"Good as always." An older man dressed in a formal suit, despite his weariness and failing health, leaned back into the velvet chair and sighed with satisfaction. It turns out that the health effects of my tea, however temporary, can afford me connections with all the right people. Case in point, Uppercrust employs Strider to come over to my store every so often. I'm starting to see why Amy was so important to the world. Hopefully I'd never need her services, for myself, or…
Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I continued to polish my tea cups while Uppercrust luxuriated in his enjoyment of the finer things in life. "We pride ourselves on products of the highest quality."
"Of course." He raised his cup in salute. "It's genuinely nice to know that Parahumans are adopting the Elite mindset without intervention. Using their abilities for economic gain is so much more logical than getting into silly fights over something as asinine as territory."
"Doesn't the Elite take territory?" I asked in confusion.
Uppercrust gave a so-so hand wave. "That's more a product of reality than ideals. We don't go out of our way to draw up border lines like traditional gangs do, but there's only so many cities where we can concentrate our efforts before we get stretched thin." His eyes, though old and soulful, twinkled. "Have I told you? It's so nice to meet another Parahuman organization that focuses on legal economic activities as opposed to something as distasteful as drugs or prostitution."
While Uppercrust was one of the more professional and non-violent leaders of the Elite, the organization as a whole still used criminal means to secure economic domination of the areas they seeped into.
Playing nice with them is good and all, but I couldn't let down my guard around them. Sure, they weren't encroaching on my business yet, key word being 'yet', but that was more due to the former ABB and the Empire 88 presence. If both of them get moved off the board, who knows what will happen? "Yes you have. More than once." I nodded in acknowledgement. "It just didn't make sense to keep moving forward with it. Putting aside my morals, Ryujin Industries is earning more than it ever did when it risked interference from the PRT and police. Besides…" I gave him a knowing smile. "...I think my prices are criminal enough."
He chuckled heartily in response. It's so nice when people can afford my prices without whining about it. "Too true! A good thing you opened up a more affordable line of stores, eh?" His fingers lightly glided over the mahogany counter. "But you mustn't rest on your laurels. Your rivals will not simply sit still and watch as you prosper. The Empire Eighty-Eight is a cancer that you must oust from the city, post-haste." And there it was. What seemed like innocuous advice from a kindly old man was simply a veil for more plots and schemes. A city without gangs? That's basically Christmas for the Elite.
But we weren't on opposing sides yet. So I smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll continue to count on you."
He raised his cup in acknowledgement and downed the rest.
"It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!"
Day two of closing my store because Rachel decided I'm her friend. Is it too late for backsies? At this point, I'm facing the sunk cost fallacy with her. Not only have I lost two days of profits, given her a bundle of cash to deal with her problems and defeated Hookwolf, but I've had to take care of god knows how many dogs instead of making tea. The only consolation I had was the adorable sight of Brenda enjoying dog paradise.
Were dog cafes a thing in Brockton Bay? Could I combine dogs and good tea? Maybe I'd open one branch as a trial run. Rachel could use a legitimate job after Coil is dealt with. My sister lifted a dog up and hugged it close to her chest. I didn't need to fear any reprisals from them after they'd been cowed by me the day before. That might have been to the dog's detriment this time. She was hugging it so tightly I could see its eyes rolling to the back of its head. Retrieving my newspaper, I rolled it up and smacked her on the head. The dog landed on its feet and dashed away, whimpering the whole time.
"Brenda, animal abuse is bad." I scolded her without any heat. "Rachel would be so disappointed."
She pointed at me in accusation, posing as if a wind was blowing on her imaginary cape. "You beat a dog yesterday though! Hypocrite! Baka-nii-chan!"
Urk. That hurts. What did she mean though? "What dog?"
"That metal Nazi chuuni guy? Didn't you get him arrested?" She asked innocently.
A silence settled over the store. "Brenda, where did you hear about that?"
"Oh, Cho Gi told me! You were all like cane smack! Kenjutsu strike! I heard you even used hardening on your stick!" Brenda mimed the actions she was mentioning, making the appropriate action sounds as she swung her imaginary stick around. She had to be doing this on purpose, I refused to believe that she was making all these sexual innuendos without knowing what they meant.
"Which of the four idiots are your favorite?" I kept my true intentions out of my voice, keeping it sugary sweet. "Just pick one."
"Uh….Byeon Gi, I think? His knife throwing skills got a lot better recently. It's sugoi to watch!" She cheered excitedly.
Ah. Good. So Cho Gi won't be missed. I raised my hand to block a newspaper strike to my head. "No! Bad Onii-chan! No planning to kill my minions!"
"No I wasn't." My eyes shifted to the side.
"I've got Onii-chan Haki! Your intentions are clear! Cease your evil acts, evildoer!" She jumped up on the counter and pointed at me once more.
"Fine, he gets to live." I mumbled softly. "For now."
"Good. I'd miss any of them if they disappeared. They treat me like a Yakuza princess. It's super fun!"
