Politics of Mice - Brick by Brick

I was Rukia.

"...and that's why red is the best colour."

Beniyo said with finality.

"Long story short, Beniyo's parents get a lot of red dyes to sell, so Beniyo's favourite things are all red."

I giggled at the summary, and Beniyo's subsequent pout.

I'd learned that Beniyo's parents were merchants, who thought that she'd have a better life as a kunoichi than taking over the business.

"It's better than liking snakes because Orochimaru is the snake sannin."

Waho was unfazed by the accusation. Which was to be expected. One wouldn't realise it if you didn't know the girl, but she had zero shame. This was doubly true when it concerned her budding fanaticism towards Orochimaru.

She was one of the strays that Orochimaru had brought in; supposedly there was a chance she had a recessive bloodline gene.

I wish there was something I could do to stop this before it becomes…

There were a lot of characters Orochimaru simply disposed of when he was done using them. Waho didn't deserve that.

The two shared a look, before Beniyo turned back to me with an apologetic look.

"Sorry, sorry, I know you don't like hearing about Orochimaru."

I hadn't managed to keep my thoughts of him off my face, and the two had come to their own conclusions ages ago.

There was a conflicted glare from Waho, but it seemed for now at least our friendship was worth more than her fanaticism.

"It's fine…"

I muttered.

I felt bad for making them feel bad.

This of course resulted in them feeling worse, and the cycle would continue until someone changed the subject.

It's up to me this time.

There was something I'd been wondering about.

What's the deal with Asuri?

Was what I wanted to say.

What came out was: mumble mutter mumble.

"What's that?"

"I was wondering…"

I looked away, and then went quiet again.

"...how you guys knew Asuri."

The subject got sour looks from the two.

I'm sorry…

…but I couldn't get her out of my mind whenever I was with them.

"Ugh, I guess it's fine to talk about it."

Waho nodded dejectedly.

"We were good friends before. Then…"

Waho chimed in.

"...she joined the fighting."

Beniyo nodded.

"She beat us both pretty hard. You see, she's from one of those ninja clans."

Click.

My mind jumped to the malicious matchmaking and hate brewing.

No…

"We tried to talk to her afterwards, figure out why she beat us so bad. Do you know what she said?"

I shook my head.

Beniyo straightened her posture to give an impression of the dignified girl.

"I've clearly miscalculated. I didn't think you were all so weak."

Waho huffed at the line, while Beniyo relaxed back to normal.

"Then she showed up at Waho's birthday like nothing happened. We made it clear that we didn't want her around anymore."

"Oh…"

"You said it."

"Tch."

"So you're the one they replaced me with."

She made it sound like it was Beniyo and Waho who started it, but from the sounds of it it was all on Asuri. If she was feeling sad, was that guilt? Or maybe-

"So Rukia, when's your birthday?"

Oh no, I'm going to get so much shit for this…

I smiled awkwardly as I fiddled with my fingers.

"Hehe.. Oh… Umm… It…"

Lie? Nope, not managing to come up with a good one. Honesty it is.

"...passed a couple of days ago."

"Rukia!"

Beniyo exclaimed.

"I can't believe you! You need to tell us these things!"

Waho nodded in support.

…sorry.

My brother got my letter, and he even mailed me back!

Brother,

It is excellent to-

This was clearly not written by my brother. The handwriting was too nice, and it was far less excitable. Someone probably scribed it from him, from what he said or a first draft he wrote.

It is excellent to hear from you. While your own progress has been impressive, I have not fallen behind. I could be doing better in my studies, if I focused more and paid attention to my teachers who have been patient with me. Classes sound great, I wish I could learn together with all my minions.

Okay, there was a bit of passive aggression there… Definitely written by his teacher.

As your brother, I'm proud that you managed to make a friend, while you may not be as glorious as I am, I have faith that you will manage to bridge this gap that has formed between you.

Hobbies? I started acting. Father has been very supportive, and has even come to watch a performance I starred in.

