The Unceasing Path
Ch 2: 香港製造
Made in Hong Kong - wherein the story begins again.
(Mako and Ami's bathroom - Later that night)
Water ran in multi colour rivulets down the drain as Ami washed off the last of the paint.
"Wow. We need to go paint balling again soon. I haven't had that much fun in ages."
"Yeah, maybe not too soon though." Makoto took another look at Ami through the hot steam. "You look like you just went the distance in a heavyweight fight and lost. Bad."
"Ouch. Remind me not to piss off Hotaru in the future will you? Chibi-Usa totally shot first." Ami winced as she tried to reach over her shoulder with the loofah. "Maaaaako-chan...do my back?"
Makoto could never resist that little whiny pout. She took the loofah from Ami and ran it up and down her back slowly. It took extra time to avoid the multitude of welts and little circular bruises already forming but Makoto didn't mind. Ami was practically purring with pleasure and she wasn't even half way done. Makoto gave a low whistle as she soaped around a nasty looking blotch on Ami's ribs. "You sure you're ok?"
"Thanks Mako. Don't worry. I just bruise easily."Ami rinsed off and stepped back to give Makoto access to the water. "Besides, I probably deserved that. This one too." She poked at a particularly large purple bruise on her thigh. "Rei's got incredible aim. She actually got me running in mid stride. Gorgeous shot."
Makoto reviewed the chaos of this afternoon's paintball adventures and found that she agreed with Ami's assessment. She chuckled as she began to shampoo her long mass of hair. Ami's small hands almost immediately twined in to help tease apart all the stubborn knots.
"Mmmm. That's nice..." Satisfied that she was clean and silky smooth, Makoto rinsed her hair and turned off the water. The temptation to linger under the soothing hot stream seemed less now that Ami had already stepped out of the shower "Anyone else worried about how good ChibiUsa is at this game? How does a girl that small handle a gun that well? Did you see the big freaking gun she picked out?"
"She was awesome!"Ami tossed a towel over to Makoto before drying herself off "She even knew to adjust for the heavy recoil. It was a fantastic demonstration of applied physics. We had a great talk about the conservation of momentum and Newton's second law afterwards."
Makoto snorted. She did see. Ami had been turned into a veritable rainbow by the time ChibiUsa was done with her in the final round.
"Glad you're so thrilled about the teachable moment. You ready for bed? I'm pretty tired."
"Nah, I'm still amped up from this afternoon. Wanna to watch a movie instead?"
"Let me guess," Makoto laughed as she towel dried her hair "You're in the mood for some schlocky 80's action movie? You've got terrible taste sometimes."
"Hey! What's wrong with action movies? Action movies are great! One part wish-fulfillment, one part ham-fisted social commentary. Add in a couple of larger-than-life characters with relatable flaws, put them in an interesting setting, toss in some crazy stunt work and poof! Entertainment!"
"Alright, alright, you win." It was adorable to see how excited Ami was by all this. "Please, just something not from the 80s then? I can't get over the hair."
"Hah! Deal." Ami mentally tallied through her extensive media collection. " Ah! Got it! 'Firestorm'. It's a newer one from Hong Kong. Not much plot, but it's got gangs and guns and explosions and everything. Meet me in the living room when you're done?"
Makoto nodded and continued to dry her hair as Ami wandered off to set up the movie. She was already waiting on the couch by the time Makoto's hair was dry.
Suddenly there was a flash of thunder and the lights went out. A quick look out the window revealed that it was a neighbourhood wide power outage.
"Awww!" it was Makoto's turn to pout. "There goes movie night! Too bad, I was actually in the mood for some over the top drama for once."
"Well, I can't leave you unsatisfied my dear Mako-chan." The moonlight streaming in through the window was enough for Makoto to see Ami tapping on her chin the way she does when she's deep in thought. "How about I finish that story from earlier? The one with the Triads and the police? It's pretty much the same as the movie we just picked. I'm still thinking about for some reason."
"That sounds like fun. I'm all ears."
Makoto happily plopped down on the couch. She loved listening to Ami tell her little stories, and if this afternoon's paintball story was any indication, this was going to be good.
Ami cleared her throat and took her story back to the very beginning...
[September 5, 1992. On the streets of Hong Kong...]
"There you are!" A soda can bounced off the back of Ami's head. "Freak!"
Oh no...they spotted her. The bullies from her class were coming. They were always especially cruel after exam results were posted. At least the can was empty this time this time...
Ami started to walk away, doing her best to pretending like nothing was happening. She didn't last a five steps before her courage collapsed and she started to run. There was a round of laughter behind her as the gang scented blood. The other people waiting at the bus stop looked on curiously, but no one made a move to help – not that Ami expected any help. This was Hong Kong. Everyone minded their own business here.
