Discovery [Plot]

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] dust begins to fall to the ground It was five thirty in the morning. A cold, heavy mist hung over the village of Kirigakure. Combined with the darkness - the moon was new, and thus unseen, and very few stars were visible - this made it incredibly difficult to see anything. And it gave the village an almost foreboding feel about it. There was hardly anyone out and about at this time - only shinobi returning from missions, and those were few and far between. She had just come from seeing Fuku off on his holiday of two weeks, and though she knew he would be back, she still hadn't wanted to see him go. He'd been such a large part of her life for the past couple of years that him not being here still felt kind of strange. He'd put her in charge of watching his apartment while he was gone, so she was probably going to end up spending a few nights there just because his place was more comfortably furnished than her own, and man, that was going to feel weird, being in Fuku's home while he wasn't there. Iku was perched in an old oak tree next to her residence. Perhaps it was not the wisest decision she had ever made, being that she was dressed only in a thin white undershirt and shorts - her usual sleeping attire - and Kiri's nights tended to be on the cold side. Indeed, she was curled in on herself and shivering, a sure sign that she should vacate her seat among the canopy and return to the comfort of her bed in an attempt to get a few more hours of rest before she got up to train, her number one priority at the moment. Fuku had informed her of a mission with the Mizukage - obviously involving the both of them, as the Swordsmen of the Mist were his personal bodyguards - that would take place when he got back, and she sure as hell wasn't going to get ridiculed by the members of the group that she hadn't yet met just because she was young and not as strong. If they made the mistake of assuming that age and power were directly correlated, she would make sure they fixed that mistake. Not by antagonizing them in front of the Mizukage, which was probably the stupidest thing one could do... The chunin did not move from her perch, lost in thought. She watched the movement of dark, heavy clouds through the spaces in the leaf cover and tried to clear her mind of the darkness within. It was something she would never admit to anyone, but often her nights were haunted - her dreams plagued by the worst memories her unconscious mind could dredge up. Events she never wanted to think of again played out for her like movies upon a theater screen. It was from one of these nightmares that she had just recently awoken, another play of the events that occurred on the day that Hayate Kyoko had died. It was bad enough that she was haunted by the woman's spirit as she slept - imagining the circumstances that she had never dared to ask her teacher about, how it had all played out, how she had come to being borne back to Kiri wrapped in white. In a way, she was glad that her remains had been concealed beneath the bandages that usually found their home around the sentient Samehada. That way, her last memory of the woman could be one where she was vibrant and so alive - and it was a memory that was still painful for her to think about. The wound was still fresh. It had not yet healed over, and she had begun to doubt that it ever would. That had not been the main feature of her nightmare - rather, images of Kyoko hung in the periphery, minor characters that could do little more than watch the scenes play out. There were never any words in these dreams of hers. Mouths would move - she would remember every word clearly - but these figures that drew a pale imitation, a mockery, of people never spoke. And she had never been able to clearly figure out why. Perhaps that would make it too real for her mind to handle. She saw the two of them - Fuku and herself, ensconced in misery - walking out to their training ground. The broad grin on her face was so utterly fake - so obviously plastered on to hide the sorrow within her that it was almost painful to watch again, that feigned excitement for a spar weighed down by what had occurred just shortly before. She had taken the first swing - one that was easy to block, with little heart in it. They traded routine blows for a while, two swordsmen almost equally matched. The difference between the two was that, the longer the spar went on, the more Iku got into the fight - the more she wanted to kick his ass and show him that she was just as strong as he was. But Fuku longed to return to his solitary home and lose himself in comforts, drown in the sorrow he felt instead of pushing it away with violence. Iku didn't much like that. She began to goad him. To poke fun, to say that if he did not get his head in the game he would end up like his wife, as nothing more than a body. It was not enough to provoke any sort of serious reaction from him - but