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nozomijoestar · 6 months

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I WON THE WAR AGAINST THE WORD DOCUMENT; LA VIE EN ROSE...2!

FF.Net upload | Part 1 post

*I reccomend listening to Sade's 'The Sweetest Taboo' from the last mention of it raining in the story to the ending

READING LIST:

@tofucasserole @xo-mochi @headlessstar @gingeralesy @pierogi-z-czeresniami @dyke-a-saur @denizloves

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2 L'ESPRIT

Asuka wiped the last of the polish off her bike frame. She’d almost had a heart attack brushing the grime weeks ago to find newborn rust spots. Under this mid-July heat and rain showers she wasn’t in the mood for dumb gambles. For an entire day rust was the first thing she nipped in the bud. Be it at morning or afternoon into sunset she picked and picked then turned to maintenance and replacing all the bolts. Lately she couldn’t pick on Lili for wiping down every few minutes; the humidity stuffed Asuka’s mouth with cotton. Dad’s muscle flares needed more ice while he swallowed a whimper. The three of them practically wore fly paper for clothes, their sweat stuck everything the same.

She wiped her forehead with the clean end of her rag, huffing hot air. A cicada buzzed somewhere. She leaned back and tossed the rag onto a huge cardboard box beside her feet. The bottom bracket and chain had been beyond saving, so were the tires. She had no choice but to give the bike a new heart.

‘I’m gonna turn you into a twelve speed!’ she’d thought.

She’d placed the order for a cassette, bracket, and chain three weeks ago. And that was as far as she’d gotten. There were too many damn choices! Should she stick with parts she was used to for the important areas? Should she go completely new? How much was safe to modify before the bike would ride her and not the other way around?

Thinking hard made her head hurt. The bike had never been a question before beyond if it performed decent for as cheap as possible. But now, now there was a debit card tempting her to burn a hole in her wallet. She had never owned one in her life. The bank teller put it in her hand after she gave her name, and there it was raised on plastic. Several million yen in one place, converted from some of Lili’s ‘pocket money’ into an account she’d opened for Asuka. Holding the desk counter kept her from blacking out on the spot. She remembered Lili mentioning it while flying to Japan; Asuka just blinked at her, speechless. What was it supposed to be if not another trick?

Well, she couldn’t refuse. She stretched and felt her shoulders pop.

“How’s it coming along kid?”

“Still don’t know what I wanna do.”

Dad stopped beside where she had her bike resting on cinderblocks. The entire thing was stripped down to the frame and its dark blue paint shining in the sun. Today his face had color; he didn’t limp or freeze when walking over. He smiled at her. That gave her confidence.

“Whatever you decide on I know it’ll be something you’re proud of.”

He sat next to her on the parts crate after she cleared space. He put his chin in his hand.

“I remember buying you this one since I biked with my friends as a boy. I wish you could’ve had that yourself, but tinkering comes close I suppose.”

“Wish doing the work wasn’t such a headache. Thinking sucks.” She sighed, resting her chin on both hands.

Dad chuckled and clapped her on the back.

“That’s the freedom that comes with growing up! Get started shouldering it now before you’re too old.”

She pouted but let him ruffle her hair. All his cheer evaporated. A grimace brought out the rough lines of his face.

“I’m not gonna be around forever y’know.”

“…Don’t say that to me.” Her voice walked a tightrope.

“Heh! Your pissed off face has gotten better! I’d hate to be some punk’s made you mad now.”

She didn’t grin back and he dropped his act. They said nothing. She didn’t want to tempt this heaviness lurking inside. From a distance the front door slid open.

“Asuka? Quit playing with grease, I must show you something most wonderful.”

Her right eye twitched. Lili glided around the corner in her practice clothes sporting the cockiest smile Asuka had ever seen. She moved so pleased with herself that Asuka’s brow rose realizing she didn’t care about dirtying her bare feet. This was serious. When she saw Dad, Lili went cool and calm. She cleared her throat.

“Mr. Kazama, since you are here as well I’d appreciate your opinion.”

“Of course. Begin whenever you’re ready.”

She set herself into stance; legs shoulder width apart, back straight but not tense, hands open palmed with one low the other at chest height. It was the same way she’d always readied herself, but this time she looked relaxed. Patient, not loose.

Letting out a cry Lili threw herself forward launching her left leg toward an imaginary center. She flung up her arms, pivoting the moment her toes hit ground and twirled, right leg rising as she spun. In the time it took to blink Lili’s right leg snapped into the end of a roundhouse kick. There was no way Asuka could describe it, other than a ballerina imitating a kung-fu movie. And yet somehow, it looked like it would fucking hurt. With an exhale Lili reset her stance.

Then she went low twisting her torso right and thrusting an open palm toward chest height on her rise. She leaned into it until the motion stood her up again. Lili paused for breath. Then she turned around, eyes narrowing as she pictured an attacker. Now it was all striking; she rushed chopping with her left hand where a jaw would be. Asuka leaned forward. Lili turned and rammed her elbow backward, gritting her teeth. Crying out she lifted her arms in time with her left leg. It whipped backward cutting the air forcefully; Asuka’s bangs fluttered.

She winced feeling debris in her eye; when she rubbed it out Lili smirked at her. Finished, she gave a bow, awaiting their approval. Where to start, how to start? What the hell was Asuka supposed to say? Dad should know. She looked at him. His mouth hung open. Asuka felt her spirit bury its face in its hands. Lili’s stare started lingering; the corner of her mouth twitched.

“Well?”

“It’s uh…”

She looked at her father, but his face told her to take a shot at this.

‘Damnit old man!’

Just get it out already.

“It’s one of the crazier things you’ve come up with. But, your hits are strong. Your timing could be tighter but that’ll improve with practice. What’s important is you know your base. And you’ll need a stronger core to maintain enough balance from move to move.”

“Hmm…very good Asuka. I’d add that your kicks were a few centimeters too high. The strikes tapered off and got a little sloppy by the end. Don’t be afraid over leaning into your momentum. That hesitation from overcorrecting will cost you.”

Now Asuka gave him a wide eyed stare; her heart stopped. Those were too many negatives! Reflexively she glanced at Lili, she’d be pissed-

Lili stood unreadable, except for the deep thought in her eyes. Her mouth pursed not enough to be angry but instead contemplative. She started rubbing her chin absentmindedly.

‘Seriously?’

“I see. I shall take this into consideration.”

“When you feel you’ve fixed it come demonstrate again. Matter of fact Asuka should help you improve in no time! Ain’t that right girl?”

Lili smiled at her something wicked. She’d always be some kind of pain.

“Sure…”

“Then it’s settled, thanks for the showing.”

“The pleasure is mine sir.”

He got to his feet groaning into a stretch. A few cricks popped in his neck but he recovered before his wince turned into a grimace. The hairs on her nape rose, but he seemed alright after a once over. He checked his watch.

“Time for my walk today. You girls mind the house good while I’m out. Let me know right away if anything comes up. Be back in an hour or so.”

“Go slow and don’t forget your painkillers.” She called after him.

“Aye aye, already wearin’ ‘em.” He said patting his pocket.

Then they watched him hobble and turn past the gate then close it behind himself; he was gone. Her eyes narrowed at Lili, an annoyed groan rumbled in her throat.

“What?”

“He gets to advise ya however he wants but I gotta not step on your princess toes.”

Lili put a hand on her hip, tucking loose hairs behind her ear. She huffed.

“There’s respect for one’s elders; then there’s one’s peers. Quite simple a concept, Asuka Kazama.”

She shot up, hands balled, her nostrils flaring.

“Ya wanna fight?”

“Not particularly.” Lili threw back, teasing the hint of a smile.

Her stare traced different parts of Asuka’s face; hovering over…her lips? A tingle raced up her spine. She had to be reading into it too hard. But suddenly she felt a poke as Lili tapped her chest. It was just enough force that Asuka’s balance stumbled; she heard her giggle. So she pushed her. Not hard, but when it was Lili’s turn stumbling she smirked at her, as nasty as she could make it. There was only a pause for Lili’s rising brow. Back and forth they shoved each other until someone gave and they fell to the ground.

They rolled around, tussling, cursing, and tangling but Asuka wrestled on top of her with ease. Pinning Lili under her weight she seized her arms and pressed them above Lili’s head. She sucked her teeth.

“Fair’s fair! From now on I get to be honest about your technique the way I wanna talk about it!”

“…Fine. Since you insist, you pest.” Lili huffed.

She let her go and caught her breath.

“Stubborn moron.” She grumbled.

Asuka started feeling comfortable again when everything turned unbearably warm. She looked down. Her heart stopped. She was straddling Lili, who didn’t mind much at all. Instead she saw her little smile that managed to be either self-satisfied or a tease. Scowling, Asuka got off and pulled her up; she wasn’t giving Lili any ideas. Certainly not for free. They dusted themselves but being sticky with sweat barely mattered. What she wouldn’t give for a bath right now.

“Now that you’ve let that out your system this weather is far from my liking.”

She felt a chill watching Lili’s eyes; this girl wanted something.

‘Wait a minute…’

Already Lili was on the move striding toward the front door. Even if she stood taller than Asuka and had longer reach Asuka speed walked right behind her.

“Oh no you don’t, hey! Get back here!”

Immediately she saw her break into a run. The door rattled open. Lili’s blonde hair vanished inside just as the frame came within reach. In a split second Asuka had two choices; try outpacing her, or boost the air around her own legs. But if she did the easier thing she might tear through the floor boards. She sucked her teeth. There was no time! She threw her muscles alone into overdrive.

“Let me wash first you’re gonna take forever in there!”

“The early bird shall seize the worm!”

“Shaddup!”

Asuka slid into a stop, ashamed to feel herself stumble up the stairs. How the hell was this girl so unfazed? Their footsteps thundered, the only thing filling her ears. Suddenly Lili went right; Asuka threw herself reaching out her hand…then crashed onto the floor. The bathroom door shut. She scrambled, getting back up when she heard her voice muffled through the walls.

“I’m undressing as we speak. Don’t you dare step inside.”

Asuka huffed and sat leaning against the wall. What stupid luck. She crossed her arms over her knees, resting her eyes. Then after a moment the water rushed on; Lili began humming. She’d never listened before, because why the hell would she give her that? But it was either waiting here or trailing any dirt that shook off into her room sooner rather than later. And besides, if Lili came out and found her missing, Asuka would have given her the last word.

The humming grew louder bouncing into an upbeat melody. She couldn’t help listening, tapping her fingers on her knee without thinking. She didn’t catch herself smiling.

Scrolling the web on her phone numbed her mind. Classes crawled by on their last day; every teacher wanted to spin a lecture on behaving over summer break. Her bag sat bulging with homework at her feet under her lunch desk. She glanced around. Everyone looked like they were either talking themselves into a standstill or just hanging out. She turned back to her phone. G-Corp armies had crossed the border of another South American country. Asuka flipped her phone shut. She gripped it and her knuckles went white. There was nowhere she could put this feeling of uselessness.

Her eyes fell on the time. Where was Lili? They had forty minutes left. Sure that was the entire lunch period ahead but Lili would never skip.

‘Maybe her class ran late.’

That didn’t entirely make sense, classes here were strict blocks, but it was as good as she could guess.

‘Maybe they want everyone to stay with their year on the last day.’

She waited. Then she packed her empty bento box away. She waited. Should she go looking for her? Her mind mulled it over while her body grabbed her bag and left the classroom. Asuka would never leave her stuff around these idiots in a million years.

Going down a floor was easy enough. When she got to the lower hallway some second year friend circle hid their drinks and lowered their conversations as she passed. Of course people here would’ve heard too. She saw about an even split of people eating or sitting in class and people hanging around the hallways. But the longer she went the crowds started thinning, until there was only a girl holding a bucket of water. The girl stood outside her class door clenching it with both hands. A bead of sweat rolled down her chin when Asuka stopped to cringe. She didn’t even know this school still pulled that old punishment.

“Standin’ in tha’ hall for missin’ homework…Mogami River…” the girl murmured to herself, exhausted.

“Yo.”

“Uwagh! An upperclassman!”

“Sorry ta’ bother ya. Ya in this class with tha’ foreign transfer girl?”

“H-How’d ya know? I mean yeah.”

“I wanna talk with her.”

The girl sighed and the effort made her slouch.

“Tough luck, ya came at the worst time. Teach is keeping us in for lunch. Some lecture about current world events and feelin’ involved.”

“Seriously?”

