Hi there folks. Reality and Fiction here with a public service announcement. The idea for this fanfic came to me when I asked myself one simple question … "What if Shinjiro wasn't such a wuss?" After that I wondered about the Sakura Wars world and how it would be in the distant future, and put the two together. Understand that this fanfic is not for the faint of heart. Now how please enjoy the tale of the Taiga family's black sheep and his harem … yes he has a harem; every Captain has a harem … yes he has a little girl to …. Just read it …
I do not own Sakura Wars.
Episode 1: Rainbow in the Dark part: 1
"Christopher Taiga…awaken…" A voice that was not his own whispered breathlessly to him in his slumber. "Christopher Taiga…awaken." the voice repeated it's command allowing it to echo deep within Taiga's mind. Christopher attempted to figure out what the voice was, but his current sleep induced mind was telling him it was too much work right now and he was in complete agreement. "Christopher Taiga … you must awaken!" "Go away …" he demanded drowsily to the voice. Whatever it was, it could wait until after his nap.
"Christopher Taiga!" yelled the teacher to Chris. He instantly jumped and broke out of his nap. "Honestly Christopher," started the teacher, "you need to be diligent in your studies if you're going to graduate." Chris's eyes narrowed at the sound of a voice that was irritating to his ear, the sound of his history instructor, Ms. Patterson. Keeping his eyes shut to block out the bright florescent classroom lights, Chris sat up slowly, scooting his back into the chair making it collide against the empty desk behind him. Swinging his leg in a upward arc around his wooden two-by-two prison he hit his steel toed, boot hard against his desk. Covering his 5'7 height body were loose black slack; on his well-toned torso was a black v neck t shirt to compliment his choice in wear with a studded black bracer whose metal spikes almost shimmered dangerously like it's owner.
"Come on Ms. P, You know I'm not any good at this kind of stuff." Christopher laughed "Besides, who actually needs to learn history anyways? All it is a bunch old people no one remembers reliving the glory days." A bemused grin on his face as his jet black bangs that framed his face swayed with the tilting of his head, the long waist height ponytail that was bound by a white strap running down behind him and off to the side. His eyes lazily opening up to reveal the strong night black pupil within challengingly alongside his answer. His entire physical structure resembling his late great-grandfather Shinjiro Taiga to a tee but that seemed to be the end of the family resemblance.
The professor however wasn't too keen on the teen's answer or attitude "There's a saying you know, if you don't learn the past, you're doomed to repeat it. It would be in your best interest to learn this quickly Mr. Taiga, or you might end up being a statistical washout." She rebuttaled as Chris rolled his eye, then turned back to the class in general "Now then class as I was saying before having to chastise, after the Star Division defeated Tutankhamen and his quest to become a god…" Christopher soon tuned back out after this, silently waiting for the bell to ring. Christopher occasionally played with his long hair to pass the time, but time moved slowly in the Ms. Paterson's class.
Celine Paterson was 22 years old, with long chestnut hair with small bangs on the left side of her face which didn't cover much up but it was noticeable trait making her stand out a bit from her colleagues. She pushed a strand out of her face and pushed it behind her ear as she continued to lecture from her paperback text book, while one may not have never pegged her for it she did work part-time at the little lip theater as one of her stars where her beautiful figure and serene singing voice are the toast of Broadway.
'God, I need a fucking cig,' he thought as the last 5 minutes of class approached which would give him enough of a reprieve to grab his nicotine treat.
"Alright students, you have no homework so have a nice weekend." The history teacher stated calmly as the bell rang "Oh, and Christopher, I would like to have a word with you." As the words left her mouth the class ran out to enjoy their weekend, but Christopher was groaning in his desk. Once all of the other students left, Christopher reluctantly stood up and walked over to her desk to see what she wanted.
"What is it Teach?" he asked putting his hands in his pockets, a firm scowl on his face.
"I'm getting fed up with you Christopher." Chris cocked a brow at her comment.
"Why Ms. P, I have no idea what you mean." he said innocently yet his glare said otherwise.
