"Kouta! Who is she!" Yuka exclaims. She was really getting irritated by the way the two were looking at each other.
"Oh, sorry. Yuka, this is my old friend Kaede. Kaede, this is my cousin Yuka." Kouta introduces. Kaede frowns. Kouta said he had a cousin but didn't he say he was a boy? 'I must have misremembered all this time.' Kaede brushes off.
"Hello Kaede. Nice to meet you." Yuka says, through with reservation clear in her voice.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you too Yuka." Kaede says in the same tone.
"Kaede, I haven't seen you in years. Where have you been?" Kouta asks,
"Its a long, complicated, and frankly unbelievable story." Kaede says.
"You... are sticking around Kamakura for a bit... right? I'd like to hear it." Kouta asks.
"Y-yes! I'll be sticking around." Kaede answers.
"This is nice. A reunion." Yuka says with faked happiness. "Now, Kouta. I should show you where you'll be staying while you're here."
"Your moving here?" Kaede asks him.
"Yeah. I'm going college here." Kouta answers. "If you've got nothing else to do right now, maybe you should come with us?"
"I'd like that." Kaede smiles. "Lead on, Yuka."
"Yeah..." Yuka says, before taking the lead to Maple Inn while inwardly fuming. 'And things were going so well!" Then another thought comes to mind. "Say Kaede, didn't I see you earlier today? You were running through the city, getting chased by some blue armoured man while screaming Nyu at the top of your lungs."
Kaede's heart stops. She did that? Yuka saw her do that!? "Uh- that was someone I know, but it wasn't me. I'd understand that you'd got us confused." For some reason admitting to them, Kouta especially, that she had an alternate personality greatly unsettled her.
"Someone you know? You have a twin sister or something?" Yuka asks. Cause that would be awfully convenient.
"Our situation is more complicated then that... but I guess it can be seen that we're sisters." Kaede says.
"Does this complicated sister have a name?" Yuka digs deeper.
"She's Nyu." Kaede answers. "She behaves like a child often times, so I'm sorry if she's caused you any strife."
"Thats cool. I never knew you had a sister." Kouta says. "What about the rest of your family?"
"They... certainly strange you're first few meetings." Kaede says cautiously. "But they're not so bad, once you get to know them."
The two police detectives walked by the relatively normal streets of Kamakura. Key word being normal. Word had gone out that a group of strange armoured people had been seen strolling around. What was less known was that the two detectives were also operatives for a research facility on an island just off the coast. A facility that had an interest in these armoured men ever since one was last sighted not to long ago.
Initially, they would be of no interest to the facility, but that one was the only connection to the Queen that the facility had found ever since she disappeared 8 years ago.
Now, like any self respecting person would do, the institute doesn't believe everything it hears, so it sent out these two to scope out the situation to see if the rumours were true. They had SAT backup mobilized incase anyone of interest was found so they could be quickly rounded up. They were just on the islands waiting for the signal to come rushing in. A signal that didn't look like it would be sent considering all was normal. They had just swept the general area where they were said to have been when they came up to the beach.
"Seems it was nothing." The first man says.
"Damn it. This was all for nothing." The second man growls. "Not to mention those SAT jerks are gonna be bitching about how we made em mobilize for nothing."
"Wait a second, whats that down there." The first man points to a purple object pointing out of the sand. The two go down to investigate. "Hmm. It matches the description of the armour Chief Kurama provided." He says as he studies the object.
"You sure it not just a toy?" The second man asks.
"I'm sure. It feels like metal. Don't think its safe for kids to be throwing around metal beachballs." The first man jokes.
"So, those soldiers were here." The second man concludes.
"Yeah. Best to keep an eye on this town for now." The first man says. "Makes you wonder why this place is so special."
"Finally a place to sit down and rest." Grif says as he plops down to have his back to a tree.
"Hey, I recognize this place! Its where we met Kaede!" Tucker exclaims.
"Yeah, well this place is relatively out of the way of everything. Theres a chance that someone COULD find us here, but its low." Church assures them.
"Grif! Nows not the time to be restin! Not when we're in enemy territory!" Sarge exclaims to the orange soldier.
"Enemy territory? We're in the middle of a town thats 500 years behind. Even if there were enemy's here, what would they do? Throw spears at our armour?" Grif shoots back.
