Chapter 23: A Day in Cashew Village and Surprising Revelations
Pearl, Barit, Shurayuki, Rachel, Jade, and Beate were all Instant Transmitted to a partially tilled field. And in the middle of the field stood an average height yet muscular man with tan skin and black hair, wearing a green jacket with black undershirt and scarf with blue work pants and black boots and a pair of sunglasses, leaning on a hoe. The man was drinking from a canteen, then turned to see them, "Huh? Pearl? Barit? What's everyone doing here?" The man took his sunglasses off to show Kenshiro's amber colored eyes. "Kenshiro?" Pearl said, she hardly recognized him, "What happened?" "Oh yeah," Barit said, "I forgot, we collected the Dragon Balls, but couldn't think of anything we wanted, so we sat on them. Kenshiro used them to wish his skin back to his natural color." "Yeah," Kenshiro said, his skin was a few shades lighter than the soil he had tilled, "I figured Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't be thrilled to see their grandson come home purple." "Huh," Jade said as she looked at him, "Damn, you're not as unique anymore."
"I kind of like this," Pearl said as she gave him a small kiss. "Well, I just finished with this quarter of the field, might as well go in and introduce you to Grandma and Grandpa," Kenshiro said, and they headed to a barn first to put his hoe away before leading them to his grandparent's cabin. "Grandpa made this the fifth year of his and Grandma's marriage, wanted a big home for lots of kids," Kenshiro explained, the cabin was two stories and looked big enough for at least eight people to be comfortable. "What happened? Change their minds?" Jade asked. "There were…complications," Kenshiro said as they got to the door. He opened up and walked in, "Grandma! Grandpa! I'm done for today! How are you feeling?" From the second story a voice carried, "Kenshi-chan, I hear some more people. Is Tsubaki-chan here?" Kenshiro ran upstairs and everyone followed him.
"Are you alright Grandma?" Kenshiro went into a room and everyone waited outside. "Don't worry Kenshi-chan, we're alright, mostly. Just wanted to know who was here," a man's voice said, Pearl figured that was Kenshiro's Grandpa Jinbei. "Sorry Grandpa, some friends from Conton City arrived, I thought I'd introduce them. According to your clock, Tsubaki-sensei won't come for another fifteen minutes," Kenshiro said. "Let them in, let them in, I've been wanting to meet your friends," a woman's voice said, that was Kenshiro's Grandma Kamiki. "Alright, come on in guys," Kenshiro called from the room. Everyone went in, the room was traditionally Japanese aside from the doors, a small closet and dresser for clothes, various pictures from over the years, an ink painting of a farmer on the field, and laying on two futons was Kenshiro's grandparents.
Jinbei looked a lot like Kenshiro, he was a large tanned man with grey hair and a large moustache along with stubble from not shaving. From his broad shoulders and large hands, it was clear he was a man used to manual labor. Kamiki was smaller, despite her white hair her face wasn't too wrinkled with age, Pearl saw that Kenshiro had inherited his lips from her. "Ah," Kamiki said as she sat up a little, Kenshiro kneeling next to her to support her, "Yuki, it's so good to see you again. And you all must be…Barit-san, Rachel-san, Beate-san, Jade-san, and the girl that owns Kenshi-chan's heart, Pearl-san. Welcome, I'm sorry that we can't greet you more properly." "No no!" Everyone said, "Pardon us for intruding. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Everyone but Shurayuki bowed to the two elders. Jinbei laughed a little, that turned into a cough, and Kenshiro went to him to rub his back, then pulled a spittoon from the corner and Jinbei spat out some phlegm into the spittoon. Jinbei cleared his throat, "Heh! Kenshi-chan has told us all about you. It almost feels like you're already family. I hope the trip wasn't too hard."
"It was fine," Jade said, "Pearl just used Instant Transmission and POOF! Here we are." "Ah," Jinbei said, looking Pearl over, and Jinbei laughed again, "Kenshi-chan explained ki to us, how it makes one stronger, but I admit, I'd like to see a demonstration of it, if you don't mind, Pearl-san." "Um, ok, what would you like me to do, Jinbei-san?" "Just lift up the dresser a little, maybe move it closer to the window," Jinbei said. "Okay," Pearl said, and easily lifted up the dresser and walked two steps over, "Is this fine?" Kamiki and Jinbei looked awestruck and Jinbei said, "Right there is fine." Pearl gently put the dresser down and Jinbei said, "I'm starting to wish I had learned how to use ki. I would never have lost my belt if I could use it." "Jinbei-san, you were a martial artist?" Barit asked. Jinbei shook his head, "Yes, and no. I was Cashew Village's Champion Wrestler for fifteen years. Kenshi-chan, can you get the album?" "Sure," Kenshiro said, and went to the closet and pulled out a photo album.
