Priest-Kings on a bike, it has been nearly six months since I updated. A thousand apologies for the wait everyone.
Life has been just nuts and this took a while but this chapter lays a lot of groundwork for the story going forward. For those of you waiting, Asuka will be appearing next chapter and entering the story proper after that.
Now please sit back and relax, with a cup of wine and a nice kajira if it suits you, and enjoy chapter five of Rebuild: A Warrior From A (Counter) Earth!
And if you like it, please remember to leave a review and follow the story!
CERN, Switzerland - 1998
Yui Ikari's heels clicked against the pavement. Stocking clad legs beneath her dark wool pencil skirt carried her and her white coat fluttered in the breeze. The folders and binders held against her chest hid the plunging neckline of her blouse, but that was quite alright. It did nothing to put off the attention of the men around her.
It had been five years this next month since she returned to Earth, her foreign 'husband' at her side. At least he could already speak English, though he was having a devil of a time with Japanese.
Father had been understanding, if shocked to see his daughter return after a decade missing and not looking a day older. And married even.
Now she once again walked her homeworld as a woman, a FREE woman, of Earth. She only served one man now, and as his wife it was the very least she could do after dragging him halfway across the solar system. She could wear what she liked for no other reason than her own enjoyment. Yui still enjoyed the attention of men, but it was her choice to now. Her choice, yes that was the important part.
The men around her were hardly the kind for her to find threatening, so their attention was only a petty amusement. Not a one was the equal or even rival to Gendo. They were intellectuals, scientists, tinkerers. Scribes they would be called back on Gor. Even among the Gorean scribes they would be a somewhat scrawny lot though. A soft world makes soft people.
Passing another campus building, Yui saw a quite different man step around the next corner. He was tall, over two meters in fact. His jacket over his red cable knit sweater made his shoulders look enormously broad and even so covered she could see how thick and powerful his limbs were. His hair looked a sandy blond, like red bleached by the sun.
Now that sort of man would not be unusual or unwelcome, Yui thought as her tongue passed over her rouged lips. In fact he did not look too different from a friend of Gendo's from his pirate days. Not too different at all…
Yui started walking faster and looked to the other side of the street. It was not him, it could not be him, but some part of her shouted over logic, urging her to get moving NOW!
He nodded his head towards her as they passed but nothing more. Yui turned the corner and pushed her back up against the brick wall of the building. Breath she had not realized she was holding escaped her lips. Yui Ikari looked to the grey sky. A coincidence and nothing more, that was all it was.
Yui closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself. She was ready to continue now and pushing away from the wall when the voice of an Englishman reached her ears.
"Excuse me, would you be Yui?"
Yui Ikari opened her eyes. He stood before her, as big and as true as the sky. The sick bastard was smiling, he even passed for looking friendly.
"Yui, it is you! I could never forget those eyes. My goodness it must be nearly six years since I last saw you! How are you keeping? And what of Gendo, I heard he left with you?"
"T-t-ta…" Yui stammered over quivering lips. It was him. What was he doing here?!
Yui dropped her papers, her manicure ruined as her fingers dug at the wall behind her for escape.
"Tarl…"
"Yes, Tarl Cabot. Yui, are you quite alright?"
Tokyo-3 - The Present
Despite his misgivings about having to attend this academy, Shinji was indeed learning something new. His friends Toji and Kensuke had invited him along for a vigorous Earth game called basketball.
Shinji had found in his time traveling with Tarl that ball games were something of a constant. In fact he was quite sure that no matter where you go, you will find men and boys doing something with a ball. Or lacking a ball but with some violence nearby, a head. Sometimes they throw it, sometimes they kick it. It must pass through an arch, or over a line, or touch a tree. In all their variations they were simple and easy to join, and join Shinji had. He had played ball with children to whom he could not even communicate but for the game and joyful cheering.
Basketball was just another ball game but yet so different. The strategy, the scoring zones, the techniques of 'dribbling', of which Shinji himself could barely perform the most basic… and the banter. 'Trash talk' his friends called it.
"Well come on new kid. You just going to stand there? Come on, do something!" The boy blocking his way to the basket, 'screening' him as it was known, was taunting. Not very well, but it did succeed in being annoying. "I took less time to shoot last night with your mom."
Perhaps it was better not being able to communicate with the opposing players.
"Your mother sold for two bits"
"Huh?" The boy stopped for a moment in confusion, or so Shinji thought. Shinji threw the ball left, towards Toji, but his opponent merely snatched it from the air and the game turned.
"Hey man!" Toji caught his attention as they transitioned to defense on the half court. "It was a good throw, good throw, just bad luck. Hustle on the defense."
The midday lunch period was coming to an end, so the game was ended. Shinji did not take the loss well.
"Good game man!" The boy who had faced him said, extending his hand to shake. Even as alien as he was to this place and it to him, Shinji knew the right thing to do. Which was also, and more importantly, the honorable thing to do.
Shinji turned away with a snarl. "I need not your pity."
Shinji walked away from the school towards the perimeter fence. Perhaps he would just go home, or walk the streets for a while. He was not sure what he meant to do. Shinji's slouched as he walked. He was angry, though wrath at his opponent was a flimsy lie. He was angry at himself for that shameful reaction. His insults had been in jest, just a mind game to take advantage and nothing more. That earthling had done the honorable thing and sought his hand after the game.
Some warrior he was to act so small.
"Shinji!" A familiar but unexpected voice called out. Lost in his own thoughts, Shinji had not looked upon what was right in front of him.
"Lady Maya?" Was all he could manage to respond, confused as he was. What was she doing here? Was something wrong? Had there been an emergency would he have not been contacted another way?
"Hey, are you busy?" She asked.
"Um, well, no… I mean classes will resume soon. Er, is something wrong?" Shinji responded, stumbling through his words.
"Oh no no, I had some time open up today and I was wondering if now would be a good time to talk."
"To… talk?"
"Remember? Part of my job is to keep up with you and do what I can to help you integrate. So I want to meet up regularly to just talk."
"Ah, yes." Shinji said as the school bell began to ring.
"So, would now be a good time? I won't delay you if you want to get back to class."
"No." He said then paused. "No Lady Maya, I think a break from school is just what I need…"
"So, how is school going?"
They had walked to a nearby tower. Within the foyer of metal and glass was an atrium thick with tropical plants, central to which was metal table and chairs surrounded by green. Maya told him that she had begun to research his homeworld and learned his people had a love for nature. She thought he would appreciate it and he did.
"Going, Lady Maya? I've not seen it move."
"Sorry, an idiom. How are you finding it?"
"It is… dissimilar from what I am accustomed to."
"Could you tell me how so?"
"Well, I have discussed this with the captain as well but schooling here is very… I am trying to find the best word but all I can think of is unfocused, I think that is right."
"General as opposed to specialized?"
"Yes! Yes that is it, thank you Lady Maya."
"Okay. Would you like to tell me about how a day at school in Ko-Ro-Ba is different from Tokyo-3?"
"Well at my academy we slept in barracks together, males only of course. At the point at which I left I was quite close to graduating and testing for citizenship so this is more advanced. Girls and boys are taught together when they are younger but for the warriors our education quickly diverges. At dawn we rose, exercised with aerobics and gymnastics, ate together, drilled in formation, then to whatever studies we were assigned for the day. Because I am literate these later studies included command, tactics, strategy, logistics, that sort of thing." Shinji said, leaving out the espionage, cyphers, subversion, sapping, and the many things Tarl liked to laugh and call 'ungentlemanly warfare'. "In the evening we had time to play games or study on our own. After that we were required to be rested and present in the morning but as nominal adults we had the run of the city."