"Hey. What are you doing?" Caboose says to no one. "We are not ready yet. Nothing is going on here. Go back to Kaede and the others."
"Caboose, who are you talking to?" Wash asks.
Kouta, Yuka, and Kaede arrived at a building that was massive, at least for a house.
"Here we are." Yuka says. "My mom says that as long as you keep everything clean, you don't have to pay rent."
"Wait, so I have to clean this whole house?" Kouta asks.
"And the garden." Yuka adds
"Wait, so I'm supposed to be a free caretaker?" Kouta asks again.
"Well..." Yuka drones off. "They do say there's nothing worse for a house than being neglected."
"That's not a saying I'm familiar with... just saying." Kaede says.
Yuka shoots Kaede a look. "You can't disagree with the sentiment though."
"No. Of coarse not." Kaede glares back at her.
"Let's go take a look on the inside don't we." Kouta brings up, trying to dispel the tension between the two. 'Why are they like this? I thought they would have been good friends if they met?' Kouta thinks as he and the girls enter the closed down building. Something immediately catches the boys eye. "Wow, this thing has to be an antique." He said, looking to an old grandfather clock near the entrance.
"It doesn't work, even when you wind it." Yuka calls back from another room.
"Too bad." Kouta mumbles.
"Hey, either one of you wouldn't happen to know where the washroom is, would you?" Kaede asks.
"Now we are ready." Caboose says to no one.
"Is he talking to himself again?" Grif asks.
"I think it's cool. Maybe he can see something that we can't!" Donut suggests.
"That's dumb." Grif brushes off.
"Anyway, someone should go check on Kaede." Carolina brings up.
"I'll do it." Wash says. "Besides, it should be getting dark soon, so I should be able to move around easier."
"Makes sense. Radio in if you have any problems." Carolina says.
"Will do." Wash says as he leaves.
"Washington! Wait!" Caboose calls out. "Could you get me a suva... thing?"
"Caboose. We don't need anything. Good luck Wash." Tucker says.
Kouta, Kaede, and Yuka all sat within the Maple Inns dining room enjoying the rice balls Yuka had brought for them.
"So... Kaede... tell us about yourself." Yuka prompts.
"Yeah. What have you been up to since we last saw you?" Kouta asks.
"Well I lived in an orphanage until I was ten, where I was adopted by what I now call my family." Kaede begins.
"Wait... so you never knew your birth family?"
"No... I didn't." Kaede says, somehow managing to hide the bitterness in her voice.
"Huh. A few years ago I saw a girl who had- some... unique features that reminded me of you." Kouta says, subtlety pointing to the top of his head, mindful that Yuka was listening. Kaede said her horns had brought nothing but trouble, assuming they still did it should be her secret to reveal to Yuka if she wishes.
Kaede understood what he was saying. "You did, did you?! Well... I don't know anyone who would have those..."
"Have what? What are you two talking about?" Yuka asks, frustrated at being left out.
"So, Kaede... whats your adoptive family like?" Kouta sheepishly asks. "You said they were strange but not so bad under the surface but didn't elaborate more on that."
"They're kinda hard to describe. None of us are blood related, but we stick together so much we pretty much are family." Kaede says.
"Where were you raised? It couldn't have been here in Kamakura, otherwise we would have met some time or another." Yuka asks.
"Soon as I was adopted, I was taken back to where they called home. It's pretty isolated and off the map, so it wouldn't surprise me if you haven't heard of it. Its a place called Blood Gulch." Kaede says. What she said was all technically true. If it were only Kouta here, she felt she would be able to go into more detail with ease. Maybe even get away with convincing him that she was brought up in an alternate dimension, but having Yuka here was making things... harder. She didn't dislike the girl, but she did give off a feeling Kaede did not like. "What about you Kouta? What have you been up to since last I saw you?"
Elsewhere
Doc looked around the empty canyon in which only he and Lopez remained.
"Damn. And I don't swear often." Doc complains. "To think after all I've done for them, they still abandoned me."
"Por favor. No quiero escuchar esto." Lopez begs.
"Yeah... yeah maybe I should forgive them, but I worry that I'm becoming too much of a pushover." He voices.
"Usted está." Lopez answers him.
"Yeah... perhaps you're right." Doc says. He then takes notice of something. "Say, Lopez are you growing a purple corn?"
"¿Qué? ¿Maíz morado?" Lopez questions. A flash of light, and they're gone.