Interlude: XF's moment of Zen
******
Muu Tsu stopped by a convenience store on the way home for the evening. Dropping off the film he shot and picking up a few notepads, he hoofed it back to the Nekohanten and hoped his nightly beating would be light. Upon his arrival, he was little surprised to find the resteraunt closed and the living quarters silent. The young martial artist calmly and quietly took care of his evening chores, cleaning the dishes and taking out the garbage.
As Muu Tsu took the trash to the backalley pickup bin, he noticed a figure watching him from the roof. Turning, he caught sight of Xian Fu quickly attempting to evade his sight. She had been curled up into a tight ball, with her knees into her chest and arms around her legs. The moment she saw Muu Tsu turn around, she bolted for the apex of the roof and the other side.
Pausing to catch her breath, Xian Fu took a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. She jumped when not a moment later raven hair blew past her face, followed by Muu Tsu himself.
{what's the matter?} he asked in mandarin. {You never come up here.}
{Go away, Muu Tsu,} she said quietly. {Let me be alone for right now.}
{Please tell me,} he insisted. She looked up at him, and he caught the faintest glimpse of a bruise on her neck. {Did I do that?} he asked in reproach, his voice growing suddenly weak. She shook her head slowly. He then realized who it must have been. {Why did she hurt you, Xian Fu?} he asked. {You did nothing wrong.}
{I did enough. I lost to you, Muu Tsu. I lost to the one man she will never accept, and she knows now the man she wants for me fell by your hand. That is unacceptable for her,} she said, turning away to hide her fresh tears from him. Muu Tsu reached out to turn her chin back towards him.
{And how do you feel?} he asked. Xian Fu immediately went to slap away his hand and pound the boy as she always had, but she could not budge his arm no matter how hard she tried. Reluctantly, Muu Tsu let his arm down as the love of his life sank into herself.
{It is useless. I can't even give you a good beating into the ground anymore,} she sighed, as the emotional barriers she had built up began to unravel and her mind along with it. Muu Tsu knew half the reason she treated him like she did was to deaden what lay beneath. Now, that luxury was beginning to fade.
{XF, If it'll make you feel any better, you can beat me up any time you want,} Muu Tsu said, placing his hand upon hers. She made no move to stop him.
{Please go away. Can't you see what you're doing to me?}
{Is that what you really want, Xian Fu?} he asked, standing and placing one foot on the apex of the roof, looking to leap away at the word. Xian fu suddenly burst into emotion, her button having been squarely pushed.
{I don't _KNOW_ what I want, can't you understand that?} she cried. {I've gotten so far into what _she_ wants, and what _tradition_ demands that I don't know who I am or what happiness _is_ anymore! Do you think I like being like this?} she asked. {Everyone thinks of me as a backstabbing hussy who couldn't keep her pants on if she tried. I'm shallow, I'm blinded by pride, and I...I don't know why I do anything anymore,} she ranted, unable to contain the pain any longer. Muu Tsu placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, to which Xian Fu gave a half-hearted attempt to shrug off.
{You've always known me to have poor sight, but _you_ would have to be blind to see those things in someone as wonderful as you. All I see when I look at you is someone that posesses far more courage, strength, and beauty then I could ever see again in a lifetime. And just in case you haven't noticed lately, my vision's just fine,} he said, dissapearing from sight. Xian Fu went to wipe the tears from her eyes again, only to discover dry cheeks, with only the faintest feeling of the presence of a kiss the moment before.
**
"I understand. Inform Section 2 of their orders and take care of it. Make it clean, and do it fast. I don't want this generating bad press, do you understand?" said the figure into a cellular phone. Terminating the call, he turned around in his chair to reguard the young man before him. He seemed in his early twenties, and had a light beard growing along the outside of his face. An unassuming smile graced his face as he bowed lightly to the man behind the great expanse of a desk. The possesor of the phone made a barely perceptable nod, then proceeded to browse through a file on his desk.
"We here at the Marduk Institute are very interested in starting you on our latest project, Mr. Ikari," said the man in a booming voice. His eyes stared weakly at the young man, tired in their age. Soon, the man realized, he would need a implant or some form of technical assistance. "In fact," he remarked, "This project promises to expand into an organization all of its own."
The young man smiled, and pushed his glasses further atop his nose.
**
Xian fu sat in her windowsil, contemplating Muu Tsu's words. She knew he had no ulterior reason to say them, she only doubted his sanity. How could someone feel that way for her, even after all this time of abuse and emotional neglect? What kind of person could love like that?
What person could _be_ loved like that? she thought. Who am I? Between my petty arguments, childish voice, and one-track behavior, is it any wonder _I_ can't even think I'm anything but a waste?
