Chapter Text
---***---
MSI
---***---
“Right! So, I’m nineteen years old. I graduated school just over a year early and already have an associate degree in Education. I am partnering with the programs for advanced study here at MSI. I should have all the credentials I need to open the premiere and preeminent Manifested elementary school in the world,” Sakura smiled.
“This isn’t a job interview,” Lucy said with a roll of her eyes.
“Wait. You have an associate degree?” Sayuri asked incredulously. “You’re the same age I am!”
“That’s right! It’s been proven the Manifested learn things faster than baseline humans. So, when I gained my powers three years ago I really started to cram. I knew what I wanted to do. It was simply a question of getting there before anyone else so I could make those dreams come true.”
“You knew what you wanted to do with your life at sixteen?” Reiko asked in a similarly incredulous tone to her cousin.
“Yeah, you see, the Kimura Elders will cast all sorts of divinations and auguries to find the nexus of what you enjoy and are talented at. They seek to keep the family functioning harmoniously and happily. Productive members are much more harmonious than sour discontented agitators like say, Jin.”
“That actually works?” Banyan asked.
“It has its limits but generally in its broad strokes, it does, yeah. It might not be as strong as those Sidereal astrology powers, but they give broad information on what you're good at and what fate says you’ll be successful at.
“So, when we came here, for me, it was an opportunity. You see, my Exaltation had changed things a tad. Rather than being a human girl ready to educate the next generation of potential Kimura werewolves, I was going to extend our traditions to help my new Dragon-Blooded kin. MSI is one of the leading centers of R&D, but also it has programs to continue education. They can provide accredited degrees allowing me to start work now but continue toward the documentation that I desire so I can legally teach.”
“Oh my God. Is there a way I could do that?” Sayuri asked Terra
“Perhaps. It’s meant for Manifested which by legal definition are the Dragon-Blooded, but I don’t think that is explicitly spelled out. I will have the lawyers look into it,” Dr. Alani replied with a nod.
“Well, back to my story! While I wanted to live and work here, I also want to have children and get that out of the way now before we have more crazy sh*t attack us. I took the opportunity to talk to Kai but, no offense to his various baby mamas, he wasn’t my cup of tea. Too serious. Too tight ass. And usually, I find a tight ass a plus in a man, but not that kind.”
“You didn’t make a good first impression either,” Terra interjected.
“What? Why?”
“You just rubbed him the wrong way.”
Sakura frowned deeply before resuming her tale. “So, I looked into the index of male Dragon-Blooded. With us ladies outnumbering them, we keep tabs on who is out there and what they’re like so we can better facilitate hookups or longer-term relationships.
“After cousin Kashi listened to us tell him about his family and heard our offers to come to see them; Ichigo, Sora, and Aiko declared ‘mission complete’ and headed out. I then set out on my other mission and started calling potential interviewees for a lover.”
“This entire chain of reasoning sounds like it’s built on faulty logic,” Bree said skeptically.
“Well, it worked for me. Arashi both matched up in most of the divination pre-screenings, looked the hottest, and sounded like he’d be a pretty great guy to hang out with on the phone so we arranged a date and I headed to Colorado.
---***---
Buckley Air Force Base
---***---
Arashi Albareda normally worked long hours. His coworkers like to joke about his eager beaver attitude. He really couldn't help it. He loved his work. While his Manifested abilities made the actual cryptography easy, it was still taxing and could drain his powers. So, to mitigate this, there were steps he had to follow. Intelligence had to be analyzed and sources collated to set priority. Only once a time sensitivity or difficulty versus mundane effort index was exceeded could he obtain permission to unleash his power and decrypt the data.
Officially, he was still with the Air Force tasked with the collection and analysis of data from the large network of US communications and military observation satellites. He was frequently loaned to the NSA when they encountered a problem they couldn't crack. His power would make quick work of it.
