Ok, Ok...

Enough e-mails on me posting this.

Here is the revised version of the story that the company has picked up.  
This is the english version.

The front section is for everyone to see how we create the characters here.

Enjoy!

***

STORIES OF THE SISTERHOOD

This series, about the adventures of two young women, came out of a story
meeting that we had.  During the bull session here at Dynelex, we were
trying to come up with several new ideas.  Unfortunately, we were not
being very successful. 

Then, with a huge input of Jolt Cola, and a lot of coffee, (caffeine
overloads are wonderful things), we started to get a little silly.  One of
the ideas that came out of that meeting (I.E.  6 am ) was a cute girl
story with a character loosely based on me.  After that it got quite
strange... 

The main character, Hishigowa Hitomi, is a red headed ditz.  The young red
head is accompanied by her best friend, Fujiwara Oneiko.  Together they
get into many adventures, and they also get other people out of trouble. 
The organization they belong to, The Sisterhood, is one of the protection
organizations that are designed to protect women. 

CHARACTERS

Fujiwara Oneiko

Fujiwara:      Family name, historical significance

Oneiko:        Honourable Cat

Age:           16
Hair:          Brownish-black
Eyes:          Brown
Height:        1.54 metres
Weight:        47 kilograms

An outwardly traditional girl, Oneiko prefers short hair and boyish
clothing.  She has the attitude that boys are a menace and not to be
trusted.  Unfortunately for her, she is a teenager, and a lot of young men
are beginning to notice her.  She tends to take perverse pleasure in
beating up the men that come after her. 

Very intelligent, her grades put her at the top of her class.  She has a
high interest in technology, and given the chance, will spend more time in
the lab than anywhere else.  Her favourite pastime is to examine chemical
compositions of almost anything she comes across. 

Her main problem is that she has been influenced by both her mother and
her "aunt" Keiko.  She therefore has a dim view of men and those people
outside of Japan.  To her, Americans will always be the enemy for what
they did to her country. 

She has been trained in the skills of bujutsu since she was one and has
attained a high amount of skill.  To her, martial arts, and the clearness
of mind that comes with it are a way of life.  She will go out of her way
in order to learn new techniques. 

Very loyal, she tends to take care of her "sister" Hitomi who, to her,
needs to be watched over like a hawk. 


Fujiwara Mita

Fujiwara:      Family name, historical significance

Mita:

Age:           47
Hair:          Brownish-black
Eyes:          Grey
Height:        1.7 metres
Weight:        55.7 kilograms

Mita is a philosopher, with the view that her society must change to meet
other societies.  She has been training in several martial arts for more
years than is known and is a Sensei is many of them.  Her favourite weapon
is the staff, and she has trained her daughter in its use. 

Rumours state that she has travelled extensively, China, France, the
United States, in an effort to learn all their fighting arts.  Some of the
manoeuvres that she does are completely unknown to the rest of the
sisterhood, indeed, to the rest of Japan.  She prefers this
mysteriousness, and uses it to quiet unruly students. 

She is known as the temples authority on mysticism and magic, while
telling everyone that such things can always be explained.  Some have said
that they have seen her floating in the meditation chamber or using some
sort of glow to heal those who are wounded.  The only people she acts
human around are her daughter, her husband, and her best friend and her
family. 

While she does not live there, she maintains rooms at the temple.  Often,
she can be found treating people and is considered along the lines of a
priestess.  She is considered by everyone to be the sister of Hishigowa
Keiko, the head instructor for the temple.  Although not really related,
there is some sort of mysterious connection between her and Cacao. 

Her civilian job is that of a high school teacher.


Hishigowa Hitomi

Hishigowa:

Hitomi:        The pupil of the eye, the human body

Age:           16
Hair:          Red
Eyes:          Greenish-blue
Height:        1.5 metres
Weight:        48 kilograms

Hitomi, a child of a Scottish father and a Japanese mother, tends to be a
ditz.  As she approached her teens, she discovered an extreme love of
shopping, so much so that when her grandfather gave her her first credit
card, she spent over 20 million yen in one weekend.  She tends to be a
very feminine, very traditional girl, preferring either her school
uniform, a kimono, or her martial arts outfit.  She has recently become an
Americanophile and is trying to pattern herself on the images she sees on
television.  Unfortunately, she doesn't realize that the images she sees
are of the fifties and sixties, not from the nineties. 

