"Dr. Lee? Hi, it's Ayaka Mori. I'm just calling to make sure that Mrs. Su-Lin Wu came by your office today."
"Hello Ayaka! Hm.. Missus Wu.. Misses Wu.. Yes, she came by earlier for her feet. They look rather bad.. But I should be able to work with them. It's a good thing you sent her when you did. I must also say you did an excellent job of doing what you could for her feet."
"I always try my best, doctor."
"And you perform admirably. Someday you and I must exchange notes. Is that all you wanted to know, Ayaka?"
"Mm-hm, pretty much."
"You have a nice day then, I must get back to work. Goodbye." The doctor hung up as Ayaka heard the bell at the door ring. She hung up the phone and headed out to the front of the shop.
It was that man again, same suit, hair, glasses.. Everything. He looked at her and shook his head. "You never called back."
"No, I didn't."
"Why didn't you? Something wrong with the phone?" He checked the time on a digital watch.
"No, but I don't think the call was particularly necessary. Sir, you may know Tsubasa Mori.... but that doesn't mean his family wants anything to do with you, or him."
"Why wasn't the call necessary? Ah.. So, so offensive. Why? Have I done anything to offend you or them? I'm just looking to make contact again after many years. I don't bite. Honest."
"You came here dropping the name of a man who ran out on his family and his responsibilities. That would endear you to no one, sir."
He shook his head. "Sometimes people must do things, even if they do not want to. Do you think that he really wanted to leave his family? He didn't." The man shook his head. "How is the family fairing?"
"I don't think that's any of your business, sir. Please leave."
"Don't make me the bad guy, alright? At least give me a chance before you shoo me away like some stray cat."
"What do you want with her, anyway?"
"That's a matter I really need to talk with her about. I won't make her do anything. We can talk in public if you like. You can even watch."
"She will contact you if she wants to. I already gave her your name and number, sir."
He sighed. "What would she want to call me?" He sat down on a chair, if there were any.
"Sir, unless you have real business here, I must ask once again that you leave."
"Come on. Everyone wants something." He said as he put a twenty on the table. "Buying time in the literal fashion. Maybe she wants a pony too."
"And maybe the police would like to know why you're hanging around here looking for a girl."
"Oh please. Like the police are going to car in a big city like this. There haven't even been any threats. Never cry wolf, you know? I want to introduce her to some friends."
"Why does that not put me at ease?"
"They ain't bad, not at all. We want to show her around the place, talk with her, nothing hostile. She could leave anytime she wanted.. We'd give her ten thousand dollars, just for coming."
"This deal smells like fresh mugwort."
"She can leave if she wants. We'll give her a phone, whatever conditions she wants."
"The deal still stinks worse than rotten fish."
"Yeah, I know, I know..." Watson said as Ayaka's two brothers came in, much to her dismay.
"Hey, do we get pizza again today?"
"Yeah, do we Ayaka?"
"Do we?"
The man just shook his head at her.
Ayaka shot her brothers a withering stare. "Upstairs, both of you."
"We aren't getting pizza tonight, are we?" Shinji asked Hiro, who shook his head.
"Doesn't look like it.. Hey, Toonami is on!"
"Oh yeah!" They both ran upstairs as quickly as they could, almost falling a couple times as they raced.
"Cute kids. So, Ayaka... Why won't you come with me?"
"Because I don't trust you."
"Well how am I supposed to get you to trust me? Buy you a pony?"
"Sir, there is nothing you could do to get me to trust you any further than I could throw you."
"There has to be something I can do. The local furs wanna get to know you and all. Most've us have heard of you, just never seen you."
"Local furs?"
"Yeah. You know. Rar. Crush. Smash. Shave. Those kind of folks."
"I am even less interested than before."
"Why? We're all your relatives. Well. Kind of. Don't you want to learn about things? Be part of the furry freedom fighting force thing? You know. Saving the world before bedtime."
"No."
"Why? You sound kind of bitter."
"I got a taste of the kind of shit you all get involved in. I don't want anything to do with that. Now get out."
Watson held up his hands. "I'll leave, I'll leave. If you really want me to.. What kind of shit do you mean? Some of us ain't always... You mean your dad taking off?"
"You ever had thousands of spiders crawling all over your body?"
