Melody One: Face Yourself
**********
“It is the legendary bird of the flame... its mighty talons shall rise
once again,
Its wings will flicker like the roaring fire; it will readily ascend
from its singed pyre,
Its cry is the crackle of the blaze, and its power will protect us till
the end of our days.”
**********
Kaira let out a loud yawn, stretching out her arms and tilting back her
head. She hadn’t slept like that in a while. Maybe that was why she was
so hesitant to leave her bed today. But, truth be told, if tiredness was
a reason for Kaira’s reluctance to leave her bed, then it was a minor
one. She knew the real reason why she didn’t want to get up today, she
couldn’t bare having to go to that school again, and have to face that
girl...
Motoko.
Kaira’s smile fell the moment she thought about that horrid girl. The
timid girl’s blonde and brown hair masked her eyes from view, had they
have been seen, they would have presented the fear that Kaira held
against Motoko. That girl was such a low rent, two-bit thug. Ever since
Kaira had met Motoko, that girl seemed to take her greatest pleasure in
making Kaira feel like crap. When they were kids, it was simple teasing
and name-calling. Now it was getting worse. Motoko had gone so far as to
beat Kaira up after school, when she was with her band of other thugs.
Kaira held a hand to her cheek, and felt the bruise against it. Motoko
had inflicted that just yesterday, after History class. The blonde just
couldn’t understand why Motoko liked to pick on her so much. And what
made it worse, was that Motoko never attacked anyone else. It seemed
like she was focusing all her attention on Kaira and there was nothing
she could do to stop it.
But, she was dedicated to her schoolwork (even though she wasn’t much of
a brain-freak) and so Kaira knew that she could not stop visiting school
because of Motoko. Aside from that girl, things had been going fairly
well for Kaira lately. Schoolwork itself was fine, and today Kaira
officially began her studies with her grandfather, Oburo Yatagami, up at
the Phoenix Hill temple. The blonde girl whipped off her bedspread, and
stepped off the bed. The gentle girl placed both of her bare feet on the
ground, before walking over to the vanity mirror in the other side of
the room. Surrounding the pink vanity mirror, though Kaira’s focus was
on her image, were dozens of love letters she had received from the boys
at Hajime Seimei High School. Though she was a dedicated student and was
being bullied by a cheap street urchin, that didn’t change the fact that
Kaira was astoundingly beautiful. Only the slight bruise she had
sustained from Motoko tarnished the young girl’s angel shaped face, the
rest of it was the stuff of legend. Her bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks
and luscious eyelashes was a beacon to very many of the boys at school,
though Kaira had gone out with very few of them. In truth, Kaira
believed that it was her hair that attracted the most attention, which
she was right is assuming. Kaira’s long hair was a light brown in
reality, but she had dyed it blonde last year. The hair at her head she
turned bright blonde, but the bulk of her hair (the hair that she tied
into two ponytails) she left in their original colour, giving Kaira an
alluring look that set off her very gentle style.
The blonde ran a hand through her bangs. She hoped that nobody would ask
her out today. Motoko always seemed to be at her angriest when people
were flirting with Kaira, though she had no idea why. Kaira sighed;
stretching out her arms again, then took a glance at the clock. It was
about 4.25 in the morning. It was still early, school wasn’t starting
until 9.00, but she was always an early bird. The first thing Kaira did
following that was to switch on her radio, and thankfully, it was
playing a song by one of her favourite groups, the No.1 rock band in
Japan, the Gentatsu Boys.
Kaira began absently singing along to the tunes she was hearing, whilst
walking over to her wardrobe. “Hey baby, is it a little time we need? Oh
baby, is it my ego you’re tryin’ to bleed? Oh maybe, I really need to
plead, if that’s all it means to you, then that’s all I’ll need. We’re
only humans, girl, we’re a weak breed, this hostility ain’t new indeed,
so should I really have to beg and plead? My only crime is being a
person in need!”
Kaira continued to sing, while she rustled through her wardrobe. The
first thing she had to take out was that nice little school uniform of
hers. Most people Kaira knew hated school uniforms, but Kaira loved
them. The white and blue of the fabric really suited her, bringing out
the light sapphire in her eyes. Plus, it meant that she wouldn’t have to
worry about what to wear when going to school, which was a bonus, small
one though it was, but still a bonus.