"Page twelve I think," Jinbei said. "Thirteen," Kamiki corrected. Kenshiro turned to the appropriate page and showed everyone photos of a younger, clean shaven Jinbei having various men in wrestling holds and standing proud holding very decorative belts with shiny iron buckles. "Yep, back in the day they called me 'Big Grin Jin' cause I was always smiling as I won," Jinbei said with a big grin. Kenshiro showed everyone a few pages of Jinbei's wins, then turned to show a picture of Jinbei and Kamiki's wedding. In her prime Kamiki was a knockout, almost as beautiful as Shurayuki. "If you turn five pages you'll see some more interesting pictures," Kamiki said with a smile. "Oh no!" Kenshiro said as he blushed, but Beate had already snatched the photo album. Beate laughed her head off, "AWWW! Look at the little baby!" Pearl looked and saw that it was indeed Kenshiro as a baby. Shurayuki looked and said, "Aw! I remember that time, it took us forever to convince him baby humans don't come from eggs."
"Come on, I was three!" a red faced Kenshiro said. Pearl smiled as she looked at the various pictures, Kenshiro helping his grandparents run the farm, collecting eggs, getting water, training with Shurayuki, playing with other children, and wrestling with Jinbei. "I still remember when Kenshi-chan got me pinned, it was a beautiful technique, even in my prime I doubt I could have gotten out of it," Jinbei said, and Pearl saw a picture of Kenshiro, maybe fifteen or sixteen, pinning Jinbei down in the dirt. The trip down memory lane was interrupted with a knock from downstairs. Kenshiro checked the clock, "Right on time!" He quickly ran downstairs and Pearl heard, "Thank you so much Tsubaki! Hurry up, before I'm even more embarrassed!" Kenshiro arrived practically dragging a girl about Pearl's height with light red hair and blue eyes behind gold framed glasses and wearing a white lab coat carrying a large handbag.
"Alright, Kenshi-chan, I'm gonna need everyone out while I check on Grandma and Grandpa," the girl said. "Alright, thanks Tsubaki-sensei," Kenshiro said, and everyone left. "She called you Kenshi-chan too," Jade said as Tsubaki closed the door behind them. "Oh, right…" Kenshiro said. "She was his girlfriend before he left for Conton City," Shurayuki said with a smile. "Really?" Pearl quietly said. "I think she was his first in fact," Shurayuki said with a smile, leaving a blushing but not denying Kenshiro behind. "Really?" Beate said with a wicked smile. "Um- well- you see, there's…Yeah. We were fifteen, been dating for four months, there was a party, someone snuck in some of their Dad's moonshine… And we never had any," Kenshiro said, his whole body turning red as he quickly headed downstairs. Shurayuki laughed, "Ah those two, used to be inseparable. But, Kenshiro wanted adventure, and Tsubaki wanted to stay at the Village. Neither could compromise, so, they broke up. It was pretty amicable really," Shurayuki said as everyone followed Kenshiro downstairs. They heard the sound of a shower starting.
"Hmm, well then, we might as well sit and wait I think," Shurayuki said, they sat at the dinner table and Shurayuki got everyone some drinks while they waited for Kenshiro. Kenshiro emerged after fifteen minutes wearing a brown kimono and black hakama and socks. "Well, I'm going to talk with Tsubaki-sensei, see how they're doing. Make yourselves at home," Kenshiro said as he went back upstairs. "Well then," Beate said, "Tsubaki was certainly pretty hot." "BEATE!" Pearl said, blushing. "You might have some competition, you might not have noticed, but I'd say she's got quite the bod under that lab coat," Beate said. "And why are you checking out other girls?" Rachel asked Beate, her red eyes glowed slightly. "Just saying!" Beate said, "And Rachel tells me that glasses get Kenshiro's juices pumping too." "Alright," Rachel said, pinching Beate's cheek a little and pulling, "That's enough out of you." "OW OW OW! I'm sorry!" Beate yelled before Rachel let her go.
