Previously:

"Well, that's a first..." Sumiko said, sweat-dropping. Most guys had the opposite reaction. She blushed. Knowing there was a guy out there who wasn't repulsed by her strength made her happy. Not that she planned to get involved with him any more than she already was… She was going to have her work cut out for her just catching up on the last nine years alone. "Does Chizuru know what we are yet?"

"No, and I would appreciate it if you didn't tell her," Koudou said seriously. "I think she's better off not knowing, for now."

"I think you should tell her soon," Sumiko said. "That's a big thing to hide from someone."

"Did knowing make you feel any better?" Koudou asked.

"… Not really. I feel kind of like there's a distance between me and my human friends now..." Sumiko said, a little sad.

"So, like I said, we'll keep it quiet for now," Koudou said, walking over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I got caramel added on top of the whipped cream, Sumiko-nee," Chizuru announced as she returned with the coffee. "So, are you going to tell me what you were talking about?"

"Maybe some of it," Sumiko said, smiling a little teasingly at her.

"Geez, Sumiko-nee. You don't need to tease me," Chizuru said, pouting a little bit.

Chapter 3: Settling In

"I'm so glad you were able to leave the hospital without any complications," Chizuru told Sumiko as she was helping her settle into her new room in Koudou's house. He had boxes that had been filled with Sumiko's belongings from nine years ago that he got from the Takahashis back when he officially became her new legal guardian. He had kept them for Sumiko, and now she was finally getting the chance to unpack them.

"It's so strange… seeing how I used to look. It seems like I just took this photo yesterday..." Sumiko said, looking at the strip of silly pictures from a photo booth that she had taken with a two older members from her gang. "I wonder how they're doing..."

"I'm sure they're all right," Chizuru said, giving her a comforting smile.

"Yeah," Sumiko said, smiling wryly. Those older girls would be in their early thirties. At least one of them was probably married with kids. She put the photo strip away in a small box for keepsakes to keep it safe.

"Well, that's the last of it," Chizuru said, folding the flaps on an empty box closed. "Time to go shopping! I hope you don't mind, but I asked a friend to come along. She's more knowledgeable about fashion than I am." Chizuru was wearing an outfit with a long-sleeve pink shirt under a sleeveless dress in a lighter pink and black stockings. Her hair was in that cursed 'dead anime mom' hairstyle with a cute pink scrunchy.

"That's fine. I didn't know what was 'fashionable' even nine years ago," Sumiko said, grateful for the help. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a ramen cup logo that she had gotten for free over a longe-sleeve red t-shirt and green cargo pants. All of her clothes were uncomfortably tight. Sumiko was actually afraid they might split at the seams. She had been really skinny when she was fifteen. Her hair was down with the middle section of her bangs pulled back and secured on top of her head with a pearl barrette.

—∞—

Sumiko and Chizuru left the Yukimura household with one of Koudou's credit cards and went to a nearby shopping mall, where they met up with Chizuru's friend.

"Hello, I'm Suzuka Sen," a pretty girl who was slightly older than Chizuru said, smiling nicely at Sumiko when they were introduced. Like Kazama had been, she was dressed in casual clothing that was of a high quality. She looked quite stylish. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought my foster sister, Kosuzu with me. She wanted to meet you." She gestured to the girl standing next to her. The other girl was also dressed in casual clothing of high quality, though her style was more 'cute'.

"Hello," Kosuzu greeted Sumiko politely.

"Hello," Sumiko returned their greetings. "I'm Takahashi Sumiko, but I guess you already knew that?"

"Yes. Chizuru told us a lot about you," Sen said, smiling again.

"Did she? Well, I'm not as scary as I might seem. Probably," Sumiko tried to reassure them. Kosuzu looked a little nervous.

"We know. You're an ex-yankee with a heart of gold, right?" Sen said, looking amused when Sumiko seemed a little embarrassed by the accurate description.

"Well, 'heart of gold' is a little..." Sumiko said, smiling wryly as she suppressed her blush. "Uh, so what stores do you recommend? I should warn you, we're on kind of a tight budget."

"No, we aren't," Chizuru said, frowning a little bit in confusion.

"I'm imposing one. I can't take such a huge chunk out of Uncle's bank account. He still has to pay for my food and school and so on," Sumiko said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he took all of that into account," Sen said. "What did he give you to pay with?"

"A credit card," Sumiko replied.

