---Early Morning--- Colonel Roland exited his office and walked out into the main compound. Major McNichol and a small unit of about a dozen troops were out this morning escorting Reika Chang and her entourage to their hotel, and things had quieted down a bit from yesterday. Grabbing a cup of tea from the commissary, he exited the British Military compound and began to assess the damage. Several buildings were demolished, including an old missionary church set up by the Jesuits. While the dead had all been taken away already, Roland noted grimly that the snow was still stained red in several areas. Taking a sip of his tea, he watched his breath billow in front of him as something reached his ears from one of the side alleys. At first, he thought it was perhaps more wounded. As it got closer, however, he realized it was a pair of discordinate voices, both singing horribly off key. "What do you do with a drunken sailor, What do you do with a drunken sailor, What do you do with a drunken sailor, Early in the morning..." Coming out into view from the alley was his secretary Romanova and another woman who was missing her right arm. She had her left arm draped around Nene's neck, a bottle of something clutched in her hand. Both women were completely inebriated. Nene stared hard at the Colonel, squinting her eyes as she did so. The woman with her smiled. "Hhhhey sergeant..." she slurred out. "Wh... What time is it?" Barely able to contain his anger, Roland pulled his watch out of his pocket, "Eight fifty-five." He said in a dangerously low voice. The woman turned to his secretary and gave her a big grin. "See, I to... I told you I'd have you back on time Ro... Romanovolov. And with five m... minutes to spare." "It's Romanova." Nene mumbled. "And with five minutes to spare, too." she said, repeating herself. She took her arm off Nene and turned to Roland. As Nene slumped to the ground, the woman mock saluted the Colonel, bottle still clutched in her hand. She then turned to walk away, when Major McNichol rode up. "Colonel, Miss Chang is safely in her room, and... Nene?" he asked, looking at the young blond with the ponytail passed out on the sidewalk. As he got off his horse, he turned from her to the drunken woman and glared. "Who in the hell are you?" he asked. Jeena looked Leon up and down, and smiled. "Hello, Corporal." she said, as she sashayed over. "Wh... Whaaat do they call you?" Leon shook his head. The first woman to show any interest in him since coming to Tokyo, and she was a one armed drunk. "My name is Major Leon McNichol, Miss..." "Malso, Jee... ee... ena Malso." she slurred in answer. She then eyed him suspiciously, "McNichol? You're not... not Irish, are you?" "What? No I'm not Irish, I'm Scottish." "Really?" she purred before rubbing up against Leon's arm. "So, tell me... Is it true what they say about Scotsmen and wh... what they have under their kilts?" Before Leon could formulate a response, a loud snoring sound began to emanate from Nene. Jeena looked down at her and smiled. "Oh w... well, I've got to go now. Take care Nene; sorry I have to kill Sylia on you and all." She said before turning around and stumbling away. Leon turned to Colonel Roland in alarm. "Did you hear that? Kill Sylia?" "Relax, Leon. She's drunk, and she only has one arm. I really don't think Sylia has anything to worry about." Looking down at his secretary lying asleep in the snow, he shook his head. "Okay, Leon." he said, "I'll grab under her shoulders, you pick up her legs. When she comes to, she's going to hate herself." ------ Sylia got out of the rickshaw at the address given her by the two agents of the British Library the previous day. While it was early, she figured the two were probably awake by now. She knocked on the door, but got no response. Pulling a small metal hairclip out of her purse, she proceeded to use it to pick the lock. Opening the door, her nose was assaulted by the acrid smell of hundreds of old books. They were everywhere; on the stairs, in little mountainous piles on the floor, on top of the tables and counters. A small path just wide enough for a single person wound its way through the mounds from the door up the stairs to a room on the left. Taking her boots off at the entrance and locking the door behind her, she shook her head as she looked around. Cautiously making her way through the room, she was careful not to knock any books over with her bustle as she walked up the stairs. She bent down and looked in through the keyhole. There, surrounded by books, was a bed with two women in it. The covers were pulled down just far enough to show they had no clothes on. Sylia straightened up and knocked on the door. She heard a groan, followed by several books being knocked over. "Who's there?" she heard Yomiko's voice ask through the door. "It's me, Sylia." "Sylia-san? Hold on, I'll be right out." Sylia smiled a bit. There was something about Readaman; she had the type of personality one couldn't help but like. As she turned away from the door, she was startled to see Nancy already standing there in a dark blue corset, her skirt reaching down to her ankles. The outfit was tight enough and low cut enough that it left nothing to the imagination. "You're early." she said, a bit annoyed. Yomiko came out in her usual dark brown dress, a vest and tie worn over her blouse. "Good morning." she