The Karate Kid (Emily)

[seishounohana]

"He wouldn't leave Militia." She said. There were still things about "Unfettered" that were still a mystery to her, but she knew that Militia meant a lot to him. As to how he suddenly had lost his willpower to leave Militia like that confused Emily beyond belief. She knew him better than that. He was a leader by heart, and had a stronger will than her own.

Emily was listening somberly to Ryuu's discussion when a girl came over. She was quite pretty, and Emily wondered if it was Ryuu's sister. Emily gave her a little polite wave, slightly blushing when she was called Ryuu's girlfriend. Of course she wasn't - Emi was. "Y-yo-yoroshiku O-onega-gaishimasu." She said, bowing quickly. Emily looked up though, and watched Kyoko leave the kitchen with a bowl of Gyudon. Emily sighed. She wasn't used to meeting family of her friends. In fact, she slightly envied Ryuu for being so close to his sister.

"And that was my onee-chan, Kyoko Hikari. Sorry, she's quite shy around people she doesn't know, she has a hard time opening up, besides our dad, I'm probably the only person she'll ever open up to."

Emily smiled meekly and resumed eating, "I'm glad you're close to her though. Not a lot of siblings are like that nowadays."

[Ryuu]

"I know," Ryuu agreed, nodding his head, "I haven't met him, but he sounds like the type to not just give up and walk away from a dream he wants to see fulfilled. I guess I could say I'm like that too. I would never give up on my dreams, I would chase them forever if I have to, to see them fulfilled. My dream for this school, is for not only me, but my class, as well as the future generations, to finish the senior year and graduate in peace. But maybe I'm giving myself too much credit. Perhaps others have different opinions of me, I wouldn't know. But you can't help but wish for peace, no matter how short it is." Kyoko then came walking in, as he saw Emily give her polite wave, before she blushed slightly at Kyoko's comment. Ryuu wanted to palm his face at this moment. "Y-yo-yoroshiku O-onega-gaishimasu." Kyoko bowed back shyly to Emily, before straightening up and leaving the kitchen, as he heard Emily sigh, and turned back to face her, looking slightly curious at her.

"Are you alright?" Ryuu asked, as he saw Emily smile meekly before she resumed eating, as she told him she was glad he was close to his sister, since not a lot of siblings were like that these days. "We were born only one year apart," Ryuu replied, after he had swallowed the piece of pork he had picked up with his chopsticks, "The two of us had grown up with each other, we've been through almost everything together, including when our mom died. She's the most important person to me, besides my dad. She was the one who looked after me ever since I was little. Here," Ryuu said, as he pulled out his wallet from the pocket of his pants, and flipped it open, a photo of him, Kyoko, their mother, and their father, when Ryuu was 6 and Kyoko was 7, the two of them flashing the three finger sign consisting of their thumb, index, and middle finger extended up, their arms hanging over each other in the clear plastic cover, and slid his wallet across the table to Emily, "You can take a look if you wish, I don't mind."

[seishounohana]

Emily nodded, slightly still embarrassed even after Kyoko left. After all, she had called her Ryuu's girlfriend and all, but meh... she probably hadn't seen Emi yet. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, "Meeting a friend's family is something I'm not used to. I've probably lived alone for a bit too long."

The white-haired girl sighed and took a bite of her food again, smiling as she listened to Ryuu. He passed her a picture, where in which she laid her chopsticks horizontally on her plate and picket up the wallet. She smiled and merely remarked, "You are such a cutie as a kid, you know that?" She chuckled, before passing the wallet back. "I'm quite surprised, you're quite a family sort of guy. Most guys around school are not exactly like that."

Emily rolled her eyes mockingly, oh the boys at school. They were after power, girls, or maybe even both. Emily's own aesthetics when it came to school was to just live out her high school life the best she could, possibly even excel. She sighed, maybe she should return the favor. "I don't exactly have a picture of my families with me, I have them by an altar at home."

