A.N.
Bishonen and Bishojo: Daughter of the Mob
Chapter 5
It was only after the guy pulled off the head of the costume that Aela could calm her hyperventilation. It was an ordinary looking guy of about eighteen wearing that horrid outfit. Shaggy brown hair disheveled and a bit sweaty from being roasted inside the head of evil nonetheless framed eyes of hazel streaked with mint. Those eyes were chary of any further violence at the moment and he very cautiously placed the disembodied head behind him and out of sight before even approaching the wary girl again.
This time staying well away from strike range, he asked again, "Hey, miss, you alright?"
"Um, yeah... I guess so." She kept her eyes trained directly on his face, her gaze never straying below his neck to keep from burning her eyes out in agony. Half of her subconscious responsible for using the observation senses sent a memo to the id portion for processing. It mentioned that the guy wasn't that displeasing to the eye. It was summarily noted and then flambéd by id, who issued the authorization on account of a fragile psyche when it came to guys just yet. Witch's healing web helped calm the rage and curtail the fear, but there was still an uneasiness when it came to thinking about the other half of the species in a complimentary manner.
"You're new, right? Found the website and clicked the button to become a trainer?" He had a crooked tooth revealed by his crooked grin. Aela's id asked the Observation Post to keep watch in case the guy himself was crooked as well.
"Sounds about right." Observation Post noted the request and flambéd it on principle. Sent another memo. There was a cartoon caricature of a Japanese red eye and the word 'biidaa'. Id was left to fume. Id was good at that.
"That's great then! I'm Joe Dohn."
"Aela."
"Just Aela?"
She gave him a blank sort of stare, silently asking 'what's it to you?'. Her childhood taught her that telling her new friends too much inevitably sent them away, or hurt them.
"Ok then, just Aela it is! Since you're new, you'll have to attend an orientation class. Everyone does. Its free, doesn't take too much time, gets you set up for adventurin', and, well, it doesn't exactly hurt too much either, so that's a good point!"
Aela found herself nodding along with each of the points Joe made, but paused at the mention of pain.
"Are you joking about pain?"
The crooked grin was back. "Nope!" he chirped, "It only hurts at first, when they stick your finger in the machine, but you won't have to do it anymore afterwards." He acted like he was doing her such a great favor.
A little suspicious, "What machine?"
Joe's overly innocent eyes opened wide. "Oh, did I say a machine? You'll have to find out in orientation! They'll explain it all there, and much better than me. C'mon!"
And then he tried to grab her wrist in his natural bout of excitement. It wasn't often a new trainer popped up, and Aela was the first he got to introduce to the wonderful world of Bishies himself.
Two things went wrong. One was that he forgot he was wearing a cumbersome costume. The other was that Aela was not fond of strangers, especially those donning the likeness of her much feared phobia, grabbing any part of her. So when he tried to take her wrist, she side-stepped.
Unfortunately, when Joe stumbled from his missed grab, it attracted the attention of a bottle green triceratops a little ways away. Instantly assessing the cause of her trainer's mishap to be this upstart girl, the unlikely hued fuzzy dinosaur charged up to her with aura blazing in a protective rage and grossly invaded Aela's personal bubble.
Her battle cry of 'STOP PICKING ON J-CHAN!' was interrupted most aggressively when Aela processed the other mind numbing nemesis of her babysitting days not more than an inch from her face.
WHAP! went another right hook, and another costume head suddenly found its plastic beady eyes staring at the view from the back.
"Akane-chan! Are you alright?"
What Aela said was "Akane?" Simultaneously, id proffered an, 'Oops?'
Joe glared up at her momentarily. He was standing next to a kneeling and wobbly green suit of terror trying to pull off the head and check on his bishojo. He softened his expression when sincere apology crossed Aela's features, and then turned an exasperated look at his first bishojo.
Aela's help was readily accepted, but her offer was mostly made in order to get a chance of symbolically decapitating the green menace than in any overt remorse. Meanwhile, Joe was chiding Akane. It blew Aela's mind when AKANE, the violent maniac of the Ranma ½ series accepted the chastisement without much denial or fuss and even apologized for startling her.