said cheerfully. "Good morning." Sylia responded. "So, ready to get started?" ---Afternoon--- Michiru came into the kitchen where Linna was fixing some rice and warm soup for lunch. She'd been practicing her violin most of the morning, trying to learn the tunes Priss had given her. It wasn't exactly Bach or Mozart, but it was a paying job and she needed the money. As Linna turned around from the stove, she could see her cousin still rubbing at her shoulder where Sensei used the pressure point to knock her out. She'd tried to shield Linna's cousin from learning about the Knight Sabers, but after the subsequent events of yesterday her precautions had turned out to be for nothing. "Hello, Michi-chan." she said with a smile. "Your playing is beautiful. Someday we should play together, you on your violin and me on my koto." Michiru returned her cousin's smile. "I'd like that." she said. "How's your shoulder?" "It's fine." Linna answered, "Just a scratch." Looking around, she realized she didn't see Linna's roommate anywhere. "Linna-chan, where's Priss-san?" Linna suddenly looked very nervous. "She's... She's not here. I asked her to leave a bit so we could talk." The violinist caught the tension in her voice, and took a guess at what might be bothering her cousin. "Is this about the fact you're one of those Knight Saber people?" she asked. "Well partly, but..." "Linna-chan, why? You were brought up in the okiya; you were trained in dance and song to be a geisha. Why would you throw it all away to take up a sword and kill people?" Linna hadn't expected things to start off like this. "There's more to it than that, Michi-chan. I have not abandoned who or what I am. I have simply sacrificed a lesser good for a greater good." "Linna, how can you consider being a Knight Saber to be a greater good than to be a geisha, cultivating beauty and happiness through your artistry? In one of your letters, you told me of reading the Tao Te Ching. Does Lao Tzu not say, 'Fine weapons are instruments of ill omen; people may despise them, so those that have attained the Tao do not dwell with them?'" "That he does, Michi-chan. But Yagyu Munenori points out, '...to use weapons to kill people when unavoidable is also the way of nature," and "To think of the art of war only as killing people is biased. It is not for killing people, it is for killing evil.' There are evil people in this world, Michiru. I cannot sit idly by under the cherry blossoms and ignore that, nor can I do anything about it behind the walls of the okiya feeding the koi." "Very well, but why you? Surely there are stronger, more formidable women for your sensei to choose from." "No doubt. But for whatever reason, fate has chosen me for a different path than the okiya and the life of a geisha. It has also chosen me for a different path in my... private life." Michiru tilted her head a bit. "What do you mean, Linna-chan?" Linna placed a cup of tea in front of her cousin and turned away. "Michiru... Priss-chan and I are, well, more than friends." Michiru looked at her funny as she took a sip, "You mean, you're a doseiai no onna (same-sex-love-woman)?" Linna nodded her head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't think of a gentle way to tell you." she said, her back still to her cousin. Michiru stood up from the table and walked over to her. "Do... Do you love her?" "With all my heart." Linna said, worried about her cousin's reaction. "And she, does she love you?" Linna nodded her head "She's very good to me." she added. She then felt her cousin's hand on her shoulder. "Then I'm happy for you both." she said. Linna turned around to look at her cousin, a surprised look on her face. "Before they passed on, my parents had saved up enough money to send me to a private school. While there, I... I realized I too had feelings for other girls. I never acted upon it, of course. As far as I knew, none of my classmates felt the same way, and besides which, I... I always felt like there was something wrong with me, like I was bad for feeling like that." Linna hugged her cousin close to her. "I know the feeling. You're not bad." "The funny thing is, I've never been attracted to boys ever... until yesterday." Linna let her go to take a step back. "Oh?" she asked. "And who's the luck boy?" "Well... Remember yesterday at the Silky Doll?" "How can I forget?" Linna asked. They both laughed at that. "Well, do you remember the sandy blond police officer? I think his name was Haruka." Linna cracked a smile. Her cousin didn't know. "Well, anyways, I don't know if you'd call it love at first sight or not, but when I looked at him, I..." A knock at the door interrupted their discussion. Linna went over to answer, and was only a little surprised to see the police officer in question standing outside in civilian clothes. She wore checkered pants and a heavy winter jacket over her vest and tie. Haruka tried her best to put on an air of confidence as she stood there looking at Michiru's cousin; inside she was a nervous wreck. She fell for the young woman the first time she saw her. She couldn't sleep last night, thoughts of the violinist kept her awake. She'd worked out a hundred different ways to tell her she was a girl and she liked her, but she couldn't think of one of them at the moment. She could only stand there blankly, looking nervously at the girl's cousin in front