(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
mafrey@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
Swords of Destiny
By
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used here are the property of those people
and companies holding the copyrights to the respective storylines, series,
and movies. The only exceptions are those created by the demented minds of
authors of this story. The use of this material should be seen as the sign
of respect that it is. Besides, suing either of us would be a waste of time
since we don't have any money to begin with.
************************************************
CHAPTER TWELVE: Return of The Wolf Pack Part I
************************************************
Wesley stared at the woman behind the immigration desk in confusion,
as she typed his visa number into her computer for the third time. Confusion
turned to fear as she smiled apologetically and picked up the phone under her
desk, speaking so rapidly in Japanese, he couldn't understand what she was
saying. She set the phone down and smiled at him again, pointing to her
right.
"If you would please stand over by that pillar, my supervisor will be
with you shortly." She said in a breathy voice he recognized from a lot of
the anime he watched, but had never expected to hear in real life.
Putting his passport back in his jacket pocket, he picked up his duffel
bag and his computer case, and carried them over to the indicated pillar.
After three minutes of waiting, he was greeted by a short balding man who
led him to an office on the concourse and asked for his passport. He manually
entered the visa number, then, after looking at the screen, smiled
apologetically.
"I'm sorry for the inconvieance sir, but it appears that your visa was
cancelled last evening." He said, showing Wesley the screen, which showed his
information with the word 'cancelled' flashing in red with its Japanese
equivalent. "Is there anyone you wish to contact for funds for your return
flight to America?" His tone said he didn't think much of tourists who only
bought one-way tickets.
"I'm coming to meet my guardian." Wesley said in confusion, taking the
laminated card Kevin had sent along with Wesley's first class ticket.
The man accepted the card and dialed the number on it. He spoke
to someone for a short time, waited then spoke again for a short time
then waited again. Finally he spoke to someone for a long period of time,
giving directions to the office from what Wesley could tell. He hung up
and a short time later someone knocked on the door. The supervisor opened
it and ushered a white haired man in a dark gray suit into the office.
"Good afternoon Master Wesley, I am Jervis, Mr. Connell's butler and
manservant. There seems to have been a slight misunderstanding regarding
your visa, but we should have it cleared up shortly." Jervis smiled
reassuringly and Wesley relaxed a little. "Now, Mr. Shinozuki, you say
that Mr. Sorenson's visa was cancelled yesterday. It seems one of the
functionaries at the immigration office has made a mistake. According to
the original visa application, that visa was only to be cancelled when the
permanent residence application my employer submitted was approved.
Unfortunately because of certain circumstances, Mr. Sorenson was unable to
come to Japan until today."
"Interesting circumstances." Mr. Shinozuki muttered. "Do you know
if the permanent residence card was issued? If so, this young man could
go without any further delay."
"Unfortunately no, the card was to be issued after Master Wesley
arrived because of the special nature of the card." Jervis explained.
"He was to come to the offices of the Minister of Immigration once the
notification arrived that it had been approved."
"Have you received the notification?" Mr. Shinozuki asked, and then
smiled when Jervis produced that document. He entered a number he found at
the top of the letter into his terminal, and then smiled up at Wesley and
Jervis. "If you leave your baggage here, sir, we will try to complete your
business as quickly as possible."
He said, opening the office door, locking it behind them, and
then he led them to an elevator, which took them to one of the airport's
sublevels. After Wesley's picture was taken, they waited almost twenty
minutes, drinking the tea Mr. Shinozuki ordered for them, then Wesley
was given an etched metal card. They were taken back to the office,
where Jervis picked up Wesley's bags, then to the same immigration
desk Wesley had gone to in the beginning. When Wesley handed the woman
the card and his passport, she gaped at the card for several seconds,
then slid it under her bar code scanner. She smiled up at Wesley again
and stamped his passport, then handed the passport and metal card back
to him. They said goodbye to Mr. Shinozuki and walked out of the
building to the waiting limousine.
After ensuring that the security partition was in place, Jervis
turned to Wesley. "I would like to apologize again for the difficulties
at the terminal, Master Wesley. Master Kevin will not be please that
this happened when he hears of it."
"I was expecting him to meet me." Wesley said uncomfortably.
"Not that I am not happy to meet you Jervis, it's just that not knowing
the man who will be my guardian for the next eight years, I wanted to
meet him."
"That's quite understandable, Master Wesley." Jervis said.
"Unfortunately Master Kevin is in Hawaii at the moment. He originally
planned to spend a month with you before he left on his trip, but because
of the delay, you obviously were unable to come until today. Master Kevin
tried to reschedule the trip, but some of the events they wished to attend
couldn't be rescheduled, so he was forced to leave it to me to welcome
you to Japan. But that reminds me..." Jervis opened one of the cabinets
opposite them, revealing a sophisticated electronics panel with a telephone
handset connected to it. After Jervis had dialed a series of seventeen
numbers on the keypad, three green lights came on and a voice came over
the car's speakers.
"Two Bubba's Towing Company, we have anything, anywhere. Betty-
Lou speakin'." The voice had a heavy southern accent that Wesley
thought was authentic.
"May I speak to Bubba-Moe please?" Jervis said, amusement coloring
his tone. "This is Bubba-Joe."
"Bubba-Moe's fishin' at the moment Bubba-Joe." The female voice
replied. "You wants to leave a message or is it important?"
"Betty-Lou, I think that it's important." Jervis laughed at her
innocent tone. "Jim-Bob is here."
"Oh, sure thing boss man." She laughed. "I'm forwardin' y'all
to his cell phone now." There was a soft click then another voice came
on the line.
"What's up Jervis?" Kevin said over his phone.
"Master Wesley has arrived sir." Jervis said smoothly. "There
were some problems initially with his visa, but we should be at the
castle in another forty-five minutes."
"What kind of problems with his visa?" Kevin asked in surprise.
"Frank Dean said there wouldn't be any problems at all."
"From what I can tell sir, the clerk who processed Master Wesley's
permanent resident's application canceled his visa without reading the
special instructions Mr. Tanaka included in the file." Jervis explained.
"However, it was nothing we couldn't take care of with a little assistance
from a very helpful supervisor named Shinozuki."
"I'll give Tanaka a call right after I finish talking to you."
Kevin said, anger coloring his tone. "I doubt he'll be happy that his
clerks don't read special instructions he issues. Also this Shinozuki
sounds like the kind of man he was saying he wanted as his deputy."
"Very good Mr. O'Connell." Jervis said approvingly. "I also
felt he was wasted at the air terminal."
"Sorry, I couldn't be there to greet you Wesley, but with that
lawsuit your Step-Grandmother brought against me, contesting your
parents will, I had to wait a couple months to put her back under her
rock." Kevin said, making Wesley laugh in agreement. "That woman is
impossibly dense sometimes. The circumstances of your Grandfather's
will made it possible for her to steal your mother's inheritance, but
not even her shifty lawyers could beat a will Frank Dean wrote up.
Your mother even had Frank stipulate that her Step-Mother was to get
one dollar to repay her for the kindness she had shown since they had
met." Wesley laughed when he remembered the woman's expression at the
reading of the will.
"Thanks uncle Kevin, I haven't been able to laugh for a while
now." Wesley said, still smiling.
"No problem kid." Kevin said in a distracted tone. Wesley heard
a muffled question in Japanese and Kevin replied in the same language.
He laughed at the response and then said something else before returning
to the conversation. "My fiancée Makoto can't wait to meet you next week,
but we have to leave for a concert now. Good luck kid, and welcome home."
He hung up before Wesley could reply and Jervis turned off the
communication panel.
"Master Kevin also left a video message for you with the house keeper
at the castle." Jervis explained. "Would you care for some soda or a
light snack?"
Wesley asked for a root beer and ginger snaps, which Jervis produced
easily with the comment that they were also Kevin's favorites. They drove
along in a companionable silence until they turned off of the highway and
passed through a high arching gate. Jervis explained that they were now
on Kevin's property and pointed out some of the shrines and other ruins
as they past them. Wesley gaped at the castle in surprise when it came
into view, then turned to Jervis.
"Is that a real castle?" Wesley asked in shock. "Did he move it
here?"
"No Master Wesley, this is Master Kevin's own design." Jervis
explained. "It's reinforced concrete with granite sheathing to make it
look authentic. He calls it Drakkenheim. Master Kevin had us prepare
the west wing for you." Jervis led Wesley up the grand staircase to
the left and showed him to his bedroom, while one of the footmen
carried his luggage behind them.
"Is all of this mine?" Wesley gasped, staring down the long
hallway.
"Of course sir." Jervis replied. "This entire floor has been
prepared for your use. If there is anything you want changed, all
you must do is let me know and I will see that it is done." Wesley
smiled devilishly and laughed.
"I like it so far." Wesley said. "But I'll let you know if I
need anything."
"Very good Master Wesley, ring if you need anything else." Jervis
said, indicating the bell pull as he left. Wesley nodded, then unpacked
his belongings and put them in the cupboards. There was a huge amount
of space left, but Wesley pushed that from his mind as he went to explore
his domain.