"I think he would have given you cash rather than a credit card if he was worried about you spending too much," Kosuzu said.

"Well, I suppose that's true..." Sumiko said. "I still want to watch what I spend, though."

"Okay. We know some stores that sell cute things at reasonable prices. Let's start there," Sen said.

"The first one is around the corner, right?" Chizuru said, smiling as she took Sumiko's hand and led her into the first shop with Sen and Kosuzu.

"Oh, Ryunosuke-kun," Kosuzu said when she saw the young man who was placing more folded shirts on a display near the front of the store. "You're working here now?"

"Kosuzu," he said, looking up at her. He had dark blue hair and amber eyes. "Yeah, just for a little while, though. It seems a bug was going around and most of the staff here caught it, so they're short-handed."

"Oh, be careful you don't get it, too," Kosuzu said.

"Don't worry about me. Who's that? A new friend?" he asked, noticing Sumiko.

"This is Takahashi Sumiko, Chizuru's older cousin," Sen said.

"Oh. The one in the coma, right? I've heard of you," Ryunosuke said. "Aren't you a delinquent?"

"Ryunosuke-kun, you're being rude," Kosuzu scolded him. "Sorry about that, Takahashi-san. This rude guy is Ibuki Ryunosuke."

"Hi. Sorry if I was rude," Ryunoskue said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay," Sumiko said. It wasn't like he had said anything untrue. "I'm not supposed to get involved with gangs anymore, though." She noticed what he was holding. "Oh. I like that shirt."

"Yes, it's cute," Chizuru said.

"Yes, but I think this one would suit Sumiko-san better," Sen said, pulling another shirt off a rack that she had spotted to show her. Its style was cooler than the one the others were looking at, more mature.

"Oh, that is nice," Chizuru said. "That'll look great on you, Sumiko-nee."

"Yeah. Got any more suggestions?" Sumiko asked.

Sen smirked. She was just getting started.

—∞—

"We ended up buying a lot..." Chizuru said as they were taking a break in the food court a few hours later. The four of them were seated at a small table, surrounded by shopping bags.

"It's a good thing most of it was on sale," Sumiko said, smiling wryly. She was able to get more for less that way. She had liked one of her new outfits so much that she had asked the store clerk to cut the tags off for her and was wearing it now. She was relieved to finally be out of the uncomfortable outfit she had started with. At the moment she was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with a scoop neck that a zigzag hem on the edges of the neck and sleeves, a pair of skinny jeans, and boots that came up to just below her knee. There was a necklace and matching stud earrings to go with it, too. And she had gotten a new watch. The whole deal looked so good on her that the others had insisted she wear the jewelry, too, to make the outfit complete.

"You're lucky. You're one of those people who looks good in everything," Kosuzu said.

"It's a recent development. I used to be a twig," Sumiko said, smiling wryly again.

"Not anymore. I'm a little jealous," Chizuru said, sighing. Her chest seemed flat compared to her older cousin's.

"You're only sixteen. You're still growing," Sumiko reminded her.

"Yes, that's true," Chizuru said hopefully. "While we're buying you clothes, we should get your school uniform."

"They sell that here?" Sumiko asked.

"No, but the store is close by," Chizuru said. "It's the same place Sen-chan and Kosuzu-chan get their uniforms. It seems our school made a deal with their uniform suppliers to make the girl uniforms for our school, too."

"So our uniforms come from a different supplier than the boys'?" Sumiko asked.

"Yes, it seems the one they go to specializes only in boys' clothing," Chizuru said.

"I see. Well, it was an all-boys school until recently," Sumiko said.

"Speaking of your new school, are you sure you want to go there?" Sen asked, concerned. "I think you two would be safer going to Shimabara Girl's High School with us."

"Yes, from what I've heard, you two will be the only girls there," Kosuzu said, also concerned.

"I'll be all right. I'll have Sumiko-nee with me," Chizuru said, smiling.

"If they dare to try anything ungentlemanly with Chizuru, I'll make them wish they were never born," Sumiko stated with unnerving certainty and a dark expression as she clenched her fist.

"I-I see..." Sen said as she and Kosuzu sweat-dropped. Sumiko did seem strong. They had a feeling that threat was more of a promise. "I'm also concerned about you, Sumiko-san. I've heard Kazama-san is after you."

"You know Kazama-san?" Sumiko asked.