They looked in through the window on the room’s rear door. Inside most second years had their food out and sat eyes forward. At the front a teacher paced up and down, pausing sometimes to write on the blackboard. She couldn’t make anything out clearly. But she found Lili by the beacon that was her blonde hair. She sat in a middle row not back enough that she’d see Asuka easily, but not so thick in everyone else. She wasn’t looking anywhere but the teacher’s face anyway. Her fork played with her food without Lili giving how rude that was any mind.

The teachers voice Asuka could make out in muffled sections. She heard phrases like ‘remain vigilant’ and ‘remain in touch with family’ or ‘cherish your loved ones’. He told people to not panic but remain cautious. Every topic bent Lili more and more out of shape. Asuka could tell; her shoulders began slouching, her body seemed rigid. Her head tilted the way it did when she knew she’d been called out but was pretending otherwise. She seemed…sad.

Asuka felt chills; what the hell would steal that girl’s confidence?

“So ya see, everybody’s stuck ‘ere, probably ‘till school’s out.”

“S’alright. Thanks fer tha’ help.”

“Yeah! Any time.”

She looked down. The girl’s hands were a flaming red.

“…Why not put tha’ bucket down when no one’s watchin’.”

“Ah. I said I’d hold it, so I’m holdin’ it!”

Asuka shrugged.

“Guess I can respect that.”

School finally ended a bit later, and this time they would meet. She went straight to Lili’s classroom the moment the bell rang. Everyone but those on cleaning duty crowded as they left; she didn’t spot her. Then she felt eyes at the back of her head and knew.

“How polite of you to meet me first for once.”

“Yeah yeah. Ya went missing earlier so I’m here to collect.”

“No need in feeling shy; your gesture is appreciated. My teacher most unfortunately prevented our lunch appointment.”

Asuka gripped her bag strap. Her eyes narrowed.

“Walk and talk with me.”

They tailed the thinning crowds heading for the shoe lockers. From the corner of her eye she watched Lili top to bottom. Her mood seemed normal. There had to be a weakness if Asuka studied hard enough. A cold, gross, off feeling still sank her stomach. Why had Lili been so tense?

“Yer not hidin’ more from me are you? No big stuff?”

“I don’t know where this inquisitiveness is coming from but there is nothing you need concern yourself with. I’m sure there’s nothing more to get worked up over since you visited me. I’m in one piece as you can see.”

Shit! That underclassman had squealed! Well, of course she would, she was just being a good person. No helping that.

‘Better than I’m actin’ now I guess.’

“You…you’d lemme know if there was somethin’ bothering you.”

Lili looked at her with the closest Asuka had seen to concern since she’d got that black eye.

“If it’s relevant I will. You’re being oddly persistent on this.”

Asuka thrust a finger at her.

“’Cuz yer carrying yerself weird! Like, more than how weird you always are.”

Lili’s brow rose.

“You like me that much do you?”

“Ugh! Why do you turn what I say into something else...”

She heard a sincere gentle sound, light and airy, that just as before made her chest jump. Lili giggled without teasing her. Asuka’s face flushed, out of embarrassment or some other thing she wouldn’t dwell on. She shrugged it off. Lili looked prettiest like this.

The shoe lockers were coming into view when they saw a shape rush toward them. In seconds their hands were raised, bags hitting the floor. A boy jumped and yelped, but he got himself together as if he’d been waiting all along. Slowly, Asuka lowered her guard. Lili followed suit throwing Asuka a worried look before she pinned the boy in her gaze. He stuttered finding his words, pointing at them.

“I knew it! You two fought at the seventh Iron Fist; you must be friends with the Mishima Zaibatsu, wanting their prize money!”

“Repeat that again you pathetic weasel and I shall-“

“You watched it live didn’t you? So what?”

“Everyone else can pretend things are fine and hide from the truth, but I know better. Both of you are willing to play with the Mishimas. They must have made you agents. Two more recruits for the Tekken Force!”

His chest puffed, his nostrils flared, his eyes were huge, red, and furious. Neither of them moved hell she swore she didn’t even see Lili blink. Her heart thudded fast and thick shooting pins and needles. He took the stunned silence as an opportunity. The people still on their way out started peeping at what would be the final gossip of the semester.

“Especially you. You’re the heiress to Rochefort Enterprises aren’t you? I’m not stupid. They got bought out by the Zaibatsu for their oil supply. Then they blew up the world. It’s your fault! You’re a fuckin plant!”

Lili went pale, a milky see through white as if her blood gushed out all at once. Asuka saw him strike before his own body knew. She moved. Her hand closed over his fist; it barely stung. What a scrawny little shit. He tried squirming free but her grip was steel. Then he remembered he had another fist. She caught that too. Asuka squeezed, watching him go limp and wheeze, his forehead got sweaty.

“That’s no way to talk to girls. One more word out of you and I’ll stop being so nice.”

He gasped in breathless pain the more muscle she used. He nodded fast, then faster. She grabbed him by the collar.

“Get the fuck outta here. Now!”

Releasing him almost brought him to his knees. He clutched his bag as he turned, tripping over his feet as he ran. She watched until the squeaking of his school slippers faded. Asuka dusted off her hands and slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Let’s go, Lili.”

That snapped her back to life. Lili picked up her bag in a trance. She never left her side or said a word going home, until the front door was shut behind them.

Asuka crossed her arms over her gi. Gathering herself, Lili launched into a handspring, thrusting her legs as one during the arc. Asuka hummed thoughtfully. It looked cleaner and this time she didn’t collapse on the landing. She took another pause for breath, and then switched to the weird ballet routine she’d demonstrated before. In just a few days the movements were snappier, some gaps were closed. Asuka tightened her fist. Some random, spoiled girl could fine tune herself in ways that took months or years for others. Lili wasn’t a prodigy, but that didn’t make it less ridiculous.

Lili wasn’t into screwing around. Even if something she did looked screwy, the execution was a viper’s bite coming from five steps ahead. Asuka felt her face harden for how many times she’d taken bites.

‘No wonder she felt confident jumping into tournaments.’

Still, she kept over relying on aggression and footwork as her biggest defenses. And for both as defense, there were gaps to be filled.

“No more exhibition. Lemme show ya a few techniques.”

Huffing, Lili wiped her sweat away and stepped back. The exhausted flush darkening her face stood against her alert eyes. There was always a hunger there. It never stopped making Asuka’s skin crawl as much as whipping her heart; there was a mirror there. The part of Lili’s lips when she panted yanked her train of thought. She yanked it right back before her body got too warm. The corner of her mouth twitched when she composed her face. She stood apart from Lili by a few paces and cleared her throat.

“Since you’re tall you’re sorta harder to toss around, but it’s not impossible. Plus there’s another use fer your long legs. Fer example,”

The narrow of her eyes was Lili’s only warning. Asuka took a running start then flung sideways arcing through the air. Her waist shifted until she flipped head down and legs up on her descent; shin and foot together fell stronger than a hammer.

Lili gave up on dodging. Asuka saw the blur of her arms rising into a guard shifting weight into her stance. At the last second before gravity took control, she moved herself off center. Anything at full force and she’d break her wrist. A tailwind burst when Asuka hit bone, almost shaking Lili’s hair undone. Her eyes widened. Instead of sinking to her knees Lili yelled and bent low then sprung pushing Asuka backwards. Quickly Asuka spun into a landing.

“That was good.” She gasped.

“Good? You could have knocked me out!”

She smirked.

“Exactly. That’s what your opponent will think before everything goes dark. You countered pretty well.”

“I see.” Lili said shaking her reddening right wrist.

“We call it Thunder Fall Kick. All I’m doing is a cartwheel with the momentum of my body behind me as I fall. Give it a try.”

For a second Lili gave her a look to be sure. Asuka nodded. She let her stretch, then came the run. It was too fast and she soared into the cartwheel just to tumble out of it. Lili barely managed rolling for safety when she landed.

Lili huffed, glaring at her to not laugh or say a word. Her second try sailed through the air; she saw Lili’s lean muscle flex pulling strength from her core. It looked like something from an Olympic routine than martial arts, but it was a start. With nothing to hit but the floor she ended it in a split. Panting she rolled into sitting cross legged. Asuka walked over clapping her hands slowly.

“Alright alright that’s better. This way lets you either get them on the first hit or scare them into taking the second one. Hold onto that. I’ve got another one for you.”

“I would think nearly flipping myself into a concussion was enough.”

“Well smartass you need more reversals, since you can’t bother bruising your pretty skin.”

Her chest did a leap watching her go pink and stammer; Lili pouted, stomping herself up.

“For this you use the momentum of the attacker against them. It’s different from the others I showed off because this uses more force. Try striking me.”

This time Lili glared but her eyes promised to obey. Her left fist moved fast but not fast enough. Asuka caught it by the wrist yanking it down then stepped behind her in the same motion. With gentle force she locked her free arm around Lili’s neck, bringing her sideways. All at once she fell, tipped off balance, Asuka her guide. They spun letting her right hand cup Lili’s chin before she could yell. In the time it took to blink Lili fell on her back.

“That’s Aiki Nage.” Asuka said coolly.

Groaning Lili tried sitting up, just to slide back down.

“My body is jelly.”

“C’mon I wasn’t so rough.”

“We have very different definitions for that word.”

Asuka snorted and smiled.

“Yeah, I guess we do.”

She pulled her up so she could sit. She tossed her towel into Lili’s lap and sipped some water.

“When yer ready we’ll practice Thunder Fall Kick and Aiki Nage fer today.”

Steady, steady, their forms grew in sync.

‘Hey. Is what that guy said at school true?’

‘I see you insist on inviting yourself in.’

‘Shaddup. What the hell do you call what you’ve done to me?’

A pause.

‘My family, Father is...nothing cures his broken heart. Jin Kazama took everything. There were phone calls and camera footage; hundreds of Tekken Force soldiers had raided the oil fields. We kept our personal assets, he granted us that mercy, but Rochefort Enterprises folded into the Mishima Zaibatsu. You’ve seen the global news since. World War Three.’

Asuka’s concentration slipped; wind rippled off her punch. Part of the draft clipped her right ear and she winced. The wound was thin, she didn’t feel much blood. But, alone, it took nothing for her memory to dunk her head again. She centered herself. The air tamed behind her punches.

‘Yer fuckin’ kiddin’ me. What’re you wasting time here for? You oughta be home with him.’

‘Don’t talk as if I hadn’t tried! I hunted Jin, bastard he is. The sixth Iron Fist was supposed to be my revenge. I meant to take it all back, but a man called Lars bested me in combat the moment I arrived. Clearly he has broken his promise to kill that scum.’

‘…Yer dad’s still got ya though.’

Lili’s eyes had been so far away.

‘That walking corpse is not my Father. It only pretends.’

She hadn’t known what to say. And when she awkwardly patted her shoulder Lili had spoken like she might break,

‘I couldn’t even see you.’

‘…I coulda kicked his ass if I found ‘im. But he got away on his murder spree. An’ I guess we never got matched in tha’ brackets. Since, y’know.’

She’d crossed her arms and an idea made her brain go tingly.

‘Wait. Did ya find me at school back then cuz ya really, really, really wanted ta’ see me?!’

‘You. Are unbelievable.’

‘Ya scared me and I dropped my lunch on tha’ ground!’

‘It was not my fault you hadn’t secured it to your bike!’

‘Like it’s normal fer limos ta’ cut people off in tha’ road!’

In the here and now Asuka let another punch loose; sweat flew off her brow. The breeze whistled just for her. Good! She should try legwork next. Standing, she kicked high, hopping into another with her other leg. But the moment her second leg started rising she lurched sideways like someone tugged her ankle from underneath. She collapsed in a heap.

“Shit! That hurt.”

She got to her feet. On the next try she full body flipped and splat facedown. Groaning, Asuka gripped her hair. It’d been like splashing waves at the beach, where you’d kick the water one way but it got everywhere else. Not using her legs for stability felt the same as climbing stairs by sliding up the handrail.

Hold on.

She readied again and closed her eyes. Imagine stairs…

Asuka ran, the sound pounding her ears, hopping, snapping into one kick then another. Her feet climbed as if there were steps for less than three seconds. Keeping herself from flying into the ceiling she pictured falling, gravity touched her again. Asuka let herself sink on a knee, her chest heaving, and every cord of muscle she had burned. Rest first. She sat and slicked back her hair.

The good:

She was able to concentrate air into pinpoint areas and shapes. Visualization worked best.

She could keep herself from spinning out if she paced it.