"Oh…" Maya said, sitting up so straight it looked to Shinji like she was leaning away from him. "I'm sorry I had no idea. That must have been quite the culture shock to you. At your age you were considered an adult then?"
"As I said, nominally. None of us had sat the examination to become citizens and I think most would still consider us simply older children."
"I think I understand. Not only is school different but you've been pulled back two years in a way. What you describe would not be unusual for an eighteen year old serving in the military, which I suppose is an accurate description of what you were doing."
"I would agree."
"Okay, I am going to make a note to talk to Captain Katsuragi. Let me know if I am wrong but I think adjusting your curfew to provide for morning exercises and free time in the evening would make you more comfortable."
"Er… I am under a curfew?"
"Uh, yes. I mean you haven't tried to push or disobey the curfew. I thought you knew."
"Lady Maya, I haven't gone anywhere besides where I was ordered." Not totally truthful but if she did not know Shinji was not about to make it known. "I am a warrior under direct orders from my commanding officer."
"Oh. I… suppose that makes sense." Maya said, feeling less than clever about not considering it this way before. He was not a kid, he was a soldier. "I don't think anyone will object if you would like those changes."
"I would be most appreciative, my lady."
"Great. Moving on, I wanted to ask you what do you remember, if anything, about Earth before you went to Gor?"
"Honestly, very little. I don't think I remember anything specific, more impressions. I recognized my father's face but not who he was. I remember my mother but not what she looked like so much as… what is the word, I do not know… I remember her voice, I remember the feeling of being with her, little bits of songs she sang me. To be truthful, I really thought of Tarl Cabot as the father I never had until quite recently. He told others I was his son in several situations and his father recognized me as his grandson. It was actually quite the burden to live up to!"
"Why is that?"
"Tarl is quite well known, he has done a great many things. His father, Matthew Cabot, is the leader of my city."
"The…" Maya said, flipping through her notes. "oobar?"
"Uh, no." Shinji said, shaking his head.
"A ubar…" He continued, pronouncing the word as you-bar. "...is an elected war chief. It can also mean like a warrior king who has taken and holds power through military strength. As I understand it, the commander fits the former definition. Grandfather is chief administrator, though he was ubar at one time. Tarl said the earth equivalent would be a president, though not a prime minister. He was specifically appointed himself, not as leader of a political faction."
"Okay. Would you like to tell me about what you liked to do in your free time?"
Shinji shrugged. "What any man in my position does I suppose. Most nights I read and sometimes we all went to the tavern together."
Maya had begun some research into this Gor place. She did NOT want to talk about the taverns.
"What sort of things do you like to read?"
"Oh that which would be expected. The epics, military histories, manuals of combat and strategy. Tarl sometimes had some books from Earth for me. I have read The Book of The Five Rings, which I understand is native to this land. Though I read it in English of course. An interesting thesis, though I think it does concur with something a teacher of mine once said. 'There are only so many ways to strike a man.'"
"You know Shinji, there is more to life than fighting." Maya said, but the boy just shook his head.
"For the builder, the baker, and the candlestick maker perhaps, but not for a warrior. We are scholars of conflict Lady Maya, it colors our world."
"That reminds me, how are your Japanese studies coming along?"
Shinji shrugged his head below his shoulders and looked to his left, jaw clenched in an awkward frown. It was a ridiculous overreaction and Maya found herself giggling.
"Perhaps not as well as I would like."
"Hm, well in that case I will see how I can help. Moving on, I wanted to ask about what your earliest memories are…"
It was the next day and Shinji was back at school. Maya had been true to her word and this morning he had arisen with the dawn for exercises and brief run in the cool morning air. There had only been a small disagreement on the matter between himself and Captain Katsuragi but it was quickly cleared up. It had not come up in conversation previously that even by oneself it was frowned upon to do such things in the nude here. Such an odd place.
"Summer uniforms man." Kensuke said, looking out at the female students of the school. He was seated, along with Shinji, Toji, and Rei, beneath a tree on the far side of the athletic fields from the school building. It was lunch. There had not been a recent change in uniform, in fact it was rare to see anything but summer uniforms in the seemingly endless hot seasons of post-impact Japan.
"I know right." Toji said, his eyes on Hikari. She was about an errand before joining them to eat. Ever since the battle the week before, Toji had looked at his girlfriend in a new way. He'd of course always been attracted to her, now it spoke to a deeper, more atavistic part of him. Toji exhaled through clenched teeth then licked his lip as he watched her, her chest pressed up against the thin white shirt of the school's summer uniform. The vision flashed through his mind again, of taking her, possessing her. Yeah...
"Meh."
Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida snapped around to look at Shinji, who was reclining, seated on the ground with his back against a tree. Rei sat beside him, knees together on the ground. All wore the school's warm weather uniform, a white short sleeve shirt, or blouse in Rei's case, without a jacket.
"Dude, well known fact that summer uniforms are hot." Kensuke said, as though the young gorean were refuting gravity.
"An opinion, and one I cannot agree with."
The conversation was interrupted momentarily as Sakura Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki joined them, Hikari sitting next to Toji and Sakura sitting down beside her. Shinji explained, against insisting gestures from Toji and Kensuke, what they had been speaking of and his opinion on the matter.
"Take for example Lady Rei here." Shinji said. "If I may beg your favor, would you stand and suffer a small indignity for me? I promise you nothing untoward, just an unflattering comparison."
"Yes." She said and rose to her feet in a smooth, machine-like, arc. She stood straight, her feet together, her hands loose at her sides and her shoulders neither slouched nor back, just straight. Shinji stood as well, dusting off his trousers.
"Now, and tell me if you feel uncomfortable…" He said, placing his hands on her shoulder blades and gently pressing his thumbs to her back. "Put your shoulders back, yes like that…"
Rei shivered a little as his left hand slid down her back, over her skirt and coming to rest on the bare skin of her thigh just beneath the hem.
"And just this leg, lift your foot up on your toes, knee bent…" he continued, gently pulling her hands behind her back. "And just cross your wrists, like that. Perfect, thank you."
Rei knew, on a conscious level, that she was fully clothed to an acceptable standard in her situation. However, with him posing her like this certain feelings were making themselves known, feeling which she normally kept to herself in her apartment, alone in front of the mirror. She felt exposed, on display. It was… not unpleasant.
"Now look at her. I know you believe this uniform has a certain charm, but it is drab, boring, utilitarian in nature. However, can you now deny the beauty of the girl before you?"
Rei felt an intense heat rise in her cheeks.
"Wow…. yeah, I mean no."
"Dude…" Kensuke added. To his credit, he managed not to add his private thought of 'Ayanami has nice tits'.
Hikari said nothing, even as she shifted on her knees, her thighs rubbing together.
"Oh wow Ayanami, you're really pretty." Sakura said, hands held together in front of her face.
"This is how a girl might stand on a block to be sold where I am from." Shinji concluded, stepping back back from her.
Rei gasped sharply as a vision came to her. She was not standing in the school yard, she was on a platform in front of many men, all shouting, all bidding, all wanting… her.
"Clothing matters far less than carriage." he added with finality before sitting down once more.
When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, they bid farewell to Sakura, and the high schoolers started off for the school building. Shinji made to follow until a small, tight, hand caught him by the elbow.
"Ikari." Rei said softly and he turned to face her.
"Lady Rei, you wish to speak?"
"Aye."
