Faith's mind was totally empty when she exited the bar and started walking quickly along the street in the direction of the lake. A few blocks down she spotted another bar and slipped inside. She found an empty booth and sat down heavily on the green, leather-padded bench.
Another 'get some, get gone' encounter, like so many in her past – the like of which she thought she had forsworn for good. All in all, she was feeling... out of herself. It had been her imagination, a vivid recollection, that had sent her over the edge. She didn't feel any particular pangs of conscience – she wasn't in a relationship so she was free to fuck whoever she wanted. But she had never before felt such a vivid recollection mid-fuck – almost like a lucid wet dream. She... she really missed Rowan, and she had never missed anyone like that before. Diane, sure, but that was totally different.
Then, like a replay from earlier, a foaming pint was suddenly set on the table in front of her.
"Compliments of the lady at the bar," the waitress told her before Faith could even open her mouth.
When she turned to look, Miyoko was leaning casually against the bar desk with a pint of her own in her hand.
Faith couldn't take her eyes off the Japanese woman as she walked gracefully to her table. She was wearing faded, light-blue jeans that accentuated her long and slender legs, a white button-down shirt and a dark-blue, casual jacket over it.
"May I join you, Faith?" she asked, stopping to stand by the table. "I came looking for you when Whistler-san called us."
"How did you find me?" Faith asked in bafflement.
"He told us where you two had parted ways, so it was only logical to check the nearest bar. I entered just as you were heading for the restroom," Miyoko explained with a small smile caressing her lips. "You didn't notice me when you came... out of there, so I followed you here. Well, may I join you?"
Several responses and the paths leading forward from each flashed through Faith's mind in a microsecond.
"I'd like that, Cat-Hands. I'd like that very much," Faith finally answered and indicated the seat opposite her.
They remained silent for maybe a minute, occasionally catching each other's eyes when they thought the other wasn't looking, sipping from their pints every now and then.
Finally, Miyoko broke the silence. "You never answered my question earlier today."
"Sorry... what?" Faith blinked.
"Who's Rowan?" Miyoko reminded her and took another sip.
"Whoa, wait! I think I covered that already," Faith responded defensively. "He's a demon, used to live in NZ, sort of blew up this place, stayed in a limbo, came to Sunnydale, became a Scooby, helped prevent an Apocalypse. Story, end of."
"That's what you said, Faith, and that's maybe what he is. But who is he? You called him 'Bright Eyes'."
"I-I don't...," Faith started. She didn't want to go back to that anymore tonight.
"Are you two... involved?" Miyoko pressed on.
Faith had had enough and was just about to stand up to leave, when Miyoko was suddenly sitting next to her with a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her down to sit again.
"Suwatte kudasai," Miyoko requested quietly but firmly, holding Faith in place.
With her Slayer strength Faith could have broken free without any trouble but something held her in place. Miyoko had been nothing but friendly and openly curious about her, in a totally innocent way. Faith knew she wasn't the most tactful person in the world but the fleeting thought of actually physically hurting the young woman beside her sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"I like to consider you as a friend, Faith, so please, don't," Miyoko continued in a quiet voice that still held a hint of steel in it.
Faith was still tense but allowed herself to relax enough to actually sit down on her seat. Miyoko's grip on her shoulder softened and she thought she could feel a feather-like caress on her cheek before Miyoko removed her hand completely. Despite still being a bit beside herself, she almost unconsciously decided to up the ante a bit and turned slightly towards Miyoko so that her left leg lay on seat between them, bent at the knee and the ankle under her other leg. And, sure enough, the Japanese woman's eyes flicked briefly down to her exposed crotch. Her usual smirk was still half-formed when Miyoko surprised her and turned the stakes around.
"Yes, I like girls that way, Faith," Miyoko nodded and raised her pint to her lips. "And, for the record, your attempt at subtlety is abysmally blatant. The blood of several generations of geisha running through these veins is grimacing at such vulgarity."
"Say what?" Faith gaped but didn't alter her posture.
"Faith, when I said I was going to be your instructor, what was your first thought?"
"Dunno... Sparring, some ninja stuff, I guess," Faith shrugged, feeling slightly off-balance. "Seeing as you seem to be one, yeah?"
"That too, Faith," Miyoko nodded. "I come from a long line of hereditary shinobi and kunoichi, most of the latter having being geisha as well. But that's not all of it."
"No? Then what the fuck is it?"
"You're constantly wearing a mask, Faith, a mask you're unable to take off," Miyoko stated matter-of-factly, looking straight into Faith's eyes. "Or, if you think you are, you're only unveiling another mask. Where underneath it all is the real Faith, the real you?"
"You... why...?" Faith started, feeling totally off-balance.
"Faith?" Miyoko purred, making Faith's insides feel like mush. If she had thought her husky voice was irresistibly sexy, just hearing her name said like this put all her previous attempts to shame.
"Yeah?" Faith breathed weakly.
"Who's Rowan?"
"He's mine and I'm his," Faith answered basically on autopilot. It was the plain truth, with nothing added or left out.
"Thank you, Faith," Miyoko whispered, leaned in and kissed her.
"Miyoko," Faith moaned weakly as their lips finally separated after a minute of Miyoko's tongue exploring her mouth.
"Yes, Faith-chan?" Miyoko whispered back. Faith wasn't too far gone not to recognize the subtle addition of the endearment.
"What does all this mean?" Faith asked and leaned back a little.