The force behind her momentum was at least twice stronger than normal.

The bad:

For now there was no way she’d last very long without hurting herself.

If she didn’t maintain focus she couldn’t power up fast enough; opening her to attacks.

Even while focused, the set up took long enough she still risked being vulnerable. But she had a better chance of canceling it if she kept some awareness.

She wiped her brow on her crop top. Going up meant with enough practice she could go down just the same. That had to be true. What if there were stairs that dropped into nothing? She stood and stretched, gathering her courage.

‘One more time.’

Asuka took another running start, not a sprint but almost, climbing the air. At the highest point she looked down. Now! She flipped and threw out her left leg; the ground raced closer and closer, her kick a speeding bullet. Suddenly her stomach sank, fear wanted to save her life. Shit! At the last moment she managed a roll, breaking the fall. Asuka gnashed her teeth.

It’d been the flip; the stupid flip! Instead of conserving power she wasted part of it on extra movement. Dad shook his head and grunted in her thoughts. Even Lili wouldn’t try something so dumb. This was about timing. She flopped on her back, scowling. Patience was so damn hard! Something…there had to be something here. What if she jumped higher straight into the dropkick? No, switching up so suddenly and adding another rising step would stop her dead. The enemy would fill in the gap more effort created with less chance for an escape. So if she closed distance before they could while staying on the offense…

‘I should kick off them first!’

One set of climbing hop kicks should carry the momentum to bounce off someone’s head. Then she’d wind another kick as she fell! And while she was open they’d be too stunned to do anything back.

She got to her feet. There was more work ahead.

“What happened with your ear?”

Dad’s eyes locked on her band aid; dinner went quiet. Lili started pretending she was moving food around to pick it up. The tension in her jaw was too obvious. Asuka did her best not to miss a beat.

“Scratched it while workin’ on tha’ bike. I had to unscrew a bolt and tha’ damn thing was wound tight. Went flyin’ by my head. S’not tha’ bad, just stings.”

She felt him searching her face as she kept eating. In reality she hadn’t done any work past polishing for a week. With a mouth full of rice it’d be rude for him to make her talk.

“Yer not lookin’ great around the eyes either. And ya keep asking fer seconds. I don’t want ya spending all yer free time on that bike, ya hear?”

She swallowed a gulp of food big enough for Lili to throw her a funny look.

“Yeah alright I won’t.”

“I’m serious Asuka.”

“I said I won’t Dad. Don’t worry.”

He glared and she played it cool, raising a brow ‘There more ya wanna say?’ Finally he sighed and started digging into dinner again. She took another bite; Lili was staring, holding a question so bad her face went red. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ her eyes shouted. Asuka sipped her Pocari Sweat, glancing away.

She lay belly down on her bed flipping through the newest Cycle Sports while Lili sat at the desk. There were pages and pages of new bikes made for any use a person could think up. Scattered in between were reviews and interviews, bike route guides, until she landed on the parts ads. Her jaw dropped. Clincher tire prices had hiked to almost five hundred thousand yen a piece. Even the mid-range speed cassettes sat close to a million. In a red and yellow font the magazine gave a paragraph next to a cartoon drawing of a cyclist apologizing.

Customers, we ask your patience regarding price point and shipping at this time. Due to global shortage our sponsors are experiencing significant delays in resource procurement and assembly. Prices will now reflect-

Asuka’s eyes glazed over the page. She set the magazine down and sighed.

“What’s the matter?”

“Fixin’ my bike’s gonna be the same as buyin’ a house. Everything’s gettin’ too damn expensive.”

She flipped through Cycle Sports again covering her face.

“For regular people y’know not you.”

Lili stopped applying her makeup, glaring at her, and then kept brushing her cheeks.

“Ah yes more biting wit from a comedic genius. No matter, money won’t be a concern. Get whatever you like.”

“Yer being weirdly cool about this.”

“Take me with you on your ‘Gang Mediation’ hunts.”

“A- wha- Are you crazy?! No!”

Lili uncapped a thin dusty pink pencil and started outlining her eyes.

“We’ve been training over a month and I refuse to continue being locked away without real world practice. There’s no point in learning anything if it isn’t applied.”

“No.”

“Oh why not?! I traveled the world getting into battles long before I met you.”

“Fighting for yourself doesn’t mean you can follow someone else’s rhythm. Teamwork is coordination! If you get hurt…I gotta think about you and keeping creeps away. We’d be screwed.”

She heard the pencil clatter on the desk. Lili leaned in the chair arms crossed; the irritation could’ve rolled into steam off her face. Asuka shuddered.

“I see. You’d rather keep me imprisoned in this bird cage so I’ll be under your thumb. It’s enough to control how much I know and how I use it; never mind a day coming where I would need teamwork yet find myself vulnerable. Or perhaps you doubt yourself.”

Asuka stammered, a pit opening in her stomach swallowing all her thoughts. She put her chin in her hand, covering her mouth, her eyes shifting.

“That’s not guaranteed…and no shit I can handle anythin’! It’s got nothin’ to do with doubt!” She cried, her voice wavering at the ends.

“What I know for certain is whatever cut your ear wasn’t as ridiculous as a bike bolt. Really, you call that lying to your father?”

She shot upright on the bed.

“Don’t assume I did that for fun!”

“I never said as much. But you’ve got quite the nerve to lecture me when you’re the one hurting yourself.”

Asuka sank sitting cross legged and sighing as she stared her down.

“Fine. You can come. But yer still listening to me out there; if I say ‘get out’ then go home.”

“I knew you’d understand. That settles it. Now, which of these colors is prettier?”

Lili picked through the makeup kit replacing Asuka’s PC keyboard and held up a little tube bottle in each hand. On the left was something rose pink; pale enough to look almost natural but still wasn’t. The other was dusty lavender with a matte texture noticeable without opening it.

“What’s that gotta do with- oh, the pink.”

“Excellent.”

She smiled at Asuka with her perfect teeth and turned back to her mirror, uncapping the bottle. Asuka absentmindedly flipped through the glossy pages showing new bikes. Between each she snuck a glance, watching the care with which Lili painted her lips. If it seemed like she’d get caught she darted her eyes to a random spot on a page. But as time passed, the longer she watched anyway. Until, of course, it’d be safer to just read.

Not long after she heard her throat clear and looked up slowly. Asuka’s eyes widened; she gasped softly.

“So? What do you think?”

Lili pulled any chance of forming a sentence from Asuka’s throat. She was more or less the same, but now with a soft definition to her cheeks. Thin pale orange eyeshadow dusted her lower eyelids making her pink eyeliner wings pop. Her eyes were the blue of a sky against those dusky colors. Her lips were glistening and vibrant without overpowering the natural curve and shade. Really she was,

“Beautiful.”

Lili put her chin on her hands so they framed her face like a ‘V’. She grinned. Asuka’s entire body throbbed, the air blazed like every drop of blood rushed to her head.

“I mean no, ya look like those models on beauty mags or whatever. Nothin’ that special. It’s just…good.” She stammered out.

Her brow rose when she saw her pick up a blank index card of blotting paper for her fountain pens. Lili pressed it to her mouth, giving it a hard kiss. Then she took a sheet of laminate and carefully sealed it. Asuka stared, the spell of the entire thing demanding she watch. When she saw the paper handed to her she accepted, afraid to use any force.

“Since you enjoyed this shade keep it.”

“…Thanks.”

She got a smile and a wink; and at once she became shy yet lighter than air.

That night in bed Asuka strained her eyes tracing and retracing the card. The pink was still visible against white paper, as moist and bow shaped as the mouth it’d been on hours ago. She ran her finger along the outline afraid it’d smudge anyway.

Closing her eyes brought Lili’s face clear as day. Here she could touch her or stare without any nagging worries. She could run fingers through her hair knowing it would be silky smooth. This time she cupped her cheek, tracing her thumb along Lili’s mouth. Lili gave her one of those inviting stares; the kind where she was both reading and listening. Their eyes fluttered half shut as Asuka brought her closer. But of course, she could only hover over her pink lips. Lili turned away.

Asuka opened her eyes. Night stayed. Her hand not holding the card gripped her sheets. She tucked it under her pillow, furthest from where her head might crush it. She rolled over finding Lili’s shape on the futon. Asuka watched until her eyes grew heavy. Then she fell asleep.

Shinsekai was bright and sunny ignoring them as they walked. She scanned around finding the usual. Families, friends, people by themselves, a foreigner here and there- all present. The world was in order.

“Quit scowling like that. It’s such beautiful weather today; really one would be an idiot to want to cause trouble. And look-! There’s a giant octopus on that building!”

“This isn’t a date! We’re hunting morons. Takotsuba’s ain’t a bad spot for later though.”

“I shall hold you to that. Don’t forget.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“Oh! And that tower beyond it, what a fascinating industrial shape.”

“Tsutenkaku? Sure sure that too but are you gonna help or not?”

“Ugh. I dislike this side of you. Why not pay a few people and have them stir up some thug looking types? We’d net more off the street.”

Asuka groaned pulling her aside; she poked her chest.

“I don’t start fights. I break them up. I end them, got it? No schemes.”

Sucking her teeth Lili brushed her bangs from her face.

“Since you insist.”

Asuka sighed and scratched her head.

“Let’s check the alleys or around convenience stores an’ parks. Anywhere it’s easier for people ta’ gather.”

“Lead the way.” Lili said behind a wolfish grin.

And it made her heart skip finding the same hunger Asuka knew in her eyes.

They got lucky; several boys were shouting as they passed Naniwa Nishi Park. She stopped, pressing herself against the wall; Lili followed suit. She peered over the gate and counted ten standing around an abandoned dohyō. The rope boundary was frayed, dirty, but they split themselves even down the ring. The shouts turned to yelling when someone threw a punch, opening himself to get tackled. A few boys at the edge cheered the fight on. A closer look, they all had bruises. Asuka took a breath.

“Alright. It’s ten of them and they’re already kicking the shit out of each other. This should be easy if they’ve tired themselves out.”

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s pummel them.”

She put her arm in front of Lili.

“Don’t get cocky. I can’t protect you from everything.”

Lili huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Your repeated warnings have been noted.”

“It helps making sure you take them one at a time too.”

Pushing past Lili growled teeth flashing as she stomped in their direction. Asuka groaned running after her. One by one the boys turned their heads and tapped their buddies.

“Idiot I’m supposed to go first! Come back!”

The two boys wrestling in the dohyō stopped hitting each other over the head. Immediately the jeering went silent. Lili stood in front of them, hands on her hips. The closer her legs carried her the better Asuka saw their faces. Her hairs went up. It wasn’t the hunger she knew in her reflection, the kind making boys piss themselves when she knocked out teeth. These guys wore something darker checking Lili up and down. She'd heard about this; guys who'd want her on her back while they took turns. Guys saw you as meat and knew exactly the cut they wanted, what type of hungry they were as they took their time before passing you off for their friend's fun in your body. Her stomach sank. She quit running; now she sprinted across the open field.

“Halt sirs! Cease behaving like ruffians this instant! How shameful doing this in a public place. There must be a better way to get along.”

“Oh yeah? We’re all ears princess. Maybe we can help ya think of some.”

Asuka’s vision narrowed to the center of a boy’s head. She climbed. Her hop kicks slammed him one two, the first step his waist the next knocking his head back; an explosive sound rocked her senses. Around her she thought she heard someone yell ‘was that a fucking gun?!’ She gritted her teeth. Now! She brought her left leg down riding gravity. He flipped ass up still spinning from her force; Asuka’s kick hammered him. The ground cracked swallowing him head first. A burst of wind whipped her hair biting her skin.

She landed. The boy’s legs went limp above ground, the rest of him nail straight in dirt; he looked like a tacky art piece. Everyone froze staring with bulging eyes. In the split second between getting up and resetting her stance she saw the boy closest to Lili move for her.

“No more talkin’! Knock ‘em out!” Asuka shouted.

A boy threw a right hook, she grabbed his wrist and flung him forward, his body flipped bouncing his head on the landing with a crunch. The next charged wanting to spear her. Asuka side stepped, roaring, and stepped into her weight. She thrust an open left palm slamming him in his solar plexus. He flung backwards, bouncing, crashing against three boys who collapsed easier than bowling pins.

Lili shoved another boy off then crushed his toes under her square boot heel. He yelped opening him up for her kick striking his shin. As he crumpled Asuka saw her half cartwheel with her hands behind her back. The first kick crushing him gave her ground enough to slam her next one square on his dick. He howled, screaming as if someone wouldn’t stop stabbing him again and again. Jumping off him Lili kicked the closest boy Asuka had knocked down in the head before he could stand. Beside him his two friends screamed. Then Asuka was on them.

