Post by Oni Kymiku on May 23, 2015 19:14:57 GMT -5
Click here to view the events that take place just prior to this in "All In The Family"
My heart raced inside my chest until I watched my sister’s plane finally go wheels up as Nyako and SoLo left the city and the immediate reach of my twin brother. I had not seen either of them off directly, especially after the massive blow-up at Nyako’s apartment earlier in the day. I had been too pissed off…and too afraid to be near them afterwards. I was so mad that I could hardly see straight…but I was also scared shitless at the fact that my brother had just so freely walked into America and come right to Nyako’s apartment as if the events of the last few years had not happened. In a single day, all of my lies and thoughts of protection had been completely undone.
Senji had presented himself to Nyako as the concerned little brother who only wanted to find the big sister he had lost so many years ago. He had played off the fact that I had told my sister how bad he was…agreeing that it was in fact the case, but he had only done what was needed to survive in the world of the Yakuza. Though he had assumed our father’s mantle, he was not what our father had become…at least not completely. I didn’t know how much of this Nyako had believed, but the fact that she had listened to him at all made me think that she was willing to consider even a sliver of his madness.
I had known slick liars and tricksters in my time. Since being in LAW, I had witnessed them myself. Violet was one of the worst…well…one of the best, depending on how you looked at it. The woman had managed to turn Sidney Grey’s own daughter against her without much effort at all…and with zero conscious. There was a time when I was just as bad…maybe even worse. I had manipulated people into committing the most heinous of crimes and I had just as quickly forgotten about them once I had used them for my own selfish agendas. As bad as I had been, Senji was on a whole different level. They called me Oni…a demon…who else can manipulate a demon, but the Devil himself. Senji was the Devil…of that I had little doubt.
My twin brother had always been the weak one. He was so frail when we were first born, it was as if I had been overly nourished in our mother’s womb and he was left with little or nothing of the leftovers. I was born first, strong and healthy…hardly crying at all, glad to be brought into the world. My brother came last…all but dribbling out and wailing like a broken fire engine siren that couldn’t be silenced. I was told that he cried for a week straight and everyone wanted to take him outside and drown him in the river, but my mother refused to let him out of her sight. Lucky for him…unlucky for the rest of us.
Nyako protected Senji whenever our mother wasn’t around, which wasn’t very often, but happened upon occasion. Perhaps that is why he took to her more than me. Our bond was genetic…their bond was one of the spirit. I was jealous of their relationship…but I had no desire to have a suckling runt attached to my hip as if I were his mother. In that, Nyako excelled and I appreciated her for it.
By the time our father spirited Senji and I away from Nyako and our mother, he should have been old enough to deal with the change…but he was more of a sniveling coward than before. In Japan, I made sport of teasing him without mercy, hounding him to tears on a daily basis. Our father was beside himself with anger and disappointment, but he never gave up on the outside chance that Senji would grow into a man one day. Eventually…he did and of course it was all because of a woman.
Senji, in typical fashion could not have made a worse choice if he had tried. She was a Doujin…a dirt person…what our father called blacks. Her name was Jinee Nixon, otherwise called Jinx. Even now, I have no memory of how she came into our house or what person she was to serve. I suppose it isn’t important, but what was, was that my brother was instantly smitten with her. Perhaps it was because she was so different from the other girls in looks and manner. Despite my father’s protests, he sought out every opportunity to be around her and in time, their friendship became something more.
Our father was in a rage over this…but for whatever the reason, he never lifted a hand or commanded that anyone do away with her…in a permanent sense. Maybe he knew it was devastate Senji or perhaps there was something more to it. This is also a mystery I am likely never to solve. All I know is that my father made his intentions clear to me…not with words, but with a look. Jinx was to be parted from my brother…and I was to be his agent in so doing.
Fiend of a child that I was, I delighted in tormenting Jinx in any way that I could. My attempts to drive a wedge between them consumed my every spare moment. Failure never angered me…it merely drove me to new and more vile schemes. In the end, I finally succeeded in this by only the most heinous of acts. In fact, it is a stain upon my soul that can never be erased and it is likely the karma that now tints all that has happened since.
To elude my father’s watchful eye, Senji and Jinx had planned out several secret meeting places for their romps together. It took me several months to find them all and learn their schedule, but time was my ally and patience was my most secret of weapons. I keenly diverted Senji from one of their scheduled trysts, delaying his arrival to a time of my choosing. I had a delivery made to Jinx from my brother of her favorite chocolates that I knew she would eat without him since he was delayed. It didn’t take long for the extra ingredients I had added to take effect, rendering her babbling and confused mess. What I did next…it shames me to remember it.
