At least he's of the same species. And Chusen never forces himself on anybody."
"He never has to," Belldandy replied, "Chusen-kun is popular without having to advertise it as a fact. It is only because his sisters form such a protective ring around him to keep other women apart that has kept many suitors, such as yourself, from advancing onto the field of courtship."
"You mean because I'd rather not get fried, drowned, buried, suffocated and wind-blown into the next country?" Lilith sniffed, "Those damned Elemental spawned Bitches of his, acting like he's too good for any woman to be with…"
"They take their roles as his protectors very seriously," Belldandy noted, "Chusen is an Eluini, and-according to Grandfather Maitreya-he needs constant protection against the hand of the Old Ones, who might otherwise try and despoil his purity before his power fully ripens."
"And that's the excuse, just because Buddha himself says he needs time to reach his full power level?" Lilith snorted, "He's already easily as powerful as us, and we're Eluini too, in case you might have forgotten."
"Yes, but the Old Ones are not after us," Belldandy said, "We frighten them, and not merely because of our parents."
"We frighten them because-aside from Midori Kalimari-we're the two most feared Ghost Sweepers this side of Sait Hibariki High School," Lilith retorted, "Even Shikima don't dare poke their tentacles our way for fear that we'll snap them off at the root."
Belldandy pouted, "Sister, I wish that you would not speak so harshly about Kalimari's relatives. Shikima may be a bit aggressive, even rude, when it comes to seeking dates, but they are hardly the most unpleasant sorts where it comes to demonspawn of the Alternate dimensions."
"What, you mean like Amano Lamyra, the Beast Woman who keeps hassling you for dates?" Lilith asked.
"Lamyra…is a friend, of sorts," Belldandy shrugged, "But what I really mean to say is…there are worse things than having a boy admit that he is attracted to you. And far worse things than confessing that you are attracted to him…or to another girl, depending on who you find yourself with."
Lilith had to silently admit that the "Sweetness and Light" reputation of her sister was somewhat in the eye of the beholder. True Belldandy tended to see the good in everybody-even those who were not, strictly speaking, human-but when it came to a worldly sense of biology and physiology…well…
Innocent to the ways of the flesh was definitely not one of Bell-chan's deficiencies.
Which reminded Lilith an awful lot about their mutual mother, who tended to be a lot like that herself in ways that often flouted expectations. Lilith took more after their father in that she had a cynical and sarcastic bend to her thinking about certain matters like sexual activity. She would prefer to reserve her energies for people whom she felt actually mattered .
But Belldandy was generous with everyone, and no doubt would be generous as well with her body, perhaps one additional reason why the Shikima never bothered her-instinctive self-preservation, since Bell had the stamina of a bull and could likely outlast any horde of demons who might try and take her on. Even the Beast Woman, Lamyra, considered Belldandy, "Exhausting."
Not that Lilith had any desire herself to inquire into that particular matter. It was enough merely to know that Belldandy was a long way from being a pristine pure virgin, and in that one area Lilith was the much less experienced, for which she supposed that she could take some small degree of comfort.
"So…if Ryokouma ever got enough balls to actually approach you…?" Lilith asked, dreading that she already knew the answer.
"I would take him aside and show him a good time," Belldandy admitted, "And see if, perhaps, there might be ways of encouraging him to…ah…seek me out regularly…just in case he needs some lessons."
Lilith closed her eyes and murmured, "No further questions."
"So, if either Victor or Julep comes around seeking to court you…" Belldandy said.
"I'll tell them to take a long hike off a short gallows, and I'll even supply the rope," Lilith started forward, determined not to let her perpetually cheerful sister try and talk her into something that Lilith knew she would regret for the rest of eternity…if not considerably longer.
"Oh, by the way," Belldandy said as she fell back in step beside her twin, "Mother asked us to stop by the clinic to check in with her. It seems Father is away once more on another business venture, and Fama is plane traveling to consult with the Oracles of Kala 'Tiierma…"
"In other words Mom is lonely and wants to give us both a routine checkup," Lilith sniffed, "All right, but it'd better be a short visit. Mom gets a little too carried away with her examinations. I almost feel like I'm in an Air Port terminal getting frisked for contraband."