the tables were turning. She had been the one causing all the damage, but then he came back with a vengeance and scored a few good hits on her. And then she said the unforgivable - let her mouth get the best of her. No wonder you couldn't save her. The taunting had gone too far - and it sent him over the edge. What kind of thing was that to say to a person? No wonder you couldn't save her. Fuku had just.. snapped. He fused fully with Samehada and wasted no time in making her regret ever opening her mouth. His shark-like teeth buried deep in her shoulder - it was the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. It probably didn't help that she was losing chakra just from being in contact with him. If the swordsman hadn't snapped out of it, she would have died - and if he hadn't been able to get her to the hospital as fast as he had, she would have died. It was due to him that she had almost died, but he had also been her savoir - and she had to attribute her near-death as much to herself as Fuku, for provoking him to that point. What was done was done, but Iku just could not get the events out of her head. words 1158/12500 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] the air is cold and thin And then there were the events of the next day, equally rooted in the forefront of her mind - events that probably shouldn't have happened, considering the circumstances and the relationship between the two of them and a million other things. Make no mistake - she didn't regret the things that had happened between them, but a burgeoning sense of guilt came over her every time she thought about that night. The evening had started out pretty much how anyone would expect it - small talk, a meal, banter between friends. Fuku told her about his holiday and she made him promise not to go and die on her, and they just enjoyed each other's company (and Fuku's excellent cooking) for a while, and everything was good. Then he went upstairs to take a shower and she lounged on his couch and started thinking thoughts that one really shouldn't be thinking about their teacher, or probably anyone that's eight years their senior, regardless. It was a fact that Iku wasn't exactly innocent. She made dirty jokes and sexual comments all the time, both to friends and to virtual strangers, and often used said comments to distract foes or sparring partners. There wasn't any shame in using everything you had to be victorious, and in her humble opinion, she had a smoking hot body, so why not put it to some use? And she had had no less than a dozen boyfriends, although those relationships never seemed to last long enough to progress to anything more than kissing, and she'd given up on romance in her pursuit of swordsmanship. So, until a few days ago, Iku had been a virgin. And then she had had the bright idea to go peek on Fuku while he was in the shower, and of course he'd figured out that she was upstairs, and everything kind of spiraled out of her control from there. At first, his approach - and the fact that he was wearing nothing but a towel - had startled her, and she hadn't been sure whether or not she should go along with it, but her mind had said to hell with it and she'd leaned into him, submitted, and let the whole thing begin. For a long time, she had imagined that her first time would be this wonderful romantic thing with someone she really loved, that really loved her - it would be the perfect first time, and all that kind of bullshit. That was something she'd given up when she moved past that immature 'true love is real and I'll find my soul mate' thing, and she was glad she had, otherwise she might have been disappointed that it wasn't everything she'd expected. What had really happened was that Fuku ended up taking her against the wall of his shower, and damn had it been good, but it ended so fast. Before she knew it they were done and out of the shower and Fuku had laid down and fallen asleep, and she'd eventually just curled up next to him... She had to say that waking up next to Fuku was pretty nice. But they had both felt really guilty after most of the lust had passed and their desires had been satiated. It had been a mere two days since Fuku had brought Kyoko back - two days since he had been widowed - and she had gone ahead and fucked him. And man, she felt bad about it - not that she didn't plan on doing it again, a sentiment she was fairly sure that Fuku shared - it was just that they had done it so soon after her death, when they should have still been mourning... not fucking. But as with everything, what was done was done, and she couldn't take it back even if she had wanted to - which she most assuredly did not. Fuku was a damn good lay - even though she didn't really have anyone else to compare him to - and oh, the things he could do with his tongue and his fingers and, well, his everything... Iku grinned just thinking about it, some of the melancholy fading away from her. Thinking of the good times was a much