I had struck a bargain with a young admirer of mine from a rival clan…a favor, for a favor. He showed up and made sport out of taking Jinx in ways that my brother had never even thought of. He savaged her and I watched it all from hiding, seeing as my plan played out to perfection. Senji arrived right when I planned…and the sight that greeted him pushed him over the edge. I expected tears…lots and lots of tears. He was a crybaby after all and a wimp, so what else could there possibly be? More than I expected…
Senji flew into a violent rage and he savagely beat my admirer…to the point where I was released from the terms of our brokered agreement. I had never seen a beating like that dispensed so violently. Jinx suffered similarly…to a point. I think that his love for her was such that he could not completely violate her beauty, such as it was. Still…he beat her without mercy and their bond was broken.
She didn’t leave the picture immediately…he took too much pleasure in seeing her pain. He used her for his needs and he teased her with the idea that he would stop beating her…but he never did. Eventually, he grew tired of it and she disappeared. I didn’t know if he had killed her or if she had run away…it didn’t matter either way, the ends had been achieved and my father had got his wish…and in turn, I was justly rewarded with having all of my nightmares made real.
The Senji we all knew was no more and in his place was a tyrant…a vicious brute that even my father grew to respect…and later fear. Without Jinx to indulge his vicious nature, he found his pleasure in abusing the other girls of the house. At first, I joined in with him, taking pleasure in the notion that he and I were now growing closer than he and Nyako ever had. There in lay the joke of it all, his attachment ran far deeper than I knew. In time, I saw his savage nature up close and personal. He told me that he knew what I had done to him and Jinx…and he thanked for it, the best way he knew how…
I was in the hospital for almost three months…and he visited me each and every day to torment me and remind me of how badly he missed me. He couldn’t wait for me to come home…and all I wanted to do was die. I didn’t die…but when I finally went home, I was very sorry that I hadn’t died.
I lived with my brother’s barbarism for years. I ran away…he found me and made me sorry. I tried to kill myself…he stopped me and killed my friends to show me what a sad thing it was to be dead and gone. Eventually, I learned my place and I learned to live with his cruelty. I became like him and together we were a fearsome duo and in time the entire clan was bent to our will and whim. Our father’s control began to slip and that was like blood in the water for Senji.
Needless to say…Senji took his place before our father was ready to leave it. Many were surprised, but none were stupid enough to speak of it. Senji’s mind turned to expansion of the clan and consolidation of power. It was also during this time that he developed a keen interest on Nyako and returning her to the fold.
Senji spared little expense to find her, but fortunately he was always a step or two behind. I had thought that he would never find her, but at last he did. She had become a professional wrestler in the United States in an all-woman’s federation. He knew that family stood a better chance of returning her, so my training began and I was sent to the states to bring her back.
My mission was clear…get next to her, win her trust, then bring her back to the family. I was perfect for the job and everything would have gone like clockwork, but surprise of surprises, who do I run into, but a ghost from the past…Jinx. At the sight of me, the girl went into a panic…thinking that my brother was after her. It was all that I could do to secure her and guarantee her silence, as not to scare away my sister.
I found myself becoming my brother as I subjugated Jinx, just the way that he had done. His cruelty became my own and before long old habits began anew. Cruelty became a game to me, with Jinx and my long lost sister. I was like a missile with a broken guidance system, I no longer knew what my target was…and I no longer cared.
My strangeness drove Nyako away and she fled from me. Even Jinx escaped my grasps and soon I was nothing more than a rudderless ship, drifting aimlessly in a far away land. It was then that I realized that the path I had been set upon was wrong and I needed to change. I kept my brother at bay with false updates about my progress in finding our sister. I was content to continue to mislead him for the rest of our lives as I ignored his pleas for me to return to Japan. Instead, I insisted that I was close to having our sister and that always brought me more time…until Sidney Grey.
Grey learned of my family connection to Nyako and she thought that if she could track me down and get us together…it would get the heat off of her. All she did was alert my brother to Nyako’s presence in LAW and before I knew it I was thrust back into the mix. This time, I did what I could to change and be her protector here…though I wasn’t ready to tell her everything about what had become of her family.
In my stupidity…I became comfortable with the new reality of having REAL family around. Nyako, SoLo, and even Alex Yin…along with that, there were the other additions of Serizawa and Miyoko Oshiro. I forgot my life back in Japan and I cut my ties with my brother completely. I was content in the knowledge that he would never see us again…we were beyond his reach.
The first inkling that that was not true was the revelation that Serizawa was really an agent for my brother. Taking a page right out of my brother’s playbook, Serizawa orchestrated an attack on SoLo and was ‘conveniently’ there for the save. She earned trust, allies, and was as close to us as any sister. I should have seen her coming a mile away…but I was as blind as a bat in my happiness. Uzai found out about Serizawa’s duplicity, but the damage had been done and she was gone before I could do anything about it. Senji knew as much about my sisters and I than if he had been living right hear among us the entire time.
By all rights, I should have told my sister what was going on. I should have warned her about Senji…but I stupidly hoped that his influence would be reserved to watching through underlings. Today that illusion was shattered like a mirror dropped from the top of the Empire State Building. Senji was more than a pair of eyes and ears attached to a stranger sent into our midst…he was flesh and blood, and he had been standing in my sister’s living room.