"You can't blame her for being too cautious," Belldandy noted.
"What?" Lilith said in disbelief, "We're nigh-immortal Demi-human creatures with perfect health and limitless vitality, Sister. If there's one thing that's even more scared of our bodies than Shikima it's disease causing viruses and the like."
"Yes, but there are other things that Mother is concerned about," Belldandy said, "And young women of our age can never be too careful."
"Hah?" Lilith said, then blinked, "No way…you don't mean…that?"
"As I said," Belldandy replied, "Never too cautious. After all, have you ever known as Shikima to use a condom?"
"That's ridiculous!" Lilith all but exploded, "I haven't been with a man-ever! Not even that time when Victor tied me up in his dungeon and tried to seduce me!"
"You see?" Belldandy remarked, "He didn't try and force himself on you, which means that he wanted to be a gentleman."
Lilith struggled with words when they both heard a soft feminine chuckle from somewhere close nearby, followed by a sultry, "And people wonder why you two are among my favorite kinswomen…"
"Oh my," Belldandy glanced around, "Is that…?"
"Tyger," Lilith hissed, crouching down and assuming a defensive posture, "The only thing Human who comes close to being worse than Maximoff."
"You are comparing me to that delusional incompetent of a Vampyr?" the woman's voice asked, "Now I am insulted."
"Show yourself and I'll rip your throat out," Lilith snarled.
"Hmmm, tempting," the voice remarked, "But instead I think that I'll do…this!"
Both twins saw something spring up in the air before them, momentarily blocking out their vision as it rapidly unfolded itself to expand around their field of vision, and then they felt constricted and contained as it blanketed them completely and pressed them both against one another for all the power that they exerted in an attempt at freedom…
"Oh man, I thought they'd never leave me alone," Ryokouma said as he detached himself from concealment, then cautiously stepped beyond the bushes while looking around, just in case his overly enthusiastic pursuers might double back to hunker down upon his trail.
Most young men at Furinkan had, at worst, to worry about studying for their mid-terms. But Ryokouma was an ace student with perfect memory and a power to recall so detailed that he could copy a textbook verbatim on notebook paper. Other boys worried about their popularity and how they could attract the attentions of their female fellow students.
Ryokouma just worried about staying alive and one step ahead of the mob of admirers who routinely chased after him. Nearly every girl who was Hetero at their school thought he was a dreamy hunk who they wanted to nail as their boyfriend for the bragging rights. And all because of that stupid "Idol Singer" contest that he got into after being challenged by Senzenin Asura over some dumb point involving a pickle.
Since winning the prize-and appearing on Television at the game show version of the contest-he had become the local hometown hero whom girls of his age group swooned over and kept posters of by their bed (and he did not even want to think what they were doing in front of his image in the privacy of their rooms).
And his already complicated life had gotten a whole lot stranger and weirder as a consequence of his sudden popularity. Two months later and his name was still spoken of across town in the terms of a "young Elvis." He could hardly go anywhere without people pointing to him and drawing a crowd. Even his parents restaurant, where he worked part time after school hours, was often filled with eager young girls seeking to catch a glimpse of him in a Busboy uniform.
He could understand if it if it were one of his sisters, who were all stunningly attractive, many of them working out as Waitresses at the Nekohanten, but to be the object of obsession by himself? That was more than a bit disconcerting. The more so as it tended to interfere with his actual plans to want to get closer to his cousin, Belldandy, the only girl with whom he wanted to spend time, in that manner of speaking.
He looked around, sensing that the coast was clear, but just in case was about to take to the rooftops in order to avoid possible detection…when he heard a rumbling noise and turned around. A familiar bellowing noise was drawing his attention in a different direction than the one to which he had been heading, and as he rounded the corner of a building he saw at once the cause of the commotion, which was hardly unexpected.