They lay pinned under the bodies, squirming but only sinking themselves deeper. She slammed her boot under the chin of the boy screaming loudest. His teeth scattered across the dirt, blood flying from his mouth. His friend gave up struggling. As she wound back her fist she twisted off balance; another one had tackled her. Quickly Asuka grabbed his forearms as he grabbed hers. Their feet shuffled trying to steady themselves. His sweaty, growling face sat a hair away from her nose. He pressed down his weight but she rocked herself shifting the balance. Her heel gripped on the dirt in the struggle. She grinned. She kicked his shin knocking him sideways.

His hands lost grip; Asuka spun him around, booting his back like kicking in a door.

“Lili! Behind ya!”

Lili dodged an attack turning just in time to step in. She thrust both palms hitting his middle and spinning him on his face. Asuka ran toward her, past her, throwing herself behind a kick that folded a boy flinging him several meters. Quickly she glanced back and found her dodging the last one to free himself from under his friend. He went down easy.

The last boy standing whimpered shaking like a shitting dog; sweat dripped down his face, his clothes soaked. Asuka put a hand on her hip. Lili rejoined her, huffing as they glared at him. He glanced back and forth between them. A word started stuttering out his quivering mouth but Asuka’s brow narrowed and he swallowed it. Dust swirled as a breeze passed.

He swallowed again; she read fear overpowering the shock in his eyes. He twitched, panting so hard he could pass out any second. Asuka slid back her foot. The boy let out a ferocious scream and charged raising a fist. Lili jolted but Asuka stepped in front of her. He ran wobbly as if coated in honey. Everything was slow. The rustling leaves and grass, the wind through her hair, the clouds as they drift in the sky. She raised her fist. One punch; he dropped instantly.

She sucked her teeth rolling him over with her foot. Out cold he could only be peaceful.

“Moron.”

“Well then, I must say, what a hell of a- AAH!”

Asuka whipped around. The boy she’d sent flying into his friends rushed Lili from the side. She didn’t think. The world fell away. Her body moved. Wind curled along her forearm down to the fist; everything became a single point. Asuka let it fly.

His jaw gave way butter smooth under her knuckles. She felt the teeth dance across her skin scattering into shards. Then all at once the air exploded. A storm swirling in its burst blew at the impact. Her ears grew full; a droning whine cut any sound. She couldn’t see him, only a hazy shape speeding down a wind tunnel. That something skipped along the ground with a stone’s weight a long, long time. Barely, just barely, it stopped before the park fence.

She took a breath. Suddenly the ground grew closer.

‘Ah shit. I’m fallin’.’

Lili caught her arm pulling her back on her feet. She felt herself be pat down, but her vision was such a blur things returned to focus one by one. The newest thing she felt was Lili’s warm hands on hers. She focused on her making herself feel real again.

“My god, that looked as if it should have killed you both. How are you bleeding so little?”

Lili held Asuka’s hand at her chest; pricks of blood oozed on her knuckles. She tried asking her for a bandage. Instead Lili took the hand to her mouth and started sucking each spot gently. Her lips were soft, careful. There was nothing she could say, nothing she wanted to say. It was pure instinct when she let out a shaky gasp. Her eyes fluttered fixed on her. Warmth from her tongue melted the barely there pain. Then all too soon Lili finished and Asuka had never been more disappointed at air on her skin. The bleeding stopped. Lili wiped her mouth.

“Hardly worth a handkerchief.”

“Thank…you…”

She huffed out still heavy to the bone. Lili smiled, giggling quietly and pleased with herself. Asuka took a step; she may as well be wearing cement bricks. Her chest dipped. Again Lili grabbed her, plucking her really with how tall she was. Asuka groaned.

“What a pain in the ass. Dad’s not gonna believe we were just hangin’ out. And now I feel like I’m gonna fuckin’ drop.”

Lili scoffed.

“I should be insulted with how often you disregard my many talents.”

“Huh?”

Lili put two fingers to her ear. A short beep followed- since when had she been wearing an earpiece?

“Hello, Sebastian? No I only require the limo. Yes.”

She heard her give him the address. Was Sebastian the same as the old man she saw when Lili arrived? He’d been driving when Lili showed up at her school just for a fight. They had to be the same guy. Whatever, everything was so heavy. He could come bringing a stretcher and it’d be better than standing here. The fantasy of lying in bed letting her muscle aches melt made her smile. She almost didn’t hear the rasping cough at their feet. Asuka jolted, stepping back as Lili ended her call.

One of the boys crawled toward them bloody and lumpier than potatoes. Breathing seemed to take the life from his lungs with each drag. He stopped at Asuka’s boot. He craned up his neck and she found the strength to glare.

“You…it’s gotta be you. Word got around. I thought those wind moves were bullshit. Yer tha’ demon who put Takeshi in tha’ hospital. He needed a full body cast y’know? He might not walk again.”

Her eyes were cold.

“Am I supposed to care? If he wasn’t such an idiot attacking me he’d be fine. He did it to himself. He shoulda been stronger.”

“Yer fucking crazy!”

Lili crushed her heel over his head; that finally made him go limp. Asuka’s eyes widened turning and finding satisfaction as much as hatred. She opened her mouth. She wanted to correct her, wanted to get upset. But she remembered his face at the start. Her eyes narrowed, mouth twisting. Asuka kicked him for good measure. Then she kicked him again, again, and again letting his bruises bloom blood. Lili joined in one last time letting out a yell. Asuka spat beside his head. They looked over the bodies.

“Good riddance. Is this what you’ve been doing? Leaving a trail of carnage?”

“I ain’t kill anyone!”

Lili turned staring at the boy lying limp near the park gate. She started walking not waiting for Asuka or rushing in the slightest. Her heart jumped up her throat. She followed half running while his body came closer and closer. All her thoughts vomited out.

“I didn’t hit him like that on purpose. That much force, tha’ wind curlin’ like that I had no idea I could hit that hard. There’s no way he’s dead. I didn’t wanna kill him!”

“Will you cease your incessant prattle? Look at him, he’s breathing.”

Barely. If he didn’t get treatment soon it’d be game over. Lili hummed thoughtfully and stroked her chin. She leaned over him.

“Though I’m very certain the human jaw should not bend this way. Nor appear so, floppy. And not a single tooth left either. Impressive.”

Asuka made herself look at him. The length of his jaw sagged clearly broken, but the way it twisted sent shivers through her. It curled the same as the tailwinds she left behind. But, at least she hadn’t killed him. No one could blame her for that.

“Thanks ya damn weirdo.”

Lili looked at her, annoyed. Asuka put her hands on her hips.

“I presume then this is what cut you. That sort of power, you became a living hurricane.”

“H-How’d you figure? I’m not some amateur when I train and this doesn’t mean I can cut-“

Sighing Lili slowly fanned out her dress skirt. Dozens of tiny tears split the fabric to the seams. Several sections of lace looked like they’d been put through a shredder. The one saving grace was that her skin stayed covered. Somehow.

“Yer kiddin’ me…”

“This is couture costing over a hundred thousand euros. However, in this instance, I shall forgive you.”

“Ya better, cuz no way I could pay that fuckin’ bill.”

“Do not insist I should change my mind.”

Asuka swallowed and looked away scratching her head. Her eyes wandered over the boy on the ground again. She reached into her shorts pocket flipping open her phone. Quickly she dialed.

“Hey you guys need to send an ambulance over by Naniwa Nishi Park. There’s ten boys here unconscious. No I found them; they beat the crap out of each other. Please hurry. Thanks.”

As she flipped it closed Lili watched, and when their eyes met she read approval. Or was it curiosity? This was Lili so the answer had to be both. Then the crunch of tires broke their concentration. A white limo pulled beside the sidewalk; with it came Sebastian springing from the driver’s seat. He rushed to Lili’s side clutching a first aid kit. How far had Lili thought ahead?

“Mademoiselle Lili! Are you and Mademoiselle Asuka hurt? Goodness my lady, what has become of your dress?!”

“I am unscathed Sebastian. See to Asuka’s left hand. Her right ear requires attention also.”

“Yes Mademoiselle.”

“I’m fine. My hand stopped bleeding rememb- urgh!”

Right as she instinctively flexed it her left hand seized up into an angry throbbing patch of tendons. She winced, hissing out a breath. Her adrenaline finally ran on empty.

“Pardon me. If I may treat your lacerations and apply a compress, the pain will certainly ease.”

“Sure. Just make it stop.” Asuka panted.

Asuka was tough, always had been. But each step disinfecting, spreading ointment, to wrapping a bandage shot floating starbursts through her vision. She stared into the sky hoping for birds or clouds. Anything she could count. A flock flew by in V-formation; she sighed, relieved.

“There. The bandage itself doubles as the cold compress. This should eliminate the need for a cumbersome ice bag, Mademoiselle Asuka. As for your ear-”

“That doesn’t hurt your princess over there’s just working herself up. But, thanks.”

“I see. Understood.”

He shuffled to the trunk to stash the supplies; she felt Lili’s stare meeting it without hesitation. She caught her dazed, brows knit with concern. Then in the most Lili fashion she noticed and cleared her throat. Just like that her expression turned cool again. Asuka let out a dry chuckle.

“After you Mademoiselle Lili.”

Sebastian opened the passenger door bowing as he waited. Tilting her head Lili beckoned for her as she got in. Asuka made sure she was seated first; she couldn’t fight a grin anymore.

“Welcome to my most wonderful lounge. I trust it is to your liking, no?”

“Like I drive in one of these enough to know any difference.”

Dad never even owned a car. Not that she could remember anyway. Asuka stared out the window fixed on the city rolling past them. Her ears perked when Lili cleared her throat hard. She looked at her and slunk into the plush seat ears red with embarrassment.

“It’s real nice. Never been in a seat this comfy. If I pass out it’s yer fault y’know.”

“Feel free. I shall take it as a compliment.”

“I’m holdin’ ya ta’ that. Don’t mind if I do.”

Lili smiled. Now Asuka found she couldn’t stop talking.

“That was somethin’ back there too y’know. We beat the crap outta ‘em! You were flyin’ everywhere I almost couldn’t catch tha’ action. I bet they didn’t know what tha’ hell hit ‘em.”

“As I remember you turned several into mincemeat. I should thank you for providing me such opportune openings for attack.”

“Hell yeah! That’s the kind of teamwork I had in mind! Great, right?”

Lili brushed back her hair and turned up her nose. She could hear the smirk when she spoke.

“Of course. When I fight with absolute concentration, there is nothing I can’t handle.”

Asuka’s face pinched.

‘That took everythin’ outta ya?’

She saw Lili marching in front of those boys over and over in her mind. If Asuka hadn’t been there making it easier on her to fight; suddenly she thought she might vomit.

“...The way they were starin’ at ya felt off ta’ me. When ya talked at them an’ stuff.”

There’d been way too many of them; blame stung on her shoulders.

“How so?”

“Ya were a piece ‘o meat. An’ they seemed real hungry, if ya catch my drift. They were those kinda guys. Yer pretty an’ all remember.”

Her chest panged watching Lili go pale.

“That…will not discourage my combative pursuits.”

“I ain’t sayin’ forget martial arts. People use ta’ warn me all tha’ time. It…it scared me fer a second. That’s all.”

Silence muffled everything. Asuka let herself breathe; her eyes lit up.

“But still, I looked cool saving ya at the end didn’t I?”

“…And if I say yes?”

Fire ripped through Asuka like striking a match. She leaned forward.

“Yeah?”

“You terrified me. I demand you repeat it at the earliest convenience.”

She blinked at her; Lili sat straight faced. Without thinking she burst out giggling.

“What? What now? How rude you are.”

“It’s just, it’s just you love saying weird things!”

Lili’s mouth twitched. Asuka stared right back, bracing for an insult. Instead she smiled. The limo stopped at a red light.

“Can you guess why I began fighting?”

“Huh? Cuz ya wanna right? Yer family doesn’t teach nothin’ about it like mine. Ya can be good at protectin’ yer money or somethin’.”

“Nothing as silly as that I assure you. Money is Father’s concern not mine. Though one could say money was the reason I discovered it.”

Lili rested her arm on the window sill. She shifted crossing her legs.

“Four years ago I was kidnapped for ransom, you see.”