I needed to clear my mind and develop a course of action. With Nyako and SoLo out of town, I could derive some comfort out of the fact that I was now his only target until they returned. If I could deal with him while they were at Validation…once they returned, they would be safe from him. That meant that for me…there would be no defense of my title. Just like Evie Taylor…I was going to be leaving my belt in the center of the ring, and depriving Fujiko Mine of her opportunity to try to take it from me.
The very thought of that put a knot in my stomach that made me want to vomit, but what other choice did I have? I didn’t know Mine from a hole in the ground, so family had to come first, still…I respected the woman for what she was set on accomplishing. I was set on stopping her from achieving her goals, but not in the same malicious way I had set out to defeat Mackenzie Roberts. This was about legacy…and I needed to secure mine. I would apologize to her…if I lived long enough to apologize to anyone at all.
I was constantly watching over my shoulder for the entire drive back to my place. Senji was out on the prowl and I knew that he was not alone. Our clan was large and my brother sat prominently at the top of it. His henchmen would be everywhere and by proxy, so was he. When the opportunity presented itself, I had to be ready…of that, there was no doubt.
My senses were on edge as I took the stairs to my apartment, shunning the elevator as I crept around as cautiously as a cat. By the time I reached my floor, my nerves were vibrating like the strings on a guitar. I was so wired that I was no longer alert…I was closed off to the world, like a half-blind man.
I walked into my apartment, and as soon as I stepped inside it was too late for me to do anything. Rough hands grabbed me, crushing me against the wall and pinning me there…threatening to push me right through it. It was only the sound of my brother’s rough rebuke that spared me that additional pain. The men that were holding me let me go and I turned on them to find that they weren’t men at all, but a single brutish woman. She was Asian, and her face was plain in appearance…a bit shorter than me, but wide and muscular.
We sized one another up, but I had no illusions about what the woman could do. If she was in my brother’s employ, her muscles were not for show. My brother’s voice finally drew my attention away from the woman.
“Sorry about that Kym…but New York is such a dangerous city, filled with all manner of thugs and criminals.” I watched as Senji strode through my kitchen, apparently fresh from my shower. His hair was damp and one of my towels hung over his shoulder. Aside from that, he was completely naked.
I averted my eyes, “Senji…I am going to tell you this once out of respect…you need to leave and go back to Japan now, otherwise…”
“Spare me the threats” he said. He took a bottle of juice from my refrigerator and walked into my living room and plopped down on the couch. He held up the juice and the muscle-bound woman took it from him without question and opened it, then handed it back. She moved behind him and began to knead his shoulders as he kicked his feet up on the coffee table.
I narrowed my eyes, keeping them focused on his. “What are you playing at?”
He took a long sip of the juice, then sighed. “You know…I think our sister really likes me.” He smiled a bit. “I was worried for a moment that she wouldn’t…but I think she does.” He chuckled, drinking down the rest of the juice. “It’s going to be fun…getting to know her…”
My skin crawled as I watched him, my fist slowly curling into a ball. “You stay away from her!”
He eyed me, “And that sweet little one…Song?” He shook his head, “She looks like a little sweetheart! I bet she tastes just like candy.”
I grabbed the letter opener I kept by the door and I screamed as I drew back, aiming ti for his chest as I came at him. I had to end this…before it got too far out of hand. It was going to be the end of him…or the end of me. Either way, I wouldn’t have to see my sisters subjugated by this mad man.
BONK!!!
There was a loud thud…then there was blackness.
A bit later, my eyes fluttered open and there was smell of blood in the air. I could feel something hot and sticky on the side of my head. I reached up and touched it, then pulled my hand away and saw that it was red with blood.
“Sorry about that.” I looked up and had to shake my head to clear the double image of my brother leering at me. “Bottles here in America are so breakable!”
He had nailed me in the head with the bottle and knocked me cold. I didn’t know how long I had been out, but it had at least been long enough for him to get dressed. He paced back and forth with his fingers laced behind him. I tried to stand, eager for another chance at him, but I felt the same strong hands grab me as when I first came in the door. I was shoved back into my seat. “Bitch!” I looked up at the stoic face of the woman who was now holding me in place with her brutish hands. I stared at Senji, “Why don’t you get your fucking monkey off my back?”
He smiled and pointed. “You got your sense of humor back!” He laughed, “That is good to see...very good to see!” He walked over and knelt down in front of me, much like he had when I first saw him with Nyako. “Kym…we have a bit of a problem here and I don’t know how to solve it.”
I spoke through clenched teeth, “I know how to solve it…tell your goon to hand me that letter opener and I’ll show you.”
He continued to grin, putting his hand on my thigh. If my skin could have crawled away, it would have. “The only reason that you aren’t flying through that window right now is because I love my sisters…and it would devastate Ny to have to bury you when she is just getting to know her long lost brother.” He sighed, “I guess I am just a big softy after all!”