"Well, our families are not unconnected, so we have met a few times," Sen said. "I do know that he's persistent to the point of obsession when he wants something. And his family is powerful, so he usually gets it."

"I think he'll lose interest once he gets to know me better. I'm not that interesting," Sumiko said without worry.

"A girl who was the top fighter in her gang, who just woke up from a nine year coma that she slipped into because of injuries sustained when saving a child from a traffic accident, doesn't sound boring to me," Sen said. Not to mention, she knew that Sumiko was the daughter of a famous and powerful female Oni. Although Kazama had always said he would marry a pure-blooded Oni, he had never been particularly interested in anyone until Sumiko came along, and her Oni blood, though halved, seemed almost as strong as a full Oni's, aside from her lowered regenerative abilities. Beautiful and strong with an unusual personal history. She could see why Kazama was interested in Sumiko. She wasn't like the usual type of female Oni his family would want him introduced to. And as head of the family, Kazama could do what he wanted in regards to choosing his bride.

"Yes, but the gang thing is in the past, and to be honest, I don't even remember the incident that led to me being in a coma," Sumiko said frankly. "I can't remember Kazama-san either, even though we've apparently met before."

"I see," Sen said. 'That must have been a blow for him,' she thought.

"I feel bad about that. He paid for my hospital bills, and I couldn't even remember his face," Sumiko said. "He seemed disappointed."

"I'm sure he was, but that's not your fault," Sen said. "Don't let him pressure you into starting a relationship with him based solely on guilt."

"I won't," Sumiko said, smiling wryly. She knew better than that.

—∞—

After they finished their drinks, the girls left the mall to order Sumiko's new school uniform. Aside from one of the employees of the shop remarking, "Aren't you a little old to be a high schooler?" it went off without a hitch, and Chizuru and Sumiko were soon returning to Koudou's house with all the shopping bags. On their way back, they ran into Toudou Heisuke, Chizuru's childhood friend.

"Wow, you bought a lot! Let me take some of those for you," he said kindly, taking some of the bags from them to carry the rest of the way. "So, how's the waking world so far?" he asked Sumiko.

"Not that much different from when I left it, aside from the technology," Sumiko admitted. "Not to mention all the mangas and movie sequels I need to catch up on..."

"Haha. Yeah, I bet," Heisuke said. "I have lots of movies. Why don't I bring some over, and the three of us can have a movie night?"

"Sounds good," Sumiko said. "Chizuru?"

"Of course. I'll take care of the popcorn," Chizuru said, smiling. "Oh, that's right. Have I told you that Heisuke is going to Hakuou Academy, too?"

"No, you didn't mention that yet," Sumiko said.

"Yeah, I'll be a second year, so if you have any questions about anything or someone is bothering you, let me know," Heisuke said helpfully.

"Thanks. I appreciate that," Sumiko said.

—∞—

The next day, Kazama was looking at pictures that had been taken of Sumiko on her shopping trip. He smiled at how happy she looked chatting with the other girls and smirked appreciatively at how great she looked in her new outfit. His smile fell a bit as he flipped through the pictures and came to one with her smiling while talking to Heisuke.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"According to the investigative report, that is Yukimura Chizuru's childhood friend, Toudou Heisuke," Amagiri said, consulting the notes that had been made on her day out by the person Kazama had sent to observe her for him.

"Relax. Those are just friendly smiles," Shiranui said, peering over Kazama's shoulder at the pictures. "More importantly, how do you think she'd react if she knew you were stalking her?"

"It doesn't matter, because she's never going to find out, right?" Kazama said firmly, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Well, not from me," Shiranui said. "But she's not an idiot. I think you should stop before you're discovered."

"It's only until school starts," Kazama said dismissively. At the moment he was too busy to visit her again himself, so he had to make do with this.

"So it's for one week, then," Shiranui said. "I think that might be pushing it, but whatever. Good luck."

—∞—

Over the next several days, Sumiko settled in more and began exercising to get back into shape. While the therapy Kazama had paid for had kept her muscles from atrophying to an unhealthy state, they still weren't quite what they had been before the coma. She practiced in the backyard, where there was more space and less things to knock over. It was completely unintentional, but this meant Kazama would get some nice photos of her kicking form while she was wearing just a tracksuit and a sports bra.