"Well I am happy to oblige, though only if you will honor my request to use my given name. Ikari is a name I have only recently come to and it is not familiar to me, as I've said."
"I will do that… Shinji. May I ask a question?"
"Most certainly, and my thanks."
"Are slaves... I mean Kajira, treated well?"
"Some. It depends on many things but most of all the master and what sort of man he is."
"And you?"
"Pardon?"
"What sort of man are you? How would you treat a slave?"
"Well m'lady, that would depend on the slave. Was there a particular sort of girl you had in mind?" Shinji replied, much to her consternation. He knew why she asked, why did he play that he did not? It dawned on Rei that play was exactly what it was. He was playing with her as a predator might prey… or for that matter as a man might play with his woman. Yet knowing this did nothing to ease her own mind.
"What of… What about…" She tried to say it, but the words caught in her throat. Rei reached up and hooked her finger over the knot of her school tie, a recently acquired nervous habit.
"Hm?"
"... This one?"
"Hmmmm? What was that m'lady?"
"How would you treat this girl if she were a slave?"
"Well that is an interesting question Lady Rei." Shinji said, touching his finger to his chin. "Hmmmm… you know…"
"Yes?"
"I shall have to consider it. We shall be late to class if we dally further and I am under strict orders not to be so."
Twas the night of the celebratory dinner and Toji was somewhat worried. Dad was happy.
Now there was nothing worrisome about that in and of itself, but he was happy in a particularly chipper fashion and that meant dad was pleased with himself and THAT rarely meant anything good for Toji. Toji was keeping an eye on his father best he could as he got the rest of the house ready for the party.
They were carrying out a conversation in bursts as Toji passed the door to the kitchen.
"And you gave out all the invitations?"
"Yes, sir." Toji replied, rolling his eyes only because his father was looking the other way.
"Including Kensuke?"
"Yes, sir." Toji said, a chair in each hand. "He'll be here pretty quick I think."
"And Miss Horaki?"
"Yes dad, I gave the invitations to Kensuke, and to Hikari, and to Shinji, and to Ayanami cause Shinji asked if she could come. I gave them all out because I can remember to do four things, come on."
"I was just checking. And don't you roll your eyes at me! Now have you figured out how you are going to tell her?"
"YES, DAD!"
The doorbell rang.
"Toji, the door."
"Yeah yeah I heard. I'll get it."
"No no, wait, get that pan out of the oven, I'll get it." His father said, stepping in front of and around his son as Toji donned oven mitts.
"Miss Horaki, always a pleasure to receive you." Sora said, taking the towel from his shoulder and wiping his hand before extending it to the young lady, still in her school uniform.
"And I always feel very welcome, Mr. Suzuhara."
"Oh call me…" Sora stopped himself and looked to his son coming from the kitchen, who nodded. "Well, uh, I think my good son has something he would like to speak to you about so why don't you two head upstairs. There we go."
"Yeah, um, come on, we can talk in my room."
"Um… okay."
Once they were up the stairs in Toji's room with the door closed, Hikari spoke again.
"Toji, what's this all about?"
"Bae… I need to tell you something."
"Okay?"
"So, my family, uh, well you know we've always been kinda different, right?"
"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with being different. Toji, I don't care if Kodama and dad don't like you."
"I know, I know. I don't care about them either… I care about what you think though and-" Toji stopped, his gaze aside as he considered his words. "And I'm worried you won't like me after I tell you what I need to tell you. But I got to be honest with you."
"Alright."
"So promise you won't freak out, okay?"
"Toji, just tell me!" Hikari said, giggling nervously. "Its me, Hikari! I love you, Toji Suzuhara, nothing is going to change that. Even if you say you're all space aliens and show me your antenna or something."
"Uh, so we don't have antenna…" Toji said, trying to smile through the awkward moment.
"Oh, I had to open my mouth." Hikari slapped her forehead. "Where are you from… dear lord, Shinji wasn't kidding about being from another planet, was he?"
Toji shook his head.
"And you are too?"
"Well, Grandpa is, but my mom and dad were both in what's called an enclave. They're like, um, immigrant communities."
"And your dad raised you that way too?"
"Yeah."
"O-okay." HIkari said, nodding and still processing all this. "So, I don't know anything about where you all are from, so I mean…"
"I'll tell you all about it, bae. Dinner tonight is going to be traditional for the homeworld, since it's for Shinji and me. And Ken too, he might as well be one of us after what happened."
"So, you aren't going to try and carry me off to repopulate your planet or anything, right?"
Toji laughed. "No no, nothing like that. Actually women get a lot of respect. No matter what they say to a guy he is obliged to take it. If a man and a woman are from the same place and she is in trouble he should treat her like she was his own sister. Especially high caste women like… well like you would be if we… y'know."
"Got mar-" Hikari began before Toji lunged forward, clapping his hand over her mouth.
"Don't say it." Toji whispered, eyes furtively scanning his room. "They could be listening."
Hikari pulled his hand from her mouth by the wrist. "What are you talking about, who?"
"Dad and gramps. You don't know. I mean you know they like you, but you don't know what happens when you aren't here. If they even think we would both be okay with it they would drag us down to city hall tomorrow."
"So you don't want to…?"
"No no no, babe, I do, I just don't think we should y'know right now, y'know? We should finish school, get jobs, all that stuff. Plus with what is going on, I mean I would feel awful if your wedding got ruined by a giant monster attacking."
"But we are gonna… y'know?"
"I… I mean yeah, that is if y'know you'll… if you're game."
"I'm game. Are you?"
"Y-yeah."
"Then once this is all over, we are out of school, we have jobs, and no more giant monsters, you promise we will… y'know?"
"Yeah… I mean I promise."
"Good"
HIkari pulled at Toji's hand until he held it open for her and she placed her hand in his. They were silent for a few moments, only looking into eachother's eyes. This was big, this was important.
Sitting on the floor, two teens from circumstances so different committing one another to the destiny of the other.
Hikari giggled. "So does this mean... we're engaged?"
Toji smiled. "I guess we are." He kept the smile, despite a vision of Hikari in chains and lying at his feet asserting itself.
They stepped out into the hall, hand in hand. When they descended the stairs together, his father, grandfather, sister and even Kensuke were waiting for them.
"Congratulations, son." Sora said then nodded to Hikari with a wink. "Lady Hikari."
"Congratulations, m'boy."
"Congratulations, nii-san!"
"Congratulations, buddy!" Kensuke said with a smile. Then the formally bespectacled boy leaned over to the younger Suzuhara child. "Uh, Sakura…" He whispered.
"What?" She quietly replied.
"What's going on?"
Sakura turned and swung, slapping Kensuke across the back of his skull. "FOOL!"
Kensuke was holding onto his head, still wincing, while Sakura threw her arms around Hikari.
"Oh god, she hits so hard…"
"Hikari! I am so happy you're gonna be my big sister! And I won't be like your sisters, they're shit. We are gonna be awesome sisters!"
"Sakura, language." Sora Suzuhara stepped forward and gave Hikari a hug with one arm. "Well, I for one am just glad you did not run out the door screamin'. I know we are different but you know we like you plenty and I don't think my son would be much more fortunate than to have a woman like you in his life."
"Thank you, Mr.-"
"Call me Sora. Or dad, whatever you like. Hey Toji, with that done why don't you get that special box for your sister."
Toji took a moment before he finally let go of Hikari's hand. He bounded up the stairs two at a time and swiftly returned with a cardboard dress box. The gathered moved to the dining room and crowded around Sakura with the box in front of her on the low table. Small deft hands pulled away the table, lifted the lid, and pushed away soft paper wrapping.