"Faith," Miyoko answered, once again serious. "If I were to ask, 'what do you think "what does all this mean", means,' you would counter it with another recursion, and we would be here all night trying to one-up each other. So, I will be straight with you." She raised her hand and laid it over Faith's heart. "I'm not asking for this. I know it doesn't belong to me." She slid her hand slowly lower, making Faith's breath hitch, until Miyoko was lightly cupping her crotch over the jeans. "But this? Can you make me want it? Can you keep me wanting it with just a fleeting promise?"
Faith was stupefied. No one had ever gotten so subtly, so effortlessly under her skin. 'I'm not going to cry,' she told herself. 'The other shoe, it's gonna drop any second now,' she thought. 'The rest of the guys are probably hiding somewhere, ready to jump in and have a hearty laugh at the expense of the dumb Slayer who let herself believe...'
'No!' another voice told her. 'He never made fun of your feelings... He made his perfectly clear... The Scoobies took you seriously and trusted you once the deception was over... Angel believed you although he had no real reason to... Pauline and the guys welcomed you with open arms and made you welcome... Maybe..."
"Maybe what, Faith?" Miyoko asked with her hand now slowly sliding up and down Faith's thigh. Faith had no idea how much of it she had said aloud.
"Miyoko...," she started, licking her lips nervously. "Maybe... maybe the other shoe ain't gonna drop after all."
"Now you're talking, Sureiyā-san," Miyoko smiled and kissed her again. "Make no mistake, though. When it's the time, I will be harsh with you, a Sureiyā shouldn't accept anything less. Dr Mahuta-sensei will still have you in the mornings for your kōkō courses and the preparation for the daigaku exams. In the afternoons I will... spar with you and train you. But... when the time is right, I can show you the geisha side of me."
Faith had no idea what Miyoko meant by "daigaku exams". She knew kōkō was the equivalent of the high school in the States and what Pauline had her working towards was perhaps the equivalent of a GED.
When Faith opened her mouth, Miyoko anticipated it and held her hand up.
"There will be sex, Faith, if that's what you want, but you have to show me you really mean it. You have to make me want you, keep me wanting you. And that's not all. There can be more, much more."
"More?" Faith asked enthusiastically. She would have been satisfied with just sex whatever getting it required. She was Faith, after all.
"Sleepovers," Miyoko deadpanned with a straight face.
"Say, what now?" Faith gasped. "Like braiding each other's hair and painting...," she grimaced.
"Movies with popcorn and beer."
"Oh, God," Faith groaned. "B and Red have this Brat Pack fixation..."
"Kurosawa-sensei..."
"Now you're talking."
"Kobayashi-sensei and, of course... Miyazaki-sensei and Takahata-sensei."
"Miyoko...?"
"Yes, Faith-chan?"
"Stop talking...," Faith breathed and leaned in for a kiss.
Xander was driving slowly due west along Miles Avenue with the map spread open on his lap. Then he spotted it – Calvary Cemetery. He took a sideways glance at the light crossbow and wooden cross next to him on the front seat. He was ready. "Slayer base, this is Nighthawk. Entry point in sight, over," he murmured.
The cemetery was much larger than any of those back home and it had actual driveways criss-crossing it. With a stake held loosely in his hand, he took the first path to his left and started patrolling. "Slayer base, this is Nighthawk. Proceeding to sector Three Niner, over."
The area was quiet and the early night weather pleasantly warm. Keeping one part of his mind on alert, he let another slide into a reminiscing mode. Buffy and Faith, slaying together – the two perfect weapons just as Rowan had so pointedly demonstrated that one unforgettable day. Willow, the shy nerd, sad over a broken crayon, re-discovering herself through magic. Rowan himself, perhaps with Angel – and that grudgingly – were practically the epitomes of deadly male fighting machinery. He had once said "no" to Rowan's sincere request for him to join his friend in the beginners' jujitsu class. He knew he should know the necessary moves, but his body just didn't follow his head in this. He had a military mind without a soldier's body.
The Slayers were naturally in a class of their own, but, again on the male side, which was easier for him to compare himself to, Angel and Rowan just projected this kind of effortless self-confidence in their skills, evident in their every graceful move, that no amount of training could ever make him equal that. Hence the decision to not give himself any false hope on that front.
There was a scream in the distance and he focused again. He started to run, not recklessly fast, but enough to be still able to be aware of his surroundings. He didn't want to find himself in a trap or ambushed.
He saw a familiar, night-time cemetery scene – a dark figure leaning over a semi-limp victim. "Slayer base, this is Nighthawk. Tango spotted, over," he muttered and switched the crossbow's safety off.
Just as he came within ten yards of the scene, the vampire's backside started suddenly smoking in two spots and he let go of his victim with a painful roar. As Xander looked in astonishment, the smoking spread until there was a "poof" and a shower of dust. Rushing in he switched his weapon's safety back on and kneeled over the fainted young woman. He quickly checked her pulse which was strong. Her neck appeared to be hole-less.
Then he heard a loudly whispered, "shoot him!" and felt two pinpricks in his back. Getting back to his feet he turned around and immediately felt two identical pinpricks in his stomach. Looking down he saw two tranq darts protruding from both sides of his bellybutton.
"Hey!" he shouted, pulled the darts out and threw them aside. Brushing along his back, he felt two more loosen and drop to the ground. He was expecting to fall down any second but, surprisingly, nothing happened. He heard confused whispers and mutters from somewhere in the shadows in front of him. While he was still gathering his bearings, he heard the sound of running feet and then, when he could finally assess the situation, saw two small wooden crosses held an inch away from his face.