He was currently stationed at the largest cooperative information sharing site which helped facilitate his work. The NSA had already offered to hire him if he chose not to reenlist. They had hinted that if he'd work for them they could get him an early discharge. He didn't want to do that, however. The Air Force had been good to him. He wasn't going to rush away from what was already a good thing.
The NSA’s extreme interest was no real surprise to Arashi. Paranoia, in his opinion, had gripped the Manifested as a community. The early misunderstandings surrounding their emergence and powers led to incarcerations which many of his elder kin still deeply resented. As such, Arashi was one of the only Manifested who would work directly with the federal government outside of the military. The military was a bit of a gray area. There were a few others like him in the armed forces. This was due to the military being uninvolved in the confinement of the first wave of Manifested as policing civilians was outside of military jurisdiction in the United States.
It was Army engineers who had built the temporary housing used to relocate the imprisoned Manifested once the courts had ordered the internment sites emptied for review. After the conditions many Manifested had endured, even these hastily constructed camps had been a reprieve.
The Manifested who wouldn't give a US Marshal or FBI agent the time of day felt differently about the military. They remembered service men and women who, with practice born of disaster relief, made sure they were well cared for. Service members glared at their former captors and would not let them approach the new housing, proudly guarding their charges, who were still United States citizens in their eyes, until the courts settled their cases.
For Arashi to be so willing to be loaned out to the NSA was unusual in the extreme. It only happened because, as a younger Manifested, he lacked the bad memories that so soured relations with the government and its agencies.
Arashi had been building a case to present to those who made the call on whether Manifested power needed to be utilized. He had been able to piece together a digital trail of his quarry. He had been using his powers on his own recognizance when he wasn’t booked for other tasks. The problem he currently faced revolved around restoring deleted data. Through careful study, he had managed to create an index of unusual occurrences.
These were the few episodes logged in files and networks that resisted all Manifested efforts to crack. Efforts that he had noticed often were suspiciously lost or reclassified.
Unlike some of the other Manifested, this did not send him into a frenzy of speculation about far-fetched conspiracies. It made him suspect there was a mole within the lab who had access and connections to a foreign power or criminal cartel with their own Manifested. A few well-connected crooks could get pretty far if they managed to misuse their clearance. That was part of why the bar to obtain said clearance was so high.
The alarm on Arashi’s desktop chimed. He slid his keyboard tray in and glanced about to make sure no one saw him disconnect his thumb drive. Technically he wasn't supposed to have it. Mere possession of it where he was at could land him before his superiors who would be so displeased it wasn't worth thinking about. If they found out he'd loaded files and taken them off-site it wouldn't be hot water he'd be in, he'd be sinking into molten lava.
Despite the risk, he'd backed up his data. Someone was deleting and altering files in this very office. He couldn't trust either his clearance level or powers to protect this. If this data was lost again the chances of retrieving it were nonexistent. A couple of twists and the thumb drive was in the form of a functioning fountain pen. Sliding it into his breast pocket he headed for the door.
“Bob, I'm out,” he called out to the officer in charge of the labs.
“Have a good weekend. If you change your mind about making it a three-day weekend, let me know. Not every weekend that you get a hot date. Frankly, this one looks scorching.”
“Looking for more than hotness. She wasn't in the detention centers and doesn't seem to run with the conspiracy crowd. I might have a chance for more than a hook-up with this one.”
“Only guy I know who complains that women only want him for his body.”
“Once you've experienced it, we'll talk. ‘Til then you just have my word, being a thing, not a person isn't a good relationship.”
“Right, well, the offer still stands, you call me and I'll fix your leave status. This is stressful work and you have plenty of time on the metaphoric clock to justify it. Hell, you should see how many days the lady Manifested over in Airborn get away with.”
“Jumping out of planes is a bit more stressful than working in an office, Bob.”
“Not when you literally can't be hurt in a fall, Ash.”
“Right, if it comes up I'll let you know.”
Bob watched Arashi head out and shook his head at the kid. He could be swimming in chicks but he wanted a damn white picket fence.
“Schmuck,” he mumbled.