"Phew. I'm getting winded faster than I used to..." Sumiko said, wiping the sweat from her brow as she stopped for the day. She downed the last of the water from her water bottle then went back inside to bathe and change. She glanced at the calendar on the wall of her room as she was picking out a clean outfit to wear and smiled. It was the day before the first day of school. Sumiko had always liked learning, so she was excited to be going back to school, but nervous because she would be starting high school at twenty-four-years-old. She hoped she wouldn't get too much flack for that. 'But then again, Kazama-san said I'd see him at school, and he seems like he's about my age...' she thought, wondering what that was about. She was nervous about seeing him again, too. Like she told Sen, she felt bad about not being able to remember him after he spent so much money on her, but she wasn't going to start a relationship with him just because of that. She looked around her room at her uniform, which hung ready to wear on the outside of her slightly ajar wardrobe and her school bag, which held all the books and other school supplies she would need. Her school shoes had been neatly placed in the genkan, so she could put them on on her way out. Sumiko nodded in approval of her preparations and took her clean clothes with her to the bathroom.

—∞—

"Hey, Chizuru! Sumiko! Let's hit the arcade!" Heisuke called up to Chizuru's open window when he arrived at their house around lunchtime.

"All right! Let me get Sumiko-nee!" Chizuru called down to him, coming to the window for a moment before disappearing to get Sumiko. She knocked on the bathroom door. She could hear the hair dryer blowing through it. "Sumiko-nee, do you want to go to the arcade with me and Heisuke?"

The hair dryer stopped.

"What?" Sumiko asked.

"I said, do you want to go to the arcade with me and Heisuke?" Chizuru repeated herself.

"Sure," Sumiko said. "Just give me a couple more minutes." The hair dryer started again.

Chizuru waited a couple more minutes, and then the hair dryer shut off, and Sumiko came out of the bathroom.

"Let's go," Sumiko said, grinning.

—∞—

"Wow, look at all the new games," Sumiko said, looking around the arcade, which was full of the sounds of various games being played and lots of flashing lights and moving screens.

"Oh? What's this?" a voice said, making them turn to look as another young man, who appeared to be around Heisuke's age or maybe a little older, walked over to them. "You're with not one, but two girls, Heisuke? How did you manage that?" He took a picture of the three of them with his phone.

"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm some kind of loser, Okita," Heisuke said, frowning at him.

"Oh, did I give that impression?" Okita asked slyly.

"You know you did. What are you doing here anyway?" Heisuke asked. "It's rare to see you out and about."

"Why is that?" Chizuru asked curiously.

"He's had a weak constitution since he was young. He took up kendo to try to get stronger, but his health is still a bit finicky," Heisuke explained, earning himself a bop on the head from Okita.

"Don't go explaining my situation without permission," Okita scolded him.

"Don't go hitting me without mine!" Heisuke snapped.

"What kind of person would give someone permission to hit them? Are you a masochist?" Okita said, smirking when Heisuke looked incredibly annoyed in response to his teasing.

'Well, it's pretty obvious you're a sadist...' Sumiko thought, sweat-dropping. He was clearly enjoying hassling Heisuke.

"Um..." Chizuru said tentatively.

"Hi there," Okita greeted her with a smile. "I'm Okita Souji. And you are?"

"Uh, I'm Yukimura Chizuru, and this is my cousin, Takahashi Sumiko," Chizuru said, gesturing to Sumiko.

"Hi," Sumiko said with a small wave.

"So, what are you two doing with a loser like Heisuke?" Okita asked.

"Hmph. Speak for yourself," Heisuke huffed, crossing his arms.

"We're childhood friends. Well, Heisuke and I are, anyway," Chizuru said.

'Shouldn't we correct the 'loser' part?' Sumiko wondered. "I'm still getting used to things, so they let me tag along."

"Did you just move here?" Okita asked.

"No, I've been in a coma for the past nine years," Sumiko answered with a straight face.

"Hahaha… You're serious?" Okita said as he stopped laughing when he saw the looks on the others' faces. "How does that even happen? Are you a shoujo manga heroine?"

"I've asked myself the same questions," Sumiko admitted wryly. "It's been such a weird experience..."

"You've asked yourself if you're a shoujo manga heroine?" Okita said, amused.

"Well, it was more like 'What the heck is this!? Did I get sucked into a shoujo manga?' That kind of thing," Sumiko said.

"Anyway, because of the coma, she's going to be coming to our school starting tomorrow with Chizuru," Heisuke said.

"Oh? I'd heard we were finally getting a girl or two. So, it's you two," Okita said, looking intrigued. "You aren't nervous about being the only girls in a sea of boys?"