I balled up my fist, “You aren’t going to touch her…YOU HEAR ME?!! YOU ARE…”
I nearly puked as he punched me hard in the stomach. He stood up and put his finger to his lips. “Shhhhhhh!” he said mockingly. “You don’t want to be disturbing the neighbors. I met Mrs. Kravitz…the old lady down the hall. She is a nosey little thing…but as cute as a button, isn’t she?” He chuckled, then his face went stone cold. “It would be a shame if you made me do something to her mouth because your mouth was too big…understand me?”
I swallowed and then I nodded slowly. I opened my mouth to speak, but the pain in my stomach was enough to get me to close it again.
Senji sighed, “Kym, all I want is for my family to be back together again. That is all I want. I don’t want to hurt anyone…I want us all to be happy!” He sat down beside me, snaking an arm over my shoulder as he pulled me close to him. “You think that I am here to cause trouble…but I’m not…Scout’s honor!”
I coughed and finally managed to spit out, hoarsely, “You were never a Scout…and you never had any honor.”
Senji held his chest in a mock show of hurt. “You wound me sister!” He paused, “But I can’t say that you are liar.” He continued to grin as he gave me a squeeze and stood up. “Okay! Down to brass tacks dear sister. I have told you repeatedly why I am here and that I only want what our mother always wanted for us…to all be together again. You told me that you shared that dream when I allowed you to come here!”
“Allowed me to come?” I said, nearly spitting out the words. “I’m your sister…not your slave! You should have to ‘allow me’ nothing!”
He paused, considering what I said for a moment, then nodded. “Okay…poor choice of words on my part…though…I did in fact…ALLOW you to come.” He paused, cringing at the sound of his own words as he watched my reaction. His devilish smile reappeared. “And when I say you…I mean Oni…not you!”
His words confused me, I didn’t know if he really meant to say what he said or if I simply misheard him. “What in the hell are you talking about?!”
He raked his fingers through his hair and it irritated me to see it. It was the exact thing that I did when I was frustrated. “Don’t you remember all the good times that we had together? Huh? You remember…don’t you? Remember when Father wanted us to get that old shop owner to pay up? He told us that they had no money…and then you dragged his daughter down the stairs and we showed him just how valuable she could be?”
I shook my head, closing my eyes not wanting to hear this…not wanting to remember how horrible I had once been. “Senji…I am not that pers…”
“DON’T YOU TELL ME THAT!!! DON’T YOU SAY THAT TO ME!!!” Senji flew into a rage, grabbing me roughly by the face an glaring into my eyes. He stuck his other finger right in my face. “You did that ONI! I didn’t ask you to do it…you were the person that found a way to turn that loss into a victory. My sister…my twin…my right hand.” He patted the side of my face, then leaned in and kissed me on my forehead. “I need you to help put my family back together.”
“I’m not going to help you do anyth…” I was cut off abruptly as I felt something drop into my lap. I looked down and saw the LAW Title there, dropped by Senji’s henchwoman. I looked at the woman, but her eyes were fixed on my brother. I followed her eyes to his. “What is this? What are you asking me to do?”
Senji chuckled, “I’m asking you to do what it is that you do…and in so doing, help me bring my family back together.” He stood and walked to the door. "Pack your things and follow our sister to…Validation.”
“I WILL NOT!!” I yelled, starting to get to my feet, but a strong hand shoved me back down. I turned to the woman, balling up my fist. Look here bitch…you got one more time to put your hands on me! I am sick and damn tired of being grabbed today!”
The woman looked to Senji, but he merely gestured for her to stand aside, to which she complied without complaint. He walked over and knelt down in front of me. “You are going to do this sister…because I want and need you to do this for me…”
I lurched towards him, my teeth clenched. “NO!”
He grabbed my hair, knotting it in his hand as he jerked me towards him. “You’ll do it for me…or you’ll do it for someone else…someone close to you.” He shrugged his shoulders as he broke a small smile. “Maybe I get to know one of your new little sisters better? Maybe I’ll introduce Song and Alex to the clan…show them a good time? What do you think of that? Just like the shopkeeper’s daughter…remember how much she enjoyed our company?”
I wanted to fight him…I wanted to get my hands on the letter opener and stick it right in his neck and finish this, but I knew that if I tried that again, it would end badly…and not only for me. If I wasn’t around, I couldn’t protect my sisters. My shoulders fell as I sat back…defeated.
Senji cocked his head to the side as he looked at me, a hint of a smile on his lips. “There she is! My little Oni…seeing the light, yes?” He laughed out loud and finally let my hair go. “You and I want the same things…you’ve just forgotten the goal my dear. When I sent you here to America…it was for the sake of the family! Somewhere along the way…you forgot the importance of that…you got it into your head that it would just be you and Ny, but it was always going to be the three of us…” He paused, thinking for a moment, “Four if you count Song…”
I tensed at the mention of my adoptive sister. “You’ll stay away from her!”
