-M~~T~~P-

The Mad Tinkering Peach Ch. 22

"Time Slip" story arc pt. 12

Fate Changing Homecoming

After Teepo handed the bag off to Hana, he and the rest of the group filed out the door, with Eichichi bringing up the rear. Without stopping to answer whatever questions she knew would be coming, Eichichi immediately made her way toward her home. Momo tailed her closely, with the three Brood warriors in tow. Upon reaching and entering her workshop, Eichichi dropped her files, fell to her knees, and began to sob openly. "I HATE having to come back here!" Quick as the wind, Chief Ryu and Momo were at her side to comfort her.

"DAMMIT!" Ryu yelled as he angrily punched the nearest wall. "What the HELL was that about?! If Hana hadn't chased me out of there, that stuck up jackass would have met the business end of my blade!" Seething with a maddening rage, Ryu pulled his arm from the wall. He had not noticed right away just what he had done, to the wall or himself. The buildings in Gantz were built to be very sturdy out of the toughest brick. They had to be in order to withstand all the heat and possible fires from so many forges. Ryu had essentially impaled his hand through about a foot of the highest quality masonry stone. He left some flesh in the new jagged hole in the wall and bled a bit on the floor. On top of that, he was so angry that his dragon's blood within him heated up his body to the point where his sweat was evaporating into visible steam.

Momo was concerned. Ryu didn't get mad often, but when he did, the outcome was always far from pretty. The fact that he had literal steam rising from him only served to further deepen her concern.

Eichichi took note as well. Though she was immensely perturbed and an emotional wreck, Ryu's reaction most certainly did not escape her. At first she wondered why he would react so strongly. Though Bison was undoubtedly a jerk (this was simply a fact undeniable by any facet of reality), Eichichi didn't think it warranted Ryu's intended violent response. After a moment of mulling over just what she could mean to him that would create this sudden mindset shift in him, she remembered what Hana had said about him when their group first arrived. 'Ryu is actually overprotective of any he calls friend, more so for those he deems family. He won't stand for anything to happen to them.' Then and there, it dawned on her. With his ancestors Chief Ryu and Elder Chief Ganer always expressing how the Gate and Township community was like a family, she understood plain as day that Ryu saw her as a part of that family. She filed that little nugget away as she wiped away her tears and attempted to compose herself.

Eichichi tried her hardest to calm down. Though still a mess, she managed to speak. "I want so badly to leave this place and never have to come back."

Ryu was finally aware that he was bleeding from his hand, but that did little to sway his mood in the moment. With as stern and serious a face as he had ever shown, Ryu looked to Eichichi and said, "Just say the word and all your stuff will be out of here and in Township within a day." To cap off his statement, he offered Eichichi the hand that was not dripping with blood.

Any lingering doubt she had melted away in that instant. Eichichi was convinced by his words and actions that Ryu saw her as one of his own. That gave her a warm feeling inside and helped to steel her resolve. She took his hand and when she got to her feet she noticed just how much blood was running down to the floor. Eichichi had a look at the gashes all of it was flowing out from and said, "Goodness, Ryu. That is a lot of blood."

Stern look still in place, Ryu responded with, "This is nothing. I'm glad I was able to keep my cool back there. Otherwise, that smug douchebag would have gotten it worse than this."

Momo's concern continued to fester. She feared that Ryu's need to be there for his friends could possibly have been morphing into a taste for retribution. She made a note to herself to speak with Hana about making sure he didn't go back to Gantz again once they left, lest he cross paths with Bison and make good on his words about introducing the arrogant jeweler to his blade. Momo trusted Ryu to be a good boy, but knowing how strong his love of his friends and family was, she wasn't going to let the thought simply pass.

Eichichi walked to the wall of her workshop. Just a few feet away from where Ryu had punched that hole was a wall mounted med station with a sterilization kit. After putting on a pair of gloves, she approached Ryu. Before she went to wipe the blood from the floor, Eichichi pressed into Ryu's side and in a soft voice said, "Thank you."

This gesture from the Iron Ox egghead softened Ryu's demeanor. Seeing that she was no longer in her distressed state had the instantaneous effect of cooling Ryu's heated blood. All the proverbial red he was seeing was giving way and his norm was setting back in. Eichichi could actually see the calm begin to come over his face. Satisfied, she went about cleaning up the blood with a sterile cloth. As she did, Chief Ryu channeled a heal to close the gashes on his decendant's arm.

Having looked on at that entire scenario without any words, Teepo stood next to his brother and said, "I think it might be wise to ship you back off to the mining camp for awhile. After that display, its plain to see that you need to blow off some steam."

Suddenly, Ryu felt the bitter taste of shame. With his head hung low, he said, "I'm sorry, brother. But that asshole just made me so damn mad!"

"Indeed," Teepo responded. He turned toward Eichichi as he went on. "But it begs the question. Just why was Bison so incredibly condescending toward you, Professor Auroch?"

