The Ripple Effect | Volume I

Chapter 10 - Infiltration


(Capsule Corporation – Front Lobby)

The lady sitting behind the receptionist desk lightly smiled at the little girl in front of her. On her computer screen, a highlighted message from Bulma Brief had answered "YES", the girl asking to meet with one of the owner and CEO's children was genuine.

"Sorry for the hinderance…Kitsutsuki, was it?" the woman apologized. "One of our guidebots will show you the way to the residence." She gestured to her left as a small spherical robot supported by wheels slowly rolled over.

Kitsutsuki looked at the thing quizzically. "Guide…bot?" she asked slowly.

The woman continued, "This is one of the few guidebots we have. This one is specifically catered to the Briefs and their guests."

Kitsutsuki looked back at the woman with the same face. It looked like she wasn't understanding what the lady was getting at. Was she supposed to let it roll? Did she have to tell it something? What's going on?

"It's fine, darling! I'll take it from here."

The both of them look over. "Ah, Mrs. Brief…!" the receptionist said in surprise.

Bikini strolled over to Kitsutsuki and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Who still looked a little confused at what was going on, up until realization hit. "Mrs. Brief"… She's their mom?! Her eyes widened at the revelation.

"Keep doing a good job, now! Thanks for your help," Bikini exclaimed, walking towards the hallway with Kitsutsuki under her arm.

The receptionist looked a lot shyer than she was before, probably because she was in the presence of one of the Briefs, who are rarely seen in this part of the building. "Y-Yes, ma'am!" she said with a short bow. She watched as they turned the corner.

The building started to get less and less populated the later it got, and eventually the business would close for the day. It was a Wednesday which made it one of the busier days of the work week.

Bikini looked down at the little girl who looked a little befuddled and decided to learn something about her. She let her arm go as she began walking in pace. "I'm Drawsah's mom, but you can call me Bikini! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"L-Likewise…" Kitsutsuki managed to squeak out. Her face looked awkward as she trained her eyes on everything in front of her.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Bikini asked.

The girl stumbled upon her thoughts. She'd forgotten her name. "Erm—Kitsutsuki…Fujiwara," she clumsily answered.

Bikini smiled at her brightly. "That's a beautiful name, darling!" she exclaimed with her hands together. "I'm so glad that Drawsah's found a girlfriend for himself. You're very pretty too, you know!"

Kitsutsuki forehead turned blue in fear. "Wait, wait, wait, wait…!" she yelled. "I do not have that kind of relationship with him." She crossed her hands in front of one another, making an 'X' to deny Bikini's claim.

"Well…maybe not now but the possibility will always be there in the future!" Bikini added, giggling at the thought of the two being together. Kitsutsuki frowned deeply but let it go since it wasn't important at this current moment.

I need to do a whole lot more snooping… Two men in lab coats turn into the hallway they were walking down, taking Kitsutsuki's attention. She watched as they walked the other way and began a conversation with another person in a suit and tie. They pass the hallway where the previous party came from and Kitsutsuki looks down, noticing many other smaller rooms denoted for small conferences. It's like I'm in the corporate building again…

Kitsutsuki looked up at Bikini. "Do you guys…live here?" she asked the stunning woman, pointing at the ground which represented the building itself.

"We sure do, silly!" Bikini happily answered. "It's a nice place, isn't it? You're always welcome to visit at any time! A friend of Drawsah's is a friend of the family!"

"I mean you guys live with all these other people walking through your house?" she immediately asked, almost ignoring what Bikini said. "There's like…no privacy."

"The employees just have this area to work in. Everything else is all ours!" Bikini responded. "I'll show ya' around in a minute so sit tight!"

Kitsutsuki raised an eyebrow. "Sure." She still didn't feel like she got the full answer. It's insane to think that they've been basically living inside an office building. There's no silence; everyone's aware of your presence.

The Capsule Corporation building was designed, by Dr. Brief, in a way that accommodated both the organizational side of their living with their already established residential home.

It was a lot simpler than it seemed. We'll break down the business side of Capsule Corporation first. It's the smaller, yet most confusing part of the building.