He went back to his work and focused on coordinating satellite coverage. He didn't see the distortion in the air that crossed the hall an hour later.
Said distortion stopped at Arashi’s workspace. It used the keypad and deftly entered a sequence that wasn't the owner's code but overrode the lock forcing it to open anyway. With a shimmer, it became visible and extended its hand towards the desktop.
Multi-colored cables flew out and connected to the device. The screen did not light up. Data scrolled across the visor inside the figure’s red black green blue and white jade armor.
The analysts at HQ had been right, this particular overachiever had been busy trying to undo Information Control's hard work. He had mostly random crumbs. Even that could cause damage and enough crumbs would put the military on alert. That would make Information Control very unhappy.
They were already stressed from all the overtime they were having to pull to deal with all the Calibration nonsense. No reason to stress them out further. Amy corrupted the files to all point to a politician calling in favors to cover the typical corruption and nepotism.
An answer everyone would be willing to settle for. The overachiever could get a pat on the back, the politician would get a light rap on the knuckles and everyone would go back to what they were doing.
Double-checking her work she noticed something in the deeper machine code; the bus had been transferring data to a USB port. The little bastard had an off-site backup. That complicated things. If the backup didn't match the main record he'd know someone tampered with it.
A quick scan showed he had left on time. There were movie tickets, dinner reservations, and a hotel booked for tonight. His commanding officer already had written up an approval for him to take Monday off but had not submitted it.
That worked. When he was going out she'd just slip into his house and alter the backup to match what she's done to the main easy peasy.
Satisfied she made sure her optic cloak was running and dashed back out of the office.
---***---
Inverness Hotel
---***---
Sakura had styled her hair, spent extra time on her makeup, put on her highest strappy heels, and dressed up in the most slinky pink metallic mesh micro dress she owned. She did a final check of her spaghetti straps before heading out the hotel door. She exited the hotel lobby and found herself where she attracted more than a few glances. She smiled to herself before looking around for Arashi. Spotting the Mitsubishi Galant he'd sent her a picture of, she waved and walked to the curb as he rolled up.
“Well hello there!”
“Wow! Hello yourself,” Arashi replied, his eyes widening.
Not waiting for Arashi to get out, she opened the door. With a smooth, well-practiced motion she sat, slid her legs into place, and closed the door. “Movie first, right?”
“That's right. Plenty of time to get there. You sure this is the one you want to see.”
“Definitely.”
“Big Sam Worthington fan?”
“Not particularly but Ed Harris is in it. I have never seen a bad movie with Ed Harris. A few mediocre ones but never bad.”
“Yeah, I guess I can see that for me it's John Goodman. Some guys just can pick scripts.”
“Oh, have you ever seen that movie Fallen? That was a good one. My little brother rented it and was scared of demons for a month.”
“Yeah, that one was good! Denzel is another good one. Has that man ever had a bad movie?”
“Not that I can think of. Oh, did you ever see the original Manchurian Candidate? Not the one he was in, but the black and white one.”
“No, never have.”
“You wouldn't believe it but Angela Lansbury is such a good villain in that movie.”
“Really? Maybe we'll have to rent it for a second date?”
“Trying to loop me early? Well, you’re doing great so far, so we'll put that down as a strong maybe.”
Arashi gave her a smile as they continued to the theater.
---***---
Amy had searched top to bottom. No files. The damn storage drive was not here in the house. What sort of jackass took confidential files with him on a hook-up?
Unless it wasn't a hookup. A drop-off? No, a dead drop would work better. Even an idiot would know that. Unless he was too paranoid.
God save us from amateurs . She thought. They knew just enough to do the unexpectedly stupid.
First things first; where had this asshole gone? Two tickets for Man on a Ledge. Really? That was what he thought of as a date movie? Wasn’t there a rom-com out? Didn’t matter, it was too late to catch them there anyhow. Reservations for a restaurant looked good; she might just catch them there. If not she should at least be able to figure out if they were going back here or to the girl's hotel. Hell, they might go to a neutral hotel. Depending on how secure this hook-up felt.