He shrugged his shoulders, “That’s up to you I guess…isn’t it? You know me sister…you know that I am a man of drive and determination. When I see something that I want, I go out and I get it…nothing stands in my way. You have that same drive, because you and I are of the same flesh.” He pointed to the LAW Title that still lay in my lap. “Just like the drive that led you to that golden title…just like the one your sister wears. The Shinsuzuki’s are a driven family! We always have been…but up until now…that drive has been wasted on the trivial and the mundane. Everyone going in separate directions! No unity…no focus…no sense of purpose!” He grinned, “Now that comes to an end. Our family…our clan…everything is about to be as it should be…as it always should have been.”
He was insane…not for his dream of family. If he truly knew what that was and what it meant, I could understand, but he had no concept of it. He was sick and twisted…just like I once was…
…like you will be again…
I froze as the inner voice that had left me so long ago returned. I closed my eyes and shook my head, hoping to erase it…but there was going back, not now…
…Senji is right, you know that he is. Stop fighting him and do what you really know is right…
I ignored the voice and gave rise to my own instead. “So…what am I suppose to do? Go to Validation and convince Nyako that you’re not a sick bastard? Am I suppose to fight my match, beat Fujiko, and then stand in the ring holding hands with you and Ny like we are one big happy family?!”
Senji continued to smile, stroking his chin. “I like that idea sister…I really do like it.”
“Well, fuck what you like!” I spat out. “I told Ny all about you…she won’t ever listen to your lies about family! You don’t know what it is…you never have and you NEVER will!”
His face went cold and hard as he straightened. “She’ll learn to embrace me like you did…like you will again…Oni. You’ll show her the way…you’ll lead her to the water, and there…she and you will drink!” He stormed over, grabbing the coffee table and violently up ending it, sending it crashing into the wall. “Her education begins on Sunday night…and you will be her teacher! You will lead by example…when you show the world what it means to be a member of this family.”
“You expect me to go to Validation and defend this belt…after all the threats you just levied? You cannot be serious!!” It was no way in the world that he could expect me to be focused on a match after everything he had said.
He waved his hand absently, “Matches…titles…defenses…” he shrugged his shoulders, “I didn’t ask you to do any of that…I told you to go out there and show the world what it really means to be a Shinsuzuki! I want you to go out to the ring and show me that you remember who you are…and that you know who I am and what I do! My name…OUR name…it means something…it’s time that everyone found out.”
Senji walked over to television that sat near the wall. “I watched and I listened to you…and then I watched and I listened to the woman you are to face on Sunday. The two of you talking and talking…respect this and respect that. It was…was…” He grabbed the television and threw it to the floor, “…it was ridiculous! Who cares about respect when everyone knows that power is everything! Do you think that our clan rules because our enemies respect us?” He walked back over to me, lifting my chin as he forced me to look into his eyes. “We rule because they fear what we are and what we do! Remember what that was like Oni? Remember what it was like to be feared?”
…I remember it…
I jerked my head away from him, turning my gaze to the floor instead. “You think that Ny is going to run to us if she sees us acting like animals? You’re insane!”
He moved himself back into my field of vision. “She’ll learn…just like you learned. You’ll teach her…you’ll teach them all.”
I steeled myself, looking at him sharply…defiantly. “And if I don’t?! What if I don’t…what if I can’t?!!”
His expression was blank as he spoke, “Have you ever been to Sheffield in England?”
“What?” I asked, stupidly. I had no idea where he was going, or what he was saying.
The coldness in his demeanor and in his voice didn’t change. “You know Sheffield…the home of John and Sue Yin…”
I grew deathly still at the mention of Alex’s parents. I knew where this was going and like a car crash in slow motion, I was powerless to do anything other than watch.
“It is no small matter to get our people into Sheffield…but they are there all the same…and you know what…my people are ready to teach! If you cannot teach our ways here…my people will teach our ways there. Do you understand what I am saying?”
I nodded my head, shaking at the thought that he would threaten Alex’s family. “Senji…you don’t…”
He finished my sentence, “I don’t…but I do! You have to understand that to me…this is important! Family is something that matters! I have traveled here personally to show you what it means. I have taken steps to make sure that my family is protected and that those who protect my family are rewarded.”
“Uzai? You are responsible for his escape…”
He shrugged, “His liberation…as a reward for the good faith he showed to you and your sisters. You know that we pay our debts to those who are loyal…” he paused, “…and as for those who might be a problem…we deal with that as well.”
“What? What do you mean?” I was legitimately confused over his last comment.
Instead of clarifying, he waved for his goon to join him. “Good talk…Oni. I think we have an understanding now.” He looked at his watch. “You’d do well to hurry packing…your flight is boarding in an hour…I’d hate for you to miss it!”
I stood up, still confused over my brother’s comment earlier. “Senji…what did you mean about those who might be a problem?”
Instead of answering me, he pointed to his watch. “The clock is ticking…tick…tock…tick…tock! You have somewhere to be I think?”