"A sea of boys?" Chizuru said.

"That's quite an image," Sumiko said, sweat-dropping. "But I think we'll be all right."

"Yes, Sumiko-nee is strong," Chizuru said proudly.

"Oh?" Okita said.

"I've heard she's never been defeated," Heisuke added.

"Well, I wouldn't say never. There was this one time when I was little..." Sumiko said.

"Okay, virtually never been defeated," Heisuke amended.

"Hmm. Impressive. Of course, it all depends on the quality of your opponents," Okita said. "Do you know how to wield a sword?"

"I have some experience with that, yes," Sumiko said. She had been taught various fighting styles by the older girls in the gang.

"Then let's see how good you are," Okita said, pointing to a game that had two katana-shaped controls. It seemed to be a fighting game where you faced virtual opponents.

"You're on," Sumiko said, smirking.

Sumiko and Okita each grabbed a control and started up the game. They selected the setting that had them fight a hundred opponents at once and competed to see who could get the higher score. They played until there was no one else left.

"No way..." Heisuke said when he saw their final scores as the game declared: "New High Score!"

"Wow..." Chizuru said.

Sumiko and Okita had tied. They had exactly the same score, and it was an impressive one at that.

"Hmph. Not bad," Okita said, smirking.

"You, too," Sumiko said, smirking back.

"No, I don't think you realize how amazing that is," Heisuke said, impressed Sumiko could manage a tie with such a skilled swordsman.

"Right. I guess there's nothing to worry about after all," Okita said. Any boys who picked a fight with Sumiko would surely regret it. He hoped he got to see her make them cry.

"In that case, let's just have fun and go wild before we're bogged down with too much homework to enjoy ourselves!" Heisuke said energetically with a cheer.

"Yeah!" Chizuru and Sumiko agreed, smiling.

—∞—

Later that evening, Kazama was smiling while looking at photos of Sumiko again.

"Oh, that's hot," Shiranui remarked when he caught a glimpse of Sumiko's perfect kicking form in her tracksuit and sports bra.

Kazama immediately held the picture against his chest in an attempt to protect it from prying eyes.

"You can't look at that one," he told Shiranui bluntly, frowning.

"Relax. I was speaking objectively," Shiranui said carelessly. "I'm not thinking of opposing you by taking her or anything."

"That would be tremendously ambitious of you," Kazama said frankly, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Like I said, you can relax. I'm not that stupid," Shiranui said, sweat-dropping. He knew that Kazama could completely crush him if he wanted to.

"Hmph. Good," Kazama said. He looked at the photo again. "I'm looking forward to seeing her tomorrow." He continued to shuffle through the pictures that had been taken of her until he reached one with her and Okita smirking at each other after they tied. His eyes were cast in shadow as he stared down at the image. "Who is this?"

"I believe that's Okita Souji. According to the report, he happened to run into Takahashi-san and the others at the arcade, and they competed against each other in a sword-fighting game. It seems they gained a mutual respect for each other's skills after tying when they created a new high score," Amagiri said.

"Mutual respect, huh?" Kazama said. He didn't like the sound of that. It seemed other men were getting close to her in his absence. "It might be time for some pest control..."

"Are you planning to get rid of every guy that approaches her? You do realize that she'll be surrounded by a whole school full of boys when she starts school tomorrow, right?" Shiranui pointed out.

Kazama genuinely hadn't thought of that. He had been so excited that they were going to the same school that he forgot to think about what it would mean. A whole school full of possible competition. He definitely did not like the idea of that. Was it too late to have Koudou enroll her at Shimabara instead? But if she went to a different school, he wouldn't be able to see her everyday…

"It's decided," he said darkly with his crimson eyes still cast in shadow, tightening his grip on the photos. He was burning with determination. "I'll just have to keep a close eye on her… and crush anyone foolish enough to get too close to her like the insect they are!"

"I feel sorry for the unsuspecting fools who have no idea of the hell that's in store for them..." Shiranui said, sweat-dropping. He could see that Kazama was completely serious. "But define 'too close.' If you attack her friends, she's going to hate you."

"Platonic friendship will be allowed, but anyone who tries to seduce her should consider their lives forfeit," Kazama stated firmly.

"Yeah, okay. Just try not to actually kill anyone," Shiranui said, sweat-dropping again.

"It would not look good if the head of your family is arrested," Amagiri added.