About half of the first floor in Capsule Corporation consisted of office space, laboratories both large and small, lounge areas, and meeting/conference rooms. This side of the building was tailored to the people that worked for Capsule Corp—essentially their office building or headquarters workplace. Capsule Corporation only operated out of one building, which was headquarters. Capsule Corp. supply and stock would also be loaded out of the left side of the building, which was closest to the next road.

Dr. Brief ran the business this way because for one, it was easier. He didn't have to purchase a building deeper into the business district, which would have forced him to travel to that building nearly every day to do his work. Two, Dr. Brief was easily able to manage everything in the same building he lived in. If he didn't have to leave, he'd be able to work in an environment he's familiar with, and still be able to live soundly despite the amount of people working in the building every day of the week. Dr. Brief was obviously the owner of the company and was considered as the CEO at the same time.

So, to lighten his workload and still have time to do the things he always loved to do, which was creating inventions, he hired someone as the Chief Operations Officer or (COO) of Capsule Corporation. He made sure this person handled the management of overall company operations as well as setting the company's strategic direction. Dr. Brief wanted to handle major corporate decisions himself. Who was the COO of Capsule Corporation? We don't know just yet.

Beyond those restricted access points, of which we've already established that there were at least two, was the residential side of the building where the Briefs used and lived. This took up more than half of the first floor of the building, the second floor, and the third floor; as well as two towers that were offset at the top of the building.

Every business needed a sizable group of people to operate efficiently as one man couldn't do it all on his lonesome. There's a lot of stuff that goes into running a business and in order for it to be as successful as Capsule Corporation was, there needed to be a lot of people working towards that. This is the reason why Capsule Corporation in this scenario had people seemingly walking about through the Briefs place of residence, although it wasn't entirely true.

Kitsutsuki noticed that there was a dead-end that came up which puzzled her for a moment. She was about to ask Mrs. Brief about it before she watched the woman delicately place her thumb on the pad that laid right on the end of the wall. The pad blinked green, and the wall swiftly opened up from the middle to reveal a whole section of the building Kitsutsuki couldn't imagine existing.

Well, that explains the privacy bit I guess… Kitsutsuki watched the wall move in awe.

"Pretty amazin', ain't it?" Bikini asked the girl who looked on with wider eyes. It looked like Kitsutsuki's anxious expression dissipated and instead, looked like she wanted to explore the building for herself.

"Y-Yeah…" Kitsutsuki slowly responded. They continued through the hallway as the wall shut the same way it opened quite swiftly.

"I'll go fetch Drawsah for you, alright sweetie?" said Bikini.

Kitsutsuki's eyes widened some more. "Don't do that—please!" she shouted. She clasped her hands together in front of her face as if she was pleading Bikini. "I'll go find him myself if that's fine. I don't want to…bother you…!"

Bikini blinked at her with a questioning eye before smiling again. "I don't mind at all—"

"—Please, I insist!" Kitsutsuki kept the same attitude.

"…Alright dear, I won't budge then." Bikini laughed for a moment before finally asking, "Would you like some refreshments?" They stepped into the living room where Bulma and Bikini were just sitting in.

Kitsutsuki lightly shook her head. "N-No ma'am," she answered, "I'm…pretty good…" She still held the slushie from Frozen Stone in her hand. Bikini couldn't find anything else she could pester the awkward girl about.

Bulma leered at them from her previous spot. Her hair was still situated in a halfway mess with many red hairclips in it. "Can you finish my hair please?!" she fussed at Bikini.

"There's no need for shouting, sweetheart!" Bikini giggled. She strolled over to her daughter towards the couch Bulma sat in front of. "You didn't think I forgot about you, did ya'?"

Bulma scoffed. Then she glared at Kitsutsuki who watched the whole ordeal awkwardly. They held awkward eye contact for a moment until Bulma broke it and started using her phone again. Kitsutsuki looked around the room for a moment and without finding much to do besides stand there stiffly, she decided that she'd excuse herself. Her plan was seemingly moving swimmingly anyways.

"I'll go find Drawsah. I don't want to be in your way," she ungracefully said with a short bow.