She paused for a moment before shutting the windows and shuffling across the room to her bed. She settled in slowly, pausing for a moment before closing her eyes for the night. She looked at her copy of the picture taken at Prince Toma's Island, and at the look of adoration coming from a certain young man.
Thank you, Muu Tsu. It may be a while still before you hear me say it, but it's there all the same.
**
"What's the target?" asked her first accomplice. Nabiki smirked and gave her toady a knowing look.
"Interestingly enough, it's not information this time. But it is still something quite profitable."
"Oh, do tell," cooed the second of Nabiki's two underlings. "What's the damage?" she asked.
"We may be looking at the cure for the Jusenkyo curse," stated Nabiki succinctly. Both girls nearly fell out of their chairs. "I believe Dr. Tofu and our formerly Chinese Duck friend have been keeping this secret from the rest of our beleaugered neighbors."
"Dr. Tofu? You're wanting us to break into the neighborhood clinic that houses all kinds of controlled substances in a government standard protection area? We're talking high security here, Nabs."
"Oh, believe me ladies, it's worse. Much worse. The first set of obstacles will be gaining entry into the interior of the clinic itself. It is constructed of a foot-thick concrete outer shell with bulletproof windows and access keys we won't have. After that's done with, we will have to navigate past the security system which is now standard in all public buildings, and since the clinic has recieved a number of government grants over the years they do consider it a public building. This consists of a series of motion detectors and alarm sensors that will trip a security service that monitors the area closely.
"There are cameras mounted in at least one corner of every room, and only one place to disarm the system, which is past all of the sensors at the rear of the building. This only gets us to the outside of the storage room, whose interior is lined with an inch thick layer of steel on all sides, and an armored door for good measure. There is nothing special to consider once inside, but to gain entry requires a masterlock key and a combination on the door," finished Nabiki. Her accomplices gawked at her as though she were completely mad.
"And you think we can do this?" asked one. Nabiki leveled her gaze at the young girl and gave her an award winning Nabiki grin.
"No. We're _going_ to do it."
********
Ha! had to give a little lipaction to my favorite DePalma movie there, hope somebody caught the joke.
I hope in the course of this story to prove a lot of stygmas wrong about XF. I know that on the outside she's shown some pretty ugly faces, but at least for Muu Tsu's happiness, I want her to show that her own inner good self can shine through. Hopeless Romantic, I guess.
******
Muu Tsu stopped by a convenience store on the way home for the evening. Dropping off the film he shot and picking up a few notepads, he hoofed it back to the Nekohanten and hoped his nightly beating would be light. Upon his arrival, he was little surprised to find the resteraunt closed and the living quarters silent. The young martial artist calmly and quietly took care of his evening chores, cleaning the dishes and taking out the garbage.
As Muu Tsu took the trash to the backalley pickup bin, he noticed a figure watching him from the roof. Turning, he caught sight of Xian Fu quickly attempting to evade his sight. She had been curled up into a tight ball, with her knees into her chest and arms around her legs. The moment she saw Muu Tsu turn around, she bolted for the apex of the roof and the other side.
Pausing to catch her breath, Xian Fu took a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes. She jumped when not a moment later raven hair blew past her face, followed by Muu Tsu himself.
{what's the matter?} he asked in mandarin. {You never come up here.}
{Go away, Muu Tsu,} she said quietly. {Let me be alone for right now.}
{Please tell me,} he insisted. She looked up at him, and he caught the faintest glimpse of a bruise on her neck. {Did I do that?} he asked in reproach, his voice growing suddenly weak. She shook her head slowly. He then realized who it must have been. {Why did she hurt you, Xian Fu?} he asked. {You did nothing wrong.}
{I did enough. I lost to you, Muu Tsu. I lost to the one man she will never accept, and she knows now the man she wants for me fell by your hand. That is unacceptable for her,} she said, turning away to hide her fresh tears from him. Muu Tsu reached out to turn her chin back towards him.
{And how do you feel?} he asked. Xian Fu immediately went to slap away his hand and pound the boy as she always had, but she could not budge his arm no matter how hard she tried. Reluctantly, Muu Tsu let his arm down as the love of his life sank into herself.
{It is useless. I can't even give you a good beating into the ground anymore,} she sighed, as the emotional barriers she had built up began to unravel and her mind along with it. Muu Tsu knew half the reason she treated him like she did was to deaden what lay beneath. Now, that luxury was beginning to fade.
{XF, If it'll make you feel any better, you can beat me up any time you want,} Muu Tsu said, placing his hand upon hers. She made no move to stop him.
{Please go away. Can't you see what you're doing to me?}
{Is that what you really want, Xian Fu?} he asked, standing and placing one foot on the apex of the roof, looking to leap away at the word. Xian fu suddenly burst into emotion, her button having been squarely pushed.
