Over the years, Juli had reared Kirina in her household. At the age of four, Juli began to train Kirina in the Shadowlaw Commando fighting style. Several years later, while training with her aunt Satsuki, she became interested in kendo and Satsuki began Kirina's training in the art of swordfighting. Kirina's other 10 aunts helped in raising her, teaching her many things. She even spent her summers with several of them.
Despite this, there was something missing in Kirina's life.
That thing was her father.
-Lanai City, Hawaii - several months after the Millenium Contest Tournament...-
Juli noticed a change of mood in her 12 year-old daughter.
Usually her perky daughter would come in, telling her about her day at her junior high school, or that she was looking forward to her training sessions. Later on that night, the young girl was still at the dinner table, poking at what was left of her dinner when her Juli walked in. "'Rina? Are you okay? You look upset when you came home from school today."
Kirina Houshi looked up from her dinner. "You know what today was at school?"
"No. What?"
"It was 'Bring your father to school day.' I looked around and all I saw were the other students and their dads."
Juli blinked. She should have saw this coming, but said nothing.
Kirina looked at her mother. "Mom...remember when I asked you about my father, you told me that you would tell me when the time is right?"
Juli nodded. "I remember."
"I think now would be a good time to tell me where I come from."
Juli studied her daughter's face long and hard. She saw that there was no way to convince Kirina otherwise. "Okay, Kirina. Finish your dinner and come into my room. I'll explain everything there."
After finishing her food, Kirina walked into Juli's room. There, her mother was seated on the bed, a shoebox in her hand. Juli patted the space next to her and Kirina sat down.
"In order to know who your father is," Juli began, "I should come clean with my own past, as well as your aunts."
Kirina was confused. "What do you mean?"
Juli opened the shoebox, revealing several pictures that Kirina had never seen before. The former assassin picked up one and handed it to her. Kirina took the photo and looked at it. The picture was that of her mother and her aunts. All were dressed in one-piece combat uniforms and were armed with various types of weapons. Kirina noted the ominous winged skull insignia behind them.
"Before you were born, Kirina," her mother began, "Your aunts and myself were assassins."
Kirina looked up wide-eyed. "You mean...you used to kill people?"
Juli slowly nodded, facing her skeletons for the first time. "As much as it shames me to say this, yes. Your aunts and myself were part of an organization called Shadowlaw. It was an underground smuggling operation that was into everything bad. I was the head of the organization's biochemist division when I chose to become the head of an all-female assassination team."
"And Shadowlaw is connected to my father how?" Kirina asked.
"The former leader of Shadowlaw - an evil man by the name of General Michael Bison - was interested in your father because of his fighting abilities," Juli explained. "Juni was originally ordered to go after him, but it was pure luck that I found him."
"My father is also a martial artist?" Kirina asked.
Juli nodded. "He is one of the best in the world. It was in Southeast Asia when I found him there. I challenged him to a fight and I lost. As a result, I was marked for death by my former employers."
Kirina was surprised by the fact that her mother had lost a fight. Ever since she was young, she knew that the floral shop was a target of would-be robbers, only to be soundly thrashed by her mother.
"I traveled all over Asia, looking for him," Juli continued. "And it was in Hong Kong when we met up again. You were conceived there."
She pulled out another picture and handed it to Kirina. "This man in the picture is your father."
Kirina took the second picture and looked at it. The man in the photo was Japanese, built, the muscles showing from a white katate dogi, its sleeves ripped off, then ends tattered. The face had a serious expression, the eyebrows thick and bushy. A red geadband was wrapped around his forehead.
"I'm Japanese?" Kirina asked.
"Half-Japanese," Juli replied. "His name is Ryu Hoshi. Kirina, regardless of how ill your aunt Juni speaks of him --"
"She said that he abandoned you when you were pregant with me," Kirina said.
Juli shook her head. "Actually, it's the opposite. I left him." Off Kirina's shocked expression, Juli replied, "It was the best thing to do at the time, seeing as how Shadowlaw was still after me and wanted your father. So I ran. When I got here, I took on a new identity and started over. The same with your aunts when your father took down Shadowlaw. Well, most of them anyway." She looked at the picture of Ryu. "As for your father, he's settled down in Japan with a family of his own."
"I see. Promise me one thing," Kirina said.
"What is it?" her mother asked.
"I want to meet him," Kirina replied. "One day, I would like to meet my father face-to-face."
Juli nodded. "I promise, Kirina."