After having disposed of the bloody cloth and gloves in a sealed bag, Eichichi turned the seat from her work table and sat facing toward the group. She knew there was no more hiding or running from it anymore. "As you can no doubt tell, the people of Gantz put a premium on physical prowess. On the whole, the Iron Ox clan tend to judge a person's value by their size and strength. Being the smallest person ever born to a society that thinks this way has made me an outcast."

Momo listened on, confused. "I don't get it. You fit right in around us. You're taller than me and far more well endowed. How is that small? And why is that a bad thing?"

"Well, consider this. I am five feet, five and weigh one hundred and thirty five pounds. The average woman of my clan is easily two feet taller and two hundred or more pounds heavier." Eichichi could feel the insecurities began to claw at her again, but she continued. "Here in Gantz among the Iron Ox, I am seen as undesirable, as no man thinks I could bear him strong, healthy children."

Teepo was picking up what she was putting down. "Bison had to be a good eight and half feet high and had to be pushing five hundred pounds easy. So then, that must mean..."

Once again, a tear threatened Eichichi's eye. "Bison was my first crush when he and I were children. We were actually of fairly comparable size for some of our early years, and I thought that kind of bonded us since we had something in common. However, it turned out he was just a bit of late bloomer. He eventually sprouted like a weed one summer..."

The tear was battling her again, fighting to escape. "By the time we came of age, the difference between us was indeed very noticeable. But we still got along. And because of that, I made the first move." It hurt for her to bring up the thoughts again and she lost the battle with that tear. "He laughed in my face and made a big scene of callously rejecting me in front of everyone in the town square." More tears marched down her cheek.

"I was so in love that at the time I wrote it off as youthful immaturity. A year later when my..." She paused and briefly looked down at her endowment before she continued. "... 'womanly attributes' had fully come in, I tried again. Unfortunately, that was the only part of me that grew. Bison viciously turned me down again. And by then, the rest of the island had also started seeing me as being 'lesser than'. It's why I escaped into learning and science. Its also why I barely ever left my workshop until Chief Ryu brought Township's flight engine to my attention."

Suddenly, Chief Ryu had an epiphany. "Ooooh. So that explains why you were so eager to come along with us, even though you hadn't even the slightest clue who we were."

Hearing that gave Momo an overwhelmingly powerful sense of déjà vu.

The serious look found its way back to Ryu's face, but the whole change of demeanor didn't fully seat itself. "How could your own uncle just let so much happen to his own flesh and blood? And if they value strength, how could everyone in Gantz not see just how powerful your brain is?" He stepped in front of Eichichi and stood her up from her seat. "You know what? Who cares what the hell these closed minded wastes of flesh think? This island and everyone on it can sink into the sea. You're a member MY family now!" As a dramatic punctuation to his statement, Ryu pounded himself on the chest and released a small tuft of flame from his nostrils.

Ryu's bold proclamation set something off in Eichichi. His words sparked an emotional flame that gripped her in that moment. She looked up into his eyes and saw hardened determination and conviction staring back. Suddenly, she lunged forward, hugging Ryu as tightly as she could. With tears again flowing freely, she said, "Earth and iron be praised. Thank you!"

While definitely not as powerful as the deadly grip from the coils of the Serpentine Sorceress, he noticed that Eichichi was indeed strong. Very strong. Likely strong enough to hurt him if he weren't a battle toughened dragon warrior. It made him recall what Nina Black had said about her when they first arrived.

After letting Ryu loose from her grasp and wiping away the tears, Eichichi said, "I have one last project I'm working on here. When its done, I'll definitely take you up on your offer to relocate my lab to Township. Seeing Bison again reminded me that there really is nothing left for me here." She looked over toward Chief Ryu as she continued. "Gate and Township have been more of a family to me in this past year than Gantz has in my entire life."

Beaming with a warm sense of pride, Chief Ryu said, "And that's been our primary goal. To foster an environment where anyone from anywhere can feel welcome. Where everyone can feel 'at home'."

With the same warm feeling as his ancestor, Ryu wrapped an arm around Eichichi and pulled her in for a side hug. With the other hand he motioned toward his fellow dragons. "Whenever you're done doing what you're doing, we'll make sure you 'come home' for keeps."

-A short while later-

That emotional flame was raging on. Eichichi had never felt anything like what she was feeling on this day. So wanted. So welcomed. Ryu's words and actions were stirring long dormant feelings she had abandoned after being rejected by Bison and retreating into her books. After Momo and the Brood warriors had left her lab to head back to Township, she gave herself a long stare in the mirror. She stood there, peering into her own soul for a moment. After awhile, a determined look populated her face. She had made up her mind on a decision she had been mulling over for some time. In one hand, she held the 'Project Lu Long' file folder she had been carrying around for weeks. Standing there alone, she spoke aloud. "If no man from Gantz or the Iron Ox will accept a calf, then the calf will manufacture her own acceptance." She rose the other hand in front of her face between her and the mirror. She stared intently at what she held between her middle finger and thumb; a single strand of light blue...

Author's Note: You know exactly where this is going...