Very naive she hasn't yet realized why the boys are paying more attention
to her.  She is, however, vaguely uneasy by their asking to carry her
books or papers since she has been thought by her mother and her "aunt" to
try to do everything for herself..  She tends to underestimate boys and
has yet to be thought anything about sex.  For all intents and purposes
she is still a child and tends to watch shows that are for a much younger
age. 

Very intelligent, she could certainly achieve more than what she has.  Her
problem is that she tends to have a VERY short attention span.  The
teachers at her school have tried to improve her learning skills to no
avail.  As a matter of fact she has to attend a juku to stay in the bottom
forth of the class.  Perversely, her favourite subject is computers, and
only because her grandfather is involved in the industry. 

Thanks to her fathers influence, she tends to see things differently than
most Japanese.  Her mother worries that the influence of her husband will
create problems for Hitomi's survival in Japan.  Because of this, her
"aunt" Mita and her mother have been trying to push her towards a more
traditional Japanocentric view and cutting her off from the rest of the
world whenever possible. 

She has been trained in the skills of bujutsu since she was one and has
attained a high amount of skill.  Unfortunately, she has a lot of problems
with attacking people and hates to fight.  She tries however, only to fail
at some point because, deep down, she hates to see people hurt.  To her,
the martial arts is only something that needs to be learned because her
elders require it.  Whenever possible, she will find ways to avoid
practicing. 

She sees Oneiko as an older, wiser sister.  Unfortunately, she also tends
to get into trouble which Oneiko has to get her out of.  Very loyal to,
and also very much in awe of, Oneiko she will listen to her when she
disregards everyone else. 


Hishigowa Keiko

Hishigowa:

Keiko:         Practice, training, study

Age:           48
Hair:          Black
Eyes:          Brown
Height:        1.75 metres
Weight:        58 kilograms

Keiko is a traditionalist in every sense of the word.  Usually found in a
kimono, she makes sure that all is in harmony within the confines of her
home.  Her mood is usually unreadable, but be assured that she is hiding a
deep resentment towards the Americans who she feels have invaded her
country. 

She is the head Sensei of the local temple dedicate to the goddesses of
Japan.  The temple, while on the outside a place to worship, is actually
one of the headquarters for the group known as the Sisterhood.  Her cover
there is that she is one of the priestesses that instruct the young people
in beginning bujutsu and the healing arts.  What she actually does is as
much a mystery to her underlings as to the public. 

She follows the Shinto rituals to the letter and has been given the actual
rank of priestess.  This makes things easier for her in what she has to
do.  Her scholastic training is in marine biology, and has been known to
go on expeditions to gather new information. 

Her husband, a Scottish immigrant that her parents married her to, is
still unfamiliar with the customs of the country and assumes that she goes
to the temple to pray every day.  He believes that everyone in the
neighbourhood treats him and his house with a lot of respect because of
the job he has.  His attitude has increased his wife's belief that whites
are a barbaric subspecies of human. 


The Sisterhood

A secret society within Japan.  Known as a martial arts group that only
has women as members, their ways go back several centuries and become lost
in obscurity and legend.  It is said that they are the protectors of all
women in Japan and deliver the most terrifying punishments upon males who
violate women.  Among the stories, of punishment are the following: 

1) A man who was known to rape women was found with his penis cut off and
   sown backwards into the bloody wound that was left.

2) A man who killed his wife because she did not birth a male heir was
   found with his intestines pulled through what was left of his gonads.

3) A man who decided to imitate the Taiwanese custom of blinding women to
   make them better masseuses, was found blinded, with fingers and tongue 
   cut off.

It is unknown why they appear and do what they do, only that theirs is a
mission that seems to have no known purpose.  According to some, they are
the reason a woman can feel safe walking in any city in the country. 
According to others, they are a danger to the true running of the country. 

There are several possible origins of this group according to legend.

1) The original sisterhood were members of several Ninja cults.  Being
   outcast among outcasts, they could no longer take such rule and banded 
   together.  After several battles in which many people died, guilty and 
   innocent alike, the senin of the various ninja ryu decided to leave them 
   alone.

2) At a time of great danger to the country, an empress sent several of
   her samurai ladies away to begin training a generation of women.  These 
   women would be responsible only to the empress herself and would be her 
   chosen warriors.  They were to aquiese to any demand placed upon them by 
   the empress, and see to her absolute safety.

