by Jessie Wolf
I noticed that there was another ten kimonos with accessories still in the changing room. “Mama, why did you bring so many kimonos’?”
“Simple child, I figured that Princess Daniela and her friends might wish to join you and your sisters in welcoming our guests to Ichirou Hoshi. So I had Gin and Kina pack extras.”
“Well Princess, do you feel like helping out?” I asked her sweetly. She can tell it is more of an order than a request that it sounds like. Her and her friends still have several hours of community service to do and my family is their parole officers. I know it’s not exactly on the up and up, but hay when you’re in need of bodies to help with this large of an undertaking then you do what you have to.
“It would be our pleasure, Lady Maiha. I really came to love the kimonos’ that I wore while visiting your estate over the summer. I really did enjoy my time with the nuns at the Temple. Come on you two let’s get changed, Cissy have you ever worn a kimono before?” I had not expected Daniela to so quickly take Cissy into her small circle of friends.
“Um… no I have never even heard of them. They do look every beautiful. Are they hard to wear?” I could tell she really wanted to wear one, but was too afraid to ask if she could.
“Go ahead and try one on Cissy. I never wore one until I met and then married Maiha.” Alice must have sensed the same thing as me about her desire to wear one. “Trust me, once you wear one you’ll never want to wear anything else. They’re so warm in the winter, but really cool in the summer as well.”
“Um… can I really wear one Lady Maiha?” I could see the hope in her eyes at the chance to wear something as beautiful as one of the kimonos’ that are in the changing room. I just nod my head and wave for her to join her friends. She hesitates for a few seconds then quickly joins Daniela, Susan, and Lisa. I know that she will soon become one of her Highness’s closes friends and advisors. I can only hope that she can get them to shy away from their more adventurous activities.
Turning to Gin. “Gin, tell me do we have any word from Nia about that errand that I sent her on?”
“The last I heard she and the Chief along with two platoons of Jump Infantry from the House troops were on route to talk with Mr. Longfellow.”
“Do you think that she’ll have any problems getting in to see that fool?” I heard a gasp from behind me and turned to look at Bethany and her friends. I could see that Longfellow terrified Bethany. “Don’t worry Bethany; if that idiot thinks he is going to hurt you or any more of the students at the schools around here, he has another think coming. I warned him and all of the yakuza on this planet that I would leave them alone if, and only if; they left the civilians alone. The fact that he has been forcing you girls to be his little ‘pets’; is enough for me to bring down the full weight of my troops on his sorry ass.”
“Um… Lady Maiha, no offence, but I doubt that you have enough troops to take on all the yakuza on this planet, let alone the biggest one of them all. The Longfellow’s have been the top boryokudan on Hades for years now; they have more than a thousand battle ready soldiers, and they will to use them. They’ll come after your whole family in a way that has no rules. You won’t be fighting real military soldiers, but thugs who have no concept of honor.”
When I hear this I almost start to laugh at the thought of David Longfellow and his band of thugs being a threat to me and my family. My sisters, wife and mama do laugh, leaving it up to me to explain to Bethany, Stacey, Lisa, and Kimberly.
“Trust me girls those fools are no more a threat to me and my family than a gnat. When I said that I’ll bring down the full weight of the military forces at my disposal that includes every last Death Dealer, the PDF, and my own personal House troops. That is more than twenty full divisions of both heavy and light troops. In other words if I have to come down on them I’ll leave nothing behind but ash and dust. Now, seeing as how you four have become friends of mine and Alice’s; and all that you have gone through you have more than earned your forgiveness. As a reward for this I want you all to head back to the changing room and let our maids dress you in your first kimonos’.” When I finished I watched the eyes of all four of them.
What I saw there told me far more than anything else. They have worn them before, but I have a feeling that it was not of their own free will. Of them all it was Bethany’s look of fear that spoke volumes. “Please, Lady Maiha, don’t make us do that. We’ll behave ourselves.” Bethany’s words were like a dagger in my heart, with the amount of pain that filled them.
I had no idea of what to do or say to these poor girls. I could tell they’ve been abused by Longfellow and his thugs. Once again it was mama to the rescue. “Child this is not a punishment, you have been punished for more than your own mistakes by being made to pay for those of Peter Longfellow. This will no longer be the case if I know my daughter. Now dry those tears, and let our maids make you beautiful. Let us hold you four up as examples of what it means to be citizens of the Empire by rewarding you with these kimonos’. It may not seem that way now, but you’re wearing of them will help your fellow students. You have my word of honor as the Reverend Mother on this.”
It was Lisa that brought their biggest fear to light. “But everyone will see our tattoos.”
Mama just stood up and turned around signaling for Nanase and Nanami to give her a hand with her kimono. I wondered what she was up to. Then I remembered that she had a whole back tattoo herself. I remember seeing it for the first time when she put on her APS pilot suit that became the foundation for her armor. The gasp that came from the girls at seeing the grand dragon that covered her back and wrapped around to the front of her body was ones of surprise. It was one of the most beautiful works of art that I have ever seen.