"Erm, don't worry about it. I'm the one who should apologize, it was a reflex reaction. But, why ARE you two wearing those appalling suits? You do know they should be burned right?" Aela's serious face belied Joe and Akane's expectant grin, as they were waiting for her to laugh and dissemble and tell them Barney and Baby Bop weren't evil and shouldn't be incinerated on sight.
When Aela didn't repent, a sweat drop formed on the back of her new acquaintances heads.
"I'm not sure what to tell you, Aela. These characters are the village mascots. Its traditional to have them wander around the village square and greet everybody."
A disbelieving look was his reward. "So how does that answer why you two are the ones who inhabit said malevolent personas?"
Akane took that one. "Money," she said simply. "Why else would we parade around in stifling outfits making fools of ourselves on a summer's day?"
Id decided it was too easy. Aela had no qualms, but she merely directed a look at Joe who blushed and looked away. It went right over Akane's head.
"Unfortunately, we lost our last fight, and the money lost in the bet would have seen us to the next town. I still had expenses for feeding and housing us, so I couldn't risk another battle. Akane found this gig, and we've been doing it for a week. I know it looks funny, but its good money, and after another week, we'll be set to travel for another three towns."
Aela gave a sigh with downcast head while patting the air in an 'alright, alright' motion. "You've got my pity, now, please, show me to this 'orientation' thing you've been talking about."
When Joe brightened and bounded away toward a building with a rounded dome and the word BishieCenter on the wall, Akane turned to Aela.
"I know, he's like a puppy, right?"
Aela nodded. Got it in one. Then she went 'hurk!' as Akane hoisted her up by her collar. An ultimatum was delivered in the voice of doom.
"You kick my puppy and what I did to P-chan will seem like a sweet dream compared to what I do to you. Capice?"
Id began plotting various revenge scenarios as soon as the collar tightened around Aela's neck. Obs Post wondered what exactly happened to P-chan, as the series depicted Akane as very lenient toward the Jusenkyou cursed martial artist cum pet pig. Aela sent a little bit of Id into her night black eyes as she stared very calmly into the burning infernos of the bishojo's gaze. Those same fires were swiftly banked with her captive's nod of acquiescence as well as the underlying threat that shimmered beneath a thin veil of civility.
Aela was dropped when Akane also noticed that the barbaric tattoo beside the newbie trainer's eye had mutated. Black swirls and tribal slashes twisted into a small jagged dragon whose head peeked across Aela's temple. Akane's eyes were glued to that sharp savage head as it bared its fangs at her and silently roared.
The bishojo was saved from explaining her actions when Joe popped up from over her shoulder, startling them both from their impromptu staring contest.
"C'mon! I've got you scheduled for the next orientation. You're in luck, since one other newbie happened to pop in at the outskirts of town. Otherwise, they'd tell you to wait for the next crop of trainers to be invited."
With both females successfully chivvied into the designated building, Joe gallumphed up to a man wearing a white labcoat. The headless purple dinosaur was promptly given the hairy eyeball.
"Where is your head?"
All in innocence, Joe answered, "Screwed on with two lugnuts. You know Frankenstein was my brother."
The labcoat just cradled his forehead in his hand momentarily before WHAPPING Joe upside the head. "The suit, moron! Where is the SUIT'S head? If you don't have it, AND the triceratops head in fifteen seconds, I'm going to hire another poor sap who needs the money."
Blink blink. "Oh." And then Joe darted off dragging his erstwhile one and only bishojo behind him, dangling like a flag. Aela swore they left an anime dust cloud, if only for a second.
"So you must be the new trainer Dohn was blabbering about." A scrutinizing eye was, well, also giving her the hairy eyeball.
Wary, as her first impression of the labcoat guy wasn't too nice, (he kicked the puppy after all) she raised a brow. "Yes," she said, but her tone turned it into the familiar 'what's it to ya?'
Aela thought she was prepared for most anything he could throw at her, but when a small weight was laid on her shoulder and a creepy eerie voice whisper/shouted in her ear, "Wiggly Icchan likes the new trainer!" she froze on the spot. She turned like the dumb blonde in the horror flicks, slowly and with wide eyes to behold a disturbing sight. Another lab coated male with messy dark hair was gyrating in a wiggling fashion as he laughed maniacally. When he noticed her undivided attention was solely centered upon himself, Ichirou Mihara, better known as Icchan-san from Angelic Layer, removed his hand from her shoulder and slithered back to his trainer, the original man in a labcoat. When he popped up over the trainer's shoulder like the demonic half of a duo chibi conscience and looked at her expectantly, Aela merely held up a hand, indicating 'wait a moment please'.