"Oh my... Are these mom's veils?!" Sakura lifted silks from the package. Hikari marveled at the work. Each was paper thin yet opaque and embellished with intricate embroidery. There were many colors, but purple and red dominated. So light and thin were the garments that as Sakura lifted layer upon layer from the box they soon covered the table and yet the box seemed no less full.
"Yeah, yeah they are. I knew you'd remember. She uh, she'd of wanted you to have him." Sora said, hand on his daughter's shoulder. There was a hitch in voice, as though he might soon cry.
"Oh dad, thank you. Thank you so much, I don't even know what do with them, I…"
"Why don't you start by taking them upstairs with Lady Hikari and you can try'em on. I think you're gonna have to share, seein' as your momma would have liked her son's bride to have them too."
"Yes, papa." Sakura said. Hikari felt the girl's hand around hers for only a moment before she was nearly yanked off her feet up the stairs, the table cleared, box and all, in Sakura's other hand.
Hikari was catching her breath while Sakura laid out the garments, folding each into a hand sized rectangle before placing it on the bed. Looking around, Hikari realized she had not actually been in Toji's sister's room before. It was nothing special, more remarkable in its plainness really. There was tan carpet, not tatami, a desk, a closet, and the single bed. The furniture was all just wood painted white. There weren't even any posters, just her schoolbag by her desk, books and supplies on the desk, and her Shiai-yo, the wooden spear for naginata practice, propped up in the corner.
"Ooo, mama's hair pins too, nice…"
The spear reminded Hikari of Toji dropping out of the kendo club two years before. He had never explained why. The boken still sat in the corner in his room. Maybe it had something to do with all of this with his family...
"What color do you like?"
"Hm?" Sakura speaking had jostled Hikari out of her memories
"What's your favorite color?" She repeated, sweeping her hand over the enormous variety of silk covering the bed. It was truly covered. Even folded so small, each garment overlapped at least one other.
"Um, I like yellow."
Quick hands pulled the yellows and it struck Hikari that Toji's mother might have been something of a fashion plate.
"Yeah…" Sakura said, the tiniest bit of annoyance at her newfound wardrobe in her voice. "What kind of yellow?"
Hikari stood beside Sakura and looked over the half dozen silks ranging from lemon to goldenrod. Hikari picked one out of the middle, a plain canary color without too much embroidery.
"So… how does one wear these?"
"Um, I'll be honest, I dunno." Sakura said with a shrug.
"But I thought…" Hikari said.
"My mom died when I was really young okay? And it is not like she wore this stuff all the time. We are in hiding, these would stick out."
"Well…" Hikari picked up the yellow silk and held it above her head by one edge, letting it fall open. It nearly touched the carpet and was almost as wide as her shoulders. "I guess wrapping it or using pins you could make it do about anything."
"I'll see what I can find at the library. Here…" Sakura unfurled a violet silk and folded it once along its length then made a loop and tossed it back over her head. She wrapped each end around her neck and over her head until her face with framed by snug, but not tight, silk. Her bangs peaked out from beneath the fabric.
"That looks okay, right?"
"Oh, yeah it looks great." Hikari said, not sure the words to use. It was very pretty and it even seemed to look very natural on Sakura. It was still just weird though.
"Great." The younger girl said, snatching the yellow silk from Hikari's hands. "Now let's do you."
"Oh, I don't think-"
"Come on Hikari, you are going to be part of the family. Besides, maybe Toji might find the thought of a veiled woman..." Sakura lifted the silk across her nose to hide her face but for her eyes. "...Alluring."
The doorbell rang and Sora Suzuhara stepped into the entryway. A quick check of the peephole and he saw a young man in a school uniform, slight but strong looking. So this was the mighty warrior. Sora threw the lock and swung open the door, arms wide.
"Tal, Jula Rasta!… I mean hello Captain Katsuragi, I was not expecting you." Sora said, Misato having stepped in front of him from where she had to have been beside the door and out of sight.
"Good evening, Chef."
"Thank you." Sora looked over Misato's shoulder at Shinji, who was performing a gesture Sora knew well from his son. The combined shrug and lifting of the hands that said 'Sorry, I tried but there was nothing for it.'
"Um, Shinji did not say he had a plus one."
"I insisted."
"Right… well I mean we should have enough food it's just…"
"You're one of them too, aren't you?"
Sora Suzuhara groaned and ran one hand through his short hair as he waved Misato inside, Shinji following. "Well I guess the cat is getting out the bag every which way tonight. Can you please not spread it any further at the office though? We ain't spyin' or anything."
"I understand that and because you do not work with anything sensitive, I can happily say NERV is not concerned."
"Most excellent. Now come come, sit. My home may be humble but tonight I promise you will have a feast the likes of which you have never seen, Captain." Sora said, then turned to Shinji. "And you, young warrior!"
Sora grabbed Shinji by the wrist and pulled him by the arm into a handshake, slapping his other hand on Shinji's shoulder. "You will eat like a king tonight."
Shinji returned the handshake and placed his left hand on the elder man's shoulder. "Mr. Suzuhara, to share the kettle of a friend is to dine with a Ubar."
"Shinji m'boy, if my daughter was a little older I'd marry her off to you but I'll settle for you being a friend of the family. My house is yours, come come."
Sora brushed them both along once shoes were doffed, into the living space of the first floor. The first thing that hit Misato was not what her eyes saw, but the odor of spices that hit her nose, some familiar and many not, so firmly it was as if stepping face first into a wall. It appeared most of the furniture had been moved elsewhere and in its place was a low table, of appropriate height to eat while sitting on the pillows situated in front of each place setting.
Misato had read up on the boy seated at the far end of the table since meeting him after that debacle with the fourth. Toji Suzuhara, sixteen years old, part of the special class at school. He was seated with his legs crossed and leaning back with one arm straight to support himself, big stupid grin on his face. She didn't recognize the girl seated to his right and wrapped around his free arm. Cute young thing, unremarkable but for the freckles and the pale yellow headscarf wrapped loosely around her brown hair. She was wearing a school uniform and had her legs tucked to her side. On her other side was an older man, broad of shoulder with big arms and steely grey hair with a dark blue hakama draped over his shoulders. The boy's grandfather presumably.
"Pappy, this is Shinji, the warrior we've heard so much about…" Sora said, looking at the pair. Misato did not miss the way his smile turned distinctly sour when he said. "And his plus one."
"Oh, hello young lady!" The elder Suzuhara began. "Might I say you do look very-"
"She's from work, pa."
"Strong, independent, and nice tonight." Grandpa Suzuhara finished without skipping a single beat.
Toji and the girl were quickly pushing themselves up to say hello when another familiar face, one Kensuke Aida, stepped in from the kitchen with his fingers spidered over cans and glasses.
"Tal, cap." Kensuke said, walking by her without even a glance in her direction.
Now up until this point nothing had been off putting, strictly speaking, about tonight. Unpleasantly surprising but not really in a my-life-is-too-consistently-weird-to-shock-anymore way, and nothing uncomfortable. But this boy had previously been scared to shit of her and now he just… strolled on by. He wasn't a subordinate, and it wasn't like respect was required in a legal way, but this was Japan and… and it was just weird.
Kensuke started distributing drinks in front of the three already seated then sat down to Toji's left with one place setting between them.
Misato said hello to everyone. Yet everyone told her 'tal', the gorean greeting. Even though nobody present was more than a couple steps from any other, each of the men, well boys mostly, lifted their right hand to wave.