A creature, nine feet tall easily, and sporting a head like a bull with torso to match, albeit quite human with folded wings on his back, was making sounds of distrait misery and frustration. He moved on bow-legs that were shuffling with hooves upon the sidewalk, looking as though he were daring the world to make an issue of his existence, and earning panicky looks from those strangers who saw his advance and-wisely-fled with great haste in the opposite direction.
At this Ryokouma came forward and said, "Minos! Over here!"
The creature turned around and made inquiring noises, spotting the slight figure of the young boy after only a few moments of trying to get a focus.
"You got wet again, didn't you?" Ryokouma asked, then raised his hands and said, "Hey, it's just a rhetorical quesiton, Dude. Here, let me help you out."
Taking a moment to channel his internal reserves of Ki, Ryokouma concentrated, thinking of air and all of the moisture that was in the atmosphere, then using the "Cool Ki" technique to shape the air with his hands as though visualizing a sponge, causing a globe of water to congeal into a basketball-sized globe of permeable water.
Then he shifted his focus to his "Hot Ki" and visualized the molecules of the water becoming more excited, then pushed outward with his hand, causing the globe to sail out from him directly at the creature.
It struck the beast-man in the face, causing it to bellow in complaint just before its form began to shifter, alter and congeal, fur being replaced with a school uniform as legs became fully human. And instants later take on the more recognizably human appearance of Minos Taro, who sputtered and gasped, "Ow! Hey…Hot water, not scalding!"
"Sorry about that," Ryokouma approached the other fellow and sniffed, "Don't tell me you were picking fights with Ekko again? Dude, when are you going to learn?"
"I know," Minos growled turning away, "It's just…I can't stand her! She's so stuck up and snobbish about her superiority, she just makes me so crazy!"
"She's also a thousand times out of your league," Ryokouma pointed out, "So why do you keep trying to challenge her when you know you'll get your ass kicked?"
"When did that ever stop you for getting into a fight?" Minos countered.
"Yeah, but most of my sparring partners at least are human," Ryokouma said, "Certain close female relations notwithstanding."
Minos cleared his eyes by rubbing his hand over his face then said, "Thanks for the hot water anyway. I really hate when I get turned into my cursed form. It takes me too long to find water that can change me back. And with the heater out of commission…"
"Hey, you're in the same boat as everyone else with a Jusenkyo curse," Ryokouma reasoned, "Sure glad that's not one of my problems. I've got enough of them as it is."
"Oh yeah, like your problems such a burden," Minos snorted, "Man, you've got to be the most popular Dude in our school, except for your brother."
"You want popularity you can have it," Ryokouma said dismissively, "Trust me, it's way overrated."
"I think I'd rather find that one out for myself, Dude," Minos glanced around, "Ah…by the way, have you seen your sister?"
"Which one-oh, wait," Ryokouma self corrected, "You mean Lylac, don't you?"
"Who said I was thinking about her?" Minos said a bit too hastily.
"Dude, it's all but written on your face," Ryokouma said, "Every time I mention her you go into major-league freak-out mode. Whenever she's around you stumble and stutter and act like a kid…and no wonder you pick fights with Ekko!"
"What are you talking about?" Minos sounded panicky.
"Man, I must be dumb not to see this," Ryokouma smacked himself with one palm against his forehead, "It all makes sense now. She's your rival!"
"No she isn't!" Minos said with rounded eyes.
"So you've got a thing for my Big Sister," Ryokouma smiled, "Doesn't bother you at all that she's half guy?"
"Dude, you're tripping," Minos turned away, "I don't care about that purple haired Tomboy. Why should I?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt then for me to ask Lylac-oneechan what she thinks about you…"
Minos whirled around and grabbed Ryokouma by his school uniform, "You wouldn't dare! Do that and I'll…"
Ryokouma just smiled, gripped his best friend by the wrists and used his forward momentum to flip the fellow over so that Minos went tumbling ass-over-teakettle, only to pin the boy to the concrete as he brought his weight to bear upon the small of his back.