Ami ran into the crowded sidewalks, dodging people left and right without regard to where she was going. All she wanted to do was get away. Unfortunately, in her distraction, she ran into a dead-end alley. It wasn't long before the bullies caught up.
"Where are you going? Come play with us!" The leader grinned as she advanced. "Just because you're number one in the class you think you're better than us?"
"No, Mei Lin, that's not it at all..."
Ami shrank back, making herself smaller in hopes that they would just go away.
Wishful thinking.
She tripped over an overflowing garbage bag and fell right into the gutter. Her glasses flew off and clattered away down the alley. That prompted another vicious round of laughter.
"Not so smart now are you?" MeiLin turned to the others. "We should teach her a lesson...right girls?"
This was going to be a bad one. Ami remembered seeing Mei Lin's name near the bottom of the exam scores this morning. She closed her eyes, cowering behind her schoolbag in an attempt to protect herself against the beating that was sure to come.
Suddenly, a new voice echoed into the alley.
"Hey! What are you doing? Leave her alone!"
Ami looked up at this unexpected source of hope. A girl in an unfamilliar brown school uniform burst into the alley. The stranger pushed past the group of bullies and positioned herself right in front where Ami was huddled.
"You want a fight, why don't you try someone your own size?"
The gang stepped back, clearly unused to having anyone try to challenge them.
"What's this got to do with you?" Mei Lin stepped forward. "Gutter Trash here your girl or something?" More laughter, though this time, it sounded forced.
The stranger growled out a warning.
"I said...leave her alone or you deal with me."
Mei Lin rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Blow me. I don't have time for this. Girls, get her!"
The pack hesitated, but the stranger did not. She was on them like a great bear amongst dogs. Within minutes, the bullies were all lying around the alley groaning. The stranger stood among them, a tall avenging avatar of justice.
"So, still feel like picking on the weak?"
The stranger wasn't talking to her, but that one offhand comment hurt more than any of the beatings or the bullying Ami had endured in her life. The stranger thought she was weak...and she was right. Ami couldn't deny that.
For the first time, she had seen true strength. Here was someone who used their strength to protect others rather than for their own gain. Compared to that, Ami was weak. What had she done with her own strengths so far? Hide away in her books and pretended that the world didn't exist.
No more.
A fire sparked in her heart where there had been nothing but ice before.
Ami looked at the stranger, startled by the depth of feeling this girl brought out in her. She was still yelling at the defeated bullies at the moment.
"Get out of here! If I ever have to deal with you again..."
MeiLin and her gang scampered off without waiting to hear the end of that sentence.
She then turned and held out a hand to Ami.
"You ok there?"
Ami stared at that hand, trying to understand.
"Why?"
The girl shrugged.
"Eh? Oh I don't know. It seemed like the right thing to do."
That shrug burned into Ami's memory. Every detail of it. The way the girl's lips pursed slightly before she spoke, how the sun reflected off her rose shaped earrings as she tilted her head, the bob of her ponytail when her shoulders shook up and down.
There was a little half smile on the girl's lips as she answered the question like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
With anyone else, Ami would have considered that non-answer a mockery, but with this girl...the sincerity in her startling green eyes made it clear that she meant what she said. 'Doing the right thing' was a simple truth for her.
Ami felt that she should say something at this point, but she never got the chance. A loud shriek interrupted the moment.
"There she is!" Mei Lin came back and with a police officer in tow. "She tried to kill me! Quick! Arrest her!"
The officer took one look at the stranger and pulled out his handcuffs.
"Oh! It's you again? I could have guessed."
Just like that, the stranger, her hero, was being dragged away.
"Officer! Wait! No! She didn't do anything wrong!"
Ami jumped forward to try to stop him and was shoved away brusquely.
"Stay out of this girl. This is between me and this street rat delinquent here." He turned to the stranger "You're under arrest, blah blah blah. Whatever, you know the drill by now. Come on. If I'm lucky, this time they'll lock you up and throw away the key. Fucking waste of my time. I swear the courts are too easy on kids these days..."
Mei Lin left with the officer, condemning the stranger with her every sniveling cry. Ami watched them leave, frozen in shock. The urge to smash that bully's lying teeth in rose within. Her eyes fixed onto the police officer's pistol. Ami saw herself running forward, snatching it out of the holster, and forcing the bastard to let the stranger go.
She clenched her fist, and took a step forward before she stopped.
No. She couldn't do that. It wasn't right. Those actions wouldn't change anything. This was all wrong. The bully, the cop. It wasn't fair.