"Hello Captain, I mean, uh tal. I'm Hikari Horaki." Hikari said with a casual bow, which Misato returned with a nod. The big kid, her boyfriend Toji, quickly grabbed the girl's wrist.
"Bae, you have to show your open hand when you say that."
"Oh! Okay." The Horaki girl laughed nervously then did as instructed and repeated. "Tal, Captain." Then looked at the boy questioningly.
"When free people greet each other, we show we are not holding a weapon." Toji explained.
"Okay, got it." Hikari said with a nod.
"So… Misato raised one finger and pointed to Toji, then Hikari, and then Toji again. "I know you are but you…?"
"Toji um, explained to me where his family is from just tonight."
"Oh, I see." Misato said with a socially acceptable smile. 'And you haven't run screaming into the street, how lovely for you both' is what she wanted to say.
The doorbell rang once more as a setting was being made for Misato at one corner of the table. Rei Ayanami arrived as the final guest, still in her school uniform. As greetings and introductions were made, it did not escape Misato's notice that she quickly put herself by Shinji's side and did not stray. Ever since the fourth this had been the way of things. If the pilots were together, Rei was hanging on Shinji's arm. Seating arrangements were modified so that Rei sat between Shinji and Kensuke and soon food was brought in from the kitchen. And brought in. And brought in. And then there was promises of more once some space cleared up.
For the love of god, Misato thought. Did Chef Suzuhara know how to make less food or was he always stuck on mess hall portions?
Then came the wine. Misato raised an eyebrow when everyone got a cup, not a glass, even the younger sister. She could not be older than twelve.
"Now, a toast!" Sora Suzuhara said, finally taking his seat beside his father and daughter. "To these fine young men, these warriors, who stood between us and destruction."
Well I'll drink to that Misato thought. The wine was disgusting. It was the cheap young stuff to begin with but someone had spiced the hell out of it and it was steaming hot. But the table cheered and raised their cups.
"Tar Sardar Gor." He added. The other Suzuharas, Shinji, and Kensuke repeated after and drank.
Misato raised her cup. "And everyone else at NERV…" She tilted her cup towards the chef. "Without whom none of it would have been possible."
There was no cheer in response, just a murmur. Then the elder Suzuhara, the Chef's father spoke.
"Worthy work but to put it bluntly and pardon the pun, Toji and his sword brothers were the ones on the sharp end of it. Now Toji and Kensuke did not do this thing because it was their job or that they had promised to or even that they would be rewarded. They just did it and got dumped out once y'all were done with them. Pardon if our focus is unduly on the individuals involved then, captain."
The steel haired man was staring at her. No that was not right, Misato thought. The way he looked at her made her feel like a bug under a magnifying glass, sun and all. It was silent for a moment then, until Shinji spoke.
"Is that candy glazed tarsk?" Shinji said, pointing at a dish down the table form himself.
"Well it's actually pork, but same preparation. Here try some…" Sora said, picking up the plate to pass it.
"Don't mind if I do."
The room quickly filled with noise again. Misato had ended up between Toji's father and Kensuke on a corner, the table having been set for one less. Shinji had become more animated than Misato could remember seeing him in a social situation and while he had begun in English he had transitioned into extremely rapid Gorean. Everyone at the table was looking to him, but Misato could see by the expressions who could and could not understand. The Suzuharas were all reacting and emoting at the same time, they understood what he was saying. Kensuke Aida looked like he was getting some but not all of what was said. The effort was plain across his face. Rei was… difficult to read. Regardless of understanding, she looked to be hanging on every word. The Horaki girl too, though her attention was towards her beau, Toji.
Three seats to Misato's left was the younger Suzuhara child, Sakura. Like Hikaril she wore a headscarf, but it was wound about her face more snuggly, more naturally. The elder girl had pulled it down so it was hanging around her neck and shoulders, but the violet silk Sakura wore stayed as though it was meant to be there.
Though Shinji was doing much of the speaking, Sakura did contribute here and there. From the tone of her voice it sounded like questions. However she was the only woman at the table speaking. As far as Misato could tell neither of the other girls could understand and they were both silent. She herself had the same problem.
Well, time to do something about that.
Misato cleared her throat loudly then said. "Um, pardon me if I may."
The guests' faces turned to Misato. "Yes, Captain?" Shinji said.
"It's just that I don't understand your language and I don't think I am the only one. Would you all mind speaking Japanese or English? I mean I want to hear what you are saying, just I don't understand your words."
"Oh." Shinji said, straightening up a bit. "That would seem quite discourteous I imagine. Well, is English suitable for everyone? I apologise that I am not yet quite comfortable with Japanese."
There were quiet assents around the table and Shinji and the Suzuhara boy both turned to the women beside them and apologized. It seemed settled then. Until Sakura leaned over, her palms down on the table, and looked Misato in the eye.
"I think that a stranger uninvited and accepted inside with courtesy should return it threefold. Not make demands of the hosts and their friends."
Chef Suzuhara slapped his forehead with the palm of his broad hand. "Sakura…"
The grandfather held his fist to his mouth as though he meant to cough but it did not hide his smile from Misato.
The… precocious girl began to speak again.
"You know Captain, our language has a funny quirk. You see stranger and-" She stopped only when her father's hand came down over her mouth.
"Sakura Suzuhara you will stop and say nothing more of that. Captain Katsuragi is my superior and I welcomed her into my home and you will abide by it."
"Oh no, I want to hear what the girl has to say." Misato said and the girl's eyes turned to positive rage above her father's hand.
"Sora, my friend…" Shinji said, rising from where he sat and untangling himself from Rei's arms. "Perhaps I might speak with the good captain alone out front while you speak with the Lady Sakura and we might educate both on this misunderstanding. I beg your favor."
Sora Suzuhara nodded. "That would be well."
"Excellent. Captain, if you would…" Shinji was hauling Misato up by the arm before she could begin to rise herself and they were quickly out the front door.
"Captain, I must warn you that the best thing you can do right now is make a rapid apology."
"Shinji, I am not going to apologize for asking you to speak so I can understand."
"No, no, that is not it. Captain there are two things at work here. First, Lady Sakura is a free woman. We as goreans accord free woman of the same city as ourselves as much respect as possible. Despite her age, Lady Sakura is the woman of the house and you called her a girl. On Gor we would never call a free female child as girl if we had any respect whatsoever. If you want to be seen as the more mature person you should be dismissive of the scorn, not confrontational. Address her properly, make a short apology then compliment her, her father, do something to ingratiate yourself. Raise a toast to the host's intelligent and perceptive daughter, something!"
"Okay." Misato said after a deep breath. "I can understand that. What else?"
"What Lady Sakura was about to say was that while on Earth you differentiate between an enemy and a stranger, and yes I very much understand the difference, the gorean language does not. We are not a welcoming people Captain. That which we do not know at some level, the other, is a potential threat by default. Do you understand what she might have been trying to say now?"
"Yeah I mean… Oh… Oooooh." Misato said as realization hit her. Coming to dinner unannounced was one thing but these people lived in hiding about their true nature. It was hiding in plain sight but for someone used to keeping that secret walking in and just… and then calling out the host!
"Oh god, Shinji how do I apologize to these people?"
"Just say you are sorry!"
"I don't want to make it worse!"
90 seconds later…
"... And a toast." Misato raised her cup of the disgusting wine. "To the Lady Sakura, a very perceptive and well spoken woman. And to her father…" Misato nodded to the chef, then to his father. "And grandfather for raising her."
The table raised their drinks to that and Misato sat down, the situation ameliorated. The conversation returned to the former topic, in English this time.