Annoyed, Amy headed out to catch up with the Manifested and hopefully just steal a thumb drive with no one the wiser. They could continue their escapade without ever knowing she altered the drive.
---***---
Sakura and Arashi were dining in a very upscale steakhouse. Before their date, Sakura had warned Arashi that she had an enormous appetite, describing it as a family trait, and offered to pick up the dinner check. He had declined her offer.
Arashi was surprised by Sakura’s appetite but far from dismayed. He had the money. He had joined the Air Force as an officer already having a degree. All Manifested received an additional stipend, but he also wasn't a big spender. His father had taught him to be frugal on the day-to-day expenses. Then you could afford to splurge when it mattered.
This was definitely something that mattered. Sakura was amazing. He had learned so much about her over dinner. She had detailed plans to turn her associate degree into bachelor’s, then pursue a master’s. She had nearly enough credits to cover the core classes. She'd taken a heavier-than-needed load of English, math and science. She had a certificate in accounting that allowed her to work in the accounting office of her father's business.
She had spent last summer working for family to build up a nest egg to help her set up on the continental side. She was going to take advantage of MSI being an advanced training facility to get her bachelor’s and master’s in education. She was pretty sure the only outside classrooms she'd need to go to were for administrative-related stuff.
Arashi still had a couple years of active duty but with his powers and skills, he had some wiggle room. As they were talking, they had not just been planning a second date, but working on the mechanics of how to swing a long-distance relationship around their careers.
“You okay for dessert or do you want to head on to the hotel?” Sakura asked.
“I think I saved enough room for something light. I'm thinking of a scoop of ice cream.”
“I'm thinking vanilla cheesecake.”
“That sounds good, maybe I'll get a cup of coffee.”
“Cream and sugar?”
“God, no! They'd heckle me out of the service if I didn't drink it black. Tell you what, I need to make a pit stop. If you want to put in the order before I get back, that's fine with me.”
“Yeah, I can handle that scoop of vanilla and black bean water. Might even be at the table before you get back.”
“Oh, I don't plan to be away from you for that long,” Arashi said with a wink.
Sakura watched Arashi walk away to the restrooms. She enjoyed the view as she mentally tallied the pros and cons of their relationship. Pro: he was smart, healthy, good-looking, driven, and had a decent enough understanding of Japanese culture. The last would be invaluable in dealing with her relatives.
Con: he was tied to his job and this post for years. That would make starting a family troublesome. Working for the government was another downside. With government clearance came a certain level of surveillance. Some sectors of the government would be watching her as well if she was attached to him. Last, but not least, he was ignorant of much of the supernatural world. That was pretty rare among the Dragon-Blooded. It meant he had a stubborn or intractable streak that had prevented anyone else from going to the trouble of dispelling his ignorance.
The waiter stopped by the table mere moments after Arashi left, so Sakura put in their order and decided to head to the restrooms herself. No sense in having to make a trip later. That would just delay their after-dinner activities. Besides, the restrooms were close enough to see from the table.
As Sakura rounded the corner she saw something. A woman in a tan pantsuit was headed into the men's room. She would have ignored that as none of her concern if Arashi had not been in the same restroom. In fact, Sakura was pretty sure he was the only one who was in there.
Deciding to see what was going on, Sakura darted for the restrooms. She was careful not to move fast enough to draw too much attention. She slid the door open to see what was happening.
She could see Arashi. He was on the floor with the woman standing over him. She had one hand on his belt and the other in his shirt pocket. Sakura would be damned if she was going to let some floozy grope her date! Someone was about to get her ass kicked.
Sakura immediately wished she'd worn different shoes as she lashed out. She struck with an open-palmed blow that caught the woman in the hip, sending her off balance.
The stranger recovered quickly. She had caught a glimpse of her attacker in the mirror. The woman steadied herself against the wall. She glared at Sakura sizing up her opponent.