Her other hand went to her forehead with fingers spanning her temples as she gave a forceful sigh. Seconds were measured by the ticking of a clock over a counter. With a final shake of her head, Aela dropped both hands and looked back at the unmoving spectacle of the labcoats.
"I'm alright now. Please, what were you going to say?" It seems she had regained her manners during her little time out. Either that, or she had just become inured to the surprises this new land habitually cropped up and was willing to move on.
The man who had chastised the headless duo was looking at her with a faint amused interest.
"I'm Professor Hojo, no relation to Final Fantasy VII's Hojo. Behind me is Icchirou, one of the main side characters from an anime called Angelic Layer." He paused here when she nodded in comprehension before moving on, "If you would move into the next room, you can meet the other new trainer and we can start the orientation. Its not normal to have so small an orientation, but I suppose Tokio-sama and LSS-sama had a hard time this month finding candidates with suitable qualities who would do well in this world."
Aela followed his gesture, and entered the next room through a door near the counter with the ticking clock under the creepy gaze of a watching Icchan-san.
Her new surroundings looked like a typical small conference room cum classroom. Several long tables were staggered throughout the room with pairs of chairs behind each. The walls had various charts up with geographic maps, territory maps, a classification table of several common Bishies, etc. There was even one with the food pyramid and two caricatures of an unhealthy bishie who didn't follow the pyramid and a contrasting healthy bishie who was fed correctly.
Only the front desk dead center had an occupant. And there was an inviting chair slid out partially next to her. Aela spent a few seconds studying the other girl. Light brown hair with streaks of an ashy blonde was done up in a neat but casual ponytail. The ends flipped over the collar of a kickass leather jacket and fell just below the shoulder blades. Most of the rest of her was hidden since she was facing front, away from the door, but night dark eyes spied a laptop open on the desk and a window that showed multiple streams of unintelligible numbers and letters streaming by, a la The Matrix.
When Hojo coughed, impatient to get on with his job and get the nuisances away so he could continue his experiments, the other trainer's attention swivelled to catch Aela's gaze as she moved further inside. Black met peculiar round orange lenses a la Alucard or Vash, but the shades were immediately lowered to reveal blue. Aela could immediately tell the other girl would not be a threat. There was also a sense of impermanence to the older girl for some odd reason.
For a stranger in an even stranger land, the other girl seemed more interested in her laptop program than what Hojo was going to explain to her.
Aela took a seat next to laptop girl and turned her attention forward. This had better be a good explanation or she was going to kick the puppy, Akane or no Akane.
Professor Hojo had no laser pointer, no projector and screen, no real audience either, but he did an adequate job nonetheless.
"This," he began, pointing at a pouting Icchan-san, "Is a Bishonen. Since you're here, you have received an email to a website. You clicked on the acceptance button. You should already have an idea of what's going on. Any anime, any popular book series, any real character is now a living, breathing person in this world. And you've got a license to capture them. Its like Pokemon, but with Bishonen and Bishojo.
"That's good looking boys for 'Bishonen' and pretty girls for 'Bishojo'," he added as a look of utter incomprehension crossed laptop girl's face.
"There are restrictions, rules, and basic things you should know. Each series is separated by territories. If you want a Gundum Wing character, your best bet is to go to their territory. They're more common there. Its rare, but you can sometimes find a bishie outside of their territory. In each territory, there is also a hidden bishie city. I cannot stress enough that they are hidden for a reason. Trainers are not allowed to seek them. You may not ask your bishies about them, you may not go there, you may not tell anyone where one is. If you break any of this, you will first be subjected to the bishies' discipline, and if they turn you over to LSS-sama or Tokio-sama, you will be deported to the real world, never to come back."
He sighed. Aela had a hand up in the air patiently, as if in a crowded and noisy class.
"You, annoying one in the front."
A slight glare was her beginning answer before she asked the question on her mind.
"Tokio-sama and LSS-sama are who exactly?"
Ah, a halfway intelligent question. Hojo answered promptly.