The young girl withdrew the skirt and top that completed the school
uniform, slung them both over her shoulder, walking out the door of her
bedroom. As she went into her bathroom just a few doors down, Kaira
still continued to sing along the Gentatsu Boys song she was hearing. It
was strange in a way. A bigger, nastier girl was bullying Kaira, and it
just seemed to roll off her back when she started to sing. This aspect
of Kaira’s personality was well documented within the Yatagami family.
The young blonde was always too withdrawn and quiet, but all the same,
happy and willing to let things pass her by. It was no wonder that she
attracted so much attention.
Fifty minutes later, the bathroom door swung back open, releasing cloud
of steam, fruity smelling scents and a fully dressed Kaira. Even though
she was beautiful without effort, Kaira looked majestic once she had
taken a good shower to relax those muscles and nerves. The young student
walked around the banister and down the stairs, knowing that her mother
must have been awake by now. Just as she thought, Kaira’s mom, Reina
Yatagami, was wide-awake and already at the kitchen, fixing an early
breakfast for her daughter.
Reina’s head peered out of the kitchen door as Kaira passed by it. “Good
morning, honey!”
“Morning, Mom.” Kaira said politely. “What are you making?”
Reina tucked her head back into the kitchen but continued to speak.
“Just fixing you up some of your favourites before you head off to
school. Take a seat and I’ll be ready to serve it up in just a few
minutes, dear.”
Kaira nodded. “Sure, Mom.”
The young girl walked into the dining room, the one that was attached to
kitchen partially. She took a seat, as she was asked to do, then waited
for her meal. But of course, Reina didn’t stop speaking while she
prepared it.
“So Kaira...” Reina began carefully. “Are you going to tell me how you
got that little bruise on your cheek?”
Kaira blinked. Was it that noticeable? The blonde girl really did not
want her mother to know about what was going on between her and Motoko.
Some might call it optimism, but Kaira really believed that Motoko would
get tired of harassing her at some point and then just move on to
someone else. Until that day, she didn’t want to do anything that might
upset the bigger girl. If Kaira told Reina that Motoko was bullying her,
then Reina would come out, guns a blazin’, which would solve nothing and
probably make Motoko even angrier.
“Um...” Kaira tried to come up with a convincing excuse. She was never a
good liar, and never liked doing it much to be perfectly honest. “I fell
down on the way home from school yesterday. I must have tripped up over
a loose stone or something.”
“Is that the truth?”
They both knew the answer to that. “Um... well...”
“Kaira.” Reina began. “I’m your mother. You can tell me anything, you do
know that, don’t you?”
Kaira nodded. “I understand, Mom.”
“Good. Just remember that today, you have to visit your grandfather up
at the Phoenix Hill Temple at four. Don’t be late, otherwise he’ll scold
you for it.”
Kaira sighed. She had actually forgotten about that Her grandfather,
Oburo Yatagami, was supposed to begin her training in their family’s
trademark style of martial arts, Yatagami-style Japanese karate. Being
that the Phoenix Hill Temple was one of the last temples in this
district of Osaka, Oburo had been adamant in teaching his skills to
Kaira, so when she one day inherited it, she would have the power to
‘defend the interests of the temple’ whatever that meant. Kaira had
nothing against learning that sort of thing, it might even help her with
Motoko, but martial arts weren’t really her niche.
There was only one martial artist that was on this girl’s mind…
Kaira tried hard not to think about Yuki. Last thing she needed was to
start blushing and then for her mother to question her about that too.
“Uh... I’ll make sure to visit Grandpa later on, Mom.”
**********
“Can I take your order?”
Kaira mused as she sat. “Um... can I just have a ring cream cake? That’s
about all I think.”
The woman behind the counter took the request and nodded, grabbing a
pair of tongs and fishing out one of the ring cream cakes behind the
glass pane of the counter. Kaira just watched this all take place, while
hazarding a glance toward the doorway every few seconds. Tomi Tomi cake
shop was a classic hang out for the students at Hajime Seimei School.