The first room he came to was a ten-seat home entertainment room.
One wall was a projection screen for an LCD projector that hung from the
ceiling. The projector was connected to a control board, which had a
VCR, a DVD player, and every video game console Wesley ever heard of
as part of it. Wesley chose one of his favorite movies and watched it,
enjoying the fact that the lights dimmed automatically. The sound
system was perfect and he loved the collection of movies and CD's in
the cabinets. The anime section had all of his favorites, including
a few he'd only seen at conventions.
After the movie, he continued his explorations. He found a
well-stocked study room with several shelves of books, a partner desk,
two computers and a cabinet full of stationary and school supplies. He
pulled a notepad out as well as a pen and started a list of things he
needed as he went through the room. He continued his list as he checked
the rest of the rooms, which included an amazing workshop, a complete
weight room, a dojo, and an indoor archery range.
He walked back to the bedroom and pulled on the bell pull, but
was startled when a curtain slid to the side and a monitor switched
on, as did a camera above it. "You rang, Master Wesley?" Jervis said
with a smile.
"Uh... yes Jervis I did." Wesley finally said. "I have a list
of the changes I would like made so far."
"Excellent Master Wesley." Jervis said beaming. "I'll be up to
fetch it immediately. Would you like me to bring you some supper when
I come up?"
"No thanks Jervis." Wesley declined. "I'm actually rather tired.
I think I'll get some sleep."
"Of course Master Wesley." Jervis said, nodding in understanding.
"I'll be up directly for that list." Jervis rang off and the curtain
slid closed again. Wesley sat down on his bed, and then felt exhaustion
wash over him, and as he lay down, he fell asleep.
Jervis arrived a few minutes later, then called one of the footmen
to assist him and dressed Wesley in sweats and a T-shirt from the
cabinets. After copying Wesley's list into his PDA, he turned off the
lights and left the room. As he passed through the kitchen on the way
to his office, Ms. Meeps stopped him.
"And how is the young giant?" The petite red head asked.
"He's asleep, Ms. Meeps." Jervis replied. "I believe that the
sleeplessness the commandant of his school reported to Master Kevin has
finally caught up with him."
"Poor child." Ms. Meeps sighed. "To lose his family in such a
way, then to have to move half way around the world to a new country
and a new school."
"I believe Master Kevin felt that Master Wesley would have fewer
difficulties with a completely new environment than in one rich with
memories." Jervis explained. "Besides, I believe Miss Kiersten will
have a positive influence on his spirits."
"That one could charm the birds out of the trees." Ms. Meeps
laughed. "But she has a good heart. Ah well, we'll all do our best
for the young Master. He is in for a surprise when Master Kevin
returns."
"I think we can leave that in Master Kevin's quite capable hands."
Jervis said with a smile. "Now I must see what we have in our inventory
that Master Wesley needs for his rooms." Ms. Meeps nodded and went back
to her inspections of the ground floor rooms. It was with a satisfied
smile that she retired that night with a good book.
* * * * *
Wesley was surprised to wake up in his pajamas. In the last
three months, he had more often fallen asleep in one of his uniforms,
and had received several reprimands from his instructors for the
condition as well, but hadn't been able to bring himself to care.
"Must have been Jervis." He said to himself then shuddered at the
stale taste of his mouth. "Ugh, morning mouth, I guess it's time for
morning routine."
He stumbled groggily to the bathroom, stripped off his clothes
and took a long shower. When he felt that he had gotten himself as
clean as he could, he dressed in combat fatigues and went to the dojo.
He smiled when he saw that Jervis had already put the equipment he had
requested in the room. He started slowly with his focusing exercises,
and then brought himself up to full speed as he went through all of his
kata's. He shifted seamlessly to his staff and sword drills, then
brought his speed down into his cool down and relaxation exercises.
He sat, totally relaxed, for several minutes until he heard movement
in the main part of the house.
After he had put his equipment away, and taken another shower,
he found his way to the lower part of the house and found the object
of his search. The Kitchen was a hive of industry presided over by
a petite red head who looked to be in her late twenties. When she
saw him at the door, she came over and greeted him with a smile, then
led him over to a small table in a quiet corner.
"You must be Wesley Sorenson." She finally said, surprising
him.
"How did you know?" He asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
"Seeing as you're the only person in this house who is as tall
as you are, it was really quite simple." Ms. Meeps said, and then
laughed as his stomach rumbled audibly. "As your stomach just pointed
out, you're hungry, so what would you like for breakfast? You can
have anything you want and all you want."
"Well what I usually have is whatever the cafeteria was serving,
but last summer we went to this small town in central California. The
day we left, we had breakfast at this cool restaurant and I ordered
this great dish with sausage and eggs, covered in cheese and salsa,
just before we drove through Yosemite on highway 140."
"That would have to be Greg Aguilano's specialty Huevos Rancheros
from his 'Castillo's' restaurant in Mariposa, California." Ms. Meeps
said getting out of her chair. She snapped out several orders and moved
with seeming randomness, but twenty minutes later, she put a huge platter
of food in front of him. It looked exactly the way he remembered, even
down to the orange slice at the edge of the plate. After the first bite,
Wesley ignored everything else until his plate was empty.
"Silence is a chef's greatest reward." Ms. Meeps chuckled.
"By the way, I'm Sondra Meeps, the head cook and housekeeper here
at Drakkenheim Castle. Anything you need ranging from clean sheets
to hot meal is my department. I'm also in charge of the cleaning
and laundry crews. For your clothes, all you need to do is drop
them down the chute at the near end of your hall. For repairs or
alterations, bring them to me, tailoring is my passion, and I'll
have it done faster than anyone we could send it to."
"Thanks, Ms. Meeps ..." Wesley started.
"Call me Sondra, Wesley." She laughed. "Mr. O'Connell does.
You calling me Ms. Meeps sounds like you're talking to your teacher."
"Okay Sondra, I'll try to remember that." Wesley replied.
"Thanks for breakfast. Jervis said something about you having a
video message for me from my guardian."
"Ah yes, Mr. O'Connell said you were to have it once you'd
slept properly and eaten a good meal." Sondra said with a mischievous
smile. "Now I just have to find it. Now if I were given a DVD, where
would I put it? Oh, of course, with my CD's." She reached into the
middle of the pile of CD's and pulled out a clear case with a yellow
post-it note stuck to it.
"Is that it?" Wesley asked.
"Yep, that's it." Sondra laughed. "One DVD recording of Kevin
O'Connell. The password is on the note."
"Thanks again Sondra." Wesley said distractedly as he took the
disc and went straight to the home theater in his wing and slid the
disk into the player.
When the password screen came on, he entered the word on the
note and smiled when the message 'Password Accepted' blinked on the
screen before it went black. The person who appeared on the screen
looked to be about Wesley's age and was dressed in a polo shirt and
pleated slacks. Wesley was about to shut the video off when the man
started speaking and he recognized his guardian's voice. He skipped
back to the beginning and listened closely.
"Hi Wes, I'm Kevin O'Connell, your guardian. I'm sorry I can't
be there when you arrive, but that wench Lucinda made that impossible.
I made arrangements for this trip just after your parents died and by
the time I found out that I would have to leave just before you arrived,
too many arrangements had been made. It wasn't the money, believe me I
have enough of that, it was the fact that my fiancée pulled the old 'You
don't love me anymore' routine on me. Also when dealing with a fiancée,
or any woman for that matter, it's usually best to tread very carefully
before you break any promises. If you say anything, you had better mean
it or you will pay dearly."
"Especially if she can hear you." A female voice said and a brown
haired girl in shorts and a tank top walked on the screen and kissed Kevin
lingeringly. Then she waved at the camera and walked off again.
"That was my fiancée, Makoto, if you're wondering." Kevin said, a
little shaken. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so my friends and
I came up with a list of all the ones we could think of and I've tried to
answer them as well as I could. If you have any others, write them down
so you can ask me when I get back." A menu appeared on the screen and the
machine automatically paused. Wesley went and got his notepad and pen,
then chose the first question on the list, 'What am I supposed to do while
I wait for you to get back'. His guardian's image came back up and Kevin
laughed.
"Well, realistically that's up to you, since I won't be there
to check up on you, but I had Jervis make some arrangements since
you're probably going to be staying in Japan for the foreseeable
future." The image of a redheaded girl with green eyes came onto
the screen. "This is Kiersten Dean, the daughter of my lawyer and one
of the senior vice-presidents in my corporation. She has agreed to
help you get ready for the coming school year." His guardian's image
came back on the screen. "She's a nice girl Wes, but I wouldn't try
anything unless you want to end up in a world of hurt. Kiersten has
been studying martial arts with her mother since she could walk.
Other than those tutorials, this is summer vacation, have fun! Tokyo
and it's shopping and entertainment centers are only a little distance
away and Geoffrey will be happy to take you anywhere you want to go.