"Don't test me. I know you smoke on the roof constantly. You end fights with sending students to the nearest infirmary."
Christopher sighed at her last comment, "I don't start the fights..." he muttered looking away displeased that she could at least get the facts right.
"I DON'T CARE!" she slammed her reading book unto the desk. "You're smart I'll give you that. But as a person you...you..." She stuttered trying to calm down lest she go too far and push him away. Giving a heavy sigh she sat back down resting her palm on her forehead. "What would your father say if he saw you like this?" Christopher flinched when his father was mentioned. His eyes narrowed as he turned to walk away. He had enough of this BS teacher-student chat. "Who knows? He's dead remember?" he muttered coldly before walking out the door.
"CHRISTOPHER! WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" She yelled after him, but he had already slammed the door in her face.
Celine put her hand over her hand over her head. She was worried about Chris. She didn't want to do it, not that way she did it. She knew that Chris was reasonable; she really wanted to talk to him at least. He had function ears, sufficient eyes, a nice build, strong shoulders, long lustrous hair …. "Gyaah! What am I thinking? He's my student!" she yelled snapping herself out of it. At any rate, she didn't want to do it, but she, like the others, had her orders.
As Chris walked through the hallways, the students backed away in fear. This wasn't unusual for him being the fact that he was treated as a delinquent. Ever since the day he beat forty Centaurs, New York's most dangerous and trigger happy drug dealers, in a street fight, the number one rule of the streets was 'never mess with Chris Taiga.' He checked his left pocket and nodded in satisfaction as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lighter from his right. As he put a cigarette in his mouth, he remembered the days when the student body would literally wait for him at the school yard just get his autograph, but that was when the Spit Fire Ravens, his Metal band, weren't on ice. He began to light his cigarette, but he found it snatched right out of his mouth by the one person brave enough to lecture him and not get an impromptu ass-kicking. "There is no smoking in the hallway Taiga." She said in her 'I'm superior to you' attitude.
"Tch, just what I need, a Sunnyside breathing down my neck." Chris said in a defiant attitude.
A large tick mark appeared on the girl's head "Excuse me Taiga?" She responded angrily. "I believe I have a first name."
"So do I Rachel, so do I." He quipped.
Standing at 5'4 exactly, she looked up to Chris with a stern look in her bright blue eyes. Her long golden hair ran down her back, parts of it were resting on her shoulders. The 18 year old wore the uniform of the school but it wasn't anything new. Even outside of school she wore nothing but fancy dresses, obviously showing off her lifestyle. Her confident face showed no sign of weakness, as she let everyone see how socially high up she was compared to them, which really pissed Chris off to no end.
"This whole rebel without a cause charade has gone on long enough Taiga!" Rachel said throwing Chris a uniform from her expandable designer bag. "Now put on the uniform and start following the rules. It's about time you grow up!"
Chris looked at the uniform and then smiled. He looked around and then threw it into the nearest trash can, knowing it was going to piss her off. "Listen up Rachel, no one tells me what to do. Not you, not the teachers, not anyone in this school, or even New York for that matter. So do everyone here a favor and piss the fuck off!"
With the end of that sentence, Rachel's face flashed red with the rage that would make Satan crawl into a fetal position. She ran up and slapped Chris as hard as she could; making a loud popping sound that was heard throughout the hallways of the entire school. The on looking students were surprise, Chris was still standing up straight, but a bright red hand mark was pulsing on his face. "O-ouch", Chris responded as he touched the point of impact, "t-that really kinda hurt." 'I take it back that reeeally hurt.'
"No one talks to me like that Taiga! You should know that after our childhood together!" Rachel yelled.
"W-well …y-you know me Rachel, I ..." Chris looked around for a second and spotted a janitor's closet. "hold that thought… e-excuse me for a second …" Chris calmly walked over to the closet and entered. For the next two minutes afterward, the hallway was filled with muffled shrieks of pain and various explicit phrases.