Oh wow, Father was always so busy that he rarely involved himself in anything.

I'd only encountered him directly a total of six times.

He has also started personally teaching me statesmanship. Twice a week. Though I have a hard time having him not talk about it during dinner-

Yorihiro was having lessons with father.

Yorihiro ate dinner with father.

Had he been doing that the whole time?

Was I the one who was left out?

No that doesn't make sense, it was probably a one time thing.

I lied to myself, ignored the heavy feelings forming in my chest, and kept reading.

-about it during dinner. He even brought it up during my birthday dinner. 'Oh my boy, soon you're going to be taking this country from me. Haha', and I had to be all like 'Dad! It's my birthday, let's talk about something fun.'

We had chocolate cake, just like last year-

I dropped the letter.

I…

I ran out of my room to go train, or do anything to get my mind off... this.

I was Hei.

Hei didn't have to worry about stupid things like people.

Hei was an aggressive little shit, which meant I could let loose while my blood burned hot in my veins.

"Block!"

Below the transformation my hands were going red with the splinters and bruising from my excessive force.

"Hit me!"

A tap.

"That was pathetic. I said 'hit me'!"

Thunk!

This wasn't out of character for Hei, so Motoe was none the wiser.

I slammed the door shut when I passed and fell into a tired slump in my bed.

Hei couldn't show himself to be weak, so Hei didn't sit or lie down to rest.

A quiet knock came from my door, before it opened revealing Natsuhi.

"You weren't going to work today."

"I changed my mind."

I didn't manage to keep the bite out of my voice.

I heard her step into the room and pick up the letter I'd stepped on on my way to bed.

I sat up, and looked at her.

She's read it now.

"Does Father care?"

She covered up a pained expression.

"Yes of course."

I looked down at my twiddling thumbs.

"Then-"

Hic.

"Then why?"

"It's-"

Natsuhi caught herself. Then she sighed.

"I can't say."

I felt cold.

"Daimyo's orders?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to bed now. Good night Natsuhi."

It was with a cold numbness that I met up with Beniyo and Waho the next day.

"Morning Rukia."

"...hi."

I really couldn't muster up the energy.

"Hey, are you alright?"

I shook my head.

"Just some bad news, I'll be fine."

I didn't catch the conspiratorial look between the two.

…

"...remember, there will be a test on this next time."

Beniyo looked me in the eyes before grabbing my wrist.

"Come on."

I followed along silently.

We haven't gone this way before.

"We just need to pick up something from Waho's room first."

Beniyo answered my silent question.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Waho enter what I assumed was her room. I didn't see much more than that because Beniyo pulled me forward.

"No peeking."

Now I was just confused.

…and a lot more curious.

…

Beniyo wouldn't let me see what it was that Waho had grabbed. Every time I tried she'd tug and pull on my wrist so I'd have to look where I was going.

It was mildly embarrassing that this girl was physically much stronger than me.

When we arrived at our usual hangout, Beniyo sat me down, and pulled the hood of my jacket over my head so I couldn't see anything.

Help, my costume design is being used against me.

"Keep that on until we say so."

Ok, I'm an adult. I can be patient and wait for whatever surprise they've cooked up.

…but I really want to look though.

I mean… it couldn't hurt…

No, that would disappoint Beniyo!

"Okay, you can look now."

The make-shift curtain was raised from my eyes.

There were three little plates, one in front of each of us. On each of these little plates was a red muffin. Mine had a single lit candle.

I looked up, Beniyo looked smug with her arms folded, while Waho looked her usual self.

…they were both wearing party hats.

"Happy birthday."

You guys…

"You-"

Sniffle.

Being Rukia made me such a crybaby.

I don't deserve these two.

Beniyo offered me a third party hat.

"Waho was looking for an excuse to try out a new recipe for some strawberry muffins when you told us your birthday had just passed. You didn't celebrate right?"

I shook my head.