You've been enrolled in grade eleven this year, so get ready, Japanese
schools are different from anything you've ever seen before." At the
mention of uniforms, Wes wrote down a question, and then lined it out
when he saw the next item of the menu. He chose 'Where do I get the
money for all of this stuff?' with a laugh.
"Ah yes, the magic question, 'How do I pay for all of that?'.
Well, I set up a couple of bank accounts for you at my bank and your
allowance will be given to you quarterly. Because of all the clothes
and stuff you'll have to get, I put a little kicker in your account
for that. Now you'll notice I said accounts, one is for your allowance,
the others are your inheritance, like it or not kid, you're rich now.
Both of your parents were insured for fourteen million dollars and your
brother was insured for another twelve million. That means they left
you holding forty million dollars, which was why Lucinda was trying to
get custody. Now most of that was invested in several mutual funds and
stocks according to the instructions in your father's will. The rest
is in those three accounts, which are actually three multi-layer account
groups of one million dollars each. Just try not to spend it all in
one place."
Wes just stared at the menu for several minutes trying to come
to grips with the actuality of that much money. While he was staring,
he noticed a strange question at the bottom of the list, 'Just how old
are you anyway?'. He wondered why his guardian had thought that would
be important until he remembered that his guardian had looked his age
in every image and so had his guardian's fiancée. He selected that one
then laughed when he saw his guardian's image.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that." Kevin
said, dressed in jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. "To be painfully honest,
on the eighth of October, I'll be seven hundred and twenty. Now I know
what you're thinking, no one has lived that long except in the bible.
Well, just call me Methuselah. Your father's letter to me said he had
given you a picture of me in his letter to you. Knowing him, it was
the one of old Cyril, your great-grandfather and me. Since Cyril saved
my life in Lorraine, I've been keeping an eye on your family. Your
grandfather was 4-F so I didn't have to get into world war two, but
your dad decided to join the Air force at seventeen and so I had to
do it too. You would not believe how hard it is to explain to CO's
why your record says you're thirty and you look like you're still
seventeen. We stayed in the same unit until after Desert Storm, but
by then I was a Lieutenant Colonel and your dad was a full bird. I
was tired of explaining my appearance, so I resigned and left. If
I'd known what was coming, I might have stayed in, though how I
would have explained being forty-two and looking seventeen, I don't
know." Wesley laughed at the pained expression on his guardians face.
"As I said, my age is about seven hundred and twenty, but as
you can see, I look like I'm seventeen. Because I tend to get bored
easily, you'll be seeing a lot more of me than you might have thought.
You see, I go to your school as well, so you won't even be able to
escape me there. That's about all of the questions we could think
of, so write any others that you have down, and I'll try to answer
them when I get back." Wesley went through the other questions,
writing down all of his other questions, and then went looking for
Jervis.
"Uncle Kevin left me a message that said you had the ATM card
for my allowance account." Wes said after greeting the butler.
"Also could you tell me where I should go to buy my uniforms?"
"Actually Master Wesley, I don't really know myself." Jervis
said as he gave him the ATM card and told him the PIN. "However,
Miss Kiersten will be arriving in half an hour for your first tutorial.
She would be able to supply you with that information." After thanking
Jervis, Wesley took the card and went back to the west wing to wait for
his visitor. After five minutes of spinning aimlessly in his chair, he
decided to explore the computers on the desk. He was happy to find that
they were connected to a network in the house, and was soon absorbed in
his explorations.
Twenty minutes later, when he had just started playing Tomb Raider,
someone knocked on the door, and he distractedly invited them in. After
another five minutes, he heard a soft cough behind his left shoulder, so
he paused the game. His visitor was his new tutor, Kiersten Dean, and her
picture hadn't done her justice. She was about seventeen, 5' 10" tall,
with shoulder length auburn hair and dark green eyes that were nicely
offset by the black Hard Rock Cafe-Cape Town T-shirt she was wearing
with faded blue jeans. She smiled a little shyly, and then took a step
back in surprise when he stood up to shake her hand.
"Hi, I'm Wesley Sorenson, Mr. O'Connell's ward." Wes said by way
of introduction. Kiersten returned his smile and shook his hand.
"I'm Kiersten Dean." She replied. "Mr. O'Connell said you needed
some help getting ready for school." She sat down in the chair opposite
his and folded her hands on top of the desk.
"Well, that's true." Wes said, a little uncomfortable. "But I also
need some help with shopping. I need to buy my uniforms for school and I
also need to replace most of the rest of my wardrobe. You see my parents
died in a plane crash, and then someone burned down our house, so what I
had with me at school is all I have left."
"How awful." Kiersten said sadly, and then cheered up when she
got an idea. "My cousin and I were going shopping with some of her
friends for uniforms and stuff this afternoon. Would you like to come
along?"
"I wouldn't want to be a burden..." Wes said, only to be interrupted
by Kiersten's laugh.
"Haven't been shopping with a group of girls very often, have you?"
She said, giggling when he shook his head. "It's much more likely that
we would be a burden on you, then the other way around. May I use your
phone?" He nodded permission, and she picked up the receiver and dialed
a number. "Hello, Auntie? This is Kiersten; may I speak to Usagi
please? Thank you." After she said that, she pulled the receiver away
from her ear and winked at Wes.
"Kiersten are you still there?" The high-pitched voice carried
all the way across the room, making Wesley wince in sympathy. "Why
did you want to talk to me? Is there a problem with our shopping trip?"
"Hi Usagi-chan, no there shouldn't be any problem with the shopping
trip." Kiersten said with a laugh. "I was just calling to find out if I
could bring Mr. O'Connell's ward with me?"
"Kevin's ward?" Usagi asked, making Wesley raise his eyebrows.
"He's here? Sure, bring him along. With Muffin coming, that means we've
have two guys to carry stuff for us."
"That's great Usagi-chan, we'll meet you at the park near that mall
you told me about, around one o'clock." Kiersten replied. "I'll talk to
you later then. Bye Usagi." Usagi said good-bye and Kiersten smiled at
Wesley. "Shall we get started?" Wesley nodded and she pulled down two
Japanese texts from a shelf. They sat in their chairs opposite each other
and started to establish the starting point for the tutoring.
* * * * *
"What do you mean my father has remarried?" Rei shouted, the
sound of glass breaking coming from the kitchen at the Hikawa Shrine.
"He just called me this morning and told me he had remarried
and was bringing his wife and your new step-brother to meet you."
Her grandfather said dodging the teacup she threw at him. It smashed
into the wall and joined the one she had dropped originally on the
floor. "Now Rei, he said they were very nice people..." He slumped
to the floor as the irate fire-priestess hit him with the teapot when
he didn't dodge in time.
"Very nice people he says." Rei growled as she stormed out of
the kitchen and started her daily chores. She had just finished sweeping
the Shrine grounds after her grandfather had gone to the dojo, when she
saw a tall, blonde boy come up the steps and look around in confusion.
Thinking that he was pretty cute, she went to talk to him and set her
broom aside.
"Excuse me Miss, could you tell me where to find the priest?"
He asked with a smile that made Rei decide he was much more than cute.
"I wanted to pay my respects."
"Good looking and polite." Rei thought happily, then smiled back
at him. "Grandpa is in the Dojo practicing. It's behind the house to
the left."
"Thank you." He said, smiling again and started toward the back,
only to stop when a warm contralto voice yelled up the steps behind him.
"James Patrick Rosenfeld, come down here and help your step-father
with this luggage." The woman said, and he turned around grumbling as
Rei watched in stunned surprise. Her fears were confirmed when her father
appeared at the top of the steps, followed by the boy that had to be her
new step-brother, and a petite woman with light brown hair.
"Rei, come over and greet your new step-mother." Her father
ordered, and Rei was half way there before she realized she had
started moving. When she reached them, she bowed formally, surprised
that they returned it with the exact amount of formality required.
"This is Natalia, my wife, and her son James." Her father said.
Natalia smiled at Rei shyly, and Rei realized where James got his
smile. She couldn't understand why, but that smile enraged her.
After smiling at Natalia, she glared at James and stormed off.
James watched her storm off in confusion, and then turned to his
mother.
"What was that all about?" James asked his mother, who was
just as confused. Rei's father tried to apologize, but James told
him not to worry about it. The priest appeared, wondering what had
set his granddaughter off this time. He showed James where to put
his suitcases, then James went to find his step-sister to try to
find out why she was so angry. He found her in the Dojo, and from
the way she was attacking the straw targets, she hadn't cooled down
much. "Just great." James muttered to himself.
"What do you want?" Rei demanded, glaring at him angrily.
"Just to find out what I did to make you so angry." James said
with a smile, then jumped backwards and grabbed a practice staff when
Rei charged him with a growl. He blocked her attack easily. He simply
defended himself as she launched attack after attack, trying to get at
him. After a while, James was tired of taking her abuse and launched
his own attack, surprising Rei and driving her back.