"Uh-huh," Bulma commented. "At least you know some social cues." She didn't spare Kitsutsuki one look and said that with a brash tone.

Kitsutsuki clicked her tongue. Bitch…

"Don't be rude, Bulma!" Bikini nagged. She then turned her head towards the stiff-looking girl. "Go ahead, dear! Don't mind Bulma at all. She gets a little cranky every now and then!" She gave Kitsutsuki a light wave with a sincere smile.

Kitsutsuki didn't even attempt to look understanding or happy, the frown she had on her face was pretty obvious. Just so she could avoid any other issues, she quickly turned around and started down the hallway again. I only need another hour… Just to catch him in an exposed position. And then…I'm never coming back here again.


(Drawsah's Bedroom)

Drawsah's room was about as large as Bulma's was. He had a sizeable work desk in the corner of his room where various power tools, gadgets, and other tools like soldering guns were laying about. Littered around the room's floor were smaller vehicles with various parts out, akin to motorcycles, and one-manned cars and jets.

Also similar to Bulma's room, his bed lay embedded in the wall that his work desk was against and in order to get into it, he had to climb a small flight of steps that was about as tall as his height. The next wall was relatively empty besides a few posters of a few West City football club players and the long glass window that spanned across most of the wall. The wall parallel to the wall that had his bed and work desk was also littered with posters from the same football club and then some. It also had posters of the beaches in South City and of jets that he had built himself.

On that same wall was an open door that led to the unlit bathroom. It was a bathroom personal to him with a toilet, sink, shower, and bathtub. Beside that room was a wall that would eventually uncover a small walk-in closet that opened with the touch of a button.

The last wall that stood parallel to the windowed wall was the exit. That wall had little décor on it as there was only a basket to hold his dirty clothes and rack to hold his bookbags and jackets. Right before you stepped into the middle of the room, there was a Capsule Corp rug that stuck out about five feet in length and eight feet in width, creating a pseudo walk-in space for the room.

Drawsah sat at his desk whilst looking at blueprints he had drawn up in great and high detail. He was building a contraption of sorts from scratch, and seemingly didn't want help from his father or sister. He constantly switched his gaze from the blueprints to the unfinished skeleton of the machine and back to the blueprints. He held his chin.

It functions well… But condensing the moving parts required would make it more practical to use. I think I should make the joints smaller and add ball-joints instead.

The boy hummed in thought for a moment before leaning back in his rolling chair. "I'll think about it later," he lazily mumbled to himself. He put his arms behind his head before checking the time on the wall. "It's almost dinner time."


(CC – Second Floor)

On the other side of the building, Kitsutsuki was astounded with everything she found on the floor. She walked in the hallway that went all the way around the floor and still hadn't gotten to the other side just yet. Every room she peeked into was huge and dark, looking more advanced in technology than anything she's ever seen before in her life. The views she found looking outside through the windows gave her views of the city she couldn't get unless she was still at the other corporate building.

The building on the outside looked pretty basic, and the only thing that made it unique was its size, color, and shape. On the inside though, she quickly noticed that it was completely different. It was like she was in the most expensive mansion in the world one hundred years into the future. But she didn't want to get ahead of herself in her discovery as she still had a 'mission' to complete.

Kitsutsuki's Frozen Stone cup wasn't with her anymore, so we can assume that she's finished it and threw it away. She finally crossed her arms in thought after looking around. Surely, he'd be loose with his abilities when he's at home, right? He's lived here all his life; he can't keep a wrap on those for that long…

She peeks into a room that looked very similar to the one she left downstairs, only smaller in size. The window she was left with was three times bigger though and it left her a view of the setting sun. It was beautiful.

Jeez these people are rich…

The girl jumped in fear after hearing a small set of footsteps. Her first instinct was to run into the room and hide behind something. She decided to hide between the two couches that sat next to each other at a ninety-degree angle, creating just a small bit of space for her to fit in and a little leeway away from the wall with the giant window.

She slowly lifted her head above the armrest and stared at the exit intently.