Asuka’s jaw dropped on reflex.

“Of course back then I was utterly helpless. I was but twelve. Making a proper fist was beyond me. I was bound in a chair inside a room for I’m unsure how long. I remember best the dark, the panic dreaming of home and my stuffed animals. When I would wake fear reminded me exactly where I was. But the more I grew afraid, the deeper anger hardened inside me.”

Her eyes were a razor.

“I don’t remember much of him. I bit my guard doing everything my body could to thrash him out cold. Then I slipped my bindings and ran. And ran and ran until I collapsed beside a road.”

“…What…happened then?”

“What do you think? A passing car found me in France. Father was on his jet the moment he heard the news. He thought I would be crying and huddling on my bed at the hospital. But I sat ready to meet him.”

“No way! Yer lyin’!”

Lili cocked her head, not amused.

“Come now Asuka I’ve never had reason to lie to you. Certainly not over a personal memory either.”

Sucking her teeth she folded her arms out of habit but stopped. She winced at the dull ache shooting from her hand. She could feel her expression soften and didn’t fight it. There came nothing to say that felt right enough, except for maybe,

“…What about yer mother? How was she?”

Lili cut her off, sharp, but strangely wavering.

“My mother isn’t worth discussing.”

A slight movement caught her eye. Asuka looked down; Lili’s hand was trembling. All of Lili was trembling. She didn’t think as she held her hand. She heard her breath hitch and Asuka’s heart raced faster.

“I ain’t got a mom either.”

Lili’s expression shifted around struggling for the right reply, the right anything. Asuka felt her fingers squeezed. That was enough. At least she’d stopped shaking. Sebastian glanced at them in the rearview mirror, his stare warm. They sat there not moving, light through the windows dancing across their faces. Soon their stomachs growled. She started laughing thinking nothing of it and she heard Lili join in the melody. Their hands let go, but that was alright.

“I believe you promised me octopus. Unless you’ve forgotten.”

“Yeah yeah I know. I’m soooo hungry. If I don’t eat somethin’ I think my arm’s gonna start lookin’ tasty.” She groaned.

“Well that won’t do. Sebastian!”

“Yes Mademoiselle?”

“Return us to Shinsekai then you may retire at the hotel.”

“At once my lady.”

Lili turned to her concerned.

“You’re up for walking are you?”

“Of course I’ll be fine. I’m made of tougher stuff.”

Getting out and standing in the middle of a proper street again left her disoriented. They must’ve been driving only twenty minutes; it may as well have been another world. The moment for people to gawk at them seeing the limo had passed. Until now Asuka never considered such casual attention annoying. Then again, for a long while she’d always been alone.

“Hmm…I believe it was a building with a giant octopus climbing the side.”

“Yeah that’s Takotsuba’s alright. C’mon we might still beat the rush hour.”

They did not in fact beat the rush hour. While it wasn’t a full house either it came pretty damn close. Getting a booth to themselves was another of the day’s small victories. She looked over the menu as a formality; her heart had already decided to keep eating anything until she’d be crawling outta here. Her stomach wrung out a gurgle.

“What would you suggest? I’ve never seen it prepared in quite so many ways.”

“Well ya know the staples like okonomiyaki and takoyaki so that’s nothin’ new. There’s octopus salad, octopus rice, sushi, and karaage too. Karaage’s got more fry to it than takoyaki. I heard once it’s chewier if you don’t boil the octopus first.”

“My! Then I must try them all it seems.”

“What’d ya ask me for?”

Lili giggled.

“Why not?”

Ah, of course it’d been another one of her weird teases. Oh well. Asuka shrugged smiling to herself.

Maybe she should blame her hunger, but everything tasted divine. There wasn’t a bite she could get down fast enough before she went for the next. The texture felt as smooth as if she’d caught it from the sea. Each seasoning burst together yet she could name them all. And the sauces, she never imagined sauces so sharp they might ruin the dish. How had she eaten anything before today?

“Try this it’s amazin’!”

She scooped a huge chunk of crispy karaage and held it up between her chopsticks. Lili stared from her face to the octopus, thinking. She smiled easy playing along. Asuka grinned watching her bite it. Her face exploded.

“My god what a powerful flavor…I’m unsure where I should begin. Give me another.”

She picked up an even bigger chunk inching toward Lili’s parted mouth; then at the last second just as Lili’s eyes focused Asuka ate it.

“You scoundrel!”

“I’m hungry.” She hummed, smiling and content.

Under the table their feet nudged together back and forth and back without force.

By the time they stumbled out of Takotsuba’s the sky burned dusty orange. Beside her Lili gripped a wall hunching over into one big sigh. Asuka stretched and yawned with a bursting stomach feeling her eyes droop.

“I believe… I should have stopped… at dish five… “

“Ya didn’t have ta’ try everythin’ off my plate.” Asuka huffed half-heartedly.

“You have the luxury of living here. I must take the experience when I can get it.”

“Hey. Wasn’t there another place you wanted ta’ go?” She asked, nudging her.

“Where could that possibly be in this state-“

Asuka stared above them saying nothing as Lili followed her line of sight. She smiled. Towering like a lone pillar propping up the heavens, Tsutenkaku stood, the sunset dressing it in gold.

To her surprise there was little fuss from Lili as they climbed the access stairs. A ten minute rest had her back to swiveling her head trying not to miss anything she saw. Some gawked at the jagged tears on her dress; but if Lili didn’t care then neither did Asuka. They held hands climbing the tight crowded stairwells and through narrow doorways. At the first observation deck she felt Lili start letting go to wander inside; Asuka squeezed her fingers.

“That’s the boring part. Lemme show ya some real excitement.”

A second staircase so narrow you had to climb single file squeezed them up the second deck. It was a tight caged circle, full of people crammed between the tower and tall mesh wire paneling. Everyone could barely make space for others passing and so she made sure they followed the flow without getting crushed. Despite this no one pushed or shoved; she lifted her head letting the wind cool against her face.

They got lucky. Another couple left passing them by while everyone else was busy going either up or down, creating an empty pocket where no one would bother them. Asuka seized the chance.

“Mon dieu…”

They stood at the entrance of an open roofed tunnel made of more mesh wire and a grated ramp. It jutted out several meters, pointing its finger through the sky. Yellow font on a white sign shouted the rule of allowing two standing people at a time. Asuka grinned and pointed.

“After ya, ladies first.”

“You can’t be serious. No matter! I am not afraid.”

“I’ll be right behind ya, duh.”

Slowly Lili stepped out one long stride after another until she soon let go of gripping the mesh for safety. True to her word Asuka followed casually at ease like they were still on a sidewalk. She stopped beside her at the end, the floor now a single piece of reinforced glass. One glance down and they could feel the plummet to their deaths. She was alive, wired, a living drum. The air filled fresh through her lungs. Lili’s tight face softened. She smiled hearing her gasp.

The city went on and on and on, framed in golden fire. The clouds became infinite vanishing into a thick blanket on the horizon. High rises, highways, and all the packed in streets bunched together or winded around each other like a spread fan. Most were grey, but dots of color boxed in the edges of green parks. Trains snaked along the outdoor rail lines in the gaps between. Even floating from up here the sounds of life came through in pieces.

“It’s really pretty.”

“…Yes. It is.”

She watched the city, and she watched her watch the city. Then all she could see was her. Lili seemed to glow; tearing down the calculating look she knew so well. Instead she was smiling; she outdid the sun. Their bodies touched. They were all but one in such tiny space.

“Do you know what I’m thinking when I see you now?”

Lili spoke softly tapering the syllables like a melody. Asuka decided then and there her eyes were the gentlest blue.

“Knowing you? Could be anythin’ I guess.”

Lili cleared her throat. Her words came in a rhythm.

“There’s a poem we were taught back home for literature studies. A line went, ‘Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapt power.’ ”

She stared at her waiting, patient despite going bright as a tomato. Asuka didn’t have words for the funny feeling turning her into a tingling fool.

“Sounds nice, but what’s it mean?”

“…I-I thought, I thought it sounded pleasing.”

“Ya don’t know do ya?”

“Sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable not to.” Lili stammered, glancing down.

They stood there on thin air. Lili held her hand. Asuka brushed her thumb over her skin.

The walk home went all too fast and just as slow. Between a few curious silences they chatted about anything that from outside was absolutely nothing. Together they walked through the front door, laughing over a joke Asuka told easy. And there stood Dad drawn by their noise; on his face reality.

“What were you two doing?”

His eyes were staring straight at the cuts on Lili’s dress. At once Asuka knew she had lost.

“We found boys all beating each other to death at the park; course we had to do something.”

“Yes and I’m sure that something didn’t involve calling police.”

Her wound throbbed under his stare. She saw his brow narrow and her heart ran laps.

“Let me see your hand.”

“I’m fine-“

“Now.”

She looked at Lili, who by the hard swallow in her throat could only watch. All the clever poetry and snappy remarks dried at their source; as much a blade now as a blade of grass. Asuka raised her left hand bringing her bandage in full view. Her body held itself while he undid the wrapping. A hiss squeezed out her lungs when he examined the newborn scabs.

“I knew it.”

He checked over her ear then looked again at Lili’s dress; the cuts matched.

“Explain everything. And I mean everything, Asuka.”

Quickly she stuffed her left hand behind her back, eyes downcast. Her fingers clenched with her pride bearing the pain. Beside her she heard the slight step of Lili shifting closer. She found her voice.

“The fighting went fine, we won. It almost felt too easy. When I thought the last boy went down, one got back up out of nowhere. He started charging at Lili I, I couldn’t think anymore. I knew I had to do something I had to protect her. (At hearing the word ‘Protect’ his eye twitched.) These guys seemed more dangerous than my usual. So my body just moved on its own. I hit him. I hit him harder than I’ve hit anything in my life; he went flying like cars in a tsunami.”

“I must add, when we checked his body I believe only by a miracle did she not pulverize his skull, sir.”

“Your wind, what did it look like. How did it shape? Do you remember?”

“Not much. I know it became all I could see, like a tunnel curling around and from me.”

“Worse than that; I’m amazed you saw so little. Had you done any more it would have meant his life.” Lili said, very small with Dad here, but Asuka sensed a lingering fascination.

A heavy look on his face made her stomach drop. She heard the day’s joy shatter.

“No more fighting. Defending yourself I will allow, but nothing else. You will not provoke anyone nor give in to verbal insults. You will not go getting yourself involved in other people’s battles. You are to get away then call the police if you see such nonsense. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes… sir.” She forced through her teeth meeting his eyes.

His mouth made a line and that was final.

The hair on her nape still bristled sitting on her bed. Her left hand dulled throbbing quietly as she gripped her homework. Her leg started bouncing while her eyes glazed over the equations.

“You worry too much. At least he hasn’t confined you here. And so what, in a few days I’m sure his temper will calm.”

Lili stopped writing. Sitting at the desk she reminded Asuka of a perched eagle with lanky limbs. Her voice soothed if nothing else. She let herself breathe. Asuka swallowed, face tight.

“He’s never said anythin’ like that before. Never. Even if sometimes he’d give me a look the older I got.”

She stared at an equation passing it through her muscle memory. Her pencil underlined her answer over and over.

“I don’t get a damn thing anymore.” She said to herself.

Then she perked up snapping her head toward Lili.

“I ain’t say anythin’ about worryin’! Don’t go assumin’.”

“Please. The way you’re acting says quite enough.”

Asuka searched her brain for a biting one liner, anything she could throw would do. She sighed, sucking her teeth softly. She flipped the page and tackled another equation with a mind like stilled dark water. It was autopilot; it had to be after Lili drilled the rules into her piece by piece dozens of times. But the steps came sluggish, the numbers vague, and a feeling of wrongness trailed everything. This, she realized, felt something like doubt gnawing its way into birth. And she held it quiet so quiet in her chest; between her bared teeth. Dad was tough but fair. He was strong. She pictured his smile.

Days kept coming one after another. Each morning she shuffled out of bed (closer to noon now thank god), trained, washed, then a big breakfast, homework, bike work, training, another wash, bed. Dinner would come and go giving a bit of color in filling her belly beside more Lili. It took longer than she liked meeting Dad’s eyes again for longer than a second. He wouldn’t say anything more on why he’d been angry though to her credit Asuka didn’t dare push. Time trickled slowly by the minute to the hour. Her body woke up between the seconds; how many years had passed, since she knew lasting stillness?