"As I was saying, Tarl had now been returned to Gor by the Sardar without guidance or explanation and having found Ko-Ro-Ba destroyed he began to wander towards the mountains to take it up with the Sardar themselves."
"Ko-Ro-Ba was destroyed?" Rei asked, raising her head from where it had been on Shinji's left arm.
"Yes, in blue fire by the Sardar." Shinji explained, which only made Rei tilt her head.
"But are you not from Ko-Ro-Ba?" Rei asked.
"Yes, however it was later rebuilt."
"I see." She said and, satisfied with his answer, again leaned her cheek upon his shoulder.
"Well, to continue, he came upon a city called Tarna. Now Tarna has, well had, very strange customs."
"It is ruled by women exclusively, is it not?" Misato turned to see it was the grandfather who had spoke up, the first time since he had rebutted to her toast to NERV.
Shinji nodded. "Yes, well it was. Tarl became entrapped there and as tends to be the case with my father, chaos ensued. The tatrixes of Tarna and the masters behind them, were deposed."
The grandfather gave a loud affirmative grunt and drank from his cup. "Hm, seems I am out of wine."
"As am I."
"Getting low myself."
"Certainly, refills all around then. Except you Sakura. Get something else."
"Yes, dad."
The Suzuhara children began shuffling to their feet. Rei rose as well.
"Oh, Lady Rei." Toji said, using the title in a way that sounded somewhat awkward, even to Misato's ear. She was out of wine herself but wanted no more of the stuff. "You are a guest, we will take care of it."
"I would like to help, please." Rei said then looked to Shinji. "If it allowed."
"Well, many hands short work." Toji said. Rei swiftly returned with a pitcher of the hot wine and made her way straight to Shinji's side, swiftly kneeling and refilling his cup. She did not dislike the wine herself. The taste was strong, overpowering compared to the water she usually took with meals, but the warmth that it spread through her body was not at all unpleasant. She refilled her own cup after Shinji's.
Drinks refilled, the conversation began again. This time with Misato.
"So this Tarna place was ruled all by women?" The captain asked as Shinji sipped at his cup.
"Truly." Shinji said having set down his cup. "There was a council as well as an executive who was called a tatrix."
"Well I imagine that it was quite different from other places, with the way your society tends to be so… patriarchal." Misato said.
"Oh yes, Tarl remarked on that. He said as soon as he entered it was clear something was wrong." Shinji replied.
"What, he could feel there was a woman in charge?"
"No no, not like that. The system of laws in place discouraged many behaviors that would characterize a normal city. For example, speaking loudly in the markets was a disruption of the peace. Normally, as I mentioned when we first visited a market you may remember, you haggle, you argue, you and shopkeeper may become quite loud. In Tarna, you negotiated silently, by finger sign, or risk being removed by the guards and sentenced to hard labor."
"So what happened?" Misato asked. Kensuke spoke before Shinji could.
"Tarl Cabot wrote about it, I know what happened."
"Oh, very good Kensuke. I should like to hear how he told it." Shinji said, begging his friend on with a tap of his cup on the table. "What did the man himself say."
"Well he got set up." Kensuke said. "Got sent to prison. Now I've read all his books and the thing I have learned is that sticking Tarl Cabot in a prison is the absolutely worst tactical decision you can make. And I guess it all started here. He got his team out of a deathtrap, overthrew the prison then marched on the city."
"And that is attested to in the histories." Shinji said then raised his cup to drink.
For the first time since the meal began, Hikari spoke up. "What is it like now? Since then."
Misato watched Shinji smile, then Aida smiled just the same way. It was not a pleasant smile. It looked cruel.
"Tarna is still very unique." Shinji said. "In fact there are no free women in Tarna."
"So what, it's all men?" Hikari asked.
There was laughter around the table, from all but Misato and Hikari. Rei apparently got the joke, she was tittering with one hand held over her lips. What happened in that place?"
"No, Lady Hikari." Shinji said. "I said no free women. Every woman in Tarna was enslaved, well nearly every. The tatrix alone remains free. It is the law that should a free woman enter the city and stay past sundown, she is likewise forfeit."
"E-enslaved?" Hikari said, looking quickly between her boyfriend and the faces of the table. "Toji, what… do you?"
Misato took this moment to speak. "All Gorean cultures practice slavery, Miss Horaki."
"Oh… I didn't know." Hikari said, wrapping her arms around herself and shifting her weight away from Toji.
Toji was scrambling for something to fix this. He knew he was going to have to tell her eventually, but this was not the right time. Kensuke came to his rescue.
"Yeah they do, but from what I read it is not as prevalent overall as it was on Earth until a couple hundred years ago. Something like three percent of the overall population are slaves. Whereas under the Romans it was like forty percent and here in Japan most peasants were close to chattel property and so slaves."
Toji felt like he could kiss Kensuke right there. Shinji began to speak and he could all but see Hikari coming back.
"That is correct. There is some raiding and such but in my city for example I would guess with some surety that of a score of slaves of both genders nineteen likely entered that state by judicial action. We have little use for prisons."
"O...Okay." Hikari said. Toji wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"So don't worry about it, alright? You got me and you got the rest of us and we don't live on Gor. It's not going to happen to you."
"Hey, Aida." Hikari said after a moment. "You said you read about this. There are books about this place?"
Kensuke looked away, his jaw clenched around a groan. Telling the class rep about some of your favorite reading material was not his best idea of late. Or ever.
"Yeah…"
"I want to learn about your people, Toji. These books could help with that." Hikari said, looking up at her boyfriend with hopeful eyes. She really did wish to know more. Toji and his family had never been anything but kind to her and she had a growing conviction that she would be a part of it.
"My teacher's books are... highly stylized, but I haven't heard of any other sources available on this world." Shinji said.
"I have digital copies." Rei said. "I will send them to you along with my notes. I find them very informative and compelling."
"Oh thank you, Ayanami." Hikari said, smiling once again. "I am so happy you have all been so accepting of me." Hikari looked to the Suzuharas, each in turn. "You all already feel like another family to me."
"And you us, Lady Hikari."
"I guess you can understand the life of slaves with your family, right?" Sakura said, annoying her father once more for the evening and getting a pop on the ear for her trouble. "Ow!"
"Sakura, we are going to have a talk about what we say to others."
"No, it's okay. I guess I kind of can." Hikari said with a sad smile. "You can love someone and they you, and still you get worked to the bone."
"Your sisters are awful, Hikari." Toji said. He lifted his hand from her shoulder and nudging her cheek till she turned to look up at him. "Don't you worry, I won't treat you like that."
"Yeah. You're right like always, and thanks. I know you wouldn't."
Misato rolled her eyes and fished her phone out of her jacket pocket. Girl hears they enslave cities for women being in charge and is happy to be part of the family. She deserves whatever is coming to her. With the phone beneath the table Misato sent a text and a moment later the phone began to ring.
"Oh, sorry everyone, looks like duty calls." Misato said, rising from the table.
"Is there another emergency, Captain?" Shinji said, he and Rei both looking up at Misato with determined faces.
"No no, nothing like that. Hey I will see you when I get home later, okay? Thank you again for dinner!"
And with that Misato slipped into her shoes and out the door, answering her phone on the way.
"Good response time, Hyuga."
"No problem, Captain Katsuragi, what's up?"
"Awful dinner. I'm going to come into the office for a bit."
It was late and dark by the time the party was coming to an end. Sakura tried to offer Rei another of her mother's veils but the red-eyed girl politely declined. Veiled as a free woman was not to be her place. Hikari, fearful for its well being, entrusted the one she had been given to Sakura for safe keeping. Never knew what Nozomi would get into snooping in her room.