Drawsah walks into the room with his blueprints in hand and turns to one of the walls that housed bookshelves. He never looked up and failed to notice Kitsutsuki that clumsily crouched all the way down to avoid making noise. She switched her body over to peek in between the two couches, then looked at him intently.

Kitsutsuki watched Drawsah put the book back into the place he found it and walk over to the next wall, one that would easily expose her hiding spot. Damn…damn…damn…! She slowly flipped around again and backed up without making noise. She peeked around the couch with one eye and noticed that Drawsah held his blueprints to the sun, completely blocking his view of Kitsutsuki and shielding his eyes from the sun in the process.

Drawsah quickly flipped through the book in one hand and sighed. Then he put the book back in the spot he grabbed it from. Kitsutsuki peered at him in nervous perplexity until she watched him travel back to the other side of the room with one swift and easy jump.

That wasn't something she expected.

I…I was right…! I was right! He just flew! She double fist pumped to herself with this small victory and pondered on her next move, peeking over the couch again to glare at Drawsah, who looked mildly frustrated.

He couldn't find the book he was looking for. He stood up from his crouch and jumped over to the exit. Before he could step through though—

"Ah-HAH!"

"WA~AH—!" Drawsah jumped up in fear and darted his eyes to the sound, his heart was beating out of his chest. He found Kitsutsuki standing behind the couch with her arm pointing at him. But she looked thrown off at his reaction.

"You scream like a—…" Kitsutsuki shook her head out of the daze and climbed over the arm of the couch, still pointing at him. "No! I saw you flying! Explain!" she barked at him.

"Why the hell are you in my house?!" Drawsah looked beet red angry. "Get out!"

Kitsutsuki tilted her head up and crossed her arms as if she had leverage over the situation. "Your mom let me in," she explained, "So I have every right to be here~! You have to explain yourself now!"

Drawsah pointed to himself. "I don't have to explain anything…" He then pointed at her to emphasize his argument. "…to you!" He then turned around and walked out of the room, picking up his blueprints and causing Kitsutsuki to follow him. "Seriously, something is wrong with you…!"

Following behind Drawsah, Kitsutsuki hummed loudly with emphasis and smiled. "I could always ask your mom instead. I'm sure she'd tell me everything." Drawsah slowly came to a stop. "She seems so nice!"

Drawsah clicked his tongue and slowly turned his head around. If I were…to kill— He rubbed his temple which confused Kitsutsuki momentarily. No! No…don't think that… The spiky-haired boy turned all the way around to face her. "Why do you wanna know so bad? You're trying to blackmail me, aren't you? I've already shown you that it doesn't work," he spat with a venomous tone, narrowing his eyes at Kitsutsuki in an attempt to threaten her.

Kitsutsuki stood her ground regardless, lacking any fear at all. "You're not explaining anything," she coldly uttered. After a short moment of silence, Drawsah turned around and continued walking down the hallway, leaving Kitsutsuki sort of dumbstruck.

This girl's too much. Maybe if I ignore her, she'll leave. But after walking down the hallway for a moment and still hearing footsteps behind him, he frowns. Mom'll definitely tell her about me. But all my attempts at getting rid of her are either too extreme or are just straight up not working at all… Drawsah started to come up to his room and once he did, he looked at Kitsutsuki's shadow which still followed his. I give up… I'll figure everything else out later.

Drawsah turned into his room and turned the light on as Kitsutsuki followed him inside. She immediately started looking around and put two and two together to realize that they had walked into the boy's room.

For being the richest kid in the world, this room is pretty mediocre if you ask me…

She eventually noticed that Drawsah sat in a rolling chair that was at his desk and found him working on some sort of machine or mechanism. He was reading over his blueprints constantly as well. Kitsutsuki looked around the room again and perceived that Drawsah was an engineer of some sorts and liked building things. The small vehicles and planes that lay on the floor was proof of that if his work desk wasn't enough.

Kitsutsuki looked behind her and found a small white circular table with a radio and a couple other gadgets on it. She moved them aside and took a seat on the empty space after closing the door to his room. Drawsah paused his work for a moment after hearing the click of the door before continuing again.