more productive way to spend the early morning than thinking about things that would just get her feeling down. Heh. Like what had happened a couple days after that - Fuku had left to go train before he left, and Iku had gone over to his apartment to water some of the plants, and he had showed up, punched a hole through his door because he didn't have the key, stripped, and was walking around naked. She had heard a disturbance from upstairs and come down, thinking it was an intruder, only to be faced with naked Fuku. From the way he'd grinned at her, she must have had the most priceless expression. She'd turned red as a tomato, she knew that for certain, and she couldn't help but to stare just a little bit before rushing to leave, but not before she heard Fuku's laughter and his compliment to her self-control. Oh, if only he had known how close she was to jumping him right then and there. She was torn from her thoughts when she heard footsteps approaching her home. There was someone walking up the path with an envelope in their hand - who it might be, she couldn't tell, mostly due to the darkness. They pinned the envelope to her door with a kunai, then headed off. Very suspicious behavior, in her mind. It couldn't be anything urgent, because they wouldn't have just stuck an envelope to her door and then left if it was - they would have knocked and tried to wake her up and whatnot, and wouldn't have left until their message was delivered in person - and she doubted people were out delivering notice of missions at five thirty in the morning. So just what the hell was this for? words 2180/12500 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] thoughts are haunting me As soon as the strange person was out of sight, Iku descended from the tree and headed over to get the envelope off her door. with it safely in hand, she headed inside, out of the chilly night air, and turned on the lights in her kitchen, putting both the envelope and the kunai on the table and hanging Fuku's keys from the hook where she kept her own. She set to boiling water for some tea, the best way to warm yourself up, then sat down to read whatever message her mysterious visitor had left her. The note was neatly handwritten, and printed on some fancy stationary with swirly gold designs in all the corners - definitely not a mission assignment, and definitely not from anyone she knew. This grew more and more suspicious by the minute. Frowning, she set to actually reading it instead of analyzing every little visual aspect of it - the former was more likely to tell her who it was from than the latter, of course. Yasui Iku, You are cordially invited to attend a gathering in honor of excellent shinobi such as yourself at seven o'clock tonight. I do hope you will attend. I have wished to meet you for quite a long time. On a separate piece of paper, there were directions to the address where this party was being held, and a note that it was semi-formal. She examined both documents, but could find no signature or other indication of who had sent it anywhere on either of them. Hm. Strange indeed. Well, Iku was never one to say no to a good party, but... The circumstances surrounding this were just so damn suspicious that she half suspected that going would be walking into a trap of some sort. But to try to lure a member of the Seven Swordsmen into trap in the middle of Kirigakure? That would be stupid as hell. So she assumed it was what it said on the tin - nothing more than a simple party, albeit one that necessitated delivering invitations before dawn, for whatever strange reason. Oh well - it wouldn't hurt to at least check it out, would it? If there was anything fishy going on, she could show some people the business end of Kubikiribouchou - or leave and report it to the proper authorities. Most likely the latter, ehe. Iku was more of a fan of getting swingy than telling on people. After having a cup of green tea, Iku yawned and went back to bed to catch a few more hours of shut-eye before running errands and stuff. Maybe she would even pay a visit to her dear mother, and that damn twin of hers, if she wasn't out on a mission or whatever else she did. - - - - - Four hours later, Iku woke up - not due to the alarm clock, which she had forgotten to set, but because she had once again managed to get herself tangled up in the sheets and toppled off her bed. "Fucking hell." she muttered under her breath, engaging in a short scuffle with the sheets, from which she obviously came out on top. A short while later, after she had gotten dressed and brushed her hair to perfection, slung Kubikiribouchou over her back, and grabbed some of her cash as well as the invitation, Iku left her apartment and headed over to her mother's place. She was thinking that maybe Kazue had gotten one of these invitations too - her sister wasn't a member of the Swordsmen of the Mist, as it took a special type of awesome that the other Yasui twin just didn't possess, but she was a