"How is that again, Old Buddy?" Ryokouma asked, murmuring into the ear of his helpless friend as Minos struggled in an effort to break his pin, "So, are you going to fess up or do I keep you there until you confess."
"I confess!" Minos said, changing tactics as he knew full well that the slighter boy was capable of holding him down for a day and an evening, "Ilike her, so let me go already!"
Ryokouma did just that, stepping away and saying, "Now that didn't hurt so much, did it? So…you've got a secret thing for my big sister?"
Minos rubbed his wrists and glared at the other boy, but sniffed, "Okay, yeah…I think she's hot. Don't care about the curse…at least when she gets wet she remains human."
"Man, I don't get it," Ryokouma shook his head, "Oneechan's cute and smart and basically nice and everything, but she's got a lot of stuff going on in her life, and I don't think I could handle being in a relationship with somebody who carriies that much baggage."
"Of course you don't," Minos snorted derisively, "You've got a thing for your cousin, the unattainable perfection that is Belldandy."
Ryokouma frowned, "Low blow, Dude."
"Yeah…I guess it is at that," Minos sighed, "Sorry, guess I'm just a little edgy today. Man, I trained for a week to master that technique, and that damned Ekko flips me off by giving me the finger!"
"I'd take that any day to having to face down Lilith," Ryokouma countered.
"Who wouldn't?" Minos shuddered, "Don't get me wrong, Ryo-kun, but your family sometimes seems like a bunch of total weirdoes."
"Nothing I haven't said myself a hundred times over," Ryokouma noted.
"You got a sister who turns into a guy, another who gets furry when wet, a cousin who…hell, I don't know what to call her cursed form. Pigs that fly or something like that. Then there's Shamran, who'll chase just about anything on two legs, male or female, as long as he or she's warm blooded…"
"And even that's not a deal breaker where Shamran's concerned," Ryokouma pointed out.
"You got sisters who control the elements, a brother who's like God's gift to everybody, a cousin who's part goddess and the other one who's on a strict liquid diet."
"Then there's the trio who make my life so interesting," Ryokouma snorted, "Incense, Watazashi and Tokomo."
"You're about the only guy I know who'd complain about that," Minos noted, "Then there's Yoyo, the sister you hardly ever see…"
"And the other sister I'd rather never see again, like…ever," Ryokouma sniffed, only to see a passing shadow that looked familiar crossing by, which prompted him to grab Minos by the arm and say, "HEADS UP!"
They barely got out of the way in time as a cheerful, "NIHAO!" heralded the appearance of Fragrance, whose bike landed in the space that they had just vacated, bouncing as the brown haired girl straddling the two wheeled racer as she hurried on by and headed back in the direction from which they had just come.
Minos straightened himself up and said, "Was she trying to nail us deliberately just now?"
"Who can say?" Ryokouma asked, "She's nailed me plenty of times over the years. After a while you get an instinct that tells you when to expect her."
Minos shook his head and growled, "And they call me a menace to society. Next to that crazy maniac you call a sister I'm practically an upstanding citizen."
"I think I saw her carrying delivery boxes in the warm bag on her bike," Ryokouma said, "She must be working for Mom at the Nekohanten making deliveries. Too bad, I was thinking about stopping by there on the way back to the Dojo."
"Same here," Minos sniffed, "But if Fragrance is working her shift I think I'd rather go hungry. Not that she's bad to look at and all, but still…"
"Yeah, I know," Ryokouma shrugged, "She's Fragrance."
"And nothing else need be added," Minos turned back as they continued tio head off in the direction that they had intended, unaware of predatory eyes that were spying them from a covert distance, not the least bit interested in them per se, but just the same wary and alert to the fact that they were unlikely to be an issue if they kept on moving away from her intended destination.
After all, Ignorance was bliss, especially for Males who were not a part of her larger agenda for the evening as she sought out her true prey in the hopes of an impending encounter, and a reunion that would be to remember…
The Nekohanten "Cat Café" was a popular dining spot in the Furinkan Financial district.