"Um.. No, and I don't really want to think about that... Freaky. I don't think how any of us could have done that unless we were fucked up."
"Mm-hm. Well I have because of the shit my dad got in to. Now. Get. Out."
"If you're going to blame your dad's mess ups on people you don't even know, I don't see how your related to him. Take care of the family." He put a c note on the counter and left.
Ayaka went to the door and locked it, leaving the bill on the counter and heading upstairs. She found her brothers on the couch watching Batman Beyond, while Sakura was playing with a toy telephone quietly in the corner for a change. Her mother was at the table, reading a paper with a cup of tea nearby, cooling.
"Momma, could you watch the shop? I need to lie down."
"Mm? Oh, yes, not a problem." her mother got up and picked her paper and tea up, then went down stairs to watch the shop.
Ayaka went into her room and shut the door, going over to her bed. Rest would be welcome and would give her time to think.. if there was anything to think about.
***
Ayaka ground the root into a fine powder, then scooped the powder into the little gel capsule, before putting all the capsules she'd already made into a jar. There were quite a lot of them, and making the pills was a long, boring task. As normal, things were slow in the shop. She'd had the one customer earlier, and Ms Wu had stopped for tea, but that was it.
Well, boring wasn't all that bad. Boring could be very restful. And sometimes, boring was best.. What was that curse again? 'May you live in interesting times'? How was that a curse though...
She shook her head and put the jar on the shelf. The bell rang as a man stepped in dressed in a stylish jacket, expensive pants, shirt, and tie. He smiled at her, then went about browsing the store's shelves and items casually.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I was wondering if you had anything that was good for helping with the siring of children? One of my sons is having a little trouble with it and I was looking to give him a push." She pointed him towards three jars and waited. He went over to them and looked through them. "I'll take some of each. How much do you recommend?"
"At least five ounces of each."
"In that case, I'll take ten ounces of each. I'd like him to have children *sometime* before the year is through. I'm Samuel Thomason, thank you for your help." He offered his hand out in greeting
"If you'll hand me those jars, I can get your purchase, Mr. Thomason." Ayaka said, ignoring the hand.
"Tsk. Most people seal deals with a handshake." he said as he got the jars for her.
"I'm not overly fond of physical contact, sir."
"Germaphobe?" He asked as he waited for her to get the pills for him. "Not that I mean to be rude. Just curious, miss."
"No, but I prefer to be careful, since I am handling medication." She weighed the pills and put them in three separate little brown bags. "Thirty-four seventy."
He gave her two twenties and waited for his change with a nod. "That makes sense, I suppose. Most pharmacies are quite sterile.. " He glanced around the place again. "Not quite a pharmacy, but the same thing, neither the less. Who owns this shop, anyways?"
"My mother."
"I see.. I was wondering something else. How is it you are toiling away in this shop, Ayaka?"
She stopped, taking a step back from the counter.
"You could be doing a lot better in a different location, or doing something else with your life. I really don't see the point of staying here."
"Thank you for your business sir. I hope your son puts those pills to good use."
"Do you always be so rude to guest? Or customers, at least." He took the bags. "Really now. You thought Watson was going to be the last, or you think I will? Don't be silly girl."
"I already told him I'm not interested, and I'll tell every last one of you the same."
He shook his head. "You don't understand. Sooner or later, your going to come across one of us that isn't so 'nice'. And they won't take no for an answer. Or worse yet, you will be caught by someone that finds out about you, and uses you for leverage for a deal. You can't deny a heritage as strong as your's, Ayaka. To think you can is to think you can stop a river with a toothpick." He adjusted his clothes, then turned and started to walk out the door.
Ayaka turned on her heel and headed upstairs. "Momma?"
"What is it this time, Ayaka?" With the things that had been happening lately, her mother suspected this was one of those things.
"Momma, could you man the front for the next few days?"
"Yes... I could, what happened this time? Are you afraid of something or dodging someone? Or are you just taking a break?"
"A bit of the first two. If anyone you don't recognize comes looking for me, tell them I'm not here and you don't know when I'll be back. Do you still have that box of stuff Daddy left? The one with the gun?"
"I see.. What has happened? And yes, I do.. I'll leave it in your room tonight. I don't want the kids to find it.." her mother whispered to her. "Don't let them get a hold of it. That would be a disaster.. I hope you don't need it though."