{I don't _KNOW_ what I want, can't you understand that?} she cried. {I've gotten so far into what _she_ wants, and what _tradition_ demands that I don't know who I am or what happiness _is_ anymore! Do you think I like being like this?} she asked. {Everyone thinks of me as a backstabbing hussy who couldn't keep her pants on if she tried. I'm shallow, I'm blinded by pride, and I...I don't know why I do anything anymore,} she ranted, unable to contain the pain any longer. Muu Tsu placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, to which Xian Fu gave a half-hearted attempt to shrug off.
{You've always known me to have poor sight, but _you_ would have to be blind to see those things in someone as wonderful as you. All I see when I look at you is someone that posesses far more courage, strength, and beauty then I could ever see again in a lifetime. And just in case you haven't noticed lately, my vision's just fine,} he said, dissapearing from sight. Xian Fu went to wipe the tears from her eyes again, only to discover dry cheeks, with only the faintest feeling of the presence of a kiss the moment before.
**
"I understand. Inform Section 2 of their orders and take care of it. Make it clean, and do it fast. I don't want this generating bad press, do you understand?" said the figure into a cellular phone. Terminating the call, he turned around in his chair to reguard the young man before him. He seemed in his early twenties, and had a light beard growing along the outside of his face. An unassuming smile graced his face as he bowed lightly to the man behind the great expanse of a desk. The possesor of the phone made a barely perceptable nod, then proceeded to browse through a file on his desk.
"We here at the Marduk Institute are very interested in starting you on our latest project, Mr. Ikari," said the man in a booming voice. His eyes stared weakly at the young man, tired in their age. Soon, the man realized, he would need a implant or some form of technical assistance. "In fact," he remarked, "This project promises to expand into an organization all of its own."
The young man smiled, and pushed his glasses further atop his nose.
**
Xian fu sat in her windowsil, contemplating Muu Tsu's words. She knew he had no ulterior reason to say them, she only doubted his sanity. How could someone feel that way for her, even after all this time of abuse and emotional neglect? What kind of person could love like that?
What person could _be_ loved like that? she thought. Who am I? Between my petty arguments, childish voice, and one-track behavior, is it any wonder _I_ can't even think I'm anything but a waste?
She paused for a moment before shutting the windows and shuffling across the room to her bed. She settled in slowly, pausing for a moment before closing her eyes for the night. She looked at her copy of the picture taken at Prince Toma's Island, and at the look of adoration coming from a certain young man.
Thank you, Muu Tsu. It may be a while still before you hear me say it, but it's there all the same.
**
"What's the target?" asked her first accomplice. Nabiki smirked and gave her toady a knowing look.
"Interestingly enough, it's not information this time. But it is still something quite profitable."
"Oh, do tell," cooed the second of Nabiki's two underlings. "What's the damage?" she asked.
"We may be looking at the cure for the Jusenkyo curse," stated Nabiki succinctly. Both girls nearly fell out of their chairs. "I believe Dr. Tofu and our formerly Chinese Duck friend have been keeping this secret from the rest of our beleaugered neighbors."
"Dr. Tofu? You're wanting us to break into the neighborhood clinic that houses all kinds of controlled substances in a government standard protection area? We're talking high security here, Nabs."
"Oh, believe me ladies, it's worse. Much worse. The first set of obstacles will be gaining entry into the interior of the clinic itself. It is constructed of a foot-thick concrete outer shell with bulletproof windows and access keys we won't have. After that's done with, we will have to navigate past the security system which is now standard in all public buildings, and since the clinic has recieved a number of government grants over the years they do consider it a public building. This consists of a series of motion detectors and alarm sensors that will trip a security service that monitors the area closely.
"There are cameras mounted in at least one corner of every room, and only one place to disarm the system, which is past all of the sensors at the rear of the building. This only gets us to the outside of the storage room, whose interior is lined with an inch thick layer of steel on all sides, and an armored door for good measure. There is nothing special to consider once inside, but to gain entry requires a masterlock key and a combination on the door," finished Nabiki. Her accomplices gawked at her as though she were completely mad.
"And you think we can do this?" asked one. Nabiki leveled her gaze at the young girl and gave her an award winning Nabiki grin.
"No. We're _going_ to do it."
********
Ha! had to give a little lipaction to my favorite DePalma movie there, hope somebody caught the joke.
I hope in the course of this story to prove a lot of stygmas wrong about XF. I know that on the outside she's shown some pretty ugly faces, but at least for Muu Tsu's happiness, I want her to show that her own inner good self can shine through. Hopeless Romantic, I guess.