The men exchanged handshakes and embraced. Shinji was declared welcome always in the house and told that should he ever hunger for food like home he need only ask. Kensuke likewise, now fully trusted, was welcome at anytime for conversation and a drink.
Final impressions being the longest lasting, Shinji took the time to, with a slight bow to be at her level, lift Sakura's hand to kiss her fingers and to bid the lady of the household good night and his protection should she require it. The way she ran upstairs with her cheeks aflame had been cute.
Now he stood outside with Rei, looking up at the clear night sky. How strange it was here that the electric lights drowned out the stars.
"Shinji…"
"Yes, Lady Rei?"
"The captain may be gone for some time."
"Indeed."
"I would… I mean should you like…" She said, becoming flustered. Why was it so difficult to say these things to him?
"Lady Rei, I would be happy to escort you home."
Rei spent the time as they walked and rode the train clinging to his arm. He was warm and made her feel safe. He was warmth and safety. She wanted him to be her keeper and her protector. In fact for much of the journey she closed her eyes and allowed him to guide her. When he brought her to her door, she invited him in and in he came. Leaving them where they now stood, looking at each other across her small space.
Rei felt nervous. This was a thrill in itself, as such intense feelings had become now. It did not help that whenever she could bear to look him in the face, his smile made her feel naked.
"I wonder, if I might, and I do not wish to impose upon you…" She said.
"Lady Rei, say what you wish to say. I promised to always answer, did I not?"
"And you will not hold these questions against me?"
"Of course not."
"Before, I asked you how you would treat me if I were a slave in your possession."
"You did."
"Have you an answer?"
"I do, but I require you to answer a question first."
"I asked first, to what end is my answer required?"
"Because if you wish to hear my answer, you will tell me what I want to know." He said, turning the one chair in the apartment, beside the small desk, to face her before sitting down. Surely Shinji had looked at her before, even in lust, but not in this way. His eyes upon her stirred certain feelings that had come to her solely under the safety of darkness and solitude before. For the first time she was very conscious of how she might appear to him. It was as though his eyes were looking through her but no… They were only looking through anything she might cover herself with. Whether it be manners, her words, or her clothes.
Rei shifted her weight and clasped her hands together in front of her waist.
"Very well. Please ask."
"My thanks. Be advised that I already know very well the answer to the question I am about to ask…"
Her fingers twitched. When his eyes followed the movement, she raised her hand, running her fingers through her hair and looking away from his intense gaze.
"Have you dreamed of slavery yet?"
"How did you know that?"
"Answer me and I might tell you."
"Yes."
"And you wish to ask me of it, do you not?"
"Yes." Rei whispered. Her stoicism had left and before him she was the girl she had dreamed of being. Her body was flush with heat and she all but shook in anxiety. Or was it anticipation?
"Do you now wish to know how I would treat you if I owned you?"
Shinji stood. Rei's left foot rose to step back.
"Do not move away."
Her foot returned to the floor.
"Now answer."
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes… Yes I wish to know."
"And what is it you wish to know?"
"I want to know how you would treat this girl if she were yours."
Shinji took another step across the small room, leaving less than a pace between them. Rei looked at his hands. Strong, rough. If he but lifted his arm he could grab her, but he did not.
"I would treat you as all slaves should be treated."
He advanced another half step. Inches between them. The tingling began in her toes and rose up her body. She had thought of, dreamed of, these sensations, but to experience them fully had her on the edge of panic.
"I would take every modesty from you. I would bring the sensual, salacious creature that lives in every woman out. You could never lie again, because a slave girl hides nothing. Every inhibition and restraint stripped away to reveal your true being."
Rei did not even notice his hand rise until he held her chin between his thumb and forefinger.
"That is how I would treat you. Is that the answer you were looking for, Lady Rei?"
She tried to speak. To tell him that it was more than she had ever imagined, than she had ever dreamed. What came out was a soft squeak and a very small nod that his grip, light as it was, permitted.
"Is there something you wish to say now that your question has been answered?"
"Ta-ta-ta-thhhhiiiiiis…"
"Take your time."
"This… this... This girl submi-"
His swift hand moved from her chin to her lips. "Ssh"
"Bu-"
"You and I have duties to fulfill. You are too important to be taken away from those. I cannot own you in that way."
Rei wanted to cry. Until he said that it felt like this had all been building to something but now it was like she had been dropped off a high ledge. She whimpered.
"However…"
Hope.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of for a free woman to desire to be treated in that manner, for a night. Will that do? For now?"
"Yes. Yes, master."
"Ah ah ah. You will say it right. Master, in my language, is Vana'she. Now again, properly."
"Aye, Vana'she."
He smiled and her whole world was made.
"Very good."
Her arms flew around his shoulders as she pressed herself to his body. This was what had been missing. This shining light, this fulfillment. His hands were warm and strong as he held her, lifting her against his body with just one arm while his other worked his fingers through her hair.
"I will call you simply slave girl for now, kajira. Perhaps a name might be earned."
"Aye, Vana'she."
"But for now, you are wearing far too much clothing." He said and firmly pushed her away as he stepped back. Rei whined and it was a wanton, animal sound.
"Are you going to strip for me girl, or is undressing pleasingly beyond a girl from Earth?"
With shaking hands Rei reached for the red ribbon tied through her collar. She worked and tugged but her quaking fingers could not manage the knot. When even grasping her blouse in her own fingers proved too difficult, he blessedly took her by the wrists and pulled her hands aside. To have him in control brought peace, and she ceased to shake.
"S-sorry, I…"
"Do not speak until spoken to." The words were firm, but his voice was soft, quiet. He hooked one finger into the tie and pulled towards himself, drawing her to his body, and up, forcing her gaze to his face. His eyes were beautiful deep blue.
"Are you a slave girl tonight?"
"Aye, vana'she."
"Until the dawn?"
"Until you free me, vana'she."
"If you are a slave then my gaze is not yours to meet, as pretty as your eyes are."
With his hand beneath her chin, she could only lower her eyes.
"I complemented you, girl." The sharp tug made her jump and gasp. "Aren't you going to give thanks?"
"Thank… How should I thank, vana'she?"
"You learn quickly. The word is jashi."
"Jashi, vana'she."
"Well done." Deft fingers were opening the buttons of her blouse. As soon as there was room, his hand was inside, pulling her breasts out of her brassiere. Rei shuddered and moaned, then squealed when he took one nipple between his fingers and tugged. With her tie keeping her head up he leaned forward, hot breath on flushed skin . Without thinking she began to squirm in his grasp, crying out with near silent whimpers when he reined her in between the pressure on her neck and his hand at her breast.
"My people have a word for girls like you, slave. We call them hot. The most shameless, wanton slaves are hot girls. At the slightest provocation they are ready to plead for a master's attention."
"P-pleeeeeease…"
"You beg so well. Is that what you are, girl? A hot slut?"
As much as she could do so, Rei swiftly nodded.
"Speak."
"Yes!"
He drove the tips of his fingers into her breast and twisted. Rei yelped in pain, but as she exhaled it was a whimpering moan.
"Speak fully, girl."
"Yes, this girl is a hot slut, vana'she!"
What followed was a blur. She made no effort, chose no movement of her own. He moved her, undressed her, and took her to the floor. Not the bed, right there though it was, the floor. She did not resist, she could not resist. The concrete was cold on her back, his body was warm against her front. When he kissed her, he bit down on her lip so hard she could taste blood.