I stood there for another moment, staring and unsure. Finally, I walked back to my room to pack what I needed…even though I had no idea what that was. The voices coming from the television in the bedroom just faded to something akin to white noise. I didn’t know how long I stood there…staring. I didn’t know what to think or what to do. Senji had given me an ultimatum…or was it really that at all? An ultimatum presented a choice…in this, I had none. I would have to go to Validation and I would have to ‘perform’ for my brother…and by proxy…my sister.
Up until now, I had not considered how I would fight Fujiko…I woman I had no REAL malice for, despite her brash attitude. She had no doubt about how she would perform and what she would do once the bell rang. When it was over, she would have her hand raised and then she would move on to the next challenge. For her…it was just that simple. I envied her for that. It must be nice to have things so perfectly laid out before you…
…you had that…once…you can have it again if you just stop fighting him…stop fighting us…fighting what you truly are…
Who I truly am? A criminal…a psychopath…a monster?
…words is all they are…their sum does not equal what you are or what you can be again; Senji is giving you the chance to be who you were always meant to be, all you have to do is listen…
“Listen to Senji?” I said out loud.
“Is that so bad?” Came the response in Japanese. I looked up and I had to wonder how long I had been standing there. The muscle-bound woman had packed my bag for me and stood there holding it out to me. “He cares about you and your sister…in his own way.”
I snatched the bag out of her hand, “He only cares about power…and how to get more of it!” I walked over to the television to cut it off before I left for the weekend, but I stopped with my finger just an inch from the power button as I noticed a familiar face on the news program. My mouth went dry as I watched the story play…
…28 year old semi-professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter, John Michael Kreese was found dead today in a local area hospital, amidst what police are calling suspicious circumstances. Kreese was recovering from serious injuries he sustained back in February, which left him in a coma.
The man accused of causing the injuries that put Kreese into a coma, Ito Kazama, escaped from police custody earlier this week. Police are continuing to search for Kazama and they urge caution in light of the news surrounding the fate of his alleged victim. Kazama may be armed and dangerous…
“Kreese is dead…” the words slipped out so quietly that they didn’t even seem like my own. Is this what Senji meant when he said that he would deal with those who ‘might be a problem?’ I ran out of the room and ran right up to him, “DID YOU HAVE SOMEONE ONE DO SOMETHING TO KREESE?”
Senji took the bag from my hand and absently handed it over to the nameless woman that reappeared beside him, as if by magic. “It looks like you’re ready to go…and just in time to catch our flight!”
I grabbed my brother’s arm. “What did you do Senji?!”
He glared back at me, “I did what needed to be done in order to set your mind at ease. He was a loose end…”
“If he ever woke up!” I answered, nearly beside myself.
My brother’s answer was as cold as ice. “And now you and your sweet little adopted sister don’t have to worry…ever again.” He watched as the blood slowly drained from my face. My relationship with the man hadn’t been healthy, but he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Senji stepped even closer to me, “When are you going to learn the lesson about how important family is Oni? When are you going to see that the only thing that matters…is family?”
My hand slipped off his arm and fell down limp at my side as he walked to the door and opened it for me. I didn’t want to move, but my feet betrayed me and before I knew it, I was through the door and headed out the building…on my way to Validation.
Life as I knew it had changed…and maybe not only for me, but also for those who cared about me…those who hated me…and those who hardly knew that I existed at all. In all my time in LAW…all that anyone had ever seen was who I wanted to become…but now they would all be forced to see who I was. Oni was just a nickname…and nothing more, but now that was all about to change. My brother was here and the very well being of my sisters was now in jeopardy. If I was going to stand any chance in hell of helping them I would first have to find a way to deal with Senji…and the only way to fight a monster…was to become one yourself.
Sometimes all you can do is focus on the work…so now…that is exactly what I am going to do. I am going to focus on the work that I have to do in less than 24-hours. Here I am, on the verge of the biggest match of my LAW career and all that really matters is how my life is coming down around my ears. Fujiko Mine is a great competitor…a dangerous and motivated performer that has a huge edge over me…she has the luxury of complete focus. She has the luxury of thinking about how to begin her reign, if she is fortunate enough to win on Sunday night. I haven’t even had time to digest how I would feel if my reign came to an end or if it continued.
There is no shame in losing a match, especially to the likes of Mine…but I am the LAW Champion, and that is more than a title…it is a responsibility. It wasn’t just a responsibility to LAW, but to the fans and more importantly, to my opponent and the other women in the back that want to wear the belt someday…and to those that would never even get the chance. Defending that belt is everything, to everyone! I could have given up the belt after my injury...I could have just walked away and never looked back…but where would that have left me?
