Ah, the thick and humid air of Osaka. Lili had been calling it her second home. The climate is warmer than Monaco's mild Mediterranean flavor, but she had grown to love this place and its unique charms. Lili wore her sunscreen, designer shades, and white hat before getting out of the Rochefort Tin Can - as her eternal rival likes to call it - and into the waiting pink limousine.
"Sebastian, we're going to visit the Kazama Dojo."
"As you wish."
It is a routine visit at this point. If Lili happens to travel like an ordinary person, her passport would be brimming with Japanese Visa stickers due to these frequent visits. Thankfully, her billion-dollar travel tin can spare her that inconvenience—otherwise, the hassle would kill some of her golden hair.
She last stayed a day in Osaka two months ago, just after Asuka's high school graduation. Her eyebrow involuntarily twitched as she was reminded of a certain embarrassment.
Two months ago.
If curiosity kills the cat, then the cat is Lili. The cat that she is and what killed her are the strange graduation traditions in Japan.
She is absolutely surprised that, despite her hot-headed demeanor, Asuka is quite popular with her juniors and classmates. In retrospect, that's not surprising at all since her rival fights both thugs and the school bullies as a spirited peacemaker.
After the ceremony, students and friends would flock to Asuka and take pictures with her. Some would give her small gifts as a token of appreciation for her help. What tapped her curiosity the most were guys and girls giving the second button of their uniforms. She's quite not sure if Asuka is receiving it, as the other students are covering her line of vision.
"Sato, what are they doing?" Sato is one of the older students of the Kazama Dojo who happens to be passing by after taking pictures with his friends. He lifts his glasses and follows her gaze to see what has captured her attention.
With a mischievous grin, he answered, "Oh, giving the second button of your uniform means good luck. Y'know, with college, life after high school. Stuff. "
Lili nodded curtly, murmuring a faint "Thank you," oblivious to Sato's stifled laugh concealed behind his balled fist. As the heiress to the De Rochefort family, it was only proper to give her rival a gift befitting of tradition.
Once they were alone again, Lili stopped Asuka on her track to the classroom. As graceful as she could, she ripped the button from her right collar. "Asuka Kazama, would you please give me your hand?"
"Oi Lili, what shenanigans are you plotting again?" the brown-haired woman asked, wondering and worrying if this eccentric lady had once again bought something stupid with her pocket money.
The blond again gestured for Asuka's hand with her palm, "I'm being sincere for once."
Asuka reluctantly opened her hand. First, there was the surprise, then the embarrassment, and lastly, the confusion as she realized that Lili was giving her dress button, her three fingers lifted for the gesture. Her rapidly shifting expressions did not escape Lili's notice. She looked at the button, the blond, the button, and the blond again.
"W-what's this?" Asuka finally said after a few moments of disbelief. A shade of pink was visible on her cheeks.
"A good luck gift? Sato told me that giving you a button means wishing you well in your life beyond high school. Is that wrong?" the heiress asked, tilting her head.
"Lili, this means a confession of…love." she bluntly said. Right after she went above and beyond to politely decline all the other buttons, this idiot is giving her another one.
"But Sato said…" Lili melodramatically gasped as she realized that she had been pranked.
"What the heck, seriously? D'ya wanna marry me or somethin'?"
At the end of the day, Asuka kept the dress button, partly because she finds it amusing. But more importantly, reattaching the button to Lili's dress is an unnecessary hassle. They were busy celebrating her graduation, after all.
Still flushed from the memory of the faux pas, Lili tries to regain her aristocratic poise before they arrive at the dojo. If Sato didn't find an exceptionally deep hole to cower in, there would be hell to pay. Luckily for her, no hole was needed, as she did not find Sato in the dojo, and neither was Asuka.
"Lili-san, Asuka-sensei is not teaching today. She has a shift at the animal shelter." One of the students informed her.
With that, the pink limo flew to the animal shelter. She arrived with big strides, excited to see her rival and friend once again after two months of doing heiress stuff. With the help of the shelter manager, she located Asuka in one of the marine enclosures.
"Asuka Kazama, I'm here to challenge you once more."
Hearing Lili's voice, Asuka squinted her eyes, sighed, and turned around, carrying a young penguin on her arms. "I can't right now. I'm busy. We're understaffed." She put the penguin down and placed it among other young sea birds in the feeding area. She also noticed how her manager accompanied the heiress to the enclosure—another shenanigan.
"I never knew you had other jobs. I thought you were a full-time at the dojo."
"Well, I am only a substitute teacher. Besides, the number of classes is smaller because it's summer." Asuka looked at Lili, whose attention diverted to the little penguins.
"They look like you, Asuka."
"Are you making fun of me because I'm short?"
"No, I mean, you are short." Lili held a finger before Asuka could complain. "But what I want to tell you is that they're cut… I mean very healthy like you."
"Of course, they're healthy. I feed 'em fishes every day. Here, try feeding them."
Lili doesn't like the smell of raw fish, and Asuka can tell by how the blond has scrunched up her nose. "Oh, would you look at that? The smell of fish defeats the mighty princess." She smirked.
"Not quite." The indignity is showing on Lili's face. No, Asuka Kazama, she won't one-up her like that. Kazuya Mishima would have to donate all of his sneaker collection before that would happen. "Give me the bucket. I'll do it."
Once you get used to the fishy smell, you kind of forget it. Lili actually enjoyed feeding the penguins, even creating a cute outfit design for them in her mind. Asuka couldn't hide her smile, shaking her head while watching her rival enjoy working for once. Then, a mischievous idea came to her mind.