Why else? Almost all of them were dead. Rem? Missing. It was an empty house that Emily tried to look forward going home to. Then again, School and work had kept her from such thoughts. One could wonder if she does these things on purpose to stop herself from feeling bad about herself. "I do have a picture of myself when I was younger though." She said, passing him her own wallet. It was actually a white cloth-covered wallet that she had painted a copy of Mika Kamakura's drawing of Sailor moon on with fabric paint a few years back. It was slightly dulled now due to the age, but it displayed a lot of Emily's talents. She loved Shoujo manga, namely works by Naoko-sama and Mika-sama. "Here you go." She said. "That was a picture of me during a festival. Tousan took that of me. I remember him saying that it was the most honest smile I've ever shown him."

She laughed for a moment, before it died out and she continued to eat. That was one memory forced out of her mouth.

[Ryuu]

"I see..." Ryuu replied, nodding his head at Emily, "Don't worry about it, Kyoko doesn't come downstairs very often, unless it's to eat, or she's going out." Ryuu laughed quietly and pretended to be embarrassed at Emily's comment, as he took back his wallet and placed it back in his pocket. "My father and older sister are all I have in this world, they're very important to me, and I care about them more than anything else." Ryuu shrugged casually, most, if not all the guys in the school, would never admit that to anyone at any given time. They were more concerned about wanting power, or girls, or both. Ryuu just wanted to get through high school, do his absolute best, and graduate peacefully. You know, be a normal high school student. Sure, he wanted to get stronger, but it wasn't for the sake of just being strong, he wanted strength to be able to protect those he cared deeply about.

"That's okay, it's quite alright," Ryuu replied sincerely, as he saw Emily pull out her own wallet, which had an amazing picture of Sailor Moon painted on it, and handed it to him. Ryuu smiled at the picture of Emily, it was back when she had black hair. "You look cute as a kid in this picture, especially in that kimono. I remember attending festivals when I was a kid, I know I have a picture somewhere," Ryuu said, as he dug into his wallet once more, before pulling out a faded picture of out, and handed it to Emily, "Here, this was me dressed in my festival clothing. I wore it to every festival we went to, especially the Cherry Blossom festival. I remember my dad telling me I was a pretty active kid when I was young, always energetic." He laughed with Emily, before handing the wallet back to her. "I think he was right, your smile in the photo does look completely genuine and sincere." You'd never think that based on the photos shown, both Ryuu and Emily would end up with such tragic pasts, though Emily's was more tragic than Ryuu's was. Picking up his bowl once more, Ryuu finished off his dinner, before standing up. "Gochisōsama." He said, before picking up his plates, and if Emily was finished, hers as well, before heading to the sink, and began to wash the plates.

Once he had finished washing the plates, he let them dry in the dish rack, before pulling out a dish cloth, and began to wipe them dry, before putting them away. He then looked up at the clock mounted on the wall, taking note of the time. "... Look at the time. How about I walk you home, 'kay? I need to work off all the shogayaki I ate, plus, it's a nice warm evening outside, and a walk doesn't sound half bad."

[seishounohana]

A little more chit-chat, washing the dishes, then a walk home? Tempting. Emily hadn't yet said no yet and he gave reasons why he should take her home. Oh well, at least he'll find out where she had lived, right? Might as well have an exchange of addresses. She chuckled, "Fine, fine. I'll let you walk me home this once." She didn't know it was going to become a habit every time they trained. "I guess. Don't get used to it though, people at school are gonna talk if someone from school sees us walking together all the time."

She just laughed, but yeah - people have mouths faster than their feet.

[Ryuu]

"I'm so honored Your Highness," Ryuu replied, even going so far as to bow teasingly to Emily, "I get to be your escort for one evening." Ryuu too wouldn't realize this would happen every time they trained with each other. "Don't worry about it, it's not like it's going to happen every time," Ryuu laughed, "But then again, rumors do spread around the school like wildfire." Once he finished wiping the dishes, he hung the dish cloth up, before turning to Emily. "Ready to go? Still have your bokuto?" Once she answered, Ryuu would then walk out of the kitchen, and head to the front door, before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

He then wait for Emily to go out, before following after he, and pulled the door shut, locking it with his key. "Lead the way boss." Ryuu said, giving her a casual salute with his left hand, as he walked beside her, enjoying the warm evening spring breeze. His hands in his pockets, Ryuu walked past people who were enjoying an evening walk, kind of like he was right now. "Hey... you mentioned the word families. That means you had more than one family? I know Rem is your brother, but isn't his last name Aoyama? So that would make your last name... Never mind, forget about it," Ryuu said quickly, shaking his head, as he continued to walk down the sidewalk, the sun was setting, as it nearly dipped below the horizon, "It's none of my business anyways."