Ugh. These fuckers were way too good at ingratiating themselves with my sister. I sat down with a sigh. "What do you want to do then? I'm still waiting for Rachel to pick up her dogs."
"Make me a drink! Something sweet."
"Milk tea?"
She tapped her chin and hummed. "Nah. I've had too much milk tea. Something different would be nice. Maybe without caffeine too, I need to sleep early tonight."
"A herbal or floral tea then?" I turned around and began searching for something suitable.
She slammed the table dramatically and stood up. "I've come up with a new recipe!"
Ignis? Did you reincarnate as my sister? "What do you want me to make?"
"I challenge you! You, the Black Flame Ryuu of the Abyss, Tea Master of Brockton Bay, have to make me the bestest chocolate milk in existence!"
I felt my world shatter. Losing all strength in my legs, I dropped to my knees, slamming my hands on the ground in the process. My sister, the one who I treasured, loved and trusted, betrayed me in a most heinous manner. How could she ask the best tea maker in the world to make her chocolate milk?! This is a betrayal most foul! She's tearing me apart!
I felt a small hand cover my face. "Onii-chan! Stop being dumb already! Being overdramatic is my thing! I'll make the milk if it's so hard for you. Just tell me how to do it."
A small smile slipped onto my face. Fine, she caught me. I stood up and pulled out the necessary ingredients. "Alright, first you've gotta take this cocoa powder and sift it into a bowl." Brenda got on a stool to get access to the whole table and began following my instructions. How precious. "The cocoa bean was actually domesticated as far back as 5,300 years ago by the civilizations close to the Amazon rainforest."
She poured in sugar, a little too much if I'm being honest, and some water, then began to whisk them together. "It dates so far back that even the Mayans consumed cocoa beans." Brenda poured the mixture into a pot and began to mix it while the heat was on. "It was said that the emperor of the Aztecs would consume sixty portions of hot chocolate a day. If you ever start doing that and putting on some chub, I'll make you follow my training routine." Though she pouted in annoyance, she continued to work on the mixture till it became thick and consistent. Then, she poured it out into a bowl to cool.
"Of course, like all of Europe liked to do at the time, the Spanish arrived and took it back to their continent. And that's how chocolate became modernized." My sister put the syrup into a bottle, put in a few ice cubes and poured a healthy helping of Hokkaido milk in.
Don't ask me where I got the milk with Japan in its current state, money is the key to happiness and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. Her tiny girl arms then attempted to mix it together, but she was having difficulties due to the thickness of the mixture.
"I'll use my full power! Rokuogan!" That's not even what the move does! Why is my sister like this?
Finally, when the mixture was fully dissolved into the milk, she poured it out into two cups. Brenda took one for herself and gave the other to me. "Try it!"
I took a sip and hummed. "Not bad. A little too much sugar for my taste, but it's probably perfect for kids."
"So you like it?" She stared at me from the corner of her eye.
"Yeah, of course." I replied without thinking.
She set down her cup. "That's good. I wanted to make something for you for once." Brenda paused for a second, looking into her drink. Strange, she didn't usually look so vulnerable. "I didn't want to make tea cause your standards are so, so high."
"You didn't have to do this." My heart was beating quickly. What's this emotion I'm feeling?
"I had to!" She stamped her feet. "You do so much for me and I don't do anything for you. Sometimes… I think you do too much."
"If anything, I think I don't do enough." I shook my head. There wasn't anything more important than this.
Brenda slapped me on the chest. "You work here all day. You make anything that I want. I've got so much money to spend that I honestly don't know what to use it on. You still tuck me into bed every night." She clenched her fists in frustration. "You fought a dragon for me!"
"That's just my responsibility." I nodded at each of the things she listed. "Mama and Papa trusted me to take care of you."
"Mama and Papa are dead!" Her eyes turned moist. "I still love them. They did so much for us. Out of all the parents in the world, they're the best! But you're taking things too far. When was the last time you went out with your friends? Or dated someone?"
"Rachel is my friend. So is Lisa."
"You don't meet them outside the store at all. And Oni Lee-chan doesn't count. A lot of that is just work stuff too. I'm not saying you need to give up on the tea shop or Ryujin Industries. You'll always be my Onii-chan too." She held her hands together and looked up at me, as if she was begging. "But please… find something else to do. Find someone. Don't revolve your life around me. It's been six years. Mama and Papa wouldn't want this either.
I thought about her, the one I rejected because I feared for Brenda's life. Was I really hiding away from the world? Did my canon knowledge scare me this badly? Am I just a coward?
"Maybe you can try something with Rachel? I think she likes you. And she's nice when she wants to be." She squealed happily. "If you get with Rachel, I can play with her dogs all the time! This is a good idea. I'm so smart."
"Well…"
Rachel opened the door and walked in. "Here to pick up the dogs. Thanks for looking after them." Her face looked at both of us and the awkward silence we were in.
"What did I miss?"