I know that Evie Taylor didn’t have any love lost for me, but I truly respected her and the way she won that belt. I know that she wanted to defend that belt more than anything, but the fact of the matter was that she would never get that chance and she would always regret that. Win, lose, or draw…anything would have been better than leaving that belt in the hands of management. She would have to live with that regret forever, and I felt for her. I know that she would have done it, if it were physically possible. I worked hard to ensure that my reign didn’t end up the same way…I would defend that belt, regardless of what turmoil was going on in my life. My attention might be divided…but the importance of this moment is not lost on me.
At Validation…the LAW Championship will hang in the balance between me and a woman who knows without a shadow of a doubt that she will beat me. I would laugh at her arrogance and tell her to her face that she’s a liar…but then what would that make me? To reach the top in any sport, there is no greater ally than confidence and a touch of arrogance. Fujiko has told the world that the ending of our match is a foregone conclusion. While I might be good…she’s better. While I might be smart…she’s smarter. While I might be the champion…she’s leaving Validation as the one and only LAW Champion.
She’s a bad ass, there’s no doubt about it…but before we go too far down that road, let us not forget that telling everyone what you’re going to do is one thing…doing it is quite another. I love the fact that you’re hungry and the fact that you’ll let nothing stand in your way…but don’t think for a minute that I have brought into a moment of your hype. You claim that your time is at hand and no one deserves MY title more than you? I say that you are right about your time…it is at hand, but it’s not time for you to take my title…it’s time for you to run headlong into a buzz saw that up until this moment has been sitting idly by on the sidelines…waiting for a chance to chew someone up…and spit them out!
You think that I have been on the ‘easy track’ in LAW since winning the title at Rising Stars because of a few injuries? No, that isn’t the case at all and you are going to find that out first hand when we finally meet at Validation. I’m not the one that has had it easy…you and the entire LAW roster have been the ones that have had it easy! Broken leg, broken arm, broken fucking neck…at the end of the day, you best believe that if my name is on that LAW marquee…I am coming to the ring and I am coming locked and loaded for war!
Over the last few weeks I have had my doubts over the quality of my title reign and what it has meant for LAW. I have allowed lesser individuals to dictate the course of this company on the strength of what comes out of their mouth when they are outside the ring and sitting behind a computer sending tweets and posting selfies. I have bent my knee to a self-serving cunt of a General Manager…all in the sake of restoring peace and order to LAW. Has that made me a terrible champion…one that is in need of redeeming? It certainly does in my book…but don’t get it in your head that it ends with beating you…it doesn’t end there…that is just where it all starts!
I gave away my power because I thought that is what you had to do in order to show people what being a professional was all about. When my sister and I retaliated against the Pink Ladies for their insults and attacks, I didn’t get a pat on the back…I got a kick in the ass for not conducting business like I was suppose to. Do I have regrets? I have them everyday…but none of them are about winning the LAW Title…they are about not doing everything I should have to show arrogant shit heads why I won that belt and why they are light years from being good enough to take it away from me.
I put you in the category Mine…the ‘light years from being good enough’ category. Can you become a champion? Sure you can…look at you…you already are! But are you on my level? No…you aren’t on my level! You see this match as your chance to add another accolade to your resume…put another bullet title under your name. I’m not looking for any of that…I’m looking to show you that stepping into that ring with me means that you are not fighting for a title…you are fighting for the chance to walk out of that ring under your own fucking power!
Up until now…I have always given respect to my opponents and not torn them down. I even did that with Kate Steele, a woman that I despised for what she did to a woman that I considered a friend and an ally in Miyoko Oshiro. But you know what? I was wrong to do it with Steele…not because of what she did to Oshiro, in the end…I should have been glad because Oshiro never gave a rats ass about me or any of my sisters! I shouldn’t have given Steele or any of the others respect because they have to earn it if they want it! They have to take it if the can! I don’t agree with my brother on much of anything…but in this…he and I are starting to see eye to eye. So don’t worry about whether there is going to be any mutual respect on Sunday to worry about…that can come later…after I show you the door the same way you walked in it…empty handed!
You want to talk about not taking things personal and proving that you’re the best? Then stop talking about how much better you are than me…stop the backhanded comments…and for God’s sake, stop with the shameless self-promotion! I for one, can’t wait for this match to start…not so I can win it and send you out with your tail tucked between your legs…I just want to get some damn peace and quiet for a change! I can see no better use for your mouth than to stick my fist in it and see it swell shut for the first time in a damn month!
Maybe I am being too harsh, but I’m not being harsh at all…I am being real! I have had to sit back and listen to you and your chicken coop of cackling hens crow about this victory that is coming your way. Everyone is ready for you to walk out of Validation with my title in your hot little hands as if it is nothing but just another day in the office. Get this straight right here and right now…when you face me…you aren’t in this for just another day…you are in this for LIFE! This is what I do when I wake up in the morning…this is what I do when I go through my day…before I go to sleep at night I think about the next time I step foot in the ring…and when I dream, it is about hurting you and anyone else that has the guts to want to fight me.