[seishounohana]

"Why, thank you Sir Hikari." She teased back, doing a courtesy as if she was wearing some dress. "And yes, I have it." Emily showed him the bokutou in her hand before nodding. They would quickly leave the house and headed off into the dim, orange-red lit streets of San Francisco.

"Hey... you mentioned the word families. That means you had more than one family? I know Rem is your brother, but isn't his last name Aoyama? So that would make your last name... Never mind, forget about it, It's none of my business anyways."

Emily laughed, giving Ryuu a light poke on the shoulder as they walked. "Nah, I guess I can tell you." She said, "Rem and I were both adopted by the Aoyamas when I was 6. Previous to that I had one... "family" and after the Aoyamas got ambushed I was... "adopted" by some people here in California. Somewhere around Fullerton." She shrugged, "Rem kept his Japanese name when he came here to the US, but when I left my last caretakers I decided to go by my birth name. I'd tell you more, but I think It may bore you, My life story's quite long."

[Ryuu]

"Right then," He replied, nodding at her, "Then let's get going." They then quickly left the house, as Ryuu began to ask her something, but stopped. "Hey," He exclaimed teasingly, as he poked her back lightly on her shoulder a couple times, "What was that for?" They continued to walk, as Ryuu listened to Emily tell him a bit about her past, regarding her family life. "Nah, you can tell me if you want, I promise I won't fall asleep, start drooling, and snore, not that I could even do all three, especially when I'm standing up, AND walking on top of it," Ryuu replied, even holding his right hand up like he was being sworn into court, "Scout's honor." He then lowered his arm, before stopping at the end of the block, as cars drove past them.

"I wouldn't mind hearing about it, even if it's long, that's fine with me." Once it was clear, Ryuu crossed the intersection, and walked down the sidewalk. "You already heard about my tragic past, well, about my mom dying... She was killed by a sniper shot..." Ryuu said quietly, as he smiled sadly, his eyes filled with sadness. "She was murdered when I was only six years old at the time. Not the greatest memory for a six year old kid. My dad ended up in a coma, and woke up when I was 16, after Kyoko took care of me for 10 years. It wasn't easy for her, looking after her little brother, especially since she was only seven when she started to look after me, but I'm glad to have her. And that's my tragic past summed up. Your turn!"

[seishounohana]

Emily was silent as Ryuu gave his share. Though his life was somewhat tragic, Emily's own tragedies seem to outdo Ryuu's own. He said his life story, and it was only upon courtesy that she shared with him her own. Emily looked down, focusing on where they were going, hopefully not going in circles. "When I was 4 my parents died in a fire. They threw me out of the window to save my life, but I hit my head bad against the ground. For someone who fell three floors down, I guess it wasn't so bad that I got some brain damage instead of dying."

Emily shrugged, the two passed by another street. "I was treated at a hospital before I was taken into my first Family. I don't remember who they were, but they weren't exactly very pleased with me. I remember they used to threaten to have the dog bite me to shreds if I don't steal or sell cigarettes on the street for them. By the time I became seven, they got fed up and sold me to a Japanese couple. The Aoyamas were a political family who made their state visit in the Philippines at that time." She smiled, remembering that part of her life. "They took care of me well, and gave me the name "Kari". I was kinda afraid and unsure at that time, so I was quite withdrawn, I never really talked until I needed to. I was afraid I'd disappoint them, but tousan introduced me into manga and taught me to draw. I guess ever since then that had been the only way for me to express how I felt about things."