3) The Goddess Amaterasu chose among the women of Japan for the best and
   brightest.  Giving them the skills, and abilities of battle, and allowing 
   them to form a community where women could be safe, she charged them with 
   a duty that was both terrifying and enlightening.  Their activities would 
   hardly be known to the outside world, but would be important for the 
   future of the world.

4) The original members were survivors of a village where pirates killed
   off all the men.  In order to get revenge the women trained themselves 
   and killed off their captors.

No one knows for sure what the truth is except perhaps for the Sensei and
the Matriarch of their society. 

***

Stories of the Sisterhood

Growing up

Copyright January 1994, Ichinohei Hitomi, Dynelex Animation, and Dynelex 
Computers

***

Chapter One:

"This is worse than father's Haggis!!!", thought the girl as a sword
passes over her head.  It was close, half an inch more and she wouldn't be
in any shape to go to school in the morning.  As she hit her foe with a
modified palm strike, she wondered if she'd make it. 

"Chikuso, if only there weren't so many of them.  I've got to find a way
to defeat these people."  Flipping back, she evaded an opponents staff
sweep, then, using her hands to brace herself, she kicked the face of
another attacker.  The manoeuvre enabled her to get her hands on a tofun,
if she could get her hands on that dropped sword... 

At that moment, she was hit from behind.  The hard rattan staff causing
her to collapse immediately. 

"HOLD"

Everyone in the dojo backed away from the fallen girl and placed their
weapons in the ready position. 

Everyone except her best friend who reached down to help her up.  Despite
the fact that Oneiko was sober faced, the laughter in her eyes made the
girl on the ground a bit surly.  "Okay, okay," she whispered, "don't rub
it in, I should have practiced more." 

Raising one eyebrow, Oneiko whispered back, "Did I say anything
Hitomi-chan?" 

Hitomi stood up and, keeping her face expressionless, turned to look at
the Sensei. 

At the far end of the dojo, the Sensei looked at Hitomi, a red haired girl
with greenish-blue eyes and a strangely compelling face, and wondered what
she was going to do with her.  It wasn't that Hitomi lacked the skill, it
was more that she lacked motivation.  At times the Sensei wanted to grab
the girl and shake some sense into her. 

She knew it wasn't the girls fault.  Her father was white and had put some
strange ideas into her head.  It was now a matter of finding a way to rid
Hitomi of these abberations. 

"Hitomi-san, you should be able to do this exercise without being hit. 
You have been trained in harakei.  There is no excuse for this failure to
note an attacker." 

Hitomi winced a little at this.  There was no excuse, not even to herself. 
She had practiced, studied scrolls, and learned to move her body in ways
western science said was impossible unless one was mutated.  She had her
breathing centred and could achieve the state of mind-no-mind.  Why
couldn't she detect attacks properly!!! 

"Hai, Sensei!" she answered. 

"Oneiko-san" 

"Hai, Sensei!" 

"You will take Hitomi-san to the woods and retrain her in the knowledge of
harakei." 

"Hai, Sensei!" 

Both girls bowed before leaving the dojo and entered the woods surrounding
the temple. 

***

Sometime later the Sensei looked out of the window and into the forested
area outside.  She sighed as remembrance took over, of the vast areas of
trees, of farmland in the distance, and of clear skys.  Such no longer
existed of course.  Nihon, or as westerners knew the islands, Japan, had
become a very technological country since the war.  Trees were cut down to
make way for manufacturing centres, shopping districts, and homes,
especially of the Americajin, the Americans, who came after the war to
settle in their "conquered territory" as many of them had put it.  The
farmland had increased, and if it wasn't for the fact that the temple
owned the forest, that too would have disappeared. 

So many changes had come.  The restructuring, increase in pollution, the
loss of ancient influences, and the change in the powers of the Emperor
and Empress.  It had become hard for the young people to know their duty. 
In fact, many of the younger generation had lost the sense of giri, that
of duty passed from one generation to the next.  Could it be that the
culture of Nihon was dying, that they would become so much like the
Americans they imitated, that all sense of being Nihonjin would be lost? 

The Sensei hoped not. 

"You shouldn't worry so much.  She'll learn eventually." 

Turning, the Sensei saw her oldest friend in the doorway to the chamber. 
"I wasn't really thinking about Hitomi-chan, but of the way our country
has changed.  How could we have ignored what was happening?"  she said
turning back to the window, "If we don't instill some sense of duty, some
sense of fealty to this younger generation, I am afraid that we will lose
all it means to be Nihonjin." 