“There is no shame child in wearing the mark of the yakuza, only in letting it dictate how you live your life. Do not let what they did to you define you. Show the world that you are better than they are. Now will you join your new friends in showing the rest what it means to be a citizen?” I don’t know how she does it, but that woman can make any girl proud of her body and herself.
I watched, as one, they stood up and walked over to the changing room as the others came out. Once they were inside of the room I turned to mama. “How did you know to bring the extras for them, mama?”
“Nia, told me about the conversation that you had with her this morning before she and Chief Donnelly left to have a word with David Longfellow.” As she told me this I felt the temperature of her voice drop to the point of freezing. The only time I have ever heard her voice this cold was during the war, when she challenged David Moore to the one-on-one fight in the middle of the battlefield. She was angry then, but now she was beyond that. “That man will challenge your right to be the Planetary Governor. He will not listen to reason; he is another that is blinded by greed and avarice. When it comes time to take him down, show the fool no mercy. I have a feeling that once we get those four girls to open up we’ll learn more about that man than we’ll be able to overlook.”
“Trust me, mama, when I hear back from Nia I fully expect to have to turn loose the Stalkers. He has pushed me too far this time.” I stopped from saying more as Bethany, Stacey, Lisa, and Kimberly all stepped out of the changing room. They had the same looks on their faces at wearing the kimonos as did Cissy. I think that for the first time they were happy to be wearing kimonos. Cissy started to walk over to me, but tripped on her kimono’s hem. If it had not been for Nanami’s quick actions she would have had a terrible fall. “Are you ok, Cissy?”
“Oh yes, I’m fine, I just need to remember to take smaller steps.” She was embarrassed about making such a small mistake. One that some make when wearing a kimono for the first time. I watched as she took much smaller steps as she came over to me and gave me a hug. “Thank you for giving me this chance. I have never worn something this beautiful before in my life.” She was near tears at being able to wear a kimono. I made up my mind then and there that I would give all the girls here the kimo
nos they were wearing. All of them needed something special to remember this day by.
As for the rest of the students I would have to think of something else. As there was almost no way I could arrange for them all to have their own kimonos’. It was not a matter of cost, but availability. It was Nanase who would supply the answer to this problem. “At least you won’t have to use the kimonos that are supplied by the Temple if you visit it. The rest will have to wear those. They are just as niece to wear, but are all the same boring red and white. We had to wear those when we first went to the Temple.”
That simple statement quickly leads to a round of questions that only my sisters and mama could answer about life at the Temple from the other girls. Even though Daniela, Susan, and Lisa could have answered some of them they kept quiet about their time at the Temple. I sat back and listened along with the others as my sisters and mama talked about their time at the Temple and how it had shaped the way they looked at the universe. Neither Alice nor I had any point of reference to how they viewed the world around them.
Alice and I were samurai in the eyes of our family. When this was pointed out as the reason for why we did not have the same knowledge of the Temple as our family. It was Cissy who expressed their lack of understanding when she heard that I was the Head of the Temple but had no idea of what it was like to be a novice.
Reverend Mother Dai Etsu came to my aid once again. “Cassidy, one of the many duties of the Head of House for our family is to be the Head of the Temple as well. One of the problems that have always affected the Temple is their lack of understanding of the outside world. Too often the monks and nuns forget what the outside world is like. They need someone to… translate… yes that’s the word translate the outside world for them and have the Temple translated for the outside world.” When her look of non-understanding was still there as well as repeated on the faces of the others, mama backed up and tried a different route. “The longer they stay at the Temple the harder it is for them to understand the world outside of the Temple walls. Too often they fail to see the short comings of their fellow humans. For them the idea of serving something other than the Goddess places them at a big disadvantage. Too often they are taken advantage of by those who see their robes as a sign of weakness.”
It was Kimberly who got it first. “Oh wow! You’re their voice to the outer world! Whenever they have problems with how to deal with the outside world they come to you, and the reverse. Man, I never thought I would get the chance to meet a real Shú Vā Key.” I could tell by the way she said that name it had special meaning. Before I or anyone else could ask she explained. “That is what my people call a Temple voice on my home planet. They’re held in really high esteem, almost like prophets. They are considered to be the holy people of the highest order.”
“Maiha is as far from that as you can get. If anything the monks and nuns of our Temple consider her to be the next coming of Satan himself.” Leave it to Fuyuko to put things into perspective, and give everyone a good giggle.
“Hey, I’m not that bad. I get along just fine with all of the Temple staff.”
“What about Sister Goda?” Nanami just had to bring up the pain in my ass, but she didn’t stop there. Oh no! She just had to list off every one of the nuns or monks that I have had a run in with. “Or Sister Ellie, Brother’s James, Thomas, or Joseph over at the Temple bakery, Sister’s Beth, and Rebecca over in the pottery.”
“Ok, ok, you don’t have to go in to all of them Nanami. Just because I don’t always get along with some of our more hidebound Temple members.”
“Some of them, sister dear?” now Nanase just has to get on the act with her twin. “Need I bring up the librarian sisters or the records monks?”