They sold some of the nicest baked foods you could imagine, and many
people left the school briefly during breaks to grab a bite to eat
there. Even if you looked at the tables on the other side of the room,
you’d see a few of the students from Hajime Seimei, munching on a pastry
whilst talking over what was to come during classes.
It was around 8.35, school started in 25 minutes, but Kaira was well on
time. Hajime Seimei School was only a ten-minute walk away. In a second,
the woman behind the counter pulled out the ring cream cake and slotted
it into a paper bag. Kaira smiled, and then exchanged the paper bag for
a few slips of yen.
“Thank your for your patronage.” The woman said, taking Kaira’s money.
Kaira then nodded in thanks, and walked away, through the door leading
out of Tomi Tomi cake shop. Thankfully, the day was nice and bright, a
bit of a stretch since they were just coming out of the winter, but it
was still pretty sunny. But just as Kaira began to walk towards her
school, she saw someone that instantly made her smile drop.
Motoko.
The haughty bully walked across one the other side of the road, and was
about to cross over. Kaira instantly felt fear inside her. The
dominating Motoko had so much influence over Kaira it was scary. The
young girl tried desperately to find a way to leave without being seen,
and took the first opportunity she saw, ducking in the alleyway between
Tomi Tomi cake shop and the newsagents store to the right. Kaira darted
into the slight opening, no more than a metre thick, then caught her
breath. She had only seen Motoko and she was gasping for breath in fear.
Luckily, she had managed to avert the girl.
Of course, instincts aren’t always right. “Hey, cupcake.”
Kaira’s blood ran cold. Her eyes widened and her heart jumped. She just
had to hear that tone of voice and that condescending nickname
‘cupcake’. It was Motoko. Kaira yelped innocently as she was dragged
around to face the taller girl, Motoko’s powerful eyes staring down at
her delicate prey.
“M-Motoko...” Kaira mumbled frantically. “I-I’m sorry...”
Motoko growled, grabbing Kaira’s chin with a strong grip. “Shut up! Did
you really think you could run away from me, huh? You should have known
better than that, you little fool.”
“P-Please don’t hurt me...” Kaira tried to resist tears from reaching
her eyes, but not tears of fear, tears of shame. She actually had to beg
for her own safety, like it wasn’t even her own right.
Motoko seemed to take some joy in watching Kaira squirm, but strangely,
her demeanour turned from demanding to loose, almost tender. The taller
girl moved closer to Kaira, pushing her chest up against the other
girl’s, while moving her hand in such a way that it clasped at Kaira’s
cheek. The blonde girl suddenly felt more uncomfortable than fearful, as
Motoko grinned at her with narrowed, lusty eyes and a sneaky grin.
“You’re so pathetic...” She purred. “But you’re so hot…”
Kaira blinked. “W-What…? Mmph!”
The shorter girl’s protests were cut short, as Motoko lunged in and
kissed Kaira abruptly, forcing her tongue between Kaira’s lips. Kaira
moaned in protest, but could move nowhere; her back had been forced
against the wall. Motoko, eyes shut and throat groaning in delight,
thrust her tongue into and against Kaira’s mouth, rubbing and licking
along the blonde girl’s own tongue, while her hands grabbed Kaira at the
waist, doing her best to press their bodies together. Kaira just
whimpered in disapproval. Motoko was so much stronger that she was,
there was no way she could get the girl off her, and just waited for it
all to end.
Soon as she needed a breath of air, Motoko pulled away from Kaira,
slowly dragging her tongue out of the weaker girl’s mouth.
“Hmm.” Motoko moaned. “…Kaira…”
The blonde suddenly felt dirty. “Why are you doing this to me...?”
“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?” Motoko growled. “I’ve seen the way
you look at Yuki. I don’t think you’ve understood me. You’re mine,
Kaira. You’ve always been mine. I’ll be damned if I let Yuki near you.
Just understand that... if you offer yourself to me... I will make you
so happy... but if you reject me, I will make life very difficult for
you... decide on what you want, Kaira.”
Giving one last jeer of appreciation at Kaira’s magnificent and fragile
looks, Motoko backed up and walked away, crossing back out into the main
road with that guiltless smile on her face, as though she had done
nothing wrong. Kaira shut her eyes sadly, and slumped her head. So much
just happened all at once. Motoko had kissed her. Motoko had somehow
discovered Kaira’s feelings for Yuki. And what made it all worse, was
that Motoko was actually going to blackmail Kaira into...