"Not bad for an American." Rei growled, launching another
attack and jumping back in surprise when he countered it, but still
angry. "Let's see if you can handle the big time." She launched
the pattern attack Makoto had used to finish the duel she had fought
at school. James was surprised at the attack she was using, then
noticed the weakness it had against a staff. When she went for the
head strike, he ducked under it and swept her feet out from under
her. As she landed on her back, she looked up to see the end of his
staff next to her face. They stayed like that for several seconds,
then Rei started laughing and James joined her.
"Sorry about that." James said as he helped her back to her
feet. "I only saw one way out of that pattern you used. You're
pretty good though."
"So are you." Rei said grudgingly. "How long have you been
studying martial arts?"
"Most of my life actually." James laughed. "My master keeps
telling me I need to work with other weapons, but I don't really see
the reason. I've always like staff and pole arm techniques more."
"If that was an example of them, I can see why." Rei sighed.
"I've been working on my sword techniques for fourteen years and I
only recently got to this level. So how would you like a tour of
the Shrine grounds?"
"I would love that." James said and helped her clean up.
They spent the next two hours looking around the grounds, then made
their way back to the caretaker's cottage. They came into the living
room talking and laughing, then stopped when they saw grandpa Hino
sitting in the room alone.
"Grandpa, where are my father and James' mother?" Rei asked
as they sat down. He looked around uncomfortably, and then jumped
when he heard James growling low in his throat.
"Let me guess, they said they had an important summit meeting
to go to and decided to leave us here?" James asked, and then laughed
when grandpa Hino nodded in surprise. Rei looked at him questioningly
and he decided to explain it to her. "What they didn't tell him was
that this Economic Summit they're going to is in Switzerland three
weeks from now and lasts two months. My mother has always said she
wanted a European honeymoon, so I guess your father decided to give
it to her." James started swearing in Russian, shifted to Swedish,
then started to work his way through German when Rei stopped him.
"I don't know about yours, but my school starts around two weeks
from now, so what are you going to do after that?" Rei asked.
"My school starts at the same time." James replied. "Though
how they expect me to get back, I have no idea. Your father only
bought me a one-way ticket." Grandpa pushed a folder across the
table and James started swearing in Arabic after he saw what was in
it.
"Now what?" Rei demanded and James pushed the folder over so
she could see it. It contained an enrollment form for Juuban High
School and James' transcripts from his old school. As she paged
through them, she also found her own and an enrollment form for her
as well. "They enrolled both of us in Juuban High School! What kind
of parent's would do that and not even ask us?"
Grandpa took this opportunity to sneak out, but he could still
hear Rei ranting about how unfair it was. Then he heard James say
something and Rei stopped. Then he heard Rei and James start laughing
and shook his head in disbelief.
"Maybe this marriage will be good for her after all." He said
to himself as he went into the Dojo and started one of his Kata's.
* * * * *
"Hurry up you two, I want to meet the guy cousin Kiersten is
bringing." Chibi-Usa complained as she ran ahead of the mutually
absorbed couple. Sighing in exasperation, she ran on ahead and
found Kiersten standing by herself next to a large shrubbery. "Where
is the guy you were going to bring, cousin Kiersten?" Chibi-Usa
asked, disappointed.
"He's somewhere around here Chibi-Usa." Kiersten replied.
"Where are Usagi and Mamoru?"
"They'll be here in a little while." She replied giggling a
little. "They were paying so much attention to each other they
probably didn't notice when I ran off. They aren't to far behind me
though." As she said this, Usagi and Mamoru came around the corner
and Usagi ran to greet her cousin.
"Kiersten, Hi!" Usagi squealed as she gave her cousin a hug.
"Where's Wesley? I thought you were bringing him with you?" Usagi
and Mamoru didn't notice as Kiersten maneuvered them so their backs
were to the shrubbery.
Chibi-Usa was looking at the shrubbery closely. She had heard
several rustling sounds, and now she heard something that sounded
like a kitten stuck in the bushes. Chibi-Usa went closer to see if
Diana had come to visit her again. When a huge shape burst out of
the bush with a roar and she felt hand grab her. Her piercing scream
brought Usagi and Mamoru around fast enough that they saw her pink
hair disappear over the top of the bush. Mamoru and Usagi had their
Talismans out and were about to shout their command phrases when
Chibi-Usa's laughter from behind the bush stopped them. They ran
around the bush and started laughing at what they saw. Chibi-Usa
was in a tickle fight with someone twice her size and seemed to be
winning.
"And what are you two doing?" Kiersten asked in her best
disapproving adult imitation, trying very hard not to laugh.
Their guilty looks were too much for her and she started
laughing, and everyone else joined in a little later. That was the
condition Minako and the Outer Senshi found them in. Usagi and Mamoru
were leaning against each other, laughing and Kiersten, Wesley and
Chibi-Usa were locked in a three-way tickle fight.
"Hey Chibi-Usa, who's that?" Hotaru said pointing at Wesley,
who was on the bottom of the pile. Kiersten moved into the path of
Hotaru's finger so Chibi-Usa misunderstood.
"Silly, you've met cousin Kiersten before." Chibi-Usa laughed.
"No, I mean the guy you're both sitting on." Hotaru said impatiently.
"Oh, this is Wesley." She replied, attacking him again. "Cousin
Kiersten tutors him in his room."
"What does she mean 'in his room' Kiersten?" Minako asked archly
making Kiersten blush.
"Definitely not what it sounds like." Kiersten replied defensively
and everyone laughed. "Wesley is Mr. O'Connell's ward and he's going to
be staying at Drakkenheim, where Mr. O'Connell has prepared a study room
for him. Since he'll be coming to school with us this coming fall, I'm
tutoring him there to help him get ready for it. I must say though he's
made some pretty rapid progress with his Japanese."
"Well we did study it for three hours straight this morning."
Wesley said in barely accented Japanese. "This girl is a slave driver,
but between that study session, the fact that I spent my first seven
years in Japan, and my love for anime, I guess you could say that all
I needed was a refresher."
"Where's Rei?" Minako asked. "She's not usually late for a
shopping trip."
"Maybe she had extra chores to do." Usagi suggested. "Why
don't we go to the mall now and meet her there?"
"That wouldn't be a good idea Usagi." Mamoru replied, remembering
the last time Usagi had suggested that. A raised voice could be heard
down the path and Mamoru hid a sigh of relief. "Besides, I think that's
her now." Rei and James came around the corner and Rei did not look happy.
"I still don't know why Grandpa thought you had to come shopping
with me." Rei growled at James. "I don't need your help."
"I believe his exact words were 'Take him so you can both get
your uniforms at the same time.'" James said, mimicking Rei's
Grandfather perfectly. "I still don't know why you're complaining
so much though, you get to make me carry your stuff as well as my
own." Rei grumbled about that until they reached the others.
"Who is this Rei?" Usagi asked, curious to find out who could
beat Rei in an argument. "Why don't you introduce him?"
"Okay, I guess I'll introduce him to all of you at once to
save time." Rei grumbled. "James, these are my friends. Friends,
this is James Rosenfeld. Due to a strange circumstance beyond either
of our control, he's my new step-brother." This announcement brought
the expected exclamations of surprise from her friends and a half-
hearted wave from James.
"My friends call me Jim." James said, smiling. "I'm glad to
meet all of you, and hope we can all be friends." He looked around
trying to gage everyone's reactions, and then stopped when he noticed
Minako staring at him questioningly. Racking his brain for a reason
for the questioning look, he laughed when a memory clicked into place.
"Well, well, if it isn't Minako Aino, Shower Show Queen of Saint Anne's
Academy." Minako blushed furiously as her friends turned to look at
her. She looked at James as if she would have gladly torn him apart
on the spot, but she settled for twisting his ear and leading him out
of easy earshot.
As her shocked friends watched, she laid into him furiously,
telling him what she thought of his sense of humor, his lack of tact,
and his ability to keep promises. Then she said something her friends
couldn't hear and pointed at the ground. James shook his head negatively,
but Minako said something that made him glance nervously at the others.
When Minako indicated that she was serious, James got on his knees and
bowed to her thirty times. After Minako said she was satisfied, he
stood back up and they walked back to the rest of the group who were
trying to stop laughing.
"What was that all about?" Rei asked James as they all walked
toward the mall.
"I knew Minako in England when my mother was working for the
Embassy there." James replied after making sure Minako was out of
earshot. "Basically we grew up with each other and know a lot of
embarrassing things about our mutual past. Some of it's not so
distance either."
"So what was that 'shower show queen' comment about?" Rei
asked in confusion.
"That was something I shouldn't have talked about, like I
promised Mina when it happened." James said ruefully. "I was
referring to something that happened the last Halloween she was
there. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask her."
"Just what is your relationship with her?" Rei asked,
dreading his answer.
"Minako is probably the closest thing I had to a sister
in my entire life." James replied absently, not noticing Rei's
startled expression. "We talked about almost everything while
we were growing up. In fact, she probably knows more about me
than my mother does."