"Well you know me Rachel," Chris continuing where he left as he bursted out of the janitor's door. "I'm a pretty slow learner. Besides, I quit being your whipping boy when I was seven, so don't go reminiscing about the past." Chris however did not take his own advice and remembered before that time. Back then he was weak willed, always doing what people told him, never asking questions, and letting everyone mold him into whatever they wanted. Back then, he was Rachel's boy toy, letting her put make-up and dresses on him, and parade him around the theater. Sure it was embarrassing, but it made people laugh, and that was helping in a way. He used to believe if it was to help people, he would be fine with doing it. But then … then he turned five.
"Taiga! Are you day dreaming in the middle of our conversation?" Rachel yelled, snapping Chris out of it. "Oh … sorry Rachel, I guess you were just soooo boring, that I zoned out."
"What?" Rachel snapped back. "Listen you …"
"Rachel," Chris interrupted the blond again. "I would love to continue this interesting conversation with you, but I gotta meeting to get to sooooooo…bye." As Chris began to walk away, Rachel held out her hand to stop him but couldn't. She wanted to help him, she wanted to say more, she wanted to tell him what her dad told her and her associates to do, and she wanted to tell him what he meant to her. She wanted to tell him all these things, but … but it was against orders so she left it at that. "Oh," Chris said stopping as he looked over his shoulder's back at her, "one more thing…" Rachel looked up, clinging to hope that he would say something meaningful. "Give your old man the middle finger for me!" he relayed with a smug smirk.
"What?" Rachel yelled. She snapped and began to charge at him, but she was held back by students who were worried for her wellbeing.
As he checked his left pocket once again, Chris was laughing all the way to the court yard. It was fun messing with people, especially if it was someone with the last name 'Sunnyside'. He started to imagine her face when she would find out; he only wished he could be there to see it. "Damn, that would be …" his thought was interrupted when he bumped into someone. The person went down, but Chris remained upright. "Hey! Watch where you're … oh!" Chris looked at the person to see that it was a girl, one in his class no doubt. "Sorry about that Mouse." Mouse may have been what everyone called her, but this bespectacled black eyed 16 year old was really named Ayla Robinson, because of her intelligence she was able to skip a grade, though it did cause her to seemingly outcast herself with the others in the class and also partially due to her quiet studious nature, she earned the accolade: Mouse. Ayla herself wore large circular glasses that almost occasional were overshadowed by her bob cutted hair. The girl was knocked down to her rear while her small arms held the book that was pressed tightly against her heart for dear life, as if it was a life preserver in the sea called school.
Chris looked at her to see that she was shaking, terrified of something. "Hey…I wasn't watching where I was going, so sorry if I hurt you." was what Chris said in response to the collision, but what Ayla heard was the delinquent yelling at her 'Hey! Watch where you're going pip squeak! Now say you're sorry or I'm gonna hurt you!' "I-I-I'm …s-s-sorry" she squeaked to the perpetual boogeyman of the streets.
Chris raised his eyebrow confusion. It's not like it was her fault or anything, and it's not like they knew each other well. He knew that people were afraid of him, but Mouse was smart; hell she was easily the smartest person in the entire school, there was no way that she saw him to be some lowlife punk. "Look let me help you up." Is what Chris said as he extended his hand to her, but what she heard was "Pay up!" "I-I-I d-don't have …. A-a-any m-m-m-money …" she squeaked once more closing her eyes in terror now.
'Oh shit…she does think I'm some lowlife punk.' thought Chris with a wince from the reception though he did acknowledge he should have seen it coming, after all everyone seemed to think that. Only his friends knew what he was really like; the same people who were members of his band. The Spit Fire Ravens were the lips of everyone in New York. For better or for worse, everyone knew who he was; the 'demonic vocalist' of the Spit Fire Ravens, the 'Messiah of Metal', but most of all he was someone. However since they were on an indefinite hiatus now people only saw him as a punk delinquent who beat up forty people, too dangerous to talk to, too dangerous to walk past, too dangerous for children…well…he agreed with that last rumor; not because of his attitude, but his music was just too angry for kids…and he wasn't all that good with them either.