"Hey Princess," she threw a T-shirt at Lili. "Help me with this stuff as a volunteer, and I will give you a fight later."
"Its so nice of you to be the one challenging me today, Asuka Kazama." She wiped her hands with a towel, "Well, this is an easy task." And there she went, changing her designer's clothes with the zoo's shabby uniform.
"Don't laze around, Princess. Come back immediately. "
Plain sky-blue shirt with a panda design in the front. The fit is perfect for Lili, but not the style. What a boring attire to use, unbefitting to a proper heiress. But her opinion of the t-shirt changed when she saw that Asuka had changed into the same getup.
Is this what you call "twinning"? It was quite amusing, endearing even. They looked just like…partners—until Sato, that peasant, broke the illusion by appearing in front of them wearing a similar shirt.
The shock on Sato's face reminded Lili of her grudge. Fortunately for him, Asuka put another bucket into Lili's hands right on time. Sato started running away, avoiding the pair for the rest of his shift.
"Ah, wait." Asuka removed her cap and put it on Lili's head, jumping a bit to reach her. That was quite a sweet gesture until…"So you won't fry your brain from the heat; I don't want you thinking crazy ideas during my shift."
Lili pouted while Asuka just laughed.
Who would've thought manual labor was tiring? Lili didn't until she experienced it firsthand. Working in the zoo made her realize how different it is from fighting. You don't really need to focus a lot, but the prolonged physical exhaustion and repeated motion are very different from the short burst of busting your enemy's jaw or tramping their heads.
What's more irritating is that sweat starts to pour on her forehead, arms, back, and every inch of her skin. The cap and the simple T-shirt make sense now, and she can't imagine wearing anything else from her drawer. She also thought of Sebastian and how the old butler can carry on tasks that she throws his way without complaints. Needless to say, she had a newfound appreciation for the old man.
Asuka doesn't seem to mind the hot weather, she's a Kansai local. Remove the physical toil and summer heat; Lili actually finds the activities enjoyable. Ever since she was a child, her experience in zoos has always been of the guest. The change of perspective is refreshing.
What warms her heart is the fact that Asuka is actively looking after her back. Of course, the brown-haired hurricane was angry when Lili accidentally threw a feeding tong inside the lion's enclosure, but Asuka didn't berate her more than necessary.
She's trying to protect her from the more dangerous animals and carrying more buckets than her. If a guest tries to bother her, Asuka will help her get out of the situation without neglecting her other duties.
Once they entered the bird enclosure, the last one for the day, Lili was very exhausted. Her feet hated her high heels. Thankfully, they're no longer feeding raw fish or meat, which is a good thing.
"Here, drink." Lili took Asuka's bottle and took a huge gulp, happy to feel the water cooling her throat. She drank almost all the contents of the bottle before realizing that the cap was unsealed when it was handed to her.
"Easy task, eh?" Asuka looked at her volunteer, confused, when she saw Lili getting red. "Wow, you're really not used to working, huh? You just finished off my water bottle and you're still red."
"S-shut up." was all Lili can muster.
Finally, it was lunchtime and Asuka's end of shift. Now back in the dojo, the two decided to sit and rest in the cool shade of the front porch, both sitting in the same stair. They're sharing Asuka's bento this time, which is quite a nice change of direction. Since the last time they had a bento near them, the box and its contents met the asphalt.
"Still up fer a fight?" Asuka asked in between chews, munching at her rice ball.
Of course, Lili wants to say "yes." That is why she was there, after all. But her whole body is complaining. She is not a stranger to hard work; a proper fighter would need all those. It's just that she didn't expect moving continuously all morning and early afternoon as well, which would be more tiring than three hours of practice.
The delayed response was enough. "It's all right; it's not good to fight all the time," she understood. After all, they couldn't even enter the dojo to eat their food at a proper table. They just collectively decided that the front porch was comfortable enough. It's more for Lili than for her, to be honest. "Don't worry, the challenge is still up for grabs, but let's reschedule for tomorrow."
Lili did not complain. Well, that's new. She enjoyed the silence for a while.
"So, what do you plan after the summer break? You're now done with your high school." It was Lili who broke the silence.
"Well, aren't you marrying me or something?" Asuka teased, remembering the funny incident that happened on her graduation day.
"You pest." Lili threw a water bottle at the brown-haired menace.
Asuka did not cover her laugh while evading the attack. Who can blame her, though? It was funny as heck. "Well, I'm planning to enroll in the police force. After all, I'm already doing public protection and stuff like that."
"You mean thug bullying?"
"Hmm, if that's what you call it."
"Aren't you going to inherit the dojo?"
Rubbing her chin, Asuka looked at Lili thoughtfully. "I can still teach, but seriously, managing the business and teaching martial arts is not the same. Y'know? I can teach kids how to defend themselves, but I don't like doing the taxes, expenses, and logistics—business side for short."
Lili nodded, appreciating how she was being treated as a confidant. "Police formce might actually suit you better."
"You mean, like a brute?"
"No, not like that. I understand that menial matters like paperwork might not appeal to you, a creature of action."
"I dunno if that's a compliment, but thanks."
"But since I technically still own the dojo—it's still in my name—I can help you with business stuff in the future." It was a sincere offer from the De Rochefort heiress.
"That makes sense. Sometimes, I forget you're an heiress. Of course, you know business." Asuka stood up, preparing to clear away the bento box. But before that, she smiled at Lili and said, "I'll take you up on that."
And with that, Lili returned the smile.