Do I think that you are underestimating me? No…I think that you are just too damn stupid to know what you are up against! Up until now…I have been hiding who I am and what I can do, not because I am afraid of you or anyone else on this roster…but because I am afraid of what I will do to all of you if I don’t keep it in check! I’m not asking for you to go easy on me…I am asking you to do everything you can to make sure that I can never get my hands on you, because if you don’t…you will find out that mercy and pity are a couple of words that were never ever in my vocabulary!
You are looking for validation of your career…of your ability…of all the hard work and time that you’ve put into walking out of the ring with my title. You talk about the blood, sweat, and the tears that you’ve shed to get to this point? You aren’t done bleeding…as a matter of a fact, you haven’t even started! If you are going to sweat, I suggest that you start doing it right now, because once the bleeding starts…the only thing that will be left will be the tears you shed for realizing that you came face to face with cold, hard facts! Beating me was a lot easier to say than it was do…and sometimes being a mouthy bitch isn’t enough to get you past someone who lives to hurt you!
I live for moments like this Ms. Mine…playing the role of the spoiler! You are looking forward to raising that title high over your head and celebrating the greatest moment of your career…and I am looking forward to seeing you cry your heart out for not being quite as good as you thought you were!
You have made yourself out to be a lone wolf that no one can take down…some sort of number one draft pick that my sister and I were salivating over having as a member of our team, but here is another news flash honey, you aren’t any of those things! You have been taken down, by the same woman that you have been so dismissive of since she put you on your back…my sister, the LAW Marquee Champion! I heard you crowing on the Hot Seat about us wanting you with us…but why would we want a woman like you on our team, a woman who’s ability in the ring is as over-inflated as her bra size? I was nice enough not to put you on blast for that little bit of fiction…but I can only take so much vitamin BS before I have to tell a bitch what is what! You aren’t good enough to stand with USA…just like you weren’t good enough to stand against my sister!
I’m not my sister…it’s like you said…I’m not a strategist. She’s the smart one…she fights smart…and she wins smart. She’s like an elegant katana sword that slices through the competition like a surgeons scalpel. I am like a hammer…and I hit and I hit and I hit until you don’t get up again. You asked the question…what will I do when I hit you with everything that I have and you still get up? Well…since I am just a dumb brute without a brain in my head…I guess that leaves me with smashing you to bits with my empty skull! And I’ll do it Ms. Mine…I will hurt myself to make sure that you don’t get up! I’ll send myself to the hospital, if it means sending you to the morgue!
So go ahead! Come up with an elaborate game plan and how to deal with what you think I have in store for you. What I have isn’t hard to see. I am a machine that is built to hit and hit until you can’t take getting hit anymore. You think you have prepared for whatever I can throw your way? I can hardly wait to see if that is true…because I can throw a lot your way…and I intend to throw everything I have at you at Validation.
Keep that positive outlook…I hope you still have that sunny disposition after you come up short in one more big match. Keep on thinking that you have studied enough to pass the test that I have in store for you tomorrow night…when you fail you’ll have no one to blame, but yourself!
Your journey in LAW is certainly coming to an end…but not to one paved in gold…but one that is marked by the steepest jump in competition that you have ever seen! You think that all the matches you have crowed about winning have prepared you for me? All those matches have done is laid the foundation for how much more work you still have to do when you sign on the dotted line to face me.
You aren’t the best until you beat the best…until then, you are just like all the rest! Name them all, like you love to do. Bring up Steele for the hundredth time…but you aren’t facing someone with a showy nickname like ‘Ultra Violence.’ You are facing a woman who lives in a world of actual violence! While you are looking for headlocks and bodyslams, I am looking for the most brutal way possible to separate your head from your body! Talk about Keira Fischer some more…the woman with a demon inside her. You might be wishing that you are fighting Fischer, but you’re not that damn lucky! I know a little something about demons…they don’t have girlfriends and they don’t tweet about it either…they step inside the ring and they hurt people!
You might say that I changed my tune…but I haven’t changed anything. Ask anyone you want that has ever stepped in the ring with me and they will never say that anything I just said is a lie. Have I hurt people? Yes I have! Do I like to bleed just as much as I like making others bleed? Yes I do! Have I faced down every challenger that has been put in my way…I absolutely have…and at Validation, I will add your name to that list.
Don’t be sad about that…it’s a very long and illustrious list of who’s/who in this business. Besides that, you won’t to spend every waking moment telling the world that you are the best anymore, because you will have finally lost to the best…and you’ll have to shut your damn mouth about it! I can think of no higher public service than that.
Congratulations to you for getting to the big dance…and here is a pat on the back for knowing that you were going to do it the entire time. Hell! I’ll even give you kudos for thinking that you’re going to beat me, after all…confidence is a virtue. But there is where it all stops for you. So very close…and yet so very far when it is all said and done! You know you can beat me…and know that you will not. Its not the circle of life…its just the cold hard truth!
Some might say that I got the toughest draw for a first title defense in history…but I say that I got another chance to show everyone in the world why I wear this belt…
…because there’s no one good enough to take it from me!