chunin and by no means weak. In fact, she was deadly as hell with that scythe of hers. Not as good as Iku, or as strong, but powerful in her own right. It only made sense that both would be invited, didn't it? Of course, being the person that she was, Iku didn't even bother to knock when she reached her childhood home, the one she had left as soon as she made chunin because she just didn't feel like dealing with her mother. Or her sister's jealousy and taunts. "Hellooo~ Anybody home?" she shouted, slamming the door shut behind her. "...Iku? Don't you know you're supposed to knock, dumbass? You don't live here anymore." Kazue, having heard the commotion from upstairs, where she now had sole possession of the bedroom they had shared for as long as they'd lived there, remarked as she came downstairs. "What do you want, anyway? I thought we weren't good enough for Miss Badass Swordsman." The scowl on her face was a clear indicator of just how irritated she was that Iku had shown up, although the ivory-haired twin just didn't give a damn. "Nice to see you, too, sister. Hey, did you happen to get a strange piece of mail this morning? Fancy handwritten invitation, little gold swirly things in the corners of the paper, for a party in the honor of excellent shinobi?" Iku asked, getting right down to business. Kazue's scowl became even more fierce. "If you're here to taunt me with all your fucking accomplishments, you can leave now, or I'll escort you out in a few pieces." "Hey, chill. It's a serious question. I got one and I have no idea who sent it. It wasn't signed or anything.. I was just wondering if you got one." Then Iku grinned. "But if it's a fight you want, bring it on, bitch. I think we both know who would win. After all, which one of us is a Swordsman of the Mist and has been since she was thirteen? Not you, dear sister." "Oh, that's it, you whore. Come on, I'll fight you right now, and I'll make you regret every fucking word that just came out of your mouth." Kazue snapped. "Heh, I'll deal with you later, dear." words 3198/12500 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] this will never end Having heard the commotion between her daughters, their mother entered the front room, a frown on her face. "Girls? What's going on here?" "Oh, nothing - I was just going. I won't bother with you again, I promise." Iku had taken on a sickly sweet tone and plastered a fake smile across her face. She flipped off her sister and headed right back out the door, the smile slipping away as soon as she was out of sight. She had expected that to go a little better than it had, but oh well. Once the ivory-haired twin was gone, Michi looked at her other daughter. "...what was that all about, Kazue?" she asked. Michi hadn't been the biggest part of the girls' lives ever since she had become the owner of her own restaurant, so she had missed out on most of their development and was unaware of a lot of the issues between the girls. She had always known that they fought, but never the extent of it. In fact, she hadn't known the half of it until they had the fight that caused Iku to move out. Michi willingly admitted that she was a bad mother to the girls. She'd shipped them off to the academy as soon as she was allowed to, and she spent a lot of money on genin to watch the girls so she didn't have to. She had been too preoccupied with her business, and for a while, with boyfriends and whatnot, to even bother with her daughters. Until the big fight, she hadn't known that the two had nearly killed each other in the academy - she supposed that had been the subject of one of the conferences she had never gone to - or that Kazue had had to beat up Iku to stop her from quitting, or that Iku had tried to poison Kazue with some strange concoction. Nor had she known that Iku had had the worst inferiority complex for ages, always thinking that Kazue was better just because she had more talent with weapons and taijutsu while Iku was better at the written work and whatnot. There had been a whole mess of problems right under her nose and she had been content to remain ignorant of them until they were shoved right in her fact. Iku had told her that she was a horrible mother and some other unsavory things that she would rather not think about, and she was completely right - that was what hurt the most. "Nothing that you need to be concerned with." Kazue muttered, rolling her eyes. "You never cared before, and you don't care now, so just stop pretending." Her brunette daughter pushed past her and stormed upstairs without another word. Michi was hurt, but still - Kazue had a point, even if she didn't want to admit it. She sighed and headed back into the kitchen to finish putting away the groceries without another word. words 3698/12500 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] when i'll bleed forever The outcome of her trip to see her sister had gone just about the way she had expected it to. The two of them had never gotten along, and