Shurayuki laughed, "Pearl, ignore her. I know my son, and I can promise you that he's a one woman kind of man. And you're his one woman." "I know," Pearl said, but knowing that Kenshiro was with his ex-girlfriend didn't exactly comfort her. Kenshiro came back down after two minutes and said, "Alright, Tsubaki-sensei needs an hour to properly treat them for tonight. Grandma suggested I show you all around while you're here." Kenshiro got on a pair of sandals and they all left the cabin, walking around Cashew Village. Cashew Village was mostly traditional and old fashioned, mostly farms with some blacksmith shops, general stores, and a hospital that they saw. A lot of people they passed were dressed in traditional kimono's, though a few were dressed in modern clothes, mostly younger adults like Kenshiro and Company and kids. A lot of people greeted them nicely as they passed, some stopped to talk to Kenshiro about various topics like who had married, who had a kid, and who had died.
"I like this place," Pearl said as they walked on, "I wouldn't mind living here." "Not me," Rachel said, "I prefer someplace with easy Wi-fi access." "It's not perfect," Shurayuki said as they walked, "But if you're a hard worker, people in Cashew Village accept you. Of course, they can also hold a grudge." Shurayuki motioned to some older folks, glaring at her specifically and spitting in her direction. "A lot of old timers still think I killed Shiro. The only reason they don't make much trouble is because Jinbei and Kamiki defended me, that's enough proof of innocence…for most," she said. "How many people live here?" Barit asked. "About two thousand people I think," Kenshiro said, doing some math in his head, "If what Gouda said is true we got about 2145 people living here now." As they walked they saw some kids with three teens playing football. The ball headed to Pearl and she stopped the ball with her foot and kicked it back.
"Thanks!" one girl said, then a boy said, "Wanna help?" "Hey! We don't need any more people!" another boy said. "Come on Oda, you got your big brothers helping, and my cousin can't keep up with them!" the girl said. "Someone needs to tag out," the second boy, Oda, said. "Alright, Mom wants me home anyway," the first boy said, then turned to Pearl, "Can you play?" Pearl smiled, "Sure thing." Kenshiro looked up to check the sun, "I say we got about twenty minutes to waste." The first boy, his name was Sosuke, left the field, and Pearl took his place. "Alright," Pearl said as her team huddled, "Who's winning?" "Oda's team, by about seven points. Mostly because of his brothers Daisuke and Jousuke. Think you can play goalie?" the girl asked. "Sure thing. The ball will never make it past me," Pearl said with a smile. "Alright, BREAK!" the girl said, and Pearl took her position as the goalie.
The game continued, and Pearl saw that her team was actually better, skill wise, but the kids didn't have a chance against the older teen's strength. One of the teen brothers kicked the ball to the goal, and Pearl quickly blocked it, letting her team get the ball and the girl who invited Pearl managed to get a goal in. That was how the rest of the game went, with Pearl acting as the goalie Oda's team never scored another point, while the team Pearl joined scored point after point. For someone used to fighting at near supersonic speed, defending the goal was child's play. By the time the twenty minutes were up, one of the boys in Pearl's team got in one last goal to make the score even. "ODA! Daisuke! Jousuke! Time for Dinner!" a woman came calling. "OKAY!" Oda said. "Alright, we're even this time, Sakura, but next time, you won't have that weird grey girl helping!" The girl, Sakura, only cockily smiled and said, "Next time your brothers won't be here to help."
Oda blushed, but his older brothers and he left the field. Sakura turned to Pearl and said, "Thanks for helping Onee-san." "Anytime, Sakura-chan," Pearl said, "You can call me Pearl." "Thanks again, Pearl," Sakura said. Pearl waved goodbye and everyone went back on their way. After five minutes Pearl realized that they were going in a circle to head back to Jinbei and Kamiki's house. Shurayuki was looking very happy as they went. They passed a field of flowers, and Shurayuki stopped, and laid down on some purple irises. "Mom?" Kenshiro said. Shurayuki looked at him, Pearl never saw her look happier, yet sad at the same time. "I'm sorry, I'm just…remembering. This field here, this was where Shiro and I first made love. It was our wedding night, and we were on the way to our house," Shurayuki said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the irises scent, "He was the only man I knew who was willing to wait for me. And that night, I couldn't wait anymore. We made love for at least two hours, before we made our way to our home. And the next morning, I knew that I would have his child."