“I said that I have a problem with some of the members not all of them.” I was feeling a little defensive about some of my problems with the Temple staff. Just because I found some of their ways to be antiquated, is no sign that that their right and I’m wrong. “Look, just because I have tried to bring some of them out of the dark ages is no reason to consider me the Devil incarnated.”
At this statement everyone, except mama broke out laughing. Mama just had a small smile on her face letting me know that she too understood the problems I was having with the more traditional members of the Temple. For the last month ever since I helped mama marry Top I have had nothing but problems with the more senior members of Temple staff. She had, had her own head butting sections with the same ones that I had. The only difference was she knew what battles she could win. Me, I just had to be your typical hardheaded Death Dealer, and took them on head on.
Alice leaned into me giving me a hug. She knew how much heartburn that some of the members have caused me. She also knew how much it hurt me when I couldn’t get the Temple staff to understand and they fought me. All I wanted to do was bring them into the current century. No matter what I do, I constantly find myself at odds with people that I’m trying to help. I just don’t understand their way of thinking.
“Thank the Goddess for Alice.” Mama put in. “I have to say that the day she came into my daughter’s life was one of the best things to ever happen to her. I believe that all that time with her grandfather left her with a very blunt way of handling her problems. Then again I will say this about the man. Whenever he got involved in someone else’s problems things had a habit of going trebly wrong for whoever is causing the problem. A treat that, it seems to have been passed down to his granddaughter.”
Before I could comment the MCU commander called out over the speaker system that we were coming to the entrance for the estate. I watched as Bethany, Stacey, Lisa, Kimberly, and Cissy all step over to the MCU windows. The looks of amazement that come to their faces as they see the gates to the estate mirror the one I had when I first saw them. I must admit that they make a very impressive sight. There are few, very few, all wooden gates on Hades. When you add in their massive size one can only be awed by the sight.
Bethany was the one to put their feelings into words for all the girls. “Not in all the worlds have I seen such beautiful works of art used in such a mundane way.”
Alice just couldn’t let this pass. “I didn’t do too badly for a want to be did I?”
Bethany turned around and looked at her. “Alice I would like to apologize for all the shit that we put you through four years ago. I know now that we were wrong, me especially. We should never have let Callie Light tell us who had the right to go to our school. For that I am extremely sorry. I know now that I only saw her as a way to improve my standing in the school and in the eyes of my step farther. I never really saw the Heathers for what they were. A bunch of over privileged bullies.”
Mama stepped in to stop them from fighting. “Now that you see the consequences of your actions, Bethany Hightower. What do you plan to do about it?”
Bethany and the others all turned to face mama and actually bowed to her. When they stood back up Bethany smiled. “Your daughter has given me a second chance in life that I will not waist by being a petty, small minded, stuck up, little bitch.” Mama just frowned at her use of the word bitch, but let it go. I could tell that she would be having a word with Bethany about her language. “I plan on trying my best to be a person that people will look up to, instead of fear. I want to be like your daughters, Lady Dai Etsu.”
“Then the first thing you need to do my dear, is to be true to yourself. The second is not use such vulgar language. Ladies do not use the type that you just have. I have tried my best to correct Maiha’s, but every now and then she slips.”
“I’m not that bad anymore.” When mama look’s over at me, I cave in. “Well at least I no longer make star sailors blush.”
“I thank the Goddess for small favors.” Mama’s quip was enough to make every one laugh. My family knew that I was way worse at times. “Now we will be pulling up to the front of the main house in a few seconds. So I suggest that you get ready to greet our guests.” When mama started to make sure she was presentable t
he rest of us quickly followed suit.
I could feel the big vehicle slowing down and hear its engine gearing down. One of things about riding in an MCU is you know exactly when they are coming to a stop. I have everyone wait for the crew to lower the back ramp. This is more for safety than anything else. I know all too well the difficulties of wearing a kimono for the first time, they don’t need the added complication of dealing with stairs as well. Once the ramp is down I wave for mama to take the lead. I may be the Head of House Nakatoma, but she is still our elder, and as such should be shown respect.
Once everyone is out of the MCU I turn to them. “Daniela, Susan, and Lisa please go to the first transport and show our guests this way.” Looking over at my sisters. “I need you three to do the same with the second transport. Remember you represent the Head of House Nakatoma in this duty.” All six girls quickly bow to me and leave to take care of their duties.
Once they are gone Cassidy steps up beside me with a questioning look. I already know what’s on her mind and the minds of the others. “If you are all wondering why I just ordered them around like that and why the Princess didn’t throw a fit the answer is simple. The Princess Daniela, Susan, and Lisa were all sent to our family Temple as punishment. They are still on parole, and until they have completed that time they are all Temple maiden novices. I would not try to give them orders outside of the estate grounds, but as the Head of the Temple I must treat them the same as I would any other novice or it would be a case of favoritism. That is something I cannot do. Just as I treat my sisters the same as another student at school I must do the same here with them. Do you understand?”