"What was that bowing about?" She said, feeling a little
more charitable towards her stepbrother. "It looked as if you
refused at first."
"I did, mainly because she demanded thirty." James sighed.
"We were both around ten when it started. I hurt someone's feelings,
one of Minako's friends I think, and she said something like 'bow and
beg princess Minako's forgiveness for such unmannerly conduct.' Ever
since then, she's done the same thing every time I hurt someone's
feelings. Normally it's only fifteen, but I guess I deserved the
double penalty this time."
"And what did she say that got you to do it?" Rei pressed,
still trying to understand.
"Um ... ah ... can't that wait until we get back to the
shrine?" James asked in a pained tone.
"Not if you want my help it can't." Rei said simply with a
wicked grin.
"Okay, but this is another thing that can't go any farther,
all right?" Rei nodded and James continued after making sure no
one could hear. "That last Halloween the student council passed a
measure, and somehow got it approved by the headmaster, that all
costumes worn for Halloween to school had to be of the opposite sex.
Now at thirteen, neither Minako nor I had started growing yet and we
looked almost exactly alike since my mom had let me grow my hair out.
Minako and I decided to trade places and see if we could get away with
it. Three of my friends and four of hers agreed to help us with the
plan and Minako and I started to practice every day after school. At
first we had a hard time not laughing at each other, then we really
got into it and worked hard at it. Our big test came when we went to
the arcade together with our roles reversed. I was her and she was me.
We had to play our roles to perfection or we would never live it down."
"So how did it go?" Rei asked, excited by the story. "Did
anyone figure it out?"
"Nope, we had them fooled, hook, line, and sinker." James
said, and then laughed. "And because neither one of us seems to be
able to say one of those clichés right if our life depended on it,
I managed to get through a half hour of girl talk without being
detected. Friday morning I left for school early and Minako let
me into her house. She put on a uniform I had brought over earlier,
and dressed in one of hers. I said goodbye to Minako's mom to keep
up appearances and to keep her in the dark, then we went to each others
classes that day."
"Did anyone realize what happened?" Rei asked, the suspense
getting to her.
"No, it went perfectly." James replied smugly. "Our friends
who were in on it made the necessary arrangements for us to be able
to shower and change for gym, and our uniforms were sweats since it
was Fall. After school, we walked home like we normally did and
traded off at her place. To this day I doubt anyone knows about this
but us, our friends, and now you."
"Wow." Rei said, then got suspicious. "So what was her
leverage?"
"She threatened to leak that story, but with the insinuation
that I still liked playing dress up." James said, blushing a little.
"She even threatened to tell people I still did it."
"And you don't?" Rei asked, and then held her hands up to fend
off his glare. "I didn't think so, and that was it?"
"Yep." James said, and then laughed. "You know Rei, I could
get used to talking to you like this."
"Well Don't, I'm normally a mean vicious person." She growled,
turning away abruptly. Minako looked over at him questioningly, and
he just shrugged not understanding. Minako followed Rei into a lingerie
shop, and James walked over to where Kiersten, Hotaru, and Chibi-Usa
were talking to Wesley about the clothes he needed.
"You really only have two T-shirts and two pairs of jeans?"
Chibi-Usa asked Wesley in surprise as James walked up. "Why so few?
Most guys I know have lots of casual clothes."
"Well you see ..." Wesley began, then stopped, looking down
at the young girl. "What is your name anyway? Everyone has been
calling you 'Small Lady' since I met you, but for some reason I
don't think that's your name."
"You're right, it's not." Chibi-Usa said looking around
uncomfortably. "But my first name is Serenity which would be even
worse, and my middle name is Usagi, which is also my cousin's name,
so everyone calls me Chibi-Usa."
"I can see how your names could give you problems." Wesley
replied, thinking the situation over. "Your first name might give
people a false impression, and your middle name would be confusing
with your cousin around. The problem is your nickname could give
people a false impression too. So does anyone call you anything
else?"
"Well, only one that I can think of." Chibi-Usa said blushing
when she remembered something. "My daddy sometimes calls me Princess,
so you could call me that if you like." Her eager smile decided the
matter for both Wesley and James.
"Sure thing Princess." Wesley replied with a laugh, and then
his face became serious again. "Getting back to your question. The
reason I have so few clothes is that, until two days ago, I was at a
military boarding school. Most of my casual clothes were in storage
at home, so when the house burned down shortly after my family died,
my clothes went with it. So now I have to buy a lot of new clothes
to replace them."
"How awful." Kiersten said, breaking the silence that had
fallen over the group. "Do they know why the house burned down?"
"No they don't." Wesley said shrugging. "According to the
police, someone set the fire deliberately. From the location of
the fire, and by the way some of the walls looked, it was probably
some kind of firebomb. Problem is they can't figure out who did
it or why."
"Man, it must be rough knowing someone out there is getting
away with arson." James said, shaking his head in disbelief. "But
enough seriousness, we're here to get some clothes, not tell each
other our life stories. Since Rei seems to have abandoned me, could
I hang around with you four? From what Rei tells me I'll be going
to the same school as Kiersten and Wesley are."
"Sure, glad to have you along." Wesley laughed. "Now which
uniforms should we get first?" He said looking to Kiersten for help.
"I think the children's shop that sells the Crossroads Junior
High Uniforms is over there, so I guess it's Chibi-Usa and Hotaru's
turn to go first." Kiersten said and the girls cheered. Wesley
and James shrugged and followed them into the shop.
* * * * *
"So why did you follow me?" Rei asked Minako as they looked
around the shop. "The last time we went shopping, you said eating
Usagi's cooking would be more fun than shopping with me."
"Well, I was just wondering why you're so angry with James?"
Minako asked, a little confused. "He's one of the nicest guy's I
know."
"How can you say that when, not ten minutes ago, you were
chewing him out and making him bow to you?" Rei replied hotly,
and then stopped in surprise when Minako blushed.
"He promised me that he would never talk about that to anyone."
Minako replied. "James and I have known each other all our lives
almost. We've teased each other unmercifully since we were five,
but neither of us has ever really broken a promise to the other before
today. I can't really blame him too much, I'm sure he didn't expect
to find me here. We lost touch a couple of years ago."
"So what was that 'Shower Show Queen' comment about anyway?"
Rei asked.
"What has he told you?" Minako demanded angrily.
"Only that the two of you traded places for Halloween when you
were thirteen." Rei admitted. "He said I would have to ask you to
find out anymore."
"At least he kept that part of his promise." Minako sighed
in relief. "I thought I would have to make good on my threat, and
I wouldn't have enjoyed that at all."
"So what was it?" Rei asked impatiently. "He said the only
ones who knew about it were your friends."
"Our friends knowing were enough." Minako replied. "Everything
was arranged two weeks in advance, including our showers after gym, but
that last detail is what caused the problem."
"What do you mean?" Rei asked in confusion.
"Come on Rei, do I have to draw you a map?" Minako said in
disbelief. "Three rich thirteen year old boys know two weeks in
advance that a cute girl will be taking a shower in a specific place
at a specific time."
"Those slime!" Rei growled, blushing hotly as she made the
connection.
"Exactly." Minako replied smiling. "The only mistake they
made was showing the video at a party that James attended. He was
not pleased."
"What do you mean?" Rei asked. "Why would showing James the
video be a mistake? He's just like every other boy I've met." Minako
stared at Rei for a few seconds, and then started laughing. "What?"
Rei demanded.
"It's just that I've never thought of James like that." Minako
said shrugging. "Believe it or not, James and I could pass as twins
for most of our lives. In fact, we often passed ourselves off as
fraternal twins until my mother put a stop to it when we were nine.
It was actually an amazing coincidence; James was born five minutes
after I was, same day and everything, on the opposite ends of the
world. But my mom couldn't stop us from acting like twins, and as
far as I can tell, we're as close as any twin I've ever met."
"So why would this make showing James that video a mistake?"
Rei asked in confusion.
"Imagine, if you will, the reaction of a twin brother when his
friends show him a video of his twin sister taking a shower, completely
unaware that she's being recorded." Minako said, giggling at the
satisfied gleam that came into Rei's eyes. "He dealt with them easily.
They spent the next couple of weeks with black eyes and split lips, but
James didn't have a scratch. I asked him about it at lunch the Monday
after the party, since I knew he had been there and was grounded the next
day when I had come over. He just handed me the tape and said it explained
everything. When I got home, I watched the first five minutes, then pulled
the tape out of the machine and burned it. My father got transferred back
to Japan a month later."
"So James beat his friends up for doing that?" Rei said
consideringly. "I may have misjudged him after all, because that
doesn't sound like most of the guys I know, even if it was their
sister. The one thing I don't understand though, is how he beat his
friends up without getting a scratch."
"Well, James has had martial arts training since he could walk."