"Another one like the guy who was here before came by, and he implied that something might happen." Ayaka said. "Are the silver rounds still in the box?"
"Another one like the guy who was here before came by, and he implied that something might happen." Ayaka said. "Are the silver rounds still in the box?"
Her mother thought about it for a minute. "Perhaps.. There might be a couple. If you are lucky. Have you even shot a gun before though, Ayaka? It'll just be very... Unfortunate, if you shot and missed."
"I'll just have to learn."
"Yes.. You will. And learn well. If it came to that you'd get only one shot."
"So I'll just have to get good enough so one shot is all I need. I'll go to one of the gun ranges."
"Maybe I'll take Hiro and Shinji along, so they can learn proper gun safety."
"You have my permission to do that if you like.. But what about Sakura, Ayaka? If you put the gun high enough it should be fine... At least, for now. I wish you luck in your training."
"Thanks, Momma." Ayaka gave her mother a quick hug. "I just wish I knew what they want me for."
"Did they say yet?" She hugged her back then relaxed again. "I'm sure they will let it be known sooner or later."
"No, but there've been certain... implications."
Her mother nodded her head. "Have either of them been hostile?" She reached behind her to rub her old back, letting out a sigh.
"The second one became hostile after I told him I wanted nothing to do with them."
"Hm..Maybe it's the old good cop, bad cop trick." Her mother sat down in the nearest chair available.
"I don't care. I want nothing to do with anything they have in mind."
"But if you don't know what they have in mind.. How do you know? Never mind, if I keep thinking about that I'm going to go cross eyed."
"I remember the last time I got involved in the things that had to do with the hegeyokai. I have no desire to repeat the experience."
"Ayaka.. It's not as though that happens to everyone. What did occur was probably exceedingly rare. I understand your fear, though... I'd never wish to have something like that happen to me."
"I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen to me again, Momma."
"If they liked you as much as it seems, they'd probably protect you from spiders.. Should you need it."
"I would rather rely on myself for protection."
"You know they are going to get you involved sooner or later if they really want you.." She shrugged. "Your strong handedness is admirable though."
"Some day I will be like those stubborn old women who insist on walking on bound feet." Ayaka said.
"Hello Ayaka! Hm.. Missus Wu.. Misses Wu.. Yes, she came by earlier for her feet. They look rather bad.. But I should be able to work with them. It's a good thing you sent her when you did. I must also say you did an excellent job of doing what you could for her feet."
"I always try my best, doctor."
"And you perform admirably. Someday you and I must exchange notes. Is that all you wanted to know, Ayaka?"
"Mm-hm, pretty much."
"You have a nice day then, I must get back to work. Goodbye." The doctor hung up as Ayaka heard the bell at the door ring. She hung up the phone and headed out to the front of the shop.
It was that man again, same suit, hair, glasses.. Everything. He looked at her and shook his head. "You never called back."
"No, I didn't."
"Why didn't you? Something wrong with the phone?" He checked the time on a digital watch.
"No, but I don't think the call was particularly necessary. Sir, you may know Tsubasa Mori.... but that doesn't mean his family wants anything to do with you, or him."
"Why wasn't the call necessary? Ah.. So, so offensive. Why? Have I done anything to offend you or them? I'm just looking to make contact again after many years. I don't bite. Honest."
"You came here dropping the name of a man who ran out on his family and his responsibilities. That would endear you to no one, sir."
He shook his head. "Sometimes people must do things, even if they do not want to. Do you think that he really wanted to leave his family? He didn't." The man shook his head. "How is the family fairing?"
"I don't think that's any of your business, sir. Please leave."
"Don't make me the bad guy, alright? At least give me a chance before you shoo me away like some stray cat."
"What do you want with her, anyway?"
"That's a matter I really need to talk with her about. I won't make her do anything. We can talk in public if you like. You can even watch."
"She will contact you if she wants to. I already gave her your name and number, sir."
He sighed. "What would she want to call me?" He sat down on a chair, if there were any.
"Sir, unless you have real business here, I must ask once again that you leave."
"Come on. Everyone wants something." He said as he put a twenty on the table. "Buying time in the literal fashion. Maybe she wants a pony too."
"And maybe the police would like to know why you're hanging around here looking for a girl."