By popular one meant, of course, that the food was great, the service excellent and the Waitresses were all highly attractive and vivacious as they served the patrons with grace, cheer and a healthy dose of Martial Arts Gymnastics.
Owned and run by certain key controlling members of the Tendo-Saotome-Kuonji family Enterprises, for close to eighteen years it had provided some of the best Ramen and Okonomiyaki that was to be had in all of Japan, quite possibly the whole entire planet.
And here it was close to the dinner hour and the place was half full with many of the usual patrons sitting about enjoying a meal and the show that was being put on for their benefit, care of the staff, who were all close-knit family members.
Lylac looked up in time to see her father's second wife, Kuonji Ukyo, hurl a plate full of Ranma in the air, which was caught by her father's third wife, Shampoo, who passed along to his fourth wife, Kuonji Perfume, who deposited it at the designated table where the customer was waiting, all to the delight of the patrons who applauded the sight, which was typical of the way that food got delivered in this place.
Shampoo switched places with Ukyo and took over the Ramen part, and passed along her delivery to her co-wives as bowls seemed to magically appear before customers with an ease that made it seem more like a training exercise than a routine manner of doing business.
Orders went flying, but-strangely-none of it fell off mark or landed in an improper place, like on a customer's head or lap, and it was all done with such style and efficiency that it looked like a precision well oiled machine. Orders came and went like clockwork, and Lylac saw that her aunt Kurumi was helping out as her ribbon flew across the room, while her husband, Uncle Mousse, was performing magical parlor tricks for the amusement of the patrons.
And, further on to the center of the complex, where the Martial Arts square platform had been erected a decade ago for this very purpose, was Lylac's father-mother, Saotome Nabiki, engaged in a full contact sparring match with her uncle Taro. The two were circling warily around the well-lit square as each was feeling out the defenses of the other, but Lylac could tell that it was not a full match fight. The antagonists were much too casual and easy in their movements with none of the usual tension that accompanied a real match.
It was not that they were taking it too easy, it was simply that their match was purely for the entertainment of the patrons, which meant that most of their high level abilities were being left on the sideline. This was purely a show match that was more sport and play than serious fighting.
After all, if Uncle Taro and her Fama really did cut loose full force then the entire city block might not long be standing.
Ever since making parole Uncle Taro had come to work for Lylac's fama, a woman he once had kidnapped for the mistaken purpose of attempting to coerce great-grandfather Happosai. The man had mellowed out after her Fama had convinced the family patriarch to relent in allowing Taro to choose a name for himself other than, "Pantsaru."
Of course her fama did nothing for free, or by halves, so Taro had to work to impress everybody that he was a changed man, and not merely because he had a Jusenkyo curse, something else that he had passed on to his son, Minos, who was now a classmate at Furinkan.
She heard Eileen sniff and said, "Ekko-chan…"
"I know," Eileen replied, "It's just that I can never quite look past what that fellow almost did to your Fama. If it had been my parents they would not have been so forgiving."
Lylac knew better than to argue, but in the next moment she had to dodge as she felt a ribbon coming close to snapping on her bottom, and she whirled about to confront her Aunt Kurumi, who was scowling right at her as though accusing her of all manner of moral defect.
"And just where have you been, young lady?" Kurumi asked, "Your shift is supposed to start in another five minutes."
"Sorry Auntie," Lylac made a pleading motion with her hands and smiled, "I'll get suited up in the back and be right out here before Mom and Fama start to worry."
"You had better," Kurumi said, then glanced at Eileen and said, "Are you here to work, eat or just admire the scenery, young lady?"
"A bit of all three, Tendo-san," Eileen replied, "But if you have an extra uniform I would not be averse to helping out."
"That's good," Kurumi's expression lightened somewhat, "Because the other girls are late for their shifts and we've got a lot of customers demanding okonomiyaki and ramen, and not in any particular order."
"Even cousins Watazashi and Tokomo?" Lylac asked in surprise.