The little things made her angry now. Tea took too long to boil and food too long to cook. Cars driving by the house had eyes in their lights and off the tint of their windows. Internet scrolling threw itself up telling her nothing. Silent moments picked and picked letting thinking seep through cracks in her stone. She spent time sitting. She paced around. She stared at the ceiling. She didn’t dare go outside the first few days. When she did, her legs made trips around the yard.

She held on to the sparks found in sparring Lili up and down the dojo. It’d always been the first place her mind became a blank slate, her original place. She gave orders knowing they’d be understood. She took fun in the blows of their words saying less and less now, letting truths spill behind their tangled limbs and measured hits. There everything else turned to steam.

And it was bad for her now, it was bad for her. The solid landing of a strike, the smacking of bone colliding against skin, the racing heart during a back and forth marrying technique with gut instinct- all of it meals without ever filling. Then just like that with the clap of her hands it too ended. Sometimes, they stopped thinking anything at all pushing their strength further and further into force. If one bruised the other grinned; if both bruised they laughed.

It came simple. Act. React. Counteract. She hardly noticed now whether Lili grew slower in the thick of it, or if those moments made Asuka move faster. It was as pointless as trying to decide if you tasted your sweat in your mouth or having it flood your nose. They blended the same.

It was life and she savored it greedily whenever she drank. It reminded. She tasted it in her dreams.

“Will you quit sulking outside our practices? I may as well find better conversation with a tree of late.”

Asuka shot up from lying on her side tossing her pillow aside, furious red, face all hard angles. She roughed up her hair as if shaking the frustration.

“Things are too normal!”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been fighting thugs for? To uphold normal?” Lili said, stopping filing her nails.

Asuka hopped from her bed in one motion balling her fists. Her room blurred past and she slammed her hands on the desk. The muscle in her neck twitched as she leaned over her. Asuka’s broad shoulders shaded her from the light. A hollow burned in her chest. She growled out,

“I need it Lili. I need it.”

Setting her file aside the grin on Lili’s face, the one Asuka of a different time would’ve called unreadable, read hungry delight. She saw her perfect teeth widen across her lips. Her canines glinted.

“Now, did you think I’d stop you in this endeavor?”

They used the limo. Dad still allowed Asuka errands and hanging out, so long as Lili swore to keep an eye on her. And, of course, Asuka had to show her hands when coming home. They’d walk several blocks without looking back or stopping save for Asuka’s new habit of fiddling with her sparring gloves hidden in her pocket.

By the first busy intersection Sebastian would park. He never skipped out or let himself be late. Not once did she hear him complain or caution them; save for politely praying they be safe and that Lili understood what they were doing. At that last point Lili had given him a look. Asuka never heard it again. If the old man wore any frustrations they found a home in his caring eyes instead.

Her first time back made the boys drop fists and run hoping to not get crushed in the stampede. Their hollering bounced off the alley full of apartment blocks where no one stuck their head out the window. Asuka stood hand on hip sucking her teeth.

“Hey! None of that now; we’ll find a catch next.”

“…We fuckin’ better.” Asuka said, pouting.

“If nothing else you’ve certainly grown your fame.”

She whipped around glaring in protest but Lili laughed watching her ears go red. She sighed running a hand though her hair. A tiny smile brought some light.

And it was true. The next drive and the next gave her a handful of boys who found the fire in their fear to stand their ground. And there were an even smaller few who still hadn’t heard her name. Her knuckles grew slick with sweat, bones vibrating under the aftershocks linking blow after blow. She stamped it into her skin, her muscle, her bright grin. Thinking faded into the waters of a dark, dark place. She went blank again. To herself she smiled like a child.

Lili was spared repeating the dangers of their first time; boys barely got a word out before Asuka crashed upon them, a furious living storm. In fact their teamwork lasted a day or two before she complained Asuka was having all the fun. She taunted her over not being capable of pulling in a share. But from then on Asuka beat up a few less as they slid through the rainy season into early August.

So, then, Asuka made herself blink raindrops from her eyes and cocked her head when she found it blooming under her bloodied sparring gloves. A chain of bruises spotted her skin with sickly flowers.

“No…no no no no. No! Why?!”

“Why…are you, fussing?” Lili huffed as she wheeled a boy down using Aiki Nage. One stomp of her heel against his chest (Lili called it the Root of Evil; Asuka had long since given up rolling her eyes).

“Look!”

Panting Lili leaned over her suddenly stone still.

“Dearest me. I suppose we must retire early today.”

“I’m not finished!”

“With that you most certainly are.” She hissed without anger.

Asuka grunted. Lili touched her earpiece and barked,

“Sebastian!”

Like clockwork the limo rounded the corner.

Lili dragged her waving off Sebastian to stay put before he could step out as she opened the door. Another white sheet of rain beat against the roof. Their bodies scrambled sliding onto, around the leather seats. Somehow they struggled upright. Lili slammed the door shut. Asuka barely knew she was sitting when she saw Lili picking through a container islanded between them and the driver seat. She set a white box on her lap.

“Hold still, let me see it.”

Asuka came into focus; she offered her hand. The cold pack sent shuddering chills racing down her body. She hissed gritting her teeth. Thinking fast Lili tied it atop her hand by wrapping gauze. Gently she pressed it in deeper, sinking against her seat. Throbbing violently her skin screamed at her; the clench of her jaw yelled ‘Shut Up!’ right back.

“Here.”

She blinked letting her head roll toward Lili’s voice. A long oval pill sat pinched between Lili’s fingers; she heard the rattle of the bottle as she held it up.

“Acetaminophen should serve nicely.”

Asuka’s eyes grew half lidded, the pain second worst besides the ache coursing up her arm. Without thinking she closed the pill between her teeth no more gently than taking a kitten by the scruff. She heard Lili’s gasp but didn’t care, and swallowed as she leaned back.

“Ya got any water fer this?”

“What a ridiculous question ma chère.”

At the press of a button a side compartment slid away a lid revealing a cooler inside the island. Lili passed her bottled water. Asuka gulped it down.

“You know you’re very lucky you don’t break your skin open completely; or that you’ve not broken a knuckle bone. With how often you prefer punching lately.”

“What tha’ hell ya know about medicine?” Asuka asked, surprised, staring at her out the corner of her eye.

“Sebastian has had…several…experiences tending me. It felt proper I should learn some along the way.”

The old man glanced at them in the rearview mirror. Asuka thought she saw the edges of a smile.

“Doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“Yes, well. I am of many talents. And I believe you are due to finally sing of them.” She chirped, grinning as she flipped her still drying hair. When damp it turned into slippery spaghetti sliding over her face and Asuka snorted a laugh.

They sat letting the engine’s low rumble pass between them; staring out the windows. Now the city disappeared, buried under pouring rain. It drummed a pounding rhythm against the limo; stomping its footsteps every which way. The slight sway as the limo moved started rocking her; her head nodded off. But of course, Lili wanted to say more. It would have irked her just a bit, if the adrenaline wasn’t leaving her body. Her knuckles hurt less. The muscles had grown cold and heavy. Tight.

“It’s been about fifteen minutes wouldn’t you say? Let me see it one more time; we can’t possibly leave it as is.”

“How the hell are ya keepin’ Dad from spottin’ this? There’s a buncha ‘em all over.”

Lili held up her makeup bag in both hands, her face suddenly more smile than face. She giggled fidgeting giddily; shock kept Asuka’s stomach from dropping but not her jaw. Her eyes bulged though she should’ve known better. She buried her face in her good hand. Of course that would be the solution.

“What about when it wipes off if I have’ta wash my hands?!”

“Then you will refrain from doing so until he is either sleeping, preoccupied enough he leaves us alone, or is out of the house. Or in cases like the bathroom, you may message my cellular after your business and I shall distract him or excuse myself buying us time.”

“…I hope yer right.”

“Relax. There are several waterproof brands in my collection for the choosing. At least one should complement your skin tone and be of use, so long as you avoid soap.”

Giving her a cautious look Asuka sighed then offered her hand. The liquid stuff gave her chills she never got over while the powders reminded her of flour. The makeup brush tickled. Lili explained each new layer, how everything must go with the mixed green and yellow foundation. Those colors were best at hiding redness. Each layer stacked like a cake. At times Lili muttered to herself checking, double checking, triple checking her work. Sometimes Asuka tingled feeling the tip of her nose graze her. Never had Asuka seen her hunch over or have any posture than a straight back. But here she didn’t care at all. Eventually Lili stopped talking altogether. Unease crept with the silence. But, little by little Asuka let herself watch. Her mind went blank, lost in the rhythm watching an art be practiced.

And it was an art; her skin may as well have stitched itself whole. She could only tell the skin tone was slightly off if she stared too long. But she couldn’t be upset with using what they had. It would probably be enough. It had to be. Her face pinched for an instant; she smoothed it out.

“Thanks.”

“You are welcome. Continue using the ice; concealer has its limitations.”

Asuka obeyed, shivering, unable to ignore the damp soaking her clothes any longer. They fell silent again; the engine purred. She drew closer against her touching their knees. She sighed in relief feeling warmth. Lili did the same, since she was taller her body heat radiated over the top of Asuka’s head.

“This damned rain has made me dreadfully chill.”

Sebastian turned a knob beside the steering wheel; more warm air flooded from the vents. Asuka let the ice bag slide into her lap. Her brow narrowed. Her brain spilled words for her; that racing anxious ball in her chest reminding her too much of everything she’d seen on prey animals being torn apart.

“…What if Dad figures this out anyway? What the hell am I supposed ta’ do when I’ve never seen ‘im so pissed…”

“My father shut me inside our house.”

“He what?!” Asuka looked at her.

“Yes. When he discovered I participated at the fifth Iron Fist Tournament he yelled at me, for the first time in my life, for our entire argument. He is a soft spoken man you see. Even when serious or giving a command he finds raising one’s voice distasteful. The idea one of his family could seek battle made him sick enough to collapse when he’d heard. He is too much a pacifist for his own good. That I kept my involvement a secret worsened my punishment.” Lili said bitingly soft and eyes far away again; drowned. Asuka could feel the scolding hearing Dad’s voice instead; she winced.

“So then, ya got grounded so bad that he…”

“I couldn’t take one step out the front door. Leaving my room was itself treated with suspicion. Our help staff reported all my movements and escorted me to and from family meetings or dinner and so on. He refused looking me in the eye. We could hardly hold conversation. Mother took great care stressing those points. I believe it amused her.”

“…That’s horrible. But ya got out fighting in the sixth tournament right? How’d ya manage that? Did ya stuff a doll under yer blanket and climb out the window?”

Asuka imitated shimmying down a rope like in movies; Lili giggled.

“Something rather like that, yes. Jin Kazama visited his barbarism upon us shortly after leaving Father bedridden. I feared for him. I told myself I had no use feeling such a way; he must hate me as it stands. Yet I couldn’t help sharing his sickness seeing him in that state, a walking corpse. Mother was hysterical over the security of our funds after our forced merger. On all other subjects she went deaf. I…I had to do something for him myself.”

“An’ that was winnin’ the tournament.”

“Taking Jin Kazama’s resources as he begged for my mercy would have been payment enough.”

Asuka sat straight crossing her arms. She hummed in thought.

“If ya got ‘im that way yer dad woulda gotten angrier. Probably.”

“Perhaps. I can’t deny the chance. But at least he can complain safe in knowing what rightfully belongs to him has returned.”

Asuka huffed. She stared at the floor, the seats, out the window. Her words dragged each other searching for the strength she gathered piece by piece. The hurt cracked her throat. It felt strange, hearing herself from someone else’s mouth.

“I know ya… ya were lookin’ fer me back then. Doesn’t matter what ya did, I don’t think ya coulda found me. And it was better ya didn’t.”

“Why would that possibly be?”

“I…got real angry. I didn’t care who I hurt long as it got me close to the people that pissed me off. I fought ya at the tournament sure, but the one after wasn’t about just Dad or havin’ fun.”

She watched the veins flex in her hand as she clenched it. It pulsed her heartbeat, solid and rough worn after a lifetime together.

“I woulda done ya in real bad. And I don’t think I’d be able ta’ stop no matter who was under me.”

She breathed out hard; her fist began trembling. Her heart drummed.

“I remember hearin’ about Jin, the anger, not findin’ ‘im…not even carin’ along tha’ way. I got ta’ fight lots of people; every single one of ‘em just like ‘im. An’ when I came home Dad kept layin’ in that hospital bed, blacked out. He never opened his eyes. So when more of those people like Jin fer some reason came stumblin’ around the dojo from tha’ tournament, I couldn’t think of nothin’ else. I had ta’ turn ‘em into pulp. Anyone I saw. That made me feel somethin’, ya understand?”

