Five movies passed and the girls were finding that they had more and more in common. Sugoi had a strange feeling that she knew this girl, yet she had never met her in her life. With one more hour left before the plane landed Sugoi fell asleep. Kat was listening to her I pod, and had kind of zoned out. "we will be landing shortly so please buckle your seatbelts." The woman said. Kat turned to Sugoi and nearly screamed for perched atop her head were neko ears that matched her nearly black, brown hair.
"Sugo wake up!" she punched her in the arm, "wake up!" she punched her again.
"ow, what I'm awake." She looked up at Kat.
"You have ears!" Kat said pointing.
"Um…. So do you?" Sugoi sounded unsure.
"No you have neko ears!" Kat said.
"Ack!" Sugoi's eyes widened. "Neko…neko…neko…neko ears?"
"Here!" Kat threw her the electric blue baseball cap she had been wearing.
"I can't wear this, it doesn't match!" Kat glared at her.
"Put it on." Sugoi took the hat and placed it over her ears, which made it looked rather strange because it was not sitting on her head. "it will have to work." Kat said looking at Sugoi.
"Why do I have kitty ears?" Sugoi asked panic rising in her voice.
"I don't know!" Kat sounded annoyed, she hated when her though process was disturbed.
"Well I can't just go walking around with a hat on all the time!" Sugoi said.
"I get that much!" Kat said covering her eyes with her hands, and then pulling them towards her ears so her eyes became slits, and then down off her cheeks. She sighed and looked at Sugoi, "can I call you sugo?" she asked.
"Sure." She said staring at the seat in front of her. "Kat where are you going?"
"Mushiori City, why?" Sugoi's moth dropped.
"Mushiori City?" she asked.
"yep." Kat turned to look at her.
"That's where I'm going." She said.
"That's where the planes going." Kat corrected without much enthusiasm. The plane landed and the girls got off. They walked through the airport and came to the baggage carousel. Sugoi waited about five minutes before her two bags came out. She grabbed them and waited for Kat to get hers. The left the terminal together and went out to the pick up area. A small man, about as tall as Kat 4' 9". Sugoi walked up to him and gave him a big hug.
"hi grandpa." She said and released him.
"that's ojiisan to you!" he said and smiled. "put you bags in the trunk. Omaesan nanto yu-tsukai?" he asked.
"putting my bags in the back." Sugoi said slightly rattled and a bit surprised.
"no, he puts it in." pointed to a boy around Sugoi's age. "this is your cousin, Suiza." He
said and the boy bowed.
"ikan nato yu?" he asked.
"komaka." Sugoi replied and gave a slight bow, "ken yu?" she asked remembering her manners.
"ore gozen kyousei ken hijouni koujin tame niku yu. May I take your bags?"
"Yes." She said.
She pointed to two suitcases and took off her back pack. She was about to get in the car when her Ojiisan yelled, "shuushi suiza imei kaihou sano monko!" again Sugoi looked shaken. She waited for her cousin to open the door and then she and Kat got in.
"Ojiisan, Kat's going to stay with me."
"ok." He answered.
"what sugo!" Kat asked. "I don't want to be a burden."
"you wont." She assured her and closed the door, "how old are you?"
"seventeen."
"me too." Everyone else got in the car and they drove away. They drove through the city and out into the country. They finally pulled up to a house, a large house. Everyone got out. The two girls went up to the doors and they were pulled open from inside. A round happy woman stood there with a smiling face and outstretched arms. Sugoi embraced her an they talked for a moment and then the woman led them up to a room. She opened the double doors and led them inside. It was a large room with stormy blue grey walls. The floors were of shiny cherry wood and on them there were sage green and black bamboo mats. There was light coming from circular, gold lamps mounted on the walls. On either side of one of the mats there was a futon with black covers folded and waiting. Wooden slat doors separated this room from all the others, but one wall was completely made of glass and looked out over the country. "thank you obaasan." Sugoi said bowing. The woman left and the girls fell onto the futons.
The blue baseball cap fell off Sugoi's head and Kat sighed, "we will have to do something about that. Maybe I can fix your hair so it'll cover it."
"humph. Fine." Sugoi sat up whet all she wanted to do right now was sleep. She allowed Kat to fixed her hair so you could not see the ears, and then they went down stairs for diner. Sugoi's obaasan had made an assortment of sushi, along with duck soup, and salmon, and some strange vegetable which neither girl touched.
"Suiza trains every morning at five." Ojiisan said.
"so I guess I'm supposed to take a hint and join him?" she asked.
"of course." Ojiisan said and took another piece of tekka.
"hm. Well because I have no choice Ill be there. Should I bring a wepon?" she asked.
"what did you bring?" Suiza asked.
"only a few things. The other stuff is getting shipped over."
"what do you have here?" he asked rephrasing his question.
"my neko claws, my double head choppers, um… my kantana, my mulan fans, my kwan dao, my chin whip, and my double blade." She said counting off all 7 weapons on her fingers.
"they let you take that on the plane?" he asked.
"I didn't take them as carry ones." She said. "anyway what should I bring?"
"what are you best with?"
"you don't want to know." She said her eyes narrowing.
"yes I do. Bring whatever your best with, oh and what style do you use?"
She started answering the questions, "I'm equally skilled with all of them, and I use wushu…" she stopped to look at his face, he was bewildered. "where did I loose you."
"at wushu." He said.
"oh it's a Chinese form. And I practice kendo. What do you use?"
"weapons or style?"
"both."
"I use a wakazashi, or a straight sward, and I use the kata style." He answered putting down his chopsticks.
"do you have two straight swards?" she asked also putting down her chopsticks. Kat could see where this was going an decided to get in on the fun.
"or three." She said.
"sorry only two." Suiza said. "why, you want to fight me?"
"sure." Was Sugoi's answer, or we could fight your straight sward or swards against either my head choppers, or kantana." She said. Staring intently into his eyes.
"your on, your kantana against my wakazashi. Tomorrow. Five."
" your on."
"I'm going to be there too." Kat said. "I'll be the ref till its my turn."
"oh it'll be over quickly." Suiza said confidently. "I've been practicing for 10 years."
"oh I've only done kantana for 6 but well see who comes out on top." Sugoi said. Tension was rising in her voice and she was raising herself up from the table as was Suiza.
"UMOU!" Ojiisan yelled and both cousins sat down with the same intensity they had raised themselves with. "that is quite enough you will duel each other tomorrow at five with straight staffs before you do anything further." He said. Both agreed and everyone began eating again.
The girls left up to their room when diner was over and went straight to sleep, both were tired and a bit out of it because of the time change.