Waking himself up to reality again he still saw Mouse on the floor. He then decided to enact his rule. If people see him as a delinquent, then he should act accordingly. "Well what the fuck are you still doing here?" Chris yelled loudly to Ayla. "Get out of my sight before I lose my fucking patience!" and with that she quickly spun around and sprinted off to anywhere but near him.
When the girl was out of sight he could muse to himself "Why is it that I always have to say that to get people on their merry way?"
After the encounter he re-checked his left pocket one more time, and he was surprised this time. He looked back in the direction Mouse fled, but then decided not to worry about it. Finally, he pulled a cigarette and lighter out of right pocket. He then lit the cigarette and took and inhaled, letting the nicotine and other substances do their work before walking off.
Ayla looked back from her hiding spot to see Chris smoking a cigarette. She watched as he walked off as if he hadn't a single care in the world. Although she was afraid, no terrified of Chris, she was none the less intrigued. For her, a quiet bookworm was fascinated by the independence and tenacity of a creature like Chris. For her everything that she does, whether it was her recent calculated encounter with Chris, or her stealing the thumb drive from Chris's left pocket. Those were her orders from the Commander and that was purpose enough. Chris, however, would break the rules, smoke in public, and talk back to his superiors, without the need of a purpose, and she wondered how he could live so free. He was unbound by the chain of command, reveled in chaos, and had no need for suffocating rules; unlike herself who lived and breathed those rules to the point that it sometimes pushed people away. She was in-between the need to pitying him for failing to see their easement of life, and admiring him for his ability to remain true to himself, but that would be for a later time, right now her purpose was to meet up with Celine and Rachel and report to the Commander on their mission.
Shuffling through paper work, Alexander Sunnyside sat in his grandfather's office yawning as he awaiting the arrival of his daughter Rachel, and associates Ayla 'Mouse' Robinson and Celine Paterson. Running a hand through his slicked back black hair he grew bored of this seemingly endless and thank-less chore. Moving his hand away from the black pen on the desk he picked up another sunflower seed with his middle and index finger. Brushing against his goatee, he put the seed into his mouth and bit it open, absorbing the salt and eating the seed before spitting out the shell into the half-filled cup next to him. Thanks to his daughter Rachel and her insistence with avoiding second-hand smoke damage he had to quit his smoking habit, so this occupied his mouth so he wouldn't keep his addiction. Hearing the door click open, Sunnyside looked up fixing his crimson red tie under his black suit, which had no jacket; just the vest and the white long sleeve button up shirt underneath it. The girls walked into to his office, stood at attention, and saluted with Celine saying "Mission accomplished Commander Sunnyside."
The three members of the Star Division felt a bit of relief as they saw the signature smile of all the Sunnyside men appear on their commander's face as he adjusted his glasses. It was their fault that this incident happened in the first place, and they were just happy to get the pictures back. There was a demon attack the day before, thankfully not a demon lord attack, but a tough one none the less. After the attack they did their traditional victory pose picture, just like the generations before them. As they downloaded the picture, however, Ayla had spotted a blurred person in the background. When they enhanced the blur, they saw it to be none other than Christopher Taiga, taking a picture of their victory pose from behind. For over a year now, they have seen countless pictures of their S.T.A.R.s in battle, but they could never figure out who was skilled enough to bypass the police lines or know the various street ways as fluently as them. By fluke, they were able to find out, and Sunnyside was definitely not happy seeing the son of his best friend in the picture try to capture New York's only hope on film to be sold to the highest bidder.
"Alright then Captain Paterson," started Sunnyside "Your report if you please." Celine took a step forward and began to debrief the Commander. "As you know, Christopher Taiga, son of the late Arthur Taiga, was in possession of confidential photographs taken at the scene of the last demon attack. This morning, the Moon Division reported that Taiga was carrying three thumb drives in his left jacket pocket and was on route to deliver them to the publisher of the New York Times, where he is under contract to take unauthorized pictures of our actions on the battlefield, after the school day. Each member of my team took a thumb drive while they encountered him at school. We successfully recovered all three storage devices without Christopher suspecting a thing." As Celine concluded, she handed the three storage devices to Sunnyside.