Her grit teeth glinted under the lights.

“Fightin’ let me feel somethin’ so I didn’t have ta’ feel nothin’ else anymore. It just makes sense ta’ me. An’…it’s people like Jin an’ that Kempo bastard who can turn people like me this way.”

She searched Lili for signs of approval, for some base understanding. The logic held up itself, it didn’t need anything more. But instead Lili’s face pinched; this time not with anger or insult. This time Asuka’s stomach dropped far worse; she found disappointment. Lili looked directly at her. Firm yet gentle came her reply,

“I don’t think that’s true about you at all. Fighting because they made you want it.”

“An’ what’s that mean?”

Lili scoffed and crossed her arms.

“You should bother with a bit of reflection. Perhaps I shall give you yet another example to ease you along.”

Asuka glared, grumbling, starting to speak with a curse or two on her tongue, but kept her mouth shut. Maybe there would be a point.

“I made my escape for Father…but I hoped to see you.”

Lili tapped her chest with a finger putting just enough force to start tipping her.

“Fer your stupid rematch.” Asuka said jabbing her right back.

“Yes and no.”

“Ugh, again with tha’ stupid riddles!” Her head began throbbing.

“I… did something for someone else, and for myself. I fought so I could achieve what I wanted and found joy in fighting to do so. Nothing forced; nothing coerced.”

“Fighting cuz ya want it is no different from a thug! Everybody loses when ya resort ta’ that and any kinda violence.” Or so Dad had told her over and over.

“Is that so? Then what are you calling everything we’ve done these last few weeks? Or how about why you decided continuing to fight would be the best way of achieving the goals on your journeys?”

“That…that’s not tha’ same.” Asuka grumbled a chill ripping through her no longer able to meet Lili’s eyes. She rubbed her head.

“I suppose you may call it whatever you like. Clearly so far such a method has suited you.”

“…I wanted ta’ go home too ya know.”

‘Sometimes. Sometimes I did.’

She yawned. The air had gone from warm to heated, like when she was seven and visited the neighbor’s puppies all piled together in a box. Beside her she felt Lili wait a moment before starting up again on their field performance today. Her clothes were dried, stiff from the rainwater that’d soaked through in the first place. She let her eyes go heavy. This time her aching body got its way. Her head rolled against her shoulder. Curling against her felt easy; she was so warm. Asuka’s voice dragged.

“Lili. I need ya ta’ be quiet right now. Can ya do that fer me?”

“…Yes.”

“I’m gettin’ sleepy.”

She heard her give Sebastian an order and was out like a light.

Her dream took her back home and sat her in the living room. She looked down finding her favorite floor pillow; the TV flickered casting its light over the tatami mats. The room was bright, burning into her eyes and hurting even when she shielded them. On screen a movie played without sound. She held her breath. The entire house had fallen quiet. Nothing filtered in from outside either. She started breathing in shallow strokes. She made herself look at the TV. There played out her life- from Dad encouraging her first steps, to beating down elementary school bullies, into her second year of middle school when Dad let her teach her first class. Each new slide overtook the old one after barely a few seconds. Her heart hammered but she watched.

Next she saw high school, biking to her entrance ceremony, everyone wanting to share lunch with her, then the splintered floor and walls with their pieces buried under those who’d gotten in the way. Dad’s body long wheeled away in an ambulance. She saw the surviving students, the fear stamped on their faces clear even in this place. Somewhere she heard someone vomit again. Jin was a hazy thing, a memory of a memory of a concept. All she remembered best were her fists, battle, shadowy figures one by one marching upon the house or crumpling with no answers for where he could be. A whirlwind she recognized by the scent of blood filling her mouth and old friend adrenaline coursing through her.

Everything, there played everything, until finally there sat her body sleeping in the back of Lili’s limo.

Wait a minute. Lili…and Dad…and-

“Hey!! Anyone?! I’m over here!”

She stood looking around and met only with more silence. The hairs on her neck rose. She stomped through the halls from door to door; all were locked. Asuka licked her lips, chest heaving up and down. She ran up the stairs; every sign of Lili had been scrubbed from her room. Her entire existence erased. She ran to Dad’s room but the lock had bolted shut from the other side. Looking down she glanced at her hands. Bruises blossomed on her skin.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

A chill froze her to her spot. She stared into the ceiling; the voice rattled her bones forcing from her a whimper. This was Dad. Sweat dripped slicking her palms. Her breaths were a machine gun shooting clouds into the air.

“DISOBEYING AGAIN? ABANDONING ME AGAIN? DOES HURTING ME PLEASE YOU?”

Her throat let out a pathetic cry. She tore herself from that spot and raced downstairs. The front door wouldn’t give. The side doors to the outside wouldn’t give. Frantically she kept forcing it until she swallowed hard and threw herself against it. She kicked. Still it didn’t budge. From the kitchen window she spotted her bike, smashed to pieces in a pile. Asuka ran to the kitchen; all the knives were gone. The air choked, it burned to breathe.

“AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE DONE AND SACRIFICED FOR YOU. ALL MY WORDS HAVE FALLEN ON DEAF EARS; YOU DISAPPOINTMENT OF A CHILD.”

Her back pressed against a wall.

“Somebody…hey, somebody…”

A crash from the other side of the house shook everything. A grating sound flooded her ears; the voices of two men wrecking their way closer and closer. Her jaw tensed, everything tensed. She raised her fists with half a heart in it.

“FOOL GIRL OF MINE; CARRY THE WEIGHT OF WHAT YOU HAVE WROUGHT.”

Her blood buzzed, brain pounding as the world started spinning. The ground grew closer.

Somebody.

Hey somebody-

Asuka woke up. She lurched forward but remembered she was sitting just in time to not tumble out the seat. Something heavy bound her in place keeping her from getting very far. She turned her head. Lili leaned against her right shoulder, fast asleep. Her breaths tickled Asuka’s neck. She glanced to her stomach; Lili hugged her tight. The calm on her face slowed her racing heart. Even as Lili’s hair spilled everywhere, a few strands tickling her mouth. With a bit of work she managed wrapping an arm around her. That stupid dream couldn’t disappear fast enough.

‘I guess yer cute too, sometimes.’

“Hey. Gramps.” She called softly.

“Yes?”

“Take us home, please.”

His smile glinted off the rearview mirror.

“As you wish.”

If an obstacle stood in her way she would face it.

Dad gave her hands another once over, humming in thought. She kept her face as straight as possible. Their eyes met. He let her go. He crossed his huge arms over the slimmed remains of his barrel chest. He’d always been a big tall guy; now he had the posture of an oni guarding one of the hells.

“Dinner’s on the table for ya both. Gotta be ice cold by now though.”

“S’alright we can heat it up. Right, Lili?”

She scratched her head still playing cool and turned to her. Lili’s mouth twitched a bit in disgust at the thought, but she fixed herself. She smiled politely and gave a nod; Asuka figured that counted as good enough.

“But of course Mr. Kazama! Why, your cooking is so superb I know it shall be as delicious as when new.”

Asuka’s face fell into a dry ‘Really?’ with just her eyes.

‘Ok now yer overdoing it.’

“Wow. That’s the biggest compliment anyone’s ever paid my cooking! Asuka your friend has some taste you could learn from.” He said ruffling her hair.

She balled her fists and pouted; she wasn’t a little kid! From the corner of her eye Lili was fighting a giggle staring at them. Asuka’s blush grew.

“We’re not friends.”

“Well ya coulda fooled me with how much time you two spend together these days. Quit being so stubborn; just think about how poor Lili feels hearing you say that.”

Gah! He knew how to play on her embarrassment.

‘Damnit old man…!’

She turned facing Lili who made a show of twirling a lock of hair, genuinely waiting for what she felt owed. Asuka scratched her head.

“I guess…you are…almost my friend. We’re…partners.”

Lili blushed. Her doe-eyed stare made Asuka feel funny.

“Well that coulda been better but if the lady isn’t complaining all must be forgiven! C’mon an’ eat before it gets any later. I’ve already finished mine but I don’t mind listening to you girls talk about yer day.” He said slapping her on the back before heading off.

When they had room for themselves again she sighed in relief.

“You consider me your partner?” Lili said each word like she was catching them and putting them in jars.

“Yeah. Don’t think too hard on it.”

Instead Lili clasped her hands over her chest, squealing and giggling. She twirled then started skipping lighter than air toward the kitchen. Asuka huffed, but a grin upturned her mouth.

“Moron.”

The pain sucker punched her until her eyes widened half keeling over. With her nerves out the way she finally felt her bladder bursting. She had to fuckin’ pee! But why? Why now so close to the finish line? She studied her knuckles; the makeup was holding up fine. Her breath hitched.

‘The water from when I took that painkiller!’

And then after she’d had the bright idea to fall asleep. When they’d stepped out the limo her mind had been scrambled eggs thinking about fooling Dad. She clutched her head running in place folding her lips in to not make a sound.

‘Short end of the stick, short end of the stick- how do I always get the short end of the stick?!’

No. She stopped herself and straightened her shirt. All she had to do was not pee. The day was practically over. She checked the time on her phone. Dad would head to bed in about an hour or less since he already ate. If she didn’t go to dinner he’d know she wasn’t feeling right. They always talked over dinner. Just hold it! How hard could it be to hold taking a piss?

Pretty damn hard.

She got through four minutes struggling down karaage before she started shifting in her seat. She chatted and smiled and did her best to not space out into her food. Lili was keeping eyes on her but only whenever he glanced away. Asuka didn’t stand out, right until the second Dad’s brow wrinkled. Her heart jumped. She stayed cool.

“You alright girl? Ya keep wiggling around.”

“It ain’t nothin’.”

“Well ya keep doing it, figured I’d ask.”

Shit! The worry on his face turned flips in her stomach. She swallowed. The more you deny the more suspicious you appear. Her phone weighed down her shorts pocket.

“I gotta pee.” She said in a small voice, glancing away.

“Seriously? Go ahead! Ah sorry for her language Lili. It’s been just us two before you moved in.”

“I find her bluntness can be rather endearing.”

Lili laughed but the smile didn’t reach her ears. The look in her eyes chided ‘Already? Already?!’ and Asuka grit her teeth.

‘I don’t like it either!’

It hurt standing up but she did then speed walked to the stairs before running. She rushed inside the water closet beside the bathroom, closing the door as normally as she could, sighing hard.

There were ten seconds of relief as she turned on the faucet. Then the soap landed in her palm. Her heart was thudding in her wrists, up her throat, through her veins.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’

She got to her knuckles and scrubbed gently as if feather dusting. Asuka squeezed her eyes shut working centimeter by terrible centimeter. She opened her eyes. The red of her bruises ringed a border where the makeup peeled. Asuka stared at the ceiling absorbing silence. Then she kept washing.

[To: Dumbass]

[I’m done. Get up here, hurry!]

She flipped her phone closed; her leg bounced up and down sitting on the toilet lid, head bowed, breathing between the seconds. How would she explain everything to Dad? Could she? Her open hands were trembling giving her one resignation. He wouldn’t understand. She let her mind wander, feeling the impact of bone on fist ripple through her arms. No, he wouldn’t know. Better to stop thinking about it.

Her head snapped up hearing the doorknob turn; Lili came barging in gripping her makeup bag. Quickly she shut the door and knelt beside Asuka; it made her think of the doctor at her last physical.

“How bad is it? Let me see.”

Asuka put her hands up. Lili gasped. Immediately she set to work. The entire disguise hadn’t disappeared but it was close enough. She kept herself stone still this time. Her eyes glanced from her hand to the door and back again until Lili gently swatted her arm.

“Will you stop that, I can fix this.”

“Could ya do it faster he’s gonna get suspicious.” She whispered, annoyed.

Lili’s head snapped up at her not hiding the irritation.

“Yes, please allow me to simply wave my magic brush thereby dispersing your bruised blood back into your body. There’s fast and then there’s doing a convincing job ma chère.”

“I’m sorry.” She murmured.

“As your partner I’m inclined toward forgiving you.”

Asuka’s face widened stammering and pretending to fish for a comeback; she huffed not fighting a blush. Lili giggled. She worked a little faster but no less thorough, until Asuka started forgetting why they were stuck here.

Then her reminder knocked. Lili jolted clinging suddenly against her knees; she steadied her.

“Asuka? It’s been an hour ya alright in there?”