It felt like Natsuhi rarely ever treated me like a child, which was a blessing most times.

As a consequence, birthday parties were never in the cards.

"That's what I thought. So Waho got to try her recipe, I got to bring these bad boys…"

She tapped her party hat.

"...out of the box, and you get a birthday."

Waho nodded.

They were even making excuses so I wouldn't feel self conscious about it.

"Thank- Thank you."

A bright smile.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

I was Hei.

"Block."

I was drilling Motoe.

"Attack."

He'd definitely gotten better over the week.

"Alright we're done."

He'd come back to the training with a vengeance after the first session.

"Don't forget to drink some water."

"Yes sir!"

…that was also a change.

"It's not like I'm not your boss, so don't call me sir!"

"Or course sir."

Was it something I said!?

I really couldn't fathom where the respect came from. I treated him like dirt and ran him into the ground with training I wasn't fully willing to do myself.

"Alright, before ya get outta here, we gotta talk about your fight tomorrow."

I sat down, and he sat across from me… down on his knees.

"Let me be clear about one thing."

I held up a finger.

"You are going to lose."

Motoe visibly deflated.

Alright let's get to the next part before he starts getting blamey.

"Not really anything you can do about that. It usually takes around two weeks for your body to catch up to what your mind is teaching it. You can pull off all the moves here, but when you need them you're probably going to find your body isn't moving the way you want it to."

He looked mildly curious.

Hey, that's just a factoid I heard somewhere, I don't even know if it's true.

"On top of that, Teach' is going to notice you picked up something new and is going to try to put you down for it."

"Wait, what?"

"Don't waste your time thinking about it."

He nodded uncertainty.

"So, here's what's going to happen. You're going to win-"

"-but you just said-"

I whacked him on the head.

"I know what I said!"

I cleared my throat.

"If you can't beat your opponent, change the goal. I want you to hit them…"

I held up a finger again.

"...once."

He nodded dumbly.

"Not just normally either. It needs to be a proper hit, like the ones you do here. Do that…"

I got up, and offered him a hand.

"...and you'll have won in my book. Think you can pull that off?"

A determined nod was my response.

I'm not going to let you ruin what I'm building here. You goddamn medic!

The next day came.

Hei managed an easy win, but that wasn't what I cared about.

"Motoe, you're up."

The medic had put him up against a clan kid. One whose style would play well against Motoe's new staffwork.

I clamped a hand on his shoulder before he went, prompting a confused look.

"Remember, one hit."

His expression shifted to a grim determination.

I stood by the railing with my arms crossed, watching over the ring like a stoic parent.

"Begin."

The opposition got the first move, which Motoe fumbled to stop.

Foot work is nonexistent. Grip is too hard. Elbows angled poorly…

Motoe tried to regain his footing after the attack, I could recognise the foot work he used for his strikes beginning to form, but his opposition was persistent.

As long as that pressure held up, Motoe wasn't going to be able to get into position.

An opening.

Motoe's opponent had overcommitted to a kick.

Will he notice?

It was tempting to shout for him to take advantage, but Hei's instinct told me otherwise. Those instincts told me that…

This is Motoe's Fight

…he needed to do this himself.

Yumika wanted to panic. Yumika worried that Motoe would miss it.

But Hei?

Hei was cool as a cucumber.

Motoe's feet slid into position.

He's got it.

Whack!

A direct wing down on the boy's shoulder, then he collapsed.

Motoe was the only one standing.

He was frozen in his stance, breathing heavily.

Disbelief was painted across his face.

He barely registered the medics words beyond recognising that he had to return to the stands.

He stood next to me in silent contemplation as the rest of the fights played out. Until eventually…

"How'd you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I could win with one hit."

"I didn't."

"Huh."

"I told you, didn't I…"

The fight below us concluded.

"...you were going to lose today. I just offered you the chance for a consolation prize."

"But I won anyway."

I patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a smirk. As I turned to leave.