“That is my man, bitch! Go get your own!” Sakura snarled angrily.
“Are you serious? Can't you tell a robbery when you see one?”
She flicked out a derringer and pointed at Sakura's forehead. “Hands behind your head, freak. You might have weird powers but you're not bulletproof. Get up against the wall ‘til I walk out of here and we can avoid this getting worse. I didn't even get his wallet yet.”
Sakura seethed. She ran through what powers she could use. In these close quarters, none were a good enough defense to prevent serious harm from that gun. She started slowly raising her hands to stall for time.
The mugger suddenly was knocked over as a ball of lightning slammed into the side of her head. A bleary-eyed Arashi tried to stand and slipped back to a seated position, the hand that wasn't crackling with electric power went to feel the back of his head.
Sakura seized on the opportunity instantly. Essence suffused her hands making them as hard as aged tree roots. The scent of cherry filled the air as she lunged for her foe and struck her gun hand.
As Sakura’s blow landed, she noticed something drop out of the woman's other hand. She also noticed the woman's fingers were unnaturally resilient. Armor of elemental jade formed around the woman spreading from where Sakura struck her.
As the armored attacker maneuvered to line up a shot, Sakura dove away. The woman made an off-handed grab for her only to catch a handful of slippery metallic cloth. As the micro dress was backless it left all of Sakura's weight and momentum being briefly held back by the short length of material covering her ample behind. It held for an impressive third of a second, before ripping.
The confused attacker tossed away the strip of cloth and backpedaled. Sakura had turned her dive into a crouching to sweep kick. The back peddle caused the assailant to narrowly avoid the kick. A second ball of lightning however hit true, right in the faceplate of her helmet.
At this the mystery woman vanished, becoming a blur of shimmering air that shoved the door open and escaped into the restaurant.
“Arashi! Are you okay?”
“What the hell?” He mumbled.
Sakura rose from the floor, sorted herself as best she could, and helped Arashi to stand up. “Okay, babe we're going to have to get out of here. Look at me,” Sakura said, turning Arashi's head.
“Ow.”
“Your pupils look off, I think you have a concussion. That isn't as bad for one of us as a baseline but it's not great. Okay, you are over twenty-one. People will assume you had too much to drink. Give me your car keys, I'll drive us. Oh and your jacket, I'll have to cover my dress.”
“This is the second time I was stuck up in this restroom,” Arashi said in a slightly befuddled tone.
“Don't pass out on me! You have to hold it together till we make it to somewhere safe.”
Arashi passed Sakura the keys and jacket. “You better talk then, I'm not feeling well.”
Sakura stepped out of the restaurant, letting Arashi lean on her arm. She walked them to the front and spoke to the host. Using a wardrobe malfunction as an excuse, she explained they were going to have to leave. She had their dessert and coffee packed to go, had a bottle of water added to their check, and settled the bill.
Once in the car, she handed Arashi the bottle of water as she set the other items in the back and got belted in and familiar with the instrument layout. “Put that on the sore spot on the back of your head.”
“Oh God. Yes, that feels so good.”
“Okay, we need to disappear for a while. Until we know what that thing wants from you we aren't going to be sure how to get rid of it.”
“sh*t! My pen!”
“An awful lot of trouble if she was after a pen,” Sakura said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
“It's not just a pen, it's a storage device.”
“You mean like data storage? Like files from work top secret shouldn't get out, data storage?”
“Yeah, like I shouldn't have it, data storage. Someone's been altering and deleting files at work. I made a record while trying to quietly gather enough evidence for an investigation. Now whatever undercover Manifested was in that weird armor has it.”
“No, she doesn't. She dropped it when I clobbered her. I picked it up when I was getting up off the floor.”
“Oh thank God. If that thing knows there is a copy she already did something with the mains. What the f*ck is she? That armor wasn't like anything I've ever seen. It definitely was psionically resonating nephrite.”
“Elemental jade babe or PRN if you have to sound techy. Call it what the parts catalog calls it makes you sound like a dweeb. As to what she is, that was an artificial Manifested. Kai Silbern fought one last year and spread the word on the grapevine about them.”