they never would - even now, when they were both mature enough to realize that screaming and fighting wasn't the best way to go about things, that's what they did. Never in their lives had they stopped fighting; sure, there was a time when they could have almost considered each other as friends, but that didn't last. It never did. Honestly, they were at the point where Iku thought that if she and Kazue ever got along it might be a sign of the impending apocalypse. It wasn't like Iku ever did anything to encourage her sister to get along with her. Oh, no - she did exactly the opposite nine times out of ten. She always referred to Kazue by some sort of derogatory nickname - be it 'skinny bitch' (even though Iku had always been the slimmer of the two), 'the less attractive Yasui twin' (which had been and was still quite true), and a bunch of other things, most of which she didn't even remember anymore. To Kazue she'd always been the ice princess or the queen bitch or something like that. She did her best to antagonize her sister, belittle her, put her down - and Kazue did the same in return. That was just... how it worked. It had always been that way, and it always would be that way. Some things just never changed. - - - - - But now wasn't the time to get pissed off at Kazue for not even hearing her out. Now was the time to buy a nice new dress for this party. Hell, she hadn't actually worn a dress in a couple of years, since she had decided to take being a shinobi more seriously and stop acting like some sort of teenage wannabe shinobi. As a consequence, she only had a few dresses that would fit her - she'd grown four inches and put on almost twenty pounds since the last time she'd bought a dress, not that she would ever admit the latter aloud. Sure, she was still at a healthy weight, but it didn't sound good. Now, Iku had rather expensive tastes when it came to dresses and the like. So of course she headed right to the most expensive store in the village. It would make quite a dent in her savings, but that was alright. She supposed she could adopt her old motto - 'anything in the name of fashion' - for just one night, and buy whichever dress she liked best, regardless of the price. - - - - - Two and a half hours and at least six dozen dresses later, Iku had made her choice - surprisingly, the dress was both gorgeous and relatively cheap. She paid for it and left the shop with the widest grin on her face. Somehow, she had managed to find the perfect dress, and she knew that she would be the center of attention at the party. That's how gorgeous she was going to look, and you know what? Everyone else would think she was the prettiest woman there too. Iku had no doubts about that. Some might say she was a little full of herself - and they were probably right, ehe. Now, as for jewelry... Most of what she still had from when she'd been really into dressing up was kind of gaudy, so that necessitated another stop. She came away from that little venture with some nice earrings and a necklace that would compliment the dress perfectly. - - - - - Once she arrived home with her purchases, she dished out a plate of yakisoba that she'd picked up on her way back, and sat down to eat. By this time it was three thirty in the afternoon, so she only had three and a half hours to get ready for this party. While that might seem adequate for most people... Iku most certainly was not most people. After she'd scarfed down half the container and put the rest in the fridge, she headed into the bathroom to shower, discarding her clothes on the way, leaving a trail behind her. Iku didn't waste any time just relaxing under the stream of hot water from the shower head like she usually did - and now was certainly not the time to think about a few more entertaining things one could do in the shower, ehe. Once she had shaved and washed her hair and body, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, reaching for one of the fluffy purple towels that sat on the shelf. Getting her hair relatively dry - or at least not soaking wet - was the most important thing at the moment. Then she could dry off the rest of her body and get out the hair dryer. A short while later, her hair was perfection - hanging straight down, none of it wavy or sticking out at odd angles, her bangs pinned back from her face. Then it was time for makeup, which she had decided to apply before putting her dress on, just in case of any accidents. Ruining the dress she had just bought by spilling something on it was definitely not part of her plan for the day. Thankfully, she was able to fix her face without any major issues occurring - sure, she'd gotten mascara all over the counter, but that wasn't all that much of a problem. Iku had definitely saved the best for last. She put on the dress, smoothing out any creases and making sure it still fit just right, then looked in the mirror. She felt - and most definitely looked - sexy. It was a one shoulder dress, and it was short - not indecent by any means, but short nonetheless - and it was black. "Now I really understand why people like little black dresses so much." she commented to herself, grinning, as she fastened the necklace around her neck and put her new hoop earrings on. Now if only Fuku was here to see her wearing it... Hm. Perhaps she would surprise him with it when he got back from his holiday just to see what would happen, ehe. Surprisingly, she still had a little time to kill before she had to set out in order to get to the party on time. And she was grateful for it, too, because shoes had completely slipped her mind. Swearing loudly, she dug around in her closet until she found some nice heels that went with the dress - Iku probably had a pair of shoes for every occasion - and then it was time to go. It was a little odd to see a Swordsman of the Mist walking down the street in a cocktail dress and heels with Kubikiribouchou on her back. A lot of people stopped to stare, and she grinned and waved at all of them - it probably served to scare a couple of them, which just entertained her even more. words 4883/12500 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] don't acknowledge right Zero hour was quickly approaching, and to be honest, Iku was quite excited - even if she didn't know whose party she was going to or why she had been invited or anything about it at all, really - mostly because she had never before been to a party like this. Sure, she had been to plenty of parties - standard teenager stuff - but never a semi-formal adult affair like this. She was going to have to be on her best behavior, a tall order for someone like her - she didn't really have a 'good' setting, it just kind of tended to go from 'bad' to 'worse,' ehe. As she walked towards the location, stopping every so often to check that she was still following the correct path, Iku recited a small list of rules for herself. No swearing. No boasting. Don't get angry even if someone says something stupid. Under no circumstances should you take Kubikiribouchou off your back. Don't stuff your face. If there's alcohol, don't drink it. Stuff like that. She really didn't think the party's hosts would be too happy to have her if she just acted how she usually did. While her behavior was perfect for a Swordsman of the Mist, it really didn't fit in with any sort of higher society. Iku was relieved to see that she was not the first or last person to arrive; there were a few people outside, lingering on the porch or in the garden and chatting with others. She recognized a couple of them, but most of the faces she saw belonged to strangers. A few people stopped what they were doing to watch her; it wouldn't surprise her if some of the civilians in attendance had never properly seen a Swordsman of the Mist, and who was she to deny them this golden opportunity? She flashed a grin at one man, showing off her sharpened teeth. Eventually she did make it to the door, which was opened before her hand could reach the knob. "Yasui Iku! Why, I was beginning to think you would never show up." The woman that spoke was more than a little overweight, fairly, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was likely middle-aged, and judging by the size of her house and the expensive things she could already see by peering past the woman, she was rich as hell. Eh, at least she was friendly, instead of being one of those snooty rich people that Iku kind of just wanted to punch. Iku was a little puzzled, being as she hadn't been all that late - by fifteen or twenty minutes at the most, she would think - but shook the woman's proffered hand and grinned. "It's nice to meet you. Sorry I'm late, I had a little wardrobe issue." After a short pause, she spoke up again. "Uh, what's your name?" "Oh, pardon me - my name is Abe Naoko, but you can call me Nao." The woman put an arm around Iku and practically pulled her inside the mansion, intent on giving her a tour instead of letting her explore on her own. "Now, the party's taking place in the ballroom, so I'll show you that last. There's plenty more to see, you know - there's a lot of priceless paintings and pieces of pottery and things my family has been collecting for a long, long time." Nao must have taken an hour to show her around the spacious mansion. If Iku had to hear one more word about how someone from her family had known this famous artist or this amazing shinobi or whatever, she was going to go crazy and do something she would probably regret a few hours later. Or maybe not. But probably... At least, she would feel bad for getting blood all over the fucking priceless rugs. Or would she? Eh, well, it was pointless speculation, because it would be incredibly stupid to attack a civilian for annoying her. By the time Nao finally led her to the ballroom - and released her from her death grip - the place was pretty full, and the food was out. Iku's mouth began to water. Oh man, so many different foods, and so much of