"That was all you. Congratulations on kicking fate's ass."

I headed out, because cool guys don't look at explosions, or the people they drop one liners on.

I sat with a bowl of instant noodles.

Across from me sat Isae.

"So… Isae?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we…"

"Yes?"

"..cool?"

"Cool?"

"I mean-"

"I know what you mean."

I shut up.

She took a moment to think.

"Hmm… know what? Sure, we're cool."

I'm quite sure the tension that left my body could power a small handheld device.

"That doesn't make us friends though."

I nodded, and gathered the courage for my next sentence.

"Could I ask for a favour?"

"Depends, but you will owe me."

"Could you cover for me? In the arena?"

"What the hell do you mean by-?"

She caught herself.

"Please explain further."

She continued in a very 'Manami' like tone.

"So I might have been going to the arena using a disguise lately…"

The cogs did three turns in her head, before she said, deadpan as all hell.

"You're Hei."

I nodded.

"Didn't think you had it in you."

I flushed red.

"Please don't. It's embarrassing to think about."

"Oh no, I'm going to give you so much shit for this."

If this had been animated, this would be where she'd suddenly look like she was drawn by Hirohiko Araki.

"'Congratulations on kicking fate's ass.'"

She returned to normal.

"That's so cheesy."

My head was in my hands.

Why did I think revealing this was a good idea?

"Sure, whatever, I'll cover for you. As long as I get to make up the reason you're not there."

I had a bad feeling about this.

Doctor Manami wouldn't be making fun of me like this…

I didn't tell her that, I liked living.

I tried desperately to ignore the rumours Isae spread during the next round of arena fighting.

Where did she even get an idea like that!?

Hei had to remain cool.

This is slander!

Hei stayed cool.

Especially since Motoe pulled off a clean win.

That's what you get Teach', for pulling the worst matchup first.

Plenty of these guys were still stronger than Motoe, that was true, but everyone knew they were strong. The teach' inflated their strengths by continuously putting the strong contenders in favourable matchups.

But against Motoe?

They'd win, sure, but Motoe could give them a fight now.

That would shatter the illusion.

The teach' did have one more card to play though…

Kin Tsuchi.

…but Kin only got one fight per weekend, so the teach' needed to make sure that she was used to maximum effect.

As Motoe made his way up the stars, I caught the medics' eyes.

I've got you figured out.

Her gaze squinted to a glare.

"Hei, you're up."

I smirked.

"Sure thing, Teach."

A moment of silence. She was probably smirking back.

"You're up against Kin."

I looked over at Kin.

"No time like the present huh?"

…then jumped over the railing.

I'd been looking forward to this.

Wasn't expecting to have to do this as Hei.

I stretched a leg.

It should still work.

Kin had been dominating with her ranged advantage. So naturally…

…I had cooked up a counter.

Kin arrived and stood across from me.

"So you're the big dog here right? Unbeatable I hear."

"It's natural. I am the best."

I rolled my shoulders.

"Eh, you can always be better."

I held my staff behind me, I was going straight on the attack and didn't have time to waste on the backswing.

She reached a hand into one of her pouches.

One hit and this disguise pops.

The Medic knew that.

I knew that.

Then I won't let that happen.

"Begin."

The chakra I'd been gathering at my feet since I'd gotten down here exploded out, and my staff was already in her gut.

Sorry Kin, you need this as much as I do.

I brought an elbow down on her back while she was hunched over from the blow.

She was out.

Mitsutada had told her this could happen, but the medic had only been setting up fights to boost her ego, not help her improve. If she hadn't been so high on herself, she probably could have seen this coming and dealt with it. She was the better ninja after all.

The speed boost I'd used left a small pair of foot sized craters where I'd been standing.

I looked up at the medic.

Keeping this from you was so worth it.

I was going to bring down her little castle of lies brick by fucking brick, until all that was left was a tool for us to get stronger.

The glare she sent back was tasty.