"The world is changing, Keiko-chan, what we considered important will be
unimportant to our children." 

"I don't remember it being that way with us."  Keiko stated flatly, "We
learned of duty, caring and compassion.  Our mothers thought us that
physical comforts were distractions, to be endured for the good of all" 

"Our world was different Keiko.  We didn't see the innovations that are
common today, but they were there.  Our society was a more feudal one,
theirs is a democracy." 

"That's dragons droppings and you know it,"  Keiko said incensed,
"Democracy has existed on our islands for longer than the gaigin know. 
They imposed their rules forty years ago, and to suit their purposes,
changed those rules two years later.  To them, there is no such thing as
honour, no such thing as duty to an ideal, a cause.  Their heroes are
those that win."  Turning to her friend, she continued, "To us the heroes
are those who stayed to their principles, win or lose.  There is nobility
in failure if one has led life with honour, duty, compassion, knowledge,
and wisdom.  Even if it costs the life of an entire village to ensure the
safety of one, we would do it.  This younger generation, they have not
that sense." 

"Keiko-chan," the woman said coming close, "What can you do?  Force them
to change their ways?  It wouldn't work.  The temple, our society, was
founded centuries ago because of women who refused to fit into the mold
forced upon them by males.  We learned how to be pig-headed from them.  Do
you expect the children to be any different?" 

"Your daughter isn't the one that has problems, Mita-chan.  It's my child,
Hitomi, who has the problems." 

"Your husband is to blame for that, not you,"  Mita said slowly, "You had
no choice about marrying him, and he is gaigin..." 

"I should have thought her better,"  Keiko cut her off.  "My choices, my
decisions weren't enough, she's inherited some of her fathers
foolishness." 

Closer to tears than she had been in years, she continued, "I've got to
find a way to teach her the respect, the concerns, and the ways of our
past." 

Mita went up and hugged her friend.  "We'll find a way," she said as she
kissed Keiko on the cheek, "The solution waits for us.  After all, none
can escape the ties of Karma and theirs is bound up with ours." 

"If they understand it Mita-chan, if they understand it."

***

Meanwhile, the two girls had been practicing in the woods, Hitomi
blindfolded and avoiding Oneiko's attacks. 

"Oneiko, do you think we could talk a bit?" Hitomi asked. 

"What's the matter Hitomi, your mind definitely wasn't on your practice." 
Oneiko replied and sat under a tree. 

Shaking her head and removing her blindfold, Hitomi could only say,
"That's only part of the problem." 

Oneiko smiled, "Okay, what's been going on in that ditzy brain of yours." 

"Hey," Hitomi replied with some heat as she sat down next to Oneiko, " I'm
not ditzy." 

"That last shopping trip we went on to Tokyo?" 

"Che... The one time I go crazy shopping and you never let me forget it." 

Leaning back, Oneiko started off on her usual speel, "You spent over 5
million yen in four hours.  I believe grandfathers words were along the
lines of how you could buy so much in just a little while." 

"It was the first time I was in such a large departo.  Tokyo has some of
the best places to shop in all Nihon." Hitomi stated getting even more
annoyed. 

Meanwhile Oneiko starting counting Items on her fingers, "Three hundred
manga books, twenty dresses, fifteen skirts, twenty seven blouses, fifty
sets of underwear, thirteen pairs of shoes, for..." 

"ENOUGH ALREADY!!!" 

"No need to shout." Oneiko chuckled, "You have been a little absent-minded
lately.  What is going on and distracting you." 

Hitomi flopped backwards onto the ground.  "I want to have an adventure of
some type.  Go somewhere, America perhaps." 

Oneiko looked at her little sister, "An adventure?  There are not too many
in this day and age, and America has some strange customs." 

Giggling, Hitomi replied, "True, but then again, the food happens to be
very delicious.  We could at least get some hamburgers latter tonight." 

Looking as though she was about to throw up, Oneiko replied, "Those
things?" 

"Oneiko, Please?"  Hitomi pleaded. 

"Ok, we'll go later, but do you actually want to go on an adventure?" 
Oneiko was intrigued by the idea.  If she could convince their mothers,
then the two of them could go on a trip to China or perhaps to Mongolia
where she could try out some new martial art techniques and possibly learn
something. 