of her. Linna broke the tension by smiling at her. "Konichiwa." she said cheerfully. "Did you want to see my cousin?" Haruka nodded her head. "Yes, please." she said in her usual husky voice. Linna turned back toward the kitchen. "Michi-chan." she called, "You have a visitor." A short time later, both young women were walking side by side down the snow covered streets. Both were nervously aware of the silence between them, but neither knew what to say to break the ice. Finally, Haruka took a deep breath and decided to start things off. "Pretty crazy day yesterday, huh?" she asked. Michiru nodded. "So, are you staying in Tokyo for long?" "Yes, it looks like I'll be living with my cousin for a while." Silence. The two walked a bit further, before Haruka started up the conversation again. "Good. I'm glad you're staying." Michiru blushed a bit as Haruka continued. "You... You're a very beautiful girl, Michiru-san. I only saw you a few minutes yesterday, and I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since. I know this all sounds like some stupid line, but I'm serious." The young violinist looked at the officer and smiled. "I feel the same way about you, Haruka-kun. I... Haruka, what's wrong?" she asked, noticing the sad expression suddenly evident on the others face. "I... I have something to tell you, Michiru-san." she said as she closed her eyes. "I'm not a man. I'm a girl. I dressed this way to escape from my past at first, but then I just kind of found myself preferring to dress in men's clothes. I passed the physical to become a police officer and... Please don't hate me, Michiru. I never meant to deceive you or hurt you. I meant what I said about you, and..." she stopped when she realized she only heard one set of footsteps. Looking back, she saw Michiru staring at her in shock, her head tilted a bit to the side. Haruka had tried to prepare herself for a reaction like this. It still hurt though, seeing someone so lovely looking at her like she'd just revealed she had two heads. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked away. It was too much to hope for, anyways, too much to expect that she wouldn't drive her away with the revelation. As she continued to walk along, feeling like her world was crumbling around her, she heard rapid footsteps coming her way. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Michiru running up to her, finally slowing down when she was finally beside her again. They walked for a few seconds in silence, before Michiru spoke. "How... How old are you?" she asked. Haruka looked at her funny; it wasn't the response she'd expected. "Seventeen. Why?" "So am I." she answered with a slight smile. "What's your favorite color?" Haruka stopped walking and looked over to Linna's cousin, "Blue, and why are you asking me these questions?" "Because if we're going to see each other, we should know a bit about one another." She answered. Now it was Haruka's turn to look shocked. "Oh," Michiru continued, "and before you ask, mine's green." Haruka slowly began to smile again as they both started walking back to the house. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Michiru-san..." "Chan." Michiru corrected. "Michiru-chan, if... if we do start, you know, seeing each other, how is your cousin Linna going to take it? Will she be okay with this?" "I don't see why not. I'm okay with her dating another girl. Now come on; let's go inside and have something warm; I'm freezing." ------ A wagon full of timber rode up to the devastated front of the Silky Doll. The three men in the wagon turned to look at the gaping hole. "Not again." The oldest one said as he rolled his eyes. The one with the ponytail dressed in the traditional Japanese garb looked over to the youngest and smiled at his stunned expression. "Impressive, huh kid?" he asked as he took a swig from his whisky flask. The young man shook his head. "Are... Are you sure she's okay? Where is she? I mean..." The man took the whisky flask from his lips. "Look Mackie, you're scared because you're not used to seeing crap like this yet. I've been around your sister enough by now to know better. Your sister's life is a bloody melodrama, and this kind of stuff is always happening around her. She attracts disasters like a magnet." Mackie gave Nigel a dirty look. "You're awful cavalier about it." "I never said I wasn't worried by her lifestyle kid, just that I'm used to it. Come on," he said, patting Mackie on the shoulder, "Lets help Henderson unload and get to work." ------ She looked nervously behind her, clutching her blanket tighter around her shoulders as she did so. She was cold, hungry, and tired. She'd seen three of her friends murdered in cold blood in front of her eyes, and watched a fourth slowly bleed to death as she held her hand. For the last three months, she'd always been just one step ahead of yakuza and hitmen out to pick up a five thousand yen bounty on her head. Looking over to her left, she saw three men with swords in their obi (kimono sash). One of them pointed at her, and the other two ran in her direction. She turned and ran down the devastated streets, fear gripping her heart as she gasped for air in the icy January afternoon. Taking a quick glance behind her, she didn't see the woman in the cloak stepping in front of her. They collided with a thud. "Ow! Stupid bitch, why don't