Kaira whimpered. There was no way she could ‘offer herself’ to that
girl. Motoko made Kaira’s flesh crawl. “What am I going to do?”
**********
“Details!” Ayane and Minato said in unison.
Rinako Ikatsuji glanced back at the two, her girlfriend and her sister,
both poised in sitting positions on her bed, waiting for Rinako’s
eventual arrival. The oldest Ikatsuji sister had obviously gone to the
trouble of making herself look good for the events of the evening, going
so far as to slap on some make-up, a pair of gold hoop earrings, and
tight black nightdress. Ayane admitted to herself that had the
proceedings of the night not concerned her as much as they did, she
would have been more appreciative of Rinako’s beauty tonight.
Rinako smiled, tossing her dorm key on her table as she walked inside.
“Hey, it was a date. Not a romantic date or anything, just me and
Keitarou at a restaurant.”
“So?” Minato asked eagerly. “What was he like?”
Ayane’s eyes were far sterner than Minato’s. “Did he make a move on
you?”
“No.” Rinako said chidingly. “He did not make a move on me. You know as
well as I do that if he tried that he’d be spending a few nights in
intensive care. And to answer your question, Minato, he was quite the
little gentleman. And if you want the truth, I enjoyed talking to him.
He’s funny, and charming in a stupid sort of way.”
“Yeah, very charming...” Ayane said sarcastically.
Rinako didn’t really notice Ayane’s jealousy. “It wasn’t a bad
restaurant, either. He took me to a place up in Akihabara, a western
pizza place. Not exactly classy, but it was a nice meal all the same. I
know you’d like him if you got the chance to meet him, Minato.”
“He sounds pretty cool.” Minato answered. “I hear he’s kinda flirty
though.”
Rinako laughed quietly. “He is. You wouldn’t believe some of the lines
that guy threw at me! But it made the date with him that much more
enjoyable. If the guy had been some boring slob, I probably would have
gone out of my mind.”
“Yes, wonderful!” Ayane proclaimed suddenly. “You liked him, and that’s
great! I think we all need to hear more about the amazing man that is
Keitarou Kusako!”
Rinako blinked. “You can’t honestly be jealous.”
“I don’t get jealous.” Ayane said, sporting a blush.
“Yeah, well I hope so,” Rinako said annoyed. Normally, she found Ayane’s
jealousy to be cute (then again she thought everything Ayane did was
cute) but in this case, all of it was Ayane’s fault to begin with.
“Because I didn’t ask to be set up with Keitarou. If you hadn’t made
that stupid bet with him then I would never have gone on that date.”
Ayane sighed, lowering her head. Even she couldn’t believe how silly a
move that was. Ayane was just so angry with Keitarou for disrespecting
her, and was so eager to get the fight started. Keitarou just annoyed
Ayane further by flirting with Rinako and stalling the fight in
consequence, so she just agreed to his bet to get things started. Had
Ayane possessed a clear head at the time, she would never have agreed to
those terms.
“I’m sorry.” Ayane said. “I just...”
Rinako suddenly felt a little bit sympathetic. This was a big blow to
Ayane’s pride after all. The Yosukube-woman lost the fight to Keitarou,
Ayane’s first loss since Zanga. It wasn’t a big loss though. Even an
idiot could see that Ayane had not been performing at her best. What’s
more, Keitarou was more than ‘just another fighter’. His Minami-oh style
may not have been on the same league as Rai shou en ken, but it did its
job damn well. Keitarou was a serious and dedicated fighter after all.
But two things about this situation bothered Ayane. One, obviously, was
her loss. Two, why had she not seen through Keitarou’s ploy? That
‘arrogant, pig-headed loser’ routine was just a front, a cover to make
his enemies underestimate him, which in turn gave Keitarou the advantage
in battle. And Ayane had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.
Rinako just sighed, staring at her contemplative love. “Minato, could
you give us a few minutes?”
“Huh?”
“Me and Ayane are gonna go for a quick walk, okay?” Rinako said.