Emily then looked up at the sky, noting how pretty the colours were as it blended into gradients of red, indigo, orange and black. "We lived in Sapporo for a while before Tousan became uh... part of the house of representatives? I forgot. We moved to Tokyo, and that's where we got ambushed. I ... saw them die, and almost did too. Someone just decided to have pity on me and let me bleed at the street. Rem was on some sort of school trip the, so he wasn't there. I was then taken away to the US and given to some people here to be adopted. I wasn't really lucky, turns out they were part of some syndicate who adopt children to force them into..." She paused, slightly embarrassed. "... Ch-child pornography. They had people in the adoption agencies who pick out their victims and purposely legalize adoption regardless if they were capable or not."

She did not dare look at Ryuu at this point. Though it seemed as if Emily's own prettiness had gotten her into some sort of trouble. "I was a bit psycho that time, and I defended myself by ... killing them. I murdered them, Ryuu. I'm afraid I don't have the heart to tell you how, but I did." her voice was slightly solemn, even as she continued. "You know Layla from school? Layla Clavering? Her boyfriend, Shinichi Aoyama was a lawyer my uncle, and basically helped me though the lawsuit that was filed against me. At that point, I was afraid I might've been cursed - going though all sorts of things, in my life."

She laughed, "That probably was the case, since Shinichi died just a few hours after Marrying Layla. A car crash killed him, and made Ms. Clavering paraplegic. I felt it was my fault, and I ran away and started living on my own, selling manga and artwork for a living. That's it, basically."

[Ryuu]

Ryuu was silent the entire time Emily told him life story, telling him everything about her past. When she got to the part about be given away to some people who ended up being part of syndicate dealing in child pornography, instead of becoming embarrassed, Ryuu smiled kindly at Emily, who didn't want to look at him at this point, as she went on to tell him she killed the people who adopted her. She murdered them. But that, along with the fact she had been exploited in child pornography, still failed to change what Ryuu thought of Emily. She would always be the same Emily he met back then. "That's... Wow Emily, I don't know what to say," Ryuu said after she had finished, "That's crazy. I'm sorry about losing both your families though. I can't imagine how hard it must've been for you." Ryuu gave Emily a reassuring but sad smile.

"And I thought my life was messed up, yours was even worse. But you know what? I don't think you're cursed, at least to me you're not. Things happen, things that you have no control over, or begin to understand how or why it happened. But you're not alone now, you have me as a friend now. Yes, you're my superior in Militia, but I'd like to believe the relationship we have with each other goes past beyond being mere acquaintances." Ryuu shrugged his shoulders casually, as he continued to walk down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. "But things will happen, things that none of us have any control over, especially being in a gang and all. But I do know one thing. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. I can't promise injuries won't be inflicted on me, and I definitely know I won't always be there to help you, but the times I am with you, I can at least make sure you're not hurt direly."

[seishounohana]

"I try not to think about it, Ryuu." Emily told him, making a turn to the right as they made their way to be closer to Emily's house - or shall we say, townhouse. "What's done is done; I guess I kinda want to be a nurse or doctor to forgive myself - by giving life to those in danger of having it taken from them. Something like that, haha!"

She shrugged, her hands now at her pockets and searching for her keys. It was an easy find, considering how she doesn't exactly put much of stuff in her pockets. Emily looked at Ryuu though, more than acquaintances? Part of Emily was suspicious. Friends maybe? Hmm, that got Emily thinking. Maybe she'd ask later. She just laughed and smiled at Ryuu, "I believe I can protect myself well enough, thank you." She laughed, until it died off. Yes, they were in front of her "house."

She stopped by the door, "Would you like to come in, maybe see the pictures I had of my Families?" She offered, "After all, I owe you that much for letting me see yours, not to mention letting me eat at your place."

She just shrugged. Emily wasn't used to the "We'll visit each other's house thing", and she was actually quite nervous.