“I-” Arashi started, then stopped and closed his eyes. After a moment of thought he said “Yeah okay, so some of the conspiracy theories are true. I guess it's not paranoia if they really are out to get us.”
“Bingo! Okay, good work. I mean that reversing a long-held conviction upon contrary evidence isn't always easy. Ego gets in the way, you know.”
Sakura pulled into a parking space and shut the car off. Arashi looked confused. “So she'll know your car the longer we are in this the more likely she backtracks and picks up our trail.
So, what we will do is leave this car here. I see from your sticker you pay into an auto club. Go across the street, use their phone to call, and get your car towed home then meet me over at that laundromat in half an hour. Keep your cash and ID. Leave the rest of your wallet and phone,” Sakura ordered, stripping down her tiny purse and tossing it into the rear floorboard.
“Anything they can track got it.”
“Yup, I'm going to run to get us some clothes and a cab. We'll go to a cheap motel for the night. Then tomorrow we can try to reach out to some of our own to help us.”
Sakura took off, leaving Arashi to ponder his circ*mstances. It sounded like Sakura had an excellent plan but she wasn't military. He had to report in. This thing could lay in wait for him to come back Monday when he had to check-in. If he didn't get this dealt with before then he was in trouble.
They could get this address from the auto club. It wouldn't hurt to make a call on his phone. He pulled up Bob's number. He'd ask for the extra day then call the auto club to pick up the car.
---***---
Amy was seething while patching up some electrical burns. This simple mission had gone about as far down the tubes as it could go without being a total wipe.
She would have to spend an hour or two finding them again. She could log into the traffic cams, but that would be a lot of data to parse. Finding one car would take time and by then they would have surely abandoned it. She'd then have to find where they had gone from there and track them across the city to wherever they fled to lay low.
Suddenly, an unexpected boon hit her. The guy's phone made a call. She was able to zero in on it at once. She locked in the nearest cameras and paused for a minute confused. The phone was not near any people. Its location corresponded to a clerk's counter at a gas station.
He had to be using it as a relay. He was calling it from a burner phone and having it forwarded to his CO. That way his boss would recognize the number and not be alerted to anything strange going on. Clever, but not clever enough.
She sped the security camera back and found the point where her target had last been in the building. She then worked up a search grid based on likely avenues for his arrival and found his car. Taking into account his walking speed, she calculated an area where he was likely to be all while driving like a bat out of hell for the very same location.
He had bought a couple of burners. As he talked to the clerk he had laid his original phone on the counter to open the packaging on the cheap disposable phones. When he left the clerk noticed the more expensive phone still lying on the counter and had taken it and tossed it into the box of lost and found goods.
She made it to the store and parked her car. She slipped into a nearby alley armored up and turned on her cloaking field.
The combination of monitoring devices she could access, her target's walking speed, and time elapsed from him being in the store gave an irregular shaped area where he could be.
She began searching that area. Amy knew there was already going to be hell to pay for this mission going so far down the tubes if she didn't take care of that drive there is no telling what she'd face. Old man Rayner was tough but fair. She didn't know Tonya well enough to guess what her response would be.
Suddenly, Amy was struck hard from above. She was driven to the ground and felt repeated hammer blows to the back of her head. She flung herself sideways to get out from the weight pressing down on her.
Arashi was looking down at her with a mixed expression; both surprised and pissed. He dropped the empty clip from his nine millimeter pistol and backed up while sliding a spare home. Amy realized he had jumped down on her from the nearby building. He had counted on his Air Aspected immunity to falls to protect himself. She would have been killed if he hadn't underestimated her armor's bullet resistance.
“Give me the damn drive before I shove that pistol up your ass and unload,” she threatened.
“No,” he said and started firing again.
Amy charged, striking again and again. Arashi was competent with his pistol and knew some basic hand to hand, but he couldn't compete with the speed of the Alchemical’s strikes.