Minako said, smiling when Rei looked at her in disbelief. "His father
was in the American Special Forces and taught him every chance he got
until he didn't come back from a mission. When James was three, the US
government paid his family his life insurance money. His mom finished
her degree and got a job working for the US State Department that included
a transfer to the Embassy in England at the same time my father was
transferred there. James was addicted to martial arts through and he had
his mom find him a teacher everywhere they went. He even got me into it
and we took classes together for six years, though I'm nowhere near his
level. When I last saw him, he was helping the Sensei with the younger
students and teaching staff techniques to the advanced students. He was
unbeatable with a staff, but most people couldn't touch him unarmed either."
"He's good enough to teach people?" Rei asked in surprise as they
went on to the next store. "I knew he was good with that staff, he
showed me this morning."
"That's unusual." Minako said stopping. "He never used to show
off."
"He wasn't showing off." Rei assured her, blushing a little.
"My father only told us that he remarried this morning, then because
of a misunderstanding, I got mad at James and he came to talk to me
while I was trying to work it out the Dojo. To make a long story short,
I attacked him with a bokken and tried to use one of Kevin and Scott's
techniques on him."
"What were you thinking Rei?" Minako exclaimed in shock.
"You could have killed him, even though you were only using a
bokken. I'm glad that you came to your senses before one of you
got hurt."
"I didn't really." Rei said blushing. "James had to knock
me flat on my back to get me to stop. But he wasn't attacking during
the fight, that's why I didn't get anything other than my pride hurt."
"You were lucky Rei, just before I left, our teacher gave him
the paperwork to take his test for the next level of black belt."
Minako said seriously. "I think I'd like to see what would happen
if James and Scott sparred, or Kevin for that matter."
"Don't you think that would be a little unfair?" Rei asked.
"I mean Scott and Kevin have been practicing for centuries. I would
like to see Makoto try to beat him through. I think she might have
trouble with that."
"So what happened this morning?" Minako asked as they started
walking again. "I mean you had just met him, right?"
"My father brought James and his mother to meet me this morning,
yes." Rei said frowning. "Then our parents left for Europe after
signing the paperwork to transfer both of us to a new high school."
"Sounds like something his mother would do." Minako said sadly,
then smiled when Rei looked at her in surprise. "Natalia Rosenfeld was
what you might call a jet setter, Rei. She got her job to satisfy her
desire to travel the world. She left James with a nanny and went all
over the world carrying information from one Embassy to another that
was too sensitive to trust to radio transmission. Thing is I don't
know how the fact that she married someone from the Japanese government
effected her job."
"She quit." James said right behind her, making her jump.
"Rei's father didn't want her to work and was willing to pay her
twice as much as she was getting just to go around with him." Minako
whistled in shock at that news. James' mother had not had a low paying
job.
"So why are you getting new uniforms, Rei?" Usagi asked in surprise.
"I thought you bought some last year. Not to small for you now are they?"
Usagi giggled when Rei got mad at her. James stepped in and winked at Rei.
"Is that why you're buying new uniforms Usagi?" He asked in a
surprised tone. "Did you grow in the last year? Rei needs to buy new
uniforms because she's been transferred by her father to a new school
so we can go to school together."
"Really?" Minako said in surprise. "Which one?"
"Juuban high school." James replied, but he was unprepared for
the reaction he got. Usagi burst into tears and Kiersten and Chibi-Usa
tried to comfort her, while Minako squealed happily and hugged him.
"What did I say?" He asked Rei who laughed at his dumbfounded expression.
"Usagi, Kiersten, Minako, and our other friends, Ami, Makoto,
and Kevin all go to Juuban High School." Rei explained. "Minako is
happy for the same reason Usagi is crying. We'll all probably end up
in the same class. In case you hadn't noticed, Usagi and I don't get
along very well sometimes."
"Oh." James said shaking his head in disbelief.
Once Usagi had recovered the selected the uniform items they needed,
and then they helped Wesley chose an entire wardrobe. Usagi asked him why
he was buying suits when he dropped three pairs of dress shoes on the counter
then put the suits on the counter as well.
"My father taught me many things." Wesley said with a laugh.
"But one that I wasn't able to put into practice since I was at a boy's
military school was this. 'When you go on a date, make it something
special.' So I need those for later on."
Usagi giggled when he acted like a snob, and he laughed along.
They all finished their shopping and were wondering what to do when
Wesley invited them to go get ice cream. They agreed and he called
Geoffrey on the cell phone Jervis had given him as he and Kiersten
had left earlier. Everyone cheered when the limo arrived and Geoffrey
loaded their purchases into the trunk. Wesley asked Geoffrey to take
them to the best ice cream parlor in town, and twenty minutes later,
they had all ordered and conversation started again.
"Usagi, just how old is Mamoru?" Kiersten asked quietly after
making sure everyone else was talking.
"Muffin's twenty-three." Usagi replied. "Why?"
"Don't you think he's a little old for you?" Kiersten said in
concern. "I mean six years is a lot of time."
"I know it is Kiersten." Usagi laughed, then suddenly got more
serious than Kiersten had ever seen her. "The thing is that I've been
in love with him for three years. We've been through a lot during that
time, and he even avoided me for six months, but nothing has changed
that love. So I refuse to let something as silly as six years stand
in the way."
"Wow." Kiersten said, a little shocked. "I had no idea you felt
that strongly about it. I wish I had someone I cared that much for."
"Well, you've got a perfect opportunity now." Usagi said,
grinning slyly. "You're tutoring one of the cutest guys in our school.
I think it's great that you've got a chance before any of the other
girls get to him."
"I'm surprised you even noticed." Kiersten laughed. "I thought
you were in love with Mamoru."
"I'm in love, Kiersten, not dead." Usagi giggled. "So are you
going to use this opportunity or should I have one of the others take
him?"
Kiersten blushed furiously at the question, but was saved from
answering by the arrival of their orders. Usagi was so busy eating
the massive desert she'd ordered; she completely forgot her own question.
* * * * *
"I still don't know why Jervis thought you'd need my help getting
ready for school." Kiersten said as they finished another section of
the pre-calculus program on the network. "You've help me a lot more
in math and science, then I've helped you with Japanese and history."
"I think what Jervis was really trying to do was help me socially
rather than academically." Wesley replied, grinning at Kiersten's
surprised expression. "Jervis doesn't seem the kind of person to make
any mistakes when it comes to his duties. He was probably right too.
I was becoming something of a hermit before I got here and started these
tutoring sessions. Now I have eight potential friends, and two thirteen
year old girls who can twist me around their little fingers without even
trying." His distressed expression as he said this made Kiersten giggle.
"So which game will it be this time?" Kiersten asked after she
regained control of herself. "I don't think I could stand another round
of death matches over the network again. It makes me nauseous just
watching you play."
"Okay, let's see." Wesley said, pulling out his notebook and
turning to the list of games he'd found in the network so far. "How
about Scorched Earth 2000? It's not first person, and it's more strategy
than shooting."
"Sounds good." Kiersten replied.
She gasped when a massive laughing skull appeared on her screen when
she started the game up, but laughed self-consciously when it started
explaining the history leading up to the 'Scorched Earth War'. The visual
detail was excellent as video images showed the object of the game. She
spent twenty minutes setting her base up how she wanted it, and then she
received a 'Radio Message' that the current truce had collapsed and war
was resuming. Two hours later, after rendering two continents lifeless,
Kiersten succeeded in hitting Wesley's base and destroying it before he
completed his doomsday weapon.
"Ach, she got me!" Wesley said, falling out of his chair theatrically
as Kiersten performed an impromptu victory dance.
"Finally, something I can beat you at." She said, falling into one
of their reading chairs.
"Only because of that two layer defensive network you set up." Wesley
retorted. "I couldn't figure out what those radar installations were for
until I couldn't get you no matter how many missiles I sent at you. I
especially liked the counter missiles backed up by lasers and grazers.
Been reading a lot of David Weber book's?"
"Everyone I can get my hands on." She replied. "I heard another one
came out last fall, but I haven't been able to get a hold of it."
"I'll let you borrow my copy when the rest of my stuff gets here
tomorrow." Wesley laughed, and then jumped to his feet. "All right,
it's practice time, first one to the Dojo gets to choose our next game."
He and Kiersten raced for the bathrooms to change and made it
there at the same time. After spending half an hour warming up, Wesley
and Kiersten started vastly different Kata's. Kiersten's were very
graceful and flowed very smoothly. Wesley's were more obviously intended
to cause serious bodily harm to his target. After another fifteen minutes,
they met in the center of the mat with their chosen weapons. Kiersten had
a bokken, while Wesley held a staff.
"Ready?" Kiersten asked standing in high guard watching Wesley
cautiously.
"Let's do this." He said with a grin, and then launched a sweeping
attack at her head. She ducked under it, and slashed at his abdomen in
return. Wesley blocked that easily and dodged back to prepare his next
attack.
"Do you really like to use a staff that much, or do you just use it
because it's there?" Kiersten asked as they circled each other, looking
for openings.