"Excellent work everyone!" Sunnyside said joyfully. "I have also received a report from the Moon division stating that all of the pictures from Christopher's computer have been deleted." As he spoke, Sunnyside put one of the storage devices into his computer. "It was a good thing that you all were able to get these, otherwise …" Suddenly, he was interrupted by a video that popped up on his computer screen, the image of the owner showing up with a kiddish smile.
"Hello, this is a video message from Christopher Taiga," it started. "But, you probably already knew that, and if my hunch is right, then this must be Commander 'Jackass' Sunnyside right?" Alex's teeth began to grind together. "Anyways, if you're hearing this message, that means I now know you are part of the New York Combat Revue. Now if this really is Sunnyside, then that means the three people who are the members of the Star Division that I took a couple pictures of are somehow affiliated with the Little Lip Theater. Maybe the actors or stage hand who knows at this point? " The mouths of Celine, Rachel, and Ayla hung wide open. "Even if you're not, I can always follow who ever stole the thumb drive so I can find the other two members easily, unless you took all three of them which would be incredibly stupid. In any event I now know your secret, and you can bet your ass it will come out in the front pages of NYT soon. So see ya later!" Alex's blood pressure began to rise as he heard the youth mock him. Christopher and he never saw eye to eye, but back when he worked at the theater, Christopher never did something to this extent to piss him off. "Oh, and before I forget … Fuck you!" the video then ended with an image of Christopher raising his right middle finger.
Sunnyside immediately snapped, punching a hole into his computer monitor. He then picked up the now broken monitor and threw it into a wall, thus shattering the remains of the device as well as making a hole in the wall. The members of the Star Division looked on as their Commander lost his temper, face red and yelling. As they began to leave the room, Sunnyside then shouted words that they themselves wanted to…"DAMN YOU TAIGA!"
Chris sat on a street corner in Time Square. It was still midday, but he already knew it was the best day of his life. Not only had he potentially pissed off Sunnyside, but he also got a great job from his contractor at the NY times. Now all that was left to do was meet with his band members for their weekly meeting at the old Harlem jazz club at midnight. For now, however, he was enjoying a smoke and watching the many different people of New York walk the streets. He saw the many hover cars go by, as well as a few vintage tire cars. It was hard to believe that there was a demon attack a few days ago, but such things were common just like the shoot outs from before.
As he looked around he saw three things that caught his eye. One was the Little Lip Theater, his old place of work and the lair of the now angry Sunnyside. 'Hmph, sometimes he makes it too easy for me.' Chris thought. The second was the advertisement of the new android idol group that was coming to New York on tour form Japan. 'Ah shit … the 'Fakes' are coming back …' Chris mentally groan as his smile dropped. The third was a Japanese girl with medium length black hair wearing a traditional yukata walking into oncoming traffic …
"What the fuck?" Chris yelled as he ran toward her as fast as his leg would move. He tackled her to the ground, allowing the hover cars to safely pass over them. Once the traffic had passed he picked her up in his arms bridal style and ran to the sidewalk hauling ass before the light changed again.
Once they were safe on the other side, he sat her down at a bus stop and began to breathe heavily. "Jesus Christ!" Chris shouted gasping for air. "What the hell were you thinking?" The girl seemed frightened as she blinked her dark red eyes. "Hellooooooo! Can you hear me?" His attempts to talk to her were in vain, however, when he heard her say something he didn't quite understand. "Uhhhh … could you say that again?"
"Go kyōryoku itadaki, arigatōgozaimasu. Anata wa, ritorurippushiatā ga doko ni aru kamo oshiete itadakemasu ka? Watashi wa koko ni atarashiidesu. (1)" She once again said seemingly able to understand his words
"Ah shit," he said exasperatedly to himself. "She's speaking Japanese…"
(1)Translation: Thank-you for your assistance. Would you please also tell me where the little lip theater is? I'm new here. (Google Translator)
That's it for now people, thank you for reading and I'll try to get the next chapter as soon as possible.
"In a world of Fiction, who needs Reality?"