“Hey! She bitch! Looking for this?” A voice called out from behind her.
Amy spun. The girl was standing near the alley entrance. She'd changed into a tight unitard. She was holding the flash drive in her left hand and a length of chain in the right. She tossed the pen drive behind her as Amy called upon her essence for speed and charged.
Vines snaked down the chain as the large flanged ball it was connected to sailed through the air, spinning into Amy’s path. The vines wrapped around the ball and sprouted four inch long thorny blades. The ball's mass drove the spikes through the gaps in Amy's armor plates then into her flesh. She could feel the maligin essence seep into her body mimicking poison.
Essence coalesced around Amy's fist as she sought to knock the girl out of the fight fast. A length of the chain from the other end looped around her wrist and sent her attack and body careening into the wall further down the alley.
Amy rolled immediately to avoid another attack by the now spiked chain. Sakura had the chain looped about her body yet in continual motion. A mere flick would send it zipping out with all the stored energy she was building up.
Amy tried attacking high, the girl dodged. She struck low, aiming for her stomach then dropped into a sweep kick. The Wood Aspect nearly trapped her wrist again then leapt over the sweep and kicked Amy in the face.
Amy rolled with the attack, her armor and the maneuver prevented a knockout. She pulled her gun again. The spiked ball was on a collision course with her head but Sakura altered its path.
Amy dropped the gun and grabbed the chain in both hands and pulled, sending Sakura staggering forward. Amy then spun the length of the chain she held into the air and down. With a crack the ball collided with the pen shattering it into tiny fragments. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise while Arashi let out a cry of dismay.
Amy engaged her cloak and ran. Sakura sent a wild attack that might have hit a shoulder from how it bounced but the Alchemical didn't stop.
“sh*t sh*t sh*t!” Arashi cried out disbelief as he picked through the fragments.
“Sorry, babe. I was more concerned with your life over the drive.”
Arashi took in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.
“You don't have to apologize. If it wasn't for you, she'd have taken the drive back in the restaurant. I thought I could ambush her and end this. That armor was just too tough.”
“Well I'm glad you're not too torn up over it. I mean it's bad luck and rotten news to be sure. On the good side, I have help coming. We had to split up to find you when you weren't at the laundromat.”
“Help?”
“I got lucky and managed to call a couple of werewolves in to help. They're going to put guards from their clan near your house for a week or two. They're the ones who brought my meteor hammer.”
“Werewolves?”
“Hey, some of your likely future in-laws are werewolves. Come on, I'll tell you more while I doctor that lump on your skull and finish my cheesecake. I gave your ice cream to an alley cat. It was a totally melted mess.”
“So, we're going back to my place?”
“Yeah, they can keep an eye on things. I don't think that thing will be back but ‘better safe than sorry’ as they say. Also, I can watch you to make sure you're recovering from that blow to the head.”
“That's right you're not supposed to sleep if you might be concussed.”
“Oh, I think it will be a while before I let you sleep,” Sakura said with a wink.
---***---
MSI
Far too many intimate details later…
---***---
So, I laughed and said that I could try to get some more underwear delivered instead of leaving the house but I doubted they'd extend his leave again.”
Lucy had fallen asleep. She had rested her head on Tex’s shoulder and nodded off as Sakura rambled on about the minutiae of her love making, Banyan and Bree looked barely phased, as they were used to Kashi’s teenage sexual shenanigans. Natalia, Heather, and Tex looked bemused. Sayuri tried to feign disinterest but it wasn’t as easy for her. The story had sent her mind back to her own recent sexual awakening. Brenda appeared conflicted. Reiko looked mortified.
“Do you actually know you're pregnant after all that or are you guessing?” Terra asked.
“Astrology says yes.”
“How effective is that?”
“Almost eighty percent.”
Terra looked unimpressed.
Reiko laughed nervously. “So, she could be wrong!”