"Actually, I've never been comfortable with a staff, but pole arms
were always too clumsy, and swords didn't feel right either." Wesley
replied reversing the circle. "I really don't know what I'm looking for,
I just know that when I find it, it will feel right."
He attacked with several vicious strikes directed more at her sword
than at her, and at the end of the attack, her sword went flying. Before
Wesley could press his advantage, she rolled under his follow up stroke and
retrieved her sword in one fluid motion.
"Nicely done." Wesley said as they began circling again. "Where
did you learn that?"
"Gymnastics classes since I was six." Kiersten laughed, and then
grinned impishly. "Of course the part where I picked up my sword, I
made up just now."
Kiersten rushed in with an attack, driving Wesley back, then was
forced to retreat as he turned the tide. They went back and forth until
Wesley mis-read a feint and got hit in the chest, counting as a kill.
After they cooled down, they both showered, and then played another
game of 'Scorched Earth 2000', which Wesley won.
* * * * *
Rei and James came out of the bargain theater after the movie
arguing viciously. What had started out as another attempt by Grandpa
Hino to get them to behave like brother and sister had backfired badly.
"How can you stand there and tell me that you like that version of
Godzilla better than the original?" Rei demanded as they walked down the
street. "They turned the King of Monsters into a hermaphrodite mutant
lizard!"
"Sure Rei, the fake rubber suits and cheesy effects were better?"
James asked sarcastically. "At least this time the monster was realistic,
the part with the submarines was wrong though."
"But that was one of the coolest parts." Rei objected. "What was
wrong with it?"
"Well, for one thing, the torpedoes would have shut themselves down
after they started turning toward the subs." James said seriously. "It's
one of their safety features, but I do agree that the effects were cool."
Rei stared at him for several seconds, and then started laughing.
James joined in a short time later, and they walked down the street
laughing together.
"That was a rather pointless argument wasn't it?" Rei asked as they
turned a corner toward the train station. James' answer was cut off by a
piercing scream, followed by a rush of people from a nearby restaurant.
Rei and James stopped and Rei cursed to herself when she heard several people
talking about monsters. "Stay here." Rei said as she ran into an alley and
transformed, then jumped into the building on the second floor. James ignored
her order and went to see what was going on. What he saw left him gaping.
An eight-armed creature was standing in the center of the dining room.
It was holding people in all of its arms and all of them were glowing in a
sickly greenish light. As he watched, one person slumped and the creature
flung him away and grabbed a waitress that had been hiding under a table.
She screamed for help as she was lifted into the air, and as the green light
surrounded her, her struggles weakened.
James had seen enough. Keeping out of sight, he made his way over to
the still form of its previous victim. He sighed in relief when he felt a
pulse at the man's neck, then he started to think of how to beat this monster.
"Man, I wish Sailor V was here." He grumbled, and then gasped as a girl with
black hair and a very similar uniform stepped to the edge of the balcony. "No,
it can't be." He muttered, remembering Sailor V had blond hair.
"Restaurants are a place for enjoying good food with good friends, not
draining people of their energy." She declared, posing theatrically with each
phrase. "In the name of Mars, I will punish you."
James struggled not to laugh at the cute girl, and then gasped in shock
when she launched two fireballs at the tentacles. The two victims had barely
touched the ground when two new tentacles picked them up and the other tentacles
that formed grabbed two other people. She fired two more fireballs, but a green
shield appeared around the creature, absorbing them. Sailor Mars called for back
up, and then launched three different attacks. But after the victims were free,
the creature grew new arms and captured them and more people. Sailor Mars dodged
several tentacles, but one finally caught her, and she couldn't do anything to
break free.
James had been rummaging in the debris for something to use as a
weapon and had only found a rope and a broken off pole from one of the
decorative canopies. Ducking in to the kitchen, he found a meat axe,
which he lashed to the pole. After giving it a practice spin, he shrugged,
realizing that even badly balanced, it was better than nothing. He glanced
to make sure that the coast was clear, and then came into the room just as
Sailor Mars was captured.
He dodged quickly to avoid the grasping tentacles as he moved to the
one holding the waitress it had grabbed after he arrived. He used the make
shift pole arm to free her, then kept the tentacles off of her as she crawled
away. Then he went to free Sailor Mars, who didn't appear as drained as the
others it had captured after her. He cut the tentacle and Sailor Mars stumbled,
and then jumped away as another tried to grab her. She looked to find out who
had rescued her and growled when she saw James free another captive and protect
him as he escaped. She moved to his exit point to give him a piece of her mind.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sailor Mars demanded after he had led
the last victim to safety. The blind creature was waving its tentacles around
looking for a new victim.
"I'm trying to save people." He replied calmly, unsure why she was angry.
"Next time leave things like this to those who are capable of fighting
them." As Sailor Mars said this, James pushed her to the side and cut off
the tentacle that had almost grabbed her.
"If that means letting this thing go where it wants, you're crazy."
James growled, then instinctively dove to the side as several attacks hit
the creature, disintegrating it.
"Moon dusted." Sailor Moon laughed happily, and then noticed James
staring at her. She posed and disappeared along with everyone else.
James figured that was a good idea when he heard the sirens of the
approaching police. Running out the back, he paused to break up his pole
arm, then ran back to where Rei had left him. He was almost there when he
heard a girl yell his name, and several other raised female voices coming
from a nearby side alley. Staying in the shadows, he moved closer until
he saw the group of girls, including Sailor Mars and one that looked like
Sailor V, though she wasn't wearing a mask. Sailor Mars was ranting angrily
about something, but it wasn't until she said his name again that he became
interested in what she said.
"Why was James fighting the monster?" Sailor Moon asked in confusion.
"I don't know, Meatball head!" Sailor Mars yelled back. "The idiot
should have stayed out of it!"
That comment almost brought James out of hiding, but he thought better
of it, and was glad he had when he saw what happened next. The girls were
engulfed in a bright light, which then dissipated to reveal Rei and her
friends standing in their places.
"I told him to stay put, and what does he do?" Rei demanded angrily.
"He goes to the most dangerous place for him to be."
"I thought you said he could beat Makoto." Minako asked, looking at Rei
curiously. "You guys told me that Makoto almost beat one of these things by
herself when you first met her, and she's even better at fighting now. I
think James could help."
"No, it's too dangerous." Rei began, but Usagi held up her hand to
silence her.
"Minako's right Rei." She said matter of fact. "If these Youma keep
attacking, we're going to need some help fighting them. Especially since
the others are going to be delayed coming back. Something happened to them
this morning."
"What happened?" Michiru asked in concern.
"As far as I could tell, no one is dead or hurt." Usagi replied.
"Ami just said that something happened, and they are going to be delayed.
The fact remains that they aren't going to be back for a while, and we all
know what happens when enough of those things come at us at once. We need
all of the physical combat capability we can come up with."
"How do we get him to help us though?" Chibi-Usa asked. "He probably
would ask who we were if we approached him as the Senshi."
"Chibi-Usa is right." Haruka said, nodding grudgingly. "If we bring
James into this, he'll probably find out our identities sooner or later.
How are we going to deal with that?"
"I still don't see why James has to become involved." Rei protested.
"We don't need his help to beat a couple of Youma. Besides, he would just
get in the way." James left after Rei said that, muttering that even if
his stepsister didn't need his help, his best friend did, and he was going
to be there for her.
"Why do you say that Rei?" Minako asked in surprise. "From what I
saw back there, James saved you and everyone else in the restaurant by holding
that thing off until we got there."
"It's too dangerous for non-Senshi to fight Youma." Rei argued, and then
blushed when Minako looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Anyone who
helps us could very easily die Minako. I don't want to have that on my conscience."
Usagi thought about it for several minutes then sighed. "I still think
we should ask him to help us." She said finally, raising her hand to silence
Rei's cry of protest. "We'll wait and see if we can handle this ourselves,
but if we can't, James will be one of the first people we ask. In the mean
time, we start patrolling again starting tonight. Rei and Minako have the
8pm to midnight shift, Haruka and Michiru will relieve them and work until
4 am, then Hotaru, Chibi-Usa, and I will relieve them at four. Muffin will
be with us. Everyone who's not on watch should go home and get some sleep
because it's going to be a long week."
Minako and Rei changed back into their Senshi uniforms, and everyone
else split up to get some sleep.
* * * * *
"Why are you so against Usagi asking James to help us?" Minako asked
Rei as they rested on the antenna level to Tokyo Tower. "You told me
yourself that even Makoto, the most dangerous of any Senshi in Hand to
Hand combat, would find it hard to beat James."
Rei didn't say anything at all in response, just stood up and
started pacing in agitation. Minako stared in surprise at this sign
of frustration and confusion.
"What's going on Rei?" Minako asked in surprise. "This isn't
like you, you're of the calmest people I know normally."
"I'm in a situation I've never even considered possible." Rei
said softly. "I'm not really sure how to deal with it. I'm not even
sure if I should tell anyone about it."
"How can I help Rei?" Minako asked in concern. "I'm your friend."