[Ryuu]

"Yeah, dwelling on it won't really do much, except maybe make you depressed," Ryuu agreed, as they turned right and continued on, "Well, no matter what reason it may be, if that's what you want to do, then by all means, go for it." He saw her hands rummage through her pockets, probably looking for something, as he saw from the corner of his eye Emily look at him, as he looked back with a confused look on his face, if this was an anime, he'd have a big 'ol question mark hovering above his head right now. "I know, I know. You're tough, no doubt about it, just saying." He replied, holding his hands up innocently as he heard Emily laugh, before her laughter died off.

A couple minutes later, they now stood in front of her place, stopping in front of her door. "Um, sure..." Ryuu replied, slightly unsure, "... You don't owe me anything, I was the one who invited you over after all." With that said, Ryuu would wait until Emily unlocked the door and opened it, before stepping in after her, though he stayed hovering near the entrance, partly because he wasn't used to the whole, "You visited my place, now I get to visit your place," situation, and was understandably nervous about it. "Um... nice place..." He commented, looking up and around from the spot he was utterly rooted to, kind of refusing to budge, unless Emily asked him to move that is.

[seishounohana]

"Thanks," She said. "I worked hard to earn enough to buy this. Being a mangaka is tough; dunno if I should've retired."

Emily's house was quite well decorated and spacious for just one person, everything seemed in place in spite of having just a few stuff. The girl walked towards a sliding door. It didn't seem to go anywhere until Emily unlocked it with a key and slid it to the side, revealing a little shrine that had two photographs as the centerpieces. On the left was an old picture of the Delos Santos' and on the right were the Aoyamas. Emily bowed to them and looked at Ryuu. "This is my family." She said, "... the only ones I have - besides Militia that is."

[Ryuu]

Ryuu shrugged casually at Emily, as he continued to look around, but froze when part of what she had said registered in his mind. "You were a mangaka?" He asked, looking a bit dumb-founded. "I wonder if I read any of your published works..." He mused to himself, gripping his chin in a thinking manner as he saw Emily walk towards a sliding door that looked like it didn't lead to anywhere, that is, until she unlocked it with a key and slid the door to the side, revealing a shrine on the other side of the door. Ryuu slipped off the sandals he had worn and walked towards the shrine, his bare feet padding softly against the floor, as he stopped beside Emily. He saw two pictures that made up the center piece, and he could only assume the people in the pictures were Emily's families. He saw her bow to them from the corner of his eye, before turning to him, as he turned his head to look at her, and nodded as she confirmed what he thought, the people in the pictures were her families.

"Yeah," Ryuu replied, as he nodded and gave Emily a rare smile, "You'll always have us who belong to Militia, to watch your back. We'll always be there for you, no matter what, including me..." Ryuu trailed off, before realizing what his words sounded like, and quickly turned, facing the shrine once more, blushing slightly. "If you don't mind...? I want to send my greetings to your family, both of them." He asked, as he knelt down in front of the shrine, bowing to them, before picking up the picture of Emily's biological parents, looking down at it. "You look a lot like your mother, Emily. She's very beautiful, and she looks intelligent." Ryuu then placed the picture back on the shrine, and stood back up. "I'm sure both of your families are extremely proud of you, and will continue to watch over you, even though they're gone."

[seishounohana]

Emily nodded. "Yeah," She said. "I had a few serials on Kondansha and some freelance stuff before I retired. I can give you a copy of it if you want." She said, looking at her parents. She just smiled at the comment about her mother being beautiful and intelligent. Emily couldn't tell, she was just four when they died. "I don't know. I was just four when they died. I don't remember a thing about them." She laughed softly to herself, "My aunt told me the same thin- wait, I look like my mother? You must think I'm very pretty then."

Emily laughed. Well, it was more of a joke, actually.

"My father was a second-in-command of a gang in his age. I guess I was more or less like him in that aspect." Emily looked at her hands. "As I am right now, I'm still partial about stepping up and taking over Militia for until "Unfettered' arrives - if he arrives. I have a feeling that a storm is coming, and until I'm sure about what we're up against, I can't pull any strings."

Emily was an observer type, and preferred to have information about things before doing anything significant. She didn't realize that she would face Gabriel later than week and end up in the hospital again.