"They are the administrators of this world. They have final say on pretty much everything, as they pretty much created everything here."
Icchan-san popped in again at his shoulder when Aela opened her mouth for another question. "Don't ask how! We aren't telling!" he taunted in his silly voice.
Aela dropped her hand, shooting a glance at her tablemate to see if any backup was coming from that direction. Alas, no, as blue eyes were watching the mesmerizing numbers rapidly stream across the screen.
"If there are no further interruptions..."
There were no crickets, but the clock from the other room faintly ticked before Hojo moved on.
"Bishies have three evolutionary stages they go through as they age and gain experience. If you know any Japanese honorifics, these will be familiar. First is chibi. That's the equivalent to a child. It is not a good idea to capture a chibi staged anything, as it is akin to kidnaping a child. Plus, you'll have really powerful parents who will come after you for doing so. Its not a deportation offense, but it definitely is not in your best interests to do so.
"A chibi evolves into a san staged bishie when he or she gains enough experience and/or is driven to it by willpower or desperate circumstances. This is their teenager and young adult equivalent. They are now socially acceptable for capture.
"The final stage is a sama bishie. They are now at the height of their power. It is not suggested for new trainers to capture one, as they are hard to adapt to, but if you gain one's trust, there is no better friend or protector. The human equivalent would be anywhere between middle to old age. And because each species is different, you'll have varying levels of power across the board. Multiples of the same species will also have differences from canon, so be aware.
"For example, Icchirou here, has absolutely no interest in bionic robotics, like in the anime."
"Yeah! Wiggly Icchan likes chemistry!" came from the peanut gallery.
Hojo gave a semi-scornful laugh before he elaborated. "Its more like you like pyrotechnics. You enjoy explosions."
Icchan-san's insane grin took on new proportions and a demonic cast.
That got a sweatdrop from even laptop girl to match the one Aela grew.
"But enough about that!" he said dropping the incendiary look and began rubbing his hands. "Onto the good stuff."
Hojo merely nodded.
"You will have a grace period of two weeks in order to catch your first bishie. If you haven't caught one by the deadline, it will be taken as a sign that you do not wish to remain here and will be sent back. If you ever break all of your Bishieballs, the same will be assumed, and again, you'll be deported. By the way, breaking your Bishieball is a way to permanently release the Bishonen or Bishojo. You must have at least one bishie captured at all times.
Concerning the responsibilities to your captured bishies, there are two hard and fast rules. Once you catch one, they are bonded to you through your DNA. Prolonged separation beyond forty eight hours or beyond a distance of three miles will cause them to go mad and die. It is a terribly painful and horrifying way to perish. I suggest you break their ball if you ever find yourself in such circumstances. Engrave it into your minds: three miles, forty eight hours."
Aela committed these words to memory. She too had barely escaped a terrible fate. She wasn't inclined to make someone undergo anything remotely similar. Beside her, a small beep emerged from the previously humming laptop and a depressed sigh came from its owner. But since Hojo was continuing, the younger trainer didn't have a chance to inquire.
"There are some benefits, since you two are new. During your two week grace period, you have the option to requisition supplies from any store. The limit is very high, so you should get anything you think you'll need, but don't be wasteful. The shopkeepers will be reimbursed by the administration and they don't like newbies wasting their tax dollars on that super shiny gold Bishieball when a regular one is perfectly serviceable.
"I'll also provide you with a Dex. They're a combination phone, address book, credit card, bishie index and will also catalogue your captures. They serve as an I.D. for any tournament registrations and have a compartment in the back for badges. You should come back to a BishieCenter periodically for Dex updates. Who knows what those idiots in the tech department will come up with next..." the last was muttered to the fervent nodding of the pyromanically inclined Icchan-san.
"You get money mainly through betting on battles with other trainers, but there are other ways. Dohn and his bishojo out there are doing one of them. In essence, find a job you slackers! Now, I think I covered everything, but if not, I've programed the BishieCenter's number into your Dex. If you have questions, which I hope not, call me, and I'll have someone else get you squared away. Now get out of here, you're bothering me." He had since placed two identical Dexes on the table in front of either trainer before sitting at the 'teacher's' desk and rifling through paperwork.
And with that abrupt dismissal, Aela slowly climbed to her feet followed by the girl sitting next to her closing her laptop and slinging it into a carry case by her feet.