Minato simply nodded. It was getting late anyway. Curfew started in an
hour. “Sure, Rinako.”
Rinako mouthed a thank you to her sister, and then grabbed Ayane be the
hand. The white-haired leader merely looked on as Rinako dragged her
over to the door, rubbing her thumb into Ayane’s palm warmly. Soon they
were out the door, and crossing through the hallways, past the dorms of
the other girls who attended Tomeishuu High (at least in this block of
the school). They descended through the staircase down to lowest block
of the dorms, then walked through the fire exit back around to the south
sports field. Suddenly Ayane began to realize where Rinako was taking
her, to a very romantic and isolated part of the school. Behind the east
fence of the south grass fields (used for sports like soccer/football
and baseball, mostly baseball) was a very charming pond that most people
overlooked. The only ones that really went there were one of the
caretakers (who looked after it), Mishizu, and on occasion, when they
needed to talk in private, Minato and Natsumi. Sure enough, Ayane was
right. In no time at all, Rinako and Ayane were at the private pond,
standing before it. It was fairly large, almost three metres in size,
with thick bamboo shoots reaching up from it. The fireflies moving along
the water added to ambiance, as did the rustling of the wind as it
passed through the cherry blossom trees.
Rinako said nothing to Ayane, just wound both arms around her neck, and
then reached in for a longing, desire-filled kiss. Ayane sighed a moan
into Rinako’s mouth as the Ikatsuji embraced her, lovingly, just as she
always did. It felt more romantic there for some reason. Kissing Rinako
under the watchful eye of the moon and the cerise tears of the cherry
blossom trees just felt right. Then, with another one of the patented
irresistible sighs, Rinako pulled back from Ayane’s lips, still holding
her arms around the Yosukube-woman’s neck.
“I love you so much, you know that?” Rinako said slowly.
Ayane’s cheeks were as red as a rose. “Of course I do. And look... I’m
sorry I made that stupid bet with Keitarou, I just-“
“Sssh.” Rinako silenced Ayane with a finger to the lips. “It’s okay. I
understand. That anger of yours can make you a little crazy. I think I
understand that better than anyone. After all, look how I acted with you
these past two years.”
Ayane ran a hand through Rinako’s long amethyst hair. “That wasn’t your
fault. I should have been honest with from the start. But... I have been
thinking about those times recently...”
“Really?”
“Rinako…” Ayane began. “Maybe it is just me but, does it seem like we’ve
been getting weaker since we stopped fighting each other?”
Rinako thought about that. “Y’know, if I’m honest with you, I kinda feel
the same way. During the fight with Zanga and the Kyoto New Force
Strikers, we were on top form. But now, since we can’t challenge each
other seriously, I feel like we’ve been getting sorta lazy.”
“Yes. That’s exactly how I feel. I think we need to do something about
it. The second peace talks are coming up next week, but we need to be
prepared for anything that may come our way. But I just do not know how.
I have kept up with my training; I always take a practice session over
at my usual spot. What more can we do?”
Rinako grinned. “Well, there is one thing.”
“Which is?”
“When was the last time you competed in an official tournament?”
Ayane blinked. “A tournament? But there aren’t any being held right
now.”
“Not in Tokyo.” Rinako said. “But there is one going down in Yokohama,
just a day and a half from now.”
“You are not suggesting that we...”
Rinako smiled even deeper. “You betcha! I say we go and compete in it.
Remember what my jerk of a dad always said. It’s better to experience
the field than it is to observe it. A few real fights in a professional
tournament would do wonders for us.”
Ayane tried to think this through. “Are you sure?”
“Why not?” Rinako questioned. “It’s not a backwater thing, it’s a real
tournament hosted by the GMAA (Global Martial Arts Association), real
fights and real prize money. It should be a great fire in the can for
us. And if we headed to Yokohama for a couple days, we could spend all
our time together and wouldn’t have to worry about anybody catching us
before the peace talks.”
It all sounded good, but... “What about school? We can’t skip so many
lessons like that. If Principle Yagami had not have spoken to Natsumi’s
father, he would never have let her visit her home.”
Rinako had a calculating twinkle in her eye. “You leave that to me. Just
get some things ready for the trip. You and I are gonna take that
tournament by storm.”
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