All the girls looked misty eyed as Jade said, "That's so romantic!" Even Kenshiro wasn't embarrassed, he just stood there and saw as his Mom enjoyed the memory. After ten minutes Shurayuki stood back up, and they finished their journey back to Kamiki and Jinbei's house. They smelled the food cooking, and went in to see Tsubaki was already serving Jinbei and Kamiki. "There you are!" she said, "I was about to call you." Pearl saw that Kamiki and Jinbei were eating brown rice with tofu and green tea. "Help yourself, I made plenty for everyone," Tsubaki said, and everyone made their plates, and set their food down. "Hold on," Kenshiro said, he went to what looked like a cupboard and opened it up. Inside was a shrine to Shiro, showing a picture of him with Shurayuki, and baby Kenshiro. Pearl stood beside Kenshiro and prayed with him before Kenshiro left a small bowl of rice at the shrine. Kenshiro clapped his hands and rang the bell in the shrine, then he and Pearl sat down at the table with everyone else.
"So then, Pearl-san, what has been going on in Conton City since Kenshi-chan left?" Kamiki asked while they ate. "A lot of things actually," Pearl said, then explained about Bage, June, the Himuras, her mission protecting the Timeline and warpers in Conton City. "My, you certainly have your work cut out for you," Jinbei said. "I can handle it," Pearl said, grasping her bicep, "Kenshiro helped train me well. And Shurayuki is also training me, I'm ready for almost anything!" Kamiki chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Indeed, Kenshi-chan told us that you were one of the most capable girls he ever met." Kenshiro blushed a little and focused on eating his rice and tofu as fast as humanly possible. In time dinner was over and Tsubaki said, "Well, Jinbei-san and Kamiki-san are dealing with the Cashew Flu just fine. Just keep them on their diet, and call me if anything changes." "Thanks again, Tsubaki-sensei," Kenshiro said as he opened the door for her. "For you, Kenshi-chan, I'm always ready to help," Tsubaki said with a wink, and left.
"Well, I think we should get going too," Barit said. "Yeah," Rachel agreed. "Thank you for your hospitality," everyone said to Jinbei and Kamiki. Jinbei and Kamiki stood up, with help from Kenshiro, and bowed back, "Please come anytime." With that, Pearl, Jade, Rachel, Beate, Barit, and Shurayuki all left the cabin, grabbed Pearl's shoulders, and she used Instant Transmission to bring them back to Conton City.
(Author's Note: The Following is just the basics. To get the full story, read Ryo vs. the Xenoverse Chapter 27: Birth of the X Fighters! Part 1)
As soon as they arrived back in Conton City, things got crazy! June used her Warper's Will to speed up her pregnancy, giving birth to a girl and boy. Then, Bage was made the twins' legal guardian, and revealed that he was the second cousin to Taoretta von Satsu, and his hair was changed to red. Taoretta's cousin Shinmei tried to kill the twins, only for Taoretta to stop her and June to finish her off. And apparently Yuu was killing shinobi in their world. All of this in only a few hours.
Once Taoretta left, Pearl looked at June, her babies, and Bage. "Things are getting too dangerous now. We really need to get even stronger," Pearl said. Rachel looked angry, "Yuu was here! That bastard! And I can't face him like this!" Then Rachel looked at June, "Tell me the secret! Make me a warper!" "WHAT!?" everyone yelled at Rachel. "You heard me. We need more warpers, shit is going down, and we need all the power we can get. Make me a warper, so I can level the playing field a little," Rachel said. "I can't," June said, "Or, I shouldn't. Someone more experienced should do that." "Then take me to them," Rachel said. June shook her head, "Alright, but don't blame me if you lose your sanity." With that, June created a portal and gave her babies to Bage before saying, "Anyone that wants to come, come." Rachel, Beate, and Shurayuki went in, no one else wanted to go. June went into the portal, and it closed behind her. "Man," Pearl said, "So much is happening. We need to rest now, then tomorrow, we need to train even harder than before." "Right," everyone agreed.
Pearl and Barit went back to their apartment, changed into their pajamas, and headed to bed.
(An Unknown Hellsing World)
The vampire priest smiled at the village. So many victims for him. Then, a portal opened in front of him, and a tall man with blue skin and red hair walked out. The man had a fang filled smile. "What kind of vampire are you?" the vampire priest asked. "One you never met," the blue vampire said, as he grabbed the fake priest. The vampire screamed as he felt himself being…dissolved, absorbed into the blue vampire. When Yuu Lupei was done, he smiled, "Alright, that cured me. Now, to find those Millennium guys." Yuu looked at the village and smiled, he wanted to have some fun with this new and improved vampire power.
Author's Note: After this I'm keeping the crossovers to a minimum. No more explicit crossovers after this.