"Oh please. Like the police are going to car in a big city like this. There haven't even been any threats. Never cry wolf, you know? I want to introduce her to some friends."
"Why does that not put me at ease?"
"They ain't bad, not at all. We want to show her around the place, talk with her, nothing hostile. She could leave anytime she wanted.. We'd give her ten thousand dollars, just for coming."
"This deal smells like fresh mugwort."
"She can leave if she wants. We'll give her a phone, whatever conditions she wants."
"The deal still stinks worse than rotten fish."
"Yeah, I know, I know..." Watson said as Ayaka's two brothers came in, much to her dismay.
"Hey, do we get pizza again today?"
"Yeah, do we Ayaka?"
"Do we?"
The man just shook his head at her.
Ayaka shot her brothers a withering stare. "Upstairs, both of you."
"We aren't getting pizza tonight, are we?" Shinji asked Hiro, who shook his head.
"Doesn't look like it.. Hey, Toonami is on!"
"Oh yeah!" They both ran upstairs as quickly as they could, almost falling a couple times as they raced.
"Cute kids. So, Ayaka... Why won't you come with me?"
"Because I don't trust you."
"Well how am I supposed to get you to trust me? Buy you a pony?"
"Sir, there is nothing you could do to get me to trust you any further than I could throw you."
"There has to be something I can do. The local furs wanna get to know you and all. Most've us have heard of you, just never seen you."
"Local furs?"
"Yeah. You know. Rar. Crush. Smash. Shave. Those kind of folks."
"I am even less interested than before."
"Why? We're all your relatives. Well. Kind of. Don't you want to learn about things? Be part of the furry freedom fighting force thing? You know. Saving the world before bedtime."
"No."
"Why? You sound kind of bitter."
"I got a taste of the kind of shit you all get involved in. I don't want anything to do with that. Now get out."
Watson held up his hands. "I'll leave, I'll leave. If you really want me to.. What kind of shit do you mean? Some of us ain't always... You mean your dad taking off?"
"You ever had thousands of spiders crawling all over your body?"
"Um.. No, and I don't really want to think about that... Freaky. I don't think how any of us could have done that unless we were fucked up."
"Mm-hm. Well I have because of the shit my dad got in to. Now. Get. Out."
"If you're going to blame your dad's mess ups on people you don't even know, I don't see how your related to him. Take care of the family." He put a c note on the counter and left.
Ayaka went to the door and locked it, leaving the bill on the counter and heading upstairs. She found her brothers on the couch watching Batman Beyond, while Sakura was playing with a toy telephone quietly in the corner for a change. Her mother was at the table, reading a paper with a cup of tea nearby, cooling.
"Momma, could you watch the shop? I need to lie down."
"Mm? Oh, yes, not a problem." her mother got up and picked her paper and tea up, then went down stairs to watch the shop.
Ayaka went into her room and shut the door, going over to her bed. Rest would be welcome and would give her time to think.. if there was anything to think about.
***
Ayaka ground the root into a fine powder, then scooped the powder into the little gel capsule, before putting all the capsules she'd already made into a jar. There were quite a lot of them, and making the pills was a long, boring task. As normal, things were slow in the shop. She'd had the one customer earlier, and Ms Wu had stopped for tea, but that was it.
Well, boring wasn't all that bad. Boring could be very restful. And sometimes, boring was best.. What was that curse again? 'May you live in interesting times'? How was that a curse though...
She shook her head and put the jar on the shelf. The bell rang as a man stepped in dressed in a stylish jacket, expensive pants, shirt, and tie. He smiled at her, then went about browsing the store's shelves and items casually.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I was wondering if you had anything that was good for helping with the siring of children? One of my sons is having a little trouble with it and I was looking to give him a push." She pointed him towards three jars and waited. He went over to them and looked through them. "I'll take some of each. How much do you recommend?"
"At least five ounces of each."
"In that case, I'll take ten ounces of each. I'd like him to have children *sometime* before the year is through. I'm Samuel Thomason, thank you for your help." He offered his hand out in greeting
"If you'll hand me those jars, I can get your purchase, Mr. Thomason." Ayaka said, ignoring the hand.
"Tsk. Most people seal deals with a handshake." he said as he got the jars for her.
"I'm not overly fond of physical contact, sir."