"And Incense," Eileen said as she looked directly at Kurumi, who flinched slightly at the mention of her daughter.
"No one has shown up for their scheduled work times," Kurumi said, "And I'm starting to get annoyed about that. I've called their cell phone numbers but they appear to be turned off because I keep getting voice mail."
"What is the message?" Eileen asked.
"Here, let me see," Lylac pulled out her own phone and hit the speed dial on one of the stored numbers, then listened for a moment before pausing to type in a password. She then raised the volume so that it could act as a speakerphone as she held it up for the others to hear the message.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Darlings," a sultry voice that dripped with honey said, "But the party you are attempting to contact is all tied up at the moment and cannot come to the phone…"
"Who is that?" Kurumi blinked, "That doesn't sound like my daughter…"
"But if you leave a name and number I'm sure she will be eager to grunt out a reply in your direction…"
"Tyger," Eileen almost hissed the name, exchanging looks with Lylac, "She is back."
"Obviously," Lylac said with a grim expression, recalling all too well her least favorite of all siblings and resident "Black Sheep" of the family, whose primary interest appeared to be in acquiring the family itself through hostile takeover.
"Oh, and Lylac, Darling," the voice said with dripping insinuation, "In case you have your faithful pet Demi-human listening in with you, do tell her to drop by so that we can renew old acquaintances and rectify any past misunderstandings that may exist between us…"
Eileen frowned, and for anyone who knew her that was very much a "not goo" thing.
"She is baiting me," she murmured while balling a fist, recalling all too well the content of her last confrontation with Tyger, and why she very much wished to keep the details of that exchange as far away from Lylac's awareness as could be humanly managed.
"Tyger-Tiger?" Kurumi blinked, "Is that…?"
"My half-sister, the daughter of Madam Lao," Lylac turned and said, "Auntie, please give Mother and Fama my apologies and tell them something urgent just came up that requires my attention…and don't tell them what-or who-it's about."
"Why?" Kurumi asked, "Are you thinking about doing this solo?"
"I have to," Lylac said, already moving for the exit, "Tyger is here for me. She's not interested in Incense or any of the others. She just wants to bait me into an ambush."
"And you feel obliged to comply with her on this?" Eileen said, falling in step with her best friend as though the question of being left behind were not even to be considered.
"Obliged isn't the word that I'd care to use," Lylac kept her tone deliberately lowered so as not to attract any more undue interest, "But if we get the rest of the family involved it'll just make things more complicated than they already are. But think about it…Incense has probably been taken. Most likely Watazashi and Tokomo were also on the list. There's no telling how many other family members she's come after by now, except to be sure that she'll only target the girls."
"Because Tyger has no interest in boys," Eileen remarked, "Just like her mother."
"And if the parents get into this it'll just escalate things and make Tyger go to ground until she can pick us off one-by-one from ambush," Lylac got to the street and then vaulted up onto the ceiling, followed in short order by Eileen, who was even more effortless in leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
"But you hope that she will expose herself before you if the odds are more in her favor," Eileen said as she easily matched the pace of her urgently motivated girlfriend.
"In which case maybe you should hang back and serve as backup, just in case it's needed," Lylac noted.
"Negative," Eileen replied, "You heard her include me in this discussion. She knows that I will be coming and would never leave you by yourself to face her solo."
"That's sweet, but I think I can take her on my own," Lylac replied, "I beat her the last time."
"Only by the skin of your wits," Eileen noted, "And she has had time to prepare, so it would be best for us to combine resources and se if we can successfully outthink her."
"Unfortunately she's probably taken even that into consideration," Lylac said as they left the Furinkan Financial district and headed for the suburbs, "She prides herself as a tactician."
"And tends to redundancy when it comes to the laying of traps," Eileen reflected, "Sow where are we headed in such a great hurry?"
"Where else?" Lylac replied, "There's only one place that Tyger would consider a suitable location for our rematch…:
"The Dojo," Eileen nodded sagely, "I rather thought as much from the direction and haste with which you are taking us."