"I'm not sure if anyone can help." Rei sighed in confusion.
"You see, I think I might be falling for James." When Minako didn't
say anything, Rei looked up expecting to see shock or revulsion on her
friends face. Instead, all she saw was amusement. Then Minako started
laughing.
"And that's your huge problem?" Minako giggled in disbelief. "I
thought it was something serious, like thinking that you were falling in
love with Usagi or something sick like that."
"You think falling in love with my brother isn't serious." Rei
demanded, shuddering at Minako's suggestion. "Grandpa could accept my
becoming a lesbian in time, incest would kill him."
"What are you talking about Rei?" Minako laughed. "Falling in
love with James isn't even close to incest. You're only related at all
because your parents got married, so there is nothing sick or twisted
about you and James getting together."
"What do you mean?" Rei asked, confused.
"If his mother had never married your father and you had met him
some other way, you wouldn't have any problem now, right?" Minako asked,
then smiled when Rei shook her head. "So don't let it bother you now.
The only difference is that if you two decide to get married, you won't
have any in-laws to worry about."
"Who's talking about getting married?" Rei said a little to
quickly.
"No one." Minako laughed. "Shall we get back to patrolling?
We don't want the Oh So Perfect Haruka to yell at us for slacking do
we?" Rei grinned and both of them jumped of the tower, resuming their
search for Youma activity.
* * * * *
Wesley straightened his bow tie for the fiftieth time that evening,
before he rang the doorbell at Kiersten's apartment. A tallish man opened
the door, and Wesley immediately recognized the lawyer who had taken care
of his parent's will and the resulting custody battle. He smiled and shook
Kiersten's father's hand.
"Hello Mr. Dean." Wesley said as his host showed him in. "Is
Kiersten ready yet?"
"Not yet Wesley." Frank Dean laughed. "She's been upstairs
primping for hours though."
"Now Frank, a girl likes to look her best on the first date."
Natsuko Dean said, coming into the entry from the lounge. "Hello
Wesley, I'm Kiersten's mother, Natsuko, can I get you something to
drink? Tea?"
"No thank you Ma'am." Wesley declined. "I've been having bad
reactions to it lately. It seems to put me to sleep."
"How odd, but not to surprising." Mrs. Dean replied with a smile.
"Your father had the same reaction to it."
"He did?" Wesley asked in surprise.
"Didn't you know?" Natsuko said in surprise, then blanched when
she saw the pain in Wesley's eyes. "I'm sorry ..."
"No, it's okay Mrs. Dean." Wesley said with a forced smile. "The
grief comes and goes. The problem is not knowing why they died."
"Someone placed a strange kind of bomb in the main cabin." Mrs.
Dean replied. "That the verdict of the board of enquiry anyway."
"Mother, I doubt Wesley really wants to talk about that." Kiersten
said coming down the stairs. "Besides, if we don't get going we'll be late."
"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Dean." Wesley told Natsuko reassuringly.
"I would rather know the truth than be lied to, but Kiersten is right, we
have to be going."
"Okay, have fun you two." Mr. Dean said as Wesley helped Kiersten
with her wrap. "And remember, curfew is midnight tonight." The two
teenagers raced to the waiting limo and made it to the theaters for the
opening curtain.
* * * * *
"I still want to know how you got tickets for the opening night of
'Phantom of the Opera'." Kiersten said as they rode toward the restaurant
where they had dinner reservations. "I couldn't even find nose bleed
tickets, and you got us box seats."
"Just lucky I guess." Wesley said casually, and then flinched when
she punched him. "Okay, okay, I mentioned the play to Jervis and he made
arrangements for us to use Mr. O'Connell's private box. He owns the theater
after all." They arrived at the restaurant and guided to their table.
"Must be nice having money." Kiersten sighed after the waiter left.
"I had to remind daddy that they don't have proms here to get him to pay for
this dress."
"An excellent choice." Wesley said approvingly. "You look stunning."
"Why thank you." Kiersten laughed, and then told Wesley what she would
like. After he had ordered for both of them, the conversation turned to the
play.
* * * * *
"What was that?" Wesley asked in concern as they waited for
Geoffrey to come pick them up.
"What was what?" Kiersten asked, then she also heard the screams
coming from the nightclub next to the restaurant.
As they watched many people burst out of the club, screaming about
monsters. Wesley and Kiersten glanced at each other and decided to check
it out. They slipped into the club and ducked into one of the many side
alcoves. As they watched, several creatures were picking people up and
carrying them to a very large creature with many hands. In each was a
person, glowing with a sickly green color. As Wesley watched, one hand
released a woman dressed as a dominatrix and grabbed another one. The
one that was released collapsed and was roughly shoved to the side.
Wesley had made up his mind to help these people when he heard the sound
of a zipper working behind him. He turned in time to see Kiersten step
out of a pile of loose skirting in a mini-skirted dress that really showed
off her figure.
"While I liked the first dress, I like this one more." Wesley said
in admiration, ducking when she picked up the material and threw it at him.
"If you're done making juvenile comments, why don't we help these
people?" Kiersten replied.
Without waiting for him to respond, she moved slowly toward a display
case and smiled at what she saw. Picking up a chair, she smashed the case
and pulled a plain looking sword out of the debris. Her actions caught the
attention of one of the creatures and it started advancing on her.
"Now I know that I like her." Wesley chuckled to himself as he watched
her fighting the creature. When another creature moved to corner her, he
growled in the back of his throat. Looking around, he saw a long bladed
Voulge in another case and grinned. Breaking the lock off the case, he
pulled the weapon out and moved silently toward the second creature.
Kiersten was so caught up in fighting the creature in front of her,
that she didn't become aware of the other one until it was almost on top
of her. When she did see it, she looked around anxiously for an escape
route, but couldn't find one. She was being pushed into the corner when
the second creature howled in pain and turned toward its new attacker.
With a smile, Kiersten saw Wesley dodging several swipes of the creature's
claws, carefully herding it away from her. Then the creature in front of
her demanded her attention. She fought it for several minutes until she
saw two other girls in what looked like white leotards and red and orange
mini-skirts jump down from one of the viewing platforms and started to
talk, then stop, blushing. As she lashed out in a blizzard of attacks
against her opponent, she was surprised when it collapsed into a pile
of dust.
Wesley ducked another swipe from the creature he was fighting as
the two girls appeared and caught his attention for a spilt second.
Wesley swore as he saw another claw coming at him. In desperation,
he brought the pole arm up to parry the attack and swore again as the
pole broke in half and he went flying into one of the alcoves. Looking
down at his erstwhile weapon, the four-foot pole with a two and a half
foot blade he was left with in his right hand sparkled a memory and he
grinned as he tested the balance of his new weapon and came back to his
feet. With a shout, he charged back out and regained his opponent's
attention. With a combination of attacks that were purely instinctive,
he chopped the thing's arms off, and then as he cut its head off, it
crumbled into a pile of dust.
"Kiersten? What are you doing here?" Sailor Moon shouted in
surprise and concern as she burst in with five other people and stumbled
then clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Do I know you?" Kiersten asked as the girl whimpered.
The only male in the group grabbed her hand and led her off. After
they destroyed the remaining monsters, the Senshi vanished, and when they
heard approaching sirens, Kiersten and Wesley decided to do the same,
pausing only to reattach Kiersten's skirt. When they came out of the
club, they saw Geoffrey waiting by the limo, and they were soon driving
back toward Juuban. Once they were sure the police weren't following
them, both teens relaxed. That was when they both noticed the other still
had their weapon.
"Why did you keep it?" They both blurted out simultaneously, then
laughed at the coincidence.
"I see you've become chummy with one of the local super heroes."
Wesley said in a sly tone. "Care to talk about it?"
"Nothing to talk about." Kiersten said with a shrug. "I'm as
confused as you are. Did you notice how tired they looked though?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah I did." Wesley said with a confused
look. "But what about it? It's not like we have super powers or something.
What can we do?"
"In case you didn't notice, we didn't need super powers to beat those
things." Kiersten said, gesturing emphatically. "Maybe we can help them."
"Are you nuts?" Wesley said in shock. "And what if one of us gets hurt?
How are we going to explain that?"
"You're no fun at all." Kiersten sighed. She pointedly refused to talk
to him for the rest of the trip to her house. As the limo pulled to a stop,
she finally turned to him with a smile. "Thank you for the lovely evening
Wesley, I really enjoyed it." Kiersten said. "Try to think about what I said.
I have a bad feeling we don't have any choice of whether we fight or not."
As he rode back to Drakkenheim, Wesley thought deeply about Kiersten's
suggestion that they help the Senshi. Caution warred with his desire to help
others as he tried to decide what to do. Feeling tired, he greeted the footman
who let him in, took his axe to the dojo, and then went to his room. Yawning
hugely, he stripped out of his suit and dressed for bed. As he climbed into
bed, exhaustion hit him again and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
But even in his sleep, he continued to think of what he should do.
*************************************
To Be Continued...