The girl thought that after a couple of minutes, Drawsah would eventually say something. But at the rate that he was going, he definitely didn't plan on addressing her at all and after figuring that out, Kitsutsuki cleared her throat dramatically noisily.

Drawsah didn't budge in his work, ignoring her completely.

She cleared her throat again, even louder than the first time. But she didn't get and results. So Kitsutsuki glanced at one of the devices on the table and picked it up, tossing it up and down in her hand. She didn't know what it was or what it was made for, but that didn't matter. Heads up, dickhead. Kitsutsuki chucked as hard as she could right at his head, which made him flinch in pain.

Drawsah turned around with a furrowed brow, tiny pupils, and veins showing out on his forehead. "What do you want?!" he screamed, holding his head with one hand.

"This is the fourth time I've asked you," Kitsutsuki casually responded with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked just like she did on the roof, only this time it was in the comfort of Drawsah's own room which all of a sudden wasn't comfortable anymore.

"Fine!" he yelled at her. He completely turned around in his rolling chair, putting down the screwdriver he had in his hand. Kitsutsuki didn't look impressed. "I was born with certain physical abilities. Happy now?!"

Kitsutsuki tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. "And?" she mouthed. She spun her hand around in a motion for him to continue or at least elaborate. "What are you, some sort of superhuman?"

Drawsah sighed.

"No," he bluntly answered. At least this time Drawsah wasn't shouting out answers in anger since it tired him way more than it was Kitsutsuki just hearing it. "I'm not adept with my energy at all. So, I wear limiters. It's even more important that I mask it, not only to keep my family's privacy, but to refrain from hurting idiots in the process." Kitsutsuki turned her nose up at that as Drawsah scowled at her. Drawsah continued, "Idiots like you."

She scoffed at that comment. "But that still doesn't explain why you of all people have this…" Kitsutsuki struggled to find the correct wording. "… 'Mutation' you're talking about." She put it in air quotes.

Drawsah leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. He started to look a little tired of this conversation, but if he wanted to kick her out without a fight, he'd have to go through with it. Even despite all the information he's telling her, she'd have no foundation to stand on if she decided to tell this stuff to anyone else.

"I'm not the only one in the world who was born with these curses…" he said in a sullen tone. "Some people were able to control their abilities and use it for the greater good…or for the opposite of that." Kitsutsuki looked intrigued. "I can't do that…"

She tilted her head in confusion. "…Why not?" she asked.

"Because I physically cannot train myself safely," Drawsah quickly responded. "And there are no other known methods that I or my father can come up with."

Kitsutsuki closed her eyes and hummed, putting her hands on the table casually. Then she stood up off the small table and yawned, stretching out her limbs. "Well…that about covers it," she coolly stated.

Drawsah let out a relieved sigh. This childish interrogation was finally over.

Now I'll have to tell mom to never let this dumbass in the house again.

"But…" Drawsah opened his eyes at the sudden bit of speech. He watched as Kitsutsuki looked at him and put her hands on her hips. Now what…?

Kitsutsuki walked up to him and leaned down to his level, but not in his face. "I'm a little curious so I want to test what you're really capable of myself," she added with a smirk.

Drawsah rolled his eyes and groaned.

That didn't settle right with Kitsutsuki. "What…?" she asked, her face was getting irritated.

The spiky-haired boy glanced at her and started, "I'm not 'fighting' you again..." He spoke to her pretty plainly. Drawsah expected that to be the end of it.

"Oh please," she said. "You just said you had a knack for this sort of thing, and you refuse to get better at it? Your power shouldn't belong to you—you're a coward." She shrugged and shook her head in disappointment.

"Sorry not sorry to disappoint you," he sternly spat. "You didn't listen to a single thing I said, huh?" His eyes lowered and he started taking the girl less seriously.

Kitsutsuki waived his comments off with her hand. "Can't, won't, same thing," she quickly replied. She smirked, throwing off Drawsah again. "Anyways, I won't perform as badly as I did on the roof. I'm in peak condition now!" She started stretching with core twists.

Drawsah slowly blinked and didn't say anything. What was he going to say?