"Somehow it always comes down to the dojo in one way or another," Eileen said as they landed in the yard of her family's private estate, then glanced around the yard surrounding the house as she murmured, "So far so good. Nothing obvious here."
"But no doubt full of deceptive hazards that wait to trap the uninitiated," Eileen replied, assuming a crouch as she and Lylac confronted the challenges that were before them, "The house seems not to be disturbed, which means that it is the Dojo to which we should pay our respects."
"Like I said before," Lylac murmured while glancing cautiously at every possible trap point that she could identify, "It always comes back to the Dojo."
"Indeed," Eileen replied as they approached the complex in question, which had expanded out considerably from the humble state that it had been in the days of their childhood, before Lylac's "Otokasan"* had purchased the land of their neighbors in order to expand their lot to meet the needs of a growing family.
"No sign of Hibiichan," Lylac said, making a reference to her "Great-Great-Great Grandmother," who was normally checking in around this time to make certain that the Elders were "not up to anything foolish," as she liked to term it when Cologne the Tribal Elder was in town to pay them a visit.
"The Old Man also appears not to be in residence," Eileen said as they cautiously approached the front doorways, which were shut rather than open, open being their normal state this time of the day when the warm weather required airing out the place before afternoon class was in session.
Lylac stood before the partition and hesitated, stretching out her senses, feeling the air and opening her mind to any hint of possible threat or danger. There was a kind of tension present, but strangely muted, as though no threat were being directed at her at that particular moment.
But still…it never hurt to be cautious.
As the designated Heir to the Anything Goes School she knew a vast array of martial arts techniques, and from her arsenal she drew upon her own version of the family's infamous "Senken-juitsu," the "Rising Steal" maneuver that required her to thrust both hands together like twin spears being jabbed at the doorway, but falling just short of actually touching the wood-framed ricepaper partition as she extended a kindof "Negative Chi" to create a wedge opening, then motioned with her hands as though parting the doors without making contact.
She was tensed and ready for traps, everything from wire-hinged spring mechanisms to more sophisticated electrical devices. At her side Eileen was ready to spring forward and offer a "human shield" in case it turned out that an explosive device was being employed for the unwary. She could easily withstand a concussive wave that would kill a normal human, just as Lylac was tapping into the flow of energies through the wood in the floor through the contact point of her bare feet in order to gain the resilience of cellulose fiber as she would bend her body like a reed to meet a wave so that she could herself withstand a force that was more than the tolerance levels of an ordinary human.
But neither young girl was entirely prepared for the sight that greeted them as they gazed into the dojo itself and found that they had been expected after all, and that the one leering at them with a predatory smile had gone to great extents in order to create the sort of atmosphere most pleasing to her mode of thinking.
"Welcome, Sweet Sister," she said, "I've been expecting you. And your little pet with you."
Eileen frowned but said nothing, for little needed to be said at the moment as they beheld the sight of more than a half dozen of the Saotome/Tendo/Kuonji family's finest on display, all bound up in ropes in the style of a Shibari Master in postures made no less uncomfortable and awkward by the fact that Lylac's cousins and sisters had been stripped of all clothing, as well as dignity for the moment.
There was Shamran and Fragrance, Lylac's much beloved sisters, dangling above the floor with eyes as wide as dinner plates, held motionless in postures that were clearly intended to display their lithe and well-curbed bodies to good effect, much though they seemed not to appreciate the aesthetic.
Likewise for Tomoko, Incense and Watazashi, the latter glaring with a look that was most baleful, but unable to give voice to her complaints as her mouth was full of a two inch rubber ball held strapped in place, her glare being enough to speak volumes for her outrage at their condition.
But most surprising of all were Belldandy and Lilith, the two most formidable of all their closest kin, who were no less dismayed at finding themselves in the same helpless condition as the others. Belldandy was round-eyed and worried looking, but Lillith's glare was such that it put even Watazashi's eyes to shame for the blood-thirsty way that they were promising dire retributions.