Hitomi smilled brightly, "Yes, I mean it.  If we could have a nice trip,
go to America, and perhaps see about getting citizenship..." 

Oneiko was startled, "ARE YOU NUTS!?!?!?" 

"Oneeiko...", Hitomi winced. 

"No.  Not now.  Not ever.  You are Japanese, not American, Japanese. 
You've been trained in the ways of the sisterhood, brought up to the
knowledge of the ancient ways, and thought that life revolves around
understanding of the virtues.  There is no way that you will become an
American."  She shouted.  Calming herself a bit, Oneiko continued, "I
don't care what that Iteki father of yours told you or said, your place is
here.  I wish you would accept that and not argue about it anymore." 

Hitomi sighed, "It's not my father, its just that America is so
interesting.  The music, the places, the space they have, I would like to
see all of that." 

***

It was after the regular practice sessions, most of the students had gone
home and Hitomi was practicing by herself. 

"I've got to get this right.", she thought, "If I strike at the target
while moving to the left, perhaps I can get better leverage." 

"Hitomi-chan." 

Hitomi straightened out immediately, "Hai, Sensei!" 

At the far end of the hall, the Sensei, her mother, was sitting in the
doorway to the tea room.  "Hitomi-chan, it is time to leave the dojo
behind and talk."  Moving backwards, she gestured into the room.  "Come,
let us relax and enjoy cha with your aunt and your sister." 

The invitation was not one to be refused.  Besides, she wanted to show her
mother how much she had learned about the performance of the ceremony. 
"Hai, Haha-san, allow me to shower and change."  She exited the room
quickly, obviously excited. 

Oneiko looked at the excited girl and sighed.  "She is cute.", she
thought, "If I can keep her out of trouble on this trip it will be a
miracle." 

In a little while, Hitomi came into the room.  Immediately, she set about
preparing the implements.  Everyone was quiet, as she went through the
steps for the less formal version.  An hour later, they were ready to
talk.  As was common, they did not pursue the main point of the meeting
immediately, going on for a while about other matters.  Finally, Keiko
broached the subject. 

"It's obvious something has to be done Hitomi, you do not seem to be able
to concentrate on much these days." 

"I'm sorry mother, it's just that I find a lot of things more fascinating
these days." 

"Oh?  Do these things happen to be boys?"  Mita asked with a slight smile. 

Hitomi blushed, "Ano...they are nice, although some of them are pests. 
One asked me if I wanted to go to the kissaten with him." 

"Hai, and they ask in fairly disgusting ways." 

"I wouldn't say that Oneiko, some of them are kawaii." 

Oneiko looked pained, "Boys!?!?  Kawaii?!?  Are you feeling all right?" 

"Perfectly." 

Keiko decided to move off of the subject, "In any case, perhaps it would
be better if you go on a training trip.  You will be heading to China for
a while, and then, when you get back, you will be going to Tokyo to live
by yourselves.  We will be visiting you from time to time, but the two of
you are old enough to be responsible.  This will prepare you for going to
the university in a few years.  When you get back, you will be told which
school you have been registered in." 

"An adventure?" 

Mita laughed, "If you want to call it that, then yes, an adventure.  But
you are going to keep diaries of your travels.  You can take anything you
wish, but you must be able to carry it yourselves." 

Hitomi was disappointed, but her eyes shown as she started talking, "I'll
have to get a new dress, and some other things, but this sounds like fun." 

"In case you didn't hear, Hitomi, this is a training trip.  As in up at
dawn and walking all day?" 

"Do you have to take all the fun out of it Oneiko?" 

"Just trying to be realistic." 

"In any case,"  Mita continued, "You'll need your passport, sword, three
changes of clothes, food, bathing equipment, tent, and futon.  In
addition, you will each be given five hundred thousand yen.  Remember,
this is not a lot of money, but it should last you the six weeks.  You do
not have much extra for luxuries that you do not need." 

Hitomi winced and then sighed, "Yes Aunt Fujiwara" 

"There is only one request I have."  Keiko said, "The two of you will keep
out of trouble this time won't you?" 

Oneiko laughed out loud at this, "Don't worry Aunt Hishigowa, I do not
think we will be near any shopping areas." 

"Oneechan!  That is not funny." 

Oneiko continued to laugh. 

Ichinohei Hitomi
Hitomi@escape.ca