The girl frowned. "Well? Lead the way! You think I know where to go?!" she barked at Drawsah, who's expression didn't change at all. Kitsutsuki even stepped back to give him space, anticipating that he'd stand up and lead her to an empty room or something.

But all he did was scratch his head in confusion. "You want me to do what exactly…?" Drawsah asked the chaotic girl.

"I'll deck you in the face right now then," she pointed out with a raised fist.

His eyelids lowered. Playing dumb or flat-out ignorance hasn't been working against her at all. Drawsah slowly got up from his chair and started walking towards the exit, shoving his hands in his pockets. I can't believe I'm being ordered around in my own home… What a joke…


(Capsule Corporation – Atrium)

Drawsah and Kitsutsuki walked all the way down to the first floor and past the family room where Bulma and Bikini curiously watched them stroll by. Drawsah turned right and walked through the two glass doors that led to the indoor atrium. Kitsutsuki stopped after several steps onto the room and looked memorized by the sheer size of the room. It looked as if they were in a whole forest but with giant walls on the side of it.

There weren't any objects on the large patio at the time, so Drawsah didn't have to move anything out of the way to make things go quickly. Kitsutsuki looked at him and waited for him to reach the other side of the floor. He seemed to be looking at other things though.

They'll be fine. I'll make sure of it. Drawsah turned around facing away from the animals he was referring to and looked at Kitsutsuki. "I'll make this quick," he uttered.

"What?!" Kitsutsuki barked at him. She clicked her tongue in annoyance at his casual attitude. "I oughta' put you flat on your ass! Hurry up and tell me what the rules are!"

Drawsah flicked his eyes at each corner of the large patio and swiped down on both of the limiters on his wrists. It seems like the maintenance levels—or intensity levels of them can change, meaning that he can pseudo control how much energy his body uses with the help of those metallic wristbands. It also saved the battery levels for those limiters and prevents them from running out prematurely, in a sense, saving him the trouble of effort.

"It's simple," Drawsah finally said, pointing to the ground that they stood on. "You get knocked out or step out, you lose."

"Which corners? There's seven of them," Kitsutsuki pointed out.

Drawsah glanced at one of the corners and swiftly hopped over there with his hands in his pockets, barely even taking half a second to travel. "One," he counted.

He hopped backwards, similarly to the straight corner. "Two." He then hopped sideways from that corner. "Three." And finally pointed to the last corner on Kitsutsuki's side. "Four," he finished. Kitsutsuki looked shocked by the speed of his movements. He's crazy fast…! Then narrowed her eyes at the obvious revelation.

"You can also quit at any time," Drawsah finally added, pulling his hands out of his pockets, and crossing his arms. Please do that. I didn't jump around for nothing…

"Hell no!" Kitsutsuki spat. She smirked and lowered into the exact same stance she displayed at school. "If knocking you out is all I gotta do, this should be a piece of cake!" Since she was now wearing loose clothes that didn't restrict her movements so much, she was able to tighten her stance and make it firm.

Drawsah noticed this but kept his casual attitude. He knew that Kitsutsuki wasn't stupid. If she managed to catch onto his false persona, infiltrate his own house, and still feel confident that she could somehow win this battle after bearing witness to what he was capable of, then maybe she was a lot more cunning than she looked. Or she was just an extremely lucky person. But regardless, he was going to keep on his toes this time.

"Whatever…" he offhandedly said, shrugging his shoulders and then leaning forward with his crossed arms. He looked a lot more focused that he did at school.


End of Chapter Ten.

A/N:

Found another flight school! Enrolled two weeks ago and flew my first flight with them on Tuesday! I'll also be going up in the air again later this morning. Hopefully everything goes swimmingly here, and this is what I plan to have take up the majority of my summer. (i won't be flying everyday; i'll still be able to write and post chapters twice a week)

I'll also be on vacation from the 29th of May to the 2nd of June and won't be writing at all that week. So, that's just a heads up! If it's possible, I'll try to write two chapters in advance to make up for the lost time, but I don't know exactly how that'll work.

Anyways, hope you guys have had a good week so far! Also hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (it was another long one!) and that you'll be right back with me for the next update!