“I’m fine! Just, uh, doin’ the other one.”

Lili gave her the most dead-eyed, embarrassed, disgusted face she’d ever seen on a human being. She mouthed, ‘What am I supposed ta’ say?’ and slumped, humiliation throbbing under her skin.

“That’s still bad! Don’t force yerself ya hear? Anyway I can’t find Lili so when yer done see if ya can make sure she’s alright. Yer leftovers are in tha’ fridge. I’m headin’ ta’ bed.”

As his footsteps started turning Lili’s makeup cases crashed to the floor. She’d leaned in just enough, shrinking at the calls of his gruff voice. Asuka threw a hand over her own mouth and the other over Lili’s. She recoiled struck through with fear and bumped the wall behind her. He stopped.

“What was that? Somethin’ breakin’? Did ya trip?”

Lili scurried picking up her things but only made more noise; Asuka helped, her fingers trembling.

“N-Nothin’! It ain’t nothin’.”

“Oh no ya don’t- I’m not fallin fer the ‘I’m fine Dad!’ but ya hurt yerself and get stubborn as a mule sayin’ anythin’. Like tha’ time ya slipped in the tub. I’m comin’ in, prepare yerself!”

Her heart dropped. They’d lost. She froze watching the door open in slow motion.

Instantly his worry fell, rising again with rage like sparked fire. She followed the path of his sight. Her bruises peeked through their half-finished cover; her hands clenched on Lili’s shoulders. Dad’s eyes hardened.

“Ya wanna hurt people that bad, huh? Or do ya just not care about hurtin’ yerself? Which is it Asuka?”

She could taste her heartbeat.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yer sorrys are countin’ fer little lately. And you, yer helpin’ her too; I can’t believe it.”

Lili went pale. Asuka saw her swallow hard, feeling it in her own throat. She didn’t think; she stood in front of her. Her eyes narrowed never tearing off him. He raised a brow.

“Tell me why.”

“I couldn’t not! People count on me to feel safe; police never solve a thing. Every second I was stuck here I was eating myself from the inside. I’m not gonna sit and take that.”

Every deeper word holding each other from tumbling formed a dam in her.

“…I’m disappointed.” His voice went rigid.

“Eh?” Her hands shook so she balled them.

“Lili, how many people did you two help recently?”

“…One…sir.”

“Lili!”

“And I suppose the two others were yourselves. And I suppose, Asuka, you felt stronger and stronger.”

That wasn’t untrue. She sucked her teeth quietly. Static crackled her brain.

“Not by much...”

Lili’s face pinched blurting out her thought; she felt the slightest tremble from her.

“Had you done as now during the tournament it may have meant my life.”

The instant the words became more than spit on Lili’s tongue Asuka put a hand over her mouth. She was too late. A vein popped on Dad’s forehead. His fists balled and his teeth glinted on every syllable. They shrank at the fury in his eyes.

“During the what?! Asuka what is she talking about?”

“…When you sold the dojo to Lili…we were fighting at the recent Iron Fist Tournament. And it was her fault I was there in the first place! She signed me up and called me after.”

“Yes but I had nothing to do with your being in the sixth tournament.” Lili’s voice cracked rushing, her words bleeding together.

Asuka’s eyes widened. She nudged her.

“The sixth too?! What were ya doing there? How did ya even-“

“Jin! That stupid Jin invaded and destroyed any country he set his sights on-“

“How do you know about him?”

The look in his eye made her shrink back.

“I, I saw his last name and his face shares some stuff with ours so…and he was in the news. Back when he started his mess.”

“That would’ve been when I was unconscious at the hospital…then you weren’t looking after me. You abandoned me?”

“I FOUGHT FOR YOU! Just like I did hunting the bastard who hurt you!”

Her voice boomed, split, cracked down the middle. The air stilled; she’d never yelled at him. Something changed about him, her body told her to run.

“Lili, why did you force my daughter into the last Iron Fist?”

Asuka’s head turned stiffly; Lili was gripping part of her shirt. Somehow she kept her face level, her eyes sincere despite the waver as she spoke.

“I wished to fight her again. I hoped of finally claiming revenge for losing my honor after she defeated me at our first meeting.”

“And where did you first meet?”

“The fifth Iron Fist, where she was seeking your attacker.”

“Did you find him, Asuka?”

“…No.”

Dad rubbed his chin. He wore no emotion. Or it was more like the rage stretched so tight it slid into blank nothingness.

“I want you out of my house. Leave my house, now. Asuka, you’re not taking one step outside the front gate.”

“But-?!” Asuka cried with her, both bent in terror.

“You brought my daughter directly under the Mishima’s notice and only by divine luck did they do nothing to her. You kept that from me.”

“I-“

“GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!”

He roared the command letting it bounce off the walls so that it crashed over them in a wave. And that was that. They lost. Lili slumped against her, eyes dead. With a gentle grip Asuka guided her past his glare into their room. She never once felt herself breathe; not even as Lili cried. She saw herself from the outside and collapsed onto her bed, motionless in static.

An hour was needed before everything Lili owned was crammed into the same old duffle and suitcase. They looked around the room. Seeing the bare walls, the flutter of her curtains, the open signs of herself pulled a scab from Asuka as it formed. She winced. Beside her Lili started wheeling her things, then looked back and took her hand. It ached. Her eyes were still red, makeup ruined, and Asuka crushed the start of tears. Her voice pleaded under a soft command.

“Don’t let it drive you mad Asuka Kazama.”

Then she was down the stairs and out the front door and climbing into her limo, then Asuka stood alone in the night.

She didn’t wake up until the sun was flooding her window. Her throat burned and she went into a coughing fit rolling lazily on her side. Her rug lay on the floor. She blinked. It was still there. She squeezed her eyes shut really, really hard. Rug. Outside the trees were dead still. The birds were quiet today.

She didn’t look him in the eyes at breakfast. Really, she didn’t look at him at all. When he spoke he spoke to a wall. When he tried lecturing her to not act so down she dumped her food in the trash, tossed the plate in the sink, and locked herself in her room. She’d tasted nothing anyway. If she went somewhere and saw his shadow ahead she ducked and hid herself or took a longer route. When she bathed or used the bathroom she did it fast, trying to go after whenever she knew he did. Her day she marked by the shadows along her ceiling, but even when the sunlight changed colors or fell away she wouldn’t leave bed. He learned, after a lot of grumbling on deaf ears and a dozen silences, to knock and leave her meals outside. He argued, shouted, pleaded to see her but she wouldn’t give him a thing. Eventually there was only the quiet.

She couldn’t leave, that first week which became two weeks. Or maybe it was shorter than that, or longer. She had no mind for counting. She had no mind. Lead had moved into her body and decided it liked having a space of its own. When it decided to set up furniture, only then did she feel the bites it’d chewed out her insides. The pitted scars it left were jagged and merciless.

On that afternoon after waking she clenched herself really, really tight, until her heart hammered up her mouth. She sat up and made it to the computer. Dragging herself became a struggle stepping around a few plates. At first she’d done her dishes whenever he went to bed, but one day she lay down without doing it. She learned she could sleep that way. If you could sleep through it you could accept anything. That old lesson reared its head again without any fight from her.

Asuka slid into her chair and booted the old thing up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The scent of Lili’s perfume still hung around but had grown stale; this place was due for airing out. She looked through her browser bookmarks and opened every bike store in a new tab. Her bank account still had money. Dad never said anything about not spending it. If the magazine catalog was gonna take forever she may as well give online a shot.

On a notepad she wrote her list:

Hubs

Brake Levers

Chainring & Chainstays

Brake & Cabling

Tires (mountain grip type) & Wheels

Saddle

Front & Rear Derailleur

The paper grew cramped; she buried a hand in her hair. The words blended together, lead fog rolling over her, but she gritted her teeth and started typing. One by one she went down comparing the most reliable against those adding speed and reducing weight from each type. Lili would want everything pretty over function, covered in decal art roses as much as real ones. She smiled to herself. Asuka chewed her lip and checked off her list. Then she crawled back under the covers into a ball. The hum of the computer filled her ears, its glowing screen her nightlight as she slept.

Lili giggled walking along a water swirled beach in her dream. The sea pooled around their ankles. Asuka said nothing holding her hand, catching up. She didn’t care where she might follow.

When she woke a few birds sang announcing her yawn as she scratched her head. Her hand fumbled around finding her phone. The time read eleven. At least this time she beat the lunch hour. She stood sluggishly, forcing herself into doing stretches. They were hell on her stiff muscles but got the blood flowing; she moved easier again. Then she stopped by the kitchen tucking a slice of bread in her mouth, grabbed her water bottle, and went outside. The front gate was locked. Where Dad was she didn’t care.

She sat on the crate facing her bike, chewing thoughtfully. While she waited on parts now was the time for another check-in. At least, that’s all she did for the first half hour. She wrote down every fix, replacement, and what could stay divided by colored pencils. Then she stared at the frame, and stared at it. She never marked the sky passing by or moved save for if she remembered her water bottle. All the streets, lanes, avenues she’d ever ride down played their routes in her mind. She thought of where she’d been, where she could go in a different future- maybe even outside the city. She thought of finally testing the forest trails and saw herself racing through flying colors over rocks or cliffs or streams. Lili could come with her, but only in the city lanes, watching the sunset down by the ports.

She did this every day. Dad crossed paths with her, his face dropping in shock but saying nothing. She took more food gradually; then one day a meal was left out for her and the day after that and so on. Finally the parts came within days of each other. She got to work. Her skin, hair, and clothes grew black streaked and sweat matted under the August sun day in, day out. Wire the brakes, tighten the hubs, replace the saddle, tighten the cassette, grease the chain before threading it, and screw in the handlebars and bolt in the wheels after sliding on the tires. Routine keeps you sane. She thought of all the places she would go. Of how many more people she could fight. The hunger lurched inside her, fists aching. She held it in her mouth.

Her eighteenth birthday came and went with Dad’s cake the reminder that snapped her from her work. It was a big layered thing where each section represented a different flavor. Covered in frostings of birds and waves and fruit as it leaned under its weight, she swore she saw it in a textbook once. The Leaning Tower of…someplace. He smiled ear to ear hopeful as he clapped her on the shoulder, asking her if she liked it. She tried the strawberry part- her face lit up; eyes almost popping out her skull. She took more stacking them together before devouring them.

“It’s fuckin’ good!”

He’d ordered it special since he still had money from selling the dojo. Her heart warmed. For a moment the wind whistles outside; the trees dance. Using short bursts they made conversation. Everything felt a little easier. By evening storm clouds gathered. When she crawled into bed lying under the covers brought reality in darkness. One good thing reminded her of every other good thing she didn’t have. Plugging one hole made the others leak faster; the hunger gnawed her. She gritted her aching teeth and held her smallness. Tears warmed her face, her humiliation.

‘Am I still strong?’

A choked cry.

‘I’m scared.’

Howling winds beating at her window pelting water like a battering ram scared her awake. She shivered; cold slipped through the glass. Her phone beeped twice; she froze.

[From: Dumbass]

[Come outside. Please.]

Asuka threw off the covers and ran.

The rain poured fast and ugly driving swirling rivers into the earth. Lili’s wiry body climbed spiderlike over the gate, almost tumbling when her heels hit the mud. Their eyes met and Asuka’s heart stopped. Lili ran to her. At times she stumbled but never stopped. Then there she was, standing breathless at the door.

Lili stared at her, shaken, tired, yet bursting with a racing mind behind her eyes. What little makeup she’d applied drizzled away. She looked like she had a million things to say, but couldn’t remember any of them at the final hour. So instead she moved closer until Asuka felt her warmth. She let her put her hands on her shoulders; Lili hesitated, weighing what came next. Asuka felt her fear, could all but taste it. Knowing something made her afraid and dealt impossible odds yet meeting the challenge to spite it-

‘That’s what I like about ya.’

Well then,

‘Come and take it, if ya can.’

Asuka closed her eyes and lifted her chin. She felt Lili’s trembling fingers slip into her hair.

The kiss pressed nervously but exploded her sense of being. There was no Asuka or Lili; there stood the thing the rain would not have. They held each other hard and when they separated Lili breathed out,

“Je t'aime.”

Asuka stared at her lips, catching a breath. She could do better. She gripped Lili’s collar, kissing her and never giving a chance for air. Hungry. Finally gorging.

“Come in before ya get sick.” She said hoarsely.

The door shut.

#tekken #asulili #asuka kazama #lili de rochefort #my writing

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