"I'm home!... Shinji?" Misato kicked off her shoes.
"Where is he, kid should be back by now." She gumbled. "Shinji are you here?"
After no answer and a quick search, she pulled out her cell phone.
"Connect me with the surveillance detail on the third child… No, I want to speak with them directly, make it quick… Hey, where is he?... What is he still doing at the her place?… No, don't approach. Last thing we need to do is break the trust we've built by showing you're there. I'll go, let me know if anything changes."
Twenty minutes later, Misato had a light in one hand as she made her way through the building where the first child lived. She had to, none of the hall lights worked and there was crap everywhere. The hell was with this place anyway, why was she housed here? She would get answers from Ritsuko later, but sounds drifting from down the hall were providing the answer she came here for.
The screaming could have been something else, but the moaning. And the growls. A good time was being had with no effort at all to hide it. Shit, living in an empty building had its perks. She made her way to the only door with light coming from below it.
This was going to be weird, but it was just two teenagers doing it. She would be mature, a little disapproving, maybe crack a joke. Make sure they knew if they were going to do it to do it safely. She just hoped she wasn't going to have to give the birds and the bees to an alien. Or Rei.
"Fori!" She heard what must be Shinji bark from inside. Oh my someone really was having fun. She lifted her hand to knock.
"Neshuk! Neshuk, vana'she!" Came Rei's voice, shouting in what a bodice ripper romance might call a scream of ecstasy.
Okaaaaaay Misato thought.
She held her hand up, fingers curled, but did not knock. Just two teenagers, nothing you haven't seen before, Misato. Just be the mature adult here.
"Fori sosta, n tha chrismopillio a shimo!"
Alright, that is quite enough. She knocked three time sharply.
"Ah ah ah, eyes on me girl, that is not your concern."
Oh, not her concern, huh?
"Shinji, Rei, it's Misato, I know what you are doing, just open up."
The sound which followed was something between a barking dog and a bear. His bare feet stomping across the floor was clearly audible. And then the door opened.
"Captain, do you mind?"
He looked as angry as he sounded, itself abundantly clear despite polite words. He was also quite naked. As well, the sudden interruption had done nothing to dampen his body's enthusiasm.
"Gah! Oh my god Shinji, you can't just answer the door with a…"
"I was presently going to put it to good use, and you are the one intruding."
"And what am I intruding on exactly? I could hear what you two were saying."
"And so?"
"What have you done to her?"
"Nothing! Captain, there is nothing going wrong here besides your interruption."
"I'll be the judge of that. Rei, are you alright?"
Misato barged past and Shinji held his forehead in one hand, looking down as his arousal began to wane.
"... kai ekei pigainei…" He grumbled. There it goes.
"Rei!"
The first child was picking herself off the floor on shaking legs when the captain was passing the third. She was naked for a red ribbon tie around her neck. She was also sporting several positively glowing hickies.
"Captain. I am fine. Please leave."
"Uh uh, no no no, you two are caught, it's time to talk about this."
"No it is not." Rei replied.
"Rei?"
"Captain, please leave my home, I am busy. You have interrupted"
"Yeah, gettin' busy. No, I need answers AND Shinji is leaving with me."
"For what reason should I be leaving with you, Captain?" Shinji said, joining them in the main space of the small apartment. The absurdity of the situation did not escape Misato Katsuragi. She was standing here arguing with two naked teenagers.
"Because I said so!"
"I fail to see how this is a military matter."
"Shinji! I am your superior officer, both of yours' superior officer mind you. I am giving you an order."
"This is clearly my own time, and Lady Rei's! I have been given no order for me to have violated on this matter."
"I am giving you an order right now!"
Rei looked at them as they bickered. Shinji was taller than the captain, but he was barefoot and she in heels, so the height difference was not great as they yelled at each other nose to nose.
"If you want to fight this so bad, perhaps I should call the commander." Misato snapped.
"HA! I beg your favor that you do! Perhaps he will have some sense and declare this for the farce it is!" Shinji replied, chest puffed out with his hands in fists.
"Fine!"
"Very well!"
ATTENTION! ATTENTION! PROCEED TO YOUR ASSIGNED SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT, PROCEED TO YOUR ASSIGNED SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. ANGEL INBOUND! ANGEL INBOUND!
Shinji was suddenly, insufferably, and not quite deservedly, smug. "It seems our argument has been ended."
"GRAH! Get clothes on, both of you! And this is not over!"
CERN, Switzerland - 1998
"I-I-I I am not alright! How did you find us?!" Yui screeched at Tarl.
"Found you? Yui, I wasn't looking for you."
Yui relaxed. Just a little. It could be a ruse but Tarl Cabot was not a man known for subterfuge. In fact what he was known for was spreading chaos, panic, and disorder like a bull in a china shop. Drunk. With a mace.
"Then why are you here?" Yui asked. She crouched and began to pick up her things, pawing for them as she was still looking up at him.
"I am meeting a friend. She works here too." Tarl replied. He squatted and began to help.
One incredulous eyebrow perked up. "She?"
"Yes, she?" Tarl replied, annoyance creeping into his voice at her tone.
"Tarl Cabot, do you really expect me to believe you, of all the misogynistic pigs on Gor, has a woman for a friend?"
"Yui, I daresay I am a changed man since we last met. I have her to thank for it in fact. We met when I was here on business after you and Gendo had already left."
"Hmph, I'll believe it when I have proof."
That proof called out across the street.
"Tarl, darling!" The voice was loud, more than a little grating to Yui's ears with a slight German accent. Yui looked up. Oh good god it was Dr. Kyoko Zeppelin Shikinami. Her copper hair belied her temper but and she was a wizard in her field, but Yui swore she must be a blond sometimes.
Wait… darling? She was… They were! No...
Tarl gave over Yui's papers then stood, turning in time to take Kyoko by the shoulders and kiss their hellos.
"My love, it has been too long as ever." Tarl was saying as Yui stood. Kyoko, a yellow dress beneath her white coat, had to give a little jump to wrap her arms over Tarl's neck.
"You have made me wait a year before Tarl, a few months is nothing." Her feet returning to the ground, Kyoko only now was noticing Yui.
"Oh, Dr. Ikari, I'm sorry I did not see you in my excitement. Did my boyfriend cause you to drop your things? He can be so clumsy." Kyoko said, taking Tarl's hand in her's and looking up at him with… and this somewhat mystified Yui as she could not remember ever having seen someone ever showing this emotion towards Tarl Cabot, genuine affection.
Boyfriend? No, no, no, no, no, no NOPE. She didn't know. She couldn't know! She was blissfully ignorant of the unfathomable danger that she was in, what this man would do to her!
"You wound me, my love." Tarl said before looking back down to Yui. "And doctor is it? Congratulations, Yui."
"Darling, do you and Dr. Ikari know each other?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes we are acquaintances from-" Tarl began before Yui interrupted.
"Kyoko, run, just go, you want nothing to do with this man! You do not know him, you don't know what he is capable of!"
Tarl looked at his companion, rolling his eyes.. At least let him finish for sardar's sake. Kyoko crossed her arms and looked up at him with annoyance. Get to the point her body said.
"As I was saying, I am acquainted with Yui and Gendo her…" Tarl looked to Yui again. "Boyfriend, fiance, husband?"
"Husband." Yui said dryly. "Why aren't you running, Zeppelin?"
"Her husband." Tarl said with a smile. "From my adventures. They made it here some five years ago."
"Oh." Kyoko said then turned to Yui. "You are from Gor then?"