you..." before the woman from the crowd could finish, the young lady looked up to see the men rapidly coming up. She ran away down an alley just as the hired killers pulled out their swords. The woman she'd knocked over, picking herself up, ran into the alley as well. In the alley, the woman began to weep as she looked in front of her; it was a dead end. "Nowhere left to run, Sylvie." one of the men snickered. "No one's going to help you either." "Filthy joro (prostitute)!" the second man said as he stalked forward. Sylvie pulled out a small dagger and held it out in front of her. The three men began to laugh. "Let's have fun with her before we kill her." the third suggested. "Yeah, we can pretend we're clients." the first chimed in. "So what ya gonna do with the knife, baita (whore)? Gonna cut me? Go ahead, I dare..." SNNNIKKKT! "Hurgglugl!" the man gurgled out as a large sword suddenly emerged from his chest. He slid off the blade, revealing the woman wearing the cloak from the street standing behind him, a blood drenched dotanuki in her hands. Maneuvering herself between Sylvie and the two assassins, she crouched down in a defensive posture. "What the f..." "Takuya... You filthy slut, you killed Takuya!" The third man rushed the woman with the sword, who blocked his blow with her blade. She then unexpectedly head butted him in the nose, breaking it. As he stumbled back in pain, she slashed deep across his abdomen, then brought her sword up for a second swipe of her blade, this time across his throat. As blood sprayed out from his wounds and he fell to his knees, the woman switched her attention to the first man. "Wh... Who the hell are you?" the assassin asked nervously as he eyed her. "What the hell do you care if a dirty little joro lives or dies?" She didn't answer. Instead she held her sword over her head, resting her weight on her bent right knee in front of her. The assassin rushed her, swinging his katana at her head. She ducked, sinking her sword into his chest and forcing it out through his side. He fell next to the second assassin, blood running out turning the snow a dark crimson. As the woman with the sword looked down at him, she heard movement behind her. Turning around, she saw Sylvie running out of the alley and into the street. Flicking the blood from her dotanuki, she sheathed the sword back into its scabbard and made a mental note to try to find the woman again. Walking out into the streets, she headed back home. Her girlfriend was probably done explaining things to her cousin by now, and she was cold. ---Evening--- Sylia was in the sub floor of the Silky Doll when she heard the passage door open. Picking up a nearby candle, she held it out to get a better look as Nene emerged from the staircase, looking much the worse for wear. "Nene?" Sylia asked in concern. "Are you okay?" Nene made a face as she put a hand up to her head. "I've been better." she admitted. "I made the mistake of going to a bar with Calamity Jane last night." Sylia chuckled a bit at her joke. "I see. Myself, I spent the day with our friends from the British Library." "And?" "Nothing but dead ends. So, what exactly did you and Jeena talk about?" "Let's see... She apparently believes that the Freemasons are in control of the U.S. Government, the Catholics were behind the Lincoln assassination, George Washington was replaced by some guy named Adam Weishaupt, and about a half dozen other conspiracy theories. She also hates you Sylia. I mean, she really hates you." "I'm used to having people hate me by now, Nene." "Yeah but... Exactly what did you ever see in her?" "Well, at one time she was a fairly cheerful tomboy. And besides being a weapons expert, she was a good fighter. She served as the muscle of the group back then, much like Priss does today. Also, if she considers you to be a friend, there's nothing she won't do for you. Things went wrong when... The... The last mission was an unfortunate accident. As leader of the Knight Sabers, I'm ultimately responsible..." As Nene watched, Sylia turned away so she couldn't see her face. Nene could tell she was reliving the event in her mind. In order to try to distract her, she brought up another subject that came up last night. "Sylia, did... Did you really try to pick her up once?" There was a few seconds of silence, followed by Sylia starting to chuckle. Wiping her eyes, she turned back to the Russian. "I never even got that far, Nene. All I was able to get out was, 'Have you ever thought about what it would be like with another woman?'" "And then?" "She cold cocked me." she answered. "Took me completely off guard. Neither of us ever brought it up again." Wiping at her eyes again, she smiled at Nene. "Think you can hold anything down?" Nene smiled back. "I can try." "Good. Henderson's back for a while. We'll have him warm up something." Nene started up the stairs as Sylia grabbed the candle and followed her. ---To Be Continued--- End Notes- References for this chapter come from Soul of the Samurai by Thomas Cleary, and Japanese Street Slang by Peter Constantine. Also, I've written a Holiday story, Bubblegum Crisis: A Victorian Christmas, which takes place between Meiji and Crash '81. However, due to its being more yuri-ific than is allowed on I've had to publish it on Mediaminer. It's in the X rated section. Enjoy
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