"You have been busy, haven't you…Sister?" Lylac said as calmly as she was able, knowing better than to let emotion affect her in this moment as she turned her focus upon the leather-clad woman who stood at the center of it all, as if to showcase her "prized catches" in the manner with which a Circus entertainer might display exotic animals in their cages.
"I pride myself for having an active lifestyle," said the wiry Tyger-Tiger, daughter of the infamous Madam Lao and a self-styled "Pirate Slaver" who took after her mother in ways that even the renegade Amazon Mistress of the POJ disdained to traverse. "Like my handiwork? I rather fancy that my rope work has improved since our last reunion."
"What do you want, Alley-Cat?" Eileen's voice was calm and even, but anyone who knew her would have recognized that she was inwardly seething.
"Why, isn't that obvious enough?" Tyger replied, all six foot even with a tawdry mane of crimson hair streaked with black, as suited her name totem, "I want to add the one prize who has so far eluded me in my collection. These others were dull sport, easily taken and reclaimed by their rightful Mistress. But you, sweet Lylac…you are a challenge against which I shall hone my skills and sharpen my claws before I fully eat you. Are you prepared to be devoured by me, sweet Sister?"
"Not a chance," Lylac stood her ground and prepared to defend it, "You have violated the sanctity of my house and dishonored my family one time too often, Sister. So I must ask you to leave…or be prepared to be expelled."
"One way or another," Eileen affirmed, knowing better than to directly interfere, but having every intention of lending her support to her best friend, even if it might go against Lylac's own wishes.
"Ah, yes, the family Pet," Tyger grinned, "I haven't forgotten about you and your Kryptonian ancestry, Amazon. In fact, as a courtesy to show you my respect I brought along a little present that I thought you might savor."
"I want nothing that is yours to share," Eileen replied, only to look startled as Tyger held up a hand and revealed that she had been holding a rope, which she released, causing an object to drop down from the rafters, falling just shy of the floor as the ropes binding her naked body prevented her from making contact.
"Geena!" Eileen declared, and suddenly matters became a whole lot more personal for all parties concerned as the fateful reunion began between the residents of Nerima…and the sister whom none of them much cared to acknowledge…
Continued.
Tyger is Back and looking for trouble, but will Lylac and Ekko take her up on the challenge that she offers, or will they bid a sad "Bon Voyage" to some of their favorite female kinswomen? Be here for the next fateful installment, same Ranma/Nabiki Time, same Ranma/Nabiki channel. Aloha!
ROLL CALL: Tendo/Saotome/Kuonji Clan Members
Lylac Tendo -Daughter of Shampoo and Nabiki
Shamran Saoitome -Daughter of Shampoo and Ranma
Fragrance Kuonji -Daughter of Ukyo and Perfume
Ryokouma Saotome -Son of Ukyo and Ranma
Chusen Saotome -Son of Nabiki and Ranma
Kiba (Hope) -Daughter of Sobriel and Ranma
Honome -Daughter of Latisha and Ranma
Arisha -Daughter of Karina and Ranma
Umisa -Daughter of Sharil and Ranma
Yamase -Daughter of Nagisha and Ranma
Tyger Tiger -Daughter of Nabiki and Lao
Belldandy Steinberg -Daughter of Kasumi and Thelendra
Lilith Steinberg -Daughter of Kasumi and Frank
Watazashi Kuno -Daughter of Natsume and Kuno
Incense Tendo -Daughter of Kurumi and Mousse
Tokomo Kuno -Daughter of Kodachi, Keiko and Ryoga
Akira Hibiki -Son of Akane and Ryoga
Ryoko Hibiki -Daughter of Akane and Ryoga
Eileen Kent Kane Managi Daitokuji-Daughter of Aiko and Beiko
Geena Kane Kent Daitokuji Managi-Daughter of Beiko and Aiko
Minos Taro -Son of Akari and Pantsaru Taro
*Otokasan (fathermother) or Okatosan (Motherfather) for Nabiki1/2 or B-ko. ;)
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