Sayuri put a hand on her cousin’s arm. “Don't get your hopes up. There's a four in five chance she is then. Even if she wasn't, it sounds like she and Arashi have gotten pretty serious. I never thought Arashi would be one to rush into things like that.”
“Things can get heady when you think you're in love,” Banyan explained.
“Love isn't something that falls into your lap, it's something you build. I have made a commitment to build a life with Arashi as my partner. He's made that same commitment. So long as we both honor our word and work together as a team, we’ll be fine,” Sakura said in a tone that held no doubt.
“You had to crib that from a relative. That actually sounds wise,” Bree interjected.
“Three days and a handful of mystic assurances aren't enough to be sure the two of you are compatible,” Sayuri countered.
“So, I guess neither is half a year and the word of a man who the very exaltation in you and the stars themselves says loves you?” Natalia asked.
“I will say this only one time. I am the one who defines my own future. The expectations of others, even heaven itself, will not move me.”
“You don't have to worry about that, the world moves on with or without you. When you learn you are not its center, it becomes far too late,” Natalia replied, rising and tossing her cup in the trash.
“Where are you going?” Bree asked.
“It is now early rather than late. I have things to do. Dan and Manny need more information to plan with. It is too bad all that data was lost. It could have been useful.”
Sakura perked up at that and reached into her ample cleavage and pulled up a black plastic stick the size of a thumb. “You mean this data?”
“When did you do that?” Bree asked.
“You didn't tell Arashi!” Reiko screeched.
“When I was changing clothes. A different outfit and weapon wasn't all I asked the Glass Walkers to bring. As for Arashi, it's safer this way. He doesn't have to fake being dejected. He naturally will act exactly like he lost his chance to use this because he has. But someone our enemies aren't watching can make use of it.” She explained sliding it to Terra.
“Keeping secrets and manipulating your boyfriend isn't the best start to a relationship Sakura,” Bree opined
“This is war. Arashi is soldier enough to know that's exactly what you do in wartime. Hell, he works with operational security. This sort of thing is his job. No, he’ll know exactly why this was done and that it's the right call.”
Terra picked the drive up and flipped it to the departing Night Caste. “Natalia, get this to Dan. He will see if anything on it is useful and think of dozens of things we won't even see from examining it.”
Natalia grinned evilly. “I hope he finds a place we can strike back. After hearing about Cole's Calibration adventures, I really want to take down someone myself.”
“Speaking of other Exalted, Sakura, could you introduce me to Ichigo? If he's a priest or something of Luna, there’s so much I want to know,” Sayuri asked.
“Yeah! No problem as long as it is alright with Boss Lady.”
Terra nodded. “Getting to know other Exalted can only help bring our ranks together.”
“If you're going to see the Kimuras, I want to go as well. I think I know why Kashi seemed, at best, disinterested. He’ll be thinking about how much he wanted to have a larger family as a kid, wondering why they didn't step up when Jin ran off. He won't be thinking about how much he needs their support and how valuable those blood ties can be here and now. I am well aware this is a war and we can't pass up allies because of incidents long past,” Banyan said.
Sakura gave Banyan a solemn nod. “With such wisdom, you will impress the other Kimura women to be sure.”
“If Heather and Tex don't mind, maybe I can help them find Axe a place to settle in. I don't want him to think he's alone in this,” Bree ventured
“Mrs. Kimura, you can protect yourself but there are others I must watch while you are away. Are there any other tasks you would set for me while you’re gone,” Brenda added.
Banyan blinked, realizing from the intensity of the revenants' stare that what Kashi had surmised was true. If she gave her an order, this early twenties slip of a girl would execute the order as if the mother of her god had given it.
“Go to the shrine I used to visit. There is a martial artist I want you to study with.”
“He will teach me to fight?”
“He is a teacher at one of the Buddhist temples in Los Angeles. I knew him from when I used to practice. He will teach you wisdom. Fighting is the least of his skills.”
“As you wish.”
Bree gave Banyan a look that promised she would keep an eye on this. Banyan still worried about what the future held for her daughter.