Pyro-Icchan was looking at his trainer with distressed puppy eyes.
"But Boss?!" he whined, "Aren't we going to poke them now? With big square rusty seventeen gauge needles?"
Hojo looked at his bishie blankly before comprehension dawned. He snapped his gaze to the two girls trying to sneak out hastily after hearing that.
"Oh yes," he breathed sadistically. At least, that's what Aela and the other girl thought. And since Pyro-Icchan caught their collars before they made it outside, they continued to think of him in an ill manner.
Icchan-san frog-marched them over to the counter in the outer room with Professor Hojo trailing like a bloodthirsty vampire bat. On the counter were several machines and piles of paperwork. The girls were halted in front of a small one inset where the wall met the counter as it bent in an L-shape.
Aela was hustled in front of it first, and as she glanced wildly back, the other girl was frantically typing something into her laptop. Rats! Again no help.
Hojo looked between the trainers. What was wrong with them? If they didn't register their DNA, it wouldn't be in the system for when they wanted more Bishieballs made. Oh yeah, he grinned... He hadn't told them that part yet.
"Don't worry," he purred, "It doesn't hurt...Much."
"That's what Joe said," Aela muttered in a disturbingly calm voice as her hand was manipulated against he will into a fist with forefinger extended. It was then inserted into the recipient machine's indicated aperture. And, believe it or not, the whole incident was quickly over with a hiss and a slight sting. Aela likened it to what 'Uncle' Tony had to go through with his insulin blood tests. It really didn't hurt much.
When she was released, the machine hummed and chugged and turned out six Bishieballs in a tray with a DING! Gathering her prizes up, the dark trainer turned to glare at the unhelpful girl.
The blonde-streaked brunette only halted her furious typing when she realized nothing truly painful had gone on with the guinea pig, erm, trainer.
She held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll stick my finger in the hole, but it had better be sanitary."
After Professor Hojo assured her of the sanitization measures the Bishieball maker took, the whole process was accomplished without further fuss. The other trainer got her six spheres, and the terrible lab coated duo went off on their merry mayhem way leaving the girls in the deserted front room. The clock was still ticking softly away.
"Well that was terribly interesting."
The other girl was inspecting her generic Bishieballs before looking up with her blue eyes. Aela finally noticed an outer rim of white on the blue, which quite made for the ethereal effect.
"I'm Onee."
"Aela."
"..."
"..."
"You're not going to ask as to the single name?"
"No. Neither are you?"
"No."
More silence for a second.
"My computer indicates that my brother isn't here. I'm going to have to look for him elsewhere."
Aela looked puzzled. "How does your computer find that out?"
"It scans the dimension I'm in for familial signatures. There's none here, but it definitely seems an interesting place."
"Dimension?"
"Yeah. Believe it or not, I didn't get that email Jojo was talking about."
"Hojo."
"That's what I said. I mean, I just input the next coordinates on my list, pressed enter, and popped up on the outskirts of this whacked town."
"Oh... That's cool I guess. You'll come back sometime?" As earlier, Aela was ready to accept almost anything at this point.
The now named Onee looked thoughtful. "Sure. Once I find my brother." She then flipped open her Dex and in an annoying mechanical voice it said, "Hello. My name is Dex and I am the Bishonen/Bishojo guide to a trainer. Please state trainer's name aloud."
The two traded exasperated looks. Apparently they both had experience with Pokemon.
When Aela cracked her own Dex open, it said the same thing. The girls had to spend five minutes laying all the groundwork and being as literal as possible in order to accomplish setting up their devices so they could exchange their information. When finished, they shook hands with their new friend and wished each other luck on their respective journeys. Onee turned to her laptop once more, clicked a few more keys and then pressed 'Enter'.
In a small glow of light around her figure, reality twisted as she calmly faded. It spoke of much familiarity with the process. Within seconds, there was no trace that Onee had ever set foot in the world. She had taken her Dex and Bishieballs with her.
Minutes after Aela made it through the door and out into the wide friendly town of Evol, several uniformed figures with 'administration' tags rushed into the BishieCenter causing a minor commotion as they disturbed the Professor and his Bishonen during a flammable experiment.
Aela made it back to the outskirts of town when a plume of smoke rose on the skyline behind her.