each... Where to start? She filled up a little plate with some appetizers, mostly veggies - Iku didn't share her twin's ridiculous passion for meat - and took it over to a table in one of the only empty parts of the room, a shadowy corner pretty close to the food, which definitely hadn't affected her decision to sit there. Nope, not at all. Well, she wasn't doing much socializing - which was kind of the point of a party like this one - but she sure was stuffing her face with everything imaginable. Eventually Nao came over and joined her with her own portion in tow. "Do you like the food, dear?" "So much food... Think I maybe ate too much." Iku muttered, resting her head on the table. "Whoever cooked all of this deserves a medal." If there was anything left by the time the party was over, she was most definitely going to try to take some with her. "Oh, well, we hired the best chefs in the elemental nations. We spared no expense in making sure that our guests got the best of everything here." Nao grinned at her and tore a piece of teriyaki chicken off a skewer. "We?" Iku inquired, tapping her fingers on the table and contemplating going for some more dessert even though she was pretty much stuffed. "Oh, me and my husband, of course! Haven't you met him yet?" Nao asked, frowning. "I wonder why he hasn't come out to meet you yet; he sounded so eager to meet you at last." "Huh. Where do you think he's at? I'm pretty much done eating, so I wouldn't mind going to find him. I mean, you would have to tell me what he looked like and all, but I'd be happy to." Iku offered. Nao seemed to consider it, but before she could reply someone spoke. "That won't be necessary." The chunin turned to look at him, and froze, eyes wide with shock. "It's nice to finally meet you, Iku-chan." Hair as white as freshly fallen snow. Blood red eyes. A slim but muscular build. If he had longer hair and breasts, he could pass for an older version of Iku. "Hello, father." words 5987 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] just dwell on wrong "I'm sorry I wasn't around before, Iku-chan. But you've grown into such a fine young woman even without my help." He had a broad smile on his face, and had approached her, arms open wide - as if he expected her to greet him with affection and love and some bullshit like that. "To think - my daughter, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Such a prestigious position at such a young age. I'm quite proud of you." Iku had never met her father until this moment. He had left her mother when the twins were only a few months old because he couldn't stand living in poverty and working for everything he had. He'd run off with some broad that was twice his age and richer than he could ever dream of being, and never spoke to the mother of his children again. Iku had never wanted to meet him, being that he was a scumbag of the highest degree. See, despite her faults, Iku couldn't hate her mother. She had had to raise two children on her own starting from when she was eighteen, and with very limited help from her parents financially. She had worked two jobs and had to shell out some of her hard-earned cash to get someone to watch the twins because her parents wouldn't even do that. Michi had done everything she could to make sure the girls had a good life, even if that meant throwing herself so fully into her work that she didn't have any time left for her children. As bad as growing up with an absentee mother had been, it was better than starving or not having anywhere to live at all, and she and Kazue had both grown into respectable people. But her father didn't have any excuses. He had gotten tired of his girlfriend and his kids and having to get off his lazy ass and work for his money, and he had dumped her as soon as it was convenient for him. Michi found out that he'd been having an affair with an older, much wealthier woman, and ran off to get married to her so he could life his life in comfort and never have to worry about going without. He hadn't given a single thought to how the three of them would fare without him. He had been a skilled carpenter and his pieces went for a lot more than Michi could make in a day as a waitress. He could have helped out - he could have made sure that Michi didn't have to work twelve hours or more every day. Even if he didn't want anything to do with her, he was a huge part of how she had ended up in the situation she was in, and he should have taken some sort of responsibility for his actions. But he had run off like a spineless fucking coward and left Michi to fend for herself - so he could live in the lap of luxury and have expensive tastes and not have to worry about other people. Iku hated him more than she hated anyone or anything else. It was his fault that everything had been all fucked up. If he'd just stayed with them, helped Michi raise the twins - maybe Iku would feel some sort of connection to her family that ran deeper than just blood. Maybe she would