"Germaphobe?" He asked as he waited for her to get the pills for him. "Not that I mean to be rude. Just curious, miss."
"No, but I prefer to be careful, since I am handling medication." She weighed the pills and put them in three separate little brown bags. "Thirty-four seventy."
He gave her two twenties and waited for his change with a nod. "That makes sense, I suppose. Most pharmacies are quite sterile.. " He glanced around the place again. "Not quite a pharmacy, but the same thing, neither the less. Who owns this shop, anyways?"
"My mother."
"I see.. I was wondering something else. How is it you are toiling away in this shop, Ayaka?"
She stopped, taking a step back from the counter.
"You could be doing a lot better in a different location, or doing something else with your life. I really don't see the point of staying here."
"Thank you for your business sir. I hope your son puts those pills to good use."
"Do you always be so rude to guest? Or customers, at least." He took the bags. "Really now. You thought Watson was going to be the last, or you think I will? Don't be silly girl."
"I already told him I'm not interested, and I'll tell every last one of you the same."
He shook his head. "You don't understand. Sooner or later, your going to come across one of us that isn't so 'nice'. And they won't take no for an answer. Or worse yet, you will be caught by someone that finds out about you, and uses you for leverage for a deal. You can't deny a heritage as strong as your's, Ayaka. To think you can is to think you can stop a river with a toothpick." He adjusted his clothes, then turned and started to walk out the door.
Ayaka turned on her heel and headed upstairs. "Momma?"
"What is it this time, Ayaka?" With the things that had been happening lately, her mother suspected this was one of those things.
"Momma, could you man the front for the next few days?"
"Yes... I could, what happened this time? Are you afraid of something or dodging someone? Or are you just taking a break?"
"A bit of the first two. If anyone you don't recognize comes looking for me, tell them I'm not here and you don't know when I'll be back. Do you still have that box of stuff Daddy left? The one with the gun?"
"I see.. What has happened? And yes, I do.. I'll leave it in your room tonight. I don't want the kids to find it.." her mother whispered to her. "Don't let them get a hold of it. That would be a disaster.. I hope you don't need it though."
"Another one like the guy who was here before came by, and he implied that something might happen." Ayaka said. "Are the silver rounds still in the box?"
"Another one like the guy who was here before came by, and he implied that something might happen." Ayaka said. "Are the silver rounds still in the box?"
Her mother thought about it for a minute. "Perhaps.. There might be a couple. If you are lucky. Have you even shot a gun before though, Ayaka? It'll just be very... Unfortunate, if you shot and missed."
"I'll just have to learn."
"Yes.. You will. And learn well. If it came to that you'd get only one shot."
"So I'll just have to get good enough so one shot is all I need. I'll go to one of the gun ranges."
"Maybe I'll take Hiro and Shinji along, so they can learn proper gun safety."
"You have my permission to do that if you like.. But what about Sakura, Ayaka? If you put the gun high enough it should be fine... At least, for now. I wish you luck in your training."
"Thanks, Momma." Ayaka gave her mother a quick hug. "I just wish I knew what they want me for."
"Did they say yet?" She hugged her back then relaxed again. "I'm sure they will let it be known sooner or later."
"No, but there've been certain... implications."
Her mother nodded her head. "Have either of them been hostile?" She reached behind her to rub her old back, letting out a sigh.
"The second one became hostile after I told him I wanted nothing to do with them."
"Hm..Maybe it's the old good cop, bad cop trick." Her mother sat down in the nearest chair available.
"I don't care. I want nothing to do with anything they have in mind."
"But if you don't know what they have in mind.. How do you know? Never mind, if I keep thinking about that I'm going to go cross eyed."
"I remember the last time I got involved in the things that had to do with the hegeyokai. I have no desire to repeat the experience."
"Ayaka.. It's not as though that happens to everyone. What did occur was probably exceedingly rare. I understand your fear, though... I'd never wish to have something like that happen to me."
"I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen to me again, Momma."
"If they liked you as much as it seems, they'd probably protect you from spiders.. Should you need it."
"I would rather rely on myself for protection."
"You know they are going to get you involved sooner or later if they really want you.." She shrugged. "Your strong handedness is admirable though."
"Some day I will be like those stubborn old women who insist on walking on bound feet." Ayaka said.