Ami stayed in the alley long after everyone else had left. Left alone among the garbage and decay, she resolved to make things better as well. She would never be weak again. She had to become strong, and like the stranger, use that strength to protect others. Then maybe, someday, somehow, she would find a way to thank the stranger who cared enough to make a difference.
And Ami didn't even know her name.
[HKPD 6th Division Police Station suspect interrogation room. 10 years later...]
Kino Makoto was nervous as hell. She hated interrogation rooms – too many bad experiences as a kid. She rubbed her badge unconsciously. The newly issued piece of brass glinted warmly in the harsh fluorescent light.
It still gave her an odd feeling to know that she was on the right side of the law. That little badge proved that she was supposed to be here. The irony was something to be savoured.
Now, however, was not the time to be self congratulatory. It was strange for the Chief Inspector to ask for her, a brand new recruit, personally. Makoto figured it had something to do how she had just graduated at the top of her class this year but really, she had no clue. Either way, she wasn't about to question orders.
Though confusing, her current orders were simple enough. Be in Interrogation room B2 at 0500 hours. True to form, Makoto was now here at the ass crack of dawn, waiting to see why she had been summoned.
She didn't have long to wait.
Chief Inspector Chiba marched a black hooded prisoner into the room. Makoto automatically noted the details she could make out– Female, 155 cm, Thin build...weirdly blue eyes...
Makoto stood and saluted her superior.
"At ease constable."
Chief Inspector Chiba shoved the prisoner into the chair across from Makoto. Then he did something that was against every regulation she knew of: the Chief Inspector turned off the security camera. Makoto hadn't even known that was possible until now.
"Goddammit, what the am I doing here?" The prisoner slipped out of her handcuffs and pulled off the black hood "You know how much of a pain in the ass this is every time you want to chat?"
Makoto was up instantly with her service pistol drawn.
"Freeze! Hands behind your head!"
The prisoner rolled her eyes a little but remained still with her hands in the air.
"I can't very well do both rookie. Which one do you want?"
Chief Inspector Chiba sighed.
"It's ok Kino. Stand down. I can explain."
"Sir...wait...what?" Makoto took a chance and darted her eyes back to the Chief Inspector. He was leaning against the wall with a slightly amused smirk.
"I said put the gun away. Don't worry, we're on the same side."
Makoto slowly lowered the gun but then raised it again. She looked again to her superior officer, still not fully trusting what she was told.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! I don't have time for this..." The prisoner darted up out of her chair. Makoto felt a sharp pain at her wrist and in the blink of an eye, she had been disarmed and worse, pulled down hard onto the cold metal table. She struggled to get up, but she had no leverage. The prisoner had her face down by the back of the neck with one arm pinned uselessly over her head. Makoto's other arm flailed wildly, but found no purchase as the prisoner continued to speak. "Chiba, would you cut the crap and get to the chase already?." She seemed to remember Makoto at this point and finally addressed her directly. "And you! If you're going to point a gun at someone, don't take your eyes off them! Consider that a free bit of advice. Promise to behave if I let you go?"
Makoto nodded, squishing her face on the table slightly for lack of any other way of expressing herself. The prisoner let her up as promised. Makoto sprang away as soon as she was free and looked at other woman warily. She was small and thus, easy to underestimate but the still-stinging pain in her wrist reminded Makoto of what a terrible mistake that would be.
For her part, the other woman popped the cylinder out and cleared the chambers like it was a mere afterthought. Makoto blushed, embarrassed at being handed her own gun.
Chief Inspector Chiba chuckled.
"Mizuno, I want you to meet your new partner, Constable Kino Makoto. Kino, if you choose to accept, and I'm hoping you do, I'm assigning you to the very capable hands of Sergeant Mizuno Ami here."
The two women looked at each other once before simultaneously turning to the Chief.
"What the fuck?"
A.N.
Alright, so this story is happening! *jazz hands* I don't know about y'all, but I'm really excited. This is my first AU and boy, did I have fun writing it.
That said, this is technically a story within a story, or rather, a fic about Ami writing a fic. This is not an AU, but rather, a fic about an AU (just bear with me here ok? I mean, how else was I going to get in a gratuitously fluffy Mako/Ami shower scene?)
so, to clear up any confusion about story structure:
From now on, paragraphs headed by [square brackets] indicate that it is a scene set in Ami's Triad AU story. Paragraphs with no heading, or a (heading in parentheses) indicate that it is a scene from "real life".
PM/Reviews of course, always appreciated. I will probably be updating weekly as IRL permits.
Cheers,
-Drifter.