be able to honestly say she had loving parents, and maybe she and Kazue could have - Perhaps it was wrong to blame everything that had gone sour on him. But at that moment, Iku didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that this stupid son of a bitch had the audacity to come up to her after sixteen years of not being there and pretend that everything was okay. Well, he was about to find out that it most certainly wasn't. "You disgust me." Iku stood up and faced him, looking up into his eyes. "You're a worthless son of a bitch - don't you dare call me your daughter. You never wanted anything to do with me - and what, now that I have this special position I'm suddenly worth your time? Don't waste your breath trying to convince me that you're sorry. If you were sorry, you never would have left us like that. You wouldn't have ignored the fact that my sister and I exist for the past sixteen years." Iku itched to punch him in the face. She really, really did. And the tenuous thread that kept her anger confined to words instead of actions was about to snap. words 6783 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN

[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] this spot in hell's where i belong The smile quickly slipped off the man's face. "You've been listening to your mother, haven't you? She never did care for my side of the story." he murmured, shaking his head. "You're saying you had a good reason to abandon us? There's no good reason for that!" Iku snapped, drawing the attention of a few nearby guests. Naoko pushed her way in between the two. "Please, there's no need to fight." She tried to pull Kunio away from Iku - a wiser decision than the other way around, being that an angry Iku didn't have much regard for anyone that got in her way. "Kunio, leave her alone. Stop this nonsense." "Naoko. I suggest you get out of the way before I do something I'll regret." Iku said quietly. "This is a private discussion and you don't have any business being a part of it." Reluctantly, the woman let go of her husband and returned to the party, deciding to let the discussion run its course. Of course, if she had known just how close Iku was to snapping on Kunio, she likely would have insisted on dragging him away with her and making Iku leave. Unfortunately for her husband, she didn't. "Now, as for you..." She turned on Kunio, eyes narrowed. "How dare you have the audacity to say you had a good reason for leaving your girlfriend and children so poor they could barely survive even with her parents' help?" "Iku-chan, calm down and -" "Fuck that! No, I will not calm down." Iku's voice was loud enough that she'd drawn the attention of most of the people in the room. Their own conversations died out as they watched the two, excitement in their eyes. People loved drama, didn't they? "I cannot believe you. You're a worthless, arrogant, greedy son of a bitch and I'll die before I let you claim me as your daughter. You don't deserve someone like me." "Iku -" He stepped forward, reaching for her - an attempt to placate her gone horribly wrong. Iku didn't just brush him aside, or smack his hand away. She shoved him into the way, pulled Kubikiribouchou off her back, and pinned him there, leaving him with the knowledge that if she had any less control over her anger - which was hard to imagine - his body would currently be without a head. As it was, he was still perilously close to the sharp blade - a single movement by either of them and it would be all over for Kunio. "Now, you listen here. Don't say a word or you're going to get it." Iku snapped. "Your greed makes me sick. I bet I know exactly why you wanted so badly to meet me. You think that, now that I'm somebody and I have some kind of status, I'm worth having around. Isn't that right? Now that I can maybe do something for you, you're so happy to have a daughter and you love me so much. What about my sister? Is she not good enough because she's just a hunter-nin? Shouldn't we matter to you equally, if you just want to know your daughters?" He couldn't look her in the eye any longer. It was so telling. She'd hit the nail on the head. She just couldn't believe that he was that shitty of a person - oh, wait, yes, she very much could. He had left her mother for money, and now he wanted to be in her life because he had some delusion that her being one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist made her ultra-rich or some bullshit like that. "You're a shallow, worthless bastard, and I'm ashamed to know you're my father." Pulling her sword away from him, she turned around. "I never want to hear from you again. Don't even think about it. If I even so much as her your name in relation to me, you might well be a dead man." She turned and strode out of the ballroom, stormed through the hallways, and left the mansion, leaving a crowd of stunned people and one terrified but very relieved Kunio behind. words 7504 kazue | michi | kunio

MADE BY AKEMI OF BTN